Chapter 365 The Correct Use of the Art of Diplomacy

The imperial examination is still half a year away, but the various imperial examination tutoring classes in Chang'an are not as popular as in previous years.

In the past few months before the imperial examination, teachers from major academies would give private lessons to students. Some famous calligraphers, painters, music masters, etc. in Chang'an would also give classes, even if they charged very little. It’s expensive and places are still hard to come by.

But this year's situation is different. Major pre-exam tutoring classes cannot recruit any students at all.

The five hundred best students in Chang'an have all participated in the tutoring class of Li Nuo, the top student in the first six subjects. Who else can teach better than him?

These students are already the best among all the candidates, and they are guided by the best teachers in the world. The gap between them and other students will further widen. The other students naturally do not have the need to seek guidance from others, and they can also save a lot of money. A lot of money.

And the five hundred students, at the beginning, were also in great pain.

If the teacher only teaches one of them, that's it.

But if the teacher teaches everyone, doesn’t everyone make progress?

If everyone makes progress, it means that no one has made progress. The fierce competition in the imperial examination will not change anything.

But they have no choice.

If you don’t make progress with everyone, you will only watch others push you further and further away.

However, after listening to the class for a day, the first batch of 100 students had some changes in their ideas.

Nothing else.

Because you can really learn something from his class.

He will point out everyone's shortcomings in calligraphy, painting, and music, and give the most effective suggestions. In just half a day, they can see their own improvement with their own eyes and be able to clarify the direction of future efforts.

Under his teaching in accordance with their aptitude, everyone's talents can be fully utilized.

Even if they fail to pass the imperial examination, they can still make great achievements in other fields in the future.

At the worst, they can also set up tutoring classes for imperial examinations like this and use their talents in preaching and teaching. Although it is not as good as being an official, it is still extremely respected.

What's even more surprising is that he seems to have a magical power.

Confucian classics have always been the most boring.

Most of them are drowsy when they are in the academy on weekdays and listen to their teacher's talk.

But Li Nuo, the top student in six subjects, gave a classics class that was not much different from what Mr. Academy taught, but everyone listened very carefully. Unknowingly, an hour of class passed, but they seemed not to notice the passage of time. .

What's even more amazing is that after listening to the class, the meanings of the scriptures are imprinted on their minds, and they can't forget them even if they want to.

"gentlemen!"

"Hello, sir!"

"Sir, walk slowly!"

The second day of teaching had ended. When Li Nuo walked out of the Gongyuan, the students around him bowed to him.

He nodded in return and got into a carriage parked at the gate of Gongyuan.

When Butler Wu drove back to Ningxinyuan, Li Nuo leaned on the carriage and let out a long sigh of relief.

Giving lectures using Zonghengshu is an extremely energy-consuming task.

Although most of these students are ordinary people, and only a few have martial arts cultivation, there are so many of them. After a class, he has to plant certain ideas into everyone's minds, and the whole person is extremely exhausted.

This fatigue affects the soul from the inside out.

After one more day of class, he would have to rest for two days.

Fortunately, after only two days of class, he noticed the laxity in the political master's cultivation.

Using vertical and horizontal techniques to influence the thoughts of future officials in Daxia and plant the seeds of reform in their hearts is a strategy in itself, which in turn can feed back cultivation. It is simply killing two birds with one stone.

Before, Li Nuo had never thought that the cooperation between Confucianism and political strategists could have such a miraculous effect.

One of the two families is respected by thousands of people, and the other is reviled by thousands of people, but in this way, they can complement each other and achieve mutual success.

There is nothing wrong with Zonghengshu itself, but those people use it in places it shouldn't be used.

Judging from the increase in cultivation in the past two days, after these five days of classes, Li Nuo's Zongheng Technique will have entered the fifth level.

Supporting the Queen to ascend to the throne, his cultivation level grew from scratch and reached the peak of the fourth realm. He was unable to break through to the fifth realm. Li Nuo still feels strange. However, the difference he made at that time can finally be made up for this time. .

