The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Becomes a Disciple of Yue Buqun - Page 486
Zhu Houzhao walked out of the side hall and then took Jiang Ning for a stroll around the imperial city.
The imperial city is very large, and there are many guards guarding it. All the guards he met along the way knelt down to salute and shouted "Long live the emperor", which made Jiang Ning intuitively feel the power that comes with the identity of emperor.
Zhu Houzhao was talking with Jiang Ning all the way, but they only talked about some insights from books and did not mention what the purpose of his invitation to Jiang Ning was.
Jiang Ning was not in a hurry and responded casually.
The guards and eunuchs along the way were shocked to see the emperor walking around the palace and talking and laughing with someone he had never seen before. They thought Jiang Ning was someone important.
At this time, the two of them walked into a garden, surrounded by clusters of flowers, a sea of red and green willows.
"I think Brother Jiang no longer doubts why I know your identity."
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.
Jiang Ning laughed when he heard this.
He really had no doubt that it would be outrageous if the emperor couldn't find out his identity.
"In fact, I invited Brother Jiang to the capital to have another chat because I am very interested in the martial arts outside the court. However, I don't know any martial arts people, I only know Brother Jiang, so I want to invite Brother Jiang to the capital to have a chat. I want to learn from Brother Jiang what the martial arts outside the capital is like."
Zhu Houzhao finally got to the point.
"Of course, I am more curious about Brother Jiang. This is the most important point."
"Why?"
"I think you're special."
Zhu Houzhao walked in the garden, talking as he walked.
"special?"
Jiang Ning looked at him in surprise.
"Yes, although you are not involved in officialdom and are a member of the underworld, I feel that you are different from those underworld people, and different from the officials of my Ming Dynasty. No, I should say that you seem to be different from most people in the world."
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.
Jiang Ning also laughed: "Why do you say that?"
Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly and did not answer.
The two men then came to a small lake. When Zhu Houzhao arrived at the lake, the guards on duty saw this and wanted to step forward to protect him, but Zhu Houzhao waved his hand to send them away.
Zhu Houzhao squatted down by the lake, looked at the small fish swimming in the lake, and said, "I remember when I took Brother Jiang to the fireworks place before, Brother Jiang compared the many people in the world who are still suffering to these small fish in the water."
Jiang Ning looked at his squatting figure without saying anything.
He did say that.
Zhu Houzhao did not look back and continued to look at the little fish in the lake.
"I have investigated you. I know everything you have done. I also know some of the things you have said. I know you have killed many people. Although the people you killed were all heinous criminals, if we follow the laws of the Ming Dynasty, you have still violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty and should be executed."
Zhu Houzhao seemed to feel a chill coming from behind him when he said this. His eyelids could not help but jump, and he spoke faster, "But I am not saying this to hold Brother Jiang accountable, because besides Brother Jiang, there are countless people in this world who are killing people and violating the laws of the Ming Dynasty. But Brother Jiang is better than them. At least none of the people he killed should have been killed."
"I have no opinion on what Brother Jiang did."
Chapter 547: Not necessary
There was still no sound coming from behind, but the coolness behind Zhu Houzhao also disappeared.
Zhu Houzhao breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself that he had been careless.
Even though he was in the palace and there were many guards around him, the other party was very close to him. If they really wanted to do something bad to him, these guards might not be able to stop them.
It’s better not to say such things to provoke the other person.
Zhu Houzhao never said again that Jiangning should be executed according to the law.
"But even though I have no problem with Brother Jiang's behavior, I still have to say that what you did, Brother Jiang, is still a drop in the bucket for this world."
Zhu Houzhao stood up and looked towards Jiangning.
"Last time you said that you care about the people you saved. I appreciate your behavior, but I still maintain my point of view. I think your doing this is useless to the Ming Dynasty and the people of my Ming Dynasty. How big is my Ming Dynasty? There are more than tens of millions of people in my Ming Dynasty. How much can you do? How long can you do it? How long can you live? A few years? Decades? Or a hundred years? What happens after you die? The world will still be like this."
Zhu Houzhao spoke very quickly without any pause. He said sharply that everything Jiang Ning did was in vain and asked Jiang Ning a series of questions. He was not worried that Jiang Ning would get angry and kill him. If the other party was so easily angered, it would prove that the other party was a person who could not achieve great things.
Jiang Ning looked at Zhu Houzhao without saying anything.
Zhu Houzhao looked at him without showing any weakness. Although Zhu Houzhao had no martial arts skills, he was not afraid at all.
After a while.
Jiang Ning laughed.
"You're right. I really can't change much. I can only do what I can."
Jiang Ning knew what Zhu Houzhao said. He had always understood it. He did not evade or refute Zhu Houzhao's point of view, but admitted it very frankly.
Jiang Ning never denied that he could not completely eradicate the evil.
Zhu Houzhao laughed.
“But there’s always someone who’s going to do it.”
Jiang Ning also came to the lake and watched the fish swimming in the lake.
"If you can't do it, then don't do it. If you can't change it, then don't change it?"
Listening to Jiang Ning's words, Zhu Houzhao smiled softly. He felt that Jiang Ning's words were too childish.
"Brother Jiang, you are very childish."
Zhu Houzhao directly said that Jiang Ning’s idea was very naive.
