Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 106 Yu Qian: Your Majesty, I want to make progress
At night, the moonlight is bright.

After Zhu Qizhen and Concubine Gao Shufei tossed and turned, they fell asleep in each other's arms. Concubine Gao Shufei was a classical and gentle woman, with rosy cheeks, charming and weak, slightly curled up her soft body, and leaned tightly in Zhu Qizhen's arms.

"My beloved, why did the Queen Mother suddenly agree to let you serve me?" Zhu Qizhen asked softly.

Concubine Gao Shu raised her beautiful eyes and pursed her red lips: "I don't know either. Before, he said he wanted to copy scriptures, and then he said that His Majesty was too tired recently and did not allow us to disturb him."

Zhu Qizhen stroked her cool hair and frowned slightly.

He guessed in his heart that if his identity as a fake emperor was discovered in the future, the empress dowager would never let go of the concubines who served the fake emperor.

They have already stepped one foot into the gate of hell, and they don’t even know it.

"Your Majesty, can you come to my palace more often in the future?" Concubine Gao said, looking up with her mature and charming face.

Zhu Qizhen smiled and nodded, raising his hand and placing it on her body. Her pretty face was slightly red, and she reached out and tightly grasped Zhu Qizhen's mischievous palm, biting her lips lightly, and said with a trembling voice: "I...can't do it anymore."

It's destined to be a sleepless night.

……

The next day.

Zhu Qizhen was refreshed and summoned Yu Qian to the Qianqing Palace. The cabinet was not enthusiastic about the new policy at all, and all the feedback they gave was inappropriate.

"Old Yu, do they really not know the benefits of the new policy to the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Qizhen spread his hands, "I really don't understand, can you help me analyze it?"

Yu Qian pondered for a while and said:

"The fundamental reason they oppose it is that they are representatives of the gentry, and of course they have to protect the interests of the gentry. Your Majesty, your 'gentry serve as one and pay taxes as one' and 'taxation is distributed according to the land' have greatly damaged the interests of the gentry."

"Of course, there are some who understand the situation, such as Lord Wang, but why is he silent? Because he believes that your majesty's new policy will definitely not be implemented."

"The people who are promoting the new policies are the gentry. How can they seriously promote them? Isn't there a saying that the imperial power does not extend below the county level? Below the county level, rural society is often handled by local clan gentry through village rules and regulations. The government mainly controls major matters such as finance, taxation, and the military, and leaves some trivial affairs to local self-determination."

"The implementation of the new policy will have to go down to the county level, and the resistance they will face will be very great. There is only one thing, the government has policies, and they have countermeasures, which is enough to make the court toss around."

"Your Majesty's new policy still faces an obstacle, that is the royal family. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, princes, dukes and other royal family members have been spread all over the country. According to regulations, a prince must provide 50,000 dan of rice, 25,000 strings of banknotes, 40 rolls of brocade, 300 rolls of silk, 500 rolls of silk, 1,000 rolls of yarn, 1,000 rolls of winter cloth, and 1,000 rolls of summer cloth. There are also various other expenses that are too numerous to mention."

"One prince costs so much, how much more do so many royal relatives cost? These royal relatives, together with local gentry, own half of the land in the world, but they do not pay taxes. Your Majesty, they will definitely unite to oppose your new policy."

"When your majesty implements the new policy, if they oppose it and the queen mother's people add fuel to the fire, your majesty, there might be a big disturbance against you."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen was stunned.

He didn't expect Yu Qian to analyze so many things, some of which he had never thought of.

I didn’t expect the new policy to be so difficult.

"Old Yu, you have reminded me thoroughly." Zhu Qizhen said.

"Your Majesty, it is your new policy that has given me hope, which is why I am thinking so much." Yu Qian said seriously, "Your Majesty, I want to make progress too much."

Zhu Qizhen: “!!!”

You accidentally made a joke.

"Isn't it going to be implemented anymore?" he asked.

"Of course we have to implement it. The key is how to implement it effectively." Yu Qian bowed and said, "Your Majesty, there is no rush. Let's perform more simulations."

Zhu Qizhen nodded slowly. He was thinking about the "Zhang Juzheng New Deal" and "Yongzheng New Deal" recorded in history books and how they implemented them.

……

Imperial College.

Zhu Qizhen came incognito, bringing Yang Guifang with him, with the purpose of talking to some students about the new policy and asking them about their opinions on its content.

After entering the Imperial College, they found that the students were gathered together in groups, seemingly discussing something. Without disturbing others, the two approached to see what the students were talking about.

"Have you heard? The new policy requires the gentry to 'serve as officials and pay taxes as a whole'. Then why do we need to take the imperial examination? Do we have to do corvée labor like the peasants in the countryside? Isn't this humiliating us scholars?"

"Yes, I have never heard of such a thing in history. The scholars should be exempted from taxes. Do we need to go shirtless to build river embankments in the future?"

"If there were an official who really did this, he would be the most cruel official in the world! All scholars in the world would oppose it."

"Yes, yes, this so-called new policy is too unrealistic." Zhu Qizhen listened, his face as cold as ice. At this time, Liu Wen, the chief priest of the Imperial College, came out and saw the emperor. He was frightened and hurriedly went up to pay homage: "Your Majesty, I, Liu Wen, pay my respects to your majesty."

