Idle courtiers

Chapter 49 The Last Night (Please recommend a ticket)

That night Zhou Nan lived in the mansion. He was lying on the bed, tumbling with thoughts, suffering from rare insomnia.In the dead of night, people's thinking is also very clear.

The scene that happened today flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern. Suddenly, Zhou Nan remembered a segment that he had overlooked when he was at Mei's Farm in the morning.At that time, Wang Ruoxu turned his face hard and scolded Guixian Cheng, he gave him a nonchalant look, with a hint of sarcasm and contempt in his eyes.

Thinking of this, Zhou Nan was covered in cold sweat suddenly: "This man surnamed Wang knows mulberry trees, and he also saw through my arrangements. Yes, yes, this old man is from a rich family. He is so old, he can be said to have eaten There is more salt than the rice I have ever eaten. If he has never seen a mulberry tree, it would be a strange thing. His eyes are clearly watching a clumsy performance by a three-year-old urchin."

"But...why didn't Wang Ruoxu tell the truth about this point, but why did he want to point a deer into a horse? You know, this matter may become a joke in the future, and it will damage his reputation greatly!"

"Old man Wang, why did he do this... He is a speech officer, so he naturally knows that as long as Shizhi County is found to be deceiving the court and a major case is handled, it will be a proper political achievement."

Zhou Nan thought for a long time, unable to figure out whether he should live or die, and rolled on the bed for a long time, not knowing when he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, it was already noon.Zhou Nan was shocked and broke out in sweat again.This is a whole morning, and there is plenty of time for accidents to happen.What the old king said earlier was full of sarcasm, it is possible that he had other thoughts.

After rushing out to ask, he let out a long sigh of relief.Wang Ruoxu didn't get up until dawn, and sat in the room drinking tea and reading books all morning after waking up.

In the afternoon, Wang Ruoxu was still studying, never leaving the mansion, even the four of his subordinates didn't go anywhere, just hid in the house to play leaf cards.

The rules of leaf cards in the Ming Dynasty are similar to mahjong in later generations. Zhou Nan also ran over, bought a few horses, and won more than one tael of silver.

Soon, when it was time for dinner, Zhou Nan naturally wouldn't arrange for Mr. Wang to go to a restaurant in the city to have a good time, considering that Mr. Wang was pretending to be a clean and honest Mr. Morality.Anyway, there are cooks in the mansion, five of Wang Ruoxu, each with a bowl of brown rice, one meat, three vegetables and one soup.

One night before Wang Ruoxu would leave Andong County, even though he was a swindler during the day, and the surname Wang didn't reveal it on the spot, but what kind of thoughts he has in mind, and what he will do when he returns to the court to hand over his errands, the devil will only know.

This person is moody, just talking and laughing with you, his face will change in an instant, and it is impossible to guess his intentions.

"No, I can't wait like this any longer. I have to ask him for a letter tonight." Zhou Nan's current personal destiny has been completely tied to Shi Jieren. If he can't run away from you, he can't run away from me.In any case, wait to help him pass this pass.

He sat in the room and drank the tea slowly, rehearsing Wang Ruoxu's personal history over and over again, trying to find clues from the few information.

Wang Ruoxu, a native of Changtai, Zhangzhou, Fujian, is a descendant of an aristocratic family.The surname is Wang, the name is Weishu, and the character is Ruoxu. He was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing.After the Chinese style, he first observed politics in the Six Ministries, and later served as a minister in the Ministry of Industry.Because of the impeachment of Yan Song, he was not simple, and was demoted to the Ministry of Officials as the head of the Zhejiang Qing Officials Department... Wait, the Ministry of Industry, isn't Yan Song's son Xiaoge Lao Yan Shifan the Minister of the Ministry of Industry?It's normal for him to offend Mr. Yan Ge and Mr. Xiao Ge and be demoted.However, when he was demoted to a key department like the Ministry of Officials, his power increased instead.This point is worth pondering.

Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing, 26th year of Jiajing... Zhou Nan suddenly slapped his forehead and murmured: "But I forgot this."

He seemed to have grasped something, seeing that the sky was completely dark.Immediately, he stopped thinking about it, took a deep breath, walked into Wang Ruoxu's room, and saluted: "The little official Zhou Nan has seen the elder."

Wang Ruoxu was still reading, when he saw Zhou Nan asked with a blank expression: "You follow me all day and never leave, it must be the meaning of your county lord. It's called a personal servant, but its heart is unpredictable. Are you here today?" Seeing this officer, want to get a letter from the old man? Go on, as for the yearly examination of the foreign inspection of your magistrate county, someone has made a decision, but it is not for you to ask."

How could Zhou Nan be willing to back down when he kicked out people at the slightest disagreement?He explained: "The elder is the head of the Ministry of Officials, in charge of the evaluation of officials in a province. The appointment and removal of officials is a public tool. What kind of status is Zhou Nan? The world is impermanent, and this is how it fell to Sri Lanka. God’s will, Zhou Nan is also helpless. During the day today, the young man wrote a poem with Shangguan, happy in his heart, and admired the talent and learning of the old man. The lowly position has been taught by the old man for two days , I have gained a lot. In Xiao Ke's mind, the principal is like my mentor. It's a pity that Zhou Nan has no blessing and cannot worship under the current Grand Master."

