Chapter 93: Good words are hard to persuade the ghost who should die, compassion does not cross those who seek their own death

Zhu Zhu Yijun was exceptionally surprised by Empress Dowager Li. Empress Dowager Li was admitting her mistakes and trying to correct them.

According to the Ming Dynasty's system design and the filial piety of the Confucian etiquette of seniority and inferiority, the most honorable person in the Ming Dynasty was the Emperor, but now the Emperor was young, and Empress Dowager Li lived in the Qianqing Palace and acted on behalf of imperial power, so Empress Dowager Li was the most honorable person in the world.

In Empress Dowager Li's position, possessing such power, admitting her mistakes and actively correcting them, in Zhu Zhu Yijun's view, was rare and commendable.

Who has no faults? To err and be able to correct it is the greatest good.

During the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Ling of Jin was lawless and killed many people. Shi Ji remonstrated, saying that if this continued, people's hearts would be scattered. Duke Ling of Jin immediately said: I know I was wrong, I must change.

Shi Ji happily said to Duke Ling of Jin: Who has no faults? To err and be able to correct it is the greatest good.

As a result, Duke Ling of Jin became even worse, eventually leading to the loss of people's hearts and being killed.

Duke Ling of Jin accepted good words but remained stubborn, knowing his mistakes but not changing them, becoming the best footnote for "Who is not a sage, who has no faults, to know one's mistakes and be able to correct them is the greatest good."

"What's wrong?" Empress Dowager Li looked at the young Emperor's surprised eyes and asked with some curiosity.

Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Nothing."

Empress Dowager Li said with a full smile, "It's nothing if Mother loses face. I am just a woman who doesn't understand the big picture. My son is becoming more and more sensible, and everything will be fine. The ministers my son scolded in the Huangji Hall, who only know how to chatter, only know how to talk empty words, and are grand but not firm—scolded well, scolded satisfyingly!"

"Mother has experienced this matter and has also figured it out. The more sensible my son is, the more imperial power will be manifested, rather than how much silver is taken from the outer court."

Empress Dowager Li was also making progress in state affairs, which was a good thing.

Empress Dowager Li knew that forcing the imperial court to give her father a sum of silver to repair his garden had caused trouble. Being able to change her order, Empress Dowager Li, who was at the peak of power in the world, was very difficult to do.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty's requirements for Empress Dowager Li were not very high. Empress Dowager Li just needed to take care of the young Emperor until he grew up. They didn't ask Empress Dowager Li to be as virtuous as Empress Ma, just not to cause trouble.

The empresses and empress dowagers of the Ming Dynasty, after the Yongle era, were of ordinary background and had no strong relatives to support them. In fact, what they could do was extremely limited, and they couldn't even do "ruling from behind the curtain," let alone "listening to politics from behind the curtain."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng had been thinking about the clear definition of public and private for the Emperor. The Emperor had asked about the clear definition of public and private, and asked every time: Senior Grand Secretary, have you figured it out?

Zhang Zhang Juzheng was really scratching his bald head, trying to solve the Emperor's problem.

And this time, Empress Dowager Li asked the outer court for silver to repair her father's garden. Zhang Zhang Juzheng seriously understood the ins and outs of this matter and had a deeper understanding of the definition of public and private.

In the Zhang Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhang Zhang Juzheng would post draft votes on all memorials, and then return home to write letters to the governors in various places, explaining the reasons why specific political decrees could not be implemented, the possible bad consequences, or how a certain political decree should be specifically implemented. These letters were also part of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's daily routine.

After doing these, in his leisure time, Zhang Zhang Juzheng would study the dark room. He found people to grind transparent glass, as well as crystals, gemstones, etc., and placed them in the sunlight. As long as it was a prism, it could decompose sunlight into seven colors, and then the seven colors would return to one color.

It was not that someone had cast a magic spell, but the infinite principles of all things.

Up to this point, the young Emperor was studying optics in a simple dark room, and Zhang Zhang Juzheng no longer had any objections.

