Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 293: Exiled Overseas! King Yan Worships Buddhism? [Subscribe]

"Your Majesty, we have raised our sons to serve the country with loyalty. What crime have we committed?"

"If the Ming Dynasty continues to prioritize science over Confucianism, the country will no longer exist!"

"Your Majesty, Confucianism is the foundation of our nation. How can you despise it for the sake of illicit gains? If everyone in the world becomes obsessed with the profits of industry and commerce, and regards morality and righteousness as worthless, how can the Ming Dynasty survive?"

"His Majesty!"

"···"

Although Qi Tai, Yao Shan and other candidates shouted loudly, Zhu Yuanzhang was not near the Meridian Gate. Even if he knew what was said, it would take half a quarter of an hour.

However, those personal soldiers were acting according to orders and would not show mercy in arresting people, nor would they violate military orders just because of the "great principles" spoken by these candidates. They quickly arrested more than 200 candidates and sent them to the Ministry of Justice prison next to Xuanwu Lake, which is commonly known as the "Heavenly Prison".

Liu Kuan saw that the area in front of the Meridian Gate quickly became quiet, as if everything was peaceful. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Old Zhu is really decisive.

Let alone if this happened during the middle and late Ming Dynasty, even if it happened during the Yongle period in history, Zhu Di would have to think twice before ordering the arrest of hundreds of candidates, right?

Only Old Zhu can be so "carefree".

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Liu Kuan led his men back to Tiangongyuan.

Unexpectedly, not long after he sat down in his office, Zhu Yuanzhang sent someone to convey his oral order, summoning him to the palace for an audience.

"Could it be that this is a demonstration for the imperial examination?"

Liu Kuan became worried again and followed the eunuch to the palace.

When he entered Fengxian Hall, he saw Zhu Biao was also there, so he bowed to the father and son one after another.

After the ceremony, Old Zhu asked, "Liu Kuan, you must have heard about the riot at the Meridian Gate involving over 200 candidates, right?"

Liu Kuan said, "I heard about it. I even went to see it."

Old Zhu said, "Now that we have captured all these candidates, how do you think we should punish them?"

Liu Kuan said, "Law and punishment are not the responsibility of this humble official. Your Majesty may leave it to the officials to handle according to the law."

Old Zhu said, "These candidates are secretly colluding with societies and attempting to interfere in government affairs. They have also been disrespectful to us. The evidence is solid."

"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the leaders should be beheaded and their property confiscated, and their families exiled three thousand miles away; the rest of the people should also be punished with confiscation of property and exile."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao said anxiously, "Father, although it is inappropriate for these candidates to gather at the Meridian Gate to make remonstrations, it is for the sake of the Ming Dynasty after all. I hope that Your Majesty will be lenient with them!"

"You're not even thinking about the Ming Dynasty!" Old Zhu suddenly cursed. "They're saying we should prioritize the imperial examinations over Confucianism. Some even say we should abandon Confucianism—when have we ever said anything like that? When has the court ever implemented such a policy?"

"They distort the facts and slander the government because they feel that the status of Confucianism and Confucian scholars has declined, and they are unwilling to accept this. They are making such a fuss for the sake of their own future."

"If there are truly those among these people who are devoted to the country, then they are either foolish or dull-witted. No matter how loyal they are, they cannot govern the country well!"

Zhu Biao wanted to persuade him again, but he didn't know what to say.

Because of what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Take the imperial examination as an example. Today, Confucianism-related content still accounts for more than half of the total. How can it be said that the court values ​​examinations more than Confucianism?
As for abandoning Confucianism, that is even more of a rumor.

These candidates shouted such slogans perhaps out of habitual exaggeration, hoping to alert the monarch. However, they did not know that Zhu Yuanzhang had already made up his mind on how to use Confucianism and science, and was not influenced by them at all. Instead, he thought that they were distorting the facts and making up rumors, so he was furious.

