Number of People

Chapter 718: I deeply agree with the "E" scroll (plea

Chapter 718: I deeply agree with the "E" volume (please vote!)

As the wedding day approaches, Feng Ziying will naturally no longer be as free as she was two or three months ago at home.

Fortunately, Gao Panlong had a very good impression of him, so the requirements at the Hanlin Academy were not so strict. He also knew that Xiao Feng Xiuzhan was not good at classics and poetry, so he did not do the work of compiling history and making imperial edicts. She stopped calling him, and Feng Ziying suddenly became an idler.

On the contrary, after he returned to the Imperial Academy after practicing state affairs, he was caught by Gao Panlong, and he, Yang Sichang, and Huang Zunsu began to busy writing history.

"The Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate has basically settled the matter with the salt merchant, and has returned more than 3.3 million taels of silver..." Wu Di also returned to Beijing, specifically to Feng Ziying's house.

Feng Ziying nodded with a low face and sighed, "This kind of thing is not a long-term solution. Every such move is at the expense of the court's prestige. Although it is justified by law and reason, but a discerning person Everyone knows that the regulations of the imperial court have given them this power, but there are no restrictive measures. Many things are between emotion and law, but don't other salt merchants behave like this?"

After several months of baptism, Wu Gang was much calmer and more mature than before he first went to Yangzhou. As a scholar from Jiangnan, he was involved in the business of opening up the sea in Zhongshu Kexing, and he was also involved in the handling of the illegal salt merchants. , inevitably suffered all kinds of criticism and suffering, but this also made him mature faster.

"There were some more clues involved, but the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate suppressed them, or sealed them up." Wu Di said quietly: "It should be that all parties put pressure on the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. I heard that among them A censor also said that he should not have come to this muddy water if he had known it. Now that it has turned out like this, the court is not satisfied, thinking that it has not met expectations, and the people below are also scolding, saying that the Metropolitan Procuratorate is blind. ,yes…"

 “Selective law enforcement?” Feng Ziying used a trendy term.

Wu Di was stunned for a moment, then he tasted it carefully and found that it seemed to fit the bill. He nodded, "That's what it means. I'm also caught in it. Hey,..."

Feng Ziying chuckled lightly, "Friend Lu, how can you avoid these things in your career? If you are not jealous, you are a mediocre person. If you don't get scolded for doing things, then what you do is not work, and you are living in the world."

"I'm not complaining, I just feel that since the imperial court is well aware of the shortcomings, why doesn't it solve the problem in a targeted manner?" Wu Di couldn't help but said.

“How can it be that simple? Vested interest groups have a fixed line and affect the whole body. If you want to solve the problem, you always have to rely on people. And if the interests of these people are involved, how can you do it?”

Feng Ziying didn't want to go into details. It would be meaningless to talk too much. Could it be possible that a group of Jinshi scholars like herself, who had not yet completed their term of observing government, could turn things around in one fell swoop?

Many things have to happen slowly, but this kind of frustration and depression makes young people at this age who are full of enthusiasm and longing feel a little disappointed and frustrated. However, it is this sense of disillusionment that can make everyone Really come together and find solutions.

This is also your own opportunity. To seek a common goal, you must first have a common experience, a consistent view of things, and even a common sense of crisis. This is the basis for everyone to reach a consensus.

After talking about official matters for a while, Wu Yan said with a smile: "I haven't had time to congratulate you, you are getting married soon. The Shen family is a famous family in Nanzhi and a prominent family in Gusu, and the women of the Shen family are famous far and wide. Ziying You have taken advantage of me, your literary talent is probably much inferior to that of the Shen girl."

"Haha, that's not necessarily the case. I am a real second-class Jinshi, appointed by the emperor. Maybe I am just a pure jade that has not yet been revealed." Feng Ziying also laughed.

"Just brag." Wu Di suddenly remembered something, "By the way, how did you do in Qiuwei Academy this year?"

"No surprise, a great victory." Feng Ziying said with a smile: "We have fifty-two candidates from Beizhili in Qingtan Academy and thirty-five in high school, which is much higher than Chongzheng Academy and Tonghui Academy. As for other provinces, now The news has not come back yet, but this must be the case. The number of candidates from our academy participating in the Spring Festival Competition next year will definitely be the first in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but I don’t know what their level is, and they will be ranked first among the three tripods..."

Wu Di shook his head repeatedly, "Ziying, your appetite is too big. For our academy, Sandingjia is good, but it is not more important than the number of Jinshi in our academy's examination."

What Wu Gang said is the truth. Like Zhou Yongchun and others, they only care about how many people pass the Qiuwei exam and how many they pass in the Chunwei exam. However, whether it is Jieyuan or Sandingjia, it is secondary.

"Well, Huchen and Boya have passed, right?" Wu Zong knew that Feng Ziying was friends with Xu Qixun and Sun Chuanting, and Xu Qixun was also from Suzhou, Nanzhi, and was also very familiar with Wu Zong.

"They all passed. Huchen, Boya, Zhonglun, Daoying, and Yizhong all passed. One of them, Yizhong, was at the bottom of the exam." Feng Ziying was also filled with emotion. In terms of the level of these people's classics and morals, their personal All of them are better than themselves, but as the weight of classics and meanings declines, current policies and affairs receive more attention, so these few have failed in the exams before, but they made up for it in this subject.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re at the bottom of the list, the key is how well you did in the Chunwei exam.” As people who have experienced it, they can also comment on these former classmates and friends who are still working hard for the future.

