The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 184 The strong wind rises
royal palace.

Zhu Di was also somewhat stunned when he heard about the matter concerning the Ministry of Rites. He grinned and showed his teeth, "It's amazing that it's caused such a big fuss."

“Hong Bao”.

"Wei Chen is here."

“These scholars are not easy to deal with. Send out the people from the Eastern Depot as well. If the situation gets out of control, report back immediately.”

After executing Ji Gang, Zhu Di established the Eastern Depot to monitor the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the power of the inner court is now vastly different from what it used to be.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Hong Bao responded solemnly. In the past, he would have looked down on civil officials who only knew how to talk big, but as Zhu Di ascended the throne, he saw more and found civil officials to be terrifying, capable of killing people invisibly.

After Hong Bao left the Huagai Hall, Zhu Di reviewed the memorials while pondering the matter concerning the Ministry of Rites. He pondered for a while, even dripping ink onto the memorials, but still couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

A gentle spring in the capital, when it falls on the local area, becomes a monstrous wave capable of overturning mountains and rivers. Accompanying the Ministry of Rites' inspection of the provincial education commissioners, the true purpose of which is obvious to everyone. A storm is brewing, but this is an open conspiracy. The Ministry of Rites has the power to inspect the education commissioners, and no one can criticize it. This is how it is done within the rules, leaving no room for argument.

If someone were to criticize, saying, "Isn't this coercion?"

Li Xianmu could then reply with a perfectly legitimate attitude: "As you all have said, anyone who speaks out for the School of Mind is a flatterer, and anyone who speaks out for the School of Principle is a righteous and upright person. Then there is no need to hold such a debate banquet."

This move was both offensive and defensive, leaving the conservatives knowing what Li Xianmu was going to do but unable to stop him, and forced to suffer in silence.

……

The Zhejiang Provincial Education Commissioner's Office.

A servant was waiting in the back room, only half-sitting on the table, the tea on the table untouched. After a while, Wang Gen hurriedly entered the room, and the servant immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Li Jiu greets Master Wang."

"sit."

Wang Gen pointed, then solemnly asked, "Junior brother, did you send you here from so far away in person for something important?"

Logically, a letter would suffice if there were any issues, but now a trusted confidant has been sent in person. This suggests an unwillingness to leave any written record, which could be a serious matter.

“Reporting to Master Wang, the master sent me here because he was worried that the news would leak out.” Li Jiu leaned forward and whispered, “The envoys that the master sent from the Ministry of Rites to various provinces are on their way, among which Jiangnan is of utmost importance. The master wants to ask Master Wang to make a big fuss about this matter in Zhejiang. If we can cause a great uproar, that would be the best.”

Will this cause a major uproar?

Upon hearing this, Wang Gen was immediately shocked, but he was also extremely intelligent and immediately understood Li Xianmu's thoughts.

His junior fellow student, Li Xianmu, simply wanted to place the philosophy of mind in the imperial examination textbooks.

After Hu Ying, the Minister of Rites, stepped down, the Ministry of Rites fell into the hands of the Neo-Confucian school of thought. As long as the emperor gave his approval, the implementation of this matter would be considered a success.

But now a problem has arisen: the emperor is unwilling to let this matter stop; he wants to use the philosophy of mind to attack the philosophy of reason.

However, after eliminating Hu Ying, Li Xianmu wanted to stop while he was ahead and did not want to start a full-scale war with Neo-Confucianism.

The current situation appears to be a conflict between the School of Mind and the School of Principle, but in reality, it has become a conflict with the emperor. Li Xianmu wants to stop, but the emperor is unwilling.

There's only one way: make a huge fuss, to the point that even the emperor would think it's going too far.

This is what we call—"The best way to get rid of something is not to directly resist it, but to make it extreme and amplify it."

"If what Zhejiang does is too obvious, it will be noticed. What will your homeowner say then?"

"Reporting to Master Wang, the master said that in addition to Zhejiang, five other provincial capitals will also launch operations simultaneously, but the scale will certainly not be as large as Zhejiang's. This is just to cover up the events in Zhejiang."

Wang Gen's face was grim, with a hint of worry deep in his eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he finally made up his mind and said to Li Jiu in a deep voice, "Go back and tell your master that I know what to do."

Without any delay, Li Jiu cupped his hands in greeting and turned to leave.

Wang Gen sat in the hall, the tea on the table gradually cooling down. He remained motionless, a deep chill gradually emerging from his eyes and then spreading across his entire face.

He picked up the tea, which had long since gone cold and was no longer warm, and drank it all in one gulp.

……

Since Li Qi first achieved enlightenment in eastern Zhejiang, and Huang Huai joined the school of mind, this stronghold of the most stubborn Neo-Confucianism gradually opened its arms to the school of mind. Later, Li Xianmu seized power in Jiangnan. Although he focused on cracking down on Southern Zhili, Zhejiang was also cleaned up.

Afterwards, Wang Gen entered Zhejiang. In Zhejiang, his power was naturally not as great as that of the three giants, but everyone knew that he had a powerful background.

While Neo-Confucianism is strong, it is divided into various branches, whereas the School of Mind is a tightly knit group.

As one of the leaders of the School of Mind, his official rank was low, but that did not mean he had a low status. Therefore, even the three giants of Zhejiang dared not order Wang Gen around.

