Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 229 I will take the blame! (Three updates tomorrow)
Outside Tian Mansion.

A figure was stretched out by the moonlight.

Tian Jing stood in the mansion and watched Xia Zhibai walk away.

When Xia Zhibai was no longer in sight, he came back to his senses. He looked at the butler who was waiting respectfully outside the house and said softly, "Butler, do you think I am doing this right or wrong?"

The housekeeper looked confused, but still smiled and said, "The parents have their own thoughts, and I dare not make any rash assumptions."

Tian Jing looked at the housekeeper deeply for a few times, nodded, and said to himself: "I have been cautious all my life. Although I am a little impatient, I never want to argue with others. I just want to protect myself and mix in the officialdom. It's a pity that in the end, I still can't avoid being a butcher."

"Xia Zhibai wants me to be his sword!"

The housekeeper was stunned.

His face showed a strange expression, and he asked in confusion: "Master, Xia Zhibai is only a fifth-rank official. How can he be a knife for you? Besides, isn't he a friend of the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief? And he also has a good relationship with other officials of the Salt Transport Bureau. How can he become Xia Zhibai's knife?"

"The little one doesn't understand."

The butler shook his head blankly.

He simply couldn't understand why this was happening.

Tian Jing sighed, stood with his back to the ground, letting the hot wind blow on his face, and murmured, "Is this really a friendship?"

"I'm just being used as a pawn by these people."

"My position came quickly, and it will go just as quickly."

"If I was just trying to survive, I wouldn't be willing to be manipulated like this, but in the end, nothing has changed."

"Go get me some hot water."

"I am going to rest."

The housekeeper nodded quickly and ran to prepare hot water.

On the streets.

Xia Zhibai, Chunzhi and Lu Cang were on their way home.

He was in a relatively good mood, because the salt administration in the south had been stumbling for so long, and after so long, he finally convinced Tian Jing. Tian Jing was a very thoughtful person, but in today's powerful society, his thoughts were destined to be pale.

People are knives and servants, and I am fish and meat.

Tian Jing couldn't get rid of it at all along the way.

In a sense, he helped Tian Jing, at least gave Tian Jing a way to survive. As for whether Tian Jing can survive in the end, it depends on his own performance, but for now, Tian Jing should live longer than normal.

Xia Zhibai looked up and gazed at the bright starry sky.

“Although I don’t know what the final result will be, at least my voice has been heard.”

He shook his head and walked towards the salt shop.

The next day, it was just dawn.

All the officials have arrived in the Fengtian Hall, and the emperor and his ministers have been discussing state affairs for a while.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne and responded to the reports from the officials one by one. He was also preparing to adjourn the court. At this moment, Tian Jing took the initiative to stand up.

Tian Jing said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

As soon as he said this, everyone in the palace was shocked.

Wei Heng and other officials of the Salt Transport Department looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering why Tian Jing had come forward on his own. They had clearly agreed before that they would jointly submit a petition to report some matters to His Majesty, in order to take some credit for themselves. But by coming forward, wasn't Tian Jing seeking credit for himself?
For a while.

Wei Heng and Qi Quan looked a little cold.

Li Shanchang, Mei Sizu and others looked at each other with a slight smile on their lips. They glanced at the emperor above them imperceptibly, then quickly retracted their gaze, pretending to be unaware of why Tian Jing suddenly appeared.

Tang He's face looked slightly grim.

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled, looked at Tian Jing with indifferent eyes, and said in a cold voice: "Oh, it's Tian Jing, what do you want to tell me? Why didn't I see the memorial you submitted to me before?"

Tian Jing bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, I don't want to speak at this time, but the situation in the south is urgent, so I have to speak."

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes slightly, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

"What happened in the south?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked surprised.

Tian Jing said: "Your Majesty, due to the emergence of steam engines, the salt administration in the south has been in a state of chaos, and the various provincial governments in the south have been unable to cope with it, which has caused some unrest in several provincial governments in the south, and the situation is still getting worse."

"A few days ago, officials including me from the Salt Transport Department received a letter from the south, and we were terrified."

"I and the Wei Salt Transport Commissioner originally wanted to report what happened in the south to Your Majesty immediately. However, as officials of the Salt Transport Bureau, I have an inextricable relationship with the unrest in the south. Therefore, I and other officials of the Salt Transport Bureau have been thinking about solutions in the past few days."

"Now I have thought of it."

"This time I want to report this to Your Majesty."

