I'm really not doing business

Chapter 600: Daming, a body without a soul

The Ming Dynasty had very clear etiquette regulations for standing, lying down, sitting and standing. Failure to do so was considered disgraceful. Walking briskly would be regarded as unruly, unstable, and incapable of responsibility. When the ruler was young and the country was in doubt, any disobedience would lead to a severe reprimand from Empress Dowager Li. The young emperor did not listen, so Empress Dowager Li took him to the ancestral temple to cry.

The Queen Mother cried, and the young Emperor cried too.

Zhu Yijun grew up in this kind of environment. Everyone asked him to be steady. Of course, this was necessary because there were so many small parts on the Twelve-Chapter Royal Robe, and if he didn't walk steadily, it would clink and make noises.

So outside, he tried his best to maintain the demeanor of an emperor, being graceful and polite. But when he arrived at the Quan Chu Guild Hall, Zhu Yijun would become a little nonchalant and do whatever he wanted.

In Xiong Tingbi's opinion, when he arrives at the Quan Chu Guild Hall, His Majesty will be more like a person, more vivid, with his own joys and sorrows, more like a senior brother, rather than an emperor, and certainly not a cold and heartless machine.

"Sir, the son of Abatai Khan, the chief of the seven Outer Khalkha tribes, has come to the Ming Dynasty. The Ministry of Rites means that after a trade agreement is reached, he will not be allowed to see the emperor. Grand Marshal Zeng Shengwu has the same opinion." Zhu Yijun nibbled on a green apple. Although it was sour, it was not too bad. After all, he grew it himself.

Buying some wool was already a favor outside the law, but as for keeping it as a pet dog, both the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War disagreed.

You can't become a dog of the Ming Dynasty just because you want to.

"The Ministry of Rites is fine, as they have always been conservative. The Ministry of War is a bit weird. Logically speaking, this is a great opportunity. The seven Outer Khalkha tribes are waiting to submit to the country, but the Ministry of War is not very enthusiastic about this matter." Zhang Juzheng also sat on the armchair, leaned back, found a comfortable position, and spoke.

Zhu Yijun thought about it, turned his eyes, looked at Xiong Tingbi and said, "Xiong Da, why don't you think the Grand Marshal would take this opportunity to take over the seven Outer Khalkha tribes?"

"The Grand Marshal has his own concerns, because asking them to submit is just a formality." Xiong Tingbi said, looking at the huge geomancy map hanging in the study of Wenchang Pavilion, "Outer Khalkha is in the north of the desert, across the desert, there is no highway, even if they are asked to submit, they cannot establish counties."

"That's one of them."

"The second is the actuarial spirit. The cost of ruling is really too high. How much profit does the Ming Dynasty have to send to Mobei every year to ensure that people's hearts are on its side? Suiyuan has mines, which is a matter of mutual benefit, but Mobei only has mines."

"Third, it is difficult to conquer. The Ming army is extremely brave, but there is a risk of defeat if we travel a long distance to the northern desert. Even a strong man like Xu Da still failed in the northern desert. It is better to be cautious."

In history, after Xiong Tingbi passed the military examination, he studied on his own and passed the Jinshi examination. The Ming Dynasty examination required eight-legged essays and the Four Books and Five Classics. Xiong Tingbi was able to pass the examination through self-study, which showed that he was no ordinary genius. Now Xiong Tingbi had a famous teacher and he didn't have to worry about his life or herding cattle. With a wealthy emperor around him, Xiong Tingbi had no worries about food and clothing.

Obviously, Xiong Tingbi's talent has gradually emerged under careful training.

Taking the political, economic and military aspects into consideration, it is not a good choice to allow the seven Outer Khalkha tribes to submit to the Central Plains at this time.

"Well, you said it well, but Sima's main consideration is to set up a control group." Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Xiong Tingbi frowned and asked doubtfully: "Control group?"

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "The control group is a method used by the Imperial Academy of Gewu of the Ming Dynasty to study the infinite principles of all things. There is only one variable, and then the impact of this variable is observed. Therefore, the idea of ​​the Grand Marshal is that the more successful the Suiyuan monarchy is, the more the original Hu people will forget why they became monarchs and why they chose this path."

"But the seven Outer Khalkha tribes were left behind as the control group, so that no one would forget why they set out in the first place."

