"Wang Xijue?" Su Hao shook his head, "I haven't heard of it... Everyone, have you heard of it?"
He turned his attention to Ma Yu, Jiang Yida and others, but found that their expressions had changed. They all stood up involuntarily and looked at Su Hao with a mixture of admiration and anger.
"Why, you..." Su Hao was a little surprised and didn't know what he said wrong.
"In other words, you really don't know who Grand Scholar Wang is, right?" Ma Yu asked. Fortunately, he understood Su Hao's personality and knew that Su Hao was not someone who liked to act cute. If someone else had spoken like this,
Ma Yu must think that the other party is showing off in front of him.
"Grand Bachelor Wang?" Su Hao asked, "What kind of Grand Bachelor do you mean this Wang Xijue is?"
"Brother Gai, have you never heard of Grand Scholar Wang?" Xu Guangqi said, "He is the current Minister of Rites, a Grand Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the second assistant to the cabinet. His position in the court is second only to the Prime Minister.
A bachelor of Fushen University."
Su Hao was sweating. Hearing what Xu Guangqi said, he vaguely remembered it. It seemed that he had really heard someone talk about such a person. Unfortunately, he was not interested in court politics, so he forgot about it.
Such a joke actually happened. In fact, Su Hao can't be entirely blamed. How could he have expected the dignified ministers of the Cabinet to come to his house to pay a visit in a simple car?
"Please come quickly!" Su Hao shouted to the concierge, "I'm going out to greet you."
Hearing that such a big official came to the door, everyone in the Su family was alarmed. The servants cleaned the house as quickly as possible, making everything that was unsightly disappear without a trace. Su Hao took Ma Yu with him.
Xu Guangqi, Jiang Yida and other scholars, dressed in neat robes, respectfully greeted them out of the door. As for Hao Qing, Xiong Ji and other people without fame, they were not qualified to appear and could only stay in their respective rooms.
I secretly caught a glimpse of the deputy minister of the cabinet through the crack in the window.
"Student Su Hao, I would like to welcome Grand Scholar Wang." Su Hao bowed to the ground in front of Wang Xijue and showed all due etiquette.
In the short time just now, Su Hao has heard Ma Yu introduce Wang Xijue's situation. Wang Xijue is from Taicang, Jiangsu Province. He was born in the 13th year of Jiajing, that is, 1534. He is now 56 years old. Wang Xijue has been smart since he was a child.
He was well-read in poetry and books. In the 37th year of Jiajing reign, he took part in the provincial examination and won fourth place. In the 41st year of Jiajing reign, he took part in the joint examination and won first place, and then won second place in the imperial examination.
Wang Xijue's fame does not come from his examination results, but from his official style. In the court, Wang Xijue has always been known for his outspokenness. He initially served as an editor and later moved to the Imperial College
Later, he served as Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shifu and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Until now, he served as the Minister of Rites and a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion. In every position, Wang Xijue was able to act impartially.
Show favoritism, never follow the crowd or follow the crowd.
Wang Xijue's character can be seen from his attitude towards the former powerful minister Zhang Juzheng. When Zhang Juzheng was the chief minister and monopolized power, Wang Xijue did not flatter him, and even openly criticized him for offending Wanli and Zhang Juzheng, who was demoted.
Officials held a farewell party with wine. When Zhang Juzheng returned home for his father's death, many officials jointly petitioned Zhang Juzheng to return to the court as soon as possible, but Wang Xijue flatly refused to sign the petition.
Later, Zhang Juzheng passed away, and Wanli recovered Zhang Juzheng's official title, ransacked his home, and expelled his family members into the army. Many courtiers tried to add insult to injury to show that they had drawn a clear line with Zhang Juzheng. Unexpectedly, Wang Xijue wrote a letter to vindicate Zhang Juzheng at this time.
, it is believed that Zhang Juzheng contributed to the country and should not be completely denied.
Such a person is destined to be a maverick in the Ming Dynasty. He does not form any party or stand in any line. He just does things that he thinks are beneficial to the country, regardless of whose interests these things represent or violates.
Whose interests.
In these days, Su Hao was used to seeing the hypocritical faces of courtiers. When he first heard that there was such a true-hearted second minister, how could he not feel respected.
"You are the Soviet reformer, aren't you? I have admired your name for a long time. I have come to bother you this time. Please forgive me." Wang Xijue said lightly. His words seemed quite polite, but there was no apology in his tone. As the deputy minister of the cabinet,
, personally visiting a small person with only a sixth-grade martial arts rank, there is really nothing worth apologizing for.
"Don't you dare? How dare you? The arrival of a great scholar will make the humble abode shine, and the students will be honored." Su Hao responded.
After some courtesy, Su Hao led Wang Xijue to the living room and asked him to take a seat at the main seat, while he took a seat on the side. Ma Yu and others also sat down respectively, and Su Hao introduced them to Wang Xijue one by one.
Wang Xijue didn't have any airs. After listening to Su Hao's introduction, he had a few conversations with Ma Yu, Xu Guangqi and others, and asked them about the books they read, the articles they wrote, etc. Ma Yu and Xu Guangqi were both talented and learned.
The people responded quite appropriately, which made Wang Xijue look at them with admiration.
