Chapter 378: Unity of Knowledge and Action
Xiyuan.
Starting from yesterday, Emperor Jiajing replaced his daily practice with praying for blessings.
He also temporarily modified his daily schedule to sleep at night and work during the day.
"There is a lot of snow in the palace, and snow is being cleared everywhere. Concubine Jing said that after one sweep, it will be necessary to do it again soon, so they simply changed it to once a day. As long as there is a path to walk on, it's fine."
Huang Jin reported.
Emperor Jiajing nodded and said, "The palace will be left to her."
"The Queen also told His Majesty to take care of his health..."
Emperor Jiajing frowned, "I know."
Zhang Tong came in, "Your Majesty, someone is coming from Chang Wei Bo's place."
It was Sun Bu Tong who came. He bowed after entering the palace and said, "Your Majesty, Chang Wei Bo said that the two most important things right now are food and clothes. Hunger and cold are the biggest crises. Chang Wei Bo said that there should be a lot of discarded clothes in the palace. It would be a pity to throw them away. We can move them all out and give them to the victims."
"Yes!" Emperor Jiajing nodded.
"Your Majesty," someone came to report, "The two princes said that the money and grain collected was too little."
Emperor Jiajing said coldly: "Those two fools don't know the human heart. At this moment, let alone them, even if I come forward, I can't raise money and grain."
Huang Jin smiled bitterly, "Who will donate money and food at this time? Will others donate? Not donating is cold-blooded, and donating is heartbreaking for your family."
"This is the human heart!" The Taoist looked at Zhang Tong, whose eyes were clear. "Qingzhi said he wanted to teach them a lesson. Well, I will cooperate with him."
Then a eunuch went to find the two princes and brought the Taoist's instructions.
"His Majesty has said that the two princes must collect 10,000 strings of cash and 1,000 shi of grain before today."
"Ah!" The Prince Yu and his companion, who had been full of confidence, were dumbfounded.
"What should we do?" asked Prince Yu.
"I do not know either."
The two princes looked at each other, and Prince Yu asked, "You should have quite a few, right?"
King Jing had a favorite concubine as his mother. He had lived a very wealthy life since childhood and had accumulated a considerable fortune.
"Don't you understand yet?" King Jing sighed, "This is the homework our uncle gave us, and our father is cooperating with him. If we pay for it ourselves... is it still a homework?"
Prince Yu covered his forehead and said, "Headache."
"The only way is to raise funds," King Jing said.
"But how can we make those people willing to take action?" asked Prince Yu.
"This matter..."
The two then split up and went to seek donations from powerful people they knew.
More than an hour later, the two got together again.
"How much did you get?"
"And you!"
The combined wealth of the two was no more than a thousand strings of cash, and even less in terms of grain.
There is not much time left to complete the task.
Prince Yu sat on the steps and suddenly said calmly, "The homework my cousin gave me is not fundraising."
"What is that?" asked King Jing.
"It's the human heart!" Prince Yu said, "My cousin once said that there is no other way to use troops, but to understand the human heart. Everything is actually like this. My cousin wants to use this to let us see the human heart..."
King Jing looked at his brother with complicated eyes, "I now know why those people are unwilling to donate."
"Why?" Prince Yu suppressed his thoughts.
He was used to the way of survival of an insignificant person and was used to not competing with others.
Even if this person is your brother.
"I went to the Lu family, and according to reason, the Lu family should have helped me with all their might, but strangely, my uncle only gave me 300 strings of cash. I was secretly angry before, but now I think that my uncle had no choice but to do so."
King Jing said sarcastically, "If the Lu family opens the warehouse, not to mention 10,000 strings of cash, there will be 30,000 strings of cash. But if so, the Lu family will become the only one standing out. Will those powerful people follow suit? If they do, they will feel bad. If they don't, they will be ridiculed and become notorious... and if things go wrong, they may even be impeached. Tell me, does the Lu family dare to take the lead?"
"This is the human heart!" Prince Yu sighed.
"So……"
The two looked at each other.
"My cousin once said that everything depends on profit."
"By offering benefits!"
