The Ming Dynasty: The opening scene features Zhu Di angrily accusing him of illegitimate succession.

Zhu Di sat upright on his throne, his face showing deep thought.

Offering gifts and sending them under false pretenses—did he not know that some meritorious officials and their relatives were using the guise of rewards to secretly annex farmland from the people?

However, after the Jingnan Rebellion, the court was not yet stable, and the princes in the north were disloyal. If the privileges of the gentry were violated at this time, would it cause even greater turmoil?

Zhu Di's brows furrowed more and more, and he fell into a deeper state of hesitation.

Lin Yue continued to speak eloquently: "Local officials and scholars have tax exemption privileges. The more land they acquire, the less tax base the court has."

I fear that a hundred years from now, nearly half of the land in our Great Ming Dynasty will be hidden by the powerful and wealthy, and since the land will not be included in the tax register, the national treasury will naturally not be able to collect taxes.

To fill the gap, the only option is to increase taxes on the remaining people who are still able to make a living.

But this would force even more people to flee, further eroding the tax base, and the Ming Dynasty would fall into a vicious cycle: the more taxes were levied, the more the tax base deteriorated.

At this point, Lin Yue paused and said in a deep voice.

"And the beneficiaries of land annexation were the civil and military officials and nobles in the court, who were the implementers of power in the country."

They were deeply entrenched, regarding the annexed lands and tax-free privileges as the foundation of their livelihood. Whenever the imperial court wanted to implement reforms, investigate land, or equalize taxes, it would affect their interests and they would face fierce obstruction.

Any reform that touches their interests will either be abandoned halfway or distorted and alienated.

Over time, land annexation intensified, the imperial treasury dried up, and refugees flocked to the country; the Ming Dynasty was in grave danger!

As soon as Lin Yue finished speaking, Zhu Di leaned forward, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"According to you, if I were to remove the tax exemption privileges for scholars, surely the imperial tax revenue wouldn't decrease further?"

Zhu Di's question immediately revealed what he truly cared about.

As a feudal emperor, Zhu Di's position was ultimately that of the ruling class, and the livelihood of the common people was, in his view, merely a byproduct of maintaining the stability of the empire.

If he could ensure the Ming Dynasty's rule was secure without undermining its foundations, while also guaranteeing a full treasury and long-term stability, Zhu Di would have chosen to allow land annexation.

Lin Yue slowly shook his head, his tone resolute: "Your Majesty, just as I stated in my previous memorial, besides scholars, which of the imperial relatives, meritorious officials, or eunuchs and their relatives doesn't enjoy various privileges?"

Lin Yue thought for a moment and gave an example from the Song Dynasty.

"I can cite the Song Dynasty as an example."

During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, there were still as many as 5.3 million mu of cultivated land registered by the imperial court. Although the taxes were not heavy at that time, they were enough to ensure that the national treasury was full.

However, by the time of Emperor Renzong of Song, the cultivated land in the country was no less than that during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, and the number of households and commercial taxes were no less than that. Yet, the registered land area during the Huangyou era was only 2.3 million mu.

The actual cultivated area was greater than before, yet the imperial tax revenue decreased by more than 710,000 bushels.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di said, "That's the problem of the Song Dynasty officials enjoying tax exemption privileges. If I were to issue an order that all gentry, officials, and merchants in the Ming Dynasty pay taxes equally, without distinction or special privileges, that should plug this loophole and prevent the situation of increased land area but decreased taxes from happening again, right?"

Lin Yue shook his head, giving a negative answer once again.

"Your Majesty, there were already wealthy merchants in Jiangnan during the Yuan Dynasty. Now, there are many cotton textile factories in Songjiang, ceramic factories in Jingdezhen, and mining and metallurgical workshops in various places. The wealth accumulated by these merchants far exceeds that of ordinary farmers and even nobles."

Even if they pay taxes according to the law, their remaining wealth is still enough to allow them to aggressively acquire land.

