The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 99 Everyone has his own ambitions
Liu Bowen sat down and said directly, "It seems that your relationship with the people in East Zhejiang is not very harmonious now."

Ma Xun said frankly, "Father-in-law, since I came to Beijing last year, I have not been in contact with people from eastern Zhejiang. It is only after I married Shuning that I have come into contact with you."

If you want to define Ma Xun as having close relations with people from eastern Zhejiang, he will definitely not admit it.

Even if someone from eastern Zhejiang says that he was born in Zhejiang in his early years, or that he wandered to Fujian, etc., this is true, but it definitely does not mean that he is from eastern Zhejiang.

Liu Bowen did not refute. What Ma Xun said did make sense, and it could be seen from the people he usually met.

Ma Xun seemed to be close to the people of Huaixi, but in essence he was only interacting with those people from Huaixi who were trusted by the emperor.

Liu Bowen asked, "From what Master Song said, Marquis Enqin and you are most displeased with searching for your majesty's roots?"

"Father-in-law, that's not right." Ma Xun said very seriously, "Whether it's your Majesty's family or my family, our ancestors are clear about it. We don't need others to help us trace our roots."

Liu Lian couldn't help but say, "Uncle, Master Zhu is a great Confucian scholar."

"Brother-in-law, Confucianism has nothing to do with your Majesty's family background." Ma Xun said more seriously, "Your Majesty's family background is from Confucianism, which is good for scholars?"

Liu Lian choked and said subconsciously, "What's wrong with doing this? Your Majesty is now winning the hearts of scholars all over the world, and scholars admire Confucianism, which is also reasonable."

"Is it Confucius, or the second sage, or Master Zhu?" Ma Xun asked in return, "If we acknowledge Master Zhu as our ancestor, will the scholars of the world no longer be obsessed with the Mongols?"

Liu Lian quickly reminded him, "Uncle, don't say such nonsense."

Ma Xun said jokingly, "How can it be nonsense? Now many great scholars and scholars follow the Yuan Emperor on the grasslands with their hair loose and their clothes on the left. In the Ming Dynasty, there are still many people who miss their former master."

Liu Lian was silent for a moment, mainly because the phenomenon Ma Xun described did exist and was even quite common.

When the imperial court launched the Northern Expedition, many scholars and great Confucian scholars followed Emperor Yuan to Kaiping, and then fled to Helin.

Even though the north has been pacified, many people are still sneaking towards Helin. Or even though they are now Ming people, they still think of themselves as Yuan people.

Ma Xun said directly, "It is impossible for the court to contract taxes. Whether it is a scholar or a juren, the court will indeed give preferential treatment after they have achieved fame and honor, and exempt them from taxes and corvée. However, I think this matter needs to be managed."

Liu Bowen immediately said seriously, "Uncle, if you say that, many scholars will be disappointed."

The treatment in the Yuan Dynasty was so good. The management was extremely loose and extensive. They simply designated an area and asked people to pay a certain amount of tax. The court did not care how the landlords and scholars in charge collected taxes from the people.

Moreover, during the Yuan Dynasty, these scholars were also exempt from tax, and their treatment could be said to be quite high. The Ming Dynasty continued some preferential policies, but relatively speaking, they were not as good as the Yuan Dynasty.

This made many scholars unhappy. When a dynasty changed, the new rulers should give these scholars better treatment, otherwise the change of dynasty would be in vain!
Ma Xun also continued, "Now that the Ming Dynasty has just been established and there are more people than land, the land annexation is not serious. But I think it won't be long before the annexation trend begins."

Liu Lian didn't know what to say at this time. He had read a lot of books and understood some principles.

It seems that his brother-in-law not only disagrees with finding a powerful ancestor for the emperor, but also intends to keep a distance from the people of eastern Zhejiang.

More importantly, he wanted to suppress the status of some scholars and was not in favor of giving them too much power.

Liu Bowen felt that there was no need to speak any more. The main reason was that Ma Xun seemed to be determined and it was basically difficult to persuade him.

Even though he was very proud of his talent and even though he was Ma Xun's father-in-law, Liu Bowen had no intention of arguing with Ma Xun about right or wrong on these matters.

People like Liu Bowen and Liu Lian had their own political views, while Ma Xun had his own views on current affairs and policies.

After all, there are some differences in positions. Liu Bowen and Liu Lian represent not only the civil servants in eastern Zhejiang, but also the interests of the landlord class.

The emperor can be said to be the biggest spokesperson for the interests of the landlords, but the emperor obviously would not only consider the interests of the landlord class.

When it comes to Ma Xun, he seems to be safeguarding the interests of the emperor and the interests of the nobles and relatives of the emperor, so naturally he doesn't mind suppressing some of the interests of civil servants and landlords.

So if we can’t reach an agreement now, there’s nothing much to say. It’s normal that we are in different positions and have different considerations.

Liu Bowen said earnestly, "You are right to think so, but it would be best if you were a little gentler in the future. You scolded the Minister of Rites yesterday and scolded Master Song in Wenhua Hall. This is not good either."

