1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 568 Behind the Scenes
For Huang Zixing, what is the most rare thing in Danzhou at this time?Those who are loyal to Daming and dislike Haihan are the most rare!There are thousands of scholars in Danzhou, but in Huang Zixing's view, there are very few scholars who have the backbone to uphold the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty and the courage to resist the erosion of Haihan.Although there are many academies in the local area, most of them have become Haihan's accomplices and tools to poison young people. From Huang Zixing's position, he simply despises being with these people.

And in Danzhou's current downturn in the entire cultural and educational industry, there is actually a young man who has maintained a clear mind and correct understanding. This is simply a clear stream in front of Huang Zixing.Huang Zixing hadn't met such a righteous student for a long time.The most rare thing is that this student came here because of his reputation, which in Huang Zixing's view can be regarded as a kind of great fate.

Huang Zixing twirled his beard and said: "The old man has not taken in disciples in the past few years. If Mr. Zhang is willing to learn, I would like to take another disciple in the year of fate."

Zhang Qianzhi was waiting for Huang Zixing to express his opinion, and immediately stood up again, made a deep bow and said, "How lucky Xiaosheng is to be appreciated by Master Huangshan."

One of these two people came with a purpose, and the other received them with a ghost in their hearts. It happened that one was willing to fight and the other was willing to suffer. It was considered a good match, and a few words established a master-student relationship.

Zhang Qianzhi took the initiative to ask: "I don't know how much the college's tuition fee is for a year?"

Huang Zixing shook his hand and said, "Don't worry about it, just stay in the academy. This academy doesn't smell like money like other academies in Danzhou, as long as you have the heart to learn."

The current situation of Zhongming Academy can no longer be reversed by relying on one or two students to pay the tuition fees. In Huang Zixing's opinion, the tuition fees are far less valuable than finding a like-minded person.Instead of rushing to collect the few taels of silver, it's better to show it first and leave him in the academy.

Huang Zixing called the person in charge of chores in the academy and asked him to take Zhang Qianzhi to settle down first.Now there are not many permanent residents in Zhongming Academy, but there are a lot of vacant beds and rooms in the west courtyard.

After Zhang Qianzhi left with his luggage, Huang Zixing couldn't sit still anymore, got up and went to another room next door.

That room is also furnished with a study, roughly similar to Huang Zixing's study. There is a person sitting upright behind the desk, writing something with a pen.After Huang Zixing entered, he immediately closed the door with his backhand, and then bowed and said, "Master Zhao, Caomin has something to report!"

The man he called Mr. Zhao stopped writing, looked up at him and said, "Seeing that you look happy, it must be a good thing?"

Huang Zixing replied: "My lord, just now a young student came to the academy to study. After talking with him, Caomin thinks that this person is useful."

"Tell me." Mr. Zhao put down the brush in his hand, and leaned his body on the back of the chair as if listening.

Huang Zixing explained: "This son is from Quanzhou, Fujian Province. He lives in Leizhou now. He came to Danzhou for a study tour recently. Seeing his words and deeds, the grassroots people also have a lot of dissatisfaction with Haihan. After eliminating the local academies that are vassals of Haihan, they found him. Come to this academy to study."

"Origin from a foreign place, new face, a scholar..." Mr. Zhao nodded slightly and said, "The conditions are good, but do you know if his self-reported situation is true?"

"Caomin tried it out in Fujian dialect, and the statement about his native place should be true." Huang Zixing replied: "As for other situations, Caomin will arrange people in the academy to observe his words and deeds, and then draw conclusions."

"It's better to be cautious!" Lord Zhao sighed, "The Haihan people's methods are far beyond my expectations. Now the entire government in Qiongbei is paralyzed, and there are only a handful of people who can work for the court. "

Huang Zixing said: "Your Excellency Zhao, don't be too pessimistic. In the humble opinion of the grassroots, there are still many people who are loyal and righteous among the people. In the past few months, the grassroots have tried to contact everywhere, and there are still many people who are willing to serve the court."

"If the people are as enlightened as Huang Shanzhang, why would Haihan people sit in Qiongzhou?" Master Zhao sighed again: "After this matter is over, I will definitely write a letter to the court to ask for credit for Huang Shanzhang! This Qiongzhou Island is full of waste, and it should be reasonable for the imperial court to make an exception to hire local loyal people."

