met free Chapter 132 The people yearn for both peace and rebellion.
Chapter 132 The people yearn for both peace and rebellion.
No, this is not treating people like livestock at all. At least large animals can rest, but where can I, an old man, get a rest?
Overwhelmed with grief, Li Shanchang sobbed, tears streaming down his face, “Your Majesty, that man surnamed Yang is no good. He’s just trying to cheat people! Get the books ‘Hongwu Zhengyun’, ‘Kan Tu Jie Zi’, and ‘Hongwu Dictionary’ done as soon as possible. Not only am I working on them myself, burning the midnight oil every day, but Liu Bowen, Hu Weiyong, Yang Xian, and others are also being kept up by me every night. The same goes for other officials of all ranks in the ministries, supervisory offices, and temples. Many of them haven’t been able to go home for several days.”
Li Shanchang cried more and more bitterly: "If they are not allowed to go back and rest soon, I'm afraid the memorials impeaching me will pile up on Your Majesty's desk tomorrow! Your Majesty, my heart is full of bitterness! Your Majesty, I beg Your Majesty's grace to gather more scholars in Jiangnan to do this work, otherwise, it will take at least two or three years to complete!"
Listening to Li Shanchang's tearful account, Emperor Zhu Chongba felt as if he were soaking in pepper water and eating peppercorns; his whole body was numb from the inside out.
Is this the bastard's revenge?
Since it's impossible to distinguish friend from foe, why not just drag all the bigwigs in the court into this mess, plunging all the civil and military officials into endless paperwork?
As long as the civil and military officials in the court can't hold on any longer, but they are not bold enough to quit or rebel, they will naturally try to capture scholars from Jiangnan to serve as conscripts.
In this way, it can be considered a successful revenge against the scholars of Jiangnan.
That bastard is ruthless!
While cursing Magistrate Yang in his heart for being a heartless bastard, Emperor Zhu Chongba was also secretly wondering if he had offended Magistrate Yang. What if this scoundrel held a grudge against him? Would he ever be able to sleep peacefully again? It would be better to kill him as soon as possible!
However, when he thought of the ideas for books such as "Hongwu Zhengyun" and "Kan Tu Jie Zi" that Magistrate Yang had brought out, as well as the previous idea of a grievance meeting, Emperor Zhu Chongba felt a little reluctant.
After much deliberation, Emperor Zhu Chongba finally made up his mind.
To hell with it. Anyway, it's the scholars of Jiangnan who offended that bastard, and it's the civil and military officials and the scholars of Jiangnan who will suffer. As the emperor, I can just stand aside and watch the show.
As for whether Biao'er will be tormented by that bastard in the future... what does that have to do with us?
Having made up his mind, Emperor Zhu Chongba took Li Shanchang's hand and said, "Brother Shanchang, this is a major matter concerning the propagation of the sage's teachings. When it is time to recruit scholars, we must recruit them. Otherwise, they will be idle anyway, which would be a waste of talent."
Li Shan was taken aback and couldn't help but curse inwardly that this Zhu fellow had also gone astray—you damn well explain to me what it means to "recruit scholars when they are due"? So, I'm supposed to be the bad guy?
While mentally considering how to refuse, Li Shanchang nodded tearfully and replied, "Your Majesty, your subject..."
Emperor Zhu Chongba quickly patted Li Shanchang's hand and said, "We understand Brother Shanchang's thoughts. Don't worry, Brother Shanchang, if any scholar dares to disobey your summons, just come to us and we'll have them arrested!"
As Emperor Zhu Chongba finished speaking, Li Shanchang felt as if an enormous black pot had flown down from the sky and landed squarely on his head with a loud thud, so firmly that it couldn't be pried off.
Seeing Li Shanchang's tearful appearance, Emperor Zhu Chongba sighed slightly and said, "Brother Shanchang has shared our burdens for many years, and now he has taken the initiative to recruit scholars from Jiangnan to compile the 'Hongwu Zhengyun', 'Kantu Jiezi', and 'Hongwu Dictionary.' You have truly worked hard. How about we have the Empress personally cook a bowl of noodles today?"
