Chapter 371 The turbulent times
Champion Marquis is a title.
As the majesty of the Han and Tang dynasties gradually faded, this title began to have a different meaning among the people and in the court.
When the emperor mentioned this title, it represented his enterprising spirit.
Emperor Jiajing confined himself to the Western Garden for many years. What ambition did he have? In the eyes of outsiders, it was good enough that the Taoist priest could maintain the current situation.
"After the purge of the Beijing guards, those people saw my determination and launched a counterattack." Emperor Jiajing looked thinner. He took a sip of wine and symbolically picked up a small piece of tofu to eat.
"Yan Song and his men fought back vigorously at the beginning, but it became increasingly difficult as time went on. They resorted to means to delay government affairs."
Emperor Jiajing took a sip of wine, and his thin cheeks flushed. "I originally thought that these people had a bottom line no matter what, but now it seems that their so-called bottom line is just that the time has not come yet."
Jiang Qingzhi swallowed a piece of bear paw and said, "Your Majesty, just think about Sima Guang of the former Song Dynasty and you will understand. In the eyes of these people, the country and the world are just their tools. If they need to, they dare to sell everything."
"Sima Guang is old, and the older he gets, the narrower his mind becomes, and the more confused he becomes. Gao Taotao let him take power as a gesture to win people's hearts. Who would have thought that Sima Guang was old and confused, and even wanted to return the recaptured city to the Tanguts."
Emperor Jiajing analyzed what Sima Guang did from the perspective of an emperor. Jiang Qingzhi was stunned. "Are you saying that Gao Taotao...appointed Sima Guang as a temporary measure?"
"All emperors dislike old people. Gao Taotao is not old enough to retire, so he naturally wouldn't like an old man to rule the country."
Seeing Jiang Qingzhi put down his chopsticks, Emperor Jiajing said softly, "Eat yours."
"Oh!" Jiang Qingzhi continued to eat, but he wanted to listen to the Taoist's analysis of the Northern Song Dynasty's reforms, which had great reference significance for the current situation in the Ming Dynasty.
"Please continue. I'm all ears." Jiang Qingzhi took a bite of the cold dish. Only emperors and certain dignitaries could eat vegetables at this time of year.
This is class, a differentiation that cannot be changed by human will.
If you want to say that the emperor eats bran and wild vegetables like the common people, that is unrealistic. Every human being has selfishness and material desires. Who would be willing to suffer when they can eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks?
Emperor Jiajing smiled, stroking his wine glass, and said in a gentle voice: "At that time, Wang Anshi's new policy encountered many counterattacks from the literati and officials, and it was already difficult to continue. What's more important is that the literati and officials in the world used this as an opportunity to unite and fight against the emperor. Qingzhi, facing such a situation, what can Gao Taotao, a woman in the deep palace, do?"
Jiang Qingzhi chewed his words, but before he spoke, Daoye sighed, "It sounds good to rule from behind the curtain, but without the support of ministers, the so-called ruling from behind the curtain is just a joke. If Gao Taotao continues to support Wang Anshi, it will inevitably lead to unspeakable things."
Jiang Qingzhi narrowed his eyes, "You mean, those scholars and officials will fight back and even undermine the emperor. No. More than 30 years after Wang Anshi's fall, the Former Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin people.
When the Jin army was approaching the city, those scholars and officials sent the emperor out of the city, only begging the Jin army to withdraw... They are so shameless, if Gao Taotao continues to support Wang Anshi, it may be bad..."
This was a consequence that Jiang Qingzhi had never thought of.
"Do you think the oath of the former Song emperors and the literati to rule the world together was false?" Emperor Jiajing said indifferently: "If Gao Taotao continues to support Wang Anshi's new policies, she will be driven out of office in no time. The remaining child emperor will be at a loss on the throne. Who will own the world at that time?"
"The scholar-officials." Jiang Qingzhi calculated what would happen next and felt a chill in his heart.
"Once a person's ambition is aroused, it is difficult to suppress it. From then on, the so-called emperor became a puppet of the literati. Until a powerful minister appeared... Do you remember the story of the Former Han Dynasty?"
Emperor Jiajing took a sip of his wine.
"Are you talking about Cao Cao?"
"Yes!" Emperor Jiajing nodded. "The reason why a powerful minister is a powerful minister is because the emperor is nothing more than a plaything in his eyes. Cao Cao did not usurp the throne, not because he did not have the intention, but because the public opinion was like that at that time and the timing was not right.
The Former Song Dynasty did not gain power by right. Emperor Taizu of Song bullied the orphans and widows of the Former Zhou Dynasty. This is retribution!"
But the Ming Dynasty was different.
"The Ming Dynasty was founded in a righteous way, unprecedented in history." Jiang Qingzhi thought about how Emperor Taizu started with a bowl and eventually built his empire, and he couldn't help but feel fascinated.
"So the new policy cannot be launched lightly." The Taoist said so much just for the following words, "But once it is launched, it cannot be stopped."
Jiang Qingzhi mused, "The previous Emperor Renzong of Song appointed Fan Zhongyan and others to launch a new policy, but it ended abruptly... This made the literati see the emperor's indecision and weakness. So when Emperor Shenzong launched a new policy again, those literati chose to resist without hesitation."
What if Renzong had been more resilient back then?
The situation back then and now...
Jiang Qingzhi thought of the Ming Dynasty at that moment.
The purge of the Beijing guards marked the beginning of Emperor Jiajing's stepping out of the cage of self-isolation.
The emperor is looking up at the world.
He was vaguely sending a message to the world: The Ming Dynasty is sick, and I am determined to reform it.