After listening to this, Xiong Tingbi said in amazement: "Grand Sima, he is really a scholar."

Xiong Tingbi gradually realized that the court officials he had admired before seemed to have another unknown side, and the contradictory nature of the two sides of the scholar was further reflected.

"No one will complain about the size of their territory, not even dogs. Dogs will pee and scratch their territory everywhere, and other dogs will bark non-stop if they come in." Zhu Yijun exhaled and said, "It's still a bit far, and we can't establish a county, so this is the only way."

If he could establish counties and prefectures, Zeng Shengwu would have already beaten drums and gongs, loudly clamoring for the seven Outer Khalkha tribes to submit to the country, but his strength did not allow it.

"Your Majesty, I have a concern. The imperial court pays more than 1100 million taels of silver to the military each year. I am really worried that this money will not be used properly. To be more specific, it has been twelfth year since the policy of enriching the country and strengthening the military. The status of soldiers and generals has been improved to a certain extent, so anti-corruption should be put on the agenda." Zhang Juzheng put forward his new proposal succinctly.

"The purpose of anti-corruption is to save expenses." Zhang Juzheng got down to business.

The money was spent, but not in the right place, especially the military pay which exceeded 10 million taels a year. Such a huge expenditure would inevitably breed corruption. Before, Zhang Juzheng was determined to strengthen the army and enhance the status of military affairs in the court, but now he has to face this problem.

Zhu Yijun immediately became serious, sat up straight and said, "What you said is also what I am worried about."

From the 2645th year of the Wanli reign to the th year of the Tianqi reign, the Wanli, Taichang and Tianqi emperors successively issued more than million taels of silver from the treasury to quell the Jiannu rebellion in Liaodong. Nurhaci was a general of the Ming Dynasty in the late Wanli period, and the Jianzhou Guard where he was located had been established since the Yongle reign and had been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty for generations. This was a rebellion.

So now Nurhaci has become a specimen in the torture chamber, and the charge is very clear: spying on the inner court.

Nearly 30 million taels of silver were spent, and the Jiannu became more and more powerful, and it became increasingly difficult to pacify them. Instead, the Ming Dynasty was defeated step by step. It seemed that the Ming Dynasty was joining forces both internally and externally to destroy the emperor's gold coins.

This is indeed an illusion, because the amount of silver used by the outer treasury to pacify Liao was exactly the same.

How much of this money was actually spent on the army? Very little, because in the first year of Chongzhen, when the accounts were checked, it was found that more than 2.7 million silver coins were owed, and the three border areas of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia were the most seriously owed.

The solution proposed by Wang Guoguang was that the local governments gave soldiers in kind, and the imperial court gave the local governments silver. This operating system was also an application of the ancestral law and the Kaizhong method. It was hard to say whether it was useful or not, but it was useful.

There must have been some places where the silver distributed by the Ming Dynasty was embezzled. The only place that could guarantee that no embezzlement occurred was the Beijing Camp. Zhu Yijun appeared in the Beijing Camp every day. The distribution of bounties and military pay was personally supervised by the emperor. Any "military pay recovery plan" would be known to the emperor. The omnipresent imperial guards were also active in the Beijing Camp.

But the border troops do not have this condition at all.

"Since the Gengxu Rebellion, Altan Khan invaded Beigukou and plundered. The Ming Dynasty and the northern barbarians fought for twenty-five years before finally reconciling. A few days ago, I specially asked the national treasury to summarize the old accounts of these twenty-five years." Zhang Juzheng talked about why he wanted to fight corruption, because he started with a reconciliation of accounts.

"Sir, we agreed not to bring up the past and let bygones be bygones." Zhu Yijun tapped the table with his fingers.

If we look back at old accounts, Ma Fang, the chief academic officer of the Ming Dynasty Military Academy, will be convicted. The Ming Dynasty's anti-corruption campaign only began on a large scale in the fourth year of Wanli's reign, after Hai Rui returned to the court. There was no anti-corruption system before that.

The penalty of skinning and stuffing with straw would be imposed if one embezzled fifty taels of silver. This was already a dormant clause in nature.

"It's to teach a lesson, not to settle accounts with anyone." Zhang Juzheng quickly explained the reason why he was digging up old accounts.

