Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

The collision of ideas is often the most intense.

In the traditional concept of governance, the monarch and the people are clearly distinguished. It is natural for the people to respect the monarch, and the monarch will be praised for loving the people.

Even if it is clear that the people in the area have suffered a disaster, as long as you reduce taxes to the disaster area, it is already a favor to the world. This is already a benevolent policy that everyone talks about.

In this game of power, if officials from various places can petition for tax reductions for certain people, they will already be famous officials, and they will also be talked about by the world.

It's just that the emperor sitting on the dragon throne doesn't play such childlike games at all, but focuses on the people's basic necessities, food, housing and transportation.

In order to achieve the purpose of lowering the price of cotton cloth, there is no concept of grain taxation in the eyes, and they even take the initiative to sacrifice interests, but it is a long-term plan that makes people's blood boil.

If they could really lower the price of cotton cloth like books through some measures, this move would be hundreds of times more powerful than those officials who applied for tax exemptions for disaster-stricken areas.

Requesting tax exemptions for the disaster is just to allow the victims to continue to breathe, but Zhu Youtang wants to keep the people alive and live a better life.

At this moment, they felt that the person sitting on the dragon throne was not a human being, but a real god, a god who would bring light to this world.

"The Ming Dynasty has a wise master, which is a blessing for tens of thousands of people!" Xu Qiong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, understood Zhu Youtang's intention and said it sincerely.

Zhu Youtang knew that Xu Qiong was a flatterer, so he expressed his position calmly: "You haven't even said a word yet, so don't rush to flatter me! It's just that I really want to make this happen, and I hope that all of you will be loyal and wise." , give me a helping hand!”

"I am willing to die for my service!" Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other officials were also greatly affected, and they immediately expressed their stance together.

If there is a rank in governing a country, then the wise kings of earlier times were not even that far.

According to the new ideas for governing the country proposed by Zhu Youtang, although there will be various variables in reducing the price of cotton, their direction is ultimately right.

If they really want to lower the price of cotton cloth like books, they really want to leave their name in history, and the people will really benefit from it.

Officials, of course, want to have a wife and children, but they also want to do some good things for the people that can be talked about, and they also want to make themselves famous for generations to come.

Now, they are facing such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They will be the driving force behind the development of the cloth industry and the eternal contributors to the decline in cotton prices.

Zhu Youtang naturally has no shortage of people who compliment him now, and the plaque "Through hard work to prosper the country" hanging above his head always reminds him, and he said calmly: "Since you have no objections, let's take the first step to encourage them." The common people grow cotton! After a short rest, you all go to the official room to change your clothes! Liu Jin, go to the imperial kitchen and ask someone to prepare some refreshments and send them to the ministers! "

Some of the officials present couldn't bear it and resigned happily.

Liu Jin liked the layout of this new palace very much, so he went to the dining room to prepare tea as instructed.

Wan An chose to stay, and suddenly knelt down to Zhu Youtang and said, "Your Majesty, I have a request regarding Yangzhou!"

"Mr. Wange, do you know why I haven't added any cabinet ministers?" Zhu Youtang said with a bit of disappointment in his eyes when he thought that he had received the information that the Gao family had entered Wanfu.

Wan An naturally knew that this was the strongest signal that he was not going to let him leave, so he immediately kowtowed heavily and said: "Your Majesty, I have nothing to repay, I am only loyal!"

"I know that Gao Heng, the deputy envoy of the two Huaidu capitals, is the son of my mentor, but his crime is unpardonable. You should not come to me to plead for mercy!" Zhu Youtang said with a little disappointment when he saw him showing his loyalty like this.

The civil service group is actually a huge network of interests, and there has always been a master-disciple succession among these cabinet ministers.

The original chief assistant Gao Gu passed on power to Wan An and Liu Ji, and Wan An and Liu Ji passed on power to Yang Tinghe in the original history, and Yang Tinghe also passed on power to the famous Yan Song.

As for Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei, the master-disciple relationship has long been familiar. In the later period, the civil service group developed into an integration of officials and businessmen, and later became the Shanxi Gang and the Donglin Party.

Li Zhiqing was able to act so boldly because he had an ally with great connections, Gao Heng. After all, Gao Heng's father, Gao Gu, was the teacher of Wan An and Liu Ji.

Now that Gao Heng is in jail, the Gao family in Beijing went to the homes of Wan'an and Liu Ji to rescue him. As a result, Liu Ji turned him away, while Wan'an actually brought him in.

Wan An's eyes were slightly red, but he shook his head gently and said: "Your Majesty has misunderstood me! Although I am grateful to my teacher for his guidance and support back then, Gao Heng did such things that harmed the country and the people. How can I do this? Would you intercede for such a villain?"

"You are not asking for the Gao family, but what do you want?" Zhu Youtang asked in confusion when he realized that he seemed to have really misunderstood.