Take Shen Wansan, the grandfather of Shen Senzhi, who owned the glass factory, for example. With his wealth, if he really wanted to buy land, he could have acquired half of the land in Suzhou Prefecture.

Your Majesty, consider this: if all the fertile land in the realm fell into the hands of such wealthy tycoons, would the court have the final say, or would these rich and land-owning magnates have the final say?

Zhu Di raised an eyebrow and smiled dismissively.

"This is alarmist talk; they're just profit-driven businessmen. What good is money anyway?"

"I hold the reins of the army and the power of life and death in my hands. To suppress their land purchases, a single imperial edict is enough. How could they possibly cause trouble for the court?"

"Just because they can't do it now doesn't mean they can't do it in the future." Lin Yue smiled, but his tone was very serious.

"When our Great Ming Dynasty was first established, although Emperor Taizu Gao established the order of the four classes of people, namely scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants, he did not set up a separate household registration for merchants. Merchants were all registered as commoners and could take the imperial examinations based on their commoner registration."

Although the Ming Dynasty outwardly suppresses commerce, its actual trade has already flourished.

Zhu Di frowned slightly; he roughly guessed what Lin Yue wanted to say.

So he countered, "The imperial examination system selects officials based on their talent; what does their background have to do with it?"

Lin Yue shook his head repeatedly.

"If one's stance is wrong, the higher one's knowledge, the greater the harm one can cause to the Ming Dynasty."

It seems that anyone can participate in the imperial examinations, but in reality, who are the majority of those who participate?

The key issue is not whether one can take the exam, but who has the ability to take it.

The imperial examination system, seemingly fair, actually required several years or even more than a decade of study. Children from impoverished families, even those with great talent and ambition, often found it difficult to fully dedicate themselves to participating in even one examination.

Lin Yue took half a step forward, his voice suddenly rising.

"What kind of people does Your Majesty think are capable of participating in the imperial examinations?"

In the early years of Hongwu's reign, most of those who participated in the Jiangnan provincial examinations were from commoner backgrounds. However, by the end of Hongwu's reign, two or three out of ten scholars were from official families, and one or two out of ten were from wealthy families in Jiangnan.

Even today, it's becoming increasingly apparent that many successful candidates in the imperial examinations (举人) received financial support from merchants after their deaths!

Zhu Di frowned and retorted, "Your words are an exaggeration."

Emperor Taizu valued agriculture and suppressed commerce, stating that agriculture was the fundamental task of the nation and commerce was a secondary skill. He decreed that servants, entertainers, and other people with questionable backgrounds were not allowed to take the imperial examinations.

Furthermore, your claim that two or three out of ten people in the late Hongwu period were sons of officials and one or two out of ten were wealthy households is even more inaccurate.

During the reign of Emperor Taizu, he strictly investigated officials who recommended candidates for personal gain. The imperial examinations favored talented individuals from humble backgrounds. The provincial examinations in the capital and prefectures required the provincial education officials to personally verify the candidates' place of origin, and the provincial administration allocated quotas based on population. Poor students also received stipends and government subsidies for travel expenses. How could wealthy families ever monopolize the examination halls?

Lin Yue immediately retorted: "This policy was already difficult to implement during the Hongwu era, and now that it is the Yongle era, the system of stipends and meals has been largely abandoned."

Moreover, the stipends and travel allowances were only available to students of government-run schools. Ordinary people had difficulty even getting into government-run schools, let alone having the opportunity to receive such assistance.

If even His Majesty cannot implement this policy now, how can he expect the succeeding monarch to use it to prevent the increasing number of wealthy people who take the imperial examinations?

Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to the education of ordinary people. He once issued an edict to establish schools in all prefectures, states and counties across the country, and "teachers and students were given a monthly stipend of rice of six dou per person, and officials were also given fish and meat."

