Dashun Yongchang

He became an emperor but pretended to be a gentleman. This is not allowed, and that is not allowed. He really regards himself as the new emperor.We follow Big Brother and you oppose him, although we are willing, but Big Brother will not want us to do this or not allow that, right?So what are we opposing Li Zicheng for?Just to shave? "

Liu Fangxing was speechless for a while, since he opened the city gate, he lost the authority to restrain the army. When the Qing army acted recklessly in the city, he could not ask his subordinates to continue to observe military discipline, which would only make the soldiers Just hate him even more.

After a long stalemate in the courtyard with her two younger brothers, Liu Fangxing finally said weakly: "We are all from Henan, and we must show some dignity to others. It's fine if you rob someone. How can you spoil a girl who hasn't left the court?" ? If this gets out, how will our Liu family gain a foothold in the village?"

The two younger brothers glanced at each other, they didn't think much of what the elder brother said, they both shaved their heads and became slaves, and they were talking about county prestige, but they still respectfully clasped their fists at Liu Fangxing and said, "We know."

Liu Fangxing could tell at a glance that the two younger brothers were just perfunctory, but he really had nothing to say, so he turned around and walked out, saying, "Don't mess around, go and settle down your subordinates. If something goes wrong, it will kill you..."

The two younger brothers replied to Liu Fangxing loudly, and then went back to their respective rooms. Here, Liu Fangxing just walked to the gate of the small courtyard, but saw a soldier approaching him and said: "Old Guotou and some familiar soldiers Leaving the alley suddenly, Xiao Liu volunteered to follow."

Liu Fangxing nodded, indicating that he knew, then found a small courtyard by himself, drove everyone out and took a nap.When he woke up, the room was already pitch black. After he got up, he went to the door and called the guards, asking him to get some water to wash himself, and some food.After listening to his orders, the guards didn't retreat immediately, but hesitantly said to him: "Patriarch, Xiao Liu and Lao Guotou haven't come back, should we send someone to look for them?"

Liu Fangxing, who was stretching, stopped immediately, and was silent for a long time before replying: "Now look for what you can find, wait until dawn..."

At this time, Xiaoliu, Lao Guotou and others had already run out of the city for several miles. Lao Guotou pulled the reins to stop a mule under him, then looked at the surrounding scene by the moonlight and said, "I remember There is a village over there, let's go there for a night."

Everyone responded in unison, and under the command of the old Guotou, the two went out on foot towards the direction of the village.Taking advantage of this gap, Old Guotou bowed solemnly to Xiao Liu and said, "I just came out in a hurry, and I haven't thanked you yet. If you hadn't told me, I really don't know that Mr. Liu is so dark-hearted. I'm fine, it's too damn unreasonable to kill them."

Xiao Liu bowed his fists to Lao Guo's head and said: "This is outrageous. You guys can keep yourselves clean and not harm the people. Can I still watch you get killed? Then this world is too dark. Your Majesty said that he has no regrets about starting a rebellion, but if he can't build Taiping after the rebellion of Ming Dynasty, then it is his fault. I think what Your Majesty said is correct, and I want to follow His Majesty to build the Peaceful Land In the world, those Qing soldiers are all beasts, and they are not good enough for them."

Old Guotou looked at the young man in front of him in surprise. Although the night was dark and he couldn't see the expression on Xiao Liu's face clearly, he could feel the vitality emanating from the other party.He hadn't seen this kind of vigor in the Ming army for a long time. Ever since General Ping Liao died in Zunhua, he had never seen anyone in the army willing to fight for the people.

The generals in the frontier army fought for their families, and the grassroots officers and soldiers fought for rewards, but those who were willing to fight for the country and the people gradually disappeared.At this moment, he suddenly seemed to see the scene where General Pingliao shouted and charged towards the cavalrymen of the Jiannu brigade. He subconsciously turned his head, not wanting the young man opposite to see the tears streaming from his eyes.

