People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 489 History is pale, but people have not made any progress

In fact, when it comes to the king committing suicide, Lan Yu feels very sympathetic.

"I wasn't there at the time, right? Which one of you was there?"

A Jinyiwei stood up and said, "Marshal, I was there at the time!"

"Yes, yes, that's what you said, right?"

"Yes! You sent me undercover beside them at the time, so I heard their conversation."

Lan Yu nodded, and then said to Xia Yuanji: "The boy came back and told me that the scene was really tragic."

Xia Yuanji, Lan Yu and a group of commanders were talking about these things while walking in the tropical back garden of the palace.

Then Lan Yu could be heard sighing. He was also a person who loved talents.

Especially when I heard that the king was so strong-willed, I felt that it was a pity that such a king died like this.

If such a person were still alive, Lan Yu would not let him die and would definitely keep him by his side. After all, there are very few people who are both brave and resourceful.

After Lan Yu finished his sigh, he said, "At that time, the king was confronting his good brother, who was the general who commanded the entire army.

He and the general grew up together naked. Both of them were very ambitious and wanted to do something for the country.

The king grew up in the royal family, but he was not at all a dandy. He was determined to change the national conditions of Srivijaya. The general also supported the king since he was a child. The two of them grew up together and finally took control of the power of Srivijaya.

But as time went on, things changed a bit.”

Xia Yuanji interjected at this time, "Did the general finally give in to the temptation of power and money and betray the king?"

In fact, this kind of drama is very common. After all, in many operas, there are many people who are very ambitious when they are young, but become greedy after middle age.

Wasn’t Qin Hui still such a person back then?
At that time, Wang Anshi was carrying out reforms. After seeing Wang Anshi's reforms, Qin Hui, who also had great ambitions, joined Wang Anshi's reforms.

But what happened later?
He saw that Wang Anshi's reforms were effective in the early stages, but in the middle stages, some villains took advantage of the reforms to make money, which led to Qin Hui's increasingly distorted values, and he betrayed Wang Anshi. He betrayed his original intentions, began to be corrupted by money and power, and finally became a traitor, and even colluded with Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou to kill the great hero Yue Fei. He was forever nailed to the pillar of humiliation by history.

This is the living reality.

History is just pale words.

But human beings are actually the same as pale written records.

Over tens of thousands of years, humans have evolved, learned to use tools, and have undergone changes in their thinking.

But of course it is difficult to completely eradicate that kind of feeling in your heart.

After Xia Yuanji finished speaking, Lan Yu nodded and said, "Indeed, the general and the king did share the same ideals at the beginning, but as time went by, as he gained more power and more people offered their support, his thinking changed.

He also felt that the king's ambition was a bit problematic. He also wanted stability and wanted to stay in this position for a long time.

So he watched helplessly as the king was surrounded by the opposition, and even at the most critical moment, he had 30,000 elite soldiers in his hands but he did not send them to aid the imperial army.

This forced the king to withdraw his border troops, giving Majapahit an opportunity to defeat Srivijaya's border troops in one blow.

All of this is actually under their control, just to let the king see that all power is in the hands of the powerful.

So what if he has great ambitions?
Finally the king and the general confronted each other."

Xia Yuanji could already imagine the scene at that time.

The king must have been filled with grief and indignation, as he never expected that the comrade who grew up with him would betray him at the most critical moment. In the end, his faith collapsed, so he did not live like the general, but ended up committing suicide.

Xia Yuanji sighed.

Lan Yu continued, "Actually, if this matter had ended here, it would have ended there, but what I didn't expect was that something unexpected happened."

Xia Yuanji said, "Marshal, please continue."

He was quite interested in this matter and even wanted to write about the king's deeds in his travel notes.

After all, Xia Yuanji was a scholar. Apart from government affairs, scholars also wanted to write books and biographies to enhance their reputations, and Xia Yuanji was no exception.

He mainly wrote about his experiences as an official, as well as the customs and habits of the people he had experienced while serving in various places. Now that he has come to Southeast Asia, he has recorded many customs and habits along the way.

After arriving in Sanfuqi, he had to record such a good subject, and at the same time, he wanted to warn the rulers of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Lan Yu narrated the story, "At first, we all looked down on the general, saying he was such a coward and a disgrace.

After all, the king was so good to him, but he stabbed the king at the critical moment. Such a person deserves to die a miserable death.

But what we didn't expect was that after the king committed suicide, the general suddenly found his conscience, and then, without any of us expecting it, he also took up his sword and committed suicide."

Xia Yuanji was stunned after hearing this, "He also committed suicide?"

"Yes, right in front of us! He made some heroic speeches when he committed suicide. He said that he wanted to govern Sanfuqi well with the king, but he was seduced by power and money. Later, he felt guilty and felt sorry for the king, so he drew his sword and committed suicide."

After hearing that the king and the general drew their swords and committed suicide at the same time, Xia Yuanji and all the commanders and generals fell silent.

Although the king and the general are definitely enemies of the Ming Dynasty in terms of stance, such enemies are admirable.

Especially this king, he was defeated by his own people. Although there were generals fanning the flames behind the scenes, the more serious issue was the rigidity of the entire national system.

Especially those interest groups have formed an ironclad group and would rather collude with the enemy country than to eradicate those who are carrying out reforms in their own country. What kind of hatred or grudge is this?

From this we can see how cruel these powerful people can be in order to protect their own interests.

Even if you are a king, if you stand in our way, you will die.

After Xia Yuanji heard the story of the king and the general, he immediately thought of the three of them. He and the Duke were also determined to reform and change the Ming Dynasty at that time.

It’s not that the current Ming Dynasty is bad, but because the Ming Dynasty still inherited the systems of the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, and the interest groups are still solidified, so reform is needed.

