Nanjing City, Yangxin Hall.
Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on a recliner in the Yangxin Hall, swaying, holding a tickle in one hand and a secret memorial from the Jinyi Guards in various places in the other hand.
The Jinyiwei organization is Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.
The emperor knows everything about the world without going out.
The Jinyiwei institution lasted throughout the Ming Dynasty and was a way for the emperor to consolidate his power.
As for Lan Nao'er, who had interfered with the power of his Jin Yiwei, he had been beheaded, and Lan Yu was thrown into prison as a warning to others.
There were some disturbances in various places, but they could not escape Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.
"Huh? There is a great master Qingtian from Dong'an County, Beiping Prefecture?"
Zhu Yuanzhang had sharp eyes and could tell the contents of each secret letter at a glance. One of the secret letters from the Beiping Mansion made him interested.
He opened it and looked carefully, only to realize that this person was no one else.
It was his grandson-in-law Li Xiao.
The grandson-in-law became a small county magistrate, which was what Zhu Di, the fourth son, asked Biao'er for last time. He probably wanted to make some contributions and promote a noble title.
"I heard that the Princess's Mansion was changed to Li's Mansion. It seems that the fourth child attaches great importance to this son-in-law."
"It's a bit against the rules, but the fourth father doesn't mind. What can we say? The water thrown out by the married daughter must have been brought up by that girl Ningyun."
After Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it for a moment, he understood the reason and couldn't help but smile.
Then, he continued to look carefully to see what Li Xiao had done in the county. He was called Qingtian by the locals just a few days after taking office.
"Well, not bad, our grandson-in-law Li Xiao is quite interesting."
"The last time I traveled to Jiangnan, I could see that he has a jealous temper."
"With such a temperament, he is suitable for being a censor. We can't make any decisions about the son-in-law of the fourth son. Beating the fourth son during this time has already made him very unhappy."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and shook his head.
Thinking of his fourth son, he still liked this son quite a bit.
Although he looks very strict on the surface, in fact, his love for him ranks among the top three among his sons.
"No wonder he is called the Great Master Qingtian."
"On the first day after taking office, he overturned an old case and punished the village tyrants through subjugation. This is indeed very satisfying."
Zhu Yuanzhang could see Li Xiao's temperament from this small incident. He frowned slightly, thought for a while and said to himself:
"However, this method is too strong. In other words, Li Xiao was able to do it in Peiping with the reputation of the fourth king of Yan, and it cannot be popularized. It is a unique example.
Moreover, such a move will undoubtedly cause serious opposition to the local squires, and it will be hindered by many obstacles in doing things in the future. "
Zhu Yuanzhang was very aware of the local influence and role of local gentry.
In this regard, I understood this when I conquered the world before.
The anti-Yuan team that Zhu Yuanzhang initially joined was called the "Red Turban Army", led by Guo Zixing and Han Lin'er.
The Red Turban Army aims to "reopen the Song Dynasty" as its revolutionary goal.
Not only must the Yuan Dynasty government be eliminated, but the Yuan Dynasty landlord class must also be eliminated.
Completely liquidate the ruling class of the Yuan Dynasty.
At this time, the Red Scarf Army represented the interests of farmers. Wherever the Red Scarf Army went, the landlords would suffer.
Therefore, after the Red Turban uprising, many landlords spontaneously organized armed forces to fight against the Red Turban Army in order to protect their own interests.
The landlord armed forces are a very strong force, but this force is not on the side of the Red Turban Army, but on the side of the Yuan Dynasty.
Therefore, the road of the Red Turban Army's anti-Yuan movement was full of obstacles.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang became independent, created some famous things, and occupied Nanjing.
He accepted Liu Bowen's suggestion and implemented the strategy of "building walls high, accumulating grain widely, and becoming king slowly".
It was during this period that Zhu Yuanzhang was recuperating in Nanjing and settling down for a period of time.
Only when people calm down can they use their brains to think about problems.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking, why is the road to anti-Yuan so difficult?
Who are the enemies and who are the friends?
How to defeat your enemies?
During his stay in Nanjing, with in-depth thinking, Zhu Yuanzhang discovered the problem.
His enemies are no longer just the Yuan army. Chen Youliang, the former Red Scarf Army in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Zhang Shicheng Group who occupied Soochow have become his enemies.
Fang Guozhen from eastern Zhejiang is not a good bird either.
Except for friendly forces in the north, the other three sides are enemies.
