MTL - Red Alert 1895-Chapter 899 Broken literati (middle)
D Wang Guorui didn't think that these dilapidated literati who couldn't lift their hands and resist had lost their prospects for development, and their days were getting worse day by day, they might curse people in the newspapers. + ◆, .. but these cursing people can just scold people, let them vent a bit. But if it has other purposes, it has other purposes, and it is bought by those foreigners to discredit the government and bad-mouth the country's development. If it has its own purpose, then it will not work. Especially this kind of guy who collects other people's money to specifically harm the motherland and disturb public opinion must be severely punished. Especially these run-down literati, they all have a certain culture. Although they are the literati in the past, they are still so-called high-level intellectuals in the eyes of ordinary people.
All of them bear the title of so-called xiucai juren, and this xiucai juren title has not completely faded out of everyone's sight. Everyone's impression of xiucai juren is still that of a high-level intellectual. Therefore, their status in the minds of ordinary people is still quite high, which is the same as certain people in later generations with this professor on their head and that expert's name coming out to bluff and deceive. This kind of so-called experts and professors are blowing nonsense, some people do not hesitate to talk nonsense for their own interest groups, or some guys who have received other people's money make up nonsense here, so that they are all nonsense.
Because the names of these people have completely ruined the two terms of experts and professors, which should have been commendatory, but later turned into "bricks" and "beasts". Even the necessary moral conduct is ignored.
Especially those who took money from foreigners, these guys are even more jerks. Therefore, Wang Guorui did not intend to let them go.
In an inn, there were a few shabby literati gathering here.
"Hey, I don't know how much money we can get this time! Our life is getting worse every year. The new court canceled our tax-free power. We could still rely on the rice and land distributed by the court. The harvest has been good. But now a large number of people have entered various government-run and private workshops and factories in the city. They need a lot of manpower, and they have taken away all the manpower from us. Originally, we could divide the land into Low, we can get a lot. But now, those mud legs dare to bargain with us. Not only should the share be higher, but even give them all kinds of so-called benefits during the New Year. There is really no way to live this life. I I have to dismiss most of the servants, and even have to sell the ancestral property! These are the inheritance left by the ancestors, how can we sell them? Heartache!"
"That's right! Those mud-legged people are getting bolder and bolder. They don't take us scholars seriously anymore. They are all here to bargain with us. What's the point of this? If we don't promise them If the conditions are not met, then they will leave directly, anyway, they are needed to farm everywhere. They don’t worry about not having land to farm.”
"Recently, I have also sold several acres of land, but now there are land sellers everywhere, and those who want to buy land are also waiting for the price. There is no rush at all. Land prices have been falling all the way, but they are still waiting and watching. I refuse to buy, and hope that the land price will continue to fall. This group of land was bought by my grandparents in exchange for studying. Who understands the hardships in the middle? But now it is sold at such a low price, even for less than the original capital. Come back. It's so sad."
These literati have been complaining about their hardships these days. These literati who can't lift their hands or shoulders can't even do their jobs. And even if you do other things, maybe you can write some articles, but newspapers only have such a large position every day, and it is impossible to set up so many positions for these literati. In addition, those literati wrote articles one by one. But the articles written are all the same, without any special features! This group of literati came from similar backgrounds, and the content they have learned since they were young is also similar, basically there is no difference. Therefore, the articles written are all the same, so that those newspapers and various magazines are too lazy to pick. So whether these literati can get the so-called manuscript fee is also a matter of luck. Moreover, the manuscript fee may not be very high. For ordinary literati who are not well-known, it is only one or two yuan at a time, which is enough for their living expenses for less than five days.
So most people still have a bad life, so now they are all complaining about Wang Guorui. Complaining that Wang Guorui canceled the privileges of these scholars, even ruined their political future. Moreover, not only ruined their political future, but also ruined their economy.
"Hey, it's hard for us to find a farmer for the current land. And when we abandon the land, the imperial court will not only refuse to collect taxes, but will also impose an additional tax on abandonment. Not only can the abandonment not be reduced, but it is still increasing. Ah! So we have to give in to those mud-legs, what a pity!"
