In September of the 26th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Army's Middle Route Army broke through Pyongyang, the important town of Goryeo, and wiped out 100,000 of Goryeo's elite troops. With Hejinli Seaport as the logistics base, after several days of adjustment, the 200,000-strong army marched straight in.
When the original King of Goryeo opened the city (near Panmunjom), the judge Yin Zheng Zaihao opened the city and knelt down to welcome the king's master and issued a proclamation. The Li family rebelled and usurped the throne and established themselves. The king of the Ming Dynasty punished him on behalf of God. The people of Goryeo ate pots of pulp and became the pioneers of the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, another branch of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming navy led by Xin Guogong Tanghe, broke through Shuzhou Landing and directly broke through the southern barrier of Seoul. Seoul, the capital of Goryeo, was already under attack from two Ming armies and was in danger.
The news of the great success of the emperor's grandson reached the capital, and the Ming Dynasty was excited. It should be noted that there were many emperors with great martial arts in the past dynasties, but never before did they personally lead an army to destroy the country when they were crown princes.
Even if a wise and powerful emperor like Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo and other countries in Liaodong, it would take several years to raise the strength of the whole country.
The emperor's grandson had only been able to lead the army to the expedition for less than ten months, and the destruction of Goryeo was a foregone conclusion. Even if Goryeo could not be destroyed, signing a city-wide alliance with those small countries would be enough to shock the annals of history.
Even those civil servants who did not praise the emperor's grandson's expedition at the beginning must now say with sincerity that such achievements should be honored as Mount Tai!
The Ming Dynasty was overjoyed, but the envoys from various foreign countries, such as Annan, who were stationed in the capital, were panicked. The Ming Dynasty's military power was so huge, if one day they, the Zhu family, blew their beards and glared, they would not be happy with these other small countries.
, also sent troops to fight like that...
As a result, not only the officials of the Ming Dynasty sent congratulations, but also the envoys from various states also wrote letters one after another, calling China the country of their parents. At the same time, the annual tribute and other items were doubled.
However, the emperor's grandson is the crown prince after all, not the emperor. No matter how much the officials praise him, there must be a limit, so everyone in the court came to the table again and began to praise the emperor.
"Throughout the ages, sage and wise kings have known themselves well, but there has never been a wise king like me. The way of a wise king is passed down from generation to generation!"
"The grandson of the emperor is the legitimate son and grandson of the emperor. Your majesty teaches diligently and diligently, making him even better than Lan Ye..."
The ministers congratulated him and flattered the old man hard, saying to the effect that in ancient times, there were few dynasties as kind and filial as our Ming Dynasty, and all the descendants were in order. And the emperor's grandson has gone through your majesty's painstaking efforts.
Through training and education, he has shown the majesty of an eternal wise king at a young age.
It may not be easy to photograph the old man's horse.
But if you want to say that he taught his grandson well, and that the emperor's grandson's achievements today are all due to the old man's education, he won't say it on his face, but he will be so happy that his beard will stand up.
In the past few days, the good news came. The old man, who had been a little violent recently because of Jiangnan's tax laws, has really softened his attitude, which made the court officials heave a sigh of relief.
As Zhu Yunxi expected, when the new tax law came out, the world was in an uproar!
Especially in the Jiangnan area where the literary style prevailed, the talk of the gentry among the people already equated the old emperor with the extortionate Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. And the scholars in the court who came from the south of the Yangtze River, the Imperial Academy's students, the nobles of the Hanlin Academy, etc., were even more so.
I desperately wrote a letter to ask the old prince to take back his life.
But what kind of person is the old prince? If you mutter a few words and then lower your head to do things, the old man will not care about you.
If you not only don't work, but instead chatter endlessly and point fingers and scold Huai in a weird way, then don't blame the old man for taking out a knife and stabbing someone.
Counting from the time when the emperor's grandson went on the expedition, the old man had dismissed 87 officials, beheaded 42 people, arrested 280 Jiangnan literati who were talking nonsense, and dispatched Jin Yiwei and officials from the Taxation Department of the Ministry of Households with thunderous force.
Set up tax offices in various places.
There were also large local families who disobeyed the royal laws, and countless people ransacked their homes and exterminated their families. Anyone who obstructed the tax laws would have their property confiscated. The whole world was shocked for a while, and then the gentry all over the world remembered that this person today was able to get up with the handle of a knife. He did not kill people.
When you are killing someone, you are a Buddha, but when you are killing people, you are afraid of the Buddha when you see him.
