I'm really not doing business

Chapter 761: There is no perfect solution in the world, everything is a matter of choice

"You know, the failure of the Legalists was also because the prince broke the law and was guilty of the same crime as the common people." Wang Chonggu first explained his point of view. He asked Your Majesty to take a step back, not to save face for the royal family, but to save face for the new policy, the court, and himself.

Many times, a lot of words are not as effective as just one word: dad.

Gongsun Jia and Gongzi Qian were once teachers of Prince Ying Si, the crown prince of Qin Xiaogong. Prince Ying Si broke the law and killed someone in the street. According to Shang Yang's new law, the crown prince should be punished the same as the common people. However, because Ying Si was the son of Qin Xiaogong, his teachers Gongsun Jia and Gongzi Qian took the punishment on his behalf, and the new law was implemented.

Shang Yang's reforms did not establish his prestige by moving trees to establish credibility, but rather he set laws for the crown prince and punished his tutors, and all the people of Qin obeyed his orders.

But Shang Yang did not win either. He was eventually torn apart by five horses. Later, even the Legalists lost and became the ones with a Confucian appearance but a Legalist body, because what the Legalists did really hurt the ruling class.

Therefore, the laws of the Ming Dynasty were not even as fair as the laws of the Qin Dynasty. After all, the prince committed a crime and was really punished.

Wang Chonggu has always firmly believed that the law is one of the tools of governance and when it harms the ruling class, it will be amended. He thinks it is better not to trigger this constitutional crisis.

"This matter is very troublesome." Zhang Juzheng's brows were twisted into knots.

The biggest dilemma of the Ming Dynasty's laws is the same as that of the Qin Dynasty two thousand years ago, that is, "the law is not enforced because it is violated from above." The laws cannot be smoothly implemented for thousands of years because the ruling class is unwilling to abide by them, and then everyone is unwilling to abide by them.

Once the royal family is excluded from the tax law, the tax collection by the Tax Inspection Office will be nothing but a mirage. In the end, it will be impossible to recall the thousand tax inspectors who have been sent out.

The Ming Dynasty belongs to your Zhu family. Your Zhu family doesn't pay taxes, but you make the poor people and the powerful and wealthy pay taxes. Why?
The reason why the Tax Inspection Office can now inspect taxes successfully is because Your Majesty is the world's number one taxpayer. Every year, the imperial estate must conduct an annual audit to settle taxes and obtain tax-paid deeds. Your Majesty even framed the deeds in a glass display case and placed them in a side hall of the Wenhua Palace so that they can be clearly seen as soon as you enter the door.

There is a row of twelve written deeds, all of which are the roads your Majesty took when you came here.

The most common phrase said by the tax inspectors was: Even the emperor pays taxes, why shouldn’t you?

Therefore, the reason why tax inspection can proceed smoothly is that Your Majesty the Supreme always insists on abiding by tax laws.

Even this group of royal family members are poor beggar relatives to His Majesty, and most of them are five generations away from the throne. The construction of the Ten Kings City is just for the sake of decency, but the royal family is still the ruling class.

"How about being vague?" Shen Li felt that he could mobilize the passive nature of the scholars and pretend to be ignorant while knowing the truth. The law says so, but the actual implementation is another matter.

Wang Guoguang immediately shook his head and said, "Then there is no need to amend the tax law."

When the issue was discussed to this point, Wenyuan Pavilion became unusually silent. The four court officials read the struggle volume carefully. At this time, they were all a little desperate. Zhang Juzheng opposed the third volume, and Feng Bao also opposed the third volume, because the content of the third volume was so desperate that all efforts seemed to have become futile struggles.

It seemed that an inevitable ending appeared before all his fellow Wanli Reformists.

The broken iron fetters were put on again, the abandoned privileges were revived, the slave owners became kings again, and politics was only about personal gain and taking turns to be the boss;
Evil is always like a dark cloud, goodness is just an obstacle to progress, a bright tomorrow will never come, and everything about the Wanli Reform will be buried;

Is this the Wanli Reform that Your Majesty wants? Is this what you want to make the Ming Dynasty great again? Is this the inevitable fate of the Ming Dynasty?
After thousands of years of darkness, when will there be true light? The lonely warrior is destined to fall in a pool of his own blood.

