Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

Looking at Cheng Wei, the head of the cabinet with a white beard and high energy, Ning Fan suddenly had a feeling. He blurted out: "There is no unparalleled scholar in the country. Cheng Ge Laozhen is an unparalleled scholar in the country."

When Cheng Wei heard Ning Fan's compliment, his whole body seemed to be struck by lightning. He looked at Ning Fan blankly, his eyes gradually becoming moist.

"A scholar dies for a confidant. I have never really revealed my true feelings in my life, but for some reason, I felt very close to you when I first met Your Majesty. We should do something big between you and your Majesty."

Cheng Wei, the chief minister of the cabinet, said excitedly.

Ning Fan actually understands Cheng Wei's mentality very well. Cheng Wei's mentality is to serve the country wholeheartedly, passionate and honest, but he is still able to make great contributions.

Cheng Wei is over seventy years old. He does not seek fame or fortune, let alone the welfare of future generations. He is dedicated to serving the country, and has already promised Ning Fan that once the entire country is on the right track, he will immediately retire and abdicate in favor of talents. , will not control government affairs, let alone seek personal gain with power.

This is a truly selfless old man who deserves Ning Fan's respect. Looking at Cheng Wei's desolate back when he left, Ning Fan felt quite emotional.

Just when the public situation in Kyoto was turbulent, Ta Kung Pao published several articles one after another. These articles revealed the details of the rebellion led by the Ninth Prince in sharp words.

These articles were written as moving and fascinating as stories, and soon caused a huge wave of public opinion in Kyoto.

People thought that the imperial court was killing people indiscriminately, taking the opportunity to attack these officials and plunder their wealth, but they didn't know that it was these people who wanted to rebel.

Public opinion suddenly reversed, everyone clapped their hands and praised the officials who were arrested, and all the sincere people hated them. Some even set off firecrackers and hung up lanterns.

These days, Ning Fan, under the pseudonym Lu Shuren, has been publishing articles in Ta Kung Pao. These articles have sharp words and simple language, and profoundly explain the future development direction of Dakang.

Articles published in Ta Kung Pao criticize these big landowners every day, criticize them for monopolizing wealth, monopolizing land resources, and criticizing their bottomless plundering of the common people.

Ta Kung Pao not only has branches all over Kyoto, but also publishes it continuously. Ning Fan's article, people all over the world were reading Lu Shuren's article for a while, and they were all guessing who this person was and why he dared to openly quarrel with the clan. Against the entire bureaucracy?

"It's incredible, it's incredible. If these articles are read by officials, I'm afraid they will wet their pants in fear."

In the noisy street, three or five scholars gathered together to comment on the articles in the newspaper.

Maybe newspapers were a rare thing when they first appeared, but now almost the entire country has accepted this new form of media, and reading newspapers has almost become something that scholars do every day.

"Brother Dongfang, in your opinion, who is this Lu Shu man? There has never been such a figure in our Dakang literary world. He has sharp words and simple language, but he has power and makes people's blood boil after reading it. I I am full of admiration for this dear friend."

"Yes, I have been friends with this man for a long time. When I read his articles every day, I feel that my whole spirit has been lifted. In the past, I only read dead books and books by saints, but now my mind seems to have been opened. When the light shines in, everything suddenly becomes clear.”

"Yes, yes, this Lu Shuren brother told us scholars not to spend their whole lives looking for chapters and sentences in the Four Books and Five Classics, but to let the scholars go out and take the world as their own responsibility."

"Brother Zhao, look at this sentence, everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world!"

"To be honest, when I read this sentence, I burst into tears. We scholars have never been able to get ahead. Those wealthy and aristocratic families have completely blocked the path to advancement. Even if we study all our lives, I can only be a small official and a small official, but I am not truly qualified for a position that is useful to this country."

"Yes, these aristocratic families have monopolized the positions of high-ranking officials by relying on their wealth and power. They control the government and public opinion. We people are useless at all. But now after listening to what Brother Lu Shuren said, I feel enlightened."

Ning Fan, dressed like an ordinary person, took Li Chuan to the street, and happened to meet a few scholars talking about it. He stood in the distance and listened quietly. After drinking a large bowl of bean curd, he stood up, paid and left.

"Several classmates, I see some of them have extraordinary conversational skills. I wonder if they are students of Imperial College?"

Ning Fan looked at the few scholars, and he found that although these scholars had extraordinary conversation and amazing temperament, they were dressed in rags and were too plain. It was obvious that they were not children of wealthy families.

"My dear friend, I misunderstood. We cannot enter the Imperial College. Imperial students must come from a wealthy family. We are from a poor family and are not qualified to enter the Imperial College. We just study at home."

Seeing Ning Fan's extraordinary temperament, several scholars quickly came over and handed him over.

"The discussions I just heard from some of you were quite insightful. What do you think of the current situation?"

Ning Fan asked with interest.

The eyes of several scholars showed vigilance for a moment, and they shook their heads slightly: "Brother, I see that your clothes are not fancy, and you must be from a poor family. We children from poor families should not talk about the current situation casually, because we don't have any qualifications."

"Yes, the most painful thing is not ignorance, but knowing but being unable to do anything. The world is now in chaos. We scholars should not help the world. Unfortunately, there is no chance at all. What's the use of just talking here every day? ? It’s better not to talk about it.”

"Yes, we poor children will have no chance to become officials even if we are bad at studying. It is simply impossible to do something for the people of Liming."

Several scholars waved their hands slightly, with expressions of disinterest on their faces.

"This is a big fallacy! Didn't the prophets of Chunjiang Plumbing Duck notice from the recent changes in the direction of the newspapers that the Holy Spirit has the idea of ​​​​getting rid of the old evils? It seems to me that the world will soon be completely new."

Ning Fan said boldly with his hands behind his back.

Several scholars were shocked when they heard Ning Fan's bold words. They quickly pulled Ying Fan aside and whispered: "This brother must not be so loud. If the officials hear it, he may be killed at any time." Arrest us."

"Don't you guys understand what I mean? Why can this Ta Kung Pao be circulated in Dakang? Why can it be distributed unimpeded without anyone's support? Is it possible for a single newspaper to do this?"

Ning Fan looked at the scholars with a half-smile.