"Jiangnan is wonderful, and the scenery is familiar to me. When the sun rises, the flowers on the river are as red as fire, and when spring comes, the water is as green as blue. How can I not remember Jiangnan?"
This is "Recalling Jiangnan" by Bai Juyi, praising the beauty of Jiangnan.
After Chongzhen rested in the mansion for a day, he took Li Ruolian, Cao Bianjiao and others to visit Suzhou Mansion, and the scenery was indeed like this.
As long as you have money, Suzhou is indeed a paradise on earth.
But if you are an ordinary citizen, then Jiangnan is a place of dire straits.
The imperial court imposed excessive taxes on the people, the rich merchants and gentry exploited the people in the middle, and the gangs and gangsters harassed the people below. They traveled all the way and oppressed the people.
But if you put aside these bad things, the experience these days is still very good.
He was doing well, but the Kong family in Qufu, thousands of miles away, and the major forces paying attention to the southern patrol were extremely worried.
The journey from Beijing to Qufu is only more than a thousand miles. In normal time, it should arrive in seven or eight days. However, nearly twenty days have passed and the yellow boat has only arrived in Liaocheng. It is incredibly slow.
Since records of the impure blood of the Confucius family came out in the capital, and the yellow ship went south, people began to speculate on how the imperial court would deal with the Confucius family.
More scholars rushed to Qufu desperately.
Qufu County, although there is the Kong family after the sage, is only a little larger than an ordinary county.
At this moment, the city is overcrowded. Those who can afford it stay in restaurants and inns, and those who cannot afford it stay in people's homes. Those who are worse off can only live with a few friends outside the city.
Although these are scholars, their lives are really worrying.
Lu Xiangsheng, who is temporarily acting as the magistrate of Qufu County, is overwhelmed by all kinds of trivial matters every day.
Taizu stipulated that students were not allowed to discuss government affairs. Shengyu refers to scholars who passed the county examination and government examination, not just scholars.
Lu Xiangsheng has no way to deal with this kind of discussion speculated by the Confucian government. Thousands and tens of thousands of scholars gather together, what can you do?
In the center of Qufu County, the Kong family, which used to have white walls and black doors and was a holy place for scholars all over the world, is no longer as solemn and solemn as it used to be.
At this moment, the white walls are covered with various colors, and the black door is also covered with red paint. If it weren't for the guards of the Tianxiong Army to stop it, the Kong Mansion might be full of stench, and the sky would be filled with mosquitoes and flies.
It's not that the Tianxiong Army protects the Kong family, but it protects itself. No one wants to be surrounded by mosquitoes and flies where they patrol!
In the Kong Mansion, there is no longer the bustle and bustle of the past. Every clan member and disciple walks cautiously, for fear of disturbing the clan leader and the stewards of the manor.
In the lobby of the Confucius Mansion, Yanshenggong Kong Yinzhi and the directors of the Sixth Hall gathered together. At this moment, everyone no longer had the arrogance they had before. Some of them were just deeply powerless and tired, and their faces were full of anger.
"This is simply a naked slander. Although our Kong family has married a Mongolian woman, at least Yanshenggong's lineage is pure. How can it be of Mongolian blood?"
"Yuan Keli and Qiao Yunsheng, these bastards, received the teachings of Confucius Sheng. Now they don't help us, but they still deceive us like this. What is the presumption of guilt? How can we prove this?"
"Last year, the Holy Son was slandered as a collaborator, and now he has published several ancient books about the bloodline of the Kong family. This is putting our Kong family to death. Why does the old Zhu family hate our Kong family so much?"
"If you want to incriminate someone, why bother?"
"What on earth is the emperor going to do? First he prevents the whole world from offering sacrifices to Confucius, and then he wants to visit Confucius' mansion in person. Is this a demonstration?"
"Chief, please tell me something. The emperor is coming soon. How should we deal with it?"
…
Kong Yinzhi, the first Duke of Yansheng, said calmly: "I have sent messages to several major families and people from Nankong through secret channels, and several major families have responded.
They have contacted some great scholars and will go to Qufu together. When the time comes, they would like to intercede with His Majesty.
But there is no news from Nankong, and now I can’t figure out their attitude! "
"Hmph, they wish that we would be abolished, and then the court would invite them back to take charge of the Confucius Mansion."
"The situation may not be as bad as we thought. Now the whole of Qufu is filled with scholars from all over the world, and they are still coming in a steady stream.
As long as it is provoked, even if the emperor has an idea, he must take the overall situation into consideration.
The title of Yanshenggong will be reduced. As long as the Kong family is still there, the Kong family's status will still be there. From now on, they can just slowly plot their plans! "
"Now the entire city of Qufu is overcrowded inside and outside, and it is inconvenient to eat, clothe, and live. Since the court doesn't care, let's take advantage of it.
Doesn’t the imperial court like to take advantage of the people’s voice? Then we should also learn a lesson and see whether the voice of the people of the court is more useful or the voice of our scholars. "
"Are you still trying to sell things off at this time? Tell me quickly, what should I do?"
"We will give five taels of silver to each scholar who comes, which will be considered as their expenses when they come, plus the expenses for food and accommodation.
At the same time, we set up several porridge tents outside the Confucius Mansion every day. We can eat if we want to come. We don’t care if we want to eat by ourselves. As long as we do what we want! "
"What a great idea!"
The director of the Classics Hall slammed the table and shouted in surprise: "There are only ten thousand people here now. Even if there are thirty to fifty thousand people in the end, it will only be one or two hundred thousand taels of silver. There is no burden on us.
And as long as they spend money in the city, they will eventually fall into our hands. In this way, they can not only show our benevolence and righteousness, but also win over the scholars and become a bargaining chip in our hands. "
"It's wonderful. Now that the weather is hot, we can still set up a few tea tents and distribute green tea, mung bean soup, sour plum soup and hawthorn soup to relieve the heat. I don't believe it. These scholars will still stand on the side of the imperial court?"
"But now the scholars and the common people are mixed together. How can we tell the difference? If the common people come to receive it, then even if my Confucius family is rich, it will be emptied out!"
"There is nothing like porridge, tea, soup, etc. You can come when you like, and it doesn't cost a few cents.
For the silver piece, you can read the road guide, or let them recite the Analects casually, instead of memorizing them all.
Ask people to find pieces of wood to write down the names of twenty chapters of the Analects of Confucius, and ask those who come to receive money to take out one chapter and memorize it.
If you can't even memorize the Analects of Confucius, then you should be a scholar. You must be ashamed of yourself. "
"The idea is good, but there are two problems!"
Kong Yinfeng, the director of Zhiyin Hall, tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair: "First, who is going to do this? Now that the Kong Mansion is surrounded, although twenty people are allowed to go out to buy things every day, these are far from enough;
Second, what if Lu Xiangsheng doesn’t allow it? "
"There are strict rules for giving porridge. It is reasonable for Lu Xiangsheng not to allow it. If it is allowed, then we will not do it. Then we will only make tea soup and sour plum soup. The government has no control over it.
If you want to control it, then put it in various restaurants, inns and other shops. The court cannot control the good deeds of the merchants themselves.
As for who is going to do it, the clan leader should have a way to solve this problem! "
Seeing the head of Guangou Hall looking at him, Yanshenggong Kong Yinzhi pondered for a moment, and Gujing Wubo said: "Do you know the consequences of doing this?"
