My life skills in Daming Liver

News of the Huguang war situation was being sent to the capital.

Capital.

The Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng claimed to be ill at home, and the entire capital court immediately fell into chaos.

At this time, the ministers realized that without Zhang Juzheng, they really couldn't play with this precarious Ming court.

The first thing that can't be solved is the powerful factions in these places.

Zhang Juzheng can still suppress these powerful factions, but now Mingting cannot suppress these powerful factions at all.

Secondly, the imperial censors in the Ming Dynasty attacked each other, almost completely destroying the entire order of Zhongshu. These officials were like wild dogs that had escaped from the reins, biting everywhere, and the conflicts in the court were further divided.

However, Zhang Juzheng still showed no signs of "recovery". The door of Prime Minister Zhongshu's Mansion was closed tightly, and all visitors were refused. Even the imperial doctors sent by the empress dowagers of the two palaces were kept out.

Xiangzi came out of his home and pulled a green taxi to the Imperial Academy.

Mr. Tong from the Imperial College made an appointment for a car yesterday. He was going to attend a party today, so he took care of Xiangzi's business.

Xiangzi wiped the car clean and saw Tong An walking out of the Imperial Academy.

"Mr. Tong!"

Tong An came over and got on Xiangzi's green car. Xiangzi immediately pulled the car and walked out of the city.

Under Wang Shizhen's introduction, the two were already very familiar with each other, and Xiangzi casually chatted with Tong An.

"Mr. Tong, things are not peaceful over there in Nancheng recently. You have to be careful when you go there."

Tong An raised his sleeves, revealing the patches under his clothes and said:

"If I'm like this, will anyone rob me?"

Xiangzi sighed and said, "The capital's life is getting more and more difficult."

Tong An also nodded. Since the Chinese New Year, the capital has really responded to the saying "except for salary increases, everything has increased." Prices in the entire capital have skyrocketed, and food prices have increased by more than 30%.

In the Battle of Xuzhou, the entire Ming Dynasty's new army in Shandong consumed a large amount of military rations and materials, but did not achieve any results.

In this case, the Ming court could only continue to mint silver coins of even lower quality, causing the currency to further depreciate.

But businessmen are not stupid either. The fineness of silver dollars is constantly depreciating, so prices will naturally continue to rise.

As for Tong An, the supervisors of the Imperial College, their daily expenses depended on the monthly salary paid by the Ming Dynasty. When the salaries of ordinary officials were deducted a few years ago, the wages of the supervisors of the Imperial College were also discounted.

This also made Tong An, who was not rich to begin with, even more strapped for money.

However, despite the financial constraints, Tong An was not unable to survive.

Many of the classmates who went to school with him on the bus have been reused in the Ming court, and some of them have also helped Tong An.

Zou Yuanbiao and Zhao Nanxing, the rookies of the Imperial College, were also very attracted to Tong An and often dragged him to various gatherings.

Compared to Xiangzi, Tong An's life is much better.

Seeing the single clothes Xiangzi was wearing, Tong An said, "Xiangzi, are you going to have any work soon?"

Xiangzi frowned and said, "What are your orders, Mr. Tong? Since the beginning of spring this year, it has become increasingly difficult to take on jobs. I took on a job yesterday morning."

The green taxi business is becoming increasingly difficult to do, and Tong An certainly knows that this has nothing to do with Xiangzi's efforts.

Xiangzi gets up early and stays late every day, but the current environment is no longer good.

In contrast to the green chartered carriages, a new type of horse-drawn carriage began to appear on the streets of the capital.

According to those businessmen who have been in the southeast, the carriages in the capital are equipped with some kind of "shock-absorbing" parts. It is said that they are embargoed materials in the southeast, so the ride is much bumpier than the carriages in the south.

But even so, horse-drawn carriages are still a better means of travel than green chartered cars.

The enclosed compartment of the carriage can block the view of passers-by outside, and the most advanced carriages can even burn charcoal for heating inside the carriage.

The carriage's seats are made of fur, which is much more comfortable than the green chartered carriage.

