Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1049: Disunity
"Bang!" A porcelain cup was thrown to the ground by Hu Jinli, and the fragments flew everywhere. Several of Hu Jinli's ministers did not dare to dodge and were cut by the porcelain pieces.

"Three months. Three months!"

"The Ming Dynasty is still waiting behind us, and it is clear that they are waiting to watch the fight. Our Dayu is already in danger."

"You haven't put down the Nguyen rebellion yet! What use do I have for you!"

Hu Jinyi was dressed in the robes of a Ming prince, but he called himself "Zhen". This was related to the tradition of Annan. The Annan royal family had always been unruly. They dreamed of being on an equal footing with the emperor of the Central Plains of China, and did not want to be subordinate to the Central Plains of China. Therefore, the rulers of all dynasties called themselves "Zhen" in imitation of the emperor of the Central Plains, and closed the door to indulge in their own emperor addiction.

This is why the Ming Dynasty called Annan "Annan" and the Annamites themselves called themselves "Dai Viet".

However, once they were outside, they were afraid of offending the powerful Central Plains Dynasty and always regarded themselves as subjects of the Central Plains Dynasty. Therefore, they did not dare to wear dragon robes, call themselves "kings" to the envoys of the Central Plains Dynasty, or use the name "Dai Viet".

For example, when Zhu Su came to Annan last time, no one from the king Chen Yizong to the officials dared to mention the word "Dai Viet" in front of Zhu Su. First, they were afraid of angering the prince of the Ming Dynasty. Second, they also knew that this was just self-satisfaction and did not dare to embarrass this person in front of Zhu Su.

It fully reveals his true character of being fierce on the outside but weak on the inside.

Hu Jinyao usurped the throne of Annan. This new "Dai Yu Dynasty" was different in name from "Dai Viet" but in terms of cowardice, it was exactly the same as Chen's "Dai Viet Dynasty".

Now he doesn't have to worry about the opinions of the Ming Dynasty, and can just wear a real dragon robe and satisfy his desire to be an emperor. After all, he has completely fallen out with the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's King Zhou sent envoys to reprimand him every three days and scold him every five days, and also detained his younger brother Hu Jimei. It is obvious that he will not recognize his Dayu regime as the orthodox Annan. The only difference between the two sides is that they don't fight each other.

But... he no longer has the time to make a dragon robe. The Dayu regime was just established, and it was already in danger. Ruan Duofang, who had been silent for several years, suddenly rose up and broke into his five cities with great momentum. On his side, people's hearts were already shaky, and many fence-sitting nobles even rushed to Ruan Duofang's sphere of influence with their families. If he hadn't issued an order to seal the city, and sent heavy troops to check at the city gate every day, there would be more nobles who would run to Ruan Duofang.

"Your Majesty, it's not that we don't want to contribute..." Hu Jin's trusted general said aggrievedly, "It's just that our army's pay has been completely exhausted!"

"The forced conscription soldiers cannot be paid, and they are all passive and lazy... With low morale, we will be defeated as soon as we come into contact with Nguyen Duofang's army..."

"Excuse!" Hu Jinli shouted angrily.

"Ruan Duofang only has a few thousand elite soldiers, and the rest are conscripted soldiers. Why are his conscripted soldiers so high in morale, while your conscripted soldiers are so easily defeated..."

It's because you are unpopular... The generals below the rank criticized Hu Jin in their hearts. Of course, they couldn't say that. He gave a reasonable explanation: "Your Majesty, those nobles spent all their wealth and tried their best to support Nguyen Duo Fang. The soldiers under Nguyen Duo Fang have no shortage of military pay, so their morale is naturally high."

"I request Your Majesty to allocate military pay. If Your Majesty does, I will sign a military order and present the head of the thief Nguyen to Your Majesty!"

The Annan generals who knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, please allocate military pay. I am willing to issue a military order and will present the head of the Nguyen thief to you!"

"..."

Hu Jin's anger was choked. Not to mention that the "previous emperor" of the Chen family, Chen Yizong, was arrogant and extravagant, and had already spent most of the money in the Dai Viet treasury. After he "ascended the throne", he was full of power in his head and made drastic changes. Even the little money left in the treasury was squandered by him. Now the treasury is so poor that rats can starve to death, how can it pay the military?
But if he couldn't pay the soldiers, he would be overthrown by Ruan Duofang. Hu Jinyi felt like a sword was hanging over his head and he frowned as he thought.

