You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 284 The capital city is engulfed in floodwaters~
Back on shore~
Huang Zongxi fell ill again with a persistent high fever, but the old man's vitality was extremely strong, and he eventually pulled through.

Upon learning of Lao Huang's recovery, Jiang Qingyun and Liu Rushi came to visit him.

"Is Mr. Huang well?"

"Humph~"

A pretty little girl turned her head away angrily.

"This is?"

"Huang Zongxi's granddaughter."

"Good, good, that has the spirit of Lao Huang."

Jiang Qingyun inexplicably praised him a couple of times, then strode into the house. Instantly, his hearty laughter dispelled the strong smell of medicine in the room.

……

"The Grand Secretary~"

Huang Zongxi struggled to sit up, but Jiang Qingyun helped him up.

"No need for formalities. How are you feeling?"

"He won't die anytime soon."

“Alright.” Jiang Qingyun pulled up a chair and sat down. “Let’s be frank. What do you want to know? Just ask. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

"The Grand Secretary invited me to come out of retirement; what role does he hope I will play?"

"The chief architect of the theoretical system."

"How will you treat the Qing Empire?"

"The Qing Empire was like a silkworm cocoon, which could nurture life, and when the time was right, the butterfly could emerge from the cocoon."

How will you treat the Eight Banners?

"Moreover, the banner soldiers endured hardship and fought bravely, and were driven no differently from dogs and chickens. There are not many banner soldiers left for us, and they will soon be sent to various battlefields to suppress traitors."

"What are your plans for settling the Ming court?"

“Loyal ministers such as Li Dingguo, Zheng Sen, and Hao Yaoqi are all capable of serving. I am willing to accept the vast majority of the Ming court officials who have persisted to this day and let them enter the court to serve as officials. The principle of politics is checks and balances. Various forces should compete with each other and struggle repeatedly to eventually form a stable consensus.”

"Where is Confucius?"

“His theory can be replaced.”

Huang Zongxi understood: it meant to replace his theory, not to replace him; he should not harbor any delusions!
"Chief Minister, although many viewpoints in the Four Books and Five Classics are outdated and pedantic, they have been used for thousands of years. Should we overturn them all?"

Jiang Qingyun sneered.

"Old Huang, people have a lifespan, dynasties have a lifespan, but doesn't civilization have a lifespan too?"

“The Four Books and Five Classics were once valuable, but thousands of years have passed and we are still digging into them and studying them diligently. We have not yet discarded them.”

"Frankly, I think our civilization has gone astray."

"At the end of the Song Dynasty, we were destroyed once, and a million traitors were born. Now, we are destroyed again, how many traitors have been born? Three million? Five million? If it happens a third time, how many traitors do you think this land will produce?"

……

Huang Zongxi looked as if he had been struck by lightning; his face turned deathly pale, and his teeth chattered.

A long time~
He blurted out, "I think it won't be less than ten million!"

Jiang Qingyun:
"And the fourth time?"

Huang Zongxi was overwhelmed with grief and tears streamed down his face.

Jiang Qingyun: "To give an example, we went to West Lake yesterday. Tell me, is civilization the water of West Lake, or that huge pit that covers 10,000 acres?"

"It's a huge pit!"

"Yes. Civilization should be a container, not a concrete existence. The foolish people all think that the water of West Lake is civilization, which is a huge mistake! The Eight Banners soldiers raised horses by the lake, which made the lake water smelly. What we should do now is to introduce fresh water to flush West Lake and rebuild civilization. Even if the Qing army had not entered the pass and no horse manure had been discharged into West Lake, over time this lake water would have become turbid, smelly, and nauseating."

Huang Zongxi listened attentively to Chiang Kai-shek's teachings with the utmost sincerity, much like a primary school student.

After saying what had been weighing on his mind for so long, Jiang Qingyun felt refreshed.

"Old Huang, take your students and compile a brand new set of theoretical scriptures as soon as possible to strengthen our crumbling civilization."

"I obey."

Huang Zongxi stood barefoot on the ground, cupping his hands to the ground.

Jiang Qingyun turned and walked out of the house, and bumped right into a little girl. Upon closer inspection, he realized that she was Huang Zongxi's granddaughter!
"Did you hear everything?"

The little girl remained silent, drawing lines on the ground with her toes.

Jiang Qingyun looked helpless and pointed at her.

