Chapter 591 The real killing move

Before Yan Shaoting led the northern expedition army, he had already become a disciple of Yangming's philosophy of mind recognized by three old masters.

It was also from that time that his status as an orthodox disciple of the School of Mind was established.

And today.

It was under the management of the three old masters that the orthodox disciples of the School of Mind were elevated to the status of founders of new schools of thought.

Yan Shaoting couldn't help but look at his father, who also looked surprised.

Seeing that the old man also looked surprised and was looking at the three old masters with some astonishment, Yan Shaoting knew that this matter was decided by the three old masters in private.

Nie Yingji, nicknamed Military Dog, walked up to Yan Shaoting with a chuckle and patted him on the shoulder.

"This is the last bit of kindness from the old masters, but you have done well. Otherwise, even if the old masters dote on you, they would never make such a decision."

"Don't refuse, just accept it."

Yan Shaoting's eyes flickered: "Uncle..."

Nie Yingji shook his head: "Don't be nervous. Think about the poem you wrote. Every generation has its own talented people, and each of them has been the leader for hundreds of years. Although you are not yet thirty, your literary and martial arts achievements are unmatched. And this academy that leads the world's cultural heritage was also built by you. How much knowledge in the academy is inherited from the predecessors and innovated for the present?"

"How dare you covet such a great merit?"

Yan Shaoting was still a little hesitant, and felt that the three books in his hands were becoming heavier.

Nie Yingji laughed cheerfully. He reached out and patted the young man on the shoulder. "How many of the things that the academy teaches are things that our predecessors did not dare to do, did not do, and had not thought of?"

Over there.

Old Master Wang Ji also spoke up, "The ancients said that the best is to establish virtue, the next best is to establish merit, and the next best is to establish words. Even if they are not abandoned for a long time, this is called immortality. Kong Chongyuan, a former Tang Dynasty scholar, wrote a memorial that establishes virtue means to create laws and be generous and helpful to the people; establishes merit means to save people from disasters and difficulties and make contributions to the times; establishes words means to speak to the point and have enough ideas to be passed on."

The old man walked lightly to Yan Shaoting's side and looked at everyone present.

He smiled and said, "The essence of the study of the mind is nourishing everything. The place where we are now and the surroundings can prove it. Inside and outside the academy, all kinds of industries and skills are flourishing, and the merits, virtues, words and deeds are all beautiful. Changping Academy originated from the study of the mind, flourished in the study of the mind, and should be a new school."

Yan Shaoting slowly lowered his head, but his expression was extremely serious.

At this time, Master Qian also came over, stood beside Yan Shaoting, and whispered: "We old guys, even if we can live to be a hundred years old, we don't have many years left. Sooner or later, the academic matters will be handed over to you. The people are ignorant and the scholars are frivolous. It is necessary for people like you to help the literary style to stand out. Now that the emperor has decided that you will be one of the two examiners for the special examination next year, he will select talents for the country."

Yan Shaoting nodded, and then looked at Qian Dehong with a serious look: "Master Qian, your student..."

Qian Dehong shook his head and said, "Don't worry. We have already discussed it recently. After the new year, we will take advantage of our seniority and submit a petition to the emperor to ask him to add more new studies to the imperial examination. This is our personal wish. We want more students of Xinxue and Xinxue to enter the government to increase our strength. It is also for the public good. If the officials in the country are familiar with all kinds of business, there will be fewer malpractices in the world, and the people will naturally be more peaceful."

After hearing this.

Yan Shaoting was completely moved.

The old men separated the fair words and their selfish desires and laid them out in front of him.

The people around also started shouting.

"Although Shao Bao is young, he is also young and promising. You must know that in ancient times, Gan Luo was appointed as prime minister and shouldered a great responsibility. Shao Bao is good at both civil and military affairs, so how can he not establish a brand for the new school?"

"If we talk about the study of the mind, the young master received Changping, the people were all happy, his words and deeds were in harmony, he knew and acted, if Mr. Yangming were alive, he would also have said that he would leave the school."

"Please take up this responsibility and lead me to further study the Dao of the saints."

Say it.

All the scholars in the room raised their arms, clasped their hands, and bowed.

Yan Shaoting hurriedly placed the three books in his hand carefully on the table beside him, then turned around and bowed to everyone in return.

"Now, if you still refuse to accept the encouragement of the three masters and the advice of the wise men, you may be a hypocritical person who shirks responsibility."

"I will accept your kindness and work hard from now on, so as not to lose the reputation of Yangming's philosophy of mind and live up to the new learning given by the three masters."

After saying this, he bowed deeply again.

Bang!
Outside the academy.