The war situation has suddenly changed. If we continue to rely solely on the strength of farmers, we may not be able to defeat these enemies, but will be eaten by them.
On this issue, Zhu Yuanzhang talked, discussed and discussed with counselors such as Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang all night long.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang realized something.
In the current period, the power of the landlord class is the greatest force!
Zhu Yuanzhang understood this, so he began to consciously change his position.
Gradually, he changed from a rebel leader representing the interests of the peasant class to a warlord safeguarding the interests of the landlord class.
Zhu Yuanzhang repositioned himself and began to compromise with the landlords.
But this is also the main reason for his success.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately announced: "If there are any inconveniences under the old regime, I will remove them for you."
It does not talk about reopening the Song Dynasty, but only emphasizes correcting the harsh governance of the Yuan Dynasty.
This was the signal that Zhu Yuanzhang changed from a reformist to a reformist.
Nanjing is a turning point, starting from here.
Zhu Yuanzhang grasped the main contradiction in the late Yuan Dynasty: landlords wanted to keep their status unchanged, while farmers did not want too much and just wanted to live a stable life.
Zhu Yuanzhang's main target of solidarity was farmers in the past, but now he has changed to landlords and peasants.
This is the great thing about Zhu Yuanzhang. He considers the problem from the overall perspective, sees the overall situation, and finds a way to win.
In the construction of the army, select "rich people's sons to serve as guards, called the Imperial Army."
In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also recruited a large number of landlords to enrich his team.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had actually given up the banner of peasant revolution, but he continued to use the name of the Red Scarf Army to attract and unite the peasants. This was a very smart approach.
Every time he conquered a place, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely win over the local squires, Confucian scholars, and wise men. Zhu Yuanzhang paid special attention to scholars. He could obey or force them. This was Zhu Yuanzhang's purpose.
With the support of the landlords, food, money, soldiers, all these things are available!
Unite all the forces that can be united, identify your real enemy, and establish a united front. This is the way to win!
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang came to the end and had the last laugh.
Defeated all enemies that stood in his way.
Zhu Yuanzhang deeply realized how huge the power of these landowners, large and small, distributed across the country, was that he could not eradicate them at all, and even needed to rely on these people.
Even after founding the country and establishing the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also discovered that this power cannot be underestimated.
You can only restrain yourself, but you cannot suppress it, otherwise the whole country will be in chaos.
Even now, as Zhu Yuanzhang slowly implements the strategy of suppressing these landlords, popular rebellions, mutinies, and rebels still often occur in various places.
In the third, eleventh, fourteenth, and sixteenth years of Hongwu, there were four uprisings.
Especially in the 14th year of Hongwu, an uprising broke out in Guangdong, with its leader known as the "Eradicate King" and tens of thousands of people gathered!
This only counts the large-scale ones, and the small-scale ones that appeared more than a dozen times are ignored.
Behind the scenes, without exception, it is all planned and promoted by the landlords.
Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Li Xiao was attacking local landlords on his first day in office, he felt that Li Xiao was still too young.
"Just treat it as training. It's just a county. You can do whatever you want. Only when you suffer losses can you know how to govern the people."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and put the secret note aside.
His eyes fell on the two grandsons, Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunwen, who were writing strategies in Yangxin Hall.
He cultivated these two grandsons with all his heart.
Zhu Yunwen, in particular, was more intelligent and Zhu Yuanzhang liked him even more.
After reading the secret play, Zhu Yuanzhang waved on a whim: "Yunwen, Yunxi, come here."
Hearing this, the two put down the brushes in their hands, stood up, walked over, and cupped their hands.
"Grandfather."
"Grandfather."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and nodded, and said: "Suppose you are the father-in-law of a county, and there are squires in the area under your jurisdiction. The landlord bullies and oppresses the people. How should you deal with it?"
This is the test question that Zhu Yuanzhang gave to his two grandsons.
Zhu Yuanzhang already felt that Zhu Biao's health was getting worse and worse, and either consciously or unconsciously, he began to cultivate the next 'Zhu Biao'.
Such exam questions are conducted every day.
They are all real problems that happened in the Ming Dynasty from the secret reports of Jin Yiwei from various places.
As the question was raised, the two people reacted differently.
Zhu Yunxi frowned slightly, looking like he was thinking hard.
Zhu Yunwen, on the other hand, was obviously much calmer, standing straight and thinking.
