On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, there was a severe cold.
There are still nine days until New Year's Eve. The weather is freezing and everything is hibernating. At the same time, it is also a day to get rid of the old and bring in the new.
As a warm-up for the Chinese New Year, Dahan's sacrifices are not very grand. They usually just gather at home to hold stove and tooth sacrifices.
Of course, it is good to have family fun, but when you are away from home, you can only go out to a restaurant and have a toothpaste to satisfy the sense of ritual.
Especially for Li Kun, who came to Beijing to take the exam, he studied hard for two months and took advantage of the opportunity to eat a good meal and make up for the nutritional deficiencies.
He was short of money and didn't think about choosing a good restaurant, so he wandered around the roadside alleys.
I happened to see a mutton soup restaurant with a sign at the door - 30% off for the Jinke Examination.
Li Kun was so happy that he immediately walked into the store.
The space in the store is not large, but it is well-organized. There are several long wooden tables placed here and there, and the benches next to them clearly look old.
Li Kun stood at the threshold and took a deep breath, taking in the smell mixed with the aroma of herbs and meat, and had a full meal out of thin air.
"Hey, sir, please come in."
The waiter in the shop was afraid that he was not a century-old shop, so he spoke in an extremely authentic manner.
Li Kun took out the food card from his pocket, asked for a 30% discount, and was about to order some food.
Suddenly I heard someone calling me from behind.
"Uncle Jian! Here! Look behind you!"
Li Kun felt that the voice sounded familiar and turned around subconsciously.
Passing by the diners sitting around the table in small or small groups, Li Kun soon saw a familiar face.
A fellow student who was able to take the exam, Li Du.
In front of him were a bowl of mutton soup, a half flatbread, and a new newspaper in his hand.
When Li Kun saw this, he quickly smiled and walked to Li Du's desk: "I never thought it would be such a coincidence that I would meet Si Zhi when I came out to have my teeth punched."
Unlike Gu Xiancheng and his arrogant gang, Li Du does not engage in gangs, and his relationship is more pure.
Without the worry of causing trouble, Li Kun was still willing to make friends with Li Du - just because of the name and his talent.
Li Du folded up the new newspaper and put it on the stool next to him, looked at Li Kun and said with a smile: "It's just that poverty and illness are related, and they are both tempted by the 30% discount."
When Li Kun heard this, he couldn't help but laugh: "A man who is poor and ill has a very sharp mind."
The two looked at each other and smiled, Li Du stretched out his hand to invite Li Kun to sit with him: "In addition, I also heard that the first-level Jinshi in the previous subjects, such as Shen Gong and Yu Gong, are mostly repeat customers of this store. Since I want to be talented, I have to do so.
It’s a thorough one.”
It’s normal for stores to use gimmicks to capture the customer flow that comes every three years.
Especially the restaurants outside major halls, most of them were consecrated by a certain Taoist priest, blessed by a certain deity, and visited by many Jinshi in the past.
On the contrary, this shop is one that Shen Shixing often eats at, so it can't be fake.
Li Kun sat down generously and ordered food from the waiter. Then he turned around and said, "Sixi is clearly an open-minded person who has no intention of pursuing an official career. Why are you still obsessed with it?"
Li Du is a very special person.
If someone says they have no intention of pursuing an official career, they are simply pretending to be crazy. Otherwise, what would they try to do if they came here with eager eyes?
But Li Du was different. He was Yu Dayou's staff. He came to Beijing just to work for Dong Weng and take the general examination.
He has publicly stated that even if he becomes a Jinshi, he will resign and return to Fujian to continue working for Yu Dayou.
That's why Li Kun said that he is an open-minded person and should not practice praying before exams.
But when Li Du heard this, he smiled and shook his head: "Uncle Jian's words are wrong. Although I have no intention of pursuing an official career, becoming a Jinshi in high school is exactly my obsession."
Li Kun was very happy and looked curious: "Why is this?"
Li Du did not hide anything, sighed and said eloquently: "Nowadays, the world values ​​civility over military affairs. Even though I, Commander-in-Chief Dong Wengyu, have great military exploits and amassed a great reputation in the southeast, I am often humiliated by mere petty officials."
"What those villains rely on is just their background as a Jinshi."
"As a staff member, I can't change the general trend of the world, so I thought I might as well become a Jinshi to give my boss some face."
"Whenever I meet someone who talks about civil and military status, I will be able to talk about myself."
Li Du was from Jinjiang, Fujian, and he could be said to be die-hardly loyal to Yu Dayou, who was kind to Fujian.
