Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 230: Choices with conflicting interests! A new trend is emerging!
Mr. Jia's voice roared like thunder.

The whole place was silent.

no respond.

No one followed suit.

There wasn't even a sound of discussion.

Mr. Jia's eyes swept across the faces of the laborers below.

All he saw were dull faces.

Everyone stared at him without blinking.

"Tell me, tell me, am I right?" Jia Xiucai was very excited and seemed to want everyone's approval.

Still no one responded.

Everyone was silent.

Only the glances they cast over silently proved that they were still listening attentively.

He did not close his ears and fall asleep.

Mr. Jia spoke too hard and felt a little tired. He bent down, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured the tea directly into his mouth.

He had just tried his best to maintain the elegant and polite image of a scholar, but now he no longer cared about it.

After drinking the water, put the teapot down.

He grasped the closed fan tightly, waved his arms and said vigorously:

"Giving away the money to the poor is a sin."

“Poor people are supposed to be poor and suffer.”

"The poor come to this world to atone for their sins."

"Tell me, am I right?"

Silence fell.

Still no one answered him.

Mr. Jia was somewhat dissatisfied.

I feel like I've been talking for so long and it feels like I'm just performing a monologue.

These people were as dead as a ghost, not even a word was said.

"Is it right? Tell me!" Jia Xiucai yelled again.

At this time, someone said in a not-so-loud voice: "We are all poor!"

Mr. Jia held his hands high but suddenly froze.

He stood there, motionless.

After a while, he sighed deeply and said, "That's true. You are all poor."

"This is fate, you have to accept it."

"You should do more good deeds and not be dishonest when working. Only in this way can you be reborn as a rich man in your next life."

As he said this, he jumped down from the table.

Thinking that I had been talking to a bunch of poor guys for such a long time, I suddenly felt bored.

These people know nothing about the words of saints.

Just a poor ignorant guy.

At this time, another worker said, "But I don't think I have done anything bad in my life, so why am I still poor?"

"That's because you don't know yourself." Jia Xiucai glared at him and said, "As the saying goes, 'Poverty breeds evil, and wealth breeds conscience.' You should reflect on yourself more."

The man suddenly shouted, "I have never done anything bad in my life. I swear to heaven."

"It's no use swearing." Jia Xiucai said, "You must have done a lot of bad things in your previous life, and you are suffering retribution in this life."

Just as he finished speaking, another laborer asked, "Mr. Jia, didn't the saints say that we should 'respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance'? You keep talking about your past life. Isn't this in line with the saints' teachings?"

"Yup!"

"Yes, yes!"

"Although I haven't read many books, I have heard this sentence."

"What you said doesn't sound like what a Confucian scholar would say."

……

Jia Xiucai was speechless and could only retort: "I am a scholar, but no matter what, I understand the words of the saints better than you rough people."

"In short, poor people should know their own limitations and not listen to the nonsense of bastards like Fang Xiaoru."

As soon as this was said, the laborers began to refute again.

"In my opinion, what Mr. Fang said makes sense."

"That's right. The saints said 'the world is fair'. Are you scholars going to oppose the saints?"

"What do you mean rich people have consciences and poor people don't? You are talking nonsense. Why haven't I seen a few rich masters who have a conscience?"

"There are many kind-hearted people among us poor people."

"That's right!"

"I think there are good consciences among the rich, but there are also good consciences among the poor. Aren't we all the same?"

"I think those rich people are very bad. They would rather watch the poor starve to death than take out a grain of food from their homes."

"I didn't quite understand what Mr. Fang said before. After listening to you, I think what Mr. Fang said was really good."

"The imperial court collects taxes based on the size of the land. The rich have more land, so they have to pay more taxes. This is not wrong. But they all find ways to escape, and the land tax is placed on the powerless poor. This is the real injustice."

“Why do poor people deserve to be poor all their lives?”

……

In fact, laborers do not understand too many principles, let alone the words of saints, but once their own interests are involved, people will spontaneously make choices based on their own interests.

The laborers are all poor people, so of course they would not follow Mr. Jia in scolding the poor.

There is no such thing in the world.

Everyone was talking at once, all pointing the finger at Mr. Jia.

This made Jia Xiucai very angry. He pointed at the group of laborers in front of him and said, "You...you...you...you are deceived by Fang Xiaoru. The saint said that we should be 'content with poverty and enjoy the truth'. You are not willing to be poor and good, which is contrary to the saint's teachings."

