Chongzhen 10th year of the first month of the 18th Zhongyong Marquis Mansion signed the house

Yue Yang sat at the end of a long table, listening to the reports of Hailou, the new prefect, and Wu Qing, the new director of civil affairs, and below him sat Chen Zhi, Mao Xiang, Fang Yizhi, Chen Zhenhui and several other scholars who had just taken refuge in Yueyang, these people were the only literati under Yueyang's command who could handle them.

Hailou said: "Master Hou, our silver dollars are now issued very well on the North Road, and the people are willing to subscribe to our silver dollars, which also saves the government a lot of trouble." ”

Wu Qing also echoed: "Yes, Lord Hou, now this kind of silver dollar we mint is very popular, and merchants from other places like it very much, and some merchants from Jinling still wanted to exchange huàn silver dollars with our money village yesterday, but they were given back by the villain on the grounds that the current number of silver dollars is not much!" ”

"Originally, the students thought that it would take a lot of money to issue this kind of silver dollar, but they never thought that it would be so smooth, which is a great surprise to the lowly position!" Mao Xiang also said excitedly.

Yue Yang's gaze swept over Mao Xiang, Fang Yizhi, Chen Zhenhui and the others, and asked with a smile, "Then have you ever thought about why the silver dollars we issued are so popular with merchants?" ”

Mao Xiang replied without thinking: "Then it goes without saying, it must be the signboard of our Hou Mansion." ”

Chen Zhenhui replied: "Hou Ye is the parent of a place on North Road, presumably the people believe in Hou Ye's credibility." ”

Listening to the words of these two people, Yue Yang smiled faintly and asked the other party Yizhi, who was noncommittal, "Mizhi, do you think so too?" ”

Compared with Mao Xiang and Chen Zhenhui, two scholars who are only good at poetry and songs, Fang Yizhi's consideration is more practical, and he thought about it before answering cautiously: "Students think that there is only one fundamental reason why today's silver dollars can be sought after by everyone, that is, our silver dollars are pure in color and well-made. There is no other reason! ”

"Hahaha......"

Yue Yang finally laughed, and Hailou, Wu Qing, Chen Zhi and others on the side also smiled silently.

After a long time, Yue Yang stopped laughing and pointed at Fang Yizhi and said: "Mizhi, I originally thought that you were the same as Dingsheng and Bijiang, saying that the Hou Mansion has a good reputation, and the people believe in Ben Hou and the like, I never thought that you could think of this layer, it is really not easy!" ”

Looking at Yue Yang, who couldn't stop laughing, Fang Yizhi asked, "Master Hou, did the student say something wrong?" ”

"That's right!" Yue Yang waved his hand and said casually to Hailou: "Hai Governor's Mansion." Explain it to them. ”

Hailou knew that this was Yue Yang's intention to cultivate the newcomers, so he coughed lightly and said: "The old brother of the right talent has made it very clear that there is only one reason why our silver dollars can be unimpeded in the north road and even Shanxi, that is, our silver dollar system is excellent and the condition is good enough. You are all people that the Hou Ye values, and you will all be in charge of the government in the future, so you must remember that the common people are the most practical people, and they will not care who you are. What kind of credibility, he only believes in what he can see, and some things are not as practical as the benefits of letting them see them with their own eyes, even if you talk about it in a big way! ”

Chen Zhenhui couldn't help but retort: "The students of the Hai Governor's Mansion don't dare to agree with this, Sage Yun: The villain is good for the gentleman's words. We who read should know the righteousness of the people and let them know that etiquette, righteousness and shame, otherwise what is the use of our reading? ”

Mao Xiang also chimed in: "Yes, Hai Governor's Mansion." We scholars should educate the people and let the people know the teachings of the saints, which is the way of the saints. If you speak at every turn, isn't it a departure from the instructions of the saints? ”

But Fang Yizhi didn't echo the words of the two friends, he just kept pondering, as if he was thinking about a difficult matter.

Looking at Chen Zhenhui and Mao Xiang's impassioned expressions, Hai Lou, Wu Qing, Chen Zhi and others couldn't help but look at each other, a little crying and laughing, it seems that these people are a little confused in their studies.

In the end, everyone turned their eyes to Yue Yang, intending to hear what their boss had to say.