Whether it is the self-written "Conquering the Barbarian General Commander Xu Jiang·Yu Gong Gong Xing Ji" or assisting Yu Dayou in revising the "Zhengqitang Collection", one can see his heartfelt admiration.
Li Kun had read this person's writings and naturally understood what Li Du was like - if not for this, the two of them would not be so close.
However, this statement involves current issues, and there are many people at that time who have different opinions.
In line with the principle of not wanting to cause trouble, Li Kun took advantage of the situation and said: "One civil servant and one military officer, one cannot say which one is more important and which one is less important. I heard that in the middle of the month, His Majesty also added a military minister to the Wenhua Palace.
After consulting the court discussion, it can be seen that the central government also understands the principle of complementing civil and military forces."
This is strange to say.
It turned out to be the Ministry of Rites who took the lead.
Ma Ziqiang, the Minister of Rites, and the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, reported that starting from the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates, Tatars, Walas, Duman, and even Jurchens all became more and more aggressive. Border defense and military pressure gradually increased, and the number of military discussions in the court increased.
It is also increasing.
But every time he held court discussions, he could only turn over the memorials to the general and talk nonsense.
Without experience in the military, talking about military affairs simply cannot hit the point.
In this case, why not call the governor of the capital camp, who has the highest military position in the capital, to come to the court meeting for consultation?
Moreover, according to the ancestral law, it is in line with the etiquette and law system to establish a military advisor.
Li Kun didn't know whether the officials were surprised or not, but anyway, when he first heard it, he was surprisingly surprised.
This is the most appropriate time to give it to Li Du and Xini, who are dissatisfied with the big government.
After hearing this, Li Du secretly shook his head.
If there was really no difference between civil and military affairs, Yu Dayou would not have been directly demoted home by Inspector Li Liangchen with a bullet in July of the fifth year of Longqing.
The dignified first-grade official position, just because it is the military position of military governor, is immediately worthless. I am afraid it is not even as good as a seventh-grade county magistrate.
But there's one thing Li Kun said that's right.
The recent situation in the center has indeed been unpredictable and unpredictable.
Whether it was the replacement of the governor of the Jingying camp, Gu Huan, to join the court to discuss the military affairs, or the mobilization of the Jingying camp in the second half of the year to start garrisoning in all directions, or even the extraordinary promotion of Ji Liao.
It all makes people feel that the center's behavior is different from the past.
Of course, what puzzled Li Du the most was that at the beginning of last year, Zhang Siwei and Yang Bo successively petitioned to reinstate Yu Dayou. What happened?
Neither of us are familiar with each other.
It was strange that this matter was brought up by Zhang and Yang, who were completely unfamiliar with it.
And things got even weirder after Yu Dayou came back to power.
After Yu Dayou went to Fujian, the central government did not give him any clear instructions. Yin Congjian, the governor of Fujian, kept suppressing Yu Dayou. He who refused to give people or provide food was no different from an idle gentleman.
Li Du, who was originally a staff member, also suggested that he should get in touch with the "leaders" Zhang Siwei and Yang Bo and ask for help, so that Yu Dayou could continue to lead the army in the war.
As a result, after the letters went back and forth, I discovered that the two authors had both returned to their hometowns.
There was no other way, Yu Dayou had no choice but to correct his mentality and continue to sit on the bench in Fujian.
However, things took a turn for the worse the month before last. Another demoted official from the capital came to visit and asked Yu Dayou to follow the emperor's order and assist him in rebuilding the Shipping Department.
This is nothing!
The emperor has not yet taken charge of the government, so who are you trying to scare with the emperor's decree?
At this time, Yu Dayou and Li Du seemed to be involved in a huge central battle, and they did not dare to act rashly.
We had no choice but to make excuses and send Li Du to Beijing to find out what was going on in Beijing.
It will take some time to get information.
The most economical way and the most reasonable reason for staying is to take the Jinshi examination.
Because the topic was sensitive, the two of them stopped talking in a tacit understanding.
At this moment, the waiter brought Li Kun's food.
While Li Kun accepted it politely, he changed the subject without leaving any trace: "I saw Sizhi reading the newspaper just now? Is there any news recently?"
The word news originated from newspapers.
Dictionary copying is not considered a newspaper. It is for officials to read. Only those that are for the public are called newspapers.
The earliest rise of private newspapers was in the former Song Dynasty - "People like new things and are curious, and they all take tabloids as their light."
