Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 192: Not Giving Up a Step

Whether in the capital or in the local areas, and regardless of official rank, the real pressure began in the second year of Taichang.

The emperor is high above everyone else, and he has a direct sense of the predicament that local officials are facing.

For example, the secret report submitted from Leping, Jiangxi at the end of January.

Meng Xikong said: "The grain transport was going smoothly, and Leping had already exempted taxes and labor service last year. However, since the Spring Festival, the people of Leping have become more corrupt, and the number of lawsuits and disputes has increased several times compared with previous years. The gentry often make excuses and fail to mediate.

[I really don’t know why there are so many strange and difficult cases! Whether the case is true or not, it is really difficult for the elders of the families to mediate if they put themselves in their shoes. There are so many lawsuits at the moment that the clerks are complaining. I will try to present a case…]

Zhu Changluo knew that Meng Xikong had used Changming's future layout, and knew that he was using one group to fight another.

But even though he had initially gained a foothold in the local area, he was still overwhelmed by the endless stream of civil disputes.

Zhu Changluo had also worked at the grassroots level, so he certainly knew that many of the disputes among the people were extremely outrageous.

Nowadays, the villages in the Ming Dynasty do rely mainly on gentry to reconcile, mediate or control daily conflicts.

Now some places have begun to ignore or even stir up emotions, and ordinary people are easily provoked.

Especially who is committing adultery with whom, who suddenly has someone's support, which family suddenly becomes domineering and wants to take advantage of whom... Once new and old grudges break out, many secrets will be exposed, and it's all the fights between the common people.

Who would know about the conflict before it was brought to the county government?

It gradually ferments and is even instigated and provoked, often eventually leading to "major cases" or "murder cases" in the local area.

Zhu Changluo, who was in a good mood because of Kong Shangxian's "response", could not maintain this good mood for too long. The "non-violent non-cooperation" of the local gentry finally broke out during the spring ploughing season due to the failure of the mediation link in the village.

For the first time the old party had a very good excuse.

In March, when flowers are in full bloom and the weather is fine, Zhu Changluo would hold court in front of Xuanzhi Gate on the west side of Huangji Gate during ordinary court meetings according to old custom.

Shen Shixing knelt on the ground and cried bitterly: "My children have suffered, and the elders of the clan have questioned me. I feel so ashamed. I was honored to be the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy and was just about to encourage students all over the world, but I didn't expect to hear the bad news. My family affairs should not bring shame to the emperor, but my family, Yuan Yu's family, and the families of 143 colleagues in the court are all troubled by such family affairs. There are reasons for it."

Zhu Changluo looked at the ninety-odd people kneeling in front of him, and the forty-odd members of the New Party who were standing but had equally heavy expressions.

Yes, even a man of Shen Shixing’s status had his hometown robbed and his clansmen involved in many disputes.

It's impossible for the emperor to send a large army to clear up such a thing, right?
Can this kind of thing be completely eradicated?
It is not something that can be solved by strengthening local criminal law forces. If grassroots governance is not in place, it will not be in place.

There is one person for each job, and in a local area, there are often one or two gentry families, or even several families. After the removal of the gentry, if new forces are not added, the area will inevitably fall into a short-term state of "anarchy".

The gentry have actually been "maintaining stability" in the local area for too long.

They were not supposed to discuss this matter in court today. Shen Shixing came out to make a proposal with a strategy, but soon many people came out crying to support the proposal.

Working for the emperor, his house was robbed. If he didn't handle it properly, it would seem too cold.

"Indeed, there are reasons for this." Zhu Changluo nodded. "As for what happened to your families, I will first send an order to the governors of various provinces to ensure that justice is done to you."

Everyone kowtowed immediately, "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. But Your Majesty, in this village, it is important to be kind to your neighbors. The more you value us, the more our clan will be suspected of bullying others by taking advantage of our power, which is not the way to get along with neighbors."

It was as if they were asking the emperor to stop harming them.

Kong Shangxian felt extremely uncomfortable when he thought about the ridicule and discussions he had heard among the scholars during this period.

He didn't want to attend the court, but the emperor wouldn't allow him to. If he claimed to be ill, he would probably send someone to see him again - after all, the emperor respected him so much that he even copied the Analects for the Kong family.

"What you said shows how corrupt the local gentry has become!" Zhu Changluo said angrily, "I know that many things happened before the decree of investigating the gentry was issued in February. Now that they have heard the decree, do they dare to forget their responsibility to educate the people and act recklessly?"

"Your Majesty is wise. I also think that the examination of the gentry is a good idea. This is a long-term plan. However, this year, the strict implementation of preferential exemptions and land surveys has led to a variety of government orders, which has caused unrest in the local areas. This is indeed the case. I think that this year, the provincial education commissioners and the academic supervisors should still focus on the Imperial College examination..."

Although there was a reward before, it was proposed by Yanshenggong and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Shen Shixing also drafted the agreement, but during the period when the decree was passed to the local areas, everyone knew that it was the emperor's leading opinion. No wonder the Analects was hand-copied.

"The truth... is this the truth?" Zhu Changluo's tone was filled with anger. "Because of impure thoughts and selfish desires, the people in all parts of the Ming Dynasty have suddenly become so corrupt! They didn't raise the banner of rebellion, but they incited the people, sowed discord, and made trouble out of nothing. This is already tantamount to rebellion!"

