Beginning in the autumn of the twelfth year of Wanli, fat and strong horses continued to set new speed records on the racecourse, and the minds of the people in the capital were also stirred up.
Yushitai and Liuke almost swarmed forward and impeached the clan headed by King Zhou. Firstly, horse racing has indeed corrupted the social atmosphere, and secondly, impeachment of the clan can be regarded as the political correctness of the Ming Dynasty - an old tradition. Especially after the reform of the clan, the princes stationed in Beijing were closely monitored by the clan government and the censor. If they made any mistakes, they would be fined lightly.
King Zhou didn't think much about it before he took the initiative to organize the horse racing meeting. As a descendant of Taizu who used to dominate the fiefdom, he felt that he had already restrained himself by organizing a horse racing meeting. I'm not forcing people to gamble, right? On the contrary, according to the idea given by King Zheng, each horse racing ticket of the Jockey Club is limited to bets, and the maximum limit for each person to buy horses is no more than ten taels of silver - only twenty silver dollars. What is the use of this little money?
Besides, Emperor Xuanzong of this dynasty especially loved playing with crickets. He searched for them from the south of the Yangtze River and found dozens of good crickets each. When the old man started gambling, he won and lost hundreds of thousands, and when the whole country followed the game, no one was singled out to remonstrate. On the contrary, he accomplished the "Government of Renxuan".
Nowadays, in the peaceful and prosperous times, sports such as hammer ball, polo, Cuju, rugby, archery, and spear throwing are in full swing. The emperor goes to the Capital University every now and then to watch games, and sometimes even presides over the kick-off ceremony in person - this is what the Emperor of Taiping looks like!
I just wanted to add some fun and excitement to the horse racing events. How could I go wrong? ! What went wrong? The belly buttons of the Cuju Guild in the capital are all black, and every one of the people there is not as clean as the dung shovelers in the Jockey Club. Why don't these censors and censors call you out?
This is a rough statement, but who knows that he is from the clan. The Cuju guild was run by merchants, and the censor would lose his status by challenging them. Therefore, the unlucky King of Zhou had to write a memorial in two months. He had no choice but to report it to the court. He was also forced to hire a staff member to help write the defense memorial.
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Although Zhu Yijun was famous for his reputation as a member of the royal family, all the memorials about horse racing were ignored, and the censor and the emperor had no good solution. In this way, the Jockey Club was opened amidst the criticism from both the government and the public, and in less than half a year it grew into the largest trading company in the capital's service industry despite the reputation.
The pressure on the censor and the matter was not a big deal, but the public opinion of the two major daily newspapers in the capital could not bear it. When King Zhou first moved to the capital, he read the newspaper every day: not a word of "Today's Statement" and "Serial" were missing in each issue, and he even specially arranged for people to make newspaper clippings. If one day the serialization was interrupted, he would definitely go to the newspaper office in person to make a fuss.
But I can't read the newspaper recently. There must be people scolding him and the clan. In the past, King Zheng had a good reputation among the people because he was wronged, and because the younger King Zheng served as the dean of the Gewün Academy, now he is also notorious on the street - I don’t know who is quick to talk about King Zheng. The matter of advising King Zhou and taking shares was left out to reporters.
One day, the master who was helping the King of Zhou to write a memorial suddenly felt blessed and came up with an idea: "Your Majesty, this newspaper can't do anything good. Why don't you spend a lot of money to buy a few heroic articles and let the newspaper wash away your dirty water?" Zhang Yuande, who is in charge of the "Jingshi Daily", and Sui Anbo, who is in charge of the "Xinmin Daily", can still watch you standing in this cesspool without pulling out?"
King Zhou Xian covered his nose and frowned: "Sir, what you said is so stupid. What do you mean by standing in a manure pit? What do you mean by 'not pulling'? You don't use the word 'pull' well."
The picture suddenly appeared in the staff's mind, and he almost vomited, and apologized with a wry smile. King Zhou was disgusted and despised, but he followed the good advice and went to visit Zhang Yuande and Chen Shu in person with the post to ask these two guys for help.
The two of them didn't dare to agree at first, but King Zhou was too proud to accept the offer, which made them very embarrassed. ——But the saying that the newspaper is the mouthpiece of the emperor has long been rotten in the stomachs of the two of them, and they can only hesitate.
A few days later, Sui Anbo seized the opportunity to ask for the order. "Xinmin Daily" immediately sent the newspaper to interview King Zhou with a large sum of money, and decided to help him clear his name. From then on, King Zhou became the British prince who had been blackmailed by "Jingshi Daily" for the rest of his life. Zhang Yuangong followed his brother Zhanbao'er on his knees and was hit by an arrow. King Zhou scolded him when he saw it.
