The Ming Dynasty has been in domestic and foreign difficulties for many years, and the northern scholars are accustomed to seeing the scene of broken rivers and poor people's livelihoods, and they fall into the despair of being powerless to return to the sky. Jianghuai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are still prosperous, singing and dancing, and the southern scholars linger in the wind and moon to point out the country and promote the words, even if such talents as Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu who have insight into the millennium are also keen to talk and criticize the evils of the times, they do not really feel that the crisis is coming.

Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu initially felt refreshed and invigorated, and even had the intention to stay in Fengzhou to do a big job, but with a deeper understanding, they found that Fengzhou had gone too far and was not consistent with what they thought.

On the issue of running a school, Huang Zongxi believes that "the prosperity and decline of the school is related to the prosperity and decline of the world", so "all the tools for governing the world must come from the school", and only by forming a good style and strong public opinion can "thieves and thieves deter evil spirits under the frost and snow of righteousness, and the country can be protected", Gu Yanwu further explained that "the gentleman is to learn, to understand the way, to save the world", "education and discipline are indispensable", the two opposed the Baguwen, advocated the implementation of education in schools, on this basis, reform the imperial examination, and select officials with both talent and virtue to take charge of government affairs. In order to cultivate the good official and popular customs of Fengzhou, and completely realize the liberation and entry into China. Fengzhou officials believe that forcibly instilling "the tools for governing the world" and "education and discipline" into students is tantamount to rebuilding official education, but official education is the product of great unification, and may not really be able to teach people to distinguish between right and wrong, and to save the world, the current situation of the Ming Dynasty is the most illustrative of the problem, good and evil are universal principles that do not need to be taught, and there is Lamaism in Fengzhou, as well as Western religion and Islam, which is enough to ensure good people's customs, and the government can manage itself, and there is no need to be blind! Fengzhou implements the public election of officials, and the officials and the people are all incorporated into the most basic level of the hundred households, including the naturalized uncle's family, all of whom must participate in the affairs of the pre-defense office, and the officials go to work or the students who have completed their studies will also return to the health office, or choose their own careers, or act as officials at all levels, if they want to be officials, they must participate in the public examination, and they can only become officials if they succeed in the election.

On the issue of governing the people, Huang Zongxi advocated putting the people first, and Gu Yanwu also advocated the "rule of the people" in the world, but the original intention was still "the Son of Heaven and the scholars ruled the world together", and the relationship between loyalty, filial piety, courtesy and righteousness was always ethical, and it must not be abandoned. Fengzhou pursued the Taizhou doctrine of Xinxue, and openly shouted that "no father, no king, no father, no king" to throw the monarch's father aside, and the Han people in Guannai shaved their hair and changed clothes within two years of leaving the customs, claiming to be from Fengzhou rather than Han; "The people's daily use is the way", "everyone can be a saint" is even more confusing, iron smelting has become a "railway", making a gun has become a "gun road", making tea has become a "tea ceremony", and even making mutton is also called "sheep road", as long as the illiterate people do the road to the extreme, they have become a saint admired by everyone, and now the naturalization is full of saints, and some have been elected as officials, which makes the status of the scholar where to place? Fengzhou also allowed the people to form a party, and the "Freedom Party" of businessmen and the "Citizen Party" of farmers and herdsmen could actually participate in major politics, and what kind of system did the villain become -- Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu had a good impression of the Taizhou doctrine, and the peddler's pawn study became a completely fallacious heresy.

In terms of local governance, Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu believe that Fengzhou's guard system is inconsistent with the Ming Dynasty, and is more like a product of Huhua. Gu Yanwu raised objections to Du Wenhuan, a fellow villager in Kunshan, but Du Wenhuan said confidently that this kind of guard system can ensure that Fengzhou's mobilization capacity can reach the extreme, and the soldiers' combat strength will be multiplied, for example, the Ming army's combat casualties will basically collapse if it exceeds one achievement, while the Fengzhou army can continue to fight even if the casualties exceed thirty percent, which makes Gu Yanwu break out in a cold sweat.