At this time, the two people who went to the village to inquire about the situation finally came back, followed by several figures holding torches.Old Guotou immediately regained his composure and arranged for everyone to disperse, but the shout from the opposite side made them relax, "Boss Zhao, it is Chen Junmen's troops in the village."

Chapter 272 New Deal 87

When Lu Yu walked out of his room, he saw Huang Er, the water bearer, pouring water for the water tank in the yard.He walked forward, filled the bowl in his hand with a ladle, and greeted him casually: "Old Huang is still so punctual today, how many times is this yours?"

Although the weather is cold in the winter morning, Huang Er, who is not wearing thick clothes, does not seem to be afraid of the cold. He smiled and replied while pouring water: "This is the fifth time, there are three more, morning class It's finished.

Now it’s much better than before. The government has repaired so many wells and set up blocks for us. As long as the daily quota is completed, we can go directly to the company to collect the money, and we don’t have to go to the street to find customers. Can we not be on time?The water in the morning is sweet, Mr. Lu, you are washing up, and I am leaving. "

Standing by the sewer in the courtyard, Lu Yu, who was brushing his teeth with a toothbrush dipped in salt grains, nodded to Huang Er, and watched Huang Er briskly leave the yard with an empty bucket. A month ago, as long as he had a few coins in his pocket, he would squat on the street and gamble with people, and he would not work.

Although the neighbors say that Huang Er is unwilling to make progress and will become a beggar sooner or later, Lu Yu, who lives in this small courtyard, can't help but feel sorry for him, because he knows that Huang Er has no skills and can only rely on hard work to make ends meet At the bottom, there is no way out any more.

Why?Because in the past, I sold my strength, and at most I could fill my stomach with coarse grains. If I had a small family, I still couldn’t fill my stomach. If I got a little sick, I could only lie down and wait to die.This kind of hard work is nothing more than self-motivation, it is just living like a cow and a horse.If he hadn't been able to draw with a few strokes, he would have almost fallen into this class, so Lu Yu sneered at those criticisms of Huang Er.

Of course, he can only sympathize with Huang Er, and then forget about it. After all, he still has to work hard for his own survival.Maybe in a certain winter after a long time, when he heard neighbors talking about removing another lying corpse from the street today, he remembered that there was such a water bearer. After sighing, Huang Er also followed him. Out of mind.

However, after the Dashun Army went south, many changes suddenly appeared in Yangzhou City. For the bottom like Huang Er, this change is obviously for the better.For example, the Marshal's Mansion called on the citizens of Yangzhou to fight against the evil forces on the streets, and cleared out all the gangsters entrenched in the streets. These gangsters did not seem to have committed any serious crimes, but they actually oppressed the people at the bottom. By.

Take the business of carrying water as an example. Yangzhou is close to the Yangtze River and canals. It can be said that it is a city that does not lack water sources. However, Yangzhou City, with a population of several 10, is not so easy to drink a sip of clean sweet water. .The canal water is too dirty, and although the Yangtze River water is of good quality, it is still too far from the city, so the best water is the well water in the city.

But except for the wells used by rich families, the other public wells are almost all controlled by gangsters. If the water bearers want to fetch water, they have to pay for the water first. Layers of skin, where can water bearers support their families?And the water money that these gangsters got from the water bearers had to be divided among the subordinate staff, so the water bearers would not be accepted even if they wanted to sue the officials.

Under such circumstances, there are not a few water bearers like Huang Er who earn a round belly and then immerse themselves in gambling.After all, you can't eat meat with hard work, and gambling may still make the winners have a good meal. This is also a silent resistance of the people at the bottom to give up their lives.

However, when the Marshal's Mansion cleaned up those street gangsters, invested in the repair of 100 public wells in the city, and then absorbed the water bearers into a brand new water company, the situation changed.Water bearers like Huang Er used to earn a maximum of [-] Wen a day. Although they only picked eight or nine times a day, they traveled a lot, because there were too few people who picked and bought water.

