The few of them didn't invite anyone else, and no one came over. Amid the lively atmosphere, the pavilion became so quiet that even breathing seemed to become lighter.
No one touched the wine, fruits, and pastries on the table. They just listened to the noise and waited until the time came.
Wei Jing stood in the highest pavilion with high spirits, leaning on the railing and looking around. From a distance, Hua Zhi could vaguely see that there were other people there.
"The Wei family is honored to host this grand event. Please forgive us if we have been negligent." Wei Jing said loudly, "In such a grand era and such a grand event, I hope you can speak freely. I wonder who would like to come and give some advice."
At this time, someone laughed and took over the conversation, "Xia is not talented, sorry for the embarrassment."
"I'm all ears."
"Listen to your advice."
"… "
The scholar surnamed Xia looked out over the lake and spoke eloquently, "This year is a disaster year, with drought in the north and floods in the south. However, our Daqing is prosperous, and the emperor is a wise ruler. He exempted taxes in the two places, giving the people a chance to breathe. What I want to say is related to this."
The only sound in the whole venue was the wind. Both the scholar surnamed Xia and Wei Jing in the pavilion were extremely satisfied with this opening.
"In previous years, the court only gave out money for disaster relief, and the money was passed down from one level to another. Regardless of how much the people got, the soaring grain prices alone were not something the people could afford. This year, the court used old grain for disaster relief, which saved money and suppressed grain prices. Logically, this was the best thing to do, but who would have thought that problems were frequently found in granaries across the country at this critical juncture? I would like to discuss with you how to prevent this from happening again."
Someone chimed in, "Brother Xia, what I said is exactly what I wanted to say. Your Majesty is wise. Although the old grain is old grain, it is not a problem for eating. Most grain stores sell old grain. I come from the south, and I often hear people express gratitude to the emperor for his kindness. There are many people who kowtow to the capital."
Someone else said, "It's the same in the north. I heard that some people couldn't survive and were ready to become bandits. The food was delivered just in time to save them from going to the dead end. They all said that no matter how hard it was, they would endure until next year, and when the land thawed, they would reclaim wasteland and add a few acres of good farmland to Daqing..."
Chen Dayi was stunned. He turned to look at Hua Zhi and asked uncertainly, "Is this really a discussion meeting?"
Hua Zhi looked towards the pavilion where Wei Jing was. There must be other people there, and they should be people from his faction. The first few people who spoke must have been arranged by Wei Jing. This topic and these flatteries were all for the emperor to see and hear. It can be seen that the emperor must have sent people here.
The students invited by the Wei family were carefully selected. Except for a few people related to the Hua family, all of them were new students. They had never participated in the Hua family's literary discussion parties, so they would only think that the literary discussion parties would be like this.
Willful and frivolous.
The candidates were already able to be appointed to official positions, and in a sense they had already one foot in the officialdom, so such a forum was probably very much to their liking.
Thinking of this, Hua Zhi gave up all her thoughts. Since it was no longer the Hua family's leisurely discussion party, no matter what it became, it had nothing to do with her, so there was no reason for her to meddle in other people's business.
Chen Dayi was still indignant, but no matter how angry he was, he did not bring his anger to this side. Even if he was skinned alive, he was still inseparable from the Hua family, and behind him was the eldest daughter of the Hua family. Although he was reluctant, he had to consider the situation.
But they wanted to settle the matter peacefully, but the other party was determined to draw the fire to them. Hua Zhi didn't even pay attention to what the other party was talking about when she heard someone call her name, "I heard that the eldest lady was also invited to come. I wonder what the eldest lady thinks about this matter?"
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes fell on the pavilion that had been silent all the time.
After a while, a clear voice sounded, "This is a discussion meeting. According to the rules, we don't discuss political affairs."
There are such rules in Qing Tan Hui? Many people looked at Lord Wei in confusion. No one had told them this before. They just thought that Qing Tan Hui was a place where people could talk freely about anything, including current affairs and political affairs.
But according to what the eldest daughter of the Hua family said, that is clearly not the case!
There was a commotion in the pavilion. Wei Chenze quickly winked at a scholar in the pavilion next to him. The scholar thought for a moment and asked, "According to the young lady, what is considered a quiet conversation?"
"It seems that this gentleman is very confident in himself and has thoroughly mastered the Four Books and Five Classics. He will definitely be on the list of the imperial examination next year."
"..." Who dares to respond to this! If I can really pass the imperial examination, that would be fine. But if I fail in the imperial examination today, then I have no point in living as a human being!
"The purpose of a conversation is to resolve doubts. If there are no doubts to resolve, why gather here?" Hua Zhi stood up and said, "How about we disperse?"
Wei Chenze quickly interrupted the conversation when he saw that things were not going well, "Young lady, you are right. Since this is a casual conversation, we should resolve doubts. Please continue."
The scholar said, "The eldest lady is from the Hua family, so she must know a lot about the Qing Tan Club. Why don't you let her start the conversation for us, so that we can know how to have a Qing Tan Club?"
"reasonable."
"Very true."
Some people are also skeptical, "Women can participate in the Qingtanhui? Why do you have to make things difficult for them?"
Everyone ignored this question intentionally or unintentionally, and no one answered it. They now wanted to know how the eldest girl would solve the current problem.
"Then I'll show off my ugliness." Hua Zhi smiled and shook her head at Chen Dayi who was about to stand up to help her out. These were indeed not her strong points, but picking out a few questions from them was not a difficult task for her.
"I dare not compare myself with you in terms of learning, but I have my doubts. The Great Learning says, 'If you are good, you will get it; if you are not good, you will lose it.' This means that if you are good, you will definitely get good opportunities, and if you are not good, you will lose such opportunities. But I have seen with my own eyes that good people work hard until they die and do not receive the slightest favor from God, while lazy people live to be eighty without any illness or disaster. What's worse, some people have lost their lives, but they seize the opportunity to turn over and become local gentry and overlords. Ordinary people can't do anything about it. So, isn't it better for the wicked? I wonder if anyone can explain this to me. What's the reason?"
The clear and crisp voice echoed across the lake, but no one responded for a while.
Hua Zhi was not in a hurry either. She took out a longan from the plate and rolled it slowly from one end of the table to the other.
"Good people have peace of mind." A moment later, the voice came from the same pavilion. Yu Xiasheng bowed to Hua Zhi. "A so-called good person does not do evil, or may be inaction. For example, a child drowned in front of him, and he did not lend a hand to help, but he also did not push the child into the water. Is this good or evil? And the so-called evil person may have helped others, or may have been filial to his parents. Therefore, I believe that there is no absolute good, nor absolute evil. Although evil people may have more opportunities, as long as they persist in kindness and good deeds, in the long run, their lives will be long-lasting."