At the end of March, the much-anticipated banquet was held in Xingqing Palace, where prime ministers, princes, celebrities, hermits, scholars, and even monks and Taoists gathered together to discuss the state of the country. Such a large-scale seminar is naturally a variety of opinions, there is a hermit who does not know that the hermit who has been cut out of the old eyes are dizzy, the first day to propose the first king, respect Zhou Li, and even lamented that if he does not change this, he would rather go to the company of birds and beasts day and night, than live in the sun of the Tang Dynasty, looking like he does not eat Zhou Su, which attracted a boo. The comments of the chairman of the conference, Li Yu:

"This gentleman used his emotional language to depict for us an era when there were few people and many beasts, I also felt that it was a very good era, everyone had enough food, and there would not be many conflicts because of land and wealth, but now it is the year before the ancient world, and the people are ten thousand times larger than at that time, I can't let the people decrease or increase the number of beasts, so I have to bother Mr. You go back to antiquity yourself, or you can hurry up and find Wang Mang."

This is just a tidbit, but it also sets the tone for this feast to be realistic and realistic. Presiding over the conference is Sikong Duyou, who has already given his name, and is also known for his achievements, not to mention the merits of being the prime minister for more than ten years, that is, one of his works "General Dictionary" is a masterpiece that can be obtained in the world, and Li Jifu is very much a fight. However, Du You obviously had selfish intentions, and smuggled his two grandsons, Si Yilang, Du Yi and a younger Du Mu, who was only ten years old, into the venue.

Although there are different opinions among the various schools of thought, the focus is still on the recent dispute between the old and the new, which is specifically the question of whether agriculture should be the foundation of the country or the question of whether commerce should be the foundation of the country. On this issue, the nobles of the clan and the great families who were rooted in the land were aggressive, while the new faction that diverged from them was to see the tricks and emphasize the importance of commerce. The representative of the heavy peasant faction is Yan Shou, as well as several Lang officials in the three provinces, as well as several doctors of Guozijian, from Chao Cuo's "On Accumulation and Sparseness" to talk about the current situation of today's merchants, and the representative of the heavy mercantile faction is Cheng Yi, the servant of the household department, and the supporters are Bai Juyi, a scholar of the middle school, and Li Shen, a school scholar.

Dr. Guozijian sarcastically ridiculed Bai Juyi and Li Shendao:

"Do the people of Baishe remember the original work of "Guankarima"? Li Xiaoshulang can remember the "Compassion for Nong" written back then. ”

And recited Bai Juyi's "Guanjiamai" and Li Shen's "Compassion for Nong" in public:

"•••••• what merit do I have now, I used to be a farmer. There are 300 stones, and there is surplus grain in the year. I am ashamed to remember this, and I will never forget it. ”

"At noon on hoeing day, sweat drops into the soil. Who knows that Chinese food is hard work. ”

"When I first read these two poems, I really started to shoot the case, and I must get to know these two great poets who care about people's livelihood and suffering. taught in Guozijian, and also recommended these two poems to a certain student. When I saw it today, I was disappointed, and I knew I wouldn't see it. ”

The reciter's feelings were just right, and a sense of compassion suddenly appeared. And the irony in the words is also very strong, compared with the positions of Bai Juyi and Li Shen today, it is self-evident that the implication is that the two of them have turned their backs on their original positions. The eyes of many onlookers immediately focused unkindly on the two of them. However, Bai Juyi and Li Shen, who were standing behind Cheng Yi, looked as usual.

In the main hall of chattering voices, the short school secretary Li Shen and Bai Juyi exchanged glances, quietly walked to the front of Cheng Yi, and waited for everyone to be quiet, bowed to the tall Li Yan, and then bowed to today's host Du You, and finally made a flat bow to this doctor before he spoke:

"Does the doctor know that another poem was written in this "Compassion for Nong" back then?"

After that, he recited to himself, and said:

"Plant a grain of millet in the spring, and harvest 10,000 seeds in the autumn. There is no idle land in the four seas, and the farmers are still starving to death. ”

The voice was low and mournful, and he immediately realized that Li Shen had directly aimed the spearhead at the family that controlled government affairs, and the doctor was going to be unlucky, and sure enough, Li Shen continued:

"Don't say back then, even today, my heart is still the same. Li is from a small town in the south of the Yangtze River, and he still knows the changes in the world, and the doctor has lived in Beijing for a long time, so why do he turn a deaf ear? At that time, a person saw the tragic scene of "Zhumen wine and meat stink, and there are frozen bones on the road" written by Du Gongbu, so he wrote two poems of "Compassion for Nong". And the reason why we value commerce now is because of agriculture. A local official, who saw with his own eyes that after the commercial tax was sufficient, the people no longer had to sell their sons and daughters, and they were displaced, and because they could not pay the taxes, they sold the Yongye land they relied on for their livelihood at a low price, or gave up their household registration and sold themselves into slavery with large households. It is precisely because of the sufficiency of commercial taxes that the treasury is full and will not squeeze the people. But a doctor, I'm afraid that I can only appreciate poetry and don't care about people's livelihood, right? ”

Li Yu, who was sitting high on the throne, "chuckled" in his heart and said:

"It's bad, Li Shen is emotional, it's better not to be caught."

Sure enough, the doctor's face flushed with shame, and he said angrily:

"Li Shen, what do you mean? Are you saying that the people under the rule of the Emperor and Tang Dynasty were not happy? ”

Damn, it's in prison for the text. As soon as Li Yu was about to go out to help, he heard Li Shen say:

"So-and-so is just telling the truth. Li said that anyone who is deaf and clear-sighted can know, why doesn't the doctor know? ”

Regardless of the doctor's situation, he made a gesture and retreated to his place. The doctor refused to let it, and Du You patted the ruler and said:

"Today's feast, Your Majesty has a word first, regardless of high and low, as long as it is reasonable. If you don't sin because of your words, why should the doctor bother with it? And what Li Shen said, it is also true according to the book, the doctor doesn't need to say anything, let's step back first. ”

Du You is the third prince, and he has been the prime minister for more than ten years, and he has accumulated a lot of power, so the doctor has no choice but to retreat. Then Cheng Yi came out to discuss the contribution of business to Datang over the years. Cheng Yi had Li Jifu's "Yongzhen National Accounting Book" on the one hand, and a detailed report on the income and expenditure of the household department and the transfer of salt and iron over the years, and Yan Shou and others were speechless when they refuted it. It wasn't until Du You announced that today's feast was over that he got rid of the embarrassment.