The Ming Dynasty died in the Qing Dynasty for many reasons. However, negligence in political affairs, too leniency with scholars, too strict with the common people, the rise of businessmen and scholars, no profit can not be early, there is no country and nation in their hearts, and they only want to gain every inch of income, which cannot but be said to be an important reason.

"As soon as the scholar is talented, there are 200 acres of silver-free land, and those who take refuge flock to it, and some sell favors to buy the old fields of relatives and friends. Although those scholars were not so arrogant, they were more powerful than ordinary scholars, especially those who occupied the imperial family, and resisted the government, but in private, they were in a beautiful house, and they were widely accumulated......

As soon as Zhu Yongxing returned to Nanjing, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the "state nurse" system in the early court. Some of his subordinates did not know that this was a reform measure that he had been carrying out for a long time, and thought that he was furious when he was in Hangzhou because he saw the rich gentry surrounding the fields along the lake, and the government wanted to dredge but faced resistance.

"Either give grain or silver, and do not give tax favors, so as to prevent it from harming the country's private interests." Zhu Yongxing's voice echoed in the main hall, "The same is true of the clan vassal kings, who issue money without fiefdoms, and can indirectly participate in the business of the five people. ”

If even the vassal kings of the clan do not enjoy the treatment of giving land and exempting them, those scholars will have less to discuss. As for participating in the business of the Five Peoples, it is also to allow the clan vassal king to slowly be able to support himself. Of course, if a clan vassal king gets involved in industry and commerce, he is likely to use his power and influence to undermine the fairness of the business community. Therefore, Zhu Yongxing decided to set up an investment department in the Zongren Mansion to manage it, or invest in business groups, or invest in other fields, so as to put an end to the direct operation of the clan vassal king.

The reincarnation of chaos in Chinese feudal society was, to a large extent, the redistribution of land. At the beginning of every settlement, the land annexation was not strict, and the people lived under light and thin labor, and they could still live and work in peace and contentment; And as time goes by, there will always be big aristocrats, big tycoons, and big landlords. Land annexation is becoming more and more strict, and the people's lives are becoming more and more miserable. When the contradictions are irreconcilable, it is the beginning of another round of war.

Therefore, Zhu Yongxing wanted to limit some privileged classes as much as possible at this time when land was abundant and the annexation had not yet begun on a large scale. The gentry were. The same is true for the clan vassal kings.

Of course, Zhu Yongxing knows that the so-called "equal wealth and poverty" is impossible to achieve. Even if he draws a relatively fair starting line now, the further he goes, the gap between the rich and the poor will widen. Because everyone is different, factors such as physique, intelligence, and laziness all affect the development of individuals and families.

The gap between the rich and the poor cannot be eliminated, and it is not all irrational phenomena, and what must be eliminated is that some people take advantage of loopholes to take advantage of opportunistic and unearned gains.

A sound and fair economic operation mechanism, a tax system, and a sound social security system can alleviate the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor to a certain extent. But it's a long-term process. And at the moment, it's not particularly urgent.

"Long live Qi, the country's cultivators are the ancestral system, and it may not be appropriate to change it suddenly." Zhengqing is Guo Zhiqi is the oldest and most senior among the ministers, and of course his thinking is also old-fashioned, which is very different from the new officials except Zhang Huangyan, who is only Zhu Yongxing and Ma Shou.

"The Guardian of the State. Of course I don't deny it. It's just a slight change in the way to plug the loopholes. Zhu Yongxing didn't dare to come to equality all of a sudden. Even the officials and gentry had to try it out after the success of the Northern Expedition, so to put it mildly, "I have just seen the issuance of national war bonds, and I am very disappointed. Jiangnan is the place with the strongest morale, but the subscription amount is not as good as that of Hunan and Hubei. Could it be that this is the patriotism of the scholars, and can they calmly accept the favor of the imperial court? But I don't want to serve the country, rightfully so? ”

"Long live, Jiangnan has been oppressed and poisoned by the Tartars, and its vitality has been greatly damaged and its wealth has been greatly damaged. It will take time to recover. Zhang Huangyan echoed Guo Zhiqi, as a scholar, although he felt that the gentry had bad deeds, but in general it was still good, and moreover, at the beginning of Zhu Yongxing's ascension to the throne, it was not easy to end up with a reputation for being mean and unkind.

"Long live the kick-starter." Yicheng, the head of the household department, stepped forward and retorted: "Zhang Shangshu's words are wrong, according to the statistics of the household department, the bond issuance, Jiangnan is mostly subscribed in small amounts. In other words, most of the buyers are small households or ordinary people. Could it be that it is only the gentry and the rich who are being oppressed, or is it that the common people are better off than they are? ”

"Is this the gentleman who the imperial court wants to raise with the people's fat and the people's anointing, and the gentry who wants to be treated favorably?" Zhu Yongxing couldn't help but sneer, "It is said that wealth and then etiquette, and etiquette and then expensive, I don't necessarily see it!" The more I read this book, the more unpatriotic it became. I have been raising soldiers for more than 200 years, and the righteous who died in the war are revered, but now the rest of the Jiangnan is afraid that all the obedient people of the Tartars are right? When the Tartars were squeezing and exploiting, did they ever resist? How can after the recovery, there is no size merit, but the court is gracious? Even the consciousness of the ordinary people is not as good, and they still have to fight for this and that, is it considered incorruptible and shameful? ”

"Long live the kick-starter." Zhou Liangfu, the secretary of the Ministry of Supervision, stepped forward and said: "According to the reports of various local officials, many of the gentry in Jiangnan have failed to live up to the Holy Grace. Long live the reduction of taxes to benefit the people, but those gentry levied as before, and treated the tenants harshly, which is really hateful. ”

"Depending on the imperial decree as nothing, how to deal with it is proposed by the Criminal Department." Zhu Yongxing's face turned pale, and he said coldly: "The imperial court has the grace of thunder and thunder, and there is also the punishment of thunder. Those who commit crimes will be prosecuted, and there will be no leniency for loans. ”

"Wechen obeys." Zhang Huangyan sighed secretly in his heart, some gentry really don't know what to do, give people a handle, and punish them with a basis, but now they can't turn around.

