General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 201 Two Ways

And Hai Rui, who was beside Tianjie, had already made his own decision.

Hai Rui neither went to the General Secretary nor returned to Xishan, but re-entered the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

"Qian Xian."

When Hai Rui returned to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he found that Ning Jue was still sitting in the hall, as if waiting for him.

"Qian Xian, I want to continue the investigation."

"Hai doesn't understand why it is necessary to let them do evil to save the world! Is there no other way?! Even if it can make them restrain themselves and make the people suffer less. !"

To Hai Rui's surprise, Ning Jue agreed without any hesitation.

"Okay, I'll go check with you."

Ning Jue knew that Hai Rui could not change anything.

But it was precisely because Hai Rui knew that he couldn't change anything but did it anyway, so he was Hai Rui.

Ning Jue took the imperial wat and official seal, and ran towards Xishan with Hai Rui.

Besides committing suicide, Ning Jue also hoped to give Hai Rui some advice.
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As soon as he left Jinling City, Ning Jue discovered that the villages on the outskirts of Nanjing had increased their cotton planting area this year.

As the distance from Songjiang got closer, the cotton fields gradually increased.

From what he saw along the way, Ning Jue knew that it wasn't just the Xu family's fields that had been replanted with kapok, but at least a considerable number of common people and powerful people blindly followed it.

Cotton prices have been rising day by day since the new law.

This kind of change is undoubtedly very tempting for farmers who have been farming for a lifetime, and the annual harvest is nothing more than a small amount of money.

The family set aside a few acres of land to grow grain, and the rest was planted in cotton. Even if something happened, the farmers would definitely not be the first to starve to death.

It was also at the same time that Ning Jue entered the city, news also came from Songshan that, in order to compete for the farming season, the gentry who switched to cotton farming became more blatant.

The kapok hoarded by the common people in the early years was also collected bit by bit by the cotton merchants, and finally transported to the docks of various townships, and then sent to various places through waterways.

Outside Xishan City, there was a scene of ardent enthusiasm.

During the period when Hai Rui was not in Xishan, the Xishan County government office was also full of tenants who had been kicked out.

"The old parents are back! The old parents are back with Ning Qianxian!"

The moment they saw Hai Rui and Ning Jue, all the people gathered outside the county government stood up in unison.

This is the first time Ning Jue feels ashamed of receiving it.

Not long after, a leading tenant knelt down in front of the two of them.

"Old parents, Ning Qianxian, the folks can't survive anymore. The tenants in the village seem to be crazy these days. They returned our rented land and kicked out the little ones without any explanation."

Hai Rui frowned.

"They left so much land, what are they doing?"

"They are all leased to the same clan tenants at a low price. Right now, each household in the village cultivates [-] to [-] mu of land. They can't afford to take care of so many fields!"

The high yield of Daming's farmland is based on intensive cultivation.

Hai Rui also knew that [-] mu of land cultivated by a family of five was the limit, and each household had [-] to [-] mu, and the grain yield per mu would drop by at least [-] to [-] percent.

This is still an ordinary year. If there is a slight natural disaster, the natural disaster that was supposed to reduce production will also turn into a natural disaster that will cut off the harvest.

"Nonsense! Please also leave the names of the tenants in the village. After the county finds out, I will give you an explanation!"

Hai Rui angrily transcribed all the names of the tenants in each village.

In the evening, Hai Rui roughly transcribed the names of the tenants in several villages.

"Qian Xian."

Before Hai Rui could speak, he realized that Ning Jue was standing not far away looking at him.

Ning Jue waved his hand and said in a loud voice: "Hai Xianzun is ill, you guys have taken care of Hai Xianzun, without my order, Haixian Zun will never be allowed to step out of the gate of the county government."

"Qian Xian! What are you doing?"

Ning Jue cupped his hands towards Hai Rui and said, "Master Hai, you are a good official, Ning will protect you for the people of the world."

After finishing speaking, Ning Jue took the memorabilia in Hai Rui's hand, and said casually, "Everyone, go arrest someone."

"Arrest... arrest who?"

"Catch them all, from near to far, and not one single one will be caught. Tonight, I will meet these tenants in the jail in Xishan County."

Even Hai Rui was shocked by Ning Jue.

"What are you doing in a daze, why don't you go to work?!"

"Here."

"Qian Xian, this..." Hai Rui looked at Ning Jue with a puzzled expression.

But Ning Jue smiled and said, "Don't you want to do this? Since you are here, let the county lord see clearly."

Hai Rui was speechless for a moment.

In the evening, the servants of the county government came to the Xishan county government with tenants one after another.

Ning Jue crossed his legs and looked at the few people in front of him, and said, "Masters, have you decided whether to explain or not?"

The more than 20 tenants knelt on the ground, with beads of sweat on their foreheads.

Ning Jue waited for a long time, but no one was willing to make a sound.

"Okay, let's fight until everyone recognizes you."

After eating a few sticks, these tenants collapsed on the ground, howling incessantly.

"Qian Xian, I know that you dare to kill people, but I beg you, don't investigate any further. If you continue to investigate, the eight prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River will be in chaos immediately!"

The stubbornness of these tenants was beyond Hai Rui's imagination.

When the Yuan people went south, as long as they could show half of their backbone, the Great Song Dynasty would not perish!

All the subordinate officials looked at Ning Jue in dismay.

Apparently, they had made confessions before being brought here.

