The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 284: Zhu Houzhao's Attack
Advertise, spread the word.

It doesn't sound good at first glance.

But Cong Lan had no choice. Could she really ask the Minister of Finance to pay for the subsidy?
What a joke!
Cong Lan has always been a clean man, and there is no extra money at home. Even if there is, it is not enough!
According to the Emperor's design for a new external newspaper, not only does it have to be printed, but branches have to be set up in local areas, and even more so, officials have to be posted in the countryside. The Tongzhengsi needs to devote a huge amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources to this end. A little bit of silver cannot fill this hole at all!

Well, according to a rough estimate, at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are spent every year, and that’s at least!

With such a huge amount of funds, if Cong Lan didn't attract investment or advertise, could he expect that despicable Jiao Fang to pay the money?
Even if His Majesty the Emperor opened his mouth, a villain like Jiao Fang would definitely not give more, and it might even cause some petty corruption.

Therefore, the best way is to rely on one's own efforts. Although Cong Lan does not have a good impression of merchants, this is for the sake of national affairs and the people, so it is not impossible to deal with these lowly merchants.

Look at the time when the Ministry of Revenue implemented the policy of paying silver to open a market, weren't the officials there getting along very happily with the merchants?

Therefore, as long as I can get money and work for the country, I can tolerate everything else.

However, although all parties agreed, the old man Zhang Fuhua was not happy.

"Your Majesty, how can we allow those lowly merchants to interfere in national affairs?"

"Once the Ming New Newspaper is established, even if it is distributed to the common people, it is still a public tool of the court. How can we allow lowly merchants with money to participate in it? I ask His Majesty to think twice!"

What a bullshit "investment promotion"!
In a sense, the Ming New News is the court’s new policy!

His Majesty the Emperor allowed a group of lowly merchants to participate in this. Doesn't that change the nature of the matter?
The imperial court distributed the Daming New Newspaper throughout the country, and it actually contained small advertisements from merchants. Zhang Fuhua felt disgusted whenever he thought about it!

Moreover, this matter has already become the new policy of His Majesty the Emperor. New policies will always face the greatest resistance. If the gentry use this to discredit and attack the new policy, or even falsely accuse His Majesty the Emperor of colluding with merchants to seize the people's profits, then it would be a real loss of face.

"What's wrong with merchants? What's wrong with them being rich? Aren't merchants also citizens of the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Houzhao sneered and scoffed at Zhang Fuhua's statement.

Unfortunately, the Five Dynasties Elders were afraid of nothing and argued directly: "Your Majesty, merchants do not know loyalty and righteousness and do not engage in production. They roam around for money and are a group of profit-seeking people. The court allows them to do business and support their families, which is already a great favor. Why should we help them develop and let them use the court's public tools to advertise..."

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao was almost laughing out of anger.

But he did not get angry. After all, this was not just Zhang Fuhua's opinion, but the opinion of the entire Ming Dynasty.

In ancient times, merchants, whether rich or poor, had a status lower than that of dogs.

For example, Shen Wansan, a wealthy man in Jiangnan in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, was the richest man in Jiangnan and even richer than a country, but he was still dealt with by the imperial court.

Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. These scholar-officials are looked down upon by everyone, especially these lowly merchants.

But the irony is that when these gentry were corrupt and accepted bribes to buy properties, they were unwilling to lower their status, so they drove and supported these merchants to do business for them and make profits for the people!

"Mr. Zhang, in the eyes of you, the children of famous schools, all merchants in the world are despicable villains who don't know loyalty and only care about profit, right?"

"Then why do you, the children of famous schools, have to support merchants to manage your own businesses? Aren't you looking down on them? Why do you still use them?"

"Zhongshan Hou once said it well, 'You're a whore but you still want to be a saint.' That's what he was talking about, you children of famous schools!"

Bitch?

Torii?

You bastard, Marquis of Zhongshan!
How dare you humiliate us, the children of a noble family, like this?

Cong Lan and Zhang Fuhua were so angry that their faces turned blue.

They dare not blame Your Majesty, because Your Majesty cannot be wrong.

Then the problem lies with the people around your Majesty. In the past it was the powerful eunuch Liu Jin, and now it has become this Marquis of Zhongshan!

No wonder His Majesty the Emperor has always been full of disgust for Confucianism. It turns out that the root of the problem lies with this Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao. He is really shameless!
"Your Majesty, only some of the disciples of the famous sects are colluding with merchants..."

