King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

This is said.

There was silence in the hall.

Everyone chose silence.

Zhu Gaosui opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but for a moment he didn't know how to answer this question. Obviously, this question was beyond his understanding and ability to answer.

Because as far as he is concerned.

Although he was more inclined to favor military generals, deep down he believed that the dangers and threats posed by military generals were greater than those posed by civil officials.

Military generals hold military power, while civil officials are only responsible for governance and have no military power at all.

Anyone who is not a fool knows that it is almost impossible for someone without military power to rebel.

At last.

The eyes of Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui both involuntarily fell on Zhu Gaoxu, wanting to see his opinion on this issue. After all, this guy admired military generals more than anyone else, and all his supporters were military generals.

Is it true that he is not worried at all about the power of the military generals?
Feeling the gazes focused on him, Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment, then reacted in the blink of an eye and burst into laughter:

"Boss"

“You can ask that question.”

"It's really hard for me to believe that you have really read so many books of sages over the years and have really read the historical records of major events in the dynasties."

"Or maybe you have read so many books, but you have never really understood what is written in the books, and you have never been able to comprehend them thoroughly."

Hearing this, Zhu Pangpang's expression froze and his face changed slightly.

As the prince, he dared not make any big promises or make any guarantees.

But when it comes to his reading of historical records of all dynasties and books of sages on how to govern a country, it can be said that no one in the entire royal family, or even in the civil and military officials of the court, could match him, and no one could read as many books as he did.

This was not only recognized by the civil officials in the court, but even during the reign of Taizu, he was praised and guided for his knowledge of ancient and modern times.

结果
Even on this matter that he was so proud of, the second brother couldn't help but doubt him, and there was even sarcasm in his words and expression.

It was something that his uncle could not tolerate, but his aunt could not tolerate.

Then, Zhu Gaochi looked unhappy, snorted coldly, and shouted angrily: "Second brother, what do you mean?"

Zhu Gaoxu heard this, his expression remained unchanged, he glanced at him with disdain, his words full of sarcasm,
"What's the point?"

"Literally."

"What's the matter? You can't listen to this and you don't want to listen?"

“There are even more nasty things to come.”

"I don't want to listen. I don't want to waste my breath, so let's just leave it at that."

This statement came out.

It can be said that Zhu Gaochi was really suffocated.

However, looking at Zhu Gaoxu's sarcastic and mocking look, based on his understanding of him, he knew that he was not a person who liked to be unrestrained for no reason. He was completely different from the third brother who was out of tune and was not a person who talked big just for the sake of talking big.

to this end.

Even though Zhu Gaochi was feeling unhappy, he had to suppress his thoughts. Then he put away the hostility on his face and replaced it with a humble and modest expression. He said with a smile:

"Okay okay okay"

"My fault. I was too excited."

"Just tell me what you want to say, I can handle it."

"They say honest advice hurts the ear, and I just want to hear your honest advice, why?"

Seeing the prince calm down.

Zhu Gaoxu snorted coldly and glanced at him with disdain. Since the other person was so tactful and really wanted to listen, he had nothing to hide and continued speaking:
"Look beyond the surface of things and see the essence of things."

"Boss"

"You are well-read, so let's not talk about anything else. Let's just talk about our Emperor Taizu."

"Why did our Zhu family rebel? Why did we overthrow the tyrannical Yuan Dynasty?"

"Why are there so many people responding and so many people willing to risk their lives?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi frowned and fell into deep thought. After a long while, he spoke cautiously with doubt and uncertainty:
“The people can’t survive.”

"Many of Emperor Taizu's parents and relatives starved to death under the brutal policies and oppression of the Yuan Dynasty."

"Is that right?"

In response, Zhu Gaoxu laughed and nodded:

"Well"

"nice!"

"I remember this clearly, and I can answer the essence of the question."

When Zhu Gaochi heard this, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his chubby face and he scratched his head unconsciously.

Isn't this bullshit?

How could they, as descendants, not know about the affairs of the Zhu family?

