Beginning in the autumn of the twelfth year of Wanli, fat and strong horses continued to set new speed records on the racecourse, and the minds of the people in the capital were also stirred up.
Yushitai and Liuke almost swarmed in and impeached the clan headed by King Zhou. Firstly, horse racing really ruined the social atmosphere, and secondly, impeaching the clan was considered to be the political correctness of the Ming Dynasty - an old tradition. Especially...
After the imperial family reform, the princes stationed in Beijing were closely monitored by the royal family and the imperial censor. If they made any mistakes, they would be fined lightly.
King Zhou didn't think too much before he took the initiative to hold a horse racing meeting. As a descendant of Taizu who used to dominate the fiefdom, he felt that he was already very restrained in holding a horse racing meeting. I didn't force the people to gamble, right? On the contrary,
According to the idea given by King Zheng, each horse racing ticket of the Jockey Club has a limited bet, and the maximum limit for each person to buy a horse is no more than ten taels of silver - only twenty silver dollars. What is the use of this little money?
Besides, Emperor Xuanzong of this dynasty loved to play with crickets very much. He searched for good crickets from the south of the Yangtze River and found dozens of taels each. When he started gambling, he won and lost hundreds of thousands, and even when the whole country followed the game, he didn't see any trouble.
When he came out to remonstrate, he actually accomplished the feat of "ruling by benevolence and propaganda".
Nowadays, in the Taiping era, sports such as hammer ball, polo, Cuju, rugby, archery, and spear throwing are in full swing. The emperor goes to the Capital University every now and then to watch games, and sometimes even presides over the kick-off ceremony himself - this is what the Emperor of Taiping looks like!
I just wanted to add some fun and excitement to the horse racing events, how could I go wrong?! Where did I go wrong? The belly buttons of the Jingshi Cuju Guild are all black, and every one of the people in it has nothing to do with the Jockey Club.
The manure shovelers are clean. Why don't these censors call you out?
This is a rough statement, but who knows that he is from the clan? The Cuju guild was run by merchants, and the imperial censor would lose his place by challenging them. Therefore, the unlucky king of Zhou was defeated in two months.
I was forced to hire a staff member to help write my defense memorial.
...
Although Zhu Yijun was a member of the imperial family, all the memorials about horse racing were ignored, and the imperial censor and Gai Shizhong had no good solution. In this way, the horse racing club was opened amidst a lot of scolding from the government and the public, and continued to endure the infamy all the way.
Within half a year, it had grown into the largest trading company in the capital's service industry.
The pressure on the censor and the government was not a big deal, but the public opinion of the two major daily newspapers in the capital was unbearable. When King Zhou first moved to the capital, he read the newspapers every day: "Today's Statement" and "Novel" in each issue
He didn't miss a single word of "serial", and even specially arranged for people to make newspaper clippings. If the serialization stopped one day, he would definitely go to the newspaper office in person to make a fuss.
But I can’t read this newspaper recently. When I read it, there must be someone scolding him and the clan. In the past, King Zheng was wronged because of himself, and because the younger King Zheng served as the director of the Gewün Academy, he had a good reputation among the people, but now he is also notorious on the street——
I don’t know who was quick to tell reporters about King Zheng’s advice to King Zhou and his participation in the shares.
One day, the master who was helping the King of Zhou to write a memorial suddenly became blessed and came up with an idea: "Your Majesty, this newspaper can't do anything good. Why don't you spend a lot of money to buy a few heroic articles and let the newspaper wash away your filth?"
Zhang Yuande, who is in charge of the "Jingshi Daily", and Sui Anbo, who is in charge of the "Xinmin Daily", can still watch you standing in this cesspit without pulling out?"
King Zhou Xian covered his nose and frowned: "Sir, what you said is so stupid. What do you mean by standing in a manure pit? What do you mean by 'not pulling'? You don't use the word 'pull' well."
The image suddenly appeared in the mind of the staff member, and he almost vomited, and apologized with a wry smile. King Zhou was disgusted with it, but he followed the good advice and went to visit Zhang Yuande and Chen Shu in person with the post and asked these two guys for help.
The two of them didn't dare to agree at first, but King Zhou was too proud to insist on it, which made them very embarrassed. But the idea that the newspaper was the emperor's mouthpiece had long been rotten in their stomachs, so they could only hesitate.
.
A few days later, Sui Anbo seized the opportunity to ask for the order. "Xinmin Daily" immediately sent the newspaper to interview King Zhou with a large sum of money, and decided to help him clear his name. From then on, King Zhou became the "Jingshi Daily"'s life-long blacklist, the British prince who had assaulted the title.
