Chapter 318 Someone Behind Me
Li Changgang was drinking with more than a dozen great scholars. His face was slightly red, but his eyes became more profound.
"Spread the news!" Li Chang took a sip of sobering tea.
"Yes." Wang Qi responded, but asked, "Does the headmaster want to defeat Jiang Qingzhi in front of everyone?"
"Your Majesty has been acting differently in the past two years. In the past, he relied on Xia Yan, Yan Song and others to get ahead, but in the past two years, he has repeatedly appeared in public. This is not a good sign."
Li Chang put down his teacup. "Everything has a motive. Your Majesty has appeared frequently, so he must have a purpose. What else can make the emperor do something?"
"The country and the people!" Wang Qi understood. "Through this debate, we can also get a glimpse of His Majesty's mind from Jiang Qingzhi."
"You saw it just now. Those great scholars kept saying they were worried about the court situation, but deep down they were worried about His Majesty taking action."
"Your Majesty, wouldn't you? After all, a few years ago..." Wang Qi looked outside the door and saw no one, so he whispered, "He was nearly burned to death several times during the southern tour, and was almost strangled to death during the palace coup... Could Your Majesty dare to turn against the scholars and officials of the world?"
"They have already fallen out." Li Chang said calmly, "But after His Majesty retired to the Western Garden, the two sides have maintained a situation of fighting but not breaking up."
Wang Qi suddenly realized, "Those people are worried that Your Majesty will break the deadlock and completely tear the relationship apart."
"Once the emperor has fallen out with his enemies, he can use his authority to drive some people to serve him. In the early Song Dynasty, the literati were so powerful that Renzong and Shenzong still took action twice."
Li Chang stared at the teacup in a daze. "What should the Ming Dynasty do now? I'll ask His Majesty through Jiang Qingzhi. Should it be war or peace... Should it be war or peace..."
Wang Qi took his leave and went out to spread the news, then he walked to the residences of those great scholars.
"…At present, the Ming Dynasty is peaceful, but there are corrupt officials in the court who are covering up everything."
"It seems to me that it's not just the flatterers, someone is trying to deceive the king!"
"Then Jiang Qingzhi is a disaster!"
"The day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow I will want to see what this person is capable of."
"As soon as Mr. Ma shows up, Jiang Qingzhi will probably tremble in fear! Hahahaha!"
The next day, the news spread throughout the capital.
Many scholars came to Yinshan Academy.
"Mr. Li!"
"Mr. Yang!"
Upon hearing the news, more than a dozen great scholars came out to encourage everyone, triggering cheers.
These people are the stars of this era. They look calm, quote from classics and the words of ancient sages.
For a moment, Yinshan Academy seemed to have become a bustling city.
"Ma Gong!"
"Mr. Liang!"
The two selected main debaters arrived late, triggering cheers from the readers.
The star-chasing scene was very lively. Ma Qian smiled and said, "I am over fifty years old. I thought I would spend the rest of my life at home enjoying the company of my grandchildren. I didn't expect that there would be a kid jumping around. It is hard to refuse Mr. Li's kindness. I will do what Feng Fu did again and let the young people know what Confucianism is and what it means to be a human being!"
These words were so sharp that they excited everyone.
"Mr. Ma, are you sure about Jiang Qingzhi's arrogance and domineering behavior?" someone asked.
Ma Qian said calmly: "Thirty years ago, I debated with more than ten people in the Yellow Crane Tower. In a quarter of an hour, my opponents left with their faces covered. Nineteen years ago, when I first arrived in the capital, I debated with the great scholar in the capital. In half an hour, I made the other party admit defeat.
Jiang Qingzhi... I have heard of this man's name. His two poems are good, but in our eyes, poetry is just a minor thing, just something to relax the body and mind in our spare time."
"Mr. Ma, the topic is what should happen to the Ming Dynasty!" A scholar reminded him that tomorrow's debate would not be about poetry.
"I have been to many places in the past few years, and I know the current situation of the Ming Dynasty very well!" Ma Qian thought of what Li Chang said yesterday... Lord Ma, since we are arguing, how about taking this opportunity to give a reminder to the person in the palace?
