Returning to Changsha after a few years of absence, Zhang Zai was immediately attracted by the thriving inland waterway shipping industry on the river. Compared with the beginning of the Xingqian Dynasty, the shipping industry of the Yangtze River and its tributaries is now extremely developed, with tens of thousands of multi-pulp ships of various sizes and tens of thousands of sampans transporting goods from the north and south of the Yangtze River to various places.

The wharf in Changsha was full of people, and the loading and unloading of goods and the landing of ships made a messy riverbank in full swing. Although it was winter, the scene made people feel like they were going to sweat hot. In the distance, along the Xiangjiang River, rows of waterwheels and continuous factories also highlight the wealth of this place.

Accompanied by the scholar, Zhang Zai went ashore at Xiaoximen Wharf, crossed Xiahe Street, and entered the downtown area from Nanzheng Street, and then he looked curiously at Changsha, which looked very different from the past.

The street market is dazzling with all kinds of signboards of merchants, factories and mines, and the goods in the shops are also dazzling. All kinds of dry goods that were lacking in Changsha in the winter of previous years are now filling the market. Even rare seafood such as shark fin, abalone, whale meat, and salted fish can be found in ordinary seafood stores. Especially coal, in the past, the people of Changsha, like the people everywhere, would always worry about heating fuel, but now coal is popular, because Hunan is rich in smokeless smoke, the quantity is large and cheap.

On the street, Zhang Zai saw two coal shops, although he didn't see how much coal there was, but the door of the shop was erected with a big black paint sign with white powder written "enough briquettes", and the people who bought coal were not crowded.

I tried to ask a few inns on the street, but the shops all shook their heads and said they were full.

"It's November, and there are so many guests."

"Childe doesn't know, now, when is our Changsha not full? They are all from all over the country to Changsha to set up factories, who let us Changsha rely on the Xiangjiang River, this winter is not icy or freezing, and the Xiangjiang River is not in a hurry, it is naturally a good place to run a good factory. ”

Because the factory needs water power, and Changsha is close to the Xiangjiang River, and is the Hunan provincial government, it naturally attracts businessmen from all over the world to set up factories here, and Changsha is becoming more and more prosperous.

Looking at this lively street market, Zhang Zai said to Wang Yun with deep feelings.

"I can't imagine that Changsha has prospered like this in just a few years!"

"This is all thanks to the blessing of the emperor, if we are still building slaves and traitors, we may be able to become depressed."

Wang Yun, who is the young master's scholar, followed and said. Then the two of them went to the governor's yamen. In the past, it was serious and cold, and the common people would rather take a detour than pass through the empty flat in front of the yamen, for fear of encountering something unlucky. But now there are a lot of pedestrians here, but there is no fear on the faces of pedestrians. On the wooden fence on both sides of the tall instrument gate, four large wooden plaques five feet square are hung, and four Song-style giant characters are painted with red paint, "Shame and Determination". And there is a stone monument on the large flat in front of the door. A few eggshells could be faintly seen on the stele.

There is the famous "Hunan Shame Monument".

As early as in the middle of the capital, Zhang Zai had heard that this was the first governor of Hunan specially ordered someone to set up, the stele was engraved with the name of the Hunan traitor, originally such a stele should have been erected at the city gate, but after the city was built, it was moved to the front door of the governor's yamen by the governor with a grand specification. The four big characters in front of the yamen are like four fires, day and night in Changsha City, reminding the Hunan people that once upon a time, there were many traitors in Hunan, and these four big characters and the "Hunan Shame Monument" together are like an alarm bell, morning and evening in the hearts of Hunan officials, gentlemen, farmers and industrialists, warning them not to forget the shame of the prisoner, and to aspire to shame.

Such monuments are available all over the country, although there are more monuments of loyalty in the Ming Dynasty, where there are inscriptions of the names of loyal ministers and righteous men who swear not to surrender to the enemy and resist the Qing Dynasty, and there are many loyal memorial arches of loyalty and righteousness that are given by the emperor, or honored, or holy decrees. But compared with those memorial arches and loyalty monuments that symbolize honor, this "shame monument" is like a thorn that people can't lift their heads, which makes people breathless.

However, for Zhang Zai, whose ancestral home is Songjiang, the Zhang family has the Enrong Memorial Arch built by the imperial court, which is to commend his father Zhang Kuang and his uncle Zhang Jian for martyrdom after the defeat of the Qing army.

In the past few years, the imperial court has repeatedly built the memorial arch of loyalty and righteousness in various places through imperial gifts, or graces, or holy decrees. It is to commend those loyal and righteous people who resisted to the end and died in the country when foreign races entered the country. It is to distinguish them from traitors. And then re-establish the people's concept of honor and disgrace.

Of course, it is not only for the loyal and righteous people to build the archway, and even the Xingqian Dynasty also restored the fifth-class title, according to the "Book of Rites, the Royal System": "The king's system of Lu Jue, duke, marquis, uncle, son, male, all fifth", and the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty only has the prince, marquis, and uncle, and there is no son, male. In order to commend the descendants of the loyal and righteous people, Zhu Mingzhong issued an order in the second year of Xingqian to restore the titles of son and man.