Betraying the grace of the saint is a relatively false accusation, and it is also a crime commonly used by feudal emperors to deal with their subordinates. It is not an exaggeration to say that "the sin is unforgivable" or "the sin deserves death". When Zhu Yongxing issued the decree to reduce or reduce taxes, he explained in detail, not only to benefit the landlords, but also to benefit the tenants. Yin and Yang are violated, and they deserve to be charged with this crime. Moreover, Zhu Yongxing originally had the intention of setting a trap to let those greedy gentry get in.

The overall situation should be stable, but well-founded punishment is not included.

After recovering Jiangnan, Zhu Yongxing could indeed feel the power of the gentry. These people control public opinion and the law, and in some cases, their opinions can even influence the decisions of magistrates.

However, in the Ming and Qing wars, the gentry class played little role in helping the Ming army, or the gentry who supported the Ming court were offset by the gentry who supported the Qing court. Zhu Yongxing was aware of the resources at the disposal of the gentry, but he did not hide his contempt for them. For in his view, this is really a loose class, in which each individual is running for his own interests, and is far from forming a class consciousness, or has been obliterated in front of the powerful monarchy, in the face of brutal force.

As long as he did not openly make enemies of the entire gentry class and did not loot them, Zhu Yongxing did not have to worry too much about the people of this class swearing to fight to the death. Failing to abolish the imperial examination is a very effective means of restraint, allowing the gentry class to flatter the imperial power to compete for the piece of flesh and bones thrown by the king, thus turning this powerful class into a plate of loose sand.

Zhu Yongxing firmly remembered the famous saying that "all the heroes of the world are in my place", as long as the imperial court continues to use this bait, there will be no collaborators in the gentry class, and of course, Zhu Yongxing does not expect the gentry class to have patriotic sentiments and the will to kill themselves.

Because, the gentry only care about their little family property, and care about whether their descendants have the opportunity to be admitted to the imperial examination and continue the safety of the family, as for whose imperial examination it is, they don't care very much, anyway, as long as they don't fall to the ordinary people.

It's really pitiful! These people, who control a large number of people because of their own land, are the inheritors of knowledge and the embodiment of justice in the eyes of their fathers and elders, and their desire is just to be able not to be bullied by the government.

Therefore, even if Zhu Yongxing brazenly ordered to kill all the Jiangnan gentry who "lived up to the holy grace", those who survived would think that these gentry had died by themselves.

After the Manchu Qing Dynasty's "Selling Case" and "Wailing Temple Case" in Jiangnan, as well as the stationing of a large number of Qing troops and the oppression of the government, the strength of the Jiangnan gentry was dealt a heavy blow. Zhu Yongxing took advantage of his weakness to weaken them again with a reasonable and well-founded punishment, which was also his proper intention.

Moreover, the punishment of the Jiangnan gentry who committed adultery began as early as after the restoration of Jiangnan. The principle is that guilt is punished, and nothing else. Zhu Youming, who was almost severely punished by the Qing court because of the "History of the Ming Dynasty" case, thought that he would be praised by the imperial court for this, but unexpectedly the government investigated and prosecuted him for his crimes of stealing and rampaging in the countryside, and his family was sentenced to exile.

Punishing the gentry with bad deeds is only one aspect of quickly stabilizing order in the south of the Yangtze River, and the local gangs, ruffians, and bullies are also among the ones that will be severely cracked down. Since the Great Expedition of the Northern Expedition should be carried out mainly based on the south of the Yangtze River, it is not too much to quickly achieve social stability by such a slightly harsh means.

……………

"China is just too big, too rich." After the Japanese mission took a boat and visited along the Yangtze River, Hattori couldn't help but sigh with such feelings, "Some of the little daimyo have to farm the land by themselves, and in the early years of Ieyasu, the elders under his command had to do farm work in normal times!" ”

The small daimyo, that is, the princes of the Wa Kingdom, if you look at the size of the region, are only equivalent to the county magistrates of China.

"Yes, when I came, I only felt that China was boundless, and this time I was able to observe the scenery along the way, and sure enough, the land is fertile and has everything." Kotaku Shengshun, who was also a member of the mission, nodded in agreement, "The Tatars have abandoned even the land along the river, which shows that they have no strength to compete with the Ming Dynasty." Or rather, they lack the courage to fight to the death. ”

"In other words, the Tatars are almost already defeated." Hattori said, "Our policy can already be determined. The victory of the Ming Dynasty was in sight, and it was only a matter of time before the Tatars were defeated. ”

"That's pretty much what you can say." Kotaku Shengshun was still a little cautious, pondered for a while, and said: "Or you can temporarily agree to the opening of the business hall in Daming, and other further actions, it seems better to wait and see first." ”

"Xiao Zhai-kun is really serious!" Hattori smiled heartily and said, "That's fine, don't anger the Tatars too much." The general intended to vigorously promote Confucianism and teach the people of the country to respect teachers, love people, and compassion. Yanwu Xiuwen needs a peaceful environment. ”

……………… (To be continued......)