After hearing this, all the students of the Imperial College knelt down respectfully to pay homage. Zhu Qizhen put on a gentle smile, raised his hand and said, "Everyone, stand up. I just came to take a look."

The chief priest and the students all stood up, looking nervous. Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and motioned them to sit down. He smiled warmly: "Just now I heard you discussing the new policy, but I have a few different opinions. Let me tell you."

All the students looked at him. They all knew that it was His Majesty who was going to implement the new policy. Zhu Qizhen smiled and asked, "Do you know that the royal family of Zhu and the gentry own more than half of the land in the world, but they don't have to pay taxes. In other words, the common people can cultivate less than half of the land in the world, but they have to pay taxes in the world. Is this fair?"

"Perhaps you think it should be so, so be it! But have you ever thought about it? Ordinary people are still losing their land, and the land is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people."

"People have lost their land and have no food to eat. If it were you, what would you do?"

"If the people lose their land, the country will lose its people. If a country loses its people, it will not be able to survive without chaos! Therefore, if you lose your land, you will have no people, and if you have no people, the country will perish!"

"Haha, if the country is gone, where will the gentry come from? Think about the pre-Yuan Dynasty. We Han people were the fourth class of people. If the Yuan people killed us, they only needed to pay a cow as compensation!"

"The former Yuan Dynasty ruled the Central Plains for a hundred years. Where are the scholars and gentry?"

There was something else in his mind that he hadn't said aloud: Damn, almost all the gentry had surrendered to the enemy and sold out their country.

……

Kunning Palace.

Zhu Qiyu, the Prince of Qin, came to see the Queen Mother with a solemn expression: "Queen Mother, I have received news that the old... old Huichang Marquis who returned to Zouping, Jinan Prefecture, has disappeared."

"What?" The Queen Mother was shocked. "How could a living person disappear?"

Prince Qing shook his head. "The report from Zouping County said that he went out for a walk after dinner and never came back. He disappeared along with his servants. The county government searched almost the entire county but couldn't find him. Queen Mother, there is something fishy about this matter."

The Queen Mother took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and said coldly, "Do you suspect someone has taken him away?"

"Yes!" Prince Qing nodded affirmatively, "Who would secretly capture the Marquis of Huichang? Was it the Marquis's former enemy? But the Marquis is a cautious official, so there is no life-and-death grudge, right?"

"Not necessarily. How can you not offend people when you are in a high position?" A cold light flashed in the Queen Mother's eyes. "It is also possible that he is not an enemy. In any case, the people who arrested him should have the next step."

Prince Qing seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "The Jinyiwei also knows about this matter, and they will definitely investigate it."

The Queen Mother frowned slightly: "I am worried that the people who arrested him are not coming for him, but for us. He was the one who operated the matter of the small inner treasury in the early stage."

Prince Qing's expression changed drastically, and he bowed and said, "We must find him before the Jinyiwei. I will do it."

"Hold on tight!" the Queen Mother waved her hand.

……

Zhu Qizhen came out of the Imperial College, still furious: "These scholars are all trash."

Yang Guifang, who was following behind him, held her forehead with her hand and said, "Your Majesty, why are you judging a whole boat of people by one stroke? I am also a scholar. Don't be angry, I will treat you to a drink, okay?"

The two of them went to Taibai Restaurant and drank together at a window seat. Yang Guifang poured him a glass of wine while saying, "Your Majesty, why are you so angry? It's normal for those students to have those thoughts."

Zhu Qizhen took a gulp of wine and said, "I am anxious! At this time, Europe has already experienced the Renaissance, and has made rapid progress in mathematics, astronomy, physics, medicine and other fields. They have also begun the great voyages of discovery, and after that, they will usher in rapid development. And what about us? We are still so stupid."

Yang Guifang was confused: "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?"

"It's nothing. It's like playing the lute to a cow." Zhu Qizhen waved his hand.

"Okay, go ahead and curse." Yang Guifang continued to pour wine, "Calm down, the new policy still needs to be implemented. They opposed it, but it also reminded us. Fortunately, they didn't force it."

Zhu Qizhen drank another glass of wine in one gulp, and his anger subsided a lot and he became calmer.

In his previous life, he was just a college student who loved extreme sports. He certainly didn't know much about politics and economics, and he didn't think that he, a time traveler, could be much smarter than the ancients. Therefore, he didn't act impulsively. Even if he was going to implement a new policy, he had to discuss it with his trusted ministers.

He wanted to implement new policies at home, solve the threat from the north, start the great voyages, and not fall behind Europe. But every step was difficult.

"After all, there are still not enough people of our own." Zhu Qizhen, "Two capitals and thirteen provinces, how many people respect my imperial edict?"

Yang Guifang frowned, raised her head and smiled: "Your Majesty, I have an immature idea."

Zhu Qizhen glanced at him and said, "If you have a solution, just tell me. Don't keep me in suspense."

He was really anxious, especially after listening to the discussions of those scholars in the Imperial College.

If all the scholars in the world are so ignorant, what hope is there for the Ming Dynasty?
(End of this chapter)