Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 116: The people want a wise ruler, so let’s give them a wise ruler! (Second update)
There was silence for a long time.

The huge Wenhua Pavilion is as quiet as a secluded pavilion at this moment.

The eunuchs who served around him, such as Pu Gou'er, had already fled from the palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were bloodshot and red with anger. He stared at Xia Zhibai with his red eyes, as if he wanted to eat Xia Zhibai alive.

Zhu Biao's face turned pale. He felt that the situation was not good and cold sweat ran down his forehead.

He understood what Xia Zhibai was saying.

I also understand why Xia Zhibai said that he is "not like his father".

Because he has always been Zhu Biao.

Not Zhu Yuanzhang.

No matter how submissive and obedient he is, he is still Zhu Biao. He can never become Zhu Yuanzhang, let alone the 'strong emperor' in his father's mind.

Xia Zhibai stood tall and had no more words to say.

He actually didn't want to say so much, but Zhu Yuanzhang's repeated arrogance made him lose control.

He has no regrets.

Zhu Yuanzhang's governance of the world has always been contradictory.

In terms of national financial management, Zhu Yuanzhang always advocated the doctrine of "the mean".

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that to govern the world, one must not only "not exhaust people's wealth, so that they have surplus wealth; not exhaust people's strength, so that they have surplus strength", but also pay attention to "not exhaust people's feelings, so that they can adapt to their feelings". If "what you ask for must be obtained, and what you prohibit must be carried out", then "people will not be able to bear it, so what you ask for will not be obtained, and what you prohibit will not be enforced, and the feelings of the superiors and subordinates will be at odds."

In terms of social wealth, it has been said more than once that wealth should be stored among the people and within the world.

But all this is just lip service.

It didn't really happen.

Zhu Yuanzhang rose from the bottom of society and understood the psychology of the common people too well. It was with these lip service that he earned the reputation of low taxes, while secretly carrying out harsh exploitation in reality. When he was unable to conform to the people's sentiments and faced with the overwhelming public dissatisfaction, Zhu Yuanzhang's solution was also very straightforward.

It means murder.

Kill corrupt officials and crack down on the rich.

Relying on killing countless people to quell the resentment of the lower classes.

He also took the opportunity to explain to the people of the world that it was not the court that was extremely greedy, but the officials who were too "accumulative".

As the edict issued by Zhu Yuanzhang in the 13th year of Hongwu said: The treacherous ministers have accumulated wealth and have caused great harm to the people. They have taxed every little thing in the world, and he is very ashamed of it, so he orders them to be punished.

After killing people, Zhu Yuanzhang would indeed restrain himself, but once public opinion had settled down a little, he would make a comeback.

Zhu Yuanzhang understood the people's psychology too well.

Because the people have no other options, the only thing they can pray for is the emergence of a "wise ruler" in the world.

The people have no choice but to comfort themselves by pinning their hopes on a wise ruler to put order into the local chaos. They believe that it must be the treacherous ministers who are misleading the emperor, which is why they have such a hard time. As long as Your Majesty clears out these treacherous ministers and corrupt officials, the world will be peaceful and life will get better.

If even the monarch is a tyrant, then life would be impossible.

The people want a wise ruler.

Then the Emperor of the Zhu family will be the wise ruler.

On the one hand, it was to quell public grievances, and on the other hand, it was to win the hearts of the people for the Zhu emperor and further consolidate his own position and authority.

Zhu Yuanzhang planned everything in the world.

He also believed that the country would be forever secure.

But Zhu Yuanzhang always missed one point.

It is also the most critical point.

His system was based on Zhu Yuanzhang himself from beginning to end.

Therefore, this set of policies can be implemented for a long time only when it is in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang.

As long as future monarchs do not have the same high prestige as Zhu Yuanzhang, and do not have such strong skills, it means that this system will become unworkable in the future.

Xia Zhibai raised his head, his eyes full of sighs.

Zhu Yuanzhang was too idealistic and thought too simply about the world.

The supporting systems that he is now proud of, such as official fields, corvée labor, household registration system, Kaizhong method, and taxation in kind, will collapse in an instant if subsequent emperors are unable to maintain such high-intensity power. With the collapse of these systems, Zhu Yuanzhang's so-called low taxes will completely become the straw that breaks the camel's back for the Ming central court's finances.

Xia Zhibai said faintly: "Fake is fake after all."

"It won't work."

“It’s impossible to sustain this for long.”

“And this system needs to remain strong at all times.”

"That's why you are dissatisfied with the crown prince, because the crown prince is not ruthless enough, he has not killed enough people, he can't kill enough people to calm the people, and he can't kill enough people to stop the officials from having dissent. But all of this is based on your own self, your majesty. The system you created was established by your majesty according to your standards."

"The prince has already obeyed your wishes."

"It is still like this."

"What's more, he is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Your Majesty, you yourself do not believe that any of the descendants of the Zhu family can surpass you, but the system you created requires them to do what you have done. Your Majesty, don't you think that all this is very contradictory?"

