Although the content of the meeting of the Xiyuan Jingshe has not been announced, the decisions made by the State Council alone have caused chaos in the government and the opposition.

What people are generally concerned about is not the focus of the deliberations of the State Council, which is the serious drought relief situation this year, but the coinage bill and various personnel arrangements that have been passed at the meeting.

For some Qingliu officials, using the state's policies, decrees, and personnel arrangements in such a way to leave them with no room for interference is obviously a covert operation and a chaotic government that corrupts the political atmosphere.

However, after losing control of public opinion, the discussions of these Qingliu officials could no longer rise to the mainstream opinion of Shilin, but were obscured in a noisy voice. In the current Ming Dynasty, it is no longer an era when the gentry speak clearly and the world listens.

Technological innovations in the paper and printing industries have greatly reduced the cost of printing newspapers and publications, and the promotion of primary education and evening literacy has led to a significant increase in the literacy rate of urban residents, who can read a vernacular text composed of simplified characters and punctuation marks.

After coming to power, Chongzhen not only continued to suppress old entertainment businesses such as brothels and gambling houses, but also promoted free book lending and storytelling and other entertainment businesses, thus further controlling the spiritual life of urban residents by the state. Driven by this new social climate, urban residents, especially those in Gyeonggi and the newly industrial port cities, have gradually shifted their daily entertainment activities from gambling and prostitution to reading books and newspapers and sports activities.

The Ming Dynasty's script has reached its peak in history, and even the high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty have written scripts as a hobby. For example, the golden bottle plum that was popular for a time is famous for its thorough world conditions and highly infectious descriptions. Many literati speculated that the author Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng was actually Wang Shizhen, a famous scholar in the Jiajing period.

Of course, before the first year of Chongzhen, the prosperity of this kind of cultural undertaking had nothing to do with ordinary people after all, after all, the protagonists of the works written by these bureaucrats and literati were just scholars. The rich people, famous prostitutes, and ordinary people in the works are all about the readers.

But after the first year of Chongzhen, things changed a little, the emperor personally ordered people to arrange two plays, Havoc in the Heavenly Palace and Du Shi Niang's angry sinking of the treasure chest, and the protagonist became a character other than a scholar for the first time. From this moment on, the perspective of ordinary people began to gradually appear.

And once the reader becomes one of the protagonists from the only protagonist, then the content of many newspapers and periodicals begins to diversify, and behind this diversification, it means that all social strata begin to have their own values, and no longer replace their own values with the values of scholars.

As a result, the gentry and Qingliu, who could easily mobilize the local people in the past, are now more and more difficult to get the approval of these people. To paraphrase a later generation, the people of this Ming Dynasty are really too bad to understand the voices of the gentry and lords for the country and the people.

Of course, in the hearts of these people, the astronomical amount of more than 100 taels of gold and 1,000 taels of silver really has little to do with them. With the annual income of 80 yuan for an ordinary worker, just 1,000 taels of silver will require a net income of 20 years without eating or drinking, and the 100 taels of gold are equivalent to 1,600 silver, so this amount is a cash that is difficult for even ordinary large families to come up with.

What family's home can store more than a hundred taels of gold and a thousand taels of silver? In addition to the salt merchants, pawn shops, and the big landlords and big bureaucrats, there were probably only those mine owners who discovered gold and silver mines overseas.

What makes the people even more curious is that these gentry Qingliu all think that they are incomparably honest and honest gentlemen, but when they check their family property, they are all the lords of the family with thousands of wealth and land across states and counties. Therefore, compared with the coinage bill promulgated by the imperial court, the common people are obviously more concerned about how much gold and silver these gentry can hand over.

For those gentry and landlords who had already begun to invest in industry, although they resented the imperial court's policy of forcibly exchanging gold and silver, they preferred to support the imperial court's compulsory exchange of gold and silver than the closure of the factories in which they were now investing. Because only when the imperial court has money in its hands can it give them a steady stream of orders.

Although the paper money guaranteed by the imperial court with unlimited legal compensation does not seem to be as reliable as the physical gold and silver, as long as the circulation of paper money is still accepted in the market, and the banks do not stop exchanging paper money for gold and silver, then they can still accept paper money. The return of private gold and silver to the banks also essentially ensured the safety of the paper money they held.

Therefore, public opinion in the capital was divided into three or four opinions as soon as the coinage bill was introduced. There are not many voices in favor of or against the coinage bill, and the voices that believe that it can be tried for a period of time to see the results are the largest.

The guidance of public opinion in the capital is profoundly influencing public opinion in other places, and it is also covering up many matters that are quietly changing the political pattern of the Ming Dynasty. For example, the news that Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Fengda, was appointed as the governor of the overseas governorate district, which was the first person to quell the Gunchuktaiji Rebellion, was drowned out by public opinion in this way, and basically did not cause any waves.