Playing, as long as it wasn't alchemy, the young Emperor not attending to his proper duties was just a pastime.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng annotated some of the Four Books and smiled at You Qi, who walked in from outside, "Hai Hai Gangfeng was right. The Emperor is still too hard-working. At the age of ten, he is so busy every day. Having some hobbies that are not too out of line is also a long-term strategy. If he is busy for too long, people will become slack."

"'People live for a lifetime, and only live for one lifetime. Some take from their hearts and minds, talking in a room; some entrust their feelings to what they like, letting their bodies go beyond the world. Although their interests are different, and their quiet and restless temperaments are different, when they are happy with what they encounter, they are satisfied for a while.'"

"People live for a lifetime, and only live for one lifetime. Some like to communicate with friends about things they care about; some entrust their feelings to things they like. Although their interests are different, and their quiet and restless temperaments are different, when they are happy with what they encounter, isn't it a kind of happiness?"

You Qi heard Zhang Zhang Juzheng say this and smiled. For the past half year, his master had returned home not with a gloomy face, but with a kind of excitement, the excitement of his great ambition being realized.

Mainly because the young Emperor in the palace was finally getting serious.

In the past, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, as the Imperial Tutor, had extremely strict constraints on the young Emperor. You Qi hadn't tried to persuade him, but the young Emperor's reading had never had any positive feedback, and he had always been indifferent to state affairs. Now, his master actually felt that the young Emperor not attending to his proper duties was just a pastime in his leisure time.

"News came from the palace. Empress Dowager Li wants to confiscate the silver granted to the Earl of Wuqing and turn it into a reward." You Qi had received the news from Xu Jue. This round of meritorious relatives reaching out to the palace for money, Empress Dowager Li was not asking the outer court to find a way to make up the money and saying it wouldn't be a precedent, but correcting her previous mistake. This made You Qi feel very surprised!

Power is something that easily confuses people's hearts. Knowing they are wrong, they still don't correct it.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng frowned, then relaxed.

He knew Empress Dowager Li's temper very well. Even for the sake of the young Emperor's authority, Empress Dowager Li wouldn't admit her mistake. If even the Empress Dowager bowed her head, the ministers outside the palace would bully the orphans and widows even more.

Empress Dowager Li was willing to admit this mistake, which meant that Empress Dowager Li was becoming more and more reassured about the young Emperor. Even if the Empress Dowager lost some majesty, it wouldn't affect the young Emperor, and the ministers outside the palace wouldn't look down on the palace.

This was a transformation, a transformation Zhang Zhang Juzheng hoped to see.

He certainly didn't like to see an empress dowager clinging to power, which would be very, very unfavorable to the young Emperor, especially causing great obstacles to the young Emperor's personal rule.

But Empress Dowager Li didn't seem to be that obsessed with power.

"Easy to handle." Zhang Zhang Juzheng smiled and picked up the telescope, looking up at the starry sky. He was looking at the moon, which was slightly reddish.

You Qi was a bit surprised, "Easy to handle?"

"Easy to handle. Since the palace realizes something is wrong, it's very easy to handle. Your master still has some ability. How could this damage the Empress Dowager's majesty? It will definitely be comprehensive." Zhang Zhang Juzheng answered with a very relaxed expression.

For Zhang Zhang Juzheng, there were no too difficult things. What could stump him was being helpless about the young Emperor's education before, and now he was also helpless about the young Emperor's education.

It was just that the two situations were completely different.

The young Emperor's innocent heart and pure quality, the questions he asked were still a bit sharp. Zhang Zhang Juzheng had to think for a long time every time, and combine practice and experience to think clearly.

Early the next morning, during the court discussion about the Earl of Wuqing repairing his house, Zhu Heng, the Minister of Works, expressed strong opposition and took out a resignation memorial, expressing that his ability was not enough, the Ministry of Works didn't have this money, he couldn't give it, and whoever could give it should come and sit in the position of Minister of Works.

"The situation in our Ministry of Works, Senior Grand Secretary, you know. We have no income, and we mainly beg from the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Works really can't take out this money." Zhu Heng really felt like crying. The Emperor Longqing Emperor had passed away, and the money for repairing the mausoleum was still a muddled account. The Ministry of Works had been delaying it, and when they couldn't delay it anymore, they just resigned.