There is some speculation as to why Zhu Yunwen acted so hard. He saw that his father, Zhu Biao, was getting worse and worse.
He has a chance, but it's not a big chance.
Because he is the eldest son of a concubine.
Although the mother concubine is now the crown prince, the title of the eldest son has not changed.
On the other hand, Zhu Yunxi, the second son, although his mother and concubine are deceased, he still has the support of the Chang family and the Lan family behind him.
The only person he can rely on is the imperial grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang in front of him.
Only by winning his favor can you gain a little more leverage for yourself.
At this time, Zhu Yunzhen rolled his eyes, then bowed respectfully, and took the lead in saying:
"Back to my grandfather, the majesty of the law lies in the words fairness and equality. If such a situation occurs, it must be severely punished to serve as a warning to the majesty of the law so that the people will fear it and not violate it.
"However, as a local parent official, you cannot be rigid and must be flexible. The punishment will not change and the law will be strictly followed."
"But after all, it is not easy for parents to govern a county. There are often thousands, or even tens of thousands, of people in a county. It is difficult to manage with dozens of county government officials."
"The so-called imperial power does not go to the countryside, even the imperial court still needs the cooperation of these squires in governance."
"Therefore, we can consider it as appropriate and adjust it so that the people can benefit and the gentry can obey the discipline."
"If you are the kind of heinous person, you will be punished severely. You can win over some people and suppress others, just keep a balance."
Zhu Yunwen's answer can be said to be very beautiful.
When Zhu Yuanzhang raised a question, he would draw inferences.
Let me first talk about how to deal with it, that is to establish the majesty of the law.
If the law is not majestic, it will be more difficult to govern in the future.
But as a parent official, you can't stand on the opposite side of the local landlord class. That work will be very difficult to carry out.
Therefore, we should adjust it so that the landlords can return their profits, the people can benefit, and the official prestige can be established.
It also allowed the local landlords and gentry class to gain some face.
This will make it easier to cooperate with parents and officials in the future.
Finally, a solution was proposed. If a landlord force was really offended, then one group would be recruited and another group suppressed to maintain a balance.
"Well, that's a good point."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction.
This is why he likes Zhu Yunwen.
The answer was watertight, and everything was explained clearly.
Then, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yunxi and asked, "Yunxi, please tell me."
Zhu Yunxi's talent is obviously much worse than that of Zhu Yunwen. He is usually spoiled and cares about studying. His favorite thing is to hang out with his uncle Lan Yu behind his back.
Zhu Yunxi stammered and couldn't speak.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Speak boldly and express your thoughts."
Zhu Yunxi thought for a while, and realized that his grandfather hated corrupt officials and landlords the most, so he thought about it and said, "Since the landlords are oppressing and bullying the people, then kill them, peel them off and frighten them."
After saying that, Zhu Yunxi was still a little proud.
Isn't this how the imperial grandfather likes to deal with corrupt officials?
This statement should satisfy him!
However, it was obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang's face did not show the expression Zhu Yunxi imagined, but his brows furrowed, which made Zhu Yunxi a little panicked.
Zhu Yuanzhang then asked: "What if you kill someone as a warning to others and cause the landowners and gentry in the county to resist and refuse to cooperate with the county government's work?"
Zhu Yunxi was obviously panicked. He thought it would be over after answering, but he didn't expect another question.
He thought for a while and then said bravely: "Then suppress it and make it surrender."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "I have not made any mistakes, so what reason do you have to suppress me?"
Zhu Yunxi said: "It would be a mistake if you don't cooperate with the Yamen."
Zhu Yuanzhang's mood became increasingly heavy and he asked: "How are you going to suppress it, just relying on the county government officials? If they secretly instigate a popular uprising, and there are tens of thousands of people, how are you going to suppress it?"
Zhu Yunxi said: "Isn't it the local government office that also has soldiers, guards, and command and envoys? They mobilized the army to suppress it."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "How can you control a small county magistrate if you remember your identity?"
Zhu Yunxi thought for a while, "Then gather the farmers and attack the landlords!"
"Call the farmers?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was completely angry. He slammed the table and shouted: "Are you going to rebel by recruiting the peasant army?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's situation changed, and his expression changed at every turn, so frightened that the two of them immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, please calm down and don't hurt your body. The dragon's body is more important."
Zhu Yunwen was secretly happy, but on the surface he showed concern for Zhu Yuanzhang.
