Chapter 21: Greedy for heaven’s merit and thinking of it as one’s own!
Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Xia Zhibai angrily, but he couldn't say anything, and his eyes showed a rare hint of panic and gaffe.
Pu Gouer, who was lying on the ground, was almost suffocating with fear.
I didn’t dare to scold Xia Zhibai anymore, or even make any noise. I just knelt on the ground, squirming little by little, and moved out of the palace.
These treacherous words Xia Zhibai said, every one of them could kill someone, not just one person, but three clans, or even nine clans. He was not something he could or dared to listen to.
Pu Gou'er was lying on the ground, his buttocks raised high, and he was squirming outwards. His attitude was still very respectful, but his movements were very funny.
Zhu Yuanzhang also noticed it, and a fierce murderous intention flashed in his eyes, "Get out!"
"I resign." Pu Gouer was not surprised but overjoyed, with more tears appearing in the corners of his eyes, and hurriedly After kowtowing and thanking the emperor for his kindness, he rolled and crawled out of the Wuying Palace without any delay.
For a while.
Only Zhu Yuanzhang and Xia Zhibai remained in the palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat down again, his face as gloomy as water, and he just stared at Xia Zhibai. He wanted to know what Xia Zhibai wanted to do, was he really seeking death?
Or is it for the so-called integrity of the literati?
He didn’t believe it.
Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his anger and tilted his body forward slightly, sizing up Xia Zhibai like a falcon sizing up its prey, with the murderous intent in his eyes getting stronger and weaker.
“Who ordered you!”
He didn't believe that Xia Zhibai could say this. Xia Zhibai was too young, only in his early twenties. It was impossible for a young boy to say these things. There must be someone behind the scenes.
Is it Li Shanchang? The remnants of Hu Weiyong? Over there in Beiyuan? Or those scholars in Jiangnan who rebelled against the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang was secretly suspicious in his heart.
Xia Zhibai gave a helpless smile: "If you really think that someone is instigating it, maybe you can think of it as the reluctance of the people in the world, and those who have high hopes for you, but are chilled by your cold blood. ""
"Since the Qin Empire, the thousands of years of history on this land have long proved that the people on this land are the most intolerable to the rule of dark forces. Whenever they are in trouble. In life, they will use rebellion and revolutionary means to achieve the purpose of overthrowing and transforming this kind of rule.”
"The world you are sitting on has seen hundreds and thousands of popular uprisings, large and small, just to oppose the dark rule of the landlords and nobles."
"And you, Zhu Yuanzhang, you have long forgotten, How did you get this world?”
“You keep saying you love the people, but what do you actually do?”
“Do you really think about the people at the bottom?”
"You built a magnificent central capital in Fengyang. It took more than ten years to build it. What did it look like in the end? How much manpower, material and financial resources did you spend on this central capital?"
"You enfeoffed your princes all over the world. Among the princes who were enfeoffed, which one did not build a large-scale construction project or oppressed the people in the local area."
"The extravagance of the princes in various places is more intense in your mind than anyone else. Clearly, you know more than anyone about the atrocities committed by your sons in the local area."
"There are also ten palaces being built by Yingtian Mansion. Common people? "
"No matter how big the emperors were, they only built a few places for the emperor alone, but what about the Ming Dynasty?"
"It's the entire Zhu family!"
"The cycle goes on and on, without end."
"You said you would reduce the burden on the people, and you did reduce the land rent, but did the people pay less?"
"You did it for yours? The son is building palaces and constructing large-scale construction projects all over the world. Where does all this money come from? ""It all comes from the people's wealth and the people's anointment."
"The national tax of the Ming Dynasty is only a year. More than 20 to 30 million yuan, apart from government expenses and supporting the palace, there is nothing left. In the end, the court will run out of money, how can you come up with money? "
"In the end, it's not like the corrupt officials you hate the most. They collect money from the people and impose all kinds of exorbitant taxes. When did the Ming Dynasty become less?" The labor and heavy taxes are overwhelming."
"You spread the "Edict" all over the world, trying to penetrate the education you want to the grassroots, but you really go to the local level. , have you asked the local people, do they like what you advocate? "
"You only said that the Ming Dynasty law punished corrupt officials very severely, but why did you never mention that it was also harsh on the people? ? ”
“As a unified dynasty, it is understandable to pursue the country’s wealth and military strength, but what do you do in reality?”
"The rich man of the country has never seen that you are dead. You can earn money on the surface, but the palaces in the place are getting more and more magnificent."
"The so-called military strength, if the Ming Dynasty really has So powerful, the last Northern Expedition will not fail, and there will not be so many deserters in the Ming Dynasty guard posts. "
"Continuous external campaigns and large-scale construction projects at home are what Emperor Hongwu will rule. The real face of life."
"I just want to ask you one thing, can you survive under your own rule?"
"Forced conscription every three days. If you levy labor and serve, you will almost die. The tax rate is double that of the previous dynasty, and the tax items are stacked on top of each other. In order to fulfill the imperial decree, the officials in charge of taxation plundered the people like wolves and tigers. Go and sell your children.”
“Do you really think the ballad I wrote on the test paper is fake?”
“It’s true that Fengyang is poor.”
“But is it really so poor?”
“You have known the reason for this for a long time. Because you are so happy about your success and insist on building the Central Capital in Fengyang, you have expropriated too many people near Fengyang Mansion, causing the local area to be abandoned every year.”
"Even the local people began to curse your empire with the 'Tied Town' method and quickly destroyed it, and how did you do it?"
"Kill them all!"
"In the end, the local people's resentment boiled, and a civil uprising directly broke out. Fengyang is a place of prosperity in your eyes. You are worried that your rule will be shaken, so you must not do this. Don’t leave this central capital in ruins.”
“And reduce the local land tax to calm the local people’s anger and resentment.”
“I have read the "Great Edict" you issued. In the book, you always regard yourself as the reborn parent of the people, and preach the 'great filial piety' you want everywhere. "
"And what you call 'filial piety' means that the people should obey you without any regrets. , dedicate all your blood to build the eternal country you want to build.”
"It's just your 'goodness' to the people that the people really can't bear, and it's really a burden that life can't bear."
"The love and kindness to the people that you have always been proud of is essentially An emperor with a peasant temperament only takes good care of his tools and cattle."
"But there will be no less whips and no less plowing."
< br>"Covet the merits of heaven and think of one's own strength."
"Heaven and earth are unkind, and treat all things as dumb dogs; saints are unkind, and regard the common people as dumb dogs."
"As for you, this saint, you are a saint who treats the common people as stupid dogs! Can such a saint still be respected as a saint by the world?"
(End of this chapter)