Fireworks exploded and bloomed in the night sky.

The cheers of the people came from outside, and the laughter of women and children, and the calls of children, came one after another.

The sound reaches my ears.

……

The academy is separated from the outside world by a wall made of green bricks and green tiles.

Inside the courtyard wall, there is a three-story building.

now.

The families of the three old masters, as well as the teachers and managers of the academy, had already been arranged to watch the fireworks outside and listen to the Kunqu opera troupe. Then, at Xu Wei's request, Yan Shaoting came here.

The fireworks outside are still blooming, as if the night will not sleep and the fireworks will go off all night long.

And in this building.

Except Yan Shaoting and Xu Wei.

There are also Xiao Junpeng, deputy director of the Changping Public Security Bureau, and Lu Yi, commander of the Jinyiwei.

In addition to the two of them, there were the current cabinet ministers Zhao Zhenji and Hu Zongxian, who had just quietly left the city after reuniting with their families in the city.

Downstairs, the Captain Zhu Qi of the Imperial Guard and the Hundred Officer Qi Dazhu were leading several Imperial Guard cavalrymen to guard the surroundings.

Among those present, Xiao Junpeng, deputy director of the Changping Public Security Bureau, had the lowest rank.

Seeing everyone seated one by one, Xiao Junpeng bent over with a smile on his face to prepare the tea set and brew some fragrant tea.

Not long after.

A few wisps of smoke with the aroma of tea emerged.

Lu Yi spoke first: "Today, there is a family dinner in the palace, and Eunuch Lu and others are not convenient to go out, but the news has been sent out. The emperor has received suggestions from the court about the gold business in the past few days, but he kept them to himself. According to Eunuch Lu and others' speculation, the emperor is probably waiting and watching, perhaps hoping to see what you, brother-in-law, are going to do next."

There are no secrets in Beijing.

Even if no one was clear about Jin Xing’s recent actions at first, after a few times, everyone knew that Yan Shaoting was behind it.

It was naturally impossible for the emperor to be kept in the dark forever.

Zhao Zhenji, who came from the city with Hu Zongxian, frowned slightly and said, "Although the emperor kept those memorials, the young guard did not report them to the emperor before. I think the emperor must be a little annoyed, but the reason for this must be because of the various policies that the young guard had previously implemented in the court that benefited the country."

When Jin Xing suddenly took action not long ago, Zhao Zhenji didn't understand what Jin Xing was up to at first. But within two days, he understood.

After all, he was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue in the cabinet, and was responsible for the affairs of money and grain in the country.

It was precisely because Zhao Zhenji was in the cabinet that he was able to use the law to stop the gossips.

But he added, "It's just that the silver price has plummeted by 10% now. If there is no result in the short term, I'm afraid opposition from the court and the localities will spread everywhere. After much thought, I think the details of this matter must be made public by the end of the month at the latest."

He said it very carefully.

But he also secretly gave Yan Shaoting a timeline.

If the truth of the matter is not revealed after the first month of the lunar year, even if he is in charge of the country's finances in the cabinet, he can't just use the Money Law to shut others up.

Yan Shaoting nodded, but did not speak, and continued to look at Lu Yi.

Lu Yi understood.

"The Li Mansion in the capital has been sending out news every day recently, and most of it goes to Nanzhili. According to the results of the gold shops, the gold shops lowered the silver price this time, and Nanzhili also withdrew the most cash."

"Now the merchants in the capital are silent because of the Li Mansion's statement, but they are indeed starting to panic, fearing that the silver price will never go back to normal."

"I think it's the same in the south..."

After explaining the general situation, Lu Yi shut up silently.

Zhao Zhenji frowned slightly and stared at Yan Shaoting silently.

Although he knew what Yan Shaoting was doing and that his purpose was to deal with the people in Jiangnan, he still couldn't figure out how Yan Shaoting would end the chaos in the current silver price.

But this time.

Hu Zongxian suddenly said, "Now that the new borders of Hetao and Yinshan have been established, Qi Jiguang is leading troops to station there. Since the Tuman tribe invaded Jizhen at the beginning of this year, Yu Dayou also took over Jizhen. Tan Lun is guarding the Shanhaiguan line. There will probably be no trouble in the nine borders in the next few years. Now is the right time to take action against Jiangnan. Runwu is now taking action in Beijing, which is aimed at Jiangnan, so naturally someone in the south must respond."

"Zhang Juzheng!"

After listening to what Hu Zongxian said, Zhao Zhenji's eyes lit up and he instantly blurted out Zhang Juzheng's name.

Immediately, he nodded again and again, "Yes! There is also Gao Hanwen!"