This reporter is really talented and well versed in the manipulation of public opinion. He has written several articles in a row, and the one discussed today at Prince Zhou's Mansion is the last one. This article starts with the origin of gambling, and then sorts out the laws and edicts prohibiting gambling in the past dynasties.
The article first says that gambling has been prohibited in all dynasties since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The most stringent period of laws prohibiting gambling was in the Song Dynasty. The code "Song Xingtong" formulated by Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning of the founding of the country has clear laws on the prohibition of gambling. In actual implementation, it even exceeded the legal restrictions. The penalties for gambling during the Taizong period of the Song Dynasty were unprecedentedly severe:
"In the second month of the second year of Chunhua, Ji Chou ordered Pu Bo (gambling) in the capital city to be arrested by the Kaifeng Prefecture and the offender beheaded. Anyone who hides a gambler without reporting it will be punished with the same crime. Anyone who opens a casino (casino) will be punished. Same crime". If caught, behead him without saying a word.
The next most severe one was the Yuan Dynasty. "It is forbidden to gamble among the people. Offenders with seventy sticks will be sent to the north, and their money and property will be lost to officials. Officials will be dismissed from office, and their miscellaneous duties will be reported after the term. Opening a gambling house is also a crime... “The regulations are strict and detailed.
When it came to the Republic of China, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Taizu "built the Xiaoyao Tower in Nanjing and placed gambling equipment on it, where he met gamers, those who raised animals (referring to cockfighting, dogfighting, and cricketfighting), and those who wandered around and ate. Arrest them in the building and let them roam freely, and they will all starve to death."
Well, the old man has very deep intentions. He wants to let you take care of it, but if he surrounds Xiaoyao Tower and doesn't give you food, he will starve you to death. Taizu used this to teach the people that gambling instead of production is a wrong outlook on life.
In the 22nd year of Hongwu, Taizu issued an edict: "Anyone who gambles should be freed from their wrists." Well, if you catch them, chop off your hands and ask if you are afraid.
Later, in addition to the playful Xuanzong, Chengzu, Xianzong, Yingzong, and Xiaozong all issued edicts prohibiting gambling. The punishments were: gamblers caught with a shackles, officials dismissed from office, and those who opened casinos were exiled.
What reporter Zhong wrote was normal text, interesting and well-founded. King Zhou read it with gusto, and then he saw his pen change:
Paradoxically, gambling was the most intense in the Northern Song Dynasty, when punishments were the most severe and offenders were beheaded. The gambling nature of the Song people is staggering: almost all people’s livelihoods are related to gambling.
For example, the most common marketing method in the Northern Song Dynasty was called "Guanpu". After the seller marked the price of the product, the buyer could bet a small amount of money against the seller. The most common ones are "Hun Chun" or "Liu Chun" - "Hun Chun" means throwing six copper coins with all their backs facing up, and "Liu Chun" is the opposite.
Throw out Pure or Six Pure, keep the gambling money, and take it away to the buyer of the product - this is the only opportunity for many poor people to consume luxury goods, and the chance of winning the product is about one in 120.
To what extent is this kind of "guanpu" popular? Many men in the Song Dynasty were sent to the market to buy soy sauce by their wives, and it was very likely that they would return home without any money or soy sauce. Of course, there are also a handful of people who went out to buy a pack of salt but ended up driving a pig home.
Then the article asked, why in the Song Dynasty, when people were beheaded for gambling, people risked their lives for gambling? In the end, the law does not punish the public, and no one can control it - the Chinese people's love of gambling was passed down from the Song Dynasty, and it became more and more intense after the Yuan Dynasty and the Guo Dynasty.
The article is still well-founded and interesting at the same time. King Zhou learned a lot from it. Then Lao Zhong made another stroke and wrote Prohibition——
The prohibition on alcohol was born almost at the same time as wine. The first prohibition on alcohol in China was issued by Dayu: "Warring States Policy" records that the "emperor's daughter", namely Yao's two daughters: E Huang and Nv Ying, brewed Yi Di. The wine was presented to Yu. After tasting it, Yu found it very delicious and said, "There will be people in future generations who will destroy their country with wine." So he ordered Yi Di not to make wine anymore.
