Ming Dynasty: The Jingnan Rebellion has just been successful, and Zhu Yuanzhang has been resurrected

Chapter 125 Imperial Power and the Ruling Class, the Helplessness of the Ming Emperor

Tang He's expression froze upon hearing this, a bitter look on his face as he said, "Your Majesty, you finally know it."

He also thought that Zhu Yunhuan would sooner or later know that Zhu Yuanzhang was alive. After all, the entire Yingtian Prefecture was now under the control of Zhu Yunhuan. But he did not expect that this day would come so soon.

"It is true. Grandpa Tang, you have known for a long time that the emperor is not dead." Zhu Yunheng shrugged.

The result before him was not beyond his expectations.

Tang He looked up at Zhu Yunhuan with hesitation in his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, how do you plan to treat Taizu?"

It doesn’t matter whether Zhu Yunhuan knows that Zhu Yuanzhang is still alive. What matters is how Zhu Yunhuan will treat Zhu Yuanzhang.

He knew in his heart that Zhu Yuanzhang had changed his original attitude.

However, the change in attitude now cannot make up for the mistakes made in the past. Zhu Yuanzhang was not very good in treating Zhu Yunhuan.

He was a little worried that Zhu Yunhuan would use the same method to retaliate against him.

"Don't worry, I won't kill the emperor, nor will I imprison him. Not only that, I will treat him well!" Zhu Yunheng smiled.

"Huh?" Tang He was stunned, his eyes a little surprised.

Treat Zhu Yuanzhang well?
Given what Zhu Yuanzhang did back then, would Zhu Yunhuan treat Zhu Yuanzhang well?
Why doesn't he believe this?
Not to mention others, if he encountered the same experience as Zhu Yunhuan, he would definitely be filled with resentment.

Although Zhu Yunhuan's face was full of smiles now, no matter how you looked at it, this smile seemed a little cold.

Suddenly, Tang He's expression froze as he realized something: "No, this is just sarcasm. He doesn't want Your Majesty to die or be imprisoned because he's now on the throne and Your Majesty no longer poses a threat to him. Under these circumstances, if Your Majesty lives, this is the perfect way for Yun Hun to vent his anger."

Thinking of this, Tang He couldn't help but smile bitterly.

However, he also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "Your Majesty, this is all the karma you sowed. Didn't you say before that there was no way to make amends? Now it seems there is such a way."

He did not try to persuade Zhu Yunhuan, because he knew that even if he did, Zhu Yunhuan would not listen.

In fact, if Zhu Yunhuan gets annoyed by the persuasion, it might even have the opposite effect.

All in all, he is quite satisfied with the current results.

Zhu Yunhuan was not blinded by anger. Although he would vent his anger, he did not directly chop off Zhu Yuanzhang's head.

As long as Zhu Yuanzhang is not killed directly, the problem will not be serious.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang's future days, they may not be so easy. However, as an outsider, his feelings are not necessarily correct. Maybe Zhu Yuanzhang will be very happy?
After all, he had a chance to make up for his mistakes.

Zi Feiyu, know the joy of fish?
pretty good!
Tang He calmed himself down and said, "Your Majesty, there is something I need to tell you. It's related to Taizu."

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Tang He and said, "Speak!"

Tang He said, "In fact, when I went to Fengyang, it was not because of the order of the Crown Princess, nor was it because of the order of the Emperor Yunwen's grandson. It was the Emperor Taizu who asked me to go."

"Grandpa Emperor? Why did he ask you to go to Fengyang?" Zhu Yunhuan was stunned when he heard this, his eyes a little puzzled.

Tang He said calmly: "To save your life."

"Save my life?" Zhu Yunhuan was stunned, frowning and thinking for a while, and finally smiled and said, "This is in line with the emperor's character. Although I rebelled, I am still the blood of the Zhu family, right? Perhaps, there is also a little bit of my father's reasons."

Throughout the dynasties, there has never been an emperor who attached so much importance to family affection as Zhu Yuanzhang.

Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang, which one of them was not a man of great talent and strategy?
However, if a person is asked to choose between traveling back in time and becoming the son of Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, or the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, most people would probably choose Zhu Yuanzhang.

