Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 269: Observing the customs and practices is like a ferocious beast! The upright are in trouble!

Wang Ao was suddenly embarrassed.

It is true that he is a moral gentleman, but he did not come to Beijing to reform the system. He came to be the leader of his own Nanzhi.

He could think about the country and the people, but that had to be done without affecting the fundamental interests of Nanzhi.

He could even choose to accept the damage to his own Nanzhi interests for the sake of the country and the people, but he could only accept it secretly and could not express it openly.

Because he didn't want to be unable to gain a foothold in his hometown after returning home.

But now, the canal transport is going to be changed from official transport to commercial transport, which will hurt the interests of the powerful and wealthy people in Nanzhi and even the entire canal coast.

So, how could he express his opinion openly?

Many of the civil servants, both big and small, who came here to welcome Wang Ao, such as the Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng, had gloomy faces, and showed great disgust towards these students who suddenly appeared before them.

But they cannot be criticized, because they are all upright people who always behave in a gentle, courteous, frugal and modest manner towards scholars and common people.

So, they could only look at Wang Ao with eyes full of heartache.

It really hurts.

After all, if Wang Ao expressed his support for the reform, he would offend the interest groups that exploited the military households through the official system. If he did not express his support, it would also ruin his image as a gentleman who was eager to share the worries of his emperor and father and benefit the people of the world.

Fei Hong and Wang Qiong, the two cabinet ministers who already supported the reform, naturally watched this scene leisurely, and were secretly delighted.

Wang Qiong secretly sighed at the emperor's wisdom. After setting up an official position of observing customs and rectifying social practices, the public opinion field really changed from being favorable to the clean stream to being unfavorable to the clean stream. It can be said that the offense and defense have changed.

He is now also looking forward to how Wang Ao, the former imperial teacher and virtuous old minister, will express his views.

"Mr. Zhenze, everyone says you are a good official. Now we, the military households who have been left without wives and children by our official career, beg you to save our lives!"

At this time.

Some ragged soldiers from the transport army also squeezed in with the students, knelt in front of Wang Ao, and spoke loudly.

"Mr. Zhenze, do you know how badly the official career has harmed us, the military households?"

"Not only do we have to transport grain in the sun and rain, but we don't get much subsidy. We also have to pay for any delays in the grain transport. If the boats are damaged, we have to pay for the repairs ourselves. The most important thing is that we have to endure the traps set by this prince and that minister on the way!"

"Not only do they exploit us, they also collude with the grain transport officials to force us to smuggle their commercial goods to evade taxes. As a result, the court allows us to smuggle local products to make money, but we can't smuggle much. Instead, we have to carry their commercial goods. As a result, because there are too many of their commercial goods, plus the grain, it is more likely for the boats to capsize. Every year, there are always more than a dozen or twenty ships that capsize in the grain transport, dozens of people die, and hundreds of orphans are added!"

"So, we are miserable! Woohoo!"

"This is not the end. Even if the grain transportation goes smoothly, after working hard for half a year to transport the grain, we will still be exploited by the local officials when we return to the garrison. They will force us to serve them, and if we don't go, we will have to pay corvée money."

"With the corvée and the loss of grain transportation, we have no choice but to borrow money. In the end, we have no choice but to sell our land and even our children to repay the debts!"

"Later, everyone knew that military households suffered, so no one wanted to marry their daughters to us military households anymore. Even the military households' own daughters were married off to other families, even if they had to pay money to do so!"

"In the end, we, the military households, could escape and those who wanted to steal could do the same."

"There's nothing we can do. We, the military households, are responsible for transporting the grain."

"So, I just ask you to talk to the emperor and save us! Change the canal transportation! Woohoo!"

As these military households spoke, they began to cry one after another.

They were naturally the military households that Yan Song had ordered to be recruited from Shandong and other places to transport troops. Now they had come here specifically to follow these students and cry out to them.

After all, if they hadn't had the support of Yan Song, the representative of the government, behind them, they wouldn't have dared to come here to cry. After all, they usually would take a detour when they saw a high-ranking official like Wang Ao, let alone the officials from the county government.

"Why would Yan Fenyi do this? He knows that Mr. Zhenze is soft-hearted and cannot bear to see such suffering!"

Minister of Works Tong Rui could not help but whisper something to Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng.

Wu Yipeng still had a gloomy face: "I really don't know who gave His Majesty such a vicious trick, setting up an envoy to observe customs and rectify habits, and spending money to organize scholars and people to report their sufferings!"

"Maybe it was the idea of ​​that shameless villain Yan Fenyi. You know, Zhang Fujing is his student!"

Tong Rui replied.

Wu Yipeng hated Yan Song even more after hearing this, so he said to Xu Jie behind him: "Zisheng, remember, if I can't get rid of this person in the future, you must get rid of him too!"

Xu Jie did not answer, but just frowned as he looked at the soldiers in front of him who looked like beggars.

"Mr. Zhenze, did you hear everything?"

"These are the voices of the people! This is also the biggest problem facing the country!"

"Even if you don't care about these military households, you have to think about the long-term stability of the country! If you don't change the grain transport system, and keep letting the coastal military households bear the burden of grain transport in the form of official transport, then sooner or later the grain transport system will be abolished. If so, sooner or later the capital will be short of food, and the nine borders will also be short of food. In addition, the commercial taxes of the court will also be reduced day by day!"