Moreover.
How long has it been since Emperor Taizu died?
Even if you have amnesia, you can't be so forgetful!
but
Although the answer was clear and was affirmed by Zhu Gaoxu, and there was nothing wrong with this answer, Zhu Gaochi still couldn't figure out what the point of asking this question was, which everyone knew.

And what substantive connection does it have with the threats posed by civil officials and military generals that they discussed before?

"Second child"

"What are you talking about, you bastard?"

"How do these things relate to what we are talking about?"

Seeing the prince still with a puzzled look on his face, Zhu Gaoxu just smiled indifferently and did not make any more sarcastic remarks. After all, it was understandable that this was the limitation of thinking in that era. Many times, even though the problem was clearly in front of them, people always liked to see what they wanted to see, and of course they were unwilling to believe certain things.

"What's the connection?"

"Boss"

"I'm not afraid to tell you that this matter is not only related to what we are talking about, but also very related."

Listen to the decisive answer.

Zhu Gaochi was confused.

Zhu Gaosui was shocked.

There was nothing they could do about it! In this matter, the two of them really didn't see any connection.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, shook his head slightly, and continued:

"Take our Emperor Taizu's overthrow of the brutal Yuan Dynasty as an example."

"You all know why Taizu was willing to put his head on the line and do such rebellious things."

"If you don't eat enough, you will starve to death."

"Have you ever thought about this? If the tyrannical Yuan Dynasty at that time had not recklessly exploited the people, officials could work diligently and love the people, and military commanders could not be greedy for pleasure, and could fight against a hundred with one man, the people could live and work in peace and contentment, fill their stomachs, and not starve to death."

"Under such circumstances, will Emperor Taizu and his brothers really take the path of rebellion?"

"answer me!!"

Zhu Gaochi's face changed drastically when he heard this, and he looked at his second son in disbelief. Although he was unwilling to admit it, the answer was already in his mind.

Without a doubt, definitely not.

After all, we are not hungry and can live and work in peace.

Who is willing to rebel and risk their life?

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zhu Gaoxu sneered and said:
"Who is it that made the people starve to death and had no other choice but to rebel and rise up in resistance?"

"We all say that the Yuan Dynasty was violent, the Yuan Dynasty was violent, and the emperor was incompetent and incompetent."

"Of course. I cannot deny that the emperor does need to bear a large part of the responsibility for this matter." "But is it really all caused by the emperor and the royal family's stupidity?"

Having said this, he paused, his face suddenly darkened, his expression became extremely solemn, and he said:

"Boss"

"Come and I'll tell you the answer."

"Throughout the dynasties, the fall of every dynasty has been no more than this."

"The court advocated Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, favored scholars, and the civil officials shepherded the people for the emperor, realizing the feat of the literati and the royal family ruling the world together, right?"

"But Boss, have you ever really understood that the so-called scholars and civil officials have ever really thought about shepherding the people for the emperor and governing the country sincerely?"

"Instead of using the power granted by the emperor to enslave the poor people at the bottom of society?"

"The so-called sage teachings, sage disciples, scholars, and people who are well-read and knowledgeable are all bullshit. Are these the only things left by the Confucian sages and the words of the sages? Is this really what they were taught to do?"

Zhu Gaochi's expression changed slightly when he heard this, and his face became solemn at this moment. He said:

"Second child"

"you."

The words have just been spoken.

A loud rebuke from Zhu Gaoxu came to his ears:

"Shut up!"

"Listen to what I have to say before you express your opinion."

"It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. Boss, let's be frank. Don't you have an intelligence system hidden in the dark?"

"Let the intelligence and spies in your hands spread out, let them help you visit all parts of the country, collect information for you, and take a good look at what these civil officials and scholars have brought to the people of the world."

"It's not some bullshit benevolent government, it's just endless exploitation and oppression."

"I can say this, the various tax policies issued by the court, the benevolent policies that the officials proposed to me in the past and were approved by me, do you believe that many places have not implemented them? The heavy and harsh taxes are still being implemented?"

"When scholars achieved fame and became gentry, it can be said that almost all of them did not first enclose land and make money."

