Taiping Inn

After hearing what Mr. Bai Lu said, Emperor Tianbao's face was already very pale, and his hands under his big sleeves were clenched into fists, showing his uneasy mood.

After a long time, Emperor Tianbao said slowly, "Sir, the righteousness of the world cannot bind Liaodong. How can this be explained?"

Mr. Bai Lu sighed and said, "The sage said, "The people are more important than the king, and the country is second to the country." Another said, "The destiny of heaven is constant, and only virtue is based on it." What is virtue? Naturally, the world is peaceful and the people are all. Live and work in peace. Just like today, is it peace?”

"As far as I know, in the Central Plains in the Pass, except for Jiangnan and Jingzuo, which are still fine, most of the other places are refugees everywhere and thousands of miles away. Nowadays, a large number of refugees flee to Liaodong every day, because Liaodong has food and a way to live. Liaodong is originally a vast land and a sparse population, and what is lacking is the population. It is a killing of two birds with one stone. One is a deterioration of one person, and it is inevitable that people will be distorted. Many knowledgeable people, such as Mr. Qingping, who followed Zhang Xiang, was then. Li Xuandu and others also turned to support Liaodong..."

"What a wise man, this person is just a traitor." Emperor Tianbao snorted coldly.

Mr. Bai Lu did not refute Emperor Tianbao, but instead said, "In fact, whether it is a thief or a loyal minister or a good general, the question before His Highness is why Li Xuandu, who supported Zhang Xiang, and Qin Xiang, who recovered the northwest, surrendered to him. Liaodong? Why did the Qin family, who could only hide behind the scenes, dare to come to the front stage? They were originally subjects of the court, but now they are deviating from the court. Isn’t this the change in people’s hearts?”

Emperor Tianbao frowned and said in a deep voice: "It is said that Confucianism has the merit of education, and sir is the merit of Confucianism. So, why sir, why sir, can the Confucianism fail to stop such changes in human hearts?"

Mr. Bai Lu sighed: "The core of Confucianism is not 'benevolence' or 'righteous', but 'ritual'. The book "The Herdsman" says: "If the granaries are full, you know etiquette, and if you have enough food and clothing, you will have enough food and clothing. Know honor and disgrace. 'The people do not know etiquette. Only when they have no worries about food and clothing can they pay attention to etiquette and have the energy to take into account their honor and disgrace."

"Your Majesty has never seen it. For a steamed bun, the refugees can be without dignity and even abandon their family affection. They have only one idea, that is, to live, and to survive, they can abandon everything. Facing such a person, How can the Confucians educate them? Only by setting up a pot to cook white rice, but not the principle of setting up a pot to cook. If you want people to be upright, you must first have a full meal. It is precisely because Liaodong has done this, so people's hearts have turned to Liaodong No matter how much our great scholars say, it is useless."

Emperor Tianbao said angrily: "These untouchables are shameless. In order to survive in a state of poverty, they ignore the justice of the country."

Mr. Bai Lu sighed again: "This is the second point I want to say. People in Liaodong are not alien races, they have the same clan and origin as the world, and they have a dependence on each other. If they are people from Jinguan to do these things, we can still use them. The country and country are used to resist and call for justice, and many people will not succumb to the Tartars. They can be replaced by Liaodong. For ordinary people, there is no resistance. After all, since ancient times, the rise and fall have been increasing..."

Before Mr. Bai Lu finished speaking, Emperor Tianbao suddenly swept all the inkstones, paperweights and memorials on the table to the ground. His breath was heavy and he was extremely angry.

Mr. Bai Lu's face remained unchanged, and slowly stood up and whispered, "Stop angry with your Majesty."

Emperor Tianbao leaned on the back of the chair, took a few deep breaths, gradually calmed down, and said apologetically: "I am losing my composure, sir, please sit down."

Mr. Bai Lu didn't care and sat down again, but he just stopped continuing the topic just now.

Emperor Tianbao asked, "So, how should we change this situation sir?"

Mr. Bai Lu said: "Until now, the court still occupies the title of righteousness and orthodoxism. In terms of potential, it has a tax-related place such as Jiangnan and a 90% population in the world, which is far above Liaodong, so Liaodong is also about entering the pass. There are many concerns, and this is Your Majesty's opportunity. To change this situation, the key is to have an elite soldier. However, you need money to raise and train soldiers. The court has the world and is rich in the world. Why are the national treasury often empty? Why are you struggling everywhere? Money is Where did you go? Why can’t you collect taxes?”

Emperor Tianbao only felt that there was still a layer of window paper left that had not been pierced, and it was very close.

Mr. Bai Lu suddenly laughed softly and said, "The soldiers guarding the border every autumn moon withered grass and set fire to the frontier, which is called burning wasteland. That is, burning the grassland, and more than 10,000 people are dispatched every time. This makes a joke, saying that the Ministry of Revenue sends out I spent 100,000 taels of silver to burn the wasteland. When the Liaodong general was in the hands of the Liaodong general, there were only 10,000 taels of silver left. The general took out 1,000 taels of silver to burn the wasteland, but the result was not good. So he reported to the Ministry of War that the rain was too much this year. There were too many, and the effect of burning the wasteland of 100,000 taels of silver was not good. Instead, I accidentally burned the food and grass and some of the weapons. I needed 100,000 taels of silver to repurchase the weapons. In addition, I asked the court to make up 100,000 taels of silver to burn the wasteland again to prevent the gold tent from going south. "

Emperor Tianbao couldn't laugh, his face turned pale.

