I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1027 Set aside the desire to offer advice and respect the fate of the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Yijun highly valued the Civilization series of articles, even believing that this was the kind of ability a Hanlin scholar should possess.

The core interest of the Ming Dynasty is to establish itself as the Celestial Empire. It is crucial to demonstrate why the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, as this is a necessary step in building consensus.

The "public" mentioned by the Hanlin Academy scholar is actually about building a strong organizational structure. While upright walking and using tools are important, and fire is important, they are not as important as organizational structure. According to the Hanlin Academy scholar, the invention and continuous changes of tools are the result of increasingly higher levels of organization, and experience can be passed down from generation to generation.

In the final chapter of "The Public," several visions of the concept of "public" are presented.

The first: The law is what the emperor shares with all under heaven.

The law is the agreement between the emperor and the people, which both the emperor and the people must abide by, and there should be no excessive favoritism.

Emperor Wen of Han, the tutor of emperors for generations, once asked Zhang Shizhi, the Minister of Justice, to severely punish the offender in a case of violating imperial rules. Zhang Shizhi advised against it, and Emperor Wen was persuaded not to impose a severe punishment.

At that time, Zhang Shizhi also said to Emperor Wen of Han, "If even Your Majesty can abide by the law, then no one in the world will dare to violate it."

Zhang Shizhi not only talked about it, he also did it.

Crown Prince Liu Qi and the Prince of Liang violated the palace guard order. Zhang Shizhi impeached the Crown Prince and the Prince of Liang. Emperor Wen of Han removed his hat and apologized. Empress Dowager Bo personally issued an imperial edict to pardon them. The pardon meant that the Crown Prince and the Prince of Liang were guilty, not the ministers. Only then was the matter considered over.

Emperor Wen of Han abided by the law, and the law was generally observed.

The scholars of the Hanlin Academy sincerely hoped that the principle of "the prince is subject to the same law as the commoner," which was proposed in the pre-Qin period, could one day be realized, even if only partially. That is, to acknowledge guilt, even if one escapes legal punishment through various means, would still be a huge step forward.

The second one is a naive fantasy: the son of a peasant is the emperor, and the son of an emperor is a peasant.

This vision is essentially a hope that the emperor can turn his attention to the vast majority of producers and laborers, and that his class identity can be closer to the laborers, so that when formulating policies, he will at least know the suffering of the people.

The water that overturned the boat is the tears of mankind; you would not know until it flows horizontally.

Often, the downfall of a dynasty is not due to a lack of options, but rather to the ruling class's complete inability to empathize with the vast majority of producers and laborers. This utter disconnect leads to widespread resentment among the people, reaching a point where the dynasty is on the verge of collapse, yet the monarch remains oblivious.

The closer the emperor's class identity is to that of the working class, the clearer he may be about some fundamental, strategic issues than his ministers.

The Ming Dynasty during the Wanli Reforms was in this strange state, with the emperor's class identity never concealed as being close to that of the working class.

The driving force behind the Wanli Reforms had shifted from improving the bureaucracy to changing the ownership of the means of production and the relations of production. The establishment of government factories, the shareholding system, the return of land to farmers, the equal distribution of land, the establishment of manors, and the reclamation of wasteland were all major reforms in the fields of industry and agriculture, and in the means of production and the relations of production.

The first sentence is barely achievable, but the second sentence is very difficult.

Your Majesty's upbringing of the Crown Prince has been very successful, but the Crown Prince is a born nobleman. Although he is only eleven years old, he has already shown the characteristics of a born nobleman in many ways. The Crown Prince cannot be like his father, who openly gets close to the laborers.

The third idea is to prevent wicked people from monopolizing endless benefits, and to ensure that virtuous people are not burdened with unforgivable crimes.

Human greed is insatiable. It is hoped that the system can be designed to prevent these cunning and greedy people from seizing endless benefits.

Some kind and innocent people have been made difficult by these powerful figures who use their power, status, and position to impose too many unjust accusations on them.

