Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 105: Wealth and honor do not fall on common people, and the battlefield is full of common people's souls! (The third update)

When he heard the word "military pay", Xia Zhibai immediately understood.

He knew the true circumstances of the Guo Huan case.

Was Guo Huan corrupt?
It must be because of greed. With such huge benefits, no one would not be tempted.

But the larger political background was the Northern Expedition.

There are two things that Zhu Yuanzhang is most proud of in his life.

The first was to expel the Tartars, and the second was to reconcile the north and the south.

Expelling the Tartars was what Zhu Yuanzhang accomplished as his lifelong political achievement, and the Hongwu Dynasty launched a total of thirteen northern expeditions.

Xia Zhibai didn't realize the problem at first.

but now.

He finally understood.

Thirteen times!
Even if the Ming Dynasty implemented the Wei Suo system, it could not withstand so many turmoil.

In the end, we can only follow the map and take it from the people.

Moreover, according to the standards of military households in the garrisons, every time there was a war, two male adults had to be sent from the military household, one regular soldier to fight, and one spare male to accompany. If a regular soldier died in battle, the family would have to provide another male adult to serve as a regular soldier. In this era of severe productivity shortage, a family without two male adults could not survive at all.

What’s more, the Ming Dynasty launched a northern expedition almost once every one or two years.

The consumption of males is too great.

War is about logistics. If the war lasts for a short period of time, the military households can barely support it. But if the war lasts for a long time, only the court can provide it.

The Ming Dynasty always sent out troops of hundreds of thousands each time. Such a large army must have very high logistical requirements and would certainly consume a huge amount of food and supplies.

Xia Zhibai just felt a chill in his heart.

A sentence suddenly occurred to him.

Billions of subjects of the empire were born under the shadow of the shattered hive cities, toiled day and night in the dirt and mud, and eventually died on the roadside, living like weeds and dying like ants. No one mourned and no one remembered them, but they were blessed because they dedicated their lives to the sacred Golden Throne. There is no greater reward in the world than this.

This is what Zhu Yuanzhang is currently doing, for his own great achievements.

Not hesitating to squeeze the world dry.

"Wealth and honor do not fall on common people, and the battlefield is filled with common people's souls." Xia Zhibai couldn't help but whisper.

Guo Huan was also a victim of the emperor's great achievements.

Zhu Yuanzhang is old.

He didn't know how much time he had left.

Especially since he had a serious illness last year, he was even more eager to achieve success. He was eager to complete the "expulsion of the Tartars" as early as possible and completely eliminate the threat from the north to the Ming Dynasty. In this anxious mood, he began to rely on power and high pressure to force officials to raise food and fodder for the Northern Expedition.

However, Guo Huan and others were reluctant to raise food and fodder for the Northern Expedition.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang unhappy.

That’s why this audit was launched.

What led to their death was that they disagreed with Zhu Yuanzhang.

The emperor's great achievements cannot be questioned by his subjects.

The ministers can only execute.

Didn’t Zhu Yuanzhang know that officials like Guo Huan were corrupt?
I know for sure.

It was even because he knew that Guo Huan and others were not honest that he asked them to be responsible for raising military pay.

Because the Ministry of Revenue's methods of raising military pay were not clean, and Zhu Yuanzhang could not possibly admit these things, let alone really acknowledge these "borrowed grains", so someone was needed to take on the people's grievances, and that person was officials such as Guo Huan.

Let’s go all out and kill them all.

Death has no evidence.

Xia Zhibai came back to his senses.

After he sorted these out, he couldn't help but take a breath.

Old Zhu was really cruel and vicious.

He also finally understood the outcome of the Guo Huan case as described in the Ming History Criminal Law: the case implicated many provincial officials, tens of thousands of people were killed, the stolen goods were spread all over the country, and most of the people's homes were ruined.

in short.

Zhu Yuanzhang robbed the world this time.

By punishing Guo Huan's accomplices who sold the stolen goods, Zhu Yuanzhang plundered all the wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty.

The means were extremely cruel.

No wonder, this later aroused public outrage, and in order to quell public resentment, the officials handling the case were killed.

But all the money that was forcibly collected went into the national treasury.

