Chapter 376 The Way of the Emperor
Prince Yu followed the convoy out of the city listlessly.
Yang Xi muttered to the side, "My Highness! Don't you see that Long Wei Bur brought you with him instead of anyone else? It shows that he loves you very much... You should at least go and say a few words!"
Prince Yu shook his head, the image of that woman filled his mind.
That day when he went out of the palace, he happened to meet a young girl waiting to be summoned by Concubine Lu Jingfei.
Bright eyes, white teeth, skin whiter than snow... Prince Yu fell in love with her at first sight.
He sent someone to inquire quietly and learned that the girl's surname was Wang and her father held a nominal position as a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and now served in the Five Military Commandery.
This kind of family background is everywhere in the capital, but the prince wants to marry a wife with such a background.
High-ranking officials, nobles, and military nobles, I'm sorry, because the women from such families have too powerful backgrounds to be controlled. And they are prone to ambition.
Prince Yu was delighted and was waiting to announce the good news, but he did not expect that his cousin would come and break up the couple.
He was not stupid. From the moment he followed Jiang Qingzhi out of the city, he knew that Emperor Jiajing had acquiesced to his cousin's decision.
I'll leave this matter to your uncle.
Prince Yu looked up and saw a convoy approaching with difficulty on the muddy road ahead.
The leading man saw Mo Zhan and shouted, “But Long Wilbur?”
"Who are you waiting for?" Mo Zhan asked.
The man came forward and said, "I am Yinglu, from Taizhou Prefecture."
Jiang Qingzhi got off the car upon hearing the news, and Ying Lu saluted, "I am the clerk of Haimen Guard, and I have been ordered to bring the New Year gifts from the elders of Haimen Guard..."
"New Year's gift?" Jiang Qingzhi frowned. "What is Chen Bo up to?"
What he hates most is this kind of formalism, which also disturbs the public.
"This is the commander's letter." Ying Lu handed the letter to Jiang Qingzhi and said with a smile: "Commander Chen said that if Lord Bo knew about this, he would definitely think that he was flattering him. It's not true.
A few days after Lord Bo left, local people gathered spontaneously. Each family contributed dried fish and bamboo shoots, and made a lot of special products, which they entrusted to the commander to send to Lord Bo. The gifts were not expensive, but they were all the heartfelt gifts of the people of Taizhou Prefecture. I am leaving now! "
Before Jiang Qingzhi could say anything, Ying Lu turned around and prepared to go back with his men.
"Stop!" Jiang Qingzhi called him, opened the envelope and looked at it carefully.
After he led his army away, only a few fishermen tried to go out to sea at first. After they returned with a full load, others became jealous and followed them out to sea to fish.
——Lin Hai remained silent.
Sun Lianyuan got on board the pirate ship, but the Haimen guards turned a blind eye and the maritime ban became a piece of waste paper.
——The elders of Taizhou said that without the Lord, there would be no good life today. If giving money is harmful to the Lord, then I have carefully prepared some specialties, and I hope the Lord will accept them.
Jiang Qingzhi looked at the gift list at the back, which mainly consisted of dried seafood, some dried bamboo shoots and several large baskets of glutinous rice cakes. Jiang Qingzhi couldn't help but laugh and cry when he saw this.
"This glutinous rice cake is so heavy, it must be hard to transport it all the way here."
Ying Lu said, "They said that when Lord Bo was in Taizhou, he was full of praise for glutinous rice cakes. No matter how heavy the food is, Lord Bo must have a taste of it during the New Year."
"The gift may be small, but the thought is profound!" Xu Wei said with emotion.
A woman's voice came from inside the car, "My dear, since you have come from afar, you are a guest. Please ask someone to settle you down. In addition, Mr. Hu is at home, so you can ask him to prepare some gifts for you in return..."
She is indeed a good wife.
Jiang Qingzhi nodded and ordered someone to take Ying Lu and others into the city for resettlement.
"If there's no rush, you can spend the New Year in the capital." Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
"I dare not." Ying Lu said, "The commander ordered us to return as soon as we have delivered it."
Prince Yu watched this scene, and after the convoy set off again, Jiang Qingzhi called him over.
"What do you think?"
Prince Yu said: "The people are simple and honest."