"In the past, I always told Your Majesty that in order to overcome the difficulties of the end, the scholars of the Ming Dynasty were best at tearing apart everything beautiful and accumulating disappointment into despair." Zhang Juzheng said with a bitter expression: "I also reminded Your Majesty that now I am somewhat shaken about the Wanli Reform."

His Majesty is still full of fighting spirit, but the grand secretaries of Wenyuan Pavilion have become somewhat desperate and even discouraged.

In the end, the cabinet ministers failed to reach a conclusion and sent the issue of tax law revision to Tonghe Palace.

After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun knew that something bad had happened and that he had gone too far.

"Go to Wenyuan Pavilion." Zhu Yijun took the memorial and got on the small train parked in front of the door. The rhythmic train brought His Majesty to the door of Wenhua Palace. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not summon the cabinet ministers in Wenhua Palace, but walked into Wenyuan Pavilion step by step.

The ministers were extremely surprised by the emperor's arrival. They hurried out of their positions, bowed their heads and said, "Your Majesty."

"No need to be polite." Zhu Yijun looked around and flipped through the diary written by the secretary of the Central Secretariat to make sure that no one said anything bad about him. He then looked at the slightly messy desks of the cabinet ministers and said with a smile, "I just came to take a look. I have read the memorials you submitted."

"The royal family must pay taxes!"

"I will not take this step back. If I take this step back, it won't be long before the Ming Dynasty will be unable to collect taxes and silver again."

"As for the problem that Wang Ci Fu is worried about, if a member of the royal family breaks the law, we will discuss it with the Eight Exiles. If the crime is not serious, we can pardon them. If the crime is serious, we will prosecute them according to the law."

Zhu Yijun came up with his own solution, which was a roundabout way. The royal family had to follow the law, but they could go through the amnesty process. As for whether they were willing to grant amnesty, it depended on the emperor. As for whether they could grant amnesty, it depended on the strength of the imperial power and the power of the ministers.

This step was already extremely difficult. If a member of the royal family violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, they would become criminals. They could only be pardoned with the emperor's special pardon. This was already a huge progress in the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Your Majesty's pardon is not easy to obtain, especially for these royal family members, most of whom are within the five degrees of mourning. If they want Your Majesty's pardon, it depends on how close they are to you.

But it is worth noting that the Emperor's amnesty order still violates the absolute fairness of the Legalists. By going around in circles, the royal family, as part of the ruling class, still enjoys judicial privileges.

"I see that you gentlemen are extremely dissatisfied with what is said in the third volume. So, I will write the fourth volume." Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Zhang Juzheng immediately said, "Forget it then."

As the author of the first two volumes of Class Theory, Zhang Juzheng knew very well what to write in the fourth volume. The third volume was about the inevitable demise of the Ming Dynasty, and the fourth volume was about the inevitable demise of the imperial system. In the Central Plains, the inevitable demise of the imperial system could resolve many contradictions, but it would also create new contradictions. Zhang Juzheng thought about it for a long time and believed that there might be a fifth volume.

The content of the fifth volume is also easy to guess, let’s fight again.

Basically, the class theory consists of these five volumes: class, distribution, struggle, feudalism, and struggle again. This logic is perfect.

Although the fourth volume and the possible fifth volume are the inevitable products of historical development.

Any theoretical system that wants to gain wide recognition must have stronger vitality and creativity and must adapt to the objective and subjective requirements of historical development before it can be widely used.

Therefore, a more equitable theoretical system is an inevitable result of historical development.

However, Zhang Juzheng did not want to see it. He did not even particularly like the third volume. When His Majesty proposed the fourth volume, Zhang Juzheng suddenly felt that the third volume was not unacceptable.

In fact, the moment they saw His Majesty, the despair of all the gentlemen gradually faded away. These are all problems that His Majesty needs to worry about. The youngest of these old men is over 60 years old, and His Majesty is only 24 years old. The gentlemen only need to worry, but the emperor needs to face it.

If Your Majesty is not afraid, then the old men should be even less afraid.