After Xia Yuanji heard that the King of Srivijaya had committed suicide, he felt it was a pity to be honest. He really wanted to get to know this king, as he had such foresight and talent. Even if they were former enemies, they could become friends. He could even get to know him and make him serve the Ming Dynasty.

Because such talents are rare in this era. To be honest, it is quite rare to find someone with reform ideas, especially a king.

Because a king himself is the biggest beneficiary of this system. Which king does not want his country to be very stable? Which king does not want the people under his rule to be obedient and honest?

And no matter when and where, those who stand with the king are the beneficiaries.

Why is this so?
It is because of a very simple reason: only the beneficiaries will protect the king, and only those who are deprived of their benefits will overthrow the dynasty.

Those who stand on the side of the king are likely to be the beneficiaries, and only in this way can the king's rule last longer.

But the fact that a king dared to break this convention showed that this king at least had some courage.

It is impossible for someone without courage to do such a thing. This is something Xia Yuanji is very clear about.

So when he heard Lan Yu say that the King of Srivijaya had both a strong desire for reform and long-term vision, and that the plan he proposed was at least feasible and could make the people live a better life, he was very surprised.

"If we can use such talents, it will help us to do a better job in Sanfuqi."

Hearing that the king had committed suicide, Xia Yuanji felt deeply sorry: "What a pity, such a talented person actually committed suicide for no reason. The greatest sorrow in the world is to watch such a talented person in front of you, but miss him."

After listening to this, Lan Yu also explained: "When we heard about this at the time, we also felt it was a pity. You know, the king must be a great talent to be able to think of such reforms.

Because of his reforms, many people spontaneously formed an alliance to fight against the Majapahit army.

You didn’t see the scene? Every citizen rushed forward as if they were risking their lives.

Even though they knew that their small bodies could not withstand the iron wall and countless swords and arrows of Majapahit, they still did not give up.

We later asked those people why they did this.

The common people’s response was without exception that the King’s Coin had given them hope because it was such a good national policy.

They don’t want to see a country with such hope being occupied by barbarians like Majapahit.”

Xia Yuanji heard another key piece of information. Since the common people said that the people of Majapahit were barbarians, there must have been some twists and turns in the middle.

Then he asked, "Why do the people of Srivijaya regard the people of Majapahit as barbarians?"

Wang Bi explained: "It is like this. Majapahit and Srivijaya were originally three tribes on this island. Two of the tribes united and lived together for generations, gradually forming the country of Srivijaya.

As for the Majapahit Kingdom, they were called barbarians by the people of Srivijaya because they had lived in the dense forests of the Northeast for a long time.

But in fact, this is a derogatory term. The reason why the people of the two countries find it difficult to integrate together is because the people of Srivijaya have always felt that they are superior, while the people of Majapahit, as descendants of barbarians, are not qualified to be on an equal footing with them.

This is still a big issue left over between Srivijaya and Majapahit. If we want to bring these two countries together, the attitude of the people is very important.”

Lan Yu, Wang Bi and others arrived here earlier, so they also knew a lot about the local situation.

Especially when they heard about the grievances between Majapahit and Srivijaya, they felt a headache after listening to it.

There is no other reason, it’s just that the people of these two countries look down on each other.

The people of Srivijaya thought that the people of Majapahit were barbarians, while Majapahit thought that the people of Srivijaya were doughty people.

This means that the people of Sanfuqi can neither climb trees nor mountains, so they can only farm on the plains. How can they be as strong as they are?

This is because the living habits of the two countries are different due to different environments.

The Majapahit Kingdom survived in the dense forest, so of course they had to fight with the ferocious beasts in the rainforest, so they developed the ability to go down the river and climb trees.

But the people of Srivijaya occupied the relatively flat plains on the island, where they mainly grew food, mainly Champa rice, and some tropical fruits for a living, which was of course naturally different from the Majapahit Kingdom.

This island seems to be home to one nation, but in fact, due to huge differences in living habits, it is difficult for the people of these two countries to get along together.

Xia Yuanji frowned.

Lan Yu said, "In fact, we have always been thinking about how to unite the people of the two countries. After all, we have destroyed Majapahit. Although Srivijaya is still there, it is actually in name only. The people have seen that without our Ming army to help them, they would have been annexed by Majapahit long ago.

So the people are now eagerly waiting for us to announce whether we will continue with the reform or keep things as they were.

If things remain the same, the people will definitely panic, but if reforms are carried out, the people will not panic, but the powerful will become restless again.

Even recently, the Jinyiwei saw many people fleeing to the sea with their families along the coast, and most of those who fled to the sea were powerful and wealthy.

Before the reform, they had always been mainly exploiting the local people. Now, although the king who wanted to reform has been destroyed, there is no one here who is qualified to be the king. In other words, some guys believe that our Ming Dynasty will also reform according to the king's reforms. "

Xia Yuanji looked at Lan Yu and asked, "Then Marshal, what do you think we should do?"

Lan Yu waved his hand and said, "Of course we need to reform. Our Ming Dynasty has become so powerful today because of reform. A country that remains unchanged can only be like a stagnant pool of water.

Those powerful people were well-informed, so they should have known long ago that the Ming Dynasty became strong through reforms, so they must have carried out reforms in the territories of Srivijaya and Majapahit that they now occupied. And those reforms would inevitably harm their interests. That's why they fled to the sea with their families.

I wonder if what I said is right, Brother Xia?"

Xia Yuanji smiled and said, "The Marshal's guess is correct. In fact, I had already thought about it before coming here. Regardless of whether the king here participates in the reform or not, we must change it.

To be honest, we don’t want this land to allow the rich and powerful to maintain stability for us. We want the people to make full use of the fertile resources of this land and grow food. What we want is food, and since we want food, we must treat the people here well. "

(End of this chapter)