Tianjin, the old Longtou Railway Station.

"Woo——。" A train slowly drove into the platform, Tianjin is a big station and has just opened the port, the passenger flow is quite large, as soon as the train stops, many passengers will flock to get off the train and rush to the platform, but the five carriages behind the front of the car are only sparsely pulled down a few gentlemen dressed up to stretch their hands and feet on the platform.

These carriages are carried by the envoys of the Qing Dynasty to visit the West, Yi Zhizhi is very stingy and did not give them a special train, but added a few special luxury carriages, of course, Yi Xun, Yi Wei two people take the carriage is a super luxury car that can be officed.

"Lord Wang, in addition to getting on and off passengers, the train also needs to add water and coal, and it needs to stay for a quarter of an hour." An attendant whispered.

"Then go down and take a walk to see if there are any changes in the Tianjin Railway Station that opened the port." Yifang said and stood up, Yixuan was looking at the Western things he had sorted out, and said without looking up: "Fifth brother, go, I'm in the car." ”

Yifang stepped on the platform, and saw a lot of hawkers selling food along the windows, but their carriages were guarded by officers and soldiers, and no hawkers dared to come, but they were clean, and they walked around the platform for a while, feeling bored, but listening to a crisp sound of selling newspapers, "Today's Jinbao, Grandpa Yi personally wrote an article "On the Donation System" and "On New Learning" ....... ”

The newsboy took a bite of the Beijing film, and Yifang heard it clearly, and immediately his heart jumped, and he hurriedly beckoned: "Come here!" After a few rough sweeps of the newspaper, he immediately took out a silver dollar and threw it over, "I want all the newspapers." Then he commanded: "Distribute the carriages." ”

Walking back to the carriage quickly, he threw the newspaper on the table, "Yi Guocheng openly published an article in the newspaper...... ”

Yixun picked up the newspaper and glanced at the headline, his expression immediately became solemn, and after reading the two articles carefully, he said in a deep voice: "Come on, go and invite Lord Zeng of the Ministry of Officials." ”

As he spoke, he glanced up at Yi Tong, "As soon as we return to China, Yi Guocheng is so impatient, this is to use us as a gunman." ”

Yi Yan sat down slowly opposite him, took a cigar from the table, and said slowly: "Yuan Qi has set up Western-style schools to promote new learning in recent years, mainly in the southern provinces, and there are several schools in Tianjin in the northern provinces........ ”

Yixun nodded slightly, Yuan Qi has now formed a secession trend in the south, but there is no blatant secession, maybe waiting for a justifiable excuse, for the imperial court, the secession of the southern provinces is absolutely unbearable, which means that the imperial court will lose more than half of the taxes!

"If the court agrees......." Yi Qi continued: "Yuan Qi may take advantage of the trend to promote the reform of the imperial examination, and then push the imperial court to carry out reform and reform, and use the promotion of new learning as an excuse to build schools in the northern provinces to expand Yuan Qi's influence in the north. Speaking of this, he smiled wryly, "Even if we are unwilling, we can't escape the result of being used as a gun by Yuan Qi." ”

"Fifth brother sees it thoroughly." Yi Xun said: "The establishment of a school and the implementation of new learning are not a matter of an edict, which requires a huge amount of silver taels, and it is reported that Yuan Qi spends millions of yuan every year to implement new schools in the southern provinces.

It is impossible for the imperial court to take out a large sum of money every year to promote new learning, but only to let Yuanqi promote it in the north, so that in less than ten years, the gentry of the world will be all to Yuanqi! ”

Zeng Guofan hurried over and just listened to the last sentence, and his heart couldn't help but tremble, Yuan Qi is using the implementation of new learning to compete with the court for the hearts of the people? He didn't think much about it, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute, Yixun waved his hand, handed the newspaper over, and said, "Bo Han, take a look." ”

After reading the newspaper, Zeng Guofan was also very surprised, he really didn't expect that Yi Zhishu would openly force the imperial court to support Xinxue through the newspaper, and he didn't expect it to be so resolute, they hadn't arrived in Beijing yet, they had already made a move, and he groaned slightly, and then he said slowly: "Yi Guocheng is still kind, although he didn't mention the abolition of the eight shares, but he also proposed to abolish donations. ”

Yixun glanced at him and said, "Bo Han has already prepared an excerpt?" The matter has come to this, as soon as you enter Beijing, you have to enter the palace to see your majesty. ”

"Go back to the prince." Zeng Guofan bowed down and said, "The excerpt has been prepared." The words fell, and there was a shake of his feet, but the train started again.

Jingshi, Old Summer Palace, Fangbi Cong.