Thinking of this, Ma Qian said loudly: "We should assist the Holy Emperor and create a prosperous era again!"
……
"This is a message for me."
The Taoist said disdainfully: "Assist me? If I bring this kind of people into the court, it would be like inviting a wolf into the house."
"Your Majesty, Xia Yan requests to see you."
"Why is he here?" The Taoist nodded.
Xia Yan came in wearing plain clothes, and the Taoist said calmly: "In the past, you, Xia Yan, liked fancy clothes. Why, are you poor now?"
"I have been to Chang Wei's house recently and saw that he was very comfortable wearing plain clothes all day long, so I tried it on and it was indeed comfortable." Xia Yan said, "I thought about it later. Wearing fancy clothes requires you to be very careful and cautious, fearing that they will get dirty. It's too tiring and fake."
Xia Yan continued, "I am here for tomorrow's debate."
"Are you worried?" asked the Taoist priest.
"More than ten great scholars have been invited, and Ma Qian and others are here too." Xia Yan said, "Ma Qian was quite famous in his early years, but later he retired to the forest. The fact that he can come out this time shows that the scholars are dissatisfied with the current situation. Your Majesty, a storm is coming!"
"Come on then!" Emperor Jiajing held the scroll with calm eyes.
Xia Yan bowed and took his leave.
Then he went to the Bo's house.
"It seems that Your Majesty is not prepared to endure it any longer." Xia Yan said.
Jiang Qingzhi was drawing something that Xia Yan couldn't understand. Hearing this, he said, "No emperor can sit back and watch the country fall."
Historically, the reason why Taoists did not move was not because they did not want to move, but because they could not move.
All the scholars and officials in the world are his enemies. Once he steps to the forefront, he will inevitably cause a backlash from the world.
So he endured until the last moment.
When Prince Yu ascended the throne, he began to reform, and the opening of the Longqing Gate was his work.
But unfortunately, although the opening of the gate during the Longqing period benefited the literati and officials all over the country, as well as many places in the south, most of the money went into private pockets. The literati and officials became wealthy, while the court was so poor that even rats were unwilling to patronize them.
Jiang Qingzhi was suddenly startled. "Mr. Xia, what do you think will happen to those people if the emperor after your majesty wants to reform?"
Xia Yan sat opposite him drinking tea, and upon hearing this, he said casually, "Suppress it."
"What if I can't suppress it?"
"Boy, those people are more cruel than you can imagine. They are more cruel than ever since the Han and Tang Dynasties, and even before the Song Dynasty." Xia Yan said, "Why doesn't Your Majesty dare to go on tour again? Why did you retreat to the West Garden?"
"Regicide!"
"Yes, if you can't suppress it, then change the emperor!"
"What if a new emperor still wants to reform?"
"Then...change the dynasty!"
Jiang Qingzhi closed his eyes, as if he saw those people laughing wildly.
Was the death of Emperor Longqing, also known as Prince Yu, really caused by his lust?
There are many people who are more lustful than Prince Yu, such as those powerful people who indulge in wine and women all day long and never exercise, but it is not uncommon for them to live to their sixties or seventies.
Jiang Qingzhi felt that there was a fog before his eyes, blocking his view of the historical truth.
"Tomorrow's debate may be the beginning of all this."
……
In the early morning of the next day, Jiang Qingzhi fell asleep and passed out.
"Husband, husband!"
"Ah!" Jiang Qingzhi opened his eyes. He was in a very good state last night, but it lasted too long, resulting in a deep sleep at this moment.
The young people’s recovery ability is so strong that Jiang Qingzhi is ready to make some moves again.
He put his arm around his wife's waist, and Li Tian sat up, "Husband, we are going to Yinshan Academy today!"
That's it!
Jiang Qingzhi stretched out as he lay down, "From now on, the emperor will not hold court early in the morning."
"It's treasonous!" Li Tian gathered her long hair and got out of bed to put on her makeup. "Oh, by the way, Dad said he wanted to go today, so big brother is going too."
"Just go!" Jiang Qingzhi closed his eyes and felt full of energy.