The output is as fast as "one piece of paper at sunrise", and the market is so wide that "it can be passed on to ten people, and it can be passed on to hundreds of people, and even reaches all the prefectures and counties."
You can see how hot it is.
However, private newspapers must be banned. Not only should they be "banned with great pain"! They should also be "criminalized and rewarded"!
There was nothing we could do. The newspaper was not allowed to be published, so we changed its name to News.
When the police came to arrest someone, the scholar-bureaucrats would be confident. This is called news, not a tabloid.
This is where the word news comes into play.
Of course, this situation will be much better in the Ming Dynasty.
Not only private public publication is allowed - in addition to reprinting official articles, some innocuous news can also be published, such as "Zhang Benhua, a citizen of Yingshan County, Suizhou, Huguang, and his wife has a three-inch mustache", or "Henan Weihui Mansion
The cow of Wang’s family, a resident of Huojia County, gave birth to a calf with two heads” and so on.
Even after the new emperor ascended the throne, the General Affairs Department openly published tabloids, all in vernacular, for the common people to read.
Although Li Kun and Li Du were scholars, they could only look at the Di newspaper that they could not afford, but they still honestly fell into the arms of Xin Bao.
Li Kun asked what was the news, but he casually changed the subject.
But when Li Du heard this, his face looked a little strange.
He replied in a tone of suppressed laughter and gloating: "This issue of the newspaper hasn't come out yet. It's the last issue. I'm thinking about what tricks Gu Xiancheng and the others made."
After saying that, he casually handed over the newspaper beside him.
Li Kun has deliberately distanced himself from Gu Xiancheng these days and has not interacted with him very much. Naturally, he has not taken the initiative to inquire about his gossip.
He asked casually: "Poke a basket?"
Li Du nodded, but did not answer. He just pointed to the front page of the new newspaper on the upper left and said with a smile: "Read this article first."
Li Kun looked at the place Li Du pointed to just now.
A square line of big characters reads "A Brief Discussion on the Expression Forms of "Force"".
Li Kun's first reaction was that he felt baffled. What the hell, let's put it bluntly, this is vernacular. To put it bluntly, he couldn't understand what the title wanted to express at all.
With a strange mentality, Li Kun continued to look down.
Fortunately, the content is 100% in vernacular.
"The ancient wise man Mozi once said, 'Force is the reason why form is excited.' What does it mean? That is to say, things that can make objects move are named 'force'."
"This is a wise man's discussion of the nature of force. I am not a wise man and cannot fully understand it, nor do I have the wisdom to think about the nature of force."
"But although I am ordinary, I have come up with some thoughts based on my curiosity about these things, which is the 'expression of force'."
"It may not be correct. Now I share it with everyone for discussion."
"I am a farmer. Every year I see how the waterwheel irrigates. I obviously didn't touch it. Why does the waterwheel turn on its own? It's because of the water!"
"The waterwheel itself is stationary, but after the water flow is introduced, the water collides with the waterwheel, generating a 'force' that makes the waterwheel rotate."
"Not only that, it seems that the greater the force exerted, the faster the waterwheel rotates. Does this mean that the greater the force, the faster the speed?"
"The same goes for the wooden blocks I push, the carriages pulled by horses, etc."
"The use of force has long been present in all aspects of life."
"Then, I made some simple summaries of these things."
"First, the object itself is stationary, and it will only move after receiving a force."
"Secondly, the generation of force must be from the object itself, which is exerted by other objects."
"Third, the greater the force, the faster the movement will change."
The text of the article ends here.
After reading it, the doubts on Li Kun's face not only did not lessen, but became more serious.
No, can this kind of thing be published in the General Administration Department’s newspaper?
He looked sideways and vertically, but couldn't see any nutrition in it.
The signature of the main text is a name called Liu Sanpao, which is obviously of low origin. The background of the peasant family in the article is also supported.
Further down the text, there are several lines of comments, even marked in a different font as a reminder.
"Liu Sanpao's thinking has given me some inspiration on my views on 'force', but at the same time, my doubts have deepened."
"First, if the object itself should be stationary, then why do birds in the sky fall to the ground after they stop moving? Is this also a force at work?"
"There are still many such questions. I hope that my classmates can continue their efforts and design experiments to answer them for me."
"Second, if the generation of force must be exerted by other objects, then as mentioned just now, what about the bird falling in the sky? What object exerted force?"
"Similarly, although the water flow can make the waterwheel move, the wind can also do it. Is the invisible and qualityless wind also an 'object'?"
