Cyber ​​Daming

Chapter 718: Bloodstained Sleeves
The sky was dark and snow was about to fall. The cold air was blowing away.

Lin Jinjiang walked with his hands in his sleeves on the dilapidated streets of the Shibati slum, looking around happily.

He originally started out in the brothel business, and although things are different now, he still does not feel uncomfortable at all in this mixed place. Instead, he feels comfortable and at ease as if he were home.

It is a cold time in Chongqing in February.

At this time of year, the hotpot restaurants on the streets and alleys enter their peak season. Every restaurant is crowded with people, and the aroma wafts into the cold wind, making passers-by stop and salivate.

"They are really a destined master and disciple. They both like this."

Lin Jinjiang smiled secretly and looked up at the wooden sign above his head that was covered with oil stains. The four large characters "Thousand-year-old Shop" were particularly eye-catching, and were even surrounded by a circle of fiery red light strips so that they could be seen from a distance.

Lin Jinjiang didn't quite believe whether the store had really been open for a thousand years, but the business was indeed booming.

As soon as the door was opened, the hustle and bustle suddenly hit me in the face, and the turbid, fishy air kept drilling into my nostrils.

The old soup made from beef spine is poured into the copper pot covered with red oil, and is bubbling. The waiter in shirtless clothes comes and goes like the wind, shuttling around in the crowded store.

The place was crowded with people, and many diners were almost squeezed together back to back, but no one was picky about the environment. They used long chopsticks and short chopsticks to eat in the pots, and drank a glass of wine.

Lin Jinjiang looked around, and walked in with difficulty through the gaps between people. After seeing many smiling faces, he finally squeezed to a table and said to the man who was eating, "Sorry, I'm a little late."

The man lowered his head and his appearance could not be seen clearly. He was wearing an ordinary green Confucian robe. He looked ordinary, except for the two blood-red circles embroidered on the cuffs, which looked a bit special.

This is the logo of Jinling Chishe.

"Ah."

The man didn't even raise his head, but uttered an unclear "hmm" and motioned Lin Jinjiang to sit down.

Lin Jinjiang had already been hungry because of the aroma, so he didn't hesitate to pull out a bench and sit down.

The two of them wielded their chopsticks very quickly and were silent for a while.

Only when only some seasoning spices were left in the boiling red soup did they stop.

"Have one?"

Lin Jinjiang took the cigarette thrown by the other party, held it in his hand but did not light it in a hurry, but looked at the other party steadily.

"Why, no?"

"meeting."

Lin Jinjiang smiled: "I'm just a little surprised at your change."

呲la
A cluster of flames jumped out, and in the rising light white smoke was a slightly weathered face.

Lin Jinjiang was reluctant to use the word "mature" to describe such a young man, but other than that, he couldn't find any other suitable words to describe the other person's eyes.

"Any changes?"

"Yes, and it's very big." Lin Jinjiang said affirmatively.

"That's a good thing, because only dead people remain unchanged."

Yang Bai Ze asked calmly, "Do you want to move to a quieter place?"

"No, this place is fine."

Lin Jinjiang said hurriedly, and Yang Bai Ze did not force it, but just raised his hand and waved it gently.

There was clearly no sign of any sequence power being activated, but the noise around him suddenly weakened.

The human voices were silent, and the sound of the boiling soup seemed particularly harsh.

Lin Jinjiang twisted his body uncomfortably on the bench, pursed his lips, and asked jokingly, "Are all the people in this store from your Chi Society?"

"all."

To his surprise, Yang Bai Ze actually nodded.

"The hyenas from the Zongsho Party have been biting harder recently. Although they probably don't have the guts to sneak into the Peace Hotel, it's still better to be careful."

Yang Bai Ze said it lightly, but Lin Jinjiang's heart trembled when he heard it.

As a 'big shot' with tens of millions of fans in Huangliang, Lin Jinjiang has a wide range of sources of information, even comparable to some large forces, so he has naturally heard of the 'Zongshe Party'.

After the Battle of Nanjing, the backbone of the old Ming Dynasty was almost killed or injured, and the Confucian families that were attached to the Zhu family also suffered heavy losses. However, they were deep-rooted and had a profound foundation, and did not perish along with the Great Ming Empire. Instead, they turned from light to darkness and lurked in various places in the new Ming land.

Logically speaking, given Ruxu's consistent character, after experiencing such a tragic defeat, he should have hidden himself away, stayed in the dark to lick his wounds and recover his strength.

However, these clans did not act in accordance with their past practices. They did not take care of their own business or add insult to injury. Instead, they came together and established the Zongli Socialist Party.

