The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 337 Involution
"Zhu Youjian has placed you and your daughter under house arrest, causing Madam to suffer such injustice for no reason. I will not forgive him. I will send the Emperor on his way in a few days."

"Ah, are you really going to kill the king?"

After a sweet sleep, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Yang Qing'er was affectionate with her husband again. She was extremely charming and her face was flushed. When she heard that the emperor was going to die, she opened her eyes wide in shock.

Although Yang Qing'er's eyes were not as charming as Zhang Yan's, they were clear and bright, like a clear spring, which made people never tired of looking at them.

Liu Zhaosun held her cheek with his hands and said with a smile:
"Don't worry, Madam. I'm not Sima Zhao, how could I kill the emperor? I've already found an excellent location to reunite Zhu Youjian with his brother."

After all, Yang Qing'er was born into a family of officials and had read the Four Books and Five Classics as a child. Although she was unruly, she still had Confucian ideas at heart, such as the relationship between ruler and subject.

When she heard her husband say that he would arrange a reunion between the emperor and the late emperor, her face suddenly turned pale:

"Husband, what do you mean by this?"

Seeing her anxious look, Liu Zhaosun decided not to hide anything anymore. He started from the time when the emperor came to Beijing to support the emperor and captured the city last year, and continued to talk about how Kang Yingqian secretly replaced Zhu Youxiao with a eunuch from the East Factory, so that he could be mistaken for the real one and was burned to death in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace.

"So, Emperor Chongzhen never died. Zhang Dong and Liu Xingzuo sent him to Jeju Island to live with Gwanghaegun. Gwanghaegun almost killed me and my adoptive father, and the late emperor was also hostile to me, so they let the two of them accompany each other and grow old together. I guess Zhu Youxiao should be living well now. When Emperor Tianqi abdicates, Zhu Youjian will be sent there as well, so that the brothers can be reunited."

Yang Qing'er knew her husband was hiding many things from her, but she didn't mind. It was not appropriate for her husband to discuss military and national affairs with a woman like her.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and said anxiously:
"Does the King of Joseon know? Li Jong wanted to kill you. If he knew that the emperor was imprisoned on Jeju Island, he would use this as an excuse to attack you..."

Liu Zhaosun waved his hand and said with a smile:
"He doesn't know that Jeju Island is now guarded by the Minoyi Guards, and no ships are allowed to travel in the surrounding waters."

Yang Qing'er nodded after hearing this, and mustered up the courage to ask:

"Does my husband really want to be the emperor?"

Liu Zhaosun was slightly stunned, then hugged Yang Qing'er in his arms again:
"What? I can't be the emperor? I don't look like an emperor?"

Yang Qing'er quickly shook her head.

Liu Zhaosun said proudly:

"I now occupy four thrones: one for Korea, one for Japan, one for Mongolia, and one for Ryukyu. I can't be emperor of so many by myself!"

Yang Qing'er rested her cheek on her husband's chest, looked up at Liu Zhaosun, and said softly:

"Kaiyuan has a hundred thousand strong soldiers, looking down upon the world. Your husband also has the power of Mongolia, Korea, and Japan, and the red-haired barbarians to help him. Your husband's strength today is more than ten times that of the Jiannu. The Ming Dynasty is just a broken house made of paper, which will be broken at the slightest poke. Back then, I dared to rebel against the Ming Dynasty with the seven great hatreds, so of course your husband can do the same."

Liu Zhaosun showed a proud look. Although he often heard similar words from his subordinates, today it came from the mouth of his beloved woman, which greatly satisfied his desire to conquer, and the effect was naturally incomparable.

"However."

Liu Zhaosun's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged.

Yang Qinger continued:

"I am not very talented or well-educated, and I don't have much experience, but I have read some history books. Throughout history, powerful ministers have ascended the throne in the name of abdication, but few have succeeded in the end. Aside from Wang Mang of the Western Han Dynasty, there was only Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty, and both of them ended up in a bad way."

Liu Zhaosun nodded slightly, looked at Yang Qing'er, and motioned her to continue.

"In the two hundred years since the founding of our dynasty, nothing like this has ever happened. Forget about abdication, even the slightest threat to imperial power would lead to public condemnation. Zhang Jiangling is a prime example."

Liu Zhaosun restrained his smile and looked serious, wanting to hear what Yang Qing'er had to say about Zhang Juzheng.

"Zhang Taiyue was in power, with the full support of Empress Li and Feng Bao, and the support of generals like Qi Jiguang. The court was united, both inside and outside, and the whole family was united. This is how he carried out his iron-fisted reforms and ruled for ten years. However, once the young Emperor Wanli grew up and became intolerable, the Zhang family was doomed."

"The imperial power is not as weak as my husband thinks. Any act of usurpation should be carefully considered. Right now, people's hearts are not with us, so we must not act hastily. The Kaiyuan Army can control the northern Zhili region, but it is far away from Jiangnan, Huguang, and Yunnan, not to mention Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou. If the whole country is in turmoil, the gains will outweigh the losses."

"Then what do you think, Madam?"

Liu Zhaosun looked at Yang Qing'er with a sharp gaze.

"I am but a woman, and I dare not speak carelessly on matters of military and national importance."