"Finally, as I said, it is difficult to distinguish what is an object. Are thoughts, feelings, and gaze considered objects?"
"I hope that the concepts involved can be described in categories, so that the same things can be grouped together and differentiated from other different things."
"It's like math."
"For this idea, I will tentatively name it 'Category' or 'Set Theory'. I hope that knowledgeable people can gradually improve it and then choose a name as appropriate."
However, these few lines of comments were not signed with his real name, only the nickname "Changwei layman" was left.
Li Kun raised his head and cast a questioning look at Li Du.
No, now the General Affairs Department’s official equipment has been used privately to this extent?
What kind of young master is this? He doesn't study classics and knowledge, but openly publishes these words in a new newspaper?
Li Du seemed to have expected it, and explained thoughtfully: "The signature of the annotation is His Majesty's number."
Li Kun was startled and suddenly realized.
He also asked which young master, it turned out to be the young master at the top.
No wonder you dare to act so arrogantly.
Li Kun squeezed out a smile: "Your Majesty is truly innate in nature, true and natural."
Children’s curious nature can also be praised.
Li Du smiled dumbly.
He waved his hand, as if he believed Li Kun's words, and then said: "I didn't know it at first. Of course, it wasn't just me, but Gu Chengxian and his group didn't know either."
It was obviously to explain what Gu Chengxian was trying to do.
Li Kun pricked up his ears and made up his mind not to answer easily.
Just listen to Li Du say: "Three days ago, Gu Xiancheng, who studied under a famous family, held a poetry meeting in Shenmiao Temple. The title of the meeting was 'Poetry must be prosperous in the Tang Dynasty, and those who are not right will not follow the Tao'."
Li Kun nodded, the poetry world itself is like this now, "Song people seem old but really sparse, Yuan people seem elegant but really simple and vulgar." As for Ming Dynasty? Ming Dynasty has no poetry.
This is a retro literary trend that has been going on for many years.
Everyone is a learned person, and Li Du did not explain, but continued: "When it comes to retro, it is inevitable that the cultural gathering will discuss the disadvantages of the times, and the same set of arguments that people's hearts are no longer ancient, and the world's moral standards are declining."
"How to broadcast moral articles, promote ancient moral integrity, go back to the Three Emperors, the prosperous times of Han and Tang Dynasties, and so on."
"However, after criticism, I don't know who is ignorant, and he said that this newspaper does not spread the scriptures of saints, but instead promotes fallacies and heresies. It is one of the sinners that corrupts the world."
"Liu Sanpao, he is a layman, he is an unsightly and despicable person. If you see him in the future, you will definitely have his cheeks slapped with your hands."
Phew.
Speaking of this, even though Li Kun was so calm and steady, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Criticize the emperor with three palms and spit it out, right?
No wonder these people are unlucky.
If it were any other time, that would be fine. It would be normal to scold the emperor, not to mention that it was done accidentally. However, it is only a month or so now and I will give it a try.
If these people are banned from taking the exam, it will be a waste of three years.
Li Kun felt happy for himself for a moment. Fortunately, he didn't hang out with Gu Xiancheng who liked to form gangs after entering Beijing.
But then he changed his mind.
Then I remembered what Li Du just said happened three days ago.
If there is no movement at the moment, there should be no trouble. Otherwise, punishing students is very sensitive before the exam and will definitely make a fuss.
He was thinking in his mind and asked: "Noble people are magnanimous. Your Majesty should not care about them, right?"
Li Du nodded happily, obviously things were not that simple.
He explained: "The emperor is naturally magnanimous, but it is precisely this that will make people push for more."
Li Kun's face became more and more interested: "What do you mean?"
Li Du smiled and said: "There are many people participating in the cultural conference this time, including Wan Jing, the grandson of Wan Gong, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry."
"Wan Jing took advantage of the excitement and left. It was just for fun. Who knew that this was happening? He then went on to scold the emperor in a confused way."
"When he found out, his face turned green!"
"Then he drew a clear line for Gu Xiancheng, scolded everyone, and crawled into the palace to plead guilty to the emperor."
Halfway through his words, he quickly wiped his mouth, and then reached out to stroke the beard that he hadn't stroked for a long time.
This cannot be blamed on Wan Shilang's grandson being unloyal.
That's it for others. The emperor's personal review will be done for the nephews and nephews of officials who are above the fourth rank of Jinke! By then, it will be nothing more than a casual matter for them to be deposed by the emperor.
