People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 528 This decision will change your life

This may be the reason for its development. Sanfuqi has never enjoyed any fairness and justice. Although the imperial examination system cannot guarantee absolute fairness, this relative fairness still attracts many people.

Once upon a time, noble families in the Central Plains held official power, which the common people could not touch at all, and no one stood up to consider the people.

It was not until the imperial examination system that began in the Sui and Tang dynasties that power began to be decentralized.

After several hundred years of development, now all children from poor families have the opportunity to become officials.

Of course, there are still many tricks involved, but no matter what, it can achieve relative fairness. Although it is not absolute fairness, it is enough for Sanfozi now.

Especially now, the people of Sanfuqi are in such misery. Not only do they have no power to become officials and are controlled by the powerful families, but even they can't escape since it's just a small island.

Unlike in the Central Plains, if the people did not want to live under the jurisdiction of the government, they would simply flee to the mountains and forests and become hermits at most.

However, there are only a limited number of places to go on this island. Running to the primeval forest can indeed help them avoid the government, but they will also be eaten by wild beasts very quickly. So they can't even run away and can only be exploited endlessly.

The most disgusting thing is that these officials in Sanfuqi never treated the people as human beings. Not only did they impose extremely high taxes on the people, they also joined forces with pirates to oppress the people.

It would be fine if the people could still resist, but over the years the people have despairingly discovered that they don't even have the means to resist.

But now the Ming Dynasty, which came from thousands of miles away, has introduced reforms one after another that the local people in Sanfuzi find incredible. This makes many local people in Sanfuzi wonder if this is still a force from outside?

This is even better than the imperial court at home.

Perhaps Chen Han and his companions had not expected that just by implementing some reform measures in Sanfuqi, they could achieve such good results. You know, they just wanted to make Sanfuqi a slightly better place. In this way, the navy would have a good foothold and it would also be a bridgehead for opening up other areas in the future.

But I didn't expect that the people here would be so grateful just by being a little bit nice to them. If I had known this would be the case, I should have done it earlier.

The Jinyiwei looked at the shocked faces of the people below and didn't feel anything. However, in the eyes of the local people in Sanfuzi, allowing ordinary people to participate in politics was already a great blessing. After all, they had never dared to imagine these things.

When the scholar just now thought of this, he wanted to burst into tears. If they had known that there would be such a policy, scholars like them would have had a better way out long ago. Why would they still be wandering around?

Someone comforted him: "Alashan, you have always hoped that the court would allow you, the knowledgeable people, to have a chance to speak, but those high-ranking families have never taken us seriously. Now the Ming Dynasty has given us such a good opportunity, you must cherish it."

"Yes, you are the most learned among us. You must work hard. If there is really an imperial examination, you must pass it and become a juren or something, and then speak well of us, the people of Jianghu."

"This is very true for people like us who come from poor families. It's not good for the government to treat us so harshly. It's not that we don't want to farm, it's just that there is no land for us to farm!"

Everyone was sighing.

Many people even started making wishes.

If there could be one or two educated people among us, perhaps our situation could be greatly improved.

You should know that although you and others seem to be very free as people in the underworld, there are actually many rules and regulations that make you uncomfortable. In particular, the taxes on people in the underworld are ridiculously high. They say that you people don't farm and wander around every day, so it's too troublesome to collect taxes from you, so they have to collect all the taxes at one time.

This caused a lot of pain to many people in the underworld.

Because of this, many people want to change the status quo.

Fortunately, when the Ming Dynasty came over, they immediately saw the problem in this area and proposed to collect taxes from the richer people instead of asking for taxes from the poor people who had no money.

And now they have seen a hope that seems incredible to them, that perhaps some of these people in the underworld will become officials.

After hearing everyone's expectations of him, the scholar nodded and said, "I am a man of the underworld. I understand too well the pain we are going through now. If I were used to being one, I would definitely speak up for us."

As soon as this was said, many people were talking about it.

"If that's the case, don't worry. We'll sell everything we have to get you through the exam and become an official."

"That's right. When the private school teacher from the Ming Dynasty comes, don't worry. Just study with peace of mind and we will provide you with food and drink. I don't believe that we can't make you worry-free!"

"Just think of it as a favor we've done you. Study hard, become an official, and repay us."

"Don't even mention repaying me. We just hope that you can be a good official when you become one, benefiting the people. Let the people all over the world know that we, the people of Jianghu, also have a heart that wants to do good things for the people. This way, we can be satisfied."

The Jinyiwei were a little surprised to see this.

I didn't expect that these poor and destitute people would have such thoughts. They don't ask for a good life themselves but want to make the people live better.

Is this what they mean by not being able to bear to see others suffer even if you yourself are not doing well?
From this perspective, these people in the underworld are quite respectable.

At the beginning, the Jinyiwei did not take these gangsters seriously.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people these people are considered extraordinary people, but in the eyes of the Jinyiwei they are just a bunch of rabble.

But to be honest, they were still moved by the spirit of these people in the underworld.

Maybe they are not really that smart, but after experiencing the world for a long time, they sincerely hope that the common people can live a better life.

Although this intention also includes the idea of ​​making people live better and having higher incomes, it is better to have this intention than to have no intention at all.

This alone made the Jinyiwei and naval soldiers present admire him.

