Four horses walked side by side, the sound of hoofbeats clattering.
Today's small gathering is an invitation initiated by Lian Guoshi.
He and Yang Sichang are now in the Hanlin Academy together and will be colleagues in the future. Naturally, they hope to have a closer relationship.
Besides, the two academies had had a lot of contacts in the past two years, so they were familiar with each other, so they each invited one more person. Lian Guoshi invited Feng Ziying, and Yang Sichang naturally invited Hou Xun.
After passing the first examination and becoming a scholar, everyone can feel the huge changes in each of them.
It was as if everyone had been transformed after going through a joint examination and a palace examination.
This is not the feeling of Feng Ziying alone, but the feeling of almost all the 380 Jinshi.
Although this period of time was only a short month, during that time I was able to receive things almost every day that would be difficult to come into contact with in a lifetime in the academy.
Everyone will quickly distance themselves from their original circle due to changes in their status and the different groups they come into contact with.
For example, those students who have not passed the Jinshi exam will gradually drift away from those who have passed the Jinshi exam. Similarly, there will be some gaps between the second-class and third-class students, the shujishi and the second class, and the first-class and shujishi.
If this subtle change in relationship cannot be handled well, then the friendship between classmates accumulated over many years in the academy may fall apart or become increasingly cold.
Everyone is constantly observing and adjusting this relationship, which also tests everyone's IQ and EQ. Well, this is Feng Ziying's inner voice.
Among the four people, Feng Ziying felt that apart from herself, Lian Guoshi undoubtedly had the highest emotional intelligence, followed by Hou Xun, and Yang Sichang even ranked last.
Xu Xie was not invited to practice state affairs, which in Feng Ziying's view was also a signal.
As a person who practices state affairs, if he could, he would definitely invite Xu Xie, but he did not. This means that in his opinion, Yang Sichang, Hou Xun and himself may have more in common with him, at least
In some aspects, with the addition of Xu Xie, it may become less harmonious.
Of course, Feng Ziying responded happily to Lian Guoshi's invitation. It was originally a spring outing, but Feng Ziying simply suggested that we go on a horseback riding and hunting trip, and said that her family had many healthy horses purchased from Yulinkou for riding.
Lian Guoshi was also very generous and happily accepted the suggestion, so I took this trip to Iron Network Mountain.
Tiewang Mountain is actually located two hundred miles north of the capital city. It belongs to the remnants of Yanshan Mountain. The trees cover the sky and the sun, and the mountain is steep. At the foot of the mountain, there are rich trees and many birds and beasts. There is also a swamp named
The Huanghai Sea is rich in cypress wood, which is an excellent material for making doors for beds, chairs, and cabinets.
Surrounded by horseback, it can be reached in one day if you work hard on horseback. If you have more time, it can be easily reached in two days. However, Tienwang Mountain has always been the favorite place for hunting among the royal family members and nobles in Beijing, and Emperor Yuanxi especially
very.
There is also a royal hunting garden and a royal summer palace in the Tienwang Mountain. However, the surrounding area is vast, but it has become a good place for the dignitaries in the capital city during the spring and autumn. Even in the summer, it is also a place to cool down and escape the heat. It is just a distance away.
A little further.
The Lian family is a well-known family in Henan. Some of their ancestors still passed the Jinshi examination and served as prefects. However, their father's generation only had a Juren background and only served as local officials, so they no longer have much influence in Beijing. Yang Sichang and Hou
Xun's father both held important positions in the court, while Feng Ziying was born as a child of Wu Xun.
To be precise, this is a gathering of a group of second-generation officials. Of course, this second-generation official also has a label, that is, they are all a bunch of losers who have passed the Jinshi examination and are going to the Hanlin Academy or are likely to enter the Hanlin Academy.
A capable second-generation official.
The change in status also brought about a change in mentality. Both Feng Ziying and the other three people had begun to observe, analyze and judge every aspect of the situation and policies of the Zhou court from the perspective of a Zhou official.
This kind of mutual exploration and discussion is actually a process of forming ideas. In Feng Ziying's view, this stage is the most important.
For those officials who have been in the imperial court for many years, many of their views and ideas have been stereotyped. It is ten times more difficult for them to change their minds than for the younger generation who have just entered the official career, unless they themselves recognize these views and ideas.
At present, this group of people have just entered the official career. They are all passionate and have the beautiful idea of changing Da Zhou and making Da Zhou's situation better. Under the premise that this major premise is consistent, Feng Ziying feels that it is terrible.
There is much more room for maneuver.
Convince them that even if they cannot play a substantial role now, as long as this seed takes root in their hearts, the future belongs to the younger generation. In five, ten or even twenty years, this group of people will
After growing up, having a common view on many issues can lead to cooperation on many things.
"Ziying, they say you have a broad vision and far-reaching ideas, so tell us what is the biggest dilemma facing Zhou Dynasty?" Yang Sichang glanced sideways at Feng Ziying and couldn't help but ask.