For all these reasons, the School of Mind had already flourished throughout Zhejiang, showing signs of overshadowing the School of Neo-Confucianism. Wang Gen's initial goal for Li Xianmu—"to break the shackles in the heart of Neo-Confucianism in the Jiangnan region"—was thus achieved. This is also why Li Xianmu has chosen to make his mark in Zhejiang today; it is not only the stronghold of Neo-Confucianism but also the province where the School of Mind is at its strongest.

Just as Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, had guessed, even with the Ministry of Rites sending people to exert pressure, more than half of the provinces still chose not to submit to the Ministry of Rites.

But those were just smokescreens; Li Xianmu's real focus was on Zhejiang Province, while he waited in the capital for the officials sent to various provinces to send back news.

The northern provinces, which are closer to the capital, have already begun, while the southern provinces are lagging behind. Although many in the capital are paying close attention to this matter, the affairs of the Ming Dynasty are complex and cannot be stopped because of this one thing.

With the year-end approaching, the cabinet is extremely busy.

It's that time of year again when various government departments summarize their annual expenditures, and they also need to submit applications in advance for large expenditures that will be needed next year.

As a result, various government offices had no choice but to contact Li Xianmu. However, the turmoil in the capital and the provinces across the country intensified, and almost every day, a lot of distorted news was transmitted to the capital through various channels.

Judging from these messages, the scholar-official circles in various provinces are in complete chaos, with all sorts of attacks and accusations emerging one after another.

Even without Li Xianmu deliberately escalating the situation or intentionally starting a fire, it was already showing signs of gradually getting out of control.

The Eastern Depot had already reported the chaos in various regions to the emperor. Zhu Di was very happy, believing that the desired effect had been achieved, the gentry's arrogance had been severely dampened, and everything was still under control.

Therefore, they did not pay too much attention to the various chaotic phenomena in the local area.

Some ministers in the court couldn't stand it and hoped that this infighting would end as soon as possible, but their efforts were ignored.

Given the current situation, how can we stop without accelerating to the extreme?
The Ming Dynasty's fiscal conference of the tenth year of the Yongle reign was held in this strange atmosphere.

As is customary, the Ministry of Revenue was the first to report, followed by the Maritime Transport Office.

Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji's smile never stopped from the beginning. He said quite easily, "This year is a bumper year. Since last year, when grain from Jiangnan was transported by sea, the amount of grain transported to the capital has increased by two million shi. The salaries owed to officials in the capital in the seventh and eighth years of Yongle have been fully paid at the beginning of this year. My colleagues are all grateful for His Majesty's benevolence and will be able to have a good year."

Now no one dares to say anything bad about maritime transport anymore, and Zhu Di is quite pleased. "It was Xianmu who strongly advocated for the promotion of maritime transport, which ensured that the capital no longer lacked food."

He also learned from this experience and set up a port in Jiaozhi to transport provisions for the army by sea. This saved Zhang Fu one-third of the provisions when he conquered Annam.

"I need ministers like these, who can not only identify problems but also propose solutions and share the burdens of the nation. You should all learn from them."

"Your Majesty's praise is too much for me."

“Since the eighth year of Yongle’s reign, apart from the campaign against Annam, the court has not had any foreign wars. The only exception was sending troops to Japan a few months ago, which resulted in the collection of two million shi of grain.”

Because less grain was transported by river, the Ministry of Works spent significantly less on canal repairs last year, resulting in a considerable surplus this year.

Xia Yuanji was filled with emotion; it really wasn't easy.

He has served as Minister of Revenue since the first year of the Yongle reign, and now, a full ten years later, he has finally achieved a surplus. He has no idea what kind of hardship he has endured in the past years.

The biggest expenses of feudal dynasties were nothing more than the following: war, building palaces, canals and the Great Wall, disaster relief, and the weddings and enfeoffment of princes and princesses.

Starting from the eighth year of the Yongle reign, these items were basically nonexistent, which is why the Ming Dynasty was able to have a fiscal surplus.

Looking at Xia Yuanji's genuine smile, Li Xianmu secretly shook his head. He really wanted to tell Xia Yuanji, "You're celebrating too soon."

The emperor promised not to wage war for three years. Now that the imperial treasury has a surplus, it is estimated that the northern expedition will be put back on the agenda. Last time, we beat the Tatars too badly, which caused the Oirats to jump up again.

Given the emperor's temperament, he naturally couldn't tolerate it, and it also wouldn't be in the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

It is very likely that the emperor would wait until spring to set off, which would be the time when the nomads are at their weakest after winter.

Zhu Di indeed began to tap lightly on the armrest of the chair with his fingers.

He was truly warlike, enjoying the feeling of galloping across the battlefield. Even leading his troops on a patrol outside the capital made him happier than staying in the capital.

For the past three years, the imperial court had to suppress its restless thoughts because its finances could not support it.

Now that Xia Yuanji has mentioned it, he's already itching to go out.

After all, the purpose of recuperation and rest is to have money to fight wars!
He is such a pure person.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di's expression softened as he looked at the others. Coincidentally, the work of each department had been going smoothly this year, and Zhu Di nodded repeatedly as he listened.

"My Ming Dynasty is thriving, far surpassing the Hongwu era, not to mention the Jianwen era. Indeed, my father was wrong not to choose me to inherit the throne," Zhu Di thought to himself.

Just as Zheng Huan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was about to speak, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall. Then someone knelt outside the curtain and said anxiously in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, the Eastern Depot has an urgent report from Jiangnan!"

(End of this chapter)