From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

It was already night when he returned to Annan Marquis's Mansion.

Du Qi was restless, and kept thinking of those words that were like flying dragons and dancing phoenixes in his mind. Those four sentences were like the sound of Sanskrit, constantly echoing in his heart.

So much so that when he reached the hall, he almost stumbled and fell.

Marquis Annan's face was not good, but he frowned and said: "You are the only one back? Where is Shen Qiaoshan? Where is Kong Li?"

Du Qi bowed and said: "My Lord, today I went to Shen's house and met Mr. Qiaoshan. I talked with him about the state and people's livelihood, and finally made him give in."

"Mr. Qiaoshan said that when I go again tomorrow and discuss with him, he will come out to assist you and serve you like a dog and horse."

Marquis Annan knew the influence of Shen Qiaoshan, and he couldn't help but be happy when he heard it, and smiled: "Very good! If I can get Mr. Qiaoshan's help, why worry about the scholars not supporting me!"

"Kong Li can be taken care of later, we must deal with Shen Qiaoshan tomorrow!"

At this point, he changed the subject and said in a serious tone: "Tomorrow, no problem?"

Du Qi immediately affirmed: "Please rest assured, my Lord, I will do my best to ask Mr. Qiaoshan to come out!"

...

The next morning, Du Qi set out for Shen's house.

He was drowsy last night, but he never fell asleep. His mind was full of those four thought-provoking sentences, and his heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Today, the author is a young man. Could it be that this young man is the Jinshi Kong Li, the descendant of Confucius who resigned from office and returned home?

In any case, how many books has this young boy read and how many great principles does he know?

Du Qi believed that with his erudition, he would have no problem controlling a young junior.

He took a deep breath and walked into the Shen Mansion.

At this moment, the sun was rising in the east, just halfway up, and the bright meaning was already evident.

The sky was clear and the air was fresh, it was the time for innovation!

A good omen!

Du Qi walked into the hall, but was stunned on the spot.

Shen Qiaoshan was sitting on a chair, his face pale and silent.

Beside him, a young man stood upright, wiping a long sword with a handkerchief.

The sword body was shining silver, the cold light was swallowing, and it was extremely sharp.

"It's you?"

Zhou Yuan turned to look at Du Qi and said calmly: "Is it you who wants to discuss Taoism with me?"

Du Qi swallowed his saliva and regretted not bringing soldiers with him, but he was still calm and bowed: "Du Qi Du Ke Rong."

"Zhou Yuan Zhou Ziyi."

"It's you!"

Du Qi's face changed slightly. How could he not know the name of the author of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"? The key is that this person not only wrote "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but also a number of excellent works, such as "Looking at the Sea Tide" a few days ago, which shocked the Jin Dynasty poetry circle, and even friends in the capital wrote to ask.

I didn't expect that these four amazing words were actually from him.

Zhou Yuan had no expression on his face, and continued to wipe his sword. He said calmly: "You are my elder, I respect you as Mr. Du, may I ask how Mr. Du is doing?"

Du Kerong asked in confusion: "What do you mean how is he doing?"

Zhou Yuan said: "Everyone knows my background and resume, how about Mr. Du?"

Du Kerong was silent for a moment, not sure of the other party's routine, and then slowly said: "I was born in a humble family. When I was young, I studied poetry and literature hard. I passed the imperial examination and was once a county magistrate. Now I assist the marquis. My life is quite fulfilling."

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "Mr. Du has lived to this day, It's not easy. " Du Qi looked at Shen Yanshan quickly, and said, "Do you want to lose my trust?" Shen Yanshan did not speak, but just drank tea. Zhou Yuan said: " You, how can you say that you lose your faith "Du Qi's heart is settled, it turns out that he is still talking about it. He took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and planned to deal with it slowly.

Young people are always hot-blooded and speak with sharp thorns, but they are often difficult to be thorough and always have flaws.

"When have I ever killed anyone?"

Du Qi said lightly.

Zhou Yuan said in a serious tone: "You see that the people are living in misery, so you send all the people in the world to beasts, which is no different from killing people!"

