Chapter 539: An Interesting Young Man

Zhu Youxiao was deep in thought, but his gaze never left the young man speaking with such eloquence.

He was very interested in this young man—perhaps he represented a certain type of person.

The appearance of this type of person made Zhu Youxiao pleased; plainly put, these were his supporters.

This was actually a problem Zhu Youxiao had long worried about—his reforms had touched the interests of too many people. Would there come a situation where everyone opposed him?

If that really happened, it would be trouble.

But if there were people supporting him, things would be much easier to handle.

Even if some opposed him, it didn't matter. Looking at the current situation, things were much better. These students of the Imperial Academy were willing to support him—that was a good thing for him.

Glancing at Chen Hong beside him, Zhu Youxiao said, "Invite that young man over."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong hurriedly acknowledged.

The young man was about to leave at that moment; he had gathered several people to follow him. Clearly, this person possessed charisma.

Besides those who had come with him, there were also some strangers joining their group.

This made Zhu Youxiao even more interested.

To carry persuasiveness and conviction in one's words was a rare thing.

Before long, the young man was brought over.

Though the young man didn't know why Chen Hong had summoned him, he could tell from Chen Hong's dress and bearing that this was no ordinary person.

And the people behind this man were naturally even less ordinary.

After coming over, the young man glanced at Zhu Youxiao and confirmed his conjecture.

The person before him was dressed in a manner that bespoke wealth or rank, and the attendants around him all seemed to be at his command.

With guards and servants, bringing so many people out—that was no simple matter.

The young man clasped his fists toward Zhu Youxiao and said, "May I ask how this gentleman is addressed? What business do you have in calling me over?"

"I am Bai Yu."

Zhu Youxiao once again brought out his alias, making a gesture of invitation as he continued, "I merely found what you were saying just now very interesting, and wanted to invite you over for a chat."

"Then I shall respectfully obey." The young man nodded and said, "I am Shi Kefa. A pleasure to meet you, sir."

Having said this, Shi Kefa sat down across from Zhu Youxiao.

Upon hearing this name, Zhu Youxiao was momentarily slow to react.

This name was truly too big—it rang like thunder in one's ears, a figure of great renown in the late Ming.

There was another matter that interested Zhu Youxiao: Shi Kefa was Zuo Guangdou's student.

Not an ordinary teacher-student relationship—the bond between the two could be said to be extremely deep.

Zhu Youxiao looked Shi Kefa up and down and said, "From what you were saying just now, you seem to greatly admire His Majesty's governance and very much wish to do something for His Majesty. Could it be that you seek to make a name for yourself through this?"

These words were extremely blunt—one could say they were one hundred percent meant to provoke.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Shi Kefa's brows furrowed again. This person before him seemed to harbor ill intentions—had he called him over just to say these things?

He had originally thought the man was drawn by his arguments and wanted to hear his detailed exposition. Now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.

Shi Kefa's expression turned grave, and he said in a low voice, "His Majesty's current governance is naturally worthy of praise—nothing of the sort has appeared from ancient times to the present. It is the conduct of an emperor for the ages."

These words were very clear—only an emperor unique through the ages could do such things. This was praise for Zhu Youxiao.

To this, Zhu Youxiao was noncommittal.

He looked at Shi Kefa, nodded, and said, "Where is it good? In Jiangnan, cries of anguish fill the fields; rites and moral principles are in utter chaos. The dignity of scholars is gone."

Shi Kefa looked at Zhu Youxiao expressionlessly and said, "Corrupt officials run rampant breaking the law; merchants bully the market and prey upon the common folk. The people of the realm already suffer beyond words—such persons naturally deserve severe punishment."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Shi Kefa and nodded.

Speaking of it, this was a collision of two ways of thinking. That Shi Kefa could identify with his views was something Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected. After all, Shi Kefa was Zuo Guangdou's student.

He hadn't thought Shi Kefa would actually be somewhat approving.

In truth, opposition to Zhu Youxiao's ideas among the populace had never ceased. It was only that Zhu Youxiao currently held the greater power and had already suppressed these people.

After the Imperial Academies were established in various places, the students who entered them naturally came to uphold Zhu Youxiao's system. Combined with propaganda in public discourse, the effect of these people was quite good.

Many had already begun to accept this theory, and because the notion of equality among the four classes had also gained the support of many merchants, this made the doctrine even more deeply rooted in people's hearts and more widely regarded as correct.

Under such circumstances, many things could be turned around.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Shi Kefa and said, "I can see from your words and bearing that you are quite accomplished—surely you're not from an ordinary family? Could you be from an official household?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Kefa hesitated somewhat, looked Zhu Youxiao up and down, and said, "You know me."

Zhu Youxiao shook his head directly and said in a casual tone, "I don't know you—never seen you before. I merely made a guess based on your speech and demeanor."

