The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 445: Talk in the Quiet Room

Chapter 445: Talk in the Quiet Room
There are several wintersweets planted in the small courtyard outside the quiet room. They are in full bloom at this moment. The faint fragrance brings in a chill through the window, refreshing the heart.

Old Ye looked out the window and chanted with emotion: "The journey of thousands of miles is long, but people are different after ten years of separation. Time flies like an arrow, but who knows that the way of heaven is curved like a bow."

After a pause, he continued, "Among all my students, Lin Ruhai is not the smartest one, nor the most brilliant one, but he is the one with the most solid foundation. He is humble and pragmatic. Although he has not made outstanding achievements, he is like a spring breeze and rain. He has accumulated a lot of knowledge at his age, and it is a pity that he was harmed by a villain and died before me. How sad!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng both bowed their heads in silence, feeling sad. Indeed, if Master Lin had not passed away, he would have been a key figure in the imperial court with his merits this time. At the age of fifty, he had a lot to do, and it was not impossible for him to become a prime minister.

At this time, Mr. Ye continued: "Establish a mind for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, inherit the lost knowledge of the past sages, and create peace for all generations. This is the discipline established at the beginning of the establishment of Diecui Academy, and it is also the immortal mission passed down from generation to generation by the students of the academy.

I started learning at the age of five, studied hard for ten years, passed the examination for a scholar at the age of fifteen, and passed the imperial examination for a Jinshi at the age of thirty-five. In the blink of an eye, I have been in the officialdom for twenty-five years, and became the Minister of Rites. I retired at the age of sixty and started a school. Now I am seventy-five. Although I dare not say that my students are all over the world, my disciples can be said to be flourishing. "

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan could not help but stand in awe of the old man in front of him. He passed the imperial examination at the age of 35, which was far from outstanding. He could only be said to be a late bloomer. However, he served as the Minister of Rites for 25 years, which was quite remarkable. Moreover, he retired at the age of 60, resigned from his official position to run a school, teaching and educating people, which he did for 15 years. He truly practiced the concept of "establishing a mind for heaven and earth, establishing a destiny for the people, and inheriting the unique knowledge of the ancient sages."

As for bringing "peace to the world for all eternity", it is not something that most people can do. In addition to having talent, you also need the opportunity to display your talent. Just think about it, if the world is already peaceful and prosperous, how can you "bring peace" again?
It has been exactly ninety years since the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty, and Ye Gao is seventy-five years old this year, which means that when he was born, the Great Jin Dynasty had already been established for fifteen years. The era he lived in was a time when the Great Jin Dynasty had experienced two generations of heroic rulers working hard to govern the country. The national strength was growing, and everything was thriving. Swords and guns were put into storage, and horses were sent south. Living in such an era, even a powerful man sent from heaven would have no place to use his skills.

At this time, Ye Gao glanced at Jia Huan and smiled, "Jia Ziming, you are mature at a young age and extremely intelligent. When I was your age, I was far inferior to you. Even Ru Hai and Zhi Sheng were not as good as you. In the future, your achievements should be higher than ours."

Jia Huan said hurriedly: "Master, you are too kind. I may be a little clever and lucky, but in terms of perseverance, willpower, love, and vision, how can I compare with you? Let alone other things, I don't have the patience to teach and answer questions."

Ye Gao smiled and said, "Ziming is modest, but he has a clear understanding of himself and knows which path to take. This is very rare."

Sun Chengzong said meaningfully: "Ziming is a man of both literary and martial arts, and he teaches and educates people. This path of inheriting the lost knowledge of the ancient sages may not be suitable for you, but for the sake of creating peace for all generations, Ziming may have a lot to do. Since ancient times, establishing virtue, making achievements, and making words are the three immortals. If you achieve one of them, you will have no regrets in this world."

Jia Huan secretly said with a cold sweat: "I don't have any great ambitions. I just want to cherish my useful body and do what I can. I want to be a man with a clear conscience, fulfill my duties as an official, and seek truth from facts in politics. That's all."

Ye Gao and Sun Chengzong looked at each other and laughed. The former stroked his beard and said, "As expected of you, you are Ru Hai's direct disciple. You are indeed of the same lineage. I hope Ziming can remember what I said today and be like your master, who is gentle and kind, moistening things silently, and taking small steps to reach a thousand miles, and accumulating small streams to form rivers and seas."

Jia Huan was slightly shocked, as if he had suddenly realized something. He bowed respectfully and said, "I am grateful for your instruction. I will follow your teachings."

Ye Gao stroked his beard and nodded, "You and Lu Jiandou were right not to participate in the joint petition today. Nowadays, the influence of the Donglin faction is growing, and their actions are becoming more and more flamboyant and reckless. This is not a good sign. Once the court is left with only the opinions of the Donglin family, the channels for speech will be closed and no other voices will be tolerated. This is definitely not a blessing for the country. Therefore, I strictly order that any political movement initiated by the Donglin faction, students of my Diecui Academy are not allowed to participate in it."