This signal triggered a backlash from the literati...the same thing happened in the early Song Dynasty.
Renzong was weak and shrank under the counterattack of the literati. Fan Zhongyan then stepped down sadly and was exiled to a place where he expressed his deep feelings through a poem "Yueyang Tower Inscription".
Shenzong was indecisive and ultimately lost both his political power and his people. Wang Anshi lost his beloved son and resigned in disgrace...
But today, Daoye told Jiang Qingzhi these words.
"I will not back down!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked up.
The Taoist looked calm, still as peaceful as usual.
But there was more spirit in those eyes.
After leaving Xiyuan, Jiang Qingzhi looked up at the snow flying all over the sky and said to Mo Zhan: "This is a turbulent era, and we should live up to our youth!"
Mo Zhan turned his gaze to the officials who were staring at Jiang Qingzhi, and said in a deep voice: "Wherever the Lord goes, I will go there!"
"Aren't you afraid of being attacked by everyone?" Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
The road he was going to take was difficult, not just the New Deal. He did not use his identity as a great Mohist scholar on a whim.
"If we want to completely change this damn cycle of order and chaos, we must change the Confucianism that has been hanging over the Central Plains for many years. What we need to do is to pull them down from the lofty clouds!"
This requires a doctrine to support it. Otherwise, if you remove Confucianism, what can you use to balance the world and govern the world? Without a programmatic doctrine, how can you let the prime ministers govern? What is the program for governing? In the end, it will become a chaos.
"I am willing to build a ladder for you, sir!" Sun Bu Tong came with a flattering look on his face.
"Is everything okay at home?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
"Everything is fine. It's just that last time Zhou Xia..."
Jiang Qingzhi stopped and listened. When Sun Bu Tong mentioned that Li Tian had ordered Sun Bu Tong to beat up the famous scholar from the southwest in public, he couldn't help laughing, "She is indeed my good wife!"
If it were any other woman, even if she was a beautiful lady in the home of an old dandy, at most she would be beaten and destroyed by her slaves.
But Li Tian was different. He and Jiang Qingzhi attacked directly as if they had telepathic communication... If you punch me, I will kick you again.
This is my wife!
Jiang Qingzhi was in a good mood.
"teacher!"
Zhou Xia was right in front, covered in snow.
"It's a good thing you didn't get angry on the spot." Jiang Qingzhi knew that it was a chain trap. No matter how Zhou Xia responded, the opponent had a corresponding big trap waiting for him.
"Fortunately, Master's wife took action." Zhou Xia was also quite grateful, "Otherwise, whether I took action or not, it would be wrong. It doesn't matter if I made a mistake, but it will damage Master's reputation."
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "My reputation is not so easy to be damaged."
He mounted his horse, pointed his whip at the two clerks on his right and said, "You can trust me. If I beat these two, the whole capital will know that Jiang Qingzhi is back. What reputation will be damaged? In an instant... I will be resurrected with full blood!"
He rode his horse over, and two petty officials who were obviously spies shouted and turned around and ran away.
"Hahahaha!"
Jiang Qingzhi laughed.
At this time, Zhu Xizhong's entourage came over and said, "Meet the Second Master. The Duke said that the family has prepared a huge amount of wine and food but has nowhere to go. The Second Master should prepare to burst his belly today!"
Jiang Qingzhi felt warm in his heart, "Tell Lao Zhu that it's snowing heavily and many people are starving. Give them the wine and food to accumulate some merit for my nephew!"
"Yes!" The attendant looked up at Jiang Qingzhi, hesitant to speak, "Second Master... I... Excuse me, they said that Second Master killed several thousand Japanese pirates in the south?"
Killing prisoners is a bad omen, this is the understanding of the Central Plains dynasties.
“Not thousands, but more than a thousand.”
The follower praised: "The Second Master is indeed the devil...I deserve to die!"
"No problem, I like the title of Demon King."
Jiang Qingzhi smiled.
"Oh, right." Jiang Qingzhi asked, "I heard that those people have been gathering in restaurants recently? Where?"
The attendant said, "It's just west of the city."
"lead the way!"
The attendant was stunned, "Is the Second Master going to mess things up?"
"Let's go and watch the fun." Jiang Qingzhi smiled, but in the eyes of his followers he looked particularly ferocious.
The name of Yunlai Restaurant is very tacky.
"It's really tacky!" Jiang Qingzhi said, pointing at the plaque with his whip.
This is the property of a certain scholar-official.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "This plaque is an eyesore."
Choking!
With the sound of swords being drawn, Mo Zhan jumped high and smashed the plaque into pieces with one blow.
Dozens of people were drinking and partying inside. A man sitting at the head of the table was talking, "…It has always been said that killing prisoners is unlucky, but Jiang Qingzhi went against the will of the world. This incident is well-known in history, and he cannot escape the notoriety of being bloodthirsty."
The weather was cold, the door was tightly closed, and seven or eight pots of smokeless charcoal, the so-called silver frost charcoal, were burning luxuriously in the lobby.
"Oh!"
The door was suddenly pushed open from outside.
An unusually burly young man came in with a knife and stepped sideways to meet him.
"How dare you!" the man shouted, then turned his eyes and looked at the man who walked in, and said in astonishment: "You..."
Accompanied by the wind and snow, Jiang Qingzhi was surrounded and walked in.
He looked at everyone slowly.
"I heard there are Japanese pirates and spies here, so I came to search for them. Come here!"
"Uncle!"
Dozens of soldiers rushed in.
Jiang Qingzhi pointed at these people and said, "Catch them!"
(End of this chapter)
