"What is going to be done and how is it going to be done? Killing people to pay for their lives, and paying off debts, this is the rule from ancient times to the present. If they owe the rent to the king's house, they have to pay it, and I will go to collect the debt. ”

"But this ...... I've heard people say that in the Spring and Autumn Period of that year, there was a so-called thing about buying righteousness with a thousand gold, isn't Yang Yizheng ready to follow the example of the ancients and come to such a hand? ”

"You're not very old, but you read a lot of books, and you know this?" Yang Chengzu looked at him, "You, you can't just read, you have to look at the current form." Now it is not the Spring and Autumn Era, but the Great Tomorrow. Ning Fan rebelled in Jiangxi, what kind of money was bought at this time, believe it or not, the magistrate went up, saying that he was plotting against him. ”

Yang Chengzu also seemed to be interested, and said to Jiang Dalang: "Reading is a good thing, but dying is a bad thing." It is good to talk about benevolence and righteousness, but to talk about benevolence and righteousness regardless of the occasion is stupid. It's useless to be a virtuous king now, it's useful, it's to be a prince who can get money. The front line is at war, grain is hard currency, and the price of rice is always rising. Why don't those bankers pay rent? Don't you want to sell your grain and make a lot of money? Even if the royal palace exempted them from rent, would the farmers benefit from it? No, in the end, it is still those bankers who benefit. ”

"The masters said that you can't compete with the people for profit, and you must be sympathetic to the people, what does Yang Yizheng think?"

"They say this, and if you take it out, it's right. But it depends on who they are talking about as a people. Not as individuals, but as people in their eyes. Their so-called people are gentry, landlords, decent people with status, status and face, real mud legs, in their eyes they are not even people, so don't think about mixing in the people. ”

"Look, is there a war going on this year, and there are four foreign armies going south, and there will definitely be more refugees. According to my experience in Henan, this wave of refugees is enough to bear. When the time comes, there must be people in the city who raise the price of rice and take the opportunity to make a fortune, and the palace must have enough rice in their hands to ensure that they do not starve. Otherwise, one in and one out, the loss will be great. If there is food in the palace, whether it is taken out for leveling or directly opening a porridge field for relief, it can appease the people. But if the food is put on the market for free trade, the refugees will have to wait to starve to death. Never believe in the conscience of a merchant, nor in the discipline of a squire, only the government can be trusted. If the government can't believe it, then the squire will only get worse. ”

"Yizheng's words are not quite different from what I usually hear from my master. They always told me to believe in the gentry, in the rich men. Just like these local noble families, many of them are good people who will give relief in disaster years. Maybe those bankers are really in trouble? ”

"Of course, there are good people in the local area, but on the one hand, they open a few porridge farms, and on the other hand, they force more people into desperation, so they have to sell their houses and fields. It is not clear what is good and what is evil. There's no need to make it clear, just know, don't believe them. They may do some good things for the sake of profit, but if they have a conscience, forget it. Speaking of difficulties, everyone has difficulties, such as those tenants, they also have difficulties. What happens if they don't pay the rent? Could it be that the head of the village will say that the rent does not need to be paid, and it will be made up next year? Obviously not, if you can't pay for rent, you have to borrow, and the loan has to calculate interest, and if you can't pay the interest, you have to pawn your wife and sell your children, which is very miserable. These bankers may have difficulties, but they have nothing to do with the palace. ”

"Then don't you want the reputation of the palace in the local area?"

"Of course, reputation is needed, but so is profit." Yang Chengzu smiled, "So it was I who came out to collect rent this time, not the direct children of the palace." I will first pay the tax up, and then the people of the palace will come forward and announce that these bad things are all done by me, not at the behest of the king. Announce the reduction of some people's debts, or take me to beat me again, announce a fine, a demotion, or something. The people, they won't know the specific details, they will only know that the palace is indeed good, and I am a traitor. The reputation of the palace will not deteriorate, and the interests will not be lost, how good do you think this business is? Besides, at this time, the reputation is almost, which is really not a bad thing. ”

"Yizheng, what you are talking about doesn't seem to be the way of a saint, but the art of power?"

"That's right, it's power. These things, those teaching gentlemen will not teach you, and even the princes in the palace may not be able to learn them, but if you want to be a good prince and learn a hundred words of a sage, it is useful to learn a little power and art, and it is beneficial to remember this. ”

Jiang Dalang listened to Yang Chengzu's words, and his eyes brightened up more and more, "Yizheng, if the power technique is so useful, why don't the masters teach it when they teach?" When the masters gave lectures, they would only talk about the learning of the saints and teaching, but they would never talk about power. His Royal Highness the Prince of the World, is it possible to learn the art of power? ”

"In the same way, the prince is no different from you, you can only learn the study of the saints. Because the masters don't want you to know the art of power, of course, there are some masters themselves who don't necessarily know the art of power either. There are also people who read books and have broken their brains. ”

"Then you mean that the words of those saints are useless?"

"I've never said that, the words of the saints are useful, of course, but it's just a matter of who is useful to whom. If you are a saint and I am also a saint, then enlightenment, virtue, these things are useful. I want fame, you also want fame, everyone has to keep the bottom line when doing things, at this time you use those rules to educate and use, I have to listen. But how many saints are there in the world? What most people need to abide by is the rules. And rules can only be maintained by strength. The rules that are maintained and enforced by power are not destined to be applied to saints, and they are not destined to be always above board. ”

"There is no way to have both worlds, and it is impossible to want the palace to be happy, and to want the tenants of the village to be happy. The study of the sages can't solve this problem, and in the end they can only succumb to the king's mansion and become tenants. Speaking of which, it is not considered a tenant, but a succumbing to the palace and fattening those village heads, this kind of business cannot be done. This is not called a good thing, it is only called aiding and abusive. And power tricks can solve this problem, as long as someone takes the blame. It is not a bad thing that the scholars want to maintain the learning of the saints, and it would be best if one day, as they say, everyone knows etiquette, knows honor and disgrace, and consciously abides by the law. But this is too far away, and it can't be done at the moment, what is needed now is to make them understand that they have violated the rules.

Lack of loyalty to the royal palace will be punished. ”