unclear

Chapter 135 The world is as black as a crow
"...Hiss, there are 36 businesses in Guangdong that specialize in trading with merchants. If we build local workshops and produce, and have the governor to protect us, we can indeed make a lot of money every day. If this continues, it will be even worse than the mining tax!"

Shen Li just felt that the emperor was a bit unprofessional, but to Ye Maocai's ears it was a different story.Wuxi produces rice, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the city. It is an important grain transfer station. Merchants from the north and south gather together, forming a large rice market.

People from Wuxi used the canal to transport rice to the north. When they came back, they happened to pass by the cotton-producing area. They took the money from selling the rice and bought it with them. When they came back, they spun and weaved and resold it to make a fortune.

This is what the Ye family does. There are several workshops with dozens of looms. Although it is not a powerful family in the local area, it is still a wealthy family. It has no chance to be unfamiliar with business. It has been exposed to it since childhood.

A variety of novel products such as soft sugar, chime bells, and transparent glassware have spread along the Grand Canal to Jiangsu and Zhejiang in recent years. Big families are all rushing to buy them. The prices are high and the profits are huge.In addition to enjoying it, the local bureaucrats and gentry also saw its huge commercial value and had long wanted to get involved.

Unfortunately, the production process of these objects is extremely complex. No one has ever been able to imitate them without the guidance and detailed formulas of someone who understands them well.When I heard its origin, I immediately thought of the possible development model, and then I felt deep envy, jealousy and hatred.

"Mining tax! This trend cannot last forever. We should immediately go to His Majesty to cancel the Huangzhuang Workshop and stop competing for profits with the people and harming the countryside!" If Ye Mao was the one who made the comment, then Yang Lian was just trying to catch the wind, even though they were both against the emperor. The starting point of making money through the hands of eunuchs is completely different.

Ye Maocai's objection was based on commercial interests. He saw others making a fortune but his own family could not get any oil stars. He must refute it from a class standpoint.The purpose of criticism is not to destroy but to possess. Even if you can add half a share, your attitude will immediately change 180 degrees.

Yang Lian is from Yingshan, Hubei Province. He comes from a wealthy family but has little exposure to business. He has just obtained an official position and is full of ideals and ambitions.It doesn’t matter whether Huangzhuang’s production of self-ringing bells, transparent glassware, soft white sugar, etc. is in competition with the people. As long as it does not conform to one’s own philosophy of governing the country, it is bad and must be destroyed!
"Wait a minute, big flood. It's too early to tell what Governor Li Hongfu's intentions are. The matter of Huangzhuang is also different from the mining tax. It is clearly recorded in the grace order that the clan's treatment will be halved, and those who cannot make a living on their own will be You can work in Huangzhuang.

If we can't get real evidence and just rely on a few words from you and me, I'm afraid it won't even get through the cabinet, and His Majesty won't be able to see it. If it gets out, it will offend thousands of royal family members in vain. "

After listening to Shen Li's introduction and Ye Maocai and Yang Lian's statements, Gu Xiancheng had roughly figured out the whole story. He stroked his beard and shook his head, first denying Yang Lian's impulse.

The Gu family, like the Ye family, are from Wuxi County. Their business is not as big as that of the Ye family, but they are not a small family like Yang Lian. They must have a longer-term vision and consider all aspects before making decisions.

Some readers casually search the Internet and find that Gu Xiancheng's family is from a very poor background. His father is a tofu seller and often makes ends meet. How can he be better off than Yang Lian, who comes from a scholarly family?From this we can draw the conclusion that the author did not know where he read street stall literature or simply made it up.

How to put it, this is the current status of Chinese history.From the Internet to physical books, there are fake information everywhere, including many textbooks that deliberately turn white into black for some purpose, so that people passively accept lies from an early age and then regard them as facts.

The author could not find any historical records about whether Gu Xiancheng's family was poor or not, but there is a memorial hall for Gu Xiancheng in Yuanji Alley, Zhangjing Town, Wuxi. The author took a look at it while visiting friends.

This memorial hall uses the old residence of the Gu family, formerly known as Duanju Hall, and was built by Gu Xiancheng's father, Gu Xue.I’m not familiar with the author of Southern House, so I can’t say for sure what grade it belongs to.

But from an intuitive perspective, this house is no worse than the official residences in the capital.There are all kinds of carved beams and painted buildings, surrounded by corridors on all sides, as well as gardens, pavilions, waterside pavilions, and rockeries, making it elegant and quiet.

