eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 740 The Weakness of the Petty Bourgeoisie

Zhang Cong followed the emperor and relayed Jin Gui's thoughts.

Zhu Houzhao put his hands behind his back and meditated. In fact, Zhang Cong's question was very realistic.

It has been more than 100 years since the Ming Dynasty, and land annexation has been particularly serious. The problems here are simply a mess and extremely complicated. Once the land is cleared, it is equivalent to opening the box.

How much is the question?

Just thinking about Zhu Houzhao makes me feel frightened. Unfortunately, he is not well versed in history. He only knows that Zhang Juzheng once cleared his father-in-law's land, but he doesn't know exactly how he did it.

"Bingyong, I've thought about it a lot, and I think your method of just managing the land and not asking about anything is probably not going to work."

Zhang Cong was slightly shocked, "Your Majesty..."

Zhu Houzhao interrupted him, "Listen to me first. I understand that you think that the gentry in the world are too powerful. If the imperial court forcibly measures it and finds out the problems and has to investigate, there will be counterattacks everywhere. The field itself can't go on anymore. Can't it?"

"Your Majesty Shengming."

"Hey." The emperor sighed, "But do you think it makes sense that if the people complain, then we will take care of it, and if the people don't complain, then we will ignore it?"

"I don't understand the emperor's intention, why is it meaningless?"

"I am in Jiuchong, and I have heard people say that the imperial power does not go to the countryside. The local powerful and evil gentry have been kings and hegemons in the countryside for so many years. Unless they are completely unable to survive, how many people dare to sue the government?"

Zhang Cong was left speechless by the question.

"In the end, the imperial court only helped the tyrants to do evil. They recognized the land occupied by powerful families, compiled these lands in the new fish scale atlas, helped them confirm their rights, and settled the land. On the contrary, it was a violation of past laws. All actions are legalized.”

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles and thousands of counties across the country. There are countless mergers and acquisitions. Among them, good and evil are not necessarily easy to distinguish. If this is not the case, I will only fear rebellion against the people."

"The people will not rebel, only the gentry will."

But the 'petty bourgeoisie' is weak.

Zhu Houzhao didn't say this last sentence, and even if he did, these people wouldn't understand.

"Fortunately, you came to see me today. As I said before, this method cannot be used. You can either be upright. In this way, you will finally benefit the ordinary people. Even if the gentry is dissatisfied, they will not be able to get up if the people benefit. With power, like you, the common people dare not speak out about their sufferings, and the wealthy gentry are dissatisfied with their husbands' land, but both sides are offended.

None of the difficult things in the world can be accomplished without toughness and bloodshed.When clearing the land, it is not critical that you take the initiative to report the hidden land without being held accountable. It is just a matter of doing it.But the first thing you said doesn't work. "

Zhang Cong pursed his lips. He had been persuaded by Jin Gui.

Zhu Houzhao was surprised. He had the impression that Zhang Cong was also a ruthless person, "Did someone say something to you?"

"Your Majesty's eyes are as bright as a torch. This is what Attendant Jin and I have discussed."

It's easy to understand, no wonder.

Literati are always like this, they like to use their thoughts, play tricks, do things in a smooth manner, and like to be consistent in style. They always feel that things can be handled more smoothly if they are smoothed out, and then call it wisdom.

In fact, this kind of wisdom depends on the situation.

Measuring the land is a real battle of interests, and there is very little room for conflict.

"The situation in Shandong is the best. You should try measuring it in Shandong first. If you say everything is right but do everything wrong, it will be useless. Try it first and see the effect."

"Yes."

There was also sadness in Zhu Houzhao's eyebrows.

Unless the feudal dynasty was just founded, when the world was in chaos and had just been settled, there were fewer people and more land, and the newly established dynasty's army was absolutely powerful, so it is still possible to speculate on these things.

But once you get to the back, it’s difficult to complete.

Of course he also knows that after measuring the fields, many bad things will be revealed. It is almost impossible to solve these things properly. The final result may be to swallow everything. Anyway, you can do as much as you can. , and those who can’t do it might just get by.But the key lies in the attitude of the court.

The attitude cannot be soft. The resistance in this matter is extremely strong. If you don't scare the majority of people with thunderous means and concentrate on dealing with a small group of people, then big problems will arise.

"Start in Shandong, and then measure southward. Those who do not cooperate will be arrested, beheaded or exiled. All the fields of these families will be confiscated, but do not confiscate them. Keep them and distribute them to the landless people, so that the people can have as much land as possible. The land can be cultivated, otherwise the world will be in chaos sooner or later. Only by raising such a banner can this matter be pushed forward, otherwise the local gentry will think that the emperor is far away when the mountains are high, and their local emperor is the real emperor."

Zhang Cong left the palace with some thoughts and a heavy heart.

Jin Gui waited for him for a long time. When he saw him, he stepped forward and saluted, "How was it? Was it successful? What did your Majesty say?"

"Half the battle."

"half?"

Zhang Chong took two large sips of tea and said, "If you think too much about this matter, it is easy to get yourself involved. Let's do what His Majesty said and take the imperial edict of clearing land from the world and force local officials to promote the land. Officials Don't listen to killing officials, and don't listen to arresting wealthy gentry! It's a job that offends people. Putting red lips on yourself, no matter how beautiful you dress up, no matter how sweet you talk, it's also a job that offends people. Your Majesty is right Yes, we can’t do this without cutting off a few heads!”

"Your Majesty... will you only promise to exonerate Yin Tian in advance?"

"Yes."

Jin Gui sighed, "In this case, some places will be easily messed up."

Zhang Cong suddenly thought of something, "Could it be a coincidence? Marquis Jinglu has led [-] elite troops and is stationed in the south of the Yangtze River."

……

……

It was early May in the 11th year of Zhengde.

Zhang Cong, the senior cabinet minister and imperial envoy from Qingtian, arrived in Jinan, Shandong.

Prior to this, the decree from Beijing had reached the governor's office in Shandong.

Liu Jian is too old to walk, but he is blessed with a long life and can still walk without crutches at the age of 84.

His qualifications are too old. No matter how arrogant Zhang Cong is, he will not be so arrogant, so when he saw him bowing from a distance, he came up to support him, "No need, Mr. Xixian, you are an old man."

"Ignore the old things, now the subordinate is the governor, and Mr. Zhang Ge is the elder."

Liu Jian's reputation in Shandong has emerged.Zhang Cong was also afraid of this reputation, so he was polite.

Even if the reception was very simple, he ignored it, mainly because he was pretending to be something else.

After sitting down in the room, Zhang Cong got straight to the point, "Mr. But we brought more than 89 people here, and we booked more than a dozen inns."

"Mr. Zhang Ge, can you take a look at the imperial edict of the Qingtian Order?"

In fact, the content has been announced to the world before, but Liu Jian is an old school and insisted on following this form. After seeing the imperial edict, he immediately said, "Since the emperor has cleared the land and reorganized the fish scale album, the following is The officials should cooperate fully. I wonder what the elder is going to do?"

"Earlier, I asked Duke Xixian to summon six prefects, fifteen prefectures and 89 county magistrates. Have they all arrived?"

Liu Jiandao: "Most of them are here, some have a long way to go and have to wait a little longer."

Zhang Cong is also very generous, and it seems to be a bit troublesome, but this is done at once, and the states and counties themselves will bring back the surveyors to avoid further wrangling in the process.

"Okay." Zhang Cong lowered his voice, "Mr.

There was no lie in Liu Jian's mouth, "People's hearts are fluctuating, so you should be prepared in advance."

(End of this chapter)