"It's actually no big deal. We just need to take care of the present." Zhu Yijun strolled around Wenyuan Pavilion and planned to leave. He didn't give any exciting speeches or make any long speeches. He just stated the reality in a realistic way.

People can only take care of the things at hand.

He must appear to give the Ming Dynasty enough certainty. He is the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty. As long as he appears, he can bring enough confidence to people.

Since the third volume appeared, the way the Ming officials did things has changed a bit. Now, doing things to the utmost has become the basic policy of the extreme conservatives.

This is what extreme conservatives are like. They don't really believe in the wisdom of future generations. I have done what I can and have done everything I can. How long future generations can maintain me depends on their luck. History has also proved that future generations may not be wise.

"It's not this Great Light Sect..." Zhu Yijun returned to Tonghe Palace and looked at the memorial in front of him with a complicated expression. Every time Zhu Yijun mentioned the Great Light Sect, his expression would be so complicated.

On the one hand, the Great Light Sect truly expanded the influence of the Ming Dynasty, but on the other hand, Zhu Yijun was rather resistant to religion, even though the Great Light Sect did not have a god.

Legazpi combined information from many sailors and confirmed one thing: there was an internal conflict among the saints. Thirteen of the twenty saints who had been holy had died, and eventually the Great Light Church was formed with Patriarch Marion de Montmorency as its core.

The direct conflict occurred because there were huge differences within the Great Light Church.

The seven saints, led by Patriarch Marion, insisted on preaching with swords, which was closely related to the environment of Ming Dynasty's maritime trade with swords. Marion urgently hoped that the Great Light Church would have its own armed forces.

At this time, some more extreme believers of the Roman Catholic Church launched targeted attacks on the wise men of the Great Light Church. In order to survive, the Great Light Church began to try to increase its armed forces.

The other thirteen saints disagreed with Marion's statement. They believed that if the Great Light Church had its own armed forces and launched a counterattack, it would arouse the vigilance of secular authorities, which would not be conducive to missionary work and would easily intensify conflicts, ultimately leading to the complete failure of the Great Light Church.

The difference in routes was extremely fatal. Marion, as the patriarch, became a minority, and a palace coup against Marion began.

In January of the 14th year of the Wanli reign, Marion returned from France to the House of the Wise in the Free City of Cape Verde and was attacked by the saints. Originally, Marion was doomed to die in this premeditated attack, but unfortunately, Marion's father sent her 20 personal guards to protect her safety.

After the bloody battle, Marion became the dictator of the Great Light Church and quickly organized the Knights of Freedom.

"What is she going to do?" Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "The Freedom Knights, 12,000 people, she formed it too quickly, and she doesn't have any territory or taxes, how can she support these Freedom Knights?"

Zhu Yijun's keen political sense detected the conspiracy. The fighting only took place in January, and the news of the formation of the Free Knights had already reached the Ming Dynasty. This speed was really too fast.

It took Zhu Yijun one year to set up the Beijing Camp, but he only had 10,000 available soldiers. It took him more than three years of stumbling before he got the affairs of the Beijing Camp in order. This was even with the presence of Qi Jiguang.

Marion, how come you were able to form a knightly order so quickly?
Feng Bao took out the memorandum and flipped through it for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty, her last name is Montmorency, which comes from the Duke of Montmorency, Lord of Denville, and her father is the current Field Marshal of France and Governor of Languedoc."

“It all makes sense.”

"What is she going to do?" Zhu Yijun took the memorandum and found out that the Ministry of Rites had already reported her identity (Chapter 642). Looking back now, this person's purpose of coming to the Ming Dynasty was not pure. Her apparent obedience was only to obtain the identity of a saint of the Great Light Church and gain greater influence to achieve her own goals.

Feng Bao frowned and said, "Maybe she wants to be the queen, or her father wants to be the king of France?"

"That explains it. The sword-wielding missionary thing is a lie." Zhu Yijun nodded in agreement. Feng Bao knew Marion was up to something when he saw this. But people in the West were not very clear about Marion's purpose and thought she was really planning to preach the gospel with a sword. This was a manifestation of political immaturity.

