Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 381: A Different Parting between the Emperor and His Subjects
"The latest news is that Liu Shizeng, the Southern Zhili Provincial Inspector and Education Commissioner, refused to implement the resolution passed by Yingtian Governor Hai Rui and others to dismiss the academic achievements of students from various schools who neglected their studies because of going to Beijing. Yingtian Governor Hai Rui proposed to dismiss him from his post. Now, His Majesty has approved his dismissal!"

"The latest news is that the head of Qilifang, Tan Song, led the residents of the county to demand wages from the county silk reeling factory. The county magistrate Huang Ping was imprisoned for treason and killed four residents. Yingtian Governor Hai Rui has re-investigated the old case and has ordered the officials to dismiss Huang Ping!"

"The latest news is that the family of Minister of Rites Chen Yiqin was suspected of embezzling 60,000 mu of civilian land, which was recovered by Yingtian Prefecture."

……

In the early morning, many newsboys came to the platforms and shouted when the tram started. With the application of radio technology, news from all over the country can be transmitted to the capital overnight, so major newspapers and magazines have begun to report national news.

During this period, the most popular news, apart from the progress of the Ming Dynasty's campaign to destroy the Japanese, was news from Southern Zhili.

After all, the students from Nanzhili coming to Beijing to cause trouble and a series of actions taken by Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian, made the people of the Ming Dynasty extremely concerned about the news from Nanzhili.

But because of this, even if the gentry in Jiangnan could buy and control the local newspapers in Jiangnan, they could not buy and control the national newspapers. Therefore, the reputation of Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian, did not become bad because of the slander of these Nanzhili students who came to Beijing. Instead, he gained more and more support from the people.

"What a great governor! Jiangnan should be governed by an official like him!"

"That's right. Look, this is an article published in the Beijing Morning Post. It says that the Coast Guard executed the student surnamed Lu. In fact, it was the student surnamed Lu who beat the villagers to death! He deserved it. It's not that the Coast Guard abused torture as they said!"

"This is interesting news. It turns out that our great emperor is good at selecting the right people for the right positions. You would never guess that the reason why Hai Rui, the governor who dared to seek justice for the poor, was appointed as the governor of Yingtian by the court was because, according to the Ming Dynasty Spring and Autumn Annals, this was the emperor's suggestion to His Majesty the Emperor!"

Through these newspapers that began to broadcast national news due to radio technology, the common people, students, and officials in the capital gradually came to know the real Jiangnan and the real Hai Rui more and more clearly and objectively. They also came to understand and respect the retired emperor who was still at the helm of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, no one was willing to believe the words of the Nanzhili students who were still standing outside the Daming Gate, slandering Hai Rui and calling on the court to dismiss Hai Rui.

Even when these Nanzhili students began to give speeches, some people even threw the rotten vegetable leaves in their hands at them: "Get out of the way! Don't block the road and affect our business!"

"Bah! Why are you pretending to be so passionate? The rumors about Hai Rui using torture and killing students are all nonsense. The newspapers have made it clear that Mr. Hai was just and impartial. You educated people don't study hard in school, but only know how to gossip. Do you really think that we are all fools and will let you fool us?!"

Some scholars studying in Beijing also angrily accused these students from Nanzhili.

"I thought you were really speaking for the people, but I never thought you just regarded the people as fools and thought you were a genius, as if the court and the people should listen to you!"

Even some scholars who were originally from the south were disappointed.

These students from Nanzhili did not expect that they would become the target of public criticism. Not only did they not receive sympathy from the scholars and people when they sat in front of the city gate on a hunger strike, they were also ridiculed and even scolded. Even when they wanted to make the scholars and people agree with their ideas through speeches, they did not expect to be directly refuted, even to the point where they could not explain themselves.

"Brother Jin, are we still going on a hunger strike?"

Zheng Renxiu, a student from Nanzhili, took off the eggshell on his head. Just now, he was given an egg for disturbing the business of a commoner who was selling goods on a load. Now, he even felt that the raw egg white flowing from his hair into his mouth was delicious. Seeing that his hunger strike did not cause any trouble for the court, he asked a question.

"It's endless! This kind of court is stubborn and stubborn, and there are still a bunch of stubborn people who really believe in their court! Fools can't be awakened! Now that the students' honors have been stripped away, Jin has no intention of staying in this court that only advocates giving benefits to the common people instead of the gentry! Such a court will be destroyed sooner or later!"

The student named Jin said this and left the place.