"Of course, Your Majesty also realized this later, and began to frantically patch up the problems for future generations." "Everything that could threaten the imperial power and hinder the emperor from monopolizing power was cut and chopped off, and you are even preparing to write some rules to strictly constrain future emperors so that they can only do things according to your plan."

Xia Zhibai shook his head contemptuously.

"Ugh."

"But your experience, Your Majesty, is incomparable to that of others?"

"When your majesty was young, you worked as a farmer, swept the floor, and carried water. You also worked as a warrior and a governor. Your majesty has the ability and energy to personally handle the chores."

"I just took a quick look. There are at least hundreds of memorials on the desks of His Majesty and His Highness. According to the reporting situation of memorials in the Ming Dynasty, basically one memorial will list three to five political affairs. And His Majesty said in person last year that he has to deal with thousands of political affairs every day."

"Thousands?"

"Your Majesty, do you know about all these political affairs? For an emperor who grew up in the deep palace, what terrifying numbers are these?"

"Especially for the emperors of later generations, who have to face and deal with thousands of memorials every day when they open their eyes. How many people can persevere?"

"And your Majesty, you didn't stick to many of the systems you created."

"As far as I know, your Majesty's spring ploughing has been done by ministers for several years."

"Your Majesty has stipulated that you should often go to Fengtian Gate, stand on the high platform, meet the people, listen to their voices, and understand their sentiments, so as not to be deceived by treacherous officials. However, Your Majesty has not attended this "regular court" stipulated by yourself for nearly six or seven years."

"And then there is the matter of dealing with memorials."

"Your Majesty is still very diligent, but more often, the Crown Prince will be asked to take on more responsibilities, or the scholars of the Hanlin Academy will be asked to recite on the sidelines, waiting for Your Majesty's review. Even with Your Majesty's vigorous energy, he can't handle it, let alone the emperors in the deep palace of future generations?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked annoyed.

But he really couldn't refute it.

That's the rule.

Memorials must be processed promptly every day. If they are not processed in time, they will pile up, but the volume of memorials will not decrease tomorrow, and if the memorials are not read, there will be problems during the court session. The court session will be blocked. You can't just let the civil and military officials stand there, nor can you leave the ministers speechless and the emperor have no words to say.

Especially in the Ming Dynasty, there were three dynasties in one day.

Even an iron man like him can't bear it, let alone his descendants?
Zhu Biao deeply agreed with this.

He also felt too tired.

There are endless memorials to be dealt with every day, and as the crown prince, he has to share his father's worries and solve his problems. This means that most of the time, a large number of memorials fall into his hands and he needs to deal with them in a timely manner. He is only thirty years old now, and he already feels very tired.

But I am a son and the heir of a country.

He has no right to complain about being tired or suffering.

Xia Zhibai continued, "Your Majesty has already shown a certain degree of decadence and fatigue in handling memorials that he is responsible for, let alone those systems of governance that must rely on high pressure and power to maintain their existence in the world?"

"Everything about your majesty is too idealistic."

“It’s irrational in itself.”

“It’s even contradictory.”

"It's just that your majesty's brilliance is too great, and your control over the world is too strong, which is why these undercurrents of crisis are covered up. But the emperors of later generations, even the current crown prince, cannot do what your majesty does. They are not strong enough."

"Even if Your Majesty has planned everything for future emperors."

“They can’t do it.”

"Because your majesty is too harsh on them."

"Your Majesty's revisions to the system of the country are not only based on your own thoughts, but also based on the situation of the Crown Prince. However, as Your Majesty said before, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very excellent and outstanding. Your Majesty is setting the system too high based only on the situation of yourself and the Crown Prince."

"If Your Majesty really wants to improve these systems, you shouldn't set your sights so high."

“And lower your sights.”

"At least we should design the world system from the perspective of the most mediocre princes among your majesty's descendants."

"This is the only way to protect the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty to the greatest extent."

Hear the words.

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Xia Zhibai.

Among all his sons, the dumbest one was King Zhou.

Dumber than a pig.

If the emperor who ascends the throne in later generations is a fool like the King of Zhou, then no matter how good the system is designed for future generations, it will be useless.

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "We don't have such high expectations for the descendants of the Zhu family, and we don't expect them to achieve much. We only ask them to follow our ideas and do what we tell them to do honestly."

"You've said so much, aren't you just trying to say that I'm short-sighted and can't see as far as you can?"

"But how much do you know about the world?"

"You have only heard a few glimpses and learned a little bit, and you are now speaking nonsense in front of me. Do you really think I will listen to your one-sided words? I conquered this world with my own hands. I cherish it more than any of you. Everything I do is for the Ming Dynasty."

“I never felt that I did anything wrong.”

"I only see that under my governance, my Ming Dynasty is moving towards prosperity, and my world is becoming more and more stable. It is us who have enabled the people of the world to settle down, it is us who have given them land to farm and houses to live in, and it is also us who have brought lasting peace to the world."

"We are right."

“And it’s never wrong!”

(End of this chapter)