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Whether it was the shared rule of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors or the hereditary rule starting from the Xia Dynasty, rebellion has always been a serious crime. Especially after the further revisions of the "Qi Law" of the Northern Qi, the "Kaihuang Law" of the Sui Dynasty, and the "Tang Law Commentary" of the Tang Dynasty, rebellion directly became one of the ten most heinous crimes.
The so-called ten heinous crimes are: first, rebellion; second, great treason; third, defection; fourth, vicious offense; fifth, immorality; sixth, great disrespect; seventh, filial impiety; eighth, disharmony; ninth, unrighteousness; and tenth, incest.
Among these, rebellion, great treason, and defection appear similar but are fundamentally different.
Rebellion refers to the act of wanting to overthrow the government, while great treason refers to the destruction of imperial ancestral temples, mausoleums, and palaces, and defection refers to betraying the imperial court.
As for the actions of Hu Wenhong and Zhang Xijin, broadly speaking, they can be considered rebellion, and in a narrow sense, defection—whether rebellion or defection, both are major crimes that lead to the annihilation of the entire family and clan, so there is not much difference.
Emperor Zhu continued, "Also, have the Imperial Guards thoroughly investigate and see who else is behind Hu Wenhong and Zhang Xijin. And also thoroughly investigate behind the students of other universities. I don't believe that two merchants alone would dare to cause such a stir!"
When Emperor Zhu finished speaking, Zeng Cheng immediately became restless.
To be honest, two merchants alone could not have caused such a stir. Among the more than forty universities in the Great Ming, five were in the capital, three were in the Southern Metropolitan Region, and the rest were basically one in each provincial capital of the Provincial Administration Commission. To influence the students of more than forty universities and make them riot on the same appointed day was indeed not something that a few merchants could accomplish.
The problem was that it could not be investigated any further!
If each of the students from over forty universities had only one Hu Wenhong and one Zhang Xijin behind them, that would mean eighty wealthy merchants and powerful gentry families! Even if each wealthy merchant family had only a hundred members, that would be a major case involving eight thousand people!
Moreover, those students whose academic titles were revoked this time numbered over three thousand in the capital alone. If we also consider the punishment of their nine generations of relatives being barred from official positions and military service, it is likely to involve tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people... Would such a great upheaval be a good thing for the Great Ming?
Not to mention that Emperor Zhu had a very obvious fishing behavior this time—those wealthy merchants and local gentry had been trying to infiltrate the farmers' associations, local governments, and even the imperial court. Even if this great disturbance could be concealed from everyone in the world, it could not be concealed from the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot. However, Emperor Zhu had allowed them to act recklessly, and only when Hu Yan and Zhang Yang came forward and led those foolish students to the palace to cry out, did Emperor Zhu begin to severely punish them. What is this behavior if not fishing?
Fine, you are fishing, but I, Zeng, have already heard some whispers and seen through your intention to fish. But what is the operation of draining the entire fishpond while fishing?
Just as he was thinking, Zeng Cheng suddenly came to his senses.
He had been played by Emperor Zhu!
This time, not only he, the Grand Secretary of the Great Ming, but also Liu Hemming, the Grand Commander of the Five Military Commissions, the entire imperial court and all officials in local governments, and even all local gentry and wealthy merchants in the Great Ming had been played by Emperor Zhu!
In fact, Emperor Zhu's method of playing was very simple: first fish, then drain the water—other people fish by waiting for the fish to bite and then reeling them in and scooping them up. Emperor Zhu, however, would drain all the water in the fishpond after the fish bit, exposing all the fish to the sunlight!
Zeng Cheng did not doubt that Emperor Zhu had this ability.
The people of Cui Ge Zhuang had their eyes opened today!
At this time, arriving at the fields, one could smell the sweet air of wheat sprouts and feel the coolness of the winter snow.
This is a scene greatly favored by countless literati and scholars throughout history.
Does that sound ridiculous?
Anyone who finds this ridiculous is either a scoundrel who speaks without feeling the pinch, or a brainless fool.
Taking Zhu Chongba's "Awakening Greed Simplified Record" as an example, which he wrote with just a bowl at the beginning:
From this set of data, we can see that there is a significant loss when paddy is milled into rice, and the loss rate was relatively high at least during the Hongwu period of the Great Ming.
