Chapter Seventy-Fifth: The True Future of the Nation

  "What's the difference?" He Yinyin smiled faintly and said, "There's no need for you to come and say it, we naturally understand. The students of Guozijian only know how to have fun and indulge in leisure activities, they don't study the principles of sages, they don't learn music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, how can they compare with us from Xunwen Literary Society?"

  "Fart!" Jiang Xia said to He Yinyin again.

  He Yinyin could no longer hold back, his eyebrows furrowed, suppressing his anger as he said: "Then please, Brother Jiang, tell us, where exactly are we inferior to those national scholars?"

  "Hmph! You basically don't have a single place that can surpass me." Jiang Xia pointed at Li Yunqing and said: "Aren't you one of the five great geniuses? Aren't you going to compare? Then let's compare!"

  Jiang Xia reached out and grabbed Wang Wenbo, "Wenbo, you compare with him!"

  Wang Wenbo was slightly stunned, he was considered to be one of the better students in his class, but if he were to compare himself with Li Yunqing, he would probably still have a ways to go. Wang Wenbo looked at Jiang Xia with some difficulty and said in a low voice: "Big Brother Jiang, this..."

  Li Yun smiled faintly and brushed his sleeves, saying: "Alright, then please listen to my first line."

  "Wait a minute." Jiang Xia suddenly stopped him.

  "What? Not dare to compare?" Li Yunqing sneered.

  Jiang Xia shook his head and said, "What else can you do besides being a couple? Who said they wanted to compare couples with you? I want Wen Bo to compete with you on the 'Da Ming Tax Law'!"

  "What about the tax law of the Great Ming?" As soon as Wang Wenbo heard it, his eyes lit up. He was the grandson of the Minister of Revenue, and he was extremely familiar with the tax law of the Great Ming. When Jiang Xia said that this was even better than that, Wang Bo suddenly gained confidence, and his whole body straightened up.

  If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't familiar with the imperial examination system, Li Yunqing wouldn't have been afraid of the students at the Imperial Academy. However, when Jiang Xia suddenly mentioned competing in the Ming dynasty's tax law, Li Yunqing was taken aback. He had no idea what the Ming dynasty's tax law looked like; as the saying goes, "two ears not hearing outside matters, one heart only reading the books of sages." His family didn't need him to worry about paying taxes and such things.

  "What? Not dare to compare?" Jiang Xia turned his head to Wang Wenbo and said, "Wenbo, you first tell him a section of the Great Ming tax law."

  "Good." Wang Wenbo nodded and said: "The land tax system implemented in our great Ming dynasty is the two-tax law, which means that according to the yellow book of taxation, taxes are levied per mu of land, and paid in two installments in summer and autumn; The deadline for payment is no later than August for summer taxes and no later than February of the following year for autumn taxes. The so-called yellow book refers to the unit of Li, which is arranged in order of the amount of grain tax..."

  When it comes to the Da Ming tax law, Wang Wenbo immediately began to talk eloquently and clearly. As he spoke, Wang Wenbo became more and more excited, even adding a few sentences of his own views on the Da Ming tax law, pointing out that the two-tax system has been in place for so long that it can no longer keep up with the current state of taxation in Da Ming, and urgently needs to be reformed.

  When Wang Wenbo said this, Jiang Xia was startled. He knew about the tax law of the Ming Dynasty, and now the two-tax law is due to the collusion between officials and landlords, and the lack of updating of the tax register, so the Ming Dynasty is now very serious about tax evasion. This problem was later alleviated by Zhang Juzheng's "Single Whip Law" during the Wanli period.

  "Alright." Jiang Xia stopped Wang Wenbo from continuing and turned to Li Yunqing and the others, saying: "How about it? Which one of you five can come up and compete?"

  "Besides, aren't you going to compare? Liang Wenhuan, come out and tell them about the six ministries of the Ming dynasty, and also tell them about the responsibilities of the Proclamation Office, the Judicial Office, and the Command Center."

  "Yes!" Liang Wenhan was excited, as the grandson of a Shangshu (Minister) of the Board of War, he was extremely familiar with such questions. From a young age, he had been exposed to these things. Liang Wenhan, with a bright red face, stood up straight and said: "The six boards are the Board of Rites, the Board of Officials, the Board of Revenue, the Board of War, the Board of Punishments, and the Board of Works. Their respective responsibilities are..."

  Like Wang Wenbo, Liang Wenhuan also speaks clearly and logically, and people around him can understand what he means at once.

  He said halfway through when Jiang Xia stopped him from continuing. At the same time, Jiang Xia looked at Li Yunqing, He Yinceng and others and asked: "How? Do you want to continue comparing?"

  "This... this is a competition among geniuses, and it's always been about poetry, lyrics, music, chess, books, and paintings. What else could there be to compare?" Li Yunqing said with discontent.

  Jiang Xia smiled twice, gently shook his head and said: "I'll ask you all, what's the point of reading books? No need for you to answer, I'll tell everyone instead. To put it elegantly, it's called serving the people and seeking their well-being. To put it bluntly, it's just for becoming an official."

  You people, you've studied music, chess, calligraphy and painting quite well, and you can recite the Four Books and Five Classics fluently. But does that qualify you to hold public office?