Zhu Heng didn't want to offend the palace either. The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the big eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet—Zhu Heng couldn't afford to offend any of them. It wasn't that he didn't want to give it, but he didn't have the ability.

The Ministry of Works was the last of the six ministries. Although it was a public servant, its right to speak in the court was extremely slight, and no one sent him silver to organize things. His attitude didn't matter; he was the most transparent person among the six ministries.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng, when talking about this matter, also felt his scalp go numb. He wrote a draft vote and said, "Wait until I report to the Emperor before making a reply. Minister Zhu is diligent, so don't talk about resignation."

"Minister Zhu is in difficulty, the imperial court is in difficulty, and the palace is in difficulty. Everyone, just do your best."

And the memorial brought out by Ge Ge Shouli was very interesting.

The censors requested to stop the regular court held on the third day of every month, the reason being that the Emperor was young, so it was better not to stir things up.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng laughed when he heard this and said, "It was they who requested to hold the regular court to see the Emperor, and it was they who said I, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, was isolating the inner from the outer. Now it is they who request to stop the regular court. Do they think the laws of the imperial court are for fun?"

Ge Ge Shouli took out this memorial, not because he agreed with it, but said quite definitely, "I don't quite agree. The regular court is the proper thing to do. The sovereign should see the court officials, and the court officials should see the Emperor. This is a major matter of respecting the sovereign's majesty and power. We court officials and Cabinet ministers have no right to restrict this."

"It is better to hold it every month."

Before, Ge Ge Shouli was scolded by Feng Bao every day, then Lu Lu Shusheng was scolded by Feng Bao every day, then Wan Wan Shihe was scolded by Feng Bao and the Emperor, and now the court officials were being scolded by the Emperor. Everyone had been rained on, so why should they hold an umbrella for the court officials?

Let them feel the young Emperor's intelligence, ingenuity, and sharp tongue!

"What do you think, beloved ministers?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked around and saw that none of the ministers had any objections. He wrote his draft vote, and the system of the regular court was decided just like that.

Those who were scolded and couldn't talk back were not just the court officials. Everyone likes to watch the fun, and it also saves the people below from not knowing the importance, talking nonsense, and causing the court officials to lose face together.

After the court discussion, Zhang Zhang Juzheng didn't let the expositors and lecturers come in to prepare for the lecture, but said with a difficult face, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works really doesn't have it. Let's change it to the name of a reward and have the state treasury pay it."

The money for repairing city walls and border defenses in the border regions went directly from the Ministry of Revenue to the local areas and had nothing to do with the Ministry of Works. The capital only did repairs every year, and the biggest task was repairing the imperial mausoleum. Moreover, in the past few years, the imperial mausoleum was supervised by meritorious relatives, and the Ministry of Works was just doing chores.

The state treasury and the inner treasury gave the money for repairing the imperial mausoleum to the meritorious relatives. The meritorious relatives were in charge of this matter, and the Ministry of Works owed a debt. When they asked the meritorious relatives for the debt, the meritorious relatives wouldn't give it. This account became more and more owed, and the Ministry of Works became so poor they had to pawn their pants.

"I have this intention too." Zhu Zhu Yijun strongly supported Zhang Zhang Juzheng's decision. Zhang Cheng returned from the Yuegang of the Southern Treasury and brought back 240,000 taels of silver. The state treasury and the inner treasury split it in half, and the state treasury suddenly had an extra 120,000 taels of silver.

The Ming Dynasty's annual revenue and expenditure had both income and expenses, and there was a deficit every year, making things stretched thin.

The Ministry of Revenue was also willing to take out 4,000 taels of silver to settle the matter and not make things awkward for everyone over 4,000 taels.

Before the definition of public and private was clear, this account was a muddled account and couldn't be calculated clearly. Now it was a chaotic but certain phenomenon. When it couldn't be distinguished, let the bullets fly for a while and let the matter continue to develop.

After the lecture, Zhu Zhu Yijun and Empress Dowager Li didn't mention this matter, because Zhang Zhang Juzheng had posted a draft vote, which was considered to have agreed to Empress Dowager Li's request.