Fengzhou's fallacies and heresies are even more absurd, and Fengzhou officials generally believe that Huayi can be changed, and those who were originally Yidi will become Chinese if they achieve civilization and enlightenment, and those who were originally Chinese can also be reduced to Yidi if they are barbaric and tyrannical. The common people said more bluntly, Fengzhou is already in China, the Qing State is still in the barbaric stage, it is still Yidi, as for the Ming Kingdom, although it cannot be said to be Yidi, but from civilization back to barbarism, it should be a failed country, and even the Rakshasa country that has nothing to do with them is also characterized as an evil country, this statement is of course ridiculous, but the increasingly powerful Fengzhou despises the Ming Dynasty is not a good sign, thinking of Fengzhou to Lu Jiuyuan's words "East China Sea and West Sea, heart empathy" as the basis for vigorously advocating Western learning, but extremely rejecting orthodox Confucianism in Guannai, Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu and the others didn't say it explicitly, but they had a sense of crisis in their hearts that "the world is dead".

When the news of Fengzhou's troops to Shanxi came, the two were panicked, thinking that this was the beginning of Fengzhou's embezzlement of the Ming Dynasty, and they were determined to leave as soon as possible, so as not to get involved in it and become rebellious, but before leaving, they still wanted to see with their own eyes what kind of person Li Yu was.

This person is in front of him now, there is no respect for the literati at all, and he is clever in his words, the ancient An Lushan and Shi Jingtang are no more than this, Huang Zongxi said with a smile: "The strength of the naturalized Bo is strong, and it is reasonable to plot against the Central Plains, but the Ming Dynasty has been in the past two hundred and seventy years, and it is not the power of the grasshopper to shake it, the people are the masters, the monarch is the guest, and the matter of only two or three hundred years in one generation is not enough, even if the emperor's family is inevitably broken in the end, it is not worth it to poison the world and harm the descendants for the sake of a momentary delusion!" ”

Li Yu looked at Huang Zongxi very strangely and replied: "Tai Chong is right, Ben Shuai also thinks it's not worth it, only vain people will fight for the throne of the emperor, you must have scolded Ben Shuai in your heart is a rebellion of the Ming Dynasty, in fact, the courtiers have been scolding like this, but it doesn't matter, Ben Shuai is only loyal to the emperor, he has never looked down on the Ming court, and he wants to scold casually, you must think that the Fengzhou army entered Shanxi to rob the territory of the Ming Dynasty, wrong, Ben Shuai has no interest in the territory, you must inquire carefully on the way home, there are Fengzhou officials in Shanxi to enslave and oppress the people? Can there be a Fengzhou army to kill and plunder the people? Ben Shuai just snatched power from the hands of the mediocre and greedy officials, and gave the people a chance to self-govern and save themselves. ”

Most of the scholars who took refuge in Fengzhou were abolished officials and criminal officials in the Ming Kingdom, Li Yu believed that good governance could turn bad people into good, and bad government could turn good people into bad people, regardless of previous suspicions, these bad guys were indeed not expected to do so, and contributed a lot to Fengzhou, among which Zhou Xuan, Da Lao Wang and others were also in high positions and had remarkable political achievements, but they were not interested in the celebrity scholar Li Yu, but felt that leaving these people was asking for trouble, and casually put aside the letter of recommendation of Yun Rong and Chang Shu, and the words he said were also a bit of a drive away.

"Although I have not done government affairs, but I also know that the country has laws, only by governing the country according to law can the country and the people be safe, naturalized Bo does not obey the imperial court decrees, violates the Ming military system and arbitrarily transfers troops to invade the land, I am afraid that the harm will be endless, naturalized Bokou claims to be loyal to the emperor, where is the loyalty?" Huang Zongxi held back his anger and said.

"Naturalized Bo's private money is clear, and the joints in it can be known, and this doesn't seem to be loyal to the emperor!" Gu Yanwu also sneered.

"There are good laws and bad laws, and the law can only be a good law when it comes from the will of the people, and it is natural that the country should be governed according to the law, and the law comes from the meat eaters, and it is just a gang of family rules and gang rules, and the so-called rule of law is not a laughing stock? You don't think that this Shuai wants to harm the Ming Dynasty, in fact, only the Shuai is really defending the Ming Dynasty, to be honest, the Shuai has always thought that the Ming Kingdom is very strong, but now I understand that it is actually a strong foreign cadre, the so-called million army of the civil war insider, foreign war layman, but the court raised to suppress the people's lackeys, another hundred years without the courage to get out of the side wall, on the contrary, the Qing State is as vigorous as the rising sun, its sharp edge, the Shuai is most afraid that the emperor will be betrayed by the traitorous party, the Ming Dynasty will fall into the hands of the Qing State, At that time, Toyosu will be in danger! Li Yu waved his hand and said as he walked.

