Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 189 The glory of Po Shi!
Zhu Biao stood up angrily, wiping his sleeves and angrily said: "This is nonsense."

"The situation in the world is ever-changing. How can we see it after walking in Northern Xinjiang for nine months? Moreover, Northern Xinjiang has been away from China for too long and has long been separated from the rest of the world. Using the situation in Northern Xinjiang to deduce the future trend of Ming Dynasty is really putting the cart before the horse."

Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai coldly and said indifferently: "I won't comment without seeing the whole picture."

"Such an obvious truth, don't you really understand?"

"I think you did it on purpose!"

Looking at Zhu Biao's angry expression, Xia Zhibai shook his head calmly.

He said calmly: "The general trend of the world is vast and unstoppable. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. This is the inevitable trend of the world. The Ming Dynasty today was built on the will of heaven, and it will surely perish because of the loss of heaven's will. This is a clear fact of history, and no one can stop it."

"Your Highness's anger is actually the same as Your Majesty's anger."

"You all want the Ming Dynasty to last forever."

"But are there any dynasties that last for ten thousand years?"

"No."

“Since the Qin Dynasty, all dynasties have died before their 300th birthday. No matter how good the system is, no matter how good the world is, it will become riddled with holes and vulnerable under the erosion of time. The Ming Dynasty will be no exception.”

“History will go backwards.”

“But it’s impossible to really go back to square one.”

"Because the emperor in charge will not agree, and the subjects below will not allow it either."

"The more things go backwards, the more the lower classes are exploited, and the more resentful they become."

"Since Chen Sheng and Wu Guang shouted 'Are kings, dukes, generals and ministers of different species?', this land of China was destined to never go back. It is like a wave, with ups and downs, but it will eventually roll forward."

"Because it's the grassroots people who are driving all this."

"In the eyes of the upper class, the lower class people are indeed the most foolish, the most short-sighted, and even the most snobbish, but these people are also the smartest. They know very clearly what they want, and what they want is for their lives to get better."

“Throughout history.”

"Since ancient times, they have been divided into Chinese and barbarians."

"Go to the back and be a slave."

"Then go to Qianshou."

"Step by step, even if Your Highness doesn't want to admit it, you have to admit that the social status of the lower-class people is improving. They are qualified to obtain land, qualified to master skills, and qualified to cause a rage."

"These improvements in social status did not come out of thin air."

"This is the result of countless grassroots people who have sacrificed their lives and shed their blood."

"This is 'Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different races?', 'The fragrance of incense permeates Chang'an, and the whole city is covered with golden armor', 'The inner treasury is burned to ashes, and the streets are trampled with bones of officials', and 'Kill millions of soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sword on the waist is still bloody'!"

Zhu Biao's face changed.

The look he gave Xia Zhibai was filled with anger.

Xia Zhibai looked solemn and serious, and added: "I am indeed blinded by one leaf, but I can add another chapter to your majesty's future."

"The red flag rolls up the serf's halberd, and the black hand holds high the overlord's whip."

"Because of the great ambition to sacrifice, dare to teach the sun and the moon to change into a new sky."

"Xia Zhibai!" Zhu Biao clenched his teeth and almost squeezed out these three words from between his teeth.

Xia Zhibai stood up, his eyes not retreating at all, staring straight at Zhu Biao, and said calmly: "Expelling the Tartars and reconciling the north and the south are indeed the achievements of the Ming Dynasty, but this cannot be the only achievement of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the Ming Dynasty has firmly established its rule over the world, it should understand that the world must start all over again."

"Wear new shoes and walk the old path."

"This old-fashioned way has been experienced too much in the world."

“There is no such thing as a man who lives forever, and there is no such thing as an empire that lasts for thousands of years.”

"Everyone will die!"

"If you pursue the so-called eternal life too much, you are bound to go astray. And do you really think that Your Majesty can always be so strong? Can you always say what you mean? Can you always be so domineering?"

"You remember what I said when I first met His Majesty."

"Your Majesty is old."

"As an emperor who rose from the common people, Your Majesty knows better than anyone what will happen to a person once he gets old. His children will fight for the family property, and the servants below will also have ulterior motives. His words will become less and less effective."

“This is not alarmist.”

"This is a fact."

"Why do you think His Majesty is so eager to train you? He wants to push you to the front and let you control most of the court, just to allow you to have a smooth transition, but His Majesty is too optimistic after all."

"One emperor and one courtier."

"The officials' attitude towards His Majesty is different from their attitude towards His Highness."

"You can't completely replace His Majesty."

"You should know that yourself."

"There is only one Hongwu Emperor in the world, and there will only be one Hongwu Emperor."

“No one else can catch up.”

"Do you really think that as the crown prince, you can exercise most of the emperor's powers, which is equivalent to half an emperor. When you ascend to the throne in the future, you will be able to take over smoothly? The transfer of power always involves a bloody struggle."

"It's the same for the crown prince, no matter how powerful he is."

"Because the ministers you trust are not the same as those your majesty trusts."

