amaotonovel Chapter 587 Why didn't anyone notify me to attend the meeting?
Chapter 587 Why didn't anyone notify me to attend the meeting?
Yang Shaofeng felt relieved and naturally didn't mind giving his foolish brother-in-law some pointers.
"I heard a Mr. Ai say that a so-called peaceful and prosperous era must first meet three criteria."
"First, there are no powerful countries in the surrounding area. Second, there are no enemy countries in the surrounding area. Third, there are no powerful countries in the surrounding area that are hostile to us."
"Which of these three criteria does Your Highness find to be met?"
Zhu Biao suddenly felt a burning sensation on his face.
If judged according to these three criteria, there has never been a peaceful and prosperous era in the Central Plains since ancient times.
Or rather, only the one or two decades during the Kaiyuan era can be considered a golden age.
This is without considering the Tibetan Empire.
As for the Ming Dynasty now?
First, the claim that there were no powerful neighboring countries does not apply, because the Yuan Dynasty, even in its semi-dead state, could still be considered a powerful nation.
Second, the claim of having no neighboring enemy states does not apply, because the Yuan dynasty and the Ming dynasty were inherently enemies.
Third, there were no hostile powerful countries in the surrounding area, which is even less likely to be true, because the Yuan dynasty's false emperor, Ayushiridara, dreamed of going south to destroy the Ming dynasty.
"In the second year of the Hongwu reign, the false emperor of the Yuan dynasty, Toghon Temür, moved the capital to Yingchang Prefecture, which was only a two or three-day journey by horse from Beiping. Is this what you call a peaceful and prosperous era?"
"In the fourth year of the Hongwu reign, Hu Yuanxin's self-proclaimed emperor Ayushiridara constantly sent troops to harass the border. Is there such a peaceful and prosperous era?"
As Yang Shaofeng spoke, he opened a mocking map: "The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun have indeed been recovered, but what about the Western Regions?"
"Where are the Protectorates of the Western Regions, the Western Regions, the Eastern Regions, the Northern Regions, the Southern Regions, and the Mengchi Region?"
"It's a good thing Li Bai didn't live to this day, otherwise he would have to go through customs and spies just to go back and pay respects to his ancestors. Tsk."
Yang Shaofeng spoke casually, but Zhu Biao only felt aggrieved.
It was to express sympathy for Li Bai.
It was also because I felt frustrated.
What terrible things have I done to deserve such a sharp-tongued brother-in-law!
Yang Shaofeng had no intention of letting Zhu Biao off the hook.
"Even if we take a step back and judge it by the standard that a prosperous era is one where no one starves to death, does Your Highness consider this a prosperous era?"
That's nothing!
There are still my father's former colleagues in the capital. If they were in Dadu, I don't know how many would have frozen to death. What kind of peaceful and prosperous era is this?!
Moreover, the illegal coal mine case has not been resolved yet, so what kind of prosperous era is this!
Before Yang Shaofeng could continue his mockery, Zhu Biao said with a dark face, "My father has already told all the civil and military officials that they are not allowed to mention any prosperous era anymore."
After Zhu Biao said that, Yang Shaofeng felt embarrassed to continue his attack.
But if I don't say the words "In prosperous times, when there is famine, why bother with farming and weaving?", I always feel like something is missing.
On second thought, Yang Shaofeng suddenly felt that something was not right.
What did that stupid brother-in-law just say?
It is said that Deng Xiaoping had already told all the civil and military officials that they were not allowed to mention the so-called prosperous era anymore.
Then the problem is coming.
Where is this official?
Why didn't anyone notify me to attend the meeting?
It seems that this old man doesn't really take me, his son-in-law, seriously.
As Yang Shaofeng was pondering this, Zhu Biao continued, "And didn't I just say that I need my brother-in-law to help my father with the reforms so that our Ming Dynasty can enter a true golden age?"
After Zhu Biao said that, Yang Shaofeng finally realized what was going on.
I knew it! Something just seemed off.
It turns out that it wasn't that Old Deng hadn't sent someone to summon me to a meeting.
Instead, this foolish brother-in-law was just making empty promises to me.
Neither Old Deng nor his son, Little Deng, are good people!
Yang Shaofeng's eyes darted around, and he suddenly chuckled dryly twice.
Old Deng is forbidden from mentioning the prosperous era?
That's exactly what I'm going to say!
Not only will I mention it, but I will also give you two father and son a headache!
Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "Actually, to determine whether something can be called a prosperous era, in addition to the three criteria Mr. Ai mentioned, I also have a few less mature criteria."
For example, whether there are sufficient means of production.
"Do the people have enough daily necessities?"
"If people encounter emergencies and lose their daily necessities and means of production, will they still have a livelihood?"
"Anyway, there are only a few perspectives on things: politics, economy, people's livelihood, education, and healthcare."
"Take Ningyang County for example. Its biggest advantage right now is that it has a large number of mediocre doctors who can only take pulses and look at tongue coating."
"Dengzhou Prefecture is similar. Its biggest advantage right now is that it has Dengzhou University and a trading market. The university and the trading market alone are enough to make the people of Dengzhou Prefecture rich."
"Your Majesty, I have also heard a saying: 'In prosperous times, there is no hunger or famine, so why bother with farming and weaving?'"
"Anyway, the people of Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture are not too busy."
"..."
Zhu Biao's defenses were completely breached.
"Our Great Ming Dynasty is not in a golden age now, nor will it be in a golden age in the future. The Great Ming Dynasty will be in a long-term process of development toward a golden age."
Zhu Biao said with a pained expression, "Restructuring, we're talking about restructuring now."
"There are several issues here, and I'm having trouble making a decision right now."
"For example, the Duke of Wei is about to go to Beiping to oversee border defense matters and wants to resign from his position as Right Chancellor of the Secretariat."
"If the Duke of Wei resigns as Right Chancellor, the Secretariat will only have the Left Chancellor left. Would the Duke of Han be willing to accept that?"
"Furthermore, once we start fighting with Hu Yuan, we'll have to get back some of the territory of the Protectorate Generals. The key is that these territories will require a lot of officials, and the reform also requires a lot of officials."
"Moreover, if war breaks out with Hu Yuan, it will easily affect the reform."
"..."
Zhu Biao began to talk about the various problems at hand, and after a while he tentatively asked, "How many students from Ningyang County School and Dengzhou Prefectural School will come to participate in the special imperial examination after the New Year?"
Yang Shaofeng frowned slightly and sighed softly, "Your Highness, the first batch of seeds was cultivated with intensive care, while the second batch was managed with extensive care. Which batch of seeds do you think will yield a good harvest?"
Cultivating the Ningyang faction, or rather the Dengzhou faction, has never been an easy task.
When Yang Shaofeng was serving as the magistrate of Ningyang, he only had to consider the county, and he had plenty of time to go to the county school to teach the students.
Moreover, from the very beginning, Yang Shaofeng's goal in teaching these students was to train them to become clerks in the Six Offices.
However, once Yang Shaofeng arrived in Dengzhou Prefecture, the things he had to consider became the prefectural city plus its ten subordinate counties and the border markets, which meant that the time he could leave to teach his students would decrease.
The teachers who lectured them also shifted their focus from training clerks to training candidates for the imperial examinations.
Even with Yang Shaofeng's constant corrections and even participation in the lectures, they were still different from the first batch of students at Ningyang County School.
Now, Xiao Deng, who is thinking about the students of Ningyang County School and Dengzhou Prefectural School, is likely to be greatly disappointed.