A political incident involves many high-ranking officials or former high-ranking officials in both the government and the opposition, and there are not many simple "rich businessmen and landlords" involved in it. Most of the people who follow it are Shilin families, so this matter cannot be It does not attract high pragmatic attention.
Gao Pragmatic knew that the reason why such a phenomenon occurred was that it meant that the government was in disorder, and that some kind of contradiction had intensified to an appalling level.
The four words "disordered government" really shouldn't appear in today's Ming Dynasty. After all, even the opponents of the Real School admit that today's world is the "Wanli ZTE".
Take a look at this Wanli Dynasty:
Externally, it is invincible in all battles. It has conquered Mengyou, restored Annan, defeated Burma, driven out the Yuan Dynasty, appeased Liaodong, driven out Japanese pirates, and accepted Korea.
Internally, it rectified the system, set up customs, relief post roads, organized armaments, trained the imperial army, cleared fields, levied commercial taxes, and opened vassal bans, so that people could live and work in peace and contentment and have a surplus in the treasury.
How could such a prosperous era of China's prosperity lead to "political disorder"? It makes no sense at all.
However, the facts are before us. It is obvious that at least Jiangnan Shilin is extremely dissatisfied with the current government affairs. This makes Gao Pragmatic think that he must understand the reason before he can prescribe the right medicine.
So the first big question is right in front of us: Why is Jiangnan Shilin so dissatisfied with the current government?
According to Gao Pragmatic's past thoughts, he has always had a great dislike for the so-called Jiangnan Chaebol. He believed that although there were many reasons for the death of the Ming Dynasty in the original history, the Jiangnan Chaebol Group's unwillingness to contribute a little to the country must be one of the important reasons. .
Gu Yanwu said in "Rizhilu": "Those who protect the world are as humble as ordinary people, so how can they be held responsible!" Later in the late Qing Dynasty, Liang Qichao summarized this into the more famous eight words: "The rise and fall of the world depends on ordinary people." responsibility".
Gao Pragmatic fully recognized this point of view, so he has always been full of disdain for the so-called "Jiangnan Chaebol" in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Donglin Party, the "Jiangnan Chaebol Agent" that everyone called for a period of time. At the same time, he was extremely vigilant.
For this reason, Jinghua Group, which was built by Gao Pragmatic, and even the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, which can be regarded as a major northern commercial alliance, have always been quite repulsive to the wealthy businessmen and landowners in the Jiangnan region.
Politically, through the method of "I first pay taxes myself to set an example, and then ask you to pay taxes as well", it took at least more than ten years for Gao Pragmatic to finally begin to promote the collection of commercial taxes in the Jiangnan area, creating a better future for the people. The financially distressed imperial court opened up a huge financial source, which in turn used this power to implement other reforms, with remarkable results.
But it is obvious that Gao Pragmatic never considered what the "Jiangnan Chaebol" thought about this from beginning to end. Whether they agree or oppose, or follow the crowd and be indifferent, these are not within the scope of high pragmatic considerations - I only need to collect taxes, and you can think whatever you like.
In terms of business, the Sea Trade Alliance is also disdainful of the "Jiangnan Chaebol Group", so much so that the Sea Trade Alliance has never accepted any investment from a wealthy Jiangnan businessman. The highest level of cooperation is to allow the ships of the wealthy Jiangnan businessmen to pay sufficient After receiving the escort silver, you can enjoy the escort of the Sea Trade Alliance.
To put it simply, the two sides are clearly divided. The Sea Trade Alliance can only make some profit from the escort business at most, and it is determined not to "collude" with the wealthy businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River.
In contrast, the Maritime Trade Alliance is willing to accept shares from Nanjing's founders, but it does not give "original shares" and does not give the alliance the decision-making power based on the original share ratio. The corresponding dividend is one cent. There is a lot of money.
[Note: Do not confuse the modern joint-stock system here. The decision-making power of the Sea Trade Alliance is all obtained based on the "original share ratio". However, due to Gao's absolute control over the original share ratio, it actually monopolizes the decision-making power. However, the proportion of nobles is about 30%, so although they have no decision-making power, they still have a strong voice. ]
In this way, the interests of the Sea Trade Alliance are of their own, and the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan will not get a penny of money, but they have to pay the escort money of the Sea Trade Alliance, which will make them very dissatisfied.
At the same time, in terms of foreign trade and operations, since the Sea Trade Alliance has internal division of labor or distribution, there will be no involution-style competition internally, but it can be consistent with the outside world - such as the wealthy Jiangnan merchants. This allows the wealthy Jiangnan merchants to Business in the Sea Trade Alliance was much more difficult than in the Sea Trade Alliance, and profits were suppressed at a relatively low level, again causing dissatisfaction.
At this time, the maritime trade alliance and the non-sea trade alliance naturally formed two different circles. They did not see eye to eye with each other, and conflicts arose.
