met free Chapter 230 The Ming Dynasty Court in a Frenzy
Chapter 230 The Ming Dynasty Court in a Frenzy
Watching Liu Bowen's figure gradually disappear into the distance, Li Shanchang suddenly let out a soft hum without any expression.
Liu Bowen and his group were never of one mind.
Or rather, the entire Ming Dynasty court was never of one mind.
Although reluctant to admit it, Li Shanchang knew in his heart that he was the kind of scholar-official who was crazy about land, and even wished he could take all the land in the world and put it in his own home.
And what about Liu Bowen?
On the surface, he appears aloof and arrogant, always claiming to have the world in his heart, but Liu Bowen is definitely no better than me, Li Shanchang. It's just that what he values has never been land.
Or rather, all the officials who came from coastal areas were just like Liu Bowen, and they didn't value land much.
They valued other interests, and they wove that network of interests so tightly that the Huaixi nobles, led by themselves, couldn't get involved at all.
As for Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, these guys who were nominally nobles of Huaixi but were actually of one mind with Emperor Zhu, they neither valued land as much as I did, nor did they value other interests like Liu Bowen and the others.
These valiant warriors valued military merit, because with enough merit, they lacked nothing.
And what about Zhu Chongba?
That guy is a complete peasant!
Even if he became emperor, he could not change the flaws brought about by his peasant background—he had both the consciousness of an emperor and the consciousness of a peasant, and he would consider the millions of peasants in the world in everything he did.
Emperor Zhu seemed never to understand that, since ancient times, emperors have not shared the world with the common people, but with the scholar-officials.
If Emperor Zhu acts so recklessly, he will offend all the scholars and officials in the country sooner or later.
He's still alive, so everything's fine, but Emperor Zhu is ultimately just a mortal, and he can't really live forever!
When he passes away, how will the scholars and officials of the world view him?
How will history books record his story?
Li Shanchang did not believe that Emperor Zhu would be completely indifferent.
If you don't care, why did you send Xu Da and Chang Yuchun on a northern expedition?
The Ming Dynasty's territory is now large enough.
If you don't care, why are you compiling the "Hongwu Encyclopedia" and the "Hongwu Dictionary"?
To put it bluntly, isn't it all about showcasing your civil and military achievements so that you can leave a significant mark on history?
Thinking of this, Li Shanchang couldn't help but sigh softly again.
What an eventful time.
……
With Emperor Zhu's order, the entire Ming Dynasty court began to operate at an extremely frantic pace.
It must be admitted that the temptation of being able to legally obtain thousands of acres of fertile land from Emperor Zhu and be exempt from taxes for fifty years was too great, too great, so great that none of the officials in the court could refuse it.
The officials in other provincial administrations, as well as the prefectural, county, and magistrate offices at all levels, were equally unable to resist this temptation.
For most of the seventh-rank county magistrates, this was almost the only chance in their lives to own thousands of acres of fertile land without having to worry about being impeached by the censors or being captured by Emperor Zhu and turned into scarecrows.
Anyone who dares to stand in my way is doing the same thing as messing with my thousands of acres of fertile land!
With this mindset in mind, many officials of the seventh rank readily dispatched county yamen runners to cooperate with minor officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Artisan Camp to investigate and compile statistics on the various workshops under their jurisdiction.
Of course, some officials didn't really care about the so-called thousands of acres of fertile land.
Just as Li Shanchang guessed, some officials valued the benefits that maritime trade could bring, while thousands or tens of thousands of acres of fertile land were dispensable to them.
It's good to have it, but it doesn't matter if you don't.
Furthermore, Emperor Zhu had previously issued an edict that, while ostensibly exempting scholars from preferential treatment, actually meant no longer providing preferential treatment to gentry. These officials, who valued maritime trade, were even more inclined to completely shift their focus to maritime trade.
Maritime trade is inseparable from various workshops and goods.
If the imperial court can understand the workshops under its jurisdiction and the situation in its prefectures and counties, then maritime trade will likely be affected to some extent in the future.
The losses incurred as a result will likely far exceed the benefits that thousands of acres of fertile land could bring!
However, the resistance of these officials was of no use.
These officials hadn't expected that Emperor Zhu would make such a big fuss this time, actually sending Chang Yuchun's cavalry and inspectors to accompany the clerks from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the artisan camp to collect statistics on the workshops.
This gave the officials a real headache.
To put it bluntly, what could have been accomplished by bribing a few minor officials has now inexplicably resulted in the addition of several cavalrymen and inspectors, and the officials are unsure of the loyalty of these cavalrymen and inspectors to Emperor Zhu.
If these cavalrymen and inspectors don't accept his "good intentions" and instead report the matter to Emperor Zhu, then the loss will be far more than just a matter of money.
Who knows, if the person dies, the money will end up in the hands of Emperor Zhu, and that would be a real loss.
Therefore, even if these officials were extremely resistant in their hearts, they had no choice but to smile and cooperate with the clerks of the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Artisan Camp, allowing them to collect statistics on the various workshops under their jurisdiction.
Then, these officials, who felt they had suffered a great loss, came to hate a certain county magistrate, to the point that they didn't even want to mention his name.
In the eyes of these officials, if it weren't for some bastard county magistrate offering these vicious schemes to Emperor Zhu, they would never have suffered such a heavy loss.
Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate whom these officials hated to the core, was currently reclining on a deck chair under the shade of a tree at the edge of Liumiao Village, enjoying the tea served by a maid.
Ningyang County naturally had minor officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Craftsmen's Camp to collect statistics on the various workshops in Ningyang County. However, Magistrate Yang only arranged for Lame Wu to accompany them in collecting the statistics, clearly showing that he did not care much about the harvester.
Or rather, it wasn't that Magistrate Yang was indifferent, but rather that the current situation in Ningyang County didn't allow him to be too concerned.
Because Ningyang County did not have any related workshops or a sufficient number of craftsmen.
The lighter and luncheon meat workshops are barely surviving, and the few carpenters in the county are working day and night to build harvesters, so they have no time to take on orders from the Ministry of Industry.
What's even more infuriating is that even if Magistrate Yang wanted to set up more workshops, he simply didn't have the resources to do so.