Talk about both ends.

Zheng Xin, a dignified counselor and political official, could not help but feel depressed on his way back to Beijing. He felt that his trip had been embarrassing, so he naturally tried his best to keep a low profile on his way back.

I tried my best not to stay in the towns along the way. When I stayed at the inn, I almost refused all visits from officials and gentry from all over the place, and did not give them any chance to express themselves. I often entered the city at night and saw no one except the inn officials.

The next morning, at dawn, we were on the road again.

But when they arrived near Kaifeng, they were destined to be unable to hide it no matter what. So when they were still several miles away from Kaifeng City, there was already a team coming out of the city to greet him, and they couldn't hide at all.

open.

It was even more unlikely that he was here to flatter him. The highest-ranking person among the group of people who greeted him was the retired former prime minister Wei Renpu, who was also his old leader. Several civilian prime ministers of the current dynasty were also present, including hundreds of people.

Among the officials, nine out of ten are qualified to go to court and discuss political matters with the officials.

This situation made Zheng Xin confused and deeply ashamed, but more importantly, he felt confused.

"Teacher, what do you mean by this? During this trip to Yangzhou, the students can be said to have been defeated and humiliated, and their face has been lost. You led all your colleagues to show off in triumph. Are you not mocking me?"

Wei Renpu stepped forward and held his hand and said: "What you did this time is clearly worthy of the title of father-in-law. Judging from the results, the Yangzhou incident ended up being unsatisfactory. How can you say that

Is it because the defeated army was humiliated? If you hadn't insisted on it, how could that Yangzhou dragon agree to pay such an astronomical figure of 25 million yuan in taxes?"

When Zheng Xin heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little more bitter. He didn't force the two five million yuan out of him. It was clearly the Black Heart Bear himself.

In fact, his trip to Yangzhou can be said to have achieved almost nothing, or even just added to the chaos.

How could he have the nerve to be greeted like this by Wei Renpu?

Just as he was about to refuse, he saw Wei Renpu holding his wrist so tightly that it hurt a little, and gave him a silent look, saying:

"This trip to Yangzhou, even if it is really a defeat, you are blameless. You said one thousand to ten thousand because Suning was in the same nest as the Yangzhou snake and rat, and Deng Sen wisely protected himself. What is even more hateful is the actions of the front secretary.

The elite directly under the imperial court actually secretly communicated with the thieves. As a civil servant, how can you personally kill the thieves with a sword when the local warriors refuse to do anything? Even if you can, how many can you kill with one person and one sword?

?”

Zheng Xin understood the meaning as soon as he heard this. Oh~, this is the end of the truth, and we have begun to shirk responsibility from each other.

It is certain that the imperial court lost face in this incident. In fact, when Zheng Xin thought about it, the responsibility on him could not be removed no matter how hard it was. It was just a matter of more or less. However, this was not a problem for Zheng Xin who was already determined to die.

It doesn't matter to him.

But it is obvious that Wei Renpu does not think so, and most likely the entire civil service system does not think so.

The only people who came to greet him this time were civil servants, and Wei Renpu, who had retired for many years and had already been unstable in court affairs, personally took the lead. So this matter most likely did not come from above, but came from the Kaifeng Civil Service Group's solo move.

By going to the court alone like this and exerting pressure on the officials, forcing them to hold their noses and send him to a position like a triumphant hero, then when the decision was made, the matter would naturally have to be decided on

Those warriors were on top.

Since the prestige of the new official family is not high, it is natural that Wu Fu will not be the only one who dares to persecute and even coerce the official family.

There is a lot of knowledge involved in how to report and characterize the same facts. For example, although repeated defeats and repeated defeats are about the same thing, the latter sounds much more tragic than the former.

of.

When the Prime Minister was serving as the imperial envoy to Yangzhou, he arrested a well-known local tycoon due to personal grudges and provoked a popular uprising; and when the Prime Minister turned into a ruthless official and whipped local powerful people, but ended up regretting that the military and the powerful had a nest of snakes and rats.

The explanations are naturally very different.

It's just that Zheng Xin is not a good official in the DPRK, so why do these civil servants dare to put on such a big show?

I couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Teacher, what big thing has happened in Beijing these days?"

When Wei Renpu heard this, he and several of his husbands grabbed him and whispered as they walked: "Since the news of your departure from Yangzhou came, Kaifeng has been really lively for more than a month."

"You may not be following, but the relationship between Dianqiansi and Yangzhou Jiao is much closer than we thought before. Previously, Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Kuangmei actively helped him sell his deposits and bonds within Dianqiansi.

, stocks, after the unblocking of Yangzhou, the enthusiasm of the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guards to buy suddenly rose. In just over half a month before you came back, the officers and soldiers of the Dianqian Division were stunned to buy from their own stocks.

A total of more than 4 million guan was raised from the military salary and sent to Yangzhou, and the officers and soldiers who had not yet retired were escorted on the ship."

Zheng Xin was even more shocked when he heard this: "Four million guan? Is this... is this crazy? This matter must be stopped. The Yizi Sect is now in conflict with the Jiangnan East Road soldiers under the title of Suning. Once it is given up,

If they join forces with the Dianqian Secretary again, I'm afraid that the land of Yangzhou will never be owned by the imperial court again!"