However, this is where things get weird. It stands to reason that since the non-Sea Trade Alliance factions are hostile to the Sea Trade Alliance faction, why is it that the forces that may be engaging in some kind of conspiracy this time are only the Shilin family and not just the wealthy merchant families? ?
It is true that most Shilin families in this era are relatively wealthy. Even a family that has just emerged as a Jinshi master, or even a family that is just a master of Juren, can get rich quickly.
However, from the perspective of "joining hands to fight against the Sea Trade Alliance", whether there is a Jinshi Master or a Juren Master in the family should not affect this common goal, right?
So, what is the reason that prevented the simple wealthy business family from participating in this operation? On the other hand, one can also ask: Why did the wealthy Shilin family insist on rebelling against Gao Pragmatic, the helmsman of the Sea Trade Alliance?
Gao pragmatic thought carefully for a moment and thought that the reason why such a situation occurred must be because although the interests of wealthy Shilin businessmen and ordinary wealthy businessmen have something in common, they must also be different.
Perhaps under the current circumstances, ordinary wealthy businessmen think that although their interests have been affected, considering that the power of the Sea Trade Alliance is not something they can shake, and the danger of confronting it is too great, if the worst outcome occurs, they will not be able to do so at all. I couldn't bear it, so I finally chose to give up - of course, I might just choose to wait and see temporarily, and it's unclear what will happen in the future.
The Shilin wealthy family is different. Their interests have been seriously affected. At the same time, they believe that they still have the power to resist politically, so they dare to stand up and challenge. At the same time, they may also hope to set an example for ordinary wealthy businessmen. It is helpful to win the support of the latter.
This is the idea. Those who have not resisted do not mean that they do not want to resist, but they are powerless and are worried about being liquidated after failure. Those who resist will jump out to resist, and at the same time, they also hope that this action will inspire more people to join the resistance.
Then, the question enters the next stage: What is the reason that makes these wealthy scholars think that they must resist?
This incident was obviously caused by the birth of the emperor's legitimate son, so there is no need to ask about the direct cause, it was the birth of the emperor's legitimate son. The change brought about by the birth of the emperor's legitimate son is undoubtedly that the battle over the country is about to come to an end. As a legitimate son, as long as he does not die young, he will definitely become the Crown Prince. Once the canonization is completed, the foundation of the country will be determined.
Then what? Then the initial investment of the Xinxue School in Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the emperor, went to waste. Due to Gao Pragmatic's persistence, the Pragmatic School, which always chose to wait for the Empress to give birth, became the foundation of His Royal Highness's court. .
Yes, these are all correct, but... so what?
Yes, assuming things develop in this direction, there is a high probability that all of the above will become a reality. But as the question is asked at the end: So what?
The prince is the crown prince, but he has no real power. Although the Ming Dynasty did not have the habit of deposing the prince, whether the prince could eventually become the emperor also depended on which of the father and son could outlive the other - wasn't Zhu Yuanzhang more likely to survive than Zhu Biao?
[Note: Zhu Jianshen is an exception to the issue of deposing the prince. He was originally the crown prince of Yingzong. After his father was captured by Wala, Emperor Jing succeeded to the throne when he was only two or three years old. Two years later, Emperor Jing had a son. He was deposed when he was only four or five years old, and only Wan Zhen'er was around to take care of him.
Later, Yingzong returned to the court, but was placed under house arrest and could not control him. He was still very dangerous. It was not until Yingzong's restoration that he was established again. To put it simply, he was the only prince in the Ming Dynasty who had ever been deposed. ]
Speaking of life span, there is another problem here: when the emperor succeeded to the throne at the same time, he is now only thirty-six years old. If the investment in His Highness the Crown Prince is to be successful, it will be rewarded after the emperor has conquered Bintian. ...Do you know how long it took?
Of course, people in later generations often ridicule the short lifespan of the Ming Dynasty emperors, which is also a fact: Zhu Yuanzhang lived 71 years old, Huizong Zhu Yunwen disappeared, Chengzu Zhu Di lived 65 years old, Renzong Zhu Gaochi lived 48 years old, Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji lived Zhu Qizhen, Yingzong, lived 38 years old, Zhu Qiyu, Emperor Daizong, lived 30 years old, Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong, lived 41 years old, Zhu Youtang, Emperor Xiaozong, lived 36 years old, Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong, lived 31 years old, and Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Shizong, lived 60 years old. , Muzong Zhu Zaijing lived to be 36 years old, Shenzong Zhu Yijun lived to be 58 years old, Guangzong Zhu Changluo lived to be 39 years old, Xizong Zhu Youxiao lived to be 23 years old, and Sizong Zhu Youjian lived to be 34 years old.