"The saints also said that 'the world should be shared by all'. Why doesn't Mr. Jia use all his property to help the poor? Isn't that also against the saints' teachings?" The brave laborer retorted mercilessly.

"Rebellion... rebellion... it's you who are rebelling." Jia Xiucai was furious and shouted, "Just wait, the imperial censors have already reported Fang Xiaoru to the emperor. Just wait for the court to convict him, put him in prison, behead him, and confiscate his property."

"If you still dare to agree with his remarks now, you will be convicted together when the time comes."

Everyone suddenly fell silent.

They are all honest and kind people.

When he heard that he was going to be beheaded, his property confiscated, and he was sent to prison, he was so scared that he dared not say anything more.

Mr. Jia glanced at them coldly and left angrily.

When everyone had gone far away, someone in the crowd asked, "Does the court really want to convict Mr. Fang?"

"That's what was said in the Da Ming Daily, but some people also felt sorry for Mr. Fang and thought he was right."

"I think there will still be some debate in the court about this matter."

"That's good. I think Mr. Fang is a good man! It would be a pity if such a person were convicted by the court."

"Yes, these days, most of the rich and educated people don't even look at us poor people. Mr. Fang is a good man who can speak up for us!"

At this time, someone on the dock came out and shouted, "Stop arguing there. A new ship has docked and is about to unload. Come over and get ready to work."

In an instant, the crowd that had been discussing in the teahouse just now stopped and rushed towards the dock like a tide.

……

Standing next to him, Lao Zhu witnessed the whole scene.

He picked up a copy of the Da Ming Daily, flipped through it, and angrily said, "This Fang Xiaoru is so bold. He dared to contradict me in person..."

At this point, Zhu suddenly realized that he was outside, on a private visit in disguise, so he changed the subject and said, "Fang Xiaoru used the name of a saint to say such absurd things and mislead people. He deserves to be cut into pieces."

"Why didn't the imperial court send anyone to arrest him, and instead allow him to continue spreading lies and misleading the people?"

Old Zhu felt extremely disgusted with Fang Xiaoru.

When he heard that he was Song Lian's most proud student, he wanted to invite him to be Zhu Yunhuan's teacher, but he refused on the spot.

If Zhu Yunwen had not come forward to plead for mercy, and Zhu Yunhuan was unwilling to take Fang Xiaoru as his teacher, he would have been killed on the spot.

Later, I heard that he spoke for Zhu Yunhuan twice and was frank and fair, and my impression of him improved a little.

After this person left the court, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer paid attention to him.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang could see that Fang Xiaoru was indeed knowledgeable, but he was extremely pedantic and was not suitable to be an official in the court.

Unexpectedly, his resignation from office and leaving Beijing would cause such a big fuss.

What a great “The way of the sage is to make the world public”. Why does it sound so familiar to Mencius’ “People are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important”?
It was because of this sentence that Zhu Yuanzhang moved Mencius out of the Confucius Temple.

Later, after repeated persuasion from his ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that this was not the right approach and he brought the wooden tablet of Mencius back to the Confucius Temple. However, his disgust for Mencius did not diminish in the slightest.

Hierarchy is the foundation of feudal rule.

Everyone in the world must be aware of their own "rank" and be content to stay in their innate "rank" for the rest of their lives. This way, the subjects will not disobey the monarch and the rule can be stable.

Old Zhu sees this very clearly.

Therefore, he compiled various household registration origins such as "military households", "civilian households", "merchant households", and "music households", and ordered that these identities be inherited from generation to generation and never changed.

Nowadays, although under Zhu Yunhuan's reforms, identity and household registration have been loosened.

For example, after business is opened up, "merchants" no longer exist.

But the idea will not change because of this.

Fang Xiaoru's theory of "the world is a public society" is undoubtedly blurring the class gap. If people in the world have no concept of status, they will probably shout "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species?"

The most stable situation is when everyone accepts their fate, believes that everything is predetermined by God, does not seek any change, and people do not want to change.

Yoshigaki laughed and said, "Master, the court may have other plans."

Old Zhu snorted coldly, "What can you plan? How can we allow such a crazy and perverse theory to spread? It will shake people's hearts."

Yoshigaki smiled slightly and said nothing more.

Old Zhu flipped through the newspaper.

Suddenly, his eyes sparkled, and he said angrily, "Great! There are actually people in this newspaper who are trying to defend Fang Xiaoru. I am really pissed off!"