Zhang Yuangong followed his brother Zhanbao'er on his knees and was hit by an arrow. King Zhou scolded him when he saw it.
This reporter is really talented and well versed in the manipulation of public opinion. He has written several articles in a row, and the last article discussed in the Zhou Palace today is the last article. This article starts with the origin of gambling, and then discusses the ban on gambling in the past dynasties.
The laws and edicts were sorted out.
The article first says that gambling has been prohibited in all dynasties since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The most stringent period of laws prohibiting gambling was in the Song Dynasty. The "Song Xingtong", a code formulated by Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning of the founding of the country, had clear laws on the prohibition of gambling. But in actual practice,
During the execution, the legal restrictions were even exceeded. The penalties for gambling during the Taizong period of the Song Dynasty were unprecedentedly severe:
"In the second month of the second year of Chunhua, Ji Chou issued an edict to gamble (gambling) in the capital. Kaifeng Prefecture will arrest him and kill him. Anyone who hides a gambler and fails to report him will be punished with the same crime. Anyone who opens a casino (casino) will be punished.
"Same crime". If caught, they will be beheaded without saying a word.
The next most severe one was the Yuan Dynasty. “Public gambling was banned, and offenders would be punished with seventy sticks. They would be exiled to the north, and their money and property would be confiscated. Officials would be dismissed from office, and their miscellaneous duties would be reported after the term. Opening a gaming house would be a crime as well.
"The regulations are strict and detailed.
When it came to the Republic of China, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Taizu "built the Xiaoyao Tower in Nanjing, placed gambling equipment on it, and saw players who played games, people who raised animals (referring to cockfighting, dogfighting, and cricket fights), and people who wandered around and ate.
Arrest them in the building and let them roam freely, and they will all starve to death."
Well, the old man has very deep intentions. He wants to let you take care of it, but if he surrounds Xiaoyao Tower and doesn't give you food, he will starve you to death. Taizu used this to teach the people that gambling instead of production is a wrong outlook on life.
In the 22nd year of Hongwu, Taizu issued an edict: "Anyone who gambles must be freed from his tricks." Well, if you catch him, I'll chop off your hands. I'll ask you if you're afraid.
Later, in addition to the playful Xuanzong, Chengzu, Xianzong, Yingzong, and Xiaozong all issued edicts prohibiting gambling. The punishment for gamblers who were caught was to be pillaged, officials were dismissed from office, and those who opened casinos were exiled.
What reporter Zhong wrote was normal text, interesting and well-founded. King Zhou read it with gusto, and then he saw his pen change:
Paradoxically, the Northern Song Dynasty, when punishments were the heaviest and offenders were beheaded, was the most violent place for gambling. People in the Song Dynasty were so addicted to gambling that almost all people’s livelihoods were related to gambling.
For example, the most common marketing method in the Northern Song Dynasty was called "Guan Pu". After the seller marked the price of the goods, the buyer could bet a small amount of money with the seller. The most common one was "Hun Chun" or "Liu Chun" - "Hun Chun"
"That is, throw out six copper coins, all with their backs facing up, and vice versa for "Six Pure" coins.
Throw out Pure or Six Pure, keep the gambling money, and take it away to the buyer of the product - this is the only opportunity for many poor people to consume luxury goods, and the chance of winning the goods is about one in 120.
How popular is this kind of "Guan Pu"? Many men in the Song Dynasty were sent to the market to buy soy sauce by their wives. It is highly likely that they would not bring home any money or soy sauce. Of course, there are also a handful of people who originally
I went out to buy a pack of salt, but ended up driving a pig home.
Then the article asked, why in the Song Dynasty, when people were beheaded for gambling, people risked their lives to gamble? In the end, the law did not punish the public, and no one could control it - the Chinese people's love for gambling was passed down from the Song Dynasty.
After the Yuan Dynasty came to the Guo Dynasty, it became more and more intense.
At this point, the article is still well-founded, both reasoning and interesting. King Zhou learned a lot from it. Then Lao Zhong made another move and wrote about the prohibition of alcohol——
The prohibition on alcohol was born almost at the same time as wine. The first prohibition on alcohol in China was issued by Dayu: "Warring States Policy" records that the "emperor's daughter", namely Yao's two daughters: E Huang and Nv Ying, made Yi Di Niang.
The wine was presented to Yu. After tasting it, Yu found it very delicious and said, "There will be people in future generations who will destroy their country with wine." So he ordered Yi Di not to make wine anymore.
This is considered a legend, but the explicitly recorded prohibition on alcohol was written by Zhou Gongdan: "Jiu Gao" was China's first prohibition on alcohol. From the Spring and Autumn and Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, alcohol prohibition orders were issued many times, but many times they were in vain.
