Chapter 321 Destruction and Rebirth
After Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne, he was ambitious to transform the Ming Dynasty.
He saw the problem of the Ming Dynasty, which could be summed up in one sentence: lack of money!
Where does the money come from?
It’s just four words: increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Open source is not easy for the time being, so let’s cut costs first.
He started with the royal family, thinking that the scholars and officials would have nothing to say.
But what he didn't expect was that not long after he took action, Yang Tinghe and others triggered the Great Ceremony Debate Incident.
What reform, what country and people... We want you to bow your head!
Emperor Jiajing has been forbearing and compromising...
But the other party regarded his tolerance and compromise as weakness, so the Taoist got angry.
Melon rind!
As a result, the two sides turned against each other, and Emperor Jiajing used his natural advantages as an emperor to frequently attack, and the other side was unable to resist for a while.
There is no way. I am the emperor and I am in the right.
After a fierce battle between the two sides, the battle ended with the victory of Emperor Jiajing and his mother.
The other side chose to lie dormant, but from then on the king and his subjects became strangers, and both sides continued to trip up each other and use underhanded tactics in secret.
Emperor Jiajing felt that this situation was good. As for those shady tricks, to be honest, they were nothing in his eyes.
"Those fires!" The Taoist held his forehead with his hand, as if he had returned to the palace that year.
A fire broke out in the bedroom late at night. If Lu Bing and Zhu Xizhong had not rescued him, Emperor Jiajing would have been reduced to ashes.
After a thorough investigation, a conclusion was reached: the candle was left behind by a palace maid.
The Taoist was skeptical.
When he encountered a fire for the second time, everyone realized that this was not a simple matter and that someone was manipulating it behind the scenes.
Who else could it be?
Those seemingly dormant scholars.
From then on, Emperor Jiajing never left the capital again.
He was like a tiger that had drawn a circle on the ground to make a prison for himself, trapping himself in the palace and feeling safe.
But when he woke up from his sleep one day, he found several palace maids holding ropes and preparing to strangle him.
Where are the guards?
What about the eunuchs?
That night seemed to have disappeared.
From then on, he knew that the goal of those scholars and officials was not the government or the world, but their own wealth and glory.
For this reason they dared to kill the king.
That time, Daoye thought he was really going to go.
But unexpectedly, the palace maids, in their panic, actually tied the rope into a knot.
After escaping the disaster, Emperor Jiajing knew that his enemies were all over the world and he didn't know how many of them had spies in the palace.
Going to Xiyuan was just a gesture. If the fight really continued, he would not be able to escape.
He then pushed the prime minister aside and built a wall of isolation between himself, his ministers, and the literati.
I give up!
This is the posture of Emperor Jiajing.
The subsequent situation was as boring as a daily family drama in later generations, and both sides lived in peace.
Until the prince was poisoned to death.
Only then did Emperor Jiajing realize that those people had been watching him.
If he shows any flaw, those people will attack again.
Historically, the death of the crown prince made Emperor Jiajing completely decadent. He no longer cared about his two sons because he knew that those people needed the future emperor to be controllable. The less he cared, the more at ease those people would be, and the safer his two sons would be.
As for the government, Emperor Jiajing certainly knew that Yan Song and his son were greedy, but he deliberately indulged the father and son and allowed them to suppress those ministers.
He watched with glee as his wall beat up the scholars.
It feels so good that I can't stop pumping.
Until Jiang Qingzhi appeared.
He stood on the side of the separation wall, on one side he was irreconcilable with the Yan Party, and on the other side he was like water and fire with the literati.
He gathered a group of people. Although they seemed small in number, their fighting power was extremely strong.
Unconsciously, the situation was gradually changing, and Emperor Jiajing found that he seemed to be able to move.
Then let’s move!
He wanted to see how his old rivals would respond years later.
In the first game, the opponent was beaten badly.
The second round begins...
Ma Qian said coldly: "We have been educating the world for many years to achieve this great situation. What does Lord Wei mean by that we have become a disaster to the world?"
This is to arouse people's anger and cause public outrage.
Wang Qi whispered, "Shanzhang, it's time to fight back."
Li Chang shook his head slightly. "No one thought that Jiang Qingzhi would dare to reveal the matter of land annexation and population collection. Now there is no way to fight back. Do you understand? He just needs to hold on to this matter, and we will be speechless. The only way is to make him retreat when he sees the difficulty."
"Yes, if he insists on his own opinion, he will become the public enemy of the world!" Wang Qi sneered, "How many people in the world are annexing land and taking in people. It's fine if he said it in private, but if he said it in front of the emperor and his ministers, it would be a formal attack."
Jiang Qingzhi took a puff of medicinal smoke and said in the curling smoke: "Half of the taxes of the Ming Dynasty went into your pockets, and millions of people became your slaves. This is not over yet. How to solve the other problems of the Ming Dynasty?"
"When I went to the northwest, I saw hundreds of enemy cavalrymen, which could make tens of thousands of defenders silent. If foreign tribes come south one day, who will resist them?"
"The foreign tribes are moving south?" Ma Qian smiled. "I traveled all over the world a few years ago and saw that the nine frontiers were as solid as a rock, and the foreign tribes were poor and destitute, so much so that Altan Khan repeatedly requested trade. Now that the court is trading with Altan's tribe, the nine frontiers are as safe as Mount Tai, isn't it?"
Jiang Qingzhi sighed, "If it were someone else, they would be speechless in the face of what you said. But I am a person who likes to speak with facts." Jiang Qingzhi was about to call out the people he had prepared, but he saw Taoist speak.
"Lu Bing!"
"The minister is here."
Lu Bing walked out from behind the Taoist priest.
