My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 84 Begins

After expressing his political views to Song Lian and others, Ma Yu was generally quite pleased.

After all this effort, we've finally made progress, and now we can get down to some concrete things.

Despite constantly reminding myself to stay calm, I was still quite pleased with myself.

I hid in the study and entertained myself for a long time before gradually regaining my senses.

Then I fell into a new round of contemplation.

After some time, Zhu Shuang burst in and said, "Old Ma... Old Ma... What are you daydreaming about again?"

Looking at him covered in sweat, Ma Yu laughed and asked, "Where have you been all this time?"

Zhu Shuang casually found a chair, plopped down, and said:

"The shop is making a profit, isn't it? Today we built a soup kitchen outside the city, and it really exhausted me."

Upon hearing this, Ma Yu's heart sank. The chaotic world brought a large number of refugees, and the original owner of this body was one of them who had fled from the disaster.

More than 4,000 people fled together, but less than 3,000 survived to reach Yingtian.

I don't know how many people are still alive now.

According to statistics from the imperial court, there are currently more than 100,000 displaced people in various parts of Yingtian.

After being relocated to various counties, there were still more than 50,000 people outside Yingtian City.

The imperial court built soup kitchens outside the city to feed the displaced people.

The simplest way for small organizations to do charity is to build soup kitchens.

Ordinary people wouldn't do this casually, but since they're not an ordinary organization, no one would say anything.

Ultimately, most of the benefits went to Zhu Biao.

Thinking of this, he asked, "With the world about to be unified, has the court said how to settle these refugees?"

Zhu Shuang shook his head and said, "We need to establish government offices and appoint officials in various places before we can settle the refugees. I estimate it will be next year."

Ma Yu felt even more somber, wondering how many more people had died in despair during this time.

But he also knew that Zhu Shuang was telling the truth; it wasn't enough to just conquer a place; an administrative system had to be built from scratch.

If an administrative system is not established, and migrants are sent there without being managed, it is tantamount to disregarding human life.

But while the logic is sound, for the displaced people, those six months were far too difficult to endure.

It's only the beginning of September, and the weather is still quite hot. What will we do in winter?
We need to think of a solution.

Previously, we were restricted in our actions and felt powerless, but now that we have gained a certain degree of autonomy, it's time to do something.

Just as he was pondering this matter, Zhu Shuang asked:

"What were you thinking about just now? You were so engrossed that you didn't respond when I called you several times."

Ma Yu casually said, "Didn't I just meet Mr. Song and the others? Your father will definitely call me to the palace tomorrow. I'm thinking about how to deal with him."

Zhu Shuang said warily, "I have to go to the soup kitchen tomorrow, so I don't have time to go to the palace with you."

Ma Yu chuckled and said, "This time we didn't talk about your father, we only discussed serious matters."

Zhu Shuang shook his head repeatedly: "I won't go on business... Never mind, I'll stay at the shop tonight and leave the city early tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he ignored Ma Yu's explanation, turned around and left without looking back.

Ma Yu was furious. This kid was judging others by his own petty standards.

We're half-brothers, do you think I'd lie to you?
What about trust?
Just as he had guessed, Wu Zhuo arrived the next morning:

"Young master, the Empress summons you to the palace."

Ma Yu nodded and asked, "His Majesty did not cancel court today, did he?"

Wu Zhuo laughed and said, "No, but His Majesty stayed overnight at the Empress's place last night."

The implication is that the couple read the confidential report together and made the decision together.

Zhu Yuanzhang went to court as usual, and Empress Ma summoned him to the palace.

Judging from the time, by the time they arrived at Kunning Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang should have just finished his court session.

Wow, this couple really work together well.

The two then chatted as they made their way to the palace.

When they arrived at Kunning Palace, they found that Zhu Gang and Zhu Di were also there, obviously having been summoned to attend the lecture.

After exchanging greetings, the group chatted casually.

Zhu Di treated Ma Yu with the same affection as always, calling him "cousin" repeatedly.

Zhu Gang, on the other hand, completely changed his attitude towards Ma Yu.

From being distant to becoming incredibly close, I asked him for advice on many things.

Ma Yu couldn't help but sigh, "Ability is the foundation of success."

Empress Ma sat to the side, watching their intimate interaction, and smiled happily.

While the group was chatting, Zhu Yuanzhang arrived with Zhu Biao.

