Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 111 Gives Zhu Yuanzhang an inspiration (third update, please vote for me)

Zhang Yifan couldn't help but feel a little moved when he heard what he said. This fourth child really cares about the girl. That's great!

But at this time, he didn't want to say anything more. He would look back and see how much he could come up with in three months.

Then, Zhu Di pulled Zhang Yifan and continued to ask Zhang Yifan to explain to him the situation of the Yuanyang Formation.He also wanted to ask about details that had not been discussed before and clarify them before discussing them.

Afterwards, Zhang Yifan was forced again.

He learned about Qi Jiguang's Yuanyang Formation from books.It sounds clear and logical, but when it comes to the specific details, Zhu Di has experience in military training, and he is also meticulous in his work. After asking too many questions, Zhang Yifan, who was just talking on paper, was completely exposed.

Fortunately, Zhu Di recognized that this formation was indeed very effective, and in fact, he thought that Zhang Yifan could only talk on paper, so he didn't mind, so he discussed it with Zhang Yifan, and even considered it based on his own experience.

It's just an army formation, how to train, configure special weapons, etc., and chatted late into the night.

During this period, Zhang Yifan looked at Zhu Di with a serious face and suddenly understood why Zhuge Liang was a military advisor and not a lord.

At the same time, there was another student who was still awake late at night like them, the workaholic classmate Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, although he was already lying on the bed, he was tossing and turning and couldn't fall asleep.

In such a situation, Empress Ma couldn't sleep, so she asked him, "Is your husband worried that the fourth child can't compare to Sapphire?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the question, he smiled and said, "It would be strange if the fourth child can compare with that blue jade!"

The commanders all reported to him the situation of Zhu Di and Zhang Yifan going to recruit troops, which was not surprising to him at all.

When Empress Ma heard this, she was a little puzzled and asked with a little curiosity: "I heard that my husband didn't sleep well last night. He seemed to be thinking about something. Is there something going on that embarrasses my husband?"

Obviously, classmate Zhu Yuanzhang often sleeps with different people, and he did not sleep with Queen Ma yesterday.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then asked Queen Ma: "You said that collecting less taxes from the people is for the sake of the people, right?"

"Of course!" When Empress Ma heard this, she was surprised and asked, "How can there be any reason in the world to say that collecting more taxes will make people's lives easier?"

Speaking of this, she said with a little anger: "We have all come from hard times. If it weren't for the excessive levies and miscellaneous taxes that make it difficult for us to survive, would we be making trouble?"

"Yes~, I think so too." After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang echoed in a long voice, and then said, "It's just that yesterday I heard that charging more taxes is actually beneficial to the people, but it doesn't sound like that. Wrong! So, my mind is all confused, and I have been thinking about this in my free time these past two days!"

"Who said that?" Queen Ma said angrily after hearing this, but for some reason, an idea suddenly flashed in her mind and she asked tentatively, "Could it be our son-in-law who said that?"

She had heard Zhang Yifan talk eloquently twice, once when Zhang Yifan had a verbal battle with officials, and once when Zhang Yifan competed with nine talented people.No matter which time it was, she found that Zhang Yifan spoke from a strange angle and often started from aspects that others would not think of, so that she was deeply impressed.

And the abnormal words Zhu Yuanzhang said just now made Zhu Yuanzhang make sense, and she immediately guessed Zhang Yifan.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang heard Empress Ma's question and immediately smiled bitterly and said, "That's what this kid said!"

After confirming it first, he told Queen Ma what Zhang Yifan said: "He said that the court must have a lot of expenses, most of which are used on state affairs and are necessary. But this money must come from tax collection... …”

It was her son-in-law who said it, and Queen Ma became surprisingly patient, listening quietly to Zhu Yuanzhang's narration.

Sometimes, if you don’t approve of someone, you may not listen to what that person says, and you may even subconsciously find faults; but if you approve of someone, it doesn’t matter whether what the person says makes sense or not. , they will listen carefully and even take the initiative to think about something they have not figured out.

This principle has been well realized by Zhang Yifan.

If these words of his had been spoken by others, such as Ye Boju who was in prison, or Zheng Shili who was lucky enough to have his fate changed, they might not even have finished speaking before Zhu Yuanzhang would have killed them by shouting: "Send more to the people." Collecting taxes is for the benefit of the people. Is this because the emperor is mentally ill?

However, this was said by Zhang Yifan. In the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, it was said by their son-in-law who loved their daughter deeply.He is one of their own, so they are willing to listen to him and think about it.No, after Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Empress Ma immediately changed her attitude and said, "It seems that what Yifan said makes sense!"