"The secret agents of the Imperial Guards got the news from Altan Khan's tribe. Last year, Altan Khan wanted to march south in a big way, but he was defeated in two battles in Datong. So, Altan Khan held his troops in place."
Some people had previously laughed at Jiang Qingzhi for having no one to support him, but they didn't expect that the one who came to support him was Emperor Jiajing.
At this moment, Li Chang felt his face burning, and there was also a thought that made him extremely uneasy.
What is Emperor Jiajing trying to do?
……
The two battles of Datong were both fought by Jiang Qingzhi.
He smiled and asked, "Does Ma Gong still think that the Nine Borders are impregnable?"
Ma Qian said calmly: "If the monarch and his subjects were united, there would be no need to worry about the Altan tribe! Now there is someone in the court who is so powerful that he has disappointed the people of the world, causing loyal and good people to flee to the outside world and treacherous people to run rampant in the court."
That’s right, there are problems with Jiubian. What are the problems?
The court!
Ma Qian knew that he could not win at the micro level, so he directed his attack at Yan Song and the Yan Party.
Jiang Qingzhi was not misled by his rhetoric and continued, "The taxes on 800 million mu of land were added to the taxes on 400 million mu of land. As the number of civil and military officials and soldiers increased, the taxes imposed on the 400 million mu of land also increased. The people could not bear the heavy burden and abandoned their land, preferring to become refugees."
“Who can tell me what will happen when the number of refugees increases?”
Jiang Qingzhi looked at these so-called great scholars who were righteous on the outside but greedy at heart, and said sternly: "The smoke of war is rising everywhere!"
He pounded the table. "I seem to see Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the chaos in the former Song Dynasty! Who can tell me how to prevent that scene from happening again in the Ming Dynasty?"
"innovation!"
A voice came from the Confucian camp.
Everyone slowly turned around and saw a young scholar raising his arms, his face flushed and full of anger. Seeing everyone looking at him, he was panicked at first, then he mustered up the courage to say: "My hometown is just like what Long Wilbur said, many farmers would rather abandon their fields and become refugees with their families, rather than... No, it's not that they don't want to, but they can't afford the taxes."
His face flushed, "I watched them walk by in rags, numb like puppets, and at that moment I asked myself what I could do for them and for the world.
When I arrived in the capital, I asked many people this question, but everyone smiled and said that when I entered the court, I would assist the king to achieve prosperity. But I heard this over and over again, and I saw that the people who said this changed one after another. But this Ming Dynasty...it remains the same. "
He panted, "I wrote to my family and asked about this. They replied that the Xu family, a wealthy family in my hometown, has become even richer. The land has more than doubled, and the population is even more eye-catching..."
His eyes were filled with tears. "I came here today to hear if you great scholars have any way to solve this problem, but all I heard was the old saying that if the court is full of righteousness, it will surely create a prosperous era again."
"Zhang Du, who are you speaking for?" a middle-aged man shouted.
The scholar's lips trembled, "I will speak for whoever speaks for the world!"
Jiang Qingzhi was extremely happy when he saw that many people in the crowd on the other side had unusual expressions.
Xia Yan behind him sighed: "I am not alone!"
This Ming Dynasty!
There has never been a shortage of kind and righteous people.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "Scholars have been exposed to the local tycoons since they were young, watching them annex land and take in people, and they are used to it. They take corruption for granted, and the military men also follow suit, so that drifting is rampant, and the already poor military households become even poorer. The local guards are in name only, and small Japanese pirates can run rampant in the southeast."
"This Ming Dynasty is sick. What's the root of the problem? Here."
Jiang Qingzhi pointed at his temple and said, "Everyone takes corruption for granted, and everyone treats the Ming Dynasty as a piece of fat meat, gnawing at it like crazy.
There are more and more scholars and officials in the world, and everyone is eyeing the remaining 400 million mu of farmland and the remaining population. Ten years later, twenty years later... let me ask, what will the Ming Dynasty have by then?"
He said angrily: "The only one left is the helpless emperor, who wails helplessly as he watches the Ming Dynasty being devoured by you all!"
Ma Qian's lips moved.
"Don't tell me you're incorruptible, Ma Qian." Jiang Qingzhi sneered, "You've made a name for corrupt and incompetent officials, and they've reciprocated by buying whatever the government needs from your son's shop. How much have you earned over the years? You're singing praises for those idiots against your conscience!"
"You!" Ma Qian's face changed drastically.
"I've seen many disguised ways of collecting benefits. What an idiot! You're showing off your skills in front of an expert." If the various bribery methods of later generations were thrown into the Ming Dynasty, these people would be amazed.
Jiang Qingzhi did not bring up this matter until he was sure of victory, in order to completely break down the opponent's psychological defenses.
Ma Qian took a deep breath.
"You, Jiang Qingzhi, are a disciple of Confucianism, but you spare no effort in attacking Confucianism. You are a villain!"
I can't argue with you, but I can destroy you!
Jiang Qingzhi is a villain!
Once this verdict was confirmed, Jiang Qingzhi's reputation would be ruined.
Zhu Xizhong was startled and called the guards, "Keep an eye on this old dog later and find out all the scandals of his ancestors. I want to bring him to ruin."
"Yes."
Xia Yan cursed: "You bastard, you actually used such a mean trick."
Everyone thought Jiang Qingzhi would be furious.
Hu Zongxian and Xu Wei were smiling.
There was also a strange smile on the Taoist's lips.
Ma Qian's eyes were fierce, as if he was an old dog ready to fight to the death before dying.
"Who said I was a Confucian disciple?"
Jiang Qingzhi said.
Ma Qian was delighted and sneered, "If you are not a Confucian disciple, then which family are you from?"
Jiang Qingzhi looked at him.
"ink!"
(End of this chapter)
