I'm really not doing business

Chapter 653: Heads Rolling Outside Yongchang Gate
There was a widespread practice of deceiving superiors and concealing the truth from subordinates in the Ming officialdom. This was a common tacit understanding among the bureaucrats. Zhu Yijun never believed that his officials were loyal to the empire and to himself, and the income of these miscellaneous officials was concealed under this tacit understanding.

Zhu Yijun had expected that government offices at all levels had certain hidden incomes, but he would never allow such serious hidden incomes in Zhejiang.

In Wuyi County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, the annual land tax and commercial tax was only 23,000 taels of silver, but the hidden income was as high as 114,000 taels of silver, more than five times the hidden income.

"So, the great plan for the 12th year of Wanli is about to come. The mountains of silver in the county, state, and prefecture offices must be digested in a way. Distribution is a very difficult problem at any time, and Dingjian Dagong is the most suitable way, because it takes care of everything and everyone is satisfied."

"The existence of the Nine Battalions in Zhejiang hindered the large-scale construction projects that were prevalent in the south of the Yangtze River." Zhu Yijun analyzed the phenomenon, problems and causes. This methodology based on the theory of contradiction is very reliable.

The existence of the Nine Camps in Zhejiang was a thorn in the side of the bureaucrats at the prefectures, counties and districts, because they had no way of using the massive construction project to distribute benefits or do accounting. When the court was planning major events, it discovered mountains of silver in the prefecture and county treasuries. What should they do?
The reason why the mining supervision system set up by Emperor Wanli was widely opposed is very clear. While the mining supervision system drained the pond to catch fish, it also allowed local officials to enrich themselves to the extreme under the name of the mining supervision system, free riding on the mining supervision system and levying heavy taxes, which became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, in order to consume this money, Wuyi County even built a small bell and drum tower for the main government office, but it still could not digest all the silver collected by miscellaneous officials under various pretexts." Wang Guoguang further elaborated on this phenomenon. Even a small bell and drum tower for the main government office was built, but the collected silver still could not be digested, so they had to turn their attention to the Ninth Battalion.

It can’t be spent all, it can never be spent all. After the opening of the sea, this hidden income has been constantly increasing and expanding.

Once the Ninth Battalion is disbanded, the Ninth Battalion of Zhejiang can be thoroughly criticized and all the dikes they built will be demolished and rebuilt. They will be demolished and divided once, rebuilt and divided again. If the quality is poor, they will be rebuilt again next year, and the cycle will repeat over and over again.

"But the only thing to be thankful for is that the officials of our Ming Dynasty are still looking for excuses instead of making up stories out of thin air in order to absorb this money. This is better." Zhu Yijun said sincerely.

"Fabricated out of thin air?" Wang Guoguang was stunned. What kind of trick is this? It's totally unheard of.

"Well, the West likes to use this method, which is to fabricate things out of thin air. A bag of bushings weighing two taels can be sold for 44 taels of gold. The reason why Philip II could not build a five-masted ocean-going ship was also based on this reason. It was too expensive." Zhu Yijun briefly explained what fabricating things out of thin air meant.

"What is King Felipe's audit for? A bag of two taels of bushings forty-four taels of gold!" Wang Guoguang was shocked beyond words by Taixi's tricks. With such rampant corruption, where is the audit? Where is the supervision?

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "The auditors sent out may die from various reasons, such as being shot eighteen times in the back or committing suicide?"

"Ah?" Wang Guoguang asked dully, "Shot in the back eighteen times, suicide? Is that reasonable?"

"It shouldn't be reasonable." Zhang Xueyan was stunned.

"It's not reasonable, but it may be reasonable in the West." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "This kind of tax imposed by miscellaneous officials under various pretexts needs to be audited and monitored, and we should start from Zhejiang."

Was the Ming Dynasty really poor? The government was very poor, but officials like Wu Shanyan were not poor at all.

What were the censors of the Ming Dynasty doing? Wu Shanyan was the governor of Zhejiang as the deputy chief censor. He was the chief censor. This was the most direct manifestation of the failure of the correction power.

The imperial court allowed local government offices to have some hidden income, but Zhejiang went too far.

