The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 404 Unintentional intervention
Xue Shao was not a cultivator, nor was he even a martial artist, so he did not understand the division of their combat power.

It took him some effort to understand that Pan Jun was struck by lightning and his hair was cut off because of his rapid progress in cultivation.

Xue Shao murmured, "So what my uncle said is true. When one is infinitely close to the Way of Heaven, one is actually violating the essence of being human. Therefore, one is going against Heaven and will definitely encounter a thunderstorm."

Pan Jun was surprised: "Xue Shaoqing also knows these?"

Xue Shao came back to his senses and said with a smile: "My uncle knows a lot. He believes that the principle is in the qi and that qi is the basis. Therefore, observing the qi can reveal the essence. It is the most convenient way to seek the truth."

He looked straight into Pan Yun's eyes and forehead and said, "It is because I learned from him that I learned the method of observing qi, which is how I can distinguish good and bad luck."

Pan Yun lowered his eyes and thought, then asked, "Can we also distinguish between loyalty and treachery?"

Xue Shao just smiled and said nothing.

Pan Yun: "No wonder you are so honest with me, it turns out you see that I am a good person by nature."

Xue Shao: "... That being said, I cannot distinguish between loyalty and treachery 100%. I have only learned the basics, and there is a huge gap between me and my uncle."

Pan Yun used his talent to look him up and down, and nodded after a moment: "I think you are a good person too."

Xue Shao: "Thank you, Taoist Sanzhu."

Pan Yun waved his hand: "No need to be so polite, from now on we are allies, you can call me Sanzhu or Pan Yun."

Xue Shao nodded and asked curiously, "How did you avoid the Jinyiwei search?"

A person registered in the household registration book could escape like this and come back to Beijing in a swagger.

Pan Yun: "Fake death."

Before Xue Shao could ask more questions, the waiter brought the dishes.

Pan Yun held the chopsticks and said, "Don't ask about the rest. Even if you are a good person, I won't tell you anymore."

Xue Shao swallowed his words and nodded.

The two of them had lunch in silence.

Pan Jun enjoyed the meal very much, and Pan Xiaohei also enjoyed it very much. By the time Xue Shao came back to his senses after thinking about what he had done, the food on the table had been almost finished.

Before he knew it, he had eaten quite a bit.

His abdomen was slightly bulging, which was beyond his habit. Xue Shao felt a little uncomfortable, so he stood up and said, "Let's go for a walk on the street to help digest the food."

Pan Yun refused and said, "It's getting late. I have to go back. Where do you live? I'll come find you another day."

"I live in a small alley at the back door of Zhuangyuan Building, the innermost one."

Xi Jin added: "We rented a room with three scholars, which is cheaper than staying in an inn."

"I've made a note of it. I'll come find you when I have time," Pan Yun said. "I live at No. 13, Haiyan Hutong in the east of the city. You can find me there if you have anything."

Xue Shao also agreed.

Pan Yun picked up Pan Xiaohei, carried the banner and left happily.

Xue Shao watched her leave, Xi Jin followed behind and waited for him to look away before asking, "Master, what are we going to do with our meal?"

Xue Shao said calmly: "Just make more money, sell calligraphy and paintings, sell articles, and write letters for people. The rent has been paid for three months, and I can still earn enough money for food."

Xi Jin sighed, "The master gave a lot of money, and the cousin also gave some money for the trip, but you spent it all."

Xue Shao said: "From now on, if anyone invites you to dinner again, just turn it down."

"Yes."

Xue Shao returned to his rented apartment with his hands behind his back, and immediately packed up his study. He and Xi Jin carried a table and a chair out.

Seeing this, the roommates who were studying hard in their rooms couldn't help but look out of the window and asked, "Brother Xue, what are you doing?"

Xue Shao said, "I feel bored in the room. My brain is so dull from reading. I'm going to go out and get some fresh air."

So Xue Shao set up a stall at the entrance of the alley, near Zhuangyuan Building, where he sold calligraphy and paintings, and also took on various odd jobs such as writing letters, wedding invitations, and naming for people.

Unfortunately, this street is too busy, and ordinary people don’t seem to like coming here to find someone to write these things, so after half a day, he didn’t receive a single customer.

Xue Shao was not in a hurry either. He picked up his pen and slowly added two lines of words on the hanging white paper, "Writing petitions and helping with understanding of articles."

A young scholar about sixteen years old walked past him, then stopped, and walked back with his servants. After staring at the line of words for a while, he walked forward and lowered his head to look at the words and paintings he had placed on the table.

The young man nodded slightly. "The calligraphy and painting look pretty good. How does this enlightenment-enhancing article help you understand?"

Xue Shao looked up at him and smiled, "You propose a topic, and I'll write one for you to comprehend. How much you can comprehend depends on your own ability."

The boy's eyes flashed, and he asked, "Can I take the article away?"

"Of course, if you bought it, you can take it away."

The young man took two steps happily and said, "Okay, then write me a policy paper with the title 'To be virtuous and virtuous, to be close to the nine clans'."

Xue Shao glanced at the accessories around his waist and the clothes on his body and said, "Five taels."

The young man frowned, "This is too expensive, but never mind, when can I get it?"

Xue Shao said: "In a moment."

After that, he spread out a piece of white paper, picked up a pen and began to write, "The person who set the question wants to test you on the relationship between a ruler and his subjects, so just write it down here."