However, after the establishment of the water company, according to the principle of the nearest distribution, the distance of carrying water will not exceed a quarter of an hour, 5 hours a day, about 32-40 picks, two days off every month, and the salary is 3200-4500 standard text.This greatly improves the efficiency of the water bearers and their remuneration.

On the other hand, the Marshal's Mansion provided each household with water tanks of uniform specifications and adopted a monthly payment method, which also reduced the cost of water for citizens.A load of water is 120 catties, about 10 standard Wen, enough water for a family of five for a day.In the small courtyard where tenants like them live, each person spends 2 standard Wen per day, which is enough for a day's domestic water, which is indeed convenient for the public.

Of course, the bigger change is that the beggars in the streets of Yangzhou city and the idle gamblers sitting in the teahouses are hard to see now.The Marshal's Mansion's aid for human trafficking has also benefited those beggars. As for those gamblers, most of them are street gangsters who have been hit, and a small number of them are citizens who have been dragged into the water by them. object of labor.

People at the bottom like Huang Er, who were about to fall into the ranks of beggars, were absorbed into the water company, and were forcibly cut off from those street gangsters. Suddenly, their whole appearance was different.Now he can not only rely on manual labor to support himself, but even save some money.

After careful calculation, Huang Er can get 150 standard Wen per day on average. He lives alone, and all expenses such as rent will not exceed 50 Wen. It can be said that life has begun to become hopeful.And Lu Yu is now recruited by the Marshal's Mansion to make street posters for the Marshal's Mansion. The average daily average is only 100 standard texts, which is not as high as Huang Er's.

However, Lu Yu will not feel aggrieved by this, because his 100 essays are just the beginning, while Huang Er has almost reached the apex.He Zeng of the Statistics Department is very satisfied with his work, and intends to let him be the leader of a propaganda group, which means that he is about to enter the ranks of officials from a painter, er, now he should be called a civil servant, which makes him Full of energy.

Just when Lu Yu was about to finish washing, Wang Chaoshou, who lived in the hut opposite him, also came out with the toiletries. Seeing him washing outside, he immediately walked over and greeted him affectionately: "Good morning, painter Lu, Do you want to watch the moral debate of Mingzhen Temple today?"

After hesitating for a while, Lu Yu said, "I'm going to Chengxian Street first, to buy some paints and brushes, and come back when I have time. How about you?"

Wang Chaoshou scooped up water and said, "I took half a day off and went to Mingzhen Temple after breakfast. If you want me to say, those Taoist masters are just looking for trouble. Isn't Your Majesty doing a good job now? They have to make trouble Moral debate, this is a panic when you are full..."

Lu Yu just had a moment in his heart. He understood why Wang Chaoshou was on the side of Marshal Du, because in the past Wang Chaoshou was just a white body. Hope that what mixes into compilation.

But this time, the Marshal's Mansion rectified the subordinate staff and abolished a large number of misbehaving and dawdling subordinate staff in one go. This gave a chance for white people like Wang Chaoshou. They are familiar with yamen and street affairs, but they lack an official identity. That's all.While the Marshal's Mansion was rectifying the subordinate staff system, it also adjusted the salaries of the subordinate staff and increased their wages by 25%. As a result, the subordinate staff who had been quite resentful quickly became the support of the Marshal's Mansion. By.

Therefore, this time, when those Taoist gentlemen stood up to criticize Emperor Yongchang's speech at the founding ceremony of the Military Academy, not only did they fail to win the support of the citizens, but they also attracted a large number of complaints.Most of the complaints are that Yangzhou is now a city where hard work can give you a chance to succeed. They don't understand why some people would confront His Majesty because of Zhu Zi's remarks. Isn't this disrupting the development of Yangzhou?

After all, Lu Yu can be regarded as a scholar, at least that's how he sees himself. He is noncommittal to the complaints of those citizens about Taoists, because he thinks that Emperor Yongchang's criticism of Zhu Zi is a bit too much, but he also does not approve of those Taoists. This is more like a form of coercion than an assertion.