"Since the 29th year of Jiajing, the enemy rebelled. In the past 25 years, the internal and external treasuries have issued a total of 50 million silver coins for border security, 2 million silver coins a year. However, in the first year of Wanli, the army still owed more than 1 million silver coins." Zhang Juzheng talked about the details. He said solemnly: "Where did the money go? I don't know, and there is no way to know."

"Even if we ask Wang Chonggu and Ma Fang, they actually don't know where the money went."

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "Then there is no need to ask."

"I have asked." Zhang Juzheng said with a smile: "The day before yesterday, I went to the Quanjin Guild Hall. Wang Chonggu and Ma Fang were there. I took the accounts and compared them with them. I found a lot of problems."

"Can this account be correct?" Zhu Yijun stared at Zhang Juzheng. This imperial tutor was too bold! Zhang Juzheng was really merciless.

Zhang Juzheng went to the Quanjin Guild Hall to settle accounts, which was equivalent to kicking someone's ass and challenging him!

"Of course they are. Also who went with them were Lord Wan, General Hai, Wang Ci Fu and General Ma. They were quite cooperative. Upon closer questioning, I found that they were very supportive of anti-corruption in the military." Zhang Juzheng briefly reported the results of the meeting.

When he went to challenge the emperor, he also brought people with him. Wan Shihe was a member of the imperial party, while Hai Rui was a member of the upright party.

What made Zhu Yijun feel even more outrageous was that Wang Chonggu and Ma Fang actually acquiesced to this behavior and even cooperated with it!

After all, they had been beaten and almost killed. These two who had suffered the iron fist even felt that Zhang Juzheng had become gentler. If he really wanted to kill them, he would not settle accounts in the Quanjin Guild Hall, but would launch an attack in the Wenhua Hall.

Zhang Juzheng said solemnly: "To solve this problem, we must carefully investigate the root cause of corruption. The bulk of it was taken by Yan Song and his son."

"Your Majesty, the money in the court is limited. What did Yan Song and his son do with the lion's share? They used it to please Emperor Shizong, after all, burning incense and repairing the temples was a big expense; they used it to form cliques and engage in private interests, and the Yan clique had to be well fed before they would work hard; they used it to suppress the Japanese pirates, and Hu Zongxian was struggling to make ends meet in suppressing the Japanese pirates in the southeast."

There is no doubt that Yan Song was a treacherous minister and a corrupt official, but judging from the results, at least Yan Song embezzled the silver and really put an end to the Japanese invasion.

But Li Hongzhang embezzled 40 million taels of silver and took it all home. He spent all his time trying to please the old lady Cixi. He embezzled military funds to build a garden. When the Japanese pirates attacked, he didn't even have shells. Finally, he ran to Japan and begged for mercy, kneeling down to ask the Japanese pirates to attack less. Finally, he signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Even so, what else can someone say? When I was young, I didn’t know Li Hongzhang, but now I know that he is the real Zhongtang. If Li Hongzhang is the real Zhongtang, then what is Yan Song? A wise minister, or a capable minister? !
"Therefore, the top priority in the fight against corruption is within the capital, or more specifically, within the court officials," Zhang Juzheng said with a serious expression.

Zhu Yijun quickly stretched out his hand and said, "Stop, General Hai said that the officials of our Ming Dynasty, even Lord Wan, have a certain integrity."

Zhang Juzheng said calmly: "This is also the reason why silver can be distributed to soldiers now. After the fierce battles in the early years of Wanli, we cannot say that all the ministers in the court are loyal to the emperor and the country, but the court can generally be called clear and bright."

"If Wang Cifu can't take it, then Da Sima can't take it, Shao Sima can't take it, Langzhong of the Ministry of War can't take it, and Jingtang can't take it, so don't even think about taking that place."

This is indeed the case in the Ming Dynasty officialdom under the system of complete accountability to superiors. If Wang Chonggu doesn't take it, then Zeng Shengwu can't take it either. If the superior can't take it, how can the subordinate take the money?

All people are the same. What worries us is not the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of wealth. It is okay for no one to take, but it is not okay for some to take while others do not.

