I'm really not doing business

Chapter 755: Zhu Yuanzhang also did it, and it was even more excessive

The formation of social consensus is formed in the game, and the court's decrees are only driving force rather than decisive. What ultimately determines what the society will be like is the entire collective society, and every action of every individual will eventually form a general consensus.

Wind power public opinion also plays a similar role in promoting power, so it is called the fourth power.

The emperor's logic of taxation based on violence, in addition to court decrees, is to use public opinion to shape a general consensus. These public opinions repeatedly exaggerate the tragedies caused by tax arrears, and the authority of the Tax Inspection Office will continue to increase, causing more people to pay taxes out of fear.

For people of all classes in all parts of the Ming Dynasty, the local government offices were generally weak in their ability to handle cases, but the Tax Inspection Office, a government office with a transcendent status, had extremely strong ability to handle cases. If you did not buy tax invoices, you were provoking the Tax Inspection Office and were asking for trouble.

Wan Shihe looked around, took out a square box from his sleeve, and whispered, "This is the twelve zodiac tax stamps issued by His Majesty."

The tax invoices of the Ming Emperor had themes based on the twelve zodiac animals, and they were changed every year to facilitate accounting audits.

The Minister of Rites of the Ming Dynasty opened the box and slowly unfolded the rolled tax invoice. The abaca cotton paper from Luzon was naturally strong, flexible and corrosion-resistant, needless to say. It was printed with full ink, with sparse lines, and looked very exquisite.

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"How much is this whole set of tax invoices worth?" Wang Chonggu looked at the set of things in front of him, and there was only one word in his mind: official kiln!
Wan Shihe said with certainty: "It is the face value. When you pay taxes, you get a tax receipt. It can be used as proof of tax payment. If the tax inspection office does an inspection, it can be used as evidence of how much tax was paid in a certain year."

Wang Chonggu took the tax receipt, looked at it for a long time and said, "I have to buy a few sets."

There are 54 official kilns in the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Factory. Since its establishment during the Yongle period, it has been the official kilns of the Ming Dynasty. These 54 official kilns in Jingdezhen employed 1,200 kiln workers of the time and were able to produce porcelains such as Yongle sweet white, Yongle and Xuande blue and white, Chenghua doucai, and Wanli five-color. These porcelains are called tribute vessels.

In addition to the Imperial Kiln Factory, Jingdezhen had 24 other government-run kilns and hundreds of private kilns, and the price of tribute vessels remained high.

The set of tickets with the twelve zodiac animals in front of him is an exquisite and unique set, and it is the first set. Wang Chonggu thinks it is a good choice to buy some to leave for future generations. The value of this thing in the future will definitely be much higher than the face value. It can be passed down to future generations as a family heirloom. If the future generations are not successful and squander the family fortune, they can also sell it.

"Uh... I'm afraid this thing will become a treasure note." Zhang Juzheng expressed his concerns. He looked at Wan Shihe and said, "This thing has an anchor. The court cannot over-issue it for no reason."

The Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions. Although the general shortage of money has been alleviated with the influx of large amounts of precious metals, it is still in a state of shortage of money. The only way to solve the shortage of money is the banknote system.

However, there were two problems with the currency system: over-issuance by the imperial court (which forced the wealthy and powerful to steal and print the currency) and anti-counterfeiting.

"Uh..." Wan Shihe was stunned and said, "No way, can this thing be used as currency?"

Wang Chonggu held the tax receipt in front of him and said with certainty: "Nanyang also uses tobacco, shells, and stones as currency. These things have exchange value. They represent the tax paid, and they represent the tax itself. Someone must be doing this business. As long as these things can be exchanged for silver, they will be used as currency, just like the salt permits in the past."

"The Ministry of Revenue has the 'Anchoring Regulations on Banknote Laws', which is the anchoring of the Ming Dynasty's taxes. Even if it is only valid for that year, it has great value."

