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After Emperor Zhu's words fell, Liu Heming's expression became strange. No one knew what he was thinking: was it reminiscence? Nostalgia? Hatred? Or lingering fear? Or some other messy thoughts?
After a long silence, Liu Heming let out a long sigh and said, "I remember the day I first arrived at Jade Emperor Mountain was a rare sunny day. The snow on the ground was particularly thick, and it made a crunching sound when stepped on. Although the wind wasn't very strong, the weather was extremely cold, making it easy to get frostbite, and also easy to sprain an ankle."
As he spoke, Liu Heming simply took off his right boot and then his sock, revealing his leg where a little toe was missing: "See here, this little toe was frozen off back then, on the road from Liu Miao Village to Jade Emperor Mountain. I didn't even feel any pain at the time."
"His Majesty the Emperor was leading the way for everyone, followed by His Highness the Prince of Jin and His Highness the Prince of Qin, then myself and Liu Er Niu, who is now the Grand Commander of the Front Army of the Five Military Commissions, and Liu Huaiwen, the Minister of Revenue, and others."
"You probably can't imagine that the one walking at the front was often the most dangerous – back then, there were no roads like the highways, railways, cement roads, or stone slab roads we have now. They were all dirt roads, and coupled with the reflective glare of the snow, it was particularly harsh on the eyes. So, for the approximately twenty li from Liu Miao Village to Jade Emperor Mountain, everyone could only tread cautiously, not knowing when they might step into a pit."
"As for what we wore..." Liu Heming first looked at the clothes of the scholars present, then gave a self-deprecating smile: "What decent clothes did we have? His Majesty the old man wore thick clothes, but they were all filled with reeds. We people weren't much better. Only a few of the older ones wore cotton-padded clothes, and those were taken from Magistrate Liu's body – Magistrate Liu was killed by His Majesty, and then his clothes were stripped. So, these were the clothes of a dead man. To say it wasn't unlucky would be a lie, but who had a choice back then?"
"You probably don't know that Jade Emperor Mountain back then was just a deserted old temple with no windows, no firewood, no oil, no salt. Because the tiles and bricks had been pried off by nearby villagers, many rooms were drafty, leaking from the roof or the walls."
"As for food... a lot of money and grain was indeed confiscated from Magistrate Liu's home, but His Majesty the old man was lavish with his generosity, distributing most of the grain to the villagers of Liu Miao Village, as well as the gold, silver, and land deeds. What was actually brought to Jade Emperor Mountain was only a few days' worth of provisions, and they were all old grain."
"If you have read some relevant materials, you should know the first rule His Majesty set for us: 'We would rather freeze to death than occupy the people's houses, starve to death than steal the people's grain, and not take a single needle or thread from the people.' Well, you might ask why we followed His Majesty. Seeing that we couldn't even feed ourselves, we still couldn't harm the common people? This is not how rebels behave!" The scholars were utterly stunned.
Now that the good and lowly citizens of the Japanese state were hiding around the Ming merchants, what could the Shogunate do?
If they angered those Ming merchants and provoked them to draw their swords and confront the Shogunate, it would still be the Shogunate that suffered!
The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became. Tokugawa Ienari frowned and asked, "Have you communicated with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
In an era rampant with rolling-eyed patients in later generations, the sons of dogs raised by the "dumb crow" always brought up "This nation why, the situation dictates" to make a fuss.
The problem was that Emperor Zhu himself was caught in the dilemma of "dictation."
What kind of path should the Great Ming take?
Should it be changed to the so-called three-branch separation of powers and freedom system of Europe?
In fact, such an idea could only be a fantasy. If this system were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be a fatal mistake.
To deeply analyze the specific reasons behind this would be too complex, but ultimately, it all boils down to the word "interest."
It's your choice.
In fact, this is also why the barbarians of Europe and the "dumb crow" are generally more open-minded.
This is because Europe has never had a truly unified dynasty, and the barbarians are accustomed to the mentality of small populations in small countries, and also accustomed to small court systems.
Russia is similar – are the Bolsheviks good? Yes! The key is that human beings have desires!
