Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 351 The shadow of a famous tree!

When Mei Ting heard this, he couldn't help but stand up, with a smile on his face. He bowed to the three people and said, "Come, please sit down. Please take a seat. Someone, bring tea, good tea!"

Seeing Mei Ting acting like this, Zhou Xingji and the other two couldn't help but smile.

When he first came in, Mei Ting was not arrogant. On the contrary, he was quite polite. But he was not this enthusiastic.

It is true that a person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. With Mr. Su Yun as their banner, it will be much easier for them to do things!
Dear readers, please do not think that Mei Ting is a man without character. In fact, it would be the same no matter who he is.

Although Mei Ting was extremely wealthy, occupied half of Luoyang's cultural industry, and even had dealings with many powerful people in Luoyang, could such a person ignore the Deputy Privy Envoy and Hanlin Academician of the Song Dynasty?

Of course not.

Although Su Yun was feared by people in the court and some intended to exclude him from the core power circle, he had his duties to do. No matter how much Empress Dowager Gao was on guard against Su Yun, he was still one of the most powerful people in the court.

This is due to the cumulative effect of Su Yun's official position.

The combined power and influence of the two positions of Deputy Privy Councilor and Hanlin Academician cannot be matched by either alone.

The Deputy Privy Envoy was the deputy head of the Privy Council in the Song Dynasty. He was a core member of military decision-making along with the Privy Envoy and the Director of the Privy Council.

The Privy Council was in charge of national military affairs, including troop mobilization, military registration management and border defense affairs. Its status was combined with that of the Secretariat (an agency of the prime minister) and was known as the "two ministries", which shared military and political power.

Although the Deputy Privy Councilor was a deputy position, his power was second only to the Prime Minister and the head of the Privy Council because he participated in confidential military decision-making, and his influence was particularly significant during wartime.

As the emperor's close ministers, the Hanlin academicians were responsible for drafting imperial edicts and preparing advisors, and were called "internal ministers."

His status was so superior that he could directly influence the emperor's decision-making and even the appointment and dismissal of prime ministers.

For example, Hanlin scholars such as Qian Weiyen once conspired to influence the selection of prime ministers, becoming an important tool for the imperial power to check and balance the external court.

The Hanlin Academy was independent of the outer court bureaucracy and often drafted imperial edicts in secret through a "locked academy" approach. Its power was second only to that of the prime minister in the civil service system, and it had hidden influence due to its proximity to imperial power.

Of course, Su Yun, the Hanlin scholar, did not have much power because he was not valued by the Empress Dowager Gao, who was in power. However, only people in the core circle knew this, so how could Mei Ting be qualified to know it?

In Mei Ting's view, an official who served as both the Deputy Privy Councilor and the Hanlin Academician had the dual powers of being the military decision-making center and the inner court confidential affairs.

This combination is rare but extremely intimidating!
On the one hand, he participated in the country's highest military deployment through the Privy Council, and on the other hand, he directly influenced the formulation of imperial edicts and personnel arrangements through his status as a Hanlin scholar.

It can be said that Su Yun’s power may have surpassed that of an ordinary prime minister and was close to the top configuration of prime minister and privy councilor.

In the political tradition of the Song Dynasty, those who could be granted such an official title were basically the emperor's favorites and the emperor's confidants who were used to run the government. In terms of their actual power, they were actually ranked in the top three in the central government, second only to the prime minister and the privy councilor!

Moreover, if we think more deeply, the political tradition of the Song Dynasty has a conventional framework of "separation of power between civil and military officials" and "internal and external checks and balances".

But while Su Yun was serving as the Deputy Privy Councilor, an important military and political position, he also served as a Hanlin scholar who could check and balance the prime minister. What does this mean? It means that Su Yun has broken through the conventional framework of "separation of power between civil and military officials" and "internal and external minister system"!
When the powers of the two are concentrated in one person, his status can surpass that of the Song Dynasty and form a triple authority similar to "vice prime minister + deputy military commander + emperor's confidential secretary". His actual power ranking may surpass that of a prime minister who serves alone, and be second only to the emperor and prime minister!
Hehe, facing the men specially sent by some of the most powerful figures in the dynasty, would Mei Ting, a wealthy businessman in the local cultural industry who has some influence from his father, dare to speak coldly to them in person?

Of course it's impossible.

Mei Ting invited Zhou Xingji and the other two to sit down, and then he started to greet them. He asked about the progress of their preparations for the society in Luoyang, whether they needed the use of the Mei family's Meilin to hold activities, and whether there were any Su Xue books that needed to be published.

These things were originally one of the reasons why Zhou Xingji came here. He originally thought that he might have to use intimidation and bribery to achieve his goal, but he didn't expect that Mei Ting would be so sensible.

Zhou Xingji and the other two suddenly realized: It turns out that their master's power is so great!

