Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 47 Shi Naian died in the third year of Hongwu!

Looking at the tender green rice seedlings in front of him, Zhu Yuanzhang felt mixed emotions, and his eyes were full of complexities when he looked at Xia Zhibai.

As an emperor who had actually been to the fields, he could naturally recognize that what Xia Zhibai handed over were real rice seedlings, not weeds that many officials could not even recognize.

But this rice seedling has such a much higher yield than other rice seedlings?

He couldn't quite believe it.

He just glanced at the heavy potatoes in his left hand, and his heart fell silent.

For a while.

He was a little afraid to answer it.

I just felt that this rice seedling weighed a thousand pounds.

Xia Zhibai said: "Your Majesty, take it, this is what you deserve."

"But I hope that Your Majesty will plant the rice seedlings personally, rather than just going through the motions as in the past, or having the ministers do it for you."

"As the emperor who was closest to the people and understood the people's suffering the most, during his 18 years on the throne, he actually went to the fields only a few times."

"This shouldn't be the case."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Xia Zhibai deeply. For the first time, he felt that he could not see through the young man in front of him.

He did not take it immediately, but asked curiously: "If you are so dissatisfied with me, why did you hand over such a sacred object to me?"

He was really confused.

Xia Zhibai smiled and nodded, then shook his head and said, "I do have many, many dissatisfactions with the current Majesty."

"He treated all officials as domestic slaves, and regarded the national treasury as his private property. He used the will of one man to win the hearts of the people, and allowed his descendants to do evil in the local areas and build large-scale projects, without any real consideration for rest and recuperation of the people."

"Even the subjects, both high and low, were trembling with fear, fearing that they would anger Your Majesty without cause, causing a catastrophe, draining away the people's wealth, causing chaos in the country, and causing the people to suffer."

“But one thing is true.”

“A flawed fighter is still a fighter, and a perfect fly is still just a fly.”

"Your Majesty was an emperor with great achievements in the past."

"At the very least, he is still an emperor."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.

He smiled and reached out to take it.

Xia Zhibai continued, "When the Ming Dynasty was founded, Your Majesty worked hard on government affairs, expelled the barbarians, and brought peace to the country. How fortunate the Han people are."

"It's just that the Ming Dynasty founded by Your Majesty should have been another glorious and prosperous country in the Central Plains after the Han and Tang Dynasties."

"But all this began to change as Your Majesty took the throne. Your Majesty indulged in private infighting, fighting for power and profit, exhausting the desires of the world, but was not enough to bring long-term happiness to his family."

"Since then."

"The world that was supposed to be on the rise suddenly fell sharply."

"The long prosperity of Ming is no longer there."

“The human heart is like water.”

"It's just that water flows downwards, while people's hearts always want to go higher after they've already gone high."

"But your majesty has forgotten."

“Rights are only tools to realize ideals.”

Xia Zhibai sighed softly and paused for a moment, looking at the old man with a hunched back and wrinkled face with a complicated expression.

Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head, with only the tender green rice seedlings in his eyes, and seemed to be deaf to these words.

Xia Zhibai said softly: "Your Majesty was so high-spirited and ambitious back then. Although he was born in poverty, he was still able to firmly say, 'Brothers, let's conquer the world together.'"

"However, after Your Majesty ascended the throne, the sharpness and edge of the past gradually disappeared, and he became proud and complacent, and even a little arrogant."

"I am a commoner from Huaiyou, what can the world do to me?!" "I can never match the high spirits of those days."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have returned to the days of war and iron cavalry, when he was as powerful as a tiger and could swallow a vast expanse of land. His eyes were filled with nostalgia and sighs.

“And now, haha.”

"I'm afraid it has gradually become like this. Don't blame me, old friends."

"Your Majesty, you are old."

Xia Zhibai looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a complicated expression, his heart filled with emotion. No matter how heroic and brave a man is, he can never defeat the passage of time.

"Your Majesty, not only have you grown old, but your heart has also grown old. You have become stubborn, obstinate, unwilling to make progress, afraid of change, and even more afraid to face some bleak truths."

"Your Majesty, you now only wish to live in a world where you are flattered and fawned upon, or even in a world that you have carefully created for yourself."

"But is that true?"

Xia Zhibai shook his head and said, "No."

"Your Majesty says every year that you love the people, but in the eighteen years since the founding of the country, how many times have you actually been to the fields? Even encouraging farmers to do farm work has begun to be done by ministers, and you don't even pretend to be an emperor. You are so different from the emperor you were in the past."

"Your Majesty, you know."

"Today, many people in the world still respect your Majesty for their entire lives and are always infinitely grateful to your Majesty."

"But Your Majesty, do you think you are truly worthy of all this respect and gratitude?"

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing and remained silent.

"A dynasty of ten thousand generations."

"It is something that no emperor can bear, let alone a surname can bear."

"It is the dawn of the world."

"The Ming Dynasty is now in ruins, lifeless and dead."

"Just like the end of the dynasty."

"Xia Zhibai, that's enough!" Zhu Biao looked annoyed and shouted angrily on the spot. As a son, how could he tolerate Xia Zhibai humiliating his father and the Ming Dynasty again and again?

"Let him speak." Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand.

After stopping Zhu Biao's blame, he did not feel angry after hearing Xia Zhibai's words. Instead, he seemed very calm.

Xia Zhibai returned to the ox cart, turned over the area covered by the potato plants, and took out a tightly bound book.

He handed it over to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyes, somewhat confused. What did Xia Zhibai mean by this? Could there be any books in the world that he didn't have?
He lowered his eyebrows and looked over.

Water Margin!
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, looking confused. He had never heard of this book.

Xia Zhibai said: "This is a novel written by a man named Shi Naian when the world was in turmoil."

"Your Majesty, you can take some time to read it. Perhaps you will have a different understanding. In my opinion, the best part of this novel is that rebellion is justified, but the best part of this book is that surrender is the way to win."

"And Mr. Shi Naian's life trajectory overlaps with your majesty's for most of the time."

"He died in the third year of Hongwu."

Hearing Xia Zhibai's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed slightly, and his look was a bit wary and uneasy.

As a political creature, I could hear some meaning from just these three or two sentences.

He came from a rebel family, so he agreed deep down that rebellion was justified, but as an emperor, he hated this statement.

What does surrender mean? Is it mocking yourself for finally giving in?

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were uncertain as he looked at the three words "Water Margin" on the book, revealing a rare look of panic and heaviness.

There is even a strong hint of murderous intent!
He felt uneasy.

(End of this chapter)