"Of course they want to stop it, but how can they stop it? Pan Mei excused herself to the officials by saying that this was the spontaneous choice of the lieutenants in the army and he couldn't control it. The officials were really tough this time. He even asked Cao Bin to

Became the commander of the bodyguard Ma Busi."

"Are we going to rebuild the Guards Department?"

Zheng Xin was shocked again when he heard this. Rebuilding the Guards Department was no small matter. In a sense, this was already a huge compromise between the officials and the military.

The history of the Guards Division is much longer than that of the Palace Division. When Guo Wei established the Hou Zhou Dynasty, he launched a coup through the power of the Guards Division. It is the oldest military force since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Chai Rong was to check and balance the talents of the Guards Division.

Supported the front secretary of the palace.

But there is a problem here, because the Guards Division is so old that his involvement with the Palace Front Division is too deep. For example, Zhao Kuangyin was actually a member of the Guards Division at the earliest, and his father was the defense envoy of the Guards Division.

.

The original intention of the officials was for Cao Bin to form a new army in addition to the Guards Division and the Dianqian Division to check and balance the Dianqian Division, just like Chai Rong.

And now that Cao Bin has been appointed as the commander of the Guards Department, the formation of the new army will naturally be much smoother, but in fact, the purity of such a new army is definitely higher than that of establishing a new army.

The army is much lower.

Of course, it's also much simpler.

"Then what?"

"Then, it still had no effect, or even worse. On the day Cao Bin took office, Li Chong came in, and in front of all the soldiers, he said that he had spent all his savings on Yangzhou Yizimen

He also persuaded everyone to learn from him and send money to Yangzhou Jiao."

"He...how...how did he dare?"

"What can you do to him? He is Taizu's nephew. His prestige in the military was once higher than that of the late emperor. Now he is half buried in the earth. He might die of old age tomorrow. What else is he afraid of? What can the officials do to him?

What about Cao Bin? He just slapped Cao Bin in public, how could Cao Bin fight back?"

When Zheng Xin heard this, he couldn't help but murmured: "Both the Guards Department and the Palace Front Department are rushing to give money to the Black Heart Bear. Something is going to happen. What kind of monster has been raised?"

"You ask me? We also want to ask you. Among us, you are the only one who has come into contact with this Yangzhou Jiao. Who do you think this person is?"

"This person……"

Zheng Xin was silent for a long time, but in the end he had no choice but to sigh helplessly and said: "I have to admit that this man is an eternal genius. The name Yangzhou Jiao is not exaggerated. He can make money, but he is also willing to spend it.

Money, even squandering money like water is not an exaggeration to describe it. It is no accident that you have such a great reputation in Yangzhou City."

"He is a gang boss, but he shouts the slogan of serving the people every day, and he has indeed helped the people of Yangzhou and done a lot of practical things. It is said that he is not very lecherous. Even if he and I are enemies of each other, we will not be allowed to do anything.

I don’t admit it, but this person has a very charming personality.”

"He doesn't care about wealth, he doesn't care about lust, and he distributes all the money he earns to the poor. What does he want...?"

Zheng Xin closed his eyes and slowly uttered two words: "Liu Bang!"

"Do you think this man is as capable and knowledgeable as the Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty?"

"In terms of ability, I'm afraid... it's a bit more than that. As for knowledge..."

Zheng Xin couldn't help but think of a political discussion he had with Liu Dapao before leaving Yangzhou.

He said with a helpless smile: "In terms of knowledge, Han Gaozu is not worthy to compare with him. You may not believe that I had in-depth exchanges with this person before leaving Yangzhou. I am afraid that this person is full of knowledge. Although his ideas

His grandstanding is also contrary to the mainstream Confucian views, but he is obviously proficient in the study of Mohism and Dharma. He even seems to have mastered it, innovates the old and brings out the new, and is actually a great master of his generation."

When Wei Renpu heard his answer, not only did he not show any surprise, but he smiled bitterly and said: "I believe it. In fact, it's not just me who believes it. Hey~ There is a book here, you can read it."

"The word "righteousness" discusses politics?"

"This is the most popular and hottest new book in Kaifeng City today. It is said to be the quotations of Yangzhou Jiao, compiled based on some of his views. What is said in it is bold.

Very."

"Um?"

Zheng Xin quickly took it and looked at it.

The book is not thick, and the language is very concise. At least it is far lighter than a book of The Analects of Confucius. But Zheng Xin only glanced through it briefly and was shocked by several violent remarks in the book.

"This is... a book written by him?"

"It should be said that it is his point of view. It is filled with many legalist and Mohist ideas, but it highly praises business. A simple understanding is actually three points: the common people at the bottom must unite and love each other when they live together, and use business to support the army and the army to protect it.

Shang, the monarch must be restricted by law, that is, a constitutional monarch, which together is another extremely inflammatory fallacy: let the military class take charge of the country and be the true master of the country."

"This is really...a violent argument..."

"Yes, although it is a violent argument, it has many supporters. Many of its political views have even been followed by people in the city of Kaifeng."

"Originally, everyone thought that this Yangzhou Jiao only wanted Yangzhou. I thought that your fight with him was just a temporary matter, but unexpectedly, after the unblocking of Yangzhou, this book spread in Kaifeng City

, especially in the military, literate people will take the ideas in the book and explain them to the illiterate people."

"How dare they believe it?"

"With this set of theories, hasn't he already succeeded in forcing your husband to fail?"

"…………"
To be continued...