Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 116 Write it all down in my daily notes! (Two in one)

All the court officials kneeling before the emperor were silent.

Zhu Houcong ordered, "The record officer!"

The new daily record official Xianfu immediately stepped forward.

"Please remember that today, there are officials like Zhang Zan, the Left Censor-in-Chief, who forced me to act like a tyrant and massacre the righteous people. They are truly vicious and cruel, so I have no choice but to execute them!"

"Issue an order to bring these ministers who kneeled down to advise me against the massacre of the people before the people, and tell them the reason. They should also be beheaded and displayed to the public, to prove that I will not allow such tyrannical officials to have the opportunity to harm the country and the people!"

Fang Xianfu bowed and agreed.

Zhang Zan and other court officials who knelt down to advise the use of force to suppress the people were all greatly shocked.

They didn't expect that the emperor's final choice would be to side with the people.

But if this is written into the daily notes, won’t I be infamous for eternity?
But now they didn't know how to explain it, so they could only cry and beg:

"Your Majesty, please have mercy. We are only speaking from the perspective of propriety! Woo woo!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"These treacherous ministers are so crazy that they want Your Majesty to be a tyrant and no longer be a saintly monarch. They also claim that they are asking for permission to kill people for the sake of propriety. When did propriety become something that harms the people? It is obvious that these treacherous ministers are disrupting propriety and confusing the emperor. It is not a pity to kill them!"

Liang Chu immediately praised him.

Cabinet minister Jiang Mian also followed suit and said, "According to the system of our dynasty, the people can speak to the emperor in person. Even the Great Edict states that the people can take officials to court to sue the emperor. Therefore, Zhang Zan and others have indeed misinterpreted the rites and politics, harbored evil intentions, and wanted to harm Your Majesty unjustly. It is not unjust to execute them!"

"I second the proposal!"

All the court officials present echoed him.

because.

Except for particularly stubborn ritual-protecting bureaucrats, no one really dared to say directly that the common people should be killed. Firstly, they were afraid that it would be recorded in the daily records. Secondly, one of the reasons why Confucian ethics could be widely accepted by people all over the world was that they openly advocated loving the people.

Therefore, they do not advocate killing the people outside.

"I not only love the people, but I also love them. If they were not so evil, why would I kill the ministers again?"

"I only hope that you can always think about the country and the people, and not just think about yourselves!"

Zhu Houcong pretended to be compassionate and continued speaking.

"Please keep this in mind."

Liang Chu and others replied.

then.

Zhu Houcong also ordered: "The ministers who knelt outside Donghua Gate to remonstrate should also be ordered to leave. If they refuse to leave, let the Jinyiwei arrest them and put them in prison! In addition, those who disobeyed the imperial order and refused to retreat and kneeled down to force the emperor to abdicate today at Zuoshun Gate should all be arrested and put in prison. According to the words of the Grand Tutor, the leader should be found and sentenced to death!"

"Yes!"

Qin Wen has already conveyed the order.

The Jinyiwei immediately arrested Zhang Zan and others and dragged them out of the city.

"be honest!"

The flag officers of the Jinyiwei, with a strong sense of justice, drove these stubborn and ritual-protecting court officials who were under their escort to be beheaded in front of the people.

The court officials who were hiding in front of the Zuoshun Gate were also arrested one after another by the Jinyiwei, whose names had been secretly recorded.

When Zhang Zan was dragged out, he could not help crying out in grief, "Your Majesty, Emperor Xiaozong, I am so sorry!"

then.

Zhang Zan sobbed again and said, "During the Hongzhi reign, the court officials should have urged the Xiao Temple to take in more concubines, otherwise how could we have come to this day! Woo woo!"

Donghua Gate.

Editor Wang Zhengyuan and others who were kneeling here to make remonstrances also refused to leave. When the Jinyiwei took them away, they could not help but bang the door and cry:
"Your Majesty, Emperor Xiaozong! We are incompetent and have failed to uphold the great ceremony. We are guilty of death!"

Click!

When Zhang Zan and other ministers who demanded Emperor Zhu Houcong to kill the people were beheaded in front of the people, the evil sons of the Kong family were beheaded in front of the people, and when the people saw many officials being taken away by the Jinyiwei, they all cheered as if it was New Year, and then gradually dispersed.

"The people are in great harmony!"

Zhu Houcong therefore sighed.

“Xunzi’s Wangzhi says: ‘Only when the common people are at peace with the government can the nobles be at peace with their positions. The saying goes: ‘The ruler is like a boat; the common people are like water; water can carry the boat, but it can also overturn it.’ ”

"Your Majesty has followed the will of the people this time. With the virtue of Emperor Taizong of Tang, the world will be at peace!"

Liang Chu followed suit.

Zhu Houcong smiled slightly, and then said to Yang Tinghe: "If the Grand Tutor had not arrived in time today, I would not have known that the people's hearts had already been on my side. I would have been intimidated by those ministers in Zuo Shunmen and thought that killing Kong Wenshao and others would really lose the people's hearts."

"In the daily records, be sure to record what the Grand Tutor said today, so that the world will know that my persistence in doing things that please the people is all thanks to the Grand Tutor!"

