Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 334 The Rich Ming Empire and the Fate of the Reformers
The recovery of Jiaozhi made the people of the empire a fortune.

Under the stimulation of money, the desire to consume increases.

From the noisy and disorderly country towns to the prosperous cities, one can see the newly wealthy people frantically buying up goods.

The trade restrictions or bans imposed by Western countries, Japan and other countries did not affect the commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty, and the continued high domestic demand continued to slow down the inflation of the Ming Dynasty.

But for most people, once they have wealth, they just want to satisfy their desires for food and sex, or to desire a long and healthy body and eternal happiness.

As a result, a large amount of money is spent on entertainment, delicious food and other enjoyment or some religious ceremonies.

As the managers of Ming society, Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao and his court naturally had to use their ruling power to guide the flow of people's wealth in the right direction, to prevent the people from excessively pursuing pleasure and losing their pursuits, and to prevent some religions from taking this opportunity to grow stronger, or even extreme incidents from occurring.

In this context.

"Shengtian Jiayuan" outside Daming Gate officially opened for sale.

This is a high-end residential complex modeled after Huizhou folk houses. It uses the latest reinforced concrete structure and is equipped with the most complete facilities. Coupled with its superior geographical location, the prices of properties in this community are very high.

But buyers still come in an endless stream.

In fact, the people of the empire invested all their newly earned money in such commercial housing, and even owed debts that were not enough to make them unable to survive.

But no matter what, people's living conditions have been improved, and ordinary people in the capital no longer have to live in low and crowded houses.

Even in the countryside, people spent money to buy expensive concrete houses in towns because of this windfall, saying goodbye to their unfinished houses and thatched houses, thus inadvertently accelerating the degree of urbanization.

Even though they had meat for every meal, even though they had cars to travel, even though they could wear cotton clothes in winter and drink ice water in summer, the people of the Ming Empire were still hardworking.

Because the government provides the best municipal services, the most upscale residential environments, and the best schools, and coupled with a stingy land supply method, the people spend their money on purchasing these public products and improving their living environment and lives.

But precisely because of this, the people still don't have much spare money. For a comfortable second half of their lives and for a greater sense of security, they have to continue working hard, even though on the surface they already have a lot of wealth.

However, they were still full of insecurity and had to demand more wealth and further expansion of the empire.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the palace maids who got up early in the morning to sweep the floor under the palace wall and couldn't help but smile. He knew that these palace maids were just like the common people outside the palace. In order to get an extra year-end reward, they worked harder than before and swept the floor more seriously.

So, even though it rained last night, there was still not a single fallen leaf on the marble steps today.

However, when Zhu Houzhao saw a palace maid kneeling in a corner praying, he couldn't help but frown. He didn't expect that although the common people at the bottom were still more diligent than before, they were more easily influenced by some religions and became believers than before.

Sometimes, Zhu Houzhao wondered if this continued, would the secular power be swallowed up by these religions one day? There were more and more petitions to build temples, Taoist temples, and churches.
At this time, Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet, came over with an increasingly haggard body, holding a memorial in his hand.

Zhu Houzhao took over the memorial from Zhang Cong. The content of the memorial was a memorial from Li Wen, a member of the Ministry of Rites. It mentioned that in recent years, many monks have gathered in Anning Temple outside Chongwenmen in the capital, and they often set up venues and built altars. There were often crowds of good men and women who came to receive ordination and convert. When the monks gathered, there were as many as 10,000 people, who gathered during the day and dispersed at night, and men and women were mixed together. There were even fugitives who took advantage of this opportunity to do evil, and the people were vying to donate the so-called magic medicine and elixir, which led to the bankruptcy of their families.

"In addition, there are also people who privately set up temples, Taoist temples, and even churches, and even use them as places for prostitution. The powerful gentry collude with outsiders to make it worse. Therefore, Li Wen asks the court to deal with it!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but think silently as he read it. Logically, this kind of matter didn't need him as the emperor to deal with it. But at this time, Zhang Cong presented this memorial to the emperor. Zhu Houzhao felt that Zhang Cong must have his own reasons, so he said, "Tell me, what do you think about this matter?"

