Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 126: People’s morale is rising, and the people of Jin are moving their graves!
Zhang Juzheng's cabinet left the palace.

They brought back evidence of treason against the Shanxi merchants and evidence of corruption against the Xishan officials. According to Ming Dynasty law, the Jinyiwei had done nothing wrong.

The court was silent.

However, the people were in an uproar and were indignant at the behavior of the Shanxi merchants. The curses went beyond the boundaries of eighteen generations of ancestors, and all their ancestors were affected.

If Xishan was not still under martial law and people were not allowed to enter and exit freely, countless Chinese people would be flocking to Xishan to dig up the ancestral graves of Shanxi merchants.

The rising rage made many Xishan people tremble with fear, and their fear was even greater than that of the Jinyiwei who committed the killing.

After all, the Jinyiwei only killed the Shanxi merchants who collaborated with the enemy and committed treason, and implicated the nine clans of the Shanxi merchants, while leaving the rest alone. Once the angry people rushed in, their anger would probably implicate all the people of Xishan and their dead ancestors.

Xishan is the ancestral home of Shanxi merchants. There are many smart people in Xishan who know that if they continue like this, their ancestral tombs will be in danger.

As a result, a vigorous grave relocation campaign was carried out throughout the Xishan Mountains.

Don’t worry about whether the feng shui is good or not, just move first, move to a place where there are few people, move to the deep mountains and forests.

It comes out at night and rests during the day.

In Xishan, every household hung mourning clothes and no one was seen, making it seem like a ghost town.

At the beginning, Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda, and Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyiwei, thought that the people of Xishan were wearing mourning clothes for the dead Shanxi merchant, and prepared to have their men tear off all the mourning clothes.

At night, they heard the people of Xishan digging up their own ancestral graves, cursing the Shanxi merchants, and burying their ancestors again. They all silently asked the soldiers and Ti cavalry to disperse.

With the cooperation of the Xuanfu, Datong, Xishan armies and over ten thousand Jinyi envoys, they dug a large pit similar to Wenying Lake, and then threw the bodies of the dead Shanxi merchants into it.

Every time a layer was filled at the bottom of the pit, a large amount of flaming oil was poured on it. Then, a diabolo was used to raise it slightly to create a gap, and the bodies of the Shanxi merchants were continued to be filled in the pit. This cycle was repeated to form a chimney to prevent the pit from not burning through.

Standing in front of the huge pit with hundreds of thousands of corpses, Wang Chonggu and Lu Bing seemed to experience the feeling of Bai Qi, the general of Qin Dynasty, who killed 400,000 Zhao soldiers in a pit in ancient times.

Wang Chonggu and Lu Bing threw torches into the mass graves of hundreds of thousands of people almost at the same time. A single spark can start a prairie fire, not to mention the addition of flaming oil.

The flames quickly spread across the entire pit, lighting up half of the sky above the Western Hills. The fire was burning the corpses, and the corpse oil fueled the fire, which was burning fiercely.

The gradually colder weather now makes people in Xishan feel like they are back to the warmth of summer.

But the smell of the burning corpse oil was so unpleasant and pungent that even the battle-hardened soldiers in the border towns and the cold-blooded and ruthless envoys in brocade uniforms could not stand it. They retreated from the periphery of the sea of ​​fire and took turns guarding the sea of ​​fire to prevent the flames from splashing out and igniting the distant mountains or fields.

Shanxi merchants are burning.

The imperial court was not idle, however. The news that the emperor had issued an edict to exempt the people of the Ming Dynasty from taxes for three years caused great celebration among the people.

In the two capitals and thirteen provinces, everyone was praising the emperor's kindness.

At least at this time, Zhu Houcong's reputation surpassed that of Emperor Taizu Gao, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

Public sentiment is surging.

Zhu Houcong watched as the system's public support rose from fifty-six to eighty-nine. While he was delighted that the three great titles had been completely stabilized, he also gained more insights into public support.

The people of the world don't ask for much.

If you have enough food to eat and enough clothes to wear, you will not have the heart to rebel.

Those who are truly endangering the world are not the farmers, but those in power, the weak scholars, and the profit-seeking businessmen.

These ungrateful people!
Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, farmers and craftsmen are the cornerstone of the country!
When we unite the workers and peasants and win their hearts, a peaceful and prosperous era will come. On the contrary, when we become increasingly alienated from them, disasters will be approaching.

however.

It's easy to fight the country, but it's hard to keep it.

The purpose of building a kingdom is to prevent future generations from suffering. The descendants who guard the kingdom are the ones who reap the fruits of others' labor. They are lazy and cannot distinguish between grains, and the people become pariahs.

The imperial power was becoming increasingly powerful, until it became so powerful that the workers and peasants could no longer see it. This was the time when the Ming Dynasty was about to fall.

The imperial power cannot be too high, and the official power cannot be too high. Since the people regard the officials as their parents, the officials should experience the hardships and sufferings that the children have suffered.

Entering the court as a Hanlin and holding a high position is not the long-term solution for a country.

"Huang Jin!"

"I'm here." Huang Jin came to the gauze curtain, leaned forward slightly, waiting for the emperor's will to come down.

"Issue: From now on, those who have not served in the government of the county, prefecture, and province levels are not allowed to serve as officials in the court!"

Zhu Houcong's voice seemed to come from the sky.

In the past, Hanlin Academy Hanlin had the reputation of "prime minister in reserve", and there was also a crazy saying in the court that "only Jinshi can enter Hanlin, and only Hanlin can enter the cabinet."

Now, it has changed!
He had never served as a county magistrate, prefect, or governor, had no experience in running a third-level government office, and he could not even be an official in one of the six ministries, let alone one of the nine ministers or the distant cabinet ministers.

His Majesty was hitting the heads of those scholars who were unable to lift, shoulder or see.

Huang Jin could imagine the reaction of the scholars, but this had nothing to do with him as a eunuch. "I obey your order!"

Huang Jin was about to draft an imperial decree when he heard the holy voice again, "Issue an imperial decree: From today on, the commercial tax will be raised to 20% tax, the same as the agricultural tax!"

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Taizu Gaozu stipulated the commercial tax, "one in twenty". Although merchants had a low status, the benefits they received were real. The low commercial tax made the merchants of the Ming Dynasty make a lot of money during the two hundred years.

Moreover, as social customs changed and as identity gradually became controllable, merchants slowly broke through the many restrictions imposed on them by Emperor Taizu Gao.

Merchants can wear silk, buy official positions, and find ways to enter the government. They are no different from ordinary craftsmen and farmers, and commercial taxes should also return to normal.

As for whether it will dampen the enthusiasm of businessmen to trade, people who do business are no different from officials.

It’s just that businessmen chase money, while officials chase power. Once you have power, everything else will come.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty had no shortage of officials, let alone people who were not good at doing business. This was just an appetizer.

The things that truly prevented the Ming Dynasty from becoming as prosperous as the Song Dynasty will be taken back after the Jinyiwei has resolved the issue of the Shanxi merchants.

Salt, iron, wine, and tea are not things that businessmen can touch or get involved in; they must be state-owned.

The surge in public opinion allowed Zhu Houcong to no longer worry about so many things and to do anything that was beneficial to the country and the people.

No matter whose interests are affected, no matter who stands in the way, there is only a dead end!
Two edicts were issued in succession.

Huang Jin, who always walked as silently as a cat, slowed down his steps and made a slight sound.

Drafting the decree and conveying it all in one go!
(End of this chapter)