Zhu Yijun said with emotion: "That's right. If it's not clear, then there will be ghosts. Just look at the teacher's examination system and the system of making a rough list to cover the name. The gentleman who can climb to the cultural hall, let alone morality, is the most capable one."

"Wang Anshi's reforms failed because he always thought that a good system design would be enough, but he ignored the fact that human effort is the key and he ignored the administration of officials. As a result, the systems he designed were very good, but in the end, they were a mess when they were implemented."

The biggest problem with Wang Anshi's reform was not that he did not strengthen the army. Wang Anshi was the founder of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty. His Baojia System, Military Reduction System, Appointment of Generals System, Horse Protection System, and Military Equipment Supervision System were the only surviving achievements of the new policies. It was these new policies that made the Western Army of the Song Dynasty the only army capable of fighting during the conflict between the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties.

Zhang Juzheng's reform started from the performance evaluation system in the first year of the Wanli period and began with the administration of officials.

"Your Majesty put himself in the Kaocheng Law, which is the fundamental reason why the Kaocheng Law can be successful." Zhang Juzheng looked out the window, leaned back in his chair, and said with some regret. The Kaocheng Law was widely opposed at the beginning of its implementation, and it became more and more intense later. Even the Zhang party had great resentment towards the Kaocheng Law. At that time, Zhang Juzheng was ready to cover his mouth and force the implementation with his authority. The result of such forced implementation was that he was completely tied to the Kaocheng Law, and his death was the end of the policy.

The current great success of the Kaocheng System is due to the fact that Your Majesty has invested a huge sum of money in it and endorsed the Kaocheng System by conducting academic examinations on the 29th of every month. In addition, Your Majesty has been diligent in his work for more than ten years and has become known throughout the world. Only then has the Kaocheng System successfully entered the new stage where names are covered on the rough list and filled in the basic register.

In fact, the current performance evaluation system still relies on your Majesty's diligence in government.

Your Majesty is a born noble man and is so diligent. The officials in the world have nothing to complain about.

"To fight corruption in the military, we must start from the source. This is also the core issue of official administration. In addition to this issue, there is supervision. Your Majesty, you can no longer rely on civil officials for supervision for the time being. I think we can start with the Pacification Office." Zhang Juzheng talked about his thoughts on state affairs.

The Zhenfu Division in the north and south yamen under the Jinyiwei was one of the legal departments of the Ming Dynasty, just like the Ministry of Justice among the six ministries. Zhenfu Divisions were also set up in various local districts, which were also part of the Ming Dynasty. But after Yongle, the Jinyiwei declined, and most of the functions of the Zhenfu Division were transferred to the various censors' offices.

The functions of the pacification offices in various places became ineffective, and their functions shifted from military to civil. This was inevitable under the rule of promoting civil affairs over military affairs.

What Zhang Juzheng meant was to revitalize the Zhenfu Division. The Zhenfu Division, the unique supervisory agency of the Ming army, should play its role.

"Your Majesty has twenty training partners under your command, including ten honor guards and ten eunuchs. Among them are Luo Sigong, Zhao Zhenyuan, Li Yougong and others. I think it is appropriate to transfer these training partners to the nine frontiers to serve as pacification envoys and supervise the payment of military pay." Zhang Juzheng expressed his thoughts.

Just like the performance evaluation system, it depends on Your Majesty.

These twenty men were sent to the nine frontiers as pacification envoys, responsible for supervising military affairs, military pay, military crimes, and the laws and military discipline of the military garrisons in the region.

"Sir, do you think you have an invincible body?" Zhu Yijun spread his hands and said, "Once this Pacification Office is established, isn't it the same as placing an imperial envoy next to each of the nine frontier generals? Originally, the military generals supported your reform, but now you have offended them all."

One of the accusations that the lowly Confucian scholars made against Zhang Juzheng was that he accepted bribes from military generals. Zhang Juzheng's strong army was considered to be a sign of respect for the soldiers and generals, and he won the support of these people.

As a result, Zhang Juzheng completely cut himself off from the world.

"Isn't your Majesty here?" Zhang Juzheng said indifferently, "If I have offended you, I have offended you. You can't do anything to me."

Zhang Juzheng has been offending people all his life. He has offended so many people that it is not itchy if you have too many lice, and not worried if you have too many debts. The more scolding he gets, the more relieved Your Majesty will feel.

