Wanli Xinming

Chapter 367
On the New Year's Eve of the 14th year of Wanli, the Forbidden City was decorated with lanterns and festoons, and the whole world celebrated the New Year.In the huts of the victims in Mayi County, Tian Wenshan was dying.

Before he died, his eyes were wide, staring at his son Tian Baoyong, but he was speechless.Sister-in-law Tian, ​​who was described as withered, said with red eyes, "Head of the house, you can go with peace of mind. Baoyong won't be sold there." Tian Wenshan took his last breath after hearing this.

The surviving Tian family was finally able to cry.Before that, because he was afraid that tears would fall on Tian Wenshan and make him uncomfortable underground, Mrs. Tian had been holding it back.At this moment, these tears finally flowed freely like a flood that burst a levee.

Several fellow workers from the hometown and Tian Wenshan who had fled together came to help the Tian family with the funeral.Because there was not enough white cloth, a few families who came to help gathered together and made several filial hats and filial clothes.Tian Wenshan didn't have any clothes, so Mrs. Tian could only find a starched piece of clothing among the patched clothes and put it on for the boss.

All these can be done in a hurry, but the cost of the coffin exceeds the ability of the victims.Sister-in-law Tian said that the head of the house has been tired all his life, and he didn't even have a coffin after his death. How could he be wrapped in straw mats and gnawed by insects.There are some boards in the house in my hometown, but the water is far away and the thirst is not near.For today's plan, Tian Wenshan can only be cremated and brought back in the spring to be sent to the burial.

Tian Baoyong, who is 12 years old, has grown up a lot during this time, and he listened to Mrs. Tian's arrangement.He gritted his teeth and said, "Yesterday, I agreed with Shopkeeper Sun, who sells coal in the east of the city, to borrow his cart. I want to take Dad back to deliver it. Dad also told me the day before yesterday that he was afraid of being cremated and wanted to be buried in his ancestral tomb."

Sister-in-law Tian was a little helpless at this time, and Wen Yan asked with her eyes the few people who had come to help.Fang Erli from the same village nodded and said, "Sister-in-law, the child is right, I'll go back with me. I can still make a few pancakes at home, and my father and son will have to eat it for three to five days before we starve to death. After I go back, I will also I can nail a coffin for the mortuary brother."

The few who came to help saw that Tian Baoyong was filial, Fang Erli was so enthusiastic, and after being infected, they also expressed that they could provide some dry food so that the two could go back to the funeral.Sister-in-law Tian trembled and kowtowed to everyone, and Tian Baoyong also kowtowed and cried in thanks.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year in the 14th year of Wanli, the whole of Shanxi was wrapped in heavy snow.After two years of severe drought, God finally showed His mercy.However, Tian Wenshan couldn't see all of this. His body was lying on the swaying cart, being pulled to the final destination of a miserable life.

The snowflakes are like white copper coins, covering his straw mat, his filial son, and his zealous neighbors together under the torn cotton and batting sky.

In the spring of the 14th year of Wanli, the entire province of Shanxi organized disaster victims to return to their hometowns.The victims who had been hanged to death by gruel for nearly a year received grain seeds distributed by the imperial court, subsidized farm tools, and took the title deed that they saved with their lives, and returned to the land where they lived and died to continue farming.

Although the court's disaster relief was more effective, mergers were still inevitable.According to the report submitted by the Chief Secretary of Shanxi Province, because Shanxi has been affected for too long, nearly half of the land ownership of self-cultivators has been transferred.

The will of the emperor was powerless against this combination—unless, as in later China, the land was nationalized or collectively owned.After Zhu Yijun read the memorial, he frowned and thought for a long time.

The merger caused by the bankruptcy of the yeoman farmers is the first driving force of the dynastic cycle. Can industrialization alone solve it?

In later generations China, although it produced industrial products that supplied the world, the industrial population had exceeded the sum of all the industrial countries of human beings at that time - but since he crossed, nearly half of the population was still tied to the land.The two-pronged approach of collective ownership of land and the household registration system has ensured that these people have food and clothing, and food security is also guaranteed.

The so-called breadbasket of North America, intensive farming, came at the cost of the extinction of all indigenous peoples.At this time of Ming Dynasty, is this in exchange for the inexhaustible land that will be cultivated in future generations, or does it take a new path?Now Zhu Yijun has no answer.