"This thing is even more exquisite than the Ming Dynasty's overseas circulated treasure notes. In the past, bribes were paid in the form of salt vouchers. But salt vouchers can also be used as money because they have salt as an anchor. There are also fine woolen silk coins in the early Wanli period. They are all the same principle."

"No, your majesty means that these tax invoices are for those who are inconvenienced." After communicating with Wang Chonggu, Wan Shihe was stunned for a moment and said.

"Will it be the turn of those inconvenient people? They are just a bunch of rats in the gutter." Wang Chonggu said confidently: "As long as this thing starts to be sold, there will be plenty of people to buy it. It won't be the turn of those inconvenient people. If they want to buy it, they can use their connections to find a way!"

The eunuchs who sold all kinds of rare items in the imperial farm limited the quantities they produced there, and then acted as middlemen to sell them at high prices. The tax stamps were not printed indefinitely, so it was not the mouse's turn to buy them.

"It's rare to be ignorant." Zhang Juzheng shook his head and did not discuss the issue any further.

The imperial court needs taxes to maintain its transcendent status and operation, and it also needs to prevent the Tax Inspection Office from becoming the source of all evil, or from doing evil and endangering the common people. However, violent government agencies like the Tax Inspection Office also need to survive. The basic principle of the system design is that you cannot have both. It is impossible to have all the good things.

Turning a blind eye and selling tax invoices at a premium is an illegal but reasonable hidden income for the Tax Inspection Office to maintain its existence. Moreover, this part can be controlled by the court. As long as the number of tax invoices is controlled, the scale can be controlled.

The dukes of the Ming Dynasty gathered together to discuss the Tax Inspection Office. Although the emperor was not there, his plan was there.

After a detailed discussion, Zhang Juzheng took the lead in writing a joint memorial and sent it to the imperial study in Tonghe Palace.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun put down the newspaper in his hand. What he found was a copy of "Xiao Lin Ji". This time, the copy did not tell jokes from the Western Jin Dynasty, but jokes from the Ming Dynasty.

It can only be said that Xiao Linji's pen was very brave, but Zhu Yijun did not let the imperial guards arrest anyone.

The scope of satirical jokes is very broad. They are the people's mockery of the Ming Dynasty's constitution, including the Ming Lord, specific government offices, specific events, etc. The court usually calls them rumors [chèn].

For example, during the Chenghua period, Emperor Xianzong had difficulty speaking, and usually when he met with ministers, he could only say yes or no. One year, Emperor Xianzong got a mouth ulcer and was even more unable to speak. The Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Shi Chunyan, thought quickly and asked Emperor Xianzong to answer "as usual". Emperor Xianzong found that the answer was fluent and was very happy. He promoted Shi Chunyan to the position of Shangshu.

People at that time were shocked and said: "Two words are Shangshu."

Of course there are also jokes from the Wanli period.

For example: King Yi Sun of Joseon fled to Seoul, then to Kaesong, and finally to Pyongyang. What was the point of the Joseon court fighting against the Japanese? The answer is: the army was greatly pleased.

This means that the only role of the King of Korea in the Korean battlefield was to contribute countless jokes, making the Ming army laugh in their spare time from fighting.

For example: One day, the Northern Pacification Office arrested three people and put them in the imperial prison, and asked: Why are you in prison? One person answered: I hate Zhang Taiyue; one person answered: I am a member of Zhang Taiyue's party; one person answered: I am Zhang Taiyue.

Taiyue is Zhang Juzheng's nickname. The reason why this joke was made up is that people generally felt that Zhang Juzheng's new laws had caused panic among the court officials, and it was not right to support or not support him. Even he himself might not have a good ending.

For example: One day during a court discussion, Zhang Taiyue asked Wang Cifu about state affairs: Do you have any objections? Wang Cifu replied: I have objections, but I do not agree with my objections.