This way of doing things is certainly not a problem in normal times, because even the common people in the Central Plains seem to be the same, and there seems to be no difference.
However, once disasters like the Little Ice Age occur frequently, or when the common people truly cannot survive, the difference between large and small courts becomes apparent.
The "dumb crow" is not much better than Europe, otherwise student Bai Zhenhua would not have ascended the throne, nor would the great joke of the internal conflict of the "dumb crow" starting with the "second hair" have occurred.
However, even the Bolsheviks, who also have a large court system, might not be directly transferable.
Directly copying the Bolshevik model has a huge hidden danger, which is that the Great Ming does not currently have the environment for that set of theories to survive.
Even when the Qing Dynasty was not yet gone, they were still desperately promoting the emperor's wisdom, the emperor's love for his people like his children, that only a small portion of officials were at fault, and that everyone should look forward to a just and incorruptible official.
Of course, it cannot be said that this theory is wrong, because all countries in the world promote it in this way.
However, the key problem was that Qianlong and his subordinate "baggage handlers" promoted this theory, and Qianlong also boasted of his "Ten Perfect Martial Arts." At that time, the Qing Dynasty had not been beaten by the great powers, nor had it paid reparations to Japan after paying reparations to Britain, nor had it ceded Qingdao and then Lüshun in humiliation.
Therefore, when Emperor Zhu raised the banner of rebellion to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming, the common people of the world were still willing to believe in the imperial system. At that time, there was no soil for that theory to survive. If Emperor Zhu had not called for overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming, but had directly advocated for a theory of "distribution according to need," the most likely outcome would not have been widespread support and rebellion against the Qing, but rather everyone rallying around Qianlong to help Qianlong defeat Emperor Zhu.
Wouldn't it be better to strive for the merit of serving the dragon and eliminating bandits, rather than wholeheartedly serving those commoners?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending national annihilation.
Then, the Ming Dynasty became what it is now – the Great Ming has an emperor, and Emperor Zhu is the founding emperor who cannot be restrained by anyone. However, the Great Ming also has a Grand Secretariat, and the power of the Grand Secretariat is no less than that of the emperor.
Especially as the emperor gradually delegated power, the Grand Secretariat could even replace the emperor.
This is because Emperor Zhu directly clarified the status of the Grand Secretariat in the imperial court.
This is quite amusing, because when Zhu Sisi established the Grand Secretariat, he treated the Grand Secretariat officials as secretaries. Later, after the reigns of Emperors Renzong and Xuanzong, the power of the Grand Secretariat gradually increased.
However, despite the power, the rank of the Grand Secretariat officials who could lead the Six Ministries was not high. The so-called leadership of the Six Ministries was also not legitimate or proper, and there was also the supervision of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Now, Emperor Zhu has clarified the rank and responsibilities of the Grand Secretariat, with the Grand Secretary being of the first rank, and the other Grand Secretariat officials being of the first rank. The Ministers of the various ministries are designated as second rank.
Correspondingly, the original Six Ministries of the Great Ming, as well as the later added "Poor Scholars Ministry," the Ministry of Railways, which was upgraded from the Railway Department, and many other departments are clearly placed under the management of the Grand Secretariat. Besides the Grand Secretary, the remaining six Grand Secretariat officials are each assigned to manage a specific area, with responsibilities clearly assigned to individuals.
Parallel to the Grand Secretariat is the Five Military Commissions. The Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat can inquire about matters of the military commissions, but it is only an inquiry – they can ask, but they have no decision-making power. The decision-making power of the military commissions rests with the Grand Commanders of the military commissions.
The Censorate is nothing special; their main responsibility is to criticize people. The emperor and all civil and military officials are targets of their scrutiny.
However, the Censorate is not under the Grand Secretariat. The real authority over the Censorate lies with the Bureau of Censors, which is listed alongside the Ministry of Scrutiny. Neither of these agencies is under the Grand Secretariat; they are directly responsible to the emperor. Among the Bureau of Censors, the censors stationed in the capital are responsible for criticism, while the rest are responsible for the duties of inspection. The Ministry of Scrutiny is responsible for both trial and judgment.
