Chapter 202: Trusting the Wisdom of Those Who Come After

Another month passed in the blink of an eye.

By early November, the city of Beijing already held a hint of chill.

On the main streets, the biting cold wind raged mercilessly. The straw mats and short sleeves of midsummer were nowhere to be seen; cotton robes and charcoal fires began to sell well.

As winter approached, the festive atmosphere of the New Year grew increasingly thick.

On this morning, Zhang Yunxiu's small courtyard was decorated with lanterns and streamers, firecrackers blared in unison, and joy overflowed everywhere. In a small hall within the residence, Zhang Yunxiu changed into new clothes and sat upright in the main seat.

Sitting beside him was his fourth brother, Zhang Jianxiu.

The matter of the Kong Family had now been settled once and for all; under Hai Rui's rigorous investigation, many collateral descendants of the Kong Family had met with disaster.

The land they had originally seized from the common people was ordered to be returned, and those who had committed crimes were held accountable by the law.

Besides this, there was another piece of good news—Qi Jiguang had led his army back half a month ago.

The battle results were extremely bountiful, having hauled in a full two million taels of silver.

Because of this, these past few days, even the water Zhang Yunxiu drank tasted sweet, and he felt as if even his farts smelled fragrant.

Seeing him smiling as brightly as a flower, Zhang Jianxiu curled his lips and couldn't help but tease, "I congratulate you, Grand Secretary Zhang, on making a fortune; in the future, our whole family, old and young, will have to rely on you to get by."

The two had the best relationship, so Zhang Yunxiu was happy to shoot the breeze with his fourth brother.

He laughed along and immediately retorted, "A man turns bad once he has money; fourth brother, you must never let your wife catch you in the act."

Could it be that this brat knows everything? That shouldn't be; this matter only happened last month, and I haven't told anyone.

Zhang Jianxiu's mouth twitched, and his expression suddenly became somewhat unnatural. He tried his best to hide his panic and used as calm a voice as possible to change the subject: "You must take better care of Ruoxi and Xi'er; women are most in need of a man's concern at this time."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded, his eyes fixed directly on Zhang Jianxiu.

From his gaze, Zhang Jianxiu always felt that this guy knew something, but he himself found it awkward to ask directly.

Feeling a bit unnerved by this stare, Zhang Jianxiu simply turned his head away, pretending to examine the furnishings in the room.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere in the small hall suddenly turned strange.

At this moment, Han San came huffing and puffing into the small hall.

Zhang Jianxiu felt relieved, and without waiting for him to salute, he immediately asked, "What is it?"

Han San smiled, performed a salute first, and only then stated what Zhang Yunxiu had instructed: "Last month, Young Master asked me to find Xu Guangqi, as well as that Frankish person; I have found them both."

"What do you want with a Frankish person?" Zhang Jianxiu blurted out.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled, turned to look at Zhang Jianxiu, and explained, "Fourth brother, you don't know this, but these Franks are spread across the four corners of the world; not only are their Cannons powerful, but their sea ships are also formidable."

"We are looking for them precisely to build ships and build Cannons."

"We have everything we need ourselves; do we really need these Franks?"

Zhang Jianxiu muttered to himself, then glanced at Han San, and seeing that the two still had things to discuss, he found an excuse to leave.

Once he left, Han San felt his whole body relax, and his tone of voice became lively: "Young Master, and that He Zheng—this guy's silver tongue is truly impressive; in just one month, he has stirred up a storm in the capital."

"Oh? Tell me about it?" Zhang Yunxiu became interested.

Han San sat down and recounted everything He Zheng had done at the Jiangxi Guild Hall in detail. After this guy checked in there, he would engage in high-minded discussions with Scholars from morning till night every day.

During this time, there were often outrageous remarks.

Yet this was quite fascinating; these young people were sick and tired of the whole "serving one's father at home" and "let the ruler be a ruler, the subject a subject, the father a father, the son a son" routine.

Now that someone had said something different.

It immediately made them feel as if they had discovered a new world, shouting that they wanted to escape into it for the rest of their lives. "If you ask me, this person is just a madman." After a brief summary, Han San was about to comment, but suddenly remembered that this He Zheng was his own Young Master's guest of honor, so he changed his tune: "I'm just hearing what people outside are saying."

"Then what do you think?" Zhang Yunxiu leaned forward and asked him with a chuckle.

"Me?"

Han San pointed at the tip of his own nose, drafted a response in his mind, and then replied, "I think that if this person can stir up a storm, he must have extraordinary qualities; Young Master's ability to recognize talent is something I admire endlessly."

"Hahaha!" Zhang Yunxiu suddenly burst into laughter. After a long while, he stopped and scolded Han San, "Alright, alright, don't tell me these teeth-rotting sycophantic words in the future, otherwise I won't spare you."

"These are my sincere words."

Han San was thick-skinned and braced himself to continue the flattery. Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand to interrupt him, then stood up and paced to the window of the small hall.

Outside the window, it was desolate and bleak; the leaves were withered and yellow, and the ground was covered in fallen leaves.

He was in no mood to admire the scenery, but was instead considering what to do next.

If He Zheng could lecture, he could lecture too.

At first, he had harbored a selfish motive regarding "lecturing." Whether or not to enlighten the people had always left him conflicted.

As a member of the feudal bureaucracy.

It seemed that keeping these commoners in a state of "ignorance" was more beneficial to his own rule. Once the people were enlightened and knew about human rights, they would think that everyone could become a sage.

Then what would this world become?

He dared not think about it.

However, after a collision with Confucianism, he made up his mind to do this. Zhang Yunxiu felt that an advanced system was more important than advanced science and technology.

At the same time, he clearly realized that he did not need to achieve everything in one go.

Every generation has its own mission.

What he had to do was to achieve the transition from 0 to 1; the rest would be left to those who came after.

Trust in the wisdom of those who come after.

A gust of biting autumn wind hit his face. Zhang Yunxiu came back to his senses, turned to look at Han San who was following behind him, and instructed, "Go find two hundred children between the ages of 8 and 14."

"Yes." Han San cupped his hands, turned, and left.

Not long after he left, Xu Ruoxi walked into the hall, supported by a maid.

Zhang Yunxiu hurried forward to catch her, helped her to a chair to sit down, straightened his face, and scolded, "The ground is so slippery, yet you dare to walk around casually; what if you fall?"

Xu Ruoxi felt sweet inside, but on the surface, she pouted and said, "The doctor said I should walk around appropriately; it's good for the fetus. Besides, people can choke to death eating and drinking; does that mean you're going to forbid me from eating and drinking?"

"You still dare to talk back!"

Zhang Yunxiu pretended to be displeased and reached out his palm to pinch Xu Ruoxi's cheek. Xu Ruoxi frowned, let out a soft moan, and two rosy clouds immediately flew onto her plump, fair cheeks.

A pair of watery, large eyes welled up with a white mist.

"Don't—don't cry." Zhang Yunxiu knew he had caused trouble and hurriedly raised his hands in surrender.

"Who's crying?!" Xu Ruoxi bit her cheek, glaring at her husband in a huff.

Then, she said again: "Do you know what day it is today?"

Zhang Yunxiu had known it in his heart for a long time, but he deliberately teased this young girl, so he pretended to lower his head in deep thought.

"Today is my nineteenth birthday." Ruoxi raised her large, watery eyes and looked at Zhang Yunxiu with a pitiful expression.

(End of chapter)