"Sir, people's hearts are hidden. I can still keep an eye on these sparring partners when they are beside me, but when they get to the local areas, they become rampant bullies and no one can control them. People will be alienated by power." Zhu Yijun said seriously.

The alienation of people by power was a subject that Li Zhi studied when he regained his official position, and this subject was extremely successful.

In the words of Zhang Juzheng himself, those who have great power will be destroyed, and those who have made great achievements will fall.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Luo Sigong and asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, don't trust them?"

"It's not that I can't trust them, it's that people's hearts are fickle." Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "In the capital, I can still control them, but when they are in the countryside, they rely on my royal favor, won't they do whatever they want?"

"Not to mention the distant past, the Shanghai magistrate Yan Shixuan hated Hai Lao Si to the core, and even investigated all the concubines and mistresses, but he could not take any action because he was worried about the favor of the governor Shen Shixing. He could not even ask questions, the higher the official, the more powerful he was."

The Taoist never sent his foster brother Lu Bing to the local areas, but kept him by his side, because once they left the capital, no one could control them. Once they arrived at the local areas, they would all become local tyrants, and the Ming Dynasty's power to correct mistakes would be completely ineffective.

From the 2766th year of Wanli's reign when the mine supervisor was appointed to the 2952th year when he returned to the court, a total of 2766 years, the mine supervisor extorted a total of million taels of silver, which was almost equal to the million taels of gold and flower silver. The mine supervisor extorted this million taels of silver through extortion and extortion. He failed to blackmail the rich and demanded the money from the common people. He was draining the pond to catch the fish and was a loss of trust for the country.

The mining supervisors collected taxes, and the local officials took advantage of the situation, which eventually led to the complete collapse of the country's affairs.

Gao Huai caused chaos in Liao and Yang Rong caused chaos in Yunnan. These were the two that caused the biggest chaos. There were also Cao Jin and Liu Zhong in Zhejiang, Zhao Qin in Shaanxi, Zhang Zhong in Shanxi, Lu Kun in Henan, Li Feng and Li Jing in Guangdong, Pan Xiang in Jiangxi, Gao An in Fujian, Chen Feng in Huguang, etc. They were all mining supervisors sent by Emperor Wanli to various places, who made a mess of the local areas.

Zhang Juzheng was a man of heaven, but he also had shortcomings, such as the lack of grassroots experience. The fear of Shanghai County Magistrate Yan Shixuan was not without reason. After the emperor's sparring partners were sent to the local areas, no one could restrain them, and the Ming Dynasty's civil officials could only take advantage of the situation and make money together.

Power without any restrictions will inevitably lead to the alienation of power from people.

"I didn't think it through." Zhang Juzheng was stunned. He paused for a long time and said, "Your Majesty is the one who thinks it through."

Having one emperor in the world is enough. If there are so many local tyrants, the whole country will be in turmoil and the separatist regimes will be established. The main reason is that for a long time, the emperor's wisdom made Zhang Juzheng ignore the terrible power that could not be corrected.

"The anti-corruption issue can be handed over to General Hai. If that doesn't work, ask Wang Cifu for help. Anyway, there is still a way." Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Sir, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter whether it's good or bad, as we can talk behind closed doors."

Zhang Juzheng was not a god, and he would also overlook things. He did not submit any official documents or memorials. This was just a discussion on politics, so it was normal that his ideas were immature.

Zhu Yijun had lunch at the Quan Chu Guild Hall before heading towards the Beidaying.

When it was dusk, the carriage of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty slowly appeared in front of the gate of Tonghe Palace. A eunuch hurriedly handed an urgent memorial to Feng Bao. Feng Bao opened it and took a look at it, and could not bear to look at it.

"What happened?" Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao when he saw that he looked embarrassed.

Feng Bao handed over the memorial and whispered, "The draft of the new edition of Xiaoyao Yiwen by the madmen Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi has been sent to the capital for your majesty to review. The madman's wild words are not worth mentioning."

"These two crazy men have been spouting outrageous words for a long time." Zhu Yijun said nonchalantly, "What other treasonous words can they say?"

When Zhu Yijun opened the memorial, he was stunned as if struck by lightning. He looked at the memorial in his hand, then at Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, and took a few deep breaths of the cold spring air, which managed to suppress his inner anger a little.

