Chapter 72 Reincarnation
Jiang Qingzhi had two study rooms. Apart from himself, only Sun Chonglou could enter the inner study room.
The outer study was where he received close guests.
Ever since Xia Yan entered the outer study, Fu Cheng has been staring at him intentionally or unintentionally.
Sun Chonglou leaned against the door, dozing off listlessly.
Fu Cheng frowned, went over and slapped him to wake him up, "Get out of the way!"
Young people are prone to sleepiness. Sun Chonglou yawned, sat down, and fell asleep leaning against the wall.
Fu Cheng personally guarded the gate, which surprised the servants.
"……Appreciate further details."
Xia Yan said.
The Prime Minister also has to consult our uncle, right?
Fu Cheng smiled proudly.
He had spent the first half of his life in agony in the cannibalistic place in the palace, and had planned to spend the second half of his life freely, but he never expected to meet the foolish Sun Chonglou.
Then just have multiple sons!
Fucheng raised this beggar as his own son, but he never expected that it would bring about earth-shaking changes in the rest of his life.
At first he was unwilling to follow Jiang Qingzhi and would rather hang out with Sun Chonglou in Suzhou Prefecture.
But Sun Chonglou was reluctant to leave his young master, so Fu Cheng had no choice but to follow him to the capital again.
He felt that his future days would be spent in wealth and luxury.
But he had seen many people in the palace who rose quickly and fell suddenly.
Today you see him building a tall building to entertain guests, but tomorrow the guests will leave and the building will collapse.
Therefore, Fucheng was always worried... It was easy for him to deal with it alone, but Sun Chonglou, this simple-minded man, was loyal to Jiang Qingzhi. If Jiang Qingzhi encountered a disaster, Fucheng dared to bet that Sun Chonglou would accompany his young master to death without hesitation.
Ok!
We admit it.
When Jiang Qingzhi and Yan Song and others became enemies, Fucheng was worried that the Bo Mansion would become cannon fodder in the struggle between the emperor and his ministers.
That’s Yan Song!
Together with Lu Bing and Cui Yuan, who in the current dynasty dares to challenge them?
But Jiang Qingzhi not only challenged him, but also made it clear where he stood.
When the news of Xia Yan's release from prison came, Fu Cheng's eyes turned red. After asking for permission from Jiang Qing, he rewarded each of the servants in his house with 200 coins.
This was like adding insult to injury for the already poor Jiang family.
But Fucheng's smile has never faded since then.
Now, even Xia Yan had to interact with the uncle on an equal footing, which made Fu Cheng even happier.
"Look at the dynasties throughout history. They were often invincible at the beginning of their founding. In the middle period, they could barely hold on, but the signs of war were already showing everywhere."
Jiang Qingzhi said: "In the early days of the dynasty, even in the Former Song Dynasty, even though Emperor Taizong was defeated at Gaoliang River, the Former Song Dynasty was still able to stop the Northern Liao and stabilize the country."
The Former Song Dynasty can be said to be the most decadent dynasty in the Central Plains.
"In the middle period of the Early Song Dynasty, Northern Liao and Jiaozhi did not seem to pose much threat to the Central Plains. Does Mr. Xia agree with this view?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Xia Yan nodded.
That was the best period for the external environment in Central Plains.
"But people with insight found that the Song Dynasty was in chaos. Shenzong discovered this crisis, so he and Wang Anshi, who was also worried, hit it off and launched a new policy."
"This is the former Song's self-rescue."
Jiang Qingzhi spread his hands, "But what was the result? After the failure of the new policy, no matter how Sima Guang clamored, in fact, the outcome of the fall of the former Song Dynasty was irreversible."
"It started to decline in the middle period. Then, it irreversibly went to extinction."
Jiang Qingzhi looked at Xia Yan, "Did the Former Han Dynasty fall to foreign enemies?"
Xia Yan was silent.
"Uncle, the Former Han Dynasty was destroyed by me." Zhu Zaigui said excitedly.
"Yes, what about Qian Tang?"
"An Lushan's rebellion shook the Former Tang dynasty, and he also brought about his own downfall."
"The Former Song Dynasty also perished at the hands of itself. So, can we draw a conclusion?" Jiang Qingzhi wrote a line on a piece of paper and showed it to the two students.
——Self-destruction!
Zhu Zaigui's excitement slowly dissipated.
He thought of something.
Let yourself feel a little dazed.
I was also a little uneasy.
King Jing hesitated again and again, "Uncle, this matter cannot be mentioned again."
"Are you scared?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled. "I'm selfless, so why should I be afraid of a ghost knocking on my door?"
A strange light flashed in Xia Yan's eyes, and he thought, this young man actually has my arrogance, how interesting.