After hearing this, Yang Tinghe leaned back and almost fainted. He then laughed bitterly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. But in fact, your virtue has long been known far and wide, so the people naturally trust you more! It has nothing to do with me!"

"Your Majesty, I am still ill and cannot stay outside for long. I can only ask for your permission to leave. I hope Your Majesty will grant my permission."

Yang Tinghe then said another sentence.

He is indeed pale and looks very haggard now.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Houcong nodded in agreement and asked Yang Shen to help Yang Tinghe back.

After leaving Daming Gate, Yang Tinghe looked at the blood outside Daming Gate with a sad look on his face, and said to Yang Shen:
"That daily record cannot be kept!"

"If your father is unable to return to the court in the future, if you do return to rule, you must do everything you can to ensure that the daily records will not be passed down to future generations!"

Yang Shen nodded.

"My son, remember this!"

Yang Tinghe then said, "Your Majesty is really too powerful, but the more powerful the king is, the more he will understand that the world cannot be changed. Once it is changed, it will eventually destroy the foundation of the imperial power! After all, today these people can help the imperial power suppress the power of the scholars, and tomorrow they can also help the power of the scholars suppress the imperial power!"

"According to father, Your Majesty is only letting the people get involved this time as a last resort?"

Yang Shen asked.

Yang Tinghe nodded: "It should be."

then.

Yang Tinghe asked with a smile: "Is there really an emperor who loves his people like his own children?"

"Even if there is, he is just a confused emperor!"

“Since ancient times, herding people has been like herding livestock, but it is more appropriate to raise them according to the way of sages.”

"Your Majesty is wise enough to know that we raise livestock to use their strength and eat their meat, not to really want them to be like us, so that we can also be rich and leisurely!"

Yang Tinghe wanted to enlighten his son, so he continued to talk more.

Yang Shen nodded as if he had understood something: "Looking at it this way, we were indeed too hasty. We didn't expect that His Majesty would not be afraid of the invaders and would even continue to follow the example of the gentry and use the people to cause trouble."

"Yes!"

"Your Majesty can no longer be forced directly."

"Your Majesty may be smart, but he is still young, so he is arrogant and prone to extreme actions. Once he is right, he will not hesitate to kill people!"

Yang Tinghe replied. Yang Shen said, "But in this case, are we really going to sit back and watch the tax camp appear and even implement it nationwide in the future?"

"It will take time to implement this nationwide."

"You have to trust the ministers in the court. They will try to make Your Majesty forget about this matter, or even create obstacles for Your Majesty to reform the system!"

"The emperor is also a human being, and he only has twelve hours a day. As long as there are other things to do, this matter can be delayed until the emperor gives up on promoting the tax camps across the country, or even withdraws the tax camps, or even ends all reforms."

Yang Tinghe was not worried about Zhu Houcong's plan to reform the tax policy, because he believed that the Ming bureaucracy would not allow the ambitious Ming emperor to accomplish anything.

After all, there are many wise emperors like the current emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty, but in the end, the so-called reforms all came to nothing and did not change the overall situation of the world.

even.

Yang Tinghe still believed that the smart Zhu Houcong would give up on his own initiative.

……

Not long after Yang Tinghe left, Zhu Houcong asked everyone to disperse, and he returned to Qingning Palace, and also asked Liang Chu to go to the imperial study in Qingning Palace with him.

Right now, it’s the end of the year.

Zhu Houcong held a small hand stove, leaned against the window, looked at the fragrant wintersweets outside the window amidst the white snow, and said thoughtfully to Liang Chu:

"From what happened today, it's clear that there are still too many scholars and officials in the world who want me to be the only one to be sacrificed!"

"This is because, in the eyes of many people, since Your Majesty is the ruler of the world and holds the greatest power, he should make the greatest sacrifice."

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong asked with a smile: "Will the world be brought to order if I am sacrificed?"

"Even if I ask you to tear down the Forbidden City and leave me only a palace, and dismiss all the palace maids and eunuchs, the people of the world will not be much better off, just like the military pay and disaster relief funds that were allocated before."

Liang Chu replied, "Your Majesty is right. Everything should be done according to its root cause. The great evils of the world cannot be completely solved by sacrificing the emperor, but by completely changing the outdated system. However, there are too many people in the world who are conservative and lazy and only want to sacrifice the emperor. Therefore, even if we want to reform the system, it will be difficult to implement it at the moment. The Shandong tax camp can only stop in Shandong for the time being."

“It’s hard but we have to push it forward!”

“You can’t reach a thousand miles without taking small steps.”

"Tax reform should stop in Shandong first, just as land reclamation stopped in the capital and salt policy stopped in Lianghuai."

Zhu Houcong stood up and walked on the carpet in the room, saying, "Let's do the most urgent thing first! What do you think is the most urgent thing right now?"

"The question is how to accommodate the landless hungry people from Huaibei and Huainan who were transported to Beijing."

"It's freezing cold, and it's not a good idea to rely on the imperial court to provide coal and food all the time. We need to let them participate in the construction of the outer city as soon as possible."

"But as your majesty said, most of the wealthy merchants in the world are of the same mind!"