Liu Zhaosun chuckled.

"You've already said so much nonsense, so don't hide it anymore, just speak out."

After hearing this, Yang Qing'er stood up, put on her cloak, lit the whale oil lamp, and took out a piece of Korean paper from under the table.

Liu Zhaosun took it and looked at it, then read the beautiful characters on the paper: "Reducing public opinion, strengthening discipline, enforcing imperial decrees, verifying facts, strengthening the foundation of the state, and strengthening military preparations."

He put the paper down and said in surprise:
"Isn't this Zhang Juzheng's reform program?"

"Exactly."

Yang Qing'er smiled slightly:
"Looking at the reforms of past dynasties, they all follow this eighteen-character motto."

"If you, my husband, want to truly control the world, you can start from this point. Under the guise of usurpation, you can actually carry out reforms. Seizing power and reforming the law are mutually reinforcing. Specifically, start with personnel matters. Follow Zhang Taiyue's example, suppress the censors, control the imperial censors, and then..."

Liu Zhaosun's head buzzed, and the door to a new world opened.

"In the name of usurpation, they actually carried out reforms; these were the two sides of the same coin."

He repeated it silently, as if he had understood something, but also as if he had not figured it out yet.

Compared to Yang Qing'er's insightful analysis later, he cared about this sentence the most.

"Madam, you want me to be even tougher than Zhang Jiangling, to use my authority to enforce the reforms and eliminate local opposition until I have complete power and the time is right to become emperor."

Yang Qing'er was talking about the policy of suppressing gentry during the land survey. Seeing that he finally understood, she smiled and nodded.

"Seizing power and reforming the law are two sides of the same coin; there's no order of precedence. I believe that reforming the law is, in fact, seizing power. My husband has fought in every corner of the country, and he's never been defeated in a hundred battles. However, suppressing with authority cannot last long. Currently, Kaiyuan's military is strong, and evil is lurking. Twenty years from now, if there's a change, the evil will rise up and cause chaos. Reforming the law is both a warning to the enemy and a preventative measure."

As Yang Qing'er spoke, she handed over another thick stack of atlases.

Liu Zhaosun looked at his wife in confusion and couldn't help but look at her with admiration.

I casually opened a page and saw some names, acres of land and properties recorded in the album.

"Isn't this the Yellow Book of Hejian Prefecture (Note 1)? I heard Kang Yingqian and others say that this thing was no longer used during the Chenghua period. The records on it are all muddled accounts, used by local prefectures and counties to deceive the court. What do you want with it?"

Liu Zhaosun was completely confused.

"Don't worry, my dear. These are what my father asked someone to get from the Ministry of Revenue. They only cover some prefectures and counties in Northern Zhili. I compared them one by one with the white registers (Note 2) of several prefecture and county offices and made notes on them."

"How can you get the county register?"

Yang Qing'er chuckled.

"Well, don't tell my husband yet."

Liu Zhaosun quickly put on his clothes and got out of bed.

By this time, the sky was already bright, and the earth-shaking training shouts of the new recruits of the 9th Guards Army could be heard from outside the city.

Shaoyao brought hot water and prepared to help the Duke of Huguo wash up.

Liu Zhaosun didn't bother to wash his face. He held the thick stack of atlases in his hands, which seemed quite heavy.

He read it carefully and couldn't help but marvel at it.

Yang Qing'er asked Shaoyao to leave first.

She came to her husband, pointed at the album, and compared them one by one:
"My dear husband, please look at this. This is the amount of land surveyed by Zhang Taiyue in the eighth year of the Wanli reign. This is the amount they collect annually. The last one is the amount they report to the court. Look at the difference between these three. When we conduct an inventory of land, we will start with Hejian Prefecture."

Liu Zhaosun looked at the album in his hand, which was densely covered with beautiful handwriting, and murmured:
"You did all this by yourself?"

Yang Qing'er smiled, raised her cheeks, and looked at her husband, as if she had just received a red flower and was waiting to be praised.

"I thought Madam was already extraordinary for guarding the rear, coordinating military supplies, and handling civil affairs, but I didn't expect her insights into government affairs to be so profound, just as profound as Kang Yingqian and the others! A woman is as capable as a man! I admire you! I admire you!"

The Duke of Protectorate said this, but he was speechless in his heart.

While Jin Yuji was busy updating her fantasy novel, Yang Qing'er was working on reorganizing the land tax system of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhang Yan was also studying the art of controlling men.

It turns out that his harem has become so entangled.

Note:
1. Yellow Book: In the 1381th year of the Hongwu reign (10), the Ming government established the Yellow Book system, building upon the household registration system. This system recorded, for each household, detailed information about one's hometown, name, age, number of people, land and property, and assets. Household registration was also divided according to occupation, primarily into three categories: civilians, military personnel, and artisans. The Yellow Book was completed annually, with local officials verifying changes in population, land and property, and assets. The accumulated data served as the basis for the annual compilation of the Yellow Book. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the system fell into complete disuse.

2. After the middle of the Jiajing period, the yellow book system gradually lost its value, so a set of books appeared that were used exclusively for practical use by county and prefecture governments, but were not reported to higher authorities. At that time, they were called the actual collection books, or the actual collection yellow book, or the white book.

(End of this chapter)