Yang Fan said with a smile: "Your Zhang family is the largest gentry family in Qinshui County, and can even be said to be the top gentry family in Zezhou Prefecture. Your Zhang family has been heirlooms for generations, and you have produced countless Jinshi and officials. Your family There are tens of thousands of acres of land. Sister Shi, are you willing to give it and share it?"
Zhang Fengyi was at a loss for words, her face turned slightly red, and when it was her turn, she really didn't want to do it.
Seeing Yang Fan looking at him with a smile, he became angry and said angrily: "Brother Yang, your family has more land. There are 500,000 acres of paddy fields near Jizhou. Not counting Zunhua. Brother Yang, are you willing to share it? one cent."
Zhang Wudian didn't take it seriously when Yang Fan teased his granddaughter. In the late Ming Dynasty, Xinxue spread, and society became more open and enlightened. Restrictions on women are also quite broad.
Zhang Wudian said with a smile: "Uncle Dingyuan's fields are all given to his own slaves for cultivation. It is true that he does not charge land rent."
Zhang Fengyi and Huo were shocked. Uncle Dingyuan's land was no less than millions of acres. There is no rent for so much land. What a huge number this is. There are so many benefits to being attached to Yang Fan, how loyal those people must be to the Yang family. They couldn't find a better home in the world.
Zhang Fengyi reacted immediately and said: "Brother Yang, you run a workshop and make money by smelting iron. Since ancient times, the government has been monopolizing salt and iron, which shows huge profits. Now that the Ming Dynasty has liberalized iron smelting, you naturally don't need fields. rental."
At this time, the cook brought up a plate of salt-baked chicken. Yang Fan quickly invited everyone to try something new.
Zhang Wudian drank a glass of rice wine and ate a piece of salt-baked chicken. He put down the chicken with satisfaction and said, "This salt-baked chicken is really good, fresh and tender, and soft in the mouth."
Huo also said: "It has rich flavor, crisp skin and smooth meat, slightly yellow color, crispy skin and tender meat, delicious bone and meat, and attractive flavor. It is indeed a delicacy."
Zhang Fengyi directly grabbed a chicken leg and started to chew on it.
Zhang Wudian put down Kuaizi and said with emotion: "The gentry are the pillars of the world and the greatest harm to the world. It's really hard to describe in words."
Zhang Fengyi asked: "Grandpa, what exactly is a gentry and what does it mean to be a gentry?"
We use many nouns in life naturally, but we never really appreciate their definition and connotation.
Zhang Wudian said: "Gentlemen are definitely not as simple as landlords and officials."
"The gentry has a big surname in the clan. Politically, they are big bureaucrats. Economically, they are big landowners. Academically, they are big intellectuals. In terms of military, they are big armed leaders. Xiaoqing, look at the whole Zhang family. All in line. Therefore, my Zhang family is a standard gentry family."
Zhang Fengyi was fascinated by what she heard. She had never received such teachings from her grandfather. Obviously this knowledge can only be spread among the most core children within the family.
"Gentlemen are also classified. Those who have been rich for thousands of years and have been passed down for hundreds of years are aristocratic families. In local areas, families with a large population and can control small families are called big surnames. Culturally, families with a monopoly on the inheritance of certain knowledge are called distinguished families. "
Zhang Fengyi couldn't help but ask: "My Zhang family is a gentry family. So what is Brother Yang? He is obviously not a gentry, but he has great power."
Zhang Wudian was very satisfied with his granddaughter's inferences, but it was a pity that this granddaughter was a girl. It would be great if she was a boy. Among the children of this generation in the clan, she is the most capable. ,
If she were a boy, she would definitely impart all her knowledge to him. It's a pity that girls who are outgoing will end up in other people's families sooner or later.
Zhang Wudian said: "Since ancient times, dynasties have had two legs. One leg is the family, the gentry, and the gentry. They control the local economy, but highlight their cultural leadership status. The so-called thousand-year-old culture, poems and books passed down from generation to generation. In other words, they control the people. ideas. And then control the public opinion. Most of the family’s children serve as civil servants.”
