Ming politicians

() Su Tiancheng's attitude not only angered Liu Yunqing and the other four masters of Dong Lin, but also Liu Rushi's eyes showed worry and confusion.

"If Mr. Su thinks our understanding is wrong, please come up with a better suggestion. Could it be that you look down on us, or are speechless and cover up yourself."

"Hahaha..."

Su Tiancheng raised his head and laughed.

"Young Master Liu, Young Master Huang, Young Master Yi, and Young Master Zou, you all call yourself the Fourth Young Master of the Donglin Forest, and you must have amazing talents and learning. I have a few words for you. I hope that you will show more of yourself when discussing the government. Reflect on it, of course, if you don’t want to listen, I can’t help it.”

"There is a saying, I think you all know that insight into the world is knowledge, understanding of human relationships and articles. Generally speaking, scholars like me, when we were young, were full of spirit, inspired writing, pointed out the country, and left some so-called world affairs and human relationships behind. , I only know to rush forward with one heart, regardless of the right and wrong in the world, take impulsiveness as courage, and straightforwardness as personality, thinking that I am perfect in the world, even the savior of the world. In the fire and water."

"I don't know that all these thoughts will eventually become the laughing stock of others after dinner."

"The most frightening thing is that if you indulge in it and don't know it, talk about government affairs in a mediocre way, and still think you are clean, and criticize those scholars who are unwilling to go along with it, in the end, you will become the biggest fool."

The expressions of Liu Yunqing and the others changed. They never expected that Su Tiancheng would say such a thing.

"You, why do you say that about us?"

"Hehe, you are not convinced. Didn't you just bring up the three major drawbacks of the court? Putting aside these big things, let me ask you a few trivial things to see if you have any good solutions. If you can say Come up with a good solution, I am willing to bow down."

"Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and other places have suffered famines one after another. Farmers lack clothing and food, and sell their children and daughters. They cannot live. Have you thought of a good solution?"

"The imperial court should take out the silver to help the disaster."

"That's right, if the court has no money, what should we do?"

"Here, how could the imperial court have no money?"

"Mr. Liu, how easy are you to say? Then let me ask you. You are a student and a scholar. Have you ever paid a tax of one silver to the imperial court? Have you ever donated silver to the imperial court or the common people? , You wait for the scholars of Donglin Academy to blindly protect the rights and interests of bureaucrats and gentry, self-restraint, follow the rule of law of the ancestors, where did the court get the money from?"

Liu Yunqing was stunned and speechless.

Su Tiancheng would not stop.

"Let me ask you again, what do you think should be done after Jin invaded and bandits made rebellion?"

"Of course, send a large army to destroy them."

"Hehe, that's right. Didn't you just say that the imperial court will levy more pay for the Liao Dynasty? Is Mr. Bi, the Minister of the Household Department, the biggest treacherous official? Will he destroy the Ming Dynasty? This war is for money, so you guys It means that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, relying on their blood, without eating or drinking, went to wipe out the bandits and fight against Houjin, how good is their reputation."

Liu Yunqing and the others blushed. Yi Ligao, who had been silent all this time, spoke.

"Mr. Su, don't be confused. I'm talking about the important affairs of the court, and I'm just making suggestions. Only when these important things are done well, the rest of the things are naturally fine."

Su Tiancheng couldn't bear it anymore.

"It's a bunch of nonsense, just relying on your knowledge, if you enter the court and bring disaster to the country and the people, you think you have superior knowledge, you think you have noble morals, and when you do something wrong and say the wrong thing, you are so righteous and open-minded. You are Scholars cannot understand the truth that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you don’t do small things, you can’t do big things, and you are worthy of talking about government affairs.”

In the private room, it became quiet for a while. Liu Yunqing and the others probably had never been accused like this before, and they were not used to it. Liu Rushi looked at Su Tiancheng with strange eyes, as if he was seriously thinking about what Su Tiancheng said. .

Two minutes later, Zou Pingzhang stood up, ready to speak, but didn't know what to say.

Su Tiancheng smiled, it seems that the so-called fourth son of Donglin is still not convinced.

"I said a lot of truths earlier, no matter what, you must not be convinced. Well, I will ask the simplest question and ask the four young masters to answer."

"Just talk about the refugees. If you see a farmer who has nothing to eat and is dying, what will you do?"

Zou Pingzhang looked at Su Tiancheng, and spoke without hesitation.

"Do your best to undress and push food."

"Very good, what do you do when you meet ten people?"

"You should also take care of it with all your strength."

"What should you do when you meet hundreds, thousands, or even ten thousand people?"

