Chapter 269 The affair of a Neo-Confucian veteran

"Ah!"

The iron-wrapped fire and water stick hit Mr. Mei directly on the back, causing Mr. Mei to scream in agony.

And Mr. Mei didn't expect that he would be beaten hard by his brother-in-law in the blink of an eye. He suddenly knew that the young man across the screen was not an ordinary person, so he could only cry and yell: "This young man, I know I am wrong." ! Please let my brother-in-law spare my life! I will kowtow to you and confess my sin! I don’t want to die!”

"Beat to death, beat to death directly!"

Jiao Fang shouted directly. He now hated his doting brother so much that he didn't get into trouble for himself.

Jiao Fang knew that the existence of his Jiao family was all given by the emperor in front of him, so he was also worried that Zhu Houzhao would anger his Jiao family and make all the wealth of his Jiao family disappear overnight. Therefore, he is now more... Zhu Houzhao was still excited.

At this time, Mr. Mei's cries had disappeared outside.

Then, Jiao Yang, Jiao Fang's son, walked in and raised his hands to Zhu Houzhao, Jiao Fang and others: "Young Master, uncle of the country, father, uncle Jiu has been beaten to death!"

Jiao Fang only looked at Zhu Houzhao: "Master, the rebellious people have been eliminated. What do you think will be done next?"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but raised his head and glanced at Jiao Fang, and saw sweat on Jiao Fang's forehead, and his hands were shaking as if he had Parkinson's disease: he couldn't help but smile for a moment, thinking that he didn't seem to say that he was angry, and this Jiao Fang Being so scared shows that the emperor himself is still somewhat intimidating. Of course, maybe this is the case. The richer he gets, the more timid he becomes and the more afraid he is of losing the opportunity to continue to be rich by offending the powerful.

Just like in A Dream of Red Mansions, when officials of the Jia family are summoned in the palace, the entire Jia family is frightened out of their wits, and the whole family cannot live in peace.

Now, Jiao Fang must have had the same mentality. She was deeply afraid that the emperor would anger her Jiao family because of this, so she was so timid and worried.

But in fact, Zhu Houzhao came here today not to kill people, nor to make everyone in Haitian Shengyuan know that he was a person who even the chief minister of the cabinet like Jiao Fang would be afraid of. Let people know that you are the emperor.

After all, Zhu Houzhao could guess that even the former cabinet bachelors would come here, and there might be some princes and princes coming here to enjoy themselves.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao only said to Jiao Fang, who was still shivering at the side: "That's all, you have executed him on the spot, what else can I say, but do you know that you are taking human life lightly? He is your brother-in-law, even if He's not your brother-in-law. He committed a crime and you should Should he be handed over to the Guangdong Inspector? Whether he is dead or a disciple, he should be sentenced by the court. Tell me, you have also been the chief minister, how come you still have the problems of a clan and aristocratic family, lynching, and lynching in front of me? , where do you place the royal law? ”

Jiao Fang was stunned. He only thought of beating his beloved brother to death so that Emperor Zhu Houzhao could appease his anger. He never thought that he had made a big mistake. He crouched on the ground and said, "Old minister, old minister, old minister is guilty, old minister." I was so confused that I was angry because my father was insulted, and I forgot the rules for a while. Please punish me!”

"It's rare that you are loyal. Please sit down first. This matter will be handled by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Criminal Justice. I am too lazy to ask." After Zhu Houzhao said, Jiao Fang sat down tremblingly. Here, Zhang Heling also He hurriedly asked the attendant to make a cup of tea for Jiao Fang.

Jiao Fang didn't dare to drink or speak, and she still felt a little uneasy.

Zhu Houzhao didn't say anything, and the entire private room was very quiet. Only various moaning sounds came from outside, which made people think.

"That seems to be Huang Shilang, Xiangcheng Bo Li Zhang is also there, and Chang Shaoqing, uncle, there are many powerful people in your Shengyuan," Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say.