Zhou Xingji felt a little ashamed.

He always thought he was very smart, but now his comprehension is still a little poor. He was deceived by Mr. Su Yun's approachable attitude and youthful appearance, and actually ignored the tremendous power of the Mr.!

Zhou Xingji laughed at himself, then re-evaluated his trip to Luoyang.

His previous strategy was based on ignoring the power of his husband. Now that he has understood the power of his husband, he can try to do things that he previously thought were difficult and out of reach.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xingji said: "Mr. Mei, I heard that you have three sons, the eldest son Mei Yunchuan, the second son Mei Yunhe, and the third son Mei Yunhai. They are all in school and are all very smart.

I wonder if Mr. Mei has ever thought of letting them become Su Shi's disciples. Maybe they can pass the imperial examination and become Jinshi. At worst, they can get an official position. What do you think?"

Mei Ting hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is this what Prime Minister Su meant, or is this what you meant?"

Zhou Xingji smiled and said, "That's what I mean, but if Mr. Mei can get my husband to notice you, it probably won't be a big problem, what do you think?"

Mei Ting understood what Zhou Xingji meant. The so-called attention paid to him must be because he, Mei Ting, had made great contributions to Su Xue. However, he had already said that he could lend Meilin to hold events and that he could publish books of the Su Xue Society. It seemed that Zhou Xingji still did not say enough.

Mei Ting was a little hesitant. If he could let his son become Su Yun's disciple and be respected by him, it would naturally be a great thing for the Mei family.

Although the Mei family occupied half of Luoyang's cultural industry and was extremely wealthy, this situation could not last long.

Although we can still maintain the status quo now, partly because of the influence left by my father, but it may have been many years since my father passed away, and that little bit of influence has long been used up.

Second, his brother is an official in Fujian. Although he is not a high-ranking official, he is still a member of the officialdom. If others want to take action against the Mei family, they will always take their brother into consideration when they hear that he is a member of the officialdom.

After all, even if he is a minor official, he might have old friends or teachers.

However, my brothers are getting old, and we have to rely on our children and grandchildren to take care of us, but they don’t seem to have much potential.

What Zhou Xingji said about his three sons being extremely intelligent... Hey, that was just a casual compliment. In fact, among his three sons, except for the eldest son Mei Yunchuan who was somewhat capable, the other two were just pampered children.

But the eldest son Mei Yunchuan was not a talent for imperial examinations. He had studied with Cheng Yi for many years and had tried to take the examinations many times, but to no avail.

Mei Ting himself was actually worried. If things continued like this, and if no one in the next generation of the Mei family became an official, then how could the huge foundation of Luoyang be preserved?

Before, he thought of investing in the Cheng family, hoping that Cheng Xue could come to the fore and lead the Mei family to continue to gain a foothold in Luoyang. However, Cheng Yi was driven back from Bian Jing, and now Su Xue has come to Luoyang, which means that he wants to kill Cheng Xue!

Mei Ting tapped twice with his knuckles on the yellow pear wood table, causing the ripples in the celadon teacup to emit fine golden light.

"Brother Zhou, do you know?"

He deliberately let the sound of the teacup hitting the tray drown out the second half of his sentence.

After the maid left the elegant room with the gilded incense burner, she lowered her voice and said, "Yunchuan studied the Book of Changes with Mr. Yichuan, saying all day long, 'To study things and gain knowledge, you must study one thing today and another thing tomorrow.' Even the matter of getting married was delayed."

Zhou Xingji's fingertips rubbed along the icy cracks of the Ru kiln tea cup, and the glaze color flowed in his palm like a river of stars.

He noticed the edge of a white shirt flickering behind the screen, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips: "I heard that Mr. Yichuan has been working on the annotations to the Spring and Autumn Annals recently, and he invited all the woodblock printmakers from the Luoyang bookstore to come?"

Mei Ting's heart skipped a beat.

The news that Cheng Yi was going to print the new annotations was supposed to be released three days later, but at this moment it was like a sword hanging over his throat.

He suddenly understood why the housekeeper had said this morning that the price of paper in the three bookstores in the West Market had risen by 30%. Those usually tame paper merchants now seemed like jackals that had smelled blood.

Cheng Yi was driven back to Xijing from Dongjing. He probably knew that it would be difficult for him to return to Dongjing again, so he planned to annotate the "Spring and Autumn Annals" to revive his reputation.

Oh, yes, the eldest son Yunchuan seemed to have told him that Su's school of thought had already formed a trend of comprehensive victory over Cheng's school of thought. If Mr. Cheng did not improve Cheng's school of thought, he would probably be unable to resist the attack of Su's school of thought.

Therefore, after Cheng Yi came back, he devoted himself to annotating the Spring and Autumn Annals, hoping to make a breakthrough and then fight back against Su Shi's school of thought.