Speaking of this, Zhou Nan looked regretful and sad.

Wang Ruoxu snorted, and said: "You little official, you have a lot of talent, but it's a pity that you have bad intentions and bad conduct. That's why you came here to talk about that?"

His attitude made it clear that he didn't want to talk nonsense with Zhou Nan.

Zhou Nan gritted his teeth, bowed down, and boldly said: "Xiao Ke heard that the principal was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing, and also heard that the scholars of Chunwei Chinese style in the 26th year of Jiajing are all noble and moral people. Come tonight When I paid my respects to the Elder Master, I felt a sense of injustice in my heart, so I asked the Elder Master to teach me."

"What is wrong with you? How did you find this old man? This old man is no longer a speech officer or a police officer. It is ridiculous for you to sue. By the way, Zhou Nan, who is the sue?" This is the legendary sedan chair To appeal for grievances? Mr. Wang finds it ridiculous.That's right, people in small places, when they see a Beijing official, they think they are big men, and they have to try their best to try their luck when they don't like it on weekdays. He also encountered such things when he went to Beijing for business A few times, they just drove away the matter.

However, Zhou Nan's sentence "Jiajing 26" reminded him of the past, his heart trembled, and he couldn't help sighing: the competition in Chunwei was too fierce that year, and now it's really unbearable to look back!

It turned out that Wang Ruoxu's Wang family was a prominent family in Changtai, Zhangzhou, Fujian. Three generations of the family were Jinshi, and they were the leaders of the local scholarly community.He was enlightened at the age of six, capable of poetry at the age of eight, and proficient at the age of nine. At the age of 16, he won the honor of a scholar in Zhangzhou Prefecture when he was [-] years old.It took more than ten years to pass the provincial examination, and finally got the feudal Jieyuan.

As the saying goes, gold Juren, silver Jinshi.The rural examination is the most difficult of the six examinations in the imperial examination. Ninety-nine out of ten scholars in the world have to pass this threshold, and there is no hope for life.After winning the Juren, the following Jinshi subjects have a high admission rate, and secondly, candidates have experience in the examination room and sufficient knowledge reserves, so the examination is not difficult.

At that time, he relied on his talents and learned from others, and he wrote stereotyped articles with colorful flowers.As long as you enter the Imperial Academy and struggle for 20 years, one party's senior officials will not be able to escape, and it may be possible to join the cabinet.

Unexpectedly, the strong have their own strong hands.Zhiniang thief, the candidates in that subject are all monsters that are against the sky, first-ranked, champion, Li Chunfang; second place, Zhang Chun; Tanhua, Hu Zhengmeng.There are more composition masters in the second class, and even Zhang Juzheng, a great talent, barely ranks ninth.A famous person like Wang Shizhen was almost at the end of the car.As for famous people such as Xu Guangqi and Wang Xuan, they were also squeezed into an inconspicuous corner.

The top three are even more outrageous, with a long list of staggeringly famous names: Ma Sancai, Ma Yilong, Qiu Yue, Chen Shanzhi, Zhang Yan... It is simply a group of stars.And these people, who have emerged in the political arena of the Ming Dynasty in recent years, will surely glow with dazzling brilliance in the future.

It is certainly a matter of pride to be in the same year as these elites.However, because I didn't enter the Hanlin Academy, I have a rough official career in these years, but I regret it.

Every time Wang Ruoxu thinks about this, he can't help sighing in his heart: If I wait two years to take the exam in the 29th year of Jiajing, my life may be different, right?

Seeing the sigh on Wang Ruoxu's face, Zhou Nan showed no sign of rushing him out, so he hurriedly said, "My lord misunderstood, Xiao Ke didn't intend to sue. It's just that I have some reservations about the court's new policy of changing the land into a mulberry." That's right, the current central government's finances are empty, and His Majesty's ban on sea and border trade is indeed a good way to enrich the national treasury. However, I am afraid that the implementation will be out of order. I am afraid that local officials will change all the land into mulberry gardens indiscriminately. , There is no production in the field, what will the people eat next year? Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the granaries of the world. If something happens, it will shake the foundation of the country. Therefore, the county lords implemented the transformation of the land into mulberry this time, and the actual number is different from what was reported to the court. After all, the summer harvest is just around the corner, so it’s impossible to pull out all the rice and make the people starve, right?”

This is already a self-reported concealment from Master Wang about the matter of changing the mulberry, and Zhou Nan has already noticed that the old Wang has already seen through this point.He was gambling, gambling king Ruoxu's attitude.

"When Shi Xianzun talked about the Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing in private and his humble official, he once praised the master Wang. He said that Mr. Wang was not afraid of Yan Ge's old power. He impeached Yan Song and his son for rampant lawlessness. Ethos is a model for officials all over the world. This time I come to Anton, I will be able to sympathize with the sufferings of the people. The county lord is ashamed, and at the moment he is introspecting himself in the yamen, and he specially ordered Xiao Ke to come and plead guilty to the boss."