The final interpretation of the Great Ming Law rests with the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there are all sorts of departments, with clear responsibilities, and they must support and restrain each other.
Basically, it can be said that the emperor is not very useful, but without the emperor, it is also not possible. Emperor Zhu can directly bypass the Grand Secretariat, the various ministries, and even the Five Military Commissions to do anything he wants. However, subsequent emperors after Emperor Zhu, apart from supervising and having the right to replace the Grand Secretary, have basically lost the possibility of interfering in political affairs.
Want to regain power by replacing the Grand Secretary?
First, the Embroidered Uniform Guard must find evidence of the Grand Secretary's crime, then the Censorate must file an impeachment, and the Ministry of Scrutiny must convict him. Only after completing this process can the Grand Secretary be replaced. If any step in this process fails, the Grand Secretary cannot be replaced.
And the tenure of the Grand Secretary and the Grand Secretariat officials is fixed, calculated from the date of entry into the cabinet, five years per term, with a maximum of two terms. This is a strict law established by Emperor Zhu himself and cannot be changed.
Besides this, the Great Ming Law also emphasizes that whatever is not prohibited is permitted. Coupled with this, a large number of policies were established to suppress clans and wealthy merchants. The protection of ordinary people is not only reflected in the laws but also in the fact that agricultural associations have undertaken some responsibilities.
This places the national system of the Great Ming in a very delicate state: it appears very beautiful, almost a model of a nominal ruler. Apart from still having an emperor, everything else can be considered democratic and free, and can even be said to be operating in an almost perfect manner.
However, Emperor Zhu knows clearly that this perfection is basically nonsense.
Even the system of the "rabbit" is not without its flaws!
Whether it was crying while executing the two Ma Su, or later, those who became rich first but were unwilling to help others become rich and even wanted to extend their reach into the court, these were all objective facts!
This is precisely why Emperor Zhu has been delegating power to the court but has never relaxed the control over the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Censorate. The officials of the Great Ming do not have such high awareness! If they are relaxed even a little, they will create immense trouble!
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but give a self-mocking smile.
No matter how hard he tried, he was not a god, and it was impossible for him to solve all the ancient problems!
After a self-mocking smile, Emperor Zhu directly said, "What I want to say today is very simple. First, we will deal with those petty hooligans. Since they are unwilling to live a good life, we will send them to construction sites to endure hardship. Especially those who are rampant in the villages or have committed illegal acts will be directly shot."
"The second matter is those workshop owners who are unwilling to earn money honestly but want to oppress the people. They should be executed or exiled. The longer they are allowed to be at large, the more harm will be inflicted on countless common people."
"And those officials who have stepped out on their own and courted death, I don't need to tell you how to deal with them, right?"
Zeng Cheng, Liu Heming, and the other big shots present all knew that when Emperor Zhu referred to himself with "We" ("咱"), there were usually no major issues. However, except for the Grand Court Assembly, when he used "I" ("朕"), it usually meant he had the intention to kill.
After Zeng Cheng and Liu Heming and the other big shots bowed in agreement, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Zeng Cheng and said, "Minister Zeng, you have been prime minister for almost thirty years now, haven't you?"
This former prefect of the Great Qing, who had proactively defected to Emperor Zhu during the Liang Mountains period, had become the Grand Secretary of the Great Ming in the year Emperor Zhu was crowned emperor, due to his abilities and his understanding and speed in carrying out Emperor Zhu's various instructions. It has been twenty-six years now. The reason for this situation is not that Zeng Cheng was reluctant to resign, nor that Emperor Zhu insisted on keeping Zeng Cheng to break his own established rules, but rather that when Emperor Zhu formulated this rule, it was already twenty years into his reign, as commonly understood by the people.
In other words, Zeng Cheng, the Grand Secretary, can continue to serve for another four years, and then he will have to honestly step down from the position of Grand Secretary. After that, he cannot hold any other positions of real power and can only honestly stay in the capital or return to his hometown to retire.
Of course, the Great Ming has always treated its meritorious officials well. Although he will no longer be the Grand Secretary, all his treatment will still be in accordance with that of the Grand Secretary, and he will even be granted a noble title.