Zhang Anshi's words made Hu Mu think deeply.

Of course he knew that there must be truth to what His Highness King Song said.

But where the truth lies, he still needs to think carefully.

After all, these things have never appeared in the Four Books and Five Classics.

Nowadays, many scholars like him, who once studied the teachings of saints, are beginning to become confused. This is the truth.

At the beginning, it can be said that scholars all over the world were unanimously opposed to Zhang Anshi. It was not necessarily that all scholars were heinous. In fact, it was because in their opinion, what they had learned and known was indeed unacceptable to Zhang Anshi.

behavior.

After all, in a pastoral society created by the gentry, many of Zhang Anshi's works can be called deviant.

It's just... Now that the New Deal has been implemented, the world has changed beyond recognition. In Zhili, ships of overseas merchandise have flowed in, and taxes have also increased greatly. Many workshops have sprung up, and various universities have sprung up.

The ordinary pop-up, steam locomotives running on the railway lines, and numerous workshops, can be said to belong to the foundation of scholars, but in fact it has long been gone forever.

At this time, many scholars were surprised to find that the sage's teachings, which were supposed to be eternal, were no longer enough to explain the phenomena happening in front of them. The real world seemed to be completely out of touch with them.

Of course, there will be many people who remain indifferent to this and still insist on their opinions.

But there are also many scholars who, in confusion, have to think.

They became more and more aware that things that could not be explained by existing knowledge in the past gradually found the answers from Zhang Anshi. Inadvertently, under the influence of influence, many people like Hu Mu had actually been transformed.

.

Many times, people are like this.

At first, they will fall into self-doubt. As a last resort, they learn from the pain and slowly try to accept it.

But as long as you accept it for the first time, your eyes will suddenly become clear. Things that you couldn't explain before are now clear. Things that were incomprehensible before, you followed Zhang Anshi's thinking and found that it was unexpected.

It's so clear.

By this time, people like Hu Mu had turned into Zhang Anshi.

The scary thing is that there is a psychology in the world called convert fanaticism. The more such people are, after they have experienced confusion and slowly begun to become convinced of a new field of knowledge, it is often at this time that they are the most radical.

As a result, many scholars began to think about smashing the Confucius Temple.

Hu Mu is one of them, but he has a more stable temperament and is never too extreme.

So he said goodbye, but what he was thinking about most was chewing on Zhang Anshi's words.

Zhang Anshi obviously did not understand Hu Mu's strange mental state. At this time, he was even more looking forward to news from the Fujian Chief Envoy and Guangxi Chief Envoy.

A few days later, Donghua Gate.

This is the commercial thoroughfare of Nanjing City, and a horse road is specially set up here. Therefore, a large number of carriages and horses continuously deliver goods to the capital.

A large number of merchants gathered here. At the same time, because this place was bustling, there were countless shops inside and outside the city walls.

Wherever there are people, there will inevitably be disputes. Therefore, this is almost the distribution center for news about Nanjing City.

Because there are people from all over the world, when everyone gathers in one place, they can't help but sit around in nearby teahouses and wine shops, read the latest newspapers, and exchange some current news.

Naturally, compared to the news in the newspapers, some discussions on the streets are naturally much louder.

Speaking of the current situation, many people frowned. The world is not peaceful, which is inevitably worrying. Coupled with the news of rebellions in various places, it is even more worrying.

But at this time, there are people who come here every day. Most of the time they are silent, but they are looking around for something.

The visitor is from the Xia family, and he is Xia Yuanji's manager.

There is only such a young master in the Xia family, and his life or death is uncertain. Although they have sent people to find ways to find him at the Fujian Chief Envoy, in fact, this is almost equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.

The manager of the Xia family was in such a hurry that there was nothing he could do. He knew that there were many merchants and tourists here, and people talked a lot. Although he might not be able to find out accurate information, he couldn't help but want to find out some clues about Fuzhou Prefecture.

In the past few days, he had heard too much information about everything, but the more he listened, the more confused he became.

While he was listening to the discussions between the scholars sitting next to him and the merchants at the next table.

At this time, someone came upstairs. The steward glanced subconsciously, but couldn't help being stunned. He subconsciously murmured: "Master."

The voice was very soft.

Obviously the manager never expected that Xia Yuanji would come here today.

These days, the master can be said to be thinking more about tea than food, but he is still stubborn on the outside.

The steward once mentioned that he came here to inquire about information. A few days ago, Xia Yuanji did not respond.

