Chapter 302 Jiangnan Commodity Economy
"It's ridiculous! The road system has been banned for many years. People in the Ming Dynasty have the freedom to move. No government official can illegally detain individuals or restrict their freedom. After all, the Kong family is the descendant of a saint. Not to mention illegal mining, but now they still use the clan covenant What do they want to do by restricting the freedom of local people and even setting up private criminal laws? Do they want to establish a new court? ”
Zhu Houzhao said angrily that he really didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty actually had such a rule as the "Escape Law".
The accompanying attendant Wen Zhengming did not dare to say a word after hearing this. He thought that His Majesty the Emperor wanted to treat the Confucius family as a traitor. However, the Confucius family did go too far, but there were several clans in the world who did not In this way, clan covenants are sometimes more stringent than laws, and even more frightening to the soldiers and people.
But when Wen Zhengming saw what Zhu Houzhao had just said to him, he had to reply: "Your Majesty, although the police department has been established in Nanzhili, and the administrative reform system implemented by Zhang Cifu has included the head of the district in the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel, the clan power Still there The people are very powerful, and the people are governed and protected by their clans. The township covenant and clan covenant are the norms of local peace. At present, the Confucius Mansion is like the clans all over the world, but it may have gone a little too far. "
At this time, Yan Song, the Minister of Agriculture, replied: "However, I have been in charge of Nanzhili for a period of time, and now I am promoting sweet potatoes in the world. I have also found that in recent years, the discord between the clan and the people has become more and more serious. Big, even the scholars are like this, and even the eldest son is trying to escape from the control of the clan. "
"What's the point?" Zhu Houzhao knew that the ancient society of farming civilization gave birth to clans, but now listening to Yan Song's words, he seemed to realize that with the development of capitalism, it may have led to an important role in stabilizing farming society. Clan society is disintegrating.
"Reporting to your majesty, the people along the coast are not willing to stay in their hometowns to farm, but would rather go to work in other places. They can earn a lot of wages in this way. As a result, the senior squires of the clan will naturally have no tenants to farm the fields, and they will naturally need to be restrained by strict clan covenants. Yes, scholar In the past, being able to study and become an official relied more on the clan, but now they rely more on the imperial court's efforts to popularize education. Therefore, when scholars are prosperous, they no longer appreciate the support of the clan, but they also feel bound by the clan, so they rush to escape from the clan;
"Of course, the rift between the clan and the people is the most obvious. In order to control their people from going out, many clans can only strictly prohibit them through clan covenants. But now everyone in the world knows that the benefits of working are greater than the benefits of farming, so there are still countless people. Flee," Yan Song replied.
"It seems that the civil society of our Ming Dynasty is really changing, and the court must keep up with this change. The clans are no longer just able to maintain peace and prosperity, but also hinder the people from getting rich and increase social conflicts. Although my Ming Dynasty respects the villagers Autonomy, but this clan agreement is obviously illegal! ”
As Zhu Houzhao spoke, he saw that the hands and feet of the clan members surnamed Kong were about to be cut off, and he hurriedly ordered a Jin Yiwei: "Go and stop them, rescue those common people, and then Guo Rong, use your Jin Yiwei left commander Guo Rong." In Rong’s name, he reported the matter to the officials of the Shandong Provincial Department of Justice and asked them to handle the matter.”
Guo Rong accepted the order.
The Jin Yiwei who were ordered by Zhu Houzhao to rescue those people also went to the mining area and successfully rescued these people. But not long after, Kong Wenshao also learned that Jin Yiwei had appeared in his mining area and rescued several people. The affairs of the tribe and the common people are temporary I became very nervous and thought to myself: "Why did Jin Yiwei suddenly interfere in the affairs of his own clan? Is His Majesty still sending people to keep an eye on our Kong family? What do they want to do by arresting these people? They want to use them as witnesses to accuse our clan. Do you want to bring the matter to the imperial court?”
The more Kong Wenshao thought about it, the more terrifying he felt. He couldn't help but slap the table and stand up: "If you don't do it, you can't let this Jin Yiwei return to the capital to tell the Seventh Master!"
The Shandong Inspectorate was also shocked after receiving Guo Rong's writing, and hurriedly brought officers and soldiers to Dongchang Mansion to check.
However, when the Shandong Inspector General left Jinan, someone brought the news to Kong Wenshao. After Kong Wenshao found out, he suspended the mining in Dongchang Prefecture, which instead left the people who were forced to work in the mine without food. You can eat it and starve to death several people.
Instead, Kong Wenshao used this matter to report to Shandong Inspector Li Huai that the Jinyiwei was causing nuisance to the place, and the Inspector acted in disgrace, causing the Kong family's industry to be stopped, and the landless Kong people to suffer from hunger and cold because they had no work to do. So many people starved to death.
