The door was pushed open, and a plainly dressed scholar bowed to him. Xia Yuanlong recognized him at a glance and motioned for him to sit down.
"How is the situation in Nanjing?" Xia Yuanlong asked worriedly.
The man shook his head sadly: "If it was good, how could I come back to you?"
"Speak quickly!" Xia Yuanlong urged.
"It is King Wanjun who is preparing to take over the academy."
"Take over the academy..." Xia Yuanlong paused, "How to take over the academy?"
"All expenses of the academy are under the control of the government, so the entire academy will be in the hands of others, which is really terrible!"
"This condition is too unreasonable. Did Mr. Wei refuse it?" Xia Yuanlong continued to ask.
"And, not really."
Xia Yuanlong's eyes widened and he couldn't believe it. He stood up and said, "I have to go back!"
"Can you leave today?"
Xia Yuanlong walked quickly to the door and held on to the wall: "It's still too late. Everyone can walk and sleep. We will arrange some things tomorrow and set off at noon."
"There's no need to leave in a hurry, just stay here for one night."
The next morning, Xia Yuanlong was the first to go to the lecture hall. After waiting for a while, he saw Vice President Zhu and four counselors coming next.
"Unexpected changes occurred in Nanjing, and I have to leave Suzhou. Mr. Zhu, you will be the dean, and Governor Song will take your place; the counselor will choose someone to take over. From now on, it will all depend on you to support the academy. It is really difficult for me to come back."
Xia Yuanlong said.
Zhu Che said hurriedly: "When the dean goes, I'm afraid there will be chaos here!"
Xia Yuanlong touched his forehead: "This is easy to handle. Let's set up another supervisory post here. It will be vacant for the time being. When I return to Nanjing, I will send someone to serve as supervisor."
"Okay, as long as we can't cut off the connection with Nanjing, we can relax." Governor Song stroked his beard.
Xia Yuanlong dusted his sleeves, "It's too late to say goodbye to everyone, I'll leave immediately and say goodbye!" He walked down the lecture hall and left side by side with the man from Nanjing.
At the gate of Sihe Academy in Nanjing, several more groups of burly officers and soldiers stood. This scene seemed familiar to Xia Yuanlong, but the situation was completely different.
He jumped off his horse, and the two officers and soldiers raised their guns and said, "What are you doing? Tell me your name."
Xia Yuanlong was very calm: "Xia Yuanlong, secretary of the Nanjing Imperial College and deputy leader of Sihe Academy, please get out of the way."
The officer and soldier showed a pair of fierce eyes: "The county king has ordered that no one is allowed to come in or out at this moment."
Xia Yuanlong snorted disdainfully: "I am the deputy leader of the academy, and I must enter no matter what."
The officers and soldiers shouted: "Back off!"
Xia Yuanlong glared at him and took a step forward. The officer and the soldier took a step back with a fierce look until the tip of the gun touched his chest.
"I am the chief of the Imperial College, do you know what is good?" He held the handle of the gun and exerted all his strength, as if he was about to break it.
The officer's hands trembled first, and he slowly retracted his gun. "Get out of the way!" he waved his hand and said.
"Ren Ying!" Wei Huai trotted out of the study, shouting with open arms.
Wei Huai leaned on the cane and said, "Renying, sit down first and talk slowly."
"Has the situation in Suzhou eased?" Wei Huai asked pretending to be calm.
"Don't worry. But I have deposed Li Zhizhong and replaced him with a new dean... I can't say enough about it, but the situation has stabilized." After Xia Yuanlong finished speaking, he asked him: "Ji Min, how can the Wan Dang attack us?
Already?"
Wei Huai sighed loudly, his breath trembling: "I made a big mistake at that time. The reason was that the dispute between the Wan Dang and the Lu Dang intensified. Many innocent officials were convicted, and many people were implicated. Nanjing was in panic, and everywhere
They are all afraid of being caught by the soldiers.
At this time, Wan Heshun pretended to be concerned about the country and the people, saying that he couldn't bear to see the people like this, so he called me into the mansion to discuss countermeasures. I was so anxious that I couldn't think too much at the moment, so I went directly to his mansion. But the prince changed his mind.
Talk about 'taking over the academy'..."
"I was on his territory, so I didn't dare to refute, so he agreed immediately and was willing to let me go back to the academy. I wanted to take it one step at a time, but unexpectedly Wan Heshun posted news about taking over the academy and sent troops directly to question him.
I have indeed agreed to Wan Dang’s request, what else can I say? This panacea of gathering the people to resist the government is completely unworkable.”
Xia Yuanlong clapped his hands: "Why don't you call me back?"
Wei Huai patted him on the shoulder: "Someone mentioned it to me, but I'm afraid that you will be mentally exhausted while dealing with big things in Suzhou. What else can you do if you are tired?"
Xia Yuanlong smiled bitterly and said nothing.
"I have to go to the palace again to persuade the princes. No one can help us except him." Wei Huai said seriously.
"Prefect Ye may be able to play a role..." Xia Yuanlong pinched his cheek, "It would be best if you go into the palace to find out what's going on, but it's hard to talk about it."
Wei Huai tapped his cane and said, "No more nagging, I'll leave right away!" He was determined and stepped out of the threshold resolutely.
"Official uniform, don't be so hasty!" Xia Yuanlong took off the official uniform hanging on the chair and threw it into his arms.
"Yue Gong," Zheng Shiyan, the leader of the Yue Mansion, held his helmet in his hands, knelt forward and reported, "The guards and the people have gone to the palace again."
Lu Fangxuan chuckled: "Wan Heshun's good plan."
"My subordinates are ignorant and really don't know what to do." Zheng Shiyan stood behind him.
"Can't you see? This academy represents the people's hearts. A person with despicable behavior like him will naturally play with the people's hearts. By taking over the academy, he not only forced the entire Nanjing Literary League to take a stand for this party struggle, but also blackmailed
It attracts thousands of people and helps it become famous."
"It's so dangerous, we should intervene early." Zheng Shiyan suggested.
Lu Fangxuan laughed again and said: "No, no need! When someone comes forward, we will add more firewood and set fire to it. Commander Zheng, let's explore again."
"As ordered." Zheng Shiyan clenched his fists.
Wei Huai walked to the living room of the palace, walked to the screen wall, and saw Ye Yongjia coming out with a pile of documents.
"Prefect Ye." He stood in front of Ye Yongjia.
"Mr. Wei." Ye Yongjia bowed and saluted.
"What are you doing with this thing?" Wei Huai glanced at his paperwork.
"Laying people off, arresting people, and killing people are just the same old tricks." Ye Yongjia sneered, "Maybe I can't be a good official for the time being."
"It seems that I slapped you at the wrong time?" Wei Huai asked jokingly.
After Yongjia heard this, the two of them just laughed, and soon stopped smiling.
"Is the academy in trouble?" Ye Yongjia knew that he was depressed, and he had already saved the trouble.
"I don't know what to do," Wei Huai shook his head, "Renying said you could play a key role, and I feel the same way. But I don't even understand your role in it. No matter what the role is, you are still the enemy.
However, the power of the government, which has monopolized power, is weak after all, and so is the power of the people of Nanjing." Wei Huai walked past him sadly.