The most intuitive manifestation is that when eating with someone you don't get along with, you must be absolutely vigilant and even be prepared to fight to the death with the other party. This is an inevitable basic quality since the Hongmen Banquet.

For example, the Old Book of Tang records: Jiancheng and Yuanji conspired to poison Emperor Taizong and lured him into the palace for a night banquet. Emperor Taizong then felt a sudden pain in his heart and vomited several liters of blood. The Prince of Huai'an used his supernatural powers to carry him back to the West Palace.

If it weren't for Li Yuanji's wife Yang who informed Li Shimin, Li Shimin might have died. So after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin was still a little sad about killing his brother Li Jiancheng, but when he thought about killing Li Yuanji as well, he could sleep peacefully in an instant.

A negative example is the story that opened the Warring States Period in Japan. Akamatsu Mitsunori, one of the four officials, invited Ashikaga Yoshinori, the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, to a banquet. Ashikaga Yoshinori went to the banquet without any precautions and was killed.

Another similar case was when Oda Nobunaga dared to enter the capital from Honnoji Temple with only a hundred or so guards around him, but was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide.

China's history is so long that almost any political activity can find a corresponding game model in the long river of history. Although it may not necessarily be instructive, it is definitely of reference value.

This is also why later Confucian scholars always said that there was no great righteousness after the Spring and Autumn Period, and even created a historical absurdity era where people did not read history.

In the early years of the Wanli period, scholars and officials often took pride in not reading history. Not reading history meant that they disdained to look at those unjust acts. In fact, they used history books to create political thresholds, similar to the way the upper class in Korea used Chinese and the lower class used Yanwen, artificially creating barriers.

Liang Menglong, a Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty, had "never seen the complete history" until he entered the Hanlin Academy and became a disciple of Zhang Juzheng. He absorbed these historical materials eagerly in the Hanlin Academy.

Feng Bao also read history. After reading for a long time, he felt that what Marion did was a bit like Sima Yi's raising of assassins. It is easy to imagine what role this Free Knights would play in the absence of an heir to France.

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Of course, this is all speculation, and more information is needed to further confirm the purpose of the Patriarch of the Church of Light.

The discussion between the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the Prime Minister is actually a very arrogant way of understanding. If one tries to understand what is happening in the West from the perspective of the people of the Ming Dynasty, one will fall into this misunderstanding.

The emperor and the prime minister thought too much and completely ignored the cruelty of the religious wars in the West, because the religious conflicts in the Ming Dynasty were not intense.

Marion didn't think so much. The spread of the Great Light Church made the Roman See feel like a thorn in its throat. It began to launch targeted attacks against the Great Light Church, and the Great Light Church had to assemble its own armed forces to fight back in tit-for-tat.

It is as simple as that. All religious conflicts in the West may evolve into acts of war.

Marion did not have such great ambitions towards the King of France.

In August of the 14th year of the Wanli reign, the Ming Dynasty carried out a major personnel appointment. The Governor-General of Military Affairs Liang Menglong would be transferred back to the capital before the end of the year, and the new Governor-General of Military Affairs Ling Yunyi was preparing to return to Beijing to take up his post in Korea.

Liang Menglong wanted to return to the court because he had to come back. Zhang Juzheng was the chief minister of the cabinet and had to deal with various affairs of the Ministry of Personnel. He was really too busy. Moreover, after retaking Seoul and Incheon, Korea also needed a murderous Ling Yunyi to go there. Ling Yunyi went to Korea to survey Korea, return land, set up engineering corps, repair bridges and roads, and build official factories and iron smelters.

With such a sudden change, some remnants of the old era will become obstacles. To be more specific, the civil and military classes of Joseon have been saved. However, the middlemen, who are mainly illegitimate sons and sons of concubines, are still a poison on the ground of Joseon and need to be physically eliminated.

Ling Yunyi finally left Henan, and Xu Xuemao, the governor of Yunyang, went to Henan to take over the unfinished business, mainly the highway from Kaifeng to Jiayuguan.

On August 29th, Ling Yunyi's carriage arrived at Gujie Posthouse in Liangxiang Town, which is the first post station in the southwest of the capital and the first stop of the Ming Dynasty's Jingkai Road. Ling Yunyi returned to the capital on an iron horse towed by Shengping No. 4, and the journey was very smooth.

