kingnovel Chapter 1188 How can one sweep the world if one cannot even sweep one's own house?
Chapter 1188 How can one sweep the world if one cannot even sweep one's own house?
The autumn sun shines brightly.
The wind from the suburbs blew into the prefectural city, carrying with it a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance of rice.
"The autumn harvest is almost here." Pei Zhaoqi closed his eyes and sniffed lightly.
Huai Shaoyong frowned and broke the brief silence: "Young Master Pei, I believe that scholarship should have a broad perspective, how can it be limited to the small corner of Liuyang Prefecture?"
Upon hearing this, many people in the audience turned serious.
Their Liuyang Prefecture is a large prefecture, so how can it be considered a "small corner of the land"?
“Young Master Huai, you are mistaken.” Pei Zhaoqi opened his eyes, his gaze seemingly passing through the bustling streets and landing on the rice paddies outside the city: “Young Master, as a native of Liuyang Prefecture, do you not know that the reason this question appeared in this year’s re-examination is entirely because Tongan County produced high-yield rice last year, and because Lord Shen is a man of great righteousness, high-yield rice was able to be planted in various counties of Liuyang?”
Huai Shaoyong's lips moved slightly.
Before he could speak, Pei Zhaoqi continued, "Liuyang Prefecture is now the prefecture with the highest rice yield in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty. As the ancients said, 'If you can't sweep one's own house, how can you sweep the world?' Do you know that Liuyang Prefecture's autumn harvest is just around the corner? If we can't even solve the problems that our own prefecture is about to face, how can we talk about strategizing for agriculture and sericulture across the world?"
"You!" Huai Shaoyong's face flushed red from the rebuttal, the veins on his hand holding the answer sheet bulging as he roared, "My strategy can be implemented throughout the land and benefit all people!"
"Is that so?" Pei Zhaoqi stepped forward and walked towards Huai Shaoyong.
Huai Shaoyong instinctively took a half step back: "What do you want to do?"
"Since Young Master Pei's strategies can be applied to the whole country, then they must be applicable to my Liuyang Prefecture?" Pei Zhaoqi asked.
"Of course!" Huai Shaoyong looked at Pei Zhaoqi warily, and subconsciously took a half step back: "What exactly do you want?"
“I would like to borrow your answer sheet for a look.” Pei Zhaoqi extended his hand. “There was one point in your paper that puzzled me greatly, so I need to take a closer look.”
By the time Huai Shaoyong realized what was happening, the stack of transcribed answer sheets had already reached Pei Zhaoqi's hands.
Huai Shaoyong watched as Pei Zhaoqi flipped through the answer sheets, his anger burning ever brighter.
The stage fell silent for a moment, with only the soft rustling of paper being rubbed together.
After a while.
“Found it.” Pei Zhaoqi pulled out one of the papers and read it aloud: “In the past, Emperor Xuan established the Ever-Normal Granary, ‘collecting grain when there was an abundance and distributing it when there was a scarcity.’ We can now follow that model, have the government determine the ‘standard grain price,’ have the local gentry manage the matter, and gather the surplus grain from farmers, calling it ‘village granary.’”
When the words "village granary" were mentioned, the people below the stage only had a vague understanding of them.
Pei Zhaoqi casually handed the answer sheet back to Huai Shaoyong and looked at the audience, saying, "Everyone, the idea in Young Master Huai's plan is to set up granaries in the countryside, so that everyone can put their surplus grain into them, and then have someone take the lead in selling all this grain. In this way, farmers are spared the trouble of running around selling their grain, and the price of grain is controlled. Everyone can just sit back and wait to collect their money."
"Oh—" The people understood.
Hearing it this way, this method seems...not bad?
"This method is not bad, is it?" Pei Zhaoqi said with a smile, "But we have all overlooked one point, which is also the most important one."
The people looked at each other, unable to recall which sentence they had missed.
“‘The local gentry manage the affairs,’” Pei Zhaoqi repeated, then asked the crowd below, “Gentlemen, are you willing to hand over your grain to the local gentry for safekeeping?”
The people immediately realized what was happening, and their expressions changed drastically.
The next moment, a torrent of heated words poured onto the stage.
"I would rather leave the grain at home to feed the mice than hand it over to the local gentry for safekeeping!"
"Exactly!" Someone spat on the ground with disgust. "Have we all forgotten how many gentry Lord Shen arrested before? If we, the common people, hand over our grain to them, isn't that like throwing meat buns to a dog?"
"In short, I'm not willing unless you give me the money first!"
One dissenting voice after another reached Huai Shaoyong's ears. Huai Shaoyong's expression changed repeatedly, and he couldn't help but retort: "The gentry are all learned and wealthy people who value their reputation and integrity. How could they covet your meager grain? They were just a few bad apples before. How can you condemn the whole group?"
"We don't condemn everyone based on a single example!"
From below the stage, a dark-skinned man shouted, "We're just like someone who's been bitten by a snake once, and is now afraid of even a rope for ten years!"
“For us ordinary people, grain is our lifeline! Liuyang Prefecture has just experienced a period of turmoil, so it is understandable that people cannot trust the local gentry for the time being! Under such circumstances, only by regaining the trust of the people in the local gentry can we establish ‘charitable granaries’ and let the local gentry help the people sell their grain!”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present echoed his sentiments.
"Young Master Huai, we are not very learned and couldn't understand your article before, but now we do. We disagree with your method!"
You disagree?
Huai Shaoyong's face was gloomy as he glanced at the crowd below the stage.
He asked himself, he had written at least five or six hundred articles, if not a thousand or eight hundred, but none of them had ever been resisted like this.
"Whether you agree or not, what does it have to do with the overall situation?"
Enraged, Huai Shaoyong no longer concealed his disdain for the common people: "Just because this article of mine is not applicable in Liuyang Prefecture, does that mean it cannot be considered a masterpiece? What do you country bumpkins know about practical application of knowledge!"
"What do you say?"
The dark-skinned man, his face flushed with anger, raised his fist and retorted, "We haven't eaten a single meal or taken a single copper coin from your Huai family! We farm our own land, harvest our own grain, and earn our own money! So what if we're just country bumpkins!"
"Well said!" The cheers from the audience rose in waves. "You say your strategy is good, but you can't even take care of the people of Liuyang Prefecture. What kind of good is that?"
Many students also stood up and made sarcastic remarks: "Does the 'practical application of knowledge' that Young Master Huai speaks of only refer to the 'world' outside of Liuyang Prefecture? If so, I am enlightened."
"You, you..." Huai Shaoyong had never been treated like this since he could remember, and for a moment he forgot how to react.
The public's insults continued, and the situation was about to spiral out of control when Jiang Zhiming stepped forward at the opportune moment.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen, quiet down!" Jiang Zhiming gestured for silence. "I have something to say to the students of Huai School."
The public's complaints gradually subsided.
Huai Shaoyong looked at Jiang Zhiming walking towards him and asked through gritted teeth, "What advice does Lord Jiang have for me?"
"I wouldn't call it instruction," Jiang Zhiming said as they walked. "It's more like criticism. Huai Shaoyong, as a student, you disrespect the people's hearts and fail to understand their sentiments. Even with your vast knowledge, you are a useless talent."
As soon as he finished speaking, not only Huai Shaoyong, but everyone at Luming Academy was stunned.
Such words...
Is it possible to say something so bluntly?