I'm really not doing business

Chapter 907: People are born free, but live in chains everywhere

The two words "Huang Chao" completely hurt Gao Panlong. These two words were so painful!
The literati always fantasize that they can survive when the sky collapses and the earth breaks, because they are the ruling class, the ruling class that monopolizes the cultural context.

No matter who sits on the throne, to govern the country, they have to rely on these literati and officials. This is the fundamental reason why they are so unscrupulous.

If there is a huge social turmoil, this turmoil will be a great harm to everyone, and the abilities and risk resistance cultivated by the wealthy and powerful over generations are much stronger than those of the poor and laborers.

Even if they are taller than other short people, they still stand out from the crowd.

To a certain extent, these wealthy families can indeed escape the curse of historical cycles and always ensure that they occupy the position of the ruling class. For them, they do not have to care about who the emperor is or the emperor's policies. As long as they do not overturn the table, everything is fine.

But Huang Chao was different from the heroes who rose up to fight for the world. The fundamental word behind all his actions was revenge. No matter good or bad, regardless of family background or identity, he would kill them all.

Therefore, Lin Fucheng used only two words to completely break Gao Panlong's defense. He was so angry that he couldn't even speak clearly. This was a manifestation of fear and anger to the extreme. Fortunately, Gao Panlong was young, otherwise these two words would have sent Gao Panlong away.

"How can I describe Gao Panlong? He has never seen the world. The world in his mind is limited to the scope of his family's territory." Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Panlong's broken defense and smiled.

Gao Panlong looks like a famous scholar, and he is eloquent and, most importantly, shameless. However, Zhu Yijun said that he was a bumpkin who had never seen the world. He was a little overwhelmed by the criticism from Lin Fucheng, a well-traveled and reckless man.

In his newspaper articles, Gao Panlong blamed all crimes on the morals of the common people. In this way, he could continue to oppress the people with a clear conscience.

But Lin Fucheng said it best: this kind of behavior was essentially forcing the Ming Dynasty to give birth to another Huang Chao.

The Ming Dynasty did not give birth to Huang Chao, but the even more brutal Jiannu invaded the country.

The Jian Nu were much more cruel than Huang Chao. Huang Chao only killed the noble families, but the Jian Nu didn't even allow people to speak. The literary inquisition restricted people very much. If they wanted to kill someone, they didn't even need to think of a reason.

When selecting tributes, the emperor killed so many people that it was terrifying.

However, the emperor's killing of enemies and friends was traceable, and he was more lenient than Emperor Taizu. As long as there was no sign of rebellion, there would be no danger. Even minor violations of the law would be punished instead of having the entire family exterminated directly.

Even many powerful and wealthy people cursed the rebels and brought violence upon the emperor. They knew that the emperor was not easy to mess with, but they still had to provoke him!
Lin Fucheng looked at Gao Panlong and shook his head, saying, "Do you think there is no Huang Chao today? That's too shallow. You have little knowledge."

"That is to say, in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, there is the imperial court above, the government offices in the local area, the imperial court has the Beijing Camp, and the local inspection office. Order is above all else, so you can feel at ease."

"Pirates are all desperate criminals. You can call them cruel or inhumane, but why do they flee to the ends of the earth? Why do they kill all men, women, young and old, even babies after they break into the plantation? Because they are all Huang Chao."

Lin Fucheng also had a full understanding of the pirates in Southeast Asia. There were no good pirates. They were all people who deserved to die. They had blood on their hands. None of them was clean. They would kill and rob at will. After breaking into the plantations, they would kill indiscriminately and never let anyone go.

Lin Fucheng couldn't understand why these pirates had become like this? Why did they choose to be ghosts instead of being good people?

The two governor-general's offices in Southeast Asia had only one attitude towards pirates: kill them.

No one cared why they became pirates. Lin Fucheng found hundreds of pirates from the Governor's Office and learned about their life stories. These desperate criminals had blood on their hands, but their experiences were also very sad.

Nothing happens without reason.

Lin Fucheng looked at Gao Panlong and said, "Oppression turns people into ghosts. Since you think it is natural to oppress the lowly, then don't blame the day when order fails and the land is full of Huang Chao."