"It is really abominable that the descendants of saints should be treated so badly by corrupt officials!"
When Li Huai, the censor of the inspection committee, found out, he immediately impeached Jin Yiwei and Wang Shou, the inspector general of Shandong.
at the same time.
When Zhu Houzhao was about to leave Dongchang Mansion, he encountered a group of thieves.
This group of thieves didn't know that the person in the carriage was Emperor Zhu Houzhao. They just knew that the Jin Yiwei who appeared in the coal mine owned by Kong's family was here, so they directly rode over to kill this team of Jin Yiwei.
Hearing the roar of horses outside and the nervous shouts of "Assassins!" from the guards in uniforms, Zhu Houzhao became inexplicably nervous. He never thought that he would encounter horse thieves while patrolling in plain clothes, and in a Grand Canal like Shandong. In the surrounding areas, he began to doubt the security of his own country.
Of course, even though Zhu Houzhao was on patrol incognito, there were not a lot of plainclothes Jin Yiwei accompanying him, and there was even a company of Guardsmen who could fire their rifles and shoot directly at the invading enemy.
Bullets crackled.
More than a dozen horse thieves fell to the ground immediately, and the royal guards were also very desperate because they were protecting the emperor. They also killed and injured more than a dozen horse thieves in hand-to-hand combat. Seeing this, the other horse thieves realized that they had encountered a powerful enemy. Naturally, it was impossible to silence them. , had to flee.
But the assassination experience this time also deeply touched Zhu Houzhao, and he almost didn't recover for a while.
Frankly speaking, this was the first time Zhu Houzhao was assassinated.
Even if he went outside the Great Wall, no Mongolian cavalry dared to assassinate him.
But this time, Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that he would be assassinated, and it was still in the mainland.
Of course, what Zhu Houzhao is still not sure about is who wants to assassinate him and is so stupid.
Zhu Houzhao admitted that he, the emperor, must have enemies, but there were also many people who wanted to protect him because of their interests and emotions. Needless to say, it was impossible to assassinate him!
But what Zhu Houzhao didn't know was that these horse thieves did not actually want to assassinate him, but wanted to get rid of the Jinyiwei who had taken over the coal mine operated by the Kong family.
It was just that these horse thieves assassinated the emperor by mistake.
After all, there are still only a few people who know that the emperor is on tour here. It is naturally even more difficult to know whether Kong Wenshao, who is far away in Shandong, or who is still deposed from his title.
But no matter what, Zhu Houzhao was in an extremely bad mood now.
At this time, Guo Rong, the left commander of the Jinyi Guards, came over: "Your Majesty, the injured horse thief confessed that it was a man named Qi Ye who did it. They said they wanted to destroy our team of Jinyi Guards, but they did not expect that we would hide in secret. So many people.”
"Master Qi, who is Master Qi?" Zhu Houzhao asked. "Kong Wentai, ranked seventh in the clan, is quite famous in Caobang and Yaxing in Shandong. He is called the seventh master by people in the world," Guo Rong replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile coldly: "What a Kong family, how dare you commit murder and silence!"
And at this time.
Zhu Houzhao also received a memorial from the Metropolitan Procuratorate regarding the impeachment of the patrol censor Li Huai from the Shandong Procuratorate and the Jin Yiwei for causing nuisance to the place. He couldn't help but laugh in anger:
"This Kong Wenshao has quite a lot of energy, but he knows how to fight back. Not only does he want to silence Jin Yiwei, but he actually sues Jin Yiwei and the Shandong Administrative Bureau, and sends an order to Qi Xun, the chief military officer of Denglai, Shandong Province. Kong Wenshao privately enacts laws, mines illegally, and harms the countryside. People, I have abolished the title of Duke of Yansheng, but I still regard him as a noble. The family dominated the township, and was undoubtedly suspected of treason and self-reliance in Qufu regardless of the court's rules and regulations. Qi Xun led the troops to eliminate them as thieves. The family property was lost, and the land was divided among the township. The officials ordered Kong Yanze, the magistrate of Qufu, and Shandong The inspection censor was dismissed, and the Dongchang Inspectorate investigated these two people! ”
Wen Zhengming was quite surprised when Zhu Houzhao issued this decree. He did not expect that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would directly punish Kong Wenshao for treason, and directly send out troops to deal with the Kong family. This was the rhythm of executing his entire family, and the land was divided Yu Xiang wanted to cut off the retreat of Kong Wenshao and other direct clan members of the Kong family in their hometown.
Even Wen Zhengming knew that once the court dealt with the Kong family in this way, the direct lineage of the Kong family would never be able to turn around.
At this time, Kong Wenshao didn't know that he was about to be destroyed. He still allowed the coal mine to operate. In his opinion, no matter what the outcome was, he would impeach Jin Yiwei and Shandong Chasi according to the imperial censor's memorial. It does matter, because no matter what, it is a matter between court officials.
