Chapter 69

'Although Song Jiang doesn't have great wealth, his methods of distributing righteousness and wealth,

ordinary people can't learn; they are often the kind that provide help in times of need.'

On the way back to Chen Wenyun's house, Zhang Jie pondered Song Jiang's extraordinary methods.

It's just that the Great Song stipulated that those without fame could not be officials,

otherwise, with Song Yasi's abilities as the "Timely Rain" and "Filial and Righteous Black Third Brother,"

it would not be impossible for him to achieve a great career, or even become a general or prime minister.

"Song Yasi, oh Song Yasi, just because of this poem, even if you stick your butt up to the sky, you're a dead man."

Zhang Jie's thoughts turned to Song Jiang being exiled to Jiangzhou,

one day climbing the Xunyang Tower alone to drink, and after getting drunk, he was moved by the scene,

and wrote a "Xi Jiang Yue" poem and a seven-character quatrain on the white powder wall upstairs:

My heart is in Shandong, my body is in Wu, drifting like duckweed on the river and sea, sighing in vain.

If one day I achieve my lofty ambition, I dare to laugh at Huang Chao for not being a real man!

Listen, this poem contains the name of the heaven-soaring Great General Huang Chao!

Thinking of Huang Chao's behavior of stepping on the bones of officials in the heavenly street and burning the inner treasury into brocade ashes,

in our Great Song, from the various ministers down to the Zhao official, who isn't trembling?

Keep Song Jiang and let him learn from Huang Chao to kill himself?

It can be said that in terms of killing Song Jiang, the civil and military officials of the Great Song, who fought among themselves until the court

was almost torn apart, and the official reached an unprecedented consensus.

Civil and military officials, Zhao official: If Song Jiang doesn't die, I can't sleep!

Zhang Jie's evaluation of this is: The Great Song officials are just like the Korean army,

training every day with maps of Pyongyang, only for every actual battle to be in Seoul,

using all their martial virtue on their own people.

"However, where does Song Jiang get the face to laugh at Huang Chao?

Huang Chao fought his way directly into Chang'an, while Song Jiang is still thinking about how to be granted amnesty by the imperial court."

Song Jiang's middle-schooler remarks made Zhang Jie laugh.

Huang Chao: Seeing your words, you make me laugh~

Wu Song said it well, "Amnesty today, amnesty tomorrow, it chills the hearts of the brothers."

Zhang Jie thinks the most disgusting thing Song Jiang ever said was:

"Think of when we gathered for righteousness at Liang Shan, one hundred and eight people, how lively it was,

now that we have achieved success and fame, we are scattered like birds and beasts; could it be that I, Song Jiang, was wrong?"

Zhang Jie feels Song Jiang shouldn't be the Heavenly Star of Courage, but rather the Star of Official Obsession.

"However, Song Jiang doesn't have much time left."

Zhang Jie thought with a deep gaze while stroking his chin.

When he was drinking with Song Jiang earlier, he silently attached a strand of Northern Dark Divine Art true Qi

inside Song Jiang's body, ensuring that he would vomit blood and die within three months.

As for whether it was a bit reckless for Zhang Jie to kill Song Jiang before he had even done the act of sending his brothers to their deaths?

Zhang Jie says: This action is to prevent trouble before it happens, it is truly acting on behalf of heaven, and it is a great good deed.

Moreover, Zhang Jie's action also has a second purpose:

"Does this world really have supernatural powers?"

Didn't Song Jiang claim that the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden descended to earth to enlighten him?

Zhang Jie wants to see if the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden will save his life!

The next day, Zhang Jie and Chen Wenyun discussed the classics in the study.

Since he was preparing to participate in the spring examinations in February of next year, he naturally couldn't relax his studies.

Pan Jinlian went shopping with Lady Wang to do some purchasing.

"Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?"

Zhang Jie took a copy of the "Analects" from the bookshelf and recited it while shaking his head.

"I examine myself three times a day: In planning for others, have I been disloyal?

In my intercourse with friends, have I been untrustworthy? Have I failed to practice what I have been taught?"

"To achieve these three things is to be wise!"

Chen Wenyun sighed.

Zhang Jie, however, had a different realization: "The sage's books are meant to be read, but not to be used."

"Ah? Renjie, why is that?"

Chen Wenyun was shocked; Zhang Jie's action was truly rebellious.

If this statement of his were to spread, let alone being a top provincial graduate,

even a top metropolitan graduate would be reviled by scholars all over the world.

"Brother Wenyun, aren't all the officials in the world born from reading the books of sages,

but do the things they do conform to the teachings of the books of sages?"

Zhang Jie asked in return.

"This..."

Chen Wenyun couldn't help but fall silent upon hearing this.