"My family holds a hereditary position as Centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, registered in the capital's Embroidered Uniform Guard rolls." Shi Kefa said directly.

This wasn't anything strange—just because your family held a hereditary Centurion post in the Embroidered Uniform Guard didn't mean you could sit in a position of real power in the Guard.

Every time the court awarded merits, it would hand out a large batch of titles like Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion, and each year one could receive some stipend from the court. But this sort of thing was like a sinecure—plainly put, to some extent it made up for the lack of noble titles.

You got a title, but your privileges weren't as many as a noble's; ordinarily you just collected a stipend. If you wanted to convert it into a formal, substantive post as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion, that was basically impossible—at best they'd transfer you to a Platoon Leader.

Demoted one rank down, you couldn't even become a Deputy Centurion. Moreover, you needed someone in your family with connections, or even spend money to grease the wheels. Otherwise, there was simply no hope.

You could only carry this rank and then go do some other line of work. Shi Kefa was clearly such a case—or rather, several generations of his family had been like this.

Shi Kefa had taken Zuo Guangdou as his teacher and devoted himself to study, wanting to advance further.

"So you come from an Embroidered Uniform Guard background." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "I didn't expect that. Judging by your dress and speech, I took you for a scholarly family. Not bad at all—might I ask who your teacher is?"

Zhu Youxiao directly steered the question toward Shi Kefa's teacher.

When his teacher was mentioned, Shi Kefa naturally couldn't conceal it. If someone asked and you didn't answer, would that mean you thought your teacher was shameful?

That was naturally impossible.

Shi Kefa straightened his bearing and said, "My teacher is Zuo Guangdou."

Upon hearing this name, Zhu Youxiao put on an expression of surprise, looked at Shi Kefa, and asked, "I never expected you to be Zuo Gong's student. Truly a renowned master producing distinguished disciples—indeed out of the ordinary!"

Back when Zhu Youxiao purged the Donglin Faction, Zuo Guangdou had chosen his side correctly—he hadn't participated in that affair at all, and so he was preserved.

Later, on Xu Guangqi's recommendation, Zuo Guangdou became Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and had been test-planting potatoes and other crops for the court all along.

Zuo Guangdou did an excellent job and accrued no small merit. Later, because of that merit, he was promoted—transferred out from Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and sent directly to Huguang to serve as Governor.

The reason Zhu Youxiao sent Zuo Guangdou to Huguang was simple: he was sending him there to farm. Because there was a saying in this period: "When Huguang ripens, the whole realm is fed."

Zhu Youxiao needed to guarantee stable grain production, so naturally he had to secure the Huguang region. In the current natural environment, Huguang was the top priority.

The middle Yangtze plain, centered on present-day Hubei and Hunan, had already replaced Suzhou and Changzhou as the nation's base for commercial grain. Huguang naturally needed a steady, reliable, and capable man to manage it.

Zhu Youxiao naturally chose Zuo Guangdou, and the facts proved Zuo Guangdou did well. Up to now, Zuo Guangdou had apparently served nearly two full terms, and it was probably about time for him to return.

He deserved a promotion—he couldn't keep on in that post forever.

Hearing Shi Kefa say this, Zhu Youxiao did indeed recall Zuo Guangdou. Come to think of it, in these past few years he really had forgotten about Zuo Guangdou.

The court ought to have fresh blood flowing through it. This man Zuo Guangdou should be promoted and given important use—he'd go take care of that later.

If he hadn't run into Shi Kefa today, Zhu Youxiao would have nearly forgotten Zuo Guangdou entirely, and who knew when he'd ever have thought of him again.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao praise his teacher, Shi Kefa naturally wore an expression of shared pride.

"Since you are Zuo Guangdou's student, then I can have a chat with you." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Your teacher has always been steady and composed, deeply trusted by His Majesty. These past two years in his Huguang post he's done well too—I expect he'll have a step up in rank."

"But looking at how you conduct yourself, it seems rather at odds with your teacher's style."

"What His Majesty has done in Jiangnan can be described as a violent storm—swift and drastic. Don't you find such conduct rather abrupt? If things keep going this way, it could easily stir up popular unrest. Shouldn't one instead proceed steadily and surely?"

In fact, this was Zhu Youxiao's test of Shi Kefa.

This kind of talk was common nowadays; many people used exactly this reasoning when attacking Zhu Youxiao.

His Majesty is far too impatient! Why must he be in such a hurry?

There's no need for such haste at all—wouldn't taking it slow be better?

Talk like this could easily shake the foundations of the Great Ming!

Shi Kefa looked at Zhu Youxiao, his expression very serious.

He didn't know why this man couldn't go a few sentences without bringing up the Emperor. At Desheng Tower they had also talked about everything under the sun—discussed many people, debated court policy—but they had rarely discussed the Emperor.

That wasn't something they were in a position to do.

What was this man before him thinking?