The whole hall was silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned cold, and he said in a cold voice: "Such a terrible thing happened in the south, why didn't you tell me earlier? If something really happened in the south, I would have to twist off your heads one by one. Tell me."

"Tell me everything you know!"

Tian Jing's face turned pale.

He took a deep breath, glanced at the front row, and then said, "Your Highness, a year and a half ago, I was impressed by the advancement of the steam engine, so I took the initiative to send the steam engine blueprints to the south, hoping to facilitate the developed salt market in the south, and the effect was indeed achieved."

"But we have also overlooked one thing."

"It is the livelihood of the kitchen household."

"The Ming Dynasty implemented the stove household system in its salt administration."

"There are hundreds of thousands of salt-making households in the world, most of which are in the south. Steam engines are very efficient in producing salt and require very little manpower. Some merchants and landlords in the south, driven by profit, have built salt factories all over the south. In just one year, there were one or two hundred more salt factories in the south."

"This has also led to the salt-making households, who used to make a living, suddenly losing their livelihoods. Now it's less than two months before winter, and without surplus food, it's difficult for the salt-making households to survive."

"So the desperate cooks had no choice but to attack the salt factories in various places, trying to destroy the steam engines and restore the salt administration in the south to its previous state. Moreover, after a month of fermentation, the situation has become increasingly serious and the situation is becoming more and more critical. I am terrified."

"I know very well that it was our lack of consideration that led to the great trouble today."

"So I haven't had a good night's sleep in the past few days. I have been thinking about how to quell this dispute. Last night, I finally figured out a plan to deal with it. Now that the world has just emerged from war, the population has declined severely, so it is imperative to release some manpower."

"So in my opinion, the steam engine cannot be abolished and should continue to be maintained."

"But we need to make other arrangements for the kitchen residents!"

Hear the words.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked slightly strange.

Even Zhu Biao, who was standing by, had a strange look on his face. He and His Majesty had actually heard about the Southern Kitchen Stove incident a long time ago, but His Majesty had been suppressing it and had not made it public.

Because he hadn't figured out how to deal with it, on the one hand, the emperor was very angry, but as Tian Jing said, people's livelihood and stability are the most important, and the overall situation is the most important. On the other hand, the emperor was deliberately waiting to see what kind of trouble the South could make. When Tian Jing stepped forward, he thought that Tian Jing was here to test his father.

Never thought about it.

Tian Jing really wanted to make a suggestion.

Compared with the strangeness of Zhu Yuanzhang and his son, Li Shanchang and others looked at each other in confusion.

They looked at Tian Jing suspiciously, with unspeakable meanings in their eyes, but Tian Jing's eyes were as bright as torches, and he didn't show any false expression at all. He always looked like he was concerned about the country and the people, and was ready to help His Majesty solve problems.

Wei Heng's face turned slightly cold.

He glared at Tian Jing with a bad look.

He should have been the one to take the spotlight, but now Tian Jing has taken the lead.

Zhu Yuanzhang calmly glanced at all the officials in the hall, taking in their expressions, and sneered, "Then I'd like to hear what solution you have come up with."

"Go ahead."

Tian Jing nodded and said, "In my opinion, the source of the chaos in the south is the chaos in the salt administration. Under the strong influence of the steam engine, the salt farmers who originally made a living by making salt have gradually lost their means of livelihood, and will become more and more embarrassed in the future. A major factor that restricts their livelihood is the household registration system."

"I dare to suggest that the household registration system of stoves be abolished."

"All the cooks in the world were classified under the general category of 'workers and farmers'."

"Let the stove farmers freely choose whether to farm or continue to work, and the imperial court can get rid of the burden of supporting hundreds of thousands of stove farmers, which will greatly reduce the financial burden of the Ming Dynasty."

As soon as these words were spoken, voices of opposition arose from all sides.

"Your Majesty, you can't do that." Minister of Works Xu Ben stood up and said in a cold voice, "Deputy Tian Yun is wrong. Just because the stove households are causing chaos, can we change the household registration of the stove households at will? Isn't this treating the household registration of the Ming Dynasty as a joke? Can we change it whenever we want? If other people are dissatisfied with their household registration in the future, can they make a fuss and the government have to change it?"

"Then the world would be in chaos!"

“Household registration cannot be changed.”

