The Ming Dynasty fell to the Qing Dynasty for many reasons. However, due to negligence in political affairs, too much leniency with the scholars and too much strictness with the common people, the merchants took advantage of the scholars to rise up. They had no profit and could not afford to do so early. They had no sense of the meaning of the country and nation in their hearts and only looked for small gains.
It must be said that this is an important reason.
"As soon as a scholar becomes a scholar, he will have two hundred acres of free land. People flock to seek refuge, and some will sell favors to take over the old fields of relatives and friends. The reason for the arrears of money and food in the history of Jiangnan has a lot to do with the scholar's style. Although those scholar-bureaucrats did not
So arrogant, but more powerful than ordinary scholars, especially those with imperial registries, who resist the government politely, but privately live in fields, beautiful houses, and have many domestic slaves..."
As soon as Zhu Yongxing returned to Nanjing, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the "state-supported scholars" system in the morning. Some ministers did not know that this was his long-standing reform measure, and thought that he was in Hangzhou because of the wealthy gentry who met him.
The lake surrounded the fields, and the government wanted to dredge it but faced resistance and became furious.
"You may give food or silver, but you will not be given tax benefits, so as to prevent them from harming the country and enriching private interests." Zhu Yongxing's voice echoed in the hall, "The same is true for clan and vassal kings. They give salaries but not fiefs, and they can
Indirectly participating in the cause of the five people."
If even the clan kings do not enjoy the benefits of land grant and tax exemption, those scholars will have less material opinions. As for participating in the industry of the five people, it will also allow the clan kings to gradually be able to support themselves. Of course, if the clan kings are involved in industry and commerce,
It is very likely that he will use his power and influence to damage the fairness of the industrial and commercial circles. Therefore, Zhu Yongxing decided to set up an investment department in the clan mansion to manage it, or invest in business groups, or invest in other fields, to prevent direct management by the clan kings.
The reincarnation of chaos in China's feudal society was, to a large extent, the redistribution of land. At the beginning of stability, land annexation was not serious, and the people lived under light taxes and weak labor, but they could still live and work in peace and contentment; but as time passed,
As time goes by, there will always be big aristocrats, big tycoons, and big landowners. Land annexation becomes increasingly serious, and people's lives become increasingly miserable. When conflicts become irreconcilable, another round of war begins.
Therefore, Zhu Yongxing wanted to restrict some privileged classes as much as possible when the land was abundant and annexation had not yet begun on a large scale. This was true for the gentry, as well as for the clan and feudal kings.
Of course, Zhu Yongxing knows that the so-called "equalization of wealth and poverty" is impossible to achieve. Even if he draws a relatively fair starting line now, the gap between the rich and the poor will widen as time goes by. Because everyone is different, physical strength
Factors such as intelligence, diligence and laziness all affect the development of individuals and families.
The gap between rich and poor cannot be eliminated, and it is not always an unreasonable phenomenon. What needs to be eliminated is that some people take advantage of loopholes to take advantage of opportunities and get something for nothing.
A sound and fair economic operating mechanism, tax system, and perfect social security system can alleviate the problem of wealth gap to a certain extent. But this is a long-term process. And at present, it is not particularly urgent.
"Long live the memorial, the national system of raising scholars is an ancestral system, and it may not be appropriate to change it suddenly." Guo Zhiqi, the chief minister, is the oldest and most senior among the ministers. Of course, his thinking is also conservative, unlike the new ones except Zhang Huangyan.
Among all the officials, only Zhu Yongxing followed suit, which made a big difference.
"The state raises scholars. Of course I don't deny it. It's just a slight change in the method to plug the loopholes." Zhu Yongxing did not dare to say that everyone is equal all at once. Even the unified payment of grain and errands by officials and gentry must be tried out after the success of the Northern Expedition, so he said
To put it mildly, "I have just seen the issuance of National War Bonds and I am very disappointed. Jiangnan is a place with the strongest intellectual spirit, but the subscription amount is not as high as that of Hunan and Hubei. Is this the patriotism of the scholars? Can they accept it calmly?
Is it normal for you to receive the favor of the imperial court but not to repay the country?"
"Long live Jiangnan, Jiangnan has been oppressed and tortured by the Tartars. Its vitality has been severely damaged, and its wealth has been greatly damaged. It will take time to recover." Zhang Huangyan echoed Guo Zhiqi in his memorial. As a scholar, although he felt that the gentry had bad deeds, they were generally good.
Furthermore, when Zhu Yongxing came to the throne, he had a bad reputation as being mean and unkind.
"Long live Qi Zuo." Yicheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped forward and retorted: "What Zhang Shangshu said is wrong. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Household, when bonds are issued, Jiangnan mostly subscribes for small amounts. In other words, the buyers are mostly small households or
Ordinary people. Are we saying that it is only the gentry and rich who are being oppressed, or are the lives of ordinary people better than them?"
"Is this the kind of gentry that the imperial court wants to support with the people's wealth and treat them favorably?" Zhu Yongxing couldn't help but sneer, "They all say that after you get rich, you will know etiquette, and after you know etiquette, you will become noble. I don't think so! The more I read this book, the more
Why is it so unpatriotic? Our dynasty has been raising scholars for more than two hundred years, and those who die for justice are admirable, but now the remaining people in the south of the Yangtze River are probably all obedient people of the Tartars, right? When the Tartars were oppressing and exploiting, did they ever resist?
?Why do you expect the imperial court to be kind and benevolent after the liberation, even though you have no great achievements? Even the ordinary people are not as enlightened as they are, and you still have to fight for this and that. Is it considered shameless?"
