Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 542 Fighting in the Arena

It can be said that Master Bao grew up overnight.

Since he left Rongguo Mansion, he found that his views on many things had changed dramatically.

The biggest change is his view on people.

In the past, Baoyu would think that anyone who was good-looking must be a good person, regardless of whether they were male or female.

But as he walked out of the Rongguo Mansion to socialize, he soon discovered the problem.

It turns out that beneath their beautiful appearance, some people are really rotten inside out, and can even do disgusting things that are hard for him to imagine.

The elegant gentleman I met at the literary gathering seemed to be very handsome and elegant on the surface, but he was actually bullying and abducting good women behind the scenes.

The elegant scholar who could speak eloquently at the poetry meeting, actually used the money that his wife had saved by tightening her belt to curry favor with the daughter of a noble with a clear conscience, and abandoned his wife and children without any guilt.

With such a group of people, it would be useless even if you bring up Confucius or even the Lord of Heaven.

"My father told me a few days ago that when he was the education commissioner in Zhejiang, he encountered many things that he could not understand..."

When Baoyu talked about the incident a few days ago when Mr. Zheng pulled him aside for a candlelight chat, he couldn't help sighing.

It turns out that his strict father was the same as him in his heart.

Just as naive!

"My father said that he had read the books of sages for most of his life and had never doubted what they said. It was not until he went to Zhejiang that he understood a truth - it is better to have no books than to believe everything in them!"

Baoyu suddenly sighed deeply, and said to Jia Cong and Daiyu with bitter self-mockery: "In fact, I have been thinking about a problem. I used to hate the official career and economy, but now I can't tell what I hate."

This problem troubled Baoyu for a long time.

I am saying this today not to get an answer from Jia Cong and Daiyu, but to explain one thing.

He tapped the thick stack of arguments with his finger and spoke again: "Just like these people, you can't say that they are all traitors to the country. Many of them are famous people in the capital and have noble character. But what they defend is what I hate..."

Jia Cong felt that Baoyu should be the person in the Ningrong Jia family who was most disgusted with the current ethical rules and regulations.

What he hated was probably the cannibalistic ethics, the darkness of petty intrigues and despicable practices, and all the evils that went against his pure and kind nature.

Therefore, after he entered the officialdom, he suppressed his aversion to the official career and economy, picked up the pen, and fought against everything he hated.

But the results of his efforts were insignificant, because the enemy was too powerful, so powerful that even the prime minister of a country had to use repeated strategies to fight against it.

Ugh……

Jia Cong sighed in his heart, Master Bao was born in the wrong era!
Perhaps no matter how hard he tries throughout his life, he will never be able to see the world he wants to see.

"Second uncle... Second uncle's inner turmoil is not due to the words of the saints, but to those books that misinterpret the words of the saints!"

If Jia Cong could see what Baoyu was thinking, how could Daiyu not see it?

But both of them have the same opinion, and this answer is extremely cruel to Baoyu. Perhaps even Baoyu himself has already noticed it, but he is unwilling to admit it.

So Daiyu didn't say it, but changed the subject.

"Back then, Brother Cong and I reinterpreted the Analects and sent it to Duke Wen Zheng of Wei in the name of Dad. Duke Wen Zheng used this book to test the situation... Brother Bao should have seen the result. The younger generation of scholars were fine, but those who controlled the major academies almost all criticized it."

The Kong family of Qufu has fallen, but the Kong family was just the so-called Confucian leaders who were pushed out by others.

In today’s science, the real leader is not one person, but a group that has the majority of the say.

They are spread throughout Daxia, controlling academies and schools of all sizes, learning societies and bookstores of all sizes, and holding the power to interpret the words of sages.

This force was so huge that even the emperor found it difficult to directly confront it.

"The reason why the great minister wants to re-interpret the words of the saints is to correct the original source and let people see the true classics of the saintly way. Second brother Bao, you are not debating with these Confucian scholars, you are debating with the entire Neo-Confucianism."

Daiyu's eyes were full of worry. She pondered for a long time before she sighed and said, "This is an extremely difficult and dangerous thing. It is very likely that you will be ruined!"

This is a dispute of faith, and losing lives is a common occurrence, not to mention touching on other people's fundamental interests. Throwing dirty water and creating traps is the most basic operation.

Jia Cong had never thought about all this. When he heard what Daiyu said, he understood why old man Zhou Jiong had repeatedly told him not to get involved in this matter.

It turned out that the old man was worried that if he lost the fight, there would be no one to succeed him.

Saving Jia Cong means saving the future!

Thinking of this, Jia Cong was about to take the manuscripts on the table and prepare to destroy them.

But Baoyu pressed down the manuscript on the table, looked up and smiled calmly.