The matter is a foregone conclusion.

There will be no more possibility of change.

Zhu Yuanzhang's subsequent military expenses for the Northern Expedition depended on this extortion of the people's money.

Xia Zhibai finally understood why Zhu Yuanzhang was so generous to give him 50,000 silver coins, because Zhu Yuanzhang had already set up a scheme that would make him a huge profit. He took advantage of human nature and the greed and selfishness of officials such as Guo Huan.

And officials such as Guo Huan were indeed tricked.

I was also completely trapped.

They couldn't even argue.

Because they really took money from it, but the well-off people at the bottom of society suffered real and unprovoked disasters.

But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care.

What he cared about was to destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Xia Zhibai frowned.

Although he got a glimpse of the whole picture.

But there is no way to change it, the heart is strong but the rest is not enough.

The only thing he can do is to find opportunities and make some changes to the world.

So as not to let the world fall into complete stagnation.

Especially industry and commerce.

Because if the Guo Huan case really broke out, with Zhu Yuanzhang's ruthless means, he would definitely cut off the people's money and grain.

Private industry and commerce would be completely destroyed, and the economy of the entire Ming Dynasty would regress to a small peasant economy, although this was also one of Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions.

But this is not what Xia Zhibai wants to see.

The world may progress slowly, but it can never regress.

Xia Zhibai turned his head, glanced at Guo Huan, whose face looked as pale as death, and sighed inwardly.

Guo Huan couldn't blame anyone else.

If anyone is to blame, it's only my own dirty hands.

But what does it matter if you have clean hands and feet? In this dire situation, there is no escape at all.

If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die.

Zhu Yuanzhang was now determined to put all the blame on Guo Huan and the others for this incident. They could not break free at all and did not even have a chance to speak.

a long time.

Guo Huan finally recovered his breath.

His face was still pale, and his lips were still a little blue.

He looked at Xia Zhibai and said softly, "When I came to Yingtian Prefecture, I was accompanied by only Zheng Ao, whose clothes were all tattered. I was just like you, full of fighting spirit, thinking that as long as I worked hard for His Majesty and the Ming Dynasty, my life would be enough."

"But when I walked step by step to the court and stood in front of His Majesty, I realized it for the first time."

"There are only two kinds of people standing before your Majesty."

"For your Majesty, against your Majesty." "There is no other choice."

"Your Majesty will not give you a third choice."

"It was also at this time that I faced the same choice for the first time, and countless times afterwards."

"Principles or interests?"

Guo Huan sat on the chair, looking at Xia Zhibai weakly, and said weakly: "I hesitated and was afraid, but in the end..."

“I chose the latter.”

"I don't want to go on like this. I'm already over 50 years old. In my life, I've seen the Yuan people wreak havoc, I've seen war and chaos, I've suffered too much, I've been through too much hardship, I don't want to go on like this. This is not the life I want, nor is it all I should pursue."

“I want to be like everyone else.”

"Principles? How much are they worth in the face of interests?"

"Now, if the king wants his subject to die, how can I, Guo Huan, not die?"

As he spoke, a hint of cruelty flashed in Guo Huan's eyes. He grasped the handle of the chair tightly and said in a cold voice: "But I also want to see if His Majesty is really so cruel that he can kill all the officials of the six ministries. It is not a pity for me, Guo Huan, to die. I admit it. I, Guo Huan, have read many books of sages and know the importance of loyalty to the emperor. I will not resist and I will tell you everything I know."

"I want to see if your majesty can do that."

"Can you kill so many heads of the six tribes, and can you kill so many people that the imperial court is empty?"

Guo Huan's eyes were bloodshot and his face was ferocious. He looked at Xia Zhibai with a complicated look in his eyes: "Boy."

"You are very smart."

"He also knows how to advance and retreat in a timely manner."

"But you think the court is too simple."

"Do you really think that if you bring those so-called 'workers and peasants' to the forefront, the world will change?"

“People are all the same.”

"It won't be any different."

"Our Majesty and His Highness will not allow such a big change in the world."

"People are selfish."

"This is especially true of our emperor."

"hehe."

"But I'll help you."