I just never thought that the master could not bear it anymore and came here today.

The steward quickly stood up and offered his seat to Xia Yuanji.

Both the master and the servant were silent.

I could only hear the noise from the next seat, and someone said: "The rebellion has been going on for so long, why hasn't His Highness the King of Song ever proposed an army to quell the rebellion? If this continues, something big will happen."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Your Highness the King of Song has his own reasons..."

Hearing this, Xia Yuanji's face couldn't help but tremble.

He felt that these people... were simply unreasonable.

At this time, they heard them say again: "I heard... Datong Dusi, there are also signs of rebellion now, but... it's hard to say..."

"Hey, if the chaos continues, I'm afraid there will be countless thieves... sharpening their knives... Those damn thieves have frightened us, and now our business is also affected. The market is much lower than before, and everyone is afraid...

…”

As they were talking, someone couldn't help but said: "There is no movement at all in the Song Dynasty Palace, which is rare. Logically speaking, His Highness the Song Dynasty would hate to see this the most. Could it be that His Highness the Song Dynasty...is ill..."

"I'm sick. His Royal Highness the King of Song is young, what kind of illness could he have?"

"It's... hard to say... I've heard some rumors..."

"Say it quickly..."

"I heard...His Royal Highness King Song doesn't have any bad habits in his daily life, but...he is very familiar with some...Oh, it's hard to say..."

"You mean lustful?"

"Ahem, that's not what I said."

"It is said that someone saw His Highness the King of Song in the brothel. Of course... it is just a rumor. I said it casually. Don't believe it."

At this moment, everyone couldn't help but pricked up their ears.

Such things are like this. If you say that His Highness the King of Song reads "Spring and Autumn" every day, maybe everyone is not interested, but if you say that the King of Song loves to visit the brothels, then he must be interested in it.

Xia Yuanji was speechless. He was talking about the affairs of his family, country and the world. Why did he end up talking about this?

But I heard the man say again: "I was wondering, could it be that...His Royal Highness the King of Song Dynasty unfortunately contracted Hualiu Syndrome because of this? It is said that...this is a stubborn disease, and even the medical school is helpless."

"No, is it wrong?"

"I just said it casually."

"But if you think about it carefully, it may not be impossible... Hey, poor His Highness the King of Song... Damn Fireworks Girl, if this Fireworks Girl didn't know how to keep herself clean, how could she have been stained with flowers and willows? If she hadn't been stained with flowers and willows, so what?

His Highness the King of Song is infected with the disease. If His Highness the King of Song is not infected, how could he teach this traitor to be so rampant? After all, in all dynasties, it has always been women who have harmed the country."

After Xia Yuanji heard this, his face darkened.

The more he listened, the more ridiculous he felt, so he subconsciously stood up, snorted gloomily, raised his legs and walked away.

When the steward saw him, he chased her out of the tea shop.

Xia Yuanji glanced at him and said, "Is this what you call asking for information? It's really ridiculous. What kind of information can you expect to find out from these people?"

The steward said with a grimace: "They don't always talk about this on weekdays..."

Xia Yuanji sighed: "Hey, don't say it anymore, don't say it anymore..."

He felt desolate and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "But I don't know what evil I have done, and in the end, I will become an unfilial descendant of the Xia family."

There are three kinds of unfilial piety, the greatest is not having an heir. Xia Yuanji originally had a son in his old age, but now he has freckles on his temples, but the son is gone. A man with white hair gives a man with black hair. If Xia Xuan makes a slight mistake, the Xia family will be here.

Never.

When he said this, there was an indescribable desolation on Xia Yuanji's face.

The manager followed him silently without saying a word, with the same sad look on his face.

But at this moment, someone suddenly passed by on the street.

There were three or four men and horses, wearing short clothes unique to the Post Office. Three or four men on Pegasus, each carrying a huge package on their back, whizzed by.

In an instant, he passed Xia Yuanji and headed towards the end of the street.

Xia Yuanji subconsciously glanced sideways, but saw that one of them... looked familiar.

He thought he was dazzled and rubbed his eyes vigorously. When he opened his eyes again, the group of people had already disappeared.

Xia Yuan Ji stood there, motionless, his eyes widening.

Seeing Xia Yuanji's appearance, the manager thought he was in poor health, so he worriedly said: "Master, master...what's wrong?"

Xia Yuanji said blankly: "Just now, did you see the faces of those people clearly?"
To be continued...