I studied in modern times

Chapter 626: The Wise Emperor
Too learned.

The imperial concubine's son-in-law, Commandant Guo Xianqing, had just finished his homework for the day and respectfully handed it to the old scholar who was personally appointed by the current emperor to teach him.

The serious old scholar, after carefully reading his homework, hummed lightly and said, "Good!"

"The prince consort has made great progress in both classics and writing, which is a blessing for the country."

Guo Xianqing no longer looks like the dandy he used to be.

The aura of a Confucian scholar gradually grew on him. Upon hearing this, he bowed and said, "Thanks to the teacher's teaching, I am where I am today."

The old scholar stroked his beard with satisfaction, and said to Guo Xianqing: "The prince consort can move freely today!"

Guo Xianqing was overjoyed when he heard this, but he pretended to be calm on the surface and bowed, "Yes!"

After the old scholar left, Guo Xianqing breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest: "Finally I made it through!"

He slowly put away his pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Then, he picked up a broom and prepared to clean the yard.

Yes!

Now Guo Xianqing has learned to be self-reliant.

At least he can boil his own water, bathe himself, do his own makeup, and clean himself.

He is completely different from the old him.

As a result, not only did my body get better, but I also felt more energetic.

The Grand Princess of Ji said that he was now "completely new" compared to the past and was full of gratitude towards the Imperial Academy.

Only Guo Xianqing himself knew that he dared not to "renew himself".

Because right next door to him lived a fellow prisoner - Wu Anchi, the son of the former Prime Minister Wu Chong and the son-in-law of Wang Anshi.

Ever since Wu Anchi came here and kept him company, Guo Xianqing had been terrified.

He was afraid that he would end up like Wu Anchi!
Wu Anchi's current fate makes him shudder every time he thinks about it.

He was first sent to the Imperial Academy and forced to receive "re-education and reinspiration in the teachings of the sages."

Then he slapped them in the face, and all the members of the Wu family were implicated. Their careers were affected. Those who should have been demoted could not, and those who should have been replaced could not.

The Ministry of Personnel and the Capital Court treated the Wu family members as Cuju, kicking them back and forth.

Until the Wu family agreed to a series of humiliating conditions.

Wu Anchi divorced Wang, returned Wang's dowry, and was even forced to send the son born to Wu Anchi and Wang's daughter to Jiangning.

Only after Wang Zishao from the Ministry of Personnel and a certain official from the Capital Hall stopped making things difficult for the Wu family.

Wife and children separated!

Wu Anchi’s lessons are truly shocking.

The deterrent effect on Guo Xianqing is even more powerful!

So, whenever Guo Xianqing wanted to show his temper as the son-in-law of the emperor, he would think of Wu Anchi and Wang Shen.

The whole person immediately became obedient.

All of a sudden you will be able to endure hardships, learn, and reflect.

The past arrogance, extravagance and debauchery also disappeared in an instant.

People also become more reasonable.

When Guo Xianqing walked into the yard, holding a broom and began to sweep the yard, in the yard next to him, across the wall, Wu Anchi's voice came over: "Have you finished your homework today, Prince Consort?"

Guo Xianqing nodded, picked up the broom and started cleaning.

"As the son of a wealthy princess, why should you clean the courtyard every day? Just wait for someone from the Imperial Academy to do it." Wu Anchi said the same words as usual, trying to persuade Guo Xianqing to give up.

But Guo Xianqing turned a deaf ear to him and only thought to himself: "I am not like you!"

Wu Anchi has already divorced Wang Anshi's daughter.

Even the children born to the two were sent to Jiangning. It is possible that in the future they might change their surname to Wang, and from grandson to grandson, completely cut off ties with the Wu family.

Even the Wu family seemed to have given up on Wu Anchi.

It's been almost a month and no one has come to visit him.

And what about him?
He still has a bright future and prospects.

Moreover, Guo Xianqing knew that he was not far from getting out.

Because his wife, Princess Ji, became pregnant last month.

He will have a second son!
How could he possibly join Wu Anchi in giving up?
Guo Xianqing has determined to learn from Zhou Chu!
Strive to become the representative of the prodigal son of the Song Dynasty, and also a symbol of the omnipotence of the sage's teachings that can educate people's hearts.

Seeing that Guo Xianqing ignored him, Wu Anchi just started laughing to himself. As he laughed, he began to sob.

Guo Xianqing listened, put down the broom in his hand, and slowly walked to the courtyard wall.

He glanced at the old soldier who was on duty at the gate of the yard and found that he was lying on the table, snoring, and seemed to be drunk.

So, he plucked up his courage and took the initiative to comfort Wu Anchi across the courtyard wall: "Brother Wu, forgive me for saying something unpleasant, but if you continue like this, I'm afraid there will be things I can't bear to say in the future!"

What is the unspeakable thing?

He was granted death by the emperor, and then reported to have died of an accidental illness. If things go wrong, he might end up like Wang Shen, unable to even enter his ancestral tomb and could only be a wandering ghost outside.

Wu Anchi listened, stopped crying, and said, "What can I do?"

His wife divorced him and his son went to Jiangning.

None of the former concubines are left now.