Zou Pingzhang looked at Su Tiancheng, not knowing what to say.

Yi Ligao stood up, a little unconvinced.

"Master Su asked us like this, I don't know what you can do."

"I'm very surprised. You are all scholars. Don't you understand such a simple thing? There is a saying in "Lao Tzu" that it is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. If you use this principle to answer, I will think , You are good at thinking and can find solutions to problems. Unfortunately, all you think of are big things. As for such small things, you don’t bother to think about them. Well, I don’t have any problems anymore.”

After saying these words, Su Tiancheng was about to leave the private room, chatting with these scholars here was meaningless, wasting time in vain.

"Mr. Su, wait a minute. I have poor eyesight. I have never met Mr. Su. I wonder if Mr. Su can tell you the story."

After this debate, Liu Yunqing and the others lost face. They were naturally a little unconvinced. They originally thought that Mr. Su was just an ordinary scholar, but now they realized that he has a history, and the words he said were not what ordinary people can express.

"I'm Su Tiancheng, named Kunyuan, and I was granted the title of magistrate of Jiangning County. If the four young masters are not convinced, we can debate again when we have a chance."

Liu Yunqing and others seemed to have springs installed on their buttocks, and they all stood up at once.

"Could it be, could it be that it's Shanxi Township Examination Xieyuan, Huiyuan Examination, Su Xueshi who came second in the Palace Examination..."

"I don't dare to be called a bachelor. I am just an ordinary court official. I have talked with a few young masters today, and I have benefited a lot. However, I can only focus on small things and do some small things."

"Master Su's teachings, I will keep them in mind. Mr. Su's generations of talented people have emerged, each leading the way for hundreds of years. This is our motto. I was arrogant just now, Mr. Su, please don't mind. "

Su Tiancheng shook his head.

"Being arrogant and then respectful is not the style of scholars like me. It is understandable for you to talk about government affairs and express your emotions. I am by no means the kind of person who has a good face. If you have anything to say, just say it straight. We can sit down and argue, or even Arguing, I was a little bit wrong just now, I don’t need a heavy hammer to play the drum, I also thought, you are talented people, it’s best to calm down, put aside the so-called aloofness, read books, and do things in a down-to-earth manner , I once had another poem above the main hall of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, one straw hat and one flat boat, one ten feet of silk fiber and one ten feet of hook, one song and one bottle of wine, one person fishing alone one river autumn. If you If you can taste the meaning in it, you will naturally understand my painstaking efforts today."

Liu Rushi was stunned a long time ago, she did not expect that Su Tiancheng was actually the magistrate of Jiangning County, that is to say, Su Tiancheng was in Nanjing all the time, not patrolling around after the palace examination.

In today's debate, Su Tiancheng always took the initiative and stood at a certain height, as if he was teaching the students. This kind of tolerance is not something that ordinary people can show.

Seeing Su Tiancheng standing up and preparing to leave, Liu Rushi ignored the Fourth Young Master Donglin, stood beside Su Tiancheng, and took Su Tiancheng's arm.

At this time, the fourth son of Donglin was already a discouraged ball.

No matter how arrogant they are, they don't dare to be arrogant in front of Su Tiancheng, who is second in the imperial examination and Huiyuan examination. Their knowledge is appreciated even by the emperor, and their other gentleman, Mr. Qian Qianyi, also admires Su Tiancheng. He admired his poems endlessly, saying that he couldn't even write such poems, so what else could they get away with.

Besides, although what Su Tiancheng said just now was very fierce, it is also the actual situation. They don't know the affairs in the court, and they are not familiar with the life of the peasants. I have these emotions because of my teaching and discussing with my classmates.

Their discussions have never been in-depth, and to put it bluntly, they have not combined reality, air-to-air, and complained. share.

Liu Yunqing is the oldest among the four, already 25 years old, after all, he has more knowledge and understands what Su Tiancheng means.

"Master Su said something today, and I have been taught. If there is a chance, I implore you to go to the academy. I will admire your literary talent and listen to your teaching again."

Su Tiancheng nodded slightly. It seems that the fourth son of Donglin is young after all, not yet stubborn. He came to Jiangning County to recruit some talents. Scholars are the mainstay. This cannot be denied fact.

"Today's debate is very interesting. If I have the opportunity, I will discuss it with you again. However, I also have a request. It is still a bit biased to keep my ears open and only read the books of sages. You'd better If you can understand the actual situation, you might as well experience it yourself. I also came here step by step. I went out and traveled several times and gained a lot of money. After experiencing these, I believe you can come up with more insights.”