Yue Yang sighed lightly, took a sip of the teacup on the table, looked at Chen Zhenhui and Mao Xiang and shook his head and said, "Originally, Ben Hou thought that the two of you had been here for so many days, and what you had experienced and seen would make you feel something, but I didn't expect that you would still be so old-fashioned. If the two of you are in charge, it is estimated that the whole place will make you miserable. ”

Hearing Yue Yang evaluate himself like this, Chen Zhenhui was a little unconvinced, and puffed out her chest and said: "Why did Master Hou say this, if the student is in charge, it will make the place a miasma." ”

Looking at Chen Zhenhui, who was unconvinced, Yue Yang knew that these two people still belonged to the kind of scholars who thought that after reading for a few years, they thought that there was nothing in the world that they would not do. After taking a long breath, Yue Yang said to him: "Okay, since Dingsheng thinks that he can rely on the teachings of the sage to make no use of words, then Ben Hou asks you, now that the disaster of my Ming thieves is getting worse and worse, there are now hundreds of thousands of people in Henan, Shaanxi and Hubei, Dingsheng, can you persuade those thieves to let them put down their butcher knives and return to the court, so that the court can quell the bandits without spending a single soldier, if you can succeed in Dingsheng, you will have great merit and the court, and then you will be happy to be crowned with a wife?" ”

"I ...... How is this possible......"

As soon as Yue Yang's words came out, Chen Zhenhui was speechless for a while. Now what is the situation of the bandits in the Ming Dynasty, he naturally knows very well, if he wants to convince those thieves with one mouth, let alone him, I am afraid that even Confucius will not be able to be reborn, right?

"How could it be?" Yue Yang stared at his eyes and asked, "Didn't you just open your mouth and shut up and say what the teachings of the sage, the gentleman does not say what is righteous?" You go and tell those homeless people, let them all study, they won't be hungry after studying, they will have clothes to wear after studying, they will understand the reason after studying, they won't rebel, you can try Dingsheng and Frontier! ”

"This ......"

Chen Zhenhui and Mao Xiang were dumbfounded, even if they were stupid, they knew that if they had no food to eat and no clothes to wear, it was useless to study or teach any saints, and this reasoning could not be eaten. If the rogues were so well pacified, the imperial court would not have spent tens of millions of dollars in food and wages, and countless officers and soldiers who had been killed and injured would not be able to suppress those bandits.

"Why, why don't you speak? Didn't you swear just now that you were talking about the teachings of the saints? Why don't you talk about it now? Yue Yang looked at the two of them lightly and asked.

At this time, the two of them were a little confused, and they couldn't speak for a while, and they took the liberty for a long time before they said: "Master Hou, the student is also a little confused, is it true that the books that the students have been studying all the time are wrong?" ”

Listened to the words of Mao Xiang. Yue Yang and the others were also secretly relieved, if these two people still had a starvation and a big expression, then Yue Yang would really have to give up on these two people, although the Hou Mansion is currently short of talents, but they will never want those nerds who are stupid in reading. Since Mao Xiang and the others will still reflect, it proves that these two people are not hopeless, and they are still salvageable.

Yue Yang said earnestly: "Bijiang, the teachings of the saints are naturally right, but we can't look at the problem so simply, let's take it for example." For example, if you are hungry all day, can you read the books of the sages? Can you understand the truth in the book? The same is true for the common people, if they can't even fill their stomachs, but you tell them what courtesy, righteousness, honesty and shame of the court, isn't that playing the piano to the cow? Sage Yun: Food and clothing are sufficient to know honor and disgrace, and all the people want is to be fed and clothed. Who would take it for a rebellion? ”

Yueyang, who has received modern education, knows that the first need of the common people is the physiological need, which is the most basic need to sustain human life, if the government cannot even meet this need. Then society will be plunged into chaos and turmoil.

Watching Yue Yang tirelessly persuade Mao Xiang and Chen Zhenhui and others, Hai Lou and the others couldn't help but feel a little bit of good luck for the three of them, it seems that Hou Ye really wants to cultivate these three people, otherwise he wouldn't waste his saliva to explain these things to them. If it's someone else. It has long been thrown into an unknown corner and left to fend for itself.