Zheng Renxiu also stood up and said, "Brother Jin, you are right. We have no shortage of food. Since these fools don't need freedom, why should we die for them?"

"I'm not going to give up!"

"It's endless!"

One after another, these students stood up with the help of the wall, looked at the towering Daming Gate, and all of them had a look of resentment on their faces.

……

"Father, these students have indeed withdrawn," Zhu Zailei hurriedly told Zhu Houzhao after learning that these students from Nanzhili had returned.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty is not ruled by civil officials now, otherwise there might be some bigwigs in the court who would use the situation to dismiss Hai Rui. However, this time we were able to force these students to leave, it is not our credit, but the credit of the people. The people of my Ming Dynasty can finally understand the world no longer through the gossip of the gentry!"

"Your Majesty is right. Governing the world is much easier now than before. The court does not need to resort to violence. The anger of the people will make these self-interested people retreat!
However, the Western Factory reported to his son that the current situation has caused many scholars from the gentry class to begin to turn their dissatisfaction with the court to the entire Chinese Han people, believing that they are fools and ignorant people who have been bewitched by the court. They say that the Han people have always been ugly. Some have begun to leave the Ming Empire, saying that they want to leave this country that has been made ignorant by you and does not treat people as human beings! "

Emperor Zhu Zailei said.

Zhu Houzhao stood up and pointed at the girls walking on the street outside the palace wall: "If the Ming Dynasty that I transformed did not treat people as human beings, could these girls walk on the street and be so confident?! I just brought the freedom of people from all walks of life to the same level. Could it be that they really like the time when I, the supreme ruler, was the freest and even free enough to kill anyone at will?!"

"Your Majesty, don't be angry. These people just want to continue to be noble people. Now the Ming Chang Kingdom, far away at the east end of the ocean, has become quite prosperous. They are now traveling thousands of miles to serve as officials there. It is said that some people would rather serve as county magistrates there than as ministers in the Ming Central Empire."

Emperor Zhu Zailei said.

"It's raining when the sky is coming and my mother is getting married. Their feet are on their bodies. Since they don't like it here, they can go wherever they want. But my Ming Central Empire cannot be a paradise for only a few people!"

After Zhu Houzhao patted the railing and said this, he just looked at the tall buildings in the distance. Looking at the tall buildings that were gradually flashing with thousands of lights in the night, he knew that he had set many rules for this world and also restricted many people from indulging themselves, but he only realized the importance of rules when he was in this position today.

Emperor Zhu Zailei naturally understood his father's thoughts, but the people were increasingly pursuing individuality, independence, and freedom. He felt that sometimes it might not be a good idea to control the people too tightly. After all, things will turn into the opposite when they reach the extreme, and people do have two sides. On the one hand, they want to be a moral gentleman, and on the other hand, they want to do something exciting and rebellious. "Father, you see, should we set aside a special area around the Central Empire, allowing the local Han people to decide their own governors and other officials, allowing them to establish their own laws, and the Central Empire to give them a relaxed management policy, with only military control in the hands of the Central Empire, and do this as a pilot!"

Zhu Zailei suggested.

"After Japan is destroyed, we will change it to the East Japan District. Aren't there many censors who have asked the court to ban brothels and gambling houses because they are the source of corruption and immorality, and say that they are very harmful to people and have even caused many families to be broken up? In this case, the Ming Central Empire will gradually ban these shameful businesses, but allow them to exist in the East Japan District!"

As Zhu Houzhao spoke, he remembered that although Wakoku would become a territory of the Ming Empire in the future, who knows whether geographical factors would cause this region to backfire on the mainland in the future, so he said: "In the future, the Dongying area will only focus on developing cultural industries, and there is no need to develop industry. We must also establish a rule that those under the age of 18 are not allowed to enter the Dongying area."

Zhu Zailei nodded.

However, Zhu Zailei did not directly require local governments not to open brothels and gambling venues with the emperor's decree, but let the governors of each province make decisions based on the economic conditions of their respective jurisdictions.

Coincidentally, Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian, was a gentleman of moral integrity. What he disliked most was the scholars and officials who played with men and women without making progress. Therefore, he first began to ban excessive entertainment in the territory of Nanzhili, and directly dispatched tens of thousands of officers and soldiers to smash any gambling houses and close any brothels.