Capital always pursues high productivity, and the process of industrialization has no end.One day, it will be possible to supply the world market with an industrial population of tens of millions.How will the billions of people live by then?
Zhu Yijun wandered the world for a long time, wrote the word "merger" on the paper, and asked Wei Chao, who was waiting on the side, to paste it on the kang screen.The Suzhou embroidered screen was almost covered with similar small paper strips - the words "1 years is too long, seize the day and night" have been blocked and almost invisible.

Wei Chao looked at the kang screen for a long time before finding a corner to complete the task assigned by the emperor.Since the sixth year of Longqing, the emperor has been on the throne for 15 years, and this kang screen has been used all the time.Some of the small notes on it have been changed from "Ten Great Disadvantages" to "Reform", and some have been changed from "Clan" to "Conferment", but there are a few notes that have not changed - such as "education", "Agriculture" and "Gewu".

In the East Nuan Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, a needle can be heard dropping, only the sound of paper being flipped.On the left hand side of the imperial case, more than 20 boxes are neatly stacked. This is the "Silver Badge Direct Play" of the important minister, which needs to be opened by the emperor himself, and read and approved.On the right-hand side of the imperial case, there are stacks of "abbreviations" classified into different categories, which are various documents submitted by the cabinet and the attendant room that need to be reviewed by the emperor.And on the table, there is a memorial that the emperor has to read in person—unless the emperor is on tour or sick, he spends eight hours a day here unwaveringly.

An emperor who is so diligent in government can only be compared to the Taizu of this dynasty.When Mr. Zhang was alive, although the affairs of the state were heavy, the emperor could handle it for one or two hours a day.After Zhang Juzheng died, the cabinet doubled, but the emperor was even more tired.

Wei Chao lowered his head, staring at Zhu Yijun's every move with the corner of his eye.This action is a compulsory homework for the emperor's close officials, and the sequelae is that he is used to looking at people like this, and he is a bit squeamish.While looking at the emperor, he wandered far and wide, secretly slandering Zhang Siwei's incompetence.

As the most favored eunuch around the emperor, the Wei Dynasty had an extremely important position in the political map of the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Siwei absolutely could not ignore the management of the relationship between the two, but these so-called "management" were meaningless.

Although Wei Chao is young, he has experienced a lot.For example, he participated in the whole process of the emperor's manipulation of Feng Bao, and finally Feng Bao committed suicide when Zhang Juzheng was dying.

Because of this, over the years, the Wei Dynasty has had a thorough understanding of how to be a good servant of the emperor, that is, "no self".As the communicator of the emperor's will, he does not need to have his own judgment; as the most favored valet around the emperor, he does not need to do anything for his own interests; his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc., do not belong to him , but belongs to the emperor - then he will always retain the emperor's trust and his own wealth.

Every minister who was summoned could not get any information from the Wei Dynasty - including the emperor's joy and anger, the reason for the summons and even the candidates who were summoned at the same time. When asked these questions, the Wei Dynasty always looked like water. : "The slave does not know."

Only when facing Zhu Yijun's family such as the empress dowager, the queen, the prince and the princess will Wei Chao speak more.At this time, he would also use expressions to convey information: if Zhu Yijun was happy, Wei Chao's expression towards the people in the harem would be lighter, with a smile on his face; if Zhu Yijun was serious, then Wei Chao would also turn his face.

Nowadays, the great emperors in the palace, such as Zhang Jing, Zhang Cheng, Chen Ju, etc., and the cabinet ministers outside the palace, including Zhang Siwei, have long dared not be slighted when facing the Wei Dynasty.It is said that the Wei Dynasty never expressed his opinion in front of the emperor, but that was the only thing that was terrible: if the Wei Dynasty wanted to put people to death, Zhu Yijun couldn't ignore any words he said.

Although Zhu Yijun developed the habit of serving Wei Chao by his side, sometimes he would give Wei Chao a period of vacation to let him relax and release his psychological pressure.The Wei Dynasty's holidays were more mysterious than any of the important officials in the court: when he was on holiday, no one could find him, and no one knew what he was doing.

When he ends his vacation and stands next to Zhu Yijun again, he will always look like this: his face is sinking like water, and he is silent.

Zhu Yijun reviewed some memorials, then unlocked the keys of the silver medals from his waist, and opened them one by one to read.When he saw Shanxi Governor Liang Wenmeng's direct performance, out of the corner of Wei Chao's eyes, he saw the emperor's brows wrinkle again, he quickly took a light breath, and the muscles in his back tightened.

Sure enough, he listened to the emperor's order and said, "Go to the political affairs hall and let Mr. Feng Pan come to see you."

Wei Chao seemed to have been waiting for the emperor's orders, without any slowness: "Yes, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)