The person who wrongs you often knows better than you how wronged you really are.

In fact, this third vision is a yearning for justice.

The Hanlin scholars hoped that the Ming Dynasty would improve its system through more institutional design during the Wanli Reforms, and take a further step towards 'fairness and justice'.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty was doing just that. Although Prince Lu was a troublemaker, in order to humiliate and punish some of the powerful, he invented the system of public trials, and conducted a completely open trial of some filth and ugliness.

Today, the public trial system is gradually becoming one of the fundamental reasons for the legality of the Ming Dynasty's legal system.

Open, fair, and just methods of law enforcement are an important way to realize the third vision.

Zhu Yijun had the official gazette reprint this article titled "Civilization: Public".

On February 17th, Yin Zhengmao was buried in Jinshan Cemetery, ranking fourth on the list of meritorious officials of the Wanli Reforms, second only to Wang Chonggu. As a pillar of the opening of the sea, Yin Zhengmao's soul returned to the Ming Dynasty, guarding the Ming Dynasty to continue moving forward.

The emperor bestowed upon Yin Zhengmao the title of Duke of Lü, and granted the descendants of Yin Zhengmao's eldest and second sons the honor of serving as Shangbao Cheng (a high-ranking official in charge of imperial seals), though they did not hold any official positions. His posthumous title was Wenxiang, meaning "to govern the world with virtue" and "to achieve one's way"; "to open up new lands with virtue" and "to perform meritorious service in armor" were also given the title.

The posthumous title of Duke Wenxiang was bestowed by the emperor, while the posthumous title given by the Ministry of Rites was Rongjing. This was also a commendatory posthumous title, but it was not just one level lower than the posthumous title that started with the character "文". The Ministry of Rites felt that Yin Zhengmao had never entered the Wenhua Hall to participate in confidential matters throughout his life, so the first character "文" was somewhat inappropriate.

Zhu Yijun issued an edict directly, forbidding the cabinet from rejecting the proposal.

The cabinet's power to reject imperial edicts was extremely limited. If the emperor listened, he would consult with the cabinet; if he didn't listen, he would issue an edict directly, and the Ministry of Rites could only comply.

Yin Zongxin took Princess Yingjia to Jinshan Mausoleum to observe 27 days of mourning for his father, thus avoiding the turmoil in the court.

The emperor's second edict, which ordered Yin Zongxin to accompany the emperor south and stay in Songjiang Prefecture before going to Luzon with the governor, was not rejected, but there was great opposition in the court.

Two cabinet ministers disagreed, and of the twenty-seven ministers, nearly half still believed that it was safe for Yin Zongxin to remain in the Ming Dynasty as the imperial son-in-law.

Ling Yunyi, as the second-in-command, disagreed.

Luzon is not Yunnan. Yunnan is relatively poor, but Luzon is very rich, and Southeast Asia is even richer. Luzon has the basic financial strength to resist the imperial court. Even if Yin Zongxin's fiefdom were placed in the Yuanxu Islands, it could not be placed in Luzon.

After further discussion, Shen Li and Gao Qiyu still disagreed. The two were of one mind, opposing the matter based on ancestral laws. However, ancestral laws were just a pretext; the fundamental reason was the same as Ling Yunyi's: sometimes, loyalty was not something that Yin Zongxin himself could decide.

Zhu Yijun summoned Ling Yunyi, Shen Li, and Gao Qiyu to the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace.

"Sit down, sit down, don't be so formal." Zhu Yijun had a large stack of examination records in his hands. He quickly finished the page in his hand, put it away with a bookmark, and then closed it. He said with great emotion, "I have taken over your work and now I know how difficult it is for you."

"This performance evaluation system is really too much."

When Zhang Juzheng was young, he was somewhat reckless in designing systems.

When he got older, he could still grit his teeth and keep going, but a serious illness made it impossible for him to continue.

The performance evaluation system, which assesses the performance of all officials, requires breaking down a government order into specific tasks for each department. This is a work of overall planning. If the allocation of tasks is extremely unfair or unjust, it will cause dissatisfaction among officials with the performance evaluation system, making it impossible to implement government orders.