Say it.

He looked at Yan Shaoting with wide eyes, as if he wanted to confirm something.

Seeing that Lord Zhao’s face was full of anxiety.

Yan Shaoting no longer hid it, but chuckled and said, "A few days ago, I received news from the sea that the Spanish merchant Bo Fugui, who trades silk with our Ming Dynasty, will arrive at the Hangzhou Maritime Customs Office by sea in the first month of the year."

Zhao Zhenji's brows tightened again, not knowing what this meant.

Xu Wei, who was beside Yan Shaoting, immediately explained: "Bai Fugui's ship carried no less than three million taels of silver this time. The merchants who returned from the European countries on the same ship with him also brought a total of three to four million taels of silver."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a burst of amazement in the building.

Adding the two together, six or seven million taels of silver can immediately come in from overseas.

Yan Shaoting smiled and said, "Since the Li family and Jiangnan want to bankrupt the gold bank and take away all the silver, let them take the seven million taels of silver as well."

Zhao Zhenji finally understood at this time.

But he was quite surprised and said, "Does Runwu want to continue to lower the silver price? Will the gold shop continue to post notices as before after the new year? How much does Runwu want to lower the silver price? Before and after the new year, doing these things will not cause any trouble, but once spring comes, the people in the two capitals and thirteen provinces will go to the fields to farm, and the silver price can no longer be suppressed."

Yan Shaoting nodded: "It is precisely because it is the New Year's Day and the people in various provinces are busy celebrating the festival and not doing production that I chose to let the gold shop take action at this time."

As he said this, he looked at Lu Yi.

Then he smiled and said, "Since they are only a little panicked now, it means that the current loss of 10% has not scared them yet. We must continue to push down the silver price to scare them and make them feel distressed before we take the last step. According to our estimation, we must at least push the silver price down to one tael of silver to seven hundred copper coins!"

Thirty percent!

The price of silver must be lowered by 30% to make those people panic and afraid.

Zhao Zhenji calculated that if the silver price was to be lowered to 700 copper coins per tael, it would take 20 days based on the previous practice of the gold exchange rate lowering by 10 copper coins a day.

It’s still the first month of the year.

He immediately asked, "What are the arrangements for Zhang Juzheng and Gao Hanwen? Runwu has cooperated with Zhang Juzheng a lot in recent years. As for Gao Hanwen, after I entered the cabinet, I also knew that when Runwu served Lord Yan in the cabinet, only this person could steal Runwu's tea."

Nowadays, Gao Hanwen's theft of Yan Shaoting's tea in the cabinet has long become a popular story and is sung by officials in the capital.

What Zhao Zhenji said was also to point out the close relationship between Yan Shaoting and Zhang Juzheng and Gao Hanwen.

Yan Shaoting nodded, "In the final analysis, at this point, although the silver price has been lowered by 10%, the silver is still in the hands of those people. Even if it is lowered to 700 wen, it will still be the same. After these few days, Zhang and Gao will naturally take action in Nanzhili, forcing these people to spit out the silver in their hands."

Zhao Zhenji looked thoughtful and whispered, "It may not be enough if they just force him..."

Yan Shaoting suddenly fixed his gaze on him: "Lord Zhao, Zhang Juzheng's memorial may be sent to the capital in the next few days. You are a cabinet minister and in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. I'm afraid you will need to support Zhang Juzheng's memorial by then."

Zhao Zhenji just glanced at Yan Shaoting's eyes, and his heart was in a panic. He asked in a low voice: "What memorial did you ask Zhang Juzheng to submit?"

Yan Shaoting smiled faintly.

Amid Zhao Zhenji's confusion, he spoke slowly.

"It will not be as easy as before to reduce the price of silver to 700 wen just by relying on the gold shops. However, if the minister in charge of land measurement in Jiangnan submits a memorial at this time, proposing that the court abolish the land tax in Nanzhili and Zhejiang and collect it in copper coins instead of rice and wheat in pure color or silk, cloth, silk, tea, etc.... I think it will be a good policy that will benefit millions of people in the two places."

This is Yan Shaoting’s real back-up plan.

It was also the real killer move he prepared for Li Chunfang and the group of upright gentry in Jiangnan.

The tax collection system of silver in the Single Whip Law was replaced by copper.

Plus the millions of taels of silver brought by Bai Fugui and his men.

It is enough to cause chaos in the entire Jiangnan region.

At that time, silver will truly be worthless.

This would make the wealthy gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, who already controlled countless amounts of silver, afraid and panic.

And when that time comes.

It's time to reap these people!

…………

Monthly PassMonthly Pass
(End of this chapter)