The domineering power of Emperor Wude has always existed.
Zhang Ben also heard this from time to time.
When His Majesty the Emperor was still the Prince of Han, he personally took action twice.
Once, he led his cavalry straight to Northern Xinjiang, fought bloody battles all night, and successfully rescued the current North American king Zhu Zhanji and the current prince Zhu Zhanhe. After that, Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, and led the Northern Expedition to sweep across the entire Mobei. They almost wiped out the Tatars and Oaras, and regained the Lingbei Province in one fell swoop. From then on, there were no more troubles from the Northern Barbarians in the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years!
The other time was internally. Zhou Chen, a confidant of the King of Han, went to Jiangnan under the order of the court to inspect the official land in Jiangnan. However, he was teased by the Jiangnan gentry, and a trap was set up to put Zhou Chen in jail and his lover died tragically. The King of Han Zhu Gaoxu was After learning the news, he went to the south of the Yangtze River in anger and led two forbidden troops to bloodbath the entire land of the south of the Yangtze River. Countless gentry and powerful people had their homes confiscated and their families exterminated!
It was also this second time that the whole world saw the Han King Zhu Gaoxu's hatred for the powerful gentry, which in disguise intensified their support for the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi and desperately suppressed the Han King Zhu Gaoxu. As a result, the battle between the Han king's party and the princeling party became more and more intense. Can not control.
But no one expected that at this juncture, the prince Zhu Gaochi would suddenly pass away, leaving behind his grandson Zhu Zhanji who had not yet grown up!
How could a half-grown child defeat the full-fledged King of Han Zhu Gaoxu? The final result was that the grandson Zhu Zhanji was deposed, and King Zhu Gaoxu of Han entered the East Palace and officially became the second prince of the Yongle Dynasty. Within a few years, Yongle His Majesty the Emperor announced that the throne of Zen is Prince Zhu Gaoxu!
This arrogant warrior from the past relied on his cruelty and ruthlessness to crush everything, and he sat on the dragon throne forcefully!
After Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he immediately set out to suppress the gentry and the gentry. A whip was not enough, he had to share the land with the peasants, and the gentry had to work as errands and pay the grain. This can be said to have cut off the gentry's fundamental lifeline for making money!
Zhang Ben saw all this.
From the bottom of his heart, this veteran of the Four Dynasties did not really support Zhu Gaoxu's actions.
Because there was a rift between the imperial court and the gentry, it would only be the Ming Dynasty and the country that would suffer in the end.
But from the perspective of the beneficiaries, the real beneficiaries of these new policies are the tens of millions of people in the world, so Zhang Ben cannot refuse, let alone oppose!
But he didn't expect that it was not enough to just spread the land among the peasants. His Majesty Emperor Wude actually wanted to break the clan system and completely liberate the common people who farmed the fields!
Is it really okay to do this?
"Your Majesty, since ancient times, all dynasties have attached great importance to farming. If your Majesty breaks the clan system and abolishes the local power of the gentry, who will manage the countryside?"
Hearing Zhang Ben's words, Zhu Gaoxu immediately laughed.
"I have heard this question of yours more than once."
"In your opinion, the biggest role of the gentry is to help the court stabilize its rule and use their status and knowledge as scholars to appease and educate the common people, right?"
"But what is the actual result? Are these gentry doing a good job of appeasing and educating the people?"
Zhang Ben was startled when he heard this and lowered his head silently.
"they do not!"
"Not only did they not do that, they were enslaving and oppressing the people!"
“They used the fame and privileges of scholars and adopted some methods to fool the people, occupying and annexing the fields that belonged to the common people into their own names, turning the common people who should be working with peace of mind into their tenant slaves, and continued to do so from generation to generation. Produce food for these gentlemen!"
"Those fields belong to me and to the people, not to these powerful gentry!"
"Those common people are my subjects, and they should not be the tenant slaves of the powerful gentry!"
"Why do you think I want to kill these gentry and powerful men?"
Hearing His Majesty the Emperor's murderous words, Zhang Ben couldn't help but sigh.
He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end nothing came out.
There is nothing to explain, because His Majesty the Emperor is right.
Zhang Ben has been an official for so many years, and has met many wealthy gentry people for so many years, but none of them is innocent.
Even those so-called scholarly families and those with poetry and books are like this, and their eating habits are even uglier!
On the surface, it is a scholarly family that knows etiquette, observes etiquette, and upholds the ways of saints, but in reality?
To give the simplest example, in these so-called scholarly families, how many servants and servants are there in the house, and how many land tenants are there in the house?
Even if some people want to evade taxes and actively donate their fields to them, don't they know that this is wrong?
If you have more fields under your name, there will be less fields for the court to collect taxes. This is the practice of depriving the public and enriching yourself, which itself goes against the idea of "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" that the sages have always praised!
They know this is wrong, but they do it anyway.
Not only did they do this, but in order to protect their own face, they shouted the slogan of "farming, studying and inheriting the family", covering their behavior with a fig leaf!
Why?
Because scholars should study and pass down family traditions!
How can you farm and study without a field? How can you inherit a family without a family fortune?
And everyone is doing it, so if I do it, it’s not wrong. The law doesn’t punish everyone, right?
It's ridiculous to say that these gentry have read the articles of sages all their lives and have not understood much of the sages' teachings, but they often do things that go against the sages' teachings!
All the gentry in the world should be killed!
No exceptions!
"Your Majesty, I'm still saying what I said. Without clans and gentry, the countryside will only be afraid of robberies and disasters. This is not a good thing for the country."
Zhang Ben spoke again and raised this hidden danger.
He saw how much His Majesty the Emperor wanted to kill the gentry and the clan, so it was difficult not to speak.
Zhu Gaoxu did not answer this question, but asked with a smile: "Old Minister, if everyone can have enough food and clothing, and everyone can read and practice calligraphy, then why would anyone become a bandit?"
"Even if there are such naturally bad people, after reading and practicing calligraphy, the people will know that this violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty. They can report it directly to the magistrate. If the county magistrate engages in malpractice for personal gain, they can also petition to redress their grievances, but it will never happen. Let them suffer!"
Hearing this, Zhang Ben was shocked!
Everyone can be fed and clothed!
Everyone can read and learn calligraphy!
Can this really be done?
If it can really be done, what kind of prosperous age will Ming Dynasty be like?
For a moment, Zhang Ben was in a daze.
Zhou Chen, who was quietly listening to the duel between the emperor and his ministers, was also the same. He was shocked and speechless.
Zhu Gaoxu looked at the two of them calmly and proposed a grand idea.
"Since the Ming Dynasty brought back those high-yielding grain varieties from North America, the Ming Dynasty's grain output has increased more than ten times."
"Of course, the mainstay is rice and wheat. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn can be used as supplementary grains. But when disaster strikes, these supplementary grains can also become life-saving grains. At least they can ensure that the people will still have food to eat. !”
"Everyone can have enough food and clothing. This is not an empty talk of mine, but a goal that I have been working hard for. Ming Dynasty needs more arable land, arable land that can grow crops and produce food. As long as there is enough food, then Ming Dynasty will The people will not go hungry."
"Everyone can read and learn calligraphy. This is a grand dream. Yang Rong is currently in charge of this matter. He will set up free schools in the countryside at the prefecture and county level all over the country to pave the way for the enlightenment of children all over the world. Ping them take the road of imperial examination."
"Da Ming will continue to take these two steps until these two goals are completely achieved!"