"Where does the land come from? Where does the money come from?"

"Except for deducting it from the people and finding ways to take it, where else can it come from?"

"It's been a cycle of enclosure and money grabbing. The people have lost their land and money, and can no longer make a living. What will be the fate of the people?"

"Either they become refugees or bandits. As time goes by, the number of refugees and bandits increases. If a prestigious person raises his hand, what will be the result?"

"And what about the generals?"

"Except for wartime, all military power in non-wartime is in the hands of the imperial court."

"Moreover, military generals do not participate in governing the country. Even if some of them are corrupt and grab land and money, how much can they grab? Can they compare with civil officials?"

"In comparison, who is the real gravedigger of the imperial court?"

"Who is more harmful to the court?"

"Come on, come on, both of you, tell me."

As soon as these words came out.

The place suddenly became eerily quiet, and heavy breathing sounds echoed throughout the hall.

No one spoke anymore, and everyone fell into deep thought.

This issue has not been made clear and has not been put on the table.

To be honest, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui had never really thought about it carefully.

As for why they all regarded military generals as threats from the bottom of their hearts, and thus subconsciously ignored the fundamental threats brought by civil officials.

In fact, all of this is just caused by inertial thinking.

Since civil officials have no military power, they are naturally not seen as a threat in the eyes of those in power.

It is different for military generals. They hold military power. As long as they have participated in wars and fought on the battlefield, they have prestige in the army. Some of them are even loved by the soldiers. It is for this reason that throughout the dynasties, most royal families have regarded military generals as existence that can threaten their own rule.

People often overlook, or simply are unwilling to believe, that weak and powerless civil officials can bring any substantial harm to a country or pose any threat to those in power.

This is also true.

Throughout the dynasties, countless military generals were executed, and the number of civil officials who were executed was countless times greater than that.

That's it.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Gaochi was the first to come back to his senses. He looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a look of fear and doubt in his words, saying:
"Second child"

"Is everything you said true?"

Although what we see today.

This made him have many complaints about the civil officials and even resentment in his heart.

But he still hopes to have a plea
I don’t want what Zhu Gaoxu said to be true, I hope it’s all false.

Have no idea!

This statement was too subversive. Over the years, Zhu Gaochi had read a lot of poetry and books, as well as everything he had seen and heard.

Zhu Gaoxu looked back without any hesitation and met his gaze, without any sympathy, only cold admiration and indifference.

He knew this.

It is an extremely cruel thing to destroy with your own hands a person's beliefs that have been held for many years and the dreams that are deeply rooted in his heart.

But things had developed to this point, and Zhu Gaoxu was helpless.

Zhu Gaosui was about to go with the army to fight.
After conquering the Japanese mainland, what we need to do is to have enough silver. The time for currency reform and launching a challenge to Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is getting closer and closer.

Although I have said before
The prince never said a word of opposition in front of the old man and showed support.

But Zhu Gaoxu knew clearly in his mind that once this matter was really implemented, countless civil servants would be involved.

The civil servants in the court are the boss's foundation and his supporters!

Before the incident, few people were involved and the boss might turn a blind eye. But once more people were involved, a wide range of people would be involved.

Can the prince really still sit still?
Are they really able, or willing, to watch their supporters being shoveled out one by one?

Can you really resist intervening in this matter?

Don't you believe the slander and attacks?

Human nature! Human heart!
No one dares to gamble, because few people can win over people's hearts and human nature.

to this end.

It was all he could do.

Then, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head slightly and replied solemnly:

"Boss"

"True or false, when you asked this question, did you already have the answer in your heart?"

"Why do you have to ask me to explain it again?"

Having said this, he paused, suddenly changed the subject, and continued:
"Boss, Third Brother"

"One more question for you guys"

"Do you know how many acres of arable land we have in the Ming Dynasty? Who has the most? Who has the least?"

"What is the real right to speak in the world?"

"Is this really the so-called words of the Son of Heaven?"

"Or is it really the imperial edict that came from the palace?" (End of this chapter)