For example: One day, there was a grand military review, and all the camps were lined up past Deshengmen. There were 5,000 Liao cavalrymen, 3,000 elite soldiers from the Beijing camp, 1,000 musketeers from the Shenji camp, 500 from the cavalry camp, and 300 Jinyiwei cavalrymen. The army was in neat order and displayed great majesty. As all the camps passed by, only two men in plain clothes passed by. The emperor was suspicious and asked the people nearby: Who are they?

The attendants on both sides replied: Two people who collect taxes from a thousand households can defeat five thousand Liao cavalry.

There were many jokes of this kind, and Zhu Yijun couldn't help laughing after reading them. These jokes were widely circulated and, to a certain extent, reflected public opinion. The emperor's infantry battalion did not have as much of a deterrent effect on the people as two thousand tax collectors.

Since the tax collection of thousands of households began, all the people began to know that they had a king.

The Thousand Tax Inspectors let all the people of the Ming Dynasty know about the existence of such an emperor, but at the same time, the Tax Inspection Office should also make some improvements to the system in the contradiction between tax evasion and tax inspection. The Tax Inspection Office already has more than 13,000 tax inspectors, which is really large enough. If it continues to expand without order, it will probably end in a mess.

"Wang Ci Fu's opinions are very good." Zhu Yijun reviewed Wang Chonggu's seven tax inspection items, each of which hit the nail on the head.

Feng Bao said with a smile on his face: "My Lords, your Majesty's method is the best solution. The initiative to report taxes has clarified a key issue: who is the enemy between tax evasion and tax inspection? If this issue is not clarified, I am afraid that the Tax Inspection Office will not be able to last long."

In the third volume of Class Theory, the volume on struggle, regarding the issue of struggle, we must first figure out who the enemy is and who the friend is. This is the basis of struggle. If we cannot even figure out the enemy, then we are just wasting our efforts in a battle of wits and courage against the air.

Actively filing tax returns is actually a form of screening, constantly screening out enemies and ultimately reaching a general consensus.

If the Tax Inspection Office mistakenly identifies the enemy, then no matter how perfectly the system is designed, it will eventually become quicksand in the long river of history.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "I am the one who makes the decisions. It is still the hard work of the tax collectors. Sir, you said that it is rare to be confused about the tax bills. So let it be like this, just like the imperial farm selling those extravagant things."

"Your Majesty is wise." Feng Bao was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. It turned out that His Majesty knew very well that the eunuchs in the imperial farm were embezzling money.

"Send a memorial to the Northern Pacification Office to limit the number of miscellaneous servants under its jurisdiction. It should not be too many." Zhu Yijun wrote the red seal on the memorial, stretched his body, picked up the memorial and continued to polish it.

Zhu Yijun respected Hai Rui's integrity very much, but he knew very well that not everyone in this world was Hai Rui. Some things would not affect the Ming Dynasty's greatness again, so he had to be ignorant of them.

Pan Jixun and Shen Yikuan jointly submitted a memorial stating that the spring drought in the border areas of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia did not lead to a civil uprising because sweet potatoes are very drought-resistant. After the summer, the drought began to ease. The emperor prepared 1.5 million shi of grain and sent 200,000 shi to Shengzhou to prepare for the disaster, but it was not used.

Pan Jixun asked the emperor to take the grain away, and Zhu Yijun approved it, ordering it to be left locally as a reward for the soldiers in the military garrisons and the soldiers who were farming and fighting.

The emperor was not short of this grain, but Suiyuan was very short of it, and so were the people of Suiyuan.

"Governor Pan has been in Suiyuan for five years. He has made Suiyuan full of vitality, and the desert close to Yulin has finally stopped." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand and suddenly remembered what Ma Yilong, Xu Zhenming's teacher, said: human power can overcome nature.

When Pan Jixun arrived in Yulin, the Maowusu Pasture, a sea of ​​sand close to Yulin, had become desertified due to overgrazing, and mobile sand dunes soon appeared, which aroused Pan Jixun's vigilance.

