My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 368 "The Fire God's Tribute and the Joint Discussion on Religious Affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu"

Those present were all political elites of the Ming Dynasty.

One current cabinet minister, and two future cabinet ministers from the original timeline, Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing.

If they didn't even understand these things, they wouldn't have gotten to where they are today.

The reason why Buddhism and Taoism in the Central Plains are harmless is because they have self-castrated their organizational power.

The Buddhist community goes without saying. After the suppression of Buddhism by the Three Wu and One Zong emperors, starting from the Song Dynasty, the Buddhist community gradually became an economic organization and tried to avoid participating in politics.

The Taoist school started even earlier.

Original Taoism was quite powerful.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Zhang Lu regime in Hanzhong during the Three Kingdoms period, and the Sun En Rebellion during the Northern and Southern Dynasties were all religious wars with enormous influence.

However, starting from the late Northern and Southern Dynasties, both the Northern and Southern Celestial Masters sects proposed de-organizational reforms. The biggest achievement of these reforms was the severing of the connection between Taoist officials and ordinary people, and the prohibition of privately organizing missionary work.

From then on, Taoism gradually became harmless, and rulers were willing to worship these harmless deities.

However, a certain religion does not have such harmless idols.

The secret missionary work of religious leaders implies the formation of secret societies among the people, which represents a strong organizational and mobilization capability, as well as a covert ability to resist government suppression.

A tightly organized religious organization implies a strong political mobilization capacity, and its influence is not limited to a single region.

The hereditary nature of religious orders and clergy also means a stable upper-level organization.

The donation of religious property by believers signifies strong economic power, allowing the religious organization to levy taxes on its members.

This is no longer a religious organization, but a powerful political organization!
Everyone understood why the Fire Cult exhibited such strong expansionism and exclusivity.

More believers mean more church positions and more religious taxes, so priests naturally want to spread their faith as much as possible, so that they can leave more inheritance for their successors and strengthen their own position in the church.

If such a religious organization were to expand in the Shaanxi-Gansu region, the consequences would be unimaginable to everyone present.

Yin Shidan decisively said:
"This official will petition Your Majesty to issue a decree banning Christianity!"

Everyone agreed.

Su Ze said:

"Lord Yin, I have a few more suggestions."

Yin Shidan said sternly, "Speak quickly!"

After bowing, Su Ze said:

“Some areas in Shaanxi and Gansu are sparsely populated and the government may not be able to control these areas. If the court rashly cracks down on them, the effect may not be good, and it may even incite the followers to be united in hatred against the enemy.”

"It would be better to issue a ban in the cities first. If it's not feasible to carry out a crackdown in the countryside, then education should be the priority."

Yin Shidan nodded in agreement.

The Ming Dynasty was too vast, and the situation varied from place to place.

After its heyday during the Tang Dynasty, Shaanxi began to decline gradually. Now, apart from the Guanzhong Plain, the living environment in the remaining areas is deteriorating.

Needless to say, Gansu is in a similar state, with only a few prosperous "isolated cities" like Lanzhou remaining, while the rest of the region has long been depopulated.

Su Ze said again:
"This is not a problem of local officials, but rather the fact that the terrain of Shaanxi and Gansu is characterized by ravines and plateaus, making it difficult to control the countryside."

Yuan refers to the unique landform on the Loess Plateau.

Due to the cutting action of wind, sand, and water, flat-topped hills dot the Loess Plateau.

These places were suitable for farming and living, and became the origin of Chinese civilization.

These characteristics have resulted in highly dispersed settlements in the Shaanxi-Gansu region, with most rural areas remaining autonomous except for a few county towns.

Su Ze said again:
“Secret practices can deceive people because believers are foolish and are deceived by the tricks of these priests.”

"Therefore, we must enlighten the people so that they are not misled."

"I believe that the imperial court should establish primary schools in Shaanxi and Gansu and send officials to teach them."

Upon hearing this, Yin Shidan's eyes lit up.

Yin Shidan, the Minister of Education, entered the cabinet after Su Ze proposed promoting education.

However, the response from various provinces to running schools has not been enthusiastic.

While the provinces were not opposed to establishing schools, Su Ze linked school establishment with commercial taxes, causing many provinces to have reservations about levying commercial taxes. Therefore, apart from Shandong, Shanxi, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which had already decided to establish schools, progress in other regions was slow.

After Su Ze finished speaking, everyone expressed their agreement.

Rationalism is the greatest enemy of mysticism.

While education cannot lift everyone out of ignorance, there are occasional highly educated individuals who become obsessed with religion.

However, overall, with the popularization of education and the development of rationalism, people are becoming increasingly demystified of religion.

In addition, education has the ability to manage the young and middle-aged.

This group of young people, who are the most energetic, idealistic, and proactive, will naturally not be swayed by religion when they study and pursue their education.

As long as these people are not incited by religion, even if they gather some elderly, weak, women and children as believers, they are unlikely to cause too much damage.

Yin Shidan immediately stated:
"Zilin's suggestion is excellent and can be included in the consensus conclusion."