He divided the five hundred students into five batches.

Most of the first batch of students he selected were the children of poor people, or they came from merchant families, or some small families. Compared with the children of big families, their thoughts were easier to change.

When his cultivation reaches another level, his ability to suggest thoughts will become stronger.

In just two days, his Confucian cultivation also increased a lot.

At the same time that Li Nuo returned to Ningxinyuan, Chen Mansion.

Chen Tieniu looked at a pair of ragged father and daughter kneeling in the yard, snorted coldly, and said: "Pay less rent this year, you can say that, sir, I am in business, not charity, you If you say you pay less, pay less?”

A thin man knelt on the ground and said, "Sir, just do it. This year, the river burst its banks, and the harvest was reduced by more than half. We really can't pay so much rent. We have been without rice for three days." Already..."

Chen Tieniu waved his hand and said: "You don't have to say it. It's impossible to pay less rent. The lease was written in black and white at the time. However, I'm not unreasonable. I can pay less this year. This time I owe you Please pay double the rent you paid next year..."

Hearing this, the man looked bitter. He worked hard for a year. In the end, not only did he not make any money, but he owed more debt...

This year's difficulties are over, but next year, if the situation is not good again, how can he pay back twice as much?

After thinking about it carefully, he pointed to the little girl next to him and said: "Master, do you think I can sell my little girl to you? Part of the money from the sale will be used to pay for the rent..."

Chen Tieniu glanced at the little girl and asked, "How much money do you want to sell it for?"

The man immediately said: "Ten taels, just ten taels!"

Chen Tieniu sneered and said: "Twelve taels, you think so beautifully, my daughter's fat and white body only sells for more than ten taels. Your daughter's thin arms and legs can make her fall if the wind blows. No one buys five taels. Considering that your family has been farming for me for so many years, I will give you five taels..."

When the man heard this, he could only sigh and kowtow: "Thank you, Master..."

Although he couldn't bear to part with his daughter, if he didn't sell her, the whole family would starve to death...

At this time, a figure walked in from outside the door.

When Chen Tieniu saw Chen Qi, he said happily: "Qi'er is back, go and get ready for dinner. I'm lucky today. I grabbed your favorite dish from Sinong Temple. I only got a small bundle for ten taels of silver..." "

When the man kneeling on the ground heard this, his body trembled slightly, with a complicated look in his eyes.

Chen Qi walked up to the father and daughter, glanced down, and said to Chen Tieniu: "Dad, no one can predict the natural disaster. Their rent this year will be waived..."

Chen Tieniu has always followed his son's wishes, but he did not agree to this matter. He shook his head and said, "That's not possible. If we exempt them, do we have to exempt others? If we exempt them this year, what if it happens again next year?" If there is any disaster, it must be avoided. In this case, you don’t have to worry about what our family eats and drinks, and go and prepare for the meal..."

Chen Qi said: "We still have many shops. Aren't those shops also very profitable?"

Chen Tieniu said: "Shops are shops, and land rent is land rent. These two cannot be confused. Besides, our Chen family is considered poor in Chang'an. If we want to gain a foothold here, we have to make more money..."

Chen Qi let out a long sigh and said, "How much money do you need to earn to be considered too much..."

He didn't argue with his father anymore. He took out the money bag from his arms, poured out all the silver coins in it, thought about it, put it back again, handed the whole money bag to the man, and said, "Take the money." ”

Chen Tieniu was stunned when he saw this and asked quickly: "What are you doing..."

The man froze in place, not daring to pick it up. Chen Qi stuffed the money bag into his arms and said, "Take it."

After the man came to his senses, he pulled his daughter and kept kowtowing his head, with a cry in his voice, and said repeatedly: "Thank you, Master, thank you, Master!"

Chen Tieniu did not stop him this time. After the father and daughter left, he said to his son: "Dad, I know you are kind-hearted, but there are too many poor people in this world. If you can help one, you can help ten, or you can help one." A hundred, but can you help a thousand? Even if we give away all the money of the Chen family, it won't change anything. You, don't take it for granted..."

