After reading the letter written by Xia Yunyi to himself, Zhu Youzhen could only sigh again. Cui Chengxiu and Yang He are already officials who bow to his orders in the court, and Cui Chengxiu is even more aware of the "cultivator has his land" policy that he wants to implement.

But once they arrived at the local level, these two officials, who were considered close to Chongzhen, still failed to betray the gentry class. In their eyes, it is still the local gentry who can maintain local tranquility.

They can support Chongzhen's attack on the clans in Shaanxi, because these clans have become a cancer in the landlord class, and the clans not only oppress and persecute ordinary people, but also the local gentry and prominent families.

But when these clans were defeated, the local gentry forgot about their oppressed past and couldn't wait to cut a piece of flesh for themselves on the fallen clan.

If it weren't for the civil uprisings in various parts of Shaanxi in recent years, let these gentry know that they still have to give those poor people a hope, it is estimated that they probably don't want to leave even a little scraps to the people of Shaanxi.

Of course, at this time, the imperial court still had the largest force in Shaanxi, and these gentry did not dare to do their own thing, so they surrounded Cui Chengxiu and Yang He, and tried their best to make these two ministers who represented the imperial court fall to them.

Xia Yunyi, who is bare-handed, has been able to deal with these Shaanxi gentry for so long, which can be regarded as quite a long progress. However, for Xia Yunyi's letter of hope, Zhu Youzhen actually couldn't do anything.

Maybe in Xia Yunyi's eyes, he, the emperor Chrysostom, as long as he sends a word, all troubles can be solved. But Zhu Youzhen himself knows that this is not the case.

It seems that the supreme imperial power cannot play any role on its own, it needs a group of officials to obey and maintain its authority, in order to show its omnipotent authority in front of the people.

And today it is a group of officials like Cui Chengxiu and Yang He who support the power in Chongzhen's hands, and he can't wield the imperial power to smash the foundation of supporting the imperial power, because this is undoubtedly suicide. The only people who could benefit from this were the gentry who did not support the imperial court and the foreign enemies who were hostile to the Ming Dynasty.

To paraphrase a later generation, without revolutionary cadres, there would be no revolution. Before the new class, the new cadres, and the new social values were established, his relationship with the old bureaucrats and gentry could only be one of constant oscillation and compromise between striking and co-opting.

However, Chongzhen didn't want to tell Xia Yunyi all his thoughts, in his opinion, Xia Yunyi was a banner he erected for the elite of the Ming scholars, and only by letting those who still have ideals gather under this banner, from quantitative change to qualitative change, can the decadent Shilin atmosphere at the end of the Ming Dynasty be renewed.

Only the idealists can summon the elite of the times who also have ideals, and a person who puts power above his ideals cannot unite those pure idealists around him.

Just like Zhang Pu, who is known as the leader of the Restoration Society, although there is no lack of idealism, but he is too superstitious about power and scheming, which makes the dragon and snake in the Restoration Society mixed, and his so-called clarification of politics and the slogan of Zhongxing Daming are somewhat contrary to the behavior of the Restoration Society.

Zhang Pu accepted the Jiangnan gentry with his power, although it made the Fushe popular, but it also gave Chongzhen the opportunity, just taking advantage of the Nanjing scientific research case, and the Jiangnan Literary Society, which had just become famous, immediately fell apart.

In this era when the industrial revolution was not yet complete, the most revolutionary proletariat was only a fetus conceived in October and had not yet matured, and the revolutionary theory of the proletariat was also a blank.

What can call on the elite of an era to fight for, in addition to the ideal of Datong society, is probably the appeal of the personal character of an idealist like Xia Yunyi.

Therefore, after summoning Zhang Mingzhen and listening to the young man's report, Zhu Youzhen said to him: "I have already understood what Gong Yu meant, but what do you want me to do?" ”

Zhang Mingzhen immediately got up and saluted Chongzhen, and said with some excitement: "Please also ask Your Majesty to issue an edict to speak out for the proposition of Duke Xuan, so that the people of Shaanxi will be saved, and those gentry and heroes will definitely not dare to make up their minds about these lands anymore." ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and asked, "Are you sure that Gong Yu's proposition can be supported by the people of Shaanxi?" ”

Zhang Mingzhen suddenly wondered: "Gong Yu's proposition is all for the people of Shaanxi, how can the people not support it?" ”

Zhu Youzhen sighed and said: "I don't think so, if the people of Shaanxi support Gong Yu's proposition, why do you have to come to seek my support?"

Whether the people support or disapprove of the proposition of the Emperor does not depend on whether the proposition of the Emperor is considered by the people. Rather, it is about whether and how much of the benefit that this kind of assertion will actually bring to them.

Although the idea of distributing land to the displaced and landless poor free of charge is good, have you ever thought that tens of thousands of acres of land can benefit only tens of thousands of households, which is less than one-tenth of the population of Shaanxi?

The Master once said, "We do not suffer from widowhood, but from inequality." If it is not to collect all the land in Shaanxi and redistribute it, then the free distribution of land is to make those Shaanxi people who have not received land resent the imperial court.