"Grassman, thank Mr. Zhao for your support!" Huang Zixing quickly knelt down to express his thanks.

Mr. Zhao raised his hand for a little help, and continued: "Also, didn't you say that the magistrate of Danzhou will come to visit in the near future? Remember, don't rush to talk to him about the inside story, let alone reveal the existence of this official. Which side is it, let’s observe it before we talk.”

"Yes, yes, the grassroots obey." Huang Zixing responded repeatedly.

Same as the day before, Yan Mingjun's yamen remained deserted, and no one came to visit or transfer any official business to the yamen, not even a single person to file a lawsuit.Yan Mingjun walked out of the study, looked at the servants sitting in a row chatting and basking in the sun under the wall, he could only shake his head helplessly, and said, "Let's call it a day and call it a day!"

All the yamen servants responded and dispersed.Yan Mingjun could only smile wryly at such a working state. Today he went out in casual clothes and wandered around the city. It is obvious that the social order here is better than any city he has ever been in.There are no idlers or beggars on the street, and there are no piles of garbage and human and animal excrement in the corners and alleys. It is clean and orderly, which is Yan Mingjun's most intuitive feeling about the local area.

Yan Mingjun also took advantage of the time when he was eating on the street, casually chatting with passers-by, asking them about changes in their daily lives and whether they are satisfied with Haihan's governance.As he expected, the local people did not have much resistance to the change of a ruler. What the people care about is whether the supply and prices of living materials on the market are stable, whether the public security situation is good, and whether they can continue to live a stable life. In the past few days, as for whether Danzhou was governed by officials of the Ming Dynasty or by the Haihan Management Committee, not many people cared.

A passerby's answer left a deep impression on Yan Mingjun: "The Haihan people did not rebel, and they have managed Danzhou well. Everyone has food to eat, and there is no need to worry about being attacked by pirates again. What's wrong?"

Yeah, what's so bad about that?Yan Mingjun also tried to find some places where the Haihan people were not as good as Daming. However, apart from their land policy being criticized by the local landlords, there seemed to be no obvious weaknesses in other aspects.

Yan Mingjun also heard a saying from the local people that Haihan is "always correct", that is, as long as the decision is made by the executive committee or management committee of Haihan, it is always correct.Even if it is temporarily incomprehensible, time will prove the correctness of these decisions.As for why the public has such an understanding, the biggest reason is the rapid rise of the Sanya region under Haihan's administration in the past few years.If the decision-making of the rulers had made obvious mistakes, it would be impossible for Sanya to replace the state capitals of Qiongzhou Island in three or four years and become the most prosperous economic and cultural center on the island.

Although Yan Mingjun has not been to Danzhou for a long time, he has heard many people say how prosperous Sanya in the south is, and even He Qi, who has never been to Sanya at all, will brag about it from time to time. In other words, his brother-in-law who was a crew member brought back some good Haihan goods from Sanya.Yan Mingjun really wants to go to Sanya to see for himself, to see how amazing the place is that so many people pass on by word of mouth and praise each other, and whether it is really like the paradise on earth they say.

However, before going to Sanya, he still hopes to make a difference in Danzhou, at least take back the part of the authority belonging to Ming from the Haihan people who control the local ruling power—perhaps it is impossible in Danzhou's situation All of them have been taken back, but at least part of them must be taken back to declare the existence of the local government to the local people.Today's seemingly transparent days were not his original intention for Yan Mingjun to come to Danzhou.

Huang Zixing, who took the initiative to visit the door before, was a ray of hope for Yan Mingjun in a desperate situation. This made him see that under Haihan's rule, there are still people who stick to the orthodoxy of Ming Dynasty—despite this Part of the reason for persevering may be due to his selfishness, but it is very rare in Danzhou now.The reason why Yan Mingjun planned to go to Zhongming Academy to have an interview with Huang Zixing was also to know how many cards Huang Zixing had in his hand, and whether there was a real possibility of Danzhou's comeback.

Yan Mingjun originally wanted to invite Li Jin to go with him, but the good-natured Li Jin actually rejected the invitation this time, saying that he was going to Baimajing Wharf for "business".Although Yan Mingjun didn't know what Li Jin was up to, he still told him to be careful. After all, if something went wrong, Li Jin himself would suffer in the end.

