I'm really not doing business

Chapter 968 Once this convenient door is opened, all other doors will open.
Zhu Yiliu had observed politics with the emperor since childhood, but he often saw things in a fog and did not see them clearly. After reviewing the troops, he asked the emperor why the people always supported the court and the new policies when there were conflicts between the court and the local governments.

He was actually asking the emperor how to gain support for his reforms, or more specifically, what should be done to gain the support of the majority of people.

Politics is a complex and multifaceted thing, but in essence, it all boils down to who has the most people.

Li Rusong was a formidable fighter, as was the Zhenbao Vanguard Battalion, but their numbers were limited. They arrived in Rongcheng and eliminated the county magistrate, the county assistant, the yamen officials, the criminal gangs, and the mountain bandits outside the city, but these people were still a minority.

If all 270,000 people in Rongcheng County were gathered together, could Li Rusong's 3,000 men still defeat them?

After the Beijing garrison announced military control, Rongcheng County experienced a brief period of chaos, but then things went back to normal, and they are currently busy returning farmland to its original state.

The court's heavy-handed crackdown was merely a topic of conversation among the common people. They had no intention of rallying for their upright officials, local gentry, or virtuous men; in fact, they cursed the officials, saying they deserved their misfortune.

Why would the people support the imperial court when there is conflict between the central government and the local people? This is what Zhu Yiliu most wants to know, because he is about to become the emperor, and he must know the answer to this question. Now that he has arrived in Jinshan City, how should he govern the future Jinshan Kingdom better?

The emperor's answer was: The people have no other choice; the general said: The people should befriend distant states and attack nearby ones; the prime minister said: They just want to watch the show and make things worse.

Zhu Yiliu felt that these answers were both right and wrong, like looking through a thick layer of paper. He always had a feeling of seeing things through a fog.

After returning to the Prince of Lu's residence, Zhu Yiliu did not pursue any beauties. He was simply bored and had nothing better to do. After all these years, he had long since lost interest in pursuing them.

He wasn't in the warm chamber; the cold air made him more alert. He sat on a recliner, covered with a heavy overcoat, rocking back and forth as he pondered the problem.

Zhu Yiliu's thoughts were in disarray. He thought of the first decree of the Wanli Reforms, the Performance Evaluation Law.

At that time, Zhu Yiliu was still a child, running around with snot bubbles hanging from his nose. He was far more interested in the birds on the branches than in the imperial court. It is unbelievable that the performance evaluation system was able to succeed.

The performance evaluation system was like putting a bridle on officials, forcing them to work like oxen, which genuinely harmed almost all officials, but it was ultimately successfully implemented.

The reason for its successful implementation is that the performance evaluation system provides a fairer promotion mechanism.

Before the performance evaluation system, promotion was no longer based on nepotism. Without serving as someone's lackey, one had no chance of obtaining an official position. The performance evaluation system broke down the practice of promotion through nepotism, and meritorious officials became the new standard for promotion.

Zhu Yiliu then thought of another person: Xu Zhenming, the dean of the Agricultural College and the Grand Minister of Agriculture of Baoqi. This man was good for nothing but farming. He had been retaliated against for reclaiming wasteland years ago and had returned to the capital to seek help everywhere, but to no avail.

Just like the majority of ordinary people in Rongcheng County who were unwilling to work hard for the county magistrate, county assistant, and local gentry, the majority of officials who could not find connections, had no network, or had a mentor in the performance evaluation system were the very foundation of the system.

Zhu Yiliu suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze brightening. He seemed to have found the answer, to see through the fog. He seemed to see the answer:
Fairness, fairness, and more of the fuck, fairness!
But Zhu Yiliu leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and continued rocking his rattan chair. Fairness was part of the answer, but it didn't completely resolve the doubts in his heart.

His Highness Prince Lu kept rocking back and forth in his recliner, one foot on the ground. He wasn't sleeping; he was constantly pondering the answer to the question.

The Prince of Lu opened his eyes again, for he had come up with a terrifying answer.

The answer is: the interests of the poor laborers and vagrants are highly aligned with those of the emperors and generals at the top of the power center.

How could that be? One lives high above the nine heavens, while the other wanders in the mud; how could their interests possibly align?

Prince Lu sat up abruptly. He looked at the pond and the fallen leaves. He was somewhat unsure, but it seemed to be true.