"That's right, that's right. It's true that people flock together and birds of a feather flock together. All of Su's friends are extraordinary." Wang Xijue praised.
"The great scholar is so complimentary. Brother Duwen and Brother Zixian are both rare talents. Su Hao is taking advantage of them by being with them." Su Hao said modestly.
"Su Hao, you are not simple either. I heard people say that you have quite a few opinions on how to govern the country. I came here today specifically to listen to your wise words, Su Hao." Wang Xijue said.
Su Hao clasped his fists and said, "How can Hao have any lofty opinions? He just made a lot of nonsense in front of a noble person and said some ideas on paper. How dare I bother a great scholar to come and give me advice in person?"
Wang Xijue said: "Talking about military affairs on paper is not without some high opinions. Today I am here to listen to you talking about military affairs on paper. Are you willing to teach me?"
When Wang Xijue reached this point, Su Hao could no longer shirk it. He knew that after hearing his words, Wanli must have been filled with enthusiasm and went back to sell Wang Xijue and others. As for whether Wang Xijue was sent by Wanli or himself
Su Hao didn't know what the decision was.
"Grand Scholar Wang doesn't know what he wants to hear, but if Su Hao knows something, he won't dare to hide it," Su Hao said.
Wang Xijue said: "I heard people say that you are very critical of the affairs of the court today, and think that the courtiers do not do practical things. I would like to ask, what do you mean by practical things."
Ma Yu and others all looked at Su Hao with their eyes and secretly sweated for Su Hao. Wang Xijue's words contained a bit of questioning and a bit of accusation. They didn't know who Su Hao had discussed the government affairs in front of, but it was obvious.
, Su Hao has reduced all the ministers of the dynasty to nothing. When Wang Xijue comes here, he may have the intention of launching an attack. If Su Hao does not answer well, what awaits him will be a rebuke from the top.
Su Hao didn't have as many worries as Ma Yu and others. He felt that what he said in front of Wanli was not wrong, so he was not afraid of Wang Xijue's censure. He said calmly: "The actual facts in Hao's heart are simple to say.
Just four words: strengthening the country and enriching the people."
"Strengthen the country and enrich the people..." Wang Xijue pondered for a moment and said: "My Ming Dynasty has as many as one million armored men, possesses land all over the world, and is subject to submission from all directions. Can't it be called a strong country? The people of our Ming Dynasty live and work in peace and contentment, and their families are well off.
, the prosperous streets and markets in each state capital cannot be called enriching the people? How else does Su Hao hope to strengthen the country and enrich the people?"
Su Hao smiled slightly and said: "Master Wang, please speak frankly. Although our Ming Dynasty has millions of soldiers, the Mongols and Japanese slaves invade our borders from time to time, killing people and setting fires. It's like entering an uninhabited land. How is this allowed?"
Called a strong country? In the state capital, although there are wealthy businessmen with millions of dollars, there are also poor people who are hungry. Last year, a car accident in Jiangxi district displaced millions of people, and tragic incidents of selling children and selling girls were common.
What kind of enrichment is this?”
Wang Xijue said: "What Su Hao said is true. But even in the prosperous times of the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were plunderings by the Turks, and natural disasters were unstoppable in all dynasties. If you say that the Ming Dynasty is not a powerful country because of this,
The people of the Ming Dynasty are not wealthy people, so Su Hao’s desire to have a strong country and a prosperous people, is he really asking for it?"
Su Hao said: "Even if it is demanding, what's the problem? If this demanding thing can be realized, wouldn't it be a blessing for the people of our Ming Dynasty?"
Wang Xijue said: "Su Hao, what's the best way to make the Ming Dynasty strong and prosperous in your mind? I heard that you are good at prospecting, Su Hao. Could it be that you hope to make the people rich and the country strong by opening more gold mines?"
"
Su Hao shook his head and said: "If gold cannot be eaten and cannot be worn, how can it be considered wealth? As for coal mines, iron mines, and copper mines, they are indeed the foundation of the country's prosperity, but they are only part of the foundation.
It’s just a small part. To make the country prosperous and strong, we must develop industry and agriculture. As the saying goes, there is no stability without agriculture, and there is no wealth without industry.”
"No farming, no stability, no work, no wealth?" Wang Xijue was attracted by Su Hao's statement. This statement sounded very fresh, but some of the concepts in it were quite similar to the way of governing the country that Wang Xijue had once considered.
It's the same, but he himself has never summed it up like this. He asked Su Hao: "Su Hao, I understand that there is no farming and no stability. But what does it mean to have no work and no wealth?"
Su Hao said: "To explain the concept of getting rich without work, we must first explain what agriculture is and what industry is. The industry that produces all kinds of food is agriculture; the industry that produces various utensils is industry. Agriculture is the basis for people's survival.
Without agriculture, people will starve to death. However, agriculture can only solve the problem of eating, and what people need is not just food. Food is enough, and everyone can have enough to eat. Agriculture
The task is completed.
To make the people rich, we must ultimately implement it in industry. We must let the people have beautiful clothes to wear, spacious houses to live in, and various exquisite appliances. Dutiful sons have fun toys and soldiers have useful weapons.
It’s called true prosperity. To realize this, we must rely on the development of industry. In a wealthy society, the scale of industry must far exceed that of agriculture.” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome.
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