Chapter 198 Primary Liberation (V)
"Rebellion! This is a rebellion!" Mr. Gao cursed at home.
The housekeeper stood by with his hands hanging down, but he was puzzled. Didn't Huo Chong rebel a long time ago? Why did Master Gao seem to understand it only now?
At this time in Yangzhou, some people were also very puzzled and asked similar questions to the prisoner in handcuffs and shackles in the tavern.
In recent years, more and more officials have been sent from the capital. At first, people in Jiangnan were full of curiosity about these people, and often invited the officials and the escort officers to drink, taking the opportunity to inquire about the news in the capital.
Afterwards, perhaps because there were too many criminal officials, everyone gradually became tired. In recent months, criminal officials have become popular again. The questions asked to criminal officials are all the same, "Who is Huo Chong?" "Why did Huo Chong rebel?"
Hearing this question, a former prefect sighed, "Everyone, have you ever thought about why the country was peaceful for decades under the previous emperor. Why are so many people suddenly rebelling now?"
The audience originally just wanted to hear something about the recent traitor Huo Chong, but they didn't expect to hear such a profound question. Everyone was stunned. Just when they wanted to hear the prisoner continue, they saw the prisoner pick up the wine glass and drink it all, then pour himself another glass of wine and drink it by himself. He completely ignored the audience's reaction.
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, not knowing what to say for a moment.
The audience felt that the situation was very strange. However, these people were just ordinary people. At most, some of them had read books. They knew that there was a traitor like Huo Chong in the world. This was the limit of their knowledge. As for why such a traitor appeared, they were completely unable to understand. The reason why the officials were invited to drink was that everyone wanted to know what happened.
In the confusion of the crowd, the criminal prefect finished the cup and continued, "Everyone, in the past few years, Huo Chong is not the only traitor. Many princes of the previous emperor, some became traitors and were imprisoned to death. Some princes were imprisoned but not dead. Instead, the prince's wife was forcibly divorced and sent home by the emperor's decree. Not only was she sent home, but she was also ordered to be forced to death by the emperor, and her bones were crushed and her ashes were scattered after her death. I really don't understand how a woman can be called a traitor. Have you heard of such a thing?"
After hearing the prisoner's story, the common people who had heard about it from other prisoners immediately asked excitedly, "Sir, are you talking about the Eighth Master's wife?"
The criminal smiled bitterly, "Since you have heard it, I will not say more. It will save you trouble."
"No, no, no, sir, please tell me more." The audience was completely interested.
The criminal praised the wife of the Eighth Master like a flower, and then mentioned that Yongzheng had conferred the title of Prince Lian on the Eighth Master. A group of officials close to Prince Lian went to congratulate him. The wife of the Eighth Master could not stand it and simply said, "What is there to celebrate? Even though he is a prince now, he might lose his head one day."
When Yongzheng heard that the eighth prince's wife had actually exposed his plan to praise and kill him, he made up his mind to kill this clever woman.
The audience loved this kind of thing, the inside stories and secrets of the imperial palace, how enemies formed and how they took revenge in the end.
Such stories are heart-wrenching and give listeners unlimited room for imagination.
Someone immediately brought some good wine and added a few more dishes.
The convicted prefect drank to his heart's content. After he finished telling the story of the Eighth Brother and his wife, he also told the audience about Huo Chong's experience.
Huo Chong's story was no secret among officials, but the audience had no chance to know it. They heard that Huo Chong was the inventor of the famous glass fire in Jiangnan in recent years. They didn't expect that they would have the opportunity to be related to Huo Chong. They were all shocked.
"Everyone, when the previous emperor was in power, the world was peaceful. After the previous emperor passed away, the prince worked diligently in the position of prime minister, and then became a traitor. The general, the first-class duke, pacified Qinghai and defeated Junggar, and then became a traitor. Officials at all levels, governors, provincial governors, prefects, and prefects, served the country and became traitors. Censors, do you know? Censors report on things based on rumors, which is to report on various corrupt officials. The censor wrote a memorial to report on the emperor's favorite, and after the emperor saw it, he put the censor in jail. This censor, who enforced the law, became a traitor. Haha, censor, this is the censor!"
