Zhu Yuanzhang, who commanded the wind and rain, lived a long and arduous life.

The vast Xuanwu Lake is like a huge mirror, reflecting the pavilions and towers on its surface.

Near Xuanwu Lake, rows of gray-tiled, white-walled houses stand in neat rows, offering a panoramic view of the entire Jiangnan water town.

Early in the morning, the streets were packed with people, all heading in one direction.

Today, Xuanwu Street is beyond just being lively; it's absolutely bustling with people.

The streets were packed with people, a dense, dark mass of people shoulder to shoulder.

Led by Qi Tai, the group was surrounded by scholars such as Kong Ne, Hu Guangda, Teng Yongheng, and Liang Yongxing.

While talking.

The top part depicts the approximate appearance of Tianyun Temple, while the bottom part lists the name of the abbot of Tianyun Temple.

"Hehe!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed, a hint of pride on his face, but then he looked around and seemed disappointed.

The number of stamps personally inscribed by Zhu Yuanzhang and several of his officials was limited, but other stamps could be sold freely.

Zhu Xiong Ying also laughed heartily: "Now, I reckon those teachers' faces are probably all black!"

In an instant, the already empty plum blossom courtyard became even more empty.

The two sat down by the window facing the street and looked outside.

The old man is right!

As long as one person is in power, as long as there is monarchical autocracy, then Confucianism is needed to restrain the masses and highlight the supremacy of imperial power!

Zhu Xiong Ying didn't understand before because he didn't have a high enough perspective. He also wondered why such a dross-like doctrine that restricted thought had endured through the ages.

Just now there were huge crowds outside, why are there only a few people now?

The most embarrassed were the three great calligraphers, Hu Guangda, Teng Yongheng, and Liang Yongxing.

The crowd became increasingly chaotic.

"so many people?"

"Wait!" Kong Ne said solemnly, turning to look at the scholars and suggesting, "Let's cover our faces to avoid causing unnecessary trouble."

What does this mean?

This shows that he is very famous!

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was relieved.

As the two were talking, another argument broke out below.

"I... I'm suddenly feeling a bit unwell, so I need to go home early..."

No wonder, the old man was able to build this vast empire from a commoner!

Zhu Xiong Ying felt deep admiration.

Zhu Xiong Ying was walking towards Tianyun Temple when he saw a person who shouldn't be there.

“….”

Without sycophantic civil officials around, it's always a bit less fun.

Fu Youwen rolled his eyes at him and scoffed, "How pathetic! You get so worked up over such a small thing?"

Several merchants were willing to pay three hundred taels of silver just for a few words from the Emperor.

My father is an immortal, the City God.

Besides, even if no one in your family lives in another city, if everyone else has bought one, how can you not buy one yourself? It's not expensive, just a matter of a few dollars.

A hurried sound of footsteps came from ahead, and a minor official ran up quickly, saying, "Those people outside, they're just buying stamps, it has nothing to do with us..."

"It's one of those, um, postage passes that you can use to send letters. They only cost a few coins each and could send letters thousands of miles away. It was a kind of postal service reform by the imperial court. There were even postage passes written by the emperor himself..."

Upstairs, Zhu Yuanzhang stared wide-eyed in disbelief, turning to look at Zhu Xiong Ying and exclaiming, "Good heavens, my grandson, did you see that? Stamps worth over sixty taels! They actually bought them!"

Hearing the shouts of the wealthy merchants in the crowd below, Zhu Yuanzhang asked incredulously, "So rich? Is our emperor's calligraphy that valuable?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.

A crowd of people shouted.

That's why his heart was pounding!

Because the old man's insight into things was so sharp and accurate that it made Zhu Xiong Ying's scalp tingle!

Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned this matter, and he remembers it very clearly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed: "Grandpa, I'm sorry, it's true... cough cough, I really forgot."

"By the way, Grandpa, some people down there are saying that the abbot of Tianyun Temple, what's going on? There are stamps from the imperial court with my master's image on them?"

“….”

Without our Imperial Guards clearing the way, would this place have been cleared?

Zhu Yuanzhang's lips twitched. He wanted to reprimand his grandson, but then he remembered that his grandson was cultivating immortality with his father, so he stopped himself from doing so.

"Ask them if they dare to say anything bad about us. We're doing practical things for this country, what are they doing? If we were them, we should all feel ashamed right now! Utterly ashamed!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was the kind of person who would listen to flattery for amusement but never take it seriously.

"When will it go on sale, sir?"

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded.

However, this sense of triumph was fleeting.

“They sell calligraphy over there, and we sell calligraphy here. It’s a competition, but we also specifically set up shop here to see which one wins the hearts of the people more.”

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "Actually, the original teachings of Confucius were not as you read in the books. Many of the books you haven't seen are in the imperial archives and are all banned books."

"Haha." Qi Tai laughed awkwardly, "Confucius, Confucius, what a good person you are! This is a good thing, it shows that the reputation of the Masters in the Ming Dynasty is even higher, isn't it?"

"Masters, I suddenly remembered that I have some matters to attend to at home and must return immediately."

"Oh dear, I forgot, there was soup simmering in the kitchen when I came out just now..."

The handwritten notes on fifty or sixty stamps, written casually, are almost equivalent to a month's agricultural tax for a medium-sized county town.

