Zhu Jinsong suddenly let out a scoff, mockingly saying, "I always thought you were just purely evil, but now it seems my judgment was somewhat flawed – you are both stupid and evil."
Qianlong's aged dog's face darkened. He snorted coldly and remained silent, while Zhu Jinsong's gaze towards Qianlong's aged dog was filled with a kind of concern for the disabled.
If brain damage were considered a disability, then Qianlong's aged dog would undoubtedly be a Grade One sufferer.
After careful consideration, Zhu Jinsong decided to use language that Qianlong's aged dog could understand to refute him: "Why should I be worried? Knowing how to rebel does not mean one will necessarily rebel. I ask you, in whose hands did Emperor Chongzhen lose his kingdom?"
To Zhu Jinsong's question, Qianlong's aged dog proudly replied, "Of course, it was in Li Zicheng's hands. My Great Qing entered the passes and avenged your ancestor Emperor Chongzhen for the loss of his kingdom!"
Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh and then turned his gaze to a child of about ten years old, asking, "Can you tell him, in whose hands did Emperor Chongzhen lose his kingdom?"
The child puffed out his chest and replied, "Emperor Chongzhen lost his kingdom to the common people. The teacher said that given the continuous natural disasters at the time, the imperial treasury was insufficient, and the people could not survive. Even without Li Zicheng, there would have been a Zhang Zicheng or a Zhao Zicheng."
Zhu Jinsong patted the child's head as a sign of praise, then turned to Qianlong's aged dog with a cold smile and said, "Did you hear? If the common people can live and work in peace, who would dare to risk their heads to rebel? If the common people cannot survive, even if they do not know how to rebel, will they not rebel?"
"During the former Song dynasty, the continuous rebellions over three hundred years were because the common people could not survive. The Ming Dynasty, over more than two hundred years, also saw constant rebellions, and it was also because the common people could not survive."
"Throughout history, at the beginning of each dynasty, there were prosperous eras. This was because the continuous wars at the end of the previous dynasty caused significant population losses, and during this process, land and wealth were redistributed, allowing the common people to survive."
"It is a pity, however, that your Great Qing's so-called era of abundant grain and surviving wealth is merely something you Jurchen chieftains and your bondservants boast about."
"During the invasion of the passes, you engaged in widespread slaughter and land appropriation, only enriching yourselves, while the common people lived in unbearable suffering. If this were not the case, then over these past one hundred and fifty years, so many people would not have wanted to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming."
Qianlong's aged dog let out a cold snort and said, "What, under my rule, they cannot survive?"
Zhu Jinsong nodded and pointed to the old farmers watching the commotion around them: "Yes, they cannot survive, and that includes why I rose in rebellion in the first place. It was because we could not survive."
Speaking of this, Zhu Jinsong's spirits rose, and he decided to guide Qianlong's aged dog properly: "Qianlong, have you ever seen a camel?"
"A camel's strength is much greater than a horse's, and straw is light. In your opinion, if you place straw on a camel's back, it certainly wouldn't crush the camel, right?"
"But I tell you, one straw will not crush a camel, but if you add straw one after another onto its back, there will always be one that crushes it. This is the last straw that breaks the camel's back."
"The same principle applies to governing a nation."
"One imperial tour to the south, it's nothing. Two imperial tours, still nothing. But your repeated imperial tours will eventually make it impossible for the common people to breathe."
"One literary gathering, it's nothing. Two, still nothing. But your repeated gatherings cause the whole world to dare to be angry but not speak."
"A minor official is corrupt, it's nothing. Two, still nothing. But when all officials become corrupt, the common people cannot survive."
"In Qianlong's forty-ninth year, the year I raised my army, do you know which year's taxes were due?"
Qianlong's aged dog was immediately enraged and said in a deep voice, "I am in your hands. You can kill me or torture me as you please, but you don't have to insult me like this!"
Zhu Jinsong, however, shook his head and smiled, "I am not insulting you. You think it should be the taxes of Qianlong's fiftieth year, right? But I tell you, Ningyang County was collecting taxes for Qianlong's ninety-fourth year, and Yanzhou Prefecture was collecting taxes for Qianlong's one hundred and twentieth year."
"Your grandfather Kangxi was only emperor for sixty-one years. I ask you, can you be emperor for ninety-four years? But those officials did not care about this; they only cared about collecting money. Your so-called remission of taxes and grain only provided these officials with opportunities to intensify their extortion."
"Also, do not pretend you are unaware. Your Great Qing has the Sticky Rod Department, the Blood Droplet, and Ladakh. You, Qianlong's aged dog, know these things better than anyone, but you don't care and are not concerned. You simply treat those greedy officials as fat pigs and your running dogs to oppress the common people."
Qianlong's aged dog snorted coldly and said, "I know they are corrupt, but what can I do? Can I kill them all? I don't believe you, Zhu the rebel, would dare to kill all the corrupt officials in the world?"
To Qianlong's aged dog's surprise, Zhu Jinsong nodded seriously, "If one dares to be corrupt, I dare to kill one. If a hundred dare to be corrupt, I dare to kill a hundred. If a hundred thousand dare to be corrupt, I will kill a hundred thousand. Not only will I kill them, but I will also flay them and feed them to the horses, hanging them in the yamen as a warning to future generations, and I will also publicize their wicked deeds in the townships."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Qianlong's aged dog burst into laughter, mockingly saying, "There are millions of officials in the world, can you kill them all? Even if you could kill them all, who would serve as your officials? If they incite these ignorant fools and women to curse you and rebel against you, can you still hold onto your empire? Even in history books, you would be infamous!"