"Huchen and Boya are under a lot of pressure, especially Yuxuan and Zhonglun. They originally felt confident in the last subject, but they unexpectedly failed. Even if Chunwei can pass this subject, he will be far behind us. There is a gap of three years, so they are also eager to pass the test earlier." Feng Ziying glanced at Wu Yan and said, "Friend Lu, aren't we the same? We will face our own path choices next year, what about you?"

"Can we leave it up to ourselves? The Sixth Ministry and Siyuan Temple, as well as the Fifth Army Governor's Office, all want to go to the Sixth Ministry and the Inspectorate, followed by the General Affairs Department and Dali Temple. Now there is an additional Chinese Script Department, but the Chinese Script Department I always feel that it is still a bit unreliable. The imperial court should come up with a strategy and cannot always take over the people. After all, the Chinese Book School is not a legitimate person,..."

Wu Di's words are in line with Feng Ziying's point of view, "Friend Lu, the system of three provinces and six ministries has been like this since the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It changed again in the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, but these six ministries have never changed. But you noticed No, with the complete lifting of the ban on foreign sea trade, the trade between Nanyang, Western Yi and Japan will increase significantly. After all, the scale of sea shipping is also getting larger and larger. The establishment of the Municipal Shipping Department, plus our The development of various industrial and commercial industries brought about by foreign trade means that the court can no longer just focus on land taxes and sea taxes, such as shipbuilding, mining, cotton spinning, iron smelting, tea making, porcelain making, salt making, and medicinal materials , silk weaving and other industries have already exceeded any previous dynasty in the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties,..."

"..., the imperial court should make some adjustments to the tax system, and at the same time, it should also put support for these industries on the agenda. Look at the cotton dyeing industry in Songjiang, which employs more than 5,000 workers, and the silk dyeing industry in Suzhou The number of weavers exceeded 30,000 ten years ago, and now there are probably 50,000. On the canal from Suzhou to Tongzhou, porters and boatmen rely on dock handling and transportation for a living instead of relying on the fields. There are also more than 100,000 trackers, which means that more and more refugees have left the land and are simply making a living with other skills..."

“…, this change in trend also means that there are more and more other demands to attract these people who have relied on the land for generations to leave the land. It also means that if the scale of such industries is large enough, once there is a flood or drought, , the fields cannot support people's lives, they can still enter these industries to barely survive and avoid starving to death, which can also greatly reduce the government's relief pressure and public security pressure."

Wu Di didn't expect that he inadvertently mentioned that Zhongshu Ke's responsibility for opening up the sea was somewhat overreaching and should be clarified again. Just such a statement actually triggered Feng Ziying's long speech with emotion, and the views mentioned became more and more complex, which made him Everyone seemed to understand somewhat.

“Ziying, you said so much, what exactly do you want to say?” Wu Di frowned.

"It's very simple. The imperial court and even local governments need to re-plan and divide many responsibilities. As you said, the Zhongshu Department should not be in charge of sea-opening affairs. It is just a temporary emergency. But everyone can see that, including Maritime trade, shipbuilding, and even the many businesses involved continue to adopt such a passive laissez-faire approach. It is not necessary to actively intervene to support or manage, or to let existing non-governmental organizations such as guilds or guilds manage it. It should be carefully considered, but at least I think that at the court level, there should be a dedicated department to take responsibility for the planning, development and division of maritime trade and some important industries, such as the establishment of a new Ministry of Commerce."

 Wu Di was stunned.

 Feng Ziying actually thinks that the imperial court should establish a new department on the basis of the six departments - the Ministry of Commerce? !

Three Provinces and Six Ministries, these six ministries have been followed for thousands of years, and there has never been any change. Now Feng Ziying actually wants to rely on the emergence of the sea-opening affairs to establish a new Ministry of Commerce. Is he going to be Shang Yang, Yang Yan, or Wang Anshi?

Feng Ziying was not surprised to see that Wu Di was frightened by his topic suggestion. Everything else was easy to talk about, even if it was a strategy to open up the sea, but to propose reforms to the existing structure of the court, the nature was completely different.

"Friend Lu, actually you are thinking carefully, does the situation we are facing require this? Aren't the three provinces and six departments established because of the needs of the situation? Why must it be regarded as a guideline and cannot be changed at all, even if the times Is it completely different?" Feng Ziying looked at Wu Dong, "There is no fear of changes in the sky, no law of the ancestors, and no sympathy for people's words. I deeply believe that."

Feng Ziying's words shocked Wu Di greatly, and he even understood why Feng Ziying found him specifically to say these words.

Among the Jiangnan scholars, there were only two or three people who had a close relationship with Feng Ziying. Apart from Xu Xie and himself, that was Xu Qixun. However, Xu Qixun had just passed the exam and was far from entering the career of the big shots in the imperial court. Xu Xie However, he became increasingly alienated from Feng Ziying because of his close relationship with important Fujian scholars such as Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji.

 The only one is himself. Fang Congzhe even values ​​himself and has arranged for people to come and check him twice.

This trip to the south of the Yangtze River has greatly improved his reputation and influence. As soon as he returned to Beijing, he received someone from Gu Bingqian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, who sent him to express his condolences. I don't know if this was an appointment from Mr. Fang Ge.

But Feng Ziying must be clear about these situations, and spending so much time explaining them is undoubtedly because she hopes to bring this point of view to some people.

Five thousand votes are not far away, brothers, give us your strength!

  

 (End of this chapter)