Chapter 289 The Special Features of Ming Dynasty
After hearing what Prince Yu said, Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang were enlightened and couldn't contain their excitement.
They never expected that after Prince Yu’s analysis and enlightenment, what they thought was just a boring book-repairing yamen would suddenly turn into a place where they could control the world’s literary sect.
This is really incredible. Why didn’t people in the past think of such a simple thing?
Actually, this is not because the ancients were stupid or rigid-minded, but because of the limitations of the development of the times.
In the past, productivity was too low, which made the dissemination of knowledge and culture extremely inefficient. Except for a few noble and gentry families, most people had never even seen what a book looked like in their entire life.
But with the development of the times, everything changed during the Ming Dynasty.
In addition to the absence of mechanized industry in the Ming Dynasty, all inventions and creations within human capabilities were also reached to the extreme.
Many tools invented in the Ming Dynasty are astonishing even to modern people.
So after the Ming Dynasty, both novels and operas and literature and art have reached their peak. The reason why they can sustain such a prosperous civilization is because the productivity of the Ming Dynasty is stronger than that of the previous generation. How much.
Whether it is paper making, printing, or the reading group, earth-shaking changes have also occurred.
Although later generations often say that the Ming Dynasty was poor and the Ming Dynasty was miserable, there must be something special about a dynasty being able to last for nearly three hundred years in such a poor state.
One of the first special things about Ming Dynasty is its investment in education.
During the Ming Dynasty, the government did not need to build yamen, but it had to build schools. Moreover, these public schools will be managed by special officials, whose official position is called Jiaoyu.
And it is worth mentioning that in the original historical direction, the starting point of Hai Rui's officialdom was the teaching of Nanping County, Fujian.
It was during this small teaching appointment that Hai Rui demonstrated his extraordinary abilities for the first time.
Hai Rui believes that scholars should respect their own status and should not kneel down or flatter Shangguan casually. They must have the integrity and backbone of a scholar.
So when he was serving as the Nanping Eunuch, the imperial censor once visited the county school (a school where scholars in ancient China studied). The gentlemen from other colleges knelt on the ground and announced their names, except Hai Rui. Chang bowed and saluted, and said: "When you go to the Yamen where the censor is, you should follow the etiquette of subordinates. This school is where the teacher educates the students, so you should not bow down and salute."
In this way, Hai Rui's independent character left a lasting impression on people. After that, Hai Rui gradually rose to prominence, rising from a county magistrate to a county magistrate, and then promoted to head of the Household Department.
While serving as the director of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he completed the book "Public Security", which will go down in history. He used real magical damage to truly break the defense of Jiajing Taojun, and made Jiajing Taojun shed a tear of regret. tears.
Therefore, we can get a glimpse of the whole story from these histories. The Ming Dynasty’s investment in culture and education was indeed the highest among all dynasties.
So much so that in the later Manchu Qing Dynasty, in order to prevent ordinary people from resisting, it is said that many Ming Dynasty schools were destroyed and abolished, so that ordinary Han people would no longer have the opportunity to study, so that they would not have the opportunity to study for generations. The modern generation has become a walking zombie who only knows how to eat and sleep, and is numbly and exploited by others.
It can be said that in terms of education, the Ming Dynasty was still very liberal. It not only allowed ordinary people to open academies, but also allowed scholars to make social friends. However, it is a pity that the fiscal and taxation system of the Ming Dynasty was really rubbish. As for the imperial court, it was simply unable to maintain its due national defense strength.
As for those scholars who benefited from the Ming Dynasty, most of them were extremely selfish. Even if the country was about to fall, they were still intoxicated, thinking that it was just a normal historical cycle of changing dynasties. Anyway, they turned a deaf ear to the taxes and responsibilities required by the imperial court. They only complained wherever they were unhappy, and never showed any sense of responsibility or morality.
Even though the Ming Dynasty had died and the world had changed its master, they thought they could continue to enjoy the privileges and preferential treatment they had enjoyed in the Ming Dynasty, but in the end they all paid the price with blood.
The most famous one is the famous literary critic Jin Shengtan.
In the 18th year of Shunzhi, the new magistrate of Wu County, Ren Weichu, whipped the people to collect taxes owed to make up for the shortage of grain in Changpingcang. This aroused the indignation of Suzhou scholars. ,
In early March, Jin Shengtan and more than a hundred scholars gathered at the Confucius Temple to mourn the death of Emperor Shunzhi. They took the opportunity to vent their anger and went to the Yamen to submit a petition to Jiangsu Governor Zhu Guozhi, accusing Ren Weichu. , demanding his removal from office.
But today's world is no longer the one where making troubles can make the court worry about the impact and leave it alone.
Zhu Guozhi, the governor of Jiangsu Province, immediately ordered the arrest of eleven of them, covered up the case for Ren Weichu, and reported it to the people in the capital to initiate rebellion and resist taxes, which alarmed the spirit of the late emperor.
The Manchu Qing court at that time also intended to intimidate the Jiangnan gentry and strengthen its actual rule over the south.
As a result, Jin Shengtan and other seven scholars were arrested, tried in Jiangning, and tortured. Finally, they were sentenced to beheading for treason and executed on July 13th. This was the Weeping Temple Case, also known as Jiangnan. Tax case.
So even if the culture of the late Ming Dynasty was more developed and splendid, when these scholars lacked empathy for their contribution to their family and country, they would end up like Emperor Chongzhen who was hanged on a coal mountain. It ended in a miserable tragedy.
In the end, it can only be turned into a series of sadly broken dreams under the brutal butcher's knife.
Therefore, since Zhu Zaijing has obtained the power to reset the Hongwen Museum this time, he has to find a way to let these capable scholars gain control and support from the court in another way, so that they can play a leading role in creative culture and Along with knowledge, there is also a sense of proud participation.
So that they can not only enjoy the help of the court, but also fulfill their tax obligations for the court while earning royalties. At the same time, Zhu Zaijing can also use the influence of Hongwenguan to explain the importance of paying taxes and the sense of honor that taxpayers should have.
As long as the concept and obligation of paying taxes can be deeply planted in the minds of these scholars, and when these scholars who can create cultural imagination all pay taxes, they will naturally use their influence to pay taxes. Force those gentry and landowners who don't pay taxes to pay taxes as well.
Otherwise, under such unfair treatment, who would be willing to be taken advantage of all the time?
After all, the Ming Dynasty was not the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and there was no privileged class like the children of the Eight Banners above them.
The difference between people is at most the difference between you studying and becoming an official, and me studying and not becoming an official.
So if you want to deal with scholars, you must learn to use them, and let those scholars who have no benefits attack and force those who have vested interests. This is the kingly way of balanced progress and the reform era!
If we just stick to a tough policy and only implement changes such as the examination law and the one-whip law, we can improve the country's financial situation to a certain extent.
But this method can easily cause a backlash among the entire scholar community. They will think that this is a tyranny that the court is exploiting them. Once the person who forcibly promotes this policy is dismissed or dies, people will leave and the government will cease. The actual situation will be highlighted in front of reality.
So if you want to reform the financial ills within the Ming Dynasty, you should change your approach and start from the inside. First, differentiate the group attributes of the scholars, create a strong sense of social difference for them, and then stimulate them to level it. This sense of difference makes it much easier.
(End of this chapter)