After a moment of silence, Zhu Biao could only advise: "Father, there are more than 200 candidates this time. If you punish them all severely, I am afraid that people all over the world will think that you have no magnanimity and no heart to accept advice."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have calmed down a bit after his outburst. He turned to look at Liu Kuan and said, "Liu Kuan, do you think we should punish those people severely? No excuses are allowed!"

Liu Kuan was helpless. After thinking for a while, he said, "Your Majesty, these candidates are all talented people after all. The Ming Dynasty is short of people and even more short of talents. It would be a pity to execute them without any reason."

"I suggest that the leaders be exiled overseas, where they can use their Confucian talents to teach the natives how to assimilate."

"As for conformity, they can be exiled to Guizhou, Yunnan, Gansu, and Jilin—these places have many ethnic minorities and tribes, and they also need Confucian education."

Many things have proved that Zhu Yuanzhang was an absolute pragmatist. Therefore, when he heard Liu Kuan mention the use of Confucianism to educate the natives, his eyes immediately lit up.

He pondered for a moment, then said, "You do have a point. In that case, the property of Qi Tai, Yao Shan, Zhou Rui, and the other twelve candidates will be confiscated, and they will be exiled to America and Southeast Asia along with their families."

"The rest of the candidates were exiled to Guizhou, Yunnan, Gansu, and Jilin, and their families were not held accountable."

This punishment is much lighter than before.

Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan immediately praised together, "Your Majesty, your father is wise!"

"If there is nothing else, you can leave." Old Zhu ordered them to leave.

Liu Kuan, however, remembered something and said, "Your Majesty, I feel that since the Ming Dynasty needs population to expand overseas, the punishment should be slightly changed. Perhaps the death penalty can be reduced to exile."

"In later history, when Westerners explored America, Australia, and Africa, they often used various criminals—after all, ordinary people had good lives, and few were willing to leave their homeland and take risks overseas."

Since the establishment of the two military governorates in America and Zhu Di's establishment of a government to prepare for establishing a vassal state overseas, Zhu Yuanzhang increasingly felt that the population of the Ming Dynasty was insufficient.

Although he felt that some criminals deserved death, even being hacked into pieces, skinned, and stuffed with straw, he nodded out of pragmatism. "That's a good suggestion. We'll have the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice discuss this matter."

Liu Kuan praised again, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhu Yuanzhang finally smiled slightly and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, go back and take care of the Tiangong Academy. Although we suppressed the students' remonstration, it does show that there is indeed great dissatisfaction among the government and the public with the gradual rise in the status of science and craftsmen."

"These people will definitely keep a close eye on you and the Tiangong Academy. If you make any serious mistakes, even we can't be too partial. Do you understand?" "Your humble servant understands." Liu Kuan nodded. "Your humble servant will act with caution and try not to make any mistakes."

Zhu Yuanzhang added, "You should be cautious, but you don't have to be too timid. We can still cover for common mistakes."

"Yes."

Before leaving, Liu Kuan thought of something else. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Your Majesty, during the Jingnan Rebellion, there were a number of ministers loyal to Emperor Jianwen who died for their country. Qi Tai and Yao Shan were two very famous among them. Perhaps they are the two people with the same name who are making this remonstration."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both stunned when they heard this.

Zhu Yuanzhang then nodded and said calmly, "I understand."

"Wei Chen retire."

···
···
When the court and the public heard that Zhu Yuanzhang had ordered the arrest of more than 200 candidates who had made suggestions at the Meridian Gate, public opinion was in an uproar.

Of course, at this time no one dared to test whether Zhu Yuanzhang's knife was sharp, and they only dared to discuss it in private.

Some officials who thought they understood Zhu Yuanzhang's character and temper believed that most of the leaders among these candidates would not be able to save their lives, and even their families might die with them.

As for following the crowd, the outcome will definitely not be good. The lightest punishment will be confiscation of property and exile of the entire family.

The Confucian scholars in the community were apparently frightened and kept silent, not daring to discuss the matter in public.