  You don't understand the tax law one by one, how can you collect taxes after becoming an official? You don't know the duties of local officials one by one, and you don't understand the superior and subordinate relationships in the Ming dynasty's officialdom. Then, after becoming an official, how do you know what to do and what not to do?

  "I seem to have seen what you will be like when you become officials, each and every one of you imposing miscellaneous taxes and tributes, spending your days indulging in pleasure trips, writing poetry and composing couplets, making no contribution to the country or the people's livelihood. I'd like to ask all the elderly and fellow villagers present, do you want such officials?"

  "No way, no way......" The people around had already been attracted by Jiang Xia's layered reasoning and shouted in unison.

  The guqin, Go, calligraphy and painting, reciting poetry and couplets - for the common people, these are nothing more than a joke to pass the time. What they really care about is taxes and livelihoods. Now, comparing Xunwen Literary Society with Guozijian, it's clear that the people of Guozijian understand this better. At this moment, the common people who were originally just here to join in the fun slowly found someone to support - the students of Guozijian.

  Jiang Xia's hands pressed down, and the shouting voices of the people slowly subsided.

  Jiang Xia pointed to the crowd behind him and said sternly, "Listen up, you so-called talents of the Xun Wen Literary Society. The people standing behind me are the future of Da Ming, they are the hope of Da Ming. While you are learning to play the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting to win a smile from a beauty, to be crowned with the name of 'talent' by the world, the people behind me have been quietly studying the taxation system of Da Ming, the penal code of Da Ming, and the official duties of Da Ming.

  They never competed with you for fame and fortune, nor did they ever tell the world about their hardships. They still silently persisted even when you called them a decadent aristocracy, without refuting it. Why is that? Because they knew that everything they did was meaningful, working hard for the future of Da Ming.

  You bunch of good-for-nothing scholars still dare to come to the Imperial Academy and challenge us. You think you're impressive just because you can recite some pretentious poems and songs? I can responsibly say that you're not even worthy of polishing the shoes of our students at the Imperial Academy. If the future officials of the Ming Dynasty are all like you, what hope is there for the country? What guarantee is there for the livelihood and well-being of the common people?"

  "Get out!" Jiang Xia bellowed, pointing at the three large characters "Ji Xian Men" on the sign behind him: "You are not worthy to stand under these three words, all of you get out!"

  "Get out! Get out! Get out......"

  The students of the Imperial Academy finally erupted. They had never felt that they were so superior, and they had never thought that they were the true future of the Ming Dynasty. Entering the Imperial Academy, these students originally just wanted to gain a golden aura, in order to easily mix into official circles and become officials. In the hearts of the students, they actually knew that they were not as good as scholars from academies like Xunwen.

  But now, through Jiang Xia's words, everyone felt a surge of energy injected into their hearts. Especially when Jiang Xia said that they were so noble, never arguing or refuting, but only silently learning and dedicating themselves. Ah, I'm even moved myself, thought the crowd of onlookers in their hearts.

  At this moment, a group of students at Guozijian looked at Jiang Xia's back and suddenly felt that the figure was tall and majestic, and very admirable.

  Liang Wenhuan stood beside Jiang Xia, tightly holding Wang Wenbo's hand. He said excitedly: "Wenbo, never, never... I've never felt so useful before. Those so-called scholars are just nonsense, Big Brother Jiang was right, letting them hold office is a disaster for the Ming dynasty."

  Wang Wenbo was also excited, nodding his head and trembling with his lips: "I feel the same way, Brother Jiang said it's really great. I really regret that I met him so late, I feel like he said it suddenly opened my eyes, I've decided, from today on, I'll work hard to strive for what Brother Jiang said, for the future of Da Ming and for the well-being of the people."

  "That's right! Jiang Xia is absolutely right, the students of our Imperial Academy are the best. We're not teaching a group of spoiled brats, but the true future of the Great Ming Dynasty." Dean Ma Chao was also stirred up, and along with those doctors, their morale soared.

  At this moment, not only the students of Guozijian are driving out the members of Xunwen Literary Society, but also the surrounding civilians are doing so. Everyone thinks that Jiang Xia said too much sense, can poetry and songs govern the world? Can chess, books, paintings and calligraphy reduce taxes?

  Only those who understand taxation will alleviate it, and only those who know what they should do will do things well. The common people don't understand grand principles, but just need to understand these simple ones, which is enough.

  The people of Xun Literature Society had not yet reacted to how they had offended the crowd, and under the shouting and pushing of the common people, they left in a sorry state. The girls who were watching earlier all sighed and said: "I think that Jiang Xia really spoke too well, it turns out we have been misunderstanding the people of Guozi Jian all along, it turns out they are the real talents."

  "It's just, but I feel like my heart is already tied to Jiang Xia. Only a man like him is the one I've been dreaming of, who can recite poetry and compose couplets, and is also skilled in painting and calligraphy, and can also bring peace and prosperity to the people, and can bring happiness to the common folk. Ah... he's just too perfect."

  Upon hearing this sigh, Jiang Xia immediately looked over with a slightly melancholic gaze, only to discover that the person who spoke was actually a close relative of Duan Neng's second brother. Jiang Xia quickly pulled his head back and said loudly: "Brothers, let's go back to the school and continue to study hard!"

  "Yes! Study hard!" The students of Guozijian responded in unison.