Top Scholar

Chapter 576 My Master is Sick
Donggui Hall is famous for its extensive planting of osmanthus trees. It is the perfect time of year when the osmanthus trees outside the window are in full bloom. When an autumn breeze blows, the small council hall is filled with a rich fragrance that lingers in the air for a long time.

Su Lu's impassioned speech left his fellow students pondering for a long time. This was the first time he had revealed his path to saving the country to them, and even the closest of friends needed time to process it.

But just like in every important conversation before, Su Lu always managed to deeply move and persuade them with his rigorous logic, excellent eloquence, and unique charm that combined realism and idealism.

Of course, those who are not persuaded or moved will find it difficult to enter this core circle.

After a long while, the group of fellow students looked at each other, and Zhang Xingfu was the first to laugh and say, "Anyway, we're already on your pirate ship. Wherever your captain rows, we'll just follow."

“You are not just passengers, but sailors who will steer the ship together!” Su Lu continued. “You are my comrades-in-arms who will sail with me through thick and thin, working together to cut through the waves and sail thousands of miles!”

“If we’re going to sail together, then so be it! So how do you plan to sail this boat?” Lin Zhihong, the deputy leader of the fourth group, said with a smile.

"We will still follow the theory of 'integration of mind and matter' in the school of Taoism, and take the path of 'practice-cognition-re-practice-re-cognition.' We will first conduct pilot projects, figure out the rules through practice, find the right direction, correct deviations and mistakes, and then promote mature experiences to continue to be tested in practice. Ultimately, through iterative optimization, we will spiral upward step by step and grow bigger and stronger!"

"In practice, we should follow the 'hypothetical-deductive method,' first boldly conceive a plan, and then test it through practice. Therefore, my first step is to establish a 'Royal Asset Management Committee' to integrate these industries into industry groups, and then reorganize them one by one, exploring the methods of operation." Su Lu said, raising his voice slightly.
"If it succeeds, we'll expand it; if it fails, we'll analyze and improve! I refuse to believe that an industry where even monks can make money will cause us to lose money. Surely you gentlemen aren't even as good as monks?"

"Hahaha!" The classmates burst into laughter again.

After the laughter subsided, Su Lu addressed his fellow students, saying, “First, we must change our old mindset of being ashamed to speak of personal gain. Being ashamed to consider personal interests is a noble virtue of a gentleman, which we can only admire. But if one is ashamed to seek the benefit of the nation, then it's not that studying has ruined one's mind, but rather that one has ulterior motives… The literati of Jiangnan are all ‘ashamed to speak of personal gain,’ yet they desperately amass wealth at home. Anyone who dares to harm their interests will be dealt with to the death! They are all hypocritical! They see right through us, and we must not fall for their tricks!”

As he spoke, he placed his hands on the table, looked intently at the six colleagues present, and said in a voice as firm as metal:
"All things in the world boil down to one word: 'money'! Not only are countless families troubled by money, but the crux of the nation's problems also ultimately lies in this one word: money! With money, it's easy to manage a household, and the nation prospers—that's a golden age! Without money, everything is difficult, and countless problems arise—that's a chaotic world! Therefore, a wise person should strive for the wealth of the nation; this is the right path!"

After a long and eloquent discussion, he suddenly realized that his shadow had been cast on the wall.

"We've gone off on a tangent again," Su Lu said with a self-deprecating laugh. "It seems that people always end up becoming the kind of person they hate."

"Not bad, you didn't go too far off-topic." Everyone burst into laughter.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's move on to the last topic!" Su Lu's smile faded, and he said seriously:

"Right now, there is one more troublesome matter—how to allocate this huge sum of money! We must first satisfy the Emperor's needs. This reorganization of the monastic community is entirely due to the Emperor's strong support. If we cannot satisfy him, how can we expect him to continue to help us in the future? Of course, we must fill the hole in the national treasury, take care of the people's livelihood, and plan for the future."

He paused for a moment and sighed softly, "The matter of the monk's gold coins is something that can only be done once, not twice, so this money cannot be squandered all at once; we must have a long-term plan."

“Indeed.” Everyone nodded. Although they had successfully avoided the infamy of ‘suppressing Buddhism,’ news of the large-scale raids on temples in the capital spread throughout the country, triggering a wave of monks returning to secular life. Many temples closed down, abbots fled, and monks dispersed…

Even temples that haven't closed yet have begun frantically transferring their assets. For quite some time to come, it will be difficult to find monks accumulating gold coins...

Therefore, we must carefully plan for this harvest in order to weather the turbulent and chaotic years to come.

The crowd then began to discuss the matter enthusiastically. Some said that a portion should be allocated to the Ministry of Revenue, while others said that each ministry and province should submit a memorial requesting a decision based on the circumstances.

Some people say that we should hold onto our principal, set up a special fund to store most of it, and only use a small portion for emergencies, so as to avoid living beyond our means in the end.

Others argued that sufficient funds should be reserved for people's livelihood and famine relief, and allocated to provinces, prefectures, and counties to fill the deficits in water conservancy and famine relief, so as to stabilize people's livelihoods and ensure peace and stability in the country.

Some even suggested that a separate fund should be allocated to establish a "Royal Assets Committee," arguing that sufficient capital is essential to expand and strengthen the royal assets...

The discussion continued until dusk, but they still couldn't finalize a distribution plan. They only reached a consensus: this sum of money seemed like a lot, but if it were divided among the two capitals and thirteen provinces, it wouldn't be much at all.