"There must be something wrong with the Han people's statecraft, the dynasties since the Han Dynasty no longer seem to have ambitions, they are cowardly and incompetent externally, but they are more and more violent internally, and the only prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty is also created by the fusion of Xianbei people, you should really reflect on and innovate thoroughly, otherwise the Qing State may also annex you." Zhang Zhiyao generally didn't speak in front of his elders, so he couldn't help but interject at this time, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he excluded himself from the Han people.

Gu Yanwu glared at Zhang Zhiyao, stood up to argue, Huang Zongxi grabbed him, arched his hand forward and said: "Educated, we should indeed reflect on innovation, for example, the issue of unification and unification raised by Brother Yushan must be thought about carefully, but I am a Ming with many talents, and I will be able to solve the reason completely, so you don't have to worry about it." ”

"China's millennium evils can not be eliminated overnight, unless there is an external force to promote, another 500 years may not be able to solve the problem, maybe you will embark on a more evil road, you have too many ambitious heroes!" Li Huai, Huang and Gu talked a few times in Baoketu, although they were not too speculative, they still wanted to keep these two talents, and after making a look at Li Yu, they said, "Taichong, Ning people, you understand the problem, and it is even more painful to be powerless when you go back, so just stay and find something to do." ”

"It is difficult to innovate from the top down, and it is even more difficult to innovate from the bottom up, but the meat eaters are despised, and the shamelessness of the scholars and doctors is a shame for the country, and the rise and fall of the world, the husband is responsible, and the two of us will return to our hometowns to gather comrades to fight hard." Gu Yanwu said with a wave of his fist.

Li Yu's eyes lit up and he cheered loudly: "Well said, the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the husband, so let's do it, Fengzhou Academy and Fengzhou Government Affairs School are short of people, the two of you can stay in Fengzhou for the time being, if he has the opportunity in the future, I will help you achieve your ambitions." ”

"Thank you, the two of us have made up our minds, so let's leave." Huang Zongxi got up and arched his hand, then pulled Gu Yanwu to walk out, walked a few steps and turned around and said sincerely: "Naturalized Uncle has good governance, Fengzhou is vigorous and thriving, but the people don't know etiquette and righteousness, they don't distinguish between right and wrong, but they are warlike and despise the world, if they blindly let their will follow, I'm afraid that the catastrophe in Fengzhou is not far away!" ”

"Thank you, sir, for your teachings, I understand." Li Yu bowed and saluted.

Sending Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu into the carriage, Li Yu looked at their backs and fell into contemplation - Huang Zongxi was right, Fengzhou was full of martial arts and belligerence, and he thought that Lao Tzu was the first in the world, and he wanted to beat anyone who was not pleasing to the eye, Ma Qi and Da Lao Wang pulled up a rabble of the Western Pioneer Regiment and dared to compete with the Yarkand Khanate for the Turu Domain, Fan Yongdou and Fan Erxi's uncle and nephew boldly covered the sky, entangled a group of outlaws to smuggle to the Qing armed forces, and Chahar's Tuba and Tantu were not honest, and they broke into the Mongolian tribes of the Qing Dynasty in three days and two to rob the population, livestock, the army even released a bold statement "Lao Tzu wants to fight whoever he wants", and the common people heard that the war did not want to shed blood but to make a fortune - Li Yu spent more than ten years to build Fengzhou, and gradually had the ability to protect himself, but inadvertently cultivated a warlike monster, with the weak national strength of Fengzhou, such a development will definitely attract a catastrophe.

"Can't bear these two talents?" Li Huai stood behind him and whispered.

"We can't afford this kind of celebrity," Li Yu shook his head slightly, frowned and said to Li Huai, "The ancients were warlike and would die, and they said that if they forgot to fight, they would be in danger. ”

"Don't think about it, the ancients said that it is often ambiguous, how to use it is all based on improvisation, we can't afford to play Confucianism and education, Changshu talked to me about the Jin history in the 'Ming Chang Zhizhi', the Jin Dynasty Emperor Zhangzong devoted himself to Confucianism, the implementation of comprehensive sinicization, the Jin Dynasty respected Confucius, the imperial examination, Xi etiquette, the revision of the code, for a time known as ' However, the old Jurchen customs were abolished, and the foundation of the country, Meng'an Moumou restraint also collapsed, and when Mongolia rose in later generations, the Jin people were like lambs to be slaughtered without the power to fight back, and finally the country was destroyed and the nation was destroyed, and its lesson was profound! ”

