Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"ah!!!!!!"

From time to time, shrill screams could be heard from the inner courtyard of the Zhu family.

Naturally, professionals must be used to extract confessions through torture. Ju Ming and Xiang Zhixian are kind-hearted people, and they will never do it.

Xiang Zhixian walked around anxiously, glancing inside from time to time, for fear that the two old thieves really didn't know.

But Ju Ming sat calmly, closing his eyes and concentrating.

Probably already tired from walking, Magistrate Xiang also sat down and turned to look at Ju Ming, feeling a bit of admiration.

A teenager who is more than ten years old can understand the three classics in literature and command troops to kill thieves in military affairs, but he can still remain calm at this moment. I have never seen many magistrates in Xiang County with such a calm demeanor. This boy will definitely do great things in the future!

In fact, he thought wrong...

Ju Ming can't even calm down while fishing. Where does he get his composure?

Last night, he slept in a Datong bunk with dozens of men and suffered from insomnia because of his stinky feet. Today, he was very tired from leading a team to fight. Ju Ming was just taking the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

It's not that I'm pretending to be asleep, I'm really asleep.

Ju Ming has no other abilities, but his nerves are big enough that he can be called heartless.

They kept tossing until early in the morning. The two old thieves were already useless and just wanted to die quickly.

Wu Zuo came out with the jailer and whispered to the county magistrate: "In Wangjiang, in Anshuiba Village, at the foot of Hutou Ridge, Zhu Zongdao's mother, brothers, wife and children are all there. The Hun's family here in the county town were born after he recruited An The first wife has never died, and the eldest son is already six years old. The big family in the village was named Zhong. When Zhu Zongdao rebelled, he killed the whole family of Zhong Zhong. Now they even occupy his house. The whole family changed their name to Zhong and claimed to be Zhong. A relative of a wealthy family."

"Well done Zhu Er, there is indeed a nest!"

Xiang Zhixian was overjoyed and said to the prisoner and jailer: "You will go to the county office tomorrow to receive the reward, and go home to rest tonight."

"Thank you, County Lord!"

The three of them bowed and left.

Xiang Zhixian was still happy there, pacing back and forth happily, and finally remembered that there was something serious to do: "Nephew Zhu Xian, nephew Zhu Xian..."

"ha!"

Ju Ming yawned and opened his eyes and asked, "Have you recruited a thief?"

Xiang Zhixian said: "Here we go, nephew, go and gather people. You don't need too many, just twenty or thirty people."

Pity this county magistrate, the court is not allowed to keep personal staff, and there is not even a master around to help with planning. He took two loyal servants to the post, and the remaining servants were all hired in Xixiang County.

The county government is once again dominated by Zhu Zhu and Bai Erlang. Many government officials are not trustworthy. Now they have to ask Zhu Ming for help.

After all, Ju Ming is a foreigner, and you can tell by his accent that he lacks the foundation to cooperate.

Zhu Ming went straight back to the Archer School and woke up more than 30 of his roommates. Except for Zhang Guangdao and Bai Sheng, they were all villagers from Shangbai Village.

Everyone headed to the South City Gate. Xiang Zhixian was already ready, accompanied by two loyal servants.

"Open the city gate, this county will arrest Zhu Zongdao's remnants overnight!" Xiang Zhixian ordered.

The gatekeeper yawned and slowly opened the city gate.

Several merchant ships docked at the dock also suffered disaster and were forcibly requisitioned by the magistrate, and even the boatmen were taken away.

There is no big moon tonight, and the night is pitch black.

Fortunately, this is no longer the Han River, but a tributary of the Han River. The river flow is relatively gentle, and the boat can barely sail with the help of the light of the lantern.

Ju Ming sat cross-legged on the deck, staring at the dark river in a daze.

Before time travel, he was just a self-media blogger, and he spent all the little money he earned.

He has no big ambitions, just muddles along, in a daze.

What he had experienced these days was thrilling to him. It was enough to kill thieves at night, but today he was fighting in the street during the day.

I was very tired before and had no time to think too much.

After taking a nap, the river breeze blew, and my mind suddenly became clear, and it was inevitable that various emotions would arise.

It seems that I have become cunning and cruel, colluding with this idiot magistrate, and always doing what he wants. Next, he wanted to kill people and buy goods. Although he killed the rebel family members and robbed some ill-gotten gains, it still made him feel quite sad.

Traveling through time, what am I pursuing?

Do you want to dominate the world and become the emperor?

Or turn the tide and preserve the Han family?

Or, to make people live a better life?

Where is my bottom line?

