The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Xue Shao arrived outside the capital last night. He entered the city as soon as the city gate opened in the morning. Then he immediately went to the post station to wash up, change into his official robes, and took the memorials he had written along the way to the palace to ask for an audience.

The emperor is quite diligent and holds a grand court meeting today.

When Xue Shao was standing outside the hall waiting for the guards to go in and report, he happened to hear them arguing about the rebellion of the miners in the south of the Yangtze River.

Trace the cause?
Xue Shao smiled bitterly. If the emperor had read the memorial he submitted in mid-May, he would know the reason.

The miners, silk collectors and cloth dyers in Jiangnan all had extremely hard lives and were paid very low wages.

The silk suppressors and cloth dyers were fine, as they were employed by merchants and gentry. When they resisted, they could go on strike and fight against the merchants and gentry, but at most it would turn into a fight with weapons.

Only for miners, the problem of private mining is less serious. Firstly, the mine owners will use both kindness and force and dare not be too tough to avoid conflicts with the miners;
Secondly, the management of private mine owners is not that strict, so miners can take advantage of the situation and have an easier time, and they can still get by.

But the mines under the jurisdiction of the imperial court were different. The conditions were strict, the wages were low, and the working hours were long. These problems not only occurred in the mines in Jiangnan, but also in other places.

Of course, there are also some management officials who are kind and compassionate and manage the mines well, but... they are extremely rare.

When Xue Shao was inspecting Jiangnan, he visited several mines in Zhejiang and Fujian. He saw numbness on the faces of the miners, underneath which was hidden anger and resentment.

It's just that their emotions were suppressed deep in their hearts and did not burst out.

He was frightened at the time and felt that if this continued, the government would force the people to rebel and it would be difficult to quell the rebellion.

So in late May, he specially submitted a memorial to the emperor, firstly requesting that the miners' treatment be improved, their living conditions be improved, and the time spent in the mines be shortened;
Second, investigate the problems of officials and supervisors abusing miners and stealing from the mines;
The third is to ask the emperor to send troops to inspect the mines to deter those with bad intentions...

He set sail for Japan without even having time to hear back.

Obviously, the emperor did not take the letter seriously, otherwise he would not have argued in the court a month later about the reasons for the miners' rebellion.

Xue Shao wondered, Deng Maoqi was a farmer who had killed someone, and he only knew someone in a mine. He had only 800 men under him at the beginning, so how did he grow to more than 30,000 people in just half a month and capture five cities?

Of course they are willing to follow him in rebellion!

Xue Shao thought so, and said so. He knelt in the hall and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, for some people, rebellion is a stepping stone to further progress and a way to obtain resources and benefits. I cannot be sure that there is no such person behind Deng Maoqi's rebellion.
But for the most ordinary people at the bottom of society, they rebel because they can’t survive and their families can’t survive either!

And these people are the most talented. Deng Maoqi was able to gather 30,000 people in half a month and capture five cities in a row. Next, more people will respond to him and capture more cities.

Now that things have come to this, have your Majesty and the other gentlemen ever thought about why the people would rather risk the death of their entire clan and follow Deng Maoqi in his rebellion? "

The emperor's face turned dark.

Wang Zhen angrily shouted, "How dare you, Xue Shao, to mock His Majesty in this way! Come, drag him out!"

"Your Majesty!" Xue Shao took out a memorial and raised it above his head, saying in a deep voice: "This is what I saw on my way back to Beijing. Wind and flood disasters in Jiangnan destroyed houses, killed livestock, destroyed farmland, and displaced people. It has been more than 20 days since the wind and disaster, but the court has never sent relief food and grass, nor has it sent out imperial censors to investigate..."

"Xue Shao, you are the Jiangnan Inspector," Wang Wen said sternly, "You are negligent in this matter, but now you are blaming the court and His Majesty. You are so innocent!"

Xue Shao said in a deep voice: "It is indeed my fault for failing to do my duty. I am willing to be punished. However, when the storm and flood occurred, I was not in Jiangnan. Instead, I followed the ships of the Jiangnan Navy Office to Japan to suppress the bandits..."

"Suppressing bandits is the business of the Navy Yamen. What does it have to do with you, a censor?"

"I have reported this matter to the Censorate. The Imperial Censor should have known that I was not in Jiangnan. As soon as the typhoon and flood occurred in Jiangnan, the Imperial Censor should have immediately sent a new Imperial Censor to Jiangnan to investigate the details." Xue Shao looked up at Wang Wen and said coldly, "I am guilty, but you, my Lord, have also failed to supervise and perform your duties!"

"you!"

Cao Nai took a step forward and asked, "Since you are the inspector of Jiangnan, in your opinion, how should we deal with the rebels in Jiangnan?" Xue Shao said in a deep voice, "The first thing to do is to recruit them. Your Majesty, I am willing to be an envoy to recruit Deng Maoqi and others."

"No!" Wang Zhen objected, "Your Majesty, these unruly people are always asking for more. If we recruit them today and meet their demands, someone will learn from them and rebel in the future to achieve their goals. I'm afraid there will be no peace in the world in the future."

Wang Wen also thought so: "We should strike them with thunder and lightning, so that they will be terrified and dare not rebel again."

The emperor asked, "What do you think, my dear ministers?"

The hall was immediately divided into three factions. One faction supported Wang Zhen, which was mainly composed of military generals. They felt that they were just rebels who didn't even have weapons or armor. Wouldn't killing them be like chopping watermelons?

There is really no need for impeachment. Just give them an army of a thousand men and let the local garrisons cooperate with them and they can crush them.

One faction supported Xue Shao, and the other faction was mainly composed of civil servants such as Chen Xun and Cao Nai.

They felt that Jiangnan was suffering from a disaster at the time, and instead of spending manpower and food to quell the rebellion, it would be better to recruit the people and save money and food to provide relief to the victims.

Besides, there are only a few people in charge. If we just give them some small official positions and raise the workers' wages, everyone will get what they want and they will naturally disperse.

To be honest, they really feel that the miners' wages are too low and their working hours are too long.

The third group is the centrists. They say nothing, act on their own, and keep their heads down, pretending they don't exist.

For example, Yin Song who took advantage of the situation.

The emperor was a man of tough temper. He would respond to soft words but not harsh ones.

He hated these rioters who would rebel at every turn and rub his face under their feet.

Moreover, he suspected that they were instigated by the mine owners who had mined illegally and colluded with local gentry and officials from Jiangnan to rebel.

What is low wages?

Is low wages a one-day thing?

Why didn't they rebel before, but rebelled after the silver mine resumed operation?
The emperor immediately said: "Song Zhang of Fujian is not good at fighting, Liu Ju, Chen Rong——"

Liu Ju, deputy governor, and Chen Rong, the military officer, stepped out immediately, bowed and said, "I am here."

"I order you two to be deputy commanders-in-chief and lead 10,000 troops to quell the rebellion!"

The two men agreed.

Xue Shao lowered his head and closed his eyes sadly. When he raised his head again, he had regained his composure.

Wang Zhen raised the corner of his mouth slightly and glanced at him complacently.

The emperor said again: "Zhang Kai——"

Imperial Censor Zhang Kai stepped out and said, "I am here."

"I order you to supervise the army and quell the rebellion and bring peace to the people within one month!"

Zhang Kai bowed and replied: "Yes!" (End of this chapter)