"it is good!"
"How to do it specifically..."
"I have an idea here."
The two princes will come to see you later.
"what?"
Separated by a door, the Taoist's heart almost collapsed.
"As long as the donation reaches 100 guan, the two of us will write a letter to the charity to donate it. If the donation reaches 1,000 guan, the emperor will write a letter..."
The Taoist was silent for a moment, "By tempting him with benefits?"
"Yes." Prince Yu said, "Only in this way can those people dare to donate. As long as someone takes the lead, there is no need for us to do anything later..."
King Jing said: "As long as we start, it will be difficult for those families not to donate."
"They will feel ashamed and afraid of being stabbed in the back."
"Father, you can order the censor to take one or two families and impeach them."
"If we do this, we will be able to raise enough money and food in less than two days."
After the two princes finished speaking, they waited anxiously for the decision of Emperor Jiajing inside the door.
After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Jiajing said, "One hundred and one thousand strings of cash are both too low. So, for those who donate 500 strings of cash, you two can write a letter to give it to them. As for me... Huang Ban."
"His Majesty."
"Take out ten beads from my prayer offering this time. Anyone who donates ten thousand strings of cash will be rewarded with one."
"Yes."
"Father, isn't 10,000 strings of cash too much?" King Jing said, "I'm just worried that there won't be enough..."
"Are you worried that I will lose face?" Emperor Jiajing smiled, "Go ahead!"
"Yes."
The two princes left the palace muttering to themselves, and soon news arrived.
"The ten beads were taken away in an instant." One hundred thousand strings of money were piled outside the gate of Xiyuan. Under the gray sky, the copper coins were dull and seemed to be mocking the world.
"Your Majesty said that this is not a bead." Zhang Tong brought the Taoist's puzzle to Prince Yu and the other two.
The two princes had been busy for most of the day and were starving, but at this moment they had no appetite at all.
"That is indeed not a bead." King Jing smiled bitterly and said, "That is the emperor's kindness and favor."
"Those people must be laughing, saying that they can buy the emperor's goodwill and favor with just 10,000 coins, which is really a great bargain." Prince Yu picked up a string of copper coins and asked, "But why can they turn a blind eye to the suffering of the victims?"
"My two princes." Sun Bu Tong came, "My Lord invites you to help with the disaster relief."
Outside the city, Jiang Qingzhi was talking to Xia Yan in a long tent.
"The officials in the court are fighting for money and food, but they have forgotten the hungry victims. The officials seem to be fighting for the country and the people, but deep down they are still fighting for their own interests. Qingzhi, I am tired."
This was the first time Xia Yan called himself an old man.
The cold wind blew the old man's mottled long hair. He said painfully: "Is this the way an official should be? When I think back to my past... it was the same. I was proud to be reinstated twice and rule the country, but it turned out to be just a joke... It was just for my own selfish reasons."
"Everyone has selfish desires." Jiang Qingzhi tried to persuade him feebly, "I am the same."
But what a proud person Xia Yan is!
He said, "Qingzhi, wait a moment."
"Okay!" Jiang Qingzhi didn't know what the old man was going to do. It happened that the two princes were out of the city, and he also needed to make up this lesson for them.
"Tell me what you think." Jiang Qingzhi had someone get some dry food, and he ate some biscuits with warm water. The two princes looked at each other, and Prince Yu said, "Only in times of great disaster can one see the human heart. Human hearts are selfish and greedy. When people have more than they need, they forget about the world. This trend should not be allowed to continue..."
"Old Four!" Jiang Qingzhi swallowed the pancake.
King Jing said: "Those hypocritical people in the past are silent at this time of disaster, or they shout at the Ministry of Revenue but don't give a penny themselves."
"Let's get to the point!" Jiang Qingzhi took a sip of warm water.
"Family comes first, country comes first." King Jing whispered, "I went to my uncle's house to collect donations, and my uncle gave me 300 strings of cash. Now I think my uncle is quite kind."
Prince Yu picked up a piece of cake and took a bite. The food that he used to disdain now tasted delicious to him. He swallowed the food and said, "Between the overall situation and personal gain, most people choose personal gain."
