My life skills in Daming Liver

"Sir, Mr. Tong is here."

"Tong An meets Mr. Wang."

Wang Shizhen took Tong An into the study room. He received Tong An's gift and liked these ancient books collected in the Imperial Academy very much.

Wang Shizhen carefully placed the book on the bookshelf, then said with a wry smile: "Tong Zimei came at the right time. I will leave for Tianjin tomorrow."

"Ah? Why?"

Wang Shizhen sighed and said: "The situation in the imperial court is difficult now. I have no official position and no salary from the imperial court. In the past, I could still gain a foothold in the capital with the money sent by my brother-in-law in Taicang, but now the north and south are isolated, and the imperial court wants to ban the southeast. Coins, I can’t live in the capital anymore.”

In fact, this is also Wang Shizhen's excuse. He is the intelligence chief of Southeast Asia stationed in the capital. He is supported by the funds of the capital intelligence station and is not short of money at all.

Moreover, Wang Shizhen was the emperor of the times, and he could survive in the capital by relying on the royalties from publishing.

He went to Tianjin because he received a mission from the Southeast and persuaded Zhang Juzheng, the former chief minister of the cabinet who stayed in Tianjin, to go to the Southeast.

However, Wang Shizhen also had a reputation in the capital, so he kept spreading rumors during these days, saying that he went to Tianjin because of difficulties in surviving in the capital, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the Ming court.

Since Li Chengliang came to power, the control of speech has become even stricter.

After the dissolution of the Sixth Section and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, civil speech was strictly controlled, and all private newspapers in the capital were banned. Wang Shizhen indeed cut off his apparent financial resources.

Moreover, Wang Shizhen was once a guest of Zhang Juzheng. He attracted much attention when Li Chunfang was in power, and now he is even more cautious in his words and deeds.

He was so famous that his every move was monitored and he could no longer continue his activities in the capital. For Wang Shizhen's safety, the Southeast Cabinet made a decision and asked Wang Shizhen to go to Tianjin.

If persuading Zhang Juzheng fails, Wang Shizhen can also quickly withdraw into the Dagu Fort and take a boat directly from Dagu back to the southeast.

Tong An felt a little depressed when he heard that Wang Shizhen was leaving.

The capital city used to be very lively. Tong An and his colleagues were studying in the Imperial College. At that time, the scholarly business was really booming. Tong An established a study group and wrote letters on the bus to impeach traitorous officials. It was so happy at that time.

But now all businesses in the capital are in recession, all shops are closed, and all the close friends from back then are scattered around the world, and I don’t know if there is any possibility of seeing them again.

When he thought of this, Tong An felt even lower.

"Zimei, don't be sad. The situation in the world is about to be decided. Take good care of yourself. There will still be opportunities to meet in the future."

Wang Shizhen is no longer afraid to say such things. It is an open secret among scholars in the capital that the Ming Dynasty Building will collapse.

Now it's not that everyone doesn't surrender, but that there is no way to surrender.

The dignitaries in the capital asked Hou Ping to go to Shanghai to buy Southeastern public bonds. They all saw the decline of the Ming Dynasty and were looking for a way out for their own wealth.

Some families have even sent their most successful children south to leave a way out for their families.

Scholars with a little knowledge have already seen the future.

Today, the best-selling books in the night bookstores of the capital are Su Ze's works and the collection of Nanjing imperial examination questions.

Now that Li Chengliang has suspended the imperial examinations and closed the Imperial College, scholars in the capital have no way out.

"Zimei, do you really want to join the army? I still have some old friends in the Ministry of War. If you do some activities, you can stay in the capital."

Wang Shizhen also admires Tong An, a young man. Bullets have no eyes. Shanxi is likely to become the front line of the war, and he doesn't want Tong An to die in vain.

Tong An's mood is also very complicated.

Tong An couldn't even explain clearly what kind of feelings he had for Ming Ting.

It stands to reason that after the study meeting, Tong An should have been disappointed with Ming Ting.

He later became a disciple of Yan Jun, accepted Yan Jun's ideas, and became even more disappointed with the Ming court.

But when Li Chengliang's soldiers stormed into the Imperial College and expelled the Imperial College students, Tong An chose to stay.

He wanted to do his part for the court.

Many idealistic readers in this era are struggling like Tong An.

On the one hand, they received the education of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism from their childhood to their school years. From their parents to teachers, and then to professors in schools at all levels, they all taught these principles.

Scholars like Tong An cannot completely deny the education they have received since childhood, just like the newly grown scholars.

But they cannot be like the older generation of scholars who are completely bound to the Ming court and always talk about their loyalty to the emperor.

Tong An and the others are the most confused generation.

In this case, Tong An could only elevate his loyalty to the Ming court to nihilistic patriotism, otherwise he would not be able to rely on this emotion at all.

Tong An refused Wang Shizhen's help and went to visit Yan Jun with gifts.

At this time, Yan Jun was living in a workshop dormitory outside the city.

In order to ensure the production of gunpowder, the Ming court ordered all raw materials for gunpowder to be purchased and sold uniformly, and the employee organizations in these workshops were banned, and Yan Jun, who led the strike, was wanted.

However, this ban had little effect on Yan Jun.

Completely different from ordinary citizen traders, the employees in these workshops outside the city have stronger organization and discipline.

Since the Wanggong Factory explosion, the workshops have had higher requirements for production processes. Workers must undergo training before they can take up the job. Moreover, the discipline that workers emphasize in production is not something ordinary citizens can have.

Military workshops also have access to various weapons and weapon raw materials, and the organizational and hands-on abilities of these workers are much stronger than ordinary people.

The government officials of Shuntian Prefecture once wanted to rush into the dormitory area of ​​the employees to arrest people, but they were all beaten away by the organized employees.

Later, Shuntian Prefecture wanted to ask the army to suppress it, but the employees directly took up arms and built barricades to confront them, and even cut off the gunpowder production of Wang Gong Factory.

The final result was that Shuntian Prefecture turned a blind eye to the urban area where workers were hired. They would not send government officials to arrest people, and these workers would not leave here.

The workshop area in the south of the city, under the leadership of Yan Jun, has become an autonomous community.

Disputes within the community will be resolved through consultation between Yan Jun and prestigious community elders.

If the community has needs, they will also raise funds to send merchants out to purchase them.

At the same time, the community also has some self-help functions, such as gathering some workers with physical disabilities to help other workers take care of their children, or providing some mutual aid meals.

In this strange and chaotic world, the south of the capital city, which was originally the poorest, has become the most stable place. Many people want to settle in the south of the city, but they are stopped by the patrol team organized by the community itself.

Tong An carried the book, greeted the community self-defense team, and walked into the Gongfang District in the south of the city.