What's more, our control over local affairs is at most at the county level. The affairs of the countryside have always been manipulated by the local gentry. Is it feasible to let the local gentry interfere in such a major matter as the distribution of land?

As long as there is a slight mistake in the process of land division, I am afraid that it will affect the officials who preside over the land division and the imperial court, and they will bear the infamy of the people.

I can give power to the Duke and the name of the court, but I can't give the people satisfaction and support. If we do not get the satisfaction and support of the people, will there be any significance in this land division work? ”

The few questions thrown by the emperor made the young Zhang Mingzhen's mind a mess, and he thought in his heart that Xia Yunyi's proposition was by no means selfish, and it was really for the sake of those Shaanxi people. However, his intellect also believed that the problems mentioned by the emperor existed, and the correct proposition may not be able to achieve good results.

"But, but, is it wrong for us to think about the people?" Zhang Mingzhen, who couldn't find the answer, couldn't help but be a little dazed in the end, and replied to the emperor with a little unconvinced.

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a moment before he said: "It's not enough to think about the people, you still have to start from the interests of the people, so that the people can truly understand how you protect their interests, so as to gain the support of the people."

Only with the support of the broadest masses of the people can the plan for the distribution of these lands be truly implemented, and the people of Shaanxi will support the imperial court's plan for dividing land and help the imperial court deal with those local tyrants and inferior gentry.

Who can represent the people of Shaanxi now? Could it be those high-ranking families who can talk to the governor and the minister? I don't think so.

Now all counties in Shaanxi have set up gentry councils to discuss local affairs, and the gentry representatives in these meetings, in addition to the high-ranking families, are there no representatives from poor families?

Perhaps these representatives of the gentry from poor families cannot completely replace the people at the bottom to speak, but these representatives of the gentry must know that once a popular uprising breaks out in the locality, it is these small households from poor families who will suffer first.

Because these small families can neither build a dock fort, nor can they afford to raise strong men, let alone leave their land and flee to other places, then they will become homeless people. Therefore, they will definitely choose a plan that can be accepted by the people at the bottom to maintain local stability.

Your land distribution plan should first be approved by them, and then you should use the power of the county gentry councils to oppose the land distribution plan supported by the high-ranking families. Only in this way will the land distribution plan receive the greatest support from the people, and the imperial court will spend the least effort to implement the land distribution plan. ”

Zhang Mingzhen suddenly felt like an initiation, and saw the way the dead knot of the land division plan was untied. Indeed, compared with those famous families who raised hundreds of families and lived in the dock fort, the small landlords of some fields were the squires who were most concerned about local security.

Although these little squires were numerous, they could not speak at all in front of the officials, and if it weren't for the existence of a gentry council now, they probably wouldn't even have a place to speak.

But it was the existence of this gentry meeting that enabled these small squires to regain some power from the local affairs controlled by the high-ranking families, which was also the reason why many places were able to quickly quell the civil uprising after the outbreak of the civil uprising in Shaanxi.

The little squires who were organized in the gentry councils were much more responsive to the unstable elements of the countryside than the government. Often, suspicious figures from other places have not yet instigated a local uprising, and the militia groups under the name of the gentry council have already rushed to arrest them.

Zhang Mingzhen hurriedly replied to the emperor: "Thank you Your Majesty for your guidance, the student will definitely convey His Majesty's words to the Duke of Yu truthfully." I also ask Your Majesty to give the students a few words, so that the students can show them to the Duke of Yu. ”

Looking at this very energetic young man, Zhu Youzhen also liked it quite a lot, he thought about it and nodded and agreed to the other party's request, and asked the guards to take paper and ink.

After thinking for a long time in front of the unfolded rice paper, Zhu Youzhen picked up the pen and wrote, the road is also the world's public.

Seeing this sentence written by the emperor, Zhang Mingzhen was quite excited, and he didn't even notice the constant sweat on his forehead.

Turning his head to see Zhang Mingzhen's appearance, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile, and after encouraging him a few words, he ordered the guards to take him down.

After Zhang Mingzhen went down, Zhu Youzhen ordered Luo Yangxing to be passed on, looking at the commander of the brocade guard who followed Zhang Mingzhen, Zhu Youzhen instructed very plainly: "Your envoy in Shaanxi is doing a good job...

When you returned to Xi'an, you brought a message to Master Cui for me, telling him that anyone who occupies more than 5,000 acres of land, unless it involves the six Shangshu and cabinet ministers, will be suppressed or split up.

I suppressed the Shaanxi clan, but I didn't make room for those high-ranking families. If you have any problems, you might as well write to me, I want to see that there are more unmoving characters in Shaanxi today than the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty..."

Hearing the emperor's remarks, although Luo Yangxing did not sweat on his forehead, the salute was more neat, and he was busy agreeing again and again.

Looking at Luo Yangxing, who didn't dare to raise his head, Zhu Youzhen smiled and said, "Get up, don't be there." After you go back, you must protect Xia Gong to me, this person I want to be of great use, by the way, you tell me what Gong Yu did in Shaanxi. ”

After Luo Yangxing got up, he bent down and followed the emperor and said, "Yes, Your Majesty." After Xia Yugong arrived in Shaanxi..."