There were many storytellers in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the role of the censor often appeared in various storytellings. The common people probably knew the duties of the censor, which was to impeach officials. After hearing the story told by the convicted official, some people who had heard the story asked directly: "Sir, are you talking about Xie Jishi, Xie Yushi?"
Seeing that everyone knew, the criminal official did not say much to Xie Jishi, but continued: "Everyone, you said that officials in the court will inevitably offend the emperor and the emperor's favorites. The emperor has said the crime of disrespect, and everyone must admit it. But Huo Chong was originally a craftsman. Because he presented the formula of Liuli Fire to the Fourteenth Master , the Fourteenth Master relied on the help of Liuli Fire to first defeat the Dzungars and then pacify Tibet. Now a country craftsman can also become a rebel. I don't know who will be the next rebel. Anyway, if this continues, sooner or later the whole world will be full of rebels!"
The escorting officer was already enjoying his meal, and when he heard the prisoner talking with a bit of complacency, he immediately stood up and shouted, "What are you talking about! Are you trying to make the crime even more serious?"
After drinking, he directly fastened the prisoner's wooden shackle with an iron chain, stood up and took the prisoner out of the restaurant.
Seeing the officer's reaction, the listeners did not think the officer had done anything wrong, but rather thought the officer was guilty. They believed what even more.
After the officer left, a young man stood up in the corner and said in Jiangzhe dialect with a Lingnan accent: "Boss, check out."
Then he left with several other young people of similar age.
After leaving the restaurant, the young man who was traveling with him sighed, "Yueban, why are you so anxious? Maybe there will be other criminals coming."
"Why listen so much? And don't believe it." The young man named Yueban said with a smile.
His companion laughed and said, "Haha, seeing is believing. But we can't go to Shandong to see what kind of person Huo Chong is, right? Don't you want to go to Shandong, Lao Gao?"
When Gao Yueban heard this, he just glanced at his companion sideways but said nothing.
The group of friends were all familiar with each other. Seeing Gao Yueban's expression, the brothers who were familiar with his character quickly said, "Yueban, don't be stupid. Huo Chong killed 100,000 government troops."
"We are not government troops." Yueban replied.
"We are scholars, how can we go to see a traitor?"
Gao Yueban wanted to respond to his companions by saying "The prince is also a traitor", but he held back. Some words are meaningless when spoken out loud.
When everyone returned to the academy, the dean looked at the disciples and said unhappily, "Are you going to listen to the criminal official's stories again?"
"Yes." Gao Yueban answered readily.
Faced with such an honest answer, the dean's face became even uglier. "Since they are criminals, they must have resentment in their hearts. If you take their words seriously, you will definitely be misled. People say that you can only know it by doing it yourself. Not to mention hearsay, which is absolutely not to be believed."
Seeing Gao Yueban looking thoughtful, the dean sighed slightly, "Gao Pang, follow me."
When they reached the inner room, the dean said, "Gao Pang, I've read your eight-part essays recently, and they are full of violence. Is your old illness relapsing?"
"Sir, I just... I understand." Gao Pang hesitated to speak.
However, the teacher did not let Gao Pang go. He took out Gao Pang's eight-part essay and articles and pointed out the problems in them one by one.
Gao Pang listened carefully and said nothing to the teacher's advice.
This silent resistance made the teacher even angrier, and he shouted, "Gao Pang, if you want to make a difference, you must have achievements. Many teachers and leaders are optimistic about you, but you are awe-inspiring by nature. If you don't have awe, you will offend people. Everyone in the court is educated and has a keen eye. Do you really think that others can't see through your hidden thoughts?"
Gao Pang couldn't help but reply, "Those people are so powerful, but didn't they see that Huo Chong had been harboring rebellious intentions for a long time?"
The dean of the academy was furious. "Gao Pang, the emperor has long seen that Huo Chong has evil intentions, so he ordered his arrest. Could it be that the emperor was wrong?"
Gao Pang respected his teacher very much and didn't want to make him angry, so he quickly said, "Sir, I know I was wrong."