"Your Majesty is laughing. Ordinary people can't afford it and can't get in," Zhang Heling replied truthfully.

"Humph, a few days ago, the old minister who has become an official wrote a Taoist book in Korean to me, saying that in the homes of princes and officials, the arrogance and extravagance of officials are ten times more than before. They spend money like water, pursue pleasure, and do not study or pursue merit. In business, we only look for flowers and willows, and fight cocks and horses. Therefore, we recommend the right principles and disciplines, and it is strictly forbidden for public officials to have sex with prostitutes. Now it seems that what Han Shangshu, a veteran of Neo-Confucianism, is true!”

Zhu Houzhao is indeed worried about this now. As foreign trade activities become more and more frequent after the opening of the sea, and as a self-sufficient super empire with highly developed handicrafts and agriculture, Ming Dynasty will naturally be in a surplus position in trade, which will lead to The aristocrats of the Ming Dynasty are getting richer and richer, but once these aristocrats of the Ming Dynasty become richer and richer, they will only pursue enjoyment more and more, and reduce their enthusiasm for production and investment in industry.

Especially in the future, financial activities such as the issuance of public bonds and even stocks will make it easier for the capital-rich dignitaries of the Ming Dynasty to obtain more wealth, and will also make them pursue pleasure more, which will lead to a decrease in the motivation of the Ming Dynasty to develop production.

This is human nature. Once you have a lot of wealth, especially if you can easily obtain a lot of wealth, it will be difficult for people to motivate themselves to improve themselves.

Even the emperor Zhu Houzhao was like this. He often thought that it would be better to be a lewd and lascivious king while the Ming Dynasty was now highly developed in society and economy. Anyway, the life span of a person is only a few decades or a hundred years. Since If you already have wealth, why bother working so hard for this country and other people in this country? After all, if your life span ends in the future, everything will be reduced to nothing.

But Zhu Houzhao knew that if he indulged himself and indulged the nobles of the empire in this way, the entire empire would turn from prosperity to decline, and he would live up to his responsibility as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao did not want these emperors and the bureaucratic capitalists or nobles of his Ming Empire to sink because they had gained countless wealth. Because of this, he suddenly discovered that Neo-Confucianism actually needs to be used. After all, it is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty to ask these dignitaries to cultivate their moral character and cultivate their character. It is no wonder that Xia Yan, Zhang Cong and other ministers have Neo-Confucianism as their body. , Shengxue uses this political concept.

But what Zhu Houzhao didn't know was that although Neo-Confucianism required people to restrain themselves and return to propriety, people's desires were not so easy to control.

After Zhu Houzhao suddenly mentioned the memorial of Han Wen, a veteran of Neo-Confucianism, he saw a familiar figure, and that person was Han Wen, a famous Neo-Confucian minister and former Minister of Revenue.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but look at Zhang Heling: "What's going on? Why is Mr. Han here?"

Zhang Heling saw that Emperor Zhu Houzhao's face was terribly dark, and it was difficult to say that Han Laoshangshu was a frequent visitor here, so he could only laugh and said: "There are some Qinghuan here who are well versed in literature and art. They were all taught by experienced mothers from Yangzhou invited by the minister. Among them, there is one The one Yu loves is Mr. Han’s confidant. They must have just thought it was hot in Guangdong, so they took off their clothes and talked! Mr. Han is a man of good moral character, and naturally he is not ashamed of the affair. "

"Okay! I am not a three-year-old child! Stop lying to me. If you take off your clothes and talk to each other, why do you stick them together and pass it on to Mr. Han!"

Zhu Houzhao was thinking about whether to revive the Korean language to correct the extravagant trend in the world, but he did not expect that even the so-called Neo-Confucian gentlemen were sanctimonious people who could not control their third legs and started to work in this romantic place in the south. That thing about drinking marrow and absorbing dew.

Suddenly, Han Wen came to Zhu Houzhao in three steps, murmuring and bowing to Zhu Houzhao: "I have seen your majesty, but I didn't know that your majesty was coming in person. I missed your welcome from afar. I hope your majesty will forgive you!"