Of course, she didn't just say that casually. She went on to say: "Listen, Yifan wants to say, probably collect more taxes from the rich, collect less taxes from the poor, and then make the tax return All the money is spent on official matters, that is, for the good of the people."

"Yes, that's probably what I mean." Zhu Yuanzhang said a little against his will.

In fact, it is far more complicated than this. According to Zhang Yifan, there can be a lot of tricks in tax collection.But at this time, he didn't need to explain so much to Queen Ma, he just responded to Queen Ma and said: "But I have been thinking, how to collect taxes in this way? This Yifan, he talked out of his own mouth and said a truth. , but it’s really difficult for me to really do what he said!”

Hearing this, Empress Ma thought of something and asked, "Have you sorted out the money matter?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "No way! It's really nerve-wracking!"

"Then let Yifan do more things. If he does more things, he might be able to integrate his principles into state affairs. That way, you won't have to worry so much!"

During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, there was no saying that relatives were not allowed to get involved in politics.

No, after Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he said "hmm" and then said: "We really want him to exercise, but now he is locked up in the military camp by the fourth child. The two of them are holding back their energy, thinking about winning against Lan Yu. Woolen cloth!"

Fortunately, Zhang Yifan couldn't hear the conversation between the couple, otherwise he would definitely complain. Not everyone can be as energetic as your father-in-law. You must respect human rights!

By the way, there is also a fourth classmate who is also an energetic master!
After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Queen Ma suddenly remembered something and said to him: "By the way, when Jing Jing entered the palace yesterday, she brought a book, saying that Yifan told her and she recorded it. …”

Zhu Yuanzhang was not interested when he heard this, but soon, Empress Ma went on to say: "The book is very comfortable to read, and it is easy to understand what it says in the book. I heard what Jing Jing said made sense. I will give it to you tomorrow." Take a look and say that if all the books in the world could be like that, we in the Ming Dynasty would have more scholars and more talents..."

When he heard the next sentence, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally became interested. He immediately sat up and said, "Where is it? I want to see!"

The problem of talent has really troubled him for too long.When he heard about talent, he couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Of course Queen Ma knew Zhu Yuanzhang, so she asked the palace maid to hold the lamp and at the same time showed Zhu Yuanzhang the copy of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was reading it carefully, Empress Ma explained: "This book is written in vernacular that is easy to understand, and you can see that there are many different sentences with different meanings. Let people understand the content of the book accurately without any confusion..."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly while watching.He didn't care about the content, what he cared about was the characteristics of the book introduced by Empress Ma.

After reading for a while, he frowned slightly and began to think deeply. After a while, he slowly said: "The articles of the sages are profound and mysterious. Throughout the ages, famous scholars have commented on them. This book is similar to It’s like annotations, but more straightforward and easier to understand!”

Having said this, Zhu Yuanzhang paused, seemed to think for a while, and then said: "This method can indeed make it easier to teach knowledge. However, there is a premise that the knowledge can be transformed into this kind of vernacular. In addition, if this kind of sentence is read for promotion, future scholars may lose the taste of sages and become vulgar..."

During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang was still looking for ideological weapons for the Ming Dynasty. One of his considerations was to use Zhu Xi's approval of the sage's book as an ideological weapon.Therefore, as soon as he saw this book, he immediately remembered the annotation.

Empress Ma didn't speak, just let Zhu Yuanzhang think quietly.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a little excitement: "By the way, I think it can be like this. For things like the Ming Law, it's best to use the ones in the book to tell what can be done and what can't be done. Tell the people all over the world the most straightforward way, write it in the most understandable vernacular, and read it with these sentences. As for other aspects, the classics of sages can be read with these sentences, but if you don’t use it in such a straightforward way, it loses its flavor!”

Zhu Yuanzhang was actually very smart. In history, in order to popularize the law, he compiled stories about the cases that had occurred, compiled them into a book, printed them in large quantities, and announced a regulation.

If someone commits a crime and has this book at home, the crime will be reduced by one level except for major crimes; however, if the person does not have this book at home, the crime will be increased by one level.

With this approach, no matter whether people can read or not, they will definitely keep a copy at home, which can be used as a family heirloom.

The "Legend of Sword and Fairy" written by Zhu Jingjing is very conducive to people's understanding, whether it is the way of speaking or the special sentence readings.This made Zhu Yuanzhang immediately think of popularizing the law.

(End of this chapter)