Even in remote areas, such as Yunnan, which was very poor during the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang only reduced the distribution of grain rations, rather than completely withholding supplies.

Zhu Yuanzhang even considered the fact that ordinary people were unable to travel far from home. In the third year of Hongwu's reign, he stipulated a policy for postal services, allowing those who passed the provincial examinations to travel to the capital for the metropolitan examinations to eat, stay, and ride horses for free at post stations upon presentation of their tribute slips.

In wealthy prefectures and counties in the Jiangnan region, scholars would be given travel expenses to ensure that even those from impoverished families could participate in the imperial examinations.

Hearing Lin Yue's rebuttal, Zhu Di fell silent.

Because he was telling the truth, the stipend system had indeed fallen into disrepair to a considerable degree. As soon as he came to power, he felt that there was a shortage of money everywhere. Not to mention subsidizing poor scholars to take the exams, Emperor Yongle even had to pay officials' salaries with a combination of rice and paper money.

Zhu Di never really understood how his father managed to implement these abstract systems. Was his Ming Dynasty some kind of very wealthy dynasty?

Is it through the ruthless slaughter of the enemy? So, you're willing to kill anyone who dares to be greedy?

Seeing Zhu Di remain silent, Lin Yue pressed on and spoke loudly.

"Has Your Majesty ever considered that these poor scholars had no spare money to support their imperial examinations and were only able to enter the examination hall thanks to the help of merchants?"

Once they pass the imperial examination, would they forget the kindness of helping them in their time of need?

"Your Majesty, tell me, after they enter officialdom, will they be loyal to the court and to you, working for the well-being of the people, or will they secretly favor and support their own merchants?"

Zhu Di sneered, "Do they dare turn a blind eye? Do they think my sword isn't sharp enough?"

Emperor Yongle stood up, clearly slightly angered by Lin Yue's barrage of rebuttals.

"At the beginning of my reign, I issued an edict to send imperial censors to patrol the country. If they encounter any corrupt or lawless individuals, they shall be arrested and questioned according to the law. Serious cases shall be reported to the relevant authorities for handling!"

"If any official dares to neglect public duty for private gain, favor merchants, or condone tax evasion, I will first strip him of his official robes, then confiscate his property, and have him skinned alive and stood in the government office like a straw mat. Let's see who dares to defy the law then!"

Faced with Zhu Di's bold words, Lin Yue shook his head.

"These wealthy merchants were simply sponsoring impoverished students who couldn't afford to go to school, thus contributing to the prosperity of education through good deeds."

They used the money to donate funds everywhere to build academies, providing money, food, and tuition subsidies to impoverished scholars.

On what grounds will Your Majesty oppose something so clearly beneficial to the writing style? On what pretext will you execute someone?

Lin Yue looked at Zhu Di and continued to tell him about the historical process of collusion between officials and merchants, and how the Ming Dynasty was gradually corrupted.

"Once these officials, who have been won over by merchants, occupy the core of the court, the first thing they will do is to push the court to reduce taxes for big merchants and then shift the tax burden onto ordinary people."

In this way, merchants had more resources to acquire land, while the farmers who lost their land had no other choice but to become laborers at the mercy of the merchants.

"They also want to further eliminate the industries that the court can make money from, so that the court will be unable to make ends meet, monopolize land, control workshops, and amass wealth."

The imperial court was controlled by bureaucrats who colluded with merchants, and all decisions were made in their favor.

As the national treasury dwindles, they can easily manipulate the system to cut military pay and interfere in military and political affairs under the guise of cost-cutting, thus bringing the army under their control.

Lin Yue’s voice was firm and resounding: “Once money, politics, and the military are all controlled by officials and merchants, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty will be rotten.”

No matter how wise and powerful the ruler is, no matter how much they struggle, they will not be able to escape their impending doom.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty court was like a tree whose roots had been hollowed out; it appeared lush and verdant, but in reality, it was terminally ill.