The Ministry of Revenue gave the 4,000 taels of silver to the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Works sent it to the mansion of the Earl of Wuqing according to the imperial decree of the palace. This matter was considered to have come to an end.

Then something happened immediately.

It was almost the end of the year, and the meritorious relatives were all having deficits in their families. Seeing that the Earl of Wuqing had obtained money from the state treasury under the name of repairing his house, they all rushed up, crying poor in a similar way. Even repairing a toilet became a reason. A pile of memorials was pressed onto the Cabinet and flowed to Empress Dowager Li's desk.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng posted blank draft votes on all such memorials. This matter had reached this point, and even if he, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, had great ability, he couldn't manage it.

Empress Dowager Li looked at the pile of memorials in front of her and also felt a headache.

The Grand Princess Ning'an, the Emperor's aunt, the only daughter of the Shizong Emperor Jiajing Emperor still alive, submitted a memorial with her husband, the Imperial Son-in-Law Li He, wanting to repair a pond in their house, asking for 14,000 taels of silver.

Give it or not?

If the Emperor's maternal grandfather could be given 4,000 taels, could the Emperor's aunt not be given these 14,000 taels? If not given, it would hurt the friendship of relatives even more.

"The Empress Dowager has arrived!" A palace maid shouted. Zhu Zhu Yijun, who was immersed in reading agricultural books, came back to his senses, stood up, and paid homage respectfully.

"Mother, it's so late, why are you here?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked knowingly. He knew what it was about.

Empress Dowager Li held several memorials in her hand and said, "They are all memorials asking for money. They all say that relatives are for helping, but I haven't seen how they help. When asking for silver, they are more active than anyone else."

Zhu Zhu Yijun opened the memorials and looked at them. There were many memorials, submitted by dukes, marquises, imperial sons-in-law, and earls. He closed the memorials, shook his head, and said, "What does Mother think should be done? Don't worry about scarcity, worry about inequality. If the Earl of Wuqing is given, then the Grand Princess Ning'an cannot not be given. If not given, it will hurt the friendship of relatives even more."

"However, just these few memorials, all in all, add up to more than 200,000 taels of silver."

"If we give it, the imperial court doesn't have it, and the palace doesn't have it either. For the sake of 70,000 taels of silver, Feng Bao, Yin Ping, and others were tearing at each other with people from the outer court. In the end, the Senior Grand Secretary added taxes to the small Portuguese, which filled this hole."

Empress Dowager Li sighed heavily, looked at the agricultural books annotated by the young Emperor, and shook her head with slight helplessness, "What does the Emperor think should be done?"

Zhu Zhu Yijun tentatively said, "Take back the money given to my maternal grandfather, and treat it as if nothing happened. If this continues, the ministers will laugh at us."

"This..." Empress Dowager Li was silent for a moment and said, "Let's do as the Emperor says."

Zhu Zhu Yijun saw Empress Dowager Li agree to take back the reward for repairing the house, so he said, "My child heard that my maternal grandfather's family has a new baby. Let's reward my maternal grandfather with this silver again. Others asking for rewards can be directly refused. Rewards are the rewards of Mother and child. Whether to give them or not is up to the palace."

After going around in a circle, he still took Zhang Zhang Juzheng's path. The Empress Dowager's reward, the account went through the inner treasury, but the money came from the state treasury. This would not damage the majesty of the imperial family, nor would it open such a precedent, which would be endlessly harmful.

Everyone muddled through and handled this matter. The Ministry of Revenue had an extra deficit that everyone knew about. Last time Zhang Cheng returned, he split the account with the Ministry of Revenue, but he split 120,000 taels of silver.

Sometimes, many things seem troublesome when going around in a circle, but after changing the name, there is much more room for maneuver.

If Empress Dowager Li refused to take back the reward given to the Earl of Wuqing, Zhu Zhu Yijun wouldn't have said the compromise method behind it. He would have left these memorials asking for money for Empress Dowager Li to have a headache. Since Empress Dowager Li was willing to take it back, there was a compromise method. Although it was not perfect, at least it wouldn't make things worse.