"Hmm!" Jiang Qingzhi's hand trembled, and the ruler slipped out of his sleeve.
He held the ruler in his hand, his eyes unkind, "Just a woman can make you lose your mind and make you complain."
They haven't even held hands or spoken a word, but this kid is already distracted by this. If this turns out to be a good thing, wouldn't this woman make him obey her every word?
Jiang Qingzhi's body suddenly shook.
He glanced at Xu Wei, who looked like he knew Prince Yu would do this, and thought to himself, I was so careless after returning to Beijing. And Xu Wei, this psychopath, didn't even remind me.
Xu Wei said softly: "This must be the trick of those people. They dug a big hole first."
If it can accomplish good things, use that woman to indirectly influence and control Prince Yu.
Once Prince Yu distanced himself from Jiang Qingzhi, the future of the Mohist school was instantly cast into a shadow.
If direct attack is ineffective, I will try a roundabout way to save the country.
First plant a nail in the future emperor's place, and then continue to give you eye drops.
When Master Dao passes away, if Prince Yu can successfully ascend the throne, there is no need for the Confucians to take action. With a few pillow talk, the Mohists will naturally be wiped out.
Prince Yu looked like a young man in his rebellious period, and followed silently all the way to the farm.
"Hello, uncle!"
The village head Han Shan came with a few people to greet them. Seeing that there were quite a few large carts, he asked if they needed anyone to help.
"No need." Jiang Qingzhi saw many children sniffing their noses and looking at this side not far away, so he asked: "It's snowing heavily, how is the village?"
"Several houses collapsed the day before yesterday, luckily no one was crushed." Han Shan said it simply, but Jiang Qingzhi knew the danger involved.
"Let's go and take a look." Jiang Qingzhi asked Li Tian to go and arrange for it, while he and Han Shan went to check the situation. "The third brother should come too."
Prince Yu followed behind and entered the manor.
The snow was cleared and piled high on both sides. The road in the middle was quite muddy, so you had to be careful when walking.
Haw!
Prince Yu slipped and fell heavily.
"Ouch!" Yang Xi exclaimed. Just as he was about to go forward with the guards to help, he was stopped by Jiang Qingzhi.
"Get up by yourself." Jiang Qingzhi's eyes turned. A child next to him also fell down, but he got up in a flash, rubbed the mud on his hands casually, and smiled very happily.
Prince Yu slowly got up and felt his buttocks were numb.
"Follow me." Jiang Qingzhi turned around.
Most of the houses in the village are mud houses, but the roofs are tiled.
"Originally, most of the houses were thatched huts. But after the uncle took over the farm, he built a biogas digester, which increased the harvest a lot. In addition, the rent collected by the uncle was also low, so we have a good life now."
If they were thatched huts, this snow would cause most of the houses in the village to collapse.
Upon hearing that Jiang Qingzhi was coming, the farmers came out to greet him.
The farmers put their hands in their sleeves, looking somewhat... how should I put it! Especially humble.
But Prince Yu saw the light in their eyes.
He was in a trance for a moment, thinking of the people from Taizhou Prefecture whom he had met before.
Different places, but the light in the eyes is similar.
What light is that?
Prince Yu pondered in his heart. Jiang Qingzhi inspected and found that 20% of the houses had hidden dangers.
"First, clear the snow immediately. Second, mobilize the farmers and those who can afford it to accommodate those people for a while. We can make new plans after the snow stops."
"Yes." Han Shan nodded. Jiang Qingzhi turned around and asked, "Does the Third Brother think this is a good idea?"
Prince Yu said: "This can be regarded as helping each other, which is naturally good."
Jiang Qingzhi sighed in his heart, "The families who take in those farmers should be paid according to the number of people they take in. I will pay for this."
Han Shan was rubbing his hands. Hearing this, he said shyly, "It's my incompetence. How could I let you spend money..."
"You go and get busy first." Jiang Qingzhi asked Han Shan to go first.
"Third brother, come walk with me."
"Yes."
Walking in the snow is actually uncomfortable. Even if you wear leather boots, your feet will still feel cold after a long time.
“Do you know what the people need?”
Prince Yu said: "Food, clothing, housing and transportation."