Through measures such as producing more various kinds of forage, water and fertilizer, changing nomadic life to fixed grazing and enclosure, afforestation, coal production and reducing logging, and the concerted efforts of thousands of people, this year, the sea of ​​sand finally stopped its advance towards Yulin.

Feng Bao said solemnly, "Sir, you have recommended Governor Pan to join the cabinet again. The Grand Master is not in good health, and Liu Dongxing who follows Governor Pan can be of great use."

Liu Dongxing had been learning water conservancy from Pan Jixun since he became his disciple in the second year of the Longqing reign. Eighteen years had passed in a flash. Suiyuan had a population of less than three million at most, and that was only possible because 140,000 people had been relocated from the Ming Dynasty. Songjiang Prefecture had more people than Suiyuan.

Liu Dongxing is in charge of Suiyuan, and his ability is undoubtedly a problem.

"Alas, I wanted Governor Pan to return to the capital, but he refused to come back." Zhu Yijun spread his hands and said, "I offered him a promotion but he was not happy about it and declined."

Wan Shihe was a little old and in poor health. Zhu Yijun asked Pan Jixun for his opinion and asked him to return to Beijing to lead the Ministry of Rites and join the cabinet. However, Pan Jixun directly refused on the grounds of lack of moral character. Compared to serving you, the emperor, Pan Jixun wanted to see the day when the Yellow River would clear.

Pan Jixun's qualifications were already sufficient, but he felt that he was not suitable for being an official. Water control was his job. "Let the cabinet re-elect him." Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "In recent years, there have not been so many people in the court who are full of evil intentions and endless fighting. It is all thanks to Wan Shihe who mediates. When Wan Shihe is in harmony, everything is in harmony."

Wan Shihe's body could not hold on any longer. He was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing, and later became a Shujishi. He was about to rise to prominence, but due to his youthful vigor, he impeached Yan Song and was directly sent to the Zhouwang Palace as a chief historian. Wan Shihe refused, and later he was gradually promoted outside, and climbed up step by step to the Wenhua Palace to become a Grand Cunbo.

He has been the Minister of Rites for fourteen years. Wan Shihe's health has been getting worse recently, and he has been taking more and more sick leave. Zhu Yijun has politely rejected Wan Shihe's resignation several times, but it seems that his energy is running out.

Zhu Yijun still remembers that Zhang Juzheng's current relative Wang Zhihao chose to retire from the current situation, while Wan Shihe chose to follow the emperor until the end. So many years have passed in a flash.

On June 24, the 14th year of the Wanli reign, Zhu Yijun came to the Wenhua Palace to hold court, and all the ministers greeted him in unison.

"No need to be so polite." Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and motioned for the ministers to stand up.

"I have a memorial to make." Wan Shihe did not sit down, but bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I beg to retire. The Ministry of Rites has an important responsibility, and I have entrusted it to the wrong person. I am old and sick, and I cannot bear the heavy responsibility. How can I entrust the emperor with the responsibility when something happens? I beg Your Majesty to grant me permission."

Wan Shihe felt a little emotional after he finished speaking. He had been working in the Wenhua Hall for fourteen years, and now he would never be able to return to the Wenhua Hall again.

"Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, there is no need to bow." Zhu Yijun neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, he asked the elderly Wan Shihe to step forward, and then looked at Wan Shihe for a long time.

Wan Shihe already has a head full of white hair, but he is still energetic. However, he becomes drowsy after sitting for a long time. He is not pretending, he really can't hold on any longer.

After a long time, Zhu Yijun finally sighed and said, "When I was young, the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan took office. I was dissatisfied with him. At that time, the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan told me that the Ming Dynasty did not read history books, so it was unwise."