"Your Majesty, in the tenth year of Wanli, Your Majesty issued an edict to include abandoned land into the performance appraisal. If one quarter of the land was left idle, the performance appraisal would be low. However, due to various reasons, it was ultimately not implemented." Zhang Xueyan mentioned one thing, the performance appraisal of abandoned land. This decree seemed to be a decision made on the spur of the moment, and eventually became a dormant clause.

This kind of thing is very common. Top-down decrees sometimes happen like this. The emperor did not admit his mistakes, but he did not take the test and fell into a deep sleep. This also allowed the local authorities to see that His Majesty was not a willful dictator. When it was really impossible to do something, His Majesty would also make changes as appropriate.

"Why did the Junior Prime Minister suddenly mention this?" Zhu Yijun asked doubtfully. Don't hit someone in the face, and don't expose their weaknesses when scolding them. If Zhang Xueyan wanted to scold the emperor, he could have been more tactful!

"Because Songjiang Prefecture has done it." Zhang Xueyan said with a very strange expression: "The problem of abandoned land in Songjiang Prefecture has been greatly improved. This year, the abandoned land in Songjiang Prefecture has exceeded 90% instead of less than 10%. "

After two years, Shen Shixing solved the problem of abandoned land in Songjiang Prefecture. This was an unexpected surprise in the 12th year of Wanli. Shen Shixing did not even report his achievement to the court for credit, but submitted the accounts at the time of the great plan for the country.

"Ah? No, how did he do it?" Zhu Yijun asked in a daze. He was unwilling to let the "Order Not to Abandon the Land" fall asleep, but he couldn't do it, not even if he killed all the officials in the world. But when Zhu Yijun had already given up, Shen Shixing actually did it.

Weird!

"Because there are many workshops in Songjiang Prefecture, and the craftsmen are not engaged in farming, this is the demand." Zhang Xueyan explained the problem. The increase in workshops solved the dilemma of the small peasant economy.

As workshops and craftsmen increased, the demand for food increased. The strong laborers in Songjiang Prefecture went to the workshops, leaving no laborers in the fields. In order to retain these laborers, the landlords had to provide more labor remuneration so that the tenants would stay on the fields instead of going into the workshops. In this way, the dilemma of the small peasant economy was broken.

The establishment of large-scale free employment production relations has ensured that land is no longer left idle.

"So that's it." Zhu Yijun was speechless. His visible big hand was taught a severe lesson by the invisible big hand.

"Your Majesty, I don't think this is an absolute freedom solution." Wang Guoguang knew from the emperor's expression that his majesty might have thought wrongly. The Ministry of Revenue was not praising absolute freedom. Absolute freedom can bring nothing but the deprivation of freedom.

Wang Guoguang's reasons were very convincing. In fact, this was solved by the emperor's visible hand. The opening of the sea was led by the emperor, and the investment of 3712 million silver coins in opening the sea was also real money invested by the emperor. So when the time comes to bear fruit and harvest, the absolute liberals must not be allowed to reap the fruits of victory.

It is to be announced that the "Order Not to Abandon Land" has been successfully piloted in Songjiang Prefecture!
If you don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, the enemy will occupy it, and what Wang Guoguang said is the fact. The change in production relations was led by the court, and no one can take credit for it.

"Ah, it seems to be like this?" After listening to Wang Guoguang's report, Zhu Yijun found that things seemed to be really like this.

Wang Guoguang said very seriously: "Absolute freedom theory has two absurd assumptions. The first is that the free market always effectively and efficiently allocates all resources. But we have all seen that money always flows to places where there is no shortage of money, and goods and commodities also flow to people who do not need them."

“The biggest dilemma of the small-scale peasant economy is that food cannot flow effectively to those in need, because those in need do not produce surplus to buy the food they need.”

"The second absurd assumption is that all growth is good, no matter what type of growth it is, such as the idle circulation of silver in the trading houses, the continuous expansion of pleasure boats and book houses, and the fact that local gentry, powerful officials, and workshop owners would rather support thugs than pay wages to poor laborers, and then they put on the lie that one person's luxury is the livelihood of millions of people."

