No. 125 in Wangfujing was originally the mansion of the eldest princess before she got married. After the renovation, it has become the most famous meeting place in the capital.

In addition to the National Merchants' Congress, it was often borrowed by Suncheonfu and Gyeongseong City Halls as venues for conventions.

But from the end of March, it was occupied by representatives of the gentry of the provinces. After being taught a lesson by the people of the capital, these gentry will now weigh their words and think twice before speaking at the conference.

Although the cautious words and deeds of the gentry representatives greatly reduced the number of times they were criticized by the Daming Times, and also made the people of the capital less fun. However, it is clear that there has been little progress in the open discussions of the General Assembly.

However, as time dragged on, the gentry delegates finally got their senses, and several of the most prestigious delegates from the provinces held small meetings in the evening to communicate the matters to be discussed at the next day's congress, so that the speeches and votes of the gentry delegates at the next day's congress were reduced to a single form.

When the gentry delegates learned this way of communicating in small meetings, the proceedings of the congress were rapidly accelerated. Of course, the result of their mutual exchange of interests is an additional investment of 5 million yuan.

As for whether this amount will be approved by the court and the emperor, everyone is uncertain. After all, since ancient times, there has been no subordinate who has finished discussing things and made a conclusion before letting the emperor and the court accept it.

The most important thing is that the additional 5 million yuan is equivalent to the income of Taicang in the past year. Such a huge sum of money, as soon as they touched the skin of the gentry, they settled it. Although when it came time to decide on the distribution of benefits, everyone talked happily.

But after the verdict was made, everyone became a little panicked. Because they didn't know that when this verdict was sent to the emperor, the emperor and the court were willing to do this wronged and admit this additional expenditure.

However, after entering May, the delegates who participated in the gentry assembly were surprised to find that not only the emperor had given instructions on the finalization, but the cabinet had also discussed the plan for the implementation of the finalization, and formulated a plan for the implementation of the seven-year appropriation and implementation in stages.

Although the first phase of the plan was only a paltry 300,000 yuan, and the second phase of the appropriation was not yet known, the representatives of the gentry were already satisfied. This is the first time that their remarks and decisions have actually affected the direction of the government.

These country gentry, who used to complain only in the countryside at home, re-established their values almost overnight. It was only then that they truly realized that the gentry assembly was not a gathering of country friends, and that they could complain at will without consequences.

At this congress, an opinion they advocate today may become a policy pursued by the imperial court tomorrow. This sense of responsibility made the gentry representatives suddenly become cautious. When they made speeches at the conference, they were not only cautious in their words and deeds, but also painstakingly wanted to say something that would move the court and the people of the world.

The gentry began to change their minds, and regarded themselves as local wise men who were invited by the imperial court to Beijing to plan for the country. As the mind changed, so did the view of things, and the view of the gentry representatives from the interests of their own country soon gave way to the view of planning for the imperial court.

Holding such a point of view to discuss the policies issued by the imperial court, it is natural that the position of the imperial court is quite close, especially when Chongzhen ordered someone to submit the "General Principles of Civil Affairs" compiled by Yuan Keli, the secretary of the Criminal Department, to the gentry assembly for discussion, these gentry representatives are even more conscious, they not only have a sense of mission, but also a lofty sense of responsibility.

Perhaps these gentry representatives did not know that Maslow's theory of the five levels of need. But as a representative of the gentry, they have obviously satisfied the social needs, the need for respect, and the need for self-realization, the last three high-level needs.

These representatives of the gentry may be able to say nothing about their own one-third of an acre of land, but any local official can make them bow their heads and dare not speak out a little.

At the gentry conference, they could not only communicate with other delegates on an equal footing, but also make the court face their opinions in the form of a resolution of the congress. At this point, they have already achieved a self-fulfillment.

On the evening of May 2, the door of a small courtyard in the hall was closed, and nearly 30 representatives of the gentry gathered in one room to discuss the basic points of discussion on the general principles of the "General Principles of Civil Matters" at the meeting tomorrow.

The room was not large, and in order to accommodate the leaders of the gentry delegates, all the furniture in the room was removed, except for a square table in the center. Around the square table, there are only rows of benches.

The main reason why these gentry representatives chose such an address for their meeting, rather than a large room in an outside restaurant, was also due to secrecy. In addition, the representatives of these gentry were still mostly small and medium-sized landlords, and they did not want to spend too much money on this meeting in Beijing.

Even a few of the gentry, who were from relatively well-to-do families, were reluctant to show off on such occasions, as private gatherings did not seem to fit the purpose of the gentry assembly. They don't want to be targeted by the court because of their temporary comfort.

On the square table, two whale oil candles, which are the most popular in Kyoto, are lit, illuminating the small room as if it were daytime. When I first saw this kind of whale oil candle, it surprised many foreign gentry.

In fact, in a room like the one where they are meeting now, a whale oil candle is all it takes. The purpose of the two is simply to let the delegates see clearly the expression of the speaker when he makes the statement, or to let the spokesman know whether his ideas are supported by those present.

