Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 341: Debate in the Courtyard

The sky was gloomy, and the autumn rain made it even more bleak.

The leaves of the old locust trees in the courtyard were falling one after another, and Chen Ce was sitting in the study reading a book.

Censor Hong should be arriving in the southeast by now, and the chaos in the southeast will soon be reported to the court by Censor Hong.

Qin Hong, Xu Guan, Zhu Houzhao...open the sea!
We must find a way to persuade them to spread the call for opening the sea in the court, and this must be done before Hong Zhong reports the chaos in the southeast.

Chen Ce looked at the map of Japan on the desk and slowly fell into deep thought.

Chen Ce is playing an unprecedented big game against Southeast. All the chess pieces have been deployed, and it is almost time to close the net.

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the door, and Chen Ce went to open it holding an umbrella.

Seeing the two old men staring at him, Chen Ce thought for a moment, then bowed to Kong Hongtai and said, "Greetings, Lord Yansheng."

A flash of displeasure appeared on Kong Hongxu's face. Chen Ce glanced at him in surprise, not knowing why Kong Hongxu looked so displeased.

"Please come in."

Kong Hongtai nodded slightly, and followed Chen Ce into the central hall. After they sat down, Chen Ce poured him some tea, and then said to Kong Hongtai, "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well, so I can't visit Master Kong in person."

Kong Hongtai got straight to the point and asked, "Do you have a way to shut down the Zhou family's school?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "No way."

"Master Kong came to the capital specifically for this matter, just to shut down the Zhou family's school?"

Kong Hongtai said: "He has set a bad precedent. If the purpose of scholars' study is not pure, and when scholars measure their personal value by profit, then what future does this country have?"

Chen Ce asked Kong Hongtai in return: "May I ask Master Kong, are all the officials in the court honest officials?"

Kong Hongtai shook his head and said, "Of course not. There have always been corrupt officials in every dynasty."

Chen Ce said: "Can we say that officials are also considering their own interests?"

Kong Hongtai said: "But there are always scholars with clean hands and pure minds!"

Chen Ce smiled slightly and said, "Yes, there are always scholars with clean hands and pure minds. Merchants are not all those who forget their principles when they see profit."

"The Ming Dynasty can only select more than 100 people to serve as officials every three years, but tens of thousands of scholars remain at the scholar level."

"They have no special skills, but they study hard all the time, and finally live a life of despair and despair. These old scholars either teach in villages or write letters for others in the streets to make a living."

"After these schools are opened, they can learn a skill and put it into various industries. These industries can generate tax profits for the Ming Dynasty, thus enriching the country."

"Those scholars who aspire to be officials may not necessarily look down on these unorthodox methods, just like you, Master Kong. However, not everyone has such an outstanding talent. If one passes the imperial examination after a lifetime of hard work, it would be considered a great honor to the family. But how many people like this are there in the Ming Dynasty?"

"What about other scholars? They also need to support their families. They can't starve to death just for the illusory goal of ruling the country and bringing peace to the world, right?"

After a pause, Chen Ce asked Kong Hongtai, "Master Kong, have you ever thought about why your article in the newspaper did not seem to resonate with many readers after it came out?"

"Because they can't resonate with each other. Most of them just want to live a better life. Do they really study to serve the country? Ask yourself, how many people are like this? Think about it carefully. After most scholars become officials, do they have less land in their names? Do they have less land? Where did it come from? They exploited the farmers!"

"There aren't that many saints like your ancestors. Most scholars study for their own benefit. They become officials for the sake of gain. How many bureaucrats truly love the people like their own children?"

"My words may be a bit presumptuous and rude, Master Kong, please don't be angry, and think about what I said carefully."

"There is actually no need for you to come to Beijing this time. The school has already started to grow. I can't stop it, and the Zhou family can't stop it either."

"If Master Kong still insists on doing this, I think you should not come to me, but to the court, because only the court can take action to ban all schools."

"But how could those bigwigs in the court be fools? What Duke Yansheng could consider, couldn't they consider? But why didn't they take action?" Kong Hongtai couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He stared at Chen Ce blankly for a long time, sighed, clasped his fists and said, "I was just daydreaming before, but your words really hit me hard."

Chen Ce shook his head slightly: "Duke Yansheng is too kind."

Kong Hongtai, who had not spoken for a long time, said sternly: "What nonsense!"

"My lies are deceiving the public!"

"This is just your excuse! You are a businessman. Your actions this time are sinister. You are deliberately using the Zhou family to achieve your goal of raising your status as a businessman!"

Chen Ce looked at him suspiciously and said calmly, "You were the one who published the article in the newspaper, right?"

Kong Hongxu said: "So what?!"

Chen Ce said: "That's good, at least it means that the lineage of Duke Yansheng has not completely died out."

Kong Hongxu took a moment to react and finally realized that this kid was scolding him in a roundabout way?

Chen Ce said: "Why should I elevate the status of businessmen? For fame or for profit? Who will be grateful to me for doing this?"

"None of your remarks hold water. Don't make such irresponsible remarks in the future. Others will laugh at your Kong family if they hear them."

"you!"

Kong Hongtai stared at Kong Hongxu and said, "Brother! Shut up!"

He cupped his hands and said to Chen Ce, "I apologize to you on behalf of my brother. I will not bother you from now on."

After saying that, he stood up and was about to leave. When the two of them walked outside, Chen Ce stopped Kong Hongtai.

He said to Kong Hongtai alone: ​​"Master Kong, let me say something that will hurt your heart. I just saw the anger and desire in your elder brother's eyes."

Kong Hongtai was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "This is my brother's temper."

Chen Ce said: "But that hint of anger and desire is not directed at me."

Ok?
Kong Hongtai stared at Chen Ce in a daze.

Chen Ce said: "In short, Master Kong should be careful. In the face of interests, even brothers may turn against each other. If I am not mistaken, he should have lived under your authority all these years."

Kong Hongtai pressed his hands down, signaling Chen Ce to stop talking, he didn't want to listen either.

Chen Ce bowed and said, "I am sorry for being too talkative. I will not send Master Kong off. We will not see you off again."

Kong Hongtai nodded.

In the drizzling autumn rain, the Kong brothers got back on the carriage. Kong Hongxu had a gloomy face and said unhappily, "We came to him to reason, but you were persuaded by his few words. Isn't this a joke for the Kong family to come to Beijing?!"

Kong Hongtai glanced at him calmly and said, "Brother, isn't what he said right?"

"You have been bewitched by his sharp tongue!"

Kong Hongtai shook his head and said, "I think he is right. We shouldn't embarrass him. He doesn't have the ability to shut down the school. What he said is all right and reasonable."

"He is so young, yet he speaks and acts so modestly. He has a great future ahead of him. But you, on the other hand, are far inferior to him!"

"Brother, you should control your temper."

(End of this chapter)