Chapter 115 Zhu Biao: Am I not like my father? (First update)
Zhu Yuanzhang squeezed the jade Ruyi in his hand tightly, and his finger bones were rattling.
Since he started the army, he has met many capable people and strangers, and there are many advisers and scribes under his command, but this is the first time he has seen someone who expressed all his thoughts so straightforwardly and clearly. .
Xia Zhibai is the first.
Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed the shock in his heart, and there was not much anger on his face. He looked at Xia Zhibai without anger or prestige. His eyes became solemn for the first time, but he still showed disdain and pride in his eyes. , Zhu Yuanzhang said: "You surprise us more and more."
"A scholar."
"A scholar in his early twenties."
"In the past, I always stayed in Kaifeng Mansion and never really got involved in the court. How can I be better than the ministers of the court?" Understand the arrangements we have made.”
“We really underestimate you.”
“Since you know so much about our system, we really want to hear about it. What's wrong with this system in your eyes?" Zhu Yuanzhang leaned forward and looked at Xia Zhibai with a look of disdain, without any emotional changes on his face.
Zhu Biao did not dare to let Xia Zhibai speak.
He took the initiative and said: "Father, Xia Zhibai has never set foot in the court, and he knows very little about world affairs. He does not know the whole situation of the Ming Dynasty. How can he be allowed to arbitrarily discuss national affairs?"
"Father, please think twice."
No one cares about Zhu Biao's words at this moment.
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't listen, and Xia Zhibai ignored it.
Xia Zhibai stood tall, not showing the slightest hint of timidity, nor any intention of shrinking back.
It’s time for Zhu Yuanzhang to sober up.
Xia Zhibai cupped his hands and said: "Since your Majesty wants to listen, I should obey your orders."
"In my eyes, your Majesty's philosophy of governing the country has always been self-contradictory."< br>
“Your Majesty was born in a poor peasant family and suffered from extreme cold and hardship since childhood. He has a deep understanding of bureaucratic corruption and the evil deeds of local powerful men. Therefore, the system of the Ming Dynasty was largely derived from His Majesty’s true feelings from his past life experiences. .”
"His Majesty's financial thinking is simple, which is to live within one's means, distribute corvee and small taxes equally, be frugal in state use, and hide wealth among the people."
"But precisely because of this, there are even more contradictions."
< br>“As the founder of the country, Your Majesty is dealing with a world that has experienced wars, a sharp decline in population, a large amount of land sales, and a lot of waste.”
“In this case, Your Majesty not only wants to The people have reached the ideal state of living a prosperous life and not being poor. On the other hand, they are urgently required to contribute their spare efforts to His Majesty in order to achieve the goal of 'a prosperous national economy' that His Majesty wants to achieve."
"Your Majesty wants to achieve this. There are too many things to do.”
"The construction of Kyoto and the Central Capital, rewards for meritorious officials, official salaries, military rations, His Majesty's unparalleled achievements in 'bridging the north and the south', and the construction of school education, etc., all require a large amount of financial resources."
“The former obviously needs to rest with the people, and the latter needs strong support from abundant national finances.”
“But it is obvious that we cannot have both.”
“Your Majesty, this is Over the past eighteen years, it has been clear that we have firmly chosen the latter.”
“The fixed tax system and low commercial taxes that Your Majesty is proud of are just comforts used by Your Majesty to cover up the cruel exploitation of Ming Dynasty. The low taxes on agriculture and commerce were eventually made up for by free labor and increasing taxes year by year. ”
"The reason why Your Majesty places so much emphasis on agriculture and neglects business."
"It's not that you really love farmers."
"It's that Your Majesty knows very well that almost all of Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue comes from farmers. As for businessmen, ? They are just pigs and sheep raised by the imperial court. When the time comes and the merchants have surplus in their pockets, the imperial court will take advantage of them by force."
"This is how your majesty has become powerful for the merchants. Destiny."
"For now."
"The system created by your Majesty can operate normally. Although there are many resentments among the local people, if I guess correctly, your Majesty's target this time is not officials like Guo Huan, but the people under the Ministry of Household Finance who have surplus food. Merchants and rich peasants are powerful. "
"Your Majesty's ideal world has been stated for a long time."
"A ruler should be pure of desire, be diligent in political affairs, and do no harm to the benefit of others, so that the people can live in peace. They have enough food and clothing, but they are prosperous without knowing it.”
“Since ancient times, people have hated poverty and liked wealth.”
“Thus, these ‘rich’ people want to be rich. Eradicated.”
"The world has never suffered from scarcity but from inequality, nor from poverty but from insecurity."
"So what the court has to do is to take away the wealth of these rich peasants and turn them into 'poor peasants' again." 'The people of the world will not be able to see the difference between others and themselves, they will be able to settle down in the fields, they will no longer have so many desires, and there will not be so many troubles, and the world will be in great order."
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and did not object.
He is indeed a peasant.
He believes that the prosperity of the country and the security of the people are "the first priority of governance and the foundation of a country." Only when the people work hard to farm the land can the country have funds available. The Ming Dynasty "wanted to use the wealth inexhaustibly and the country would always be rich." , the constant enjoyment of ghosts and gods, must rely on agriculture.
Moreover, in terms of national and social governance, the most urgent thing in the world is food and clothing, and the most important thing is education.
He actually admired Mencius’s ‘Thin Thought of Bo Fu’.
But it is precisely because of the more thorough understanding that Mencius must be removed from the Confucius Temple.
