Chapter 35: Your Majesty competes with the people for profit, the child is teachable
To be fair, Emperor Jiajing really worked hard to govern the country in the first few years after he ascended the throne.
He compromised and bowed his head just to gain the concerted efforts of his subjects to govern the Ming Dynasty well.
But Yang Tinghe and others were determined to compete with the emperor for more power.
You are an emperor from a foreign vassal state, and the emperor chosen by me and others, how dare you not bow your head?
Yang Tinghe is a shrewd and calculating person, but he is also greedy.
He joined forces with Empress Dowager Zhang and was confident that he could suppress Emperor Jiajing.
The Emperor Jiajing's efforts to govern the country were met with non-cooperation and suppression from his subjects, and his ambitions came to an end.
After the great battle between the emperor and his ministers, the court was in ruins.
Looking around, he saw that all the ministers had their own thoughts and were extremely wary of the emperor.
These are not king and subject, but enemies.
How can we work hard to govern the country in such a political situation?
The disheartened Emperor Jiajing retreated to the Western Garden and from then on lived among the gods.
"Your Majesty, although the Ming Dynasty seems to be at peace these years, it actually has many problems."
Jiang Qingzhi sorted out his thoughts and said, "In the north, Altan is sharpening his sword, determined to conquer the Ming Dynasty and rebuild the Mongol Yuan Dynasty."
Am I answering?
Emperor Jiajing looked towards the grassland.
"This is a serious concern." In two years, Altan Khan would attack the pass and his army would fight all the way to the outskirts of the capital.
"The second is the Japanese pirates."
"Japanese pirates? Those dwarfs!" In the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, the Japanese pirates were nothing more than a minor infestation.
"Your Majesty, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will win every battle!"
"Do you know Japan?" asked Emperor Jiajing.
"I have been trying to find out the news about Japan all along the way. Last time I captured the Japanese pirates, I tortured them and got a lot out of them."
Jiang Qingzhi said: "The country of Japan is in chaos now. The king is not a king, and the ministers are not ministers."
The Emperor is a joke.
Although warlords everywhere still respected the emperor, in fact they had not respected him for a long time.
"Oh!" Emperor Jiajing thought about his own situation. Those ministers had the same attitude towards him.
This was also one of the reasons why he fled to the Western Garden, and it was also one of the reasons why he handed over the government to Yan Song.
The eyes of Emperor Jiajing were deep, like a deep pool.
"The so-called emperor of Japan is poor and destitute, and the daimyo in various places are separatist and fighting everywhere. Japan today is just like the Spring and Autumn Period in the Central Plains many years ago."
"Those big names must be the six kingdoms!" asked Emperor Jiajing.
"Yes. But they are far inferior in strength." Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile: "Many times, sending out hundreds of people is called a war."
Emperor Jiajing smiled and said, "Isn't that fun?"
"No." Jiang Qingzhi said sternly: "Your Majesty, there are also ambitious people among the Japanese pirates. They are ready to unify Japan."
"How many troops will we have after unification?" asked Emperor Jiajing.
“Hundreds of thousands.”
Later, the monkeys dominated Japan and set their sights on the Ming Dynasty with great ambition.
"Once they have unified China, they will definitely set their sights on Korea. They will use Korea as a springboard and then wait for an opportunity to attack Ming!"
Jiang Qingzhi told the subsequent history.
But he did not expect Emperor Jiajing to be moved.
"And all these, I think, are minor troubles."
Huang Jin discovered that the corners of his master's mouth were slightly raised, and his goatee was trembling... This was clearly a sign of pride and satisfaction.
"The real problem of the Ming Dynasty lies within, not outside!"
Jiang Qingzhi was also willing to take risks. He said with a sharp gaze, "When the Ming Dynasty was founded, its brave warriors were invincible. No matter where you looked, all the barbarians bowed to it. At that time, all industries were waiting to be developed, but the Ming Dynasty was thriving. Now the Ming Dynasty has been recuperating for many years..."
He glanced at Emperor Jiajing.
