Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 104: Borrowing heads to appease the people's resentment! (Second update)

Guo Huan sat on the chair, fiddling with the jade ring with his thumb, staring at Xia Zhibai and asking, "How did you guess that?"

Guo Huan did not deny it.

Xia Zhibai had said this to this point, and there was no point in trying to cover it up any further.

Xia Zhibai put the backpack on the ground and said calmly, "I did provide Hua Lun with a method of accounting, but even if a new accounting method is developed, the Ministry of Revenue will know about it sooner or later. There is no need to go to such lengths and spend a large sum of money to invite me here."

"Then there's only one possibility."

"It was the Ministry of Revenue that was investigated by the imperial court."

"You are uneasy."

"I want to know this method of unifying the accounts, so that I can have time and reasons to defend myself."

"Is my guess right?"

Xia Zhibai looked at Guo Huan with a smile.

Guo Huan clapped his hands in satisfaction and said, "As expected of the new top scholar, your intelligence is truly extraordinary. You have noticed so many things just from my mistake in a hurry. When you really enter the official career in the future, you will probably have a bright future."

"Too."

"With your sharp tongue in the past, you were able to provoke His Majesty into a rage, but you are still alive and kicking. This is enough to prove that you are no ordinary person."

"It's just that you never entered the court, so you were deliberately ignored."

"You are very good."

"But I didn't understand your last part."

"Why do you and I have different opinions?"

"We are all officials, what's the difference?"

Xia Zhibai's face was calm, with a faint smile on his lips, and he said, "There is indeed a difference."

"I challenged Your Majesty so much, why am I still alive?"

"It's because of you!"

Guo Huan frowned, puzzled by this sentence.

Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his back and said slowly, "In the eyes of many people, the reason I didn't die was only because I offered a lot of treasures. It was these treasures that saved my life. But with Minister Guo's understanding of His Majesty, he also knows that treasures are not very important to His Majesty, even the so-called high-yield grains."

"It's never those things that keep me alive."

"It's 'Shi'!"

"The existence of the scholar-officials is proof all the time that the 'scholars' class in today's world is corrupt and decadent. You have also challenged His Majesty's bottom line and tolerance time and time again."

"I have always chosen to stand on the opposite side of the 'scholars'."

"So I can live."

"It's not because I have done anything great for the Ming Dynasty, but because I have provided His Majesty with another possibility."

"Although Your Majesty is extremely disgusted and displeased, but in the face of your repeated insults, Your Majesty can only hold his nose and continue to 'indulge' me to live."

"The more the scholars and officials get carried away, the more they will become greedy and corrupt."

“I will live better.”

Hear the words.

Guo Huan was stunned for a moment.

This was an aspect he had not thought about.

After thinking about it carefully, he nodded thoughtfully.

From the first time Xia Zhibai caught their attention, he was eccentric and lawless. In the subsequent palace examination, he even spoke outrageously and said in public that he wanted to abolish the "scholars". However, no one took it seriously at the time, and neither did he.

But doesn’t it really matter?
unimportant.

The important thing is that Xia Zhibai did stand on the opposite side of the "scholars".

that's enough.

It is well known to everyone that Your Majesty dislikes scholars.

But governing the world is inseparable from scholars, and these scholars in the court all have a natural arrogance.

This arrogance is reflected in all aspects.

Not only in the imperial examinations and the Ming Dynasty system, but also in major national policies.

It's just that in order to maintain peace in the world, Your Majesty has been making compromises and concessions. But there is no other way, Your Majesty must use the talents.

In this situation, the appearance of Xia Zhibai, especially his criticism of the entire "scholar" class, even if his behavior was very outrageous, would still be "looked at differently" by His Majesty.

Because compared to Xia Zhibai, His Majesty is even less tolerant of "scholars"!
Figured this out.

Guo Huan also suddenly realized.

Guo Huan looked at Xia Zhibai and shook his head again: "Not enough."

"Your Majesty is not as cruel as you think. This alone is not enough to protect your life."

Xia Zhibai nodded and said with a smile: "It's not enough to just talk, so I decided to quit the court and go to the local areas to propose a policy of supporting 'workers and peasants'."

"Even if he talks about it, he's just a clown."

“Only when it is truly put into practice can it be looked at differently and even be given high hopes.”

"The world has suffered from scholars and officials for a long time!"

Guo Huan sneered and did not comment on this statement.

The scholar-official system has existed for thousands of years. Is it so easy to overthrow and change?
Guo Huan looked at Xia Zhibai curiously and asked doubtfully, "Young people are full of passion, ideals and enthusiasm. I can understand that, but why are you so sure that you can do it and gain the trust of His Majesty?"

He was really curious.

Because this is not the first time Xia Zhibai has said this.

And Xia Zhibai's attitude has always been very positive.

Where does Xia Zhibai get the confidence from?

Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "I have actually already stated the reason."

"But since Minister Guo wants to know more clearly, I will say a few more words."

"Since the Song Dynasty, and even during the Yuan Dynasty, for hundreds of years, the emperor's power was weak. Under such circumstances, the scholar-officials enjoyed great prosperity."