Early this morning, He Qi hired a sedan chair according to Yan Mingjun's instructions, and then he went to the Zhongming Academy in the east of the city with Yan Mingjun as his attendant.Yan Mingjun did not prepare any ceremonial guards for the trip, because subconsciously he also felt that the Haihan people would not be happy to see the ceremonial guards of Lord Zhizhou appear on the streets of Danzhou, not to mention that Huang Zixing was a well-known local anti-Haihan Fighter, visiting with great fanfare, is bound to attract the attention of the Haihan people, and this kind of attention is not what Yan Mingjun wants.

Of course, what he didn't know was that before he set off, Wang Baisuo had already deployed comprehensive surveillance measures, and even the two bearers who carried his sedan chair for him were arranged by Wang Baisuo.Of course, it is impossible for the bearer to find out any inside information, but for Wang Baisuo, one of the work rules he learned during the induction training is to use all the surveillance methods as much as possible on the surveillance objects, and not let any one go. The details of the people the surveillance object may come into contact with—even the humble bearers are the people the surveillance object may come into contact with.

During the journey from the temporary government office to the Zhongming Academy in the east of the city, Wang Baisuo also strictly followed the operating procedures and arranged several groups of people to follow him.The task of these people is not entirely to monitor, they also have to prevent Yan Mingjun from having any accidents on the road, after all, no one knows what Huang Zixing's plan is for contacting Yan Mingjun.

Yan Mingjun and his party arrived at Zhongming Academy all the way without incident. Huang Zixing, who had been notified yesterday, had already opened the door of the academy, and led a group of teachers and academy disciples to line up at the door to welcome them.

Yan Mingjun didn't want his visit to be exposed to the public eye. Although the academy is located outside the city, it is next to the official road after all, and there are still quite a few people coming and going.At the moment, Yan Mingjun was not in a hurry to get off the sedan chair, and sent He Qi over there, and asked Huang Zixing to withdraw from the welcoming team, and went directly to meet in the academy.

After Huang Zixing got this instruction, instead of being angry, he felt a little relieved.If this Yan Mingjun couldn't lose face and got out of the sedan chair at the door to meet him, then Huang Zixing would probably leave him with a frivolous and unstable impression.And Yan Mingjun asked to withdraw the welcoming team, obviously because he didn't want to expose his identity outside the academy, and this kind of low-key was exactly one of the characteristics that Huang Zixing needed to act.

Immediately, Huang Zixing asked the people from the academy to return to the courtyard first, and then let the sedan chairs enter directly through the gate.After entering the courtyard, Yan Mingjun got out of the sedan chair to meet Huang Zixing: "Master Huangshan, I'm so rude, forgive me!"

Huang Zixing said: "Master Yan, why did you say such a thing? Today's private visit on Weifu is because I didn't want to make it public. I just greeted you at the door. It's because the grassroots didn't think carefully."

After the two exchanged a few words of pleasantries, Huang Zixing invited Yan Mingjun into the house, while the rest of the academy disbanded on the spot, doing what they should do.Zhang Qianzhi, who had just been admitted to the hospital for less than a day, was also in the crowd, but he didn't try to get close to the two at this time. He just watched them enter the study of Dongkuayuan before leaving silently.

Outsiders have no way of knowing what the two of them talked about alone in the study.However, the meeting didn't last too long. After about an hour, Huang Zixing sent Yan Mingjun out.Yan Mingjun got into the sedan chair, and the group returned the same way.

He Qi asked tentatively on the way: "Master Yan, what can I gain from meeting Huang Zixing today?"

Yan Mingjun snorted in the sedan chair and said, "This Huang Zixing has been going around with me all the time, without saying a few words of truth! It's disgusting to waste my time!"

He Qi couldn't tell whether Yan Mingjun's words were true or not, so he could only comfort him with a few words.Due to his limited status, he did not dare to continue to ask for details, so as not to arouse Yan Mingjun's suspicion.

After Wang Baisuo received the report, he did not dispel his suspicion of Huang Zixing, but instead ordered to strengthen the overall monitoring measures of Zhongming Academy.In his opinion, Yan Mingjun's remarks afterwards were not so credible, and Huang Zixing was not out of his mind, so he managed to get on this line. Would he still push the new magistrate Yan Mingjun out?

(End of this chapter)