However, the teacher did not let him off for this insincere behavior. The teacher then launched a profound criticism of Gao Pang's self-righteousness, and at the same time confirmed Gao Pang's character with the contents of his articles and eight-legged essays.
The teacher said with great sorrow that Gao Pang had a high level of understanding and solid knowledge. However, Gao Pang had a kind of "Six Classics Annotated Me" arrogance. The Qing Dynasty was very wary of this arrogance. If Gao Pang continued to be like this, he would not even be able to pass the imperial examination, let alone become a Jinshi.
Gao Pang listened carefully and agreed very much with the teacher's evaluation.
Seeing Gao Pang's expression, the teacher was even more disappointed. "Gao Pang, this is how the world is now. If you want to make a difference, you have to be humble. You are too proud of your talent. Think about how Xu Fu commented on Zhou Yafu..."
Gao Yueban couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this.
Zhou Yafu was the son of Zhou Bo, the Marquis of Jiang, who was a founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty. In the second year after Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, he inherited his father's title as Marquis of Jiang. At first, Zhou Yafu was the governor of Henei County. At that time, there was an old woman named Xu Fu, who was famous for her ability to read faces. Once, Zhou Yafu invited her to his government office to read his face. Xu Fu said to him: "Your fate is relatively noble. In three years, you can be made a marquis. In another eight years, you can become a prime minister and have a distinguished position. But in another nine years, you will die of hunger."
Zhou Yafu did not believe it at all. He said, "I will definitely not be granted the title of marquis because my elder brother has already inherited my father's title. Even if he dies, his nephew will inherit it, and I will not be in line. It is also impossible for me to starve to death because since I am noble, how can I starve to death?"
Xu Fu said that she only came to the conclusion based on physiognomy. She also pointed at the corner of Zhou Yafu's mouth and said, "There is a vertical line from the edge of your mouth to the corner of your mouth. This is a face of starvation." Zhou Yafu was surprised when he heard it.
After that, Zhou Yafu's life was just as Xu Fu had said. He eventually died of hunger strike because he could not bear the humiliation.
Gao Pang smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, I don't know how to fight a war."
"Yueban!" The dean couldn't help but call Gao Pang's name. "With your talent, do you think that other teachers don't know people? But you rely too much on your talent. Zhou Yafu died because of this. If you still do this, we really can't help you anymore. If you are just a scholar, at least you won't hurt others or yourself."
Gao Yueban was not angry, but felt very desperate. The teachers did not mean any harm, and Gao Yueban knew that very well. But as the teacher said, Gao Yueban understood the teachers' feelings and what they said through his own talent.
However, Gao Yueban found that his own talent could not explain why this happened.
If everyone is smart, why can't such tragedies be avoided?
Zhou Yafu was an upright person. He did not hide anything and spoke his mind as he saw it.
Emperor Jing of Han was old, and Zhou Yafu resigned from his position as prime minister. Emperor Jing of Han summoned him to the palace and held a banquet to test whether his temper had changed, so he did not put chopsticks in front of him.
Zhou Yafu was unhappy and asked the steward for chopsticks. Emperor Jing smiled and said to him, "Isn't this enough to make you happy?"
Zhou Yafu was filled with shame and indignation, and reluctantly knelt down to apologize to Emperor Jing. As soon as Emperor Jing said "stand up", he immediately stood up and left without waiting for Emperor Jing to say anything else.
Emperor Jing sighed and said, "How can such a person assist the young master?"
When Gao Pang read this passage, he completely couldn't understand what Emperor Jing of Han, a wise ruler, was thinking.
Is it right to deliberately humiliate someone? Is it right to make a famous general like Zhou Yafu crawl on the ground like a dog?
Gao Pang also offended people because of his arrogance. Gao Pang gradually realized one thing in such things: he was too arrogant and was indeed wrong. But those who were offended were also wrong.
However, although Gao Pang could feel why something was wrong, he couldn't find out the reason.
Just as the teacher said, in today's world, scholars can only do that. Otherwise, it will not work.
Gao Pang knew that if he wanted to be an official, he had to speak and respond in that way, but was it right to do so?
While he was thinking, the dean said, "Mr. Banshan is looking for you, go meet him."