"Your Majesty..." Fan Julun, Hu Jin's trusted adviser, stepped out and said, "Since Ruan Duofang can obtain money from the nobles, we can also raise money for the military pay from the nobles."

"As long as Your Majesty gives the order, I will certainly raise enough money for Your Majesty."

Fan Julun clasped his fists and advised.

"This..." Hu Ji's heart was moved, but after thinking for a while, he quickly shook his head. "No, no."

"The nobles are about to turn away from me. If I ask them to pay for the war, they will only hate me even more."

"How is this different from pushing them directly to Ruan Duofang? No, it can't be done!"

Hu Jinyi still had some political talent. He knew very well that his position as the "emperor" was essentially due to the support of most of the nobles, so he was able to sit on the "dragon throne". In Annan, if you want to sit firmly on the position of emperor, you must have the support of the nobles. Now some of the nobles have abandoned Hu because of Nguyen Duo Fang. If he plunders the remaining nobles, Hu's reputation among the nobles will immediately plummet.

By then, even if he defeated Ruan Duofang, the nobles would not support him, and his "Great Yu Dynasty" would still fall apart and perish.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, these nobles have become the cancer of Annan. Wouldn't it be perfect to take this opportunity to eliminate them? Things have come to this point, but you are still hesitating... Alas." Seeing Hu Jinyi like this, Fan Julun couldn't help feeling disappointed. He opened his mouth, but finally retreated back into the ranks.

"Do you have any good ideas? Come on!" Hu Jin said loudly, with a desperate look in his eyes. "As long as you can help Dayu out of this trouble, I will not hesitate to promote you three levels!"

"Your Majesty, I have a plan." As soon as the words fell, a man came out. Fan Julun turned his head and recognized that this man was a son of a noble family. He usually behaved like a playboy. He was promoted and appointed just because his family had some relationship with the Hu family... He almost got his official position by cheating.

"Oh? Tell me quickly." Hu Ji's eyes lit up.

"You can collect donations from merchants and poor families. As the saying goes, every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country. Normally, we nobles work hard for the country and the people, and we have made great contributions. But they are just enjoying the peace and prosperity, which is of no benefit to the country."

"Now that our Great Yu is in danger of extinction, as our people, it is only natural for them to contribute to our Great Yu's military support."

As soon as these words were spoken, officials with some conscience, such as Fan Julun and Li Cheng, all widened their eyes and looked at the official who had made such a "profound statement".

How shameless is it to make such a statement?
But the high-handed Hu Jinyi actually thought about it seriously. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it made sense: the nobles were the foundation of Dayu and should not be easily moved. He also wanted to restore the hearts of the shattered nobles and bring back those nobles who had been won over by Ruan Duofang.

Then they must show goodwill to the gentry and make them feel that the Hu family is on the same side as them. They must never raise funds from the gentry.

Since it was impossible to raise money from the nobles, then the poor, merchants, and even the common people would not be a problem. There were so many of them, and if each of them only contributed a little, it would be enough to support the Great Yu Dynasty through this crisis. Moreover, their power in the court was extremely weak, so even if they protested, the impact would be minimal.

Although the official's words were indeed a bit shameless, but the truth is there. In this critical moment, there is nothing we can do to make the people suffer a little.

Once I have secured my throne, I will govern Annan well and bring prosperity to the people of Annan!

"Good!" Hu Jinyi, who suddenly understood the situation, put on his imperial airs again, waved his sleeves and praised. "This is a great plan. Our Great Yu Dynasty is indeed full of talented people."

"My word is golden. You will be promoted three levels right now!"

Actually...actually agreed? Fan Julun was stunned and was about to step out, but the noble who was promoted three levels had already knelt down in surprise and thanked him. Then, all the nobles and officials stepped out in surprise and began to divide the right to "collect military pay from merchants and poor families" this time.

Just like vultures sharing carrion.

"Forget it, forget it..." Fan Julun felt disheartened and didn't want to say anything more.

Soon, the officials in the court divided up the rights that had been collected from various places. In order to please the gentry, Hu Jinyi gave almost all of this power to the gentry. Seeing these gentry actively sharing his worries, Hu Jinyi was very pleased. He sat on the golden throne and said, "Do you have anything else to report? If not, I am busy with state affairs and will leave the court."

"Your Majesty, I have something to report." A man walked out from the queue of officials.

