Chapter 182 The shock of Chongzhen and the cabinet
March 10th, afternoon.
Forbidden City, inside the Wenhua Palace.
Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, together with the first minister of the cabinet Wen Tiren, the second minister Wu Zongda, and the most important core ministers of the Ming Dynasty such as Wang Yingxiong, Qian Shisheng, and He Wuzhen.
In addition, on the two soft sofa-like chairs next to them, there are also two respected old men who have become officials - Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi (Xu Guangqi fell seriously ill last year and was cured by Xujiazhuang's magic medicine, but he is still relatively weak and unable to participate in government affairs).
Today they were specially invited to the palace to discuss a major matter together.
What big deal are you discussing?
Naturally, they discussed the copy of the "Oriental Times" that each of them held, discussed the significance and impact of this newspaper, and discussed how the court should respond.
As for the content of the newspaper, they have read it all, and there are not many reading barriers or obstacles.
Then there was the shock.
Extremely shocked! Especially the emperor Zhu Youjian felt ashamed, angry and even afraid.
The Little Ice Age described in this newspaper was simply too scary. There were floods in the south and drought in the north, and food production was completely reduced. What should the people of the Ming Dynasty do?
And is this world really so vast? How come the Ming Dynasty only occupies a small corner of the world map?
How could Xujiazhuang understand so clearly what was happening in Western countries tens of thousands of miles away?
Why was Xu Jiazhuang able to investigate the Ming Dynasty’s population, economy, average life expectancy, male-to-female ratio and other data in such detail? He knew it more thoroughly than the Ming Dynasty. It’s scary to think about. Why? Xu Jiazhuang worked so hard to understand the Ming Dynasty. What did Xu Jiazhuang want to do?
?What’s the plan?
As for the maritime trade merchants of the Ming Dynasty, they earned 15 million silver dollars through foreign trade every year, which was almost as much as the entire fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty. This made Zhu Youjian feel jealous and envious. It would be fine if the sea ban policy was completely destroyed.
, why do those sea trade merchants earn so much money and not turn it over to the court? Do they completely regard the court as nothing? How long do you want to continue this illegal trade operation?
Wait wait wait.
In short, during the process of reading this newspaper, Emperor Zhu Youjian had countless emotions in his heart. He wanted to tear up the newspaper several times. He felt that it was all fake and made up by Xujiazhuang to deceive people. It was completely untrustworthy.
but……
Zhu Youjian finally believed two or three points, because in terms of understanding of the Ming Empire, there are absolutely few people who can surpass him as the emperor, right? He couldn't tell from the data listed in the "Oriental Times" that it was too big
The fallacy came out, but he kept confirming some things in his mind, and thought of Xu Jiazhuang's unpredictable ability. Even if Zhu Youji tried his best to deny it, he had no choice but to find that he couldn't do it.
Because this is called self-deception!
We had to call a few cabinet ministers, including the emperor's brother's teacher Sun Chengzong and the erudite Xu Guangqi, to help them review the situation and think about countermeasures.
"Your Majesty, this newspaper is just misleading people with lies and it should be banned immediately!"
The first assistant Wen Tiren said: "Now the Ming Dynasty is prosperous and prosperous, and your majesty is wise and powerful, a generation of holy masters. The weather will be good this year, and there will be great harvests everywhere, and there will be auspicious scenes everywhere. The so-called Little Ice Age is nonsense, no
If it's worth refuting, it will prove to be a joke."
"good!"
Wu Zongda, the second assistant, said: "This newspaper is just creating panic. God's will is unpredictable. How can a businessman be worthy of spying on the sky? Even if there is a disaster, it will befall Xu Jiazhuang, who is rebellious. The Ming Dynasty will only continue to improve. Your Majesty only needs to humbly accept advice.
, stay up late and eat late, concentrate on state affairs, the country and the people will naturally be in peace, and be protected by Shangcang. Only unscrupulous forces like Xujiazhuang will worry about the Little Ice Age."
"Your Majesty, the "Oriental Times" has deceived people and fabricated rumors, which has caused panic in many people in the Ming Dynasty. Rumors are spreading everywhere. It must be completely banned and burned. No more pieces of paper can be allowed to spread." Qian Shisheng, a bachelor, said.