"Your Majesty, as more and more people become wealthy, naturally there will be more good men and women who seek the truth from Buddha. This is human nature. However, according to what Li Wen, the Minister of Rites, said, although the ignorant people have become richer, they have not become wiser. If this continues, the people's hearts may be taken away by these churches. If someone with a little ambition takes over the church's rebellion, I'm afraid there will be great disaster."

Zhang Cong said something at this time.

Zhu Houzhao also nodded and said, "My dear minister, you are right. We must be vigilant about this matter. You can take care of it! If you really want to destroy Buddhism, it's fine."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Zhang Cong bowed to Zhu Houzhao and then retreated.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh when he saw this, thinking that Zhang Fujing had offended many gentry since the very beginning of his grassroots reforms. Later, he levied heavy taxes on mining in the interior of the country, which made people all over the world curse him as a "blood-sucking prime minister." Now, Zhang Fujing's health is deteriorating, but he still wants to take action on religion. It can be seen that this is a politician who has been innovating all his life.

After getting Zhu Houzhao's approval, Zhang Cong did not hesitate and directly ordered the Ministry of Rites to ban all temples, Taoist temples, and churches in the world from recruiting believers at will. He also sent officials to strictly check the ordination certificates and levy a ordination certificate tax. That is, those who really wanted to convert and be baptized had to pay the ordination certificate tax to compensate for the donations they received without working.

In addition, Zhang Cong also ordered all provinces to check the properties of various temples, and no longer exempted the temples from land taxes, and imposed additional taxes on cultivated land, because many temples occupied arable land.

Of course, religious gatherings of more than a hundred people must be reported to the authorities, otherwise they will be arrested directly for illegal gatherings.

For a time, the entire religious community was greatly shaken, and some people who relied on spreading doctrines to deceive the public and make profits from it were arrested one after another.

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to return to secular life.

Of course, these monks and believers were not willing to be controlled by the court and lose the opportunity to gain benefits from the people.

On this day, Hui Jin, a monk from An Ning Temple, brought thousands of monks to the outside of Daming Gate, sat cross-legged, and shouted: "Since the Prime Minister does not allow Buddhism to flourish and wants to impose heavy taxes on the Buddhist community, saying that we are sucking the money from the people, we will now go on a hunger strike to prove our intention!"

"Yes, the donations we received were voluntary, and there was no coercion. How can it be undeserved? How can it be taxed heavily? The donations from kind people were originally righteous money, but now they are being collected by corrupt officials in the bank. We have been deceived and falsely accused of bringing disaster to the country and the people! Although people who have left the world are not burdened by the secular world, they are also not wronged by the secular world!"

Another wizard responded.

"Just as the master said, since the current prime minister wants to destroy Buddhism and destroy religion, then we will starve to death here and shed this skin!"

Hui Jin shouted again.

The Ming army on the city gate ignored these monks and continued to stand on the city wall like sculptures.

The steam bus line that enters Daming Gate still enters the inner city with a clattering sound.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Cong, was actually in this car, but he just watched all this silently. He certainly knew that these monks had done nothing wrong, but he only knew that the Ming Dynasty could not support too many idle people. Historical experience told him that the prosperity of the dynasty would lead to the prosperity of Buddhism and Taoism, and the prosperity of Buddhism and Taoism would lead to chaos in the world!

Fortunately, His Majesty believes nothing.

Zhang Cong found it hard to imagine how terrible it would be if His Majesty also believed in religion.

Zhu Houzhao did not believe in these things, but he did not reject religious believers. However, he did think that it was a bad phenomenon for believers to gain something without working for it, although most people did not realize this problem, including the believers themselves, who did not realize that receiving donations from devout men and women was not conducive to the stability of this society.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao supported Zhang Cong in doing so. However, Zhu Houzhao had to admit that he also had to pay attention to the development of the cultural industry and the guidance of the ideological field. He could not let the people spend their money and energy on the construction of religion after they became rich. No matter how well the temples and churches were built, they could not be as beneficial to people's livelihood as building a better city, and could not be as inspiring to future generations and promoting civilization as passing down a few masterpieces and paintings.