Everyone saluted quickly.

After all that fuss, everyone sat down again.

Zhu Biao spoke first, recounting what had happened in the court, mainly the attitudes of the officials towards learning mathematics.

Finally, he casually asked Ma Yu, "What does my cousin think?"

Ma Yu laughed and said, "There are no fools in the court, they just don't want to learn."

Zhu Biao agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "That's what I think too."

“I’ve read the math book you wrote, and it’s not very difficult.”

"I have studied one-third of the contents of the second book."

"I've only been learning for about half a year. Even if they don't have the talent, five years would be enough for them to learn it."

Zhu Yuanzhang interjected, "That's the logic, but the people's hearts are not yet stable in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, so it is not advisable to put too much pressure on the officials."

"Otherwise, it would be bad if we drove them to become disloyal."

Empress Ma replied, "The most urgent task for the court now is to pacify the people, and the content of the first book is sufficient."

"I think it would be better to let the existing officials learn the first book."

"Five years later, the selection of officials will be based on the second book."

Ma Yu also thought this was a good decision.

The most important task for the Ming Dynasty at present is to establish a stable ruling system, then appease the people and restore vitality to the country.

As for developing industry and commerce and carrying out infrastructure construction, those are things for later.

You have to eat one bite at a time, and you have to go step by step.

Therefore, it is completely unnecessary to force existing officials to study the contents of the second book.

It would be better to just let them study the first book, then they would be too embarrassed to object anymore.

Once they all start learning, Ma's mathematics can quickly spread throughout the country.

To create conditions for the selection of officials five years later.

As for the attitude of scholars from the common people... without the support of officials, their opinions can be completely ignored.

The initiative was in the hands of the imperial court, and they had no room for bargaining.

Moreover, doing so has another advantage: it creates conditions for the subsequent transition between the old and new bureaucratic groups.

Nowadays, most officials are hastily recruited, and many of them are simply filling positions without real ability.

They can barely manage to do the work of pacifying the people and collecting taxes, but when the court expands the functions of officials in the future, these people will certainly not be able to do it.

Then they would be marginalized and replaced by new officials skilled in mathematics. Only after this was decided did Zhu Yuanzhang inquire about the true purpose of summoning Ma Yu to the palace that day:
"Yesterday you told Song Lian that you wanted to expand the functions of officials. Tell us in detail what that means."

Empress Ma, Zhu Biao, and others also looked over.

Ma Yu thought to himself, "Just as I thought. When I stated my political views yesterday, I knew that Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely talk to me about this matter."

He had already prepared his explanation for this matter, so he didn't hesitate and said directly:

Before I begin to discuss this matter, I would like to tell Your Majesty about two major trends in the development of history.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up, and he sat up straight, asking:

"Oh, what major trend?"

Ma Yu still didn't give a direct answer, but instead said:

"These two major trends may seem like two separate things, but they can actually be seen as one."

"Because their development is complementary and indispensable."

"I divided it into two lines simply for the sake of easier explanation."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but look forward to it even more, as he had become familiar with Ma Yu's style of telling history.

For minor matters, I get straight to the point and explain things quickly.

The more significant the issue, the more important the prerequisites will be.

Today's topic is obviously very important.

Empress Ma and Zhu Biao had the same expression, only Zhu Gang and Zhu Di thought their cousin was being too long-winded.

After stating the premise, Ma Yu got to the main point: "These two major trends are public power and civil rights."

Zhu Biao asked in confusion, "Public power? Civil rights?"

Ma Yu explained: "Public power refers to the extent of power held by the central government, while civil rights refer to the rights possessed by all the people."

Zhu Biao nodded knowingly.

Ma Yu continued, "This world is people-oriented. All culture and things are created by people and revolve around people."

"Without people, nothing has any meaning."

"Therefore, the extent of public power is related to the population it can directly control."

"The more people the imperial court controls, the greater its public power; the less people the imperial court controls, the less public power it has."

Zhu Yuanzhang and the others nodded to indicate that they understood. The principle was not complicated, and they naturally understood it.

Ma Yu paused for a moment, and seeing that they had no questions, continued:
"We don't know much about what it was like before the third generation, so let's not talk about it. Let's start from the third generation."

"During the Xia and Shang dynasties, due to the backwardness of productivity, the imperial court was unable to directly control the vast territory, so it enfeoffed vassal states."