The author cannot find out how much it cost to build such a large house, but it is certain that it is not something that a small businessman can earn by selling tofu.Bao Bu Qi Gu Xue did sell tofu when he was young and earned his first pot of gold. Then someone intercepted him and labeled him as coming from a poor family.

Why is this so?It's definitely not an oversight, let alone carelessness, but a need.The person who wrote this information knows more than the author, but they can only write this way to make a living, otherwise it will be called XX and it is incorrect.Judging from the family backgrounds of Ye Maocai, Gu Xiancheng, Gu Yuncheng, Yang Lian and others, the backbone of the Donglin Party will not be ordinary people from poor backgrounds. The reason is simple, circle.

In later generations, there is also a circle for having a group or something. The rich second generation will never chat with the common people in a group all day long. They don't have the time and the need.If you really encounter the situation of leaving the group early, or tightening your pockets, you will get a huge advantage and you won't be able to pay a penny.

So the question is, why don't rich second generations like Gu Xiancheng and Yang Lian enjoy their blessings at home, instead of having to jump up and down and work hard, and end up risking their lives?
It sounds quite unreasonable, but in fact it is a social law.Throughout history, in almost every dynasty, those who take the lead in resisting those in power are usually not the lowest class of people, but mostly the second generation of rich people and officials.

The reason is simple. Only they can read more books after eating, wander around, have their heads full of ideals, and have the ability to implement them.The people at the bottom haven't even received tomorrow's lunch yet. They have no time or energy to think wildly, let alone the ability to pursue spiritual values.

To put it this way, the Donglin Party should be a positive factor that betrayed the class, was determined to change the old tradition, and vigorously innovated. The Eunuch Party and the Emperor were the conservative forces that went against the historical trend.According to the habitual thinking of most people in later generations, the former is a good guy and the latter is a bad guy!

But in fact, this is not the case. The Donglin Party is not a good person, and the Eunuch Party is not a bad person. They are essentially the same kind of people, the kind of people who benefit from everything in the world.

Regardless of the Donglin Party or the Eunuch Party, including the emperor, you come and go and fight to the death. The fight is not about whose ideas of governing the country are advanced, but who can control the power and then fight for themselves and their family. Make profit.

In fact, this kind of competition has existed in all dynasties since ancient times, and the intensity is not necessarily much lower. Why are only the Donglin Party and the Emperor's Eunuch Party the most talked about by future generations.

There is only one reason. They were fighting for power at the wrong time.If they temporarily put aside their prejudices and speak to the outside world in unison, even if they are just at odds with each other in face and heart, and don't ignore it when surrounded by external enemies and internal instability, then most of the responsibility for the demise of the Ming Empire will not be placed on their heads.

To be precise, the Donglin Party is not a clean stream, but a spokesperson for bureaucratic capital.Compared with the emperor and the eunuchs, they are more harmful to the country, and even the notorious capitalists cannot come close to them.

In order to protect their so-called vested interests, these second-generation officials and rich second-generation people can ignore all laws and morals, let alone the rise and fall of the country and nation, as long as they suit themselves.

There are also people like this in future generations, and there are quite a few of them, such as those who play in financial capital, real estate, and virtual economy.Small businessmen and hawkers in these fields basically cannot squeeze in, and ordinary capitalists have no chance either. Those who can get tickets must add the prefix, bureaucrat!
Pure capitalist is not a derogatory term, nor is exploitation. As long as the commercial society exists, this class cannot exist without it. Overall, it is the main force that promotes the development of society.

But as long as the suffix "bureaucrat" is added, all the positive attributes are immediately cleared and approach negative infinity. What is left is all the evil in human nature. Even if you occasionally do a good thing unintentionally, the result will definitely be bad.

Why do history books describe the eunuchs as bad guys and the Donglin Party members as the Six or Eight Gentlemen?Did the history books lie?This problem is better explained. To borrow a famous saying from later generations, history is written by the victors.

Of course, the history of the Ming Dynasty was also written by the Qing Dynasty. Officials of the Qing Dynasty were also interest groups and bureaucratic capital. To pour dirty water on Ming Dynasty officials is to slander their own reputation and correctness.In order to maintain rule, some principles cannot be explained too clearly, and the people will not listen to the instructions once they are fully understood.

(End of this chapter)