"I am the Imperial Grandfather."
Zhu Yunxi didn't know what he said wrong, but he was not brainless and hurriedly admitted his mistake: "My grandson was wrong."
"You shout and kill at every turn. Is this your way of governing?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said displeased: "Who did you learn these things from?"
Zhu Yunxi hesitated: "I"
Zhu Yuanzhang patted the stool and said, "Speak."
Zhu Yunxi then said: "Grandfather, I learned it from my great-uncle."
Zhu Yunxi's great-uncle is Lan Yu, and he is still in prison.
It's okay if I don't say it, but Zhu Yuanzhang becomes even more angry when he mentions it.
Lan Yu's pig-brained mind has led his own grandson astray!
Zhu Yunxi hurriedly changed his words: "Grandfather, my grandson just said something wrong. It should not be suppressed. It should be right."
He suddenly thought of a good idea and said: "Since the squires do not cooperate with the imperial government, then we should set up another imperial agency to govern under the county government, down to the township level, or even the village level. This can solve the problem of imperial power." The problem of going to the countryside is over!”
"absurd!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang almost fainted and said: "Do you know how many townships and villages there are in the country? Let me tell you, there are 32,500 villages in the country. Can the imperial court's treasury support the establishment of these institutions? It’s a fantasy and unrealistic!”
"Imperial Grandfather, my grandson realizes his mistake. My grandson will study hard in the future and live up to Imperial Grandfather's expectations."
Zhu Yunxi's attitude was still sincere, and he immediately knelt down and sincerely admitted his mistake.
After all, he was also the grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing that he had admitted his mistake, he became less calm and said, "Okay, let's get up."
Originally, this matter was over.
But Zhu Yunxi didn't know whether he was confused, frightened, or jealous of Zhu Yunwen.
In short, he found himself in front of the emperor's grandfather, being suppressed by Zhu Yunwen at every turn, and felt very aggrieved.
It's not good if this continues.
Behind him are the Chang family and the Lan family.
But now that Lan Yu is in prison, this advantage has been reduced by more than half.
"My grandson has one more thing to ask for."
Zhu Yunxi knelt down and couldn't get up.
"explain."
Zhu Yuanzhang said.
"My son, please ask the emperor's grandfather to consider the merits of his grandson's uncle Lan Yu, and please be generous."
Zhu Yunxi began to plead with Lan Yu.
"You bastard, it's up to me to let you go or not! Your father doesn't even dare to speak, so it's your turn to beg for mercy!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was as pale as frost, and he cursed directly: "Get out of here!"
The scolding echoed throughout the hall.
Zhu Yunxi realized that he seemed to have made a mistake again, so he did not dare to say more and left in despair.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Yunwen was ecstatic.
This Zhu Yunxi is simply an idiot. Isn't it frustrating to mention this matter when his grandfather is angry?
But on the surface, he didn't show it at all.
Zhu Yunwen brought a cup of tea and handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Grandfather, please calm down. Yun He didn't do it on purpose. He has had a very good relationship with Lan Yu since he was a child. They are like father and son. He was just anxious for a while. He missed his family ties and didn't think about much else."
On the surface, he was interceding for Zhu Yunxi, but in fact, he was secretly saying that Zhu Yunxi and Lan Yu had a very good relationship, and it seemed that Zhu Yunxi was brainless.
Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated and said: "Yunxi and Lan Yu have such a good relationship?"
Zhu Yunwen nodded hurriedly and said: "Yes, my grandson is very envious. Every time Lan Yu, Duke of Liang, comes back from a victory, he brings local specialties and gifts. He also often takes Yunxi to the army to ride and shoot. He pays great attention to Teach the art of war. My younger brother Yunxi is quite talented in this area. He will definitely be able to serve his grandfather in the future, so he is weaker in studying. But in terms of the art of war, Yunwen is inferior to him."
Of course it’s not okay to just put others down.
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen suppressed one of his own aspects and promoted Zhu Yunxi to death.
"Um"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with all his thoughts in mind, and then waved his hand: "Yunwen, you go down first, I want to be quiet."
"Yunwen resigns."
Zhu Yunwen bowed respectfully and then withdrew.
When leaving, I did not forget to tidy up the Four Treasures of the Study on the table before leaving.
Zhu Yuanzhang squinted his eyes, looked at Zhu Yunwen's back, and thought for a moment.
Who is Zhu Yuanzhang?