Just when Yueyang was talking about social needs, Chen Dazhi strode in and reported: "Master Hou, there are people outside asking to see!" ”

"Who is it?" Yue Yang was stunned. looked at Chen Dazhi with a hint of blame in his eyes, this Chen Dazhi won't be so unreliable, will anyone ask to see him?

Feeling Yue Yang's blaming gaze, Chen Dazhi smiled bitterly and said, "My lord, it's not that the villain is bold, but this person handed this over." With that, Chen Dazhi handed over a red name thorn with both hands.

Yue Yang casually took the name thorn and looked at it, and wrote awe-inspiring in the lower left corner of the name: The Mansion of the Ming Dynasty and the State of Wei worshipped!

"Huh!" Yue Yang let out an exclamation, and his face also showed a hint of surprise, and he turned to Mao Xiang and said: "Bijiang, you have lived in Jinling for a long time, do you know the Duke of Wei?"

Mao Xiang said without thinking: "The student naturally knows that the Duke of Wei is one of the six founding princes of our dynasty, and it has been eleven generations so far, and the name of the contemporary Duke of Wei is Xu Wenjue. ”

In Mao Xiang's opinion, Jinling and Shanxi are too far apart, and people like Yue Yang should not have anything to do with the Duke of Wei, so he felt very strange about Yue Yang's sudden question.

Yue Yang smiled bitterly and handed the famous thorn in his hand to Mao Xiang.

When Mao Xiang saw the results, he couldn't help but be surprised: "It's really the Duke of Wei, why did they send someone here?" ”

Yue Yang smiled bitterly: "How does Ben Hou know that this guy suddenly appeared out." That's it, let him in! ”

Yue Yang was very curious, he had no contact with the people over there in Jinling, how could someone from the Duke of Wei suddenly appear today.

Soon, Chen Dazhi led a short and fat middle-aged man walked in, after this person came in, he looked at it for a while, and soon fixed his eyes on Yue Yang, who was wearing a python robe, he strode towards Yue Yang, knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "Wei Chao, the villain in charge of the Duke of Wei, knocked on the Hou Ye, and wished the Hou Ye good fortune and health!" ”

"Get up!" Yue Yang waved his hand and motioned for the other party to get up.

After Steward Wei stood up straight, Yue Yang asked curiously, "Steward Wei, I don't know what you are looking for Ben Hou for?" ”

Steward Wei said respectfully: "Master Qiqi, the villain came to you on the order of my grandfather, I want you to do me a favor." Here is a handwritten letter from my grandfather, please take a look. With that, Wei Chao took out a letter from his arms and respectfully raised his hands above his head.

Chen Dazhi took the letter, tore open the seal and took out the letter to read it, but his face quickly became very shocked and strange, and after a long time, Yue Yang was angry and said with a smile: "Steward Wei, your grandfather can also look down on me Yueyang, so many things will be shipped to Jinling within a month, he can think of it!" ”

Steward Wei said respectfully: "Hou Ye Rong, the villain has already said when he came, if Hou Ye can help Grandpa with this, if Hou Ye has the heart to develop in Jinling." Then the Hou Ye will get the full support of the grandfather! ”

"Hey, your grandfather is very good at talking!" After hearing this, Yue Yang said lightly and stopped talking. And Steward Wei didn't rush to do so, just stood quietly waiting for Yue Yang's reply.

After thinking for a while, Yue Yang said: "This matter is very important, let Benhou think about this matter, and give you an answer tomorrow, now you go down to rest first!" ”

"Yes!" Although this Wei steward still wanted to say something in his heart, seeing the impatient expression on Yue Yang's face, he had no choice but to go out with Chen Dazhi on the side.

After the Wei steward went out, Yue Yang handed the letter in his hand to Hailou. "You all take a look, now that my Ming form has festered to such an extent, even Wei Guogong has sent a letter asking for help!"

"Isn't it, how so?"

Hailou and the others were taken aback, and they took the letters and passed them to each other to read, and after reading them, everyone's faces showed a solemn expression.