Jia Huan suddenly realized that it was no wonder that so many people were vying to sign the petition, but no student from Diecui Academy came forward.

Ye Gao added: "This is not my intention to undermine the Donglin faction, but to avoid being dragged into it. Frankly speaking, at present, many of the Donglin faction's actions are for the country and the people. We don't participate, but that doesn't mean we have to undermine them."

Sun Chengzong frowned and said, "But Donglin is targeting the Ministry of Revenue this time, so it is hard to guarantee that they have no selfish motives."

Mr. Ye nodded and said, "It is true that there is selfishness, this is undeniable!"

Jia Huan couldn't help but ask, "Why do you think so?"

Liu Yi sneered, "Ziming, you don't know. Most of the Donglin family came from the gentry in Jiangnan, especially in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Jiangnan is a prosperous place with a long history of developed industry and commerce. The officials and gentry of the Donglin family have huge interests in Jiangnan, so they advocate paying attention to industry and commerce, reducing taxes on all walks of life, or even directly exempting them from tax. However, the Minister of Revenue Shi Yuqi strongly advocated increasing taxes on industry and commerce, so the Donglin family hates Minister Shi to the core. How can they say that they have no selfish motives when they attack Minister Shi over the salt permit issue this time?"

Jia Huan suddenly realized, isn't this exactly the same as the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty?

Many of the Donglin Party members’ propositions were high-sounding, and they did do some things that were beneficial to the country and the people, but most of them were sophisticated egoists, and later they were focused on party struggles, completely disregarding the lives of the people.

In the late Ming Dynasty, there were various natural disasters and man-made calamities, the national treasury was seriously depleted, the people were starving, and the Northeast was facing a huge threat from the Qing Dynasty, and even the military salaries could not be paid. The emperor tried every means to increase fiscal revenue, but the Donglin Party in power tried its best to prevent the increase of taxes on industry and commerce, because most of the Donglin Party members were the scholar-official class in Jiangnan, and the industry and commerce in the Jiangnan area were their own industries. It was obviously unacceptable to impose taxes on themselves, so they opposed the tax increase and even demanded direct tax exemption.

As a result, the imperial court became even more financially short of money, and had no choice but to intensify its exploitation of the farmers, increasing salaries and taxes in various ways. This finally forced the honest farmers to rebel, and massive peasant uprisings broke out one after another, sung the final elegy for the Ming Dynasty.

People like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong came into being, and the selfish Donglin Party members also tasted the evil consequences of their own deeds. Many of them became fat pigs under the knives of the peasant uprising army, and all the wealth they accumulated throughout their lives was lost to others. The Qing Dynasty also took the opportunity to enter the pass and eventually seized the fruits of the peasant uprising.

Although this world of the Red Mansion is not the late Ming Dynasty, it has many similarities with it. For example, now, the Donglin Party is striding into the center of the historical stage. As for what the future direction will be, only time will tell.

Let's get back to the point. After Liu Yi finished explaining to Jia Huan, Sun Chengzong nodded and said, "The Minister of Revenue Shi Yuqi is indeed to blame for the false issuance of salt permits, but Shi Yuqi is undoubtedly a capable official. Another person may not be able to do better than him. Moreover, there are 200,000 troops stationed in Liaodong now. Xiong Tingbai is defending instead of attacking and building a large number of fortresses. Although the results are remarkable, the military expenditure is huge. Shi Yuqi lives within his means and actively increases revenue and reduces expenditure. At least he can cope with it temporarily. If the Donglin faction overthrows him, they will definitely replace him with someone from their faction."

Jia Huan blurted out, "That's it. The Donglin faction would like to exempt industry and commerce from taxes directly. They will certainly promote comprehensive tax cuts. The national treasury is already very tight. Once taxes are cut, they will definitely find ways to cut Liaodong's expenses. Whether Xiong Tingbai can support it by then is another matter." Sun Chengzong nodded approvingly and said, "Ziming is right. In addition, this time the Donglin faction not only targeted the Ministry of Revenue, but also the royal relatives of the whole court. They clearly wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to overthrow Yi Zhongqin and further attack that person's power. Little did they know that this would involve too many people and would backfire if not handled properly."

Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but interrupt, "The rich and powerful colluded with the Ministry of Revenue to issue false salt permits, harming the public and enriching themselves. Shouldn't we deal with it? Why are we allowing them to continue doing this?"

Sun Chengzong shook his head and said, "It's not that we shouldn't do it, it depends on how we do it and to what extent. The Donglin faction's current posture clearly shows that they want to wipe out all the nobles and relatives. If they knock down all the nobles and relatives, who will lead the troops to fight?"

