86_86695 "Companion, is the celebrant still good to do?" ”

A young man in a light yellow regular dress with tightened sleeves carefully polished and wiped the semi-finished product of a fist-sized wooden box with a thick deerskin, and asked a tall and thin middle-aged man standing next to him, wearing a big red python suit and a three-mountain hat.

This young man who looks like a carpenter is the current supreme leader of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Youxiao. And the person next to him is Wei Zhongxian, who is nine thousand years old in the future.

Although Wei Zhongxian was illiterate, because he was extremely trusted by Zhu Youxiao, at the beginning of this year, he became the emperor's secretary and the eunuch of the celebrant eunuch.

Although Zhu Youxiao is not like his grandfather Emperor Wanli, in order to fight against civil officials, he likes to deliberately neglect his government. However, he is very much like his great-grandfather, Emperor Jiajing. It's just that Jiajing's hobby is alchemy and medicine, and this Apocalypse Majesty's hobby is carpenter's work.

"If you go back to the emperor, although the slave and maid are a little vulgar, the errand of the celebrant can still be used." Wei Zhongxian heard the question of the Emperor of the Apocalypse and replied softly.

"Well, it's good to be able to get started. Father's death was too sudden, and there was a mess everywhere. Otomo is going to have to work a little harder. ”

Zhu Youxiao didn't think there was anything good about being an emperor at all. For a young man with his own interests and hobbies, being a prince who does not have to bear any responsibilities is much more interesting than being a hard-working emperor.

After saying a few words about the government and politics, Zhu Youxiao, as the spiritual head of the Son of Heaven, immediately dispersed. He held up the small wooden box in his hand and said to Wei Zhongxian: "Speaking of which, Western things are still a bit crude. Let's talk about the little gadget that Zhijiang Wang Jin from last month. Delicate is delicate, and when you open it, you can see that the mechanisms inside are all made of iron sheets. ”

Zhu Youxiao stood up, stretched his arms, relaxed his muscles and bones, and continued to say to Wei Zhongxian: "Using iron pieces as a mechanism, how can you show the delicacy of your craftsmanship." It has to be made of wood to make this mechanism in order to show the means of the Celestial Empire. ”

Pouting, Zhu Youxiao turned his head to Wei Zhongxian and said, "Although this thing is not in the eyes of the Fang family, this filial piety is very rare. When the emperor was there, he also praised King Zhijiang for his filial piety. Whether it is to my father or to me, King Zhijiang is very filial. Every year, I can always get some good things to send in. You've got a lot of benefits, too. ”

Wei Zhongxian knew that the Emperor of the Apocalypse didn't care about the eunuchs around him to reap the benefits, so he replied to Zhu Youxiao with a smile: "The slaves and maids are just relying on the emperor's heavenly might, and they do have a little oil and water. ”

Zhu Youzi smiled disappreciatively and said to Wei Zhongxian: "It can be seen that Zhu Shuzhen, the king of Zhijiang, is a sensible person. ”

He took two steps, moved his legs and feet, and continued to say to Wei Zhongxian: "Actually, I also know that there are countless princes and nobles in the world. Relying on my relatives, they can scrape as much as they want. I have thousands of relatives, and there are hundreds of vassal kings with names and surnames. The ancestors of the past generations have accommodated them because of their blood. However, no one thought that the royal family was not. ”

Speaking of which, Zhu Youxiao was a little unhappy.

He rolled his eyes a little angrily, and continued to say to Wei Zhongxian: "When my father was alive, I told me that even if my relatives are not motivated, as clan relatives, the royal family must always love and protect them, this is the rule of the ancestors, the law of the saints. ”

"But you also know how much food the royal family has paid for these unmotivated relatives, and how much idle the group of ministers outside has. However, who in this group thought of the royal dilemma. I know every day that I want money and food. Like a bunch of debt collectors. ”

Wei Zhongxian heard some meaning from Zhu Youxiao's words, and he asked cautiously: "Has the emperor suffered from anyone's idleness?" ”

Zhu Youxiao felt very bored, and said to Wei Zhongxianshu, "Who can there be, Zhang Wenda of the Ministry of Officials complained to me, saying that the son-in-law of King Zhijiang occupied the people's land and slaughtered the squire. Said a lot of annoying things. ”

When Wei Zhongxian heard this, he said to Zhu Youxiao very carefully: "It shouldn't be." The celebrant didn't receive any report on it. ”

Zhu Youxiao was really a little angry at this time, and he snorted angrily and said to Wei Zhongxian: "Who said it wasn't." If King Zhijiang really did it in the fiefdom as Zhang Wenda said, the people's resentment would boil. Will the local officials, the officials of Huguang ignore them? When I was young, I didn't know. The group of civil officials outside, their eyes are staring at the vassal kings everywhere every day, if there is really something wrong, they will pounce on them a long time ago. ”