After the appearance of this kind of carriage, it became popular for dignitaries in the capital to travel by carriage.

In contrast, people who could still take green chartered buses to travel are no longer willing to spend money after prices soared. Naturally, Xiangzi's business is getting worse and worse.

Tong An said: "I went to Nancheng to attend a lecture given by a gentleman. If Xiangzi is okay, you can listen together."

"Lecture?"

Xiangzi was shocked. He was just a coachman. Isn't giving lectures the job of scholars?

Tong An said: "Mr. Yan's lectures are all in vernacular, and they are meant for ordinary people to listen to."

"Mr. Yan had previously organized a water transport strike in Shandong and secured benefits for Shandong water transport workers."

"So I also want you to come and listen."

Xiangzi immediately said: "Mr. Tong, is this Mr. Yan Junyan from Shandong?"

Tong An nodded.

Xiangzi fled to the capital from Shandong. He heard about the name of Mr. Yan Junyan from some fellow villagers.

I heard that this old gentleman was a disciple of Wang Taizhou and had listened to Wang Gen's lectures in Nanzhili.

The great governor of the southeast also learned part of his academic studies from the Taizhou School.

As for the Ming court, when Zhang Juzheng copied the academic theory of Su Ze, he finally found that the part he could use was basically the part of the Taizhou School.

Therefore, the current position of Taizhou Wangxue in the entire Central Plains intellectual world is very delicate.

Both the north and the south copied part of the academic theories of Taizhou Wangxue, but neither Su Ze nor Zhang Juzheng considered themselves to be successors of Taizhou Wangxue.

Yan Jun, the true successor of Taizhou Wang Xue, has an even more subtle position in the entire academic world.

Yan Jun did not write books, but was most interested in giving lectures to ordinary people.

When he was in Yancheng, he gave lectures to Yanding and organized the Salting movement in Yancheng.

Later, after occupying South Zhili in the southeast, Yan Jun returned to Shandong, gave lectures to Shandong's water workers, and organized a strike by Shandong's water workers.

After the Cao workers' strike, the Ming court increased the salary of Shandong Cao workers in order to stabilize the Shandong front line.

The fellow villagers who fled to the capital from Shandong all said that Mr. Yan Junyan was a sage.

Mr. Yan came to the capital? And you have to give lectures?

Xiangzi immediately said: "I'm fine, I'm going to listen to Mr. Yan's lecture!"

The area near the city gate in Nancheng is the most mixed area in the capital.

This is the starting point of the Jingshi Canal, and the dock is nearby.

Various companies in the capital have set up warehouses here, and businessmen traveling from north to south will stay here temporarily.

The strongholds of some gangs in the capital are here, and there are also large slums here, which can be said to be a mixed bag of good and bad.

When we got to Nancheng, it was impossible to pull the car on the muddy and narrow roads.

Xiangzi found a colleague to store his green chartered car, and then walked with Tong An into the market area of ​​Nancheng.

Tong An looked at the dirty streets and the pungent smell in the air. He also admired Mr. Yan.

It is said that when Yan Jun was lecturing with Cao Gong in Shandong, he ate, lived, slept and even worked with Cao Gong.

It’s no wonder that some scholars say that Taizhou Wangxue’s theory is not like Confucianism, but like Mohism, and he likes to hang out with salt and tin craftsmen all day long.

When Wang Gen was alive, among his disciples there were craftsmen, woodcutters, and saltmen, but not many serious scholars.

This Mr. Yan Junyan has indeed obtained the true biography of Wang Gen.

Although Tong An's position is also on the side of the lower class people, he still cannot endure such an environment like Yan Jun.

Surrounded by the cries of traffickers and lackeys, Tong An finally brought Xiangzi to the place where Yan Jun was going to give a lecture.

Xiangzi looked up and saw that this was a warehouse at the Nancheng Water Transport Terminal. He did not expect that a Confucian scholar like Yan Jun would give lectures here.