"Say!"
Taoist priest’s eyes were deep.
Jiang Qingzhi continued, "After I arrived in the capital, I heard that the government was in a tight financial situation."
Emperor Jiajing snorted coldly.
"But I grew up in Suzhou Prefecture, and I am used to seeing those gentry and wealthy businessmen spend tens of gold on a meal, and spend thousands of gold in brothels just to make a beautiful woman smile..."
"A bunch of idiots!" The Jiajing Emperor's eyes grew colder.
This idiot scolded well... Jiang Qingzhi was amused, "The court is poor and destitute, but the gentry are rich. Some people say that this is hiding wealth from the people, but in my opinion, this is harming the public and enriching oneself!"
When he spoke passionately, he seemed to unconsciously call himself "I".
Huang Jin's eyelids jumped, but Emperor Jiajing didn't care about it. "Why do you say that it's damaging the public interest to enrich yourself?"
He also disagreed with this.
After all, years of Confucian education made Emperor Jiajing accept the concept of the emperor and the literati sharing the world.
It is not right for an emperor to have no worries about food and drink while letting the scholars and officials live on wind and dew. That is a tyrant!
Jiang Qingzhi looked at Emperor Jiajing in astonishment, as if he had drunk too much.
"Disrespectful!" someone shouted.
"Get out!" Emperor Jiajing suddenly became furious.
The eunuch knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty. Huang Jin scolded him, "Get out of here!"
After the eunuch left in panic, Jiang Qingzhi thought to himself that the Taoist priest was indeed a man of temperament.
"Speak, if you can't explain it, I will let you go today."
The Taoist priest is becoming more down-to-earth... Jiang Qingzhi laughed out loud, "I've heard that there is no wealth without merchants. There are countless merchants in the Ming Dynasty, and countless amounts of money are traded every year. But who has become rich?"
"Commercial tax?" The Jiajing Emperor was indeed extremely smart and he immediately heard the hidden meaning.
"That's right." Jiang Qingzhi remembered seeing an article in later life that listed the ridiculous commercial taxes during the Ming Dynasty and the data on how wealthy the gentry and literati were.
During the Wanli period, almost every official was engaged in business.
Most of the Donglin Party members, who were said to be devoted to the country, came from merchant families.
Three-quarters of the Jinshi and Juren families have a business background... In other words, all the scholars and officials in the world are businessmen.
At that time, they represented the interests of the Ming Dynasty and controlled the public opinion of the Ming Dynasty. Even the emperor was drowned in their pens.
"I remember that the ministers still despised merchants." Emperor Jiajing was extremely smart, but he confined himself to a small space in the palace and relied on the Embroidered Uniform Guards for news from the outside world.
But how could the Jinyiwei report this?
"Speak!" A fierce look flashed in Emperor Jiajing's eyes.
This anger was not directed at Jiang Qingzhi, but at the shame of being deceived.
Did you finally realize that you were fooled by the officials? Jiang Qingzhi laughed in his heart and said, "I dare to bet that at least half of the officials in the court have business backgrounds in their families. I dare to say..."
He looked at Emperor Jiajing.
The two looked at each other, and Jiang Qingzhi remained calm. "I dare say that anyone who proposes to increase commercial taxes will inevitably be scolded by those ministers."
"What will they say?" Emperor Jiajing narrowed his eyes.
“They will say: Your Majesty, you are competing with the people for profit!”
Emperor Jiajing turned around and said, "Go back, eat when it's time to eat, and sleep when it's time to sleep."
Jiang Qingzhi knew that too much is as bad as too little.
Before leaving the palace, he saw Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui.
The idiot who used to hide himself when he saw me now stood in front of me openly and said kindly, "Uncle."
The eunuch who led the way thought that Prince Yu looked dull in the past, with a wooden face towards everyone, but how come he was so much more friendly towards Young Master Jiang?
"Why are you here?" Jiang Qingzhi walked over, also smiling.
"I heard that my cousin uncle had entered the palace. I just got a basket of delicious fruits. Please go and have a taste."