"This is much more comfortable than the tiring journey by boat and train in the past." Ling Yunyi stamped his feet and said to those around him. He got off the car, stood on the platform, looked at the four lanes of Gujie Posthouse, and stretched himself. The iron horse was much more stable than a horse-drawn carriage.

"In the future, there will be highways everywhere in our Ming Dynasty, and it will be so convenient for people to travel." Lian Chengjun was also filled with emotion. Since the highway from Kaifeng to Beijing was built, it only takes one and a half days to get from Kaifeng Prefecture to the capital, which is really convenient.

"Ling Yunyi! You are so cruel! You killed countless people in the Battle of Luoding! You are a tyrant and a traitor to our country!" A group of scholars and officials saw Ling Yunyi getting off the car and immediately wanted to surround him, shouting loudly.

"Anyone who advances will be killed! Retreat!" Chen Mo drew out the pistol in his hand and pointed it at the scholar-officials.

Several Ti cavalry quickly surrounded Ling Yunyi, and the remaining dozen or so Ti cavalry quickly deployed defenses near the station to prevent any changes. Soon the crowd was divided into two parts, and the Ti cavalry protected Ling Yunyi behind them.

Most of the Ti cavalry were selected from the distant marquises, and they pointed the muskets in their hands at the crowd.

Chen Mo was the Chief of the Judicial Branch. He brought a thousand-household Chief of the Judicial Branch with the Grand Eunuch to Henan to announce the imperial edict. He did not take any action in Henan, but instead took out his musket at the gate of the capital. The musket was a flintlock musket, which was already loaded with ammunition.

The Ming army would not easily point their guns at the civilians, but the same was true for the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards' duty was to obey His Majesty.

The sudden change stopped all the scholars who were planning to denounce Ling Yunyi in their tracks. Their expressions varied, but no one dared to take a real step. The scholars had no doubt that the Tiqi would take action.

The literati denounced Ling Yunyi, which was an act of stepping on Ling Yunyi to gain fame. Ling Yunyi had a bad reputation, and the literati in the capital liked to curse him whenever they had nothing to do. It was obvious that this group of young literati came here to gain fame, not to lose their lives.

"Hey, Commander Chen, there's no need to be so nervous. Put down your muskets and let me listen to what they are saying." Ling Yunyi quickly analyzed the situation and laughed, signaling the Ti cavalry not to be overly nervous.

"What do you want to say?" Ling Yunyi looked at the leader curiously and asked with a smile: "What's your name?"

"My name and surname remain unchanged. I am Zhang Shiwei! A native of Suzhou, I became a Jinshi in the 14th year of Wanli!" Zhang Shiwei answered loudly.

Ling Yunyi said with a smile on his face: "Oh, okay, I'll take note. I'll take you with me when I go to North Korea this time."

"Ah?" Zhang Shiwei's eyes became dull.

He came here just to gain fame, but he didn't expect that he would have to go to North Korea. North Korea is now a battlefield, and swords have no eyes. If you die, you are really dead.

"I have to take a bath, change clothes and go to the palace to meet the emperor. I don't have time to chat. There is a long time to come. Please tell me your ideas on the way there." Ling Yunyi waved his hand and left the station under the protection of the Tiqi and headed for Huitong Hall.

Chen Mo looked back and saw Zhang Shiwei, who looked like a fool, still standing there.

Chen Mo thought about it for a while and felt that these scholars were indeed very vicious. Ling Yunyi was gentle and even kind-hearted, and he used both defense and fighting to stop Zhang Shiwei. Not only did he not gain any fame, but he got a hard job instead.

As expected, Your Majesty was right in his repeated warnings to be careful of scholars.

Yao Guangqi had done the same thing in the past, and now he has become the Kelp King and the magistrate of Shanghai County, becoming an honest official of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty. I have received the royal order to come to Henan for land survey, and I have fortunately fulfilled the mission." Ling Yunyi arrived at Tonghe Palace to meet the emperor in the afternoon.

