"It's not easy to be the chief minister of the cabinet."
Liu Jin opened his eyes and sighed softly.
You have the emperor above who needs to give you good assistance, and you have to reassure him that he won't think you have any different intentions. There are also a large number of officials below, all of whom are keeping an eye on you and your position.
It can be said that since ancient times, this position has not been easy to achieve. Those who can make a difference in this position and make some contributions are truly outstanding people.
People like Shang Yang of the Qin Dynasty, Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty, and Zhang Juzheng of the Ming Dynasty were all truly outstanding people. Of course, outstanding people often did not end well.
Shang Yang was torn apart by a chariot, Wang Anshi was demoted and framed, Zhang Juzheng had his entire family executed, and his graves were dug up and his corpses whipped. The endings can be said to be very miserable.
The very important reason is that if you want to achieve something, you must make some reforms and changes to the existing situation, and this will inevitably involve the interests of a large number of powerful people.
Once you lose power or trust, the end will be tragic. The emperor often won't mind using your head to calm the anger of the powerful.
Although many times, the emperor knows that you have actually done a lot of good things, and your reform measures have indeed made the country stronger, but you still have to kill. Killing donkeys and burning bridges has been done by emperors since ancient times.
.
In the case of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was unwilling to let go of ministers like Liu Bowen. After using them, he would throw them away like rags. Moreover, he did not want to ruin his reputation and found competitors to kill Liu Bowen.
It can be said that many times, when you reach this position, even if you have nothing but the wind in your sleeves, are trembling with fear, as if you are facing an abyss, and walking on thin ice, you are still on the cusp of the storm. If you are not careful, you may die without a burial place, and you will also take your family with you.
.
If you need to make a difference, it's even harder, and it often doesn't end well.
Now I am sitting in this position.
Liu Jin doesn't think he is more powerful than Zhang Juzheng, Wang Anshi, Shang Yang and others. He is just a time traveler. He knows a little more, but he is different from them in many aspects such as human relations, political tactics and so on.
Too far.
The reason why I have been able to reach this point is entirely because I knew from the very beginning to tie my own interests to the emperor, prince, and nobles.
Many of the industries founded were run in partnership with big guys. At the same time, the most important point in solving the Ming Dynasty problem was to plunder wealth and resources from outside.
To solve the problem of Ming Dynasty's financial difficulties and empty treasury, it started by taking advantage of foreign wars and won the wars one after another, allowing Japan, Siam, Malacca, Luzon, etc. to cede territory for compensation and rob wealth.
Then there is the development of foreign trade and colonial plunder, while attaching importance to technology, and relying on the development and germination of capitalism to make the wealth cake bigger and stronger.
Rather than re-measure the land and implement a whip method like Zhang Juzheng, there is a fundamental difference between the two.
Liu Jin's method is to make the cake bigger and stronger. Originally, the Ming Dynasty only had 100 wealth, but after Liu Jin's method, it skyrocketed to 1,000 or 10,000. With the huge wealth, everyone can get a lot of benefits from top to bottom.
and dividends.
Zhang Juzheng's method is to redistribute the cake. The wealth is still the same as 100. It is just that part of the wealth belonging to the landlords, gentry, and powerful people is returned to the court, so that the court has money to do some things. As for the common people,
It's still the same as before, and it's even become more difficult.
This is the fundamental difference between the two.
Liu Jin knew this very well, so he never dared to mention the matter of re-measurement of the land and requiring the gentry to pay the grain as one body.
Because once such a policy was made, Liu Jin was on the opposite side of everyone. There was no way to deal with business taxation, and the gentry and businessmen in Jiangnan had been offended to death.
If it were not for the continuous attacks on the Jiangnan gentry, Liu Jin would never have succeeded, and he might have died without even knowing how.
Many things need to be done step by step, slowly and step by step.
The same goes for the establishment of new learning. It encountered strong opposition and resistance from Confucianists at the beginning. Later, it was promised that people of new learning would not be allowed to take the imperial examination and become officials, and then it was somewhat able to continue.
But even now, Confucian people are still hostile and hostile to the new learning.