Xianfeng, who was thin and a little pale, leaned against the window and looked at the early autumn scenery in the courtyard and was stunned, Yuan Qi forced the imperial court to implement new learning, which is tantamount to forcing the imperial court to death, he is not against new learning, after all, the imperial court also needs new learning talents now, but if the imperial court gives Xinxue the corresponding merit for the imperial examination, it is tantamount to a disaster! That will inevitably have a great impact on the imperial examination system, and even destroy the imperial examination!

If the new school is implemented across the country, with Yuanqi's current practice, how many secondary school and college graduates will be produced in a year? What are the consequences of giving fame to all of them? The most direct consequence is the flood of fame, once the fame is overflowing, the dignity and prestige of the imperial court will be impossible to talk about, and there will be no place for the imperial examination!

The imperial examination is the link between the imperial court and the gentry, once the imperial examination is destroyed, what will be the result? The results speak for themselves! But if he does not agree, Yuan Qi will inevitably use the pretext of promoting new learning to accelerate the pace of secession of the south, and may even directly raise troops to rebel!

For the imperial court, this is a dilemma! He weighed it in the past few days or so, and keenly realized that Yi Zhixiang's move must be related to the mission returning to China, there is no such coincidence in the world, and Yi Zhixiang's two articles were not published sooner or later, but they were published in the newspaper after the mission arrived in Shanghai!

"Your Majesty, Prince Gong, King Alcohol County, hand over the sign and ask to see you."

Xianfeng Huo Ran turned around, "Let them in." ”

"Brothers, Yixun, respectfully ask for St. Ann." After a year or two, Yifang and Yixun's voices were mixed with a hint of excitement. Looking at the two brothers, Xianfeng showed a smile of relief on his face, and when he saw the two of them getting up, he smiled and said: "They are all their own brothers, no need to be formal, sit down, watch tea." ”

After the two of them sat down, he smiled and said: "It's all lost a lot, and it's darkened a lot, but the spirit is good, and the Western trip is still smooth?" ”

Yixun noticed that Xianfeng had obviously lost some weight, and his face was even paler, so he hurriedly bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, the mission traveled around the world, and there were Yuanqi fleets and warships from various countries escorting them all the way, taking care of them carefully, and it was very smooth. ”

For the situation of the mission to Western countries, Xianfeng also learned through the telegram, and immediately asked some information without being salty, Yifang and Yixin replied one by one according to the truth, although they were both their own brothers, but both of them were swept up by Xianfeng to the end, sent to the West, and they were accompanied by a little caution.

Xianfeng was not in a hurry to inquire in detail about the situation of the envoy to Western countries, after all, the two of them had only returned to Beijing, and after asking a little question, the conversation changed, "Do you two know about the two articles published in the newspaper by Yi Zhizhi?" ”

"When the two of them arrived in Shanghai, they had met Yi Zhicontent, and Zeng Guofan, the left servant of the ministry, had a long conversation with him." Yi Xun got up as he spoke, presented two excerpts and said, "This is the excerpt ....... that the younger brother and Zeng Guofan sorted out on the conversation. After a pause, he still added, "Zeng Guofan had contacts with Yi Zhishu during his military affairs in Huguang. ”

After taking the excerpt, Xianfeng first opened the fold of Yixun, and after reading it, he groaned for a while, and then looked at the fold of Zeng Guofan, and after a while, he closed the fold and instructed the outside world: "Xuan Zengguo Fan will meet you." ”

Then, he glanced at the two of them and said, "What does it mean to be content?" ”

These words were a bit clueless, and after hesitating, Yi Xun bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, the younger brother secretly thought that his intention was to encourage the court to change the law and innovate in order to improve himself. ”

After pondering for a moment, Xianfeng spoke: "I have been away from Beijing for more than two years, so kneel down first, and then hand over the sign tomorrow." ”

After the two of them bowed and retreated, Xianfeng picked up two more folds and looked at them carefully, it was obvious that whether it was to change the law and reform, or to abolish the donation and improve the imperial examination, there was only one purpose for Yi Zhi's contentment, to promote new learning!

Although Zeng Guofan is the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, he has not had the opportunity to meet Tianyan alone, and he entered Fangbi Cong under the guidance of the minister of the demonstration, and as soon as he entered the door, he knelt down and said: "Weichen Zeng Guofan respectfully invites the emperor to be sainte." As soon as the words fell, he heard a continuous coughing sound, the emperor is not in good health? He didn't dare to think about it, after all, Jingshi knew that he had been weak since he was a child, and when the coughing subsided, he got up, walked to Xianfeng with his head down and knelt down on the white felt blanket in front of Xianfeng.

