Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 148 Kill the chicken to warn the monkey

Three days passed quickly.

After three days of trekking, more than [-] scholars arrived at a small town called Shiliang Town on the north bank of Chushui River. Even though it was only at noon, Chongzhen still ordered to camp.

As usual, they are not allowed to enter the town to disturb the people.

Instead, camping is only allowed in open spaces outside the town.

The old merchants in the town heard that the current Shengshang personally led six thousand prince Qin's sons through Shiliang Town, so they gathered more than [-] pigs and a few stones of wine to reward the army under extremely difficult circumstances.

Chongzhen took these twenty or so local pigs and a few stones of wine.

Fifty taels of silver was returned to the old merchants in the town.

According to the price in Nanjing, a catty of pork is only two cents of silver, and a stone of wine is only one tael and five cents. Shiliang Town is located in a remote place, and the price is much lower than that in Nanjing. Fifty taels of silver are enough to buy about a hundred catties of local pig five Ten heads or fifty stone wine, so, instead, the elders and merchants in Shiliang Town made the money.

The old merchant left with a thousand thanks.

Women and children in the town ran out one after another to watch the excitement.

Chongzhen did not send troops to drive away, but let the people watch the fun.

It must be wishful thinking to turn the Ming army into "people's soldiers", but Chongzhen still hopes to shorten the distance between the Ming army and the people as much as possible, especially in the Jiangnan area where there are few military disasters and have not been harmed by the frontier army. , so there is still a chance to improve the image of the Ming army in the minds of the southern people.

Chongzhen ordered eight hundred Yiding to kill the pig and boil it in a big pot.

After less than half an hour of cooking, the rich meaty fragrance permeated the air.

This time, not only those scholars from poor families, but also the children from aristocratic families moved their index fingers.

Because since they left Nanjing, they haven't tasted meat for three whole days, and they are really hungry.

For the past three days, they ate nothing but rice soaked in water and wrinkled rice, together with steamed cakes with vinegar, fermented soybeans, and hard salt cubes. Compared with the delicacies of mountains and seas they ate in Nanjing before, they were like pork.

No, their pigs eat better than this.

Therefore, as soon as you smell the aroma of meat, you will be greedy.

Chongzhen called together more than [-] scholars, and selected a hundred or so loud voices to act as "big Han generals", who were responsible for passing on his words to each scholar.

"There are more than fifty cauldrons for cooking meat!"

"There are more than [-] catties of pork and pig offal in each pot."

"So don't worry, everyone can get at least four taels of meat!"

"However, not everyone can eat this pork and offal."

Speaking of this, Chongzhen raised the new performance book in his hand, and said: "Only by memorizing the first part of the new performance book, can you eat meat. If you can't memorize it, not only will you have no meat to eat, but you will also have to be whipped!"

"Now, you can go to the heads of scholars of each group to endorse. If you pass, you can eat meat and wine."

"If you can't pass, come to me again. I will give you another chance after reviewing for a quarter of an hour. If you still can't memorize it, then I'm sorry, but I can only treat you to eat twenty lashes!"

The first volume of the new book on performance is only [-] words.

The original Shu Wu Pian had more than [-] characters, which allowed Chongzhen to reduce the number of characters by half.

It is not difficult for these scholars to recite more than [-] characters in three days.

Most of the scholars had a one-time meal, happily eating pork and drinking wine.

A few of them were really stupid or were lazy before, and after a quarter of an hour of reviewing, they passed the test smoothly at Chongzhen.

Some scholars even forgot the whole paragraph and gave it.

But Gu Gao couldn't let it go no matter what.

Because Gu Gao didn't memorize a word, he didn't recite a word in front of Zheng Sen, and he didn't recite a word when he came to Chongzhen's imperial court, and he didn't even recite a word.

Obviously, Gu Gao is competing.

Otherwise, with his talent and learning, it is impossible not to memorize it.

"Gu Gao." Chongzhen's eyes turned cold, he stared at Gu Gao and asked, "Why don't you recite it?"

"Returning to the Holy Spirit, no." Gu Gao seemed to be possessed by Gu Xiancheng at this moment, or he always wanted to imitate his father's generation in his heart, and finally found a chance.

"Why not?" Chongzhen asked again, "Did Zheng Sen fail to convey my will clearly, or did Zheng Sen intentionally fail to convey my will to you in spite of private revenge? Or..."

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "Is it because you didn't take my will seriously at all?"

Gu Gao said neither arrogant nor humble: "The Holy Majesty's will is very clear, Zheng Sen did not seek personal revenge, and the grassroots did not despise the emperor's father, neither of them."

Chongzhen said: "So, you simply look down on the new performance book?"

"There is nothing wiser than the Holy One." Gu Gao cupped his hands and said, "Qi Jiguang is just a warrior, but he is proficient in military affairs, and he dared to imitate the sages and ancient sages to write books and write books. Read it, so as not to stain the eyes of noble scholars of my generation."

"What a noble scholar." Chongzhen laughed back angrily.

"So, my vision is not as good as you, a scholar?"

"Your Majesty's words are serious." Gu Gao said, "Caomin absolutely has no such intentions."

