Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 152 Is it the fault of Confucianism or the fault of the scholar-bureaucrats themselves?
"Are they a bunch of beasts?"

Yuxikou.

While Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel army was resting and preparing to cross the river, Song Lian also found Zhang Cheng because he received letters from relatives and friends of scholars from the south of the Yangtze River reporting the activities of the Shenji Battalion in Zhenjiang, Changzhou, and Pingjiang. Zhang Cheng reflected this situation.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng asked Song Lian this question after Song Lian said that his relatives and friends in Shilin even called the rebels a group of beasts who violated ordinary etiquette.

After Zhang Cheng asked this, Song Lian looked worried and said, "Yeah, they all said it's very bad!"

"Moreover, they also asked me why I wanted to join an army that is not as respectful and polite as Hu Yuan. They also asked me to ask you, Mr. Zhang, are you really willing to assist such an army that is like a beast to fight for the world?"

"Tell me, how should I respond, Mr. Zhang? Did Shenji Camp really go too far in Jiangnan?"

After Song Lian said that, Zhang Cheng said: "We actually expected this to happen in advance."

Zhu Yuanzhang came over at this time and asked, "What are you talking about again?"

"You came at the right time, superior."

Zhang Cheng asked: "How to stop it?"

"If we really stop Wen Zheng and the others, I'm afraid they won't listen! Even if they do, then if we do this, we are sending them to death! We are forcing them to be annihilated by the militia of Yuan soldiers and officials and gentry!"

Feng Guoyong was unable to refute for a while and only said: "I just learned from some letters from my relatives and friends in Jiangnan that what they did in Zhenjiang and Changzhou was indeed too much and too bad!"

"I got these letters too."

"Mr. Qianxi said that his friends from the scholar-officials had written letters, saying that Wenzheng's Shenji Battalion had gone too far in Zhenjiang, Changzhou, and Pingjiang. They killed officials and gentry wantonly, divided their fields and ransacked their homes, and even made all slaves and tenants Then he started to rebel and went to fight against the master's house, so that he was injured during the funeral and people were in panic."

When Zhang Cheng said this, he asked Feng Guoyong: "Feng Shenzheng, tell me, how can we stop it? Should we let the Shenji camp do things in that way? Do we want the people or the Shenji camp?"

"The large number of refugees in the south of the Yangtze River created by Hu Yuan depend on them for shelter and support. They themselves are not strong enough to resist the encirclement and suppression by the Yuan soldiers, and those officials and gentry will not help them provide land and food to adopt the refugees at this time. He said that militiamen were also sent out to help Yuan Ting encircle and suppress them. "

Feng Guoyong also walked in at this time, cupped his hands to Zhu Yuanzhang and said:

"So, I think we should discourage them from doing this, otherwise, this will force the Jiangnan official clan who originally sympathized with our rebels to no longer sympathize with our rebels."

"Of course, there is another way, which is to let them abandon the refugees and let the refugees who follow them be slaughtered either by themselves or by Yuan soldiers."

"So, what do you want them to do?"

"Sir, we must stop Wen Zheng and others from doing this immediately. Otherwise, if this continues, it will damage the image of our rebel army!"

Zhang Cheng spoke to Zhu Yuanzhang at this time.

"From the perspective of your Shilin friends, this matter is terrible."

"But what about from the perspective of their tenant slaves?"

"Do you think it will be very bad? It must be very good! Otherwise, the tenants and slaves would not have rebelled. This shows that it is very good for the tenants and slaves." "If you don't believe it, We can ask Wen Zheng and others to choose a few tenant slaves to come to our place and tell us personally. "

"Everyone, we have to look at the problem from both sides. We can't just stand on our own side. That would be blinding the eye!"

"At the same time, we must analyze problems from an objective perspective and not just rely on our own likes and dislikes. After all, we are going to do big things, so we need to proceed from the overall situation and reality. In my family, this is also called scientific analyze."

"From a scientific analysis, the Shenji Battalion did indeed go too far. But should our rebels be directly blamed for causing such an extreme situation?"

"Aren't those who are really responsible for this the reactionary monarchs and ministers of the Yuan Dynasty who caused the emergence of a large number of Jiangnan refugees and made these Jiangnan refugees seek refuge with our rebels?"

After Zhang Cheng asked this question, both Feng Guoyong and Song Lian pursed their lips and looked serious.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, looked like he was thinking, and murmured in his mouth: "Objective perspective, scientific analysis."

"If Emperor Yuan Ting had not only reduced rents and interest rates without attacking the interests of the rich and powerful, the Yuan Ting bureaucrats would not have had an excuse to increase taxes on a large scale."

"If the Yuan court officials had not raised taxes on a large scale, there would not have been so many refugees."

"If the Yuan court officials had not implemented a strict Baojia system and adopted a barbaric policy of killing landless refugees on sight, the refugees would not have really sought refuge with the rebels."

"Therefore, the reactionary bureaucrats of the Yuan Dynasty should bear the main responsibility for this matter. It was their excessive taxation and brutality that led to the possibility of such a more bloody riot."

"In addition, the landowners in Jiangnan, your scholarly friends, should bear secondary responsibility."

"Emperor Hu Yuan asked them to reduce rents and interest rates. Why don't they reduce rents and interest rates and take in more refugees?"

"Even if Emperor Hu Yuan did not issue this order, as village sages, don't they have the responsibility to take in the villagers, make them more beneficial to the villagers, and prevent the villagers from being desperate and following the rebels to rebel?"

"As long as they treat their tenants and slaves as individuals and reduce the restrictions on their tenants and slaves to the extent that after the tenants and slaves become self-cultivated farmers, they will pay less than the taxes and labor they paid to the rebels. They will not know how to be grateful to the Lord. Family, don’t you know how to join the host family in opposing the rebels’ excessive liquidation?”

"In other words, since the rebels can use fields and food to buy refugees, tenants, and slaves to deal with them, why can't they use fields and food to mobilize refugees, tenants, and slaves to defend themselves?"

"What's more, they are still the disciples of Confucius and Mencius, and they have the knowledge of saints. The servants and slaves around them must have been taught by their saintly knowledge of gentleness, courtesy and frugality to know the ways of gratitude, loyalty and filial piety, otherwise they would not become their Tenants and slaves, so as long as they show some kindness and kindness, these tenants and slaves will be willing to stand with them, right?"

"Unless the sage's learning is useless, or they really go too far, they are only willing to talk about benevolence, justice and morality, but are not willing to make any concessions to the tenants and slaves in real life."

As Zhang Cheng spoke, he asked Song Lian and Feng Guoyong: "Excuse me, you two, what do you think is the situation?"

"Is it that the learning of saints is of no use, or are you scholar friends not practicing benevolence, righteousness, and morality, but exploiting the villagers too harshly, which makes the villagers prefer to stand with the rebels?"

Song Lian and Feng Guoyong were both speechless.

Zhu Yuanzhang also said at this time: "Yes, we would like to hear your opinion. Is this Confucianism's fault or their fault?"

(End of this chapter)