Zhu Jinsong again shook his head and smiled, "I always thought you were not entirely stupid, but now it seems I was mistaken. If everyone had read books, whom could they incite?"
"In the 4483rd year of the Yellow Emperor, which is the first year of the Sacred Emperor in the common folk's parlance, during Qianlong's fifty years, the Ming Dynasty killed three prefects and over twenty county magistrates."
"In the 4484th year of the Yellow Emperor, the Ming Dynasty killed two prefects and over seventy county magistrates. In 4485, they killed four prefects, seven prefectural magistrates, and over two hundred county magistrates. Over a hundred officials of rank four or higher were killed. Their families implicated numbered in the thousands, and nearly ten thousand relatives were exiled, including many old brothers who had rendered outstanding service to me."
"In terms of the number of officials executed, among all emperors throughout history, only the Great Ming's Taizu, Emperor Hongwu, can be compared to me."
"However, it is not as if there were no officials, nor did I gain a bad reputation, except from those corrupt officials and scoundrels. But you do not know that the more these corrupt officials hate and curse me, the more it proves I am right. If this is what it takes for the common people to live better lives, what does it matter if I am infamous?"
Only at this moment did Qianlong's aged dog finally begin to take Zhu Jinsong seriously.
In terms of killing people, the Great Qing had killed far more people than Zhu Jinsong, but the Great Qing never dared to kill officials by the hundreds like Zhu Jinsong.
Under normal circumstances, the Great Qing would have them pay for their crimes with money, and only then would they kill a few to appease public anger.
Why did Qianlong's aged dog implement the system of "guilt by money"?
Because Qianlong's aged dog knew that most of the Qing Dynasty's officials were not good people, and they could not be killed off, nor could they openly engage in widespread killing. Therefore, it was better to resolve the problem with money and, at the same time, line their own pockets.
However, the Ming Dynasty court under Zhu Jinsong truly killed officials as easily as chickens, far more ruthlessly than the Great Qing.
What made Qianlong's aged dog even more uncomfortable was that the Ming Dynasty court had not experienced any major upheavals due to this. Instead, the people's lives had gradually improved. Qianlong's aged dog was not blind; based on what he had seen and heard along the way, he had a general assessment in his heart.
However, Qianlong's aged dog was unwilling to admit defeat so easily: "All in all, it is because they are all Han Chinese, so you do not need to guard against them. If they were all my Eight Banners banner-men, would you dare to do this?"
Zhu Jinsong pointed at Wu Mancang and retorted, "He was one of your Eight Banners banner-men before. Did I guard against him? All in all, it is because your Aisin Gioro family seized power unjustly, enslaving the masters and ruling the servants, thus you must be cautious and vigilant at all times."
The Portuguese Cruz's "History of China" described the common people of the Ming Dynasty as "extremely fond of food and drink." Besides staple foods like rice and wheat, and vegetables, they also had a rich variety of meats, including pork and beef, and a large amount of aquatic products. Stalls were everywhere in the cities, and food could be bought anywhere, hence "the Chinese are gluttons."
In the Spanish Rada's work "On the Affairs of China during the Ming Dynasty," the common people along the coast of Fujian during the Ming Dynasty also had a diverse diet, not only common meats like roasted pork, smoked chicken, and cured meat, but also pigeons and quail, with many cooking methods. The detailed records made many Europeans drool.
In Matteo Ricci's "Journal of Matteo Ricci in China," it stated that in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty, the land was fertile and production was highly developed, so "people were fond of food, drink, music, and merriment."
Chen Shunxi's "Record of Observations during Turbulent Times" recalled that during the Wanli era in Guangdong, a peck of rice cost only twenty cash, a pound of meat cost six to seven cash, and a pound of fish cost one to two cash.
Xie Zhaozhe's "Miscellaneous Records" recorded that when Xie Zhaozhe arrived in the capital in the fifteenth year of Wanli, the capital could only buy chicken, duck, beef, and sheep, and buying a fish was extremely difficult. However, by the thirty-fifth year of Wanli, the markets in the capital were filled with a large number of silver fish, soft-shelled turtles, crabs, and other southern specialties, and the prices were even cheaper than in Jiangnan.
Zhu Jinsong spoke with increasing anger: "These books were all retrieved by me from you. Do you know nothing about these records?"
"You know!"
"But you do not care. You only know how to slander the previous dynasty!"
"You dog-like creature, I truly cannot understand how thick-skinned you must be to shamelessly talk about an era of abundant grain and surviving wealth?"
While scolding Qianlong's aged dog, Zhu Jinsong pointed to the old farmers and said, "They cannot survive, so they will naturally rebel. You Jurchen people must also be extra vigilant. You never think about where you went wrong, only knowing how to solve problems by killing."
"But you do not know that if they rebel because they cannot survive, everyone in the world will respond. If they rebel purely for the throne, for their own ambitions, then the people of the world will not agree."
"As the saying goes, the more you debate, the clearer the truth becomes. When everyone knows why they are rebelling and how to rebel, as long as the common people can survive, it will be difficult for others to instigate the common people to rebel together."
"Therefore, you are afraid of them rebelling, but I am not. I have nothing to fear. If the Ming Dynasty court always considers the common people, then the Ming Empire will naturally last for ten thousand years. If one day the Ming Dynasty court changes, becoming one that only thinks of extorting money from the people and oppressing them instead of considering the common people, then let it perish. Even in the netherworld, I will applaud it!"
Qianlong's aged dog was finally speechless.
No matter how much books were destroyed or history was burned, the memory of all people in the world could not be destroyed, nor could the mouths of all people be silenced. The strongest army ultimately came from the common people. When all the common people no longer supported a court, the army became an unsubstantiated castle in the air.