History has shown that when the imperial court is strong and can control the local areas, the region is well-governed; when the imperial court is weak and cannot control the local areas, the region is in chaos. The most typical example is the An Lushan Rebellion, which completely shattered the authority of the Tang Dynasty, leading to regional warlordism and widespread suffering among the people.

"How could this be? How could this be?" Zhu Yiliu muttered to himself, the answer he received was far too outrageous.

He grew up alongside his elder brother, following in his footsteps, and he read many history books.

The political trajectory of Chinese dynasties evolved gradually from the aristocratic politics of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, to the aristocratic politics of the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, and then to the gentry-bureaucratic politics of the Song and Ming dynasties.

By the time of the Ming Dynasty, it had reached the pinnacle of bureaucratic politics.

This precisely corroborates his idea that the interests of the lower and upper levels are gradually converging amidst the upheavals and calamities that have brought about societal upheavals.

According to his elder brother, the emperor was the head of the gentry and the head of the landlords, but Zhu Yiliu felt that his understanding was somewhat one-sided.

The correct understanding of this statement is: the emperor should naturally stand on the side of the people.

If an emperor could govern the country well simply by being the head of the largest gentry and landlords, how could there be any dynastic changes? And this happens every few hundred years.

Obviously, an emperor should not be a gentry leader or a landlord leader; otherwise, dynastic change would be inevitable.

"Go to Tonghe Palace!" Zhu Yiliu pondered for a long time. He felt that he was only a thin layer away from breaking through the window paper, but he just couldn't figure out a key point: if the interests of the top and the bottom could be completely aligned, could a change of dynasty be avoided?

Zhu Yiliu rushed to the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace, stood before the emperor, waved his arms, and began to explain his thoughts.

"Your Majesty, am I right?" Zhu Yiliu looked intently at the emperor, seeking an answer.

Zhu Yijun then scribbled on paper, summarizing Zhu Yiliu's thoughts.

Historical context proves that the interests of the lower and upper classes are gradually converging, and the evolution of aristocratic, aristocratic, and bureaucratic political systems is irrefutable proof.
From the first new policy, the Assessment and Performance Evaluation System, to the recent military campaign against Rongcheng, almost all the new policies of the Wanli Reforms have proven this point: addressing issues from the perspective of the people will win their support.
As a ruler, one must first establish a stance, protect the interests of the poor and laborers, and mediate the contradictions between different classes to prevent mutual destruction in a violent conflict.

This is the main point Zhu Yiliu wanted to make as he waved his arms.

"No." Zhu Yijun answered Zhu Yiliu's question very definitively. He looked at Zhu Yiliu and said with a smile, "Even if the interests of the top and the bottom are completely aligned, it is impossible to avoid a change of dynasty."

"As the interests of the top and the bottom gradually converge, they can only get closer and closer, and it is impossible to achieve complete agreement."

"Most of the time, when the court begins to weaken and can no longer compete with the powerful clans, its core interests will immediately shift to taxation. The court will then join forces with the powerful clans to exploit the people in order to prolong its own existence."

"Why?" Zhu Yiliu was taken aback. He felt that he had found the underlying logic of a remarkable political system, which continued to evolve on the basis of the gentry-bureaucratic system!

But his elder brother's words dealt him a cruel blow.

"The first chapter of 'On Contradiction' tells you that everything is constantly changing," the emperor said with a warm smile, looking at his younger brother. "Don't be fooled by scholars; accept this basic fact."

"We must learn to accept that everything, including the imperial court, goes through a process of going from good to bad. Ups and downs are in line with the infinite nature of all things, just as the sun cannot always be at its zenith."

"What was good in the past may not be good now, and may not be bad in the future. Read more books and don't be fooled by scholars."

The Ming Dynasty scholar-officials had six ways of deceiving people.

First, it distorts Confucian self-cultivation into complete self-centeredness; second, it judges success or failure and right or wrong solely by results; third, it employs selective narration and takes things out of context; fourth, it simplifies all processes; fifth, it ignores the complexity and variability of affairs; and sixth, it has a teleological tendency.

Scholars and officials throughout history have enjoyed mocking Qin Shi Huang, saying that the First Emperor hoped to establish a dynasty that would last for ten thousand generations, but the dynasty perished after only two generations. This is a typical example of judging success or failure based on the outcome.

Did Qin Shi Huang really fail? After he achieved unification, subsequent dynasties were destined to strive for it.

Even when nomadic peoples entered the Central Plains, they couldn't escape this biggest consensus: without achieving unification, a regime becomes a separatist regime, which is a failure.