Zhang Fuhua wanted to redeem the bad impression of the children of aristocratic families in the emperor's mind, but Zhu Houzhao laughed even more after hearing it.

"Part? Is it a small part or most of it? Why do you want to deceive yourself, Mr. Zhang? All the nobles in the court, whether civil or military, have a large business under their name. And these nobles have to attend court meetings and handle official business, so who manages their businesses?"

"Do you really think I know nothing? Take Shouning Hou and Jianchang Bo, my two good uncles, for example. They have four merchants in their families: Zhu Da, Zhou Hong, Du Cheng, and Tan Jingqing. They have embezzled a lot of national profits. The salt permits alone are tens of thousands of yuan!"

Faced with the Emperor telling the truth without any concealment, Zhang Fuhua felt a little embarrassed.

He didn't expect that in just five years, His Majesty the Emperor had grown to his current level.

Looking back to the beginning, when Emperor Zhu Houzhao had just ascended the throne, he would immediately fly into a rage and appear extremely immature when he encountered deliberate obstruction and harassment from civil officials and gentry.

But five years have passed, and the Emperor Zhengde in front of him has grown into an emperor of the Ming Dynasty who is capable of seeing through the intentions of court officials!

Marquis of Zhongshan, oh Marquis of Zhongshan, is this your achievement?

Zhu Houzhao was also unwilling to blame Zhang Fuhua, a veteran of five dynasties. Not only did he work hard for the Ming Dynasty all his life, but he also built a clean and efficient Censorate for him, Zhu Houzhao, at the last moment!
So no matter what, this old man Zhang is worthy of Zhu Houzhao's respect.

"Old man, didn't this ancient sage also say something?"

Cong Lan listened quietly for a long time, and immediately added: "The pioneer of the Legalists, Guan Zhong, said: 'The four classes of people, namely scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, are the foundation of the country.'"

Zhu Houzhao glanced at him and was very satisfied with Cong Lan's words. He continued, "Minister Cong is right. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the pillars of the country and none of them can be missing."

"For a country to prosper and society to flourish, the development of industry, agriculture and commerce are equally indispensable!"

"Without agriculture there is no stability, without industry there is no wealth, without business there is no life, and with the addition of scholars who are the foundation of the dynasty, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are all indispensable, this is the right way!"

"You must keep in mind the words that Marquis Zhongshan told me to awaken the world!"

No agriculture, no stability!

No work, no wealth!

No business, no life!

Plus the people who are the foundation of the dynasty!
It really is... the truth to awaken the world!

These words were like a thunderclap, ringing in the ears of the three people.

After all, the meaning of this statement is simple and easy to understand. Without agriculture, the dynasty will be unstable; without industry, the country will not be prosperous; without commerce, economic life will not be active.

Cong Lan's eyes lit up, and she secretly admired the emperor's insightful words.

After all, he is still young, so he can accept new things more easily than Zhang Fuhua.

Zhang Fuhua murmured to himself several times and also figured out some of the meaning.

However, because his life has come to an end, his values ​​have long been formed, so it is not easy for him to accept new things.

Zhu Houzhao smiled when he saw this. When Tang Hao told him this, he was the same and just stood there in a daze.

So, this damn savage guy, most of the time, really makes people love and hate him, but he is also full of... philosophy.

“Give me a simple example!”

"For example, the tribute Longjimi presented by Grand Secretary Qiu Jun earlier."

"Before Longji rice became a tribute, Longji Village in Laocheng Town, Chengmai County was just a poor mountain village."

"Even though the people of Longji Village work from sunrise to sunset every day and never dare to slack off, they still live in poverty and have a very difficult life."

"Because of the taxation issue we just talked about, their burden will only get heavier and heavier, and in the end they will be forced to become tenants and refugees."

Zhu Houzhao's eyes became brighter and brighter as he followed Tang Hao's example.

Because hearing it from others, going over it in your mind, and speaking it out loud yourself, your understanding of the matter is completely different.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and explained: "After Longjimi became a tribute, everything is different."

"Grand Scholar Qiu Jun recommended this Longji rice to the late emperor, who was delighted after hearing it, because dragon represents the emperor and Ji represents auspiciousness, implying that the emperor's dragon body is auspicious. Therefore, Longji rice is also called tribute rice for the court, and it is available all year round."