Therefore, money must be spent wisely, and one should never be a spendthrift who grants every request.

Seeing that it was getting late, Su Lu said to everyone, "Let's end the meeting here for today. This is a very important matter. Let's all take a few days to calm down and discuss it further. Everyone has been away from home for a long time, so let's go home and rest early today."

"Alright." The colleagues felt as if they had been granted a pardon and packed up to go home. As for Zhu Zihe and Lin Zhihong, who were not yet married, they naturally had the joys of being single men, which need not be elaborated upon.

Su Lu followed Su Man out of the Leopard House. He said to his elder brother, "Brother, you should go home first. Old Man Yuan is unwell, and I need to go visit him."

"Okay." Su Man nodded in agreement, then asked softly, "Are you really sick?" "Who cares if you're sick or not, it's a good thing you're not sick." Su Lu smiled and said, "If you are really sick, it means that Master didn't lie to me, which is even better."

"You're getting more and more optimistic," Su Man couldn't help but laugh.

"Optimism is the magic weapon to overcome all difficulties!" Su Lu smiled as he got into the sedan chair, parted ways with his elder brother, and headed towards Shichahai.

~~
"Cough cough cough..." Li Dongyang really wasn't lying to Su Lu; he was indeed sick.

The study in the Prime Minister's residence was filled with a strong, bitter smell of medicine. A plain brocade curtain hung halfway down, and Li Dongyang leaned against a soft pillow on the couch, occasionally covering his mouth with a handkerchief and coughing forcefully.

Su Lu followed Li Zhaofan, tiptoeing through the door. Just as the latter was about to speak, Su Lu raised his hand to silence him.

Only after Li Dongyang finished coughing and lay there catching his breath did Su Lu curtsy and say softly, "Master, your son has come to see you."

Li Dongyang opened his eyes, and only when his gaze fell on Su Lu did he manage a weak smile.

But the smile was barely up when he coughed again. He quickly raised his hand to his chest, his back arching slightly, and a maidservant hurriedly handed him a plain handkerchief.

Li Dongyang covered his mouth and coughed several times before the cough subsided. When he removed the handkerchief, Su Lu clearly saw several glaring bloodstains on the white silk!
Su Lu's heart tightened and a look of worry appeared in his eyes.

"It's alright... I won't die." Li Dongyang's voice was hoarse as he gestured for him to sit down.

Su Lu then sat down on a low stool beside the couch. At this moment, a maid scooped a spoonful of pear syrup and served it to Li Dongyang.

Su Lu asked Li Zhaofan softly, "Has the imperial physician examined you?"

“I’ve seen it. They said it’s caused by damage to the lungs and internal organs and loss of blood control, resulting in cough with bloody phlegm,” Li Zhaofan replied in a low voice. “It’s not a real illness, but it’s easy to flare up when the weather gets cold, and it can be really deadly when it does.”

"How could the imperial physicians know that the root of my illness actually lies in my heart?" Li Dongyang said hoarsely, pressing his chest.
"I have devoted half my life to assisting the government, pouring my heart and soul into it, only to be met with eunuchs wreaking havoc, popular uprisings erupting everywhere, and the court and the government riddled with problems. I could not accomplish what I wanted to do, nor could I protect those I wanted to protect. In order to stabilize the court, I had to feign compliance with the eunuchs, only to be called a mere figurehead. The resentment had been building up inside me for years, until finally I could no longer suppress it..."

As he spoke, he coughed violently again. Su Lu quickly handed him a handkerchief and comforted him, saying, "Master has already done his best. Don't be so hard on yourself."

“I’m not being harsh on myself, but I hate that I’m old and frail, unable to handle the big picture,” Li Dongyang sighed deeply. “The cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs had discussed the current financial difficulties of the country seven times, but they were still at a loss. Who would have thought that you young people could solve it so easily? Truly, the younger generation is surpassing the older generation…”

"Huh?" Su Lu was dumbfounded. "What do you mean we've taken care of it?"

He inwardly cried out, "As expected, you can never let your guard down in front of that 'green tea' master; I almost fell for his trick..."

Li Dongyang's gaze visibly froze for a moment, then he coughed violently again.

After he finished coughing, he asked with a puzzled look, "Weren't you the one who led those classmates to investigate the Buddhist temples in the capital? I thought this was your doing."

"Master thinks too highly of me," Su Lu said with a self-deprecating laugh. "We did make a small contribution, but did that scoundrel Liu Jin think I could give him any pointers? He took our research report and then kicked me aside!"

"I see." Li Dongyang nodded, his face full of anger. "Eunuch Liu actually dared to steal credit from a junior. He's becoming more and more despicable!"

"My grand-disciple thinks so too." Su Lu said, increasingly aggrieved, "We've been working hard for months to come up with this amazing idea, only to end up doing all the work for someone else! And all we suggested was to target ten or eight as examples, but Eunuch Liu didn't care about any of that! It completely goes against our original intentions!"

She said somewhat defiantly, "Since the credit will be stolen anyway, I'm never doing this kind of pointless work again!"

“Alas, being an official is not like studying. It’s perfectly normal for your superiors to steal your credit, especially since it was Liu Jin who stole your credit…” Li Dongyang quickly comforted him, “Don’t be discouraged. Next time, talk to your master in advance, and I guarantee that no one will steal your credit again!”

"Thank you, Master!" Su Lu said, his face full of emotion. "Master is the one who treats me the best!"

(End of this chapter)