Chapter 360 Wulin
After three days of pork price increases, the West Lake Political Affairs Conference officially began.
Because Hangzhou was called Wulin in ancient times and the current emperor was the Emperor of Jianyan, this conference had already earned a nickname, the Jianyan Wulin Conference, during the three-day-long Dongpo Pork price increase trend.
But no matter what the name was, it did not prevent the West Lake from being crowded with people. The scholars and common people were so enthusiastic that even Emperor Zhao, who was the initiator, was a little surprised.
In fact, the reason for this phenomenon is so simple that it is self-evident. Although there are many top scholars in the southern region, these are only the personal achievements of these scholars. It does not prevent the south as a whole from being in a political low point since ancient times. The southern group is naturally at a political disadvantage in terms of geography.
Similar to this is Shu, and the two Huai regions separated by a river have a much higher political status.
This situation was very obvious from the establishment of the Song Dynasty. At that time, the conquered South was a region that the rulers naturally distrusted. After the Jingkang period, Emperor Jianyan started the trend of asking questions about politics, and largely ceded the imperial power. The real power of the prime minister and the six ministries and nine officials increased greatly, and the political status of the members of the public cabinet and the secret cabinet gradually stood up. Asking questions about politics at the Imperial Academy had also become a national priority. However, the South was still far away from the capital and could not be involved in these things, which gave rise to a strong sense of political alienation and political hunger.
At the same time, after the Jingkang Incident, the two rivers were lost, the Central Plains, Guanxi, and Jingdong were all damaged, and the importance of the South within the country was greatly increased in disguise. Moreover, the country also needed to march north, which required even more financial and material support from the South.
In this situation, contradictions naturally arise.
And this contradiction is also the basic background for the southern scholar-official group to gradually merge with the frustrated Taoists and unemployed officials... According to everyone's understanding, Emperor Zhao went south this time to resolve this contradiction.
The so-called Political Consultative Conference, as far as we can see now, is undoubtedly a good way to resolve conflicts, modeled after the example of the Imperial College's political consultation. At least the form is correct. The opposition is also a minority, and everyone is still loyal to the court and His Majesty. If we shake up Jiangnan and unite the establishment, the situation will still be very good.
By the way, maybe because of the warm October in the south of the Yangtze River, the temperature did not drop after a light rain in early winter, but it felt somewhat warm. At this time, with the formal opening of the conference, the enthusiasm of everyone on the banks of the West Lake was inevitably even higher.
On the first day, many people submitted petitions collectively. Interestingly, these collective petitions were divided by region, usually led by old and famous scholars in a state or county. The petitions were all in the form of brilliant writings, but if you look closely at the content, most of them are clichés or even similar things.
The first rule is that the Emperor Zhao must be close to virtuous officials and stay away from villains. The next rule is that he must be virtuous and tolerant, must advocate frugality and avoid extravagance, must open up channels for people to express their opinions, must treat the people well, and must be friendly and respectful to his brothers...
These were of course all very correct suggestions, but whenever Emperor Zhao asked them seriously in person who were the virtuous ministers and who were the villains, they often behaved terribly... At least half of them were stage fright. After handing in the documents in person, they became shaky in front of Emperor Zhao and the three ministers, and stuttered as soon as they opened their mouths. Even the other half of the decent people who were able to maintain their posture and answer questions often became evasive after mentioning a few ministers with better reputations.
Are you kidding?
Although the South has grievances against several prime ministers in power because of the tax increase, they really dare not ask them to say who the villain is in front of Lu Yihao. Prime Minister Lu does not have the reputation of holding grudges overnight, and the people in the southeast are much more impressed by him than the central government!
Is it enough to just criticize the Prime Minister and the Chancellor from a distance?
It's not okay to say Shangshu! Didn't you see that the minister who said Shangshu was killed by Emperor Zhao?
It’s better not to say it.
As for advocating frugality and avoiding extravagance, Emperor Zhao asked them in detail, but they also hesitated. They probably thought that the emperor's digging of a fish pond in Tokyo was too unbelievable. They had never seen it, so it might not be true. But if they really said it in person, it would be embarrassing.
As for the bright red robe worn by the official, it was also half-worn, so it was even harder to say anything.
Talking about leniency and mercy, Emperor Zhao asked them again where the previous revision of the Criminal Code was inadequate. They didn't even know that as early as after Yaoshan, in order to appease the people, the Criminal Code had been revised towards the angle of leniency.
The same is true for many others. If you really read the article, you will find that it is probably very well written. But if you really ask about the details, you will often find that there are not many decent words to say.
However, even for such a document, Emperor Zhao would just smile, and then let two Hanlin scholars who looked wealthy and noble come forward to accept the document in a dignified and polite manner. At the same time, he would personally step aside and give the other party a seat, meaning that the leader would be available for consultation during the subsequent political process.
In addition, if the article is written particularly well, or the answer is decent, generally they will be asked whether they have a family background. If not, then they will naturally be granted a Tongjinshi status on the spot. If the recommended person is an opposition figure in Jiangnan, they will also send out "Red Heart Riders" to recruit him and invite him to come to the scene to play and answer.
Now, at the beginning, among the three accompanying prime ministers, Lu Yihao was very dissatisfied with this matter. He felt that this link was meaningless. Although Li Gang did not object, he did not object only because his political rise came from the students' kneeling in front of the palace, so it was not easy to oppose directly. In fact, he looked down on these middle-aged and already decayed literati and thought it would be better to directly summon some young people and well-known scholars to ask.
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