"Let's not talk about anything else. Let me ask you, Gao Panlong. If your hired worker's leg was broken by a mad donkey, would you give him five taels of silver to send him off, or would you go find those so-called labor alliances and force them to surrender?"

Gao Panlong was speechless, he didn't know how to refute, because Lin Fucheng's words exposed all his hypocrisy.

No matter how they whitewash the situation, they cannot change the fact that when encountering work injury compensation cases in the future, the workshop owners in Jiangnan will give some money to prevent the other party from taking risks.

Five taels of silver, fifteen taels of silver, really wouldn't have led to so many deaths.

"Why do you want to find the Workers' Alliance too?" Seeing that Gao Panlong didn't say anything, Lin Fucheng still didn't let him go. He immediately became aggressive and started asking questions.

Gao Panlong still didn't speak.

Lin Fucheng stood up, stared at Gao Panlong, and said sternly: "Speak!"

"Of course not." Gao Panlong had no choice but to answer.

Lin Fucheng then looked around and said loudly: "Just like after the Confucius Mansion case in Yanzhou, no one forced the poor and the coolies to wear mourning clothes; just like after the mutiny of the Nine Battalions in Zhejiang, no one wanted to clamor to cut the salaries of the soldiers;"

"Just like in the three counties of Ningdu, Ruijin and Ninghua, the tenant farmers swarmed into the city and forced the county officials to print tens of thousands of land equalization bills, collect alliances, and donate rent. Except for the old rules such as the New Year, no one forced the poor and hard laborers to sell their children to the landlords to send New Year's gifts."

"Don't bother with Ma Sanqiang's case any more. If you continue to bother with it, your tenants and servants will sharpen their knives at night. Aren't you afraid?"

"Now let's talk about your bullshit opioid freedom theory."

Lin Fucheng sat down and the first topic ended. Lin Fucheng also gave Gao Panlong a warning, asking him to be careful about the tenants and servants in his house sharpening their knives at night. He wondered if Gao Panlong would wake up from nightmares at night and become frightened by the slightest noise?
"Everyone has his own destiny." Gao Panlong began to explain his theory of opioid freedom.

He felt that the imperial court had spent too much manpower, material resources and financial resources in the fight against drug trafficking. The inspection office established just for the fight against drug trafficking cost the imperial court over one million silver coins every year. It should be noted that the annual military expenditure of the Beijing camp was only 2.6 million silver coins.

"In order to crack down on drug trafficking, the imperial court has even relaxed its crackdown on smuggling." Gao Panlong talked about a phenomenon.

During the inspection process, the coastal defense inspectors had the strictest control over opium and ayahuasca, followed by various black goods, namely raw silk, gunpowder, firearms, armor and other items that were banned by the court. However, they were not so keen on the smuggling of white goods.

No matter what organization it is, its energy is limited. The imperial court is strictly investigating drug and organized crime, so we should investigate what the imperial court wants.

"Everyone must be responsible for their own actions. Since the imperial court has been vigorously preaching the dangers of opium, there are still people who knowingly go there to find tigers. Then they must bear the consequences. Fan Yingqi turned himself into Fan Wuqi. Doesn't he know the harms of opium? He is not a poor coolie in the mountains. He knows it clearly." Gao Panlong fully stated his logic.

"You are wrong." Lin Fucheng shook his head and said, "In the final analysis, it is still the old rhetoric of only enjoying rights and not fulfilling responsibilities and obligations. It is the result of not reading the contradiction theory. Rights and responsibilities are the two sides of the same coin. The court seems to have invested a lot, and even suffered losses in taxes."

"But the imperial court collected taxes. Could it just watch the opium poison the world? If it makes the world exhausted just to save a little money, it would be a losing business."

After the last conversation, the emperor said that Gao Panlong was an old man, full of decadence, and always talking about nonsense. He was even more decadent than Wang Chonggu.

The opioid freedom theory is a similar argument.

"People are born free, but live in shackles everywhere. The reason why everyone has to live under shackles is that they have to give up their various freedoms in exchange for a stable living environment. Since the court collects taxes from everyone, it must ensure the safety of the people of the Ming Dynasty." Lin Fucheng began to talk about his theory of freedom.

Everyone is born free, but people are the sum of social relations. From being an unrestrained child to growing up as an adult, they are put on all kinds of shackles.