His brothers avoided him as much as possible!

After being sent to the Imperial College for so long, his old mother only visited him twice.

As for those who once called him their brother, except Wen Jifu and Sima Kang, they all regarded him as a plague and avoided him as much as possible!
Life is like this, how can Wu Anchi not be sad?
"You should at least cheer up..." Guo Xianqing said, "Only if you cheer up will you have a chance."

When Guo Xianqing said this, he wanted to mention the one in Jiangning.

But when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

He is no longer the same person he was before.

Wu Anchi laughed twice and disagreed with what Guo Xianqing said.

He knew that he had completely failed.

As a husband, he was forced to divorce by his wife. As a father, his son followed his wife to Jiangning. As a scholar-official, he was personally accused by the emperor of "abandoning the teachings of benevolence and forgiveness of the saints and not caring about the suffering of the people." As an official, he was demoted by the court several times...

He failed completely!

So, he just gave up.

At this moment, bursts of loud cheers suddenly broke out in the Imperial Academy.

Soon after, both Guo Xianqing and Wu Anchi heard the voices of "Long live" coming from the direction of the Imperial College's dormitories.

"What happened?" Guo Xianqing and Wu Anchi became curious.

Guo Xianqing became even more interested. He found a ladder in the yard, climbed onto the courtyard wall, and looked into the distance in the direction of the Imperial College dormitories.

Then I saw the students from the dormitories coming out in groups.

Even the professors, lecturers, and doctors of the Imperial Academy appeared in the crowd, but they did not organize these students.

Instead, they joined the ranks of the Tai students.

"Long live!"

"The country is fortunate to have the Holy Emperor here!"

"We are lucky to have a wise ruler today!"

Guo Xianqing watched from afar and saw that the entire Imperial College suddenly became crowded with people.

Students from the upper, inner and outer dormitories gathered together.

Guo Xianqing estimated that almost all the students in the Imperial College had already come out.

That’s a total of 2,400 people!

Moreover, these students come from all over the country!

Not only that, these people are a mixed bag, with all kinds of people.

Some support the new party and new learning, while others support the old party and ancestral laws.

Normally these people would debate scriptures inside the Imperial Academy.

Often during a debate, they would start making personal attacks or even resorting to physical violence.

Just like now, regardless of region or faction, all the students gathered together, cheering and rejoicing to each other, shouting "Long live the emperor" and worshiping the holy emperor.

This was the first time Guo Xianqing had met him.

"What exactly happened?" Guo Xianqing wondered.

At this moment, Guo Xianqing saw the figure of the old scholar who had just left reappear in his sight. He quickly got down from the ladder, picked up the broom again, and started cleaning the yard.

The old scholar came back excitedly. When he saw Guo Xianqing, he bowed and said, "The prince consort has indeed been influenced by the Holy Emperor!"

Guo Xianqing quickly put down the broom, bowed and said: "I dare not!"

"The current emperor has been very kind to me. It is really difficult to repay the emperor's kindness. The only way I can repay the emperor's kindness is to tie a knot with a piece of grass and make my descendants, generation after generation, always loyal to the emperor!"

I have been in Imperial College for almost a year.

Guo Xianqing was completely convinced and had a clear understanding of his own appearance.

Especially after comparing him with Wu Anchi, he knew that the official was really showing mercy to him.

Otherwise, you can just follow Wu Anchi's script and do it for him.

Forcing them to divorce, deposing his position as the imperial concubine, and then putting pressure on the Guo family to force them to give up him would not be difficult, and there was already a precedent like Wang Shen.

His family, Guo Xianqing, is not as good as Wang Shen's family!

At least Wang Shen was a descendant of Wang Quanbin, a meritorious official of Taizu, while his ancestors were not well-known during the time of Taizu and Taizong.

It was just luck that she had a daughter who was once the queen of a real temple.

Unfortunately, the queen died early and left no offspring.

Honestly speaking, it is a big question whether the Guo family can continue to be wealthy after passing it down to his generation!

The old scholar was very excited and said to Guo Xianqing, "Did your Majesty hear the students in the Imperial College cheering and jumping for joy?"

Guo Xianqing nodded.

The old scholar took his hand and sat in the courtyard. He looked excited and said, "Just an hour ago, the emperor inspected the Lingjin Courtyard and uncovered a case of corruption among officials in the courtyard!"

"The government has spoken out in a golden voice, telling the people around it: Now the time has come for all the departments to have to scrape the bones and cure the poison!"

"And he said: What's more, the sages teach that those who receive the greater should not take the lesser, and those who eat meat should not compete with the lower people for profit!"

"Furthermore: The world today is just as Sima Wenzhenggong said..."

"The government gets too much, and the people get too little!"

"The Holy Son of Heaven! He is truly the Holy Son of Heaven!"

"I dare not expect to be able to live up to the rule of the Three Dynasties, but I can only hope to be able to live up to the rule of Cheng and Kang and revive the Song Dynasty in the near future!"

The old scholar is a typical Confucian scholar who has immersed himself in academics all his life.

Today, the academic style of the Song Dynasty takes retro style as its banner, advocating a return to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and taking the true meaning of the sages as its foundation.