With such a mood, Lu Yu said hello to the neighbors after washing up and went out.After leaving the courtyard, he walked north along the alley and came to a commercial street. He walked to the lobby of Fang's teahouse and sat down as usual. He asked for a bowl of porridge, a deep-fried stick and a boiled egg, and then asked I read today's newspaper.

With the popularity of newspapers in Yangzhou, teahouses or restaurants now subscribe to one or several copies for guests to read.The price of a newspaper subscription is only [-]% silver, but it can attract many diners who want to read the news, which is a good deal for the boss.

In today's newspapers, there is still not much news about the Qing soldiers going south from the north, but there are more articles praising the local people who bravely resisted the Qing soldiers' invasion.After reading the newspaper, although Lu Yu was still a little worried about the Qing soldiers going south, he still felt much better.When he saw so many people standing up to resist the Qing army in the newspaper, he calmed down a lot, and correspondingly, he became less and less fond of those officers and soldiers who surrendered to the Qing army.

In the past, literati's aversion to warriors mainly came from education and the Ming Dynasty's political tradition of using literature to control martial arts.Of course, civil officials generally believe that warriors do not need to think, as long as they are brave enough, it is enough for civil officials to consider such things as thinking.In addition, the civil servants believed that the greedy and lustful warriors were inherently greedy and did not need to be restrained, and at the same time believed that the greedy and lustful warriors were despicable and unworthy of being with them.

But now, under the propaganda of the Marshal's Mansion, the people gradually began to pay attention to the morality of the warriors. The officers and soldiers who enjoyed their supplies could not defend the people in the war, and after surrendering to the enemy, they killed and looted the people instead. Really shameless villain.Not only warriors, but also literati who do this are shameless, such as Ming Dynasty civil officials like Hong Chengchou and so-called scholars like Fan Wencheng.

To put it simply, people will no longer judge the conduct of civil and military officials by whether they are loyal to the emperor, but whether they have betrayed us or not.And this kind of judgment standard is exactly the idea that the Marshal's Mansion used newspapers to instill in the people in the past few months, and the people of Yangzhou naturally accepted it.

After breakfast, Lu Yu immediately called the waiter to pay the bill. The other party came over to look at the dishes on the table, and said with a smile on his face: "There are seven big ones in total. If Mr. Lu has copper coins, one will be treated as Five copper dollars is enough..."

Chapter 273 New Deal 88

On the morning of November 11th, Li Zicheng came to Mingzhen Temple, but he did not immediately go to the front yard to meet the "moral men" who were elected, but first came to the hall of the second entrance courtyard of Mingzhen Temple, and observed A strange object just completed by the Academy of Sciences.

This wonder is the pendulum clock. Since the advent of the astronomical observatory in 1092, the mechanical timer has started a long long-distance race.Regrettably, in the Yuan Dynasty, the extremely exquisite Shuijing Palace carved leaks were smashed because Zhu Yuanzhang thought it would be harmful to governing the country, which directly led to the stagnation or even retrogression of astronomy and mechanics throughout the Ming Dynasty.

By the Wanli period, the self-sounding clocks brought by Matteo Ricci from Europe had surpassed the development of mechanical clocks in China. Although the skilled craftsmen in the palace and the south were able to copy the self-sounding clocks brought by Matteo Ricci, Chinese craftsmen had lost why they could The mechanical theoretical basis for such a movement, they can imitate the parts and assemble them, but they cannot create a new timing mechanism.

The scholar-bureaucrats have the conditions to have access to this knowledge, but they cannot turn the theory into real things, and the 100 quarters of a day and night in the old Chinese timekeeping are in dispute with the 96 quarters in the West. Controversies have caused deviations in astronomy, mathematics and mechanics between the East and the West.

After someone possessed Li Zicheng, after unifying the standards of weights and measures, he also confirmed a series of postulates set by Xu Guangqi in formulating the Chongzhen New Calendar, that is, a day and night are divided into 96 quarters, and the mathematical circle is 360 degrees.