Make a bowl of noodles?
Bowl, noodles?
Li Shanchang nearly choked to death.
I work myself to the bone for this guy surnamed Zhu, and all you do is treat me to a bowl of noodles?
Alright, alright, I, Li Shanchang, have figured it out. Either that bastard surnamed Yang has been corrupted by you surnamed Zhu, or you surnamed Zhu have been corrupted by that bastard surnamed Yang. Neither of you is a good person!
Li Shanchang mentally ranted: No wonder there are rumors in the martial arts world that you, surnamed Zhu, are going to marry Jin'er and Yu'er to that surnamed Yang. It turns out that you two, father-in-law and son-in-law, are a pair of scoundrels who share the same stench!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Li Shanchang cupped his hands to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, I still need to go to the Secretariat to discuss the rhyme scheme of the Hongwu Zhengyun with my colleagues. Perhaps we should wait until the Hongwu Zhengyun is published before we eat this?"
Emperor Zhu Chongba immediately feigned displeasure and said, "We never thought that revising a few books would be so difficult. Now that we know, and Brother Shanchang has also come up with a solution for us, how can we let Brother Shanchang keep being so busy?"
After saying this, Emperor Zhu Chongba turned to Erhu and instructed, "Go and tell all the ministers of the Three Departments, Six Ministries, and various bureaus and academies to go home and rest. Tomorrow's morning court will also be postponed to Chenshi (7-9 AM). Also, have the Empress arrange some more gifts for us, and you take people to deliver them to the ministers."
It's impossible to cancel court sessions; postponing them from the time between 3 AM and 5 AM to 7 AM would be about right.
As for gifts, we should be more generous this time. After all, as the old saying goes, if you want a horse to run, you have to feed it. Old Zhu wouldn't do something as unscrupulous as wanting a horse to run without feeding it.
After Erhu left to carry out his orders, Emperor Zhu Chongba looked at Li Shanchang with a smile and said, "Brother Shanchang, seeing that Tiande and Boren are about to reach Dadu, the Tartars won't have many more days to run wild. Where do you think our Great Ming should focus our efforts next?"
Although Yang Xian had repeatedly submitted memorials stating that "Li Shanchang lacks great talent and is unfit to be prime minister," in the heart of Emperor Zhu Chongba, even a hundred Yang Xians combined could not compare to one Li Shanchang. From the time Li Shanchang was recruited in Chuzhou until now, most of the things Li Shanchang predicted had come true, especially in the battles of capturing Caishi, conquering Taiping, defeating Jiqing, and taking Zhenjiang, where Li Shanchang's strategies played a crucial role.
Therefore, now that the world is about to be pacified, Emperor Zhu Chongba inevitably wants to consult Li Shanchang's opinion.
Upon hearing Emperor Zhu Chongba's question, Li Shanchang had no choice but to force himself to forget his displeasure at being treated like a beast of burden and instead lowered his head in deep thought.
It was quite a while before Li Shanchang spoke up: “I believe that when the world is about to be settled, it is precisely the time when people’s hearts are both yearning for peace and restorative movement—ordinary poor people yearn for peace, while scholars and gentry will yearn for restorative movement. This must be carefully observed.”
Emperor Zhu Chongba, curious, exclaimed "Oh!" and asked, "What about those who yearn for peace, and what about those who yearn for movement?"
While secretly considering his options, Li Shanchang slowly said, "Those who wish to live in peace should be given land like Magistrate Yang. If Minister Xu and Chancellor Chang have received a great deal, they may also receive some oxen, farming tools, seeds, and the like."
"Those who think..."
“Naturally, we should prepare for the imperial examinations so that those with ambitions can have a way to realize their potential.”
“In this way, those who desire peace will find peace, and those who desire movement will find movement, and the world will naturally be at peace.”