Making overall arrangements is difficult in itself, and you also have to take into account the situation of pressure and additional measures being imposed at each level.

The overall planning is actually very similar to the command economy that Xiong Tingbi implemented at Iwami Silver Mine. After Zhang Juzheng recovered from his serious illness, his computing power was completely insufficient. When people get old, they have to accept their age, and when their energy is insufficient, they can no longer do things.

Moreover, as the Wanli Reforms progressed, the affairs of the Ming Dynasty became more complex.

In fact, by around the sixteenth year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Juzheng had already reached the point where he needed to establish his own government office to increase his resources and make overall arrangements more reasonable.

However, the Ming Dynasty had its own national conditions and had long since abolished the prime minister system. Zhang Juzheng could not establish his own government office and endured for another four years. Finally, in October of the 20th year of the Wanli reign, he could no longer hold on.

Let alone Zhang Juzheng, a 68-year-old man, even Zhu Yijun, who was 30 and in his prime, would have found these complex and multifaceted problems extremely troublesome.

"The Grand Secretary devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Wanli Reforms." Ling Yunyi greatly admired Zhang Juzheng. He managed to make most people believe that the overall planning was reasonable. Ling Yunyi asked himself if he could really do it.

To devote oneself wholeheartedly to one's duties is the highest praise one can give to a subject.

"Grand Secretary Shen is quite capable." Zhu Yijun said with a hint of satisfaction, "If it weren't for Grand Secretary Shen's assistance, I would be busy all day just dealing with performance evaluations and allocations, let alone inspecting the troops and reviewing memorials."

After Shen Shixing entered the cabinet, he took over the work previously done by Zhang Juzheng, but as a newcomer to the central government, he lacked experience in handling such matters.

Zhu Yijun was mainly responsible for overseeing the process, which was also the reason for closing the court discussions. He wanted to protect Shen Shixing and give him more time to adapt, accumulate experience, and become a qualified chief minister.

"The performance evaluation system needs to be streamlined. We can't do everything ourselves. It's necessary to delegate some authority to lower levels," Zhu Yijun and Ling Yunyi said, discussing the reform of the performance evaluation system.

The performance evaluation system is effective, but previously it has been about adding and subtracting, turning directives into plans. The court should focus on the big picture, rather than trying to address both big and small aspects simultaneously.

Firstly, it is impossible for the imperial court to grasp all the minor aspects. What the imperial court needs to do is to grasp the major direction, address the main contradictions, and resolve the main contradictions.
Secondly, the imperial court was fundamentally incapable of grasping all the minor trends, and the court officials did not know much about local affairs. The court's self-righteousness often brought endless trouble to the local areas.

Just like Zhao Guangyi's "Complete Formation Diagram for Pacifying the Barbarians," which required the Song army to be stationed in the river, otherwise they would be considered disloyal.

Just like in the past, Xuzhou Prefecture always faced the choice between protecting the Grand Canal and protecting people's livelihoods. The former Xuzhou prefect and the Xuzhou governor after the Wanli Reform could only protect the Grand Canal and not people's livelihoods, since power is only responsible to the source of power.

But Liu Shunzhi broke through this barrier and actually solved the problem.

Just like Dinggong Construction, the layers of added costs eventually forced some Dinggong Construction companies to rush the work, resulting in production accidents and poor production quality.

The imperial court tries to control everything, but ends up failing to grasp anything firmly.

In the past, the performance evaluation system was used to issue instructions to officials because there was no other way. Reforms began with governing officials, and among all the civil and military officials in the country, there were very few honest and upright officials. Without issuing instructions, the state machinery could not function properly.

Twenty-one years after the Wanli Reforms, changing directives into plans became a logical and inevitable course of action.

