After passing Tengshan County, the official road became straight and wide again. Zhang Xiaowu was surprised to find that the width of the official road could accommodate four carriages passing side by side. If railings were added in the middle to plant flowers and plants, it would become a proper two-lane highway. Moreover,
The expressway in Shenghan still does not charge tolls. Some people who are not farming are staring at the motorcade of the big shot on the roadside, and they all speculate about which big shot it is.
The people talked more about the Ghost Guards and his party, especially the closer they got to Longdu Mansion, the more people watched the excitement. After all, in the novel and storybook of "The Ghost General", no one compares to the people near Longdu Mansion.
More familiar.
"Is that the famous Ghost Guard?"
"Look at their armor and blades. They are really mighty warriors."
"I think it's more majestic than the Forbidden Army."
"But their flag - why is it a skull? It's so scary."
"Is it because of their flags that they are called Ghost Guards?"
"I heard that the ghost general is ten feet tall, has a mouth as good as a silver basin, and can eat a child in one mouthful. Can you help me see if the ghost general is inside?"
"Definitely, but I have never seen anyone ten feet tall in my life, and I probably haven't seen anyone in my previous life. They are as tall as the city walls in the county. How can there be anyone that tall?"
"Why not? I heard that the Mohe people in the north are all this tall."
"Stop talking nonsense, the Mohe people were defeated by the ghost guards."
"That's why I said that ghost generals are higher than Mohe people."
Some young children sang a nursery rhyme: "The ghost guard is good, the ghost guard is a stick, the ghost general is the best in martial arts!"
Wang Yijin stood next to Zhang Xiaowu and said with a smile: "General, general, they all praise you."
"Shh... you're disturbing me with your words. I'm listening to how they praise me. Don't disturb me." Zhang Xiaowu whispered.
Wang Yijin: "General, you are not humble."
Zhang Xiaowu said sternly: "I just want to hear what ordinary people think of me. However, there are so many flatterers, which makes me feel complacent. It's not allowed! It's not allowed! As the saying goes, good medicine is bitter in the mouth and good for the disease, and loyal words are hard on the ears and good for deeds.
From now on, when you hear the true voices of the people, be sure to tell me."
Ruan Qingwen couldn't laugh or cry at the side, and shook his head. Although Zhang Xiaowu was a famous general, he was not very old after all, and occasionally had a naughty mentality, which actually added a lot of liveliness.
Zhang Xiaowu asked: "Mr. Ruan, do you have anything to say?"
Ruan Qingwen thought deeply and said: "The people don't know how to study. As long as someone praises you a little, they will think you are the best person in the world. But if someone arranges it for you, they will immediately think you are a traitor. The people's
Voices are actually the most confusing voices in the world, because they have no voice, they are just other people's trumpets."
Zhang Xiaowu thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the truth, and he burst into laughter. Since ancient times, people have been easily deceived. They are said to be kind, but they will make stupid decisions. If they are said to be hateful, they will not be deceived.
Be grateful for the kindness of some people.
"People are water, but water can also be divided into sweet springs in the desert and huge floods." Zhang Xiaowu concluded according to his words, "If you are good to them, they are the sweet springs in the desert, but if you are not good to them, they will
It turned into a huge flood.”
Ruan Qingwen said: "Those who are officials are those who manage the people. As a person who manages people, how can you be good to the people everywhere? I remember that more than ten years ago in Bingzhou, there was a place called Jinzhang County. It is rich in golden cicada. In fact, golden cicada is an aphrodisiac. After taking it, men become more energetic and powerful, and it suddenly became the most popular tonic in Longdu City. Some people slandered that Jinzhang County should donate more golden cicada, so Tai Emperor Qian issued an imperial edict, which triggered a civil uprising. It was not easy to catch golden cicadas. If they were so easy to catch, how could they be comparable to the price of gold? But the nobles did not know that they saw it for granted. The golden cicada is so difficult for the people to catch. If you were the prime minister, what would you do? Will you stop it, or will you pretend to be confused?"
Zhang Xiaowu naturally knew this story, because Hu Li was one of the protagonists in this story and a survivor of the Jinzhang County Massacre. If he had been the prime minister, he might have stopped it.
But he also thought that the decision to force the people of Jinzhang County to capture a large number of Jin Chanzi should not be the emperor's idea alone, but out of the overall needs of the nobility of the capital. If the prime minister blocked this imperial edict, not only would he offend the emperor, but also It will offend all the officials, but what about the people? Will they remember the prime minister's merits?
The people of Jinzhang County stay away from the temples, and the people of Longdu City don't care about the life and death of people in other places, so no people will remember the heroes who stopped the imperial court from implementing tyranny. Naturally, you can't do things that make you suffer. The people of Jinzhang County were killed that year, which also became a Of course, the people of Longdu remembered that the border residents ignorantly resisted the imperial court, and the noble officials only thought that they had killed a group of mobs.
Ruan Qingwen saw that Zhang Xiaowu's expression was gloomy and he was deep in thought, so he sighed slightly and said in a deep voice: "There is a kind of contradiction called the contradiction between the rulers and the ruled. They are naturally in opposition. The rulers need food and wine from the ruled. , power and land, the ruled need the ruler to provide wisdom, faith, benefits and force, so they are interdependent. At the end of the dynasty, the ruler is often cruel and unkind, forcing the ruled to replace a new ruler. At that time, the world was in chaos, and after the establishment of the new dynasty, it implemented benevolent policies. After a few hundred years, the new dynasty became sluggish, and the nobles once again forced the people for their own selfish purposes, and so on."
Zhang Xiaowu listened carefully and said: "Is this the end of all dynasties?"
Nguyen Thanh Van said: "Throughout history, no dynasty has escaped this law."
"But what if the dynasty system is no longer there and the old king recommends a more capable new king to ascend the throne and restore the abdication system?" Zhang Xiaowu asked. The so-called abdication system is the modern national system. Of course, he will not treat the modern system foolishly. In today's era of imperial rule, if you forcefully reverse the era, you will only end up being trampled on like Wang Mang.
Ruan Qingwen laughed: "That is impossible. Everyone must hand over power to his son. For a man, the most important thing in his life is to make his bloodline power permanent. Why is the noble family It appeared because Saint Taizu knew that human nature is greedy, and he gave some people the opportunity to consolidate power forever, so the nobles supported Saint Taizu and made him a saint. For five thousand years, the Central Plains has been a concession system. However, historical records record that the abdication system triggered great chaos in the ancient Central Plains. The ancient country was divided into hundreds of countries, and they attacked each other for hundreds of years, causing the population of the Central Plains to drop sharply to hundreds of thousands. General, never underestimate the greed of human nature. Some people are greedy for money, and some are greedy for money. Some are lustful, some are greedy for power, some are fetishistic, as long as they are human beings, they are all greedy.”
"There are no saints?"
"Saints are greedy for fame."
"Hahaha……"
While the two were talking, the Ghost Guard and his party finally arrived at Longdu Mansion, the capital of the Holy Han Empire, the most prosperous city in the world, and the core of the Holy Han Empire.