It turned out that this letter was written by Xu Wenjue, the contemporary Duke of Wei, to Yueyang. Because just a few days ago, a group of Japanese robbers appeared in the area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which is known as the most peaceful, and they burned, killed, and plundered everywhere along the coast. The guards in the coastal area were ordered to exterminate these Japanese bandits, but after the battle between these guards and the Japanese bandits, they were about to be defeated by the Japanese invaders, and after defeating the officers and soldiers along the way, they boldly marched west along the Zhenjiang and Taizhou areas. Approaching Jinling, now the Yangtze River area is already full of rumors, grass and trees, all the cities are closed gates, and no officers and soldiers dare to go out of the city to meet these Japanese invaders. Everyone allowed the Japanese to plunder the coastal areas, and Wei Guogong, who was the garrison of Jinling at the time, had no choice but to order Jinling City to close its doors and impose martial law, hoping to use the firearms on the city to scare off the Japanese invaders. But at this time, Wei Guogong made a sad discovery. After two hundred years of peaceful life, the firearms in Jinling City have long been rotten and rotten, and the total number of artillery pieces that can be used in the huge Jinling City is less than ten, and they are only some small-caliber tiger squat guns.

Now Wei Guogong is in a hurry, if those Japanese robbers are allowed to entrench outside Jinling City for a long time, not only will the entire Jinling City be paralyzed, if the imperial court blames its own Jinling garrison, it will be the first to be punished.

In a hurry, Wei Guogong didn't know how to hear about Yue Yang's reputation, and also knew that Yue Yang had always been known for his sharp firearms, so he sent his housekeeper to ask Yue Yang for help. Not only did he want to buy forty guns from Yueyang, but he also asked Yueyang to send gunners to help him defend the city.

Seeing this, Yue Yang had to wonder if this Wei Guogong had taken the wrong medicine, otherwise how could he come up with such a ridiculous method, didn't he know how far apart Shanxi and Jinling were? Thousands of miles away, and there are countless bandits on the road, and he also asked himself to rush to Jinling within a month, thinking of this, Yue Yang couldn't help but cry and laugh, with the current road traffic situation in the Ming Dynasty, if you bring dozens of artillery, let alone a month, you can proudly boast of being a scud if you can arrive in Jinling in two months.

Thinking of this, Yue Yang casually put the letter aside, and said to Chen Dazhi, who had just come back: "Dazhi, let's wait until tomorrow, you send away the steward of Wei Guogong now, and tell him, Ben Hou didn't have that spare time to take care of him, and arrived in Jinling in a month, really when Ben Hou has wings?" Hurry up and let him go! ”

"Slow ......"

"Master Hou, slow down!"

Seeing that Chen Dazhi was about to go out, he was stopped by Mao Xiang and Fang Yizhi.

Mao Xiang asked in surprise: "Master Hou, aren't you going to help Wei Guogong?" ”

"How can I help?" Yue Yang picked up the letter and pointed to the letter and said impatiently: "Look, he asked Benhou to sell him forty cannons, and he wants to send these cannons to Jinling within a month, is it possible?" Shanxi and Jinling are thousands of miles apart, and there are several provinces in between, how do you ask Benhou to send them over? If Benhou sent a large army to escort the imperial court, would he agree? What if there are fewer soldiers and horses to escort, what should I do if I encounter a rogue on the road? What a whims! Hey...... Why are you looking at me like that? ”

Mao Xiang and the others looked at Yue Yang without saying a word, Yue Yang felt a trace of strangeness and incomprehension in these eyes, and after a long time, Mao Xiang said curiously: "Master Hou, we don't have to take the land route, we can take the water route!" ”

"Waterways? Which waterway? ”

Mao Xiang looked at Yue Yang and said seriously: "We can go to Tianjin first, and then go to sea by boat, if it is fast, we can reach Jinling in more than 20 days." ”

"And this?"

"Of course, students and others come to Shanxi by sea and land." Mao Xiang said very naturally.

Yue Yang was dumbfounded for a moment, didn't this Ming Dynasty enforce the ban on the sea? Why is shipping still popular?

"If Master Hou doesn't believe it, you can call that Wei steward to ask."

Hearing this, Yue Yang's mind immediately spun rapidly. This time, the Duke of Wei suddenly sent someone to buy cannons from him, could this be a trap, and will he be in trouble after selling him artillery? If he really sold the artillery to Wei Guogong, what benefits could he get from it......

At this time, Yue Yang's thinking was already a little messy because he was thinking too much...... (To be continued......)