As he spoke, the muscles on his back tensed.If this bet is wrong, Shizhi County must go to the Ministry of Criminal Justice in the capital to practice fraud, and since he does not have his protection, he may have to run for his life.

"Apologize, there is indeed a falsehood!" Wang Ruoxu slammed the table and sneered, "In this case, I will stay in Anton for a few more days to check."

"Ah... my lord..." Zhou Nan's heart was beating like it was about to pop out of his mouth, and his heart was suddenly devastated, and his heart was in a mess: did I guess wrong, could it be that I guessed wrong, it's impossible?

"However, I have other important things to do, so I don't have time to wait around in the field with you." Director Wang suddenly smiled: "By the way, any new policy you mentioned just now looks good on the surface. It’s scary because I’m afraid that the implementation will go out of shape and become a bad government, which makes some sense. How do you explain this? In your opinion, it’s impossible to change the land into a mulberry?”

Zhou Nan replied subconsciously: "At most one year, the gentlemen in the court will definitely see the disadvantages and must abandon them. Changing the soil into mulberry will hurt the farm. Although the raw silk trade can exchange a lot of silver to enrich the national treasury, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Savings will increase the price of rice due to poor harvests, and when converted, the wealth of the world has not increased at all. Just like the Jiaozi and Huizi in the Song Dynasty, and the money in the early years of my dynasty..."

In fact, based on the rice standard, after a large amount of American silver was imported into the Ming Dynasty, silver did usher in a big depreciation.From the value of one tael of silver in the early Ming Dynasty, which was worth 1000 yuan to five or six hundred yuan, it was a primitive monetary economics lesson for the Ming people.

"...I'm looking at the price of silver, and I say that the price is based on grain... If there is little grain, silver is expensive; if there is a lot of grain, silver is cheap..."

Zhou Nan boldly stated the poor knowledge of economics in his heart. Although there are many fallacies in it, it is enough to fool the ancients.

Mr. Wang listened intently, and nodded after a long time: "It's interesting, as expected, what I paid attention to is the article. I also have reservations about the imperial court's trial reform of land for mulberry, so I came to your county for investigation. I also want to see the implementation of the new policy. What is the effect of it. I am going to write a paper to oppose this matter, your point of view is very novel, and I would like to borrow it."

That's right, as an old-school figure, Wang Ruoxu naturally has the so-called Qingliu disposition of the Ming Dynasty.Whenever there is a new policy introduced by the imperial court, it doesn't matter whether it can be implemented or not, it is opposed first.Anyway, it is easy to say that others are wrong. Even if the New Deal succeeds in the end, it can be concluded with the sentence "Whoever speaks is innocent, and whoever hears it is a warning."If you happen to be right, you can boast a lot: "Look, the old man said that this is not feasible, right?"

Opposition is always cheaper than construction, and it can gain prestige. This is also the reason why officials and officials were so popular in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Furthermore, in the late Jiajing period, the political struggles in the imperial court had begun to show signs of intensifying.Don't ask right or wrong in everything, just look at the position.

Mr. Wang was the one who impeached Yan Song at the beginning. The change of land to Sang was made by Yan's father and son. In any case, let's talk about impeachment first.He was thinking about writing this memorial, and he was having a headache.Today is a person who loves money to the bone, only has money in his eyes, and sea trade can indeed bring huge profits.It is not so easy to convince the emperor.

Zhou Nan's point of view of using the rice price as the standard to convert the increase or decrease of wealth in this currency just now is ingenious, which makes him feel enlightened.

These days, Wang Ruoxu is planning to impeach Yan Song with an impeachment. As an old-fashioned literati, such a memorial actually has a routine. Attack him violently.As for the effect, it is enough.

Zhou Nan's thinking just hit the emperor's love of money, and his views were fresh.If His Majesty reads it, although it may not completely abolish the new law, it will leave a deep impression on him.

There are many people with extraordinary abilities and talents, but this kid has some talents.

Hearing what Wang Ruoxu said, Zhou Nan hurriedly said: "Xiao Ke is just talking nonsense, not systematic, and naturally needs to be perfected by the old man. It is Zhou Nan's honor if the old man wants to use it."

Wang Ruoxu nodded: "Okay, you step back! I owe you a favor after being inspired by you today. Since you came to find this old man, you probably took Shi Zhixian's order to check on me. It would be unreasonable to let you go back empty-handed like this. Go back and tell you magistrates that this time Anton has done a good job in transforming the land into mulberry. !"

By this time, the foreign inspection was finally over, Shizhi County was safe, and his job as a pawn was also preserved.

Zhou Nan was overjoyed, thanked Mr. Wang, just broke out, Wang Ruoxu suddenly smiled behind him, and asked: "I only heard of silkworms and tussah silkworms, and the silkworms in Huai'an are also strange, they can eat ash leaves."

Zhou Nan was struck by lightning.

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(End of this chapter)