Zhang Zhilong interrupted, "Besides, even an angry rabbit will bite. How can those nobles just sit there and wait for death? This move is indeed too radical. It has caused unrest in the government and the country, which is definitely not a good thing!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng fell silent. He was an upright and kind-hearted man. If it were in the past, he would have rushed up to join in signing in Minglun Hall just now. However, after spending so much time with Jia Huan, he was subtly influenced by him and was less impulsive than before.

At this time, a bell suddenly rang outside. Master Ye smiled and said, "It's time for lunch. Shouzheng, take them to have lunch first. We will gather in Minglun Hall in the afternoon. I have something important to announce."

"Yes!" Liu Shouzheng agreed, and took Jia Huan, Lu Xiangsheng and others out of the quiet room and went to the cafeteria of the academy.

After Jia Huan and the others left, only Ye Gao and his apprentice Sun Chengzong were left in the quiet room. The latter asked, "Master Ye, what do you think of Jia Ziming?"

Ye Gao closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Master, I really can't see through this boy."

Sun Chengzong was surprised and asked, "There are people that Master Ye can't see through?"

Ye Gao nodded and said, "Master, I have studied Zhouyi for dozens of years and I think I have made some progress. Although I cannot predict the current situation, I can tell whether a person is treacherous or loyal at a glance. However, this child's face is very strange. It is clear that he will die young and have a lowly fate. He will definitely not live past the age of ten. However, this child has survived this disaster, just like a cicada that has escaped from its shell or a carp that has jumped over the dragon gate. He is simply invaluable and has a very strong fortune."

Sun Chengzong nodded and said, "It is indeed as Master Ye said. It is said that Jia Ziming was very naughty before, but he was accidentally seriously injured. Suddenly, he became smart. After only one month of writing, he took the county exam and won the first place. Then he took the first place in the prefectural exam and the imperial exam. It was as if he was helped by God."

Ye Gao clapped his hands and sighed, "That's right. This may be what they call "those who survive a great disaster will have good fortune in the future." If my prediction is correct, this boy will be a powerful figure in the court in the future and a pillar of the country. However..."

Sun Chengzong asked hurriedly: "But how?"

Ye Gao frowned and said, "This is exactly what I cannot see clearly. Although Jia Ziming behaves calmly and appears gentle and modest, he gives people a rebellious feeling, like a maverick wolf. He will not be loyal to anyone, so I am worried..."

Sun Chengzong took a deep breath and said, "Master Ye, do you mean that Jia Ziming has a rebellious heart? Is he really a tyrant like Cao Cao and Sima Yi?"

Ye Gao smiled and said, "That's not the case. I was just giving an example. Judging from his words and deeds, he is a man with conscience and bottom line. I believe Ru Hai's vision is not bad either."

Sun Chengzong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this!

If Jia Huan heard the conversation between the two at this moment, he would probably be shocked. As a time traveler, he was indeed not bound by the feudal society's "ruler-ruler, minister-minister" imperial ideology. He would only be loyal to himself and not to anyone else. What's the point of saying "if the ruler wants the minister to die, the minister must die"? Damn it, if the emperor wanted to kill him, he would definitely resist. Even if he couldn't resist, he would still try hard, and if things went wrong, he might even ask for the emperor's life.

At this time, Ye Gao said again: "Jia Ziming is undoubtedly a talented person. He is still young and needs to be properly guided to prevent him from going astray. Since Zhishengni is his master, he still has to take on this responsibility."

Sun Chengzong nodded and said, "I understand. Fortunately, we have the relationship with Lin Ruhai. Otherwise, it would be a bit tricky. As far as I know, Zhao Mingcheng has long intended to win Jia Ziming over to his side. The imperial edict praising Jia Ziming was probably written by Zhao Mingcheng."

"Well, Zhao Mingcheng is quite insightful. If Jia Ziming is won over by him, it will be even more powerful!"

Sun Chengzong nodded in agreement. Judging from Jia Huan's performance in Jiangnan, his talent was beyond doubt. It could be said that the downfall of Prince Yi Zhong was inseparable from Jia Huan. If Zhao Mingcheng was not blind, he would definitely see Jia Huan's great potential.

At this time, Ye Gao was silent for a moment, and sighed: "Zhisheng, have you really decided to resign?"

Sun Chengzong nodded. He used to be the Junior Secretary of the Zhanshi Mansion and an assistant minister of the Eastern Palace. His future was bright, but a few days ago, Emperor Qiansheng suddenly ordered the Crown Prince Xu Wenhong to study at home, and transferred all the assistant ministers of the Eastern Palace, some of whom were even demoted.

Although Sun Chengzong was not demoted, he would be transferred out of Beijing to take up a new post. After much deliberation, he decided to resign from his post.

Ye Gao smiled and said, "At a time like this, it is best to retreat bravely. As I am no longer able to work as a teacher, you, Zhisheng, will take over the position of the headmaster of Diecui Academy!"

(End of this chapter)

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