Members of the Red Society were assassinated everywhere in the former Nanzhili area, and there were many fights between the two sides, resulting in casualties on both sides.

The reason that makes these scholars so fearless and courageous is naturally not face and reputation, but real survival.

After the collapse of the Ming Empire, the "official career" of Confucianism lost the imperial system on which it depended, and became a tree without roots and water without a source.

In other words, their path to advancement in the order has been cut off. Even if they hide and do not resist, these 'official career scholars' will gradually fall down the order as time goes by until they die due to genetic decay.

If they want to get back on track, there are only two ways.

One is to establish a new dynasty, and the other is to restore the old Ming Dynasty.

Given the current situation in Ming territory, the first method is basically impossible to achieve. Although the second method is also hopeless, after all, the time since the Ming Dynasty was destroyed is not long, and there are still some people willing to support them, so the difficulty is much smaller in comparison.

Therefore, these aristocratic families once again colluded with the remnants of Honghu in an attempt to restore the monarchy.

Lin Jinjiang even heard that the top leaders of the Zongshe Party still controlled some of the Zhu family's bloodlines that had not yet been born. When the time was right, they would be able to raise the dragon flag again and compete for the Ming territory.

However, no matter how true or false these rumors are, the former Ming royal family has now completely become puppets in the hands of others and has no chance of turning things around.

"Now we should have started talking, right?"

Yang Bai Ze looked at Lin Jinjiang, whose expression was a little stiff, and said with a smile: "Don't you need to materialize your document?"

"Not this time. I'm going to try a different approach this time. I'll upload the entire thing to Huangliang after we're done discussing it."

Lin Jinjiang smiled awkwardly, feeling a little regretful in his heart. He regretted that his invitation was too rash and he ignored Yang Baize's identity as the leader of the Chi Society.

In addition, the other party's change was so great that he was a little frightened. Lin Jinjiang couldn't help but worry secretly that if he rashly released the conversation with the other party, it might be...
"Are you worried that I might incite and influence your spectators?"

Yang Bai Ze saw through Lin Jinjiang's thoughts at a glance and said with a smile: "Don't worry, everyone has their own aspirations. Chishe will never force others, let alone embarrass our friends."

"I judge the gentleman's belly with a villain's heart."

Lin Jinjiang put on an ashamed look, clasped his hands and said, "Then shall I start asking questions?" "Please."

Lin Jinjiang picked up the tea on the table and drank it all, trying his best to concentrate and shift the focus of the conversation from Chishe to Yang Bai Ze personally.

"You also like eating hotpot now. Are you thinking of the past by looking at it?"

"That's not entirely the reason. I was born in Shu, so I like spicy food naturally. And now I find that spicy food can make people energetic. When you are awake, you can think better."

"What are you thinking about?"

Lin Jinjiang blurted out the question subconsciously, and saw that Yang Bai Ze kept silent, with a half-smile on his face. He immediately realized that he had asked a nonsense question.

What else can we think about? Of course, it can only be how to develop the Red Society and how to catch and kill the Zongli Socialist Party.

"Ha ha."

Lin Jinjiang smiled awkwardly. This was the first time he was suppressed by the aura of the person he was visiting.

He knew in his heart that if he wanted to continue the conversation, he could not get around Yang Bai Ze's identity anyway, so instead of continuing to be shy and secretive, it would be better to just talk openly.

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With his mind made up, Lin Jinjiang lowered his head to light the cigarette, but found that his palms were wet with sweat without him knowing when.

"I heard that the New Donglin Academy has reopened and is recruiting students?"

Lin Jinjiang put the cigarette close to the fire and asked while it was toasting.

"The New Donglin Academy has never been closed. It is only because the position of the principal has been vacant since Master Zhang left that it has been temporarily suspended."

Lin Jinjiang was shocked and asked, "So there is a new headmaster now? Who is it?"

"You also know him, Zhang Siyuan."

Yang Bai Ze sighed, which was rare: "In fact, with Uncle Master's ability, being the headmaster of a college is a waste of his talent. It is right for him to lead the Chi Society. It's a pity that Uncle Master is not interested in this. He only wants to teach and educate people."

"Perhaps this is exactly what Lord Zhang expects of him. Lord Zhang's life was so difficult, so he naturally doesn't want his son to follow his old path."

Lin Jinjiang took over the conversation: "To be honest, it's quite surprising that Zhang Siyuan is willing to serve as the president of the new Donglin Academy. I originally thought that he would give up everything and travel around the world to become a free hermit."

"It seems you know him well."

Yang Bai Ze smiled and said, "Master Uncle really doesn't want to be tied down, so he only agreed to help me manage the New Donglin Academy for ten years, and the students he recruits cannot be limited to Confucian scholars. Anyone with aspirations can enter the academy to study."

