"Long live our emperor!"
"My dear ministers, please stand up!"
"Thank you!"
In the magnificent Golden Palace, Baili Tang sat upright on the extravagantly large dragon throne. He glanced down, then stood up and walked down, reciting a passage from a famous children's enlightenment book from his previous life:
The sage said:
Man is born good. Natures are similar, but habits make them different.
If you do not teach, your nature will change. The way of teaching is to be focused.
In the past, Meng's mother chose her neighbors carefully. When her son refused to study, she broke her loom.
Dou Yanshan was a man of integrity. He taught his five sons, and all of them became famous.
If a child is not taught well, it is the fault of the father. If a child is not taught strictly, it is the laziness of the teacher.
If a child does not learn, it is not right. If a child does not learn when young, what will he do when he grows old?
If jade is not polished, it cannot become a useful object. If a person does not learn, he cannot understand righteousness.”
It's from the Song Dynasty's Wang Yinglin's "Three Character Classic." It's one of the most accessible reading materials. Of course, this doesn't exist in this world either.
All the civil and military officials were listening quietly, their expressions extremely respectful. As for what they were thinking, Baili Tang had no idea.
Maybe you all despise him in your heart right now?
Your Majesty, you haven't attended court for several months, yet you are telling us civil and military officials these simple truths that even a child can understand?
Did Zhang Dongzheng write these principles for you to memorize? You memorize them as smoothly as a jingle...
Is Baili Tang going to recite the "Three Character Classic" to the civil and military officials?
Maybe!
Baili Tang was memorizing these faces as he walked. He didn't reach the end of the team. When he reached the middle, he stopped reading: "Grand Tutor Liang!"
"The old minister is here!" This is a thin old man with a white beard. In front of him is the Prime Minister...
"Do you think human nature is good or evil?"
Everyone present, even the military officers, knew that Baili Tang's words had a hidden meaning. Yesterday, the Second Prince, the grandson of Grand Tutor Liang, had ordered people to throw a four-year-old boy into the pond and then surrounded the pond, not allowing anyone to come out. This incident had already spread.
And that little boy was Chao Lan's son.
Now, Baili Tang has reached some kind of interest relationship with Chao Hong...
Foolish ruler, are you going to take advantage of this situation?
"I, an old minister, firmly believe that human nature is inherently good. If children are not taught when they are young, I am afraid they will not become useful people in the future." He did not say that they were influenced by the environment or others, because that would be a slap in the face to himself.
Someone immediately refuted Grand Tutor Liang. It was Grand Commandant Lin: "Your Majesty, I believe that human nature is evil! Some people, at a young age, already have bad habits. They rely on their status to bully the weak..."
"I second this motion!"
"I second this motion!"
Lin Taiwei's men naturally agreed with his point of view.
Seeing this, Baili Tang was amused: "How about this, those who agree that human nature is good will stand on one side, and those who agree that human nature is evil will stand on the other side."
I guess all the officials must be despising Baili Tang even more at this moment?
You haven't attended court in a few days since you returned, and when you do, you do some trivial things? What's the point of discussing this? The treasury is empty, such a huge problem, and you don't even address it...
Despite their contempt, they quickly formed into two teams.
"My dear ministers, please remember your alignment. Eunuch Yang?"
"The old slave is here!"
"Prepare paper and pen, and have them sign their names." Baili Tang continued, "After returning, each of you will write a 2,000-word essay on this topic. You may not quote from classics, but must clearly state your own views. Tomorrow morning, I will conduct a random inspection!"
Cool!
It feels so fucking good!
Unexpectedly, there would be a day like this. When he was writing a paper...
You, Baili Tang, may feel happy, but in the hearts of all the civil and military officials, they despise you even more - a tyrant emperor!!!
"My dear ministers, do you have any objections?"
Meng Fang was also in the court. He winked sharply at Zhang Dongzheng, who pretended not to notice. After all, this two-thousand-word proposal was no problem for Zhang Dongzheng. But Meng Fang was different; he was a military commander.
"My dear Lord Meng, I have high hopes for you!"
Meng Fang: “…”
Zhang Dongzheng: "Your Majesty, General Meng and I have no objection."
Meng Fang: Your surname is Zhang. I will kill you when I get back!
"Then it is happily decided," Baili Tang said. "My dear ministers, I'm sure you've heard that my inspection of people's livelihood this time was a journey of ninety-nine eighty-one hardships, a near-death experience. Jia Shidao of Xiyun County exploited the laws of nature and cleverly attracted the thunder from the sky... I was lucky. Later, the Xue family rebelled, and I won't elaborate on their crimes. After I wiped out the bandits on Wuya Peak, guess what happened to me next?"
No one talks about it, and most people don't care.
"My dear, please tell me what I encountered along the banks of the Daqin River."
Hu Zhennan had already escorted Xue Fan back to the capital. He stepped out from the crowd and said, "Your Majesty, you were working as a waiter in a tavern under the alias Mr. Yu Tang, selling roast duck. When you were taking your men out to advertise the roast duck on the streets, you discovered that Cuiyi Lou's top performer, Miss Chuchu, was misrepresenting the military with a performance of 'Farewell My Concubine.'"
"Where is my dear minister who manages the brothel?" Baili Tang asked sternly.
"I...I am here!" A fat man came out from behind. This fat man was an official from the Ministry of Revenue, but I'm afraid his rank was not high.
In Jingguo, brothels ranged from government-run brothels under the supervision of the Ministry of Revenue to privately licensed businesses. The most common brothels were called "Wa Zi Gou Lan," followed by restaurants and teahouses equipped with various amenities. High-end brothels, those with opera troupes and dance troupes, and those operated by the government were called "Guan Ku." Private brothels also had high-end appeal, such as Cui Yi Lou.
In history, there were very few dynasties that banned brothels because they were a major source of revenue for the national treasury.
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