"Although the status of Han people was low during the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan court implemented a tax-farming system. As long as the local governments paid the money on time, the Yuan court would basically not interfere in local affairs."

"The local scholar-officials have great power."

"So the scholars and officials have become accustomed to sharing the world with the emperor." "For hundreds of years, the idea of ​​'sharing the world with the scholars and officials' has long been deeply rooted in the scholars and officials, but this is unacceptable to His Majesty. So when Hu Weiyong tried to usurp power, His Majesty struck him with lightning speed, but killing people cannot solve the problem."

"Because batches of scholars and officials will continue to come forward."

"Your Majesty gave only one answer, which was to kill."

“This is a brutal political struggle.”

"And my unique existence created a strange scene."

"It's clear that neither side can be accommodated, but both sides have to be accommodated, because the emperor and his subjects are eager to find a new balance."

Guo Huan burst out laughing.

He already understood why Xia Zhibai was still alive.

Because Your Majesty needs to find the balance between the monarch and his subjects again.

In the past, the court had only two choices: either to kill a lot of people and make the scholars and officials retreat completely, or for Your Majesty to give in.

But Xia Zhibai's alternative appearance gave the court a third option.

It's just that this choice is irrelevant at the moment.

immediately.

Guo Huan's face changed.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

It’s not that Xia Zhibai’s choice is unimportant, but that His Majesty is deliberately keeping it.

Because Your Majesty will not compromise, Your Majesty will definitely be strong to the end.

But as Xia Zhibai said, the literati will continue to come forward, but such a strong monarch may not exist in every generation.

Your Majesty is leaving another option for future emperors.

For a while.

Guo Huan's mind was a little confused.

He suddenly felt a little confused about the situation.

After a while, Guo Huan suddenly raised his head and said coldly: "This is your idea."

"That's not what other scholars think."

"Not even your majesty."

Xia Zhibai chuckled and said calmly: "This is indeed my idea, but it will gradually become a reality, and the reason is very simple."

"Because the butcher knife in your majesty's hand will not stop."

“I will keep killing.”

"When the killing has made all the officials in the world tremble with fear, my system should have been initially built. Then it will be able to enter the court and replace the 'old' scholar-officials. That's why I said it at the beginning."

"What happens to you has nothing to do with me."

"In fact, the more you resist and struggle, the more His Majesty will be wary and dissatisfied, and His Majesty's butcher knife will strike faster and more fiercely."

“And that’s what I’m happy to see.”

"I'll set up a new stove nearby and wait for Your Majesty to clean the house and welcome the guests."

Xia Zhibai looked at Guo Huan with a smile on her face.

But when Guo Huan saw this smile, he felt a little creepy.

Xia Zhibai was certain that His Majesty would start a massacre in the court.

He also firmly believed that His Majesty's action against the Ministry of Revenue was not due to the new accounting method.

That was just an excuse your Majesty made.

In Xia Zhibai's eyes, this incident was more of a political storm and a test of His Majesty by the literati, which was why His Majesty made such a severe counterattack.

But Guo Huan really didn't notice any of this.

Guo Huan looked reserved and asked in a serious tone, "What is your basis?"

Xia Zhibai shook his head. He looked at Guo Huan and said in a deep voice, "I am curious as well."

He was standing in a God's perspective and knew that Guo Huan could not escape this disaster, but the history of the whole story of Guo Huan's case is vague.

However, major cases like this usually involve political reasons. Anything that could make Zhu Yuanzhang take such a ruthless action must have threatened Zhu Yuanzhang's psychological defenses.

Otherwise it would never have come to this.

But with Hu Weiyong in front, no one in the court should dare to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang in a short period of time.

This is also what Xia Zhibai finds hard to understand.

Guo Huan stood up and began to think seriously.

He also felt that this matter was not groundless. After Xia Zhibai's words, he also sensed a conspiracy.

Sudden.

Guo Huan thought of something and his pupils suddenly shrank.

He knew why.

Military pay!

It could only be military pay.

Guo Huan said tremblingly: "It's military pay."

"Your Majesty mentioned the Northern Expedition a year ago."

"Your Majesty wanted to completely eliminate the Northern Yuan forces in Liaodong, but at that time the six ministries made a calculation. In order to defeat the Northern Yuan army led by the Northern Yuan Taiwei Nahachu, the court would have to send out at least 200,000 troops. At that time, except for the Ministry of War, the other five ministries were very dissatisfied."

"Because the imperial court had already fought a northern expedition in the 17th year, and the finances were seriously insufficient."

"The imperial court simply cannot afford an army of 200,000."

"Under your Majesty's insistence, the Ministry of Revenue can only 'borrow' from local landlords and merchants."

"According to the calculations of the Ministry of Revenue, this 'borrowing method' is actually a disguised way of doubling the tax. It was only under the secret instruction of Your Majesty that this taxation was forced forward. But even if the proportion of taxation in the whole country is doubled, it will take at least several years to raise enough military expenses and food for the 200,000-strong Northern Expedition Army."

"Many officials in the Ministry of Revenue are very resistant to this."

Guo Huan's voice became more and more trembling, and he gradually figured things out.

Your Majesty is planning to borrow some people from the Ministry of Revenue.

(End of this chapter)