"Oh, Fan Huai." Hu Ji's eyes shrank and he said. The official who stepped out was Huang Huai, who was lurking in the court of Annan under the alias "Fan Huai". After Huang Huai won the first place in the imperial examination in Annan, he was able to thrive in the court at first because of Hu's special care. But gradually, Hu Ji's grasp of most of the power in the court, no longer needed "Fan Huai", the mascot that symbolized the support of the Ming prince, and the reputation of "Fan Huai" in the officialdom of Annan plummeted.

He was born in a poor family. If it weren't for the support of the Hu family, the Annan officials would not want to say a word to him. Soon, "Fan Huai" became a nobody in the Annan court, an official with no sense of existence. He himself knew what to do. Every time there was a court meeting, he would just hide in the corner and keep silent.

Today was the first time he made a speech at the court meeting.

"What do you want to report? Tell me." Hu Ji said with some displeasure. This "Fan Huai" was from a poor family and was a disciple of Zhou Wang Zhu Su. Now he had fallen out with Zhou Wang Zhu Su, so he naturally disliked this "Fan Huai" very much. However, he was determined to be a wise ruler. Although "Fan Huai" was insignificant, he had no intention of killing his subjects at will.

"Your Majesty." Huang Huai bowed and advised, seemingly not feeling the ill will in everyone's eyes, and remained neither humble nor arrogant. "The time for the imperial examination is approaching."

"Many poor candidates are still rejected from the imperial examinations because of the system of preserving the written documents. I ask Your Majesty to abolish the system of preserving the written documents and set a good example for our new dynasty."

The Baowen system was a major barrier for poor people in Annan to participate in the imperial examination. In the last imperial examination, it was because Hu issued a guarantee for poor candidates that Fan Huai and a group of ordinary scholars were able to participate in the imperial examination in Annan.

Now that Hu has ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, it makes sense for him to abolish the Baowen system and directly allow poor candidates to participate in the imperial examinations.

Everyone's eyes turned to Hu Jinyi.

Hu Jinyi narrowed his eyes, and in his heart he laughed at this "Fan Huai" for being ungrateful.

Previously, he had issued a letter of guarantee to the poor family in order to win over the support of King Zhou Zhu Su, a disciple of King Zhou, so as to secure his position as the "leader of the new school in Annan" at that time. For this, he also lost the trust of some of the gentry. This had opened a gap in the gentry's monopoly on the imperial examination, which had caused dissatisfaction among many of the gentry.

Now, he had already fallen out with the King of Zhou, and his first target was the gentry. If he gave way to the poor, wouldn't it make the gentry even more disunited? So Hu Jinyi said firmly: "The system of Baowen remains unchanged. Since the poor students don't have Baowen, they don't need to take the imperial examinations."

"There is no need to discuss this matter any further."

After saying that, he waved his hand and signaled to leave the court. A group of noble officials were overjoyed and kept shouting at Hu Jinyi for his wisdom. All channels for advancement must be controlled by the nobles, this is the unwritten bottom line among the Annan nobles. It is ridiculous that Fan Huai overestimates his own capabilities and wants to fight against the strong with an egg.

"Lord Fan, go home and have a good rest. Maybe in your dream, you can convince His Majesty to abolish Baowen?" Someone laughed at Fan Huai loudly.

Fan Huai lowered his head and said nothing, looking depressed. But no one saw that the corner of his mouth hidden in the darkness had already curled up with a hint of joy.

……

"Sir, my family has never been short of tax grain from the government, why do we have to pay again?" Somewhere on the edge of Thanh Hoa, a squire begged a small Annan official in uniform, bowing and kowtowed: "The harvest has been bad in recent years, and the family only has enough food for us and the tenants, so there is no surplus to hand over to the court."

"Please be kind and give me a chance to live. You will do me a great deed..."

Faced with the squire's servility, the officer was merciless and pushed the old man away with a heavy palm, saying, "Old man, don't try to get close to me, the officer."

"The higher-ups said that the country is in a difficult situation right now. Every citizen has a share of responsibility for the fate of the country. It is only natural that the people should suffer a little."

"The grain allocated to you must not be reduced in any way! You must pay it to the government tomorrow. Do you understand?" The official said fiercely, then turned around and left to inform the next family.

"What a sin! What a sin!" The old country gentleman sat on the ground, crying and wailing.

(End of this chapter)