These two absurd assumptions are the core theories of absolute freedom and are extremely absurd.

Wang Guoguang did not want his wise Majesty to be influenced in his judgment of state affairs by such nonsense.

"What the Grand Tutor said makes sense. Then please trouble Lord Wan to announce in the official newspaper that the pilot program of the 'Order Not to Abandon Land' has been successful." Zhu Yijun agreed with Wang Guoguang's point of view. For twelve years, this empire's accountant has guaranteed all expenses of the Wanli Restoration.

"How many silver coins have been printed?" Zhu Yijun talked about the silver mountain that gave him a headache. He couldn't wait to continue investing in the sea.

"Your Majesty, we print 500 million silver coins a year. It is expected to exceed 650 million silver coins by the middle of next year. By then, Your Majesty can open the floodgates and release the money. Will the treasury be unable to hold on?" Wang Guoguang reported the number of silver coins printed by the Military Equipment Bureau, and the set goal could be achieved six months ahead of schedule.

"I can still hold on." Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "As long as everything goes well."

Everything is going according to plan.

After seeing the emperor, Ma Wenying, Yang Tingyong and others received a reward. In addition to the reward of one hundred silver coins each, each of them received a fine woolen cloak, four flintlock muskets bestowed by His Majesty, and four boxes of Guojiao, each containing six bottles.

"Your Majesty ordered the four captains to return to Zhejiang and select 4.5 elite soldiers to go to the Nagasaki Governor's Office. At the same time, they should eliminate the old and weak soldiers in the Ninth Battalion and add to the 4.5 soldiers in the Ninth Battalion to complete the establishment of people." Li Yougong explained the work content of the four captains in detail.

He returned to Zhejiang and supervised the execution of Wu Shanyan and 1,200 others. Then he selected elite soldiers, replenished the troops, and went to the Nagasaki Governor's Office to destroy the Japanese.

Replenishing the troops was a suggestion made by Grand Marshal Zeng Shengwu in the court. The Ninth Battalion was not fully staffed and most of the troops were vacant. Among the more than one hundred charges against Wu Shanyan, one was that he was drawing salaries without working. In order to fill the staffing, the Ninth Battalion continued to patrol and fight floods as usual. At the same time, a hydrological and geographical survey was conducted in the entire Zhejiang Province to determine the highways of Yingtian Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, and Songjiang Prefecture. The Ninth Battalion would later become an engineering corps battalion.

A new revolving door appeared. The battalion commander of the Zhejiang 9th Engineering Corps was selected to join the navy and served as a guest soldier of the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office. After retiring, he returned to the 9th Battalion as an officer and was responsible for the construction of Zhejiang Dingjian.

The imperial court did not want the hidden income of the local government offices in Zhejiang Prefecture and kept it in Zhejiang. It was also distributed through the large-scale construction project, but the soldiers of the Nine Battalions must get a share, and the poor laborers of Zhejiang must also get a share. The Chidao was an investment in public construction, and after it was completed, it would benefit everyone.

"Third Master, didn't we rebel? Why did the emperor give us so many rewards?" Yang Tingyong was a little confused when he looked at his large number of rewards. They had all rebelled. If the audience with the emperor was for the purpose of stabilizing the Nine Battalions of Zhejiang, then this extra reward was a little strange.

"Rebellion? Who rebelled? Nonsense! We entered the city to suppress the bandits at the request of Yan Shixuan, the prefect of Hangzhou! This is what His Majesty said in the official report! Are you questioning His Majesty?" Ma Wenying said sternly, "We entered the city to suppress the bandits! In the process of suppressing the bandits, we found evidence of Wu Shanyan's deceiving his superiors and concealing the truth!"

"It's clearly a mutiny..." Zhang Wenyuan muttered, "I had it all figured out at the beginning. I'm going to kill Wu Shanyan, the official, no matter what! And his group of running dogs!"

"Your Majesty naturally has his own considerations. Are you questioning your wisdom?" Ma Wenying asked seriously.

"No! Your Majesty is wise!" Zhang Wenyuan waved his hands repeatedly. He just couldn't figure out why His Majesty did this.

