Daming talker

Chapter 639 Other People's Three Fires
After leaving Wuchang Prefecture, Lin Tailai went down the river to experience this east-west water artery.

A few days later, they could have reached Jinling in one go, but Lin Tailai insisted on stopping for a day in Dangtu County, Taiping Prefecture.

Lin Tailai also asked the local prefecture and county government to find a restaurant by the river to host a banquet for him. If there was no suitable restaurant by the river, they would go to the city gate tower overlooking the river.

Completely ignoring the fact that it was already November, they were feasting in the cold wind on the city gate tower.

After the retainer Gu Bingqian wrote the message to the prefecture and county according to Lin Tailai's instructions, he felt really strange.

For someone like him, failing to understand the leader's intentions would be the most painful thing.

So in the middle of the night, Gu Bingqian went to find the left protector Zhang Wen to ask.

Zhang Wen patiently explained: "Mr. Gu has only been following the master for two years, so he may not know some of his habits.

This time, I think the master already has some good poems in mind, but needs a suitable scene to publish them, so he made this request to the prefecture and county."

Gu Bingqian, who was also a writer, was a little confused. Shouldn't poetry be written with a scene and emotion in mind first, or even a theme first, and then one can express one's feelings, or pretend to improvise?
Did the owner first have the work and then look for the scene? Or did he create a scene even if there was no scene?
Recalling the past years, Zhang Wen sighed, "In the past two years, the number of poems published has decreased a lot, and Mr. Gu, you did not live in Suzhou in previous years, so it is not surprising that you don't know.

But we old brothers all know that in order to publish and disseminate his works, the editor-in-chief traveled all over Suzhou city.

Sometimes, in order to make a poem more appropriate, I have to carefully study several ways of beating people. "

Gu Bingqian: “.”

So this is what the owner meant by working hard in the literary world and cultivating literature.

Finally, Zhang Wen advised: "Since I have been in office, I have been worried about state affairs all day long. I haven't had this kind of interest for a long time. I am afraid that I will have less and less interest in the future.

Mr. Gu must make sure to make proper arrangements this time, and don't let the host regret not being able to meet the occasion."

After arriving at Dangtu County, Taiping Prefecture, Lin Tailai, the first deputy leader of the literary world, disembarked and personally went to Li Bai's tomb at Xiegong Mountain to pay tribute.

That’s right, Li Bai died and was buried here. As a leader in the literary world, it was very reasonable for Mr. Lin to pay tribute to Li Bai on behalf of the literary world.

It just so happened that there was indeed a building on the rocky shore by the local river.

Under the hospitality of the local prefecture and county, the half-drunk Mr. Lin suddenly stood up, leaned on the railing to look out over the river and the other side, and said loudly:

"A red cloud comes from the sea, shining on the feast on my roof. The green wine in the cup is suddenly gone, where is the banished immortal in the roof?
Across the green mountain, guests dance, and each of them is a handful of green lotus soil. If the seven-foot-tall return to the weeds, this building is the guest and the mountain is the host.

If we talk about the drunken moon coming to the riverside, this building is the host and the mountain is the guest. The long star is shaking as if it has no color, it may not always be a human soul.

Gao Hui wrote the poem on top, his name is still alive on the hills. Please throw the scroll of poems into the river, it will not flow eastward!

Prefect Wang, who was sitting at the same table, said to County Magistrate Shen, "This drunken song of Li Bai sung by Jiuyuanjun is truly a masterpiece of melancholy and strangeness!
It inherits the unrestrained style of Li Bai's long poems, and is also filled with a touch of melancholy from the past and present."

Magistrate Shen couldn't help but wonder, "I wonder why such a young man who has achieved so much success and is so full of ambition and satisfaction in life would be so depressed and sad?"

Prefect Wang stroked his beard and said, “I heard that Jiuyuan Jun wrote a poem when he climbed the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang. His style was also extremely heroic and tragic, but he regretted that he was not as good as Cui Hao.

The gloomy sadness in today's long song is probably due to the self-hatred for not being able to surpass Li Bai.

Look at the line 'My name is still alive on the hills', isn't it filled with a feeling of unwillingness but helplessness?"

County Magistrate Shen had nothing to say. When he arrived at the Yellow Crane Tower, he thought of surpassing Cui Hao. When he arrived at Li Bai's Tomb, he thought of surpassing Li Bai. How arrogant was he?
But think about it the other way around, if even Lin Jiuyuan in modern times is not good enough, then no one can surpass him.

This is probably the mentality that only those at the top of the contemporary literary world can have, right?

During the banquet, only Lin family's retainer Gu Bingqian suddenly realized that this poem could only be published on the riverside of Dangtu County and had to be published upstairs. It would not be applicable in any other location.

All in all, Lin Tailai's poem and two lyrics by the river, which marked a drastic change in style, and the interpretations behind them, have added a lot of topics to the literary world, which has been quiet for a long time.

After the three works were transmitted to the capital, Wang Tianguan, the leader of the literary world, gave the most authoritative interpretation:
"On the surface, the style of these two poems is sharp, but in fact, the whole poem is lonely. This is because Lin Jiuyuan has no rivals or soulmates in the contemporary world, so he can only regard the ancients as his rivals."

Lin Tailai, who had already left Taiping Prefecture, did not stay in Nanjing for too long when he passed through.

He just went to Nanjing Censorate to visit Hai Rui, the still old and frail Hai Qingtian, and told Hai Rui a story about a young demon-conquering boy who eventually became a monster.

