Wang Feng got so excited that his face turned rosy. He looked at Xu Qian solemnly and thought proudly in his heart: "Boy, you are still young. I have been in the officialdom for decades, and I have read poetry and books for forty years."

Zai, how dare you fight with me at your level? If I don’t deal with you today, wouldn’t it be that Wang, I, have suffered so many days in prison in vain?”

Wang Feng's words naturally resonated with many people. Even several presiding officials also agreed with it in their hearts. They all nodded faintly and secretly approved.

At the same time, many sarcastic eyes looked at Xu Qian. As they expected, the defendant became the plaintiff, and the witness now became the defendant, and things happened again and again.

Xu Qian seemed to be neither impatient nor impatient. The more occasions and situations like this, the calmer he behaved, which made those who deliberately watched his jokes find it boring.

Xu Qian's tone was not passionate, he just said calmly: "Master Wang has said so much, so students have to ask, what does it mean to serve the country?"

Wang Feng replied without thinking too much: "Government should be based on virtue."

He obviously misunderstood, and Xu Qian had to remind him, saying: "What the student asked was not about officials, but about ordinary people. What should people do if they want to serve the country?"

Wang Feng frowned, and then said: "But it's not difficult. As the saying goes, if you are poor, you can take care of yourself, and if you are rich, you can help the world. There are gentry in the countryside and gentry in the counties. In every disaster year, there must be good gentry to assist the government in providing relief. If there is a plague, then

There are village elders who organize manpower to make soups and medicines. There are also court taxes and grains, which are collected by the squires on their behalf. These deeds can be called serving the country."

Xu Qian smiled slightly and said: "Then the student would like to ask again, during this Henan disaster, where did the gentry and country squires you mentioned go?"

One question stumped Wang Feng.

His theory is indeed correct. The imperial court has always relied on the gentry to govern the world, so there is a saying of co-ruling the world with the scholar-bureaucrats. This co-governance does not mean being on an equal footing with the emperor, but that everyone performs their own duties, and some matters are left to the court.

Some rights are delegated to the squires for them to manage.

It's just that theory is theory, but Xu Qian raised practical questions very poorly, which made it difficult for Wang Feng to answer.

Xu Qian said with a smile: "Since there are many squires in the world who serve their country as you said, why is it that there was a huge disaster in Henan, with hundreds of thousands of refugees, resulting in countless starvation deaths and withered bones on the road? Could it be that the squires were also affected by the disaster?"

Wang Feng seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw. He nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, the squire has also been affected by the disaster. There may not be any surplus food..."

Xu Qian laughed again and said, "That's not right. Although the squire suffered from the disaster, his family was well off and he could not afford even a little charity. It can be seen that what you just said is somewhat true, but

There are also many absurdities. In the eyes of students, the gentry are not the only ones who serve the country. Farmers cultivate, workers work, and officials work diligently. These are all serving the country."

Xu Qian's words were very general. The more general the theory, the harder it was to refute. Wang Feng was speechless for a moment.

Xu Qian added: "The world is divided into gentry, farmers, industry and merchants. Each performs his own duties. In the eyes of students, if the gentry is virtuous and willing to share the country's worries, then it will naturally be regarded as serving the country. But if the merchants are educated and willing to share the country's worries, then they will naturally be serving the country.

Then you can serve the country. Since ancient times, gentry has never been a gentry. A hundred years ago, the gentry

Gentlemen may not be poor today, so students secretly believe that no matter who they are and what their status is, anyone who is willing to serve the country can be regarded as a gentry. However, those who are morally corrupt and greedy for profit cannot escape no matter how noble they are.

It’s a mean word. Mr. Wang, do you think the student is right?”

Wang Feng always felt that Xu Qian was beating around the bush, as if he was digging a hole for himself, but when the question came to the head, he had to answer, so he had to say: "This is exactly the reason why our court imposed prohibitions on merchants, all because they are greedy and seeking profit.

Because of shamelessness."

Wang Feng's attempt to change the subject failed, and Xu Qian quickly corrected him: "Master Wang is wrong again. Whether he is greedy for profit or not, and shameless does not depend on his origin, but on his upbringing. Then the student will ask Master Wang again, now Henan University

The court is overwhelmed by the disaster, and all the ordinary gentry and country squires are missing. If there are people who are willing to assist the government in providing relief, can these people be called serving the country?"

This is a question with no choice at all. In order to provide disaster relief, the entire court cannot even think about a good year. Moreover, this matter is too big. Hundreds of thousands of disaster victims have become refugees. How many people have starved to death?

God knows, under this situation, if someone goes to provide disaster relief, and you say that they are not serving the country, it is unjustifiable both emotionally and rationally.

