Chapter 636: Unprecedented Exile

As time went by, the results of Zhu Houxuan's treatment of the convicted gentry gradually became clear.

The most basic treatment for gentry was to confiscate all their property and deprive three generations of their right to participate in politics.

The adult men of several gentry families who were deeply involved in planning the coup in the capital were sentenced to death, mainly because Zhu Houxuan deeply hated them for assassinating Zhu Houzhao. The entire families of other gentry were sentenced to exile.

The places of exile are also divided into three levels according to the severity of the crime:
The first tier is the border areas of the Ming Dynasty. This part refers to the areas around the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, including the northeast region, the Mongolian Plateau region, the Western Regions, and the southwest region. This part of the area is suitable for gentry with the lightest guilt.

The second tier is the colonization and development areas of the Ming Dynasty. This part is mainly the more remote areas around the Ming Dynasty, including Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Siberia.

The third tier is the overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty. This part is mainly the areas far away from the Ming Dynasty, including North America, South America, Australia and India. The gentry with the most serious crimes will be exiled here.

"Your Highness." Chen Hong worked out a plan of exile based on Zhu Houxuan's ideas. After hesitating for a while, he couldn't help but speak.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Houxuan said.

"Do we really have to exile so many gentry? There are more than one million gentry and their families in the four southern provinces alone. Isn't this punishment too harsh?" Chen Hong continued.

"Hard? Not harsh at all! Compared to what they did, this punishment is not harsh at all!" Zhu Houxuan said in a deep voice.

"Your Highness is right," Chen Hong said quickly, and then continued to make amends, "I am just worried about how the exile work will be carried out. The four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River will have to exile millions of people, plus the criminals in the rest of the southern provinces, plus the people in the northern provinces and the rebellion. The final number of people to be exiled is estimated to reach several million. So many people..."

In fact, there were also many gentry and clan members in the north controlled by Zhu Houxuan who secretly communicated with the south during the rebellion.
"We can invite guests only after the house is clean. I am going to eradicate the gentry class completely. Don't think that it involves too many people and that the number of people to be exiled is too large. Only when all those monsters are eliminated can our government orders be unimpeded and our policies can be implemented in every place in the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Houxuan said slowly.

"Confucian disciples always talk about 'education', and they always say that everyone should be educated. Then I will send them to the wilderness and let them practice what they call 'education'!" Zhu Houxuan said with a sneer. Chen Hong nodded quickly.

"But you are right. The number of exiles is too large. It has far exceeded our transportation capacity for immigration. However, I am not planning to exile all of them at once. It will take five or six years to exile all of them. Of course, we will not keep these criminals in vain. Each of them will be given a piece of land. As long as they work hard, the output of the land will be enough to keep them from starving until it is their turn to be exiled. Don't they boast all day long that they are farmers and scholars who pass on their family traditions? I will give them the opportunity to practice and let them master some knowledge of farming, so that they won't even know how to farm when they are exiled." Zhu Houxuan continued with a sneer.

"Your Highness is very thoughtful." Chen Hong said quickly.

"Regarding what I just said, the cabinet should quickly come up with an implementation plan. This is also an important task in the future," Zhu Houxuan continued.

"Yes, sir!" Chen Hong said immediately.

Then he seemed to think of something, hesitated for a moment and asked: "Your Highness, these millions of people are our opponents. If we exile them to the wilderness, they will hate us even more. Aren't you worried that they will accumulate strength in the wilderness and counterattack the Ming Dynasty and shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Hahahaha." Zhu Houxuan burst into laughter upon hearing this, and he almost cried
Chen Hong looked embarrassed and said hesitantly: "How did what I said make Your Highness laugh so much? Please enlighten me, Your Highness."

Zhu Houxuan put away his smile and said with a sharp look in his eyes: "The rebellion they launched was when they had the greatest power. In this rebellion, they controlled so much land, wealth and manpower, but they were still defeated."

"Once they arrive at the place of exile, it will be difficult for them to accumulate such great strength. By that time, we will have the power of industry, the most advanced science and technology in the world, the largest population and territory. So I am not worried at all that they will counterattack the Ming Dynasty. I am very confident about this," Zhu Houxuan said with a smile.

"In fact, my exile of them is also a transformation for them. They will suffer all kinds of realistic 'beatings' during this transformation, and gradually recognize themselves and re-recognize the world in this 'beating'. Maybe they will resent us at first, but after a series of realistic beatings, this resentment will only slowly decrease. People all have a desire to be strong. As long as we can remain strong, they will admire us and submit to us. At that time, their existence will enable us to more firmly grasp those remote territories, colonies and overseas territories." Zhu Houxuan said with a dazed look on his face.

Zhu Houxuan's decision to exile on such a large scale was not made on a whim, but was the result of a series of careful considerations.
Carrying out a large-scale massacre, killing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people is definitely not an option. Even if it is possible, it would be too wasteful, so the best way is to exile.
These millions of gentry who were to be exiled were all intellectuals. If they were exiled to the various colonies and overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty, it would have a huge impact on the social culture of these places.
Even though most of what they mastered were the Four Books and Five Classics and Confucian classics, there was also a lot of miscellaneous knowledge among them. People who mastered this kind of knowledge went to those wild places, which was simply a dimensionality reduction attack on the local culture. They would establish a Chinese cultural circle and greatly promote the assimilation of these places by the Ming Dynasty.
Even though the knowledge these people possessed contained a lot of dross, the people they educated might oppose the Beijing government and Zhu Houxuan, but for Zhu Houxuan, the only thing to solve now was whether there was a problem, and then talk about other things.
No matter what, we should assimilate people into the Chinese cultural circle first, let the natives of the wild land have cultural identity first, and then talk about other things.
Moreover, at that time, Zhu Houxuan would establish a new industrial society that removed the dregs of Chinese culture. Such a society would generate a huge cultural centripetal force, and such a society would be extremely attractive to people in the Chinese cultural circle.
Maybe they would have resentment towards the Ming Dynasty before they knew about it, but once they knew about it, their impression of the Ming Dynasty would change greatly.
(End of this chapter)

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