went to Tianjin to inspect the establishment of the patrol police, and rushed back to the capital non-stop, which made Tian Ergeng, who was full of energy in the past, also feel a little exhausted. In the rickety carriage, he leaned back against the brocade-covered cotton backrest and closed his eyes, silently thinking about his thoughts.

From the panic after the first emperor returned to heaven, to the despair after the Duke of Wei was expelled from the capital, and then returned to his current status. His situation for the past year has been like that of a sailboat that has gone up and down in a storm.

As far as Tian Ergeng's self-perception is concerned, he feels that his current situation is much more stable than a year ago.

A year ago, although he was in a more prominent position, he was deeply involved in the political struggle between the DPRK and China. The brutal suppression of the Donglin Party did not mean that the Eunuch Party controlled the situation, but rather exposed their weakness.

But if the eunuchs had other means at their disposal, they would not have resorted to such drastic and violent means to resolve the political struggle. After all, no one can guarantee that they will always get the emperor's support, and once the Donglin Party people turn over, the ensuing revenge will inevitably be bloody.

During that time, Tian Ergeng had to open one eye even when he was sleeping, lest he would become a prisoner when he woke up.

After Chongzhen ascended the throne, the development of the court bureau was as Tian Ergeng expected. Father-in-law Wei really fell out of favor as expected, and they, the eunuchs who were attached to Father-in-law Wei, also fell into a situation of being attacked by a group.

The only thing that surprised him was that most of them actually got the care of the new emperor, and they were not completely crushed.

However, Tian Ergeng is not so optimistic, as the old saying goes: once a son of heaven is a courtier. Even if the new Son of Heaven shelters them, it doesn't mean that he will protect them forever, unless they can show the value that His Majesty needs.

Therefore, for every task assigned by Chongzhen, Tian Ergeng was trembling, as if he had just entered the official career to do things.

At the beginning, there were "five tigers", "five biao", "ten dogs", "ten children", "forty grandchildren" and so on.

But today, the only ones who can survive are the two factions led by him and Xu Xianchun. Those Jinyi Guard military attachés who could only slap horses and had little ability were quietly eliminated.

Tian Ergeng once carefully analyzed why he and Xu Xianchun could survive, and after thinking carefully for a long time, he came to a conclusion.

Xu Xianchun is because His Majesty needs this knife to clean up those who hinder the New Deal, and his value lies in the fact that when His Majesty integrates the Jinyi Guard, he can appease the old forces whose interests have been damaged.

After understanding this, he realized that if he couldn't show new value as soon as possible, then when Jinyiwei was fully included in His Majesty's control, God knows what would happen to him who lost his value.

It is precisely because of this that he actively responded to His Majesty's call and paid special attention to the establishment of a patrol system. In just one and a half months, he traveled to most of the Beizhili area, and established preliminary patrol police departments in Shuntianfu, Yongpingfu, and Tianjin.

Almost a quarter of the eight prefectures and two prefectures in the north are under the control of the patrol police department.

Tian Ergeng, who originally did things with the intention of pleasing Chongzhen, suddenly found that this organization that he had single-handedly promoted and established was no less than Jinyiwei in the process of promoting the establishment of the three patrol police stations.

If he does it properly, it will not be his own foundation. He pondered how he could make an impact in this new department.

When Tian Ergeng was closing his eyes and pondering, there were a few knocks in front of the carriage, and then the glass pane in front of him was pushed open, and the driver of the car showed half of his face, and asked him respectfully in the carriage: "Master, we have entered Chaoyang Gate, should we go back to the house directly or go to the official office first?" ”

Tian Ergeng looked at the sky outside the carriage, then turned to the coachman and said, "It's not too early to look at the sky, so you don't have to go to the official office." Let's go to Xu Xianchun's house first, and I have something to talk to him. ”

The driver agreed, closed the front pane again, and the car, which had been moving slowly, resumed its normal speed again.

Tian Ergeng, who wanted to talk to Xu Xianchun, was disappointed, Xu Xianchun had been out of Henan on business for almost a month, and he didn't know when he would be able to return.

Tian Ergeng, who got back into the carriage, could only reluctantly tell the coachman to return to his house. Only then did he realize that there were many people around him to please him, but there were no trusted helpers.

When he was worried about this, the speed of the carriage slowed down again, Tian Ergeng looked up, and saw the coachman whispering to him in the pane: "The carriage in the house is in front, and Aunt Ye is next to the carriage, it seems that the fifth lady is sitting in the carriage, can the master say hello to him?" ”

For the former Ye Qi and the current Ye Yuxuan, as his son-in-law, Tian Ergeng is still very satisfied. Although he does not have the demeanor and etiquette of those children of the family, he is quite kind in character and does not lack the ability to adapt.