"No need to be polite, sit down and talk." Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand to signal Ling Yunyi not to be polite. He said solemnly: "I heard that Ling Butang was blocked by scholars and officials when he arrived at Gujie Posthouse? Sending them to Liaodong to fill the big water bubble is the right thing to do."

Ling Yunyi bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, these are all young people. They are filled with righteous indignation when they hear about injustice. They heard about my bad reputation, but they did not give way and surrounded me at the station. This is also a kind of courage. They just don't come into contact with so many mundane affairs, so they think it is unkind."

"I am ignorant of worldly affairs, so I don't know that a woman's temporary kindness is actually inhumanity to others."

"They sympathize with the tragedy of the Yao people in Luoding, but never think about the suffering of the people who were robbed by the Yao people; they hear the cries of the local gentry in Henan, but never hear the cries of the poor and coolies against injustice, so they think the ministers are evil."

"I am going to Korea, and I just happen to be in need of some Ming officials to accompany me. After all, Korea is newly opened and everything is new. We need more officials from the hinterland to educate the people. When they really deal with these difficult matters, they will understand that there is no perfect solution in the world, and everything is a matter of choice."

Zhu Yijun was silent for a while, secretly increasing his vigilance against civil officials. Look at Ling Yunyi, how decent he speaks, how beautiful his words are! It seems that he is excusing the literati and officials, and finding a job for them.

But if the scholars who are besieging Ling Yunyi were given a choice, nine out of nine of them would rather go to the Northeast to fill the big water bubble than work under Ling Yunyi!

North Korea is a battlefield, a newly opened land, and a place where everything is new. It is too easy to die in North Korea for no apparent reason.

At this point, the scholars and officials who were besieging Ling Yunyi could only rely on Ling Yunyi's virtue.

"Okay, let's do as Minister Ling said." Zhu Yijun chose to agree. Korea was short of officials.

"Your Majesty, I read the news of Korea's victory in the palace bulletin and discovered that Incheon is the key to Korea. It must not fall into the hands of others. With the ability of the Ming army, they have fought in Incheon for so long. As long as they deploy an infantry battalion in Incheon, they can control the whole of Korea." As the first governor-general of Korea, Ling Yunyi explained his views on Korea.

After looking around, Incheon is the key place and the throat. The Ming Dynasty has troops stationed in Incheon. No matter how the situation in Korea changes, it must listen to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun said with certainty: "That's true. If the Japanese pirates hadn't been so anxious this time, and Toda Katsutaka had led 30,000 soldiers out of Seoul, I'm afraid Incheon and Seoul wouldn't be able to be resolved until winter."

Toda Katsutaka's plan was a good one, but unfortunately it was seen through by Qi Jiguang. The defense of Seoul was empty, and Hashiba Hideyoshi had to rush to Seoul for support. The defense of Incheon was exposed, which eventually led to the overall collapse of the Incheon and Seoul defense lines.

Toda Katsutaka's plan could be carried out because he would lose if he waited until winter, so he might as well take a chance. For the Japanese pirates, taking a chance was a common decision.

"Your Majesty, I have a question. Do you still want to destroy Japan?" Ling Yunyi asked in a low voice. He was asking about Your Majesty's opinion, not the opinion of Lord Ming.

Zhu Yijun said very seriously: "Of course, I have promised General Qi, I can't break my promise."

"Your Majesty, if you still want to destroy the Japanese, I think there is no need to rush the battle of Chungju." Ling Yunyi immediately expressed his thoughts upon hearing this. Destroying the Japanese is one way of fighting, and not destroying the Japanese is another way of fighting.

"Your Majesty, there is not much arable land in Chungju and Busan. If the Japanese pirates refuse to give up, we must continue to invest troops and transport food and fodder from the mainland to the Korean battlefield." Ling Yunyi said very calmly.

Meat grinder method.

Giving up Chungju and Busan means giving up the possibility of using Korea as a springboard to attack the Ming Dynasty. Neither Oda Nobunaga nor Hashiba Hideyoshi could give up, but if they did not give up, they would have to continue to throw samurai and foot soldiers into this meat grinder-like battlefield.

The most terrifying thing is that it will further aggravate Japan’s food crisis.

Sometimes, allowing the enemy to surrender is also a kind of mercy.

(End of this chapter)