“These days, Grand Secretary Shen has been frequently visiting the Marquis of Yicheng’s residence to consult with the Prime Minister. He has already been planning to reduce the performance evaluation system.” Ling Yunyi leaned forward and said, “The Prime Minister knows that the performance evaluation system needs to be reduced, but he is still in the cabinet, so the performance evaluation system cannot be reduced. This task of reducing the system can only be done by the successor.”

Zhang Juzheng was an authoritarian figure, and the most important thing about an authoritarian figure is that his authority cannot be challenged, not even by himself. The performance evaluation system was one of the foundations of the Reform Movement, and Zhang Juzheng himself could not change it; it could only be changed by his successors.

Shen Shixing was already writing a memorial to the throne.

"Regarding Yin Zongxin's appointment to Luzon, Vice Minister Ling has opposed it twice. I summoned the Vice Minister here to inquire about his opinion." Zhu Yijun sat up straight and began to discuss Yin Zongxin's appointment with Ling Yunyi.

“Your Majesty, Luzon has five naval battalions and five infantry battalions, totaling 30,000 troops, not garrison troops.” Ling Yunyi considered for a moment before stating the number: 30,000 troops.

The military system of the Ming Dynasty was a dual-track system. The garrison system, which was established by Emperor Taizu Gao, was the core of the garrison system, which combined farming and warfare, and soldiers were both soldiers and farmers. The camp system, which was mainly composed of volunteers recruited after the Jiajing era, was another system.

The soldiers were professional soldiers. Their sole purpose was to fight and win battles. Their training was extremely arduous, and they knew nothing but fighting. The soldiers needed to be resettled by the imperial court. Once they left the army, they had no social productive capacity.

The soldiers of the garrison were farmers when they didn't fight; they were only conscripted when there was war.

Thirty thousand soldiers—that's an incredibly terrifying number. To have thirty thousand soldiers, you need at least three hundred thousand able-bodied men to select so many. And to support thirty thousand soldiers, the annual salary alone would cost six hundred thousand taels of silver, while military equipment, maintenance, and so on would cost at least one million two hundred thousand taels of silver.

Isn't it alarming that Luzon can support such a large army with ease?
“Your Majesty, the Duke of Qian’s mansion was in charge of military garrisons and garrisons back then. Even today, the troops under the Duke of Qian’s mansion are still garrison soldiers, not recruited soldiers.”

“The soldiers in the Southwest Camp are all led by General Liu Ting. After the salary reform in the ninth year of the Wanli reign, the salaries of these soldiers are directly paid by the imperial court,” Shen Li immediately added.

If the emperor intends to refer to the past in Yunnan and implement the policy of "civilization" over Luzon, then Yin Zongxin can no longer lead these 30,000 troops, but should instead be stationed in military garrisons.

Shen Li kept mentioning the ancestral laws in his memorials, which on the surface meant that the Imperial Son-in-Law and Commandant-in-Chief could not perform duties, but in reality, it was about the distinction between the camp soldiers and the guards.

After the two Grand Secretaries finished speaking, Gao Qiyu said, "Your Majesty, Yin Zongxin and Princess Yingjia have a very good relationship. Yin Zongxin has placed his three sons in the Ming Dynasty for education. Yin Zongxin will not betray them, but what the people below think is another matter."

"Your Majesty, for example, when I was presiding over the provincial examination in Nanjing, the topic I gave was 'Shun also commanded Yu.'"

Gao Qiyu demonstrated through his own experience that sometimes, being forced to wear the imperial robe is not something one can control.

The trouble Gao Qiyu caused back then put Zhang Juzheng in a very passive position. As a result, Zhang Juzheng expelled Gao Qiyu and even made things difficult for him in every way. If it weren't for the emperor's protection, Gao Qiyu would have been dealt with by Zhang Juzheng long ago. He risked his life twice to get a further step in his career.

Gao Qiyu continued, "Now, Lord Koxinga has been stationed in Luzon for a long time. These ten battalions of officers are known as the Ten Tigers. Even though I am in the capital, I have heard of the formidable reputation of Xu Zhen, the Crouching Dragon, and the Tiger King of the Sea."