Li Yu lowered his head and walked back to the lobby in contemplation, opened the map and looked at it for a while, and asked Li Huai in a low voice: "What should I do in Shanxi?" I panic when I pinch it in my hand, four or five million people, if you are a little careless in the future, something will happen? The sooner you get rid of it, the better, but the court has not reacted for a long time, do you intend to use Shanxi to drag me down? ”

"The imperial court doesn't have this style, the biggest possibility is that they want to take it over but don't dare to take over, so they simply ignore it," Li Huai shook his head with a wry smile, and continued with a long sigh, "We are the ones who suffer the most from Shanxi erosion, so it's better to hold it in our own hands, let's take a step at a time." ”

Li Yu nodded, stared at the map and said: "In the spring of next year, I will go to Tarbagatai in Dzungaria, and visit Hami and Tulu Domain by the way. ”

Li Yu stayed in Baoketu for more than a month, in addition to taking a group of children to play every day, he checked everywhere - Baoketu has no city walls, but it is not much different from the city, the population of labor and business exceeds 100,000, there are iron factories, coal factories, woolen mills, wood factories, ammunition factories, mud factories, silver banknote shops, printing houses and other large and small four or five hundred, the degree of prosperity even exceeds naturalization, the most important products - strip iron, guns, weapons, woolen cloth, blankets are sold in large quantities, big and small bosses see Li Yu and say, as long as the Fengzhou army sends troops to fight, They are willing to buy more bonds.

In December, the new governor of Datong, Fan Zhiwan, sent someone to send the emperor's edict, Li Yu finally waited for a response, and immediately rushed to return to the edict, but he was happy when he saw the edict - the emperor praised the loyalty of the naturalized uncle, and said that he would accept 50,000 taels of silver bills, even if the money was paid by the naturalized gold and silver, and it would be given to the internal treasury every year in the future. In the future, when the imperial court has money, it will be returned with interest, and the matter of Shanxi is not said, only mentioning that Xu Dingguo, the chief soldier of Shanxi, will stay in Huaiqing to prevent the people in Henan.

Oh no, the emperor really wants to do business, and he still relies on me, why? You are willing to Shanxi, I don't want it yet-Li Yu's heart is cold.

After all, the truth could not be concealed for a long time, and the imperial court finally learned the news of the entry of the naturalized army, and the emperor was so angry that he smashed things in the harem for a day, and the ministers were even more indignant, and they wrote to impeach him, but there was no way except to remove Li Yu from office. After the courtiers made a fuss, the emperor calmed down - Naturalized Uncle is certainly not loyal, but he is not rebellious, his face is labeled as "mercenary", this kind of person is actually easy to deal with, it is better to wait and see what happens than to turn his face immediately. Soon all kinds of news came, the naturalized army entered the customs, but the number was not large, most of the time they were still farming and building roads with the people, there was no sign of rebellion, and the official government of the imperial court, the official army did not have any, everything was as usual, that is, the Shanxi gentry refused to pay taxes.

The emperor and the courtiers were relieved, and agreed that the naturalized uncle lacked the heart and eyes, and if he had the guts, he would rebel, spending money and spending money on farming and building roads was just to make wedding dresses for others, and the court slowed down and drove him out, and the fields and roads had to be spit out.

figured out the reason, the emperor turned to the military department of Shangshu Fu Zonglong - this person was recommended by Yang Sichang, since taking office, in addition to repeatedly saying that the people are poor, the national strength is exhausted and other nonsense, can not come up with any ideas, and the Ming army is critical, in October Yang Sichang Wuchang swore to beg the thief, the thief fled to Sichuan, the Qing army committed Ning Jin again, beheaded Ning Yuan's deputy general Jin Guofeng, the old guy had nothing to do, but impeached Yang Sichang with each other, one side was eager to suppress the thief and complained to the emperor that the other party did not give military food, and the other party insisted on not giving and claimed to save financial resources for the country. The emperor was angry when he saw that the old guy didn't do his job, and it happened that Zu Dashou and Gao Qiqian were fighting to recommend Liu Zhaoji to be the chief soldier of the regimental training, Fu Zonglong dragged on for a few days and didn't deal with it, and the emperor wanted to kill again, thanks to the ministers to dissuade Fu Zonglong from being imprisoned, and the military department was replaced by Chen Xinjia, the governor of Xuanda.

It was not the time for Li Yu to send money, the emperor was depressed, and suddenly remembered that naturalization seemed to have never paid taxes, and since it was sent to the door, he would definitely have to slaughter it, so Li Yu broke his fortune.