He angrily threw the newspaper onto the table, his face turning pale with anger.

The Da Ming Daily was founded by Zhu Yunhuan, which was equivalent to the imperial court. How could it advocate for Fang Xiaoru's ideas?
After a while, Lao Zhu picked up the newspaper again and continued reading.

Where my eyes rest is still the same article.

This time, he didn't get angry again.

After reading the article, Old Zhu put down the newspaper and said, "There is an article in the Ming Daily criticizing Fang Xiaoru, saying that what Fang Xiaoru said was against the will of the sage, and the court should arrest him and punish him."

"Another article highly praised Fang Xiaoru's theory of 'the great public good of the world', believing that this theory deeply touched the heart of the saints and was what the saints pursued throughout their lives. What exactly does this Da Ming Daily mean?"

At this time, the owner of the tea shop was taking the opportunity of the workers leaving to tidy up the tables and chairs. When he heard what Lao Zhu said, he said, "This is called 'fighting each with fifty lashes'. Neither side is helping the other."

"Not helping either side?" Old Zhu pondered this sentence over and over again, his eyes slowly brightening up.

He murmured to himself, "Yes, it is better for the court not to make a casual statement on such matters. Those laborers just now all supported Fang Xiaoru. The court cannot let people down."

He recalled how he had moved Mencius' tablet out of the Confucius Temple, but had to put it back in the end.

Now that I think about it, I was too impulsive at the time.

Underestimated Mencius' influence among scholars throughout the world.

To this day, the saints and sub-sages of Confucianism cannot be easily shaken.

Even the supreme king can only take advantage of the situation and use Confucianism for his own benefit, rather than confronting it head-on.

It is extremely unwise to confront head-on.

If Fang Xiaoru's theory of "the world is one great public good" was his own personal thought, then he should be killed, his speech blocked, and his books burned.

But if it is the words of a sage or recorded in the classics, the court cannot easily express its stance.

From this perspective, it makes sense for the Ming Daily to adopt a neutral stance.

Then, Lao Zhu picked up the newspaper again and read other content.

"The trial of Huang Zicheng's treason case has officially begun. We vow to catch Huang Zicheng and his accomplices in one fell swoop." Old Zhu's pupils couldn't help but shrink slightly.

This "rebellious grandson" has kept Huang Zicheng in prison for so long. Is he finally going to be tried?

The content of the article severely condemned Huang Zicheng's treason and believed that since he dared to sign the Twenty-One Demands with Japan privately, there must be many accomplices in the country.

These people are lurking in the Ming Dynasty and are the cancer of the Ming Dynasty. We must find them all and eradicate them completely.

Any citizen who knows any clues can report it to the local government.

You can also write directly to the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, or the Censorate.

The mailing addresses of these departments were also published.

The tea shop owner laughed and said, "Today, there are notices posted in the government office, arresting traitors and rebels! In my opinion, the court is going to use the trial of Huang Zicheng to start a big case. I'm afraid the officials can't take care of Fang Xiaoru's matter."

Old Zhu's pupils couldn't help but narrow slightly.

He suddenly thought of his pen pal Zhu Sun and wondered what unique opinions he would have on the case of Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng.
Or does this person only understand how to govern a country, but is not familiar with the intricacies of power struggles in the court?
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been limited to being a small editor, being ostracized everywhere, and even having his credit taken away from him when he offered suggestions to the court.

……

As the news was announced that Zhu Yunhuan had ordered a public trial of Huang Zicheng and was making every effort to capture his accomplices.

The court was suddenly in an uproar.

Zhu Yunhuan’s move was as powerful as thunder.

Government offices across the country posted notices to “capture” Huang Zicheng’s accomplices.

The mailing addresses of the three judicial departments were directly announced to the world by the Ming Daily.

As a result, letters of complaint came in like snowflakes from all over the country.

In this era, it is not easy for people to file a complaint to a higher level.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had issued an edict that anyone could come to the capital to file a complaint, as long as there was an imperial edict on their heads, the illegal officials could be arrested and escorted to the capital for trial, and no officials along the way could stop them.

But a theory is a theory after all.

How could ordinary people have the ability to break into government offices and arrest officials?

It would be better if I were caught by the officials.

The real use of this imperial edict lies in that anyone who has the ability to capture officials is not an ordinary citizen, but someone who has the ability to rebel, can gather people and overthrow the rule of the local government.

