I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 630 The traitor Xu Guangqi

After more than two years of searching homes, Zhu Youxiao already knew that this was the end.I'm afraid there won't be any profit-making things like house confiscation in the future.

But fortunately, after doing this, he did accumulate some capital for himself, so that he would not have to worry about money in the next few years.

At the same time, with the annihilation of Jianlu, the income of the imperial court will definitely increase and the expenditure will further decrease.

If nothing else, let’s just say that the annihilation of Jianlu saved Ming Dynasty a lot of money.

At least from now on, the 560 million taels of salary will no longer have to be spent.Even if Liaodong uses troops in the future, at least it won't cost like this.

In addition, after more than two years of construction, the Beijing Camp is basically equipped with firearms and equipment, and the expenditure of the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop will be greatly reduced in the future.

These two items alone amount to an expenditure of 700 million taels, which will also give the court a great relief.

After Liaodong is pacified, as the imperial court continues to immigrate and promote farming, trade and taxation in Liaodong will further expand.

After the Ming Dynasty, there will no longer be any need to transfuse blood and invest various resources in Liaodong regardless of cost. It will also greatly reduce various hard expenditures, plus maritime trade, mining and other matters.Zhu Youxiao believes that as long as it lasts for a few years, Ming's finance and taxation will get better and better.

The resolution of the Jianlu issue also gave Zhu Youxiao the confidence to reform other matters.

In the inner court, in order to agree with himself, Wei Zhongxian took the initiative to take up the important task of thoroughly investigating the inner court and eliminating palace maids and eunuchs.

Nearly a year has passed since this incident, and nearly a thousand old and weak eunuchs have been laid off for retirement. Of course, in order to appease people's hearts, Zhu Youxiao did not simply release them from the palace, but gave each of them a sum of money for retirement, which can be regarded as a pension. Let them have no worries.

However, even if the eunuchs were eliminated, Zhu Youxiao's rectification of the inner court did not stop. The next step was to merge the 24 yamen of the inner court, clean up various accounts, the imperial village, the imperial store, etc., and manage them in a unified manner in the future.

The reform of the inner court was Zhu Youxiao's own business, but for the outer court, the most important thing was to reform the six ministries and nine ministers.

The Six Ministries of the Ming Dynasty have been established since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but the situation in the Ming Dynasty is completely different from that in the early years of the dynasty. The central system of six ministries and nine ministers has long been unable to adapt to past development.

To use a later saying to describe it, it is: the production relations of the Ming Dynasty could not keep up with the development of productivity.

The result of this situation was a rigid system, and the court was unable to collect finance, taxes, and manpower to the maximum extent.This is fatal to a dynasty and also means a decline in its ability to rule.

Zhu Youxiao knew very well that what he had to do was to innovate this system and adapt it to the current development of Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, since the end of last year, he has been adjusting the cabinet and members of the six ministries to prepare for this matter.

But apart from that, there are many areas that Zhu Youxiao needs to reform, such as the clan system, health centers, taxation, border towns, promotion of practical learning, and response to subsequent natural disaster uprisings, etc. Such things are complicated and extremely troublesome to do. .

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh, and immediately felt that he had a long way to go. After all, in addition to the reform of the inner and outer courts, other aspects of the Ming Dynasty also had to change.

But after a little adjustment, his mood adjusted instantly.

Thousands of tall buildings have been erected from the ground, and all the captives have been wiped out. What else can be done?

"Zhang Chang, show off to Kunning Palace."

When Zhu Youxiao thought of this, he immediately threw away the question book in his hand, got up from the bed and went to Qianqing Palace.

Zhang Yan was going to give birth in a month, so he stayed with Zhang Yan whenever he had free time, lest something happen to her.

"The slaves obey the order."
-
Inside Xuanwumen, Beijing, there is Shoushan Academy.

It has been three years since Shoushan Academy was founded by Zou Yuanbiao, the governor of Gyeonggi Province.Its area also ranges from a large academy with three lecture halls and more than twenty lecture halls in Xuanwumen, Beijing.

In the past three years, the Donglin Party has gained power. Although the personnel in the cabinet have changed, Ye Xianggao, Sun Chengzong and others are still firmly seated in Taishan, plus Zou Yuanbiao, Yang Lian and others are high-ranking officials.As the scale of Shoushan Academy grows, more and more people come to attend lectures.

Especially after the emperor promoted "practical learning" last year, Ye Xianggao and others not only personally presided over the psychological and intellectual debates in the Imperial College in order to agree with the emperor.He even gave lectures in person at Shoushan Academy to promote practical learning.

Fortunately, although everyone was somewhat dissatisfied with the emperor's interference in the debate between Xin and Neo-Confucianism.However, "practical learning" requires the study of things to gain knowledge and the application of knowledge in the world. It is not only necessary to study knowledge, but also to apply knowledge in governing the world. This idea coincides with Donglin Academy's advocacy of not being obsessed with knowledge but studying practical things.

However, Donglin's approval of practical learning cannot cover up the contradictions within the Donglin sect.

"Wen Ru, His Majesty was present at Qianqing Palace before, so I can't say much. Don't be surprised."

Inside the gate of Shoushan Academy, Sun Chengzong, Sun Shenxing and others had been waiting for Yang Lian for a long time. When they saw Yang Lian walking in, they quickly apologized and welcomed him.When Yang Lian saw Sun Chengzong like this, he quickly raised his hands and said:

"Mr. Sun Ge, Wen Si (Sun Shenxing's calligraphy) is here."