After coughing, Xianfeng's breathing became a little short, and after it subsided, he slowly spoke: "Do you know why Yi Zhishu wants to implement new learning?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Zeng Guofan said calmly: "Weichen is stupid, and he thinks that Yuanqi's implementation of new learning is to emulate Western countries. ”

Xianfeng groaned slightly before saying, "What do you think about this?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Zeng Guofan said without hesitation: "The implementation of new learning is the trend of the times, a rich country and a strong army cannot be separated from new learning, but Confucianism is the foundation of the country, Wei Chen secretly thinks that the new learning is bound to be implemented, but it will be subordinated to Confucianism, not waiting for it." ”

This can be said to be in Xianfeng's heart, and he asked with great interest: "For Xinxue, can you give the corresponding fame?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Zeng Guofan said unhurriedly: "If you don't give the corresponding fame, it will be difficult to implement the new school, and the people who read hard all over the world will study hard for fame!" In his opinion, it was appropriate for the new scholars to give a corresponding meritorious name, and that the imperial court could effectively manage and control the ....... by examinations and by limiting the number and size of universities to be established in the provinces. ”

Xianfeng glanced at him, and secretly smiled bitterly, the quota of each province is basically a fixed number, three years of township examination, a province is only more than 100 or so, the Qing Dynasty has been established for more than 200 years, and there are only more than 100,000 people who have won the fame of others, and the graduates of a new university are hundreds, the difference is huge, not to mention ten times? Ten or twenty years later, the imperial court is afraid that it will not even be able to collect taxes.

"Kneel down." Xianfeng said slowly.

Coming out of Fangbi Cong, Zeng Guofan frowned all the way, he naturally knew that Xianfeng was not very satisfied with this performance, but at the moment he really had no better way, Yi Zhizhi was content This is to be a good person, to strive for fame for Xinxue, no matter what the court does, it is a villain!

Shanghai, Zhenhai Mansion, Changle Book House.

Zhao Wenlie walked into the study slowly, handed the two-page manuscript to Yi Zhicontent, and said with some doubts: "This matter needs to be in the ring?" ”

Yi Zhishu smiled, took the manuscript and read it carefully, this is an article that opposes the implementation of Xinxue and opposes the corresponding fame of Xinxue, the rhetoric is fierce, and it is completely attacked from the standpoint of Confucianism.

Only then did he speak: "Only when there is no reason that is not clear, and there is opposition, support, and controversy, will it arouse greater attention, and only by presenting facts and reasoning can these concepts be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people."

In addition, the implementation of new learning is not a trivial matter, and it is impossible for the imperial court to make a decision in just a few days, and it is impossible to argue and argue in the newspapers, which can also buy time for the imperial court, and at the same time, it will not let this matter fade out of everyone's sight, which is called maintaining attention. ”

And so many twists and turns? Zhao Wenlie nodded and said, "Then do you prepare a few more critical articles....... ”

"It's enough to have two articles." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "The northern provinces have almost not implemented the new school, once the new school is given a meritorious name, the north is clearly at a loss, they will oppose it, and furthermore, the impact of the new school to give the meritorious name to the imperial examination is quite large, at least those who are famous must have an opposing attitude, I estimate that once someone takes the lead, it will inevitably be a situation where a group rises up and attacks it." ”

When the major newspapers in the southeast appeared criticizing and opposing Xinxue, the northern newspapers reacted quickly, and some famous Confucian scholars went into battle shirtless, writing articles quoting scriptures and classics to criticize Xinxue, and some officials and gentry could not sit still, or asked someone to catch a knife or personally put pen to paper, and for a time, the newspapers of all sizes in the northern provinces were overwhelmed with articles opposing and criticizing Xinxue.

The newspapers in the southeastern provinces were prepared for a long time, and immediately unified their voices and published one article after another refuting the articles, and the major newspapers in the north and south with a firm stand and a clear-cut attitude were divided into two camps and started a big war in the air.

Yi Zhizu entered the study with his front foot, and Zhao Wenlie followed in with a stack of newspapers on his back foot, and put the newspaper on the desk, "There are both north and south, can the big shopkeeper be interested in taking a look?" ”

After flipping through the pages, Yi Zhishu said very abruptly: "Do you know why the sales of the newspaper have not been able to rise?" ”

Newspaper sales? Zhao Wenlie was confused, where is this? After a little hesitation, he said, "The newspaper sales should be good in the past two days." ”

Yi Zhishu smiled, didn't go around in circles, patted the newspaper on the table, and said straightforwardly: "It's all about dragging the text, a good show is not pleasant to watch, write articles in the vernacular, so that the article is practical and clear, so that people can understand it at a glance, and those who are coarse and ink can also understand it, so that sales will inevitably increase greatly!" ”

Zhao Wenlie immediately reacted and said with a smile: "This vernacular is also part of the implementation of new learning?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizu said: "Take the opportunity of the attention of both the government and the opposition, let the southeast newspaper launch a vernacular literary movement." ”