Because these ideas of Mencius are contrary to the system he promoted, if too many scholars realize this, it will greatly shake the rule of the Ming Dynasty.
Xia Zhibai kept staring at Zhu Yuanzhang.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang did not show any expression of deep thought, he also knew that Zhu Yuanzhang's old ideas had long been ingrained into his bones.
Since ancient times, it has been a matter of course for farmers to farm, pay taxes, and serve.
And there is no doubt about it.
When people have land, they have rent, and when they have a body, they have labor. It has been passed down from generation to generation, and they all follow the same tradition.
It is his duty to work hard from the fields to provide for the superiors. Only when farmers fulfill this duty can they be benevolent, loyal and filial people. On the contrary, not only is the law of the country not allowed, but the law of heaven is also not allowed.
This concept has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and Zhu Yuanzhang believed it deeply.
And this is also the reason why ancient times focused on agriculture. Not only can it provide a large amount of land rent and taxes, but it can also provide a large amount of free labor.
How to prevent the emperor from enjoying it?
Xia Zhibai added: "From your Majesty's point of view, the world has always been on the right path. As long as you continue to maintain it, it will last forever. However, your Majesty has always ignored one thing, intentionally or unintentionally, that is, your Majesty's Therefore, the reason for the smooth operation of this system is that His Majesty can maintain a high-pressure and powerful state for a long time.”
"But this kind of high-pressure power is only created for His Majesty."
"Perhaps in the future, Your Majesty will take action repeatedly to eliminate any existence that may threaten the imperial power and the emperor's rule, and even promulgate various regulations. This kind of law strictly controls the future emperors, so that they must follow the direction indicated by your Majesty."
"But does your Majesty still remember how you evaluated the prince?"
Wen. Word.
Zhu Biao was stunned.
He also didn't expect that Xia Zhibai would mention him.
Zhu Biao raised his head, glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang secretly, and quickly looked away.
"Evaluate our boss?" Zhu Yuanzhang also had a strange look on his face. He glanced at Zhu Biao, then looked at Xia Zhibai suspiciously, and directly boasted: "Our boss is naturally good at everything. Well, for being brave, resourceful, decisive, and respectful to brothers and sisters, who in the world would not praise him?"
Xia Zhibai smiled.
It seems that I don’t really agree with this sentence.
Xia Zhibai said: "His Royal Highness is indeed famous and respected by people all over the world."
"But what I want to say is not about this aspect."
"It is about 'benevolence'. "
"His Royal Highness is more benevolent than His Majesty."
"And this is the biggest problem with the system established by His Majesty."
As soon as the words fell, the hall fell silent for a moment.
Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai suspiciously, not understanding this sentence.
Only Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes darkened.
A strong killing intent flashed through his eyes again.
Xia Zhibai looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said slowly: "Your Majesty has high hopes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He was established as the Crown Prince early and was carefully trained. Throughout the ages, there has never been a Crown Prince with such authority and trust as the current Crown Prince. , very few in ancient and modern times.”
"His Highness has also started reviewing memorials very early, and His Majesty has been teaching His Highness the ability to handle government affairs."
"To a certain extent."
"His Majesty has indeed abolished the prime minister."
“But in essence, it has not been abolished, but the work of the prime minister has been handed over to the prince.”
“Father and son are united, and the monarch and his ministers are in agreement.”
"Today's relationship between His Majesty and the Crown Prince is different from that of previous dynasties. Your Majesty and the Crown Prince cooperate with each other to a certain extent. There is no overt and covert fighting between the emperor and his son in the past, and they were wary of each other's schemes."
"This This is your Majesty’s good intention.”
“A model for the world.”
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, feeling very comfortable with this sentence.
He is familiar with history and deeply hates the wary calculations of the emperor's father and son.
That's why such a system was designed.
Not only can the prince get in touch with government affairs early, but it can also help him handle memorials, and he doesn't have to worry about monopolizing power for powerful ministers. It can be said that it serves multiple purposes.
Xia Zhibai smiled and moved his eyes to Zhu Biao.
He shook his head and said: "Your Majesty has put great thought into the future generations. But if I remember correctly, His Majesty has said more than once that His Highness is 'benevolent' in his heart, but is His Highness really 'benevolent and righteous'? ? In comparison with Your Majesty, the Prince is indeed benevolent and righteous."
"But the Hu Weiyong case and the Kongyin case were both handled by Your Majesty."
"The number of killings of Yi people is tens of thousands."
"This kind of treatment is still 'benevolent' in His Majesty's heart."
"Because in His Majesty's heart, these two cases are , he should have killed more, and he should not have stopped after killing tens of thousands of people."
"The prince should not have stopped, and he should not have been merciful."
"His Highness's cold and cruel methods cannot be regarded as benevolent and righteous for any minister."
"But His Majesty is still dissatisfied, even uneasy."
"Because 'the son is not like the father'!"
As soon as the words "son is not like the father" came out, Zhu Biao felt his scalp. tingling.
These four words are too strong.
Looking through history books, these four words carry too much blood.
But Zhu Biao didn't understand why Xia Zhibai's evaluation of himself would be these four words?
He does not deserve this evaluation from any angle.
Xia Zhibai said: "Perhaps His Highness will be surprised why I said this, but Your Majesty must know the reason."
"To be precise, Your Highness is not dissimilar to his father, but His Highness is destined not to become the next His Majesty, but the Ming Dynasty’s system needs a steady stream of ‘Zhu Yuanzhang’, and this is the biggest problem with the system created by His Majesty.”
(End of Chapter)