Mr. Bai Lu restrained his smile: "Although it is a joke and exaggerated, the reason is correct. The court allocated one million taels of silver for food and salary, and it would be a blessing to have 500,000 taels of silver for military affairs. It is a blessing that half of them can enter the treasury if they pay a tax of one million taels of silver."

"Happy?" Emperor Tianbao's face turned pale and his breath became even worse. "The court had to spend twice the money, and the court could only collect half of the taxes. Is this a blessing? The court's money must be divided into half of the money. Whose court is this court, and whose world is this? !”

Mr. Bai Lu said lightly: "There is a saying: 'Share the world with scholars and officials'."

Emperor Tianbao slammed the table hard.

Mr. Bai Lu said: "All laws, no matter how brilliant, must be implemented by people in the end, so what your majesty has to do is to rectify the administration of officials, which is the root of everything."

…

There is no tablet for Li Daoxu in the shrine of the Li family, because strictly speaking, Li Daoxu is not dead, but cannot return to the world. So according to the rules, Li Daoxu has no tablet for worship, but a portrait is hung in the side hall of the shrine. He is also the third person in the Li family to ascend. Li Xuandu is expected to become the fourth person to ascend, and his portrait is hung next to Li Daoxu.

Li Xuandu came to the side hall and looked up.

The first portrait is not the ancestor of the Li family, but the first patriarch of the Li family after they settled in Beihai Prefecture. He is an old man with white hair, white beard, white eyebrows, and immortal style. The foundation of the Li family in Beihai Prefecture was created by this ancestor.

The second portrait is of a middle-aged man in a stone-blue suit. He is dignified and serious. He is a serious person. He is the ancestor of the "Chun" generation. He is a martial arts fanatic with a very high level of cultivation. However, he is not very good at managing his family and clan. Compared with Li Daoxu, he is very different.

The third painting is Li Daoxu. It is a portrait of Li Daoxu in his old age. If Li Xuandu were to evaluate it, he would have an imperial aura, graceful and calm, and awe-inspiring without anger. It is quite vivid.

In the past few hundred years, the Li family has never been able to be compared with the Zhang family of Shangqing Prefecture, where many immortals have emerged. It was not until the generation of Li Daoxu that they were on par with the Zhang family of Shangqing Prefecture. It was not until the generation of Li Xuandu that they surpassed the Zhang family. From this point of view, Li Daoxu is actually the lord of the Li family's revival, and his status is not inferior to that of the founder.

Li Xuandu turned his eyes and found that the place next to Li Daoxu's portrait was ready, only one portrait was missing, and he couldn't help laughing. The Li family's thoughts were all focused here, which seemed to mean that Li Xuandu's entry into this side hall of the temple was a foregone conclusion, which was undoubtedly much better than many face-to-face flattery.

Li Taiyi also followed behind Li Xuandu, looking up at the three portraits, with admiration and yearning.

Li Xuandu smiled: "Donghuang, I hope that one day your portrait can also be hung here. Starting from this old man, three earthly immortals in one family can be regarded as a good story passed down to future generations. Future generations will also add a sentence "good parenting" to the evaluation of the old man."

Li Taiyi nodded gently.

Li Xuandu took three incense sticks from Li Rushi's hand and inserted them into the incense burner on the altar below the portrait.

Li Xuandu turned and left the side hall. The people waiting in the temple immediately gathered around him, young and old.

This is power.

Li Xuandu looked around and said, "That's all for today. Let's go for now. We'll go out of the city tomorrow to worship our ancestors."

Everyone in the Li family responded and left the temple one by one and walked out.

Li Xuandu was the last one to leave. People like Li Taiyi, Li Rushi, Lu Yanbing and others could only follow Li Xuandu and walk at the end.

Li Xuandu was in a good mood today. No blind people were against him at this time. Everything went smoothly. He officially took over the Li family, and then he completed the last step of mastering the Qingwei Sect.

This is like the position of the leader and the position of the great celestial master of the Zhengyi Sect. The great celestial master is actually the patriarch of the Zhang family. Only when he serves as the great celestial master and the supreme leader or leader of the Zhengyi Sect at the same time, can he be considered to have truly mastered the Zhengyi Sect. If one of the two is missing, it means that the power is divided.

The same is true for the Li family. As the largest force within the Qingwei Sect, if Li Xuandu is only the leader of the Qingwei Sect and not the patriarch of the Li family, he will be constrained by others. The Li family is his family. Unless it is absolutely necessary, Li Xuandu does not want to hurt his own people, so the position of the head of the family is still very important.

Li Xuandu looked at Li Yuanying, who had been silent all the time, and suddenly said: "Third Brother, you used to be the leader of the sect and commanded the entire sect. Now if you are asked to be the hall master again and be under others, you are also unwilling in your heart. Then you will stay in the Li family in the future, handle clan affairs, and be a clan elder. I wonder what you think?"

Li Yuanying looked at Li Xuandu fiercely.

Gu Yusheng's heart tightened, fearing that the two would conflict again.

However, Li Yuanying did not contradict Li Xuandu again this time. After a moment, he lowered his eyes and said: "Li Yuanying obeys the order of the patriarch."