With a teleological tendency, Confucian scholars were always creating a non-existent utopia or ideal state, just like the illusory Ming Dynasty that the Great Brightness Sect gradually formed through word of mouth, which was far superior to the Ming Dynasty.

The narratives of non-existent utopias, ideal states, utopian worlds, and illusory Ming dynasties are all the same: they all believe that history must inevitably develop toward a certain goal, and any behavior that deviates from this goal should be regarded as wrong and a failure, and should be severely punished.

This teleological tendency is like typical impracticality, talking about morality while standing idly by, sacrificing oneself for one's country when the water is too cold, or shaving one's head when one's scalp itches.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau must eliminate all corrupt officials. If the Anti-Corruption Bureau does not handle corruption cases involving less than 50,000 taels of silver, it is wrong and a failure!

Xu Chengchu's failure to investigate the corruption along the imperial road from the capital to Kaifeng was a mistake, a betrayal of the emperor, and a disgrace to the emperor's grace.

These are the six tricks that scholar-officials were best at using to deceive people.

"Are you aware that Vice Minister Ling has recently been cracking down on official factories?" Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and then used a case to explain the logic of politics to Zhu Yiliu.

Zhu Yiliu pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I know that Vice Minister Ling seems to have arrested a large number of people, including Wang Jian, the nephew of Duke Wencheng. People are in a state of panic."

"The excessive reliance on personal connections between officials and factories was initially a good thing, but when personal connections become too strong, the system becomes ineffective. Today's rectification is to pay the price for the excessive reliance on personal connections in the past."

"But after the Wang Jian case, should we completely negate all of Wen Cheng Gong's contributions to the official factory? Should we go from negating Wen Cheng Gong as a person to negating everything about the official factory?" Zhu Yijun asked a question.

Zhu Yiliu pondered for a long time before saying, "Of course not."

Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "But the scholar-officials are best at doing this. They are already using the Wang Jian case to completely deny the contributions of Duke Wencheng, completely deny Duke Wencheng, deny everything about the official factory, and incidentally deny the court."

"The more aligned the interests of the bottom and the top are, the longer the organization will last. But to live forever and remain unchanged for all time, it is necessary to repeatedly correct past mistakes."

"To correct a wrong, one must go to extremes, but in the process of correcting a wrong, one must never completely oppose or deny it, otherwise one will be like the left hand hitting the right hand, and in the end, one will kill oneself in the disaster of the party prohibition."

However, it is impossible for the interests of the bottom and the top to completely converge forever. It is necessary to repeatedly correct the mistakes in practice in order to make it last longer.

Correcting a wrong inevitably leads to overcorrection, but one cannot completely oppose a wrong; otherwise, one's present self would be killing one's past self.

This is the contradictory reality.

"But... if we can't completely oppose it, how can we thoroughly eliminate the old problems? If we can't eliminate the old problems, then a lot of hidden dangers will be left behind." Zhu Yiliu quickly realized that the method His Majesty mentioned could not be changed forever.

Every correction of the past, because it cannot be completely denied, leaves behind various hidden dangers. These hidden dangers accumulate and eventually destroy any form of organization.

A complete denial would only hasten your demise.

“That’s right, there is no such thing as immortality, nor is there anything that lasts forever.” Zhu Yijun said with great certainty, “Don’t think too much about it. If we can create a Jinshan Kingdom that lasts for two or three hundred years without being destroyed, we’re already blessed by our ancestors.”

"I will heed Your Majesty's instructions." Zhu Yiliu bowed and took his leave.

Zhu Yijun watched his younger brother's retreating figure. Zhu Yiliu was adapting to his new identity, the transformation from a lazy, idle prince to the ruler of a country.

Therefore, during this transition, many issues are always considered. Establishing a system that lasts for eternity is generally the ambition of every new ruler, and then, in reality, those rough edges are constantly smoothed out.

There is no magic to immortality in this world.

"Has Wu Weizhong been escorted to the capital?" After Zhu Yiliu left, Zhu Yijun asked about Wu Weizhong, who loved to visit brothels. His love for brothels was a weakness, the beginning of all corruption.

Wan Wenqing, the prefect of Guangzhou, also enjoyed visiting brothels, but he stopped later.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived. Wang Jiaping, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, wishes to visit us," Feng Bao said, mentioning the memorial submitted by his mentor, Wang Jiaping.

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Go ahead, after all, we are teacher and student."