How could you not see Zhu Yunwen's little thoughts?
In terms of scheming, Zhu Yunwen is much better than Zhu Yunxi.
Of course, this is not a bad thing. In the palace, if you don't have such thoughts, wouldn't you be fooled around by others?
"Both of my grandchildren are not even half as good as Biao'er."
After thinking for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and sighed, then lay down on the recliner and continued to sway.
Half an hour passed.
Commander Erhu of Jinyiwei walked in with a large wooden box.
What is inside this big wooden box is the secret notes uploaded by Jin Yiwei from various places, recording events in various places.
What Zhu Yuanzhang read earlier was what happened fifteen days ago.
And what's in this wooden box now happened fifteen days ago.
In ancient times, carriages and horses were inconvenient, and it took some time to send messages.
"Your Majesty, these are the secrets of recent days."
"let it go."
"Yes, I will retire."
After Erhu left, Zhu Yuanzhang was too lazy to read these letters.
But thinking of what just happened, he sat up again and got up to read through Peiping's secret notes.
In fact, the Jinyi Guardhouse in Peking had been secretly infiltrated by Zhu Di a long time ago.
However, Zhu Di did not violate laws and disciplines, and was generally fine.
Only intercept things that are not good for you.
Of course, almost none.
At this time, Zhu Di was very law-abiding.
Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang found another secret about Li Xiao, and he wanted to see how his grandson-in-law handled this matter.
After opening it and checking it, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.
What Li Xiao did was exactly the same as what that fool Zhu Yunxi thought.
In an attempt to extend the imperial organization downwards.
The secret note records that Li Xiao spread the word, recruited people, and tried to establish an organization called "She District" in every village in the county to manage the villagers.
He also held an examination to select suitable talents to work in the dormitory area.
childish! !
It's so childish!
"What's the difference between this and that idiot Zhu Yunxi's idea!"
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but cursed: "This Li Xiao is smart, but he is still too young after all. He wants to skip the squire and landlord classes and comprehensively manage all the villagers. How is this possible!"
"How will the county government spend the huge personnel costs of establishing an organization in each village?"
"Is it possible that you want to use your own money to handle court affairs?"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a long time, but couldn't figure out where the expense came from.
Anyway, the court will not allocate funds.
He snorted: "That's all, Peking has the fourth child to take care of it. He made such a big fuss, and the fourth child shouldn't sit idly by and ignore it. If Li Xiao is really willing to use his own money to do things, it has nothing to do with us. "
Return to Peiping, Dong'an County.
More than half a month has passed.
Li Xiao has started to organize the establishment of a dormitory area and has been busy for half a month.
He will not bow to those landlords and gentry class.
Let me, Li Xiao, bow my head?
That is impossible!
Since the imperial power will not go to the countryside, then I will set up a community to go deep into the grassroots!
In the county government office, Zhu Ningyun looked at the county government's account books and felt worried.
She looked at Li Xiao and said, "Xiaolang, I've calculated that your idea is a good one, but the cost of the money is too great, and the county government cannot afford it."
Li Xiao said with a smile: "It is indeed unaffordable. There must be a road for cars to reach the mountain, and for boats to reach the bridge, it will be straight. Mountain people have their own clever ideas."
Zhu Ningyun couldn't figure out what this clever plan was and asked, "Is it possible that we pay for it?"
Li Xiao waved his hand: "How can you provide money by yourself? We won't do this loss-making business. We don't have enough money, so we will naturally borrow money."
"Borrow money?" Zhu Ningyun was stunned: "Who can I ask to borrow money from?"
Li Xiao smiled and said: "Of course we borrow money from the bank. We will borrow money from the bank in the name of the county government. It will definitely be easy to borrow."
In the Ming Dynasty, there was no precedent for a government office to borrow money from a bank.
Zhu Ningyun was even more stunned now, "Even if you borrow money and pay it forward, the subsequent expenditure will be a bottomless pit. How can you pay back the money?"
Li Xiao explained: "When the dormitory district is on the right track, the county government will not have to bear the responsibility. The dormitory district will be responsible for its own profits and losses, and it can also feed the county government."
"You are responsible for your own profits and losses." Zhu Ningyun became even more confused.
Li Xiao nodded firmly: "That's right, we should be responsible for our own profits and losses, give the community some autonomy, set up village enterprises, land contract system, and let the economy get started!!"
Zhu Ningyun: "???"
(End of chapter)