Kong Wenshao believed that as long as Jinyiwei couldn't find him, nothing would happen to him.
But what Kong Wenshao didn't expect was that before he could relax, Qi Xun led his officers and soldiers to surround Kong's Mansion in Qufu.
Kong Wenshao was very shocked: "General Qi, what are you doing?"
"According to the decree, the rebel Kong Wenshao clan will be wiped out! Mr. Kong, you are too brave to assassinate the current emperor! Even if you don't know that the emperor was in the Jinyi Guards at that time, and the Jinyiwei are the emperor's personal soldiers, you can't think Be silent!”
When Qi Xun said this, Kong Wenshao naturally understood everything. He immediately fell to the ground and muttered to himself: "Your Majesty? Your Majesty has come to Shandong? How is this possible!"
Qi Xun didn't say anything, he only ordered people to surround the Kong Mansion and not let anyone go. After all, he only learned about this from others, and it was only then that he understood why he had received an imperial edict to destroy the Kong Mansion.
At this time, after Kong Wenshao regained his composure, he suddenly knelt down in front of Qi Xun and burst into tears: "General Qi, Kong is really unjust. How dare Kong assassinate the emperor! Mr. Qi , you must be aware that Kong is a descendant of a saint, how dare you be so disloyal and disloyal!”
"The imperial edict has been issued. Mr. Kong, you don't have to quibble anymore. Besides, don't you Confucian officials often say that if you want your ministers to die, they have to die? Why bother to quibble anymore!"
Qi Xun waved his hand and shouted loudly: "Take it away!"
At the same time, Qi Xun drew his sword, and at this time, Kong Wentai also walked out: "General Qi, what are you going to do?"
As soon as Kong Wentai finished speaking, Qi Xun stabbed him with a knife: "According to the decree, deal with the rebellious thieves!"
Except for Kong Wenshao who was escorted to Beijing for severe punishment, the rest of the direct clan members of the Kong Mansion were executed, and the lands of the direct clan members of the Kong Mansion were distributed to other common people with the surname Kong in Qufu. At the same time, all the mines operated by the Kong Mansion were stopped.
Zhu Houzhao didn't say much after he found out about this. He never thought that he would deal with the Kong family to this point, but he also didn't expect that the Kong family would be on the edge of his hatred for private mining, and because Mining and enslaving his own people, and even setting up harsh clan covenants, made Zhu Houzhao see not a benevolent clan but a man-eating black power group.
But Zhu Houzhao didn't know that when he got rid of one Kong family, there were still many other clans that acted as cannibals like the Kong family.
The ban on the Kong family's mining industry did not affect the production of the local people like the ban on the mining industry in barren areas. Instead, it liberated the local people. Moreover, with Zhu Houzhao's elimination of the Kong family, the local people still had their own lives. Enough land for farming has even alleviated class conflicts in Shandong.
Zhu Houzhao found that banning mining was not a policy that harmed the people. For some areas with developed agriculture and a large amount of cultivated land, mining was the exclusive domain of the gentry. On the contrary, banning mining could curb the erosion of agricultural land by the gentry for profit, so that the common people could There can be more arable land for agricultural production.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao could also guess that people in some places did rely on mining for a living, so it was still difficult for him to directly conclude that mining should be strictly prohibited. He had to wait for the results of the inspection by Zhang Cong and others.
Zhu Houzhao went ashore after arriving in Zhenjiang. This time he did not go to Nanjing, but went directly to the Susong area. He wanted to see what Jiangnan towns were like.
"Who asked you to go into the city to sell them! Hit me!"
In Nanxun Town, Zhu Houzhao, who was dressed as a merchant, was just about to enter the town from an official road when he saw a group of green men pushing down a cart of raw silk that a man had brought into the city, and then led four or five people to beat the man. , and trampled the raw silk in the man's hand on the ground.
Zhu Hou was still very surprised after taking care of him, and asked Liu Shi, the Jin Yiwei stationed on patrol in the south, who was familiar with Jiangnan society: "What is going on?"
"Back to Your Majesty, this farmer did not sell the goods to Yahang according to the rules but brought the goods into the city to sell raw silk. Naturally, he will be beaten by Yahang. According to the rules, whether the farmer sells cotton yarn or raw silk, he must sell it to Yahang. OK, and then they can be sold to merchants by Yahang. If merchants want to buy cotton yarn, raw silk, etc., they can only buy them from Yahang. These Yahangs are also called Hangba. Basically, they have a complicated background behind them. .”
Jinyiwei Liu Shi replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect that there are such doorways in the wells of Jiangnan City. This is all the fault of the imperial court for not strengthening management at the grassroots level, which made the business order so bad that the people of Shengdou had no way to buy or sell. Freedom! Commercial and trade rights are monopolized by wealthy families! ”
(End of chapter)