After Fan Yingqi was imprisoned in the Jieku Yuan (a place for exorcising criminals), Wang Jiaping returned to Beijing and visited him. After all, they were fellow disciples, and Wang Jiaping still wanted to visit Wu Weizhong after he was arrested.

Wang Jiaping ordered a two-tael banquet at the Qianmen Restaurant and took it with him to the Beizhenfusi. This two-tael banquet was Wang Jiaping's farewell gift. Wu Weizhong's crime warranted at least exile to the Jinchi Governor's Office.

Upon entering the gate of the Northern Garrison Command, Wang Jiaping went to a side room and placed the dishes from the food box onto the table one by one.

"Teacher." As soon as Wu Weizhong entered the room, he saw Wang Jiaping and quickly bowed.

"Sit down." Wang Jiaping sighed and gestured for Wu Weizhong to sit down. The teacher and student remained silent. In fact, when Wang Jiaping left Guangzhou, he had a very unpleasant falling out with Wu Weizhong, and they had even broken off all ties.

Wang Jiaping repeatedly warned Wu Weizhong, but Wu remained unmoved. Wang Jiaping even angrily scolded Wu Weizhong, saying that if he continued like this, he would surely end up in jail.

As it turned out, we met again today in the prison of the Zhenfu Division.

"Teacher, is there any hope for me?" Wu Weizhong asked in a low voice.

Wang Jiaping said helplessly, "Anyway, your teacher, I really can't save you. If the Grand Minister of Justice were still Duke Wencheng, I could still come to him to plead for help. But Duke Wencheng has passed away, and now it is the Second Assistant Minister Sha Xingling who is the Grand Minister of Justice. It is very likely that he will be sentenced to death for his crimes."

“Especially the matter of Rongcheng County.”

"Alas, I regret not heeding my mentor's words." Wu Weizhong finally gave up. He thought he could escape this calamity by relying on Wang Jiaping's protection, but it seems that it wasn't that his mentor didn't want to save him, but that his mentor couldn't.

The fact that Wang Jiaping came to visit him in prison was already a sign of deep affection and loyalty; many people would avoid the Jingguang corruption case like the plague.

Wang Jiaping is a very sentimental person.

“Compared to Wan Wenqing, I actually think more highly of you. You are more clever and more meticulous than Wan Wenqing, but you are too smart. You think you will be fine and overestimate your willpower.” Wang Jiaping sighed, opened a bottle of Guojiao, and filled Wu Weizhong’s glass.

Wang Jiaping had taken in two disciples. Wan Wenqing was a bit dull, while Wu Weizhong was more adaptable. A disciple is like half a son, and if Wang Jiaping had a way, he would definitely save this disciple. But Wencheng Gong was gone, and Wang Jiaping didn't even have a place to bribe.

The smarter you are, the more you think you can resist temptation with your willpower and even try to get something out of nothing. The bolder you are, the more likely you are to run into trouble. On the contrary, the dull-witted Wan Wenqing has gone further now.

Wang Jiaping and Wu Weizhong chatted for a long time. They didn't eat or drink much. Half an hour later, Wang Jiaping got up and left.

"Disciple Wu Weizhong thanks Master for protecting me all the way." As Wang Jiaping left, Wu Weizhong got up, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed heavily.

Wang Jiaping glanced back, flicked his sleeves, and left the Northern Garrison.

The corruption case involving the Beijing-Guangzhou Expressway has been fully investigated, and there are extremely serious disagreements within the government regarding the sentencing.

Grand Minister of Justice Ling Yunyi had only one word: kill.

Shen Li and Li Changchun tried to smooth things over, citing several precedents, such as the fact that former Sichuan Governor Luo Yao and Huguang Governor-General Ren Fanglian were not executed, but these twelve people involved in the case should be executed.

Just because Luo Yao and Ren Fanglian were Zhang Juzheng's protégés, they were spared from death, while those without such a powerful background were supposed to die.
The case of Ren Fanglian, the Governor-General of Huguang, was actually the beginning of the entire corruption scandal involving the imperial highways. To this day, there has been no clear verdict because Ren Fanglian was a protégé of Zhang Juzheng, and most court officials felt that if things dragged on like this, Ren Fanglian would definitely not die.

Because the incident occurred in Huguang, many of those involved were Zhang Juzheng's supporters, so Zhang Juzheng's attitude was very important. However, Zhang Juzheng never gave a clear answer, and the emperor never issued a clear imperial edict.

