Returning home in a happy mood, Lin Yixuan suddenly discovered that facing some people and things from the past was not that difficult.
Li Yaonan left the yamen early and was now holding Chen'er in his arms, teaching his two sons the art of being thick-skinned and asking them to be careful. The capital was different from Yunnan, with a large number of dignitaries. He could not protect them if they made mistakes.
Chen'er snuggled obediently in his father's arms. Seeing his brother's sad face, he giggled from time to time.
So, was it right for Lai Yiu-nan to hold Chen'er in his arms and teach his son? There is a saying that goes "eyes and ears influence".
When Lin Yixuan came back from the banquet, he saw such a warm scene. The smile on his lips softened unconsciously. He reached out and hugged Chen'er, smiling and asked, "Dad is not at home today. Did you eat well?"
"Yes." Li Chen smiled sweetly, and picked up the tea bowl with his little hands: "Daddy, drink."
Lin Yixuan's heart was about to melt. Fearing that Chen'er would knock over the tea bowl, he hurriedly took it over, fixed him on his legs, took a sip of tea, and said with a smile, "Chen'er, be good."
Li Chen's smile widened, and he rubbed his little butt unruly: "Daddy is also good at kissing me, Chen'er misses Daddy's kiss."
Lin Yixuan kissed Chen'er hard. This child was so adorable.
Seeing that her husband was in a good mood, Li Yaonan asked with a smile, "How did you get today? You look so happy."
Lin Yixuan waved his hand and said unhappily, “Don’t mention it. I practiced Tai Chi all afternoon and barely ate anything. Is there any food at home?”
Li Yaonan glanced at him with a hint of reproach: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Lin Yixuan chuckled. Seeing the father and son getting along so happily, he forgot about it for a moment.
Li Yaonan ordered the servants to prepare meals and stopped teaching his son today. Li Xu and Li Xi were still not satisfied. Li Xu was quick to learn, while Li Xi particularly liked his father teaching him unorthodox ways.
Li Yaonan would not let him get away with it, and before leaving he did not forget to assign a lot of homework to Li Xi. As for Xu'er, he did not need to worry about him at all.
Seeing Li Xi's bitter face, Li Yaonan said that he was in a good mood and he felt absolutely no pressure at all to bully his son.
Lin Yixuan felt amused in his heart. His son across from him had a sullen look on his face and showed no sympathy at all. However, since his husband was playing the villain, he naturally had to play the hero. He smiled and comforted his son, telling them to go out and play.
Li Xu walked away with brisk steps, but Li Xi seemed particularly heavy-handed. He felt deeply that his father was partial to him. With so much homework, he had no time to play.
After the two sons left, Lin Yixuan talked about today's banquet with a smile. The prince's position was in jeopardy, and the situation was becoming more and more tense. The princess was trying to win over people and was acting almost blatantly. She was really afraid that her husband would be involved.
Li Yaonan didn't care much about it. She was just a concubine, and he didn't think it could accomplish anything big. Otherwise, why would the emperor just leave Princess Linchuan alone? After all, it is men who make the decision.
Lin Yixuan glared at him and said, "You look down on your wife."
Li Yaonan hurriedly begged for mercy: "Absolutely not. A good wife brings less trouble to her husband. How can those women compare to you?"
Lin Yixuan snorted and expressed forgiveness generously.
Li Yaonan wiped a cold sweat off his forehead. Her husband was becoming more and more petty.
The husband and wife's thinking was temporarily synchronized, although the contrast between them was quite big.
But...
Is it really okay for you two to flirt with each other, talk about conspiracies, but you hold Xiao Chen'er in your arms
Lin Yixuan ate something hastily, and Li Yaonan suddenly remembered something: "By the way, I'll be on vacation in a few days. I promised Brother Li that I would go to Sihai Academy to teach."
Lin Yixuan nodded: "Do you want to take Xu'er and Xi'er with you?"
"Take them with you. Let them go out and gain some experience."
Lin Yixuan smiled and joked, "Remember to keep a close eye on Xi'er."
Li Yaonan was speechless. He couldn't afford to have such a naughty child at home.
In the next few days, apart from going to the government office, Li Yaonan spent the rest of his time preparing lessons when he returned home. Knowledge is profound and he understands his strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to teaching, he thinks of the seminars in college. Perhaps he could change his teaching method. Instead of talking about those unreasonable things, he might as well talk about some practical things. Not only would it set a precedent, but it would also attract everyone's attention.
He has a good reputation among the elite, but that is not enough. A person can be famous for a while, but how can he be famous for the rest of his life? Who doesn't like to leave his name in history? What's more, he also wants to do something for future generations. Having an ancestor respected by everyone can at least keep three generations of them safe. After a hundred years, whether they are good or bad depends on their abilities, and he can't control it even if he wants to.