As he spoke, he looked at the people behind Sun Chengzong and Sun Shenxing.It was found that Ye Xianggao, Wang Yingjiao and others were not present, and only Feng Congwu, the censor of the Supervisory Yuan, and Wei Dazhong, the minister of household affairs, were present.

"Mr. Ye Ge and the others are on duty in the cabinet. I and Wen Si are free today, so Mr. Ye Ge specially asked me and Wen Si to invite you to the academy. They will come immediately after their duty is over."

Seeing Yang Lian's confusion, Sun Chengzong immediately explained.Now the Donglin Party is at its peak, and now Yang Lian is annihilating the Jianlu in Liaodong, which is very popular with the emperor. It can be said that Donglin's status in the emperor's heart is even more important.

Therefore, after meeting at Qianqing Palace the day before yesterday, Ye Xianggao and others asked Sun Chengzong and others to call Yang Lian to Shoushan Academy.Reminisce about old times and connect with each other.

"That's very good. Originally, I thought about asking Xiong Tingbi to come over, but he didn't stop as soon as he arrived in the capital. He immediately inspected the military headquarters and had no time at all."

"Haha, it doesn't matter. The prisoner presentation ceremony will be held on March [-]st, and all the generals in Liaodong are looking forward to it, waiting for the canonization after the prisoner presentation ceremony. I guess the door of his mansion will be stepped on soon. broken."

Listening to what Sun Chengzong said, Yang Lian felt the same for a moment, and immediately smiled and nodded:
"This statement makes sense. Soldiers fight on the battlefield, not just for fame and wealth. Especially since the emperor launched the noble system last year, anyone with a discerning eye can see that it was prepared for this prisoner presentation ceremony.

When I was in Liaodong, I could see that the soldiers were gearing up and looking forward to it. After all, my Ming Dynasty had not been knighted for hundreds of years.But let's just let Xiong Tingbi worry about this kind of thing, we are happy and leisurely. "

As soon as these words came out, everyone laughed, and Sun Chengzong immediately waved his hand to take Yang Lian to visit Shoushan Academy.

Although Shoushan Academy is the place where the Donglin Party gives daily lectures, it also follows the tradition of previous academies and recruits students to study. The content of its courses has also been criticized by Ye Xianggaoli. It is similar to the Imperial College, and it can be regarded as a close follower. current events.

So when Yang Lian visited, he quickly discovered the differences between Shoushan Academy, which was divided into the West Court and the East Court.

There are more students in the East Campus. In addition to the Thirteen Confucian classics, they are now also taught geography, arithmetic, astronomy, agriculture, etc.

There are relatively few students in the Western College, and the teachings are mainly Western studies. The contents are also Western mathematics, astronomy, water conservancy, and some books translated from the Capital Tongwen Library.

Seeing this, Yang Lian picked up a translated Western book and couldn't help but sigh:
"When I was in Liaodong, I heard that His Majesty admired "practical learning" and was inclusive. He set up the Tongwen Library in the capital to translate Western works for the use of the Ming Dynasty. Now it seems that what he said is true."

However, as soon as these words came out, before Sun Chengzong could say anything, Sun Shenxing on the side said indifferently:
"Practical learning is certainly possible, but what's so good about Western learning? It doesn't respect Confucius and Mencius, it doesn't respect our ancestors, its people are greedy for profit and forget justice, and they have great intentions for our Ming Dynasty. I think it's a mess now. If it continues like this, it will I don’t know what kind of crooked rumors will come in.”

"That is, Western learning and Western religion are one and the same. After many people learn Western learning, they will believe in Western religion. Then they will not respect Confucius and Mencius, and they will not believe in God. What if these people are deceived by Westerners and behave in harmony with Westerners, it will be a big mistake to me. It’s up to you to do something evil.”

Hearing Sun Shenxing's words, Sun Chengzong shook his head and said to himself that it was just as Ye Xianggao expected.Sun Shenxing wanted to take the opportunity to tell Yang Lian how bad Western learning was.

But before he could speak to refute, Feng Sanwu, the imperial censor on the side, also echoed.Upon seeing this, Sun Chengzong quickly refuted:
"Xu Guangqi has long said that Western learning and Western religion are two different things. How can they be one and the same? Besides, our Ming Dynasty Krupp cannons and other objects came from the West. Now the imperial court is also using Western astronomy to rebuild our Ming Dynasty calendar. All these things, I think there are indeed some benefits to Western learning, and there is nothing to learn from it."

Feng Sanwu was choked by Sun Chengzong and was about to refute, but Sun Shenxing spoke first.

"Xu Guangqi himself believes in Western religion. Naturally, he said that Western learning is good. His words are not trustworthy. We only need to look at what those Westerners have done. These people have been coveting the Ming Dynasty for a long time. Last year, they even sent a fleet to attack Penghu. , this is not what ambition is."

The more Sun Shenxing talked, the angrier he became. At this point, he turned to Yang Lian and complained:
"Those who invaded the borders of our Ming Dynasty in this way, Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and others also wrote to the emperor, saying that these red-haired barbarians are habitable and can be used by our Ming Dynasty.

I just want to ask, these red-haired barbarians are different from my Ming Dynasty in speech and appearance, and they still kill and rob my people, and we still want to reuse them. Is there any royal law in this?

Xu Guangqi deliberately tried to speak for the West, and his sinister intentions were clearly exposed. His Majesty actually agreed to his request. He was really deceived by Xu Guangqi, a treacherous minister. "

(End of this chapter)