This commotion lasted for nearly a month, until Xu Chengchu and Chen Mo both returned to Beijing.

On the day Xu Chengchu returned to the capital, Zhang Juzheng summoned Xu Chengchu to the Quanchu Guild Hall and questioned him carefully for a long time. The next day, Zhang Juzheng reported to His Majesty: Ren Fanglian and others should be executed immediately.

This statement terrified the court officials, so much so that during the imperial court meeting on the eighth day of the ninth month, no one discussed the case of the corrupt officials involved in the imperial road construction.

Zhang Juzheng looked left and right, but even the assassin Ling Yunyi was unwilling to talk about it. So the Grand Secretary had no choice but to step forward and bow his head, saying, "Your Majesty, the rebellion in Rongcheng County is inextricably linked to the corruption case on the Beijing-Guangzhou Expressway. Such a rebellion is intolerable to Heaven."

Feng Bao placed the memorial before the emperor. Zhu Yijun picked up the vermilion seal, looked at it for a long time, and then sighed softly before stamping the Wanli Emperor's seal on it.

As people get older, they become more nostalgic. Zhang Juzheng and Ren Fanglian had been mentor and friend for twenty-eight years. When Wang Jiaping wanted to protect Wu Weizhong, Zhang Juzheng was not without his own selfish motives. Of course he had his own selfish motives, and he was able to protect them because he had a lot of imperial favor with His Majesty.

Zhang Juzheng hesitated for a whole month, letting the court argue endlessly, but finally made up his mind after meeting Xu Chengchu.

kill!

While corruption may not carry the death penalty, the assassination of Imperial Envoy Xu Chengchu was part of a larger case. If it isn't dealt with severely, who knows what they might do tomorrow if they dare to assassinate an imperial envoy today! Issuing local currency?
Zhang Juzheng could have easily saved his disciples and done Wang Jiaping a favor in the process.

This method is actually very simple: speak freely and admit your mistakes.

It means to make a big show of it, to launch a major offensive, to publish articles in the official gazette and other newspapers, to launch verbal and written attacks, and to submit memorials to the emperor, to make a big fuss, to make it seem like they are going to severely punish someone, to shout out that they are going to kill someone, and even to hold a public trial to make people admit their mistakes.

They make a big fuss and a lot of noise, but once the public anger subsides and they feel that justice has been served, they resort to delaying tactics.

This case of corruption is actually unrelated to the interests of most ordinary people. After the initial excitement subsides, supplementary investigations are conducted under the guise of investigation and supplementation. Over time, when the higher-ups stop asking and no one below cares, the people can be released quietly.

Zhang Juzheng certainly understood this method of raising the issue high and then letting it go gently. He had seen it many times, and everyone was using it. Saving people didn't necessarily mean going against the emperor; it meant dragging things out.

But he ultimately decided to kill them, which was related to the Wanli Reforms. If he didn't kill them, the achievements of the Wanli Reforms would be hollowed out by these parasites within a few years.

Even remote inland areas, relying on the main road, can no longer get a share of the sea's bounty.

If you want to get to the bottom of the distribution, killing is the only way; otherwise, there's no point in building this highway.

"Corruption is wrong, it has been wrong since the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. I only want to fight corruption, but I have to go against the court." Zhu Yijun approved the memorial ordering immediate execution. Without the case of Qingmaqiao in Rongcheng, no one would have to die, but with the case of Qingmaqiao, everyone must die.

It's not just about the imperial power being challenged, but also about whether the anti-corruption campaign can continue.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Juzheng bowed again. On the tenth day of the ninth month, after the Double Ninth Festival, all the ringleaders were beheaded. The trial was held in public at the execution platform outside the Meridian Gate, with Ling Yunyi overseeing the execution. The other accomplices were exiled to the Governor-General's Mansion in Jinchi.

At the Quanchu Guild Hall, Xu Chengchu's opinion was not to kill, because in his view, Qingma Bridge was an accidental incident, especially since the county magistrate himself was trying to stop it, not assassinate him; it was just that the execution process was much more complicated.

But the final verdict from the imperial court was: no mercy. This was the final decision after repeatedly weighing the pros and cons.

"Your Majesty, Jinchi is no longer willing to accept these exiled prisoners." Grand Minister of Justice Ling Yunyi recounted a story: Zhang Cong, the deputy commander of Jinchi who had last delivered gold, approached the Ministry of Justice and subtly expressed the Jinchi Governor's Office's refusal to accept the exiled prisoners.