"Long live the memorial." Zhou Liangfu, the Minister of Supervision, stepped forward and said: "According to reports from various local officials, many gentry in the south of the Yangtze River have failed to live up to the divine grace. Long live the tax reduction to benefit the people, but those gentry continued to collect taxes as before and treated the tenants harshly. It is really abominable.
"
"It is up to the Ministry of Punishment to propose what to do if the imperial decree is regarded as nothing." Zhu Yongxing's face turned livid and he said coldly: "The imperial court has the kindness of thunder and dew, but also the punishment of thunder. Offenders will be punished and no leniency will be given.
.”
"The humble minister obeys the decree." Zhang Huangyan sighed secretly in his heart. Some gentry were really ignorant and gave people the tools to punish them. But now they can't change the situation.
Living up to the divine grace is a relatively fictitious crime, and it is also a crime often used by feudal emperors to deal with their ministers. If it is serious, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is "a crime that is beyond pardon" or "a crime that deserves death". Zhu Yongxing issued an order to reduce taxes.
At that time, he explained in detail that it not only benefited the landowners, but also benefited the tenants. He deserved to be charged with this crime. Moreover, Zhu Yongxing originally set a trap for those profit-grubbing gentry to get into.
thoughts.
The overall situation must be stable, but well-founded convictions and punishments are not included in this.
After the restoration of Jiangnan, Zhu Yongxing could indeed feel the power of the gentry. These people controlled public opinion and laws, and sometimes their opinions could even influence the decisions of local officials.
However, in the wars of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Jin gentry class played little role in helping the Ming army, or in other words, the power of the Jin gentry supporting the Ming court was offset by the power of the Jin gentry supporting the Qing court. Zhu Yongxing was aware of the resources held by the Jin gentry class, but
He did not hide his contempt for them, because in his view, this was really a loose class, in which each individual was running for his own interests, and was far from forming a class consciousness, or that it was already developing a strong monarchy.
Before, he was wiped out in the face of brutal force.
As long as he does not openly antagonize the entire gentry class and does not loot them, Zhu Yongxing does not have to worry too much about people from this class fighting to the death. Not abolishing the imperial examination is a very effective means of restraint, allowing the gentry class to flatter the imperial power and compete for it.
The piece of meat and bones thrown out by the king turned this powerful class into a piece of loose sand.
The famous saying "All the heroes in the world will fall into my trap" was firmly remembered by Zhu Yongxing. As long as the court continued to use this bait, there would be no worries about the lack of collaborators among the Jin gentry class. Of course, Zhu Yongxing did not expect that the Jin gentry class would generally have patriotic sentiments and
The will to sacrifice one's life for charity.
Because the Jin gentry only care about their little family property and whether their descendants have the chance to pass the imperial examination and continue the family's security. As for who takes the imperial examination, they don't really care. Anyway, as long as they don't fall to the common people.
How pitiful! These people control a large population because they own land. They are respected in their hometowns, and in the eyes of their elders, they are the inheritors of knowledge and the embodiment of justice. Their only wish is to avoid being bullied by the government.
Therefore, even if Zhu Yongxing issued a blatant decree to kill all the Jiangnan Jin gentry who had "disappointed His divine grace", those who survived would think that these Jin gentry sought their own death.
After the Manchu and Qing Dynasty's "Memorandum Cases" and "Crying Temple Cases" in Jiangnan, as well as the stationing of a large number of Qing troops and the oppression of the government, the strength of the Jin gentry in Jiangnan suffered a heavy blow. Zhu Yongxing took advantage of his weakness to use reason and reason.
The punishment according to the law weakened them again, which is as it should be.
Moreover, the punishment of the Jiangnan Jin gentry who committed adultery began as early as after the liberation of Jiangnan. The principle is to punish the guilty, regardless of other matters. Zhu Youming, who was almost severely punished by the Qing court because of the "History of the Ming" case, originally thought that he would be punished for this.
Although he was praised by the court, he was unexpectedly investigated by the government for his crimes of plundering and plundering the countryside, and his whole family was sentenced to exile.
Punishing the evil gentry is only one aspect of quickly stabilizing order in the south of the Yangtze River. Local sticks, gangsters, and bullies from all over the country are also severely punished. Since the Northern Expedition is to be carried out based on the south of the Yangtze River, social stability can be quickly achieved with this slightly cruel method.
It's not an excessive move.
……………
"China is really too big and too rich." After the Japanese delegation took a boat and visited along the Yangtze River, Hattori couldn't help but sigh, "Some small and big names have to grow it themselves."
In the early years of Mr. Ieyasu, all the elders under him had to do farm work!"
The small daimyo, that is, the princes of the Japanese country, are only equivalent to the county magistrates of China in terms of the size of their territory.
"Yes, when I came here I just felt that China is vast and boundless. This time I was able to observe the scenery along the way. Sure enough, the land is fertile and has everything you need." Xiao Zhaisheng, who is also a member of the mission, nodded in agreement, "The Tatars are connected to the land along the river.
They all abandoned their defense, which shows that they do not have the strength to compete with the Ming Dynasty. In other words, they lack the courage to fight to the death."
"In other words, the defeat of the Tatars is almost certain." Hattori said sincerely: "Our country's policy has been determined. The victory of the Ming Dynasty is in sight, and defeating the Tatars is only a matter of time."
"You can almost say that." Xiaozhai Shengshun was still a little cautious. He pondered for a while and said, "Maybe we can agree to open a business store in Ming Dynasty for the time being. It seems better to wait and see for other further actions."
"Otaku-kun is really prudent!" Hattori laughed sincerely and said: "That's good, as long as we don't offend the Tatars too much. The general plans to vigorously promote Confucianism and teach the people to respect teachers, love people and be compassionate. He will practice martial arts and cultivate literature.
A peaceful environment is needed.”
………………(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!