The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 444 Master
Just as the crowd was in an uproar, a scholar suddenly broke out of the crowd, rushed to the podium, raised his arms and shouted: "My fellow students, one-third of the world's tax revenue comes from the salt industry. Salt tax is an important source of income for the national treasury. The powerful and noble relatives colluded with the black sheep of the Ministry of Revenue to issue false salt permits, which not only undermined the Kaizhong Law, but also seriously damaged the salt tax revenue. It is said that the Ministry of Revenue has falsely issued salt permits for ten years later, which greatly exceeds the production of salt fields in various places. Those real salt merchants who hold salt permits will have to wait ten years before they can get the salt, while those powerful and noble relatives can withdraw it immediately. How unfair!
The Ministry of Revenue falsely issued salt permits and spent money that was not earned in the current year, but the ones who profited were the powerful and wealthy, who enriched themselves at the expense of public resources, just like rats in a barn. If this continues, the country will no longer be a country, and the Great Jin will be in danger!

Fellow students, the rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of every man! We can no longer sit idly by and allow these rats to harm the country. I am Zhang Pu, the governor of Suzhou, and I would like to encourage all the knowledgeable people present here. I hereby call on everyone to actively write letters to the emperor to investigate the corrupt officials in the Ministry of Revenue and severely punish the powerful and noble relatives who use the salt permits to make profits, so as to consolidate the foundation and clear the source, and return the bright and clear world to our Great Jin Dynasty. "

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng looked at each other in surprise, because the scholar who rushed onto the stage was Zhang Pu, the fifth place winner of the Nanzhili provincial examination and the founder of Yingshe.

It is said that after the Lu Ming Banquet, Zhang Pu wanted to recruit Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng into the society. However, Lin Ruhai was critically ill at that time, and Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng rushed to Yangzhou as soon as they left the house, so Zhang Pu did not have time to invite them to join the society.

Zhang Pu was a man of great eloquence and was very good at organization and communication. At this moment his talents were fully demonstrated. His words were passionate and powerful, and immediately drew applause from the whole room.

At this time, Zhang Pu also took out paper and pen, obviously he had prepared it in advance. He spread the paper on the ground and said loudly: "If it is beneficial to the country, life and death will matter. I will not avoid it because of misfortune or fortune. I am not afraid of death, and naturally I am not afraid of offending the powerful and noble relatives in the court. Now I will take the lead in writing a joint letter. If anyone here is willing, please sign your name on it to strengthen your prestige!"

Zhang Pu knelt down after he finished speaking, picked up his pen, signed his name on the paper, and then laughed loudly: "Even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will go. How magnificent!!"

"Okay, Brother Tianru, count me in!"

"Count me in too!"

"I'm coming too!"

Wu Weiye, Zhang Tingshu and Wu Changshi were the first to rush onto the stage and wrote their names on paper.

For a moment, all the young scholars present were excited and rushed forward to sign, surrounding the podium. Even Lu Xiangsheng was eager to try. If Jia Huan had not remained seated, he would have followed suit.

Liu Yi was also indifferent at this time. He turned around and asked, "Does Mr. Jia know this Zhang Pu?"

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Zhang Pu, Yang Tingshu, Wu Changshi, and Wu Weiye are all newly-appointed scholars from Nanzhili. They are of the same year and attended the Luming Banquet together not long ago, so they naturally know each other."

Lu Xiangsheng added: "Ziming was the first place winner, Yang Tingshu was the second place winner, Zhang Pu was the top five classics winner, Wu Weiye was ninth, and Wu Changshi was sixtieth."

Liu Yi was surprised when he heard this and sighed, "They are all talented people, what a pity!"

Jia Huan asked curiously, "Why do you say that, Brother Shouzheng?"

Liu Yi did not answer, but asked: "Why didn't Mr. Jia and Brother Jiandou sign the letter?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "I never get involved in this kind of thing."

Liu Yi couldn't help but think of the previous incident. During the Hongyan Tower incident, two soldiers from the Shenjiying accidentally shot and injured someone, which angered a group of scholars. Everyone invited Jia Huan to demonstrate in front of the gate of the Shenjiying, but the latter flatly refused.

"Brother Shouzheng, why don't you sign your name? Don't you agree with what Zhang Pu said?" Jia Huan asked back.

Liu Yi shook his head and said, "Zhang Pu's point is correct, but it is not necessarily a good thing to point the finger at the Ministry of Revenue, and..."

Before Liu Yi finished speaking, someone behind him said, "Moreover, this move is too radical and involves too many people. I am afraid it will cause unrest in the government and the country. In the end, the biggest beneficiary will be the Donglin faction."

