"Hurry up and clean up." Duan urged the palace maids, "The Emperor will be here tonight!"
Zhang Yuer felt happy watching the palace servants tidying up and cleaning.
The emperor did not forget her and came to Changchun Palace to sleep from time to time.
But they no longer did those embarrassing things. They just hugged each other, kissed and touched each other, talked for a while, and slept in each other's arms.
That's how it is, and it also makes Zhang Yuer feel flattered.
Little did she know that besides not wanting to ignore her, Zhu Youxiao had another reason: he was tired and wanted to have a good sleep.
It is true that you reap what you sow, but even a strong ox can't stand working in the fields every day!
Seeing that her younger sister wanted to leave, Zhang Yuer remembered something and asked, "Wan'er, have you learned everything the female official taught you today?"
Zhang Wan'er stuck out her tongue with her back to her elder sister, then turned around with a flattering smile, "Sister, I've learned it all."
"Have you learned it?" Zhang Yuer tilted her head to look at her younger sister and smiled, "Then write it out for me."
After a pause, Zhang Yuer pretended to be serious and said, "If you make a mistake, you will be punished to rewrite it a hundred times."
"A hundred times—" Zhang Wan'er's eyes widened immediately, and she reluctantly moved to the table. Watching the palace maid grinding ink for her, the little girl's face turned bitter.
Zhang Yuer wanted to laugh, but she covered her mouth with her silk handkerchief, and her eyes became gentle.
If the emperor were around, he would ask me to write it a hundred times, or even two hundred times!
……………………
There is a saying in the Yi Zhou Shu. Rui Liangfu: "Judge a man by his words, and he will embellish his words; judge a man by his actions, and he will do his best. There is no need to embellish his words; to do his best will lead to success."
What this means is that if we judge a person's character by his words, people will conceal their words; if we judge a person by his actions, people will try their best to do practical things.
According to Zhu Youxiao's understanding, it is even simpler, that is, we should not only listen to what he says, but also observe his actions.
There are many big liars in the world. If you can't tell the real from the fake, being fooled and becoming crippled is a small matter. The most terrifying thing is being fooled to the point of losing your IQ.
Take the Donglin Party, for example. Their purpose was great. They advocated leniency and compassion for the people, opposed mining taxes, protected industry and commerce, clarified official administration, and promoted officials based on merit. They offered a wide range of benefits to the common people, merchants, and scholars.
But in fact, how did Chongzhen get killed? It was because he was fooled by the Donglin Party, a group of "upright gentlemen".
When he was in opposition, he spoke eloquently and put on a noble face of worrying about the country and the people; after coming to power, he was corrupt, abolished industrial and commercial taxes, and increased agricultural taxes, which actually caused the peasant uprisings that broke out one after another in the late Ming Dynasty.
It was precisely because Zhu Youxiao had a God's perspective that he knew how the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by this bunch of bastards in history.
Therefore, in order to maintain stability, he could temporarily expel officials who were only good at talking but had no actual work ability from the court so that he could carry out the reform plan as soon as possible.
But this does not mean that he has lost his vigilance against these hypocritical and shameless guys. Moreover, with the concentration of power and the control of the gun, Zhu Youxiao has dared to wield the butcher knife.
"A king enriches his people, a hegemon enriches his scholars, a surviving state enriches its officials, a fallen state enriches its coffers and fills its treasury..."
Zhu Youxiao listened to Liu Ruoyu's explanation, pursed his lips slightly, and revealed a hint of sneer.
The words of the ancient sage Xunzi are correct, but they have been deliberately misinterpreted, or taken out of context, by conservatives who want to hinder reform. They want to compete with me in public opinion. They are really a bunch of idiots.
As the saying goes: A monarch who practices the Way of Kings enriches his people; a monarch who seeks hegemony enriches his soldiers; a monarch who wishes to win the hearts of his people enriches his scholars and officials; a monarch on the verge of ruin extorts the blood and sweat of the people to fill his treasury...
It sounds fine, but it would be an excuse to prevent the increase of taxes on the wealthy gentry, and it also cleverly satirized Zhu Youxiao's behavior of plundering money and enriching the national treasury.
It's a pity that I accumulated wealth not for myself, nor for pleasure, but for the Ming Dynasty and for this country.
And you, what kind of people are you? What kind of common people are you? You all have rich wealth, but you are not rich enough?
Don't compete with the people for profit, bah! The "people" you are talking about are just merchants and gentry, not ordinary people at all.
Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, then ordered, "Call the acting governor of the East Factory, Wang Guozhong, to come and see him immediately."
It was time to take action. Zhu Youxiao didn't want to play any tricks by trying to catch a big fish with a long line, but he wanted to nip the problem in the bud before public opinion was formed.
Zhu Youxiao never thought that the truth would become clearer through debate, or that one could confront and defeat the opponent through public opinion.
Do you think "Da Ming Forum" was meant for ordinary people? Given the level of education at the time, how many ordinary people could read books and newspapers?
Being able to manipulate public opinion and incite the common people is exactly what those gentry and scholars are best at, and it is also the only means by which they can compete with imperial power.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao had to take ruthless action and eliminate the diehards when they had just started to get involved in the newspapers and had not yet become a force to be reckoned with.
At the same time, this will also serve as a stern warning. If you want to challenge me, there's no way.
Promote benefits and eliminate disadvantages, revitalize the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Youxiao needed only one voice to push forward and deepen reforms. He could kill any buzzing fly with one swatter.
As for his father-in-law Zhang Guoji, he was just a pawn to lure out the snake. After this incident, he would surely behave himself and not dare to act on his own again.
……………………
In the Zuixian Tower in the capital, several dandy young masters were having a happy drinking party.
To be precise, two of them could no longer be considered playboys, namely Zhang Junneng from the Shouning Marquis family and Zhao Huizu from the Wujing Marquis family.
Fatty Zhao is no longer fat and now has a standard body shape, except that he has more fat on his face than others.
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