"No one wants to lose power." "Your Highness can wait and see. His Majesty will compromise for the successor and for the stability of the world. Of course, he will continue to kill people because His Majesty is worried that you can no longer control the world and wants to remove those thorns for you."

"It's just that Your Majesty has read so many books, but has deliberately ignored one thing."

“The greatest corruption in the world has always been the corruption of power.”

“Corruption is inevitable.”

"The corruption in the Ming Dynasty cannot be solved from the root!"

"The more you suppress it, the more powerful it will be when it finally explodes."

"Your Highness should have read some files on the Guo Huan case and know that corruption in the officialdom is basically a matter of relying on one's position to survive."

"The police officers regarded catching thieves as their 'outside government', the grain collectors regarded grain as their 'outside government', and the army officers regarded the army as their 'outside government'. The assistant officials and above could openly collect some 'fine grain' and 'surplus', and as for the officials, there were even more. "

"There are offerings during festivals and congratulations on birthdays. They come together without any planning. Ordinary gifts are not enough to offer, only rare and precious things from the outside world are enough to impress."

"Does this sound familiar to you, Your Highness?"

Zhu Biao's face darkened.

Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his back and continued, "Your Highness should know all of this. Then I will tell you what you don't know."

"Scholars!"

"The extra income of scholars is more abundant than your Highness thinks."

"To solicit favors for personal gain, to destroy others without profit; to monopolize money and grain, to conceal the officials; to enshrine famous officials and local celebrities, to manage the distribution of vegetarian meals and food in the granary;"

"Invite guests to the village banquet quickly, seek supervisors for sacrifices; be the first to be recommended for school, guide and praise the ceremony; call relatives and clansmen, write letters and present poems;"

"They seized students' teaching positions and extorted tuition fees; they occupied school land and left it uncultivated; they lent money and collected rent, charging excessive interest; they argued over travel expenses during the imperial examinations;"

"He wears clothes and scarves, begs for alms, carries a scale, and works as a broker. He works by the post, dispatches horses, and sends people to work. He is a village official, and he signs a sign to cancel his work. He sits in a shop, and wins money by gambling."

Zhu Biao's expression changed slightly.

He was also shocked by what Xia Zhibai said about the corrupt methods used by scholars.

"Are the scholars of the Ming Dynasty really so cruel and vicious?" Zhu Biao was a little bit unbelievable.

Xia Zhibai sneered, "Your Highness, do you think these people will feel ashamed? Will they feel ashamed of wearing this long gown?"

"I can tell you very clearly, Your Highness."

"will not."

"Why should they feel ashamed when they are so proud of themselves?!"

"People in this world are busy and mediocrity, so reading is not for the sake of busying yourself in vain."

"The purpose has always been 'profit'!"

"No matter how many people your majesty kills, can you kill all these scholars? Can your majesty really do without these scholars? The noble clothes that scholars used to wear have long been stripped away by the gentry below, and only your majesty still treats them like treasures, trying to reason with them and make them change their minds by bleeding them."

“This is the real self-deception.”

"No matter how much trouble your Majesty makes, it is only to help the people below, so that they can be more comfortable with corruption, because they are gentry, they are superior to others, and naturally they should act superior, but what is the price?"

"The price will ultimately fall on your Majesty."

"Your Majesty always feels that this method can make the Ming Dynasty exist longer."

"But too much is as bad as too little."

"Some things are better to be unblocked than blocked."

"Your Majesty is so cruel that he kills many officials in the government, but he does not have the courage to make changes to the existing system."

"The biggest problem for the fall of the Qin and Sui dynasties was that they took too big a step and wanted to completely solve the problems at that time. But if they had really calmed down and worked together for several generations like the Han and Tang dynasties, they might have been able to solve these problems."

"Besides."

“I do advocate a harmonious society.”

"But the current society is very far from a harmonious society."

"And there will certainly be some repetitions in the world, which will further extend the time it takes to achieve the goal."

"This period of time is enough for the Ming Dynasty to exist for hundreds of years or even longer."

"The Ming Dynasty has only existed for 19 years, and yet Your Majesty is already worrying about things that will happen hundreds of years later. This is really ridiculous."

"It's really unfounded worry."

Xia Zhibai shook his head.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the landlord, was too thoughtful.

It's a bit laughable.

Zhu Biao's eyes were uncertain. He looked at Xia Zhibai deeply, and was silent for a long time. He picked up the tea in his hand and took a few big gulps. The tea had become a little cold, and it even made him feel a little chilled after drinking it.

Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai and said in a deep voice, "What kind of destruction do you want?"

Xia Zhibai smiled and said slowly, "We need to get rid of the noble glory of the 'scholars' class in the past, let them show their true colors in front of the people, and then make the world more and more institutionalized and regularized."

"Since the Song Dynasty, the threshold for reading and literacy has been further lowered, but it is not enough. We must continue to break the gentry's control over knowledge!"

"We must break away from the old ideas, customs, habits and culture."

(End of this chapter)