When Ma Wenying returned to Shuangyu Port in Zhejiang, it was already the end of October and the beginning of November. Under the influence of the small glacier climate, the northwest wind in Hangzhou was bone-chilling, and even a thin layer of ice formed on the surface of the West Lake. The execution ground was being built. More than 1,200 traitors were to be executed at a time. Only officials could go to the execution ground. As for the running dogs, they did not even have the qualifications to go on stage and had to stay off the stage.

There were not enough executioners, so Shen Shixing asked people to go to the Ninth Battalion to select a group of soldiers to become executioners.

Shen Shixing was extremely busy. The establishment of the Jiuying Experience Office was complicated, but Shen Shixing still completed the construction of the system before the execution. Three-legged frogs are hard to find, but two-legged scholars are everywhere.

Shen Shixing combined the experience of Songjiang Prefecture and employed outsiders as officials in the Ministry of Experience and all prefectures, counties and cities in Zhejiang. It was too easy for local people to mix with local clans, local gentry, and powerful people.

The five classics doctors have arrived, and the survey preparations for Yinghang Chidao and Songhang Chidao have begun in full swing.

Shen Shixing finally finished all the things he had to do after the mutiny and had time to sit down and drink a cup of tea. He didn't have time to eat breakfast until three in the afternoon.

"It's better to leave this fish in the river. Don't cook fish in Hangzhou anymore." Shen Shixing looked at the plate of vinegar fish on the table and told his attendants that he really couldn't enjoy the West Lake vinegar fish. How did Hangzhou, which is so prosperous, become a food desert? !

"Governor, Hangzhou prefect Yan Shixuan requests to see you." A doorman came in and said with embarrassment.

"Let him in. I want to have something to eat." Shen Shixing waved his hand and let Yan Shixuan come in first.

He did not eat breakfast in the morning. He went to Yongchang Gate early in the morning and personally dug the first shovel of earth for the construction of the Yongchang Gate Loyalty and Bravery Temple, which was regarded as the foundation. Then he went to Jiuquying without stopping to express his condolences to the families of the soldiers who died in the process of suppressing the bandits. At noon, he returned to the government office and dealt with a batch of official documents, mainly about some soldiers from the Ninth Battalion who robbed the properties of innocent people, which needed to be returned. After reading the official documents, Shen Shixing met with the Five Classics Doctors from the capital and sent two hundred and nine battalions of soldiers to protect the Five Classics Doctors in surveying the highway.

He had just finished his work and sat down at the table, feeling extremely hungry, when Yan Shixuan came to his door.

"I'll eat first, you talk and I'll listen." Shen Shixing gestured to Yan Shixuan to speak.

"Ma Wenzhong and his men are back, asking about the selection of elite soldiers; whether the money for miscellaneous officials in various counties should be included in the overall plan?" Yan Shixuan explained the purpose of his visit. There were two things. The first was selecting elite soldiers, which was easy to do, as the Beijing camp had experience that could be directly applied, and the navy had already been selected several times when it was formed. The main thing was the second thing.

The imperial court did not give any specific instructions on whether the hidden income of each government office should be included in the overall plan.

The court did not give instructions because it was not in Zhejiang and did not understand the situation in Zhejiang very well, so it needed the governor of Zhejiang to make a judgment.

Shen Shixing finished his lunch, which he had heated up three times, as quickly as possible and said, "It should be included in the overall plan."

"I know that now that they have been included in the plan, they will cry poor and try every possible means to squeeze out this part of the losses from the poor and coolies. But you have to know that this is the most suitable opportunity. Zhejiang has just experienced a mutiny. Is there a better opportunity than this?"

"There will definitely be voices of opposition, and there will be some clever excuses. This is a long-term struggle. At worst, we can just let the Ninth Battalion soldiers enter the city periodically to wipe out the bandits."

"I think so too." Yan Shixuan said confidently: "The struggle has reached this point, we can no longer retreat."

Shen Shixing said to Yan Shixuan, "All the water pits and manure channels in Hangzhou are controlled by Wu Shanyan's lackeys. Now that Wu Shanyan has fallen, we can't continue like this. Follow the example of Songjiang Prefecture and set up a government-run water and fertilizer office to specialize in water supply and manure channels. You should keep a close eye on this matter. Wu Shanyan will die, but he can't die in vain. Zhejiang must make changes."