Since Li Zicheng was not welcomed by the gentry, the hereditary officials who mastered astronomy and calendar followed Li Zicheng.After all, in their view, this new calendar calculated by using the Western calendar is completely inconsistent with the ancient Chinese law, which means that Dashun's lifespan will not be long. Li Zicheng cursed himself, why did they want to stop it?

For someone, it would be great if these people did not jump out to find trouble. After unifying weights and measures and these astronomical and mathematical units, he immediately let the Academy of Sciences, Jesuit missionaries and craftsmen start the development of new mechanical clocks.Although it is still not possible to jump to the level of nautical clocks, combined with the pendulum principle discovered by Galileo, at least pendulum clocks can be manufactured on the basis of self-ringing clocks.

Someone's estimation was not wrong, and with the efforts of three parties, the first pendulum clock was finally manufactured.Wu Erxun stood beside Li Zicheng and introduced the structure and principle of this timing machine in detail. Obviously, the appearance of this new timing machine was a masterpiece that Wu Erxun and others were proud of. He finally showed off to Li Zicheng a little One sentence, "...Father Tang Ruowang also said that the timing accuracy of this pendulum clock has surpassed the most advanced self-ringing clock in Europe."

Li Zicheng looked at the shape of the pendulum clock and said, "How much does it cost to make such a pendulum clock?"

Wu Erxun was stunned for a moment, then lowered his voice and replied: "It cost about 3 taels to manufacture just this one, but we have found the trick, and the next one will not exceed 6 taels." , if more than ten units can be manufactured, it can be reduced to less than 400 taels..."

Li Shichun on the side finally couldn't help but said: "The gold chiming clocks sold by those Westerners from Europe are only 560 taels, and yours cost more than 3 taels, even if it can be reduced to 6 taels in the future." , but the best water leak is only a few taels of silver, which is too extravagant."

Facing the doubts of Li Shichun and others, Wu Erxun's momentum became weaker, and he could only whisper: "But the error of water leakage is relatively large, and it is difficult to use at sea."

Immediately, someone asked him back: "Then you can use this at sea? Don't you have to fix this on the ground, and then rely on gravity to swing back and forth to calculate the duration?"

Wu Erxun could only argue strongly: "The water leak is definitely not going to work, but ours might be able to do it in the future..."

Li Zicheng withdrew his gaze from staring at the pendulum clock, interrupted the debate between the two sides and said: "The mechanical clock must be researched, we need a more accurate timekeeping tool, otherwise many experiments such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, etc. will not be possible." Keep it up. Even the military needs precise timing to accomplish their combat missions. I don't think there's much to dispute about that.

In this way, you first make 20 pendulum clocks, and the reservation price is 350 taels. In addition, I hope to build a big clock in Yangzhou for the whole city to see, so that citizens can know the time through the big clock, to replace the current Bell and Drum Tower.This pendulum clock is placed here. In the future, the Wenhua Palace will go to get off work at 24:[-] am and end at [-]:[-] pm. There are [-] hours in a day, so don't count the hours. "

The members of the Wenhua Palace surrounding Li Zicheng looked at each other, and finally no one spoke.It's not that they think Li Zicheng is right to spend money, but that everyone feels that in the face of the imminent moral debate, there is no need to tease Li Zicheng's patience now, otherwise Li Zicheng will walk away, and they will not arrange this debate for nothing. what.

Reputable scholars like Lu Zhenfei and Li Shichun all felt that Li Zicheng should be refuted through public academic debates, so as to correct the crown prince and the public's recognition of Li Zicheng's fallacies. This is what they think is the most important thing at the moment.After all, Li Zicheng's reputation in the hearts of Yangzhou citizens can no longer be shaken by other methods.

Seeing that the hour hand on the pendulum was almost turning to 10 o'clock, Li Zicheng said to the people around him: "Let's go, let's go, it's almost ten o'clock. Go to the front yard to deal with the matter first, and then we will Come back and talk about the construction of the new city.”

Others were still thinking about what time it was ten o'clock, but Li Zicheng had already turned around easily and walked out of the hall.For him, switching from twelve-hour timing to 24-hour timing is like returning from ancient times to modern times, which is so refreshing.What time does this headache come from now? It should be a person of this era.