The Great Song imperial court had long been rampant with corrupt officials; take Prime Minister Cai Jing for example,

the birthday gift his son-in-law Liang Shicheng prepared for him was worth one hundred thousand strings of cash.

A full one hundred thousand strings of cash!

Even if Liang Shicheng didn't eat or drink for fifty years, he couldn't scrape together one hundred thousand strings of cash just from his salary.

These one hundred thousand strings of cash were all the blood and sweat of the people scraped together by Liang Shicheng.

And this was just the birthday gift; for other occasions like the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year's Eve,

Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, and Qingming Festival, could he, did he dare not show filial piety?

If a Liang Shicheng who relied on Cai Jing was like this, how shocking would the others be?

You must know that besides the powerful Prime Minister Cai Jing, the Emperor's favored officials also included the great eunuch Tongguan, the Grand Marshal Gao Qiu, and others.

"And the Emperor..."

A rebellious thought couldn't help but pop into Chen Wenyun's mind.

If Cai Jing, Gao Qiu, and the others are so bad, what about the Emperor who reuses them?

"It must be that the treacherous officials like Cai Jing have blinded the Emperor!"

Chen Wenyun, who had read the books of sages since childhood, subconsciously excused the Zhao Emperor.

"Does the Emperor really not know?"

Zhang Jie asked with pointed meaning.

"The Emperor..."

Chen Wenyun closed his eyes in pain.

If he didn't know all this, how could the Emperor sit firmly on the throne, and how could his words be final?

Then the reality is, the Emperor knows, but he doesn't care!

Is an Emperor who views the people of the world as livestock and lets his subordinates take whatever they want really qualified?

"I examine myself three times a day?

In my view, it should be like this: Is the power grasped tightly?

Is the knife held tightly? Is the person used loyal?

Besides these three, everything else is insignificant."

Zhang Jie continued to express his radical views.

"Brother Chen, in Shihao Village, husbands and wives part, and there are more tears than at the Palace of Eternal Life!"

Zhang Jie bowed to Chen Wenyun and said solemnly.

"Renjie, you go out first and let me be quiet.

I will pretend you didn't say these things to me today."

Chen Wenyun, unable to accept it, issued an order to leave.

"Hmm, as long as he doesn't go to the government to report me, it's a success."

Zhang Jie, having achieved his goal, walked out of the study with light steps.

As for Chen Wenyun being infinitely loyal to the Great Song and wanting to report Zhang Jie,

then Zhang Jie would have no choice but to tearfully execute Ma Su and say to him, "I will take care of your wife and children."

Clang!

After Zhang Jie walked out of the study, Chen Wenyun closed the door tightly.

Chen Li, who was playing in the courtyard, was startled by this huge movement.

"Uncle Zhang, is my father okay?"

He asked Zhang Jie with some worry.

He had never seen his father like this before.

Zhang Jie patted Chen Li's little head:

"It's okay, your father is just thinking about some problems."

"Oh."

Hearing this answer, Chen Li felt relieved, became lively again, and continued to play.

In the living room, Zhang Jie poured himself a cup of tea and looked toward the study:

"Brother Chen, I hope you figure it out soon."

To overthrow the Great Song, he needs people who share his ideals.

And Chen Wenyun is one of the candidates he has chosen.

Of course, he can't say he wants to fight into Bianliang and seize the throne right now.

He has to be tactful, something like "Make the Great Song Great Again."

"Young Master, Young Master."

At noon, Pan Jinlian and the others who went shopping returned.

"Jinlian, who is this?"

What made Zhang Jie frown was that Pan Jinlian and the others had actually brought back a strange woman.

This woman was beautiful, with a jade-like quality, and was very lovely,

and even compared to Pan Jinlian, she was not inferior, each having their own merits.

"Young Master, her surname is Yan, and her name is Poxi.

Today, when Sister Wang and I were shopping, we discovered her..."

Pan Jinlian introduced Yan Poxi to Zhang Jie and told him the ins and outs of how she met Yan Poxi.

"Yan Poxi, isn't this the key figure who forced Song Yasi onto Liang Shan?"

Zhang Jie's eyebrows jumped when he heard the name Yan Poxi.

Song Yasi was indeed brought down by Yan Poxi:

Yan Poxi was beautiful and proficient in poetry, songs, and dance,

and her mother, Yan Po, in order to repay Song Jiang's kindness in helping them, sent her to Song Jiang as a concubine.

Because Song Jiang was not interested in women, she was disgusted by him,

so she took a fancy to Song Jiang's fellow clerk Zhang Wenyuan and had an affair with him.

Later, after discovering the letters written by Chao Gai to Song Jiang and the gold given as a reward,

she used a lawsuit to force Song Jiang to give her the gold, and was killed by Song Jiang in a fit of rage.