The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The news spread like wildfire, carrying the fervor of the scholars and common people of Jiangnan. It transformed into a swift horse, galloping 800 li in an urgent manner, breaking through the post stations along the way from dawn till dusk, and crashing open the gates of Bianjing.

Bianjing, the Grand Tutor's Mansion.

The study was filled with the scent of precious agarwood, but it couldn't suppress the suffocating and terrifying atmosphere.

"Bang!"

A Ru kiln celadon teacup, bestowed by the emperor, was smashed hard onto the rosewood floor, shattering instantly and splashing scalding tea all over the floor.

Grand Tutor Cai Jing was clutching the copy of the "West Lake Ten-Day Report" sent from Jiangnan. His usually impassive face was now so dark it seemed like it could be wrung out of water, and the veins on the back of his hand were bulging, causing the thin newspaper to tremble violently.

"'Having tasted the rich and fatty, they know not the bitterness of coarse food'... Well said, well said Su Zizhan! What a sharp tongue that can kill without drawing blood!"

Cai Jing gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words one by one. He slammed the newspaper down on Cai You's face, who was kneeling below trembling. With a "whoosh," the glaring black characters on the front page were revealed.

"Open your dog eyes and look!" Cai Jing pointed at the newspaper on the ground, trembling with rage. "I sent you to Hangzhou on a small matter, and you ran back in fear! I ordered the Secretariat to issue a decree to halt the work, but it was returned untouched! And now, they've printed tens of thousands of copies of one article and distributed them all over Jiangnan! They've stripped me naked and vilified me like dog shit in front of all the scholars in the land!"

Cai You was so frightened that he lay prostrate on the ground, his back drenched in cold sweat. He kowtowed repeatedly, crying and pleading, "Father, please calm down! That Su Shi is truly outrageous! Not only has he defied the imperial edict, but he has also dared to write such treasonous articles to incite public opinion! Your son will immediately contact the Censorate and have them collectively impeach Su Shi for disrespecting the court at tomorrow's morning court session! We will sentence him to death!"

"idiot!"

Enraged, Cai Jing kicked Cai You in the shoulder, sending him tumbling over.

"Do you even have a brain?!" Cai Jing pointed at his son and cursed, "You think this is just an article full of insults? Look at what it says! 'Can propriety and law fill the bellies of starving people?' Su Shi has now used thirty coins and three steamed buns to portray himself as a living bodhisattva! He has taken the lives of thirty thousand refugees hostage, and he has taken the conscience of the scholars of Jiangnan hostage!"

Cai Jing took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently. His keen senses as a powerful minister made him feel a genuine sense of fear.

"You're going to impeach him now? The moment you submit the memorial, you'll be confirming the accusation that he's 'ignorant of the ways of the common people while in high office'! Do you want the entire Grand Tutor's mansion to be drowned in the spittle of the world?!"

Cai You clutched his shoulder, tears welling in his eyes, not daring to utter a single word: "Then... Father, what should we do? That area around West Lake is a huge piece of meat..."

The study fell into a deathly silence.

Cai Jing closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. He paced back and forth in his study, then walked to the window and looked at the Taihu rockery in the courtyard. A venomous ruthlessness gradually surfaced in his sinister eyes.

"A direct confrontation is in our wrong. Su Shi must have a mastermind behind him, using a calculated strategy to corner me." Cai Jing sneered, his voice extremely low. "Trying to use public opinion and reputation to intimidate me? Fine, then I'll sever his roots in the literary world!"

He looked down at Cai You and sternly ordered, "Immediately go to the storeroom and prepare the most valuable gifts. You yourself go to Luoyang and invite the venerable Master Cheng Yi to come out of seclusion!"

Cai You was taken aback: "Invite the great scholar Cheng?"

"Excellent!" Cai Jing's eyes gleamed with calculating cunning. "Didn't Su Shi claim to be a champion of the common people? Didn't his Jingshi Academy specialize in teaching accounting and not the classics? I'd like to see if his twisted logic, prioritizing profit over righteousness, can pass the test of the great Confucian scholars! As long as Master Cheng steps in and denounces this academy as 'heresy,' what he did in Hangzhou will be considered bewitching the people! Then the public outcry will drown them!"

……

Just as the Grand Tutor's mansion was plotting a bloodless purge of scholars and intellectuals, inside the Imperial Palace, in the Rui Si Hall...

The main hall was eerily quiet, with wisps of ambergris wafting from several bronze crane-shaped incense burners. The serving eunuchs kept their eyes downcast, even their breathing carefully. They knew that the Secretariat had secretly issued the decree of dismissal without the Emperor's knowledge, incurring his wrath.

The Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty was sitting on his large dragon throne. In front of him lay the urgent West Lake Weekly Report.

He had watched it three times already. With each viewing, the gloom in his eyes dissipated a little, replaced by an irrepressible excitement and pleasure.

"Great...well written!"

In the silent hall, the Emperor suddenly slammed his fist on the dragon throne and burst into laughter. This unexpected laughter startled the eunuchs, who immediately knelt down.

The emperor grabbed the newspaper, stood up abruptly, and strode around the hall, shaking the newspaper loudly.

"This Su Zizhan is truly a genius! Listen to this: 'Can rites and laws fill the bellies of starving people?' What a satisfying question!"

The emperor stopped in his tracks, his gaze piercing through the carved wooden window as if looking at the assembled officials in the imperial court.

"Those ministers in the court talk to me about ancestral rules and etiquette every day! But when there are refugees everywhere, what can they do besides make me issue edicts of self-reproach and suppress dissent?! A single edict has cut off the livelihood of 30,000 people. This is what it means to 'eat the taste of rich food and not know the bitterness of coarse food'!"

Beside him, an old eunuch from the Imperial City Guard, mustering his courage, whispered, "Your Majesty, Lord Su's words were indeed a bit too harsh. The Secretariat is losing face, and there are quite a few people in the Censorate secretly conspiring to punish him."

"Punish them?!" The Emperor snorted coldly, his imperial majesty exuding an overwhelming aura. "They did something foolish themselves and don't want people to talk about it? Su Shi didn't spend a single penny of the national treasury, nor did he use the local militia to suppress the rebellion, yet he managed to pacify 30,000 starving people. This is the kind of minister I need!"

The Emperor stared at the old eunuch and ordered, word by word, "Issue the decree! Send this newspaper to the printing house and have several hundred copies printed! Tomorrow morning at court, give a copy to every official in the Secretariat and the Censorate! Let them all reflect on their actions!"

The old eunuch's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly kowtowed to accept the order.

The Emperor sat back on his dragon throne, his mind becoming increasingly calm after the initial euphoria. His fingers tapped lightly on the rosewood tabletop, producing a soft "tap-tap" sound. The image of Jiang Lin, mentioned in Princess Jianing's secret letter, and the unorthodox Jingshi Academy floated into his mind.

"The imperial examinations of the Song Dynasty only selected bookworms who could recite texts. When it came to flood control and disaster relief, they were completely clueless and could only spout off about etiquette..."

The official muttered to himself, a deep, unfathomable smile playing on his lips.

"Su Shi, Su Shi, your article has truly ripped open a hole in the sky. The Grand Tutor's Mansion will absolutely not let this go. Since you've already set up your stage in Hangzhou..."

A glint of anticipation flashed in the Emperor's eyes: "Then I will protect you! I want to see if you, Su Shi and Jiang Lin, can use this 'practical learning' to completely turn this lifeless Song Dynasty court upside down for me!"