Suddenly, Ju Ming remembered Wang Anshi's "On Overlord", which was the political outline of Wang Anshi's reform.

Confucius only talked about benevolence and righteousness, and did not distinguish between kingship and hegemony, but his words were more inclined to the kingship, the inner sage and the outer king.

Starting from Mencius, kings are respected and tyranny is despised. The difference between kingliness and hegemony lies in whether one is motivated by benevolence and righteousness, rather than whether one performs benevolent and righteous actions.

Xunzi followed the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius and went a step further. The king wins the hearts of the people, the hegemon wins friends, and the strong fights for the land. The main thing is to follow the etiquette and practice the royal way, and the supplementary thing is to respect the law and act the domineering way.

Wang Anshi combined the thoughts of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, and advocated the golden mean, while the miscellaneous kings acted domineeringly.

In order to show his integrity and enhance his prestige, Duke Huan of Qi returned the land and Duke Wen of Jin withdrew his troops and stopped fighting. In Wang Anshi's view, these are not kingly ways, but hegemony. Because they are hypocritically benevolent and righteous, retreating and returning to their homeland is all for themselves.

The true royal way, the true benevolence and righteousness, is that Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin swallowed up the territory and made the people there live better! Even if it damages one's own reputation, it can benefit the people.

The golden mean is the kingly way, and the royal way is the golden mean. Taking the benefit of the people of the world as the starting point, the kingly way and the hegemony are used in harmony with each other. This is Wang Anshi's philosophy of governing the country.

As long as it is beneficial to the people of the world, it is okay to do bad things and get a bad reputation.

It’s really hard to be moderate, Ju Ming couldn’t help but sigh.

Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind is actually the golden mean. Wang Anshi's new learning also pursued the golden mean. But this thing requires strong willpower and judgment, otherwise the strong will become stubborn and the weak will gradually succumb to reality.

By the light of the brazier, Ju Ming pulled out his sword and carved the word "moderate" on the deck.

I don't know when, Xiang Zhixian came behind Ju Ming, stared at the words on the deck and said: "Zhongye is the foundation of the world. Harmony is the foundation of the world. To achieve harmony, the heavens have their place, and all things are nourished." Yan. While the thieves and bandits are currently in progress, your wise nephew is still studying the great ways of heaven and earth?"

"How to achieve the unity of heaven and man?" Zhu Ming turned around and asked.

The theoretical basis of the Golden Mean is the unity of nature and man, not the harmony that the world misunderstands.

Xiang Zhixian shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's difficult. People haven't figured it out yet. I don't know where to ask for help from God."

Ju Ming pointed to his chest and said: "Heaven's heart is my heart, and the way of heaven should be sought in my heart."

Xiang Zhixian tasted it, and actually understood it, and comforted him: "These are all ill-gotten gains, and the people killed are also full of evil people. Why should my nephew bother with this?"

Zhu Ming was too lazy to discuss the issue anymore. He handed over his hand and said, "Thank you, Lord County, for your advice."

Ju Ming's pretentiousness and entanglement are due to his fear of losing himself and being eroded by power and money.

If you can’t figure it out, then don’t think about it.

Tonight's thoughts are also fruitful. Zhu Ming has determined his own style of conduct, which is to practice Wang Anshi's theory of king hegemony.

The same is true for governing a country, and the same is true for being a human being.

Although Wang Anshi passed away, there was only one more disciple of Void.

After moving the boat to the shore, Ju Ming stood up with his sword in hand. It was time to do something domineering next.

Zhu Ming led more than thirty archers and broke into the village holding open fire. When he encountered a thatched house, he immediately rushed in, grabbed the villagers and said, "The government is trying to suppress thieves. You will lead the way to the largest house in the village. If the matter is done well, there will be heavy rewards!"

The villagers were so scared that they were almost dragged away.

This village is extremely poor and is much smaller than Shangbai Village. No wonder no one noticed that Zhu Zongdao occupied the magpie nest.

The largest house in the village is only one-third the size of Lao Bai's wife's house.

There's nothing to say about the ensuing battle, it can't even be called a battle. More than thirty archers climbed over the wall and rushed into the inner courtyard. Only then did the people inside start shouting in terror.

After some questioning, I found the cellar.

The two loyal servants brought to the magistrate quickly carried lanterns and went to the cellar to count the belongings.

Zhu Zongdao has collected all the property here since the rebellion. Of course, a lot was spent during this period, such as buying grain and grass to maintain the rebel troops, secretly bribing officials when recruiting security forces, and buying a mansion in the county to enjoy life.