Liu Lian and Liu Jing both looked at Ma Xun in astonishment. This was something they could not imagine, and it was also somewhat inconsistent with their understanding of Ma Xun.

In the eyes of many people, although Ma Xun has a noble status, he has always been gentle and kind, and he would not even show a cold face to people he doesn't like.

However, Song Lian, a famous scholar in the world, and Tao Kai, the Minister of Rites, were both reprimanded by Ma Xun. This was no small matter. "My father-in-law said so, and it's just a few arguments at most." Ma Xun firmly denied that some seemingly impressive rumors were not good for him. "He missed his job as the Minister of Rites, and Mr. Song was a political matter."

As if he felt that this was too serious, Ma Xun said, "I am just impatient, and my voice may have been a little loud when I spoke."

The brothers Liu Lian and Liu Jing looked at each other. There are not many people who can make Ma Xun anxious. It is not easy to make someone who seems to be polite to everyone speak loudly.

Ma Xun, who didn't want to dwell on these matters, asked, "Does my father-in-law still have any thoughts of retiring?"

Liu Bowen became serious, "Did you mention this to His Majesty, or did the Queen know about it?"

"I mentioned it to Her Majesty the Queen during a casual chat, and Her Majesty didn't seem to object." Ma Xun replied, "She said that if my father-in-law still wants to retire at the end of the year, she will go and persuade Your Majesty."

Liu Bowen immediately smiled happily, and the wrinkles on the old man's face became much less. "So it's time to prepare. We don't have to wait until the end of the year. We can go back to our hometown to celebrate the New Year this year."

Liu Lian also said with a smile, "Father, I will go back to my hometown to settle down first, and then I can go back to my hometown to write a book and biography."

Liu Bowen smiled and nodded, "That's a good arrangement. You can leave in a few days."

Not everyone wants to be an official, or wants their father to be a high-ranking official.

Liu Bowen is not very interested in court affairs now. He wants to get out of it and write books to pass on his knowledge.

Liu Lian was not very interested in being an official. Although he was quite talented, he was always thinking about organizing Liu Bowen's poems and works, and was also very keen on writing books and biographies.

Liu Jing seemed very calm about this. It was indeed not a bad thing for his father to retire and return to his hometown. Leaving the court at this time could save him a lot of trouble.

After all, many people also knew that in order to control the Secretariat and establish his authority, Hu Weiyong would take action against the people in eastern Zhejiang.

Although Hu Weiyong might be more restrained because of Ma Xun, if he really gets bloodthirsty in the political struggle, he might not give in.

Liu Bowen wanted to retire and return to his hometown. It can be said that he was retiring at the peak of his career, but he was also squeezed out of the core. If this happened to some people, it would be like the sky falling.

But now, for the Liu father and son, retiring to their hometown seems to be more worth celebrating than getting promoted. This can only be said that everyone has different aspirations.

After having a meal at Liu's house, Ma Xun and Liu Shuning went home happily.

"Uncle, let's go hunting tomorrow!" Chang Mao stood at the door and invited enthusiastically, "When the time comes, many of us will go together, it will definitely be lively."

Ma Xun refused without a second thought, "I have something important to do and don't have time to go hunting with you."

"What business do you have?" Chang Mao said disapprovingly, "Uncle, let's go hunting together. I heard that we found traces of tigers in the mountains."

This should be the South China tiger, but Ma Xun did not intend to persuade these people to pay attention to animal protection. Tigers are not everywhere now, but they are not rare either.

Even in Yunnan and Guizhou, there are still some rhinos.

"I will take you to school sooner or later!" Ma Xun said fiercely, "When the time comes, you will have to carry shit and urine for others every day. I will make sure you know how to take care of the wounded!"

Chang Mao immediately became timid, as he felt that his uncle was not joking. There was a school at the foot of Jiming Mountain, where his uncle was training medical officers.

There is nothing wrong with loving soldiers like sons and taking care of the wounded, but Chang Mao's ambition is to be a brave general who kills all enemies and charges into battle, not a medical officer who serves people.

Seeing Chang Mao fleeing in embarrassment, Ma Xun suddenly felt refreshed. I let you think that I was not doing my job and was idle, but the things I did were far-reaching and important things that a young boy like you could understand?
Seeing Ma Xun teasing Chang Mao, Liu Shuning just smiled. Her husband always had a childish side.

Ma Xun was indeed just trying to scare Chang Mao. No matter what, he would not really let Chang Mao become a medical officer.

But this did not prevent Ma Xun from keeping this matter in mind. He has been back in Kyoto for such a long time, and it is time to go and see the training and growth of those medical officers.

This is not just simple medical officer training, or an attempt to establish a doctor training system that is different from the existing system.

Ma Xun also brought in a lot of private ideas here, trying to establish a series of "modern science" prototypes. In his eyes, these were all major events, much more meaningful than the struggles in the court.

It doesn't matter if it's a thankless job, since Ma Xun has already been promoted to the highest position he can be, and he doesn't need any credit to get promoted or make money.

(End of this chapter)