Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 370: An iron-clad family, a flowing dynasty!
"Are the people willing?" Li Jinglong was stunned.

He looked at Lu Cang with a smile, and said with a bit of contempt and sneer, "What's the use of the people's willingness? What can they do? Do they really dare to disobey the orders of the court? As for the local people, let alone the court's actions, even a clerk can make them obedient and dare not say a word. You actually want to count on these people?"

Li Jinglong kept shaking his head.

He scoffed at the idea.

He didn't care about the common people at all. They were just a group of rabble. If the court told them to go east, they would never dare to go west.

Lu Cang looked unhappy and said dissatisfiedly: "What do you mean by this tone?"

"What happened to the people?"

“Why can’t the people accomplish anything?”

"Take the recent disturbance by the cooks in the south as an example. Wasn't it the people you looked down upon who started the disturbance? In the end, it became a big fuss and the imperial court had to intervene. But in the end, the imperial court compromised with the people."

"Since the imperial court can compromise with the kitchen owners, it may not be impossible to compromise with other people."

"The principle is the same."

Li Jinglong shook his head again and looked at Lu Cang with a serious face, ready to give Lu Cang a good talk.

He said, "No, you are confusing cause and effect. The court did send Scholar Xia Zhibai to the south, but the root cause was not the stove owners, but to solve the problem of the proliferation of steam engines in the south. Moreover, this was caused by the officials, and the stove owners were just squeezed out by the officials and could not survive."

"Your Majesty is merciful."

"I am willing to give these people a chance to live."

"Otherwise, the cooks who were causing trouble in the south would have scattered like birds and beasts as soon as the imperial army arrived."

Lu Cang disagreed and said, "I don't think so."

"Brother Xia said that people are profit-seeking. As long as there is profit to be made, people will flock to it. The fact that steam-powered salt can make money has entered the public eye since the Jingdu Salt Shop turned a profit in three months. It is bound to be fought over by meat-eaters."

"If it is true as you said, the court should punish the greedy officials instead of the cooks."

"It was precisely because of their greed that they stole the blueprints of the salt shop and built steam engines in the local area, which squeezed the living space of the stove owners and forced unrest in the local area. The court was helpless and did not destroy the steam engines or punish the local officials. It just let them go."

"Isn't it essentially the court compromising with the local government?"

"Apart from the households, the improvement of salt-making technology will benefit the vast majority of the people in the world. They can afford salt, and they can afford better salt than before. Moreover, the price of most salt is lower than before. Why wouldn't the people benefit from it?"

"It's the imperial court."

"Because of the innovation in salt production technology, it is difficult to collect taxes as in the past."

“It’s also difficult to conduct effective supervision of the factories.”

"It's even more difficult to do this than in the past, when a few petty officials could easily come over and order the cooks around. From what I know, these reforms are clearly not good for the court. The court should have tried its best to stop them, but in the end it let them go. This is the public sentiment behind the undercurrent."

"It's just different from what you think, sir."

"In my opinion, or according to Brother Xia's description, officials and merchants are also ordinary people."

"Their desire for profit is also part of the people's will!"

"And driven by the selfishness of officials and merchants, if they can 'convince' more people, then the general trend will be established, and using the people to coerce the court into making concessions will not be a big deal in my opinion, because the court will become a minority instead."

Li Jinglong looked Lu Cang up and down.

He didn't expect that Xia Zhibai's follower had such knowledge and eloquence, and was no less than ordinary children from wealthy families.

And the idea is quite unique. However, in his opinion, these statements are all sophistry.

Officials are officials and the people are the people.

How can the two be confused? How can they be the same?
However, he also agreed with some of Lu Cang's words. The court did make some concessions on the affairs of the south, but it was not because it could not, but because it was unwilling to. Steam-produced salt was obviously beneficial to the world, so the court was naturally happy to go with the flow.

immediately.

He looked at Lu Cang suddenly.

He immediately understood the meaning of Lu Cang's previous words.

He said solemnly: "You mean, if the vast majority of the people in the world agree with something, will the court choose to turn a blind eye in the end?"

"Allowing these things to happen?!"

"Yes." Lu Cang grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"Brother Xia once said this: The general trend of the world is unstoppable. If you follow it, you will prosper, and if you go against it, you will perish."

"Many great men throughout history have believed that they have changed the world by their own power, but little did they know that they were just in the right place at the right time and made the choices that the people wanted."

“These trends are not created by big people.”

"It's the common people!"

"These bigwigs are just following the general trend."

"With the help of Brother Xia, I was fortunate enough to read some books. In history, the Qin Dynasty was a powerful dynasty, but it fell in just a few years."

"There is also the Han Dynasty, which is highly praised by scholars. In addition, there are the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. Especially in the Song Dynasty, the scholars always talk about the prosperous rule of Emperor Renzong and praise the bravery and integrity of those who died bravely."

Lu Cang looked disdainful and said, "To use Brother Xia's words, none of these dynasties are worthy of respect."

"The demise of these dynasties is only natural."

“Because they have lost the support of the people.”

"All the heroic deeds and the heroic deeds of the scholars were done by the scholars. If the court and officials at that time had really cared for the people, how could the people have welcomed Liu Bang so warmly when he entered Guanzhong? If the whole country was united, how could the country have been in ruins?"

"The vast majority of people chose to turn a blind eye, stand aside and watch these dynasties die, or even actively invite wolves into their homes."

"Because 'a cruel government is more ferocious than a tiger'!"

"He keeps the great principles, but loses the great justice. Even so, he is still admired by the world."

Lu Cang shook his head, his eyes full of contempt.

All dynasties have fallen due to the loss of popular support, but the scholars will not admit it and will only find all kinds of reasons and excuses. Otherwise, they will have to face the problem of how to "maintain the people's support", and is this what the scholar-official class wants to see?

Rather than maintaining public support, they would rather continue to test public opinion in order to reap more profits for themselves.

after all
Families are permanent, dynasties are transient.

Being a subject of someone's family doesn't matter.
The pen and the right to speak are in their hands, and they can write in a proud and inspiring manner, showing the spirit of scholars who are worthy of praise. They do not have to do any practical work, but they can preserve the integrity and reputation left by the celebrities, and they can also exchange it for wealth and honor.

Everyone is willing to do this kind of business.

(End of this chapter)