According to Zhu Yuanzhang's calculated data, the yield of rice was only about 40%.
Well, an autumn harvest is like a Long March, and an autumn harvest means a layer of skin shedding from the shoulders. What is so beautiful about this memory?
Emperor Zhu had also farmed in the past and knew the feeling of sweat dropping like hailstones.
When the people's lives improve, no one will think of rebelling against the Ming and restoring the Qing.
After Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming left the palace, Emperor Zhu sat alone in the Hall of Heavenly Purity, lost in thought.
This was a war with a very low chance of victory. Even the most brilliant rulers and wise monarchs might not be able to perfectly resolve the issue of a vast capitalist class.
For example, a certain principal.
First of all, this principal, whose smart head was devoid of hair, entirely relied on the capitalist class to rise to power.
The elders Chen and Hu, and others, looked at Qi Feng, who was speaking eloquently, with bewildered expressions, unable to believe that these words came from Qi Feng's mouth.
Master Hu's eyes lit up: "The person you are talking about, is it Zhang Wenhong of the nearby domains?"
Daimyo and Daimyo are different.
Daimyo originated from the word "meishu" (名主), meaning land with a name, i.e., private land. Daimyo refers to people who own a large amount of land.
During the Muromachi Shogunate, the samurai leaders who revolted with Ashikaga Takauji were appointed Shugo and governed one or several provinces, collectively known as Shugo Daimyo.
After the Ōnin War, the "gekokujō" (下克上) trend prevailed in Wa, and many Shugo Daimyo declined, while small lords rose to become Sengoku Daimyo.
In the Edo period, the Shogunate divided the Daimyo of the country into Fudai Daimyo (vassals of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and Tozama Daimyo (former vassals of Toyotomi Hideyoshi).
Because Inukai Wenhong said, "If the Great Ming were to rule Wa."
This fellow even openly declared that Emperor Kōkaku, as the King of Wa, possessed no divine nature or humanity, and his actions had not brought well-being to the people of Wa, thus betraying the trust of the Emperor of the Great Ming. Kōkaku should commit seppuku to apologize.
Because of his daring to scold and criticize in the strictly hierarchical society of Wa, Inukai Wenhong quickly gathered a large number of followers, most of whom were samurai and rōnin who were extremely dissatisfied with the Wa imperial court and shogunate.
Now, when Qi Feng proposed using Inukai Wenhong to cause chaos in Wa and make a profit, the merchants of the Great Ming present, including Masters Hu and Chen, were naturally deeply tempted.
Master Hu chuckled, stroked his beard, and said, "With only one Inukai Wenhong, at most he can only cause chaos in one region under his rule, and the money that we brothers can earn will be very limited. In my opinion, we should try to bring in more people."
Qi Feng smiled and nodded, spitting out another name: "How about Yano NISHI-JIN?"
Upon hearing the name Yano NISHI-JIN, the merchants of the Great Ming present chuckled again.
Yano NISHI-JIN was also no simple character.
If judging purely by江湖 status (Jianghu status), Yano NISHI-JIN was far inferior to Inukai Wenhong, because no matter what, Inukai Wenhong was a Daimyo, while Yano NISHI-JIN was merely a rural commoner and usually only claimed to be a scholar of Rangaku.
The key was that Yano NISHI-JIN was not purely a scholar.
Although Yano NISHI-JIN did not dare to openly scold the Wa imperial court and shogunate like Inukai Wenhong, and even dared to rally a group of dissatisfied short, ugly people to publish newspapers, Yano NISHI-JIN nevertheless relentlessly attacked the various daimyo and lords of Wa, and at the same time, he made sarcastic remarks towards the Wa imperial court and shogunate.
In the eyes of the Wa imperial court and shogunate, Yano NISHI-JIN was like a toad; he couldn't be bitten to death, but he could be disgusted to death. After all, he wore the skin of a Rangaku scholar and was usually close to merchants from the Great Ming. Therefore, the Wa imperial court and shogunate did not dare to deal with him directly.
Now Qi Feng remembered Yano NISHI-JIN.
To put it bluntly, Wa, which is praised to the heavens and earth by countless incurable patients, is actually similar to the situation in Tianzhu. Tianzhu has a caste system, and Wa also has social classes.
