Chapter 494 Seeds and the Death of the Late Emperor
After finishing the enlightenment class, Zhang Juzheng actually felt relieved.
"How do you feel?" asked an old voice behind him.
"Like I just came out of the shower."
Zhang Juzheng said, turning around and seeing that it was Xia Yan, he bowed and said, "Greetings, Mr. Xia."
Xia Yan was dressed in plain clothes and smiled as he said, "Qingzhi never came back after leaving the city. People from the palace came several times. I had no choice but to come and look for him myself."
Jiang Qingzhi was holding a cigarette in his mouth, with a carriage behind him. He waved to the children, "Come on."
The children came over and Jiang Qingzhi said, "Line up."
There was chaos all of a sudden, Jiang Qingzhi shouted, "Line up according to height."
The children looked at each other, you pushed me and I stepped on you.
"Do you want to get rid of this poverty?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Some of the children understood, some seemed to understand only vaguely, but they were particularly sensitive to the word "poverty" and all nodded.
"Then, what you need is not only study, but also discipline, iron discipline!"
Jiang Qingzhi stood up straight. The children were stunned for a moment and then fell silent.
"Now line up according to your heights!" Jiang Qingzhi shouted.
Zhang Juzheng was shocked to find that the naughty children who had just disobeyed his orders were now as well-behaved as the children he had always dreamed of. They quickly lined up according to their height and stood in front of Jiang Qingzhi.
"Come one by one." Jiang Qingzhi waved his hand, and the first child came over. The servant handed Jiang Qingzhi a set of four treasures of the study.
"yours."
The child didn't dare to take it. Jiang Qingzhi frowned and said, "Take it and say it was given by me when you get home."
"Yes." The child took the four treasures of the study wrapped in cloth and looked at Jiang Qingzhi. There seemed to be something more in his bright eyes. He bowed vigorously, then turned and left.
The second child came up, took the cloth bag and bowed deeply.
Xia Yan was not far away and whispered, "Many years later, these children will still remember this moment. Qingzhi, what do you want?"
When it was Wang Er's son's turn, he looked quite funny holding the cloth bag because of his small stature. He staggered when he bowed and almost fell.
After he stood firm, he said loudly: "I have grown up, and I want to... repay my gratitude."
Jiang Qingzhi was stunned, "Who taught you?"
The child turned around and Jiang Qingzhi saw Wang Er, who smiled humbly at him.
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and patted the child on the shoulder, "Go!"
After the distribution, Zhang Juzheng stepped forward and asked, "Master, you spent most of the day and only taught these children to recognize more than ten words. Is it worth it?"
Jiang Qingzhi shook his sore hands and said, "The future of the Ming Dynasty lies in the children."
"What Master Bo means is that the ideas in the minds of these people are deeply rooted and difficult to change..."
"Yes, but it is not unchangeable."
"Oh! I would like to ask for your advice..."
"There are many ways to do this, but in the end it all comes down to one sentence: inducement with benefits."
"Use profit to drive them."
"Correct."
"But... I think we should use our authority."
You have used authority in history, even on the emperor, suppressing him and causing him great pain, but you also brought disaster upon yourself.
"Everything that authority brings will eventually disappear when people leave."
"When a man dies, his government dies."
“Did Wang Anshi use authoritarianism in his new policies?”
"Yes."
"After Wang Anshi stepped down in disgrace, what about the new policies he implemented?"
“All of them were abolished by the old party.”
"Then how can the authority you believe in avoid the demise of the regime?"
Zhang Juzheng fell into deep thought.
Jiang Qingzhi walked up to Xia Yan and asked, "Why are you here?"
"Several groups of people came to the palace to look for you." Xia Yan smiled slyly, "I said you had something urgent to do, so you'll probably be back in the afternoon."
"But what did they say?" Jiang Qingzhi thought, could it be that the Yanqi had made some new discoveries?
"I didn't ask." Xia Yan said, "Are you teaching these children in order to recruit them into the Mohist school?"
"Of course." At first Jiang Qingzhi just thought about it on a whim, but as he was teaching, he suddenly thought of the pitiful situation of the few kittens in the Mo family, and he wanted to take in these children.
"Don't bring too many people." Xia Yan said softly, "When that child said he wanted to repay his gratitude, I was shocked. A hundred people would be fine. But if there were more than a thousand or ten thousand people..."
That means he has ulterior motives.
"I need a group of... how should I put it! I need a group of people who have studied Mohist knowledge since childhood. They can take the revival of the Ming Dynasty as their responsibility and follow the Mohist principles..."
"Is there any difference between what you say and Confucianism?" Xia Yan asked sharply.
"No, there is a difference."
"What's the difference?"
"Confucianism is inward-looking, Mohism is outward-looking!" Jiang Qingzhi pointed to the distance, "I will teach them the ways of civil and martial arts from a young age, and teach them to go beyond the Central Plains and look at the world."
"The way of civil and martial arts!" Xia Yan's eyes were full of brilliance. "Others don't know how well you can teach your disciples, but I know it all. You didn't do your best when you taught the prince.
If you can teach these children wholeheartedly... in ten or twenty years, these children will surely become famous.
More than a hundred young heroes with rising fame are willing to die for you. Qingzhi... aren't you worried that you won't be able to control yourself when the time comes?"