At the same time, he clenched his fist secretly and understood why the imperial court spared no effort to support this group, no matter how useless they were.

Zhu Xiong Ying's eyes darted around, and he clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Then I must congratulate you!"

"If you were a general, it would be good to have this kind of thinking, but if you were to reach the level of governance, you shouldn't be looking at problems with this kind of thinking."

As the two spoke, the crowd below began to stir.

"That's right! We've been here since early morning, sir, let's start selling!"

Zhu Yuanzhang took out a stamp from his pocket, which was also the only stamp he carried with him.

Fu Youwen grabbed Zhan Hui's arm and said, "Look! Those are my handwritten stamps. Sold, all sold, more than a hundred of them sold!"

Zhao Ren looked at the two guys with disdain, but when his own stamps were sold out, he joined in the excitement and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Xiong Ying, and his expression suddenly became serious.

"For example, the Three Cardinal Guides—the ruler guides the subject, the husband guides the wife, and so on—all of these are to solidify the authority and mandate of heaven of our emperor!"

But what are these three or five people in front of me?

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him and laughed, "You brat, you've been so busy cultivating immortality with your master that you've forgotten all the important things. Didn't we mention it to you yesterday? You brought back your master's suggestions from the post station and changed them. Are you not going to care about the aftermath?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, puzzled, "What joy?"

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped pursuing the matter.

"With stamps on sale today, how could we not come and join the fun? If the Imperial Guards hadn't told you your location, we wouldn't have been able to catch you. You brat, how can you walk so fast?"

"You have money, right? I'll offer seventy taels per note!"

"Besides, there are quite a few educated people buying stamps here, aren't there? Compared to the national policy that benefits the people, everything else is just fancy nonsense!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of smiles, his wrinkles jiggling as he laughed: "Yes! So many people! Every single one of them here represents our Ming Dynasty's approval!"

"Huh? Why are there stamps with the abbot of Tianyun Temple? This... let's buy them!"

Zhu Xiong Ying was filled with excitement, but scratched her head with some shame: "I was just running an errand for this."

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded: "I see."

With two generations of Zhu family ancestors teaching you, your generation of the Ming Dynasty will surely have the most brilliant future.

.

…….….….….….

In the plum blossom courtyard not far away.

Qi Tai was also somewhat bewildered.

"For example, Mencius said that if a ruler treats his subjects like weeds, then the subjects will treat their ruler like an enemy. Can we agree with such an idea? That's why our emperor removed Mencius from the Confucian Temple."

They had been holding the calligraphy brush in their hands for a long time, and their hands were getting sore.

The faces of the several people were twisted with excitement.

"Damn it, are you blind? I've got my eye on this stamp, I'm buying it!"

As he spoke, Zhu Xiong Ying accompanied the old man to a private room in a three-story restaurant.

Especially after becoming emperor, the first thing one should consider, and always should be the top priority, is to consolidate one's power.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "The reason why the court values ​​these Confucian scholars is not because of their outstanding contributions to people's livelihood, economic development, and national affairs."

Qi Tai's face twitched, and he stood there stiffly.

quickly,

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at it carefully and nodded, saying, "Beautiful!"

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled and shook his head: "No, it's a group of scholars from the Hanlin Academy who are having a gathering here."

Kong Ne thought about it and realized that what he said made some sense, so he said, "That works too. Let's go up to the garden pavilion first and give some instructions later to strictly control the number of people entering."

After saying that, he turned around and ran out quickly.

Looking down at the people looting below, and seeing their satisfied smiles, the old man smiled contentedly.

The sound of a gong rang out below.

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes: "This is a benevolent policy for the benefit of the people, devised by your master. Don't you want to go and see it?"

Even after he became emperor, there were still only a few things he could help his father with.

Zhu Xiong Ying shook his head in confusion: "I don't know, which high-ranking official's residence is it?"

Sometimes, in private, Zhu Yuanzhang would sigh and lament.

"Why did emperors throughout history, knowing full well that supporting these great Confucian scholars was a waste of money, still choose to do so?"

"Hahaha!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly from upstairs, his voice echoing through the rubble. "Goodness, indeed! This scene is just like when your grandfather led his men to rob the Yuan Dynasty's granary!"

This place faces Xuanwu Street in front and connects to Xuanwu Lake in the back, offering a very open view.

Hu Guangda asked in surprise.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself that he couldn't help his father with most things, so helping him with this little thing wasn't too much to ask.

The old man thought this was ridiculous. His father must be wrong. Who would spend so much money to buy a piece of paper?

Zhu Xiong Ying scratched his head, somewhat puzzled: "Grandpa, you often say that Confucian scholars are not very useful. Since you look down on these Confucian scholars and they don't contribute much to our Ming Dynasty, why does the court still support them?"

But he hadn't anticipated this situation at all.

Zhu Xiong Ying gave Zhu Yuan Zhang a thumbs up: "Grandpa, that's awesome! You're absolutely right!"

"My lord, my lord, don't sell this fat man! I'll offer double the price, and I'll take all of the Emperor's stamps!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked around for a while, then pointed to the 'Plum Blossom Courtyard' not far away: "Grandson, look over there again."

Kong Ne couldn't help but gasp. Indeed, the road ahead was completely blocked by a sea of ​​people.