Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 317: Since education and culture have failed to enlighten, war should replace them.

The candlelight in the West Warm Pavilion had been secretly trimmed by a palace maid sometime during the night, and the flames had become bright and peaceful again, quietly illuminating three faces with different expressions.

The emperor's words had barely faded when the stench of blood and money from the analysis of the tax farming system seemed to linger in the air, weighing heavily on the hearts of Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou, making it almost impossible for them to breathe.

This warm room was eerily quiet at the moment.

Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou had forgotten the proper etiquette between ruler and subject, and even their own location. They were like two children just beginning their education, facing a learned and virtuous teacher, sitting upright, holding their breath, and concentrating intently, for fear of missing a single word.

They knew in their hearts that what the emperor was about to say was something more fundamental than money or power.

The emperor did not keep them waiting for long.

He slowly swept his gaze across their faces, his tone regaining its initial composure, yet carrying a deeper sense of sorrow.

"What I just said is merely the surface. Why is it that in the land of Jiangnan, which is known for its flourishing literary culture and etiquette, so many people secretly regard this kind of short-sighted method as the golden rule and yearn for it? This leads us to the third, and most fundamental, reason—the corruption of people's hearts and social atmosphere."

He paused, as if giving Sun and Hong a moment to catch their breath and think.

"I believe that the root of the problem lies in two places. The first is the political reputation left to the court by the so-called Donglin Party."

Upon hearing the words "Donglin Party," both Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou trembled slightly.

These three words carried far too much complexity and weight in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

It was once synonymous with integrity and uprightness, a moral standard aspired to by countless scholars, but to the emperor...
Zhu Youjian seemed to see through their thoughts, and sneered, "I know that in many people's hearts, the gentlemen of Donglin are loyal ministers who are dedicated to the country and the people, unafraid of powerful figures, and willing to fight to the death against the eunuch faction. I do not deny this. Many of them do indeed have integrity and principles. However,"

His tone suddenly shifted, becoming sharp as a knife: "People change!"

The emperor stretched out his finger and gently touched the air, as if he had touched an invisible vital point.

"This includes the complete abolition of commercial taxes, mining supervision, and tax checkpoints established to increase national treasury revenue. In their words, these are all evil policies that compete with the people for profit, and are the henchmen of the eunuch party used to plunder the people's wealth. Abolishing them is to set things right and restore a bright and just world. How pleasing and righteous these words are!"

"But are they, or rather some of them, truly only concerned with the well-being of the people?" Zhu Youjian let out another long, cold laugh, which echoed in the quiet, warm pavilion, sounding particularly jarring.

"Bai Gu, Hong Qing, you are both well-versed in government affairs. You should know that the tax system of our Great Ming Dynasty is based on the ancestral principle of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. Commercial taxes are negligible. If Emperor Wanli wanted to open up new sources of revenue, he could only start with these areas. And where is the most prosperous place in our Great Ming Dynasty, the place where merchants gather?"

He didn't need an answer, because the answer was already written on the faces of Sun and Hong.

"It's Jiangnan! It's the cotton cloth of Songjiang Prefecture, the silk of Suzhou Prefecture, the tea of ​​Hangzhou Prefecture, the salt of Yangzhou, and the porcelain of Jingdezhen! Who will benefit the most from abolishing these tax stations and mining supervisors? The farmers of the north? The border troops of the northwest? No! It's those gentry and powerful families in Jiangnan who possess vast wealth, run businesses all over the world, and own countless workshops and fertile land!"

Zhu Youjian's tone, a mixture of mockery and resentment, burned like a red-hot iron into the hearts of Sun and Hong.

"They use the guise of being upright and honest, but what they're really doing is making their hometown tax-free!"

Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou's expressions changed drastically.

In recent years, officials in the court, especially those censors who consider themselves successors of the Donglin Party, have been as grief-stricken as if they had lost their parents whenever the topic of increasing commercial taxes or reopening tax checkpoints came up. They cried out in anguish, "The ancestral system cannot be violated," and often used the excuse of "benevolent governance cannot be lost" to coerce the emperor.

Behind those lofty moral pronouncements lies such blatant factionalism and such despicable collusion for personal gain!
Thinking back to Qian Qianyi and Qian Longxi
Cold sweat was already seeping from Sun Chuanting's forehead.

Zhu Youjian ignored their shock, his gaze fixed on the deep night outside the window, his voice becoming even more distant and sorrowful.

"That's only one thing. The second thing, which is also the most disheartening to me, is that the weight of the words 'family and country' in their hearts has become as light as a feather."

“The disintegration of national identity…that’s the real incurable disease.” He murmured to himself, as if speaking to them, yet also as if speaking to himself.