"Okay, Lao Shangshu, what are you doing in the attic opposite?" Zhu Houzhao asked after speaking.

"Reporting to your majesty, I and Brother Yu are discussing knowledge. They just talked about poetry and poetry," Han Laoshangshu replied.

"Then what is the talent of Brother Yu you mentioned?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Your Majesty, to be honest, this Jade Brother is extremely talented. She especially has her own unique insights in the study of Song history!" Han Laoshangshu replied.

"Go and send the message to Brother Jade that Mr. Han is talking about. I want to see how talented she is!" Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh angrily.

For a while.

There was a woman with loose bun, half-open clothes, and a tube top hanging on Xiang's shoulder on one side, with a trace of snow-white on the other side. She was weaker than Xizi, and the woman who was charming like Diao Chan was brought in. As soon as this woman came in, she First, I bowed to Zhu Houzhao.

When Zhu Houzhao saw this, he only glanced at Jiao Fang. Jiao Fang understood what Zhu Houzhao meant, so he asked on his behalf: "I heard that Han Laoshangshu said that you are rich in knowledge and have studied the history of the Song Dynasty very carefully. Let me ask you, how can you treat people after Xining? What are your views on the crony war? ”

This woman, Yu Ai, only looked at Jiao Fang with a pair of peach blossom eyes, and then glanced at Master Han: "I don't know, I don't know who Master Han is, but I don't know why all the masters are calling me here." Why? ”

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, signaling Jiao Fang to ask the woman to step aside.

Jiao Fang understood and asked someone to take the woman down.

Immediately, Zhu Houzhao smiled and said to Mr. Han: "Old Minister Han, you are really good at editing. People say that young people are admiring, but I didn't expect that it is the same in old age. Of course, logically, this is nothing, but why should you deceive me?" I, however, I would also like to ask, before you went to Shu to advise the court to correct the atmosphere, why did you ruin it yourself first?”

"Old minister, old minister, old minister is guilty!"

As he spoke, Mr. Han suddenly added: "But the old minister and Yu Ai are really in love, Your Majesty! The old minister is willing to divorce his old wife for Yu Ai and marry her, please make the decision!"

"Hmph!"

Zhu Houzhao snorted and left the place directly, saying: "There are really few of these officials who are really clean, which is really annoying! It is said that Mr. Han has a bad personal morality and cannot bear to be a minister to the world." , was demoted to the people and sent to the Imperial Maritime Trading Company for use. It may be of value in teaching Chinese to Indian natives in the future! ”

Because a recent investigation into the history of the rise and decline of Portugal and Spain in the Age of Exploration found that the reason why Spain grew rapidly after initially discovering the Americas and then rapidly declined and was overtaken by Britain and France was because in the early days of Spain, the domestic capital aristocracy easily obtained a large amount of wealth, especially Silver from North America and Treasury bonds quickly disappeared after making a fortune To degenerate, the capital of primitive accumulation was not used to develop industry and carry out the industrial revolution, but was used for enjoyment, so it continued to decline. The author thought that the Ming Dynasty might also have such a problem in the early colonial period. In history, after the Longqing switch, the Wanli era flourished During this period, the bureaucrats and gentry were indeed extremely extravagant, which led to increased corruption and eventual demise.

So in the novel, it will undoubtedly be the same after the Ming Dynasty started colonization and gained a lot of wealth.

Therefore, the author wrote these plots in detail to tell book friends that the protagonist discovered many details and possible hidden dangers during his southern tour. At the same time, through the protagonist's vision, he also showed the possible true side of the scholar-bureaucrats in the early Ming Dynasty during the colonial period. I don’t know if the author’s writing is redundant, but next, the protagonist will correct this trend and let the capital accumulated in the Ming Dynasty be used to start the industrial revolution instead of letting the powerful capitalists squander and enjoy themselves.

(End of chapter)