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Powerful people include generals, military leaders, wealthy families, local evil forces, etc. They possess land, workshops, and wealth, but they highlight their military power. Use force to intimidate people. They have private soldiers in their hands and many dependent people, clans and slaves. The dependent people can be transformed into military power at any time. Most of their children served as military attachés. "
Yang Fan nodded, Zhang Wudian said very clearly. This is essentially what I am. It's useless to say anything else. If someone has a gun, I'll do it if you don't accept it. Of these two types of people, one controls thoughts and influences people through thoughts. and hold executive power. One relies on violence and intimidation.
In India, these two types of people are Brahmins and Kshatriyas. In the West, the soup remains unchanged. The Catholic Church has the Pope, the Orthodox Church has the Patriarch, and the Protestant Church has the Cardinal. Priests play mind control, while kings, nobles, and knights are Kshatriyas who rely on threats of violence.
Both hands must be strong, and both hands must be strong.
Zhang Wudian continued: "If a court has both legs sound, it can walk as fast as flying, and no one can be an opponent. If one leg is broken, such as in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty, it is the leg of the gentry that is broken. The result is a long-term civil war. . For example, in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the strong and powerful had a broken leg. Therefore, the military was poor and weak. Now, both legs are broken. The gentry has become decadent, and the powerful and powerful are suppressed and lingering. "
Yang Fan said: "Actually, there is a third leg. That is imperial power. The emperor actually rules the world together with the gentry and powerful men. If you look at a stool, it cannot stand on two legs, but it is very stable with three or four legs. The actual imperial power It balances the two legs we can see outside by supporting the two hidden legs."
Zhang Fengyi became more and more excited as she listened, and asked: "What are the two hidden legs?"
Yang Fan smiled and said: "One leg is the eunuch. They are essentially the emperor's secretaries. They assist the emperor in handling government affairs. The other leg is the relatives, that is, the emperor's mother clan. Both of these people have extraordinary fighting capabilities. Especially the relatives."
Zhang Wudian also deeply agrees. Don’t you see that the nine-thousand-year-old Yin Jian is not far away? In the Ming Dynasty, relatives were not prominent, but since the Han and Tang Dynasties, many famous generals were commanded by their relatives. Relatives are particularly capable.
"The sons of the gentry and powerful men entered the court as officials, which is the outer court. The prime minister is the leader, which is the prime minister's office. Most of the eunuchs and relatives work in the court, which is the inner court. That is, the palace. So after Zhuge Liang warned him in his apprenticeship list Lord, the palace and the mansion are all integrated into one, and there should be no similarities or differences in terms of punishment and punishment. The internal and external dynasty system was created by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and has been passed down to this day."
"Generally speaking, the internal dynasty makes decisions and the external dynasty implements them. Just like businesses, workshops, and shops. They all have proprietors and owners. Why have civil servants never been able to defeat eunuchs in history? In the Han Dynasty, there was the disaster of party imprisonment, and in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was the Manna Change. In my Ming Dynasty, there are people like Liu Jin, Wang Zhen, and Wei Zhongxian. Think about it, can the shopkeeper be able to fight against the boss? Only the boss, that is, the emperor can deal with them. "
Zhang Fengyi nodded and said: "Although the Ming Dynasty has abolished the prime minister, it still has a cabinet. There is a ceremonial supervisor in the palace to approve the red. In fact, it is the same as in the previous dynasty. Internal and external checks and balances."
Yang Fan continued: "In fact, the emperor relied on these four kinds of people to rule the country. If you look at the civil and military officials in the court, if you look back to the end, are they all one of these four categories? Can these four forces be balanced? He is a wise king, otherwise he is a foolish king."
"Is the emperor a wise king or a foolish king?" Before Zhang Fengyi could finish her words, she received another big blow on the back of her head.