When Wen Zhengming from the attendant's office came to Wu Cheng'en's home on the order of the emperor, Wu Cheng'en was writing his own "Journey to the West". Ever since he met the emperor and listened to the emperor tell the story of the Monkey King when he was a child, he had planned to write down this story. Now, after years of hard work, he is finally about to finish his work.

"Wu Cheng'en, His Majesty sent me to ask you, have you finished writing Journey to the West?" Wen Zhengming asked.

Wu Chengen replied: "It's almost done, but it has not been proofread yet."

"Hurry up. This is a contract. Take a look at it. If you can accept it, just sign it. This is the will of His Majesty. The Royal Academy will buy out your work for fifty silver dollars. From now on, the dissemination and adaptation rights of your legend will belong to the Royal Academy. You and your descendants will have no right to inherit. What do you think?" Wen Zhengming asked.

Wu Cheng'en thought that a legendary script could only make a profit of about ten silver dollars on the market, and his Journey to the West might not be attractive. Fifty silver dollars was already a high price, which was enough to show that His Majesty was taking care of a writer like me who had little ability and could only write legends.

"It is truly the emperor's great grace! The emperor's great grace! Wu Mou is naturally willing. It is just a legend, a book circulated in the market, how can it be passed down to future generations? Your Majesty can buy it!"

Wu Cheng'en thanked him.

A few months later, Zhu Houzhao received the original manuscript of "Journey to the West" presented by Wu Chengen, and immediately ordered the palace to print and publish it. At the same time, he ordered the cabinet to establish the Ming Copyright Bureau, and formally asked the Huangming Daily, which was responsible for propaganda in the Secretariat, to publish an editorial. The theme of the editorial was to pay attention to the development of the cultural industry.

Wen Zhengming, with the title of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, officially took charge of the newly established Daming Cultural Company and also concurrently managed the Copyright Bureau, responsible for managing and developing the cultural industry of the entire empire.

But there is no doubt that this means that even in the field of cultural industries, it has become an industry that can only be pioneered by the emperor and the Ming court. This will undoubtedly lead to further concentration of interests in the central court and the empire will further become a publicly owned economy.

However, there was no way around it, since Zhu Houzhao was the emperor. Private capital always reacted slowly, and without public power it was difficult for them to establish industries.

"I have read Journey to the West. The story is suitable for both the elderly and the young, but it is not a simple story about demons. There are many satires on the world and the hidden meanings of the present, but this is naturally more attractive. Now I have only one request, that the people of the world know about this work as soon as possible, and like it, including the operas and other things derived from it! The people of the world cannot only know how to go to temples to worship Buddha, burn incense at Taoist temples, and listen to stories about praying for children and getting children."

Wen Zhengming said this to his subordinates with dark circles under his eyes.

And precisely because of this, with the powerful royal capital force and advanced printing technology, Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West" was immediately published in the Ming Dynasty. And because Zhu Houzhao could directly use the state's public power to legislate protection for copyright and crack down on pirates, "Journey to the West" quickly became popular and sold well all over the country.

But because of this, the people of the empire, especially ordinary people who were not interested in the highbrow Kunqu Opera, had more suitable entertainment and less attention paid to religion. Moreover, some satirical contents hidden in "Journey to the West" also gave them a clearer understanding of Buddhism, which was even more effective than the government's earnest advice.

"It turns out that not all Buddhists are good!"

An ordinary student, sitting in front of his house, said this after watching "Journey to the West".

In addition to this, storytelling and drama also had more fresh content, and even new dramas emerged directly. The story of "Journey to the West" allowed the people of the empire to finally have healthy entertainment content after achieving economic prosperity, and they would not be bewitched into cults or orthodox religions.

However, although the spare money of the people no longer flowed into temples and Taoist temples, it flowed into Zhu Houzhao's pocket.

Wu Cheng'en never expected that his "Journey to the West" would become so popular. Now he naturally regrets it very much and doesn't know how to express it for a while.

