Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 181 Analysis of various social classes in the world!
While Hua Lun and the other two were chatting, a memorial was delivered to Yingtian Prefecture from hundreds of miles away.

at the same time.

A carriage set out on its return journey.

Fengtian Temple.

It was already sunset.

Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet gone to bed. With four of the six ministers vacant, all relevant political affairs fell on him alone. Even with Zhu Biao's help, Zhu Yuanzhang still had to deal with memorials until late at night every day.

Zhu Yuanzhang yawned, took a sip of strong tea to refresh himself, and continued to review the memorials.

At this time.

The sound of Xisuo's footsteps was heard outside the hall.

Although he did not see who was coming, Zhu Yuanzhang knew it was Zhu Biao from the steady footsteps.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not raise his head and said calmly: "We still have some memorials to deal with today. After we finish dealing with these memorials, we will go to rest. Don't keep urging us."

"We know what's going on."

"I won't tire myself out."

"National affairs cannot be delayed for a moment."

"If I slack off for one day, I will have to deal with a lot more tomorrow. If I keep doing this day after day, I will not be able to finish all the political affairs. Wouldn't my country be in chaos? The officials in the court and the local areas are waiting for me to make arrangements."

Zhu Biao entered the hall.

He bowed respectfully to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Father, I came here tonight not only to persuade you to rest early, but also to report something else."

"Speak!" Zhu Yuanzhang shook his sleeves, his eyes still on the memorial.

"Xia Zhibai sent a memorial."

One word fell.

The whole hall fell silent in an instant.

Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment before continuing to write. He sneered, "Xia Zhibai? What did he say in his memorial? Could it be that he wants us to arrest and kill the officials of the Salt Transport Bureau?"

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Zhu Biao said: "Father's memorial"

"I dare not look."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

He glanced at Zhu Biao and said in a deep voice, "You are the crown prince, what can't you see? Do you really think we don't know what he did in private?"

"My heart is like a mirror."

"In order to complete his plan to unify the northern salt market, he made a lot of promises to the second and third brothers. We already knew about these things. Since the second and third brothers have agreed, what opinions can we have?"

"You must not only look, but also look carefully and attentively."

"Although these brothers of yours appear to be obedient on the surface, they have many evil ideas in their hearts. They have bad intentions one after another, and none of them is easy to deal with. If you want to discipline these brothers in the future, you must understand clearly what they do."

"Only in this way will they be afraid of you."

"Only then will I respect you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang gave some earnest instructions.

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly.

He knew that his father had misunderstood.

I thought that Xia Zhibai's memorial was about his contacts with the princes of the northern border over the past six months, as well as the promises he made privately to his brothers, especially some excessive and out-of-bounds requests. I was worried that I would feel uneasy and anxious because of these things.

My father is trying to ease his own heart.

But my father was wrong.

Zhu Biao lowered his head and looked at the memorial in his hand. He felt that he was a little confused. He said in a deep voice: "Father, you should take a look at it yourself. What Xia Zhibai wrote is not his experience in the Northern Frontier, but his summary of the world's social classes through his travels in the Northern Frontier."

"The name of this memorial is——"

"Analysis and analysis of all social classes in today's world!"

"I didn't lie."

"I really don't dare to read this memorial."

"After just reading the opening chapter, I felt a chill all over my body and dared not read on."

"This memorial was written by Xia Zhibai to the Emperor."

"My son and I are terrified."

Zhu Biao bowed and respectfully raised the thick memorial in his hand forward.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.

He looked at Zhu Biao deeply, with a serious and solemn look in his eyes.

He knew his eldest son's temper and that he did not like lying. The fact that he could make Zhu Biao feel uneasy was enough to prove the importance of the memorial written by Xia Zhibai.

Zhu Yuanzhang put down his pen and glanced at Pu Gouer standing beside him.

Pu Gou'er immediately understood, carefully took the memorial, and respectfully placed it on Zhu Yuanzhang's desk.

Zhu Yuanzhang reached out and opened the memorial.

Just one glance.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel his back tremble.

He closed the memorial and said, "Except Biao'er, everyone else can leave."

Pu Gou'er and other eunuchs serving around him quickly agreed and walked out of the palace quickly, not forgetting to ask the servants around them to leave.

Zhu Yuanzhang placed his palm on the memorial, and looked at Zhu Biao with a pair of oppressive tiger eyes, asking, "Has anyone else seen this memorial?"

Zhu Biao shook his head.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and said, "This Xia Zhibai is really lawless. Does he still want to restore the moral principles of the world? As a minister, he actually thinks for me and guides me here, making me understand that those who are in the right will have many supporters, while those who are in the wrong will have few supporters." Zhu Biao smiled bitterly.

My heart was also not at peace.

He certainly didn't finish reading it, but just the beginning was enough to make one's pupils tremble.

Who is the enemy of Ming Dynasty? Who is the friend of Ming Dynasty? !
This is the beginning!
When I saw this opening.

Zhu Biao knew that this memorial was unusual, so he sent it over immediately.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were uncertain, and there was a strong murderous intent flashing in his eyes. However, after hesitating for a long time, he still opened the memorial.

This memorial is very thick.

In the past, Zhu Yuanzhang would never read such memorials personally.

It will only be recited by scholars from the Hanlin Academy.

But this one.