This kind of small gathering has been held for almost half a month, so the delegates here are beginning to get acquainted with each other, and they can roughly find like-minded people who will support them when they make their own statements.

Before convening a small meeting, although everyone had spoken in advance, every delegate at the meeting was equal, and each delegate could only use his own ideas and remarks to persuade others, and could not coerce the delegates attending the meeting to agree to his own ideas by other means. Once a resolution has been made at the meeting, the participants must agree or oppose it in accordance with the agreement at the meeting tomorrow, and cannot go back on their word. Otherwise, the delegates who break the rules will be expelled from the small assembly.

Although the rules of procedure of the small meeting were very fair, and it was also determined that each representative could freely express his or her own speech, but after the small meeting was held consecutively, the gentry representatives who participated in the small meeting slowly formed 3 or 4 groups.

Among these three or four groups, there are also a few people who are more active. For example, a small group headed by Henan Niu Jinxing and Gaomi Wang Yao'an, a small group headed by Foshan Li Haowen and Liang Chengjing, and a small group led by Xu Hanwen.

Among these people, Niu Jinxing was the most eloquent and outspoken, and the other gentry representatives had to leave some leeway between their speeches, for fear that they would make any mistakes in their speeches and be secretly told to the imperial court. But Niu Venus, who has no scruples, will say whatever he wants, and what he says is not a lie, but it is indeed something to say and a target.

Therefore, in just ten months, Niu Jinxing has become the most prominent figure in the gentry congress, and even the people in the capital who are watching praise him mostly. The provincial gentry delegates at the gentry congress were not very familiar with each other. They suddenly changed from a country gentry to a gentry representative who participated in state affairs, and they had not yet adapted psychologically.

Although when they were in their hometown, they often criticized the imperial court for not doing it properly, and that edict was not working. But when they were really allowed to sit at the gentry assembly and express their views on state affairs under the gaze of onlookers, they became a little dazed again.

At this time, if there are delegates who are themselves more famous figures in the Shilin, or who can talk eloquently at the congress and convince the onlookers, they will automatically be regarded as leaders by these gentry representatives. It's as if the first creature a duckling with a broken shell sees will think it's its mother.

Niu Jinxing, who is about 34 years old, has a dignified appearance and outstanding eloquence. His ancestor was originally a subordinate official of a certain vassal king, so he can also be regarded as a family of eunuchs. However, his parents died early, and the family property was seized by relatives and wealthy families in the county, leaving him with his younger brother to rely on each other.

Niu Jinxing studied four books hard, but also dabbled in other miscellaneous studies, not a nerd who reads hard. Because of his family's downfall, although he studied quite hard, he was talented in his twenties, and he was only promoted in the seventh year of the Apocalypse. He is a simple person on weekdays, likes to read, and is familiar with Tianguan, Fengjiao, Sun and Wu's art of war. set up a museum to teach apprentices, and lived a life of only enough food and clothing.

However, after he was lifted, the enemies in the county were afraid that he would continue to be admitted to the Jinshi, and when the time came, they would come to the door to retaliate. Therefore, he tried to harm him several times, although Niu Jinxing got out of danger with the help of his friend Song Kangnian, but he also had to give up his house in the county and run to live in the mountains north of the county.

The enemy's framing made him miss Enke in the first year of Chongzhen. Although Niu Jinxing gritted his teeth at the enemy, the enemy who was quite powerful in the county was not something that he could fight against.

However, Niu Jinxing soon saw the opportunity, and he took advantage of Xu Xianchun to go to Henan to supervise the implementation of the grain policy, and directly sued the enemy. Because of the assistance of him, the local tyrants and inferior gentry in Baofeng County were quickly eliminated by name, and Baofeng County became the first county in Henan to settle down.

Niu Jinxing, who had a great revenge, was naturally grateful to Xu Xianchun, but when he was about to study with peace of mind, Xu Xianchun asked him to go to Beijing to be a representative of the Henan gentry to prevent the Henan gentry from overturning the case in the capital. Niu Jinxing happily obeyed, after all, he is now tied to Xu Xianchun, and if Xu Xianchun falls, it will be difficult for him to end well.

However, neither Xu Xianchun nor Niu Jinxing himself thought that he would be in the limelight at the gentry congress. However, Niu Jinxing is still sober after all, he knows that everything he is doing now is because the emperor is behind him, so he has to handle the affairs assigned by the emperor today.

As soon as the meeting began, Niu Jinxing stood up, bowed to the Quartet and said: "This "General Principles of Civil Affairs" was compiled by Mr. Jiehuan, a Confucian in Henan, and Mr. Jiehuan's name for being upright and honest can be described as well-known in the Quartet.

Now that Mr. is in charge of the Criminal Department, compiling the "General Principles of Civil Affairs" for the people of the world, I think that the general discussion at the beginning of this article, on the basic rights of people, is enough to make Mr. famous for a hundred years.

As for His Majesty's request for me to discuss Mr.'s writings, I do think that we and others really do not have the talent to revise Mr.'s article. However, if we can fill in the gaps for Mr., maybe with the help of Mr.'s fame, everyone will be able to leave a small name in the history of the future with the help of Mr.'s fame..."