"Most of the land in the south is already owned by someone else. There is no extra land to supply these stove households. We have no choice but to let them cultivate it themselves. The autumn harvest has already passed. Even if they change their household registration, it will be difficult for them to store food for the winter. Now that they are registered as stove households, the court may be able to help them a little."

"What you said was very irresponsible."

"You are treating the lives of hundreds of thousands of people as a joke."

Li Shanchang also said: "It is not advisable to change the household registration."

“Abolishing the household registration system is even more undesirable.”

"When problems arose in your Salt Transport Bureau, instead of thinking about solving them and taking the initiative to take responsibility, you only wanted to abandon these households and pass the problems on to others. Isn't this too irresponsible? And abolishing the household registration system is ridiculous."

"I also disagree."

Tian Jing had a stern look on his face and felt a lot of pressure.

He took a deep breath and continued, "I haven't finished speaking yet."

“Abolition of household registration is a must.”

"Because the stove-household system has become an obstacle for all parties."

"The court doesn't need so many people to make salt, but it has to support so many people. Isn't this a waste of the court's money and grain? Moreover, many salt factories in the south use the banner of the court to recruit salt farmers, but in the end they don't pay for it themselves and rely on local governments to support them."

"Isn't this absurd?"

"And why is it so difficult for stove-keepers to make a living?"

"It is because of the strict household registration system in the Ming Dynasty that salt producers can only make salt. They cannot engage in other industries. At most, they can do some temporary work. But can such temporary work really support a family? Moreover, with the continuous promotion of steam engines, the number of people employed in salt factories will only decrease."

"What should we do with the hundreds of thousands of additional households?"

"Or is it raised by the imperial court?"

"To correct a wrong is to go too far."

"Otherwise, won't the imperial court always be dragged down by the 'stove households'? Rather than being confused by them, why not just do it in one go and abolish the stove household registration directly? If you gentlemen are unwilling to bear this infamy, then I, Tian Jing, will take it on."

"I'm not afraid!"

"As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, I eat the emperor's salary, serve the emperor loyally, and worry about the emperor. What do I have to fear?!"

Tian Jing glanced coldly at everyone in the hall.

Mei Sizu sneered: "You come to bear it, can you bear it?"

"How can you be responsible for the food supply of hundreds of thousands of people? And do these cooks in the south want to change their household registration? Have you asked them? Their ancestors have made a living by making salt for generations. With just a few words, you have wiped out their ancestors' craftsmanship. You are a traitor."

"Moreover."

"What if it's changed?"

“Can these hundreds of thousands of people be arranged?”

"In the end, it will still be up to the court to solve it. Since it is up to the court to solve it, what difference does it make whether the household registration is changed or not? At least it can make people feel at ease for now. Otherwise, if these hundreds of thousands of people flock to the farmland and work, won't it cause greater unrest?"

"Sir Tian, ​​as an official in the court, you cannot be so one-sided. You must consider the overall situation!"

Tian Jing snorted coldly and said calmly: "Since this humble official dares to make such a boast, he naturally wants to completely resolve the riots in the south. What the ministers said is right. Just changing the household registration will not solve any substantive problems. The riots will still happen. The biggest problem of the court at present is that it cannot provide proper resettlement."

"But to be precise, the South can't give it."

"What are you talking about?" Mei Sizu frowned, with a hint of hostility in his eyes.

Tian Jing bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "I request your permission to move all the stove owners who participated in the riot to the north to replenish the northern population. After these stove owners are completely moved away, they will naturally not affect the south in the slightest."

"The North can devour these people."

"Whether it's dividing the land or going to the salt factories that have just been built, we can make a good transition. The court may have to worry about this for a while, but as long as we wait until spring and the crops are planted, all the problems will be solved one by one."

"The court got rid of the burden of hundreds of thousands of stove owners, greatly enriched the population of the north, and completely solved the stove owner rebellion in the south."

"It's a one-time thing, three-in-one solution, why not do it?"

"I believe that the provincial governors in various parts of the north, as well as the salt factory established by Xia Daxueshi, can absorb all these people."

Hearing Tian Jing's suggestion, everyone in the hall was stunned.

All were so shocked that they were speechless.

They just didn't like the method proposed by Tian Jing, but Tian Jing was even more ruthless and directly cut off the source of the problem. Since it was a riot by the stove owners, then all the power of the court would be used to get rid of these stove owners. Now that they were gone, it was naturally impossible for them to cause unrest again.

But is this what Mei Sizu and others want to see?

They don't want to be good people.

(End of this chapter)