Generally speaking, this position is really difficult to sit in and is not something ordinary people can do.
If you want to make a difference, it's even harder. The key is to think about your own end.
Now Liu Jin is actually most worried about Emperor Hongzhi killing the donkey.
I worked hard to do a lot for Emperor Hongzhi and a lot for the Ming Dynasty.
Don't do it until the end. Emperor Hongzhi feels that his tail is too big to lose or is of no use anymore, so he will kill him directly.
This is not Liu Jin’s unfounded worries, but rather the countless bloody lessons from past dynasties.
Gu Qian
What's more, Liu Jin also has extremely huge wealth and industry under his command. He is called the God of Wealth. That's because Liu Jin's industry and wealth are so huge.
It is impossible for such a huge wealth not to attract covetous attention.
That is to say, he took Emperor Hongzhi and the prince to build this industry together. They had more shares than themselves and made more money than themselves, so they are doing pretty well until now.
But, who knows what will happen in the future.
Thinking about myself over the years, I have been able to lead troops in wars, be the head of the civil service, and marry nobles. In other dynasties, I might have died countless times.
It can be said that Emperor Hongzhi was generous and kind enough. If it were Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Jin would have escaped long ago. Zhu Yuanzhang was too suspicious.
But now Liu Jin feels that it is time for him to start making plans for his future.
But don't let it end badly in the end, because you are really making a wedding dress for others.
Never underestimate human nature. The emperor is also a human being, and the emperor is often more ruthless.
He is in a high position and has huge wealth.
If you want to clean yourself up at that time, it is enough to just install a corruption or bribery. Even if everyone knows that you are not corrupt or bribery at all, and you know that you have nothing to lose, your wealth is too huge, not to mention the crime.
No need to worry.
Whether to deal with you or not sometimes depends entirely on the mood of the emperor. This may be the sad part of being a minister. It is also why many ministers know clearly about the problems and shortcomings of the government, but they still cannot see, hear or hear them.
The reason for not wanting to take care of these things.
It’s not that there are no smart people. There are many smart people in all dynasties.
It's just that everyone knows that if they do these things, their end will be miserable, so it's better to settle down and live their own lives honestly.
As for the prosperity of the country, the turmoil of the country, and even the change of dynasties and surnames, these things are not as important as one's own life, but as important as the rise and fall of one's own family.
The people of this Ming Dynasty are surnamed Zhu, but they are not only surnamed Zhu, but also tens of millions of people.
When he actually reached this position, Liu Jin really admired people like Shang Yang, Wang Anshi, and Zhang Juzheng. Wouldn't they know?
Of course I know, but I still have to do it, to express my ideals and ambitions, even if I will not end well, even if it will harm my family, I still do it.
But Liu Jin felt that he could not be as great as them.
He was able to break the situation because he knew that there was huge wealth and endless fertile land outside the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty could expand externally, it could continue to plunder a large amount of wealth and plunder a large amount of land to alleviate the problem.
The financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty, the conflicts between man and land caused by land annexation, and many other problems.
It was just because Liu Jin knew the benefits of industrial and capitalist development and the importance of improving productivity and being able to create more wealth.
That’s why I was able to slowly have everything I have in the Ming Dynasty, and I was able to live until now.
Putting myself in Zhang Juzheng's shoes, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the courage to commit to the reform like him.
Fortunately, Liu Jin had left himself a way out from the beginning.
He also did business with the emperor and princes, keeping them fed, and was intertwined with the nobles. Their interests were deeply involved. He also led the rapid development of emerging capitalism and colonialism, and the emerging forces.
together.
He also had a taste of overseas colonies and vassal states. Liu Jin had shares in many colonies, and the South African colony was the retreat place for nobles like Liu Jin and Zhang Mao.
From the beginning, Liu Jin had arranged a way out for himself and planned everything.
"The path we need to take in the future is to be tough externally and tolerant internally."
"One generation does what the other generation does. Some things should be left to future generations. There is no need to do everything myself."
"The Ming Dynasty is still the Ming Dynasty, and this land is still the same land."
Liu Jin had just become the first minister of the cabinet at that time, but he had already thought about many things in the future, including his own future life.