As one of the seven nephews of famous officials in Jinke, Wan Jing naturally had to distance himself from the relationship.
Li Kun quickly asked: "What then?"
Li Du smiled and said, "How can Gu Xiancheng endure being scolded like this?"
"He insisted that he was focusing on the situation rather than the person, and that he cared about the country when criticizing the current ills. His Majesty was not doing his job properly. Although their words were inappropriate, their intentions were good."
"On the contrary, it was Wan Jing who also criticized the emperor at that time. After hearing that it was the emperor's signature, he immediately changed his tune. He is obviously a repeating villain."
"More than that."
"He also gathered members and asked senior officials in South Zhili to endorse it, and planned to create a Donglin Journal following the example of the General Affairs Department's Xinbao and Wang Shizhen's Yanshantang Wenbao."
"It is intended to change the world's trends and influence the world with moral articles."
"Of course... the first thing is to criticize the emperor's nonsense in the new newspaper."
After Li Kun listened, sweat broke out on his back.
This is not a trick, it is a thorn in the sky.
Yes, the emperor was indeed too neglectful of his duties and indulged in eccentric skills.
But is that what little people like them can say? How can the government be without ministers and officials?
This is a newspaper, and it is also engaged in private petitions. I am afraid that a scolding of "their knowledge is wrong, and does not know the political system, which is ridiculous" will be taken lightly.
Fortunately, I didn't hang out with Gu Xiancheng and others.
"I heard that Gu Xiancheng has invited Zeng Gun, a doctor of the Five Classics of the Hanlin Academy, as the editor of the newspaper. He is going to take advantage of the imperial court's holiday for the New Year to publish the newspaper."
Li Du suddenly said.
Li Kun was startled, seemed to remember something, and confirmed: "Are they descendants of Zengzi?"
Li Du nodded: "It's just in name. I heard that I even went to the Kong family to invite people."
He squinted his eyes and took another satisfying sip of soup.
He looked like he was watching the fun.
…
At the same time, in the Wenhua Palace.
Zhu Yijun signaled Zhang Hong to circulate the reviewed memorial to all ministers.
Of course, this is not an urgent memorial, but the process of going through the annual holiday.
Zhang Juzheng, a great scholar, Gao Yi reported that starting from December 24th this year, the New Year's Eve holiday will be taken, and the Spring Festival holiday will not be completed until the 20th day of the first lunar month of the new year.
At first glance, the winter vacation seems a bit long, and Zhu Yijun was a little reluctant to criticize it.
But there is no way. This is the custom of the country. If he doesn't even spend twenty-five days during the New Year, wouldn't Zhu Yijun be worse than a feudal antique?
So he approved it at the court.
This is the last thing in the morning. After approval, it is time to adjourn the meeting.
All the court officials left one after another.
However, all the assistant ministers, the six ministers, the censor, the household, and the department were all involved in the matter, but they did not move at all.
Obviously, the emperor still has a small meeting to hold, and the officials of Taichang Temple, Honglu Temple, and Imperial College are not around.
But the ministers didn't care too much - there were still three days of vacation, and they had been fighting for power for a year, so they had to slow down, and it was just a good time to relax.
When everyone was almost gone, Zhu Yijun, who was sitting on the throne, said, "I'll leave you all here, there's nothing important to do."
He paused and continued: "The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and I thought that you and I, the king and my ministers, will sum up the events of the year before the New Year."
"Let's see what things have not been written off, what we will do together next year, and what opinions we have on political affairs. You can talk about it."
All the important ministers present were informed in advance.
But even so, they couldn't help but look at each other in confusion.
Zhang Juzheng glanced at the emperor who had not yet taken charge, and couldn't help but sigh - he had never seen such a diligent emperor!
This is still not pro-government, and I don’t dare to think about anything from pro-government in the future!
If we can persevere, why should the Ming Dynasty be unhappy!
Zhu Yijun on the throne paused, giving him enough time to react.
Then he looked at Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Household Affairs, and said, "Wang Qing, please tell me first, what is the revenue and expenditure of our treasury this year?"
There is not much information about Li Du. The epitaph states that he was a commoner all his life, and he has always been an aide to Yu Dayou.
But he was also on the imperial examination registration list. In the second year of Wanli, he ranked third and 139th on the Jiaxu Academy Examination List and was born with the same Jinshi background.
So I don’t know why this guy won the imperial examination but didn’t become an official. The motivation in the article was artistically processed by me.
Chapter completed!