"I think we should investigate the gentry as soon as possible!" Wang Xijue stood up and said, "I am willing to continue the new policy to relieve the court's financial worries. First, my nephew's engagement was broken off, and then there were disputes between the neighbors and the common people in my clan. As your majesty said, there are reasons for all these! Last year, they threatened us with heavy taxes and labor service, and this year, they threatened us with the harmony of the neighbors. It shows that last year's punishment was not enough! Although it was not a rebellion, it showed that we were disloyal!"

There was a sudden commotion outside Xuanzhi's door.

The old party believes that stability overrides everything, while the new party believes that after the order to examine the gentry arrives, many people will certainly be more cautious, and that this is the right time to use this opportunity to make the final decision and push for strict preferential treatment and exemptions this year.

"At the beginning of the country!" Zhu Changluo stopped the quarrel and began to speak, "Only officials were exempted from privileges! Now, it is extended to candidates and students. You are willing to serve me and the court as officials, how can I sit and watch you being bullied by them? If I don't uphold justice for you, who will be willing to serve as an official, who will dare to serve as an official?"

Shen Shixing looked at him, wondering what he was going to do.

There is really no solution to this problem, although current progress shows that the differentiation between officials and gentry is being successful, and the emperor's words also show that he is prepared to push for this differentiation to intensify.

But in the end, we still have to rely on gentry to educate the people in the village. Can the financial resources of the Ming Dynasty support the establishment of officials of official rank in every village?

"Decree! Since the Imperial College has been re-established, the village head will also be re-established. The rank is from the ninth grade, one person per township, and the county will select and report to the Ministry of Personnel." Zhu Changluo was really planning to add more officials, "Take this opportunity to investigate the gentry as soon as possible! The village head will be responsible for handling household registration and taxation matters assigned by the county government, and will also receive complaints. Mediation is the first priority, and no more complaints can be brought to the county government."

"Your Majesty! An ordinary county often has several townships. This... suddenly there are thousands of ninth-rank officials..." Chen Qi broke out in a cold sweat and quickly stood up to speak.

"The monthly salary of the ninth rank is five dan, even if we add the reward for diligence and honesty, plus the public service, the Ming Dynasty will only have an extra 200,000 or 300,000 dan of expenditure. The ninth rank is exempted from three times the number of candidates and students. I still say that if you can serve as an official, I will naturally give you more preferential treatment. I have treated those stubborn local gentry with preferential treatment, but now so many disputes have arisen just because of the strict preferential treatment. Isn't it an even more stringent assessment of morality?"

Zhu Changluo glanced over and said, "The previous decree clearly stated that this year is still a period of pardon. Since the sentiment among the scholars is so strong, why not make another rule? The cases investigated this year will not be included in the number of local or even national officials who will be demoted or exempted in the future. If the officials and gentry in the world cherish the current exemption rules, it would be better to take this opportunity to eradicate the cancer."

The true old party members looked at Shen Shixing and lowered their heads in disappointment.

The emperor really refused to give in.

Take advantage of this year's window of opportunity to eliminate the cancer... There is one message revealed in his words: officials and gentry all over the world, you don't want the preferential treatment you can enjoy to be reduced, do you?
On the one hand, the emperor has already pointed out that the number of candidates exempted from imperial examinations from the ninth rank is three times that of candidates for the imperial examination and candidates for the undergraduate program. This means that as long as one submits to the imperial court, there will be three more candidates for the imperial examination or candidates for the undergraduate program in one's family, and they will serve as officials in the local area.

On the other hand, the emperor clearly encouraged local governments to directly punish some gentry by examining them and taking advantage of the large number of cases nowadays.

You have to know that the number of cases that trigger each county to be downgraded and exempted is three, only three!
He would rather spend hundreds of thousands of stones of grain more every year than give in.

Of course, the salaries of local officials are paid from local reserves, which really means the wool comes from the sheep. This is likely to encourage local officials to turn their guns against their old friends for their own interests.

"Send an order to the Jinyiwei in Nanjing!" Zhu Changluo said something that made their hearts tremble. "If the hometown of an official in office is involved in a lawsuit, each lieutenant will bring two personal guards to the official's home. A total of three people will follow my order to go to the official's home and take charge. After the case is investigated, they will return immediately."

"Let everyone in the world know that I protect the officials who work for me. I will not take sides in matters of right or wrong, but I will never allow my officials to have their families humiliated because they are doing the job according to my orders! The last batch of students who made trouble out of nothing and humiliated my important officials have been castrated by me!"

"Let everyone in the world know that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were appointed by me, and the gentry of the Ming Dynasty were also awarded honors by me and the court! If local investigations find that there is someone behind the people's disputes, and if the mastermind has honors, the provincial education commissioners will immediately remove their honors and punish them. The people who die in such unprovoked disputes are even more my people!"

Wang Xijue and others could hear the emperor's anger from the edicts he issued. The emperor was not angry because he was unwilling to give in. He was really angry because many people were instigated by local people and were forced into disputes and even died.

And let the Nanjing Jinyiwei bring the Shangzhi personal guards from the capital to the court officials' homes to protect them...

We are not doing this now for surveillance or anything, of course, but well, after all, we said we would return after the case is solved.

Isn't it a favor that the emperor's personal guards are there to guard and support?
But who knows whether the family of the court officials involved in the case was the mastermind?

Of course, the Nanjing Jinyiwei and Nanjing garrison guards are useless and don’t seem to be investigating a case…

Generally speaking, the emperor protects those who are currently serving as officials.

The opposition gentry are under extreme pressure, will they resist?

(End of this chapter)