The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 443: Manipulating Public Opinion Live Edition

At this moment, the Minglun Hall of Diecui Academy was full. Liu Yi frowned and looked around for a while, obviously not finding any empty seats. He actually took Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng across the aisle and sat down in front of the podium, which immediately attracted countless rolls of eyes.

Fortunately, the passionate speech of the middle-aged scholar on the stage was not interrupted, otherwise someone would have probably spoken foul language.

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng were so embarrassed that their faces turned red, but Liu Yi was calm and composed, pretending not to hear anything. He also sat in a very casual manner, unlike the others who sat cross-legged and upright.

Seeing this, Jia Huan became even more curious. Liu Shouzheng used to be a polite and kind gentleman, but who knows what he has experienced in the past few years, and he has become so unrestrained and unruly, ahem... quite like the famous scholars of Wei and Jin Dynasties.

At this time, the middle-aged scholar on the stage was still talking about the "Spring and Autumn Annals", one of the Five Classics.

Jia Huan thought: "This man must be the leader of the Donglin faction, the Hanlin scholar, Zhao Mingcheng, who was appointed as the assistant to the Southern Study. Zhao Dehui is gone."

The Southern Study was established by Emperor Qiansheng with the aim of weakening the role of the cabinet. It was the emperor's personal advisory agency. Those who could enter the Southern Study were naturally the emperor's close ministers and confidants.

About half an hour later, Zhao Mingcheng finally finished his speech. There was thunderous applause and cheers all around. However, after listening to it, Jia Huan felt that his level was not as good as Lin Ruhai's. Of course, Zhao Mingcheng's eloquence was indeed quite impressive, which was probably better than that of Master Lin.

"Ziming!" Lu Xiangsheng suddenly nudged Jia Huan with his arm and motioned him to look to the right.

Jia Huan turned his head and saw a person sitting cross-legged not far away. It was none other than Sun Chengzong. The latter was wearing an ordinary scholar's gown and was very low-key among the audience. At this moment, he probably saw Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng and just nodded slightly.

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng were about to stand up and greet him, but Liu Yi said, "Don't worry, the lecture isn't over yet. It won't be too late to greet him after it's over."

At the same time, Sun Chengzong also raised his hand to signal them to sit down, so Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng had to sit down again.

At this time, another person came up to the podium. He was about 50 or 60 years old, with gray hair, long flowing beard, and elegant temperament. Liu Yi introduced him as "the headmaster of Donglin Academy, and also the founder of Donglin Academy, Gu Xiancheng, courtesy name Xianzhi."

Jia Huan was moved when he heard this. So, the two leaders of the Donglin faction showed up today. Their purpose might not just be to give lectures, right?

In addition, what confused Jia Huan was that he clearly remembered that the founder of Donglin Academy in the Ming Dynasty was named Gu Xiancheng, with the courtesy name Shushi, but the founder of Donglin Academy in this world of Red Mansions was named Gu Xiancheng, with the courtesy name Xianzhi.

In addition, there was a Liaodong governor named Xiong Tingbi in the late Ming Dynasty, while the person who serves as the Liaodong governor of the Jin Dynasty is called Xiong Tingbai. The names are slightly different, but the names of Sun Chengzong, Lu Xiangsheng, Nurhaci and other characters are the same. It seems that the world of Red Mansions is still quite messed up, and the late Ming Dynasty cannot be completely included in it.

Thinking of this, Jia Huan couldn't help but become alert, because this meant that if he predicted the direction of the situation based on the history of the late Ming Dynasty, he would most likely fall into a ditch, so he still had to act according to the actual situation!

Just as Jia Huan was thinking, Gu Xiancheng, the headmaster of Donglin Academy, came on stage and said with a smile: "It is the first day of the twelfth lunar month in the seventh year of Qiansheng, and the weather has just cleared up after the snow. I am very honored to be invited by the headmaster of Diecui Academy to give you a lecture on the Book of Changes. However, Zhao Xueshi has just finished his lecture on the Spring and Autumn Annals, and I believe everyone must be a little tired, so I will not start the lecture for now, and discuss with you a major event that happened in the court recently."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the venue suddenly became lively!

As mentioned in the previous article, the atmosphere in the Jin Dynasty was relatively open-minded, and the people were allowed to discuss state affairs. Especially after Emperor Qiansheng ascended the throne, he emphasized civil officials over military officials, and the status of literati became increasingly higher. The trend of civil politics became more and more popular, with literati from all walks of life and the gentry as the main force. Ordinary people were busy making a living, so they didn't have the time to comment on state affairs.

Donglin Academy came into being under such circumstances, and its founder Gu Xiancheng was obviously a master at manipulating public opinion. Spreading political ideas under the guise of lectures was his usual method. For example, now, during the intervals between lectures, he began to discuss current affairs.

As the saying goes, every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country. In feudal society, scholars, especially young scholars, were the most concerned about the fate of their country and were the most passionate. They were also the most easily incited.

Therefore, whenever Donglin Academy held lectures to discuss political affairs, young scholars flocked to it, and even told others about it and expressed their opinions loudly. At the beginning, some officials who were demoted joined Donglin Academy to vent their anger and expressed their political views and demands to the court. When Donglin Academy became more influential, some officials in the court also wanted to use Donglin Academy to spread their political ideas and expand their influence, so they were also willing to participate in such lectures.