However, when he has the ability, he will try his best to create an environment to make the journey of the younger generations smoother.
The most important thing is that the emperor is old. When the emperor is alive, he can enjoy unlimited glory, but what about after the emperor dies? He has to consider the future.
In recent days, he has been annoyed by the temptations from all sides. It doesn't matter if he offends the princes now, but who knows whether the new emperor will bear a grudge after he ascends the throne. The officialdom has never been that simple. If he wants to remain neutral, he must have enough chips in his hand, otherwise if he encounters a stingy emperor, he will be liquidated in the future, and this is not a situation he wants to see.
What he has to do now is to increase the chips in his hand.
On the day of rest, Li Yaonan took his two sons, Jin Yuxuan and Xin Zeqi, a group of five people, to Sihai Book Garden.
Li Mingzhang had been waiting for a long time, with a hint of apology in his eyes: "Brother Donglin."
Li Yaonan glanced around and instantly understood that there were only more than 30 students attending the class today, and all of them were from poor families.
Every once in a while, Sihai Academy would invite officials from the imperial court to give lectures. When it was most popular, the small academy would be packed with more than 2,000 people. The last time the imperial minister gave a lecture, more than 800 people also came. The number of people who came to listen to the lecture today was indeed not enough.
"No problem." Li Yaonan smiled gently. True gold is not afraid of fire. Popularity is always accumulated slowly. He has been away from the capital for eight years. No matter how good his political achievements in Yunnan are, the distance is thousands of miles and the news cannot be reached to the capital. It is already very good to have more than 30 people coming.
After settling his two sons, Lai Yiu-nam walked straight into the classroom. Unlike the popular mustaches, Lai Yiu-nam's chin was very smooth, and he looked very nice when he smiled, giving people a sense of gentleness and elegance.
"Lord Li."
The students greeted him first.
"Please sit down." Li Yaonan said with a smile, opened the manuscript in his hand, and said straight to the point: "Today we will not talk about academic matters with you, but about the way to be an official."
The eyes of the thirty or so students below instantly brightened. Everyone knew that Lord Li was a third-rank official at a young age. If he could teach them even a little bit, they would benefit immensely.
Li Yaonan cleared his throat and said, "First of all, this is my personal opinion and some experience I have summed up. It does not represent other ministers."
More than thirty students were concentrating their attention. The experience summarized by Lord Li could definitely not be wrong. Lord Li did not have any backing, but he was able to rise from a commoner to a third-rank official in the court. This alone was enough for them to learn from him. They should know that they were also poor students without any backing.
"The way to be an official is to do good things for the people, to plead for the people, and to redress grievances for the people. Everyone may have some understanding of this and have some ambitions in their hearts. Confucius said: The superior is the model of the people. If the model is right, then everything will be right! However, this is not what I want to talk about today."
Li Yaonan paused and said, "What I am going to talk about next is my way of being an official. You are not allowed to make loud noises while I am lecturing. I will leave time for you to ask questions later. Okay, now let's get to the point. Let's take the example of Rui Hai, a famous honest official in the previous dynasty. He was an honest official who devoted his life to the country and the people. Do you admire him?"
That's natural. More than thirty people nodded unconsciously. Lord Ruihai was their role model, but it was a pity that he was not born in a good time. In the last years of the previous dynasty, corrupt officials were in power. Even with an honest official like Ruihai, he could not save the court from collapse.
"But what I want to say is that Rui Hai is an honest official, but not a good official."
As soon as Li Yaonan said this, the students below were immediately in an uproar, and some even glared at him. If Rui Hai was not considered a good official, then what kind of official could be considered a good official? If Lord Li was not a third-rank official of the court, some people wanted to throw up their sleeves and leave on the spot.
Li Yaonan's face turned stern. He made a hushed gesture to quiet them down, and said sternly, "I told you not to make noise when I'm teaching. If you have any questions, I can answer them after class. Now, everyone, take your seats."
The class fell silent instantly. Li Yaonan cleared his throat and said, "You may have doubts. Lord Ruihai has lived an upright life. He has been a diligent official. He has never been afraid of power and would rather go against the emperor for the sake of the people. He even once carried his own coffin to the emperor to file a complaint. It's funny that he filed a complaint against the previous emperor. You think he is very impressive, don't you? You think Ruihai is fearless and he lives up to his reputation for being upright and honest."
"But, what right did he have to challenge the emperor? In order to sue Emperor Cheng of Han, Rui Hai helped him live a clear and honest life. Emperor Cheng of Han was forced to not punish him. Rui Hai won a great victory, and his reputation among the people has since risen to a higher level. However, do you know how many people died after Emperor Cheng of Han was furious? How many people were implicated by him? Although those who died were willing and thought they had done a great job, I don't think so."