Although the area of ​​Mingzhen Temple is not as large as Qionghua Temple and Tianning Temple, it is not too small.But when Li Zicheng led a group of people to the stone platform of the main hall in the front yard, Li Zicheng felt that the front yard of Mingzhen Temple looked more spacious than that of Qionghua Temple.This is of course not true, but because too few people came to attend the audition this time.

In addition to hundreds of scholars wearing robes, the crowd standing behind them is no more than two to three hundred people, so the courtyard looks a bit spacious.Zhu Cihong, who was beside Li Zicheng, also said with some doubts, "Why are there so few people here today? Didn't Yangzhou people like to join in the fun before?"

Li Zicheng lazily replied: "Before Yangzhou people participated so actively because they wanted to eat, work, and be fair. But the purpose of today's rally has nothing to do with them, they are busy making money. Anyway, the newspapers will Tell them today's results, not those who are idle and flustered, why bother to ask for leave."

Zhu Cihong looked thoughtfully at the crowd under the steps. At the same time, the scholars standing under the steps saluted Li Zicheng and the prince one after another. Driven by them, the audience behind also saluted.Soon a professor surnamed Wang and three students, Ma, Chen, and Wang, came out of the crowd, reported themselves to Li Zicheng, and introduced to him the 30 moral men elected today.

Hearing the names and identities of these people, Li Zicheng just laughed and said nothing. Except for a few scholars, the professor surnamed Wang has some status, and the others are just students.This shows that although his speech at the founding ceremony of the military academy annoyed a group of scholars, those scholars with status did not dare to stand up and could only push these little people out.

Obviously, if he became angry and punished someone today, it would be irrelevant to those behind-the-scenes masterminds, but would damage his reputation.And if he swallows his anger, then it will be difficult for him to clarify when these scholars claim that they have won the moral argument.Some of these "moral men" may have come out of righteous indignation, but I'm afraid some are also here for a chance at fame.

After listening to the self-introductions of these people, without waiting for these scholars to question him, Li Zicheng said first: "Although you are elected by scholars in this city, the morality we are going to discuss today is a truth that is universally applicable. Standards, so I can't just approve of your morality. I think we should confirm some common sense first, what is your opinion?"

Before the "moral men" in the audience had time to say anything, the surrounding crowd applauded for Li Zicheng one after another, and voiced their approval.Interrupted by Li Zicheng, the virtuous people who had gathered their momentum could no longer continue, and those who lacked the ability to respond to changes could only accept Li Zicheng's proposal and listen quietly to Li Zicheng's common sense question.

Li Zicheng also asked unceremoniously: "The first common sense I want to ask is, do the Three Emperors and Five Emperors have morality?"

This is not a question at all, and a student immediately stood up and answered: "If the Three Emperors and Five Emperors have no morals, who else in this world has morals?"

Li Zicheng then asked: "Then where did the morality of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors come from?"

Some students replied without hesitation: "Fuxi is the most pure and honest, and he wrote the gossip in "Yi"; the Suiren family taught the people to drill wood to make fire; Medicine; Zhuanxu's mastery of heaven and earth, offering sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth; Emperor Ku establishing the solar terms; Tang Yao formulating the calendar; Yu Shun setting rewards and punishments, and controlling floods. The above are the achievements of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, which is also their morality."

Li Zicheng then asked again: "Then, is Duke Zhou moral? Where does his morality come from?"

What Li Zicheng asked was indeed common sense, and all the scholars below said in unison: "Duke Zhou governed the rites and music to teach all people, and the world is harmonious. This is the morality of Duke Zhou."

Li Zicheng then asked again: "Then where did Confucius' morality come from?"

The scholars below replied in unison again: "The teacher of all ages, the rule of virtue and education, this is the virtue of Confucius."

Li Zicheng glanced at everyone in the courtyard, and then said: "So, all truly virtuous scholars must first have the merits of enlightenment, right? So where does the morality of the lords come from? Dare to be called a man of morality ?”