Empress Dowager Li nodded and said, "Let's do as the Emperor says. These relatives, it seems they can't be relied upon."

Empress Dowager Li asking for these 4,000 taels of silver for her biological father caused a stir for a whole year, and in the end, the silver was still paid by the Ministry of Revenue. It was a very interesting phenomenon of public and private confusion, chaos, and certainty. Seeking monthly tickets, awoo!!!

"If Zhang Zhang Juzheng didn't have the practical implementation of his theories and just kept making empty demands, he would have fallen long ago. Taking our Xu family as an example, if it weren't for his actual implementation and his knowledge of our methods, could he have occupied the moral high ground and handled this matter so cleanly? I'm afraid not..."

"What is the current situation? Zhang Zhang Juzheng has laid out a massive net for us in the court, ready at any moment to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, and we are that chicken! The blood splattered from killing this chicken will only make the monkeys afraid, rather than causing them to rise up in rebellion."

There are many such examples, such as dealing with the Jin Party's Wang Wang Chonggu and Zhang Zhang Siwen, or hunting down the Master Xinzheng faction; Zhang Zhang Juzheng plans slowly. For instance, the cleanup of occupied land in the Southern Metropolitan Area, or the breaking of the great malpractice of indulgence through the Evaluation Law—these are all Zhang Zhang Juzheng's practical implementations.

"You've also read that book of his, *On Contradictions*?!" Upon hearing his son speak, Xu Xu Jie felt that the tone of his son's words was not right.

Xu Xu Jie studied under Nie Bao and was a second-generation disciple of Wang Wang Yangming. Their whole family followed the School of Mind. In Xu Xu Jie's view, Zhang Zhang Juzheng's *On Contradictions* was worthless, utter nonsense, and heterodox gibberish.

However, Xu Xu Jie still read *On Contradictions* word for word. After finishing it, he became even more convinced that Zhang Zhang Juzheng was a heretic of Confucianism!

He stopped talking about the mutual promotion of praise and blame, lumped gentlemen and petty men together, ignored the distinction between them, and even used him, Xu Xu Jie, as a negative example, spouting nonsense in *On Contradictions*. It was simply intolerable!

Xu Fan said with a strange expression: "That was written by His Majesty."

Since *On Contradictions* was carved and printed for the world, a total of over four thousand copies were printed and sent to various places. When officials everywhere saw it was written by the Emperor, they took time to give the book to major copying houses to transcribe. After major bookstores in various places sold a few transcribed copies, they found it wasn't very popular, so no one printed it anymore.

It wasn't until a genius bookseller in the Southern Metropolitan Area published it under the name "Lectures by the Imperial Tutor at the Zhao Wenhua Hall," focusing on the lecture notes given by the Imperial Tutor to the Emperor, that the book immediately became a hit!

It became wildly popular, uncontrollably popular, so popular that all the book societies in the Southern Metropolitan Area immediately began carving woodblocks, and almost every major book society had this *On Contradictions*.

The Emperor is high above, living deep in the palace, using even a golden hoe to farm. What is it like to lecture the Emperor? This aroused the curiosity of many people, and a large part of this curiosity came from parents who wanted their children to succeed.

The terrifying consumption potential of parents wanting their children to succeed was completely ignited by the genius bookseller.

The manuscript of the Grand Secretary and Imperial Tutor lecturing the Emperor is so precious—it must be read!

Among these, the finely carved edition printed by the Southern Metropolitan Area Imperial Estate was of the highest quality and had the widest sales.

Because the Southern Metropolitan Area Imperial Estate possessed an advantage that other book societies did not have: information asymmetry. The Southern Metropolitan Area Imperial Estate engaged in this book-printing business, slightly adding anecdotes from the imperial audiences, which immediately and instantly eclipsed other book societies.

That genius bookseller who focused on "Lectures by the Imperial Tutor at the Zhao Wenhua Hall" was Zhang Jin, the foster son of Feng Bao who had been sent to the Southern Metropolitan Area.

He was the same Zhang Jin who didn't act boldly at Yuegang and painfully lost the beautiful task of returning land in Songjiang Prefecture for Xu Xu Jie. Zhang Jin also managed to get a job, which was to be the eunuch in charge of military preparedness in Nanjing.