"The court has always been wary of Zhejiang. This fear has become a thorn in your majesty's heart. To eliminate this fear, this is the best opportunity. We must clean up Zhejiang thoroughly, so that the court, your majesty, and the people of Zhejiang can rest assured."

Shen Shixing investigated Wu Shanyan. He did not agree with Wu Shanyan's choice, but he could understand it.

Zhu Wan, Zhang Jing, and Li Tianchong, two governors of Zhejiang and one minister of war, died in Zhejiang. It is not surprising that Wu Shanyan chose to collude with local clans, local gentry, and powerful people, but Shen Shixing disagreed with this choice. If it were him, he would rather fight to the death with these people and perish together.

Some people may think that his idea is naive, but he feels that this might be the purpose of his desperate effort to become the top scholar.

Worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy after the world worries about you.

On November 7, the twelfth year of the Wanli reign, Shen Shixing arrived at the execution ground outside the Yongchang Gate of Hangzhou Prefecture. The people who came to watch the execution surrounded the execution ground, and the execution ground stretched from the Yongchang Gate to the bank of the Qiantang River.

Chen Tiande, along with the coastal defense inspectors, pulled six parade cars with Wu Shanyan and others on them. They walked through the streets and alleys of Hangzhou Prefecture and arrived in front of the Yongchang Gate. Only then did they release Wu Shanyan and other officials and throw them onto the execution ground.

What followed was a complicated process that required identity verification. Every person needed to be checked, and the first thing to look for in identity verification was fingerprints, followed by scars and moles on the body. The first step in the identity verification process was for Shen Shixing to verify it personally.

"Shen Shixing! You are so powerful! My today is your tomorrow! I can be beheaded by His Majesty today, and you can do the same tomorrow!" Wu Shanyan looked a little disheveled. His imprisonment had lasted for a month and a half, and he was no longer the gentleman he used to be.

Your Majesty once said that death is not scary, what is scary is waiting for death.

Wu Shanyan has been waiting to die, suffering every minute and every moment. Now the day has finally come when this endless hell ends.

Wu Shanyan spat viciously and shouted, "Do you expect Your Majesty to remain wise forever? How glorious was Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's Kaiyuan Era, and how much suffering was there during the Tianbao Era! Emperor Shizong worked hard for twenty years, but what happened? Didn't he still hide in the West Garden and live in seclusion?"

"The emperor is a person, a living person, with flesh and blood. The old emperor is now working hard to govern the country, but that is because he is restrained by Zhang Juzheng! When Zhang Juzheng is gone and Your Majesty slacks off, I wonder what will happen to you!"

"I'll be waiting for you on the Huangquan Road!"

Shen Shixing held his hands and looked at Wu Shanyan, then said in a daze: "Although you are very powerful, can you control His Majesty? Look at yourself, you don't understand. You are just a minister after all."

"As for your Majesty's laziness?" Shen Shixing took a deep breath, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then looked at Wu Shanyan and said, "I don't regret it! It's like you haven't repented for your crimes until now. People are like this. You have to walk the path you choose."

"Take him to the execution ground!"

In response to Wu Shanyan's vicious curse before his death, Shen Shixing responded positively. If one day His Majesty really became lazy and no longer as high-spirited as he is now, and hid in Tonghe Palace, ignoring state affairs and ruling the country without paying any attention, then Shen Shixing would have nothing to regret. He had lived up to his parents, His Majesty, the Ming Dynasty, and himself in his life, and that was enough.

Choice is a personal freedom. After making a choice, you must bear the corresponding responsibility.

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch of the Songjiang Navy Commander, flicked his whisk, and two eunuchs opened the imperial edict. Zhang Cheng shouted in a hoarse voice: "The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees:"

"Times are tough, ambitions are strong, and Heaven has not forgiven the disaster. Fortune is at stake, and evil men are rampant, stealing the power of the country. They are scheming evil, and they are preparing for trouble."