"There is only one thing that is quite troublesome."
Emperor Zhu Chongba was slightly taken aback and asked, "What is it?"
Li Shanchang decided to make things difficult for Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate.
"Does the superior still remember Liu Hongchang, Master Geng, and others? And Master Chen and those other gentry who were identified by Liu Hongchang and others?"
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and said, "Magistrate Yang's distribution of land to the people was certainly well-intentioned, and he also successfully took advantage of the fact that Liu Hongchang and others were not in the village to catch them off guard."
"But now that the news has spread throughout the land, and with the news that the emperor has issued an edict strictly prohibiting looting, will the gentry of Yanyun still abandon their homes and businesses to flee for refuge?"
"In this way, the land that should have been left barren will no longer be barren. When the court wants to distribute land to the people, it will probably be three times more difficult than before."
After Li Shanchang said that, Emperor Zhu Chongba also fell into deep thought.
Was Yang Shaofeng wrong in dividing the land?
That's right.
If land is not allocated to the people, their hearts will be uneasy.
Besides, even if Yang Shaofeng didn't distribute land to the people, Emperor Zhu Chongba himself planned to distribute land to the people, but not so soon.
Was Li Shanchang wrong?
That’s right.
Yang Shaofeng's act of confiscating the land of Liu Hongchang and others was hardly rational and would certainly have some impact on the Northern Expedition.
After pondering for a while, Emperor Zhu Chongba finally let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Otherwise, whoever caused the trouble should clean it up."
To Emperor Zhu's surprise, Li Shanchang actually shook his head.
"What's done is done, and now we can only continue to distribute land to the people."
Li Shanchang stroked his beard, a fierce glint flashing in his slightly grimy eyes: "The restoration of Yan and Yun is an unstoppable and glorious trend. Anyone who tries to resist the court's distribution of land to the people is like a mantis trying to shake a tree, or a chariot being stopped by a mantis's arm. However..."
After a moment's thought, Li Shanchang continued, "If anyone else were to serve as an official in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to control the local gentry. On the contrary, Magistrate Yang has quite a bad reputation. Why not transfer him to Yan and Yun?"
However, Emperor Zhu Chongba rejected Li Shanchang's suggestion without even thinking: "No. The court had previously discussed separating Ningyang County, but now that the imperial edict has been issued and the whole country knows, if we were to transfer him to Yanyun as an official at this time, not to mention the suspicion of changing the order in the morning and evening, what would become of Ningyang County in the future?"
Upon hearing Emperor Zhu's words, Li Shanchang immediately exclaimed in regret, "It was my recklessness that led me to forget about the separate listing of Ningyang County."
Whether Li Shanchang had genuinely forgotten about Ningyang County's separate status or simply wanted to retaliate against Magistrate Yang, Emperor Zhu Chongba didn't care too much. After all, Magistrate Yang had indeed made quite a stir this time and offended quite a few people.
Emperor Zhu Chongba casually laughed it off, then brought up his previous statement again: "Let's stick to what we said: whoever causes trouble should clean it up. That bastard caused the trouble himself, so we can't personally clean up his mess."
Upon hearing Emperor Zhu Chongba's words, Li Shanchang was immediately taken aback.
When an emperor scolds someone, he doesn't necessarily mean it. Let alone when the emperor says he'll clean up his mess—this is not treating Magistrate Yang like a horse bone, but like a nephew!
Just as Li Shanchang was surprised, Emperor Zhu Chongba smiled and said, "Let's do it this way. Come on, Brother Shanchang, let's go eat some noodles first."
After finishing their noodles, Li Shanchang took his leave. Emperor Zhu Chongba then summoned Crown Prince Zhu Biao and instructed him, "Have Wang Qiong go to Ningyang County again and ask that madman Yang how to expedite the compilation of books like the 'Hongwu Zhengyun.' Otherwise, if it drags on for two or three years, his school will have to close down."