The emperor slowly turned his head and looked at the two of them again, his eyes filled with deep questioning.

"What is the Ming Dynasty in those people's hearts?"

This question surprised both Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou.

What is the Ming Dynasty?
The Ming Dynasty was a glorious empire established by Emperor Taizu after he overcame numerous obstacles and drove out the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. It was the homeland to which they, as his subjects, should be loyal and devoted to the cause, and it was the place of belonging and protection for all the people under heaven!

Do we even need to ask this?
However, the emperor shook his head, a pitying smile on his face. He did not let the two answer, but instead asked and answered himself, deliberately changing his tone.

With a tone that was a mix of languor and shrewdness, tinged with a hint of disdain and aloofness, he perfectly mimicked the thoughts of a certain gentry man from Jiangnan, as he imagined him, sipping fragrant tea and fanning himself in his own backyard:

"'The Ming Dynasty? The Ming Dynasty, well, it's that distant capital in the north, and that emperor we've never met. It's also... the insatiable financial hole in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, a poor relative who endlessly begs for money from us in Jiangnan, a burden we can't shake off!'"

This lifelike imitation turned Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou's faces instantly pale!

They seemed to have truly witnessed that scene and heard those chilling words.

The emperor's performance continued, his tone becoming increasingly assertive, as if he were justifying his idea:

"Why should I hand over the silver I've painstakingly earned from thousands of acres of fertile land, from hundreds of shops, and from those merchant ships sailing to Southeast Asia? The taxes I pay are transported thousands of miles to the north, half of which ends up in the pockets of officials along the way, and the other half is thrown into that bottomless pit in Liaodong, where it disappears without a trace. We've been fighting in Liaodong for so many years and still can't win; we've been suppressing the bandits everywhere for so many years and still can't eradicate them."

"This money is gone, it breaks my heart!"

"Tell me, why can't this money be used to repair the irrigation system in my hometown of Suzhou? Why can't it be used to reinforce the walls of my Songjiang Manor? Why can't it be used to hire a few hundred more strong local militiamen to guard my home and protect my vast fortune?"

Each word, each sound, seemed to be dug out from the deepest part of the gentry's hearts, so real that it sent chills down one's spine.

Hong Chengchou's breathing had become heavy, and his hands were clenched into fists in his sleeves, his nails digging deep into his palms.

Zhu Youjian abandoned his imitative tone, and finally, he straightened his posture, looked down at the two men, and, in his imperial voice, uttered the most poignant conclusion: "Rather than funding a crumbling, dilapidated edifice, it's better to save the money to make your own little house more solid and comfortable!"

Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou felt as if stars were flashing before their eyes and their ears were ringing.

All previous understandings of "tax avoidance", "selfishness" and "shortsightedness" were completely shattered at this moment!
That tender veil, filled with promises of "sharing weal and woe" and "unity between ruler and subject," was cruelly torn away by the emperor himself, revealing the bloody and naked truth behind it!

This is no longer a simple case of tax avoidance!
This is neither the greed of merchants nor the cunning of ordinary people!
This is a complete break! A break from the Ming Dynasty and the Zhu family's empire from the very roots of their ideology!
This isn't tax evasion; it's clearly waiting for the regime to collapse and the edifice to crumble!

They intend to build their own eternal empire on this ruin, using the wealth they have plundered from the people!
They were even planning how to guide the building's collapse so that it wouldn't hit their backyard!
Sun Chuanting swallowed hard, feeling as if his throat was on fire from the dryness.

An unprecedented chill shot straight to his head; it was a fear and despair far deeper than when facing an enemy force of thousands.

Zhu Youjian silently observed the earth-shattering expressions on their faces, then stood up, walked to them, and spoke in a voice as heavy as a mountain:

"The fate of the nation is my fate."

He pointed to himself, then to Sun and Hong, and said, word by word, "These five words are my creed, and they should also be your creed as subjects of the Ming Dynasty!"

Scholars and officials, receiving their salaries from the emperor, were obligated to serve him loyally. Their personal honor, disgrace, rise, and fall were inextricably linked to the fate of the Ming Dynasty. "If the nation is about to perish, what will become of our homes? If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach itself?"

His voice was filled with endless disappointment and anger: "But now, I am horrified to discover that in the prosperous land of Jiangnan, which is known as the land of etiquette, there is a huge and powerful group that has already altered these five words to—'My fate is the fate of the nation'! Even... it's 'What does my fate have to do with the fate of the nation'!"

"Therefore, their unwillingness to pay taxes is not simply due to selfishness or short-sightedness. It is a chronic problem that combines the flaws of the current dynasty's system, economic difficulties, corrupt officialdom, and the changing nature of its intellectuals!"

