Chapter 2587
It was almost noon when the three of them came out of Shi Diwen's official residence, so Ning Zijing suggested finding a place to eat and rest. So the three of them found a nearby hotel with a quiet environment and asked the waiter to open a private room.
Ningzi saw that Bai Letong seemed to be not very interested, so he took the initiative to order dishes, ordering Longjing shrimps, fish balls in clear soup, raw eel slices, eight-treasure chicken, braised bamboo shoots and other Hangzhou dishes. Finally, I ordered a pot of fine Shaoxing flower carvings.
"After working hard for so many days, this troublesome matter is finally over! Letong, you can have a good sleep tonight!" Ning Zijing dismissed the waiter after ordering the dishes, not forgetting to comfort Bai Letong with a few words.
Bai Letong's mood was not very relaxed. He shook his head slightly and said, "Actually, we haven't solved any problems. We just roughly figured out the truth of the matter."
Ning Zijing advised: "The problems we think may not be problems at all in the eyes of the Executive Committee. The facts we find difficult to accept may already be the best solution."
"What you said is indeed correct, but I still feel very frustrated." Bai Letong sighed: "When I set out from Sanya, the instruction I received was to supervise that the rural examination in Donghai Region could be held in a fair and just manner. On the way to Hangzhou, I also imagined various situations that I might encounter, but I never imagined that the person who undermined fairness and justice in the end was actually ourselves.”
Tao Hongfang said: "No matter how the provincial examination is finally held and what the admission standards are, of course the national interest should be given priority. This is also the goal we want to achieve. The so-called fairness and justice are not absolute, nor should they be placed above the national interest. Above, Letong, don’t be too pushy!”
After hearing these words, Bai Letong realized something and nodded solemnly: "Hong Fang is right. I put the cart before the horse and failed to understand the truth. Fortunately, you are here with me today. If it were me, If you come to see Uncle Shi on your own, you will inevitably have a dispute with him, and it may be difficult to end!”
Tao Hongfang said: "The dispute between you and Uncle Shi is trivial, but if you mess up his plan, it might cause a big mess!"
Bai Letong thought about it carefully, and it turned out that if he made a big deal, and even forced Shi Diwen to investigate the fraud case by announcing the news to the outside world, then this year's provincial examination would probably be completely disrupted, and Shi Diwen was All the arrangements made here will be in vain, and the losses caused by this will be really incalculable. At this thought, Bai Letong couldn't help but break out in cold sweat, secretly thinking he was lucky.
For these three young people, it was the first time they had ever been exposed to such a complicated situation as the Hangzhou Provincial Examination. Of course, it was difficult to have any perfect way to deal with it. Fortunately, a few of them acted fairly steadily and did not take drastic measures rashly, so even though this happened several times, it did not undermine Shi Diwen's plan in the end.
Ning Zijing saw that the atmosphere was a little heavy, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "Speaking of which, who do you think the relatives of the emperor who came to Hangzhou to take the imperial examination this time are?"
Tao Hongfang said: "I think the princes and grandsons of Beijing should be excluded first. Although Chongzhen chose to hand over governance power to our country, he never stated that he would serve our country. Since the signing of the peace treaty between the two countries, he I have never planned to go to Sanya for an audience. I don’t think Chongzhen would allow the children of the Zhu family around him to give up their royal status and become ministers of our country by taking the imperial examination.”
Ning Zijing said: "Then according to what you said, it is probably the local vassal line?" Tao Hongfang knew a little about this, and talked eloquently: "During the more than two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, successive emperors have conferred vassal status. There are more than sixty people in the king. Taking into account those who have ascended the throne and proclaimed themselves emperors, those who have been deposed for some reason, and those who have no descendants and have their titles lifted, there should be about thirty families at present. To put it bluntly, these families are all. The children of the Zhu family, the royal bloodline, the royal relatives, their conditions are in line with what Uncle Shi said.”
Bai Letong said: "Since there are dozens of candidate families, it shouldn't be too difficult to find someone who is willing to get close to our country and hopes to have a bright future for the family."
Tao Hongfang said: "That's not necessarily the case. They are also the royal family of the previous dynasty. Our country also promised to continue to treat them as nobles during the peace talks with the Ming Dynasty. There are not as many people who are willing to lower their status as you think. And if they want to stand in front of the stage and serve our country, it is equivalent to betraying their royal identity, and there is no way back. Who would make such a choice if it is not necessary?”
Bai Letong said: "According to this, it is probably some down-and-out royal family members who would choose this way out?"
Tao Hongfang nodded and said: "I think this situation is more likely."
There were so many vassal kings in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and the resources available to them would certainly not be exactly the same. Naturally, life had its ups and downs. If the fiefdom is in a land of fish and rice rich in products, then of course you will have no worries about food and clothing, and just be a wealthy and idle person. And if you are unlucky enough to be entrusted to an area that frequently encounters natural and man-made disasters, even the vassal king will not have a good life.
Due to climate change and war, the vassal kings who were entrusted to North China and the Central Plains have not been doing well in the past twenty years. For example, when the Qing army went south to attack Jinan City in 1638, the German king Zhu Youshu and his family were captured by the Qing army and taken away. Naturally, their family property was also looted, and they died outside the Great Wall a few years later.
Although the title of King De was inherited by his cousin Zhu Youjue, he really just inherited an empty title. Not only could he not get any support from the dilapidated Jinan City after the war, but he had to use his family property to assist the court and local governments. The government provided relief to war refugees and organized reconstruction work. Then there were droughts, locust plagues, banditry, and food shortages in Shandong. Of course, the vassal king's life was not much easier.
Although situations like King De's can't be said to be a common phenomenon, they are indeed not uncommon in the past few years. According to some internal information that Tao Hongfang has access to, Haihan also secretly assisted some Ming vassal kings in his early years to help them overcome the shortage of materials. Of course, such assistance was not free. When Haihan later launched peace talks with the Ming Dynasty, many vassal kings wrote to Chongzhen suggesting that he accept Haihan's conditions as soon as possible.
However, they have lived in the south for a long time, and their understanding of the many vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty is only limited to a few pieces of paper information. It is difficult to draw a specific result from a discussion like this. The three of them quickly turned their attention to food, especially Bai Letong, who had not thought about food and food for several days. Now that he had solved the biggest knot in his heart, his appetite suddenly improved.
(End of chapter)