"The governor of the grain transport department reported that the grain transport in Nanzhi and Jiangxi was seriously insufficient. He said that the transport officers and soldiers were too harsh on the soldiers, which led to the delay of grain transport. But in fact, the fundamental reason was that there were many wealthy families who were dissatisfied with the current gift set by the court, so they owed a lot of taxes and grain. The court could not force them to pay taxes, because forcing them would be like asking local officials to collect taxes from the poor people."

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "We don't have to have grain to build a city. We can issue silver. Silver cannot just be kept in the warehouse without being circulated."

Liang Chu was greatly surprised when he heard this: "Your Majesty, do you want them and their families to buy food to fill their stomachs?"

Zhu Houcong nodded.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"If this happens, the price of grain in the capital will soar, which will in turn affect the prices of other commodities and cause unrest among the people."

"In addition, I am afraid that the employed people will be tempted by the pleasures of the capital and leave their families without food. In addition, silver is more likely to arouse greed among officials, and grain cannot be kept for a long time and is difficult to transfer and store, so greed can be curbed."

Liang Chu replied at this time.

Zhu Houcong knew that it was not an easy task to transform public infrastructure projects from a work-for-relief model, which was essentially a corvée system, into a labor-employment system.

If he wants to do this well, it is not enough to have just one decree, but he also needs corresponding decrees to prevent various situations from happening.

"Prime Minister is right!"

"But if I combine this with the reform of the currency system in Shuntian Prefecture, will it be more conducive to its implementation?"

"We will not issue silver directly, but will order the officials to make new coins, which are made of silver and copper. It is temporarily stipulated that Shuntian Prefecture can only use this new currency. Silver dollars are used for large transactions, and copper dollars are used for small transactions."

"If the grain price in the capital goes up, we will transport more grain from our stockpile and sell it only to people holding silver and copper coins, and then distribute it through salaries and wages."

"If any of the officials in charge of this matter embezzles the project funds or withholds wages, the Imperial Guards can investigate and confiscate the funds."

"As for some employed people who may not be able to control their own problems in the capital, a place of debauchery, then we should give their wages directly to their families."

Zhu Houcong said.

Liang Chu said: "It's rare that your majesty thinks of currency. The currency system of this dynasty is so bad. Forgive me for being frank. It's rare in history. Let's try it out in Shuntian Prefecture first. It's controllable and feasible. The main thing is that it won't take long, but it will take at least until the beginning of next spring."

"Then we can wait until the beginning of next spring. It's already the end of the year and it's freezing cold, so there's nothing we can do."

"As for the victims brought here, we will first organize them to clean the streets."

"Let the Ministry of Personnel nominate an official with the title of Censor to serve as the City Supervisor, who will be responsible for organizing the disaster victims and maintaining sanitation in the city. He will also form a city supervisory team to maintain order in the streets. Together with the Five Cities Military Affairs Division in charge of public security and the Imperial Guards in charge of investigating irregularities, they will each be responsible for different matters in the capital. Their main task is to make the capital cleaner and tidier, and to make business more orderly."

Zhu Houcong replied.

Liang Chu said: "Your Majesty, why don't you let an officer of the Imperial Guard take charge of this matter?"

"This is something that could easily offend the merchants and civilians. If the Imperial Guards are in charge, they may be too strict and intensify the conflict. It is better to let the civil servants do it. Civil servants are better at mediating conflicts."

Zhu Houcong replied.

"Your Majesty is right!"

Liang Chu thought to himself, how could the civil officials mediate? Didn't many civil officials want to kill all the people outside today? His Majesty clearly didn't want the Jinyiwei to do something that would offend people.

Liang Chu then immediately invited Zhao Huang, the Minister of Works, to the cabinet and talked to him about the currency reform: "What do you think of implementing the official currency of the court in Shuntian Prefecture, using silver and copper coins as official currency?"

"Of course it is a good policy that benefits the country, the people and the business community!"

"Prime Minister, this is truly the best news I have ever heard since I became an official. People all over the world are looking forward to currency reform just like a long drought looks forward to spring rain!"

Zhao Huang said with deep emotion.

Liang Chu said: "In this case, you should quickly check with the Engineering Department how many silver and copper craftsmen are still on the list, so as to prepare for the next silver and coin minting."

Zhao Huang bowed and praised.

then.

After Zhao Huang returned to the Ministry of Works, he told Zhang Jing, a doctor in the Yuheng Division of the Ministry of Works, about this matter and said, "We should inform the eminent monks in all the major temples in the capital as soon as possible!"

Zhang Jing asked, "Do you want the monks to stop this reform?"

"Of course!"

"The biggest disadvantage of unifying the currency system is the big money lenders in the capital. Every year, the common people, the scholars who come to the capital to study and take exams, and the bureaucrats inside and outside the capital all take money from them."

"Now that they can't release their money, how can they not be anxious? Moreover, they have always been close to the noble ladies in the harem!"

Zhao Huang said.

Zhang Jing immediately bowed and said, "Grand Marshal, you are so wise! Thank you for your teachings. I have learned a lot!"

Zhao Huang twirled his beard and smiled.

(End of this chapter)