The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 118 Different ways do not work together

The guest Li Shanchang arrived as expected. He seemed not to care whether he was a bad guest or not, nor did he care whether he was welcome or not.

Having held a high position for so many years, even people like Xu Da and Chang Yuchun treated him with great respect.

Fortunately, he did not bring Tang Shengzong with him this time, otherwise Ma Xun would really have to consider closing the door to refuse visitors, or simply serving tea to see the guests off after they sat down.

"Uncle of the Emperor." Li Shanchang looked ashamed and guilty. "I am sorry for causing you to be punished by His Majesty. I am here to apologize."

Ma Xun pretended not to understand and said, "Prime Minister Li, you are too serious. There is no need to apologize for such a small matter."

Li Shanchang was stunned for a moment. I just came to express my apology, I didn’t say I was asking for forgiveness!

But he didn't think much about it in a flash, because Zhu Yuanzhang used to like to use allusions indiscriminately.

Then it is very likely that Ma Xun is now pretending to be a cultured person and misusing allusions. After all, he is not an orthodox scholar.

Ma Xun was somewhat disappointed, because Li Shanchang vaguely mentioned the incident of "carrying a thorn stick to ask for forgiveness". He was not here to apologize, but to curry favor.

Although I don't like this guest, I still need to be polite to him.

Li Shanchang took the tea from Xu E and said with a sigh, "I think the uncle must know that the Ming Dynasty was just established and there are too many things to deal with."

Ma Xun didn't understand why Li Shanchang said this, so he could only reply, "That's true. Now there is a lot of work to be done, and we should rest and recuperate with the people and restore the country's strength."

"How can this be easy!" Li Shanchang said with even more worry, "The Tartars in the north have not been destroyed yet, and they may move south at any time. Mingxia, Liang Wang and Duan clan in the southwest, Nahachu in Liaodong, etc., we can't stop them either."

The Ming Dynasty is now strong in military power, but we can never think that the world is at peace, as there are still many hostile forces around.

Ma Xun consoled them by saying, "Although there are still some remnants of the enemy, the imperial court has strong troops and horses, and they can be wiped out in an instant."

This is of course a more optimistic view, but it is also the general view in the court.

After more than a decade of wars, all powerful enemies have been destroyed, so it is normal for the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty to be relatively optimistic.

Li Shanchang said worriedly, "Your Majesty combined the experience of the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties and used the garrisons as the foundation of the army. The garrisons cultivated land and now, using salt and tea as intermediaries, recruited merchants to transport military rations, horses and other supplies to Shanxi and the border areas."

What Li Shanchang talked about is the Kaizhong Method, which was just implemented this year.

It would be too wasteful to transport grain to the border simply by relying on the court's power, so it would be better to summon nearby merchants to transport grain, and then exchange it for salt permits to sell it in designated places.

This approach would reduce a certain burden on the imperial court and would also be profitable for the merchants.

Li Shanchang said with a sad face, "Although the army is basically self-sufficient now, the treasury is empty. Whenever I think of this, I can't sleep all night."

This statement is basically in line with the facts. What Zhu Yuanzhang was most proud of was the Wei Suo system, which allowed the army to basically ensure self-sufficiency by establishing military farms.

This method of integrating soldiers with farming, which drew on the historical experience of military farming, also made Zhu Yuanzhang proudly declare, "I can support a million soldiers without spending a single grain of rice from the people."

Ma Xun waited quietly for what would happen next, wanting to know what Li Shanchang would say next.

Li Shanchang said, "The national treasury is empty. Now it is mostly relying on taxes from Jiangnan and other places. The uncle must understand this."

Ma Xun nodded. Many people said that Zhu Yuanzhang imposed heavy taxes on the Jiangnan region in retaliation against the people there for supporting Zhang Shicheng.

But the actual situation was that Zhu Yuanzhang had no other choice. The Wei Suo system made it seem that he did not have to worry about military rations, but military salaries still had to be paid.

On the other hand, there are the salaries of officials, a series of major projects, etc., which also require money.

The current Ming Dynasty can only collect taxes in places like Jiangnan, and there is no hope in other places.

The area north of the Huai River is basically barren. Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian are not rich nowadays and there are not many fertile fields.

However, Huguang and other places are not now in a situation where "if Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will be prosperous". This trend will not appear until the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The imperial court has not had time to conduct a population census, but the general situation is that the population has dropped from 85 million at the end of the Yuan Dynasty to nearly 50 million now.

Now a large number of pastures from the Yuan Dynasty are being converted back into fertile fields, but this is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

Seeing that Li Shanchang had been talking for a long time, Ma Xun asked, "Prime Minister Li, when it comes to saving the world and bringing peace to the people, I really don't understand much."

Li Shanchang said in a persuasive manner, "Your Majesty, what you said is inappropriate. Your Majesty knows the sufferings of the people and has always cared about the country. I think if Your Majesty can assist Your Majesty, you will become a good prime minister and leave your name in history!"

Leave a name in history?

It has to be said that this is a huge temptation, especially for a "good prime minister", which will definitely have a significant place in history. It is really difficult for anyone to resist such a temptation.