Eunuchs selling books don't talk about reason. *On Contradictions* is a book that the Emperor decreed to be carved and printed for the world; the eunuchs dare not investigate or confiscate it, but if they dare to mix anecdotes into the book that only the Imperial Estate edition of *On Contradictions* has, then the eunuchs are going to go berserk!

Recklessly publishing interpretations of His Majesty's words and deeds—what are you trying to do?! Trying to rebel?

The Southern Metropolitan Area is also the place with the most scholars. Zhang Jin sold books for several months and made a fortune.

Xu Fan said to his father: "Father has also read *On Contradictions*, so naturally you know that this book could not have been written by Zhang Zhang Juzheng alone. One can also see from between the lines that His Majesty is reasonable; it was His Majesty who, with a heart of an innocent child and a pure, flawless nature, broke through the chaotic and dogmatic perceptions of the Grand Secretary and the Minister, and summarized it."

A heart of an innocent child and a pure, flawless nature is a moral state most revered by Confucianism—the most simple and flawless nature in "at birth, people are good; by nature, they are similar, but through practice, they become different."

Xu Xu Jie is a Ming Jinshi; he can see at a glance who is the dominant force in the book. And Zhang Zhang Juzheng, as the Imperial Tutor, being able to answer the questions raised by that innocent child's heart and pure, flawless nature so perfectly, itself proves Zhang Zhang Juzheng's talent and learning.

"Yes, Zhang Zhang Juzheng is a great talent!" Xu Xu Jie gritted his teeth and acknowledged Zhang Zhang Juzheng's achievements in scholarship!

Xu Fan continued: "Father, a gentleman—those who govern others by rank are gentlemen; those who distinguish themselves by virtue are gentlemen. In fact, it's all the same meaning. Those who can manage themselves well are gentlemen, and those who can manage others well are also gentlemen. Clearly, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, whether by rank or by virtue, is a gentleman!"

"Are you saying I am a petty man!" Xu Xu Jie raised his cane and struck Xu Fan's body. It wasn't very heavy, but he was so angry. Xu Fan was being sarcastic and using veiled language to scold him, Xu Xu Jie, as a petty man—that by rank and by virtue, he was a petty man!

The key was that Xu Xu Jie couldn't even refute it!

Xu Xu Jie kept thumping his cane and said furiously: "So what if he's capable! So what if he's a gentleman!"

"No matter how capable he is, he is squeezing the gentry and powerful families so hard. If the gentry and powerful families want to oppose him, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, what does he have to fight them with? The gentry and powerful families only need to make a move—for example, these tenant farmers and vagrants. Once a civil disturbance starts, the imperial court will inevitably hold him accountable. Even if Zhang Zhang Juzheng has heaven-defying abilities, can he clean up this mess?"

"He cannot!"

Xu Fan was silent for a moment and said: "Father, your son is unfilial. Why does Father think that if Father thought of it, Zhang Zhang Juzheng wouldn't have? Or even, is it possible that Zhang Zhang Juzheng is just waiting, waiting for us to cause trouble?"

"Father, don't hit me! Let your son explain!"

Seeing that Xu Xu Jie was about to hit him again, Xu Fan darted away, holding onto an armchair, and said: "Father, let me start with the Single Whip Law. The Single Whip Law is to compile the land tax and corvée labor of every prefecture and county into one law, collected according to the land acreage. Whoever holds the land pays the tax."

"Why don't the gentry and powerful families continue to squeeze the costs downward to make up for their own deficits, but instead let the imperial court treat the gentry like fish and meat?"

"Because the powerful gentry know very well that they have already squeezed to the extreme, to the point of draining the pond to catch all the fish. They have squeezed to the point where fields are abandoned and no one is farming, and to the point where tenant farmers and vagrants would rather engage in lowly trades. If they squeeze any more, the common people won't be able to bear it."

"If they squeeze any more and a civil disturbance really breaks out, I don't know when the Emperor will hold Zhang Zhang Juzheng accountable, but those commoners with empty stomachs will definitely rush into our homes and use their hoes to smash our heads!"

