Zhu Youzhen glanced around at everyone present, and found that the others were also bowing slightly, but it was rare to agree. However, he did not listen to Qian Qianyi's advice, but said undoubtedly: "For more than 200 years, if they have the slightest sense of gratitude to the imperial court for their kindness, they will naturally take the initiative to respond to the call of the imperial court and store the gold and silver in the bank that exceeds the regulations.

But this is not a reason for the imperial court to tie its own hands, I asked the army to be prepared, but to deal with the local tyrants and gentry who enjoyed the benefits of the imperial court's preferential treatment, but refused to give back a little profit to the country. Some people always think that the change of dynasty and the rise and fall of the world have nothing to do with them, as long as they keep their family property and the seeds of study, they can call for wind and rain in the new dynasty.

I want to let these people know today that they have enjoyed the preferential treatment of the Ming Dynasty for so many years, and the people of the world have been worshiped for so many years, and now the country is in trouble, and the people are in difficulty.

I don't believe it, without these local tyrants and inferior gentry, the Ming Dynasty would not be able to sustain itself? Even if they can't sustain it, then they have to die before me. Since I have made such a decision today, I am not afraid of chaos in the world. I prepared 100 coffins, one for myself and the other 99 for them..."

Hearing the emperor's resolute words, Qian Qianyi finally fell silent, and the others knew that they had no way out, either to follow the emperor all the way to the dark, or to stand on the opposite side of the emperor. At this time, Cui Chengxiu and Feng Quan strengthened their determination and decided to bet on the emperor's side.

The emperor is so determined to clean up the gentry in the world this time, and their change of position at this moment will only become the emperor's first target, but continue to stand on the emperor's side, but it is possible to get the greatest benefit after success.

The emperor's suppression of the gentry did not begin today, and in the past few years, major cases have repeatedly arisen against the so-called powerful and wealthy families. In their opinion, the power possessed by these powerful families was not of the same level as that of the emperor. Since the rise of Gyeonggi industry, the construction of central cities in the north, and the opening of coastal ports, the gentry in Jiangnan, who originally accounted for one-third of the world's wealth, have begun to decline.

Whether it is the competition of the northern cotton textile industry for the cotton textile industry in the south of the Yangtze River, the capitalization of the salt industry in Lianghuai, the crushing of the iron smelting industry in Wuhu by the Northern Iron and Steel Center, the suppression of the traditional industries controlled by the gentry by the raw silk, tea and porcelain companies invested by the imperial court, or the capital control of the banking industry on the commerce in the south of the Yangtze River.

As a result, the gentry began to gradually lose control of the local economy, and the way the gentry controlled the local area depended on two aspects: one was to rely on the network of officials at home or retired officials, so as to obtain the help of officialdom, so that they could suppress the local people in the name of the imperial court; The second is to rely on the large amount of land owned by one's own family, and through the binding of land and the cultivated population, the farmers on the land are dependent on themselves, so that they can obtain the right to consult with each other on local affairs in the capacity of representatives of the people before the magistrates.

They are officials before the people, and they are the people before the officials. It was under the constant switching of these two identities that the gentry gained the power to monopolize rural affairs and became the cornerstone of the power of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, they also have another nickname, Xiangxian.

However, the relationship between the gentry and the gentry was not a close class friendship, and as the ruling class of the feudal dynasty, their relationship was no different from that of the predator. After all, their power is built on the land, and a family will continue to multiply during the Chengping period, for example, a vassal king of the Ming Dynasty once gave birth to as many as 100 sons, and the father, son and brother did not know each other at the meeting.

Although these gentry families are not as capable as the vassal royal clans, their family population is still much faster than that of ordinary people. In such a situation, if they do not annex the nearby land, after two or three generations, they will fall into the class of ordinary farmers.

People often say that they are rich for no more than three generations, which refers to this situation. If the ordinary gentry could not continue to accumulate land, they would basically be no different from ordinary families after three generations. And the Ming Dynasty also has another proverb, that is, poor for three generations, this sentence does not mean that a poor family can change its fortune within three generations, but that after three generations of poverty, the family will basically be extinct.

Since the gentry family occupied the surplus land and women, the poor had no land to cultivate and no women to marry, so naturally they would become extinct. Most of the gentry were well aware of the status quo at the bottom, so in order not to fall to the bottom, they naturally had to suppress the gentry families or small landlords who seemed to be in decline, so as to kick these weak families out of the ruling class and annex their land.

The land annexation of the feudal dynasty was bloody and cruel again, and in this situation, naturally there would be no friendship between the gentry class. This can be seen from the battles of the Southern Ming Dynasty against the Qing army, most of the scholars revolted, not defeated by the Qing army, but most of them were betrayed and betrayed by their colleagues.