"It's not enough to know this." Jiang Qingzhi said, "You also need to know what the people are thinking."
"Uncle, everyone has different ideas..."
Prince Yu felt that this was a bit too much to ask.
"Start from the perspective of interests and think about what the people are thinking." Jiang Qingzhi was teaching him.
Xu Wei, who was lagging behind, heard something and smiled secretly while stroking his beard.
Prince Yu thought carefully for a long time, "When faced with such a disaster, the people most hope to see the government come forward to help. But the local government has limited capabilities, so they can only leave it to fate."
"What's the solution?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
"The solution..." Prince Yu frowned, "Uncle, unless it's a snowstorm, the government won't take action."
He looked up and said, "The government doesn't have that much money and grain."
"so what?"
Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Prince Yu said: "So..."
Xu Wei fell behind by a few steps, thinking that he could only let the situation take its course. With Lord Bo asking so many questions, Prince Yu could do nothing about it.
"No way?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
"Yes." Prince Yu explained, "Uncle, it has been like this for thousands of years."
Jiang Qingzhi said, "Do you know why you can't find a solution? You're sitting in the wrong place."
Prince Yu secretly complained in his heart, thinking that it has been like this for thousands of years, is it possible that I can find a solution out of thin air?
Jiang Qingzhi took him into a house.
The family has an old man who is bedridden. The male owner looks honest and has dark and rough skin.
"Uncle." The family was in panic, Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile: "Prepare a meal, no need to be special, whatever you eat, I will eat."
The male host went away timidly. Sun Bu Tong went to watch him and saw him take out two eggs with great care. He said, "No need. I will cook what you ate in the past today."
The meal was served later in the evening. The staple food was a very thin batter, and the side dish was a small dish of pickles.
"Eat!" Jiang Qingzhi picked up the bowl and drank, then picked up the pickles and ate.
Prince Yu took a bite and found it tasteless, and the pickles were not tasty either.
The key point is that there is not much left. He is young and can’t resist hunger. After eating a bowl, he looked around.
"No more." Jiang Qingzhi had already finished eating and wiped his mouth.
Prince Yu asked, "How can we make it to the next meal if we only eat this much?"
"Tighten your belt!" said Jiang Qingzhi.
He stood up and said, "Come on, I'll take you somewhere else to have a look."
Jiang Qingzhi took him out. Xu Wei was waiting outside. Jiang Qingzhi asked, "How is it?"
Xu Wei said, "I have already talked to the manager of the village next door."
"it is good!"
Prince Yu followed Jiang Qingzhi to the next door farm. Looking at the more dilapidated houses and the farmers with more ragged clothes, he fell silent.
"Have another meal." Jiang Qingzhi took him into a house.
Xu Wei arranged everything.
The batter was as thin as water, and there was only a small piece of pickle. When asked, they were told that salt was too expensive and they couldn't afford it.
After eating, Jiang Qingzhi took him to inspect the village.
After returning to the manor again, Jiang Qingzhi and Prince Yu entered the study.
"Do you have a solution now?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Prince Yu was silent for a long time, "The only way is to help the people."
This kid finally realized it... Jiang Qingzhi continued to ask, "How to relieve the crisis?"
"I..." Prince Yu hesitated, "Reduce the rent."
It was indeed Emperor Longqing!
Jiang Qingzhi was delighted and said, "Continue."
"I used to think it was natural for farmers to pay rent for farming, but now I know how greedy this natural thing is. I..."
Prince Yu thought of the two bowls of watery batter and the child who was drooling while holding his finger...
He looked up.
"Uncle, the people who came from Taizhou Prefecture had a light in their eyes, and so did the farmers in this village. I didn't understand it at the time. But now I understand..."
"What do you understand?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
The future Emperor Longqing, Prince Yu at this moment said: "That is the light of hope! The light of longing for the future."
"There are only you and me here, so just talk." Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
Prince Yu took a deep breath and said, "Those who rule the country should sit on the side of the people!"
Prince Yu felt that he suddenly understood many things that he had not understood before. He asked, "Uncle, is this the way of Mohism?"
"Yes, it is also another way."
"What way?"
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head and said nothing.
Outside, Xu Wei looked at the sky and whispered, "The way of the emperor!"
(End of this chapter)