Chapter 274 New Deal 89

Li Zicheng's question made the scholars below react a little too late, they never thought that there would be such a sudden question.You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, once the students carried out the statue of Confucius, they always questioned others, rather than others questioning whether they were qualified.

Although they did not dare to carry the statue of Confucius this time, Li Zicheng was not a reasonable person after all, but since Li Zicheng announced that he would discuss morality with the public today, everyone still held the same mentality as before, thinking that they came here to represent the people Pleading for life, without thinking about who I am.

But they did not expect that Li Zicheng would attack them under the pretext of being a man of morality, which made people feel a little confused.After a long while, someone stood up and answered Li Zicheng's question, "These men of morality were elected at the request of His Majesty, not to say that they are truly men of morality."

"Haha..." Li Zicheng burst into laughter suddenly. When the scholars and the masses in the courtyard were surprised, they heard Li Zicheng say again: "I asked you to push some moral people out to talk to me about what morality is, but you pushed out A group of immoral people talk about morality with me as a moral person. Is this the morality you keep saying? I am the Son of Heaven. To deceive me is to deceive God. What is the crime of deceiving God? You are all well-read people, how about Tell me."

The scholar who had just stood up shut his mouth immediately, and he could even feel the angry eyes of his companions watching him, because he dragged everyone into the abyss one step further.

Seeing that the scholars below were all silent, and the atmosphere on the scene became more and more tense, Lu Zhenfei bumped Li Shichun with his shoulder, Li Shichun looked back, saw Lu Zhenfei pointing his eyes at the prince, he immediately turned back Confused, he took half a step forward and whispered in the prince's ear: "Your Highness, please persuade Your Majesty."

Zhu Cihong didn't react for a while, turned his head and stared at the teacher full of confusion, Li Shichun had no choice but to continue: "You can't let His Majesty really order punishment for these students, it will also damage His Majesty's reputation. "

Only then did Zhu Cihong understand, he nodded knowingly, adjusted his clothes, took a few steps forward, bowed to Li Zicheng and said: "Your Majesty, I don't think these students intend to deceive the heavens, they just They committed such unintentional mistakes because they were not very knowledgeable, please forgive them and give them a chance to reform themselves."

The reaction of the scholars in the audience was similar to what Li Zicheng predicted. Without the support of the masses, the student movement that was instigated by those who wanted to do so did not have any firm beliefs.What's more, in the absence of those truly famous Taoist scholars, these scholars can't even come up with a unified concept. All they can show is a gesture by virtue of their status as students.

The students are the backup force of the ruling class of Ming Dynasty. Once they unite to oppose something, the ruler of Ming must pay enough attention to it. After all, without the support of the students, the rule of Ming Dynasty will be shaken.For example, the famous tombstone of five people just shows the influence of the students on the local people.

Only this time, they chose the wrong timing and opponent.In terms of timing, Marshal Du's Mansion, which had just restored Yangzhou to normal operation, had the highest prestige. At this time, doubting Li Zicheng obviously could not get the support of most citizens; Without establishing extensive social ties, to the Marshal's Mansion, the students from the previous dynasty did not represent Dashun's future ruling personnel reserves, so naturally not many people would stand by their side.

Using power to easily suppress these unknown people is not something worth showing off to Li Zicheng. He knows one thing very well, that is, the man behind the scenes who instigated these scholars is no longer here. Any disposition will become evidence used by the black hands behind the scenes to fight back against themselves.

To put it simply, the planning of these behind-the-scenes black hands is nothing more than inciting a group of students who do not know the truth to question themselves publicly, and then when they disperse or punish these students, those black hands can accuse themselves of suppressing speech or suppressing students.This kind of trick can be seen much more. To label the anti-government students as counter-revolutionaries bewitched by foreign forces, isn't this the case of Liu Hezhen.

