"good."
The demon monk said loudly:
"The gentry class in the south of the Yangtze River is a group of gentry-officials in the south of the Yangtze River that integrates temples, economy, and culture."
"In fact, the same thing has formed in the Northern and Southern Dynasties since the Jin Dynasty, and that is the clan!"
"Whether they are aristocrats or scholar-bureaucrats, they work together to control the right to speak and control cultural inheritance. Their purpose is to decentralize power and profit, and to decentralize power from the emperor!"
Xu Qin blurted out.
"The emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats rule the world together!"
Yao Guangxiao nodded, "Master Xu, just think about it, no matter whether you are a family member or a scholar-official, what do you have to dare to share the power of the world equally with the emperor?"
"Is it military or wealth?"
Xu Qin shook his head when he heard this, "It's regional culture!"
"That's it, it's regional culture."
Yao Guangxiao was very satisfied with Xu Qin's answer. He continued:
"It is precisely because of the powerful people, scholar-bureaucrats, gentry and other figures that the unique Jiangnan culture has been formed over thousands of years. This kind of thing is far better than military and money in peacetime."
"With this thing in hand, they also control the right to speak. They even dare to smear the current emperor, but the court has nothing to do with them."
Yao Guangxiao stood up from behind the desk and paced in the study.
"So, if you want to attack the voice of the Jiangnan gentry, you must work from the perspective of Buddhism."
"The people in Jiangnan believe in Buddhism very much. As long as everyone's thoughts are unified and the clans lose their absolute right to speak, they will have no ability to threaten the imperial power."
"In this way, the court can allow various ideas to compete, confront, and debate each other, thereby achieving the purpose of centralizing power."
Xu Qin nodded, he already understood what the demon monk meant.
And this idea must have been approved by Zhu Di, otherwise, even if Yao Guangxiao wanted to push it, he couldn't.
"In that case, when does the master plan to start taking action?"
"There has to be a sequence."
Yao Guangxiao habitually stroked his long beard with his hands, lowered his eyes and said:
"I need Mr. Xu to test it in these two places. First, use the heads of powerful families to shock people's hearts."
"This is called having a Buddha in your heart and a sword in your hand. A Bodhisattva treats people with a heart, uses diamond means to do things, leaves room for action, and does not leave any force when using the sword."
Xu Qin recited a cautionary saying from later generations, but it is very suitable for the current situation.
"well said."
Yao Guangxiao continued:
"Lao Na also needs to introduce Taoism and mix it in the middle."
"This is the new dispute between Taoism and Buddhism, and I'm afraid it will cause huge waves in the hearts of the world."
“The messier the better.”
Xu Qin took over the topic and immediately expressed his opinion, "The world is in chaos, and the world is in great order. This is the same as the junior Wu Liangha Sanwei who disrupted the situation."
"Ideology and political forces are often integrated. When they become internally chaotic, several forces will lean toward the court instead, resulting in centralization of power."
"That's true." The demon monk praised.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of promoting the apportionment of people into acres, the various factions in Jiangnan that were unwilling to surrender to the Yongle Dynasty were thoroughly cleaned up.
This is indeed a good opportunity.
Moreover, forcing the tenants to enter the property was the first wave.
After all land reforms and field taxes in the entire Jiangnan are completed before the autumn harvest, the second wave of attacks will be launched by the demon monk.
In this way, the Jiangnan wealthy and powerful gentry who have great hostility towards the Yongle New Dynasty and have slandered Zhu Di since the Fengtian Rebellion will inevitably suffer heavy losses.
Then, the next step is to continue the "flexible reduction of vassalage" to help the court resolve the threats to imperial power within the clan.
As a gathering place for the remnants of Jianwen, it was thoroughly purged, and the rule of the Yongle Dynasty was further consolidated.
A stable country is more conducive to strengthening the country and enriching the people.
From a historical perspective, Zhu Di was a good and competent emperor.
The two then communicated for a while before Xu Qin stood up and left.
Five thousand Ji Zhengwei troops came out from Shence Gate, Jinchuan Gate, Taiping Gate and Chaoyang Gate on the north side of Nanjing City.
More than half of the soldiers and horses went down the river by boat.
There were only about 1,500 people walking by land, and the leading general was Zhang Fu.
During this trip, Xu Qin was the imperial envoy and the principal envoy, while Zhang Fu was the deputy envoy.
And Zhang Fu is a Marquis, a second-grade military officer.
As for Xu Qin, he was a mere third-grade civil servant.
In the Ming Dynasty, military ranks were very high.
A guard commander is a third-rank military officer, a general commander is a second-rank officer, and a deputy commander or right admiral is a first-rank officer.
The commander-in-chief of the army, the commander-in-chief, is the first grade.
These are the old rules set by Lao Zhu, a country boy who values martial arts over literature.
On the other hand, in the civil service, the six ministries and nine ministers can only be ranked second grade. The Jianwen Dynasty directly mentioned the first grade, but the effect did not last long.
When Zhu Di came to power, he had to implement Taizu's set of rules.
But during the peace movement, civil servants in officialdom were more visible.
As a last resort, there were third-grade civil servants leading second-grade officials, and even first-grade military attachés.
It now seems that the tracking of this strange phenomenon should start slowly from the Yongle Dynasty.
This time, Xu Qin took the lead.
Therefore, in history, during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, this weird thing became normal.
Because Zhu Di first entered Nanjing City through Jinchuan Gate when crossing the river, this expedition also started from Jinchuan Gate.
After Zhu Di proclaimed himself emperor, the surrounding areas of South Zhili were surrounded by wind and rain.
The invincible Yan Army Cavalry has never set foot in the core area of South Zhili.
When they were preparing to attack Yangzhou City, the general who defended the city surrendered. The Yan army did not even enter the city and went straight to Zhenjiang.
Not to mention Huai'an, Zhu Di completely bypassed it.
On the dysprosium building of Jinchuan Gate, several bachelors of Wenyuan Pavilion, except for Xie Jin, who was wearing scarlet, were all wearing green robes.
They were gathering together to watch the army leave the city.
Spears were like a forest, flags covered the sky, and the cold armor shone coldly under the scorching sun.
The armor was mottled with bloodstains that could not be washed away, reflecting a heart-stopping light in the sunlight.
Such a majestic and murderous army made the bachelors standing at the top of the city watching with fear.
Even Xie Jin, who claimed to be familiar with the world, was secretly beating his heart.
Xu Qin only brought two of the seven great talents of Wenyuan Pavilion as his secretaries.
One is Yang Shiqi and the other is Yang Rong.
Among the three poplars, there are two poplars.
Among the seven, there were two who knew a lot about military affairs. One was named Jin Youzi, who was a suitable tactical adviser to the leader, similar to Fazheng under Zhuge Kongming in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The other is Yang Rong, who is good at planning and logistics such as farming, border defense, food and wages.
This is exactly the talent Xu Qin needs for this expedition.
What is confusing is that the other big secret brought by Xu Qin is Yang Shiqi, not Jie Jin.
There is only one reason, and that is that Xie Jin is too aloof and not very gregarious. Although he is talented, it is not easy to use.
Yang Shiqi is different, he is humble.
At the beginning, when discussing the matter of sharing the land with the family, Xie Jin and the other two people had different opinions. In one word, it was inappropriate.
However, now that the emperor has decided, they can only have a sideways discussion without leaving anything behind.
As the chief bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, Xie Jin was angry and jealous today.