It’s simple, Zhu Yuanzhang is too protective of his own people!
Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang's crown princes Liu Ju and Li Chengqian were killed and deposed respectively. Let's look at Zhu Yuanzhang's crown prince Zhu Biao. Before he even took the throne, he had already set up a team in the East Palace and started to openly participate in state affairs. And all of this was set up with the help of Zhu himself.

Just outrageous.

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely greedy for power. In order to gain the little power in the hands of the prime minister, he thought hard and forgot to eat and sleep, and finally abolished the prime minister system.

However, when it came to his sons, he was too lenient with power and gave it away madly.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao was the most favored and received the best treatment. All other sons were also made kings and given full power.

Old Zhu, as a son, really shares all the benefits he has with his son without holding back at all.

Throughout history, there have been many dynasties that have been able to unify the country, but there can be no emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang.

He took the protectiveness of his own son to the extreme, openly helping his relatives without any hesitation.

I have to say, it’s really great to be Lao Zhu’s relative.

When he first came here through time and space, Zhu Yunhuan was also very happy.

However, he was soon beaten by Lao Zhu, and then he stopped laughing.

Today is different from the past!
Hedong in thirty years and Hexi in thirty years.

In the past, Zhu relied on his position as emperor to bully the young. Now don’t blame him, Zhu Yunhuan, for sitting on the throne and oppressing the old!
you get what you sow.

Where there is a cause, there is an effect!
Tang He did not respond to Zhu Yunhuan's words. He just told him what he knew. As for what Zhu Yunhuan would choose in the end, that was not something he should consider.

"Huh..." Zhu Yunxun let out a long breath and said, "Besides you, who else knows that Grandpa Huang is still alive?"

"Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying also know about it. I don't know who else knows about it," said Tang He.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded and said, "Okay, Grandpa Tang, you go down first."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tang He nodded, turned around and walked away. After taking two steps, he stopped again and turned to Zhu Yunhuan and said, "Your Majesty, Taizu now knows he was wrong."

After saying this, he turned around and left without stopping.

Zhu Yunhuan's face was calm and he was silent for a while, then a smile appeared on his face: "Don't you think it's a bit late to realize your mistake now?"

Belated affection is worse than grass.

If Zhu Yuanzhang had realized his mistake and released him when he was still imprisoned in Fengyang, perhaps he would have accepted the favor.

But it's too late now!

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Yan requests an audience!" Ma Sanbao walked over.

"Fourth Uncle?" Zhu Yunhuan was stunned and shook his head: "What a coincidence!"

After thinking for a while, he waved his hand and said, "Bring the person over here!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ma Sanbao nodded, turned around and walked away.

After a while.

Zhu Di came before Zhu Yunhuan and bowed, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Fourth uncle, no need to be so polite, get up!" Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhu Di looked very respectful and did not think that he was too presumptuous just because he was Zhu Yunhuan's uncle.

There is a difference between monarch and minister.

He is an uncle, but also a subject.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't say much. It was better to be a little more afraid to avoid any trouble in the future. Zhu Di was not a man who would stay content.

"Fourth uncle, what do you want to talk to me about?" Zhu Yunhuan asked.

"Your Majesty, there is something I don't quite understand and I would like to ask Your Majesty to enlighten me." Zhu Di said.

Zhu Yunhuan stared at Zhu Di and asked, "Abolish the preferential treatment for gentry?"

"Yes!" Zhu Di nodded, his eyes puzzled. "Your Majesty, why are you so anxious to abolish the preferential treatment for gentry?"

Unlike others, he saw Zhu Yunhuan's eagerness to abolish the preferential treatment for gentry, which made him very puzzled.

He also thought about it carefully. Although there were some inappropriate aspects in the preferential treatment of gentry, the benefits were far greater than those minor problems.

Therefore, he was very confused and didn't understand what Zhu Yunhuan was thinking.

"It's very simple. The preferential treatment for gentry has great flaws." Zhu Yunhuan said, he did not hide it.

There are many ways to bind the Ming Dynasty and the ruling class together.

Preferential treatment for gentry is just one of them, but this method has great flaws.

The historical answer is very clear.

If preferential treatment for gentry is implemented, only one situation will occur: the imperial power will be gradually hollowed out step by step. For the Ming Dynasty, this may not be a big deal. After all, the world will always belong to the Zhu family.

However, the Zhu family was not so friendly to the emperor.