"Forget it, let them have a good chat, this Ye Yuxuan can only go abroad for half a month..."Tian Ergeng paused as he spoke, he thought thoughtfully, isn't it a son-in-law who is more reliable than a son in this world.

"No, let's let Ye Yuxuan get in the car to meet me, I just wanted to ask what progress he has made in his studies." Tian Ergeng suddenly changed his words again.

Ye Yuxuan was carefully controlling his mount, not letting the horse sit down and overtaking the carriage beside him, so that he could talk to the people in the carriage.

Tian Shuyun carefully opened half of the car curtain, with a slight flush on her white jade-like face, and spoke softly to Ye Yuxuan outside the car.

Tian Shuyun, who is only fifteen years old, has not yet known about the love between men and women, but when the new emperor ascended the throne, she really felt the tense atmosphere in her family that the sky was about to fall.

Therefore, when her parents appointed Ye Yuxuan as her husband, she did not show much resistance. On the contrary, she felt that if this could help the family not return to that suffocating atmosphere, she was willing to accept this family affair.

However, after the marriage, several contacts with Ye Yuxuan made her truly accept this future husband.

Today is the temple fair of Chaotian Palace, and it also happens to be the day of rest at Yenching University, so she went to visit the temple fair accompanied by Ye Yuxuan, which can be regarded as a separate date.

When the two were chatting about a ride, a carriage suddenly overtook him, Ye Yuxuan turned his head to look, and found that his future father-in-law, Tian Ergeng, was sitting in the car.

Tian Ergeng opened the curtain of the car and instructed him lightly: "Come up and sit down, I have been out of Beijing for a long time this time, and it is rare to meet you, so I just had a chat with you." ”

Ye Yuxuan hurriedly answered yes, and hurriedly got off the horse, and Tian Shuyun, who was leaning against the car window to talk to him, saw his father's face, and hurriedly said hello and hurriedly lowered the car curtain.

Tian Ergeng gave way to the side, so that Ye Yuxuan could sit down opposite. He glanced Ye Yuxuan up and down, and found that compared with a few months ago, Ye Yuxuan's complexion was much fairer, and there was also a little bit of a scholar's temperament in his eyes.

Tian Ergeng nodded with satisfaction, and sure enough, it was: dwelling and moving qi, nourishing and moving body. Now that Ye Yuxuan walked out of the door, no one would think that it was the mud leg in the countryside, but a serious scholar.

After Ye Yuxuan finished saluting him, Tian Ergeng twisted his beard and said with a smile: "You have been married to Shuyun for almost half a year, when are you going to change your name to call me Lord Taishan?" ”

Ye Yuxuan's face suddenly turned crimson, and he said with a little stutter: "Shuyun's age is still young, and the kid has not succeeded in his studies. The kid thought that he would wait until after graduation and then ask his uncle... No, Lord Taishan proposed. ”

Tian Ergeng said with a smile: "When you graduate, then you can't let my family Shuyun wait for old age..."

After seeing Ye Yuxuan's head down and about to go underground, Tian Ergeng finally stopped making fun of him.

"You've been in the country these days... How do you feel about studying at Yenching University? Is there any difference between this Yenching University and the previous Guozijian? ”

"The boy of Guozijian has not been in this fate, but now this Yenching University, the kid thinks that it is not a place where only sages and sages are read."

"How?"

"Although Yenching University is divided into liberal arts and sciences, I think His Majesty has focused most of his attention on the science colleges. The Faculty of Letters did not only study the Four Books and the Five Classics, but also put a lot of effort into the writing of official documents and the ideological analysis of Eastern and Western philosophers. ”

"The old man can understand the writing of official documents. What does this thought analysis mean? ”

"The boy hasn't been studying for a long time, and he can't say anything, so let's repeat what the teacher taught in class to Lord Taishan.

This ideological analysis is, first of all, materialism, an ancient Greek philosopher in the West, Thales, who believed that all things arise from water and end with water; And I also have the theory of the five elements in the East, which believes that the whole world is composed of the five elements.

In the West, philosophers Democritus and Epicurus put forward atomic materialism, believing that everything is composed of particles and atoms that cannot be divided. The ancient Chinese believed that everything in the universe is composed of a very subtle flow of material "qi", and qi is the origin of the world, which is qi monism.

In the final analysis, this world is all about the primacy of matter and the secondness of consciousness, and the opposite is idealism.

It can be deduced from materialism that people's subjective initiative can change and promote the development of the world, but it is always the material conditions that ultimately determine the change of things.

All subjective initiative that violates material conditions will eventually fail. Only the subjective initiative that meets the material conditions can change our world. This is called pragmatism..."

Tian Ergeng listened with great interest to Ye Yuxuan's so-called ideological philosophies such as materialism, practicality, and contradiction, and after walking the road back to the mansion, he forgot what he was going to call Ye Yuxuan into the carriage to say.