Emperor Jingren's plan was to bribe.
The new policy brought huge benefits to merchants and farmers. Merchants were not short of money. It was true that raising business taxes would cause them losses in profits, but for merchants, compared with this small loss, they wanted their children and grandchildren to have a bright future. They had money, and money could buy many things, but it could not buy status. Even if some merchants could use a large amount of silver to buy a donated official position, this official position was only empty, with no power or real job, and was just something bought for psychological comfort.
But it will be different if future generations can take part in the imperial examinations. The imperial court will still be able to select outstanding talents, and the children of merchants will have a future.
Compared to Emperor Jingren, some of the wealthy are probably the most eager to implement the new policy. They will not oppose this new policy, but will do their best to clear all difficulties and implement it.
However, no matter how much money one has, it is impossible to make the stubborn Qingliu Party change their minds. So if one wants to implement new policies, someone must be able to stand up against the Qingliu Party and bear the blame of all future literati.
Emperor Jingren couldn't bear the blame, but Li Xiangguo, who had long been infamous, didn't care. His reputation had long been tarnished, and as long as there were enough benefits and he could obey the emperor once, Li Xiangguo was absolutely willing to bear the infamy, go against the Qingliu Party, and implement the new policy.
Now Li Xiangguo has not said anything, or the benefits are not enough. As long as Emperor Jingren spreads the news of the new policy, naturally someone will bring a fortune to Li Xiangguo, and then things will be easy.
This kind of bribery should be banned in theory, but as an emperor, he has to use it to implement some policies.
Emperor Jingren knew that if he wanted to be an emperor who cared about the people, sometimes he could not be a wise ruler as described by historians. But as long as the people benefited, he was willing to be a foolish ruler. Emperor Jingren had a yardstick in his heart. There were some principles he would not give up, but for others, he could do it in order to achieve his goals.
After Emperor Jingren planned everything, he planned to spread the news in two days. But it was not possible now, as Grand Secretary Lin had just hit the pillar, and he had to stabilize the Qingliu Party. When Grand Secretary Lin recovered from his injury and they thought they had defeated the emperor with their lives and won a victory, they would be able to implement the plan.
But there is a saying that plans cannot keep up with changes. Before Emperor Jingren leaked any information, when he went to court the next day, Lin Boyuan, the son of Grand Secretary Lin and the censor of the Imperial Censorate, wrote a letter to support Emperor Jingren.
Lin Boyuan was the top scholar three years ago and was an excellent writer. This memorial was written with first-rate literary talent and was well-reasoned. It refuted all the arguments put forward by Academician Lin yesterday.
Ordinary officials dare not argue with civil officials. They have read too many books and quote classics in every sentence. Their words are so erudite that people cannot understand them. Emperor Jingren was also educated since childhood, but yesterday, he was deeply doubted by what Lin Daxueshi said that he was ignorant and did not know anything. The Qingliu Party was full of "Confucius said, Confucius said", all the words of saints, which could not be refuted at all.
But Lin Boyuan was better than his father. He also quoted classics and cites the words of saints, but he just reversed everything his father said yesterday. When the Qingliu Party stood up and accused him of being unfilial, he said confidently, "Heaven and Earth are the emperor, parents are teachers, the emperor is the highest and parents are the lowest. He listens to the emperor's words and follows his orders, so how can he be unfilial?"
Lin Boyuan is worthy of being the number one figure in the Censorate. A small sixth-rank censor, he has left all the Qingliu Party in the court speechless. In short, he strongly supports Emperor Jingren. My father hit his head against the pillar yesterday because he is old and confused. If it really doesn't work, Your Majesty, let him go home and grow sweet potatoes. I will take over.
Emperor Jingren was very happy, very happy.
He sat on the high platform and carefully observed Lin Boyuan's appearance. Although he was not a handsome man, he was gentle and elegant. No wonder countless women threw flowers at the carriage of the top scholar when he was paraded three years ago. He was indeed a handsome young man.
Because of Lin Boyuan's appearance, the new policy that was suppressed by Lin Daxueshi yesterday was brought up again, and there was a trend of Emperor Jingren winning today. However, this kind of battle cannot be ended in one or two days, so when the court was dismissed, the civil officials had not yet come to a conclusion.