However, Zhu Houzhao took the initiative to summon him and promoted Wu Cheng'en to the position of lecturer in the Hanlin Academy. At the same time, he asked Wen Zhengming to draft a new contract for Wu Cheng'en, asking him to write a book "Journey to the East" and offering a price of 5,000 silver dollars per thousand words, which means 5 silver dollars per word. If he wrote one million words, he would get 5 million silver dollars.

Under the temptation of a huge sum of money, Wu Cheng'en had no choice but to agree.

Wu Cheng'en never thought that his legend could have such significance, so he started writing very actively.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao wanted to develop the empire's cultural industry, not just to develop the IP of Journey to the West, but to make the literati of that era understand that the texts in their hands could serve not only nobles and gentry, but the working people were the majority they needed to serve, and serving the working people would not only bring respect but also more substantial economic benefits.

The Ming Dynasty court's protection and development of copyright gave the empire's legendary scripts, namely novels, the opportunity to make profits. Although this era was not yet the Internet age and people could only get the pleasure of reading by purchasing paper books, the Ming Dynasty's universal education led to an increase in literacy rates, making this market very profitable in the early stages and even supporting a group of professional novelists, not just Wu Chengen.

However, in the early days, most of the best-selling works were still relatively pornographic and explicit, so much so that some censors accused them of being immoral.

However, Zhu Houzhao was not worried that the people would become addicted to sensual pleasures. He was only worried that the people would become addicted to cults, so he did not impose any restrictions. He only wanted to make the people's entertainment activities more diverse.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao also knew that he should guide the people towards healthy entertainment activities as much as possible.

To this end, Zhu Houzhao not only personally invested in the establishment of the Ming Literature Award, using large sums of money to reward important literary works to encourage people to create, but also established the Ming Writers Association and the Ming Academy of Social Sciences to encourage people to engage in social science research and creation, and even spent a large amount of money to focus on cultivating a group of positive energy works.

It’s a pity that there was no film and television in this era. After all, the study of optics had just started in the Ming Dynasty. Although pinhole imaging was discovered by the Mohists very early, photography and video technology were still under research. Therefore, the only way to convey correct ideas directly to the public through visual impact was drama.

For this purpose, Zhu Houzhao specially added a Cultural Department to the Ministry of Rites, which was specifically responsible for managing the creation of these literary works and dramas, and of course, external publicity was also to promote the creation of literary works and dramas.

Nowadays, the mainstream of the drama world is dominated by some stories from Journey to the West, Water Margin and Generals of the Yang Family. However, Zhu Houzhao also ordered the court writers in the attendant room to write some brainwashing dramas about his battle of wits with powerful officials and his love for the people. In addition, dramas such as the White-Haired Girl are still circulating, which makes the gentry very disgusted. Some civil servants repeatedly suggested banning it, but Zhu Houzhao rejected them on the grounds that the drama reflected the suffering of the people.

The increase in wealth of the people of the empire, the development of cultural industries and the openness of ideas made the empire's extravagance more serious. Some traditional scholar-officials and civil servants suggested that the court should ban extravagance among the people. However, what Zhu Houzhao did not expect was that some ministers began to disagree with this idea. The reason was very simple, that is, the extravagance of the people could promote domestic consumption and commercial trade.

Zhu Houzhao thought that instead of letting the people spend their wealth on supporting religion, it would be better for the people to dress better, live better, eat better and live a better life. When it comes to luxury, the people today are still far from the people of some countries in later generations. Moreover, at worst, he could just levy luxury tax and value-added tax. He is not afraid that you, the people, spend money, but he is afraid that you don't spend money. Anyway, a part of every penny spent by you, the people, will go into the government's pocket.

then.

The luxury tax and value-added tax in Southern Zhili were extended to the whole country, and the empire's tax revenue increased again.

In addition, in order to increase this tax revenue, Zhu Houzhao officially issued an edict to share happiness with the people. Starting from the 45th year of Zhengde, the empire abolished the class distinction between nobles and commoners, all sexual objects banned among the people were lifted, and those who broke the etiquette would not be punished. Free love was allowed for the people, increasing the freedom of life for the people.