Wang Feng squinted his eyes and said slowly: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Xu Qian said seriously: "I don't want to say anything, I just want Mr. Wang to answer this question honestly. If there are people who are willing to share the worries of the court and help the world, can these people be called serving the country?"

Wang Feng hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly nodded and said: "This is natural."

Xu Qian sneered, his voice became louder, and said: "In that case, then the despicable merchants you mentioned went to Henan with a large amount of wealth and food. Do these people count as serving the country?"

These words were like a bolt from the blue, causing Wang Feng's brain to buzz. Wang Feng was in disbelief and said with suspicion: "You are talking nonsense, what evidence do you have?"

If it is proven that these merchants served the country, then it will naturally be proved that Ruyifang is beneficial to the country. However, Wang Feng criticized Ruyifang with fierce words, saying that he had plots and intentions, which is not a frame-up. This is why Wang Feng was shocked.

Xu Qian sighed, then took out a book from his sleeve, held it up in his hand, and said: "What is recorded in this book are the accounts of merchants who went to Henan with grain and property. Among them, twenty grains were donated."

Seventy thousand dan, seven hundred herbs

There are more than 3,900 kilograms of cloth and 496,000 taels of silver. In addition to providing relief to the victims of the Henan disaster, merchants have promised to rebuild 37 new schools and repair 113 stone bridges.

Twelve river embankments were repaired, in addition to

There are roads, water diversions, etc., countless of them. These merchants have registered with Ruyifang half a month ago, and Ruyifang will send specialized personnel to inspect their relief materials. After the relief items arrive in Henan, they will also be inspected by Ruyifang's specialized personnel.

Governor

Exhortation, although there may be some errors and omissions, and there may be some inappropriate things, but I think no major mistakes will happen. Now these supplies have presumably arrived in Henan. If you don't believe it, just wait for the report from the Henan government.

"

At this moment, everyone was stunned. The officials who were waiting to see the show were all pale-faced and extremely shocked. Many of them were very sensitive to numbers. They clearly remembered that this time the Henan disaster caused the court to

The amount of food provided for relief was only ten

It was only 30,000 dans, but Ruyifang was so good that it actually came up with 270,000 dans at once, which was twice as much as the imperial court. What was even more shocking was that these merchants were actually willing to repair schools and river embankments.

There are so many supplies, it’s amazing just thinking about it.

In their view, merchants are greedy for profit, and it is even harder to get money from merchants. Every time there is a disaster, it would be good if merchants did not drive up prices and hoard goods. What's going on today?

When the sun comes out in the west, people are running to help people, and are they still so active?

In fact, how did they know that the real problem lies in the measures of the Chamber of Commerce promulgated by Ruyifang, in which the so-called preferential points can be accumulated by doing good deeds. If you just pay tribute, the value of getting a few points is often worth

three or five times more than doing good deeds to provide disaster relief. Under such circumstances, those merchants who were keen on the status of hundreds of households, general banners, and small banners immediately realized that many matters should be dealt with sooner rather than later, and

The disaster in Henan happened to be happening right now, which gave them an excellent opportunity. Just like a man who had been thirsty for many years, suddenly encountered a good thing from Sister Lin falling from the sky. Some people couldn't restrain themselves, and were the first to take action, and then

There were the second and third ones. Many people took advantage of this opportunity to accumulate more points at once. Some even spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy the necessary supplies and then sent them to Henan.

In fact, merchants may not be rational animals. Once someone starts to take action, the rest will act like a robber. As a result, countless supplies flowed to Henan through various methods.

They should have discovered something unusual when they came to the court, but they just ignored the merchants most of the time. In addition, many people speculated that these people had shipped goods to Henan to hoard them and sell them at high prices. Things like this

It's quite common, so not many people pay attention to it.

Now Xu Qian took out the book, and everyone was so shocked that they couldn't speak. They all looked at Xu Qian dumbfounded, and then some people looked at Wang Feng, showing sympathy for Wang Feng in their eyes.

In fact, the one who was most shocked was Jiajing. Jiajing originally listened to the trial with a bit of trepidation, but the trial turned a bit sour. He couldn't help but feel a little angry. He was obviously very dissatisfied with the several presiding judges. As a result, Xu Qian took out the book and suddenly

Tell him that the catastrophe in Henan has probably been easily solved, and the problems that have caused unrest in the court for several months have disappeared.

Jiajing was stunned at first, and then became ecstatic.

This is like a person who is at a loss about something important. After struggling for a few months, someone suddenly tells him in an understatement that the problem is no longer there, it has disappeared, and this problem will never bother you again.

The mood can be imagined.
Chapter completed!