Hu Yan, son of Hu Wenhong, narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice to the scholars beside him, "Although the foolish emperor has not yet said how he will deal with us, think about what that foolish emperor said today. Combined with the fact that Chen Weiming and his ilk were assigned to different tents, I fear that the foolish emperor already harbors murderous intent towards us."
After Hu Yan finished speaking, the scholars gathered around him fell silent, and the atmosphere in the tent gradually became oppressive.
Compared to Chen Weiming and the scholars who dared to lead the charge to cry out and petition at Chengtian Gate when instigated, Hu Yan and his group, every single one of them, hailed from families of local gentry, influential scholars, and wealthy merchants. Not only were their horizons and knowledge far superior to Chen Weiming and his kind, but they had also experienced more occasions than Chen Weiming and his group. While they couldn't be called ancient foxes, they were certainly adept at observing and understanding people's expressions.
The scholars led by Hu Yan had all sensed the Emperor Zhu's displeasure. They knew in their hearts that Emperor Zhu would not easily let them off. The reason he hadn't acted to kill them immediately was probably related to Emperor Zhu's habit of being magnanimous – he intended to conquer their hearts and minds before striking them down!
After a long silence, a scholar standing closer to Hu Yan spoke in a low voice, "Now we are the knife and the chopping board, and we are the fish. Does Brother Hu have any other good ideas?"
The tent fell silent again. Hu Yan wished he could kill this fool with a single blow – what time was it? Seeing that Emperor Zhu had already raised his butcher's knife and was waiting to bring it down to sever their heads, this imbecile was still spouting nonsense about being the knife and chopping board and them being the fish? This was clearly demoralizing the troops!
After carefully considering his options, Hu Yan simply nodded slightly, glanced around, and said in a low voice, "There isn't no solution, but as Brother Wang said, we are now the knife and chopping board, and we are the fish. The only way is to seek survival amidst death, or rather, to gamble on how many of us can survive."
A scholar in the crowd couldn't help but ask, "How do we seek survival amidst death? And what kind of gamble is this?"
Hu Yan said, "As I said earlier, it's about seeking survival amidst death, which means some of us will survive, but some will definitely die."
At this point, Hu Yan couldn't help but sneer, "We should thank that foolish emperor for this. If he hadn't been so arrogant and arrested us on the spot, the soldiers guarding us wouldn't be too many. Otherwise, we might not even have a chance to seek survival amidst death!"
When Hu Yan finished speaking, the hearts of those scholars began to pound uncontrollably.
Hu Yan did not explicitly state how to seek survival amidst death, but the scholars present could infer Hu Yan's thoughts from his few words – some die, some live, guards, soldiers, not too many, these keywords together, Hu Yan's plan was naturally self-evident.
Directly assault the soldiers outside the tent!
If they could successfully break through the soldiers' defense line, they would then directly assault the imperial palace!
If they couldn't break through the soldiers' defense line, they would find a way to create more chaos, forcing the soldiers to kill them directly, preferably making them act against all the students outside Chengtian Gate, including themselves and Chen Weiming and his group!
With just the soldiers outside the tent, they wouldn't be able to kill all the students present, but as long as the soldiers acted, the matter tonight would become an undeniable stain, firmly fixed on Emperor Zhu, the Five Chief Military Commissions, and the entire Great Ming Dynasty, and they would never be able to wash it clean!
This plan could not be considered anything less than bold, nor could it be considered anything less than vicious, and it had a high probability of success.
However, to everyone's surprise, a mocking voice suddenly rang out from the corner of the tent, "Hu Yan, you were so close to that foolish emperor, why didn't you act out of a common man's rage? Now you are repeatedly inciting everyone to act together, I'm afraid you've already thought of a way to escape, haven't you?"
Hu Yan was furious and stared in the direction of the tent's corner, shouting in a deep voice, "Who? Hiding your head and tail, what kind of gentleman are you?"
"Haha!" A burst of laughter came from the corner of the tent, followed by a sound of footsteps. The students gathered in front of Hu Yan unconsciously made way, allowing the student who had mocked Hu Yan to come directly to Hu Yan.