"Mei Gong's Chengxintang Paper Shop." Zhou Xingji blew away the tea foam slowly, "If you can publish the Annotated Four Books and the Selected Famous Quotes at the same time, I think it will solve the problem of expensive paper in Luoyang?"

Suddenly, there was a crisp sound of a jade belt hook falling to the ground from behind the screen.

Mei Yunchuan could no longer hold back and rushed out, his deep robe and wide sleeves, the unique style of Chengmen disciples, knocking over the three-legged stool. Veins popped out on his forehead, his joints turned white, and he looked angry. He said, "Father, are you really going to abandon Chengmen and join Su's school?"

Zhou Xingji clapped his hands and laughed, saying: "Mr. Mei has taken several exams, this imperial examination is a bit difficult, but not that difficult!

Among my teacher's disciples, such as the six disciples of Su Shi who are well-known to everyone, and others who are less famous, about twenty or thirty of them passed the imperial examination and became Jinshi.

In addition, it is said that my husband's uncle, the scholar Dasu, may be assigned to take the imperial examination next year."

Mei Ting's hands suddenly trembled violently.

He looked back at the few strands of white hair that had suddenly appeared on his father's temples, and suddenly remembered the scene during the family sacrifice at the winter solstice last year when his father sat in front of the ancestral tablet all night, holding his grandfather's golden flower letter of success in the imperial examination.

Mei Yunchuan felt a pain in his heart, but then he opened his eyes wide and stared at Zhou Xingji, asking loudly, "Even if Su's school of thought is popular for a while, can it really last forever?
I have studied Chengxue with Mr. Yichuan for many years. I have a solid foundation in Chengxue. How can I give up just because of a few words of yours? "

Although Zhou Xingji was nearly ten years younger than Mei Yunchuan, he spoke earnestly like an elder: "Mr. Mei, it is commendable that you are devoted to learning, but the path of imperial examination is the right way.

Look at the influence of Su Shi's school of thought in the court today, and there are many students who pass the imperial examinations and become Jinshi.

Although Cheng's school of thought has its subtleties, the reality is that Mr. Yichuan was driven out of Bianliang, and now he is secluded in Luoyang, annotating the "Spring and Autumn Annals" in order to protect himself.

Next year, the great scholar Su will be in charge of the imperial examinations, and the students of the Su School will be more favored. This is a great opportunity, are you going to miss it?"

Mei Ting was struggling fiercely in his heart, he knew very well that what Zhou Xingji said was true.

Looking at his angry son in front of him and thinking about the future of the Mei family, he felt a sense of frustration in his heart.

He slowly stood up, walked in front of Mei Yunchuan, and said earnestly: "Yunchuan, your father does not underestimate Cheng Xue, but you have also seen the current situation of the Mei family.

We can't just stick to the old learning and ignore the rise and fall of the family.

You have not been successful in the imperial examinations in recent years. If you join the Su school, you may find a new way out."

Mei Yunchuan's eyes were filled with pain and disappointment. He took a few steps back and shouted, "Father, who do you think I am? I have been a student of Chengmen for many years. How can you abandon Chengmen so easily?

As a disciple of Cheng, I value integrity and morality. Even if the road to the imperial examination is difficult, I will never change my school for the sake of temporary gains!" After saying this, he turned around and was about to leave.

Mei Ting's heart tightened, and he shouted hurriedly: "Yunchuan, stop right there! You are so stubborn now, are you going to destroy the Mei family? Your father is also thinking about the hundreds of people in our Mei family!"

Zhou Xingji looked at the scene in front of him, his mouth corners slightly raised, and he said appropriately: "Mr. Mei, Su Xue does not exclude other knowledge, and Mr. Su Yun is even more generous.

If you devote yourself to Su Men, you can also continue to study your favorite subjects. The two are not in conflict.

And if you achieve success in the imperial examinations in the future, wouldn't that help promote the morality in your heart?"

Mei Yunchuan stopped, his body trembling slightly. The anger and struggle in his heart almost swallowed him up.

He was silent for a long time, and finally turned around slowly, his eyes full of unwillingness, and said: "Let me think about this matter again." After that, he left in a hurry.

Mei Ting looked at his son's departing back, sighed deeply, and turned to Zhou Xingji and said, "Mr. Zhou, my son has been obsessed with Chengxue since he was young, and it is difficult for him to change his mind for the time being. I hope you can understand.

But the Mei family is willing to do its part to spread Su's learning. As mentioned before, the Meilin can be lent to your association to hold events, and Su's learning books can also be published by our Mei family bookstore."

Zhou Xingji nodded with satisfaction and said, "Mr. Mei is very righteous, and Mr. Su will definitely know what the Mei family is thinking.