Things seem to be very complicated.

But as long as we clarify the relationship between them, it will become very clear. Many people like to put the surname in front of the historical dynasties when they mention them, such as Liu Han, Li Tang, Zhao Song, and Zhu Ming.

In the eyes of many people, imperial power and dynasty are tied together. There is nothing wrong with this logic. However, to actually operate a dynasty, an individual is needed to truly manage it.

This is where the problem arises.

The Zhu family controlled the country, but the people who managed it were court officials, low-level officials and clerks, and they were the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty.

People are complex, they all have their own personal connections and interests involved.

After all, selfless people in the world are rare, and that is why they are always written about in great detail whenever they appear.

Use simple logic to explain the relationship between imperial power and the ruling class.

The Ming Dynasty belonged to the Zhu family, but they were only the most important component of the Ming Dynasty.

Let me tell you something that many people don’t know. In a feudal dynasty, the emperor could not do whatever he wanted, unless he was a tyrant.

Otherwise, imperial power needs to be coordinated and subject to certain constraints.

Of course, if the emperor is capable, his wishes can be carried out smoothly in most cases.

For example, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, their abilities are absolutely unquestionable. Even if there are people who oppose what they want to do, they can still accomplish it in the end.

However, they also need to compromise sometimes.

For example, if Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system, he also needed to find a suitable reason and could not abolish the prime minister system with just one word.

This is the case when one has strong abilities. If one does not have strong abilities, it will be even worse.

The emperors of the late Ming Dynasty died young one after another. Was it really because of illness?
If it was really due to illness, how could those capable emperors live longer? How come those princes lived so long?
To put it bluntly, the gentry's ruling power was too strong, and they undermined the emperor's authority.

This statement is not just empty talk, but has historical evidence. After who knows how many years, in the era when imperial power was supreme, there actually emerged an era of famous ministers, which demonstrates everything vividly.

What is the era of famous officials?

Throughout history, there have been so many capable ministers, so how come the era of famous ministers appeared in the Ming Dynasty?

To put it bluntly, in the late Ming Dynasty, the emperor's power had been plundered by his ministers.

With the blessing of power, the emergence of the era of famous officials became very normal.

If power is still in the hands of the emperor, there will be no era of famous ministers, but rather a revival of someone!

For example, the Zhaoxuan Restoration of the Han Dynasty, the Yuanhe Restoration of the Tang Dynasty, and at the very least, the Southern Song Dynasty of the Song Dynasty. But what about the Ming Dynasty?

The Restoration of the Ming Dynasty???
The Ming Dynasty did not revive!

Even if a capable emperor appeared, he would often be ruthlessly suppressed as soon as he emerged because he wanted to affect the interests of the gentry.

What happened to the emperor? The emperor must die too!
The imperial power and the power of the ministers are like a scale. If you have more on your side, he will have less on his side.

The ministers are accustomed to holding great power, and this has become deeply ingrained.

What? You, the emperor, want to take power? No way!
If you look closely at the history of the Ming Dynasty, you will find that the emperors of the late Ming Dynasty actually lived a very miserable life, worse than the emperors of any other dynasty.

This led to the emergence of many emperors in the Ming Dynasty who seemed very strange to ordinary people, such as the Cricket Emperor, the Immortal Emperor, the Carpenter Emperor, and so on.

What’s the matter? The Ming Dynasty is full of weird things, right?
Bad genes?

Zhu Yuanzhang, born a beggar, was the only emperor who successfully conquered the north from the south.

Zhu Di, a warmongerer, was the only emperor to conquer the Wolf's Lair.

Do you think the genes of these two people are not good?

Don't fool yourself. The reason why there were so many weird emperors in the Ming Dynasty was that they lost their power, and then these emperors simply chose to give up.

Of course, their tanking is passive to a certain extent, because if they don't tank, they might be killed.

It feels great to be in a bad mood. The ministers in the court fight each other to the death, but they all need to appease the emperor.

What can we do in this situation?

"Defect? ​​What defect?" Zhu Di asked in confusion.

Before coming to see Zhu Yunhuan, he first talked to Yao Guangxiao. The two could vaguely guess that Zhu Yunhuan's abolition of preferential treatment for gentry might be an inappropriate measure.

However, they don't know what's wrong.

