Water Margin people

Chapter 1653: Academic Faction

"Also, Qi State is going to officially open the sea. You should start drafting a decree for after the sea is opened!"

Sun Lei looked at Xiao Jiasui and Wen Huanzhang and said, "Law is very complicated and we need to prepare in advance."

"Your Majesty, I don't know much about the laws on the sea..."

Xiao Jiasui and Wen Huanzhang said that it was not that they were refusing, but that they really did not understand. There had never been any formal laws regarding the sea in all dynasties.

Moreover, the opening of the sea by Qi State was different from that of other countries. The sea areas conquered by Qi State extended all the way to Persia and the Arab Empire, and all the countries along the way were conquered. Once the sea was opened, not only merchants flocked to the country, but common people also took boats to travel. The complexity of this decree was no less than that of the law.

“If you don’t understand, go and find out!”

Sun Lei waved his hand, turned around, got on the dragon boat, and headed towards Liangshan.

The emperor's departure did not dampen the people's enthusiasm. They were more concerned about the soldiers who received generous rewards.

"Brothers, if you want to go home, the carriages and horses are ready!"

Chai Jin said as he looked at the soldiers who were grinning foolishly while holding their rewards.

"Haha, thank you, Master Chai!"

The soldiers were all very happy and bowed to Chai Jin. What they wanted most now was to go home.

As for the safety of the soldiers, there is no need to worry at all. The soldiers in a region will go back together. These are elite soldiers who have fought in many battles. Anyone who dares to attack them is seeking death.

After returning to the palace, Sun Lei went straight back to the harem and fell asleep immediately. He was exhausted from the journey.

"Go to sleep as soon as you get back!"

Li Shishi looked at Sun Lei who was snoring loudly with annoyance.

"Don't wake up the husband. He is exhausted from the journey. Sister, take the children out and come back tomorrow! Don't let them wake up the husband."

Hua Chan looked at Cheng Wan'er again and said.

"It's so boring."

Li Shishi was very dissatisfied.

"Let's all go out. You don't have to ask your husband if you want to know what's going on outside. Didn't Sanniang come back with us? Let's go ask her!"

Hua Chan pulled Li Shishi and said.

"Yes, ask Sanniang. This guy will definitely not tell the truth!"

Li Shishi immediately became interested and pulled Hua Chan out to look for Hu Sanniang.

The emperor led his army back in triumph, and as it was the New Year period, the Liangshan City was bustling with people.

Some of the soldiers who were rewarded were originally from the vicinity of Liangshan City. When they returned home in glory, firecrackers were set off, relatives and friends came to visit them, and neighbors came to visit them. They were all very curious about what it was like overseas and why there were such generous rewards.

The soldiers were full of pride. They had traveled and seen more than all the people before them combined. They had seen the Kunlun Mountains, the dry Western Regions Desert, the Pamir Mountains that looked like a giant blade, the bearded foreigners, the white foreigners, the black foreigners, the Western Liao Empire of Yelü Dashi, the Persians, the Arabs, the Crusades, the Holy Wars, the Manichean treasures...

The soldiers talked incessantly about what they had seen and heard, and the listeners pricked up their ears for fear of missing a word. They understood every word, but they just couldn't imagine what kind of world it was. It clearly existed, but they couldn't touch it.

After talking for a long time, Ruo was tired and drank a large pot of water. Seeing that everyone looked dazed, the narrator was also tired, so he smiled and asked everyone to leave and continue tomorrow.

After everyone left, he carefully took the rewarded gold and silver to his wife and parents, and handed them over as if to show off. This was what he had earned with his life. It was clean money and he could spend it with a clear conscience.

Some were happy and some were sad that night.

Zhu Xi rushed to Lu Jiuling and Lu Jiuyuan's residence overnight. "What are you doing here? We are enemies now!"

Lu Jiuyuan looked at Zhu Xi and said that they used to be friends, but had fallen out because of disagreements. Although the emperor was now there to mediate, they both belonged to the Imperial Religion.

"Let me hide! I really can't stand it anymore! It's going to kill me if I come back! If I had known I wouldn't have come back!"

Zhu Xi said with a bitter face.

"Those people came to find you?"

Lu Jiuling looked at Zhu Xi and asked.

"Looking for me? They are almost surrounding my house. They are all crazy. They want to be enemies with the Emperor. How crazy can you imagine!"

Zhu Xi pointed outside and said that he thought he was extreme enough, but today he had seen that there were people even crazier than him.

"You are the leader of this generation of Confucianists. They have appointed you as their successor. Now that you have the Emperor's trust, who else can they turn to?"

Lu Jiuling said with a smile, and the servant had already brought up the fragrant tea.

When Zhu Xi saw the hot tea, he immediately took it and took a sip. It was too cold here in Liangshan in the middle of winter.

"Who wants to be their successor? If they die, should I die with them?"

Zhu Xi drank a sip of tea and felt a little better. Then he said angrily that he, Zhu Xi, cherished his life the most and would never die for anyone.

"I'm afraid this storm will be quite serious. We are not safe here!"

Lu Jiuyuan said that they were all Confucian students, and now that Confucianism was about to die and launch a counterattack, they would definitely concentrate all their strength, and they would not be spared.

"If I can't afford to offend you, can I not hide? I will go home tomorrow and hide in Jiangnan. I will come back after the New Year and everything is over!"

Zhu Xi spoke.

"You think too simply. This incident has spread all over the literary world. You are hiding away to have peace and quiet, but what about those people in your family?"

Lu Jiuyuan shook his head and asked, "Why did Confucianism fight back? Because the scholars who had been studying for thousands of years were fundamentally shaken! This is actually a matter of interests, and no one can stay out of it."

"What do you mean?"

Zhu Xi looked at Lu Jiuyuan. Although they had different opinions, he still admired Lu Jiuyuan's knowledge.

"The ones causing the trouble this time are more like the 'academic cliques' than the Confucians!"

Lu Jiuyuan nodded.

"Scholar tyrant?"

  Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuling's faces changed. Anything related to clans must be related to monopoly, and the end must be cruel and bloody, such as the clans that were eliminated in the Tang Dynasty! Warlords in various periods! When they perished, there were heads rolling and blood flowing like rivers!

"For example, our family can be traced back to Lu Xisheng, the prime minister of the late Tang Dynasty. By the time of my father's generation, no one had entered the officialdom for a hundred years, and the family fell into decline."

"But this family's decline is only for ordinary people. My Lu family is still a wealthy family in the county. In the past, when the county magistrate and prefect had something they couldn't decide, didn't they ask us?"

"The children of the family have been learning from their family since they were young, and their friends are all well-educated. It can be said that their birth is the pinnacle of ordinary people. You have to know that ordinary people don't even have the opportunity to read and learn to read!"

"It's still the same even if no one has entered the officialdom for a hundred years. But once someone enters the officialdom, they can easily rise to prominence with the help of their friends and connections accumulated over the years. And it's the kind of thing where one person's success will bring prosperity to the whole family. There are too many learned people in a family like ours, and nepotism can bring out a bunch of officials. This is a monopoly, this is the academic clique! For thousands of years, knowledge has only been in the hands of a few of us!"

Lu Jiuyuan spoke slowly, this was not something they could hide from, they were swept by the rolling torrent, their family was caught in it, no one could stay out of it.