"The wife of Duke Chengguo invited me to go with her." Li Tian said.
"It's good to have someone to look after you."
At this moment, the beautiful woman was also dressing up. The old playboy had been drinking with a group of people until midnight last night and was still sleeping.
"Husband."
"Husband!"
Zhu Xizhong hummed.
"Many people said they would go to watch the fun today."
"Ok!"
"I've also heard of Ma Qian's name. He's very sharp. How's Qingzhi doing?"
"I do not know either."
"You didn't ask?"
"I asked, but the boy always said nothing, nothing..."
"I hope nothing happens."
……
Only then did the Taoist priest finish dealing with the memorial, and Yan Song and others took their leave.
The Taoist walked out of the hall and performed some boxing skills.
Huang Jin was waiting on the side, and a eunuch came up and whispered, "Many people have already gone to Yinshan Academy."
"understood."
After the Taoist finished his boxing, Huang Jin handed him a towel and said, "Your Majesty's boxing skills frighten me."
"This is for health preservation." Daoye took the cloth and wiped the sweat off his face. "Go ahead!"
Huang Jin said: "Many people went to Yinshan Academy."
"It's been twenty-eight years." The Taoist looked at the morning light in the sky, "Those people want to see if I have learned to bow my head and endure in the past twenty-eight years..."
Huang Jin also sighed when thinking about the difficulties Taoist Master had gone through over the years.
"But they all underestimated me." Emperor Jiajing threw the towel to Huang Jin and looked to the east with his hands behind his back.
An arc-shaped sun appeared on the horizon, the purple was dispelled and the red light became vast.
"Prepare the car!"
"Your Majesty!" Huang Jin was stunned, "You are..."
"How can I not go to today's grand event?"
"You haven't eaten yet."
"Take some of the toast we confiscated last time to eat on the road."
"Yes."
……
Jiang Qingzhi has already gone out.
Today, the couple went to Yinshan Academy, so they left a few guards at home and everyone else went out.
"Hey! The sun is about to come out, why is it cloudy already?" said Sun Chonglou.
Under the gloomy sky, Jiang Qingzhi and his wife came out of the alley, where Li Tian would be waiting for Lady Chengguo.
Jiang Qingzhi gave her a few instructions and was then surrounded and left.
"Qingzhi!"
Jiang Qingzhi turned around and saw that it was Xia Yan who was riding a horse after him.
"Mr. Xia!"
The two smiled at each other.
"Qingzhi!"
The old dude is here. He even displayed the ceremonial guard of honor of a duke today. It was quite extravagant.
"Teacher!" The young man was very sleepy and Zhou Xia arrived a step late.
"Long Wilbur!"
Xianzhang Hou Du He is here.
Xiao Zhuo also took a leave of absence to come and cheer.
There were not many people, but Jiang Qingzhi felt as if there were thousands of troops behind him.
Yinshan Academy is located in the south of the city, with a temple next to it. Confucianism and Buddhism are neighbors, and the environment is surprisingly harmonious.
Outside the gate, Wang Qi saw Jiang Qing and greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Master. The headmaster has been waiting for you for a long time."
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, dismounted and went in.
The lobby outside Yinshan Academy was now full of people, with some young people standing in the back.
"There were too many people. The headmaster said it was a rare event, so he had several rows of houses demolished overnight." Wang Qi said with a smile.
There were about two hundred people at the scene, and there was still room to spare.
Li Chang and the dozen or so great scholars were talking in low voices. Wang Qi walked over, leaned over and said, "Shanzhang, Jiang Qingzhi is here."
In an instant, more than a dozen sharp eyes locked onto Jiang Qingzhi.
Liang Shu was helping Ma Qian today. He stood up, saluted, and said loudly, "Why is there no one behind Lord Chang Wei?"
This is a mockery of Jiang Qingzhi having no one to help him, and further implies that the path you, Jiang Qingzhi, are taking is a dead end!
Jiang Qingzhi looked back at Xia Yan and others, and just as he was about to fight back, he saw a student running in like the wind.
"Your Majesty is here!"
……
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(End of this chapter)
