Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 427 Secret Meeting at the Zhan Residence: The Imperial Examination as a Weapon!
"We absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die any longer!"

Just as the imperial examinations were in full swing, dozens of officials gathered in the study of the residence of Zhan Hui, the Minister of State Affairs and Minister of Personnel.

The atmosphere inside was heavy, as if the air itself was frozen by the oppressive feeling.

An official, his face full of indignation, said: "Now it is widely rumored in the court and among the people that His Majesty is quite supportive of the new policies and new learning, and intends to vigorously promote them throughout the Ming Dynasty."

"Many officials, eager to curry favor with His Majesty, submitted memorials vying to request the court to immediately implement the new learning and new policies."

"Fang Xiaoru, who was the first to propose new learning, is even praised by them as a 'sage of our time,' which is utterly absurd!"

"At present, the Daming Daily publishes commentary articles on the new learning and new policies every day."

"At first glance, it seems to be both praising and criticizing the new learning and new policies, and is extremely fair and objective."

"But with just a little thought, the meaning between the lines of the article becomes clear, and its inclination towards new learning and new policies is obvious and cannot be more obvious."

“The circulation of the Daming Daily was enormous. Once the public opinion it sparked took shape, it spread like wildfire, and was impossible to stop.”

"Nowadays, everyone in the city and alleys is talking about the new policies and new learning that the imperial court is about to implement, and everyone is praising how good the new policies and new learning are."

“Every time Fang Xiaoru gave a lecture, the scene was spectacular, with crowds of people flocking to listen, the streets were deserted, and the whole of Nanjing was abuzz with excitement.”

"On the contrary, those of us who resolutely oppose the new learning and new policies appear increasingly weak and isolated."

"Although everyone has grievances, they are afraid of the current situation and dare not speak out easily, so they can only keep their words to themselves."

No sooner had he finished speaking than an official with gray hair and beard immediately chimed in in agreement: "What new learning? That's just a bunch of absurd nonsense made up by Fang Xiaoru!"

"I have devoted my whole life to studying poetry and literature, and have spent my entire life studying the Four Books and Five Classics. How could I not understand the true way of the sages?"

"Fang Xiaoru is clearly using the name of a sage to try to deceive the emperor and mislead the people."

"Such a person who spreads heresies and misleads the public should be tortured to death to appease my hatred!"

"But now, he is inexplicably revered as the founder of new learning and a sage of our time. This is utterly ridiculous!"

"If we are to discuss the study of the teachings of the sages, the court should take Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism as the orthodox source. All other doctrines are nothing but heretical paths, not worth mentioning, and there is no need to argue with them."

"Furthermore, the new policy was nothing more than a war strategy implemented by the Duke of Liang in the three Jurchen tribes. Its purpose was nothing more than to completely crush the Jurchen noble forces."

"But now they want to implement this within the territory of my Great Ming Dynasty. What is their true intention?"

"Are we going to send all the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty to the execution ground, and then distribute their property to those lazy and good-for-nothing poor people without any justification? This is simply outrageous!"

“Those poor people are lazy and unwilling to work, yet they spend their days thinking about dividing up other people’s property. How can the court support such an absurd thing?”

"If officials' family assets were really divided up, who would still be willing to become an official?"

"Who will govern this vast Ming Dynasty on behalf of His Majesty?"

"Without local gentry to maintain order among the people, who will govern those unruly people? Won't the world descend into chaos?"

"If these treacherous officials are not stopped in time, the Ming Dynasty will surely fall into an abyss of no return, and the country will cease to exist!"

As he delivered his impassioned speech, his chest heaved violently, his words flowing like a machine gun, his tone a mixture of murderous intent and hatred, his emotions on the verge of exploding, as if he were about to set the study ablaze at any moment.

"As long as I have a breath left, I will never allow such a thing to happen!" another elderly official shouted.

The tone was firm.

His wrinkled face was slightly flushed with excitement.

"Gentlemen, there is no need to worry too much." Wang Zuo, who was sitting with Zhan Huiping at the top of the hall, looked extremely calm and composed, as if everything was under control.

He leisurely picked up the teacup, took a small sip, his movements elegant and gentle. Then, he held the teacup steadily in his hands, a smile on his face, and said, "Don't be fooled by their current uproar; justice resides in the hearts of the people."

"If we were to forcibly divide up all the land of the gentry and landlords of the Ming Dynasty, as we did with the three Jurchen tribes, it would be absolutely impossible."

"In my opinion, Your Majesty should be thinking of adopting the method of redemption."

“The government funded the purchase of land from local gentry and landlords.”

"Then, according to the population size, the land will be allocated to each household for cultivation, in order to implement the new policy."

"The current grand gesture is merely an attempt to put pressure on local gentry and landlords, forcing them to sell their land at low prices."

"I have heard that in the past few months, the price of privately owned farmland has fallen by as much as 70%."

"This is probably His Majesty's true intention."

