Father can be an enemy to the country

"There are two main difficulties. There is no harmony and lack of manpower." Zhu Zhen replied in a deep voice:

"Let's talk about the former first. It is said that the right time is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the harmony. But when we promote the New Deal in various provinces, we will definitely encounter a situation where the government does not cooperate, the gentry and the big families are very resistant, and the ordinary people do not understand. There is no harmony at all. .”

"Well..." Zhu Yuanzhang exhaled. Although he didn't want to admit it, it was a fact. "This group of civil servants have been writing letters to impeach your two brothers all day long, slandering you for your perverse actions in Jiangxi. God is angry and people are angry. It turns out that the facts are just as you said."

"Scared, do they hate us so much?" Lao Liu clicked his tongue and said, "I haven't heard much about it."

"My eldest brother was afraid that you were too young and couldn't bear the pressure, so he didn't let me tell you." Zhu Di then told the truth: "As for those who impeached us, they have all been sent to Fengyang by my father. Planting trees.”

"That's good." Zhu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. If someone scolded him and was not punished, more people would be encouraged to attack him. Then a group of flies would buzz around him, which would be annoying to death.

However, he felt that the punishment this time was a bit light, not like the style of an old thief.

"Only part of the people dug holes to plant trees, some were used as trees, and some were used as fertilizer." Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly.

"Okay..." Zhu Zhen saw his eldest brother and the fourth brother all shuddering, and couldn't help but swallowed and said: "It's easy to understand being a fertilizer, but what does it mean to be a tree?"

"This is not something you should know at your age." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said:

"You just need to know that no matter how hard you chew, you will get scolded. Only people like Hu Weiyong who please civil and military officials at every turn will not be scolded - but with me and your brother here, just treat them as farts."

"Father, it was Hu Weiyong who Shen Liben confessed to instructing him to set up the "No Account Book"." Zhu Zhen saw Hu Weiyong jumping around again today and became very angry. He would come to him when he got the chance. one time.

"Shen Liben was executed without mercy, but Hu Weiyong was not only unscathed, but he continued to be crowned the monkey."

"We have our own opinions on this matter, so don't go off topic." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, not wanting to hear him discuss this issue. "Continue to talk about how to solve the problems of human beings."

"The rule of government failure to cooperate is relatively simple. First of all, we must resolutely implement the system of avoiding official appointments of 'people from the south will be officials from the north, and people from the north will be officials from the south'. Only if they are not in the local network can these officials be attracted to the imperial court and cooperate with the officials sent by the imperial court." work team." Zhu Zhen sighed:

"However, in the fourth year of Hongwu, the system of 'north-south adjustment' was already established in the selection of officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, seven years later, there are still native Jiangxi people like Xiong Qitai who have been in charge of Jiangxi."

"I have already questioned Zhongshu about this matter, and their reply is that Xiong Qitai is from Henan, so it does not violate the avoidance system." The prince smiled bitterly and said: "His family fled to Jiangxi in the early Yuan Dynasty, and they have already arrived here. It’s the third generation, so it’s obviously a loophole.”

"We have ordered officials from all over the world to report the actual situation of their respective third generations and in-laws." Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "We will avoid serving as officials to the end."

"That's good." Zhu Zhen nodded.

"In addition to officials, there are also officials in the government. Why do you only talk about officials and not officials?" asked the eldest brother.

"Because the subordinate officials have been rotten for a long time. If the Ming Dynasty wants to achieve long-term peace and stability, they must be completely replaced sooner or later. But local operations do not rely on officials, but on these experienced and cunning officials who have been handed down from generation to generation." Zhu Zhen He smiled bitterly and said:

"Their number is far more than a hundred times that of the officials. We don't have that condition right now, so we can only let them maintain the situation. As for the affairs of Qingzhang, Huangce, and Lijia that were originally responsible for them, it is more reliable to send another work team. "

"Lao Liu knows me very thoroughly." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded approvingly and said:

"The issue of subordinate officials is a long-standing malpractice from past dynasties, and even we find it difficult. That's why we have to create yellow books and use lijia, so that the township can organize tax collection, service, capture theft, repair water conservancy, and self-determination of lawsuits other than human life. This is to prevent The subordinate officials will go to the countryside again. Since the imperial power does not go to the county, then the subordinate officials should stop harassing the people."

After hearing this, Zhu Zhen secretly admired it. Unexpectedly, the old thief was still an incorrigible idealist. No matter how rustic this rustic utopia was, it still exuded the brilliance of idealism.

~~

"Let's talk about the big squire family." Speaking of the government issues, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

"The most reactionary people this time are these people, because what the court wants to disturb is their fundamental interests." Zhu Zhen said lightly.

"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with deep approval and said:

"Those big gentry families have been spoiled by the tax farming system of the Yuan Dynasty. They have forgotten how the Song Dynasty collected taxes from them! They always want to be like the Yuan Dynasty and let the court let them do whatever they want. Just dream! We just want to be ruthless. Let’s deal with them so that ordinary people can have a way to survive!”

"Father is right." Zhu Zhen agreed: "In fact, the second and third points can be said in conjunction. The big squires themselves are not scary. What is scary is their control over the common people. They can only give a little. Money and energy can incite the common people to go against the court, and this is the most difficult thing."

"Aren't the people in Jiangxi very supportive of the New Deal?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a dark face. He always felt that he always thought about ordinary people and made decisions for the poor, so he couldn't stand that even the poor were against him.

"The people did welcome the New Deal, but they did not support it from the beginning. For thousands of years, they have been accustomed to being dominated by the squires, elders, and scholars, so they ignorantly helped the tiger, doing whatever they could to get back after being sold. Helping with stupid things like counting money.”

"Lao Liu is right. This is the reason why those gentry dared to shout, 'You and the gentry share the world.'" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slowly and said:

"The country is too big, and the people are too far away from the emperor. When we were herding cattle, even the county magistrate felt it was too far away. I felt that Mr. Liu was the king of the whole village, let alone the emperor who was far away in the capital. I don’t have that concept at all, do you understand?” Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said:

"In the past, thousands of wealthy gentry families like Mr. Liu were the gods of all common people. They had only heard of the emperor, but could never see it. Therefore, the emperor would not be able to sit down without cooperating with the wealthy gentry families and those scholars. Stabilize the country.”

"But this is wrong!" Zhu Yuanzhang changed the topic and said in a deep voice: "The emperor still regards the world as his own property. As long as he is not a fool, he always knows how to cherish the people's strength and rest with the people. But those gentry and wealthy people only care for their own family. Think about it and exploit the common people without mercy!"

"Not only did they exploit their own tenants, they also colluded with the government to pass on the taxes and services they should have paid to the common people!" Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more angry as he spoke: "And they also relied on their authority over the common people. , blaming the blame on the imperial court and on us, saying that the emperor’s exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have made it difficult for the common people to survive!”

"This is a lie, a naked lie!" Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the table and shouted angrily: "But the people are ignorant and illiterate, and they have become accustomed to listening to them and believing them. Just like we believed whatever Liu De said back then, so It will make them emboldened and proudly say, 'You and the scholar-bureaucrats share the world', shit! That's a naked threat!"

"What is 'the king and the scholar-bureaucrats share the world'? We just don't believe in evil, and we must change it for him," Zhu Yuanzhang declared domineeringly: "We want to share the world with the people!"

"Okay, awesome!" Lao Liu couldn't help but applaud Lao Zhu.