"Then what do you mean?" Chongzhen said, "I made it very clear that all the scholars of King Qin must memorize the first volume of the new book of performance within three days, and the fifth chapter of the new book on performance. After three days, random checks will be made. !"

A strange look suddenly appeared in Gu Gao's eyes: "If the Holy Majesty wants to whip, please do it yourself."

"Gu Gao, do you want to imitate Ru Taisu and Wei Liangbi and become famous all over the world through the imperial staff?" Chongzhen sneered, "I did not go as far as you wished today, and at the same time I will give you another chance to make up for your mistakes."

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "I will give you another fifteen minutes to memorize the first paragraph of Shuwu Chapter. Even if you pass the test today, you can also eat meat and drink with Zheng Sen and the others. If not..."

Gu Gao was obviously willing to go all out, and said proudly: "If not, so what?"

Chongzhen stared at Gu Gao's eyes, and said word by word: "If not, I will make a decision!"

When Gu Gao heard this, his pupils shrank suddenly. He just wanted to make a name for himself, fight out of position, and realize his ambition by taking a slanted path with a sword, but he never thought of risking his life.

The scholars who were drinking and eating meat also stopped.

Wu Yingji, Fang Yizhi and others were even more impatient.

Fang Yizhi even risked offending Chongzhen, stepped forward to open the new book of performance, turned to the first page, and showed it in front of Gu Gao.

"Zi Fang, quickly memorize it!"

While begging in a low voice.

However, Gu Gao just smiled.

Gu Gao was betting that Chongzhen would not have the guts to kill him.

He, Gu Gao, is not only the son of Gu Xiancheng, the founder of the Donglin Party, but also the leader of the Fushe. The Gu family in Wuxi is also a first-class family in Jiangnan. He would never dare to kill Gu Gao just because of a new performance book.

Moreover, as long as Gu Gao survives today, he will surely become famous silently, and his fame will shake the world.

Thinking of this, Gu Gao simply closed his eyes and refused to read Shi Shi's new book.

"Gu Gao!" Fang Yizhi was so anxious that he really wanted to go forward and open Gu Gao's eyes, and begged, "Quickly back up."

Wu Yingji, Mao Xiang and other children from aristocratic families who were friendly with Gu Gao also came forward one after another, trying to persuade Gu Gao to endorse, but Gu Gao always ignored it.

"Fang Yizhi, stop shouting."

"No matter how much you shout, you won't be able to wake up the person who pretends to be asleep."

Chongzhen snorted coldly, and then said to Gu Gao: "Gu Gao, do you think I have no guts to kill you? Gu Gao is a direct branch of the Gu family in Wuxi, and your uncle Gu Xiancheng is a villain in Donglin. You are also the leader of Fushe. You are also a leader in the Jiangnan literary world, if I kill you, you will definitely be criticized by the Jiangnan scholars, and you will lose the popularity of the Jiangnan people, right?"

Gu Gao smiled lightly and said, "The grass people just want to stick to their own integrity."

"Just want to stick to your own integrity? Is it really just integrity?" Chongzhen laughed angrily, "Don't you feel that your political ambitions have exceeded your ability?"

Gu Gao's expression froze, and he said in a deep voice: "The grassroots don't understand what the sage is talking about."

"You really don't understand." Chongzhen said, "You don't understand at all. You Gu Gao is not your uncle Gu Xiancheng, and you don't understand. If you don’t care about the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River and the popularity of the people, you are just a student member of Wuxi County, and you only entered the Imperial College by relying on the shadow of your father’s generation!”

Speaking of this, Chongzhen said again: "So if I kill you Gu Gao today, it will not cause any serious consequences, but will only make more than [-] Qin princes and scholars remember the military regulations.

Gu Gao's expression became more embarrassing, and his originally closed eyes suddenly opened.

Chongzhen showed regret on his face, shook his head and said: "I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. It's too late to regret it now. Today I will use your head to prove the canon punishment. It is a rule and you have to abide by it." , including me, everyone must abide by the rules. If a scholar violates the rules, he will be dealt with by the head of the scholar;

"Your Majesty, the grassroots are wrong!" Gu Gao finally broke his guard and knelt down on the ground with a puff.

"I beseech the Holy One to give Caomin another chance. Caomin will recite the first volume of Shuwu right now."

"It's too late." Chongzhen shook his head coldly, and shouted, "I'll take the charcoal and punish it by beheading!"

"Observe the decree!" Wu put Tan in his arms and pulled out his waist knife backhand. The other two barbarians had already rushed forward and knocked Gu Gao to the ground. Wu took Tan forward and cut off Gu Gao's head .

The more than [-] Qin Wang Shizi suddenly became awe-inspiring, and suddenly felt that the meat in their mouths did not taste good.

"This is the army, this is military discipline!" Chongzhen turned his gaze to the scholars again, and said in a deep voice, "I asked you three days ago outside the Jinchuan gate, did you think it through?"

"You answer me and say that you have already thought about it."

"I remember your answer, and I take it seriously!"

"So, from that moment on, you are no longer scholars, but soldiers!"

"Since you are a soldier, you must abide by military discipline. If there is anyone who violates the order, Gu Gao will be your role model!"

(End of this chapter)