After the court session, Lin Boyuan did not leave and was kept by Emperor Jingren to have a proper discussion in the inner hall.
In order to prevent any ears, Emperor Jingren even drove away Eunuch Lian and Xiao Shunzi who served him, leaving only the secret guards. However, in Lin Boyuan's eyes, he could not see these secret guards. He was very excited to be alone with Emperor Jingren!
"Your Majesty!" When there were only two people left in the room, Lin Boyuan knelt heavily on the ground and casually wrote an article to express his admiration for Emperor Jingren. The gorgeous words and sincere feelings made Emperor Jingren doubt whether Lin Boyuan had written and memorized the article long ago. If he really sat casually, then Emperor Jingren would have to consider whether to reuse Lin Boyuan in the future. Someone who can casually say so many exaggerated and disgusting words of admiration, his ability to flatter really makes people wonder if he has put all his talents into writing articles. Such a person can do academic research, but when it comes to doing practical things, he really can't talk about it on paper
After Lin Boyuan had finally finished speaking, Emperor Jingren drank a sip of tea to calm himself down, and then he spoke: "Lord Lin, your article is good, but my new policy does not need someone who sings praises, I want someone who can do practical things. I saw that Lord Lin had a lot of experience in the new policy in the court just now, I wonder what Lord Lin thinks about this?"
After hearing this, Lin Boyuan immediately took out a stack of papers from his sleeve. The thickness of the papers made Emperor Jingren suspect that he had a Qiankun bag in his sleeve. Otherwise, how could he quarrel with others while holding so many papers
"Since I heard about your majesty's plan for the new policy, I have stayed up all night and wrote down some ideas on how to implement the new policy. I have not yet had time to organize it into a memorial and submit it to the Ministry of Public Security for review. It is really inappropriate to present it to your majesty in this way." Lin Boyuan said as he presented the stack of papers.
Emperor Jingren: “…”
Since it was not organized into a memorial and was brought with him, it was originally intended to be presented to him directly without going through the procedures, but it was said so nicely, it seems that this Censor Lin is also a very smooth person. But this is also right. Most of the people in the Tongzhengsi are members of the Qingliu Party. If they intercepted the memorial and sent it back on the grounds that the format is not correct, they don’t know when it will be passed to them. The Tongzhengsi dare not withhold the memorial, but they can delay it, delay it again and again, until the new policy is not carried out, and the memorial will never see the light of day again.
After taking a quick look at the memorial, Emperor Jingren was greatly surprised. He only had a general idea about the new policy, and how to implement it needed to be discussed. However, Lin Boyuan's plan analyzed the background, benefits, future trends, existing drawbacks and solutions to the new policy in detail. He even considered the possibility of cheating in the imperial examinations in the future, and proposed a series of improvement measures for the current invigilation system of the imperial examinations.
Emperor Jingren just looked at it hastily at first, but later he looked at it carefully, for two hours without even drinking water. Lin Boyuan stood there for too long, with his body hunched over, and his legs were shaking.
Emperor Jingren was so thirsty that he just came to his senses. Seeing Lin Boyuan shaking his legs, he immediately called someone in to give Lin Boyuan a seat.
Eunuch Lian and Xiao Shunzi came in with gloomy faces. One poured tea for Emperor Jingren, and the other moved a chair for Lin Boyuan.
Xiao Shunzi was young and handsome, with a round face and two dimples when he smiled. Emperor Jingren liked to have Xiao Shunzi serve him, and he would feel good just by looking at him. But now Xiao Shunzi looked at Lin Boyuan with a fierce face, and Lin Boyuan glared at Xiao Shunzi provocatively.
When Eunuch Lian was pouring tea for Emperor Jingren, he smelled a familiar incense aroma. He saw the pile of papers on Emperor Jingren's desk with his peripheral vision, and the smell came from those papers.
The Queen had confiscated all the incense in the palace, but there was still some outside the palace. The Emperor had been looking at the paper mixed with incense for such a long time today, I wonder what kind of dream he will have tonight.
Eunuch Lian lowered his eyes quietly, poured the tea and then retreated.