These shackles are the result of individuals and groups giving up some of their rights in exchange for the stability of a larger collective and a greater public, and relying on the larger collective to ensure survival and security.

Lin Fucheng thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, read the Analects, which says: Do not eat out of season."

"Your Majesty, understand: things that are out of season will hurt people, so they should not be used for support. Billions of people support me, and my responsibility is as heavy as Mount Tai. I should care about the world, be firm in my principles, look up to the heavens without shame, and look down on the people without shame, so that I can be a ruler."

There is a saying in the Analects of Confucius that says "Don't eat out of season." The emperor said, "Food that is out of season is harmful to the people. The people support me alone, and my responsibility is heavier than Mount Tai. I must be a man of great integrity, live up to God above and live up to the people below. This is what a monarch should do."

This is Your Majesty's annotations on the Analects during Zhang Juzheng's lecture in the first year of the Wanli reign.

At that time, people generally believed that Zhang Juzheng was flattering the emperor, but for the past seventeen years, Your Majesty has put his words into practice.

In fact, Lin Fucheng's words were also a curse on Gao Panlong and the old literati represented by Gao Panlong. Your Majesty understood this truth when he was ten years old, but this group of literati still don't understand it even at such an old age.

Lin Fucheng continued, “Even in some tribes in Southeast Asia, even among wild beasts, this is the case.”

"Why do these barbarians want to live in tribes? Because tribes are safer. Why don't the wolves want to be lone wolves? Because if they are lone wolves, they cannot successfully hunt and get food."

"By the same token, the poor and coolies tolerate people like Xu Sihai because they hope that the Labor Union can fight for their interests on their behalf."

"It's a pity that Xu Sihai was born a craftsman and betrayed the craftsmen."

Gao Panlong is not a match for Lin Fucheng in an argument, let alone a match for Lin Fucheng in a reasoning manner. After all, Lin Fucheng had been in Southeast Asia for four years and had seen all kinds of people, monsters and ghosts. He had his own understanding of various things.

Gao Panlong frowned and said, "If we have a lot of material wealth, then we don't have to give up some of our freedom in exchange for safety and security, right?"

"Probably not." Lin Fucheng shook his head and sighed, "This time Felipe treated state affairs as a joke and imposed tariffs on Ming. Ming raised tariffs in return, and the galleon only brought 2.5 million silver."

"The galleons only took away 2.5 million silver taels of goods, but the extra 4 million silver taels of goods did not flow into the internal market of the Ming Dynasty, nor did they reduce the prices of goods in the Ming Dynasty."

"Because merchants feel that their losses due to weakened external demand need to be compensated by domestic demand, they would rather lay off craftsmen, reduce supply, and increase prices to increase profits, rather than sell their goods at a lower price to the people of the Ming Dynasty."

"I must earn every penny of the money I deserve. Absolute freedom cannot be achieved by material abundance."

Lin Fucheng was extremely sad about absolute freedom.

If it is reasonable, when material abundance is great, exploitation and oppression will have no meaning. At this time, absolute freedom of distribution according to needs can be achieved. But is it really like this?

Lin Fucheng thinks this is not the case, because the contradictions are not only on the material level, there are also some other contradictions. Therefore, even if there is great material abundance, people still have to give up some of their freedom and rights in exchange for protection, security, safety and relative fairness.

Similarly, when people cannot exchange them, they will naturally take back the rights and freedoms they have given up.

"I'll take your advice." Gao Panlong was finally defeated. Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. He couldn't win the argument or the scolding. His seemingly reasonable nonsense was like child's play in front of Lin Fucheng and was not worth mentioning.

"Girl, you see, even after this conversation, Gao Panlong still doesn't repent and continues to do as he pleases. He is a typical example of this kind of people. I can't argue with you, but that doesn't mean I will change my habits." Zhu Yijun didn't think that Gao Panlong would change.

Many people regret, not because they realize they are wrong, but because they know they are about to die.

"If everyone really knew how to repent after encountering something, there wouldn't be so many repetitions." Wang Yaozhuo quite agreed with her husband's words. History is a circle, going around in circles.

After Lin Fucheng, there were some more discussions, but Zhu Yijun was no longer interested in listening and simply chose to leave.