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"The Grand Master of the Imperial Clan was resolute and resolute. He proofread and edited the annals of the past dynasties for me to study. He never doubted the ancients and was always willing to come up with new ideas. He never followed the old ways. Our dynasty is fortunate to have the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan in charge of all matters in the Ministry of Rites. He made suggestions but never slandered them, and never caused any loss but no illness. He worked hard for the country and is a minister of great virtue. He deserves to be honored."

"He was promoted to the position of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, and one of his sons was promoted to the position of Minister of the Imperial Treasure Department. Another son was promoted to the position of a member of the Imperial Academy."

"I am so fortunate to have served Your Majesty with humble service and have been favored by Your Majesty. I have made some small contributions, but I am too weak to handle the affairs of the ministry. I am afraid that one night I will deceive the king and harm the country. I thank Your Majesty for his grace." Wan Shihe bowed again, thanked the emperor for his grace, then stood up, looked at the others and smiled.

Wan Shihe smiled and said, "Everyone, it's a honor to work with you. I'll go ahead."

"See you off, Grand Master of the Imperial Clan." Zhang Juzheng brought the ministers to greet Wan Shihe and sent him off.

Wan Shihe walked to the gate of Wenhua Palace. It was bright and the sun was shining brightly. He turned around, glanced at His Majesty on the dragon throne, bowed his head again, and said loudly, "I will take my leave."

Zhu Yijun stood up, bowed slightly and said, "Send it off to the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan."

Wan Shihe stood up straight and looked at the emperor. He seemed to have a lot to say, but in the end he said nothing. He showed a rather kind smile, then walked down the steps step by step and disappeared from everyone's sight.

He walked into Wenyuan Pavilion, packed up his personal belongings, and had already handed over his official duties.

His Majesty sent two messengers to escort Wan Shihe out of the palace. Wan Shihe walked very slowly. He was obsessed with power. The emperor drove him away several times, but he refused to leave. Even after being scolded by the emperor, he still wanted to read history books and continue to be an official. He was addicted to being an official and he never denied it.

Your Majesty, how dare you say that he is a minister of great virtue? He has no virtue at all. He whitewashes whatever the Emperor says and always talks about the laws established by our ancestors. He is an object that must be overthrown by the upright officials. He is a treacherous minister who flatters the Emperor.

But his health could not support him to continue serving as an official.

He walked out of Donghua Gate, looked back, took the things from the passerby, got on the carriage, and went home. His Majesty sent the chief physician to examine him and treated him with great kindness and courtesy.

The court finally recommended Shen Li to join the cabinet. Shen Li was a loyal and upright minister in the court, and a true clean official like Hai Rui. Compared with Wan Shihe's smoothness, Shen Li and Wan Shihe were completely opposite types of people.

"Since there are no problems with the Seven Tax Inspection Measures, let's implement them." After the Seven Tax Inspection Measures were passed, Zhu Yijun said to the court officials, "Although the Tax Inspection Office has not yet reached the point where people are complaining about it, it is not far away. Some people have made jokes about it. If it still refuses to be abolished this time, there will definitely be a lot of discussion. Everyone, let's forge ahead."

The Tax Inspection Office is not in line with benevolence and righteousness, and is a government office that accumulates money. It has been criticized since its inception. The emergence of the Seven Tax Inspection Articles is a gradual progression of contradictions, but the court has no intention of abolishing the Tax Inspection Office, which is bound to cause the literati and officials to attack it.

"Your Majesty, this is the law established by our ancestors." Seeing that His Majesty was worried, Shen Li immediately bowed his head and expressed his opinion.

As soon as these words came out, the court officials suddenly looked at Shen Li. They didn't expect that Gugen Zhengchen would also start to learn from Wan Shihe's set of rules. He always mentioned the laws of his ancestors? ! How could our ancestors have such laws!
Zhu Yijun asked in surprise: "Grand Master, why do you say that?"