"Back then, it was impossible for the court of the Qing Dynasty to treat us scholars so harshly! It's really eclipsed, ceremonies are broken!"
And after everyone began to denounce the so-called Wang Guorui's court, they continued to talk too much about business.
"I heard this time, someone gave us money! This time we publish articles in the newspaper, someone will give us extra money! As long as we publish articles criticizing the new emperor and the new court, we can all get a lot of money." Not much money! Moreover, the money they give is more than five times the manuscript fee we get from the newspaper office! Moreover, they will give us living expenses every month to ensure that we have no worries about food and clothing. Such a good thing is really a blessing in heaven Cake! Moreover, I heard that those people with mud legs looked at our articles, and they really had some reactions. We listed our data one by one, and those people found that this time the emperor actually spent money on large-scale construction projects. The money is actually countless times their monthly salary, which makes them feel too much."
"That's right! Those mud legs, aren't they overthinking their own money compared with the expenditure of a court? But they really think that this is a large-scale construction project, and that this is a waste of money. And the data we listed are all true, basically they all believed ours. All of them also have some doubts about the imperial court."
"However, this time I heard that those people are very satisfied, so they plan to reward us! And we don't know yet, what are their backgrounds? If they are people from the Qing Dynasty, then it's okay to say. But what if it is Foreigner, what should we do? If it is a foreigner, then it will be difficult for us to explain away!" Someone still said worriedly.
But someone immediately said: "What are you afraid of? What about us foreigners? We are just writing articles, so what can we do? We are just writing articles. Can the imperial court do anything to us? This freedom of speech is what we should have. Power is what the Constitution gives us."
If Wang Guorui listened to what this guy said, he would definitely spit on their faces. This guy is lying here pretending to be a wolf with a big tail! They will also raise their hands and feet in favor of any policy that is beneficial to them, not only will they not oppose it, but they will also support it.
But if the policy is unfavorable to them, they will definitely oppose it. This is the character of these so-called literati. If there were any benefits for these literati in Wang Guorui's new court, it could be said that the only benefit was the relative freedom of speech countless times. In the Manchu Qing era, how could they discuss the imperial court in front of everyone, let alone discuss the merits and demerits of the emperor? In the past, it was a sin to talk about the previous emperors, but talking about the merits and demerits of the current emperor was easy to lose his head or even ransack his family.
But now that speech is free, it doesn't matter for them to talk about anyone, let alone criticize the emperor Wang Guorui. As long as it is not a personal attack or malicious slander, no one will care about them. Even if it is slandered, isn't it just a year or two in prison? Anyway, the times have changed now, and the life of the prison is getting better. It is not like the prison where mice ran everywhere in the past.
Therefore, the only benefit this new era gives them is to dare to speak, even dare to say anything, and they are not afraid of being decapitated or even exterminated because of a single sentence. Therefore, they may not support other policies, but they strongly support this freedom of speech.
"Yes! The emperor and the court gave you the opportunity to speak freely~www.novelbuddy.com~ But you don't think about how to do things for the court and the emperor. Instead, you use the name of freedom of speech here to harm the country. The imperial court, slandering the emperor's reputation, are you worthy of the imperial court and the emperor?" Someone said in a strange way.
"Who? Who's talking?" Someone asked immediately.
"I didn't say it? Who is it?" Some people also asked.
"Snapped!"
The door of their room was opened, and then a man in his thirties walked in. Those literati also gasped, and were obviously very scared.
"who are you?"
"I'm Hu Ling, and my position is the director of the State Security Administration. Please come with me now! You are suspected of accepting bribes from foreigners, and then writing articles for foreigners to discredit our court and the emperor, so now we will use traitors You don't need to argue, if we don't have the corresponding evidence, we won't use such a serious charge to make an argument, understand?" Hu Ling said.
"General Administration of State Security? Jinyiwei?" Everyone gasped. (to be continued.) c