However, there are always people who are ignorant of current affairs. Today at the court meeting, several young censors from the Inspectorate gave a eloquent 6,000-word memorial, expounding the shortcomings of the tax law. Every line of the text pointed directly at the emperor, who was unjust and took the wealth of the people.
.
Bang bang bang, under the scorching sun, in the square outside Fengtian Temple, several eunuchs held up the boards in their hands and hit the officials' lower bodies fiercely. Every time they fell, there was blood splashing and flesh and blood everywhere.
Fei. After being beaten a few times, the officials who were so proud of themselves became as white as gold paper.
In the palace, the ministers bowed their heads and remained silent. The old man sat on the dragon chair and sneered with the memorial in his hand, "Look, it's such a good writing style. Emperor Qin didn't know how to care for the people, so he died after his second generation. Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty was so ambitious, and the world was in chaos.
, the former Yuan Dynasty did not promote enlightenment............."
"The commercial tax law is the state's exploitation of the people. It has been a maladministration through the ages, and the people's resentment is boiling..."
Bang, the old man slapped the emperor on the case and cursed, "Oh, if we collect commercial taxes, we will become a tyrant? If we collect commercial taxes, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed? If we collect commercial taxes, the people will not have a good life?"
"The book has been read into the dog's belly. What kind of nonsense is this?"
"The only commercial taxes in our bank are customs duties, river taxes, and city gate taxes. Once you pay the money, it is transported by postal service. No matter where you go, you can issue bills without any hindrance. Isn't this better than being exploited by those evil officials in the past?"
"Still competing with the people for profit? Do businessmen count as people? If the business tax is collected, the treasury will have money, so it can less plunder the farmers. You don't understand this principle, how dare you talk to us so shamelessly?"
The more he talked, the angrier he became. Then he pointed outside and shouted, "Pu Bucheng, ask someone to give us a hard beating! These people don't understand anything, they just know how to confuse right and wrong and call nonsense. Why did the Ming Dynasty raise them?"
Then, he turned his attention to the ministers and said, "Those who are most opposed to the new tax law are the wealthy businessmen in these places where scholars speak. Scholars say that if you are poor, you can be alone, and if you are prosperous, you can help the world, right? Every one of them is so rich that the trenches are filled with trenches.
Even if the oil leaks even after shaking it twice, are they helping the world?"
"Not only are we not benefiting the world, but we are also blaming the imperial court and accusing us of collecting taxes, which is a bad government? When we raise low taxes, no one says that we are good. If you don't care about it for a while, you will make irresponsible remarks. Do you think that we are easy to talk to?"
"Now that you have made a fortune, you have money, and you have become a wealthy family with scholars to help you speak, you are starting to feel bad, right?"
"You think we don't know about their scandalous things, how they raise prices and exploit the people, right? You think we don't know, those who run silk farms and cloth yards, use people as cattle?"
"The country gives them benefits, but they don't appreciate it. It's only natural for them to take such benefits."
"It is only natural that taxes should be paid and collected from the people."
"Since our grandson proposed to change the postal service of Tianxia Station, 23 sections of rivers have been cleared, 48 official roads have been built, and a total of more than 200,000 civilians have been expropriated."
"Where did this money come from? Did the court ask the people who farmed the land to get it? The people who farmed the land will never leave their homes for more than thirty miles. Oh, damn, the court built flood and dry roads, and you businessmen are indebted to you.
, and let the farmers pay for it, and all the good things are taken away by them? Isn’t it shameful?”
The hall was filled with the roar of the old man. The ministers lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak.
"Our eldest grandson told us that commercial tax and agricultural tax are two legs of the Ming Dynasty. If one is missing, the Ming Dynasty will be lame sooner or later!" The old man said angrily, "It has only been less than thirty years since the founding of the country, and this is it.
.If it takes three hundred years, I’m afraid the emperor won’t be able to give orders anymore!”
At this time, Pu Bucheng came in from outside the palace, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the adults who are being tortured can't bear it anymore and have already left!"
"A good death!" The old man took a sip of tea and said, "Official staff!"
Ling Han, the Minister of Civil Affairs, came out and said, "The old minister is here!"
"Those crooked bastards outside have taken away their favor!"
All the ministers were horrified. Even if the person was beaten to death, he would be deprived of his official status and not even allowed to have official documents when he was buried. He would be buried as a commoner.
"Your Majesty, I obey the order!" Ling Han was famous for his stubbornness, but he was not a fool. He knew that the old prince would listen to whatever he said, so he must not go against it.
But then, the old man waved his hands a little angrily, "Forget it, forget it! Well, let's drag them down and bury them alive. The family will give them some pension money. They should erect monuments. They were stupid when they were alive. Don't let them die. Why don't you let them die?"