Of course, under the title system of the Ming Dynasty, the son-and-male titles were non-hereditary lifelong noble titles, and both of these titles were rewarded by the imperial court for land, but the area was different. The tax-exempt privileges are also limited to the recipient generation. To a certain extent, it is equivalent to a kind of compensation and care for the bereaved families of loyal martyrs. As the only male member of the Zhang family of "one door and two martyrs", Zhang Zai was named viscount four years ago.

And this time Zhang Zai came to Changsha, it was sent by the Ministry of Officials to go to Hunan to go to the place, but before that, he needed to go to the governor's yamen to report, and at the same time meet with the governor, but because the governor was not in the yamen, Zhang Zai had to leave the yamen.

"Young master, since there is no room in the hotel, why don't you go to the academy, I haven't seen you in the past few years, and the master misses you very much,"

After leaving the yamen, Wang Yun said to the young master that although Zhang Zai's father had long since died, Wang Yun was not a servant of the Zhang family, but a servant of the Wang family, and he was the young master's servant when he was growing up in the Wang family.

"Okay, let's go, go directly to the academy and visit my father-in-law."

Located at the foot of Yuelu Mountain, Yuelu Academy is the most prestigious academy in Hunan, which was founded in the Kaibao period of the Northern Song Dynasty. Among the many academies in China, Yuelu Academy is the most special one, at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan army broke through Changsha, and Yuelu Academy was burned. Hundreds of students from Yuelu Academy participated in the battle, and most of them committed suicide and martyrdom after the city was broken. More than 20 years ago, the Qing army entered the army, although as early as the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, when Zhang Xianzhong attacked Changsha, the academy was destroyed in the melee, but after the fall of Changsha, most of the students of the academy remaining in Changsha committed suicide and martyrdom.

In the first year of Xingqian, the governor of Hunan ordered the reconstruction of Yuelu Academy, and even the scale of the academy was much larger than the old time. And in this newly rebuilt academy, Wang Fuzhi is the most prestigious professor.

Persist in resisting the Qing Dynasty for many years, in another time and space, Wang Fuzhi, who has not shaved his hair all his life, did not go out of office, but chose to teach and educate people, he once went to Qinghe Academy to give lectures, and at the same time of lecturing, he studied the popular practical science of Qinghe, and finally he returned to Yuelu Academy and returned to Hunan.

When Zhang Zai came to the academy, Wang Fuzhi had just finished class, and he was not very happy recently, because his article advocating restricting the monarch's power caused a sensation as soon as it was published in the newspaper, and in addition to the sensation, it caused controversy and was immediately criticized by many people. Among those who criticized him, there were many close friends and even students.

Thinking of today's dispute with his friends, Wang Fuzhi couldn't bear to sigh in his heart.

"Could it be that now is the reign of the Holy Son of Heaven, and he has had a Ming monarch for generations?"

"If there is no today, how can I have today's Zhongxing? Limit the power of the monarch, if there is no power today, how can the Ming Dynasty prosper? ”

Thinking of the argument with his friend, Wang Fuzhi sighed.

"And Nong, you see, in this world, a few years ago, did you ever think that I, the Holy Son of Heaven, would take over the storm, save the world from the toppling, and expel the Tartars from the northwest? Have you ever thought that the world will be prosperous today, have you ever thought that in just a few years, the people will be so ...... with good health?"

For all the scholars with the Ming in their hearts, perhaps, they are for His Majesty to abolish the imperial examination, replace the imperial examination with the civil examination, and replace the Bagu article with practical learning, but no one can deny that the current Ming Dynasty has flourished in the middle of, and is even in the prosperous era, and there is no longer the decay of the two dynasties of Tianqi and Chongzhen.

In addition to rejoicing, watching the lives of the people in the world improve day by day, Wang Fuzhi became more and more worried, worried about the future.

"When he entered Beijing today, he once gave hundreds of officials to say, "The great tomorrow, only I am the only one", since then, the world's hundreds of officials are just puppets with ropes in their hands, and today's majesty is the Ming monarch, and the prince can also be the Ming monarch, but a few generations later? ”

"At that time, if the faint monarch reigns, will the world no longer be in chaos?"

Once upon a time, he had infinite admiration for His Majesty, just like everyone else, but in the past few years, watching the continuous concentration of power in His Majesty's hands, he was naturally more worried about the future.

"Hey......"

sighed, thinking of the rebuttals of those friends in the newspaper recently, and some people even did not hesitate to break off their friendship with him, Wang Fuzhi's mood became heavier and heavier. Although he was not worried about the reproach of the imperial court, the accusations of his friends made it difficult for him to accept.

Don't they realize what the ultimate result will be if the monarchy suppresses the power of the subject?

Maybe they really don't know!

Just when this thought popped up in Wang Fuzhi's heart, suddenly, a familiar voice came into his ears.

"Father-in-law!"