"In their calculations of self-interest, the survival of the Ming Dynasty has become completely detached from their own family wealth. Not only that, but it has even formed a deep antagonism! If I want to suppress the bandits, defend against the barbarians, and revitalize the Ming Dynasty, I must increase levies and collect taxes. But in their eyes, every move I make is an attempt to undermine their foundation and take away their money and grain!"

The emperor paced back and forth in the warm pavilion, using more direct and ruthless language to depict the portrait of this group more clearly as he walked.

"In Jiangnan, they established their own water and land ports, a self-contained and impregnable empire. In this land, their clan laws and family rules were more effective than the laws of the imperial court; their local militia and guards were more capable than the government's yamen runners. They collected rent, lent money, adjudicated cases, and levied taxes here... resembling a 'mini-court' uncontrolled by the imperial court!"

“They regard any national policy of the court, any effort made to save the crisis, as troublemakers who disrupt their peaceful life. They would rather the north be in chaos and the court be poorer, so that no one would have the energy to deal with them, and they could enjoy wealth and honor in this paradise forever.”

"They naively believed that with the wealth and food they had, no matter who eventually came to power, they could bargain with the new ruler like merchants and continue to maintain their dignity and prosperity."

They believed that whether it was the emperor surnamed Zhu, a refugee of any name, or even the Jurchens from beyond the Great Wall, all needed these virtuous men to help govern the regions and needed their money and provisions to stabilize the people's hearts.

"Their roots are no longer planted in the Ming Dynasty's state and territory, but rather intertwined with their own clans, villages, estates, and shops. The country may change, the dynasty may be replaced, but as long as their land deeds, house deeds, and loan agreements remain, as long as their estates and businesses continue, it makes no difference to them."

"What is most laughable and hateful is that they are also good at using the most beautiful words to package their most despicable thoughts. They often recite Confucius and Mencius, the common people, and the benevolent rule of Yao and Shun; but what they are calculating in their hearts is how many more acres of land they own, how much silver they have added to their treasury, and how much benefit they can get from the power in their hands."

They used even a fraction of what they amassed from exploiting the common people to repair bridges and roads, earning themselves a reputation for benevolence and philanthropy, and portraying themselves as benevolent and virtuous local figures. And what elevated them to this position was precisely the very taxation they so vehemently resisted—taxes belonging to the Ming Dynasty!

At this point, all the analysis is complete.

Zhu Youjian stopped and sat back down on the dragon throne.

The air inside the warm pavilion seemed to have frozen into ice.

"Their schemes, their ways of doing things, their principles of conduct have already run counter to my plans, the plans of the Ming Dynasty, and the plans for the survival of the nation. As for these potential traitors who have already harbored the thought of 'surrender' in their hearts, I have neither the patience nor the time to slowly educate them."

His gaze, like two tangible bolts of cold lightning, shot towards Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou, who were completely stunned and stood like clay sculptures.

Zhu Youjian slowly raised his right hand, making a grasping motion in the air as if he were holding an invisible scepter and a sharp blade.

He looked at his hands, his voice low and clear:
"If education and culture fail to enlighten, then war should take their place!"

After he finished speaking, the entire West Warm Pavilion fell into absolute silence.

You can hear a pin drop.

Hong Chengchou felt as if the blood in his body had been ignited in that instant, surging and roaring wildly in every vein!
Sun Chuanting, who was standing to the side, also felt a sudden, profound realization, as if struck by lightning.

Daigo empowerment!

These four words were his only feeling at that moment.

All his previous confusion and bewilderment about the emperor's overly cruel methods, and even the slight resistance he felt deep down due to traditional Confucianism, vanished at this moment!
He felt waves of shame for his previous kind thoughts.

To show mercy to these treacherous and disloyal people who have become alienated from the country, who regard the nation as a commodity and their ruler as a burden, is to be cruel to the soldiers who fought bloody battles in the north!
It is cruel to the millions of innocent people struggling on the brink of starvation and cold!

It was cruel to the entire Ming Dynasty!

This is no longer about treating illness, this is war!

A silent war that will determine the life or death of a nation!

Sun Chuanting slowly raised his head and exchanged a glance with Hong Chengchou beside him.

In that instant, he saw in Hong Chengchou's piercing eyes the same shock, admiration, and... a completely ignited loyalty, a loyalty that would last a lifetime!
Between them, no words were needed anymore.

The next moment, Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou seemed to be pushed by an invisible hand at the same time, leaving their seats, bending their knees, and kneeling down on the ground in front of the figure on the dragon throne.

Then, two distinctly different voices, yet both imbued with the same determination, rang out in unison in the deathly silent warm chamber, merging into a torrent:
"Your Majesty, I will obey your decree!"

(End of this chapter)