Ma Xun smiled and said, "Prime Minister Li, you are joking. I am not very talented or well-educated. Besides, I am a relative by marriage, and I already hold many official positions. I am often uneasy. If it were not for the Queen, I would just be a refugee seeking survival." Ma Xun's ambition has never been to enter the court, and he is very clear about his identity.

As a relative by marriage, he could help the emperor balance some of the structures in the court. But if he wanted to truly control some power, that would be a dead end.

Seeing that Ma Xun was unable to find the way, Li Shanchang said bluntly, "I wonder what the emperor's uncle thinks of the people of eastern Zhejiang?"

Ma Xun thought carefully and said, "It can't be said that the impression is good or bad, as long as we can do things in a down-to-earth manner."

"I'm sure the uncle knows that many scholars admire the Yuan emperor." Li Shanchang said, "These people in eastern Zhejiang may not be like that, but they are quite yearning for the preferential treatment of scholars during the Song Dynasty."

Ma Xun smiled and joked, "That's true. For those people, the best thing is not to punish officials, and to rule the country together with the literati. The next best thing is for the court to implement tax farming."

"The prince's vision has always been high. If you say that the prince's vision is not clear, I don't believe it." Li Shanchang smiled and said, "Now the minds of the people in eastern Zhejiang are uncertain, it's nothing more than the court is just being established."

The Ming Dynasty was almost a blank sheet of paper, so in the eyes of some people there was naturally a lot of room for maneuver.

This is true even for Ma Xun, because many of the current systems are not fixed, so there is naturally no such thing as "the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed."

What Li Shanchang said made sense, but Ma Xun still said, "It's useless to tell me these things. Your Majesty naturally has his own ideas. There are also many good eunuchs in the court who care about the country."

Looking at Ma Xun's sincere expression, Li Shanchang suddenly felt powerless.

He could conclude that Ma Xun was not an ignorant country bumpkin, but that this uncle of the emperor was also a very knowledgeable man with a firm will that was not easily shaken.

The arguments he prepared were completely useless. No matter if he tried to appeal to his emotions or reason, or tried to use personal relationships such as relatives and friends as an excuse, the king's uncle just wouldn't accept it.

Not only is it like a punch on cotton, but there is no way to even think about revenge.

After all, Li Shanchang is a petty person. Anyone who offends him will not have an easy time, and he will find ways to make things difficult for them.

Looking at Li Shanchang, whose face was uncertain, Ma Xun continued, "Is Prime Minister Li participating in the national affairs recently? There are many important things in the court, so I won't get involved."

Li Shanchang could only stand up helplessly, "I hope that the uncle will consider what I said before. Since the uncle has received the emperor's grace, he should be loyal to the emperor and serve the country."

Ma Xun looked at Li Shanchang and asked with a smile, "Does Prime Minister Li know Guo Ziyi?"

Li Shanchang was stunned for a moment, then said, "Mr. Guo Linggong's entire family is made up of generals and ministers, and their meritorious service will be admired for generations."

Ma Xun was speechless for a moment. He hoped to use the example of Guo Ziyi to persuade Li Shanchang to retreat while the going was good.

But now, Li Shanchang is thinking about the rich and powerful people in the family, and perhaps even thinking about his son "getting drunk and beating the golden branch".

After all, judging from the current situation, Li Shanchang is definitely Zhu Yuanzhang's most trusted minister, and his son Li Qi will inevitably become the prince consort.

It has now been basically decided that Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest daughter, Princess Lin'an Zhu Jingjing, should marry Li Shanchang's eldest son Li Qi.

Although Princess Lin'an was a concubine's daughter, she was Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest daughter. Her mother was Concubine Sun, who also had a very high status.

Ma Xun smiled and escorted Li Shanchang to the gate of the mansion, bowing and sending him off with full courtesy.

Chang Mao jumped out all of a sudden, very gossipy, "Uncle, you and Li Xiang still can't talk?"

Touching Chang Mao's head, Ma Xun said with emotion, "People with different ideals cannot work together. Li Xiang and I are not the same kind of people."

Chang Mao said with a smile, "My parents also told me to go to Prime Minister Li's house less often. I rarely interact with the children of the Li family. I only like the boys from the general family!"

The boys from the military families can play together, and if there is a suitable lady from a noble family among the civil servants, she will also be Chang Mao's ideal target.

"I'll take you to the army later." Ma Xun laughed and said, "Run errands for me and go to Mu Ying's house. Ask him to come over in three days. I'm going to take the princes to train the troops."

Chang Mao nodded vigorously and was looking forward to it.

Training troops and going to war are two different things. Training troops can be said to be one of the basic abilities of an excellent general, so it naturally cannot be taken lightly.

Even though Chang Mao had previously gone to Peking, he did not think that even if he knew how to train soldiers, he still needed to continue learning and improving.

Ma Xun, in a good mood, returned to the house to feed the donkey. There was no point in pretending to be nice to Li Shanchang, and feeding the donkey was more in line with Ma Xun's lifestyle.

After all, they were brothers who had suffered together. Now that he was successful, he naturally wanted to make sure Wangcai had good things to do.

There is no need to get involved in the intrigues in the court for the time being.

Ma Xun couldn't say that he had fully grasped Li Shanchang's little tricks yet, but some of the things he had shown so far were enough to keep him at a distance.

(End of this chapter)