ps: This chapter is not for subscription yet! I am working hard to revise the previous chapters!
Ke Zhiming felt that Zeng Cheng's question was like trying to stir up trouble out of nowhere. If the people of the Ming Dynasty felt sorry for those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants, would they go and throw eggs and rotten vegetables at them? Eggs are not cheap!
Yes, eggs in the Ming Dynasty were not cheap. Although they were not as expensive as the eggs that Qian Long, that old dog, ate, costing ten taels of silver each, the average price was around four to six wen. A common young man working a day in a workshop only earned about a hundred wen, while a jin of pork only cost ten wen. So, would ordinary people eat pork or eggs?
Therefore, even though ordinary people still bought eggs, the eggs they bought were either for their own children, for pregnant or nursing women, or for returning guests who came to "visit the month" after a child's full moon celebration. The gift would include a hard-boiled egg dyed red.
Unless they were truly enraged and filled with hatred, which common people would be willing to use eggs to smash those local gentry, esteemed scholars, and wealthy merchants?
Ke Zhiming said with a blank expression, "The common people do not consider this event a 'great prison.' After all, every year in our Ming Dynasty, there are always a bunch of corrupt officials who are skinned and their property confiscated. This time, it's just that more people were arrested. If no one were arrested, the common people would find it strange."
Zeng Cheng was so choked that he had nothing to say. After a long silence, he sighed with emotion and said, "I am old, indeed old. I really don't understand the current officialdom and the common people anymore."
Emperor Zhu shook his head slightly and smiled, "The common people today are neither the common people of Emperor Chongzhen's era nor the common people of Qian Long's era. Most of them are literate, they can distinguish between good and bad, and most of them have experienced the hardships of Qian Long's era."
"Although they also yearn for the lives of those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants, they are not very afraid of those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants. Anyone who wants them to return to the hardships of the past will be treated as an enemy by them."
"If those officials had not been arrested, if those local gentry and wealthy merchants had not been arrested, the common people might have still been cautious. But once they were arrested, the common people were no longer afraid of them."
After speaking, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Ke Zhiming and asked, "How are the prices of goods these past few days?"
Ke Zhiming bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, before I entered the palace, according to the reports from the local Hundred Households Commandery, there is no large-scale hoarding of grain by the common people, and prices remain stable. Pork is mostly seven or eight wen, fish and shrimp are mostly around six wen, rice is five wen per jin, and wheat is four wen per jin."
Emperor Zhu grunted and smiled, looking at Zeng Cheng, "Does Minister Zeng know why the common people are not hoarding grain?"
Zeng Cheng was immediately displeased. I, Zeng Cheng, did not expect those common people to dare to use eggs and stones to smash officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants. It is true that I, Zeng Cheng, was a bit foolish, but you cannot treat me, Zeng Cheng, as an idiot!
Zeng Cheng bowed slightly and replied, "Because the common people know that there is a large amount of grain in the granaries and reserve granaries across the country, and they know that Your Majesty can control the situation, so they are not flustered, and therefore no one is hoarding grain on a large scale."
Emperor Zhu nodded with a smile, "Isn't that it? The common people are not flustered, so why should I be flustered? It is not I who should be flustered, but those scoundrels who want to oppose all the people of the world."
Just as Emperor Zhu said, at the beginning, those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants who were caught in the crying palace case could still calmly watch the show. However, as the case grew bigger and bigger, and more and more people were arrested, while the common people remained as calm as water, those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants could no longer sit still.
Public opinion?
After Emperor Zhu had someone publish an article via telegraph and printing, public opinion was completely out of the control of those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants. It couldn't be said that it had completely sided with Emperor Zhu, but at least no one came forward to plead for them.
Prices of goods?
With the combined efforts of the granaries, reserve granaries, the Imperial Treasury, and the various workshops controlled by the court, the result was that the prices of goods in the Ming Dynasty remained as stable as an old dog. The prices before the crying palace case were the same as after the crying palace case, and not even a single wen had increased in price.