The title of this issue of Xiaoyao Yiwen is: Ming Dynasty, a body without a soul.

"Let me take it easy." Zhu Yijun took a look at the title and his blood pressure suddenly rose. He held onto the shaft of the carriage and gave up the idea of ​​letting his power be a little willful.

"Tell Chen Mo that Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi should not return to Beijing and should die outside! After they are gone, Xiaoyao Yiwen will be discontinued! It's good to just stop like this! We don't have to publish it in the future!" Zhu Yijun clapped the memorial in his hand twice.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to kill them on the grassland?" Zhao Mengyou asked with embarrassment. It would be easy to kill two scholars who were powerless.

Your Majesty is very angry now. If he really issues such an order, Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi's study tour group will die before they can reach Guihua City.

Chen Mo will definitely follow military orders and kill him.

"I'll read it first. If they can't explain it, I'll hang them upside down and feed them to the wolves! I mean what I say!" Zhu Yijun slapped the memorial and said angrily.

Zhu Yijun returned to the imperial study and read the entire article while suppressing his anger. After reading it, the anger in his heart disappeared as if a bucket of ice water was poured on him. The two crazy men actually convinced Zhu Yijun with their outrageous words.

"What are the similarities and differences between the Ming Dynasty and the Hu Yuan Dynasty? The Hu Yuan Dynasty was destroyed by the common people, and the Ming Dynasty may also be destroyed by the common people." This is the sentence that Lin Fucheng said at the end of the article.

Lin Fucheng saw how difficult it was for the Hu people to survive outside the Great Wall. Although it was so difficult for the Hu people to survive, in Kaiping Wei, 80% of the people were Han people, not Hu people.

This was a ratio that Lin Fucheng could not understand, and this ratio also existed in Suiyuan.

Why did the people of the Ming Dynasty prefer to endure such bitter cold and even live in insecurity to go out to seek a living? This triggered Lin Fucheng's thinking.

During his visits, Lin Fucheng saw the alienation of people by religion, and also saw the displacement of the people.

In Lin Fucheng's view, the lost soul of the Ming Dynasty was its people-oriented approach.

At the beginning of the nation, the Ming Dynasty seized power from the Yuan Dynasty and distributed wealth to the lower classes through military settlements. However, as the military settlements deteriorated, the Ming Dynasty lost the ability to distribute wealth to the lower classes. Moreover, since the Zhengtong period, the court had no intention of restoring the distribution system.

Lin Fucheng believes that this is the root of all the current problems in the Ming Dynasty.

When Hai Rui was the governor of Yingtian, Dai Fengxiang, the Imperial Censor, impeached Hai Rui on the following charges: sheltering treacherous people, oppressing the gentry, and disrupting government by seeking fame.

It was a huge joke to exploit the gentry, but the court still promoted Hai Rui and forced him to be idle, that is, to retire.

Don't say that the stone man has only one eye and incited the whole world to rebel against the Yellow River. This was the reason for the demise of the Yuan Dynasty and the choice of the majority of poor laborers.

Will the Ming Dynasty end up like this one day?
After Lin Fucheng finished writing, Li Zhi frantically tried to make up for it, saying that the lost soul of the Ming Dynasty was slowly being found by the great sage. A monarch is the master of all the people and all things in the world. Your Majesty is gifted with wisdom and insight. You can be like Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, or Wu.

Li Zhi knew the identity of Mr. Huang. Lin Fucheng's bold remarks, which were almost treasonous, really frightened Li Zhi to the extreme. Li Zhi flattered him profusely, and he was just short of saying that Your Majesty was the greatest emperor of all time.

But Li Zhi still agreed with Lin Fucheng's speech and signed his name on the article.

"Your Majesty, should we kill these two crazy husbands or not?" Zhao Mengyou was still waiting for the emperor's decision.

"Forget it, let them continue their studies. As for this article, let Wan Taizai polish it before publishing it." Zhu Yijun made a decision to save the lives of these two crazy husbands.

Wan Shihe was asked to polish the article because Li Zhi's flattery was too blunt and also to make the article less ugly, but the main content and central idea will not change.

Lin Fucheng wrote this article in the hope that the Ming Dynasty could find its lost soul.

(End of this chapter)