"Men, women, young and old in Longji Village have all planted Longji rice vigorously. Countless merchants have flocked to buy this royal tribute rice from them, and the lives of the people in Longji Village have gradually improved. In order to increase the yield of Longji rice, local people have made great efforts to study planting techniques, and finally succeeded in making it possible for every household to grow Longji rice and improve their lives with this tribute rice. This is 'no work, no wealth'!"

“After Longji rice became a big hit, merchants from not only Chengmai County but also neighboring prefectures smelled business opportunities, so they rushed here non-stop, wanting to resell Longji rice to make a profit. And it was precisely because of the influx of a large number of merchants that Longji Village was injected with unimaginable vitality. This previously impoverished mountain village has now become a bustling market town. This is ‘no business, no life’!”

"As for 'no agriculture, no stability', I don't need to say more. China has always attached great importance to agriculture and sericulture, because agriculture and sericulture are the foundation of the dynasty, and food is the lifeblood of the dynasty, so there is nothing much to say about this." "Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, these four classes are the cornerstones of the court, and none of them can be missing. It is not a good thing for the court to suppress merchants and despise craftsmen!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the whole place fell silent.

Shocking!

Zhang Fuhua was shocked.

He had never thought that craftsmen and merchants had such abilities.

Throughout history, every dynasty has suppressed merchants and despised craftsmen, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.

After all, only those who farm the land peacefully are the good people that the court needs!

Instead of traveling around like merchants in pursuit of profit, they would bring instability to the government.

In a nutshell, if the imperial court wants to keep its rule stable, the common people must honestly farm the land in the countryside!

Therefore, not only did the merchants not engage in production, they also often went to other provinces to do business and trade, so the government always took a repressive attitude towards them.

As for the craftsmen, no one cared about them.

Craftsmen belong to the artisan class, and their status is only slightly better than that of merchants.

Because craftsmen do the hardest and most tiring work, and they are the main force of corvée labor for the imperial court, so who would care about these lowly laborers?

Suppressing merchants, despising craftsmen, and emphasizing agriculture and sericulture are what has been done in all dynasties.

But the problem is that the Emperor Zhengde before us gave a completely new interpretation of the four classes of people.

The prosperous and wealthy Longji Village mentioned by His Majesty the Emperor can perfectly prove his theory!

No agriculture, no stability!

No work, no wealth!

No business, no life!

Zhang Fuhua claims to be well-read, but he has never heard of this theory!

But the facts were right in front of him, and he couldn't find any reason to refute them!
Longji Village used to be just a poor and dilapidated mountain village. It was because Longji rice became the royal tribute rice that it provided the people of Longji Village with other hopes of survival. Then they seized the opportunity to study the planting technology of Longji rice and promoted it to the entire village, which greatly improved their lives!

Isn’t this what “no work, no wealth” means?
Because of the popularity of Longji rice, merchants from all over the state flocked to Longji Village to buy Longji rice, injecting a new vitality into Longji Village, resulting in the prosperous and bustling scene we see today!
Isn’t this what “no business, no life” means?
As for the farmers and good people who till the fields, they are the foundation and lifeline of dynasties. Only when the farmers and good people till the fields honestly, the great country of dynasties will be stable!

Isn’t this what “no agriculture, no stability” means?
How else can you refute?

There is no way to refute it at all!
Zhang Fuhua took a deep breath and stared at the Emperor in front of him.

If what His Majesty the Emperor said is the truth, doesn't it mean that all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were wrong, and even all the emperors of the Chinese Dynasty were wrong?
How can this be?

However, the facts of Longji Village are right before our eyes!

For a moment, Zhang Fuhua was in a state of confusion.

Cong Lan didn't care. After hearing this vivid example, he had put away his contempt for merchants.

After all, His Majesty the Emperor is right. If it were not for these merchants, Longji Village would not have become prosperous, and the people there would not have been as prosperous as they are now and lived a good life.

Besides, he had never been involved in financial work. Instead of worrying about whether the emperor's words made sense, he might as well continue discussing his next newspaper job.

"Your Majesty, you just said that you want the Tongzhengsi to set up branches in various prefectures and cities, and also to appoint some kind of 'Xuanzheng Li' to roam the countryside. This plan seems to have no problem, but..."

"But what? Just ask! If you have any questions, just ask them. After all, this is your next major task in the Ministry of Public Administration!"

Cong Lan did not hesitate and simply raised her concerns.

"Such a large number of officials will greatly increase the number of local officials, which will bring great burden to the court!"