If such a person is willing to give up rebellion and come to the capital to file a complaint, the court will certainly welcome him!
On the other hand, if he did not have the ability to rebel, he would not be able to actually arrest local officials.

There is no need to worry that the imperial edict will cause ordinary people to disobey the orders of local officials.

Because this imperial edict is useless to those who are incapable of rebelling.

On the other hand, if the local government offices are stormed by the people and the officials are captured, it means that the local officials are simply unable to control the local people and are unable to govern the place. There is no point in keeping such local officials.

Normally, it is very difficult for ordinary people to file a complaint to a higher level.

Not to mention the legal restrictions, the natural limitation of distance alone is enough to make most people give up the idea of going to Beijing to file a complaint.

Given the transportation conditions of that era, it was not an easy task for ordinary people to travel to the capital from thousands of miles away.

The cost of food and accommodation on the road is not low.

Not to mention, you might encounter robbers and bandits along the way.

But now with the Ming Post Office, we can send letters, and things have become much easier.

After several months of full-scale construction, the postal company has basically opened branches in major cities across the country.

People could simply walk to a city near their home, buy envelopes and stamps, and send letters.

After the mailing addresses of the three judicial offices were announced, letters of complaint and denunciation from all over the country soon poured in.

As for the content of the report.

"My cow is missing. I suspect it was stolen by Wang Er next door. It is very likely that Wang Er has colluded with the Japanese pirates and worked hand in glove with Huang Zicheng..."

"The county magistrate of our county is very harsh on the people. He must be a gang of traitors like Huang Zicheng..."

"We have a teacher here who once praised Huang Zicheng highly. The court should investigate him thoroughly. He is most likely a traitor..."

"A few years ago, I heard a storyteller in the county say that he knew Huang Zicheng..."

"I heard that a certain official in the court is on good terms with Huang Zicheng. Maybe he is Huang Zicheng's accomplice..."

……

In short, as the "Da Ming Daily" officially published the content of offering a reward for clues about Huang Zicheng's crimes and called on the people to report suspected traitors, the three judicial departments received mountains of letters every day.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already issued instructions that Huang Zicheng’s crimes are extremely heinous and his accomplices must not be let off and must be investigated to the end.

Don't miss any clues!
However, Huang Zicheng had served in the court for many years, and there were many officials with whom he had interactions.

Now that the investigation has started, everyone is in danger.

"The clear will be clear, and the turbid will be turbid" is just a comforting word.

Officials in the court were all very clear that even if they were not involved, they would be in big trouble if they were really caught.

When investigating cases in this era, a lot of evidence can be fabricated.

Moreover, confessions are often the most important evidence.

But confessions are usually extracted through torture.

This depends on how the person using torture and interrogation "induces a confession".

It would be a lie to say that you are not afraid of being "bitten".

Although people keep talking about Fang Xiaoru, and some even say that Fang Xiaoru had worked with Huang Zicheng, we need to investigate this matter thoroughly.

However, there were so many clues of crimes related to Huang Zicheng in the court that it was impossible to investigate them all, and naturally there was no way to take care of Fang Xiaoru who was not an official in the court.

Only the Da Ming Daily still occasionally published articles criticizing Fang Xiaoru in a corner.

These articles often introduce Fang Xiaoru's thoughts and ideas in the name of criticism, while explaining their sources and basis in classics.

Then refute and criticize.

As for whether readers will support the refutation and criticism after reading the article, or support Fang Xiaoru's opinions and views, only God knows.

After all, there were no comments or messages in this era.

The reader's point of view is nothing more than an intuitive presentation.

In short, it is through continuous criticism that Fang Xiaoru's new Confucianism has become known to more and more people.

Occasionally, the Da Ming Daily would publish articles supporting Fang Xiaoru's New Confucianism to show its neutrality.

These articles will demonstrate from multiple angles that Fang Xiaoru spoke well and very well.

……

And so it went, after a period of intense criticism.

When Fang Xiaoru was giving lectures, the number of people coming to listen not only did not decrease, but increased instead.

Every time he gave a lecture, there were thousands or even tens of thousands of listeners.

The trend of new ideas, like seeds, spread across the Ming Dynasty and quickly took root and sprouted.

However, at this time, no officials in the court cared about his affairs anymore.

The case of Huang Zicheng has attracted the attention of everyone in the government and the country.

……

(End of this chapter)