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian and said, "They don't know about me." The group of civil officials outside like nothing more than bullying the royal family. They just can't see anyone treating me well. Looking at the filial piety of the king of Zhijiang, they have gas in their stomachs. Otomo, you have to take up the duties of the celebrant and the celebrant. Let those civil servants be honest. ”

Zhu Youzi stared at Wei Zhongxian deadly, and said quietly, but gritting his teeth: "It's the affairs of the palace, and you have to keep an eye on all of them." The first emperor is not clear, and I am very uneasy in my heart. In and outside the palace, people who want to harm me are definitely not young and old. I've given my life to my companion! ”

Wei Zhongxian listened to the emperor's heartfelt words, and immediately reacted. He knelt on the ground with a bang, and began to show loyalty to Zhu Youxiao: "The emperor can rest assured, the slave and maid are dead, and they must protect the emperor's safety." ”

The young Emperor of the Apocalypse pretended to have a deep face and nodded deeply. He said to Wei Zhongxian: "Companion, you will take care of the affairs of the celebrant first. After a while, I will also leave the affairs of the factory guard to you. ”

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao didn't care about Wei Zhongxian, who was full of irrepressible joy, but turned his eyes to the door.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse muttered softly in his heart: "Be good when I am good." Who doesn't know that you Donglin Party, everyone thinks that they are rich and Wen Yanbo. The emperor was deposed and put into the hands of civil officials. What you think is beautiful! The bottom of the world is the Ming Dynasty, not the Song Dynasty! ”

Under the gloomy sky, the endless Forbidden City is a gloomy scene. The Emperor of the Apocalypse was not happy at all when he saw such a scene. He withdrew his gaze and began to ponder the gadget in his hand again.

If you want Wang Shuhui to look at it, the Forbidden City at the end of the Ming Dynasty is a little more original than the Forbidden City in modern society.

That's for sure.

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, first Li Zicheng, a rebel who had transformed into a feudal warlord, occupied Beijing. Later, the semi-slave Manchu barbarians were entrenched in the Forbidden City, which was in the stage of nomadic civilization. After that, there was the burning, killing and looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance and the brutal destruction of the Japanese invaders. By the time the People's Republic of China was founded, the Forbidden City had completely become a historical site.

Wang Shuhui has been to Beijing several times. But he only went to the Forbidden City once, and then he never wanted to go again. In his opinion, the Forbidden City is full of places asking for money, not to mention, there are more tourists than mosquitoes. He went to the Forbidden City that time and spent a whole morning, but he basically didn't see anything else except to see people.

What's more, because the passenger flow is too huge, the Forbidden City is like a construction site, full of construction sites for repairs and repairs. The huge number of tourists and the scaffolding that can be seen everywhere have created a rather bad impression on Wang Shuhui.

There's no way around it.

If a building loses its function and becomes a place for people to enjoy and play, the taste will definitely change. However, for this point, Wang Shuhui is not like many people, arguing about the protection of cultural relics, what to remedy the old and other hypocrisy.

He thinks that these things that represent feudal imperial power can be trampled on by the general public at will. This is the epitome of real social progress.

Of course, in the time and space of the late Ming Dynasty, at the current stage, Wang Shuhui's idea was not enough for the Forbidden City to change its function. At the end of 1621 AD, the Forbidden City was still the heart of the Ming Empire. It still represents the supremacy of the Ming Emperor, who holds the power of the state.

Wang Shuhui, who was meeting with Sima Feng, although he was talking about imperial power, he was very contemptuous of imperial power in his heart. Therefore, he had no idea that there was a discussion about him in the Forbidden City, thousands of miles away.

Of course, even if he knew, he wouldn't feel anything.

Wang Shuhui's idea for Sima Feng was to use imperial power to fight against clan power. Speaking of which, in feudal society, in fact, there was indeed a huge conflict between imperial power and clan power.

This is not some ideological conflict. Ideologically, the two share common respect for Confucian ideology and ethics.

The confrontation between imperial power and clan power is entirely a conflict in the distribution of interests.

Let's take the simplest example. Since the Jiajing period, the Ming government began to gradually shake the sea ban. In the Longqing period, the Ming Dynasty actually completely abolished the sea ban.

The abolition of the maritime ban greatly promoted the development of industry and commerce in the Jiangnan region. However, the Ming government did not gain any benefits from the prosperous economy of Jiangnan.

According to the introduction in the book "Silver Empire", the Ming Dynasty has developed to the point of almost "no officials and no business" in the Wanli period. Most of the main members of the Donglin Party are from small and medium-sized merchant families. At the same time, three-quarters of the Jinshi and Juren families have a business background.