Wan An raised his head and looked at Zhu Youtang, then expressed his request: "I have an old relationship with the Gao family. According to the accounting manual, I... I have collected a total of 3,900 taels! Although I collected money as a warning... However, the old minister only felt that he was guilty, so he pretended to agree to the request of the Gao family and paid a small sum of five thousand taels. After talking with him, he learned that the Gao family had the account book of Gao Heng’s bribery in Beijing for so many years, and the old minister had arranged for his servant to He is waiting for an opportunity to steal it, please allow me to make up for my crime!"

"So, you want to plead for yourself!" Zhu Youtang couldn't help but laugh when he saw that the gray-headed old man had this thought.

In fact, Wan An didn't say anything, but he also knew that Wan An and Liu Ji must have taken Gao Heng's filial piety silver.

If he punished the two pavilion elders just for this reason, he, the emperor, would indeed be too harsh and would not be conducive to his future governance.

In positions like Wan'an and Liu Ji, it was common for local officials to pay hundreds of taels of filial piety each time. After all, ice warning, charcoal warning, and bie warning have become one of the means of making money for important ministers who wander in the gray area.

I just didn't expect that Wan An's desire to survive was so strong. While returning the stolen money, he also arranged for Xi Zuo to steal the account books from the Gao family, but he wanted to make up for his mistakes.

Wan An looked pitiful, and nodded very solemnly: "I beg your majesty to forgive me, please give me a chance to change my ways!"

"Apart from Gao Heng who gave a lot of gifts, who else's filial piety was obviously unreasonable?" Zhu Youtang actually didn't intend to punish Wan An, but he still asked with a straight face.

Wan'an didn't seem to even think about it, and immediately confessed to someone: "Governor of Water Transport Zhou Nai!"

"As long as you can get the bribery account book, I will not only forgive you, but also give you a reward!" Zhu Youtang saw that Wan An was really bent on survival, so he made a promise.

In the eyes of many people, it is an unforgivable crime for a person like Wan An to take so much silver.

But this is true human nature. Even the family of Yang Rong, one of the three Yangs who is recognized as a model of civil servants, is also a cancer. The most corrupt person in the Ming Dynasty is Xu Jie, who is known as a virtuous prime minister. Corrupt officials in the world cannot be killed at all.

Another person in Wan'an's position would still continue to take such gray filial piety silver. From ancient times to the present, every person in power has said that he wants to govern by officials. As a result, this officialdom has never been truly purged.

The reason why there seemed to be relatively few corrupt officials in the Hongzhi Dynasty in the original history is that the Hongzhi Dynasty was already controlled by the civil service group, so how could there be any reason to investigate themselves?

When Wan An heard Zhu Youtang's statement, he immediately said respectfully: "Old minister, I thank you for your kindness!"

In mid-February, the spring scenery in Beijing was brilliant.

After Zhu Youtang finished the second half of the discussion, he took a leisurely stroll to the Jin'ao Yuji Bridge and was admiring the scenery of the lake and mountains in the center of the bridge.

The spring breeze is blowing by, the lake surface is sparkling, the blue sky and white clouds are reflected on the lake surface, and Qionghua Island not far away is full of vitality.

Taiye Lake is the collective name for the North Sea, Zhonghai and South China Sea. This water area occupies most of the Xiyuan area from north to south.

In the entire city of Beijing, apart from this body of water, only Houhai, one of the four seas, exists in the north of the city. Now even the important officials of the imperial court cannot see a glimpse of the lake in the south of the city, but they can enjoy the scenery of the lake and mountains at home.

It's just that as an emperor, whether it's the soft-smelling beauty or the picturesque scenery in front of you, you can't really sink into it, but you must always keep your responsibilities and mission in mind.

Cotton was a seed he planted in the first year of Hongzhi's reign, but if he wanted it to bloom and bear fruit, he had to take good care of it. He even had to kill the pests that wanted to prevent the cotton from growing with his own hands.

In fact, unlike many time travellers, he believes in development rather than blind plunder.

Forming a powerful army to snatch gold and silver from the royal families or tribal chiefs of various countries will make money quickly, but it is not conducive to long-term development.

The most important thing is that it is useless for China to simply plunder gold and silver and return it to the country. The influx of large amounts of silver will only become a bargaining chip for the local strata to squeeze out the people's means of production.

Zhu Youtang knew that what he wanted was a truly powerful country. Only by following the British example in developing the textile industry and becoming the largest exporter of textiles could he obtain a steady stream of nutrients from all over the world to nourish China.

Of course, there is still a long way to go to achieve this, and it even requires the support of flintlock guns, and expanding cotton production is naturally only the first step.

"Your Majesty, this is the newspaper that was just released from the press room. Please take a look at it!" Liu Jin hurried over and presented something that looked like a newspaper.

Originally, the Di newspaper was under the responsibility of the General Affairs Department, but now the situation has changed. This great weapon of public opinion no longer belongs to the civil service group, but has been taken over by the newly established newspapers and periodicals.

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction when he saw the report that he had used gifts to increase cotton and recruited skilled craftsmen from all over the country to improve spinning machines.