Influenced by the School of Mind and the School of Sacred Learning, as well as the free thinking after the development of the commodity economy, Zhu Houzhao's decree undoubtedly made most people grateful. After all, breaking taboos had become a common phenomenon in society. However, it only made some old Confucian scholars cry even more that the world is in decline and people's hearts are no longer as they used to be.

However, the people were willing to accept the freedom granted to them by His Majesty the Emperor. Even though they were opposed by many dignitaries and officials, they were still granted freedom and began to break the hierarchical order. But when the court levied luxury tax and value-added tax, these people still united with the dignitaries and officials to resist the court's increase in taxes, and even resisted by going on strike, and even smashing, looting and burning.

Zhang Cong is still in charge of the cabinet's affairs. Zhang Cong was not polite and directly mobilized all the police soldiers to arrest those who should be arrested, kill those who should be killed, and exile those who should be exiled. He suppressed these overly free people. However, this also caused Zhang Cong to suffer greater criticism from the people.

In the early summer of the 46th year of Zhengde, although the medical technology of the Ming Dynasty had improved a lot, Zhang Cong still inevitably died suddenly.

Unlike Wang Shouren, who was posthumously conferred the title of marquis upon his death two years ago without causing any opposition from the court or the public, when Zhu Houzhao demanded that Zhang Cong be posthumously conferred the title of "Wenzheng", he was opposed by both the court and the public.

"It's obvious that no one in the government or the country wants another Zhang Cong to appear!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say something at this time, and Xia Yan couldn't help but reply:
"As your majesty said, since the Zhengde reign, since Lord Ma (Ma Wensheng), the reformists have always been in power, and the government has been frequently changed. Lord Zhang has repeatedly risked the public's disapproval, and has been disregarded by the people of the world. Countless people have committed suicide because of Lord Zhang's new policies, and countless people have been left with nowhere to go because of them. There are also many nobles and even vassal kings who have been ruined. Therefore, the world has hated Lord Zhang for a long time. How can they let him be posthumously named Wen Zheng now! Even before his body was cold, some ministers had already impeached him for the crime of allowing his son to cheat in the imperial examination before his death, and even temporarily replaced the examiner in the name of corruption."

As he spoke, Xia Yan handed the memorial impeaching Zhang Cong to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao opened it and looked at it, then said, "Logically speaking, what I should do now is to punish Zhang Cong as he requested, so as to appease the anger of the people of the world and prevent them from taking their anger out on me? Is that right or not?"

When Zhu Houzhao asked this, Xia Yan was silent for a long time and then nodded.

"When the birds are gone, the good bows are put away; when the cunning rabbits are dead, the running dogs are cooked. This is the wisdom of the emperor. However, what I don't understand is why the reform and elimination of malpractices should be praised by the world, but why it makes people angry? Do we really have to wait until the world is in danger to realize that it is difficult to find good ministers and there are no capable generals?"

Zhu Houzhao threw the memorial aside and said, "Impeachment should be handled according to judicial procedures. I do not want to wrongly accuse good officials in order to appease the anger of the people. If the people of the world want to force me, then I will rebel against them. But I believe that the majority of people are silent. In their hearts, the majority of people support Zhang Cong and me."

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Xia Yan didn't say anything more. He also wanted Zhang Cong to be posthumously named Wen Zheng, but he also knew that Zhang Cong was Shang Yang of the Ming Dynasty. How could a person like Shang Yang have a good end! Even if he died before being punished, his corpse would be whipped after his death.

But as Xia Yan had expected, the Censorate reported that Zhang Cong was indeed guilty of cheating when his son took the imperial examination, and also presented evidence, even a handwritten confession from Zhang Cong's son and Zhang Cong's own handwritten letter as evidence.

After Zhu Houzhao found out, he had to admit that he, as an emperor, had thought the problem was too simple.

Thank you to my book friends for the reward of 200 Qidian coins for a pound of sugar. Thank you to my book friends for the reward of 100 Qidian coins for loving watermelon and cola. I was so stuck that I have only just finished writing it. Because there are many events in the later part of the story, the plot is rather scattered. I hope I have written what the book friends want to see.

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(End of this chapter)