"Your Majesty, regarding the Guo Huan case that occurred in the 18th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Gao once said: Severe punishments should be imposed on the people below, and the slightest offense will lead to the execution of the sword or saw." Shen Li said with his head bowed.

"Grand Master, please tell me in detail." Zhu Yijun said with some doubt.

The four major cases at the beginning of the Republic of China are the Hu Weiyong case in the 13th year of Hongwu, the empty seal case in the 15th year of Hongwu, the Guo Huan case in the 18th year of Hongwu, and the Lan Yu case in the 26th year of Hongwu. However, the Guo Huan case seems to be the least noticeable case among these four major cases. It seems that few people talk about it, but in fact it has a far-reaching impact.

Shen Li stood up and said to everyone, "Why did the Guo Huan case break out? It was because Guo Huan embezzled the national tax autumn grain. Zhejiang's autumn grain was 4.5 million dan, but Guo Huan pocketed it and only paid 2 million dan."

"The investigation started with the Guo Huan case. This case was earth-shattering and involved twelve provincial governors, including the Minister of Rites Zhao Mao, the Minister of Punishments Wang Huidi, the Vice Minister of War Wang Zhi and other high-ranking officials in the court."

"After four months of severe punishment, it was found that the national treasury had lost 2940 million dan of grain tax; while in the th year of Hongwu, the tax was only million dan."

The Guo Huan case was caused by Guo Huan, but the fundamental reason why it shocked the world was the loss of national treasury. Corruption had seriously affected the economic order of the dynasty. In other words, the authority of the Ming emperor and the court had been greatly eroded and distorted, so Zhu Yuanzhang decided to kill him so ruthlessly.

Shen Li continued, "Your Majesty, at that time, the country was just beginning to settle down, and the people were in financial difficulties. However, military heroes were often not satisfied with the official-granted public farms and rented them out, and they seized the mountains, lakes, and tea gardens of officials and civilians, and took advantage of their power to break the law and bully the villagers. Local powerful people generally deposited their land with other households and registered it under the name of military heroes, or colluded with officials at all levels to forge books, falsely report disasters, and deceive taxes and relief. "

"Guo Huan, who was in Zhejiang, cleverly set up water fees, food fees, treasury fees, and god and Buddha fees, etc. He collected all kinds of money to harm the people, as bad as a tiger or a wolf, and there were frequent civil unrest."

"In the 500th year of Hongwu, the Ministry of Revenue reported to Emperor Taizu Gao that the 364 departments of the Ming Dynasty, the taxation bureaus of prefectures, counties and cities, had annual rice collections of less than dan in places. Where did the grain and banknotes go? They all went into private channels, and not a single grain was stored in the warehouse."

"The Guo Huan case was both an anti-corruption and a tax administration case. Local officials obeyed the law, kept themselves clean and loved the people, and responded to the instructions from their superiors. The administration of officials changed dramatically! During the reigns of Emperors Renzong and Xuanzong, the government was peaceful and the people lived in peace. The administration of officials remained clear for more than a hundred years."

In the Guo Huan case, from the left and right vice ministers of the six ministries to the officials of the provincial government and the provincial governments, tens of thousands of people were killed. It was precisely because of such severe punishments that the Ming Dynasty's country was completely stabilized.

Zhang Juzheng asked, is a court still a court if it cannot collect taxes?

Emperor Taizu Gao actually gave the answer long ago: if the court cannot collect taxes, it is not the court!
If you don't even have money and food, how can you govern the world? When you can't collect money and food, look at the knife in your hand and use severe punishments to control your subordinates. If they offend you, the knife and saw will follow.

The Guo Huan case destroyed the corruption network composed of military heroes, bureaucrats, clerks, and local tyrants; the power of local tyrants was greatly weakened, and the land and population concealed by these predators were re-included in the scope of the court's taxation; the tax base was consolidated, and at the same time the tyrants were physically eliminated, the proportion of self-cultivating farmers from good families was increased, agricultural development was promoted, and the country was completely stabilized.