This leads to a very strange phenomenon: if the imperial court wants to increase the agricultural tax, the Donglin Party or any party will not oppose it at all. Because they have merit and fame, they can be exempted from taxes, and agricultural taxes do not go to their heads. However, when it came to the imposition of commercial taxes, officials immediately jumped up like they had been stepped on by the tail of a cat and launched a massive boycott.

During the reign of the Wanli Emperor, in order to oppose the emperor's collection of taxes on mining, he opposed the mine supervisors and tax envoys he sent to collect taxes in various places. The Donglin Party was quite disgusting.

Officials at all levels under the command of the Donglin Party continued to write letters to set off political disputes and confront the emperor. In the "Please Stop Mining Taxes" by Li Sancai, the leader of the Donglin Party, the governor of Caoyun and the governor of Fengyang, he directly questioned Emperor Wanli: "The emperor loves pearl and jade, and people also love food and clothing."

Ye Xianggao, the No. 2 person in the Donglin Party, wrote a letter to ask Shenzong to withdraw the mine tax envoy before entering the cabinet. He said a lot of things, such as "not talking about profit, only speaking of righteousness", "not competing with the people for profit, hiding wealth from the people" and the like.

However, in fact, according to historical records, Li Sancai, who insisted on persuading the emperor not to "love pearls and jades", was actually the chief head of merchants in the Tongzhou area of Beijing, an important hub of the Grand Canal. His family property amounted to 4.7 million taels of silver, which was equivalent to a year's financial income of the imperial court during the Apocalypse. And Ye Xianggao, who said to the emperor that "no profit, only righteousness", has a huge family property of one million taels of silver.

On the other hand, according to historical records, in the late Ming Dynasty, Jinhua County, Zhejiang, where commerce was prosperous, did not exceed seven taels of silver a year.

From this, it can be seen how much of a conflict of interests between the Ming Dynasty civil official group, which controlled huge commercial interests, and the emperor who represented the country out of family interests.

However, a family born from a small official like the Sima Feng family will naturally not be like the Donglin Party, which controls the government and has the ability to compete with the imperial power.

In the feudal agricultural society of the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the power of imperial power was irresistible to the Sima Feng family.

Wang Shuhui prescribed this to Sima Feng, using the prescription of imperial power to govern the clan, which made Sima Feng suddenly realize. He knew that the relationship between Wang Shuhui, who was the guest of honor of the county lord, and the inner court of the northern and southern capitals was quite deep.

Just when Sima Feng was thinking in his heart that he was going to have a heavy hemorrhage, he took out real money to get through Wang Shuhui and take advantage of the relationship with the inner court. Wang Shuhui spoke,

"Sima, don't think I'm going to take this opportunity to pick your skin. I am not short of money, and we of the Revival Society are not short of your money. ”

Wang Shuhui said this, Sima Feng agreed. The profit of any factory of the Fuxing Society is more than that of the entire factory of the Zhijiang Business Alliance.

According to the current production capacity of those factories of the Zhijiang Business Alliance, the entire Zhijiang Business Alliance is at most supplied to the markets of several prefectures and counties near Zhijiang County. The rest of the market vacancies were filled by the Zhijiang Business Alliance, which was filled with goods purchased from various factories of the Fuxing Association. Therefore, Wang Shuhui said that the revival society is richer than the Zhijiang Business Alliance, and Sima Feng believes it a hundred times.

Wang Shuhui continued to say to Sima Feng: "Because of my father-in-law's relationship, the uncles of the Liu family have a good relationship with the internal supervisors in the north and south of Beijing. You can get in touch with them and find a backer from the inner courts of the north and south capitals. ”

Seeing Sima Feng's eyes shining, Wang Shuhui began to sneer in his heart.

His plan was to make every effort to promote the Zhijiang Business Alliance and the eunuch group to establish a relationship and form an alliance.

Wang Shuhui, who is familiar with history, knows that during the Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian and the eunuchs under his command were indeed not small. However, by the time of the Chongzhen period, all those who had a relationship with the eunuchs would be liquidated by the civil official group.

At that time, it was inevitable that the Zhijiang Business Alliance, which might have grown up with the power of the eunuch party, this capitalist business group, would not have a huge conflict with the rulers of the Ming Dynasty and the civilian clique.

Wang Shuhui just wanted to see if the capitalist business group he had single-handedly promoted could show the revolutionary nature of capitalism against feudalism and whether it could launch a bourgeois revolution.

If they are really able to launch such a bourgeois revolution, it is really unclear whether this revolution is a revolution of old democracy or a revolution of new democracy.

It depends on whether the Revival Society can really develop into an advanced political party