Although this guy was the youngest among the four and ranked last in the imperial examination, Yang Sichang always felt that everyone's thoughts revolved around him, which made Yang Sichang very uncomfortable.
Although Lian Guoshi was the number one scholar, Yang Sichang did not fully recognize it. Whether it was literary talent or classic meaning, Yang Sichang felt that he was not as good as him. Maybe Lian Guoshi was better able to grasp the trends of the court in the general examination and palace examination.
On the other hand, although Feng Ziying was not good at diction and classic meaning, her understanding of current affairs was far superior to others.
Even when his father was talking to Mr. Qiao, Mr. Qiao said that Feng Ziying's talent for smell and comprehension in this area was the strongest he had ever seen.
There had been many discussions between the two academies in the past, and Feng Ziying actually showed signs of voluntarily retiring in the later period. Yang Sichang also knew that this guy's main focus was on his shortcomings in classics and meaning, and he also deliberately avoided being too popular.
Things are different now, and everyone is standing on a different level than before, so it’s time to reveal some of our own opinions and ideas.
Seeing Lian Guoshi and Hou Xun looking at each other, Feng Ziying also knew that this topic could not be avoided.
Since you want to persuade others, or even win them into your own camp, how can you recruit and convince these people if you don't even show some of your basic views?
Feng Ziying is also considering it.
From a Marxist philosophical point of view, this means that when class contradictions accumulate to a certain stage, they will inevitably break out and be destroyed and reconstructed in a violent way.
From the perspective of political economy, the old production relations no longer adapt to the factors of productivity development and need to be adjusted. However, the productivity and production relations are difficult to meet the growing social needs. Then, when internal and external factors accumulate to a certain extent,
Dramatic changes will occur.
As the saying goes, break and then build.
But the price of destruction is too high, especially if there are still foreign enemies outside, then the entire Zhou people may be sacrificed for it.
This path should not be taken unless absolutely necessary, and it is also not in the interests of Feng Ziying's personal and family interests.
He can no longer think about problems with the original mentality of being alone and carefree. He needs to be responsible for himself, his family, and even the people he cares about and cares about.
"Brother Wen Ruo, this is a good question. The biggest dilemma, well, those who know something about government affairs will probably think that there is a serious lack of financial resources, which has brought huge dangers to the nine-border defense. But we have to trace the root cause. What is the reason?
Has it led to a lack of wealth? Of course, some people may say that this is a problem left over from many reasons. What is frozen three feet is not frozen in a day. These opinions are correct."
Feng Ziying feels that this question is really not easy to answer. We have to look at the essence through the phenomenon. The problem is that there are some essences that he can neither explain nor fully explain.
The most intuitive manifestation is that the court has no money, military pay, military rations, and armaments are all lacking. Jiubian, Denglai, Fujian, Zhejiang, and even coastal defense in Guangdong and Guangxi are also in short supply. This is only one aspect. Every time a natural disaster occurs in a place, there is a serious shortage of money and food for relief.
, a drop in the bucket, it may ignite into a fire if you don’t pay attention.
The water conservancy is not repaired, the post roads are seriously damaged, and all in all, there is a lack of money.
"Why was the wealth of the Great Zhou Dynasty 80 years ago sufficient, but now it is not enough?" Feng Ziying asked and answered: "I think it may be due to many reasons. First, the population has increased too much, but the land and food have not increased so much.
Secondly, the external environment is deteriorating day by day. Well, eighty years ago, we only had to face the Tatars and the Japanese invasion was not serious. But now we not only have to face the Tatars and the more rampant Japanese invasion, but also the Japanese invasion.
A bigger threat - the Jurchens, we may even have to face the Western Yi in ten or twenty years, not counting the harassment from the chieftains in the southwest and the Annan Dongwu..."
"Huge military expenditure has become an important reason for insufficient financial resources..."
"There is another point that I think goes without saying. Everyone knows how much official land there was eighty years ago. How much official land has been awarded or occupied now? And how much land has been entrusted to those gentry who can be exempted from tax exemptions?
Nobles and royal family members? How many court officials were there 80 years ago, and how many are there now? It’s a decrease and an increase, and it’s not surprising that it’s what it is now. This doesn’t include some consumption that is not humane to outsiders...
…”
It’s not enough for outsiders, but everyone knows that the Emperor’s six expeditions to the south of the Yangtze River left a lot of holes, but who can pursue this?
"The dilemma is actually that of the three brothers, but it is not that simple to find a solution. Otherwise, why has our court not seen any movement for so many years?" Feng Ziying chuckled, "Wen Ruo, Master Qiao and your father last year
A storm was set off in Zhejiang, and the imperial court received at least two million taels of silver, right? But the money, food, and military supplies owed to the nine sides can only be regarded as a drop in the bucket, right?"