After these words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent instantly.

Everyone fell into deep thought, occasionally exchanging glances and silently conveying their thoughts.

“My family’s more than 1,000 mu of land will never be sold off cheaply.”

After a long pause, an official gave a cold snort.

"Land transaction prices are indeed falling, but that's only because a very small number of people have lost their sense of proportion in the face of this trend and are desperately trying to sell their land, which has led to the decline in transaction prices."

“But which person in the world who owns land and property is not well-off? No matter how much the price of land falls, as long as I don’t sell, no one can force me to do so.”

"The land is the legacy left by our ancestors. How can we sell it off so easily at a low price? Wouldn't that make us unfilial descendants who forget our ancestors and act rebelliously?"

Everyone in the hall nodded in agreement, their faces full of recognition, and chimed in, "That's absolutely right. No matter how much the price drops, we will resolutely refuse to sell."

"There has never been a reason to sell land cheaply since ancient times."

"If the imperial court really wants to acquire land, it should offer a price that satisfies the seller, and it should never force a sale."

Wang Zuo smiled slightly and said, "The registers of the people submitted to the Ministry of Revenue by local governments show that the Ming Dynasty has a total of about 800 million mu of land."

"But His Majesty had previously ordered Yang Shiqi, Xia Yuanji, and others to urge local officials across the country to remeasure the land and include mountains, rivers, and other natural features in the statistics."

"After repeated and careful verification, the total amount of farmland was measured to be approximately 400 million mu."

"The total amount of farmland reported by local governments in various regions is nearly double that of the total amount of farmland reported previously."

"This messy situation has not yet been sorted out."

In fact, since Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, the amount of land in the country has been extremely chaotic.

Local officials kept sending people to measure the land, but in practice, they still had to rely on the cooperation of the local gentry.

Since the amount of land one owns is directly related to tax payment and is a matter of personal interest, the gentry naturally resorted to all sorts of means and went to great lengths to achieve their goals.

The final measured amount of farmland was a confusing and troublesome mess.

Fortunately, when the Ming Dynasty levied land rent and taxes, it was nominally based on the amount of land owned. However, in reality, to a large extent, the taxes were still "subsidized" by local gentry.

Although it was difficult to precisely measure how much land each household owned, the county magistrate or other county officials could get a rough idea of ​​the total amount of land in a village simply by looking at it from the edge of the fields or along the roadside, without even needing to measure it. Thus, the amount of land rent and taxes that the village should pay to the imperial court each year was basically determined.

As for specific households, the government doesn't care at all.

In any case, the government only needs to find the most prominent gentry in the village, order him to take charge of the matter, and hold him accountable if he fails to complete the task.

How the village disputes were handled, and how taxes were actually paid to specific farmers, were things that the government neither needed to nor could manage.

Not to mention, in order to complete the imperial court's task of "reclaiming wasteland", local officials would also falsely report the number of acres, exaggerating the number of uncultivated wastelands and counting them as acreage, and then report them to the imperial court.

In this way, he would be considered to have done a good job in governing the area and would have the opportunity to be promoted.

Zhu Yuanzhang was fully aware of these chaotic situations and repeatedly issued strict orders to measure the land throughout the country, but the final result was still a mess that could not be sorted out.

The various factions, each with their own ulterior motives, made the measurement work difficult to advance, and the final data was always chaotic.

Even when Zhu Yunwen came to power, no breakthrough was made in solving the difficult problem of land surveying.

Previously, he ordered a nationwide land survey, but the final measured amount of land deviated greatly from the actual situation, just like the situation during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang.

At its root, the interests involved in land are deeply intertwined and far too complex.

Local officials, in order to advance their careers, often resort to "falsification," using land data as a "stepping stone" to their political achievements, exaggerating the amount of land to demonstrate their effective governance.

The yamen runners who were sent to handle the matter also took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, and wantonly tampered with the measurement results in order to gain personal benefits.

Those local gentry went to great lengths to forge documents in order to evade taxes and protect their wealth.

Even honest, self-sufficient farmers were not immune to this struggle for profit.

From local government officials to ordinary farmers at the grassroots level, a strange "consensus of interest" has been reached on the issue of land surveying.

All parties had a strong motive to falsify data, and no one wanted the imperial court to thoroughly investigate the land situation. In that case, how could the land measurement be accurate?
Of course, if it only involves the transaction of a single piece of land, then a measurement can be taken at that time, which will most likely allow for accurate determination.

However, the amount of land controlled by the Ministry of Revenue was highly inflated and could not be used as an accurate basis. This meant that if the imperial court wanted to purchase land, it could not determine the exact amount of silver required in advance.

Wang Zuo smiled slightly, his expression complex and enigmatic, and said, "Previously, the court implemented the policy of abolishing the feudal domains, taking back the land of the feudal kings in various regions. Later, the garrison troops were disbanded, and a new army was established. In the process, the original garrison farmland was also taken back by the court."

