Chapter 1837 Homework
Chang Yu: ...This is too cruel.
Even Yin Huo thought this move was ruthless, but Mingda looked at him strangely, then at Manbao: "Did you come up with this on the spur of the moment?"
"No," Bai Shan smiled and said, "I've thought about it before, but it's a big deal. Not to mention that we're still young, it would be hard to do it even if we were older. But it's worth thinking about."
Liu Huan trembled after hearing this. Is this the difference between students who were praised by Kong Jijiu and those who were not?
They are still studying now, why don’t they study hard instead of thinking about such things?
Yin Huo also felt strange. Why would he think about such things?
Bai Shan smiled at everyone without explaining.
In fact, it was the incident caused by Xu Yu last year. Later, the emperor and the aristocratic families fought back and forth. In Bai Shan's opinion, the lawbreakers did not receive the punishment they deserved, so the emperor naturally lost.
But the master told them privately that this trip would be a lose-lose situation. The emperor would suffer in the future, while the aristocratic families would suffer in their foundation.
If the emperor cannot uphold the law, the national law will be violated again and again in the future. However, this is not the first case, but will become one of many precedents.
Mr. Zhuang said, "Although it is said that human feelings are beyond legal principles, legal principles must be upheld before human feelings. Therefore, Your Majesty will harm the future and set a bad example for future generations."
"But the aristocratic families didn't win either; they were even more severely damaged than the country and the emperor," Mr. Zhuang said. "During the Later Wei Dynasty, the country was in chaos, and most of the aristocratic families migrated south. Only a few branches of each ethnic group or some small clans remained. They had been migrating south for many years, and their roots were already there."
"During the previous dynasty's chaos, Your Majesty fought all the way from Longxi to Shuzhong. Only Jiangnan, a relatively isolated region, experienced little war and was directly surrendered by the various aristocratic families." Mr. Zhuang said, "So, Jiangnan has always been under the control of the aristocratic families. This time, Your Majesty is using the Yang family incident to stir up trouble, sending the Crown Prince and Lord Wei to Jiangnan. The foundations of the aristocratic families may be shaken in the future."
These matters were still a secret in the court, and only a few ministers knew about them or guessed about them. The reason why Mr. Zhuang knew about them was because of the prince.
He is now the prince's favorite gentleman. A few years ago, the prince came back from Jiangnan and mentioned him when he was sitting with Mr. Zhuang to discuss state affairs.
Of course, he did not tell the emperor about his secret plan. He was just curious about what Mr. Zhuang thought about the aristocratic families controlling Jiangnan and even influencing the government.
Mr. Zhuang guessed some things when talking with him. In addition, his three disciples were almost involved in Xu Yu's affairs throughout the whole process, so he knew a lot of information. Combining the two sides, he guessed the emperor and the prince's plans.
This policy concerns the future of the country, and since two of his disciples are from aristocratic families, he naturally has to communicate with them and assign them some homework.
Bai Shan paid close attention to the Crown Prince's arrangements, and then curiously asked Mr. Zhuang, "Why did Your Majesty and the Crown Prince start with the salt and iron industries, rather than directly seize the officials and military power that the aristocratic families had stationed in Jiangnan?"
After all, the emperor has a lot of military power in his hands. Except for a few important cities in the south of the Yangtze River, most of the military power in other places is in the hands of the emperor.
Mr. Zhuang said at the time, "Nearly 60% of the world's salt comes from Jiangnan. If a war breaks out in Jiangnan, it will inevitably affect the entire country. The country has only been stable for 30 years, and people are easily unsettled. If the price of salt rises, I am afraid that wars will break out everywhere. Your Majesty is right not to take this risk."
At that moment, Bai Shan blurted out, "Aren't officials and nobles prohibited from doing business?"
He regretted it after he said it, and Mr. Zhuang was very happy to assign him a lot of homework. Even Bai Erlang, who had no problems at all, was asked to do homework.
Although Manbao escaped the disaster due to her busy work and didn't need to write the article herself, Mr. Zhuang still said to her, "You are currently serving as an official in the court, while your brothers and sisters-in-law are working at home. Right now, your fourth brother's business is still small, and his household registration is still under your father's name, so he can't be registered as a merchant. But when his business grows in the future, even if your family doesn't split up, the government will force your fourth brother to change his family name. All of this is related to the national economy and people's livelihood. You are a very smart child. Just studying medicine is not enough. If you want to go further, you must continue to study and learn more knowledge like Bai Shan and Bai Cheng."
That's why they thought about this official's business affairs. Bai Shan and the other two racked their brains for a year before they came up with these two strategies. It can be considered a reluctant assignment.
Bai Shan said: "This matter is of great importance. It is impossible to accomplish it all at once. We can only take it step by step."
The emperor certainly didn't want to make too big a fuss. After all, the world was in chaos at that time, and all the noble families came out from Jiangnan and rushed to various places to join the army to quell the rebellion. Although they followed this rebel army and helped that rebel army, they invested in almost all the famous ones in the world, and some even formed their own armies to compete.
But when the dust finally settled, they did make considerable contributions, and the emperor probably didn't want to be known as mean and ungrateful.
Chang Yu couldn't forget one thing, "Can I do business with Zhou Man?"
Manbao already had the tendency to be a traitor, and evaded the question by saying, "Not with me, but with my niece!"
Chang Yu: "...If she were a man, she would definitely be a treacherous minister. If she were to enter the harem, she would be the legendary treacherous concubine."
Bai Shan was unhappy and said, "She's telling the truth. She doesn't participate in her family's business at all. She leaves it all to her family. And she's already engaged to me. She's going to marry into the Longzhou Bai family. What does her family's business have to do with her?"
Manbao and Bai Erlang looked at him together, amazed in their hearts, look at the perfect words of excuse, this is the standard of a treacherous minister.
Bai Shan secretly glared at the two of them, asking them to be more restrained and not to ruin their own people's plans.
The two of them lowered their heads together.
Chang Yu couldn't find any words to refute, while Liu Huan nodded in agreement. Yin Huo and Mingda didn't say anything, but they understood everything in their hearts.
In silence, Manbao quietly took the pot off the stove and opened the lid. The aroma gushed out and everyone looked over. The previously tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed.
Chang Yu swallowed and murmured, "This is the steamed meat you make at home."
Manbao nodded, took out the steamed meat and put it on the table. Before she could introduce it, footsteps were heard. Several people turned their heads to look and saw the prince striding towards them.
Everyone immediately stood up and saluted.
The prince went up to the pavilion, glanced between them, waved his hand and said, "Excuse me." His eyes fell on the table and asked, "Where did these dishes come from?"
Manbao whispered back, "The Crown Princess had someone prepare it. Did the princesses also bring a dish?"
Seeing that she was avoiding the main point, the prince simply pointed at the steaming meat and asked, "Where did this come from?"
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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