"I'm going to give it a try even if I lose my reputation. Even if I lose the debate and my reputation is ruined, will my family be short of food?"

Jia Cong was shocked, and he and Daiyu looked at Baoyu in amazement, who looked unconcerned.

"Second Brother Bao..."

"Baoyu..."

Perhaps it was this conversation that relieved most of Baoyu's boredom. At this moment, he was quite free and easy, as if he had returned to the past.

He held the stack of manuscripts in his arms and smiled gently.

"I don't have to be an official. Even if I lose, I will go back home and be filial to my grandmother. Anyway, with you guys around, I won't starve, right?"

……

The struggle of faith is a bloodless war.

In just a few days, the entire capital was plunged into chaos that no one had expected.

The chaos had already escalated to the imperial court, and the struggle in the court broke out completely when the new Minister of Revenue was being nominated.

After Lin Ruhai entered the cabinet, he naturally could no longer continue to hold such an important position as the Minister of Revenue.

The emperor originally wanted to delay the matter until Wen Lian returned to Beijing from overseas and then appoint him as Minister of Finance, but he did not expect someone to bring up the matter at the grand court meeting.

There are some rules that even the emperor cannot break.

The vacancy of the finance minister would indeed affect the operation of the court. Since someone had proposed it, and a large group of people seconded the proposal at the court meeting, the emperor could only order the central court to push it.

But no one expected that there would be an equal number of votes during the court nomination.

"Who is Sun Shenxing? How come I've never heard of him?"

Jia Cong quietly asked Zhai Sigong, the Minister of Taichang Temple who was standing next to him. He originally thought that the official chair of the Minister of Revenue would be occupied by Wen Lian, Sheng Yihong, the Left Vice Minister of Revenue, or Shen Zhui, the Right Vice Minister of Revenue.

But they didn't expect that a Sun Shenxing would suddenly appear and break through the siege with a high number of votes and share the votes with Wen Lian.

Jia Cong had never heard of this person.

Zhai Sigong was also stunned. After calming down, he whispered, "Your Majesty may not have heard of Sun Shenxing, but you must have heard of his nickname... Divine Calculation Descendants Mountain!"

what?
Sun Shan?

Divine fortune teller?
"Why haven't I heard of the Divine Calculation Descendants Mountain?"

Zhai Sigong did not expect that Jia Cong had never heard of Sun Shenxing. He asked in surprise, "There are many famous scholars in the world, but there are very few who are proficient in mathematics. Your Excellency has never heard of the divine Zisun Mountain? Didn't your teacher talk about it when you were studying?"

Jia Cong shrugged and replied proudly, "Senior Zhai seems to have forgotten that my teacher Xu Qingteng also won the sixth place in the imperial examination!"

Uh……

Damn, it’s normal for this evil master and disciple not to pay attention to some fortune teller!

Zhai Sigong glanced at Jia Cong with resentment, and then explained in a low voice.

It turns out that this divine fortune teller, Sun Shenxing, had served as a minister in the Ministry of Revenue in his early years.

In the last years of Emperor Zhaowu's reign, it was common for mice to starve to death in the Ministry of Revenue. Sun Shenxing was a great mathematician, and he had discovered the impact of the deficit in the Ministry of Revenue on the court very early on. He submitted nine memorials in a row, hoping that the emperor would order the recovery of the deficit...

The result is predictable, the old saint ignored it.

In a fit of anger, Sun Shenxing resigned and returned to his hometown in Guangdong to write books and no longer care about court affairs.

This time, someone suddenly brought it up. Whether there was any conspiracy behind it or not is unknown. Sun Shenxing's ability in financial management cannot be ignored by anyone.

How can you be in the Ministry of Revenue if you don’t know how to do the accounting?

Although Wen Lian was capable of both civil and military skills in maintaining national security, he was eighteen steps behind Sun Shenxing in mathematics.

"Is this Sun Shan so powerful?"

Under Jia Cong's suspicious gaze, Zhai Sigong nodded heavily.

Zhai Sigong said, "In the 47th year of Zhaowu, thirteen countries including Goryeo, Japan, Siam, and Nanyue came to Beijing to pay tribute. There was a competition. Sun Shenxing fought against the mathematicians of the thirteen vassal states alone... and he was undefeated!"

hiss……

That's really great, but...

Let's wait and see why this Sun Shen's behavior would be suddenly brought out to challenge the emperor.

……

The votes were equal in the first nomination and the same was true for the second.

According to the system, the emperor has the right to appoint the candidate when the votes are equal.

But when the emperor was about to speak, Xia Lingxing, the second assistant of the cabinet, presented a letter from Zhou Jiong who was recuperating at home.