"Since Your Majesty wants to raise military funds and wants to use my head to quell the people's grievances, I, as a subject, have no choice but to obey. However, I will drag in all the rich families and merchants in the world, and let Your Majesty help you clean them up at once, so that everyone in the world will be terrified, as if a god is visiting their court, and dare not act recklessly!"

"Let them be afraid of serving as officials under your majesty, and let your majesty know how ugly the officials below are."

"But don't get your hopes up."

"The emperor's mind is hard to predict."

"Even if the civil officials are afraid, there are still military officials. Military officials are more hateful than civil officials, and their methods are more cruel."

"After several northern expeditions, the military generals will become more arrogant and domineering, and will look down on everyone. Many of these generals come from the lower classes. The scholars look down on them, at most with disdain, but the military men look down on them, but they will really fight. These people actually hate people from the lower classes climbing up to the top more than the scholars do."

"I have only one request from you."

"If you really come to power in the future, please pack up my family's clothes and send them back to Dongping, Yanzhou, Shandong."

"There is no need to erect a monument."

"A filthy person has no face to face his elders."

Guo Huan sighed, a hint of loneliness flashed in his eyes.

Fallen leaves return to their roots.

This is the long-cherished wish of many people.

He had also fantasized about such a day.

But he couldn't do it anymore.

Xia Zhibai looked at Guo Huan deeply, sighed and said, "Okay, I promise you."

"Thank you." Guo Huan smiled and said, "Thank you Mr. Xia for helping me solve my doubts today."

"I have been submissive for half my life, always walking on thin ice. Now that I am dying, I can finally have a moment of peace. It's a pity that I can't go to see the splendor of your salt shop tomorrow. It's a pity."

"That's good."

"The people have their own excitement, and the court has its own excitement."

“Each has its own merits and each is different.”

Xia Zhibai returned the greeting solemnly.

Guo Huan carried him on his back and walked out of the house. His expression had returned to normal. He said calmly, "Top Scholar, what do you think it will be like to rule the world in the future?"

Xia Zhibai shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"I can't guess."

"It's probably beautiful."

"Beautiful? Maybe." Guo Huan looked at the moonlight, his mood was very calm, and he smiled and said, "I've accepted the salt. It's getting late, Xia Zhuangyuan, you should go back and rest as soon as possible. You have to rest more in the next few days, otherwise, when something happens to me, Guo Huan, you might be so shocked that you can't sleep."

"This world is full of snakes and rats."

Xia Zhibai wanted to say something but stopped himself. He bowed to Guo Huan, turned around and left.

Guo Huan is neither that good nor that bad.

He was just in a bad place at a bad time.

But he had no choice.

Xia Zhibai didn't feel any guilt.

Just like he said at the beginning, none of this has anything to do with him.

He was just passing by.

Perhaps the only change was that it shattered Guo Huan's luck and put the bloody reality before him.

Guo Huan just stood there quietly.

He gave up struggling.

It was futile to struggle.

When Your Majesty began to demand military pay, their life and death were already decided by Your Majesty.

Even if you don't make any profit from it, working hard will still be of no use.

The amount of military pay Your Majesty requires is too large to be collected at all, and you can only rely on intimidation and extortion. But Your Majesty loves the people, so how could he do such an improper thing to the people?

Then the Ministry of Revenue can only make its own decision.

As the third in command of the Ministry of Revenue, how could he escape responsibility?

Compared with the emperor's great achievements, the life and death of his subjects is not worth mentioning at all.

This is the honor of a subject.

Guo Huan turned around and walked towards the lobby, but he thought of another thing in his mind, which was a sentence Xia Zhibai had said.

Your Majesty today regards all officials as farmhands and all the people as domestic slaves.

He didn't agree with it at first, but now he feels that it makes a lot of sense. He is indeed like the farmhand, just a farmhand with dirty hands and feet, and therefore destined to be beaten to death.

But if this is the case for civil servants, what about military officers?
"When the birds are gone, a good bow is hidden; when a cunning rabbit dies, the lackeys are cooked."

"Haha."

Guo Huan's sad voice echoed in the courtyard.

For a long time.

(End of this chapter)