Gao Yueban felt relieved immediately. Mr. Banshan was the most tolerant among all the gentlemen Gao Yueban favored. Every time Gao Yueban visited Mr. Banshan, he felt relaxed and happy.
Gao Yueban prepared his luggage that day, and took a boat across the river the next day, heading straight for Zhenjiang on the opposite side of the river.
When they arrived at Mr. Banshan's house, the gentleman was still taking a nap, and Gao Pang was quietly waiting in the study. At the door, a pretty little girl popped her head out to look at him, and Gao Pang waved at the child and couldn't help but smile.
Mr. Banshan's name is Chen Mingtai. The little girl is Mr. Chen's daughter, who is fifteen years old this year. It is said that Mr. Chen wants to marry his daughter to Gao Pang. Gao Pang doesn't care about it, but he likes this little girl very much. When Gao Pang sees this child, he thinks of his niece.
They are all equally cute and intelligent. It has been five or six years since I left my hometown Qiongzhou. My knowledge has increased as I expected before I left. As the academic pressure has been greatly reduced, my homesickness has become more and more serious.
"Brother Gao, let me show you something. You will like it." The little girl said secretly after coming in.
Gao Pang smiled. "What is that? Is it so interesting?"
"Yeah. Very interesting." Chen's aunt said impatiently.
Gao Yueban took a notice hidden in the study, looked at it for a few seconds, and then laughed.
Seeing Gao Yueban like this, the little girl's eyes flashed with a kind of enlightenment, "Brother Gao, you don't think this is another joke of changing fourteen to four?"
"Yes." Gao Yueban replied. The little girl from the Chen family was very smart, and because of this, Gao Yueban had no romantic feelings for the child. Instead, she felt that the child was like a study partner and a friend with whom she could talk.
Since the little girl from the Chen family was so serious, Gao Yueban perked up and continued reading.
Gao Yueban had only read a small part of it, but he had already read it completely. This was Huo Chong's manifesto. Although he didn't know how Mr. Chen Mingtai and Chen Banshan got it, the content inside really fascinated Gao Yueban.
Huo Chong said at the beginning of the manifesto that if the choice was between the fourth and fourteenth sons, he believed that the fourteenth son would have no chance of succeeding to the throne. So Huo Chong did not believe any rumors.
However, the news Huo Chong heard later made him believe in the conspiracy theory again. The one competing with the fourth prince for the throne was not his brother, but the son of the deposed prince.
Huo Chong described everything very clearly, one by one. After Gao Pang finished reading it, he felt that all the doubts in his mind were solved.
The legend of the fourteen changes into four has been around for several years, but Gao Pang did not believe it at all and thought it was ridiculous. Because of this, Gao Pang had offended many people.
In Huo Chong's manifesto, Gao Pang saw that Huo Chong's attitude towards the matter was the same as his own. Huo Chong obviously had a source of information from within the royal family, and even knew the reaction and words of the empress dowager when Yongzheng ascended the throne. It can be seen that Huo Chong had been preparing for a rebellion for a long time.
Huo Chong provided an explanation for those things that were originally inexplicable, and many abnormal situations became completely reasonable under this explanation.
Although Huo Chong said that this was just his personal opinion, Gao Pang already believed that this explanation made sense and was even the real reason.
With admiration, Gao Pang read the program proposed by Huo Chong in the second half of the manifesto.
First of all, Huo Chong believed that the Hu Lu people would not have a hundred years of national destiny. The reason was that the Hu Lu people had traditions but no system. The current Qing Dynasty may have a system, and this system is the word "foolish people". It is to make the whole of China lifeless so that the Qing Dynasty can implement the rule of the Manchus.
Secondly, Huo Chong said that the elimination of the Qing Dynasty was a kind of liberation, liberating China from alien rule and from the shameless world that controlled people's thoughts.
Finally, Huo Chong announced that the new world he wanted to build was a new era of science, democracy, freedom, and equality. Anyone who wanted to be liberated could come to Huo Chong and work together to realize this great ideal and fight for liberation.
After putting down the manifesto, Gao Pang heard the little girl from the Chen family say, "Brother Gao, what do you think of Huo Chong's story? Is it credible?"