The counting continued until the next morning. The old slave took a small book and said: "Mr., in addition to iron coins, there are also gold and silver coins, a total of 4,492 coins. There is also a shop in the county town, and various shops in the countryside. There are more than 1,000 acres of similar fields. Most of these fields are hidden fields. There is only a white deed for purchasing the land, and there is no official land deed."

"Okay, okay, this guy is really rich!" Xiang Zhixian was overjoyed.

Then I was a little worried, how much should I give to Ju Ming?

If you pay too much, you won't be happy.

Ju Ming was dissatisfied with the lack of points.

After thinking about it, Xiang Zhixian decided to give two hundred strings to Ju Ming. Then give the shooters who are working tonight a hush fee for each person.

Well, he thinks this is very appropriate.

Xiang Zhixian came out of the cellar and took Zhu Ming aside alone: ​​"Nephew Zhu, although the thieves left a lot of property, I still have to use it to fill the tax gap. I can't get a few..."

Before he could finish speaking to the magistrate, Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the county magistrate, Rong Bing, I will not take any of the wealth here."

"Um?"

Xiang Zhixian was not happy about this. If something went wrong, it would be a monster. He was not sure what Zhu Ming wanted.

Sure enough, Ju Ming's appetite was greater than he imagined: "The people around Heifeng Stronghold are all bandits. It is easy to capture the stronghold, but it is difficult to get rid of the evil spirit. I am willing to share the worries of the county magistrate."

Xiang Zhixian frowned and said, "You might as well explain it more clearly."

"I want Black Wind Village, the villages at the foot of the mountain, including Tea Mountain!" Ju Ming said clearly immediately.

Xiang Zhixian was shocked, and then a little angry: "I'm afraid my nephew won't be able to swallow it."

"You can swallow it," Ju Ming said. "It's an unclaimed land, and the village is full of bandits. How will the county settle it?"

Xiang Zhixian said: "I haven't thought about it yet. We will discuss it after we capture the bandit stronghold."

Ju Ming said: "This place is remote. If there is any land in the cellar, I'm afraid the county magistrate will sell it. The same is true for Heifeng Village. The tea mountains and acres must be sold, but to whom can it be sold? If it is sold to greedy people, it will be sold to greedy people." Within two years, the bandits will rebel. Although I am not talented, I can educate the bandits and share their worries with the county magistrate."

Xiang Zhixian is still hesitating. He wants to capture Heifeng Village and make another fortune.

Zhu Ming suddenly pressed the hilt of the sword, unsheathed the sword with a clang, flicked the sword and swore: "With this sword, I can tame the bandits, and I guarantee that no bandits will cause trouble during the term of the county magistrate!"

Xiang Zhixian was so frightened that he took a few steps back and looked at the sword in horror: "Just...just follow what my nephew said."

In the dark, in a remote village, with many belongings in the cellar, he was afraid that he would die suddenly and accidentally.

"Your Majesty, don't panic. I just vowed to share your worries with you." Zhu Ming quickly returned the sword to its sheath, looking panicked.

Xiang Zhixian smiled awkwardly and said, "I know my nephew's feelings. Those bandits are all fierce and cannot be tamed unless my nephew is my nephew."

Ju Ming immediately lowered his body, nodded and said, "Your Majesty, please get on the boat. I will have people carry out the belongings in the cellar immediately."

"Okay, okay, I have nephew Lao Xian."

Xiang Zhixian walked out of the house and came to the courtyard. When the night wind blew, he realized that his vest was soaked through.

He didn't want to stay in this damn Xixiang County for even a moment longer. He had to send money for the next performance evaluation, so he could feel at ease if he left this place early.

There are no good people in Xixiang County!

Ju Ming stood in the room and just sneered. He was not afraid of going back on his word to the magistrate, at least he would not fall out before he captured Heifeng Village.

Ju Ming had enough time to master the more than three hundred archers, which was an extremely powerful force in Xixiang County.

Even if these archers are only temporary, they will all be disbanded after the bandit suppression is over.

A mere commoner, who got a temporary job, dared to threaten the county magistrate with his small fortune. This was an extremely risky move, and if he wasn't careful, he would be shattered to pieces.

But a horse cannot fatten without night grass, and a man cannot become rich without windfall, so Ju Ming must risk his life.

I rely on my father to make a fortune by farming at home, but I don’t know how long it will take until the Year of the Monkey!

According to Xunzi's theory of king hegemony, what Ju Ming did tonight cannot be called "overbearing" at all, and it has nothing to do with "kingly way". It belongs to the incomplete and low-level "strong way".

Therefore, the next step is to act kingly and domineering.

The kingly way is to win people's hearts, and the domineering way is to make many allies.