Du Qi said: "The Marquis of Annan reads the books of sages, leads troops to fight, serves the country, and has made great contributions."

"He sees that the people of the world are not easy, so he raises a benevolent and righteous army, how can he speak like a beast!"

Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes and smiled: "What a contemporary Confucian scholar! What a eloquent person!"

"Han Tuo, the Marquis of Annan, likes to eat infant brains, keeps female slaves, and is arrogant and licentiousYi, committed many evils, organized evil gangs, kidnapped people, opened gambling houses, and caused many people to lose their homes and families. It can be said that the world cannot tolerate him! "

"However, such evil people, in your mouth, have become benevolent rulers who have changed the world. It is really ridiculous. "

"Du Kerong! Do you dare to speak sincerely to the portrait of the saints!"

He pointed at Du Qi and shouted: "Speak loudly, is Han Tuo a beast worse than pigs and dogs! Is he evil?"

Du Qi did not expect that the young man in front of him would have such a compelling momentum, and he did not expect that the other party's words would be so sharp.

But he was not a vegetarian, and immediately said in a deep voice: "Saints, I, Du Kerong, have a sincere heart!"

"Annan Hou may not be a wise ruler, or a benevolent monarch, but he is a real powerful minister!"

"It is best for him to overthrow the country and break the monopoly of the evil concubine. ”

“At that time, there will be descendants of the Chen royal family who will reopen the situation, just like Liu Xiu in the Eastern Han Dynasty!”

Zhou Yuan suddenly laughed and squinted his eyes and said, “Mr. Du, is this what you really think?”

Du Kerong bowed and said, “Before the portraits of the saints, I, as a Confucian scholar, would never dare to speak nonsense!”

Zhou Yuan said, “Then you are not against the Jin Dynasty, but against the tyrant.”

It’s over, I was fooled!

Du Kerong thought about it, and then sighed, “Yes, I don’t have to be against the Jin Dynasty, but against the tyrant, against the corrupt court of the Jin Dynasty!”

“Good!”

Zhou Yuan clasped his fists and said, “I admire Confucian scholars like Mr. Du who are responsible. Then, may I ask, how can you be sure that Empress Zhaojing is a tyrant?”

Speaking of this, Du Qi was furious and said loudly, “You are so young, and you have only lived in Yunzhou and Lin’an. How can you know the hardships of the people in the world! ”

“Henan locust plague, millions of refugees, mountains of corpses, thousands of miles of barren land.”

“The northern Tartars are in chaos in the three borders, and many common people are homeless and taken to the north as slaves.”

“Roaming bandits, famine, chieftains, and sea disasters, the Jin Dynasty is rotten to the core. If it’s not that evil concubine abusing power, what else could it be!”

Zhou Yuan said coldly: “In the third year of Longqing, Emperor Qing established laws that ‘land system should not be established’ and ‘annexation should not be suppressed’, which led to the prevalence of land transactions. The gentry and powerful people annexed land through various means, and the people were forced to become tenants.”

“In the fourteenth year of Mingde, Emperor De, in order to strengthen centralization, added a supervisory system, which led to redundant officials and redundant expenses. The treasury has been in deficit since then, and there is no surplus. And the redundant officials are attached to the party, and they are too big to be removed and cannot be dealt with. "

"In the sixth year of Shuntian, Emperor Shun claimed to be the God of the Celestial Empire and sent officials to explore the South China Sea, spending tens of millions of silver and draining out the treasury. To make up for the shortfall, he imposed heavy taxes on three items. Within a year, the people rebelled 68 times!"

"The previous emperor was extravagant and obsessed with Taoism, ignoring state affairs, which led to the fall of most of Liaodong, the rise of Mongolia in the north, the rise of bandits in the Central Plains, and the rampant chieftains in the south."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan stared at Du Qi and said word by word: "Mr. Du, pigs are not fattened in a day, and diseases are not formed in a day. The difficulties of the Jin Dynasty are the accumulated problems of past dynasties, but should they all be blamed on the empress?"

Du Qi's face turned pale, cold sweats were pouring down, and he couldn't say a word for a while.