"Well, this lesson still has the same topic. How should those in power solve this situation?" Jiang Qingzhi pondered.
Prince Yu glanced at Prince Jing, who said, "We should lure him with benefits."
"Stone." Jiang Qingzhi was choked. Sun Chonglou slapped him on the back, almost making his young master vomit blood.
Prince Yu glanced at Sun Chonglou's broad hand and thought that if he were hit by such a palm, he would probably die. "Take advantage of the situation."
Jiang Qingzhi stuffed the last piece of the biscuit into his mouth without commenting, "Let's go!"
"Uncle, who will come to provide disaster relief?" asked King Jing.
"I'll know right away."
Less than three miles ahead, a group of silent snowmen appeared in the snow.
Jiang Qingzhi reined in his horse. The man in front of the snowman moved and stepped forward to salute. "My Lord, the guards of Beijing have assembled. Please give us your instructions."
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "Due to this snowstorm, the people in the capital area suffered heavy losses. The officials in the court are still discussing how to provide disaster relief. Some people say that this matter has nothing to do with the military. Yes! There are few precedents."
This time, the Beijing Guards dispatched more than 5,000 people to assist in disaster relief. The white mist exhaled by thousands of people enveloped the sky, looking like clouds.
"Who is keeping you waiting?"
Jiang Qingzhi said: "It's the people!"
"The people support the warriors, and the warriors protect their homes. This is a contract, a contract that has been reached for thousands of years. Now that the people are suffering, what should we do?"
Jiang Qingzhi pointed to the distance and said, "We should rescue them and treat them as our own relatives, as our parents and brothers... This is the value of our existence as warriors."
"Your Majesty has given orders." Jiang Qingzhi said.
Swish!
The array moved.
Snow powder slid down.
"The people are safe, you are safe, and I am safe!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked at the soldiers and said, "His Majesty is watching you in the palace, and the hungry victims are eagerly waiting. Let's go!"
The array moved, and rows advanced one after another.
"My uncle is instilling souls into them!" Xu Wei quickly realized Jiang Qingzhi's intention.
"An army must have a soul." Jiang Qingzhi said, "An army without a soul is no better than a guard dog in peacetime. Once fighting breaks out, it will run faster than a rabbit."
"So, Master, you can use this opportunity to train the Beijing Guards?"
"This is just the beginning." Jiang Qingzhi said: "I will let the world see that it is not the Ming army that is weak, but those idiots are incompetent!"
……
"The Ministry of Revenue will provide another 1,000 dan of grain!"
In the court, officials were still arguing.
Emperor Jiajing watched coldly but did not urge him, which made Yan Song feel a sense of crisis.
"Everyone donates 30 strings of cash!" Yan Song started to levy levies.
"Prime Minister, I second the motion!"
"I second the proposal!"
One by one, the officials agreed with Yan Song's suggestion as if they had been pardoned.
Thirty strings of cash, a trip to a brothel costs more than that!
"What's the use of thirty strings of cash? Everyone is afraid of offending others, but I am not. I am willing to donate one hundred strings of cash!"
"I will donate eighty strings of cash!"
Some ministers in the court broke the unspoken rules and turned against the emperor.
"You all eat your fill, but hesitate when it comes to disaster relief. I am ashamed to be associated with you!" An official came out of the office and saluted, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to provide disaster relief!"
At this time, someone came to report, "Your Majesty, Duke Chengguo asked Your Majesty to donate 100,000 strings of cash, all of which will be used for disaster relief!"
That old dude!
Wang Yiqi's eyes couldn't help but feel warm when he looked at the ministers who were leaving the work place.
Someone came to report.
"Your Majesty, all the money and food have left the city. Chang Weibo and the two princes have already set out with the imperial guards. Chang Weibo said that he quite appreciates a saying of Xinxue."
The visitor glanced at all the officials.
“Knowledge and action come together!”
You guys have been chattering for a long time, and Chief Wilbur has already started providing disaster relief.
……
Please support me with monthly tickets! Brothers!
(End of this chapter)