"What time is the Ming Dynasty now?" Jiang Qingzhi suddenly raised his voice, "It is the time of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the middle of the dynasty."
"Internal conflicts are getting more and more intense. The entire Ming Dynasty seems to be sitting on the edge of a volcano. The officials in the court are busy fighting for power and profit. The scholars are content with enjoying themselves and only want to plan for their own benefits... Who is worried about this Ming Dynasty?"
Jiang Qingzhi asked.
"nobody!"
If you can work harder, I'm talking about you, Zhu Zaigui.
He could not walk when he saw a beautiful woman and was obsessed with her, which led to his early death and the Longqing Restoration came to an abrupt end.
After jumping out of the narrow well, Xia Yan was horrified to find that he had made so many mistakes in the past.
"An Da made the Ming Dynasty helpless. The nine borders frequently issued warnings, but they could only hold on..."
The more Xia Yan thought about it, the more he felt that he was incompetent as the Prime Minister. "The Japanese pirates are rampant in the southeast. Given time, they will definitely shake the financial center of the south. The most terrible thing is..."
He looked at Jiang Qingzhi, wanting to see whether this young man, whom he admired more and more, had discovered the most dangerous crisis of the Ming Dynasty.
Jiang Qingzhi took out a copper coin and threw it on the table.
Get up and walk out.
The two princes looked at him blankly.
Looking at Xia Yan who was walking over, he also threw a copper coin on the table.
Xia Yan walked to Jiang Qingzhi's side and stood side by side.
"tax!"
"tax!"
Jiang Qingzhi took out his cigarette and wished he could beat those idiots to death.
"The court is so poor that even rats won't come to visit, while the literati and gentry who are the backbone of the Ming Dynasty are extremely wealthy. Moreover, they don't even pay taxes."
"Human desires are endless, Lord Xia. Those scholars and officials are clinging to the Ming Dynasty and sucking its blood like crazy. When the blood of the Ming Dynasty is sucked dry, it will inevitably be unable to deal with foreign enemies."
Xia Yan looked at him, "The biggest difficulty when Zeng Xu proposed to resume the plan was military expenses."
"I don't know, but I know that Ming Dynasty is poor."
Jiang Qingzhi lit the medicinal incense, took a deep breath, and let the cool feeling flow through his lungs.
"Mr. Xia only saw the financial crisis, but failed to see the crisis beneath the crisis." "Qingzhi, please speak." Unconsciously, Xia Yan's attitude towards Jiang Qingzhi changed.
Sure enough, this old man was also impressed by the Lord... Fucheng didn't have any feelings for family, country or the world, he just wanted the Lord's family to be rich and prosperous forever.
"When the blood of the court is sucked dry by those blood-sucking worms, will they stop?"
Xia Yan shook his head, "No."
“So who will they turn their attention to?”
Xia Yan narrowed his eyes and his pupils shrank.
"You mean..."
"They would thrust their bloody mouths toward the people and suck the food like crazy."
"Not really! Many people still have integrity." Xia Yan was also a scholar-official. Although the old man was not poor, he did have integrity, otherwise why would Yan Song and others have gone to such great lengths to find evidence to hold him accountable and frame him.
"You overestimated them." Jiang Qingzhi said, "Who doesn't know that the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the early Han Dynasty was a natural disaster? If the scholars and officials at that time had some integrity and worked together to provide disaster relief, then without the Yellow Turban Rebellion that swept across the Han Dynasty, how long could the Han Dynasty have lasted?"
Xia Yan wanted to say something but stopped.
"During the pre-Tang Dynasty, everyone knew that An Lushan had evil intentions, but who cared?"
"During the pre-Song Dynasty, everyone knew that if the Song Dynasty declined, the foreign tribes on the grassland would move south in large numbers, and no one would be left alive. But who among those people would be willing to treat the people well?"
"Are the literati and officials of the former Han, Tang, and Song dynasties inferior to those of the Ming Dynasty?" Jiang Qingzhi asked seriously.
"The scholars and officials of the pre-Han and pre-Tang dynasties were proud of their military achievements and were both civil and military. The scholars and officials of the pre-Song dynasty were proud of the Great Song dynasty... The scholars and officials of the Great Ming dynasty were far inferior to them."
The old man was too proud to argue.
"Then, the Ming Dynasty is currently in crisis. If we cannot recover, within a hundred years, something unbearable will happen."
"But history is full of history, and the scholars of today will eventually learn from history. The lessons of the past cannot be repeated!"
Xia Yan said seriously.
"I have something to say."
"I, listen."
The discussion between the two gradually became serious. When the topic extended to this extent, the two princes were frightened, but they were reluctant to leave.