Chen Qi looked confused and confused, and murmured: "Why are there so many poor people in the world?"

Chen Tieniu said: "Of course they didn't work hard. Our Chen family used to farm. It was your father and I who kept our heads in our trousers through wind and rain, and laid the foundation for our Chen family today..."

What his father said seemed to make sense, but Chen Qi felt that there was something strange that could not be explained.

This night, he had trouble sleeping.

During recess the next day, he asked his teacher.

My husband is the top scorer in six subjects and is the smartest person in mainland China. He will definitely be able to answer his questions.

But the husband did not tell him, but asked him to find the answer on his own.

Mr. Chao announced a two-day suspension of classes to allow them to review the knowledge they had learned over the past few days. Chen Qi decided to experience the lives of his family's tenants and servants for himself.

During dinner at Chen's house, Chen Tieniu looked at his son in surprise and asked, "Are you going to a farm outside the city?"

Chen Qi nodded and said, "The teacher said that this way we can understand the connotation of the sages' scriptures."

Since it was for the imperial examination, Chen Tieniu didn't think much about it. He was a rough man and didn't understand the affairs of scholars. He just did what his son said.

The Chen family has hundreds of acres of land outside Chang'an, which he bought after he became prosperous. It is cultivated by tenants every year. If the harvest is good, he will take 70% of the grain and leave 30% to them. If the harvest is not good, he will take away 70% of the land. , and asked the tenants to convert it into a fixed amount of silver.

Anyway, no matter whether it is a famine year or a good year, he will definitely not suffer any loss.

The next night, Chen Qi slumped on the carriage returning to the city, staring straight at the roof of the carriage.

Last night, he asked his family's driver to take him to a farm outside the city.

At nine o'clock in the morning, before it was still dark, he got up and started the day's life with the tenants.

There was no well in the village, so he had to carry two buckets to a distant river to get water. This was the first thing he did after getting up.

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Using the turbid river water, he cooked a small pot of porridge with wild vegetables mixed with bran. He found it difficult to swallow, but the man ate it with relish.

I finally forced myself to swallow a few mouthfuls, and when the first ray of light appeared on the horizon, I was about to go out to work.

Now it is the busy farming season. They go out before dawn and come back after sunset.

At noon, Chen Qi almost fainted from hunger, but he could only eat a few bites of dry and hard bran cakes.

This day was more difficult for him than a month.

When he returned home at night, he wolfed down his dinner. He didn't even want to take a shower, let alone think. He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

At the hour of Mao the next day, he was awakened by the servants at home.

Today, he will experience the life of a servant for another day.

Half asleep and half awake, he pinched his nose to empty the toilet, feed the horse, and chop firewood. After doing all these, it was almost noon. While cleaning the courtyard, he finally fainted due to exhaustion...

When he woke up, a woman was guarding his bed, silently crying, complaining to Chen Tieniu: "It's all your fault. My son wants to pass the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official. Why do you let him suffer this..."

Chen Tieniu also looked wronged. This was his son's own request, and he didn't dare to object.

If it affects the imperial examination, there is no regret medicine for him to take.

Chen Qi opened his eyes, and there was no more confusion in his eyes.

After these two days of experience, he found the answer to that question.

The tenants and servants in the family are poor not because they don't work hard.

The tenants worked hard for a year, but the harvest in the end could not pay the rent, and they had to sell their children to prevent the whole family from starving to death.

The servants get up early and go to bed late, working like cattle and horses from the end of the year to the end of the year, but their wages are only ten taels of silver, and they will be deducted for various reasons. If they get sick, all their savings will be gone.

He used to be so focused on the imperial examination that he never thought about what kind of life these people around him, whom he saw every day, lived.

In the past two days, he talked with many tenants and servants.

After thinking about it, he came to a conclusion.

The reason why they are so poor and their lives are so hard is not because they don’t work hard, on the contrary, they have tried their best to survive.