However, the warehouse was very busy at this time, and many people had already heard about Yan Jun's lecture. Tong An and Xiangzi finally squeezed in and found a relatively front seat.

After a while, surrounded by several dock workers, an old man with white beard and hair, wearing an ocher-colored cardigan, appeared on the makeshift podium of the warehouse.

This kind of short-sleeved shirt has been around for a long time. This kind of clothes does not have wide sleeves and robes, but narrower short sleeves and shorts. Sometimes the trousers and cuffs are tied up with ropes, which is convenient. Dress up for hard work.

The porters at the water transport terminal and the hired workers in the workshops, including Xiangzi who pulled the cart, were all dressed in this way.

Scholars wearing Confucian robes cannot work in the fields.

Yan Jun is like an old farmer with dark skin who can be seen everywhere in the countryside. He is sitting on the lecture platform. He does not have any opening remarks based on scriptures, but directly starts to talk about today's content.

"Today we are talking about one word - struggle."

Both Tong An and Xiangzi sounded focused.

"Struggle, this word is very simple, competition is everywhere in our lives."

"Within the family, there are 'fights' between neighbors, between men and women, and between officials and people."

"I don't need to explain what fighting is. What I want to say now is - 'how to fight'."

"Take the Shandong water transport incident as an example. The water transport strike began with the death of a water transport worker."

"This plowman was owed wages by the government. His wife had just given birth, so he gave all his rations to his wife. He died of exhaustion while working."

"I have traveled a lot, and I have seen many things worse than this. Logically speaking, it is not a rare thing in this world. This Cao Gong family only has a widow and a young son, and there is no clan to help out. If in the past, This matter has just passed."

Xiangzi nodded repeatedly.

This kind of thing can be seen everywhere, let alone Shandong, which has suffered from successive wars, even in the capital at the foot of the emperor. Xiangzi has long been numb to this kind of thing.

Those fellow countrymen who fled the famine and came to the capital might hear the news of someone's death one day.

Yan Jun said: "The orphans and widows are fighting against the Shandong Caoyun Yamen. Logically speaking, this matter cannot be fought."

"Now it's time to talk about how to fight. Of course, orphans and widowed mothers can't compete with the Shandong Water Transport Yamen, but a group of water workers are different."

"but."

Yan Jun drawled.

"What I want to say here is not about sincere unity. In fact, I am in Shandong, and the workers were unwilling to strike at the beginning."

"The reason is also very simple. Each of us is not a corner on the stage, a character with only one face."

"While we are working, we are also the sons of our parents, the fathers of our children, the husbands of our wives, or other roles."

"Facing the water transport yamen, the water transport workers don't dare to compete."

Tong An nodded. He suddenly thought of writing on the bus for the class reunion. Isn't this also a kind of struggle?

Yan Jun said: "So how to fight is particularly important."

"Back to the dead waterman, as I said before, he was the husband of a widow, the father of an orphan, and a Shandong citizen."

"You can't fight as a widowed husband and an orphaned father, because there are too many people in Shandong who have lost their families, and there are too many people who are worse off than their family."

"There is a military disaster in Shandong, and people are starving to death everywhere in Shandong. It is impossible to fight as a people in Shandong, because we cannot unite all the people in Shandong."

"At this time, the identity of the water worker is the key to the fight."

"That water worker died because he was unpaid. As a water worker, he can unite the water workers in Shandong."

"The number of water workers in Shandong is not too large. There is a lot of back wages, but it is not a figure that the government cannot afford."

"The government will also calculate that the water supply strike will affect the movement of food and supplies in the capital and the Shandong front line. If it is left unchecked, it will cause big problems."

"And suppressing the canal transport strike will cost more money. In the end, canal workers will still be needed to move the goods."

"In this way, paying the arrears of wages is the least expensive way."

"In the end, the Shandong Caoyun Yamen paid off the arrears of wages, paid the funeral expenses for the deceased canal worker, and gave a sum of money to the orphan and widowed mother."

"That's how to fight."

"Next, I'm going to talk about how to fight."