The thief smiled slightly when he saw the enthusiastic scene below: "In the future, as long as we want to study, make progress, or even become officials, as long as we read the books of sages and follow the Ming Dynasty, our good days will not be far away.

Brothers, what are we most afraid of? "

When he asked this question, everyone looked at him.

Although I had some thoughts in my mind, I still wanted to hear what the thief had to say.

The thief then said, "In fact, we are not afraid of death. Many of us have rolled over a pile of dead bodies. We have seen many dead bodies and have become very brave. Therefore, we are not afraid of anything.

But what we fear most is that our family members will be looked down upon.”

When this was said, the people present were stunned for a moment, and then someone began to sigh. It was obvious that this sentence touched the hearts of many people.

Just as the thieves said, these people are all people who crawled out of the pile of dead bodies. Anyone who can make it to this dilapidated temple to hold a meeting must have experienced a difficult time.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the scholar seems very elegant.

In fact, he also fled from a famine. He saw so many people and things along the way. The fact that he was able to survive showed that he had extraordinary qualities, and even had some secrets that could not be made public.

Although they all claim that they are very relaxed now, who among those present who has a family would not want to reunite with their family?
Who doesn’t want to tell their children about their experiences in the underworld?

But can their story really be told?

Those things that can only be buried deep in one's heart, even if they seem very glorious to people in the underworld, but in the eyes of ordinary people, those things are just illegal. Can this be told to others?
No!

Therefore, they have nothing to show off in their lives and cannot even brag about it to their children.

It was because of this that the thief's words immediately brought out the deepest pain in their hearts.

Who doesn't want to bring honor to the family, who doesn't want their children to be proud of them? But what is there to be proud of in what they are doing now?
They also want to find something to be proud of to make themselves look better, but where can they find it?
After seeing the embarrassment on their faces, the thief said, "Now I am going to tell you a great piece of news. If we can really help the Ming Dynasty to implement all these reforms, the people of Sanfuqi will be able to enjoy the benefits of the reforms that they never dared to imagine.

Many years later, when people's lives are prosperous and their children pass the imperial examinations and enter officialdom, I think there will be children from poor families who become officials who will remember that we once worked hard for their glory.

I think this is enough to bring honor to our family.”

As soon as these words were spoken, many people's ears started buzzing. They probably didn't expect this to be possible.

They have thought of many ways to make everyone remember them, but that is easier said than done. Many people only know that they are just people from the underworld. Who would be willing to entrust important matters to them?

Is it crazy?
But now they finally realized that the Ming Dynasty seemed to be really crazy for entrusting such an important matter to them to implement.

At this moment their eyes lit up.

Yup!

There was a time when we were just a group of rats celebrating a festival. Although we were not yet condemned by everyone, we were also representatives of few people. Who with real talent would want to wander around in the world?
When everyone thought of this, their eyes lit up when they looked at the thief.

Seeing the Jinyiwei and naval soldiers standing on the side, they remembered that if it were before, they would never have the opportunity to stand with such people. Now, not only do they not despise them, but they invite them to go on the mission together. This kind of honor is something they could never have asked for in their previous lives.

"Everyone, if you really want to do something to bring honor to your family, today is the day to start. If you don't want to, and you still want to live your life in mediocrity, and you still want your children to ask you if you have anything to be proud of, and you can't say anything, then you can stand aside.

I don't ask everyone to follow our footsteps, after all, there are many dangers here.

You have also seen that if this matter was not dangerous, the commander-in-chief would not have sent us four hundred such excellent soldiers.

If there were no danger, we wouldn't be chased and intercepted by so many families in Mandala City.

But precisely because of these dangers, the more miserable we are now, the more glorious we will be in the future.

I want to tell everyone present here, your future depends on the decision you make today, will you come?"

The thief shouted loudly.

He really hopes that everyone can raise their hands and say to him, let’s do it!!
But after he said this, the people below fell silent.

Although glory and danger are directly proportional, this song of life and death is no joke.

When I was helping the Ming Dynasty promote tax reforms, there was not much of a strong reaction from the people below, because they felt there was still room for maneuver, so there was no need to make a life-and-death struggle.

But this time the propaganda for the imperial examination reform is really desperate. This reform will definitely touch the deepest interests of those big families, so this is no joke.

This kind of thing affects the entire body.

Although the thieves hope that everyone can cheer, they also understand these people's concerns.

They are all people who rose from the bottom of the underworld. They have seen too many people who showed their talents but were quickly defeated by the situation. Nowadays, those who can come here are no longer young guys and will not shout for fighting and killing when others say something.

So it is reasonable for them to think calmly.

The thief did not think that these people's thinking meant that they would definitely fail, but waited quietly.

Even the Jinyiwei were not rushing at this moment, but waiting patiently.

After all, this is a big matter and cannot be decided on a whim. This time it is not a small matter like last time. This time there will definitely be deaths.

After a while, an old man finally stood up and said, "Count me in!"

This person turned out to be a beggar.

And judging from his age, he should be almost sixty.

Nowadays, not many people can live to be sixty.

Normally, people of this age would be more cautious about their lives, but I didn’t expect the old man to take the initiative to stand up, and he was the first to stand up.

After the old man stood up, he looked at his colleagues and said slowly: "I just don't want to die and still be so ordinary.

Just think of this as me leaving a good reputation after my death."

The old man's words stunned everyone present.

If a sixty-year-old man is not afraid, should we young people be afraid?

……

(End of this chapter)