Ling Yunyi thought for a moment before continuing, "Zhang Cong, the deputy commander of Jinchi, told me: 'The Jinchi Governor's Mansion is now like a cesspool, used to ferment criminals.'"

There were so many criminals exiled to Jinchi that the entire Jinchi Governor's Office was very unhappy about it.

These exiled criminals, once they arrived there, were lazy and vile, always breaking the law. It would have been fine if they had sent some scholars, but they were all vagrants and hooligans, causing serious problems for the security of Jinchi.

Zhang Cong was already being very tactful.

"Your Majesty, Chen Zhu, the commander of the Great Iron Ridge Guard in Juezhou, has submitted a memorial stating that a large number of laborers are needed." Ling Yunyi did not raise the issue without addressing it. Great Iron Ridge was a desolate area, and no one would care if people disobeyed the law there, as long as the iron ore was extracted on time.

"Then let's exile them to Tieling Guard this time," Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and followed the Ministry of Justice's suggestion.

Not only Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang Cong, but also Marquis Deng Zilong of Shilong expressed this attitude in his memorial. However, Deng Zilong's reason was that not enough land had been reclaimed and too many people had been sent to feed them, so there was not enough food.

"The Governor-General of Suiyuan, Pan Jixun, the wife of the Provincial Treasurer of Suiyuan, and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Suiyuan, Liu Dongxing, submitted a memorial asking, 'Suiyuan has long been deprived of the Emperor's rule, and its remote location hinders the development of education. We ask the court whether the university can be made lenient and allow Suiyuan students to be admitted.'" Li Changchun, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, presented a memorial to inquire.

The memorial was submitted to the Ministry of Rites for discussion, where there was a great deal of disagreement. On the one hand, the conservative faction, which advocated appeasing distant peoples, believed that the matter could be slightly pardoned to show the emperor's boundless grace. On the other hand, the progressive reformers, led by Gao Qiyu, strongly opposed it.

"Your Majesty, I think this is absolutely unacceptable. If we do this, all the students who almost failed to get into university will be from Suiyuan. Misidentification will surely become a common practice."

"Furthermore, if Suiyuan wants preferential treatment, what about Liaodong, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and North Korea? What about Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guizhou? If everyone wants preferential treatment, how will the students in the hinterland go to school?"

"Finally, the more widespread the benefits, the less motivated people become. The Dinghai Education System of the Wanli Reform was a fundamental national policy and should never be allowed to open up to private interests." Gao Qiyu, as the initiator of the Dinghai Education System, was the first to stand up and oppose it.

The ten-thousand-word memorial on the Dinghai educational system was actually the result of Gao Qiyu's seven years of painstaking work, and it served as his stepping stone from the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies to the Ministry of Rites.

The entire memorial was extremely well-thought-out, taking into account almost every possible situation, including the current demands of the Suiyuan side, and requesting that they open the door to convenience.

Gao Qiyu immediately launched into a full-scale attack, giving three reasons: misattribution, inequality rather than scarcity, and the principle that favors should be moderate, as the more one is given, the less motivated one becomes.

"This benevolence extends far and wide, all are bathed in the Emperor's grace, and education is promoted to solidify the Emperor's rule. Yet, in Minister Gao's mouth, it has become such a despicable act?" Li Changchun frowned deeply. Gao Qiyu's attack was truly too powerful.

Li Changchun was unable to address any of the three objections raised by Gao Qiyu; his approach remained the same as his previous method of pacifying distant peoples.

"The Dinghai Education System is a national policy that has lasted for a century and is the foundation of the country. How can it be allowed to be corrupted by convenient means? Today, Suiyuan is using its remote location as an excuse. In the future, will it be using the recommendation of filial piety and integrity? Once this door is opened, all other doors will be opened. Your Majesty, if you do this, there is no need to implement the Dinghai Education System!" Gao Qiyu immediately gave a reason.

This convenient door must absolutely not be opened. If things continue like this, in the end, they will surely be recommended as filial and incorruptible officials, and it wouldn't be surprising if a three-year-old child became famous throughout the country for his arithmetic skills.

"Stop." Seeing that the argument was about to continue, Zhu Yijun immediately said, "As Minister Gao said, this matter need not be discussed further."

The Ministry of Rites was too divided to reach a decision, so the matter was sent to the Wenhua Hall for a decision. Before the ministers could speak, Zhu Yijun took out his imperial edict and directly chose Gao Qiyu's opinion.

(End of this chapter)