"Death can be as light as a feather or as heavy as Mount Tai. If Rui Hai's action had worked and could make Emperor Han Cheng repent, I might even say I admire him, but what about the result? What do you think?"
The expressions of the students below were grim. In the end, nothing happened. Emperor Cheng of Han continued to do as he pleased and favored treacherous prime ministers. Lord Ruihai was miserable in his later years and died in poverty while in office.
Li Yaonan didn't really want them to answer, so he said, "Let's not talk about this for now. Lord Ruihai has never tolerated any sand in his eyes. He has handled many cases of corrupt officials. Now let's talk about some of the major cases he handled."
"Everyone knows Wei Hanliang. He is very famous among the cases Ruihai has handled. I still remember the records in history books that this case was once famous. Wei Hanliang is the son of the Minister of Revenue of the previous dynasty. He took the position of county magistrate, which was simply a gilded post. He made a lot of money while in office and judged countless unjust cases. Lord Ruihai was ruthless and sentenced him to death. The people applauded at the time. You also think he was right, right? Ruihai's move really eliminated harm for the people."
Seeing that the people below were not convinced, Li Yaonan smiled slightly and calmed their emotions: "I also think he is not wrong." Then he changed the subject: "You are familiar with history books. I wonder if you have read about major criminal cases in various places in the previous dynasties. If not, let's start with the case of Rui Hai overthrowing the Shangshu."
"The Minister of Revenue committed a crime at the time, withholding more than two million silver dollars for disaster relief. The disaster site was exactly where Wei Hanliang was beheaded. The Minister did everything he could to avenge his son, but it only made the local people suffer. Rui Hai spent three years and went through untold hardships to overthrow the Minister of Revenue. However, can the suffering of the people be eliminated?"
"Are we just going to leave corrupt officials alone?" Someone couldn't help but ask at the time. What Lord Li said today had a huge impact on them.
Li Yaonan smiled and replied, "How can we not care? Wei Hanliang is not fit to be an official. But you can't deny that Ruihai's handling of the case was too extreme. Beheading Wei Hanliang as a public display is indeed gratifying, but it will leave endless troubles."
"What should we do then?"
"The Minister of Revenue is very powerful. Unless we let the corrupt officials go, there is nothing we can do."
"that is."
"... ..."
"Alright." Li Yaonan slapped the table and said, "Everyone, be quiet. If you have any questions, you can ask them after class. Now, listen carefully."
All the students fell silent immediately and their expressions became more focused. What Lord Li said and thought were all things they had never considered before, but they really shocked them. If a good and honest official's reputation was built on the suffering of the people, then the so-called pleading for the people would become a joke.
"The case of Wei Hanliang happened so long ago that the records in the case file are not detailed. I am not sure how I would have solved the case at that time, but I am sure of one thing. No matter what the consequences are, I will nip them in the bud. Now that I have evidence of Wei Hanliang's guilt in my hand, I will use it for negotiation if the enemy is strong and I am weak."
"Now let me tell you about my time in Yunnan. At that time, the natives of Yunnan were powerful, with an absurd governor above and many noble families below. As a good and honest official, I guess he would punish the noble families severely and sue the governor."
Isn't it? All the students showed a look of astonishment on their faces.
Li Yaonan smiled softly: "Of course not. If you overthrow the noble families, wouldn't the people's economy be in chaos? Suing the governor is like hitting a rock with an egg. Do you want to keep your official hat?"
"Interests, there are conflicts wherever there are people, and interests also exist. There are definitely cracks within the aristocratic families. Sowing discord and dividing them was the countermeasure I thought of at the time. As for the governor, I also chose to curry favor with him. I think that the first thing an official needs to do is to assess the situation, and secondly, to be able to bend and stretch. With these two guarantees, you can do practical things. Otherwise, with only aspirations, what do you think you can do? Do you want to be an official for life, or do you want to do a few spectacular things and then disappear."
All the students were concentrating, knowing that Master Li was getting to the point. Nonsense, who doesn't study to take the imperial examination to bring honor to their family, who doesn't want to do things for the people, who doesn't want to rise step by step? If one becomes an official just to be honest for a while, and then will be doomed forever, who would be willing to take the imperial examination with all the effort? They also wanted to be like Master Li, to hold a high position at a young age.
The author has something to say: Thank you. o(n_n)o
Yanyan threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-09-12 21:52:17
Never Leave and Never Abandon threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-09-12 22:19:05
Jing Jing Yiwei threw a mine Throwing time: 2014-09-13 01:39:10
The breeze blew a mine. Throwing time: 2014-09-13 04:24:56
Mint is not cool and threw a grenade. Throwing time: 2014-09-13 06:16:06
Baby's baby threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-09-13 10:12:35