"Besides the vassal states that were granted fiefdoms, there were also many vassal states."

"The so-called submission of a state means that other states voluntarily submit to the Xia and Shang dynasties out of fear of them."

"But this submission is nominal; the country still operates according to its own set of rules."

Zhu Di, quick to speak, asked, "Is Goryeo a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?"

Ma Yu smiled and said, "Yes, Goryeo is also a vassal state, but their culture has become very similar to that of China."

"And the countries of Southeast Asia are also all subjugated."

"The imperial court's influence over the national affairs of the country is actually very limited."

"The people of the country are loyal to their own ruler, not the emperor of China."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was somewhat unpleasant. Although it was true, it was a huge slap in the face for him as the emperor.

Ma Yu ignored him and said, "Let's continue talking about the Xia and Shang dynasties."

"Whether they are vassal states or subjugated states, they are actually small regimes."

"The central government's control over them is very weak."

"Furthermore, regarding civil rights, due to low productivity, the people were controlled in individual villages and forced to participate in collective labor."

"Not only are they deprived of personal freedom, but they are also not allowed to own property, so there is no question of civil rights."

"The key point is that the common people were nominally subjects of the rulers of the Xia and Shang dynasties, but in reality they were loyal to the rulers of other states."

“Within the states there are also fiefs, and the real rulers of these people are the fief lords.”

"If the central government cannot directly control the population, it will be even more difficult to exercise public power."

Zhu Biao and the others couldn't help but nod in agreement; the monarch's authority back then was certainly not as great as that of the current emperor.

As for concentrated labor, this was discussed before when talking about productivity, and they were able to understand it.

Combining the two at this point makes the thinking even clearer.

Ma Yu continued, "During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family swept across the world, not only destroying the Shang Dynasty but also most of the vassal states."

"They distributed their meritorious nobles to others to control the world for them."

"Moreover, the Zhou royal family also established a system of rites and laws, requiring the vassal states to emulate them in terms of culture and systems."

"This means that the Zhou royal family had stronger control over the vassal states and that public power was expanding."

"In terms of civil rights, the implementation of the well-field system gave people ownership of agricultural tools and the right to use some land."

"Although they still lacked personal freedom, their rights were improved compared to the Xia and Shang dynasties."

Hearing this, Zhu Biao suddenly understood and excitedly replied:

"With the development of productivity, the well-field system was destroyed and the land allocation system emerged, and civil rights were further enhanced."

"The Qin state bypassed the powerful and wealthy and directly granted land to the common people."

"The power of the nobility was reduced, while the power of the public was strengthened again."

"After the Qin Dynasty unified China, it established prefectures and counties and registered all people, which further expanded public power."

Ma Yu said approvingly, "Your Highness is wise indeed."

"The Qin Dynasty ushered in an era of centralized power, with public authority becoming stronger than ever before."

"Correspondingly, after the registration of households and the establishment of the common people, even the lowest-level people gained nationally recognized status."

"During the pre-Qin period, the term 'common people' referred to the descendants of the powerful and wealthy. Ordinary people did not have surnames and were called 'Qianshou' by the people of that time."

"After the registration of households and the establishment of the common people, the common people were given surnames, which led to the current term 'common people'."

"In addition, the imperial court also stipulated the rights enjoyed by the people, and the people's rights were also improved."

Zhu Yuanzhang was also very happy, as he had naturally thought of these things.

But Zhu Biao's ability to understand these things and express them accurately made him even happier than if he had thought of them himself.

Empress Ma felt the same way; her son was becoming more and more successful, and nothing could make her happier.

Zhu Gang also admired him greatly; he could keep up with his cousin's train of thought, truly worthy of being the eldest brother.

Only Zhu Di looked bewildered; he didn't quite understand what he was hearing.

His face was etched with the words "I don't understand, but it's impressive."

Consort Chang, who was listening in, was also very happy, as Zhu Biao was her future husband.

She was proud of her outstanding performance.

Encouraged, Zhu Biao was even happier and continued:
"Emperors such as Emperor Wen of Han abolished various cruel punishments, and the people's lives became better. This was also a manifestation of the improvement of civil rights."

"Emperor Wu of Han completed the unification of thought and further expanded public power."

Is that so?

This time, Ma Yu said, "Yes, but not entirely."

"In fact, during the Han Dynasty, public power and civil rights actually regressed."

(End of this chapter)