The methods that their predecessors had used to deal with Emperor Jiajing, Emperor Wanli, Emperor Tianqi, and Emperor Chongzhen, and even to deal with Qian Long, Yong Zheng, and Qian Long himself, had completely failed in front of Emperor Zhu!
It was not that no one had thought of using the method of millions of canal workers back then, but this method had been stillborn before it was even proposed. The Ming Dynasty had no millions of canal workers to speak of!
If you really want to talk about it, the Ming Dynasty did have millions of laborers, but the problem was that those millions of laborers did not have Ming Dynasty household registration. They were all "piglets" sold by the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to do hard labor. Those officials, local gentry, and wealthy merchants all knew very well that even if all the so-called millions of laborers died, it would not affect Emperor Zhu in the slightest!
...
In Yangzhou City, in a private room of the Yingbin Tower, Master Li, with a gloomy and displeased expression, looked at those present and said, "If we continue to let the pawns of the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigate, I'm afraid we won't be able to hide for much longer. Whether to rebel, flee, or stay, you all should give a definitive answer, shouldn't you?"
Master Zhou and Master Huang, sitting beside Master Li, also had gloomy expressions. They put down and picked up their wine glasses countless times, their hearts filled with anxiety.
Rebel, they dared not.
Although everyone present looked down on Emperor Zhu and believed that Emperor Zhu had only succeeded in rebellion by impersonating the descendant of Emperor Chongzhen due to sheer luck, the numerous ossuaries of the conquered nations such as Southern Yue, Myanmar, and Siam proved how formidable the Ming army was. Reason told them that rebellion was equivalent to seeking death.
Stay, they also dared not, because the pawns of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were arresting people like madmen, and they bypassed the local prisons. After arresting people, they threw them into the camps of the local garrisons, giving them no opportunity for back-alley deals and silencing. No one could guarantee when the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot would investigate them. Staying was also equivalent to seeking death.
Flee... was also not a good option, because leaving the Ming Dynasty was different from leaving the Qing Dynasty during the Qing Dynasty. Leaving the Qing Dynasty only meant leaving the mainland heartland of the Qing Dynasty, while leaving the Ming Dynasty meant that they could only flee to barbarian countries like the "Silly Hawk" or Europe or West Kunlun to be completely gone.
Even so, they still had to be extremely cautious to avoid being captured and sent back to the Ming Dynasty by those barbarian tribes.
More importantly, what kind of life did they have in the Ming Dynasty before? What kind of life would they have after fleeing to overseas barbarian countries?
Therefore, although there seemed to be three paths to choose from, in reality, there was no choice at all. The only path to survival might not be much better than the path to death.
After a long silence, Master Li gritted his teeth and said, "When that Zhu fellow rebelled, you neither dared to join him in rebellion nor cooperated with the Qing officials to suppress the rebel Zhu. Later, when that Zhu fellow wanted to get rid of what he called the inferior gentry and local tyrants, you all stuck your heads out to be slaughtered. Now, with the fire already burning to the eyebrows, you are still hesitant and indecisive?"
Master Li looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "What sins did I commit to be struggling in vain with you useless people!"
Upon hearing Master Li's words, Master Zhou, sitting beside Master Li, became greatly displeased and snorted, "Then may I ask Master Li, what is your brilliant idea? To rebel? To flee? Or to stay?"
Master Huang also echoed, "That's right. If Master Li has any good ideas, why don't you share them for everyone to consider?"
Master Li was immediately choked into silence.
The court struggle that Master Li imagined: various schemes and strategies, one side makes a move, the other side counters, whoever can't hold on loses, and the loser should make way or retreat gracefully.
The struggle in reality: as soon as one side made a slight scheme, the other side directly flipped the table, not even giving them a chance to retreat gracefully!
And facing an opponent like Emperor Zhu who did not play by the rules, what else could Master Li say?
After a long period of silence, Master Li finally said, "I accept my fate. Since I cannot contend with that fellow named Zhu, I will leave the Ming Dynasty. I will go to Europe. Can't I stay far away from that fellow named Zhu!"
Master Huang snorted, "I'm afraid that's really not possible! Although Europe is a place with many small countries, except for England and Russia, which other country doesn't have to live under the breath of France? And France has always been known as the small Ming Kingdom of Europe. As long as that fellow named Zhu writes a letter, you might be arrested by French soldiers and sent back to the Ming Dynasty the day after you arrive in France."