Don't talk about other people, Zhang Pu, who is known as the leader of Jiangnan literati in history, didn't he die at the hands of Jiangnan Shi Dafu himself. When Zhou Yanru, who was supported by him to come to power, heard the news of Zhang Pu's death, not only did he not even have the intention of mourning, but said to his guests with laughter: "The sky is like death, I am good to be an official." ”

The shamelessness and ruthlessness of these Southern Doctors can be seen from this. Counting on these people to be in the same boat against the policies implemented by the imperial court, Zhu Youzhen was the first not to believe it. Although he doesn't remember history very clearly, the only example of Jiangnan Shida's resistance to the Qing army that he can remember is the 81st day of Jiangyin, but this is the credit of Yan Yingyuan and a group of citizens of Jiangyin, not a rebellion led by the gentry.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen didn't believe it, under the condition that the army supported him, what kind of moths could those gentry make. Thanks to the suppression of military ministers by civil officials for more than 100 years, the army has always had no good impression of these civilian officials and doctors. At the moment when Sun Chengzong no longer asked about military affairs, the civilian officials of the Ming Dynasty could not interfere with any orders he gave to the army, not even Sun Chuanting.

With the backing of the banking sector and the military, Qian Qianyi's cabinet had few options to make. In the face of Chongzhen's strength, Qian Qianyi, who was not very tough, could only say to Chongzhen after thinking about it: "Why did Your Majesty say this? Even if this year's disaster is stronger than last year's, the situation may not deteriorate to such a point all at once.

The minister thought that as long as the government and the opposition worked together to fight against natural disasters, this difficulty could still be overcome after all. There have been so many disasters over the years, and in the end, didn't the Ming Dynasty still carry them down one by one? Your Majesty, as a great tomorrow, can't put state affairs aside after all. ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at the others and found that the expressions on their faces were also quite embarrassed, and it seemed that he also thought that his reaction was a little excessive. He thought about it for a while, and then realized what the problem was.

In the eyes of these Ming officials, although if the natural disaster really breaks out this year, it may cause the Ming to face a great trouble, but the Ming in their eyes is different from the Ming in Zhu Youzhen's eyes.

In their eyes, the current Da Ming at least retains some vitality, so they don't believe that a natural disaster can defeat the current Da Ming. And in Zhu Youzhen's heart, he still remembers the Ming Dynasty that perished due to natural disasters and the outbreak of peasant uprisings. Although he has indeed changed many problems in the Ming Dynasty since he ascended the throne, the drawbacks accumulated over more than a hundred years can be eliminated in just over ten years.

The current Daming seems to have recovered a lot of vitality, but it does not mean that the country has sunk away and has become a healthy person. At most, it can only be said that Daming is constantly recovering. But once this healing process is interrupted, God knows if it will return to the way it ended in history.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty in history, once the army equipped with new guns and cannons began to rebel, the lethality may be much more brutal than in history, which is not the change he wants.

Only then did Zhu realize that sometimes it is not a good thing to predict the future, because you can't compromise with people at all, and even if these officials seem too crazy, he has to stick to it.

After pondering for a while, Zhu Youzhen finally spoke again: "In the face of a crisis that may endanger the survival of the country, as a ruler, he should naturally prepare for the worst first. It is better to prepare than to use it, and not to start praying to God and worship Buddha until the end of the day. I believe that in the face of the current situation, it is necessary and necessary to prepare for the worst. ”

Qian Qianyi blinked his eyes, and was thinking about how to deal with the emperor's remarks, when Sun Chuanting on the side finally helped him and said to Chongzhen in a loud voice: "Since Your Majesty also thinks that this is used to deal with the worst plan, can you ask Your Majesty not to announce it to the public for the time being." The ministers could begin to prepare, and if the situation was really so bad, they would carry out these measures, which would also make the gentry of the world less willing to confront the imperial court. ”

Guo Yunhou and Qian Qianyi couldn't help but nod their heads again and again and echoed: "Yes, Chief Sun, this is the words of Lao Cheng to seek the country, even if the articles that have just been discussed by the palace are announced, I am afraid that they will already offend many people." If these contents are directly published, the ministers are worried that the gentry will be in chaos before the catastrophe arises..."

Zhu Youzhen thought for a long time, and finally said to Qian Qianyi and the others: "In this way, you first sort out one by one, and what kind of measures will be implemented wherever the situation develops." As long as the conditions are met, the cabinet can directly issue a policy, and the military will implement it immediately, and there is no need to make a public comment.

In addition, in order to ensure more efficient coordination between various departments, I believe that we can set up an emergency command center, with me as the commander-in-chief, and the cabinet, the six departments, and the navy and army chiefs as members of the command.

However, all matters concerning drought relief and disaster relief shall be reported to the emergency headquarters, and the decisions made by the headquarters shall be final, and no department shall refuse to implement them under any excuse..."

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