"Father!"

"Zhang Zhang Juzheng is probably just waiting for a civil disturbance. He will let the common people kill the people he finds hard to kill!"

"Zhang Zhang Juzheng has done every evil thing! He is sinister and cunning. Father, we are no match for him!"

Xu Xu Jie widened his eyes, looked at Xu Fan in disbelief, and said sternly: "In the future, you are not allowed to read *On Contradictions* anymore. Look at what you've read into it! A pack of lies."

Xu Fan not only didn't restrain himself, but became even more urgent: "If we gentry are the spear, then the common people are the shield. We have almost hollowed out the shield. If we really break the shield, we gentry will become the shield, and the common people will be the sharpest spear in the world! They will tear everything to pieces and start all over again."

"Carrying the yin and embracing the yang, carrying the yang and embracing the yin, the blending of qi creates harmony. Yin is yang, yang is yin; the spear is the shield, the shield is also the spear. Father, you are a person who understands reason. Isn't the endless logic of all things in the world just this cycle of repetition?"

"The Han replacing the Qin, the Tang following the Sui, the Yuan destroying the Song, the Ming replacing the Yuan—this is the great doubt stirred by contradictions, the inevitability that cannot be adjusted, and also the great doubt stirred by contradictions, the inevitability of resolution and reconciliation!"

Xu Fan held *On Contradictions* and debated with Xu Xu Jie. It really left Xu Xu Jie stunned. Zhang Zhang Juzheng creating this *On Contradictions* is truly the biggest joke in the world; it seems like anything can be explained by applying this thing!

Zhang Zhang Juzheng even wants to overthrow the cycle of heaven's mandate and establish a new set of explanatory methods.

"Zhang Zhang Juzheng, he deserves to die!" Xu Xu Jie could no longer bear it, stood up abruptly, and since he couldn't win the argument, he could only walk toward the inner chamber.

Only then did Xu Fan breathe a sigh of relief, shook his sleeves, took out a copy of *On Contradictions*, and said quite fortunately: "Mr. Zhang really saved my family's life."

If it weren't for this *On Contradictions*, Xu Fan might not have been able to persuade his stubborn father today.

Xu Fan walked toward his courtyard, while Xu Xu Jie poked his head out from behind the screen. Seeing that Xu Fan had left, he took a few servants and went to attend the poetry gathering.

Can Xu Fan stop him for a moment, but can he stop him for a lifetime? He, Xu Xu Jie, is the father. If he wants to go, how can Xu Fan stop him? Should he use chains to lock his own father in the room?

"Young Master, Young Master, just after you left, the Master took a sedan chair out the door and headed for the poetry gathering!" A servant ran in, panicked.

Upon hearing this, Xu Fan's eyes went dark, and he almost fainted. Things had been said to this point, and his old father had no more arguments to make; why was he still so stubborn and insisted on going?

Xu Fan immediately chased after him.

This poetry gathering was assembled for one thing: it was called reciting poetry and composing couplets, but it was actually to discuss countermeasures.

As soon as Xu Xu Jie arrived, everyone stood up immediately to express their welcome. In fact, many people thought Xu Xu Jie wouldn't come, because Zhang Zhang Juzheng had really done his utmost for the Xu family, giving them all the face and substance that should be given. If Xu Xu Jie caused trouble again, it would be somewhat ungrateful.

But Xu Xu Jie still arrived at the poetry gathering, and the gathering then had a backbone.

"Grand Tutor Xu, you finally came. If this gathering today lacked the Grand Tutor, it would be like a pearl without a string; how could we proceed?" Shen Shen Changming saw Xu Xu Jie and bowed respectfully.

"Sit, sit, everyone sit. I am no longer an official in the court; you don't need to be restrained."

The Shen family of Xu Huating, also known as the Big Stone Shen family, is a family of poetry, books, rites, and music. During the Yongle period, the ancestors of the Shen family, Shen Du and Shen Can, successively became Ming Jinshi. Their "Tai Ge" style of calligraphy was written beautifully, and from then on, it became the designated style for the Ming imperial examinations. The "Tai Ge" style is a type of regular script characterized by being black, square, glossy, and uniform, emphasizing squareness, as if carved and printed.

