Due to the fact that Zhou Xian and Nanjing did not completely break up, and Zhou Xian's strength was there, most southern literati took a silent attitude towards Zhou Xian's self-reliance.

But there are many exceptions. They have fiercely criticized Zhou Xian from all aspects, with two main leaders.

One of them was the great Confucian Confucian Huang Daozhou. He was a great Confucian in the true sense, not a sour Confucian. During Emperor Chongzhen, he was known for his direct advice on loyalty and straightforwardness. In the court, he directly offended the Longyan and accused Emperor Chongzhen of being loyal and treacherous.

Emperor Chongzhen was so angry that he did not dare to kill him directly even so. In the end, he could only demote him to six levels, then demote him to the people, and exil to his hometown.

On his way back to his hometown, nearly a thousand Zhejiang students intercepted him on the road and asked to listen to his teachings. He therefore established a college in Yuhang, Zhejiang to teach, and after returning home, he gathered disciples to give lectures at Ziyang College, Zhangzhou.

In Fujian and Zhejiang, he has an unrivaled influence.

And in real history, Huang Daozhou is even more admirable.

The Qing army captured Nanjing and the Hongguang regime collapsed. Emperor Longwu proclaimed himself emperor and appointed Huang Daozhou as the Minister of Rites. At that time, Emperor Longwu had the name of an emperor, but the one who truly held military power was Zheng Zhilong, who wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty at that time. Faced with internal and external pressure, Huang Daozhou felt that only by going north to resist the Qing Dynasty could he have a glimmer of hope.

So he dispersed all his family fortune, summoned nearly a thousand disciples, swore an oath in Fuzhou, raised the banner of anti-Qing, and marched towards Xinzhou. Because of his unparalleled influence, people continued to join during the march, and in the end there were nearly 10,000 people.

But most of these people did not have armor or weapons, and many of them only carried wooden sticks and hoes. Therefore, people at that time called them the "carrying pole army".

The result is conceivable. They were defeated again and again, and were eventually surrounded by the Qing army. The soldiers were killed and injured, and Huang Daozhou himself was captured by the Qing army. Faced with Hong Chengchou's persuasion to surrender, he wrote a famous match that "the historical writing is full of fame, but it is impossible to succeed; the great kindness of the country cannot be avenged."

To be honest, Huang Daozhou is not a great talent to save the world. In such a chaotic world, he could not change anything. But it can be said that he tried his best.

From ancient times to the present, China has never lacked smart people, nor has it short of people who can turn the world around in troubled times and change the world.

But the reason why China is China is that in addition to those smart people, there is also a group of stupid people. They uphold loyalty and righteousness and stick to the bottom line. They have their own moral standards and their own code of conduct. For these reasons, they abandon their families and careers, and they spare their lives. They are willing to pay any price for it.

And what they did has been remembered forever and inspire generations of Chinese people. They use their own experience to warn the world what they should persist in.

After Zhu Cilang moved to Nanjing, in order to stabilize the situation, considering Huang Daozhou's influence among the scholars of the world, he was summoned to Nanjing and allowed him to enter the cabinet.

After Huang Daozhou arrived, the first thing he did was to fiercely criticize Zhou Xian and accuse Zhou Xian of his previous actions for his unfaithfulness and filial piety.

This is not because he had any personal grudges with Zhou Xian, but because he keenly realized the impact Zhou Xian’s actions might have on the future of the Ming Dynasty.

Just as he said to Zhu Cilang in private, the orthodoxy of the world is not static.

Zhou Xian and Longwu Army made peace with the thieves and held high the banner of anti-Qing. This is what righteousness is. Now he guided with righteousness and lured each other with profit. The number of scholars from the south went to Shandong increased month by month.

If Zhou Xian successfully recovers Liaodong in the future, how many scholars and heroes will be willing to surrender to him? What the scholars in the world want is what the people want. Who would still think that those in Nanjing are orthodox?

Therefore, even if Zhou Xian did the right thing, even if his existence contributed to the stability of Nanjing, he must be given a reputation for being unfaithful and unfilial.

This is a struggle for justice and a human heart, and we must do our best.

Although Zhu Cixuan did not agree to implement this matter from the Southern Ming court, he also acknowledged that Huang Daozhou criticized Zhou Xian. Huang Daozhou was famous and his words and deeds attracted attention. The articles he wrote became popular in Jiangnan and directly influenced many young scholars.

Guizhuang reported that some of them had already decided to go to Shandong, but after hearing Huang Daozhou's words, they directly chose not to go. Huang Daozhou's hat was too big, which forced them to consider their reputation and future.

Gu Yanwu and others also wrote articles to fight back, but Huang Daozhou was so famous that he did not have anything to blame for his private morality. Most of the efforts were to defend Zhou Xian's actions, which were effective, but not very important.

In addition to Huang Daozhou, the other is Feng Menglong.

This old man over 70 years old was a county magistrate when he was at his highest official position. What made him so powerful was the pen in his hand.

Novels, folk songs, dramas, and jokes are all understood. His life has left behind more than 30 million words of works, and the three words he wrote ("Meaning the World", "Guarding the World", "Guang Xiao Mansion", and "Du Shiniang's Angry Treasure Box" can still be called classics when reading it now.

He was deeply moved when he learned that the capital was in trouble and Emperor Chongzhen died in his country. With his efforts, he published a newspaper called "Zhongxing Weiluo". He not only analyzed the pros and cons of the previous court, but also used this as a basis to criticize Zhou Xian. He believed that the reason why the capital was in trouble was related to Zhou Xian's inaction.

For this purpose, he also wrote a novel called "The White-Faced Marquis" and adapted it into a drama that made people sing.

Gu Yanwu gave this novel to Zhou Xian.

After reading it, Zhou Xian only said the four words "I wrote well".

One of them is in the court and the other is in the countryside. Cooperating with each other really makes Zhou Xian very troubled.

Zhu Ma was the eldest daughter of Emperor Chongzhen and the younger sister of Emperor Zhu Cilang of Southern Ming. If she had asked her to show up and do things that were despised by scholars, she would not have been scolded to death by both of them.

Although Zhou Xian didn't care very much, the influence they could have was something he could not ignore.

Besides, no matter how Zhou Xian looked at it, he didn't think that Zhu Moe had that talent. Not to mention that she would definitely lose money when running a restaurant, but at least she wouldn't do it well.

In the position of Zhou Xian, when making decisions, you have to look at two aspects. One is the beneficial aspect and the other is the harmful aspect. Zhou Xian will not do things that benefit does not harm.

Seeing Zhou Xian remained silent, Zhu Mai frowned and said a little disappointed: "Zhou Xian, isn't it possible? In fact, I don't have to do those things, I just stay at home all the time, I..." Her face looked ugly and she couldn't continue.

Zhou Xian looked at her, thought for a while, and smiled faintly: "It's not impossible, but I feel that you can do things that are far more meaningful than those things."
Chapter completed!