For example, why do rōnin samurai who have lost their masters remain rōnin instead of finding a job?
This means that Tokugawa Ienari must first deal with those rōnin to complete the blockade.
The lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, Hizen, Tsushima, Hyuga, and other domains also followed suit and responded, while other lords and daimyo could not help but frown.
These geographical differences naturally led to uneven development among the various domains, with some domains being wealthy and others being extremely poor.
The difference in wealth and poverty was directly reflected in the number of rōnin in each domain.
The poorer the domain, the more rōnin there were.
More importantly, Satsuma Domain and the lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others had a common appellation: the Kyushu Domains.
These domains were originally operating in Kyushu Island. Satsuma Domain even sent troops to capture the Ryukyu Islands, forcing the Ryukyu King to submit and pay tribute to Wa.
If they were willing, they were definitely unwilling. Shimazu Hisamitsu and the lords of Chikuzen and Chikugo had considered resisting, at least to get a better territory, right?
Then Shimazu Hisamitsu and his entourage moved to Ezo, completely yielding Kyushu Island.
If they obeyed the orders of their lords and disregarded Tokugawa Ienari, what would the Shogunate think? If they hindered each other and argued, how could they clean up the rōnin!
This was even more unacceptable to the lords than directly providing financial support to Tokugawa Ienari!
When Tokugawa Ienari finished speaking, the lords present secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little suspicious.
As everyone knows, besides his philandering, Tokugawa Ienari's biggest flaw is his greed for money. The greed of his sons and daughters is entirely inherited from Tokugawa Ienari.
Shimazu Hisamitsu, the Ezo idiot, who was as poor as a dog, still sent samurai and ashigaru to help Tokugawa Ienari. Now he was the first to jump out and scold the lords, acting like a loyal dog willing to shed his last drop of blood for the Edo Shogunate. Yet Tokugawa Ienari seemed displeased?
After thinking about it, a flash of inspiration appeared in Matsudaira Nobuyoshi's mind. Looking at it optimistically, Tokugawa Ienari might genuinely want to eradicate those samurai, and his current behavior with Shimazu Hisamitsu was just an act, designed to lure the lords into the trap.
Looking at it pessimistically, Tokugawa Ienari's true intention might not be to thoroughly eradicate the rōnin, but to target them, the lords! Once the Shogunate's samurai and ashigaru were allowed to enter the territories of the various domains in large numbers, it would be difficult to predict what would happen later!
Thinking of this, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi's face could not help but look grim. He then glanced at Shimazu Hisamitsu and said loudly, "Lord Shimazu is absolutely right. This is precisely the time when we should unite and overcome difficulties together. We cannot hesitate at this moment!"
With the subsequent endorsements from Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobuyoshi, the other lords had no retreat. Whether they understood or not, they had to follow Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobuyoshi in expressing their willingness to send samurai and ashigaru to help the Shogunate eradicate the rōnin.
Tokugawa Ienari, however, felt deeply resentful.
The elders Chen and Hu, and others, looked at Qi Feng, who was speaking eloquently, with bewildered expressions, unable to believe that these words came from Qi Feng's mouth.
However, Qi Feng did not care about the gazes of others. Instead, he looked at Masters Chen and Hu and others and said, "What do you say? If you are willing to do this with me, Qi, then we will do it together. If you are unwilling, you can leave on your own. As long as you don't cause trouble for me, Qi, we will still be good brothers in the future."
Master Hu could not help but frown and say, "Brother Qi's idea is good, but where can we find a Daimyo who is willing to cooperate with us? According to Brother Qi's statement, this Daimyo must first not have too much power, second, not be too intelligent, third, not be too foolish, and crucially, he must be able to fool those short, ugly people of Wa. Such a Daimyo would be hard to find, wouldn't he?"
Master Hu's eyes lit up: "The person you are talking about, is it Zhang Wenhong of the nearby domains?"
As for sending ninjas or some patients with leprosy to wreak havoc on the territories of Kōkaku and his son, Tokugawa Ienari did not have such thoughts for the time being.
Unfortunately, Tokugawa Ienari's well-laid plan had now been ruined by these scoundrels, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobuyoshi.
The lords and daimyo present were somewhat bewildered, not knowing what else this scoundrel Tokugawa Ienari wanted to say.