"These ten tigers are all the trusted confidants of Lord Koxinga, which is the fundamental reason why the Prince Consort was able to successfully control the Governor-General's Office of Luzon."

Yin Zhengmao recalled Yin Zongxin to Manila. After Yin Zhengmao's death, Yin Zongxin immediately took complete control of the entire Luzon region. This was because the Ten Tigers were extremely loyal and all supported Governor Yin Zongxin. To put it bluntly, Yin Zongxin, a military man, was more to their liking.

Fulong Xu Zhen and Zhenhai Wang Hu were respectively the adjutant generals of the Fubo Camp and the Chengbo Camp. These two had fought in more than 150 battles in the South China Sea, and were invincible generals.

These ten tigers all came from the guest soldiers' camps that fought against Japanese pirates in Guangdong back then.

After pondering for a moment, Gao Qiyu concluded, "Your Majesty, if things continue like this, I fear that tomorrow's Luzon will be just like today's Japan, a thorn in the side that the court has nurtured itself."

Gao Qiyu spoke a bit too directly, but if he wanted to be the sole minister, he had to make his words as clear as possible.

"What you all say makes sense. Please allow me some time to think it over." Zhu Yijun summoned his ministers to discuss matters in order to hear their opinions.

This was also Zhu Yijun's purpose in protecting the posthumous reputations of Wang Chonggu and Zhang Juzheng. If even Zhang Juzheng were to be counterattacked and punished, the ministers would have to put aside their remonstrances and respect the fate of the Ming Dynasty.

Despite the emperor's wrath, Ling Yunyi joined forces with Shen Li, Gao Qiyu, and others to oppose His Majesty's edict twice. Their actions were loyal and upright, offering suggestions and criticizing Chen Shan, and were by no means those of a treacherous minister.

The three of them knew perfectly well that as long as they were genuinely concerned for the good of the Ming Dynasty and their words were reasonable and substantive, His Majesty would accept their good advice and tolerate their different voices just as Emperor Wen of Han tolerated Zhang Shizhi's repeated disobedience.

His Majesty is domineering, not incapable of distinguishing between good and bad.

The reasons the three of them gave were not blatant lies or alarmist rhetoric; these were all issues that needed to be considered.

“Your Majesty, it was I who went to talk to Yin Zongxin. Yin Zongxin said that when Lord Guoxing was leaving, he said that if it didn’t work out, he would let Zongxin return to the Ming Dynasty to be the emperor’s son-in-law.” Ling Yunyi said solemnly, “Your Majesty, when I went to Guangzhou Prefecture, Lord Guoxing was still fighting against the Japanese pirates in Guangzhou.”

"Lord Koxinga has been kind to me, and the five hundred soldiers he left behind are the key to my pacification of the Yao rebellion. Without these five hundred soldiers as my officers, I don't know when the Yao rebellion would have ended."

"The fact that Lord Koxinga left such a will and such arrangements clearly shows that he was aware of these problems, but he was powerless to change them, nor could he change them."

If Yin Zongxin doesn't understand, how could Yin Zhengmao not understand?

If things continue like this, the Ming Dynasty and Luzon will inevitably clash one day. If the Ming Dynasty and the Luzon Governor-General's Office fight, Yin Zhengmao will no longer be the fourth meritorious official in promoting the Reform Movement, but a traitor to the Ming Dynasty. Regardless of whether the Ming Dynasty wins or loses, his grave will be dug up and his corpse whipped.

However, Your Majesty need not become the villain who grinds bones to dust, because the coffin already contains ashes.

Yin Zongxin said that the ministers were conveying messages to him for his own good, and that these messages were truly without malice.

Zhu Yijun tapped his fingers on the table. After a long while, he stopped and looked at the three cabinet ministers, saying, "No matter what, we must leave a battalion for Guoxing Zongxin. Three thousand guest soldiers are still necessary. Otherwise, no one will treat him as the governor of Luzon."

"Secondly, the remaining nine battalions need to be rotated. The Nanyang Fleet, the Old Port Fleet, and the Luzon Fleet need to be rotated, and the commanders also need to be replaced."