He had to see it for himself.

You can only come and see it in person.

"Who is the enemy of Ming Dynasty? Who is the friend of Ming Dynasty?"

"This is a problem that the Ming Dynasty must solve to achieve long-term peace and stability, and it is also a problem that the Ming Dynasty must face and deal with."

"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, many major cases have been launched, from the initial empty seal case, the Hu Weiyong case, to the recent Guo Huan case. Each time, thousands of officials were investigated and punished, and the court executed tens of thousands of treacherous officials and flatterers, but the actual results of the struggle were minimal."

"The root cause is that Your Majesty is obsessed with appearances."

"Your Majesty has fallen into the vortex of old-fashioned thinking. He cannot recognize who is the true friend of the Ming Dynasty and who is the true enemy of the Ming Dynasty. He cannot distinguish between good and evil, true and false. He only relies on killing. It is nothing more than old wine in new bottles, deceiving himself and others."

"If you want to identify your true friends and enemies, you must make a general analysis of the various social classes in the world."

"What are the different social classes like in today's world?"

“I couldn’t really explain it before.”

"I don't know either."

"However, after more than nine months of walking thousands of miles in the mountains and rivers of the northern border, and meeting tens of thousands of people, I have gained a certain understanding of the social classes in the world today."

“I also know more and more where the world’s shortcomings lie.”

“Everyone in the world has been deceived!”

"Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans cannot represent the world's classes at all."

"Using the concept of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans to rigidly apply to the governance of the Ming Dynasty will only lead the country astray."

"Get to the root of it."

"The world's view of righteousness and profit has undergone a fundamental change."

"From ancient times to the present, Chinese scholars have always adhered to the principle of 'studying is the most important thing, working is the least important', and they believe that 'agriculture, industry, and commerce' are all studies for the petty people, and are designed for the petty people, and are not practiced by the 'great people'."

"Little do they know that villains are the majority in the world."

“The management of the world should be based on the majority.”

"However, today's knowledge has become seriously out of touch with the national economy and people's livelihood. The ability of the scholars is simply not as good as that of the villains and barbarians they despise."

“Form is greater than meaning, and form is greater than content.”

"Today's scholars, the officials who actually govern, have become seriously out of touch with reality, and their lives are also out of touch with the people. These two 'out of touch' are bound to cause a disconnect between the upper and lower levels of society, and this disconnect has been around for a long time. The previous 'scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans' classes have already disintegrated under this disconnect."

"China was the first to be civilized, and its civilization is as old as the Song Dynasty."

"With the advent of printing technology in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the difficulty of reading and writing was greatly reduced, and there were many scholars."

"But the development of brains is accompanied by the decline of hands-on ability. The development of intellect is also accompanied by the deterioration of emotions and will. In terms of willpower, starting from the Han Dynasty, the literati in the Central Plains have been degenerating step by step. By the Song Dynasty, they were no longer as good as the barbarians."

"After eighty-nine years of Yuan rule, today's scholars can no longer be called scholars."

"All they seek is the form of civilization."

“Not the substance.”

"The result of neglecting the essentials and pursuing trivial matters is bound to be seeking glory and suffering disgrace."

"The aristocratic families of the Qin and Han dynasties, the nobles of the Sui and Tang dynasties, these literati still had the integrity and persistence of mainstream scholars, but in the Yuan Dynasty and the present, the literati are very different from the aristocratic families of the past. They do not have the qualities to be called scholars, but are just a group of landlords in the guise of literati."

"This group of people can only be called 'gentry'!"

"The reason for such a big change in the world is that, firstly, papermaking and printing appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and secondly, the cost of studying in the Song Dynasty dropped, which caused a large number of landlords at the bottom of society to master knowledge. With the tyranny of the Yuan Dynasty, these landlords who mastered knowledge had entered the court in a large number because of the unrest in the world."

"Since the Song Dynasty, the class theory of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans has been on the verge of bankruptcy."

"With the brutal rule of the Yuan Dynasty, it was completely declared over."

"However, the Ming Dynasty still follows the old system and still attempts to govern the world with the old methods. This is doomed to be futile and it is doomed to be difficult to govern the world well."

"Because people's views on righteousness and profit have changed."

"In the past, the main reason for supporting the class theory of 'scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans' was that 'gentlemen are concerned with righteousness, while villains are concerned with profit'. Nowadays, gentlemen do not care about 'righteousness', and only care about 'profit'. Instead, these 'gentlemen' are finding ways to make 'villains' talk about 'righteousness' and stop talking about 'profit'."

"The order of things has been turned upside down."

"To continue to use the class theory of 'scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans' to govern the world is only to continue to indulge these 'gentry' and continue to oppress and exploit the 'villains' at the bottom."

"How can there be peace in a world like this?"

"How can it last long?"

"If we want to truly achieve long-term peace and stability in the world, we must face up to the changes in the world."

"Since the concept of righteousness and interests has changed, we should start anew under the new concept of righteousness and interests and set new principles for the world."

"The current view of righteousness and profit in the world is dominated by 'profit'. So we should continue to uphold the principle of 'profit' and completely break down the old and wrongly confused 'scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans' classes in the world, and directly divide them into the more straightforward bourgeoisie and proletariat based on 'profit'."

"."

(End of this chapter)