The reign of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty was the most stringent. Just like the ban on gambling in the Song Dynasty, "offenders will die" - and at the same time, just like the ban on gambling in the Song Dynasty, the Chinese people in the Yuan Dynasty loved drinking most, and it reached the level of "the wind is so strong" that even the princes and nobles
, down to the vendors, footmen, and anyone who could afford wine, many of them stayed drunk all day long.
When King Zhou saw this, he was completely confused - why did people become more arrogant in violating the laws during the period when alcohol and gambling were prohibited? It doesn't make sense! But these are all facts that have been verified through research!
The man surnamed Zhong didn't show off, and directly explained the argument: "Gambling and drinking are related to human nature. Without these two, there is no interest in life." - These two things are too closely related to people's life, entertainment and human psychology.
The word "forbidden" cannot be used to control it. Therefore, prohibiting gambling is like "prohibiting alcohol". No matter how strict the edict is, it can only be controlled for a while, and then the prohibition will be relaxed, and the officials and the people will violate it, and the law will no longer work.
So what should we do? We can't just let the gambling trend go unchecked, as this thing has a great impact on social management. The author then uses irrefutable data to provide a solution:
As said in "On Contradiction", when things develop to a certain extent, they will cause qualitative changes or go to the opposite of the original. The birth of horse racing and the accompanying horse betting are typical examples: since the opening of the Jockey Club in the late summer of the twelfth year of Wanli,
The crime rate caused by gambling in the capital has dropped sharply. The reporter obtained data from Shuntian Prefecture and found that the incidence rate of such crimes dropped by 44 percentage points in the most recent quarter.
This data is so astonishing and convincing! King Zhou was so happy when he saw this - Oh my God, I have inadvertently done a good deed and accumulated good deeds, and created Buddhas for thousands of families!
The article goes on to say that the strong gambling culture will bring about a series of social management problems, including the loss of human ethics, the breeding of crime and even the promotion of corruption. However, when faced with the problem, we cannot just ban it - even if we want to ban it, we cannot ban it, no matter you
No matter how strong the control power is, gambling, like alcohol, cannot be banned.
So how to manage it? The author strongly recommends that the court should use "like water control, blocking and dredging" at the same time, so that it can change customs and reverse the gambling habit of the Chinese people."
On the one hand, it is necessary to reiterate Taizu's prohibition, especially the strict laws to control the gambling of officials and soldiers, draw a red line, and punish the offenders severely; on the other hand, the court must list the list of gambling equipment, prohibit private casinos, and strictly prohibit possession by private households and prostitutes.
Gambling equipment, offenders will be punished, etc.
Actions in this regard should include: informing local governments, promoting education, and publicizing the dangers of gambling; the second is to bring the princes' horse racing trading companies under management - the imperial court generally gives an outlet for the repressed gambling nature of the people.
People who like speculation at heart have a place to vent; third, "entertainment" activities including playing mahjong are not prohibited as long as the gambling capital does not exceed a certain limit.
Only with such a multi-pronged approach, including laws and public opinion, can we control the spread of gambling bad habits among the people and gradually reverse the bad habit of gambling among the people.
At the end of the article, the benefits of horse racing are positively promoted: Officially approved horse racing can limit the amount of bets and impose heavy taxes, which is a small supplement to the finances; and in order to win, the kings must search for rare stallions from many sources - as long as the long-distance racing system is set up
, short-distance, heavy-bearing, cross-country and other projects, private forces can be used to cultivate various improved horses, which will be of great benefit to national defense and the national economy and people's livelihood.
An eloquent article, well-founded and well-founded, which made the King of Zhou feel elated and praised the journalist repeatedly - Sui Anbo was such a good person.
After taking out a hundred taels of gold as thanks, several people sat around in the study for a while. King Zhou and his staff praised Reporter Zhong for having the time to burn incense. Finally, King Zhou's staff said:
"The Emperor Xuanzong of our country loved to play games. From his time onwards, from the emperor to the common people, there is no one who does not love gambling. Moreover, the tricks have been renovated, and the gambling equipment and gambling skills have gone hand in hand."
At this point, he cupped his hands to the north and said, "Didn't a sage like our sage personally invent mahjong? Although it is an act of filial piety, how many families in the world have been ruined because of mahjong!"
After hearing this, King Zhou nodded with a smile and said: "Yes, if gamblers don't bet on horses, can't they play mahjong, push Pai Gow, and throw dice? Just talk about mahjong. Which official would dare to ban it? The Queen Mother of the two palaces can
Tear him apart!”
After hearing this, reporter Zhong thought to himself: "Did these guys not understand my article? Did I write it in too classical Chinese?"