"As for England and Russia... although these two do not necessarily listen to the orders of that fellow named Zhu, and you, Master Li, indeed have many things that they urgently need, are you really sure that England and Russia can guarantee your safety?"
Master Huang then said mysteriously, "Earlier, the old emperor of Russia suddenly died. It is said that it was because the Crown Prince of Russia provoked that fellow named Zhu, and then the old emperor died suddenly – even the ruler of a country cannot protect his own life, can you still escape the pursuit of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot?"
Master Li's expression immediately became even more gloomy, looking as unpleasant as if he had eaten three pounds of rotten dog feces.
Russia, as one of the five great benefactors of the "broken pot" designated by Emperor Zhu, the former Tsar Paul I, had a not-low status in the world. His mysterious sudden death had once been widely rumored, with all sorts of messy, true and false rumors flying everywhere, and no one knew the truth of the matter.
However, for Paul I's sudden death, there were generally two versions accepted on the "broken ball": the first version was that the current Tsar Alexander assassinated his father and usurped the throne, a version that was more popular in Europe and the "Silly Hawk," while the second version was that Emperor Zhu found Paul I displeasing and therefore sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to eliminate him, a version that was more popular in the Ming Dynasty.
After all, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was infamous and immensely powerful. Whether it was the officials, local gentry, wealthy merchants, or ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty, they all believed that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had the ability to cause Paul I's sudden death.
The Korean, Burmese, Southern Vietnamese, and many other vassal states that had completely disappeared into history, were they perhaps the precedent of the Japanese nation?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Tokugawa Ienari looked at Watanabe Emon and Matsushita Ichiban and asked, "What are your thoughts on the issue of the samurai and ashigaru unwilling to cooperate?"
Upon being asked by Tokugawa Ienari, Watanabe Emon and Matsushita Ichiban and others felt a bit of a headache.
Watanabe Emon and Matsushita Ichiban also knew clearly that although the answer from the Ming Dynasty was right in front of them, this assignment could not be copied directly.
If the samurai and ashigaru all belonged to the Japanese court, the Japanese court would have probably eliminated the Shogunate long ago.
Conversely, if the samurai and ashigaru all belonged to the Shogunate, the Shogunate would have probably eliminated the Japanese court long ago.
Furthermore, it could be deduced that if the Shogunate wanted to consolidate the samurai and military power in the hands of the local feudal lords and daimyo, those feudal lords and daimyo would probably immediately side with the Japanese court.
Matsushita Ichiban's analysis directly plunged Watanabe Emon and Tokugawa Ienari into silence.
In Japan, not knowing Chinese characters and not being able to speak fluent Ming Dynasty official language would be collectively ridiculed by all nobles, feudal lords, and daimyo.
In other words, those feudal lords and daimyo were considered elites in Japan, so how could they not see through the scams of Inukai Bunho and Nojiri Nishikyo?
However, the reality was that they were also fooled by Inukai Bunho and Nojiri Nishikyo.
"With the name of the Ming Emperor in front, no one in Japan at present believes that Inukai Bunho is wrong, and therefore no one will doubt whether what he says is true or false."
"Nojiri Nishikyo's situation is similar. On the surface, the two of them are completely considering Japan and the common people of Japan. Many feudal lords and daimyo have already been fooled by the two of them."
Given how poor Japan was, how could it allow commoners and lowborn people to feed eggs and duck eggs to their children? With what, air?
The rural doctor plan was the same. The number of scholars in Japan was not large, and the medical arts were passed down like witchcraft. They were still implementing rural doctors?
When Mitsugami Kenjin and Kanenomiya Keijin were troubled by Inukai Bunho and Nojiri Nishikyo, Tokugawa Ienari and the entire Shogunate were also distressed by Inukai Bunho and Nojiri Nishikyo.
Or, it could be said: In front of the Ming merchants, Inukai Bunho and Nojiri Nishikyo were dogs, and how were those Ming merchants not like fattened pigs raised by the Ming court?