"Mr. Zhenze, everyone says that you are a loyal and virtuous minister who dares to speak up for the people, so please help them and save our Ming Dynasty, too?"

"I heard that you have been determined to take Mr. Hengqu's four sentences as your life motto since you were young, and to live for the people. We are insignificant and have little influence, so we can only rely on a virtuous old minister like you!"

The students also followed suit.

Xu Jin, who was following behind Wang Ao, could not help but shout on behalf of his father-in-law: "You students, what do you know about the country's major disadvantages? What do you know about appeals? You have learned a few sentences from Neo-Confucianism and you are talking nonsense here. Why don't you leave now?" "The grain transport administration is declining day by day, and the number of military households is decreasing day by day. How can this not be a major disadvantage for the country? How can they be talking nonsense!"

At this time, someone else came over.

Among them, the first candidate to come, Wang Shi, shouted loudly and bowed to Wang Ao, "I am Wang Shi, the 96th Xiaolian in the Gengwu year of the Yingtian Prefecture Provincial Examination, a member of the Huai'an Guard. I am honored to meet Mr. Zhenze! Mr. Zhenze, please speak for us and tell us whether the malpractice of the grain transport that we have reported is a major malpractice for the country?!"

"From what you said, if the canal transportation system is not changed, the Ming Dynasty will fall?"

Xu Jin asked back.

Wang Ao waved his hand to stop his son-in-law, then smiled and said to Wang Shi and others: "You didn't say that this is indeed a great evil for the country. I have heard your voices and know that the military households are suffering. I have long intended to tell Your Majesty about this great evil! Don't worry, I will go to the palace tonight for a banquet, and I will immediately report this matter to Your Majesty. Please correct this great evil!"

"Thank you, Mr. Zhenze!"

"Mr. Zhenze is indeed a true gentleman with high moral character and the courage to speak for the people!"

"That's right. Mr. Zhenze is a great scholar in the world. He has always been concerned about the suffering of the people and has been committed to state affairs. He is not comparable to those hypocritical moralists!"

A group of scholars specially brought Wang Ao here for this purpose.

Wang Ao smiled awkwardly and did not comment.

"Mr. Zhenze's demeanor is indeed no longer what it used to be. He does not blame the scholars and the people for their rebelliousness, but listens to their words and makes a solemn promise. He is truly worthy of being called a prime minister with a broad mind!"

For this reason, Fei Hong specially stepped forward after these scholars and common people left and praised Wang Ao with a smile.

Wang Ao could only bow and say: "Prime Minister, you are too kind! I have read the books of sages and have the ambitions of sages. I should do the things of sages."

Fei Hong smiled faintly.

He could tell that Wang Ao's words had hidden meanings, and he seemed to be mocking him for not doing the things that saints do.

But Fei Hong didn't think so. He felt that he supported Wang Qiong's proposal to change official career to business career. Although he had a self-interest, it was also in line with the interests of the country and the people. It was not against the way of sages, but "a gentleman loves money and gets it in a proper way!"

So Fei Hong was not angry either.

Wang Ao was not angry, nor did he hold a grudge against Fei Hong for causing Nanzhi to suffer a great loss this time. Instead, he took the initiative to ask Fei Hong for a walk, and when they were walking towards the city alone, Wang Ao spoke to Fei Hong from the bottom of his heart:

"Your Majesty is promoting a system of observing customs and rectifying habits, which shows that you really want to bring order to the world!"

"That's right! Just wait for the king to become like Yao and Shun!"

Fei Hong said with a smile.

Wang Ao smiled bitterly: "I am willing to take advantage of this wise emperor to do some practical things for the country and the people, but I am afraid that the villagers will not understand! They will say that I, Wang Zhenze, have forgotten my roots and become a villain who flatters the emperor!"

"If Wang Yangming were here, he would say that whether or not one is a villain should be determined by one's own heart."

Fei Hong replied with a smile.

Wang Ao smiled and nodded: "Wang Yangming is the real great scholar!"

"You don't have to think so much. The emperor is a holy and benevolent ruler. Just be loyal to him and don't worry about the future!"

Fei Hong added one more sentence.

Wang Ao nodded again.

"Eunuch, please tell the emperor that we, the civilians who transport white grain, are often robbed by thieves because the government forces many transport soldiers to become thieves. So please change the grain transport system!"

"Yes, eunuch, and the officials and gentry along the way also exploit us, the civilians who transport the white grain. We can't afford to offend them, so we have to bring several times more white grain than we should pay in order to deal with their demands! Please talk to the emperor and let us pay silver dollars and let the merchants with backing to transport the white grain!"

At this time, Wang Ao saw many old men kneeling near the imperial city and the imperial warehouse, petitioning the eunuchs who collected the white grain to change the grain transport system.

Because the grain for the Ming Dynasty was transported by the transport army, but the white grain for the palace had always been borne by the civilian households themselves.

Therefore, Wang Ao could also see that some people who transported grain also came to request to change the canal transportation.

After seeing this scene, Wang Ao just sighed slightly and then entered the palace.

"Your Majesty, I wish you the best of health!"

When Wang Ao saw Zhu Houcong, he bowed first.

"I am well, please take a seat!"

Zhu Houcong replied with a smile.

Wang Ao thanked him and sat down below Zhu Houcong, where he also got a glimpse of the delicious food.

But Wang Ao had no appetite at this time and just looked at the new emperor with a complicated expression.

Zhu Houcong stood up and said, "Please take your seat, my Lord. I will talk with you while we eat."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)