For a time, the entire Qinhuai River lost its feminine atmosphere. The literati and scholars who used to have fun among women could not help but hate Hai Rui even more, and it even affected the business of local clinics. However, it did increase the marriage rate among the lower-class civilians in Southern Zhili and the number of newborns. The disappearance of gambling houses also saved many families from bankruptcy, especially those of the lower-class civilians.

Some brothels and gambling houses have begun to move eastward.

Japan at this time.

In the west, the Kyushu areas that had been occupied by the Ming Dynasty began to build high-rise buildings and put on makeup, while in areas such as Kansai that had not yet been occupied by the Ming Dynasty, the sound of gunfire was still heard.

The fall of Kyushu shocked the daimyo in China and Kansai. Many daimyo had begun to realize that the Ming army was not simply coming to take wealth, but to completely destroy them.

Therefore, some daimyos began to decide to unite to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

But there are still some daimyos who are unwilling to unite with their enemies.

At this time, Japan was still in the Warring States Period and the civilian class had not yet grown strong, and neither the shogunate nor the Tianhuang could command the Ming Dynasty, which held real power in various places.

Although Oda Nobunaga, the powerful minister who controlled the shogunate, intended to unify Japan, integrate its forces and resist the Ming Dynasty, the daimyo who were his enemies were unwilling to put aside their past grudges with him and even continued to attack him, forcing him to stabilize the country before resisting foreign aggression.

The Ming army led by Qi Jiguang made smooth progress in Japan. Coupled with their weapon advantages and more advanced military thinking, a few Ming troops were able to occupy a county of the Ming Dynasty and even directly launch a campaign to eliminate the Japanese pirates.

Naturally, this led to the appearance of many Japanese women in Japan at this time. Some brothels that had just arrived in the East Japan area grew rapidly and began to use names such as Twelve Golden Hairpins, Seventy-two Fairies, and Thousands of Beauties.

Zhu Houzhao had not yet decided to go to Japan. He was still paying attention to the technological development of the empire. The camera invented using magnesium powder was finally released. Zhu Houzhao looked at his first black-and-white photo and couldn't help laughing: "Hundreds of years later, people can finally know what Emperor Zhengde looked like!"

"Your Majesty, I just received news that the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Xu Jie, has submitted his resignation to His Majesty the Emperor." At this time, Chen Hong came in and reported the latest news to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao could not help but be stunned for a moment: "Xu Jie? Resigned?! Go call him!"

Half an hour later, when Xu Jie knew that the emperor wanted to see him, he couldn't help but wonder: "Emperor, why do you want to see me?"

"We really don't know about this. Lord Xu will find out when he goes there," Chen Hong replied.

Xu Jie couldn't help but wonder if the emperor still valued him and didn't want him to resign as the cabinet's chief minister. Was he trying to keep him? And was he also interested in rebuilding a Confucian society in Ming? If so, should he persuade the emperor again?

Xu Jie was thinking all the way, and for a moment it seemed as if he had a lot to say to the emperor.

Half an hour later, Xu Jie came to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your servant Xu Jie greets the retired emperor!" Then he prepared to have a conversation between the emperor and his subject with the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao.

"Xu Jie, come here and sit here. This is a nice background! Don't be too serious. Smile."

Zhu Houzhao was now in a playful mood. After fiddling with Xu Jie like a puppet for a while, he shouted, "Master, it's time to start. This is the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty. Take a photo and keep it. It will be very commemorative. All officials must take a photo in the future!"

Xu Jie didn't know what photography was yet. He only knew that a newspaper had mentioned that the Academy of Sciences had invented some kind of photography technology.

Suddenly, magnesium powder exploded, and Xu Jie was almost frightened. After a while, he realized that he didn't seem to have suffered any losses. He immediately felt relieved and said with a smile: "Excuse me, Your Majesty, what is this?"

"This is a photo shoot. Don't get up yet. I'm going to take a photo with you. Now that you are going to retire and go home, we can leave a souvenir for each other!"

As Zhu Houzhao spoke, he sat down at the top of Xu Jie and asked his master to take a picture of him.

A few days later, when Xu Jie left the capital, he still couldn't forget the photo he took with the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao. He couldn't help but look back at the streets of the capital where cars and trams were running, and then sighed: "Maybe the times have really changed. Even the emperor and his subjects no longer have conversations in front of the emperor and leave texts, but sit together and take photos."

As Xu Jie spoke, he couldn't help but look at the photo in his hand, smiled slightly, and hurriedly said: "No, I haven't taken photos with the emperor yet, there are also Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Tan Lun and others! And..."

(End of this chapter)