I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 249 The Voice of the Common People

"Is there a treacherous minister in the court?" A white-haired old man asked Cao Tingyun on the stage.

"I don't know about that. I just know that when I left the capital, many ministers petitioned His Majesty not to disrupt the salt policy and that the salt policy should remain the same as before." Cao Tingyun said immediately.

Now Cao Tingyun is no longer staying in Shunde Prefecture. He has gone to the teahouses in the towns and villages under Shunde Prefecture to carry out the second phase of public opinion control.

"Your Majesty is the ruler of a country, and his words are final. How dare those ministers disobey His Majesty?" another villager asked.

"You don't know this, right? The Emperor is still too young, and he has done some wrong things before. He doesn't have many helpers in the court, and he doesn't speak with confidence." A villager shook his head and sighed.

"What the brother just said is right, the price of salt is controlled by the masters! His Majesty lowered the price of salt, and those masters have no money to make, and they are jumping up and down in a hurry. You see, before, they didn't allow us to buy salt, and they burned down the warehouse where the salt was stored." said a man dressed as a scholar.

The people in the teahouse had different expressions. What had happened during this period made them realize the true colors of the gentlemen who usually seemed to be kind and generous, and their ugly faces.

"Take the Shen family in the capital for example. Their family has a Jinshi (a scholar) who is said to be a high-ranking official in the capital. Do you think he will oppose the emperor's lowering of the salt price? Think about how many such officials there are in the capital? With so many ministers opposing it, it will be difficult for the emperor!" the scholar continued.

"So you mean that the grace of His Majesty will be taken back soon?" The villagers nearby were extremely anxious when they heard this.

The scribe sighed and shook his head.

The villagers' faces immediately turned ugly, and they looked at Cao Tingyun again.
"Based on what I've seen in the capital, His Majesty's policies won't last long. There are too many people opposing them. It's too difficult for the Prince of Jing, who helps His Majesty, to be hunted down and killed every day. Now no one in the court is willing to help His Majesty," Cao Tingyun said, shaking his head.

"We common people have waited so long for such a good policy. Are we just going to allow these treacherous officials to do bad things?" The white-haired old man was so angry that he knocked the ground with his walking stick.

"Mr. Guan, please calm down. You are already old. What if you get sick from anger?" the villagers around him advised.

The villagers were talking about it again. This was the most painful thing in the world. They finally saw a little hope, but they knew that this hope would soon be taken away.
Mr. Guan was sulking for a long time and said, "Mr. Cao, you have traveled all over the country for so many years, you must have seen more than us country folk, tell me how we can stop those treacherous officials?"

"Grandpa, you think too highly of me. I am just a low-level storyteller. I only know some important events of the imperial court, but I don't know anything else." Cao Tingyun said quickly, "But it's not completely impossible."

"What's the solution? Mr. Cao, please tell us quickly!" The villagers were greatly excited and stared at Cao Tingyun closely.

"The problem His Majesty is facing in the court is that there are too many opposing voices and too few supporting voices. So how can we increase the voices of support?" Cao Tingyun's eyes rolled around.

"Voices of support?" The villagers chewed on this sentence. The scholar suddenly sighed: "It is said that the people like us who support His Majesty the most now are the common people, but our voices are not as loud as the voices of the masters that can reach the capital."

"Alas, we are all common people, our words carry little weight. Even if our voices can be heard in the capital, what can we do? I guess no one will pay attention to us!" said a man dressed as a Confucian scholar.

Grandpa Guan listened to the discussion in the teahouse silently. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind and he had a bold idea: "If the voice of one common people is ignored, what if it is the voices of one thousand or ten thousand common people? What do you think about us sending the book to the capital?"

The common people in the teahouse were all shocked by Mr. Guan's bizarre ideas and remained silent for a long time.
"I've always heard that people should give officials as gifts. Mr. Guan, are you going to give the emperor an umbrella and a book for the people?" the man dressed as a Confucian scholar said in surprise.

The more Master Guan thought about it, the better his idea seemed to him. "That's right! We should give the emperor an umbrella and a book. Isn't that okay?"

The scholar was speechless, as if he really didn't say that he couldn't do that.
"Mr. Guan, this is a good idea. I admire it." Cao Tingyun was very surprised. Before he could guide the conversation, the topic had already come to this point.

But Grandpa Guan had already made up his mind, "I will start making the Ten Thousand People Umbrella and Ten Thousand People Book now, and you all have to come and sign and help!" Grandpa Guan announced directly.

The villagers present were all excited and said they would definitely press their fingerprints.
"Old man, you are so kind, I am willing to serve you!" the Confucian scholar took the initiative to say.

"Good, good! We who read the books of sages should have this kind of awareness." Grandpa Guan said to the Confucian scholar with satisfaction.

The previous salt policy only benefited salt merchants and local big families. Village elders and Confucian scholars were also exploited in the salt industry, so they also actively opposed the previous salt policy.
"Once the Book of All Peoples and the Umbrella of All Peoples are successfully produced, I will go to the capital in person to present them to Your Majesty," said Grandpa Guan resolutely.

"Old man, you are so old, why do you want to go to the capital? The capital is 780 miles away from us. Aren't you afraid that something might happen on the way? Just stay at home and wait for news," the Confucian scholar persuaded bitterly.

But Grandpa Guan kept shaking his head. "That's why I have to go. I'm already sixty years old this year, and I've lived enough. I want to do something for my descendants while I'm still strong. I can't eat much salt myself, but I want my descendants to eat cheap salt!"

The villagers present looked at Grandpa Guan with great gratitude.

"And Mr. Cao just said that the situation in the capital is not good, and those big families have also torn their faces apart. That's why I have to go even more. They don't dare to touch someone of my age, and someone of my age is not afraid of them attacking me." Old Master Guan said with his hair and beard standing up.

It has to be said that Mr. Guan saw the situation very clearly. The Ming Dynasty was a society where Confucianism was the mainstream and respecting the elderly was very important. If an elder met with an unexpected accident because of this, it would cause a huge political turmoil.

If a person of high age and high moral character from the village delivers the Book of All Peoples and the Umbrella of All Peoples, the corresponding weight will also be different.
Now even Cao Tingyun began to admire Grandpa Guan. He took the initiative to say, "Grandpa, if you really want to go to the capital, you can go find the people of the Royal Group. They are His Majesty's men and will definitely help you."

(End of this chapter)