Therefore, he didn't hate these students, they were just a group of nerds being used by others.Regarding Zhu Cihong's intercession, he just pondered for a moment and then said: "In Zhu Xi's era, there were Jin Kingdom, Xixia and Mongolia outside. How did Zhu Xi educate these barbarians? How can such a person be compared with Confucius and Duke Zhou?" ?

In order to eliminate disputes between countries, Confucius traveled around the world to spread his knowledge of benevolence and righteousness. This is the true unity of knowledge and action.Looking at your appearance now, it is rare to talk about one's heart with one's hands on weekdays, and it is rare to report to the king when one dies, so how can we talk about morality?

I don’t know who Zhu Zi was, but from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, and Xunzi, all the ancient sages educated the people with practice instead of ruling the country with empty talk. What does this mean?Explain that practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

I remember Confucius saying: There are five evils among people, but theft and adultery are not the same.The first is to have an open heart and be dangerous; the second is to act out of the way but to be firm; the third is to speak falsely but argue;If one of these five is in harmony with others, the gentleman will inevitably be punished, but Shaozhengmao has both.

Looking at you today, it seems that Shaozheng Mao is not far away.Cihong said that you are still saved, so I will try to save you.This dynasty has just taken back Taiwan Island, and there are tens of thousands of wild people on the island, who are in need of enlightenment.Since you are called moral people, then go to Taiwan to educate these savages for China.

Within three years, if you can really instill morality into these savages, then I invite you to come back and tell me what morality is.If you can't bear this hardship, then these three years will be regarded as punishment for your crime of deceiving the sky.If other people are willing to practice Confucius' teaching ideas, they can also apply to the Marshal's Mansion, and if someone is willing to bring their family members to Taiwan to settle, I can also pay for the settlement..."

While Li Zicheng was speaking, some scholars silently took a few steps back, away from those "moral men" who had been elected.The purpose of their coming here today is to seek justice for Zhu Zi, not to go to overseas deserted islands to educate savages, that is called exile, okay?

When Li Zicheng began to use power to explain his own morality, everyone gave up the right to argue with each other about what morality is. If they had such a character, they would not stay in Yangzhou honestly.Moreover, when the prince came forward to intercede for them, it essentially showed the prince's support for Li Zicheng's moral interpretation.

The three cardinal guides and five constant principles advocated by Taoists can no longer support them to oppose the prince and Li Zicheng at the same time, because this is not in line with the moral ethics of heaven, earth, monarch, parent and teacher.

Most of the thirty "moral men" who were abandoned by the crowd had pale faces and trembling thighs.The reason why they dare to stand up to be the leader is because they hold the law and do not blame the public and their identity as scholars. In the past, relying on these two things, even if they collided with the county government, they were only given a few warnings.

But now Li Zicheng really doesn't follow the rules, and they are about to be dispatched to overseas desert islands in a few words, and no one stands up to intercede for them, which makes them feel terrified.It was at this time that these scholars really realized that it was no longer the Ming Dynasty.

Li Zicheng stood on the stone platform and waited for a while, but he didn't see anyone jumping out to object. He was very disappointed for a while. He had already decided to punish these scholars today. Less than he imagined.He could only ask an official to go down to register those "moral men", and then announced the end of today's meeting.

This was probably the shortest rally held by Li Zicheng in Yangzhou, and it was also the one that Yangzhou citizens were least concerned about, but it was the one that hit the Yangzhou gentry the hardest.Li Zicheng almost used power to suppress the opposing voices of Taoists, and he was not as tender as the previous few times.

The results of this rally silenced some officials and gentry who were eager to steal the power of the new dynasty.After finishing the meeting, Li Zicheng immediately put the meeting behind him. He returned to the backyard of Mingzhen Temple and asked Zhu Cihong about the construction plan of Yangzhou New City and the situation of the architectural planners he recruited.

After walking into the backyard, Zhu Cihong finally regained his composure from the shock just now.In his past life, it was hard to imagine that he treated scholars so roughly. Even his father, the emperor, only dared to reprimand the personal morals of the ministers, and did not dare to be so merciless to a group of scholars so directly. public repression.