The young man looked confused. "What does this have to do with the relationship between the ruler and his subjects? Isn't it said that noble character can bring harmony among the nine clans? Isn't this the key to a ruler's governance of the world?"

Xue Shao looked up at him and smiled, "That's right, then what is the key for a king to govern a country?"

"It's Ke Ming Jun De."

Xue Shao shook his head slightly, "It's the harmony of the nine clans." "What?" The boy was confused for a moment, then a little angry, "Do you know how to solve the problem? The harmony of the nine clans is the result."

Xue Shao: "'When the nine clans are in harmony, the people will be governed equally. When the people are enlightened, the nations will be in harmony.' The result is the harmony of all nations."

He said: "Your Majesty may be wise and virtuous, but if your subjects are unwilling to be harmonious, you will not be able to achieve the effect of pacifying the people and bringing harmony to all nations."

Boy: "What should I do then?"

"Then you have to find a way to make the nine clans reconcile. If Ke Ming Jun De cannot accomplish this, you should use other means."

The young man was stunned. "This is different from what the teacher said."

Xue Shao smiled at him and wrote a policy paper for him in just two quarters of an hour.

He blew the ink dry and handed it to him.

The young man took it quickly, first glanced through it, then read it carefully twice, and exclaimed: "Great article!"

He quickly turned around and said to the person behind him: "Zhang Yong, give him the silver."

The servant behind him responded smartly and gently, and immediately took out a five-liang silver note and gave it to him.

Xi Jin, who was standing by, took it immediately and almost smiled brightly.

Xue Shao said: "If you need to comprehend an article in the future, just come and find me. I can give you a cheaper price next time."

The boy happily agreed and left happily.

He went straight to the north of the city. Xue Shao watched him leave and did not look back until he was out of sight.

Xijin happily put away the five taels of silver note. Seeing that the young master was still looking at it, he also looked over and asked curiously, "Young master, is there anything wrong with that man?"

"No problem," Xue Shao said slowly, "It's just that I saw an unusual aura in him. It's a pity that Pan Yun is not here."

Xi Jin was not stupid either. His eyes flashed and he lowered his voice and asked, "Master, could he be the little emperor?"

Xue Shao glanced at him and said, "No."

Xijin looked disappointed.

"Although not, there is some connection," Xue Shao frowned slightly, "You can tell it's not the case when you see him worrying about writing an article. He's already the emperor, so why does he need to write a policy paper? Why would he worry about writing an article?"

Xi Jin thought the same thing, "If he is not the emperor but has a relationship with him, then he must be a eunuch."

He suddenly realized, "No wonder they all look so weak and timid, and their voices are three times quieter than others. They are eunuchs."

Xue Shao: ...

He simply slapped Xi Jin on the forehead and scolded him, "Stop guessing, clean up the table quickly, and let's go home."

"Master, it's still early before dark, should we not set up the place?"

"We've made a lot of money, why bother showing off?" Xue Shao said, "Five taels of silver is enough for us to eat for a month. Go back to study first and come back tomorrow when you're free."

The master and servant moved the table and chairs back.

The roommates who were originally studying in their rooms had already moved to the yard and were arguing heatedly. When they heard the door open, they all turned their heads and looked over.

"Brother Xue, have you finished taking over this popularity?"

Xue Shao responded, "I feel calm now and can concentrate on studying, so I came back."

The next day at noon, Xue Shao was upset again and carried the table out to pick up the fight.

His roommates also reacted now, and said blankly: "Brother Xue, are you short of money?"

"Not really. It seems his family is not poor. A few days ago, a pair of brothers took their mother to the clinic on a cart and were invited out by the clinic. He saw them and gave them three taels of silver for the treatment."

"I saw it too. The older of the two brothers looked only eight or nine years old, and the younger one was very small, only five or six years old. The two of them almost couldn't push the cart up."

"Yesterday morning, when he was leaving the house, there was a little beggar begging with him. I also saw him buy two buns for him, so he must be not short of money."

"Not short of money? The spring exam is coming up, and everyone is seizing the time to study, but he still goes out to sell calligraphy and paintings and write letters for others every day. If this isn't short of money, what is it?"

"Maybe it's really to gain popularity?"

"I heard from my neighbor next door that someone spent five taels of silver to buy an article from him yesterday."

"Buying and selling articles?" Several people frowned. This was the behavior they hated the most.

Even though Xue Shao was selling articles instead of buying them, he was still annoying.

“How is this different from selling children?”

At this time, the Prince of Qing came into the palace with his own "child" and handed the article directly to the emperor, "Your Majesty, what do you think of this article?"

The emperor took it and glanced at it casually. He was about to look away, but suddenly stopped and looked at it seriously.

After reading it, he asked directly: "Second brother, who wrote this article?"

Prince Qing smiled naively, "Your Majesty, have you figured it out? I bought this from a scholar on the street."

The emperor laughed and said, "How could I not know this? Even if I locked you up for another month, you still wouldn't be able to write this article."

He shook his head and said, "If you use this article to report, the Master will definitely be able to tell that it was not written by you. You can paraphrase these sentences without changing the meaning and write another article. I tell you, even if you want to forge something, you have to mix in 30% of the truth, so that it will appear authentic."

King Qing was stunned when he heard this. "Then, how should I change it? How long will it take?"

　good night

　　(End of this chapter)