"Let's put aside the imperial recommendation for now. Some people are dissatisfied with the reputation of the divine fortune teller Sun Shan... Pass the decree to set up a competition in the Imperial College in three days. Let's see the new math talent fight against the divine fortune teller. If Sun Shenxing wins, I will appoint him as the Minister of Finance of the country!"

ha?
Can you do this?

There was an uproar in the hall. Some people were indignant that the court election was so solemn and sacred, but in the end the matter of selecting the minister of finance of the country was pushed to some kind of mathematics competition.

However, several bigwigs in the cabinet did not stand up to oppose. These small fry clamored for a long time, but they were unable to change the emperor's mind.

However, someone still stood up and asked who the person who was dissatisfied was.

The emperor nodded at Jia Cong who was listening to Zhai Sigong's story and said, "Hey, this person is Jia Cong, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department."

Ok?
Who called me?
Jia Cong felt that countless pairs of eyes were looking at him, and only after being reminded by others did he understand what had happened.

However, the emperor ignored Jia Cong's confusion and added, "Oh, and there is also Xue Hengwu, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue..."

……

Xue Hengwu is Baochai, which was the name given to her by He Chong to facilitate her work in the court.

When Jia Cong was ordered to come to Prime Minister Zhou's residence, Baochai was already waiting there.

There was a circle of white gauze wrapped around Mr. Zhou's forehead, and the study was filled with the smell of medicine.

"You are trying to trick me... snap, snap..."

The fruit in the prime minister's mansion was delicious. Jia Cong picked up a peach on the table and started eating it.

Zhou Jiong smiled and ignored Jia Cong. Instead, he asked someone to bring tea and snacks, and said to Baochai: "Since your old man was able to push you out, I think you are very proficient in mathematics..."

"My Lord, it was not Grandfather who pushed me out. I wanted to ask Senior Divine Calculator for advice myself!"

Baochai's confidence and honesty surprised Zhou Jiong. After a pause, he continued to ask with a smile: "Why? You should know that behind Sun Shenxing is the Lingnan School of Thought, and even all the academic cliques who want to challenge me."

Baochai nodded and said, "I know, but I have to stand up. I have known Sun Shenxing since I was a child. I admire his talent, but I oppose his position!"

Oh?
Zhou Jiong was more interested. Jia Cong also stopped eating the peach and looked at Baochai in confusion.

"You should know, my Lord, that Sun Shenxing is a staunch supporter of maritime trade, and half of the business of my maternal family, the Xue family, is related to maritime trade. Moreover, I am an official of the Ministry of Revenue, and I know the current situation of the Ministry of Revenue very well. Whether it is Master Wen or Lords Sheng and Shen who will take the position of Minister of Finance, I am not worried. But Sun Shenxing is the only one that I do not want to take the position for both public and private reasons!"

There is another point that Baochai did not say explicitly, but Zhou Jiong had already guessed it.

If Sun Shenxing becomes the Minister of Revenue, Baochai will no longer be able to serve in the Ministry of Revenue.

Because Sun Shenxing was a staunch follower of Neo-Confucianism, and he was the one who most advocated the idea that women's virtue lay in their lack of talent.

Given Baochai's current behavior, it would be strange if Sun Shenxing could tolerate her.

"So after the first round of court recommendations, I immediately discussed this with Grandfather, and Grandfather then wrote to Grand Chancellor, mentioning the competition."

It turned out that the mathematics competition was proposed by Baochai through Mr. He Yaomin.

Jia Cong asked in confusion: "Then why am I included?"

Baochai smiled and said, "The great lord said that you are a child and I am a young girl. If Sun Shenxing cannot even compare to a child and a girl, how can he have the face to be the Minister of Finance of Daxia?"

ha?
"I'm already grown up and married, okay? Why am I still a child?"

Jia Cong was indignant, but old man Zhou Jiong laughed and said, "Sun Shenxing was famous all over the world at the age of seventeen. He passed the imperial examination in the thirty-first year of Zhaowu and became the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the forty-sixth year... In the eyes of others, what else can you be but a child?"

Calculating his age, Sun Shenxing is already 62 years old this year.

Many of his disciples and grandchildren have entered officialdom. Compared with Sun Shenxing, isn't Jia Cong just a child?
Mr. Zhou no longer looked like he was seriously injured and couldn't move. He laughed happily and said, "Well, since they pushed Sun Shenxing out and wanted to take the power of the Minister of Finance from me, I will fight him in this arena and put an end to their thoughts!"

Jia Cong spread his hands and said, "You are old, and what you said is right! But who exactly sent this Sun Shenxing here? You should investigate and see if he is in league with the people who plotted against my family. Recently, my second brother Bao has stirred up a hornet's nest. Rumors about him are spreading all over the capital. My old lady almost fainted when she heard about it!"

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I've been so busy these past two days that I have no time to write.

　　I will update one chapter tonight, and make up for it later when I have time...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)