"I rely on Wu thieves as my confidants, but Wu thieves repay my kindness with power and flattery! These beasts are in league with each other, wolves and ugly creatures, daring to defy the will of Heaven, not knowing the grace of the overthrow, and acting recklessly. They refuse to defend the order, mislead our people, and injure our innocent soldiers! The people of the county and the people are in mourning. I am the parent of the people, the ruler of the world, and the master of the country, how can I not feel ashamed?"

"Thanks to the righteous men of the country, who have corrected the wrongs and wrongs, entered the city to suppress the bandits and eliminate the evil rebels. Upon hearing that the nest of these beasts has been completely destroyed, I feel comforted. I have corrected their criminal books and abandoned them with the public. This is a national law!"

"Today, outside the Yongchang Gate, the Zhejiang Governor Shen Shixing supervised the execution. Wu Shanyan and his followers were all beheaded to show the public the correct punishment, for the soldiers and civilians to witness, and for the gods to bear witness to!"

"The dynasty became a constitution after a long period of time, it was a good deed and a favor, and the edict was issued to the world, and the envoys heard about it."

"Appreciate this."

There was a sentence in the imperial edict that was not in the correct format. It should have been "Shen Shixing, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, was to inspect Songjiang and Zhejiang." However, Langzhong was a fifth-rank official, and if he was demoted one level, it would be better for Shen Shixing to take the imperial examination again. So the Ming Emperor gave Shen Shixing face.

Shen Shixing drew a warrant from the lottery box in the main hall, wrote Wu Shanyan's name on it, and then threw it out, saying with a serious face: "It is three quarters after noon, the execution will be carried out!"

The warrant fell to the ground, and the executioner stepped forward and took off the death card that had the prisoner's neck stabbed in it from Wu Shanyan. The death card should have been filled with the charges, but there were too many to list, so he just wrote the word "death". After throwing away the death card, the executioner took out the guillotine, took a sip of wine, and sprayed it on the guillotine.

The executioner stuck the beheading knife on the ground, took out a two-finger-wide bone prying knife from his waist, touched Wu Shanyan's neck, counted the vertebrae, inserted the bone prying knife, and pried it gently, with a clicking sound.

Wu Shanyan only felt a chill on his neck, and then he could no longer feel his body. He smelled the odor of feces and urine. This was the scene that occurred when the body was out of control after the spine was broken. Wu Shanyan wanted to cry, laugh, and shout in pain, but he couldn't do any of these because his body was completely out of control.

In fact, at this time, he was already dead.

The executioner looked at the sun, raised the beheading knife in his hand high, swung it down suddenly, and hit the place where Wu Shanyan's spine was broken, chopping off his head.

Wu Shanyan's head rolled off. He was actually still somewhat conscious. He felt dizzy and saw a group of people in short brown clothes. He blinked hard and his whole life flashed before his eyes like a passing scene. Then all his senses disappeared and he fell into endless darkness.

Wu Shanyan regretted it at the end of his life.

Because he saw himself in the 41st year of Jiajing, dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse. At that time, he had just passed the imperial examination and was full of energy and ambition. At that time, he wanted to use his own hands to make the world bright and clear.

Later, when did I start to slide into the abyss?

I don’t know. Wu Shanyan himself didn’t even remember anything and left this world.

"Good kill!"

Cheers broke out from the crowd, and along with the cheers the executioners swung their long swords, reflecting the midday sun, and heads fell to the ground one by one.

One thousand two hundred public beheadings were completed within a quarter of an hour at three quarters past noon.

Ma Wenying picked up Wu Shanyan's head, put it in a sandalwood box, and sent it to the Temple of Loyalty and Bravery outside Yongchang Gate. He buried it at the door where everyone had to pass by. This was His Majesty's request. The treacherous ministers who betrayed the emperor and the common people will be trampled upon by the people for generations.

After putting the head in, Ma Wenying began to fill the soil with lime, which is mixed cement.

Concrete can preserve the head longer.

"Governor, there was an accident at the shipyard!" The lawyer handed a letter to Shen Shixing in panic.

After reading the letter, Shen Shixing stared at Yan Shixuan for a long time. He swore that he would never be Yan Shixuan's boss again in this life!
(End of this chapter)