But there are many "angry" people in private.

"Tyrant, tyrant, what a tyrant!"

"They arrested everyone just for making a suggestion—that's over 200 candidates!"

"When the government is wrong, they don't allow people to make suggestions. Haven't you heard that it's harder to stop the people from speaking than to stop the river from flowing?"

"···"

Just as these people were secretly cursing Zhu Yuanzhang, they discovered that only three days later, the court had decided on how to deal with the matter and made it public.

The twelve candidates headed by Qi Tai, Yao Shan and others had their property confiscated and were exiled to overseas military prefectures along with their families; the remaining candidates were exiled to the four major military prefectures in China, namely Guizhou, Beibei, Gansu and Jilin, and their families were not punished.

The "lightness" of this punishment was beyond the expectations of many people, and it caused the government and the opposition to be silent on the matter for a while.

The palace examination was held the day after the court announced the matter.

Finally, after the palace test, Zining was selected as the top scorer, Ding Xian as the second, Hua Lun as the third, and Huang Guanze ranked seventh.

Also on the day of the palace examination, Huang Zicheng came to the gate of the Prince of Yan's Mansion with a visiting card. Although Zhu Di had established a mansion, he did not allocate a special government office to it, so he used the Prince of Yan's Mansion in the capital as his government office.

Huang Zicheng was proud of his talent, but what he feared most was that he could not even meet the King of Yan, and his talent would be difficult to display.

So today I put on my best clothes, combed my hair meticulously, and kept my shoes and hat as spotless as possible.

When handing the visiting card to the doorman, he said gracefully: "I am Huang Zicheng, a candidate from Fenyi, Jiangxi, who has responded to the "Order to Recruit Talents" and joined the staff of the Prince of Yan."

In fact, he was extremely nervous. He was afraid that the doorman would directly drive him away, and he was also afraid that the doorman of King Yan would have bad character and ask him for a bribe. If he really asked him for a bribe, he didn't know whether to give it or not with such a demeanor.

Or would he leave behind a sentence like "I never thought the King of Yan would use such a greedy villain as a doorman. It shows that he has no ability to judge people and will never accomplish great things" and then walk away?

Just as Huang Zicheng was performing a rich inner drama, he saw Menzi bow politely and said, "Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go and inform you."

After saying that, he went in with the visiting card.

Huang Zicheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Not long after, the doorman came out and said with a smile, "Mr. Huang, please follow me."

Huang Zicheng bowed and followed the doorman in.

The palace was very large. He followed the gate through many corridors and courtyard gates, not knowing where he was going. Finally, he entered a flower hall.

Inside, a slightly plump boy, about eight or nine years old, dressed in the attire of a prince, sat at the main seat. Below him, at the first seat on the left, sat a black-robed monk, looking at him with a smile.

Huang Zicheng was a little confused, thinking: Prince Yan is not here? Or hasn't he come yet?
Although he was puzzled, he did not hesitate to bow to the boy. "I am Huang Zicheng, a candidate from Fenyi, Jiangxi Province. I am honored to meet the Prince of Yan."

Zhu Gaochi asked curiously, "How did Mr. Huang know that I was the prince?"

Huang Zicheng smiled and said, "Firstly, I've heard that the Prince of Yan is eight or nine years old, intelligent and dignified. Secondly, it's impossible for anyone else to be sitting here except the Prince of Yan and the Prince."

At this time, the black-robed monk next to him said, "It seems that Mr. Huang came prepared."

Huang Zicheng was actually unhappy with the appearance of the black-robed monk, and even harbored hostility, but he didn't show it on his face. He took the opportunity to ask, "Master, what is your name?"

"I am Daoyan, the poor monk, and now I am the chief of the Prince of Yan's staff."

The chief aide of Prince Yan is actually a monk?

Huang Zicheng's heart sank when he learned Yan's identity.

I thought to myself, could it be that the King of Yan despises Confucianism and worships Buddhism?
　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)