Yuan Chonghuan was naturally unwilling to be exiled overseas like this, whether it was him or others, they all thought that this was an exile rather than a heavy task. However, while he was trying to find a way to save himself, his friend of the same year said that he could not do anything about it, after all, everyone's eyes were focused on the coinage bill and the affairs of this year's drought relief, and he really did not care about the appointment of an overseas governor.

Many officials are worried about whether they will face the question of whether they will take sides again in this round of drought relief. In the past decade or so, every time the imperial court wanted to promote something big, it always let the wind out first, and then purge those officials who insisted on their opinions according to the guidance of public opinion.

Therefore, in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, when the imperial court launched the coinage bill in the name of drought relief and disaster relief, most officials at the bottom did not think about whether the bill was feasible or not, but which side they should choose to stand on, so that they would not be purged by the imperial court again.

These officials are even a little shaky in their positions, how can they still think of speaking for Yuan Chonghuan. Even Qingliu Liu Sixuan, who has always been good friends with Yuan Chonghuan, persuaded him to accept the appointment to go to sea, and when the situation improves, he will try to contact everyone to intercede for him and make him transfer back to China.

After hearing this, Yuan Chonghuan immediately said unhappily: "Jinghai City is thousands of miles away from China, and it is said that it will take more than a year and a half to come and go. I'm fifty-six now, and when I come back, I'll be at least sixty. At that point, what else can I do when I come back? ”

Yuan Chonghuan, Liu Siqian and others still failed to negotiate after all, and the banquet finally broke up. After Yuan Chonghuan left the restaurant, he sighed left and right: "After Qian Shangshu retired, there are not many gentlemen who are willing to stick a knife in the ribs for their friends..."

Yuan Chonghuan, who ran into walls everywhere, even thought about taking the door of the Internal Affairs Office for a while, but after Wang Chengen and Lu Qi politely returned the gifts and greetings, he knew that this road still couldn't go.

As a last resort, Yuan Chonghuan could only go to see Sun Chengzong again, hoping to use the love of master and apprentice to get this master to help him. Yuan Chonghuan went to see Sun Chengzong on the first day he ran back to the capital, but he was turned away at that time.

At this moment, he had no way out, and he could only come to Sun Chengzong's mansion again. Beijing in late March was supposed to be the season of spring flowers, but because of the scarcity of rain since the beginning of spring this year, even a few apricot blossoms sticking out of the wall are a little listless, and I can't find a little spring breath.

Yuan Chonghuan, who was anxious in his heart, had no intention of watching the spring color outside the wall, but was just thinking about what he should say after seeing Sun Chengzong. It's just that although he spent a lot of effort to organize his words, there is still no use for it. Sun Chengzong still refused to see him.

Yuan Chonghuan really didn't believe that this teacher, who had always supported and cared for him on weekdays, would be so ruthless today. He couldn't help but step forward and asked again to Sun Chengzong's fourth grandson Ho, who came out to pass the word: "Is the teacher really so ruthless to me?" Don't even want to see each other? ”

Sun Hao, who was a few years younger than Yuan Chonghuan, could only smile bitterly and replied: "Since the beginning of winter last year, my father has been sick in bed. If it weren't for the careful cooking of the doctor sent by the palace, I'm afraid...

Therefore, it is not that my father does not want to see you, but that he cannot see you. Senior Brother Yuan, your father is no longer able to take care of your affairs, please forgive me. ”

Seeing that Sun Hao was not allowed to enter the mansion, Yuan Chonghuan was also a little disheartened, but just as he was about to leave, he looked up at Sun Hao and asked carefully: "Even if the teacher doesn't see me, doesn't he even leave me a word?" ”

Sun Hao hesitated for a moment, and then said hesitantly: "Father has been talking upside down recently, I really don't know if he passed this sentence on to you, or if he is always talking nonsense." ”

Yuan Chonghuan's spirit suddenly perked up, and he hurriedly said: "You can tell me to listen, I will know the teacher's intentions." ”

Sun Hao thought about it for a while, and then said slowly: "The thunder, rain and dew are all Jun's grace, so let's do it yourself."

How can I say that the senior brother is now a feudal official, what else needs to be done by himself. Therefore, I don't think this is necessarily for my brother..."

While Sun Hao was still babbling and explaining, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly fell silent, and he didn't listen to what he said later. After returning from Sun Chengzong's mansion, Yuan Chonghuan finally stopped looking for a way to stay in the country, and began to stay at home quietly to prepare, waiting for the day of going to sea.

(. = )