At night, Wang Yaozhuo brought Ran Huiniang to His Majesty. Wang Yaozhuo and Zhu Yijun were a bit alike. Since Wang Yaozhuo had promised Ran Huiniang, he would naturally do everything he could to fulfill it. After the greeting, Ran Huiniang stood and Wang Yaozhuo sat. In the harem, Ran Shufei was the best in terms of appearance and figure.

Ran Huiniang also knew that this was her only chance in her life. If she could not regain the emperor's favor, she would be lonely for the rest of her life. Many unfavored concubines could not even see their own children.

Besides, it is not as simple as Ran Huiniang being out of favor, so today, Ran Huiniang dressed up carefully, fearing that she would disgust His Majesty.

Zhu Yijun only took one look and knew that Ran Huiniang had truly repented.

Wang Yaozhuo smiled and said, "Husband, she didn't dare to come here by herself, so I brought her here. Husband, don't be so fierce, it will be bad if she is scared."

After all, she is the mother of the second prince and the fifth prince. Since there is no collusion between the insiders and the outsiders, there is no need to blame her too much.

"Has Gu Meisheng come to the palace?" Zhu Yijun asked about Gu Meisheng, the daughter of Duke Wei.

"Don't worry, my husband. I have already learned etiquette from the nanny. I will go back and rest first." Wang Yaozhuo did not stay for long and brought the person here. What would happen to Ran Huiniang afterwards depended entirely on her own luck.

Zhu Yijun looked at Ran Hui Niang carefully, then sighed and said, "Concubine Ran Shu, do you know when I saw what you were thinking?"

"After the southern tour, you imitated Queen Wang in everything, including your makeup, clothing, jewelry, manners and conversation. I have been on the throne since I was ten years old, and the country is in a turbulent period. I can see your thoughts. I asked Concubine De to advise you several times, but you turned a deaf ear to it."

The emperor's suspicion, in the words of Cao Mengde, is like I like to kill people in my dreams.

Zhu Yijun did things over and over again. It's not like he hadn't been advised before, but Concubine Ran Shu pretended not to understand, so it can't be blamed on him.

If Queen Wang had not come to plead for mercy, Zhu Yijun would really have sent her back.

"Hui Niang knows she was wrong." Ran Hui Niang said a few words and then started crying. However, she did not dare to cry for fear that the tears would ruin her makeup. This was the only thing about her that His Majesty would remember her.

Zhu Yijun sighed and continued, "You said you were learning, and it's fine if you didn't learn like the emperor, but why do you ask so many questions about the previous dynasty?"

"What do the selection of tribute cases, the review of Jinan Polytechnic School, the prefect of Xuzhou, etc. have to do with you? Ask the eunuchs around me. Will they tell me or not?"

"If you don't tell me, you are the master and he is the servant. It would break the hierarchy. If you tell me, it would be against the rules."

"Hui Niang really knows she was wrong. Please forgive her this time, Your Majesty." Ran Hui Niang had tears in her eyes, but she didn't dare let them flow. She was still somewhat happy in her heart. Since the last incident, His Majesty had not seen her, let alone spoken to her.

Now that His Majesty is willing to give her such a heartfelt lesson, it means that His Majesty still has her in his heart.

"Okay, wipe your tears." Zhu Yijun waved his hand. Ran Huiniang really knew she was wrong. She should never have asked about things in the previous dynasty and ended up offending the emperor.

Ran Hui Niang took a handkerchief, wrapped it around her fingers and wiped away her tears, then she said with red eyes: "Your Majesty, Hui Niang will never dare to have any improper thoughts again."

"Okay, I'm glad to know. I'm going to wash up and you just go to the bedroom and wait for me." Zhu Yijun waved his hand.

In this matter, Zhang Juzheng did not dare to persuade the emperor, because Ran Huiniang was also found by him, Zhang Juzheng. That was a lesson Zhang Juzheng taught Zhu Yijun that power is omnipotent. Just because the emperor mentioned it, Ran Huiniang, who was far away in Yunnan, came to the palace.