The mocking student stopped, stared fixedly at Hu Yan, and said in a deep voice, " "
This remaining emperor even swore to the heavens, shouting, "Suo'etu, you are a sinner for all generations of my Great Qing!"
It's only been a few years since the Great Qing collapsed!
Even eating one's fill was only a recent occurrence for the people of the Great Ming, yet so many nonsensical problems had already appeared in the Great Ming!
It can be said that the Farmers' Association was both a tool for the court to solve the problem of royal power not reaching the countryside, and also an eye and a tentacle for the court to control the countryside.
It's just that now even the Farmers' Association has encountered similar problems.
If Emperor Zhu were to thoroughly cleanse the Great Ming court to the Farmers' Association now, the number of people involved would even exceed the total of the Four Great Cases!
But Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming also didn't know what to do.
Persuade Emperor Zhu to take drastic action?
Persuade Emperor Zhu to spare the majority of people in the Farmers' Association?
Emperor Zhu naturally did not expect Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming to answer his questions, but he deeply understood the saying once spoken by Zhu Yuanzhang.
"I am shallow in talent and virtue, and the way of control is exhausted!"
In fact, this kind of nonsensical situation has not been completely resolved even hundreds of years later.
Those who went to the countryside at this time were basically idealistic volunteers who poured their passion into their work.
But if one were to study it in depth, one could discover the true purpose of this activity and the people it targeted.
That's why there's the concept of re-education.
There's no need to mention the bald principal from earlier.
That bald principal, who liked to resist the enemy in his diary and expand territory on maps, once said a famous saying: "Rebellion means destruction, non-rebellion means perishing."
Even the librarian and the bald principal could not completely solve the problem, and now it was so nakedly presented before Emperor Zhu.
Zeng Cheng was startled and couldn't help but bow and advise, "Your Majesty, think thrice! If this is truly investigated to the end, I'm afraid it will implicate tens of thousands of people, this..."
After hesitating, Zeng Cheng finally gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and bowed, "If Your Majesty truly wishes to investigate, please start with the Five Chief Military Commissions. After the Five Chief Military Commissions have been cleared, then investigate the Farmers' Association!"
... Liu Hemming also bowed and said, "Please Your Majesty investigate the military commissions first!"
Heaven knows, Zeng Cheng did not ask Emperor Zhu to bite the bullet first by asking him to investigate the military commissions first. Liu Hemming also did not ask Emperor Zhu to investigate the military commissions first to bow to the civilian official group led by Zeng Cheng. Both of them hoped that Emperor Zhu would first clean up the army and then investigate the local Farmers' Associations after the army was in order and its loyalty guaranteed.
However, what neither Zeng Cheng nor Liu Hemming expected was that Emperor Zhu actually chuckled and said, "No need. Since I intend to investigate, I will investigate the court and the Five Chief Military Commissions together, and directly investigate down to the Farmers' Association. I want to see whether the common people in this world recognize this emperor or those scoundrel bastards!"
Tokugawa Ienari's face immediately darkened.
Now, the good citizens and the贱民 (jian min - commoners/low class citizens) of Wakoku are hiding around the Ming merchants. What can the Shogunate do?
What if they provoke those Ming merchants and cause them to draw their swords and confront the Shogunate? In the end, it will be the Shogunate that suffers!
Thinking about it, the more entangled he became, Tokugawa Ienari simply frowned and asked, "Have you negotiated with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
"Why?" Tokugawa Ienari asked with a bewildered look, "Don't they know how contagious leprosy is? Or do they have a way to solve leprosy?"
Tokugawa Ienari was completely numb – caring yet not taking it seriously, what kind of attitude was this?
Seeing that Tokugawa Ienari had completely fallen into a daze, Watanabe Uemon tentatively asked again, "Your Excellency the General, do we still need to prepare some medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants?"
Tokugawa Ienari couldn't help but frown, his face filled with indecision.
Prepare, or not prepare, that is the damn question.
As he spoke, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed again, "Our Wakoku, after all, still depends on the Great Ming. Wakoku must still do business with the Great Ming."
Watanabe Uemon also fell silent.
Watanabe Uemon suddenly thought of a delicacy he had eaten before.
Garrison stew.