"I'll say the same thing as before. How much can you do by yourself? I believe that you have traveled to so many places and killed so many people, and there must be some princes and nobles among them."
Zhu Houzhao said bluntly: "Why did you kill them? Wasn't it because they committed all kinds of evil in the local area and oppressed the people, and the government was unable to make decisions for the civilians, so you killed them in anger?"
Jiang Ning didn't say anything, nor did he deny it.
Zhu Houzhao continued, "Have you ever thought about why this phenomenon occurs? Why do they dare to oppress the people without restraint and the government can't do anything to them? Because they are princes, officials, and nobles, they naturally have privileges, and the government has to curry favor with them and make friends with them, so it doesn't matter if they oppress the people, rape and plunder, and naturally someone will help them deal with it. The common people dare not retaliate after being oppressed. Why? Because the Ming Dynasty law cannot control them."
Having said that, Zhu Houzhao sneered.
But his sneer was not directed at Jiang Ning.
"Our Ming Dynasty has written the Ming Code since Taizu founded it. These gentry enjoy the court's preferential treatment, but they are doing things that harm the Ming Dynasty. In the court, corruption is rampant, and outside the court, they are oppressing the people, plundering the people's wealth, annexing the people's land, and forcing the people into a dead end. Until now, there are countless people like them in the entire Ming Dynasty who are still at large, and the Ming Code can't do anything about them."
After speaking for a long time, Zhu Houzhao felt a little tired, and after a pause he continued speaking.
"And the Ming Dynasty law can't control them, nor can it control those Jianghu people."
Zhu Houzhao knew very well that the Ming Dynasty laws were meant to restrict ordinary people and were only binding on ordinary people. They were useless to those gangsters and the powerful class of the Ming Dynasty.
Because ordinary people cannot bear the consequences of violating the Ming Dynasty laws, the Ming Dynasty laws cannot be violated. However, the imperial court cannot do anything to those martial artists who violate the Ming Dynasty laws because they have martial arts skills and can climb walls and fly over rooftops, ignoring the arrest of government officials.
The princes and nobles used the privileges brought by their class to make it impossible for the Ming Dynasty laws to control them.
"Those Jianghu people use their own force to fight against the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and those princes and nobles use their own power to override the laws of the Ming Dynasty. To me, there is no difference between these two types of people."
Zhu Houzhao unconsciously called himself "Zhen", which shows that he really hated those princes and nobles.
"So you have to understand, Brother Jiang."
Zhu Houzhao looked towards Jiangning.
"All you did was just cutting off the surface. It couldn't touch the root. What if you killed one person? Ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand? They are just numbers. They are of no help to the world. You killed Xu Heqing and Hu Anyu, but there is more than one Xu Heqing and Hu Anyu in the world."
"Xu Heqing?"
Jiang Ning was a little surprised when he heard Zhu Houzhao mentioned Xu Heqing.
Xu Heqing was the former third-rank official whom he killed the first time he went down the mountain. At that time, Jiang Ning stayed in Chang'an for one night not long after he got the Xiantian Gong from the ancient tomb. He happened to see Xu Heqing's son raping a woman and saying in front of him that he would not let the woman who ran away go. Jiang Ning then went to the house and destroyed the Xu family. This incident had happened several years ago, but Zhu Houzhao did not expect to bring it up.
If Zhu Houzhao hadn't mentioned it now, Jiangning would probably have forgotten about it.
Looking at Jiang Ning's surprised eyes, Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly.
"Brother Jiang, although you didn't disclose your identity when you wiped out Xu Heqing's entire mansion, there will always be some clues if you want to investigate. This is not a problem for the Jinyiwei."
Jiang Ning also smiled and nodded slightly.
In fact, he had nothing to be surprised about, and he did not panic after being exposed.
"In fact, Brother Jiang, you know in your heart that no matter how many people you kill, you can only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. If you want to rectify this world, if you want to prevent the people from being oppressed, if you want them to survive, killing them blindly is not the solution."
Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Ning with bright eyes.
"There is a saying in the officialdom that one should not meddle in other people's affairs if one is not in a position to do so. Although you are a man of the underworld and have a great reputation in the so-called underworld, in fact, you are only one person in the end. I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I can do much more in this position than what you are doing now. So if you want to eradicate these things, you must..."
Zhu Houzhao became more and more excited, and before he could finish his words, Jiang Ning started laughing.
"So according to what you said, if I want to completely eradicate these things, the only way I can do is to rebel and become the emperor myself?"
Zhu Houzhao's excitement stopped instantly and he smiled awkwardly, seeming a little embarrassed.
"That's not necessary."
Chapter 548: Success Doesn't Have to Be My
Jiang Ning's words really choked Zhu Houzhao.
Seeing Zhu Houzhao's frustrated look, Jiang Ning laughed.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Zhu Houzhao knew Jiang Ning was joking when he saw him like this, and he couldn't help but say something helplessly.
"You can't make such a joke casually. I won't bother you, but if other people hear it, it will be a big trouble."
"hehe."
Jiang Ning laughed.
"I know what you mean, you want me to do something for you?"
Jiang Ning's words made Zhu Houzhao pause, and he nodded after a moment.
"good."
Zhu Houzhao did not pretend to explain anything, and said: "I have been on the throne for a short time, and there are all kinds of forces in the court. They are all busy fighting for power. As the emperor, I don't have much power. I urgently need people."