However, Wang Chonggu once met the emperor and talked to him for a while. Relying on his age and his contributions to the Ming Dynasty, Wang Chonggu took the lead and said directly that state affairs and family affairs are completely different, and the rules of the outer court cannot be applied at home, otherwise something bad will happen.

This woman has long hair but little knowledge. If she didn't try to be fancy and gorgeous, she wouldn't be a woman.

Zhu Yijun reflected on himself afterwards and realized that he had indeed overreacted.

Zhu Yijun became a little emotional during the whole incident involving Ran Huiniang. This was mainly because he realized the fact that there was a cultural aristocracy behind the tribute selection case, and he became a little anxious.

This eagerness even affected the previous dynasty. After the army returned to the court, he immediately headed south, ignoring the fact that the Beijing camp had also returned and had a lot of things to deal with. Fortunately, Qi Jiguang was a fifty-year-old veteran general who had anticipated these things and handled them properly.

Zhu Yijun was an extremely qualified emperor, but an extremely unqualified husband. He focused too much energy on the previous dynasty and ignored another fact, that is, Concubine Ran Shu's inappropriate thoughts were actually the conflict between Empress Dowager Li and Wang Yaozhuo.

Wang Yaozhuo is not easy to control, so the mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Li, lets Concubine Ran Shu and Wang Yaozhuo play against each other. After all, one is the emperor's most beloved person, and the other is the most favored concubine, so it is normal for them to play against each other.

Empress Dowager Li would never have imagined that things would come to this.

"What's going on?" Zhu Yijun walked into the dormitory and asked in surprise.

During the time when Ran Huiniang fell out of favor, she was apparently not idle. She prepared some little tricks to please His Majesty. There was a huge scroll hanging in the bedroom, and a very bright lime blowtorch shining on the rice paper scroll.

Ran Huiniang smiled and played the pipa in her hand. The melodious music rang out and Ran Huiniang's figure disappeared behind the scroll. Ran Huiniang's graceful figure began to dance on the scroll.

Shadow dance.

Amid the sound of the pipa, the figure's clothes began to fall off piece by piece, and Zhu Yijun was a little surprised.

"Husband." Ran Huiniang poked her head out from the scroll and called out with a blushing face.

There is an old Chinese saying that goes, quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed. This applies to many conflicts between couples. A fight in the bed will solve the problem. If one fight is not enough, just have another one. With one powerful blow after another, Ran Huiniang's uneasy heart finally settled down.

After resting for a day, Zhu Yijun left the Mochou Lake Palace and headed towards Hangzhou Prefecture, continuing his southern tour.

At this time in Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Governor Hou Yuzhao and Hangzhou Prefect Yan Shixuan had a huge disagreement over a case.

"Why did the Cai family of Deqing file lawsuits one after another? His Majesty will soon come to Hangzhou during his southern tour. Would it be inappropriate for us to present this case to the emperor?" Yan Shixuan said with embarrassment.

This is an old case, and the previous Zhejiang Provincial Patrol Officer Wu Shanyan has already solved the case.

The Deqing Cai family and the Deqing Xu family were both half-county families in Deqing County. A county in Zhejiang was extremely wealthy, and a half-county family was considered powerful and wealthy.

In the seventh year of Wanli, Cai from Deqing married her daughter to the Xu family as the principal wife, thus bringing harmony between the two families. However, just three months after the marriage, Cai's daughter died unjustly in the family home.

When Wu Shanyan was judging the case, Cai's daughter died of illness.

As a father, Cai Zhengping had been involved in lawsuits for nine years. In the spring of the 17th year of Wanli, Cai Zhengping died of illness and his eldest son Cai Shuchang became the head of the family. Cai Shuchang still refused to give up and wanted to tell Deqing that Xu had murdered someone.

Hou Yuzhao waved his hands and said, "The Cai family of Deqing was willing to return the land, but the Xu family of Deqing was unwilling to return the land, so the Cai family of Deqing was wronged."

Yan Shixuan was helpless. He couldn't understand and said, "What's the connection between these two things? Cai's return of the land means Cai is right?"

"Yes, since the Cai family is willing to return the land, they are right." Hou Yuzhao said as a matter of course.

"No, Governor Hou, can the case be judged like this?" Yan Shixuan leaned back in his chair and looked at the pillar of the family. It was really difficult for the prefect of Hangzhou.