If Master Mei figures it out in the future, he can join the Su Sect at any time." Mei Ting was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Okay, thank you Mr. Zhou, and thank you Mr. Dai and Mr. Duan! Haha, please stay tonight, I will treat you three to a good feast!"

Zhou Xingji smiled and nodded, "Okay, after all, I still have some things to discuss with Mr. Mei."

Mei Ting's heart tightened when he heard this, and he quickly laughed and said, "Mr. Zhou, if you have any instructions, please tell me."

Zhou Xingji tapped the table with his fingers, as if thinking, and then slowly said: "Our Suxue Society plans to set up an academy in Luoyang, recruit students in Luoyang, and then every ten days we can find Jinshi from our Suxue School to come and give lectures, which can greatly increase the chances of Luoyang students passing the imperial examinations.

But we still lack venues, houses and a certain amount of funds. Mr. Mei, do you have any friends who are enthusiastic about helping students and can lend a hand?"

Mei Ting's heart tightened and he smiled bitterly in his heart. It seemed that Zhou Xingji was asking him if he had any friends who were willing to help him with his studies, but in fact he was asking him for money and land!
Mei Ting took a deep breath and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhou, how much land do you need? How many houses do you need? How many students do you plan to recruit?"

Zhou Xingji looked at Dai Luoshu, who smiled and said, "It doesn't have to be very big. We can just recruit one or two hundred students at the beginning."

Mei Ting couldn't help but gasp when he heard this: one or two hundred people...that's already a fairly large academy. Cheng Yi's Yigao Academy was so famous in Luoyang, but it only had dozens of people!

However, Mei Ting only hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and agreeing, saying, "Don't look for a place, just stay in Meilin. As for houses, there are some in Meilin. Although it is not enough to accommodate one or two hundred students, we can build them later.

Mr. Zhou, I am planning to donate some money to your Su Society, I hope you will accept it!"

Zhou Xingji repeatedly declined, saying, "How can this be so embarrassing? How can this be so embarrassing? No, no, no."

But how could Mei Ting miss this opportunity and forced it on Zhou Xingji and others. Zhou Xingji took a look and took a breath of cold air.

Mei Ting was surprisingly generous and gave one thousand strings of cash to each of the three people!

What does this mean? Of course, they are privately bribing Zhou Xingji and the other two, hoping that Zhou Xingji and the other two will say good things about Mei Yunchuan in front of Su Yun!
In the following days, Zhou Xingji and two other people stepped up preparations for the Su Xuehui's activities in Luoyang.

The Mei family's bookshop also began to get busy, and began to print "Collected Annotations of the Four Books" and "Selected Famous Quotations from the Collected Annotations of the Four Books".

Mei Yunchuan locked himself in his room all day long and saw no one. Only the occasional sound of flipping books in the study showed his inner unrest.

In a quiet courtyard in the south of Luoyang City, Cheng Yi was sitting at his desk, looking at the manuscript in his hands with a frown.

Zhang Yi next to him said cautiously: "Sir, I heard that Meijia Bookstore has started to publish books on Su Xue, and said that they would lend Meilin to the Su Xue Society to hold activities."

When Cheng Yi heard this, he paused with his brush, and the ink splashed on the manuscript. His face was terribly gloomy, and he said slowly: "It is expected. This is a different time. Now that Su's school is powerful, those who curry favor with the powerful will naturally turn against him.

However, we, Cheng Xue, are not so easily defeated."

At this time, a disciple came to report: "Sir, Mei Yunchuan wants to see you."

Cheng Yi was slightly startled, then said, "Please invite him in."

Mei Yunchuan walked in with a haggard face. When he saw Cheng Yi, he knelt down and said, "Sir, my father wants me to change my allegiance to the Su sect. I am really distressed and don't know what to do."

Cheng Yi hurried forward to help him up and said, "Yunchuan, I am very pleased that you can stick to Cheng's teachings.

Although Su's school of thought is now in vogue, they are only able to dominate for a short time because of their power in the court.

Our Cheng School emphasizes the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things, sincerity and uprightness of mind, which are the fundamental ways to cultivate oneself and govern the country.

I am currently annotating the Spring and Autumn Annals. Once this book is completed, it will surely revive the reputation of Chengxue."

Mei Yunchuan's eyes lit up with hope, and he said, "Sir, if I continue to follow you to study Chengxue, but the road to the imperial examination is difficult, what should I do?"

Cheng Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, "The imperial examination is only a temporary solution, and you must never give up your faith for the sake of the imperial examination.

Just concentrate on studying, and one day, Chengxue will be glorious again.

Moreover, there are still many members of the old party in Luoyang who support us. I will definitely unite with them and fight back against Su Xue!"

Mei Yunchuan looked up happily upon hearing this and said happily: "Yes, sir, we will definitely be able to drive Su Xue out of Luoyang!"

(End of this chapter)