It will ruin your family’s reputation!”
"Hey!" At this point, the old man sighed again, leaning on his forehead, "Our reputation as a tyrant will last forever! But these people, are they stupid? Han Chuang has studied hard for ten years, and his ancestors have blessed him.
Only by passing the high school diploma can you become an official in the court."
"As an official of the Ming Dynasty, I have to speak for those businessmen. Not only do I speak, but I also risk my own life! Are you stupid? You think you are a loyal minister, but in fact you are being used as a gun? Damn it.
!”
Then, the old man's anger did not diminish, he frowned and asked, "Liu Sanwu, are those people outside you officials from eastern Zhejiang?"
Liu Sanwu, a member of Zhongshushe, came out and said, "Your Majesty, yes." After saying that, he paused and said, "They are usually very talented and learned..."
"We heard that they all come from local wealthy families, and their families have property, right?" The old man interrupted Liu Sanwu and continued to ask.
Liu Sanwu paused slightly, "Yes!"
"Check it!" the old man said loudly, "pass the decree and let the Jin Yiwei go check it out. If a few of them submit a letter, someone is instigating it. All those behind it will be punished on the spot, their family property will be confiscated, and their wives and daughters will be distributed. 10% of the property will be taken.
Give it to the dead ones outside!"
The ministers were silent for a long time and said in unison, "Your Majesty is wise!"
"Business taxes must be collected. If anyone objects, we will chop off their heads! We are from a rough background and don't understand so many twists and turns. If we can't explain the truth, we will use the knife to see if their neck is hard or ours.
The knife is sharp!"
The old man was filled with murderous intent, "We would rather be infamy than impose all the Ming Dynasty's wealth on the heads of ordinary farmers."
As he spoke, he waved his sleeves and said, "Dismiss the court!"
The ministers retreated like a tide, leaving cold sweat on the ground, shining on the gold bricks.
The old man leaned back tiredly, leaned on the dragon chair, and said to himself, "There's no fucking hope! A bunch of staring decapitators eating dry food!"
As he said that, he sat up straight again and looked at Zhu Yunxi's greetings, which was placed alone on the imperial desk, with a smile on his face.
"It's better for our eldest grandson. He is leading troops to fight outside, and he still cares about me, an old man!"
Thinking about opening the memorial, Zhu Yunxi's familiar handwriting made the old man feel a little sad. Looking at it again, the concern and longing for him were beyond words, and he suddenly felt sour in his heart.
"Silly boy, when will you come back?"
I opened the memorial and read it carefully while thinking, "Grandpa, my grandson did not embarrass you. He defeated the Koreans and defeated them."
"The gentlemen of the Ming Dynasty are all good, and so is the fourth uncle. My grandson will remember your words. In the battle, my brothers will go into battle and my father and son will fight. My grandson will sit in the center of the army, and my fourth uncle will charge into the battle. Your sons and grandsons will do the best for you.
Our Zhu family will become famous!"
The old man smiled and nodded, saying to himself, "Good job, all good jobs!"
"My grandson is away and cannot serve grandpa every day, so I miss him very much. It's hot, so don't wear coarse clothes all the time, and wear silk clothes. The clothes are cool and not sticky. You have been simple all your life, and don't treat yourself harshly when you get old.
Our Zhu family has a great business, so if we wear some silk, we will never be poor!"
"Do you still want to drink, Dundun? Drink less, it will hurt your health. If you really want to drink, wait until my grandson is finished fighting, and I will go back and drink with you!"
The old man's face showed some satisfaction in feeling the filial piety of his children and grandchildren, and he said with a smile, "Silly boy, you only know how to ask me, but you don't know how to ask your pregnant wife!"
Then, the old man continued to look down, and his smile became even brighter.
"Grandpa, after your grandson returns to the court in victory, can you please grant him a Zen title at Mount Tai?"
"You raised your sword from Huaixi, suppressed the rebellion in the south, and led your army to the north. You overthrew the tyranny of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and restored the prosperity of the world to the people."
"We also sent out troops for an expedition to keep the barbarians' weapons from the country's borders!"
"Recover the sixteen states of Yanyun and beat the barbarians to fear."
"Do light corvee work and rest with the people."
"Now that your grandson has contributed to the destruction of Goryeo for you, let's write down all these things on Mount Tai and tell them to heaven and earth, okay?"
"Haha!" The old man smiled even brighter, looked at the letter and shook his head, "No, no! We are not that shameless! Besides, how much will it cost?"