"This child is cunning; she overheard the heavens' words. To keep this a secret, I've decided to take her as a concubine. Old Huang, you have no objections, do you?"

The little girl looked shocked: "Grandpa, I'm only 16."

Huang Zongxi's face showed a variety of expressions before he finally sighed.

"Prime Minister, treat her well."

Women from scholarly families generally do not become concubines.

But today's situation is special. Rather than taking a concubine, it is more like a marriage alliance. A marriage alliance is for mutual trust, and only with mutual trust can we work together to do great things.

Huang Zongxi's eldest granddaughter, Huang Xiu, joined the imperial headquarters, which effectively made up for Jiang Qingyun's awkward situation of having no use for his talents during the southern tour.

The “power” here refers to the power of righteousness and the power of offspring.

Clearly, Liu Rushi did not meet the criteria.

Unfortunately, Huang Xiu was petite and needed to rest after her first time, so Jiang Qingyun simply spent every day with Liu Rushi.

To be able to become the top courtesan of the Qinhuai River, one must possess exceptional overall qualities. Liu Rushi was not only first-rate in poetry and song, but also in the art of pleasing others.

No matter how finely steel you refine, it will eventually turn into something soft and yielding.

There are 360 ​​professions, and every profession can produce an expert.

That little thing may seem trivial, but some people can discover 108 different subjects from it.

Jiang Qingyun traveled and enjoyed the scenery, so much so that he didn't want to go home.

Although the capital city was not flooded, the people were suffering terribly.

……

From May to July, the Qing government owed the bannermen's pay for three consecutive months.

In August, it was payday.

The Manchu bannermen of the capital spontaneously gathered outside the Meridian Gate. They stood there silently, saying nothing, their gloomy eyes sending chills down one's spine.

Soldiers are entitled to their own food; it is only natural.

The capital is not like Liaodong. The cost of living in the city is too high. The staple rice has been delayed for three consecutive months. The whole family is relying on that little bit of rice to fill their stomachs. How are we going to survive?

It's good enough that they didn't loot the Forbidden City at armed cost.

Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, we can't delay any longer. First, slaughter the southern city, then march south and capture Baoding Prefecture."

"Let me think about it some more."

"Your Majesty, we can no longer hesitate. The Qing Dynasty has reached its most critical moment. Whatever decision you make now is better than hesitation."

"Sony, send scouts to Baoding."

"Whoo."

After Sony left, Emperor Shunzhi gritted his teeth.

"Issue an imperial decree to open the imperial treasury and pay the bannermen in the capital a full month's salary, and to pay the royalists double their salary."

……

The bannermen who had gathered outside the Meridian Gate finally received their pay and dispersed, but their discontent did not subside.

The flag bearers cursed and swore.

"Damn it, so the imperial court has money but deliberately doesn't distribute it to us men?"

"Damn it, no one mends our clothes when they're torn, no one repairs our leaky houses, all the teahouses and restaurants are closed, and we can't afford anything except rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea."

The soldiers, carrying silver, loudly vented their dissatisfaction with life and returned home one after another.

The trading volume at Chongwenmen Market has increased dramatically.

Day three.

The flag bearers walked past a plaque that read, "Forget the past, forget right and wrong, face the future."

The flag bearers walked past a plaque personally inscribed by the Grand Secretary, which read, "Every household in the capital should have a chicken in their pot, a horse in their stable, a wife on their kang (heated brick bed), and a job outside."

The market on Chongwenmenwai Street was deserted.

"Selling salted fish and salted meat!"

Two burly men stood at the shop entrance, shouting loudly.

"The shopkeeper has changed?"

"Correct."

How much does it cost?

"Salted pork is 500 coins per catty, and salted fish is 100 coins per catty."

"So expensive? Holy crap, are you robbing me?"

"Sir, you can't wrong an innocent person. The Yellow River in the south is flooded, and the Grand Canal has been washed away. There's nothing we can do; goods from the south can't be transported in. You can buy it or not, it's up to you."

The soldiers were furious, their eyes flashing with malice, and they all reached for the hilts of their swords.

The next moment~
Three江湖 (jianghu) men suddenly appeared from the salted fish shop.

Two of them were carrying tridents, and the other was carrying a homemade flintlock gun used for hunting ducks in Baiyangdian Lake, with sparks crackling from the flintlock.

(End of this chapter)