In this way, Donglin Academy gradually became a communication platform with great influence, just like the current blog. If some problems are exposed there, they will be dealt with quickly, which is more effective than going through official channels. Let's get back to the point. Gu Xiancheng on the stage stirred up the atmosphere of the whole audience with one sentence. He continued with emotion: "The Yangzhou private salt den has been settled recently. The main culprit behind the scenes, Prince Yi Zhong, was executed with his entire family, and his title was stripped and he was demoted to a commoner. It really makes people happy."

Gu Xiancheng paused, then clasped his fists in the direction of the imperial city and said, "Your Majesty is wise and righteous, and he sacrifices his relatives for the greater good. He is truly a wise ruler of the time. Our country and the people are fortunate to have a sage in power!"

The students at the scene shouted excitedly: "The emperor is wise!"

There were also a few shouts such as "The retired emperor is ruling the country from behind the curtain and clings to power. He should retire and return power to the emperor completely." Some people even shouted "An old man who doesn't die is a thief."

Jia Huan couldn't help but secretly gasp. As expected, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. If Emperor Kangping heard this, would he faint directly from anger, or would he go on a bloodbath in anger? Tsk tsk, this is really crazy!
Gu Xiancheng on the stage seemed not to hear the noise, and continued to speak passionately: "Although Prince Yi Zhong has been executed, looking back on this case, it is still shocking. I believe everyone has read the court bulletin. The stolen silver involved in the case is as high as 10 million taels. You should know that the annual tax silver income of our dynasty is only 40 million taels. Prince Yi Zhong's mansion actually made a profit of more than 10 million taels by colluding with officials and businessmen to sell private salt, which accounted for a quarter of the annual income of the national treasury. Don't you think it's hateful?"

"How hateful!"

"No redemption for a hundred deaths!"

"Lingchi death!"

The scholars present shouted out in anger.

Gu Xiancheng on the stage was also very excited at this time, and he continued loudly: "The 10 million taels are only the proceeds from the illegal sale of salt, and the other 1 million taels are the illegal profits obtained by reselling salt permits.

Fellow students, the Kaizhong Law was established by Emperor Taizu of the Great Jin Dynasty, and it was also a powerful tool to strengthen border defense. The Kaizhong Law stipulated that salt merchants could only obtain salt permits if they transported grain to the border. However, Prince Yi Zhong abused his power for personal gain, demanded a large amount of salt permits from the Ministry of Revenue, and resold them to salt merchants for huge profits. The dignitaries and nobles in the court also followed suit.

As a result, salt merchants are no longer willing to transport food to the border, and instead bribe the dignitaries in the court to buy their salt permits at low prices. Now the Kaizhong Law is in name only, and the soldiers and civilians at the border cannot get enough food, so they flee the border. If this continues, the border of our Great Jin will be in danger frequently, and the country will be in danger!!!"

"Thoroughly investigate the salt permit!"

"Severely punish the nest occupiers!"

"The officials of the Ministry of Revenue falsely issued salt permits, accepted them privately, and colluded with the powerful. They should all be dismissed and investigated, and executed as a warning to others!"

It was not known who took the lead, but the students at the scene were very excited. They stood up and shouted slogans, and they all directed their attacks at the noble group and the officials of the Ministry of Revenue.

Jia Huan couldn't help but be secretly shocked. In the past, the overwhelming public opinions on the Internet were all text, and their impact was much weaker. But now it is a real live version, and its impact is more than a hundred times or a thousand times greater. Even if the public opinions are not directed at himself, it is equally shocking, not to mention the target of the public opinions. Tsk tsk, after today, I am afraid that all the nobles in the court and those officials in the Ministry of Revenue will not be able to sleep.

Wait, it is understandable that Gu Xiancheng led the attack on the noble group, because the noble group is basically the old emperor faction, but why attack the Ministry of Revenue? Are the officials of the Ministry of Revenue also the old emperor faction?
Jia Huan guessed correctly. Now the Minister of Revenue and the left and right vice ministers are all from the emperor's faction and have a firm control over the country's finances. This is a thorn in Emperor Qiansheng's side, and he took advantage of this salt permit incident to target the Ministry of Revenue and seize the financial power.

However, the Ministry of Revenue was not wronged at all, because the annual salt permits were issued by the Ministry of Revenue, and the nobles had to go through the Ministry of Revenue to obtain salt permits. In fact, since the reign of Emperor Tai, it was not uncommon for the dignitaries in the court to ask the Ministry of Revenue for salt permits. Sometimes, even Emperor Kangping and Emperor Qiansheng would use salt permits to reward their confidants and directly order the Ministry of Revenue to issue salt permits through oral instructions.

As a result, the "Kaizhong Law" implemented at the beginning of the founding of the Jin Dynasty gradually became a mere formality. Salt merchants were no longer willing to spend time and effort transporting grain and other food to the border areas, and the "merchant settlements" previously developed in the border areas were gradually abandoned.

Once the economy of the border town declines, the disastrous consequences will become increasingly apparent. Border residents will begin to migrate inland, soldiers guarding the border will flee one after another, military preparations will be slack, and defenses will be ineffective. Once the enemy attacks, it will be the end of the country.

Therefore, Gu Xiancheng's speech was not alarmist, but its main purpose was to create public opinion and assist Emperor Qiansheng in seizing the financial power of the Ministry of Revenue.

(End of this chapter)