"Zhang Shanzhang is also a good person."

Lin Jinjiang's face was full of sighs, but his eyes uncontrollably looked at the red spot on Yang Bai Ze's cuffs.

"If a scholar does not have the Six Arts chip implanted, he may have to study hard for ten years to be promoted to the ninth-order scholar. He will be cautious and diligent to become a gentleman. He will be appreciated by a noble person and become a seventh-order disciple. From then on, he will enter the palace, wear official clothes, eat the emperor's food, and work hard to climb up from the sixth-order official step by step. He must go through the three dragon gates of Huangmen Lang, Diguan Situ, and Tianguan Zongzai. Only one in a million will have the chance to eventually become the leader of a party and have the hope of getting involved in the eternal teacher of Confucianism in the first order."

Lin Jinjiang finished talking about the entire sequence of Confucianism in one breath, and said in a serious tone: "But now the Ming Empire has collapsed, and the official career path can be considered completely cut off. Now, relying solely on the academy lineage, can it make up for the missing dragon gates of Confucianism?"

After many twists and turns, the topic finally returned to Ruxu's current predicament.

In fact, there was something Lin Jinjiang hadn't said in his mind, that is, many backbones of the Chi Society today are also from the officialdom lineage, even including Zhang Siyuan and Yang Bai Ze. If they cannot transfer their own sequence to the academy lineage, then they will face the same fate as the aristocratic families.

Unless, the ultimate goal of the Chishe is also to establish a new official career system.

"In fact, 'Shanzhang' is the name of the third lineage of the Confucian Academy."

Yang Bai Ze said slowly: "Many years ago, when Master Zhang resigned as the principal of the New Donglin Academy and decided to enter the government, he had already achieved the third rank of the Ruxu Academy, so there is no such thing as making up for the missing. Moreover, the special nature of the Ruxu allows followers to switch between the two lines after meeting certain conditions, so Chishe has nothing to worry about."

Lin Jinjiang was shocked: "Why did the aristocratic family set up the Zongshe Party and risk the world's disapproval?"

"Because I don't agree with the new Donglin Academy to accept them again. Without this condition, they can only be the old guard of the previous dynasty. The aristocratic families like to make a letter of surrender, but for traitors, I have only one answer."

Yang Bai Ze said in a cold tone: "Kill!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the air in the store suddenly turned cold.

Lin Jinjiang remained calm and glanced around. Those members of the Chi Society who were disguised as diners were sitting upright with solemn expressions, and there was a murderous look on their faces.

Now he finally understood why those remnants of the aristocratic families were targeting Yang Bai Ze. It turned out that he was not giving them any chance to survive.

It is now the third year of the new calendar, but thirty-six months is only enough time for a newborn baby to learn to open a book, and it does not have enough time for a newborn baby to learn many words.

But it is enough to make a passionate young man's heart become as hard as iron and his hands as cold as a knife.

But Lin Jinjiang knew that he had no right to judge whether the other party was right or wrong. As a messenger, his mission was only to record and spread.

"So after killing all the people in the official career lineage, where will the Chi Society go?"

Lin Jinjiang frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice: "Or, what do you think the future of Mingtu will be like?"

"war."

Yang Bai Ze did not hide anything and said without hesitation: "There will definitely be a war in the future, but it will not necessarily break out in Ming territory, but between the major forces today. In my opinion, it will be an external invasion."

"Barbarians?"

Lin Jinjiang was stunned and asked, "Does Chishe want to help them resist?"

"of course not."

Yang Baize grinned and lit a new cigarette with the remaining cigarette butt.

"It's to find them a new owner!"

"You guys are here quite early. But why is it that Zou Sijiu's grandson has become more stingy as his family fortune grows? He actually doesn't even provide meals for guests who have come from afar, and you guys have to eat in such a remote place?"

Outside the store, before the figure stepped into the store, a hearty laugh broke in first.

"Uncle Master, you are finally here."

Yang Bai Ze smiled and stood up to greet him.

All the members of the Red Society followed suit and bowed, saying in unison: "Shanzhang!"

"What are you all dressed like? Are you pretending to be gang members? Are you full? If you are, get out of here."

Zhang Siyuan rolled his eyes in annoyance when he walked into the store, sat down next to Lin Jinjiang carelessly, took out a pair of chopsticks and knocked on the table.

"Waiter, serve me again what these two people just ate!"

Zhang Siyuan yelled, "I have to hurry up and fill my stomach. I heard that Master Ma has prepared a bare-chested battle for us in Jinlou later. The situation is extremely dangerous. We must go and support him quickly!"

(End of this chapter)