Hou Yuzhao is really abnormal. His judgment of a case depends entirely on his stance.

After his father passed away, Cai Shuchang found the governor Hou Yuzhao and said that if Hou Yuzhao was willing to investigate the case of his sister's wrongful death, their family would return all the land, instead of keeping the 100 hectares of land as the court had said.

Hou Yuzhao immediately agreed, and then during the critical time when the emperor was on his southern tour, Hou Yuzhao went against all odds and reopened the case of the wrongful death of Cai's daughter.

"Do you think there is something wrong with me? The case is a case, and returning the land is returning the land. The two things cannot be confused. At first, I thought so when I first arrived in Liaodong, but later, I found that judging the problem based on one's stance is more accurate than the so-called facts." Hou Yuzhao also looked helpless.

The Cai family of Deqing did not have many sea vessels, but just to clear his sister's name, Cai Shuchang was willing to spend all his family wealth just to seek justice.

Hou Yuzhao sighed and said, "As local officials, we cannot see the whole picture. When I work in Liaodong, my position is more important than the so-called facts."

Yan Shixuan said incredulously: "Governor Hou has been in Liaodong for so many years, and nothing has gone wrong? He judges cases based on his position."

"No, there has never been a mistake. The enemy and us in Liaodong are clearly distinguished." Hou Yuzhao nodded.

Yan Shixuan said solemnly: "Zhejiang is not Liaodong. Zhejiang is a place where you are in me and I am in you. It is also possible that the Cai family of Deqing is using the so-called unjust case to fight against the Xu family, and wants to use the power of the court to completely crush the Xu family."

"It is also possible that the Cai family does not want to return the land at all, and just wants us to open the coffin and conduct an autopsy, which would completely offend all the powerful and wealthy people and undermine the order to return the land. It would not be appropriate for us to get involved."

Hou Yuzhao thought about it again and again, but still shook his head and said: "Reopening the case of the wrongful death of the Cai family daughter, there must be something wrong with this case. If there is nothing wrong, I apologize to your majesty."

Yan Shixuan found that Hou Yuzhao was really difficult to communicate with. To put it nicely, he had a pure heart and his own set of behavioral norms. To put it bluntly, he was like a stubborn donkey!
Yan Shixuan and Hou Yuzhao argued about this case for two whole months, but Hou Yuzhao still insisted on having his own way.

The daughter of the Cai family married into the Xu family and was buried on the Xu family’s land after her death, so once the case is reopened, they will have to go to the Xu family’s house to open the coffin and perform an autopsy.

Digging up other people's graves means that the government has completely offended the Xu family and the class of powerful and wealthy families. The Zhejiang Land Return Order was almost coming to an end, and it is very likely that there will be recurrences because of this case.

But a higher-ranking official can crush a person with great power, so Yan Shixuan could only follow orders. Hou Yuzhao had said that if anything happened, he would go to the emperor to apologize.

Yan Shixuan could only say that these heavenly beings acted recklessly, relying on the emperor's favor.

But three days later, Yan Shixuan looked at the file in front of him and was shocked, because Hou Yuzhao was right!
There is a problem with the case, and it is a big problem!

The Deqing County Government followed orders from their superiors and, with the help of the Cai family, actually reached the Xu family's territory and intended to dig up the grave of the Cai family's daughter.

When the Xu family saw that the imperial court was coming to dig up their graves, how could they agree? The Xu family and their servants were extremely angry and resisted to the death, but the Cai family and the Xu family were evenly matched and neither could do anything to the other, because the government office had instructions from the higher authorities and stood on the side of the Cai family, so the Cai family had the upper hand.

The government office completed the autopsy and opened the coffin, finding it empty.

The Cai family members started fighting with the Xu family members on the spot. Cai Shuchang went crazy on the spot, injuring three people from the Xu family and forcing them to tell him the whereabouts of his sister.

Cai Shuchang was arrested and detained in Deqing County for injuring someone. In order to prevent Cai Shuchang from getting into trouble in prison, the Deqing County Government transferred him to the Hangzhou Prefecture Government.

“This…” Yan Shixuan was a little overwhelmed. His Majesty would be here soon, and Yan Shixuan was helpless about this case.

(End of this chapter)