"All officers and soldiers, including garrison commanders, captains, lieutenants, and junior officers, must study at the Songjiang University Maritime Academy, while generals and adjutants must study at the Military Academy."

"The governor and the three provincial authorities shall proceed as previously ordered, and shall continue to establish their positions as before. In addition, the garrison commanders of each copper town shall be recommended by the three provincial authorities and the governor, and shall be appointed and dismissed by the imperial court."

Zhu Yijun added four points to the previous decree, attempting to address the issue raised by Ling Yunyi: the potential for violence to spiral out of control in Luzon.

Three thousand guest soldiers is already a lot. Ling Yunyi has three thousand guest soldiers and dares to lead them to the capital to defend the emperor because these professional soldiers can expand the army to thirty thousand or even more in a short period of time.

If there are any fewer, no one will take Yin Zongxin seriously.

"Your Majesty is wise." Ling Yunyi, Shen Li, and Gao Qiyu looked at each other, stood up together, and bowed.

When they objected for the second time, Ling Yunyi and Shen Li were prepared to be reprimanded by His Majesty or even dismissed. But His Majesty was still His Majesty, and he did not become stubborn just because Zhang Juzheng left the center of power.

"I have no objections. Let the Cabinet draft an edict."

“One person’s plan is short-sighted, but many people’s plans are long-sighted. Even I am biased and incomplete in my thinking, which is why I need the assistance of my ministers. You are right, and of course I will listen to you.” Zhu Yijun said with a smile, “Sit down, sit down.”

"I think this Hanlin scholar's article is excellent, and I'd like to show it to you all."

Zhu Yijun shared his views on the essay "Civilization and Public Service" with his ministers. In his opinion, the scholars of the Ming Dynasty were finally acting like scholars, instead of being strange people who talked nonsense all day long.

Gao Qiyu was the head of the Hanlin Academy. He had read this article long ago and even revised its contents. The last three visions were added by him as the chief writer. The Hanlin scholars talked about the past and the present, but not the future, so Gao Qiyu filled in the gaps.

The gathering of three flowers at the top is an illusion, and soaring through the clouds beneath one's feet is not real either.

The Wanli Reforms were a continuation of the past and a beginning of the future, not a complete overthrow or a change of dynasty. Therefore, it was even more necessary to achieve a convergence of the past, present, and future aspects of the reforms so that they would not be a mere illusion.

Gao Qiyu hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, that is the way it should be. I have the Hanlin scholars study Mao Dun's theory. Anyone who doesn't study it well will be expelled. If they can master Mao Dun's theory, they will naturally not be like those who talked nonsense and argued irrationally in the early years of Wanli."

In Gao Qiyu's view, the change of Hanlin Academician had little to do with him; it was an inevitable result of the increasing status of the theory of contradictions, which gradually became the most prominent school of thought in the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Qiyu only suppressed some old bones that were half buried in the ground, and it had such a great effect.

This is a success of the Ming Dynasty's great promotion of education and culture. His Majesty has been vigorous in military affairs, but has never said that he would not promote education.

The period from the tenth to the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign was the most dangerous time for the Reform Movement. It was the time when the conservatives launched their fiercest counterattack and the critical moment when the reformers' old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet emerged. The Southern Court Selection Case broke out during this period.

After the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, it was time to reap the rewards of the reforms.

"Li Yashi said that the West doesn't even understand how to use a public toilet, is that true?" Zhu Yijun was somewhat puzzled. This Li Yashi was becoming more and more like a scholar-official, spouting slander all day long.

“Last year, only the Portuguese envoy visited. The envoy complained that since Xu Fan’s death, Lisbon, the city of flowers, has become foul-smelling again. Even Antonio can’t stand it, but there’s nothing he can do about it.” Gao Qiyu answered the question after considering it carefully.

It's not that Li Yashi is slandering me; it's just that I genuinely don't understand it because of insufficient vertical accumulation.