"What fruit?"
"It's bright red."
The two walked away.
The eunuch who led the way tilted his head and suddenly slapped his forehead, "This is weird, Prince Yu is actually alive."
In the past, people in the palace said that Prince Yu was dull and like a walking corpse.
When King Jing learned about it, he immediately sent people to find out the news.
"The third brother probably wants to curry favor with Jiang Qingzhi and use him to get close to our father." King Jing sneered.
Although he is young, his smile has a gloomy look that is inconsistent with his age.
Not long after, the person who went to inquire about the news came back.
"Your Highness, His Majesty has previously rewarded Prince Yu with a basket of fruit."
Zhu Zaizhen turned around and asked, "Do I have any here?"
The eunuch in charge bowed his head.
Zhu Zaizhen had always been the most favored by Emperor Jiajing, so he understood what was happening. He stamped his feet, his face flushed, "How did that idiot, the third brother, turn the tables?"
"Your Highness." The eunuch who went to inquire about the news hesitated to speak.
"Speak!" The eunuch knelt down in fear, with narrow eyes that looked like those of Emperor Jiajing. "Your Highness, Prince Yu stopped Jiang Qingzhi in the palace earlier and asked him to...taste the fruit."
"Jiang Qingzhi?" Zhu Zaizhen looked up into space. "Could it be that nerd?"
At this time, someone came from Concubine Lu Jing's side.
"The Queen said that when Jiang Qingzhi entered the palace, His Majesty was in deep thought for a long time after he left. It can be seen that the favor to this boy is not just a family affection, and he may be given a high position. The Queen asked Your Highness to spend more time and effort to get closer to this boy. Don't let Prince Yu take the lead."
King Jing nodded, "Got it."
……
"It tastes good." Jiang Qingzhi ate a fruit.
Zhu Zaigui then bowed with a serious expression.
"Your Highness, this is..." Jiang Qingzhi frowned and tried to avoid it.
"My uncle's words made me toss and turn last night and couldn't fall asleep. When I finally fell asleep, I had a dream."
"I dreamed of when I was seven years old. One day I was so hungry that I started crying. My father happened to pass by and roasted mutton for me. The look in my father's eyes at that time..."
Zhu Zaigui burst into tears. "When my father saw me eating voraciously, he touched the top of my head. I will always remember his look at that time. He said: 'You idiot, no one is snatching your food from you, eat slowly.'"
Jiang Qingzhi smiled, thinking that this kid had finally gotten his bearings. I have also changed some history, right?
In my mind, the speed of the cauldron's rotation increased.
What the hell!
Can it really increase the country's destiny?
Jiang Qingzhi was overjoyed.
"When I woke up, I found myself in tears. At that moment, I knew what my uncle meant."
"Tell me about it." Jiang Qingzhi suppressed his eagerness to observe the big cauldron.
"As a son, I am obsessed with how to gain my father's favor. This is not filial piety, nor is it sincerity."
"Hahahaha!"
Jiang Qingzhi suddenly laughed. Just when the eunuchs around him thought that he was unruly, he patted Prince Yu on the shoulder and said, "This young man is teachable!"
Zhu Zaigui wiped his tears and said happily, "I have figured this out and can no longer bear it, so I asked someone to light a fire, roast mutton and asked Yang Xi to send it to my father."
"This must be a reward!" Jiang Qingzhi pointed at the fruit core.
"Yes." Zhu Zaigui said with a smile.
"What is sincerity?" Jiang Qingzhi's face suddenly turned cold.
Zhu Zaigui was startled, "Please give me some advice, uncle."
Jiang Qingzhi said: "Filial piety comes from the depths of one's heart. If you are truly filial to your father and he gives you fruit, will you be overjoyed by the fruit?"
He stood up, "You are ecstatic about the fruit. So, how sincere are you?"
Zhu Zaigui stood there in a daze.
After a long time, they bowed.
"Thank you for your advice, uncle. I was wrong."
(End of this chapter)