It is because there are gentry and noble families like the Chen family who own a lot of land and property but are unwilling to treat the people well, so the people have no good life to live. Their greed and harshness are the reasons for the suffering of the people.

And he, Chen Qi, is one of these people.

The teacher said that if you are poor, you can only take care of yourself, and if you are rich, you can help the world.

The Chen family is already very rich, and the current family business will not be exhausted in several lifetimes.

Although they don't have the ability to help the world, they can still help some people first.

Chen Tieniu looked at Chen Qi as if he had just met his son for the first time, and said in disbelief: "What did you say? Reduce the taxes of the tenants by half and pay the servants double the wages. Have you become stupid after studying?"

It's hard to believe that such words can be said by someone who has studied for twenty years.

Do you really think that his Chen family is doing charity?

Without him, those tenants would have to flee with their families. He provided food and clothing for these servants and paid them wages. It was good enough for them, what else did they want?

Chen Qi said slowly: "Doing these things will not have any impact on our Chen family, but it can make the tenants and servants live better. No matter how much money we earn, we can't spend much. Why not take some out so that more people can live a life without worries about food and clothing?"

"Why, I owe them?"

Chen Tieniu frowned and looked at his son, angrily said: "Okay, why do you have such an idea? I spent one thousand taels of silver just to let you learn this? From tomorrow, you don't have to go to class!"

Chen Qi himself didn't care. He shrugged and said: "I can not go to class, but if I am surpassed by my classmates who attended the class and fail to pass the exam, I hope my father will not blame me..."

"..."

Chen Tieniu didn't dare to say anything more.

The imperial examination is a top-notch event. Let alone reducing the rent and processing fees, as long as his son can pass the exam, he would be willing to let him go back to the days of poverty.

His lips trembled, and he lowered his head and said, "Ahem, I still have to go to class, but can I also go to your teacher's class? Dad wants to see if the top scorers in the six subjects are the Wenquxing who has three heads and six arms..." He really wanted to see the top scorers in the six subjects, to see the culprit who made his good son become like this. The next day at noon, Chen Qi returned home and said to Chen Tieniu, "The teacher said that outsiders can go to audit, but they need to pay a hundred taels of silver for auditing, and can only sit in the last row and cannot ask any questions..." Chen Tieniu hesitated for a moment, and said with determination, "Isn't it just a hundred taels of silver? I'll pay it!" Inside the Imperial Academy. Li Nuo was lecturing on the Confucian classics, and a hundred students were listening attentively. He usually taught his students calligraphy and painting in the morning, taught imperial examinations and archery in the afternoon, and taught the classics in the last class of the day. After teaching the classics, he just finished and went home to rest. At this time, all the students' attention was on Li Nuo, and they did not notice that there was a figure sitting in the corner of the back row, who was out of tune with them.

Chen Tieniu crossed his legs, leaned against the wall, and looked at the young figure in the front.

Although this six-subject champion was handsome, he did not have three heads and six arms, and he did not look very powerful.

Listening to what he said, Chen Tieniu showed a hint of disdain at the corner of his mouth.

These Confucians are really stupid. Whether the people can live a good life or not has nothing to do with them. He can have everything today because of his hard work. If those people were as hardworking as him, they would have lived a life of superiority.

However, as he listened, the disdain on his lips gradually disappeared.

Some long-lost memories began to emerge in his mind.

He can have everything today because he left his hometown and worked hard.

And the reason why he left his hometown was because he sold the family land to treat his mother's illness. He worked hard all year round, but not only did he not make a penny, but he owed the landlord rent.

In desperation, he could only leave his hometown and find another way to make a living.

If, he said if...

If he had a few acres of land to plant back then, he would never have been displaced and would not have fallen into life and death crises several times in order to make a living...

The tenants of the Chen family, weren't they the same as him back then?

As time passed, the disdain on his face completely disappeared. He looked at the young man in front of him with full concentration. Chen Tieniu, who had never read any books in his life, began to think about a question.

How should a person spend his life?

Make the most money?

Become the highest official?

Sleep with the most beautiful women?

Or something else...