"Moreover, if we expand the local official team on such a large scale, it will easily lead to some people taking advantage of the situation and giving them the opportunity to become officials. By then, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will face the same problem as the former Song Dynasty!"

The three troubles of redundancy!

Zhu Houzhao did not expect Cong Lan to mention this issue.

The so-called "three redundancies" can be simply described as "redundant soldiers", "redundant expenses" and "redundant staff".

In order to prevent the army from causing chaos, the former Song Dynasty often appointed a chief commander, and the highest command power was in the hands of the civil servants of the Privy Council. Also, because the regular army, or the imperial guards, were managed separately by the three yamen (the Palace Front Department, the Imperial Guards Cavalry Department, and the Imperial Guards Infantry Department), the separate yamen also expanded on their own.

In addition to the imperial guards, there are also garrison troops. These local armed forces are still expanding rapidly. Although the number of soldiers is increasing, the finances still rely on the central government.

As time went on, the soldiers' combat effectiveness declined and their equipment became worse and worse, but the military expenditures they reported increased.

If the imperial court wanted to cut the military, it would infringe on the interests of some military households who made a living by serving in the army, provoke mutiny among the officers and soldiers, and also cause dissatisfaction among some conservatives.

These were the “redundant soldiers” of the former Song Dynasty.

"Redundant staff" refers to civil servants. The administrative system of the early Song Dynasty was actually quite advanced, with many functional departments, which were divided into layers, and each department had several officials.

For example, some people are responsible for approval, but stamping is not their responsibility and that is done by other people.

The problem with such detailed government offices is that work is done slowly and there is buck-passing and buck-passing.

Moreover, in the former Song Dynasty, the emperor and the literati shared the world. More and more officials and literati formed cliques and factions, and the end result was that the power was too strong to be eliminated and the government was corrupt!

"Redundant expenses" are much simpler. It means that the expenses generated by many reasons such as "redundant soldiers" and "redundant staff" are increasing.

The tax revenue of the former Song Dynasty was astonishing among all dynasties. Although it had to pay annual tributes to the surrounding barbarians, this money could be earned back through maritime trade.

However, the treasury was still empty at the end of the Early Song Dynasty, and the fundamental reason was excessive waste.

Although Cong Lan's words were a bit exaggerated, it is undeniable that doing so may indeed lead to the problem of "redundancy".

"This matter can be discussed at the court meeting tomorrow. Regarding the expansion of the Tongzhengsi, I just have this idea. I will ask the court officials to come up with a plan when the time comes."

"But you guys can start working on the foreign journals and newspapers now, and you must implement it in a practical way!"

After hearing this, Cong Lan finally felt relieved.

The two continued to discuss the details of the Ming News with great interest. Zhang Fuhua became more and more nervous as he listened, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, do you really intend to... enlighten the people?"

"Hmm? Is there something wrong?"

"Your Majesty, once the people are enlightened, the imperial court will lose its authority, and the emperor will lose his authority, then the people will naturally be dissatisfied with the status quo!"

"I, your humble servant, am saying something extremely treasonous. Why aren't they the ones sitting on this throne?"

"Once this idea spreads, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger and the world will be in chaos..."

What Zhang Fuhua meant by this was very simple. Once everyone has opened their minds, the common people will realize that your Zhu family is nothing special. So why should they listen to your orders and obey you?

The heart is like a ravine, and it is hard to fill it!
There is some truth to this statement!
It's just that his words were too straightforward. However, he was a veteran of five dynasties, so it's not easy to pursue the matter.

Zhu Houzhao did not get angry when he heard this, but asked with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, how did our Zhu family get to sit on the throne?"

Cong Lan's expression brightened when he heard this, and he shouted passionately: "Of course it's because Emperor Taizu Gao drove out the invaders, restored China, saved the people from disaster, and saved the people from collapse!"

"Since ancient times, no one has ever been better at winning the country!"

This sentence is the greatest affirmation of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's life achievements!

"In this case, what do my Zhu family have to fear?"

"Cong Lan, the front page headline of the Daming New Newspaper should publish the life and achievements of Emperor Taizu Gao, and tell the people of the world in a dignified manner that my Zhu family is qualified to sit on this position, not because of the 'divine right of kings', but because my Zhu family drove out the invaders and restored China, and made indelible contributions!"

"Since ancient times, only our great Ming Dynasty has been able to establish a legitimate government. No one can surpass it!"

"This must be known to all the people in the world, and to the entire Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)