Everyone turned around and found that Sun Chengzong was standing behind them. In addition, there were several people around Sun Chengzong. Judging from their clothes, they should be students of Diecui Academy. One of them was Zhang Zhilong, whose courtesy name was Rugui. He was also a candidate of Diecui Academy who took part in the prefectural and college examinations that year. Due to his generous and straightforward personality, Jia Huan was most impressed by him and Liu Yi.

"Greetings, Master!" Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly stood up and saluted Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong stroked his beard and said, "No need to be polite."

At this time, Liu Yi actually bowed to Sun Chengzong and said, "Hello, Senior Brother!"

Senior brother?

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng looked at each other in bewilderment. Sun Chengzong obviously saw their confusion and explained, "The headmaster of Diecui Academy is both my mentor and Liu Shouzheng's mentor, so although there is a big age gap between us, we are of the same generation!" Zhang Zhilong said with a smile, "Master Jia, Brother Jiandou, so you have to call Senior Brother Uncle!"

Jia Huan secretly sweated and asked, "Then Brother Rugui has become our uncle, right?"

Zhang Zhilong smiled and said, "That's not the case. The headmaster did not accept me as his disciple, so we should just call each other classmates."

Sun Chengzong glanced at the busy podium, frowned and said, "There's no need to listen to what comes next. Let's go to the hall and talk." After that, he left Minglun Hall.

Jia Huan and others hurriedly followed them out of Minglun Hall. Most people were busy signing the petition and did not notice the departure of Sun Chengzong and others. Only Zhao Mingcheng and Gu Xiancheng who were standing on the stage saw it.

The two leaders of the Donglin Party looked at each other and frowned slightly. What made them most dissatisfied was that none of the students from Diecui Academy participated in signing.

Jia Huan and others followed Sun Chengzong out of the noisy Minglun Hall, walked along the quiet tree-lined path for dozens of meters, and came to the front door of a classic house.

An old servant came forward and saluted, "Master Sun!"

Sun Chengzong nodded and asked, "Is the headmaster here?"

The old servant hurriedly said, "Yes!"

Sun Chengzong said politely: "Please inform them that I, your student Sun Chengzong, have come to bother you with a few juniors!"

The old servant turned and went into the monastery, and came out a moment later and said, "The headmaster wants to see you."

"Let's go in!" Sun Chengzong led Jia Huan and others into the temple, where they saw a thin old man trimming a bottle of wintersweet with scissors.

"Hello, Master Ye!" Sun Chengzong bowed respectfully to the old man.

The old man cut off a branch with a click, then put down the scissors with satisfaction, turned around and asked, "Zhisheng, is the lecture at Minglun Hall over?"

Jia Huan finally saw the old man's true face. He had a head full of white hair and wrinkles all over his face. He was probably over seventy years old, but he looked energetic. This man was Ye Gao, the headmaster of Diecui Academy. His courtesy name was Jinqing. He was a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Taizong. Sun Chengzong was also his student.

At this time, Sun Chengzong replied, "Not yet, but I'm afraid I can't continue today. Gu Xianzhi is using the salt permit issue to instigate everyone to file a joint complaint, targeting the Ministry of Revenue and the nobles."

The old man frowned and said, "Nowadays, I can't study purely. The Donglin faction controls public opinion and its influence is growing. Sooner or later, it will lose its restraint. If it is used by people with bad intentions, it may not be a blessing for the country... Hey, who are these two friends?"

The old man's eyes fell on Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng. Sun Chengzong introduced them hurriedly: "This is Jia Huan, and this is Lu Xiangxiang. They are both new candidates for the imperial examinations in Nanzhili this year, and they have some connections with Master Ye."

The old man said, "What is your connection with me?"

"They are all Lin Ruhai's disciples!"

The old man suddenly realized, "So he is Ru Hai's disciple, no wonder!"

Sun Chengzong smiled and said, "Ziming Jiandou, you may not know yet, but Master Ye was the chief examiner of Lin Ruhai's provincial examination. Moreover, after the provincial examination, Lin Ruhai studied with Master Ye for a period of time. So strictly speaking, Master Ye can also be regarded as your master's grandfather."

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly greeted him again and called him "Master".

With this, the relationship between them instantly became much closer. Ye Lao smiled and said, "The space here is narrow, let's go to the quiet room to chat."

So everyone moved to a quiet room, which was indeed much more spacious, but there were no tables or chairs. There were straw mats on the floor, and everyone sat cross-legged on the floor.

(End of this chapter)