Hearing this, Ning Jue also changed his tactics.

"Detain them all and interrogate them one by one."

"Here."

Not long after, these tenants were taken down. When the first tenant was brought up, Ning Jue didn't bother too much, but just perfunctory for a while, and then ordered someone to send the first tenant back .

Until the second tenant was brought out.

Only then did Ning Jue speak: "Sun tenant, Master Sun, right?"

The tenant fell to his knees with a "plop", and said as before: "Qian Xian, don't investigate any more."

"Whoever recruits will live, and those who don't recruit will be killed, and everyone who recruits will survive."

"Of course, if you don't recruit, I really have nothing to do with you. Master Sun can take a gamble and try."

"Master Sun has some time to think about it."

After finishing speaking, Ning Jue ordered someone to bring up an incense burner.

This is a typical prisoner's dilemma. No one is willing to put their wealth and life in the hands of others. These tenants have never seen this before. It seems that they have a choice, but in fact the safest way is to recruit.

By the time the stick of incense was burned, the tenant grandson was already sweating profusely.

"Recruit! Qian Xian, the younger ones can be recruited, but once you find out about this, it will definitely not be good for you!"

"You just say it's okay, who asked you to vacate the fields?"

"It's a businessman named Xiang Yuanbian."

Ning Jue frowned gradually.

"Where did you know him?"

Tenant Sun shook his head and said, "I've never seen Xiang Yuanbian before."

"Then you listen to him like that?!"

"Qian Xian didn't know that the small family farm was donated to a juren in a neighboring county more than ten years ago."

"The master Juren sent a letter a few days ago, saying that the court whipped the money, and the silver and money are not safe. He said that there is a way to preserve his savings, which is to lend all the money to Xiang Yuanbian."

"After all, we have been friends for so many years. The young one even went to Songjiang Xiang's weaving field to have a look. It really is a big weaving field, even the weaving field of Mr. Xu in Huating is inferior."

"It's true that the interest rate is lower, but it's better than getting cheaper every day! Besides, it's still a weaving factory. The family has so much cotton cloth, and it's really not accounted for. You can still use cotton cloth to pay off the debt. Most of the savings were sent to the Xiang family."

Hai Rui couldn't help gasping when he heard the words. Hearing this, most of the gentry in the prefectures of Xishan and Suzhou probably have their silver in Xiang's house.

But Ning Jue continued: "What does this have to do with you Teng Tian?!"

"Because we are creditors! The Xiang family said that they would give priority to collecting the kapok in our hands, as much as we have, and the price is a little higher than that of other villages."

"What's more terrible is that all the surrounding villages have changed to planting kapok. If you arrest Xiang Yuanbian regardless of 21, so many kapoks that have bet heavily will be taken away. It's no different from killing your parents. Don't talk about the little ones, even you are hard to survive, Qian Xian!"

Only then did Ning Jue wave his hand to signal the subordinate staff to take the tenant down.

The next few people were roughly similar to this Li tenant, and they couldn't stand it and confessed one after another.

Hai Rui, who was originally excited, sat aside in cold sweat.

The chain of interests has existed since ancient times.

However, under the operation of high leverage, those interest chains that originally had only three or four links are being extended indefinitely.

This extremely long chain of interests will eventually become entangled and become a whole.

And the resulting whole will have organizational power that no feudal dynasty ever possessed.

It alienates everyone in the chain, and everyone in the chain benefits from the process of alienation.

It's just that at the end of these chains, there are also ordinary people.

Ning Jue stood in front of Hai Rui.

"Does Haixian Zun still think that continuing the investigation will save the people from hunger and cold?"

"This is not saving the people, it is harming the people. If the investigation continues, more wives will be separated."

Hai Rui slumped on the ground in astonishment, and murmured with empty eyes, "...but that's not what the sages said, nor did the sages say..."

"Because the sages have never said that the imperial court's actions now can't stop the chaos in the southeast without fighting. With the fighting, the people will die, and the new sages will be strangled to death. These people will not only die in vain, but future generations will die even more people."

Hai Rui was silent.

This is the second crop of fruits bred by American silver.

In addition to creating a large number of displaced tenant farmers, the expansion of capital also gave birth to a new petty bourgeoisie and the so-called "middle class".

This group of "upstarts" no longer own the so-called permanent property such as "land".

They had seen the displacement of landless tenant farmers, and they knew they would suffer just as much when they lost their jobs.

When the rabbit dies, the fox is sad, and things hurt its kind.

The sense of crisis hidden deep in their hearts will force them to break free from the shackles of traditional ethics.

Later generations called this period of history "Enlightenment".

Xiyang is not the same as when Xiyang came to the world in the seventeenth century.

The brilliance of the so-called "sages" stars means how shocking the impact was on them at that time.

What really raised the sages to the throne was the dense bones of England in the late Middle Ages and the devastation of the French countryside, and it was the inexhaustible blood of the common people.

That night, Hai Rui became the first scholar in Ming Dynasty who was willing to burn the "classics".

Hai Rui is not an "upstart", but he does have a conscience.

These are the "sage classics" that have penetrated into the bones of the people of Ming Dynasty through mountains of corpses and seas of blood for thousands of years.

One Yang Shen cannot be broken.

Neither Ning Jue nor Hai Rui can break through.

A mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood cannot be broken.

There are only two paths before Daming.

or go back.

Either move forward.

(End of this chapter)