Under the gaze of the three people and Fu Cheng, Jiang Qingzhi shook off the ashes from his cigarette and said:
“The only lesson mankind has learned from history is that mankind learns nothing from history.”
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "get out of class dismissed!"
……
To be honest, it was a temporary decision made by Emperor Jiajing to let Xia Yan serve as Prince Yu's husband.
At that time, he was feeling elated over the pleasure of revenge, thinking that Xia Yan, who was so arrogant and unyielding, was now the teacher of my most useless son.
The Mongol emperors loved to defeat their opponents, enslave their children and grandchildren, and sleep with their women.
This is what happened when Emperor Jiajing appointed Xia Yan as Prince Yu's teacher.
But after getting up today, Emperor Jiajing found something wrong.
What if Xia Yan teaches my third child the wrong way?
Although Emperor Jiajing was ruthless to his subjects, he was a truly loving father to his own children.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have endured the torment of loneliness and refused to see her children.
Without even having time to eat breakfast, Emperor Jiajing ordered, "Go check on the third brother."
When he arrived at Prince Yu's place, Huang Jin ordered that he could not report it.
"Where is Xia Yan?"
"Mr. Xia just came back and is in the duty room."
Huang Jin waved his hand and Emperor Jiajing walked over slowly.
Old Xia, please don't let me down, otherwise...
In the duty room, one could hear the sound of someone pacing, faster and faster.
"I know that the Ming Dynasty is in crisis everywhere, but Qingzhi said that the current scholars and officials will repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty and watch the Ming Dynasty decline..."
“But that made me sad.”
Xia Yan said quietly: "The only lesson mankind has learned from history is that mankind cannot learn any lessons from history. It always repeats itself, just like reincarnation again and again."
Ah!
Emperor Jiajing frowned.
When has our Ming Dynasty ever reached such a situation?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so he turned and left.
"Let Qingzhi come to see me."
What is house arrest? There are no rules in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing.
Jiang Qingzhi had just hit Xia Yan with a club and was happily enjoying sour plum soup at home. He entered the palace unwillingly upon hearing the news.
"You said that the Ming Dynasty is in crisis. What crisis do you mean?"
Jiang Qingzhi was stunned and wondered who had conveyed these words to the ears of Emperor Jiajing?
Among the four people present, Fucheng cannot be the one, so who is it between Prince Jing and Prince Yu?
He sighed, "Your Majesty, I have learned that the number of deserters from the garrisons and farmers is increasing day by day... The grassland Altan is pressing forward step by step, while the soldiers of the nine frontiers are only shrinking in the city and trembling. Forgive me for being frank. If this is not a crisis, what is it?"
He looked at Emperor Jiajing and said, "I will not mention the crisis in the country."
Are you still playing tricks on me?
Emperor Jiajing was amused. "That sentence... the only lesson mankind has learned from history is that mankind cannot learn any lessons from history. Why?"
The conceited emperor looked at his cousin, as if he couldn't answer, so he picked up his taste.
This is a good opportunity to sound a wake-up call to Emperor Jiajing.
Guozuo, here I come...
Jiang Qingzhi spoke.
"Merchants are profit-driven. As long as there is enough profit, they dare to sell the rope to hang themselves."
“Merchants are vulgar!”
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, there are quite a few scholar-official families who are engaged in business."
Jiang Qingzhi said in a deep voice: "In the pre-Song Dynasty, who was it that was willing to lose the country and crazily suck the blood of the people, so that during the reign of Emperor Huizong, wars broke out everywhere? In the pre-Song Dynasty, who gave Emperor Huizong and his son to the Jin people?"
“It’s those scholars!”
Jiang Qingzhi said: "In the final analysis, it is desire. Most people cannot control their greed."
Huang Jin couldn't help but interfere in politics and spoke for his master, "But there are laws."
"Can the law restrain the literati? As far as I know, when the literati commit crimes, local officials always raise their hands high and slap them lightly. I am an example."
Jiang Qingzhi killed his cousin in the street, but was eventually only exiled to Taizhou Prefecture because he had the title of scholar.
"The scholars of the world are one family. Laws, including taxes, have long been unable to restrain them. They call this jumping out of the three realms and not being in the five elements."
"do not talk!"
Emperor Jiajing waved his hands violently, his face turning livid.
"I have one last thing to say." Jiang Qingzhi said directly, "All dynasties have been destroyed by internal forces, but who has learned the lesson? The Ming Dynasty has placed its hopes on these people. I... don't agree with it!"
Before Emperor Jiajing became furious, Jiang Qingzhi calmly took his leave.
……
Asking for votes.
(End of this chapter)