This can be regarded as a legend, but the explicitly recorded prohibition on alcohol was written by Zhou Gongdan: "Jiu Gao" was the first prohibition on alcohol in China. Later, from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, alcohol prohibition orders were issued many times, but they were ineffective many times. The reign of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty was the most stringent. Just like the ban on gambling in the Song Dynasty, "offenders will die" - and at the same time, just like the ban on gambling in the Song Dynasty, the Chinese people in the Yuan Dynasty loved drinking the most, reaching the level of "the wind is so strong" that even the princes and nobles, Down to the vendors and footmen, anyone who could afford wine, many of them were drunk all day long.
When King Zhou saw this, he was completely confused - why did people become more arrogant in violating the laws during the period when alcohol and gambling were prohibited? It doesn’t make sense! But these are all proven facts!
The man surnamed Zhong did not show off, and directly explained the argument: "Gambling and drinking are related to human nature. Without these two, there is no interest in life." - These two things are too closely related to the people's life, entertainment and human psychology. You can't control it by using the word "forbidden". Therefore, the prohibition on gambling is like the "prohibition on alcohol". No matter how strict the edict is, it can only be enforced for a while, and then the prohibition will be relaxed, and the officials and the people will violate it, and the law will no longer work.
then what should we do? You can't just let the gambling trend go unchecked, because it has a huge impact on social management. The author then uses irrefutable data to lead to a solution:
As said in "On Contradiction", when things develop to a certain extent, they will cause qualitative changes or go to the opposite of the original. The birth of horse racing and the accompanying horse betting are typical examples: Since the opening of the Jockey Club in the late summer of the twelfth year of Wanli, the crime rate due to gambling in the capital has dropped sharply. The reporter obtained data from Shuntian Prefecture. In the most recent quarter, such crimes The incidence rate decreased by forty-four percentage points.
This data is so amazing and so convincing! King Zhou was so happy when he saw this that he couldn't find the north - Oh my God, I accidentally did something good that was good and accumulated virtue, and that thousands of families were born Buddhas!
The article goes on to say that a strong gambling culture will bring about a series of social management problems, including the loss of human ethics, the breeding of crime and even the promotion of corruption. But when faced with a problem, you can’t just ban it—you can’t ban it even if you want to. No matter how strong your control ability is, gambling, like alcohol, cannot be banned.
So how to manage it? The author strongly recommends that the court should "treat water as well as block and dredge it, so that it can change customs and reverse the tendency of Chinese people to gamble."
On the one hand, it is necessary to reiterate Taizu's prohibition, especially the strict laws to control gambling by officials and soldiers, draw a red line, and punish the offenders with severe punishment; on the other hand, the court must list the list of gambling equipment, prohibit private casinos from being opened, and strictly prohibit private households and prostitutes from possessing gambling equipment. Gambling equipment, offenders will be punished, etc.
Actions in this regard should include: informing local governments, promoting education, and publicizing the dangers of gambling; the second is to bring the princes' horse racing trading companies under management - the imperial court generally gives an outlet for the repressed gambling nature of the people. People who like speculation at heart have a place to vent; third, "entertainment" activities including playing mahjong are not prohibited as long as the gambling capital does not exceed a certain limit.
Such a multi-pronged approach, including legal, public opinion and other means, can control the spread of gambling bad habits among the people and gradually reverse the bad habit of gambling among the people.
At the end of the article, the article also positively promotes the benefits of horse racing: Officially approved horse racing can limit the amount of bets and impose heavy taxes, which is a small supplement to the finance; and in order to win, the kings must search for rare stallions from many sources - as long as the long-distance racing system is set up , short-distance, heavy-bearing, cross-country and other projects, private forces can be used to cultivate various improved horses, which will be of great benefit to national defense and the national economy and people's livelihood.
An eloquent article, well-founded and well-founded, which made the King of Zhou feel elated and praised the talents of journalists - Sui Anbo is such a good person.
After taking out a hundred taels of gold as thanks, a few people sat around in the study for a while. King Zhou and his staff praised Reporter Zhong for having the time to burn incense. Finally, King Zhou’s aide said:
"The Emperor Xuanzong of our country loved to play and weave. After him, from the emperor to the common people, there is no one who does not love gambling. And the tricks have been renovated, and the gambling equipment and gambling skills have gone hand in hand."
At this point, he cupped his hands to the north and said, "Didn't a saint like our Holy One personally invent mahjong? Although it is an act of filial piety, how many families in the world have been ruined because of mahjong!"
After hearing this, King Zhou nodded with a smile and said: "Yes, if gamblers don't bet on horses, can't they play mahjong, push pai gow, and throw dice? Just talk about mahjong. What level of official dares to ban it? The Queen Mother of the two palaces can Tear him apart!”
After hearing this, Reporter Zhong thought to himself: "Did these guys not understand my article? Did I write it in too classical Chinese?"