"Although the content of "Oriental Times" has some merits, the simplified characters, vernacular, punctuation marks, etc. are incompatible with the Ming Dynasty, and there is no trace of the sage's subtle words and righteousness. If it is not prohibited, over time, the foundation of Confucianism will definitely be in danger!" Bachelor of Arts
Wang Yingxiong found a more important attack point and saw a deeper threat.
"Fei Xiong is right. Regardless of whether the content of the Eastern Times is true or false, as long as it does not use the words of our Ming Dynasty standards, it must be banned!" University scholar He Wuzou agreed.
Hear these perspectives from them.
Agree.
Zhu Youjian wholeheartedly agreed with it, because the threat of the "Oriental Times" was obvious, and he wanted to block it, even if it contained countless useful information.
But if you really have the ability to ban it if you want, that would be great.
Because his consent was sought before the publication of this newspaper, Zhu Youjian didn't take it seriously at the time. It was just a commercial newspaper similar to Di Bao. What threat could it pose? And as long as he nodded, the royal family would be in the "Oriental Times" in the future.
"Public articles are free of charge, and will also help promote the glorious image of the royal family, promote the products sold in the royal store, and earn a few more silver dollars every year, etc. Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement. Who knew that this was a routine.
Now he wants to repent. Is Xujiazhuang a vegetarian? Can the royal family be able to withstand any punitive measures?
And then I thought about Wen Tiren, Wu Zongda, Qian Shisheng, they all deposited a large amount of money in Tianxiatong Bank, and they all became big customers, but here, they are always opposed to Xujiazhuang being so strong, and they have countless words, but they
Why do you need to deposit money to Tianxiatong Bank again? Can their words be trusted? If you do as they say, who will bear the losses? Will they bear the responsibility?
Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian could only turn his questioning eyes to Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi, the two consultants specially invited today.
"Mr. Sun, Mr. Xu Ge, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty, what this newspaper says must be true. We must be prepared for disaster prevention and relief this year and make every effort to avoid the occurrence of a great famine."
Sun Chengzong surprised everyone when he opened his mouth. He said: "In the past two years, I have done nothing else in my hometown in Gaoyang County. I have just studied Jiannu and Xujiazhuang. I found that although Jiannu was ferocious, he was by no means a match for Xujiazhuang, so I devoted all my energy to it."
, all focused on the study of Xujiazhuang, and found that the three major characteristics of this force are extremely worthy of learning and are the secrets that can make the Ming Dynasty prosperous and strong."
"The first is pragmatism. Xujiazhuang is extremely pragmatic. He studies things to the extreme. No matter what he does, he will do his best to collect data to make accurate decisions. It is like knowing yourself and the enemy in the art of war. However, Xujiazhuang is far ahead in data and intelligence. Therefore, no matter what Xujiazhuang does,
There is no end in sight, and there are very few situations that cannot be dealt with. This is the benefit of being pragmatic."
"The second is to prepare for a rainy day and predict the future. Xujiazhuang has attached great importance to food security from the beginning. The focus of development in the past few years has been to obtain more food. It has also vigorously developed animal husbandry, engaged in ocean fishing, and used meat as a food.
An important addition is that last year, in the Jiangnan area, enough grain was stored to feed 10 million people for a year. Given the nature of Xujiazhuang merchants, if they had not foreseen the crisis in advance, why would they have made such a big move? What if everything goes well this year?
Isn’t it just a waste of so much food? But Xujiazhuang did it anyway and invested nearly 100 million silver dollars in it. Is it just for a joke?”
"The third is strong execution. Xujiazhuang's "One Hundred Thousand Miles of Road Construction Plan in Three Years" is implemented as soon as it is said to be implemented. The salary is hundreds of cents a day, two meals are included, and there is no limit on the number of road construction workers to be recruited. At present,
At least one million young people have been recruited. This number is more than the people who built the canal during the Sui Dynasty. However, Xujiazhuang not only successfully recruited one million young people, but also managed it in an orderly manner without any mistakes. This kind of organizational power, execution
His power is frightening, and the imperial court cannot match it."