Hai Rui listened to the whole story despite his illness, and asked, "Who do you want to say is the demon-killing boy?"

Lin Tailai replied: "Those who idolize you, shout moral slogans, but actually follow the party's lead and fight against dissidents."

Hai Rui asked again: "Then what are you doing?
Lin Tailai said without hesitation: "Fight poison with poison!"

Hai Qingtian: “.”

Arriving in Nanjing, it was not far from Suzhou, so Lin Tailai did not want to hang around any longer. He continued on his way and arrived at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal at Jingkou, Zhenjiang Prefecture, only to find that his old friend Gao Changjiang was waiting for him.

Lin Tailai asked in surprise: "Why did Lao Gao come here to greet us? I've never heard of him coming across two prefectures to greet us."

Gao Changjiang said worriedly: "Something is wrong in Suzhou. I will wait here and report to you this morning."

Lin Tailai said calmly: "What's wrong?"

Gao Changjiang said, "Ever since the royal palace was in mourning and Governor Zhou was transferred to the position of Dali Temple Minister, both the Governor and the Prefect have been replaced. It seems that they are not our own people, right?"

Lin Tailai nodded and said, "I didn't interfere with the selection."

So Gao Changjiang stopped talking, as if waiting for Lin Tailai to give an explanation.

Lin Tailai also taught earnestly: "The ancients said that even if the world is at peace, forgetting war will lead to danger.

A continuously comfortable environment will wear down people's will. Since the 15th year of the Wanli reign, our people have been living in comfort for too long.

Therefore, it is necessary to adopt some methods to keep our people alert and motivated.

Two governors and prefects who are not our own can play such a role. "

Gao Changjiang: "."

Boss, you have nothing better to do than to eat and eat? Are you creating difficulties when there are none?
There are some things that Lin Tailai did not elaborate on, and it is difficult to explain them to Gao Changjiang, as a huge political game is involved here.

When the old lady of the Wang family passed away and Wang Situ was forced to observe mourning, the Prime Minister was in a violent menopausal state, and Lin Tailai fell into a very passive situation.

At that time, for the sake of the overall situation, I deliberately "showed weakness". In addition, I didn't have many chips in my hand, so I had to use them at the critical moment.

Therefore, Lin Tailai did not interfere in the selection of the governor of Yingtian and the prefect of Suzhou Prefecture, and let others do their job.

Another reason is that, during such a sensitive period, when one has to rely on the emperor's favor to turn the situation around, one must avoid any behavior that may cause the emperor to become suspicious.

If he fought fiercely with the Qingliu forces for the positions of Yingtian Governor and Suzhou Prefect, and failed to please the emperor, thus losing the opportunity to manipulate the selection of ministers of various ministries, it would be a loss.

It is very worthwhile to exchange the Governor of Yingtian and the Prefect of Suzhou for a Minister of War and prevent the Qingliu forces from occupying the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.

Without mentioning the above inside information, Lin Tailai only asked: "You should tell me first, what's wrong? They haven't been in office for long, right?"

Gao Changjiang said quickly: "The new governor Zhao Canlu only took office last month. This new official has three fires since taking office, and each fire is aimed at us!

First, it is stipulated that 90% of the money and grain will be collected this year; second, the corvée labor service will be re-equalized. I heard that it is planned that households with less than 100 acres will be exempted from corvée labor service; third, it is planned to redefine the customs duties and machine taxes on various rivers.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that if these three measures are really implemented, there will be only one biggest victim, and that is the Suzhou Lin Group.

Because the Lin Group was responsible for all of Suzhou's taxes, engineering labor, river tariffs, and was the largest factory owner in Suzhou.

For example, as for the first fire tax, as mentioned earlier, it was impossible to collect the full amount of taxes in Suzhou. The rule was 70% qualified, 80% excellent, and 90% outstanding.

But the government generally does not expect to receive 90%. If the government takes 90%, what profit will the wealthy families and associations who take charge of the money and grain have left?
The governor said that he would receive 90% of the money, so the Lin Group's social business would be in vain this year. If he wanted to appease the grassroots, he might even have to pay a part of it.

If this governor is one of our own like old man Zhao back then, then working for free would be acceptable in order to gain political achievements for his own people, but this is obviously not the case now.

As for the second fire, the corvee policy, the largest contractor for Suzhou government projects was the Lin Group.

Since it is a government project, corvée labor can be used at a low price and low cost.

If the source of corvée labor is reduced, the cost of Lin Group's projects will definitely increase significantly.

For projects like city walls, dredging, and dike repairs that do not have a clear profit model, the Lin Group, which contracted the projects, would lose money if it lost the low cost of corvée labor.

Not to mention the third fire, which was said to be river tariffs and silk loom taxes, but was actually aimed at transportation and industry.

These are the core interests that Lin Tailai personally planned. Their status far exceeds that of engineering, money and grain businesses, and they must not be touched.

After hearing Gao Changjiang's report, Lin Tailai was stunned for a moment, but remained calm. "What do you think?"

Gao Changjiang said murderously: "What do I think? I think the governor wants to die!"

Lin Tailai: "."

Is this still the same old storyteller Lao Gao who always acts like a coward? In your mouth, you want to kill the governor?
After coming to his senses, Lin Tailai reminded: "What I'm curious about is that he should know that this is a suicidal act, and there are precedents, but why does he still want to do it?"

(End of this chapter)