"Old man, you really don't understand the ways of being an official!!"
Li Jin explained to Zhu Yuanzhang in a profound tone:
"The way to be an official is nothing more than to serve the country and the people."
"Businessmen are also common people of the Ming Dynasty. We officials cannot discriminate against merchants because of their low status. This is beyond stupid."
"I must say that our emperor is too young!!"
"Small? What's so small?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard what Li Jin was talking about, he actually accused himself, and he became furious:
"If you don't tell me clearly, we will have the emperor punish you."
Li Jin stretched out the thumb and index finger of his right hand, made a small gesture, and said:
"The layout is smaller."
"Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce are indispensable to the country, but today the emperor emphasizes agriculture and suppresses business, for fear that businessmen will make a little money."
"From what I can tell, our emperor has a small farmer mentality. He can't bear to see others making money. It's even harder for him to make money than it is for him to lose money."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Di and Zhu Biao looked at each other. Li Jin was really bold to dare to talk about the emperor's small peasant ideas in front of the emperor.
I'm afraid my father has the intention to kill people right now.
Even Queen Ma was covering her mouth and snickering beside her. Don't tell me, this Li Jin is really right.
Zhu Yuanzhang was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He jumped up and pointed at Li Jin and cursed:
"Bastard, do you dare to slander the current emperor? We must let the emperor put you in jail."
Li Jin didn't panic, arrest me?
You look like you're obsessed with money, don't you want to make money?
He rolled his eyes at Zhu Yuanzhang, and then explained:
"It is this national policy of the emperor that makes businessmen all over the world look down upon."
"The emperor doesn't even think about it. Without merchants, how can goods circulate in the world?"
"If goods are not circulating, how can the court collect commercial taxes? The court's expenditures have been shrinking in recent years. Isn't it because it cannot make ends meet?"
“We don’t think about increasing revenue but only think about cutting expenditure. This is not a long-term solution.”
"It's a pity that the emperor is from a peasant background and knows nothing about the economy. In the end, he can only live by collecting the little taxes from the people."
"But I am different. I don't like the little money of those mud-legged people. If you want to be greedy, you have to be greedy for the money of these wealthy businessmen."
Zhu Yuanzhang was made red-faced by what Li Jin said. He wanted to refute but didn't know where to start.
He could only continue to hold on to the original question and said angrily:
"Then you are also taking bribes and corruption!!"
“If I’m not a corrupt official, how dare those businessmen settle in Shanghu County?”
Li Jin replied angrily:
"What the current emperor has done is to classify businessmen as the lowest class and have no status at all."
"If I don't accept this money, do you think they dare to invest so much money in Shanghu County? Just dream!"
"Each of these businessmen is smarter than the other. Even if they see a profit, if they don't have a strong backer, how dare they invest money randomly?"
"That is a self-destructive end. Only if they have local backers and people who can solve their problems will they be willing to invest large sums of money here."
"I would like to say that this is all thanks to the current emperor. If the emperor hadn't messed up, why would we be needed to make decisions for the merchants?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately off guard by Li Jin's words. Is it our fault that you corrupt officials are so corrupt?
However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not feel that this was his fault. He believed that these corrupt officials were all people with bad conduct and moral corruption.
It polluted the entire court of the Ming Dynasty, stained a piece of land, harbored dirt and oppressed the people, and was really the source of trouble.
"No matter how flattering you are, you are still taking bribes and you are a corrupt official."
"We have to..."
"Corrupt officials!! The old man insists on holding on to corrupt officials, doesn't he?"
"Do you know how many corrupt officials there are in the world? How many can you control?"
Before Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Li Jin interrupted directly and shouted sharply at Zhu Yuanzhang.
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang entangled in the matter of corrupt officials, Li Jin decided to correct Zhu Yuanzhang's values.
"Corrupt officials in the world are like crucian carp crossing the river. Even if we drag out all the officials and behead them, no one will be wronged."
"What can you do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was stopped by Li Jinjin and was slightly stunned.
In all these years since he ascended the throne, no one has dared to speak to him like this.
This bastard, how dare a county magistrate do this? We must repair him properly.
When he heard what Li Jin said next, Zhu Yuanzhang became even more furious. In Li Jin's eyes, is our Ming Dynasty so corrupt?
"You're talking nonsense. Yangzhou Registrar Lu Mingyi is not a corrupt official."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought of Lu Mingyi whom he met in Yangzhou.
Although Yangzhou was dilapidated, Zhu Yuanzhang still admired Lu Mingyi for his ability to stick to his post as chief clerk and his integrity.
"Lu Mingyi?"
Li Jin frowned slightly, as if he remembered something?
"He is indeed an upright official, but I think this kind of upright official is the one who deserves to be killed!!!"
Li Jin's words were full of murderous intent, as if he must kill Lu Mingyi.
Zhu Yuanzhang had no reaction to Li Jin's murderous intent, but he was extremely shocked by Li Jin's words:
"You are impudent. He is an upright official of the Ming Dynasty and a role model for officials. How can you kill him?"
Li Jin sneered:
"As the chief administrator of Yangzhou, Lu Mingyi guarded such a good place as Yangzhou. As a result, the situation in Yangzhou became worse and worse year by year."
"As the old man said, Lu Mingyi may indeed be an upright official."
"But has the old man seen the people under Lu Mingyi's rule?"
"Lu Mingyi was an upright official with a pure character, but the people under his rule did not have enough food to eat and no clothing to cover their bodies."
"Can you say that he is a good official?"
"Officials don't want to benefit the people, but they only care about their own reputation and shut out people who can bring benefits to the people."
“Shouldn’t such officials be killed?”
"For an official like this, if the emperor entrusts the people of Ming Dynasty to his hands, isn't he afraid that the people of Ming Dynasty will starve to death?"
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly fell silent when he thought of the tragic situation in Yangzhou where his children were exchanged and eaten.
Li Jin's words continued:
"Doesn't a truly good official make the people under his rule have adequate food and clothing and a happy life?"
"Yes, I am a corrupt official, but I can say that I can make the people under my rule have food and clothing without worries."
"Whether a person is a good official should be judged by his behavior and whether he does practical things for the people and makes decisions for the people."
"If you don't make decisions for the people as an official, it's better to go home and sell sweet potatoes!"
"Sweet potato? What is that?"
Zhu Di interrupted.
Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhu Di fiercely, and Li Jin ignored Zhu Di and continued:
"If an official is an upright official, and the people under his rule are as impoverished as he is, what would such an official do for him?"
"Let him only care about his own reputation, let him watch the people starve to death and freeze to death in order to be famous forever?"
"If an official is corrupt, but the people under his rule have adequate food and clothing and a happy life, wouldn't you say he is not a good official?"
"Besides, the cause of corrupt officials is not the corrupt officials themselves, but the current Holy One!!!"
The last sentence was like a depth bomb, which directly turned Zhu Yuanzhang's face red.