"No!" Jiang Qingzhi said firmly, "Here." He pointed to his head, "I have no interest in emperors and generals. If it weren't for chance, Lord Xia, I would rather be a small rich man in the south, doing nothing every day, taking slaves to the streets to bully men and women. This is what I want to do most."
He added in his mind: When the country is full and the mission is accomplished, I will just lie down. I will take my wife and children to wander around and look for beautiful places. Or I will hang out with a few good friends, drink and sing...
This is life!
...Wang Er took the child home. The child took out the four treasures of the study as if they were treasures, and proudly recited the characters he had learned that day.
The wife was surprised and asked, "It turned out that it was taught by the uncle himself?"
The child nodded vigorously.
Wang Er took out half a steamed bun, which he had secretly hidden. Many workers did the same thing, and the manager turned a blind eye when he saw it.
"Stealing things again!" said the wife angrily.
"They said that the uncle knew about it, and the stewards even secretly told us that we just need to take less."
The wife was silent for a moment, "Uncle...great favor!"
Wang Er nodded, "Da Lang."
"Dad!" The child looked up while playing with the brush.
"Your Majesty!"
The child was confused and the wife was stunned, "Husband..."
"That's the direction of the Bo's Mansion. Bow down!"
The child kowtowed.
Wang Er said solemnly: "I swear."
The child looked up blankly.
"I will die for you in this life!"
The child said, "Would you like to..."
"it's me!"
"I...I will die for you in this life!"
……
In the West Garden, a eunuch was anxiously waiting outside the gate. When he saw Jiang Qingzhi, he hurried over to him and said, "My dear uncle! We have been looking for you for a long time."
"What's so urgent?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
The eunuch mounted his horse and rode in with him, "We don't know, but your Majesty looks a little frightening, and even Eunuch Huang doesn't dare to speak."
Jiang Qingzhi arrived at Yongshou Palace in complete confusion.
The ritual has ended, but the Taoist priest is still wearing his Taoist robe, with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance.
Huang Jin winked at Jiang Qingzhi, indicating that the Taoist priest was in a very bad mood and he should be careful.
Mr. Huang is so nice!
Jiang Qingzhi returned a look of appreciation, but when he looked up he saw the Taoist's pair of cold eyes.
If it were someone else, such as Lu Bing, his heart would certainly tighten, but Jiang Qingzhi saluted calmly, "Your Majesty."
"Who would commit murder against women and children?" asked Emperor Jiajing.
This question is inexplicable... Jiang Qingzhi said: "Either he is mad or he has a deep hatred."
"Those remnants of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty...what deep hatred do they have against me? It is only natural that their country is destroyed and their families are ruined. Besides, most of them have fled to the grasslands."
There was a chill between Emperor Jiajing's brows. "I had Wang Fa tortured. Wang Fa did not confess, but laughed crazily and said that it was worth it to die with several princes in this life."
Several princes... Jiang Qingzhi thought of the children of Daoye who died young, "Could it be related to them?"
Yes, the imperial palace is the best place in the world, but several of Emperor Jiajing’s sons died young, and there was something fishy about this matter.
"It must be them." Yan San came at some point, "Your Majesty."
"Have you found out?" asked the Taoist priest.
Yan San nodded, "Just over a year before your Majesty had his first child, a cook died."
The fact that Daoye had no children at the time triggered a political crisis. Some people even suggested that he should learn from Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty and bring a royal family child into the palace to raise as a precaution.
More than a year after the cook died, someone in the Taoist's harem gave birth to a child.
What the hell!
Jiang Qing subconsciously looked around.
"The people here have clean backgrounds." Taoist said lightly.
"Before he died, Wang Fa laughed wildly. He said proudly that when the previous emperor fell into the water, a guard jumped into the water to rescue him, but the guard disappeared in the end..."
"There's someone in the water!" Jiang Qingzhi said almost subconsciously.
Yan San nodded, "That's right."
Emperor Jiajing narrowed his eyes and said, "I heard that the late emperor was frightened after he fell into the water. What in the water could frighten the healthy late emperor?"
Emperor Zhengde was not a weak emperor. Although he was not proficient in riding and fighting, he was better than ordinary people and was also very brave.
But even such a brave and strong emperor was frightened to the point of peeing after soaking in the water for a while...
"Someone is dragging me in the water!" Jiang Qingzhi looked up suddenly. He thought of the story he had heard in his previous life. "Some people say that if someone falls into the water and dies, their soul will not disperse after death. They will wait in the water for someone to enter. Once they find someone entering the water, they will drag him by the legs and not let go."
Huang Jin felt goosebumps all over his body, "It's a water ghost!"
"No." Daoye shook his head, "It's a human!"
……
When Jiang Qingzhi returned home, he lay on the recliner in a daze.
"Husband." Seeing that something was wrong with him, Li Tian quickly asked someone to call for the imperial physician.
"I'm fine." Jiang Qingzhi called her and Li Tian held his hand. "But your Majesty..."
Jiang Qingzhi looked at her and said seriously, "There will be some trouble in the future, so please keep a close eye on the food at home. Also, I know you've always been worried that I'll become some kind of powerful official."
Jiang Qingzhi held his wife's hand and said, "I would rather be a commoner than an emperor in this life."
"Yes!" Li Tian looked at him gently, "I understand."
“I have added a goal in my life.”
"What goal?"
"We must teach those aliens how to sing and dance!"
(End of this chapter)