Naturally, I am both excited and thrilled about such things.

Guo Xianqing listened with his mouth wide open, almost unable to believe his ears!

Today's emperor...

Would he say something like that?
Guo Xianqing recalled the unique and novel debt collection methods used by His Majesty last year.

No matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem like that kind of person!

As someone involved, Guo Xianqing remembers the atmosphere at that time very clearly.

In order to make the nobles and relatives of the emperor pay back the money, His Majesty did everything he could.

He even directly sacrificed several noble families, including the family of Xu Guogong Zhang Qi.

All the family’s property was confiscated, and more than a dozen people were placed under surveillance.

He also sent his great-uncle, the son-in-law of the emperor, to the Imperial Academy to be influenced by the sages and to be re-educated and reformed.

During that turmoil, Guo Xianqing remembered that there was a nobleman named Zhang, whose property was confiscated and he was demoted to the deputy envoy of the Fangzhou militia, and placed under house arrest, simply because he owed less than a thousand strings of cash in the market and failed to repay it in time.

just now……

The government is doing this?
Guo Xianqing instinctively shrank his neck and felt a chill on his back.

This is not only because he had suffered from that Majesty and experienced the other party's power.

Or it was because he knew the temperaments of the Zhao officials of all generations.

They are all greedy for money!

Even the Emperor Renmiao, who was known for his benevolence, was no exception!

For so many years, this has been passed down from generation to generation.

What do the various officials in charge of the various departments and the prefectures and counties scattered across the country look like outside? What is going on? Who doesn't know!

Some officials levied heavy taxes and extorted money, and some supervisors took bribes.

The eunuchs were frantically amassing wealth, while the relatives by marriage would put any benefits into their own pockets.

Why is no one in charge?
The answer is actually very obvious!

These people, these supervisory officials sent by the royal family, no matter they are civil officials or military officials, no matter they are eunuchs or external relatives of the emperor.

They are all making money on orders!

Moreover, they are all forced by KPIs to do their best to squeeze every last drop of effort in the places where they are in order to complete the tasks assigned by the officials.

Of course, while these guys are outside completing the tasks assigned by the officials, they will also take the opportunity to put money into their own pockets.

However, the officials turned a blind eye to this, and even deliberately indulged and favored it.

Over the years, the crows of the Censorate have been complaining about everything.

But few people dared to impeach those officials who made money outside on behalf of the Zhao officials.

the reason is simple--

The Zhao officials would just laugh it off if the crow cursed the eunuchs for ruining the country, the foreign relatives for being domineering, and the nobles for being incompetent. But if the crow dared to curse to the higher authorities, it would be embarrassed.

Because Emperor Zhao will think you are scolding him!

And he was sure he had the evidence!
Emperor Zhao will not tolerate such traitors!

So, this crow had to stay in a remote military state for the rest of its life.

Just like Wang Yansou who is now watching the iron-eating beast baring its fangs in the ravines of Nanping Army, and Sun Sheng in the mountains of Shizhou.

The Zhao officials are very experienced in how to use and control crows.

Now he doesn't look like he is unskilled!
He was skilled and skillful in managing Liu Zhi, demoting Wang Yansou and Sun Sheng.

Even when Guo Xianqing's wife, Princess Ji, came to see him, she once sighed: "My mother told me that the emperor today is truly born to be an emperor! Since our ancestors, there has been no one better than him!"

This shows that he is not only familiar with the outer court, but even the inner court may have been made uniform by him.

Key departments such as the Imperial City Department, the Public Security Department, and the Imperial Pharmacy are all in his hands!
and so……

"What exactly is the government up to?" Guo Xianqing remained silent.

But in front of the old scholar, he opened his mouth and said: "He is indeed the Holy Son of Heaven!"

"It's a blessing for the world!"

Guo Xianqing already knew why the students outside were so excited.

The affairs of various departments have been messed up everywhere by officials of all dynasties.

For example, the current tribute tea for the royal family is produced in the Beiyuan Tea Garden in Jianzhou, Fujian.

For example, the silk used by the royal family, especially the high-quality silk raw materials, were all obtained from silkworm farmers in Chengdu.

The royal family specially sent people to Chengdu Prefecture to take charge of matters such as mulberry silk, tea and horses.

It seems that the people in Chengdu now are the eunuchs who left the Empress Dowager's side.

In addition, there are supervisory officials in mining and mining pits in various places.

The main bazaars and markets in the prefectures and counties also had ministers sent by the Zhao officials to monitor and collect taxes.

If that's all, that's it.

However, the officials of Zhao State still liked to do business. The late emperor even used the market affairs department to force buying and selling.

Local people are angry but dare not speak out.

Now, the government of the time has taken the initiative to point its guns at himself.

He also said that he would scrape the bone to cure the poison and use the method of the saints, and not compete with the common people for profit.

Such a statement, to the ears of these students from all over the country, was such an encouragement and such wise words!

Guo Xianqing put himself in their shoes and felt that if he were a student, he would be so happy that he would go crazy!

But the problem is...

Are the current officials such people who benefit the people?

Guo Xianqing always feels that it is unreliable!

(End of this chapter)