The Shen family served as officials for generations. Counting three generations back, for example, Shen Two Huai, an experience officer of the Yunnan Surveillance Commission, and so on.

Also attending the poetry gathering was the Gu family of Kunshan. This is a luxurious family in Suzhou that has been passed down for a thousand years, skilled in painting and calligraphy, with a deep family tradition. The Gu family was originally a prominent family in Jiangdong, originating from Gu Yong, the Zhang Yuanfu of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. The Gu family, along with the Zhu, Zhang, and Lu families, has been one of the four major families of Jiangdong for generations, with a deep foundation.

They served as officials for generations, such as Gu Ji, a Ming Jinshi in the 12th year of During Zhengde, a supervising secretary in the Ministry of Justice; Gu Qin, a Ming Jinshi in the 16th year of During Zhengde, who served as a vice commissioner of the Guangzhou Surveillance Commission; and Gu Gu Zhangzhi, a Ming Jinshi in the 32nd year of Emperor Jiajing, who is now the Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments in Nanjing and concurrently the Mayor of Yingtian Prefecture.

And Gu Gu Zhangzhi's son, Gu Gu Shaofang, has already passed the Juren examination and will head to the capital after this poetry gathering to take the Ming Jinshi examination.

The Xu family of Xu Huating, the Big Stone Shen family, and the Gu family of Kunshan are in-laws. Xu Xu Jie married a daughter of the Shen family, and Xu Xu Jie's biological mother came from the Gu family of Kunshan, and Xu Xu Jie's daughter married Gu Gu Jiuxi of the Gu family. This is an extremely intimate and mutual in-law relationship.

Looking around, most of the gentry have such backgrounds: ancestors were officials, and now there are still people serving in the court. This combined force gathered together is a power that even the Emperor has to look at with caution. What virtue or ability does Zhang Zhang Juzheng have to suppress these gentry, to press their heads, and make them return the fields they have eaten into their stomachs?

What is Zhang Zhang Juzheng? He is just from a military household whose legs haven't been washed clean of mud. By what right does he fight them!

What makes Xu Xu Jie somewhat uncomfortable is that at the poetry gathering, the most discussed topics are Yu Yu Dayou capturing eighteen strongholds in three days, which was illustrious for a time; and Zhang Zhang Juzheng's lecturing and *On Contradictions*, which were penetrating.

No matter which topic it was, it was not something Xu Xu Jie wanted to hear.

Shen Shen Changming stood up, signaled for everyone to be quiet, and said: "Gentlemen, gentlemen, let's talk about serious matters. The imperial court has made up its mind to investigate the occupation of land, and they have even listed the specific plots of land occupied—seventy thousand qing! This is cutting our hearts, digging out our kidneys; they want us dead!"

Gu Gu Zhangzhi, the Mayor of Yingtian Prefecture, had already passed the exact news from the government office to Kunshan, which led to this poetry gathering.

Constantly discussing Yu Yu Dayou's fierce combat achievements and Zhang Zhang Juzheng's *On Contradictions* being amazing was really boosting others' morale and destroying one's own prestige.

The gathered gentry were very clear about the strength of the imperial court, but they had to protect their own means of production. Those seventy thousand qing of land were their lives, wealth passed down from ancestors for generations; how could they easily hand them over!

Zhang Zhang Juzheng wants to take their land for nothing, and they are unwilling to agree so easily!

Shen Shen Changming corrected the bad orientation of the poetry gathering that was promoting the strength of the imperial court and brought the matter back to the main topic.

"Do you gentlemen have any ideas?" Shen Shen Changming asked.

Gu Gu Shaofang, the Juren son of Gu Gu Zhangzhi, the Mayor of Yingtian Prefecture, said: "This matter is actually easy to handle. What is the Su-Song region most lacking?"

As the saying goes: "Good words cannot persuade a ghost who is about to die; compassion cannot save a person who is determined to die. Slap! If you want to know what happens next, please listen to the next installment. Thanks to '19-year-old Chuunibyou' for the 1500-point tip, thanks for the support and recognition, seeking monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!