China's public toilet system can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, when roadside toilets were being built. If the Shang and Zhou Dynasties share a common origin, then the public toilet system must have existed even earlier, possibly dating back to the Shang Dynasty.

However, oracle bone inscriptions mainly contain information about sacrificial rites, with very few records of these daily life practices.

Counting from the Western Zhou Dynasty, by the Ming Dynasty, it had a history of three thousand years. Excrement disposal had become industrialized, and composting even gave rise to the profession of "manure tyrant." People who collected and emptied manure were called "honey collectors."

Xu Fan managed Portugal very well, which was due to his talent. After his death, the systems he established were quickly disintegrated, and Lisbon once again became a stinking mess.

Antonio tried many methods to solve this problem, but none of them worked. Unless the emperor appointed him as a chief secretary as capable as Xu Fan and made him a minister of state, this city of flowers would probably only be a flash in the pan.

Antonio relied on the Han Chinese elites, which were somewhat useful, but not very effective.

"How did we handle it?" Zhu Yijun asked Gao Qiyu, referring to the "Regulations on the Management of Urban Sanitation in the Ming Dynasty."

Gao Qiyu answered fluently. Urban sanitation management was one of the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty. After explaining the rules and regulations in detail, he felt that they were too vague.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "There is a shoemaker named He Laosan at the intersection of Yangliu Street outside Chaoyangmen. He is from Shanxi and came to Beijing ten years ago. He was only thirteen years old at the time. He is quite handsome, but he has a limp."

"His leg was lame, making it difficult for him to move around. He couldn't do any work, so he built a makeshift shack next to the toilet. Since he had nowhere else to live, he made a living by repairing shoes in this shack."

"Being next to a toilet, it's smelly and messy, so naturally business won't be good."

"When Wang Xiyuan was the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, he renovated the eighty-one streets outside Chaoyang Gate. At that time, He Laosan didn't even have a shack anymore."

"When the public toilet on Yangliu Street was being renovated, the 23rd Banner of the 6th Battalion of the 7th Engineering Regiment of the Capital couldn't bear it, so they used scraps of wood to build half a room next to the public toilet for He Laosan to live in."

"Later, He Laosan lived next to the public toilet and was responsible for cleaning and sweeping it. He also handed over the excrement to the manure cart. He was paid 36 copper coins for each cartload of excrement."

"If there's money, someone will come and rob you immediately. The dung tyrants demanded that He Laosan pay, but He Laosan, a cripple, dared not refuse. He had been paying 18 coins for more than three years, but suddenly he didn't have to pay anymore because the dung tyrants were arrested by Shuntian Prefecture and sent to work as managers in the Nanyang plantation."

"Two years ago, He Laosan built another room next door because of his good shoe repair skills and set up a shoe repair stall. People from several streets would come to him to repair their shoes."

"Last year, the night watchman in the kitchen introduced a woman to He Laosan. This woman was widowed and had two daughters. She was kicked out by her husband's family and had nowhere to go."

"Last year, He Laosan had a big, healthy baby boy. When the baby was 100 days old, all the neighbors gave him money as a gift, which was very lively. He Laosan had a new purpose in life. He wanted all his children to go to school, so he became even more diligent."

"Your Majesty asked me why the West can't even figure out a public toilet, and I couldn't answer. But if you ask me why the Ming Dynasty can figure it out, I can only say that the people of the Ming Dynasty are warm-hearted, not cold-hearted."

Why did Gao Qiyu know He Laosan? Because His Majesty often went to the Five Phoenix Tower at Chaoyang Gate to watch the everyday life of ordinary people. What the superiors like, the inferiors will follow even more closely. All the officials in the capital of the Ming Dynasty had their own objects of observation.

Your Majesty's class identity is close to that of the poor and laborers, close to the vast majority of workers. Then the bureaucrats will either have to overthrow the emperor or adjust their own class identity.

It's clear that it's really difficult to overthrow the emperor, so the only option is to adjust one's class identity.

(End of this chapter)