Senior officials in Kyoto are living quite comfortably these days.
I haven’t been to court for several months. I don’t have to get up in the dark before dawn. Sometimes I don’t even bother to eat breakfast. I have to rush to the palace gate to gather. I stand in the palace for two hours. My waist aches and my back hurts.
Dragging my tired body to various ministries and departments to handle various chores...
Now they can sleep until dawn, drink morning tea, and go to the Yamen slowly. If they are giants in various ministries, as long as they are not seen by the censors, the time can be more relaxed.
Of course, if you receive the news that you will have to go to court one day, no matter how lazy you are, you have to restrain yourself and blow the morning breeze at the gate of the palace for half an hour.
Although the time is still relatively hot in summer, the sun has not risen yet, and it is still a bit cold even wearing thin clothes.
General Xue stamped his feet, wrapped his clothes tightly, and sighed: "This old bone is getting worse and worse. I don't know how many days I can go to court..."
Old General Ma came over and said: "We old bones don't have much time left. Fortunately, those children are also doing their best. Old Xue, you can sleep well even if you die."
Before the morning dynasty begins, when the officials are waiting at the gate of the palace, they must also line up according to their official rank and department. They are not allowed to walk around casually, let alone talk about gatherings at will. There will be a special censor to record the officials' unbecoming behavior and record it in the records.
Assessment.
Several censors glanced at the gathered generals and elders, and quickly looked away. They caught a glimpse of an official in the crowd secretly touching his buttocks. They immediately walked over with a stern face and said in a cold voice: "Please pay attention, sir."
deportment!"
The official wanted to adjust his trousers quietly, but unexpectedly he was seen by the patrolling censor. He had to watch his nose and his heart. After the censor left, he glanced at the tree squatting not far away with his peripheral vision.
The few people chatting next to each other felt an unspeakable sourness in their hearts.
For the rare occasion, General Xue did not engage in a verbal confrontation with General Ma this time. He sighed and said, "What on earth do you think, Your Highness?"
The Highness he was talking about was naturally the eldest princess.
Things in the academy were in a commotion, and countless people in the court were waiting to see her joke, but she seemed to have completely forgotten about it. She had not taken any action these days. Jiangmen wanted to lend a helping hand, but she declined.
.
A red-faced veteran thought for a moment and said, "His Royal Highness has always had his own opinions. I think we will have a clear answer when we come to the court today."
Because of his special status, Jiangmen maintains an alienated relationship with all the princes. However, the eldest princess is different. She is a woman. Even if she is closer to Jiangmen, she will not cause any criticism. Jiangmen is now in an interest with the princess's palace.
There are so many things involved in her life, and everyone will be prosperous and harmed. Even if you put aside your feelings, you will naturally pay attention to her affairs.
In recent days, the emperor, who is ill, has almost handed over all political affairs to the Shangshu Province, but every once in a while, he will still hold a morning court to ensure that he will not be too alienated from political affairs.
Floods in the two states are still an extremely important matter. How to control the floods, properly resettle the refugees, and post-disaster reconstruction work are all the focus of the court's attention. There will be news from the front almost every day.
However, the disaster situation this time is obviously different from previous years, the original methods cannot be applied, and the situation is not optimistic.
After some recommendations from the courtiers, the emperor re-elected officials who were good at controlling floods. The matter was temporarily resolved, and the focus of the court debate shifted to another matter.
The preparations for the establishment of the eldest princess's academy can be said to have tightly affected the hearts of many courtiers.
Regardless of their intentions, there is no doubt that countless people are concerned about the progress of this matter.
Emperor Jing looked down and said calmly: "Liu Dayou, tell me how the preparations for the establishment of the academy are progressing?"
This made many people in the court look slightly startled.
The name Liu Dayou is really unfamiliar to them.
Although there are many officials in the DPRK and it is impossible for everyone to know them all, it is not possible that they have not even heard of their names.
This can only be blamed on the official position of the Jingcheng Ling. It may not be big or small. Locally, it is already the head of a county. In Kyoto, it is hovering on the edge of the court. It is not even qualified to attract the attention of some people.
No.
Of course, what surprised them was not this unfamiliar official, but the establishment of the academy, which was obviously taken over by the eldest princess. Where did this "Liu Dayou" come from?
Seeing a person coming out from behind, many people were already thinking about something.
However, there were still faint expressions of sarcasm and disdain on some people's faces. In their opinion, this kind of thing is simply impossible to accomplish, because the preparation for the establishment of the academy involves not only Kyoto, but also all areas of Kyoto.
The entire Jing Kingdom, not even the treasury, could afford so much money.
Liu Dayou stepped forward and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, we have raised more than 500,000 taels of silver so far. Thirteen academies in Kyoto are already under preparation."
Five hundred thousand taels, this amount still made the hearts of many people present jump.
This is not a small amount. Everyone knows that when the Ministry of Rites was raising money, it encountered obstacles at every turn. It was impossible to raise even 5,000 taels, let alone 500,000 taels. In just a few days, these 500,000 taels were collected.
, where did it come from?
They heard clearly that Liu Dayou was talking about "raising money," which meant that the money was not allocated by the state treasury. Where did they raise it from?
Their doubts did not last long, as Liu Dayou continued to speak.
"Most of these five hundred thousand taels of silver were donated by merchants in Kyoto. I have already sent people to build a stone tablet in accordance with Your Majesty's wishes. As soon as the academy is built, a stone tablet with the name of the donor will be erected in front of the academy.
Let many students and people all over the world remember their contributions to the academy..."
As Liu Dayou slowly spoke, the expressions of many officials in the court changed from confusion and shock to shock and fear.
Actually, there is such a thing?
Those people are just lowly businessmen. How qualified are they to have their names engraved on a monument so that students and people all over the world can admire them and pass them on from generation to generation?
And after today, how will the world view them?
Even businessmen know how to contribute their hearts and souls to the country, but they, the powerful families who pass down poems and books to their families, don’t know?
You must know that unlike ordinary officials in the court, their family's reputation has been accumulated bit by bit. It is based on caring for the people and being charitable... It has been accumulated bit by bit over more than ten years and decades.
As soon as that monument was erected at the entrance of the academy, the prestige and fame they had accumulated with great difficulty were all gone.
Bah, what a famous family, what a family, even worse than a businessman, how can you have the face to say that you are a famous family in the future!
Especially those truly wealthy and powerful families that have been able to stand for hundreds of years rely on the terrifying reputation they have accumulated over a long period of time. If they lose their reputation and lose the trust of the people and nobles, no matter how big the family is, they will not be able to survive.
To go to the end of the road.
This simple monument left these wealthy families with no choice.
Donate, you must donate!
If the money is gone, you can make it again, but if your reputation is gone, it cannot be reversed.
Of course, some people's choices are easy, and for others, it's more difficult.
For example, those officials from the Ministry of Rites once visited...
If you don't donate - you will definitely be reviled by all the people. If the businessman donates, and other wealthy families also donate, it will expose them naked. Will they still have a foothold in this Kyoto and this Jingguo in the future?
Donate—donate how much. They donated dozens or even hundreds of taels before, and they were very unhappy with the officials of the Ministry of Rites. Now they are arrogantly going to donate money. How can they save their face?
Even if he donated it, he wouldn't necessarily gain much face. It was obviously a remedial measure, which would make everyone even more contemptuous.
Then here comes the problem.
To donate or not to donate?
At this moment, they had never hated the officials of the Ministry of Rites so much in their hearts.