At this point, Wang Zuo's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

After all, whether it's abolishing the feudal domains, disbanding the garrison troops, or establishing a new army, it's all about...

Any one of these measures, taken alone, would be a momentous event that would shake the world.

Take the removal of the feudal lords as an example. Even a man of great talent and ambition like Emperor Wu of Han only implemented the Edict of Grace after the rebellion of the Seven States was quelled, the central government's power was strengthened, and the power of the local lords was greatly weakened. This was how the power of the lords was gradually dismantled.

However, the current emperor has shown remarkable courage, taking a single step to remove all the vassal kings from the empire.

Strangely enough, it did not cause much of a stir and was completed quietly.

The move to disband the garrison troops was even more astonishing.

This was almost a radical overhaul of the Ming Dynasty's military system.

The existing military system was completely overthrown, and a brand new army was rebuilt.

This was an absolutely insane decision, yet it was implemented without any major incident.

Now that His Majesty has turned his attention to the land issue, the measures he will implement next will likely also...

Wang Zuo pondered to himself, these thoughts involuntarily popping into his mind. He quickly shook his head vigorously to dispel these chaotic thoughts, and then said, "These fields that have been taken over by the court, plus the land of the imperial estates, and the fields that the nobles sold to the court in preparation for going to sea, all together amount to about 130 million mu."

"If there are really only 400 million mu of farmland in the world, then these already account for one-third of it."

"However, even if land prices fall by 70% now, the imperial court simply cannot afford the remaining two-thirds."

"As the head of the Ministry of Revenue, I have an excellent understanding of the Ming Dynasty's financial situation."

"Not to mention, the local gentry have already seen through the situation and will never sell the land at such low prices again."

"Your Majesty's thoughts are truly unfathomable, and I find them difficult to fathom." Wang Zuo's eyes revealed a complex and immeasurable meaning: "Perhaps Your Majesty will take some earth-shattering and astonishing move that is beyond the imagination of ordinary people."

His words were full of emotion.

"As long as it doesn't happen like it did with the three Jurchen tribes, where they forcibly confiscated the land of the local gentry, causing chaos throughout the land, we'll be thankful," an official said worriedly, his voice full of concern.

"If Your Majesty can truly devise a solution that satisfies both the desire to avoid forcibly seizing the wealth of the local gentry and to satisfy the impoverished people, then I am willing to follow your orders and implement them to the best of my ability."

Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent, and no one responded.

Everyone present knew in their hearts that this was simply a fantasy. How could there be such a perfect plan in the world that could simultaneously take into account the seemingly opposing interests of the gentry and the common people?

Everyone thought the idea was too absurd, so there was no need to agree with it. They just ignored it and no one responded.

"In my opinion, the most urgent task is to thoroughly refute Fang Xiaoru's new learning." At this moment, another official stood up, his expression serious, and asked loudly, "The debate between the new learning and the new policies is about to begin. Are you all ready?"

“In fact, it has already begun.” Wang Zuo’s eyes were bright and his expression was calm as he corrected, “The imperial examination is the first battle between the new learning and the new policies. By the time the debate takes place in the court, the outcome will probably already be decided.”

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. After careful consideration, they realized that what Wang Zuo said was indeed reasonable.

This year's imperial examination questions will most likely be related to the new learning and new policies.

In this light, wasn't the imperial examination system the opening battle of this debate?

If a large number of people who support new learning and new policies are admitted through the imperial examinations, the situation will be extremely unfavorable for the conservatives.

"Does Lord Wang have a solution?" An official asked Wang Zuo anxiously, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Wang Zuo's gaze drifted, intentionally or unintentionally, to Zhan Hui, who was resting with his eyes closed to the side.

Zhan Hui listened to the conversation quietly, as if he were in deep meditation, without uttering a single word.

A fleeting, almost imperceptible glint flashed in Wang Zuo's eyes, but it vanished in an instant. He then straightened his expression and said calmly, "This year's imperial examination has added many subjects. His Majesty personally appointed Wen Yuanliu, the Vice President of the Imperial University of Peking and the Duke of Wei, as the chief examiner. This shows how much His Majesty values ​​the field of science."

“However, the real key lies with the deputy chief examiner.” Wang Zuo’s face revealed a mysterious smile. He deliberately kept everyone in suspense for a moment before continuing, “The deputy chief examiner, Pei Yanbing, is currently serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He was recommended by Yang Shiqi.”

"Although he was only the deputy chief examiner, he was responsible for the important task of overseeing the original Jinshi examination."

"It is now widely rumored that this year's imperial examination will be closely linked to the new learning and new policies."

"At that time, those who are selected by the examiners will likely all be supporters of the new learning and new policies."

"But what if the exam questions are leaked?"

Wang Zuo smiled leisurely and said, "Aren't those who wrote articles supporting the new learning and new policies in the imperial examination and were thus admitted suspected of cheating?"

……

(End of this chapter)