"Let's take the simplest example. Gentry doesn't pay taxes or tribute. This preferential treatment can stimulate reading in the short term, but what happens in the long term?"

"As time goes by, the longer the Ming Dynasty exists, the more people will not pay taxes or grain. In fifty years, a hundred years, guess how much the court's tax revenue will be reduced compared to now?"

"For example, if someone passes the imperial examination, some of their relatives and friends will transfer all their land to the person's name, thereby evading taxes. How much less tax revenue will the court collect each year?"

"Or, if someone becomes greedy and, relying on their power, deceives ordinary people into transferring their land to them under the pretext of helping them evade imperial taxes, and then turns their backs on them afterwards, how much suffering could this cause to the people?"

Zhu Yunhuan had a calm expression and asked three questions in succession.

"This..." Zhu Di looked terrified, his face slightly pale.

The three points raised by Zhu Yunhuan were more serious than each other. Finally, he thought about what he should do if things developed to the situation Zhu Yunhuan mentioned, but he found that there was no way out.

The best way is to directly abolish the preferential treatment for gentry.

However, abolishing the preferential treatment for gentry at that time would be many times more difficult than it is now. Moreover, by that time the disaster would have already occurred, and even if the preferential treatment for gentry was abolished, it would be too late.

Who knows, if we change the preferential treatment given to the gentry, it might cause even bigger trouble.

Because the beneficiaries of the gentry's preferential treatment were not just one or two people, but the entire ruling class of the Ming Dynasty, who were already tied to the Ming Dynasty.

If we touch them, the emperor in power will die at best, and the foundation of the Ming Dynasty will be shaken at worst.

"Your Majesty, this preferential treatment for gentry should indeed be abolished. The problem is really too big." Zhu Di's face was solemn, and his heart was full of admiration for Zhu Yunhuan.

Apart from anything else, he didn't see these hidden dangers at all. In terms of vision alone, Zhu Yunhuan was better than him.

"What's wrong, Fourth Uncle, are you scared now?" Zhu Yunhuan smiled.

Zhu Di nodded and said, "I'm a little scared."

"Haha!" Zhu Yunhuan laughed and said, "What if I say that preferential treatment for gentry is even more harmful?"

"Ah? Is there a greater danger?" Zhu Di was confused.

He didn't expect that the preferential treatment for gentry, which he thought was good, would actually have such serious problems.

"Huh." Zhu Di took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, tell me, do you have any deeper questions?"

In his opinion, the problem Zhu Yunhuan just mentioned was serious enough.

There are deeper problems that he is a little afraid to imagine.

"Fourth uncle, although the imperial examination system seems to be open to everyone, do you think that ordinary people have a greater chance of passing, or that children from poor families have a greater chance of passing? Or that children from wealthy and powerful families have a greater chance of passing?" Zhu Yunhuan said softly.

Zhu Di was startled and said, "Of course he is a descendant of a noble family!"

Ordinary people, children from poor families, and descendants of noble families all have different starting points. Moreover, sometimes imperial examinations do not necessarily rely solely on strength, but also require interpersonal relationships.

For example, if the descendants of the Prime Minister take the imperial examination, they will definitely pass it with their eyes closed. Even if the legitimate grandson does not get the top spot, no one will care about him unless he gets the top spot.

"Your Majesty, is there any problem with this?" Zhu Di was confused.

What Zhu Yunhuan had just said was very serious, and he thought it would be terrifying, but in the end it felt just ordinary, even much worse than the three points Zhu Yunhuan had mentioned before.

Although it is a bit unfair to let ordinary people, children from poor families, and nobles compete together, there is nothing that can be done about it.

There is no absolute fairness in the world.

"Fourth uncle, you still don't understand." Zhu Yunheng shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Yunhuan with confusion.

Zhu Yunhuan let out a long sigh and said, "Third Uncle, think about it, if the gentry are treated preferentially and don't have to pay taxes or grain, and those noble families keep passing the imperial examinations, what will happen over time?"

Zhu Di was stunned, frowned and fell into deep thought.

Zhu Yunhuan had a calm expression and waited quietly without urging Zhu Di.

After all, he is the famous Emperor Yongle in history. He has already reminded us so clearly, so it is impossible that he still doesn't understand the interests involved, right?

(End of this chapter)