"Your Majesty, this "Oriental Times", the common people believe that not only cannot it be banned, but it can open people's eyes to the world. It is the best window for how to learn from Xujiazhuang. If we blindly reject and resist, and close our eyes and ears, after a few years,
Facing the new brilliant trend, the only way out is to be crushed and wiped out."
Sun Chengzong knelt on the ground and persuaded him with tears in his eyes.
Zhu Youjian quickly asked the eunuch to help him up.
"Your Majesty, what Mr. Sun means is also what I want to say."
At this time, Xu Guangqi also said tremblingly: "Especially the theory of the Little Ice Age. After reviewing countless data, I can only come to a conclusion that is "extremely correct and horrifying." I hope your majesty will pay attention to it and stop listening to such "celestial beings".
According to the theory of "induction", natural disasters are uncontrollable and common occurrences. Xujiazhuang's ability to find out the rules is a groundbreaking move, and it is also the beginning of man's victory over nature. If the imperial court can fight against disasters in advance this year, maintain food production, and save
With more people, we will definitely be able to win over countless people and restore the prestige of the imperial court, which is also a great thing for Your Majesty. If Xujiazhuang unfortunately gets what he says, but the imperial court does nothing, it will definitely cause countless resentments and the imperial court's prestige will be greatly damaged."
Hear this.
Zhu Youjian was shocked and had to nod his head and said: "It makes sense, what the elder said makes sense! I will issue an imperial edict immediately, requiring all places to prepare for disaster prevention in advance, and not to be lax!" Of course, the main purpose is to avoid the court's chaos.
Nothing was done, but Xujiazhuang won the hearts and minds of the people.
Seeing that the emperor decisively adopted the advice of the two advisors who had already served in office and ignored the suggestions of their real cabinet ministers, Wen Tiren, Wu Zongda and others were naturally very unhappy. They immediately suggested in a roundabout way that the two elders might have been "bought by Xujiazhuang".
The slander of "having deviated from the principles of Confucianism", such destructive remarks, would definitely achieve very good results in normal times, but this time Zhu Youjian just waved his hands and did not take their words seriously at all.
As for whether to block the "Oriental Times", this topic has gradually faded away. Even if civil servants are aware of the seriousness of allowing the influence of this newspaper to spread, it is easy to block it. Can Xujiazhuang withstand the counterattack? Let it go.
Don’t you want the deposits in Tianxiatong Bank?
Not only can they not be banned, but once a new issue of "Oriental Times" comes out, they will soon have a copy in their hands. After reading it, they will severely criticize it, and they will not miss every issue.
…
On the Xujiazhuang side, after publishing the first issue, they naturally did not give up. Instead, they struck while the iron was hot and continued to publish a new issue of "Oriental Times".
On March 11, one million copies of the second issue of "Oriental Times" were also printed and distributed throughout the Ming Dynasty. The headline this time was "On Xujiazhuang's concept of "putting people first and treating people as treasure"".
On March 14, the front page headline of the third issue of "Oriental Times" was "Natural selection, survival of the fittest! On why the Ming Dynasty wanted to expand".
On March 17, the front page news of the fourth issue of "Oriental Times" continued the topic of the previous issue and published an editorial "The colonial footprints of Western powers have reached the door of Ming Dynasty, it is time to open their eyes to see the world!"
On March 20, the front page headline of the fifth issue of "Oriental Times" was "Great changes unseen in three thousand years, some people are still living in a dream!" It was the third consecutive issue to discuss the same topic and fully criticize certain groups.
, and even bluntly stated the limitations of Confucianism.
March 2…
After that, the "Oriental Times" published by Xujiazhuang quickly occupied an unchallengeable dominant ecological niche in the Ming Dynasty's public opinion field at the rate of one issue every three days (it can't do it once a day for the time being, and the cost is too high).
, and its influence is growing. Every time a million copies are issued, they are all sold out quickly. There is even a special scalper group that supports countless teahouse readers...
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Chapter 182 Chongzhen and the Shock of the Cabinet are free to read.