It can be seen that most Ming Dynasty emperors only lived to be thirty or forty years old, and only four emperors, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, Chengzu Zhu Di, Shizong Zhu Houcong and Shenzong Zhu Yijun, were over 50 years old.
Excluding the missing Zhu Yunwen and the hanged Zhu Youjian, the average life span of the remaining fourteen emperors was only 43.8 years. Later generations of good people compared the emperors of the Qing Dynasty and found that Taizu Nurhaci lived 68 years old, Taizong Huang Taiji lived 52 years old, Shizu Fulin lived 24 years old, and Saint Ancestor Xuan Ye lived 69 years old. Sejong Yinzhen lived to be 58 years old, Gao Zong Hongli lived to be 89 years old, Renzong Yongyan lived to be 61 years old, Xuanzong Minning lived to be 69 years old, Wenzong Yizhen lived to be 31 years old, Mu Zong Zaichun Zaichun lived to be 19 years old, Dezong Zaitan lived to be 38 years old, and Puyi lived to be 61 years old.
So except for Emperor Shunzhi Fulin, Xianfeng Emperor Yiqi, Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun and Guangxu Emperor Zaitan who did not live to be 40 years old, the other eight emperors were all over 50 years old, and the average life span of the twelve emperors reached 53.25 years.
Some people say that this is because the Forbidden City was newly built during the Ming Dynasty, and the red walls were all cinnabar. The main component of cinnabar is toxic mercury sulfide. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty lived in such an environment every day, which was very detrimental to his health. , so many died young. By the time we arrived in the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City had been built for hundreds of years and was no longer harmful to the human body, so emperors generally lived longer.
This may be a reason, but there is another thing to note. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di are both considered long-lived. The short life of the Ming Dynasty emperors began with Zhu Gaochi.
Zhu Gaochi was a fat man who liked to be quiet and disliked physical activity. He was obese and had difficulty moving. He had always been in weak health. Many analyzes in later generations believed that he was caused by illness. Therefore, it is very likely that he passed on certain genetic diseases to future generations, causing many future emperors to die young.
But no matter what, the average life span of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty is actually not short among all the previous dynasties in China. This is easy to verify and compare. If you take a look at the average life span of emperors of other orthodox dynasties in China, you will find that: Qin Dynasty was 37 years old, Western Han Dynasty was 39 years old Years old, 29 years old in the Eastern Han Dynasty, 37 years old in the Western Jin Dynasty, 43 years old in the Sui Dynasty (counting Sui Gong Emperor Yang You), 44 years old in the Tang Dynasty, 47 years old in the Northern Song Dynasty, 47 years old in the Southern Song Dynasty, and 33 years old in the Yuan Dynasty.
Good guy, not counting the Tatars and Qing Dynasties after the Ming Dynasty, the only ones whose average life span of emperors exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty were the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. It can be seen that although everyone wants to be the emperor, the throne may also be poisonous...
Closer to home, although the average life span of the Ming Dynasty emperors was not very high, the people of the Ming Dynasty themselves did not have a strong feeling on this point. Especially after Emperor Jiajing lived for sixty years, no one inside or outside the court felt that "the emperor did not live long." "It is an inevitable phenomenon. Although everyone rarely thinks about this matter, they still agree that it has more to do with the emperor's living habits.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were both emperors on horseback. They were in excellent health and it was not surprising that they lived a long time. Starting from Zhu Gaochi, there were seven consecutive emperors who only lived to be thirty or forty years old. They were about to fall into a short-lived cycle, but Emperor Jiajing broke the "routine."
Although everyone does not agree that Jiajing lived a long life because of "cultivation", it is generally believed that he was good at maneuvering and had more time to delegate power and ignore mundane matters, thus avoiding a lot of troubles.
The late Emperor Longqing was privately thought by many to have fallen into lust and excess, but now he is more like his imperial grandfather Jiajing - only focusing on big things and delegating power on small ones. So, why should I bet that I will die young today? If Jinshang does not die prematurely, then the Crown Prince's succession to the throne will be far away.
Is it the turn of the cabinet ministers and officials currently in the court to be anxious about a "bad thing" that is far away? Are the former ministers who have retired to serve in their turn anxious? Obviously it shouldn’t be!
Gao Pragmatic thought about it and felt that this matter did not make sense, and felt that the whole thing was weird.
A bunch of Shilin families, to a certain extent "official families", if they don't do things that must be moral, at least they must be logical and in line with their interests. How could they do something so unreasonable? What's more, if this thing doesn't go well, there will be huge political risks and even moral risks?
There must be a mystery in this that I haven't grasped, and I must discover it as soon as possible, otherwise there will be serious trouble!
With a heavy heart, Gao Pragmatic rarely left work early and left the household department, asking the bearer to take him home. As soon as he returned to the house, he summoned Huang Zhiting, Liu Xin, Gao Mo, Gao Guoyan, Gao Qi and others to prepare for a meeting.
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