This was a delicacy first created by the Wakoku people and soon widely spread. Outside of the Great Ming and France, this delicacy, along with the footsteps of Wakoku auxiliary troops, had spread throughout the world.
For the humble Wakoku to disregard its own good citizens and贱民 (jian min) and spend some effort preparing medicinal herbs for the esteemed Ming merchants, wasn't this a reasonable matter?
Watanabe Uemon lowered his head and bowed in affirmation, "Hai! I will have someone prepare enough medicinal herbs for the Ming merchants!"
...
As a Ming merchant, Qi Feng had been deeply involved in the Wakoku medicinal herb market for nearly ten years.
Who could bear to refuse those charming and especially cheap Wakoku women?
In any case, Qi Feng couldn't refuse.
In the more than ten years he had been in Wakoku, Qi Feng had taken ten concubines, averaging one per year, at a price of about tens of dollars per concubine.
Enjoying such a wonderful life, the short and ugly people of Wakoku actually came to persuade Qi Feng to leave, saying that Wakoku was going to have a leprosy outbreak?
... The Qi family's butler immediately agreed with a smile and then asked, "Master, if leprosy really spreads, I'm afraid we won't be able to avoid it, right?"
Qi Feng snorted coldly, "Avoid what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. Now that leprosy is rampant in Wakoku, it's a good opportunity for us to make a fortune. Are you thinking of hiding at this time?"
In later generations, in an era rampant with roll-over-and-yell patients, the bastard sons raised by the eagle of the foolish country always used "Why is this country like this, it's the system" to argue.
The problem is that Emperor Zhu himself was caught in the question of "system."
What path should the Great Ming take?
Should it change to the so-called tripartite division of powers and freedom system of Europa?
In fact, such an idea could only be imagined. If this kind of game were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be courting death.
To delve into the specific reasons behind this would be too complex, but in the final analysis, it all comes down to interest.
You choose.
In fact, this is why the people of Europa and the foolish country's barbarians are generally broad-minded.
Because Europa has never had a truly unified dynasty, and the barbarians are accustomed to the mentality of small states and small populations, and are also accustomed to small court systems.
The same goes for the Russian Bear – is Bolshevism good? Yes! The key is that human beings have desires!
This kind of gameplay is naturally fine at ordinary times, because even the people in the Central Plains seem to be the same, and there seems to be no difference.
However, once it comes to times of frequent disasters like the Little Ice Age, or when the people genuinely cannot survive, the difference between small and large courts becomes apparent.
The foolish country is not much better than Europa. Otherwise, Comrade Bai Zhenhua would not have ascended the throne, nor would the great joke of the internal conflict in the foolish country starting with Little Ukraine have occurred.
However, it might not be the case even if the Bolsheviks, who also have a large court system, were directly transplanted.
Directly copying the Bolshevik model has a huge hidden danger, which is that the Great Ming does not currently have the environmental conditions for that set of theories to survive.
It's only been a few years since the Great Qing collapsed.
Of course, it cannot be said that this theory is wrong, because all countries in the world propagate it.
Isn't it better to strive for merit in assisting the dragon and eliminating the thieves, rather than wholeheartedly serving those commoners?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending complete national subjugation and extinction.
Especially when the emperor gradually delegated power, the cabinet could even replace the emperor's role.
Because Emperor Zhu directly clarified the cabinet's status in the jianghu.
However, although the power was there, the cabinet elders who could actually lead the six ministries were not of high rank. The so-called leadership of the six ministries was also not legitimate and proper, and there was also the restraint of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
There is nothing to say about the Censorate. Their main responsibility is to criticize people, and the emperor and all civil and military officials are targets they must monitor.
The final interpretation of the Great Ming Law, however, rested with the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there are all sorts of messy departments, their responsibilities are clear, and they must support each other while also restraining each other.
Want to regain power by changing ministers?
However, Emperor Zhu knew in his heart that such perfection was basically bullshit.
Even the system of the Rabbit is not flawless!
Whether it was the ruthless execution of two Ma Su in the past, or later the wealthy who were unwilling to help the less fortunate and even wanted to extend their hands to the court, these were objective facts!
No matter how much he tried, he was not a god, how could he solve those long-standing problems?
.
Tianhuang Guizhou reminds you: remember to collect after reading.