The price was the death of tens of thousands of people.

Shen Li bowed his head again and said, "Your Majesty, our dynasty has the laws established by our ancestors. If anyone insists on targeting the Taxation Bureau, then we will have to use the axe to solve the problem."

The Tax Inspection Office is already very merciful. You don’t have to pay various fines for the first collection, and you won’t be troubled as long as you make up the payment. You have to pay a certain percentage of the fine the second time, and they will take heavier measures the third time.

Will Your Majesty not stop until something like the incident in Zhejiang where the emperor's official residence was burned down and Your Majesty led the troops to quell the rebellion, exile the powerful, and distribute the land equally?

"It turns out that the Guo Huan case was for anti-corruption and also for tax control. I only know one side of the story, but not the other. I will keep in mind what the Grand Master of the Imperial Household said." Zhu Yijun thought for a long time before speaking.

"It is my responsibility." Shen Li bowed his head again and said this before sitting down.

The ministers looked at each other, exchanging crazy glances. This upright minister actually started talking about the laws passed down by our ancestors?
After the court meeting, Zhu Yijun returned to the imperial study in Tonghe Palace. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He asked someone to bring "Imperial Edict" and "Veritable Records" and began to read them carefully. If Wan Shihe had said so, Zhu Yijun would never have verified its authenticity. However, since Shen Li said so, Zhu Yijun became somewhat suspicious and decided to take a look himself.

"Ah, it's really the law passed down by our ancestors. The Guo Huan case seems to be about anti-corruption, but it's actually for national taxes. So the Tax Inspection Office seems to be a bit greedy, but in fact, compared with major cases that often involve hundreds of thousands of people, it is still much more lenient." Zhu Yijun said with a little surprise after checking the old case.

In short, Zhu Yuanzhang did the same thing, and even more excessively.

Feng Bao hurriedly said, "That's why scholars rarely talk about this case."

This case cannot be discussed. As soon as it is discussed, problems such as corruption, concealing and illegally registering land, hiding the number of people, creating false names, and loss of national taxes will follow one after another. Not talking about it is like closing your eyes and covering your ears, pretending nothing happened, but you are also afraid that someone in the court will mention it.

After the court discussion, Hai Rui took Shen Li and walked to one side. After everyone left, Hai Rui stood in front of the Zuo Shun Gate, hesitating to speak. After a long pause, he said to Shen Li, "Why do you have to do this? If your words get out, won't you be condemned like Lord Wan? "

"So what? Master Wan escaped unscathed. He has paved the way for me to walk on. Why should I find another way?" Shen Li said as a matter of course: "Master Wan told me that if you don't have the upper hand on this high ground of wind power and public opinion, the enemy will occupy it."

"I have thought about this Taxation Bureau for a long time. This department that collects money is not good, but it must exist. Otherwise, what can we do? Expect the powerful and wealthy to understand the difficulties of the court and your majesty? Isn't this just a dream?"

"What Lord Shen said makes sense." Hai Rui thought for a moment and said, "That's good."

When Wan Shihe was about to retire, Zhang Juzheng first recommended Pan Jixun instead of Shen Li. This was because he was worried that Shen Li would not be able to perform the duties of the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan normally, and that having a Minister of Rites who would always go against the new policies would be detrimental to the country, so he recommended Pan Jixun.

However, Pan Jixun did not want to make progress and only wanted to control the water, so he recommended Shen Li in the court.

Shen Li also had to think about how to be a good Grand Master of the Clan and take up the banner of the Ministry of Rites. After much thought, he decided that Wan Shihe's route was safer. Wan Shihe left Wenhua Palace in a dignified manner and was very kind and courteous. This path was feasible and a smooth one, so why not take it?

If you get involved with such despicable Confucian scholars, you will end up filling up a big bubble in the Northeast.

(End of this chapter)