Most of the people present agreed, but Shen Shixing stood up and said:

"Where does the funding for schools in the Shaanxi-Gansu region come from?"

Where does the money come from?
All eyes turned to Su Ze.

Su Ze said:

"This is another suggestion from me, Su: the imperial court should not block Jiayuguan, but should instead increase the opening of the gates, encourage merchants to trade, and send tax supervisors to collect customs duties to make up for the cost of running schools."

"Sealing the borders will not stop smuggling and missionary work; on the contrary, it will cause the court to lose tax revenue for nothing."

"It would be better to open up Jiayuguan Pass, encourage merchants to trade, and collect more tariffs."

"As for the imperial edict that the Fire Lord is seeking, it would be better to simply follow the example of the grasslands and abolish the imperial edict trade system, allowing free trade as long as taxes are paid."

"If merchants from the Firelands can trade in Jiayuguan, then Ming Dynasty caravans should also be able to trade with the Firelands, and the Firelands should also protect the safety of Ming Dynasty caravans!"

After listening, Yin Shidan looked at everyone and asked, "Do you all agree with the proposal to cancel the imperial edict trade?"

Shen Shixing then expressed his support, and Zhang Siwei, seeing Shen Shixing's support, also expressed his support for Su Ze.

Shen Yiguan naturally cast his vote in support, and Fu Yuan, the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, also expressed his agreement.

Yin Shidan said:
"Then it shall be submitted as the majority opinion, and any dissenting opinions may be drafted separately."

Yin Shidan made the final decision, and the outcome of this discussion was settled.

Next, the secretary in charge of taking notes recorded the results of the meeting, and after everyone signed them, Su Ze made a handwritten copy.

After everything was over, Su Ze approached Yin Shidan again.

"Grand Secretary Yin."

Yin Shidan looked at Su Ze, his attitude towards Su Ze was also very conflicted.

Unlike other cabinet ministers who openly expressed their appreciation and affirmation for Su Ze, he viewed Su Ze with an awkward attitude.

This time was no different. Yin Shidan disagreed with many of Su Ze's actions, but it was difficult for him to refuse the solutions Su Ze proposed.

"Your Excellency, in order to maintain the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu, please send a portion of the troops into Shaanxi and Gansu."

Yin Shidan looked at Su Ze. In fact, he had also thought of this, but since there were many people discussing this among the ministers, and it involved military affairs, Yin Shidan did not bring it up in public.

Su Ze even thought of this; this young man is indeed a prime minister.

Yin Shidan responded:

"After returning to the Cabinet, I will submit a memorial to remind His Majesty."

Yin Shidan returned to the cabinet with the results of the discussions among the ministers. The cabinet members all agreed with the outcome and submitted it to the emperor's desk. Su Ze returned to his office, took out his portable Ming Dynasty mobile phone, and stuffed the results of the discussions into it.

"A Joint Discussion on the Religious Affairs of Huozhelai Gong and Shaanxi-Gansu Religious Affairs"

——[Simulation Start]——

The "Joint Discussion on the Tribute of the Fire God and the Religious Affairs of Shaanxi and Gansu" was delivered to the Imperial Palace and the Cabinet.

The cabinet basically agreed with your consensus, except for Zhang Juzheng, who expressed his opposition.

Zhang Juzheng believed that once the imperial court opened the door to subsidizing education officials in Shaanxi and Gansu, other provinces would have a reason to postpone the collection of commercial taxes and demand that the imperial court follow the example of Shaanxi and Gansu and also subsidize their schools.

After reading it, Emperor Longqing also had some doubts about the part about establishing schools.

As Zhang Juzheng had predicted, officials from Jiangnan, in particular, voiced their opposition.

The horse market at Jiayuguan was insufficient to subsidize the operating costs of schools throughout Shaanxi and Gansu, which violated the previous promises of the imperial court. It was tantamount to using taxes from other provinces to subsidize schools in Shaanxi and Gansu.

The Longqing Emperor approved the rest of the memorial and shelved the educational administration affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu.

——[Simulation End]——

[Remaining Prestige: 1380.]

[To fully approve your negotiation proposal, you need to pay 300 reputation points. Do you wish to pay?]

Only 300 reputation points?
Su Ze naturally chose "yes" without hesitation.

[Prestige points have been deducted, leaving 1080 prestige points. Please wait for the memorial to take effect.]
-
Back in the cabinet, Yin Shidan was somewhat disheartened.

He was still pondering the discussion that had just taken place at the Court of State Ceremonial.

Thinking about Su Ze's performance just now, Yin Shidan felt a mix of emotions.

Su Ze helped Gao Gong promote practical learning. After Su Ze joined the cabinet, how far will practical learning develop?
I am a disciple of the School of Mind, yet there is no one in the entire court capable of shouldering great responsibilities.

Yin Shidan recalled the scene when they discussed it together.

Zhang Siwei was a disciple of Gao Gong and a promoter of practical learning.

Shen Yiguan was a good friend of Su Ze and an advocate of practical learning.

Shen Shixing was a disciple of Zhang Juzheng. Like Zhang Juzheng, he had no interest in academic studies, but he was inclined towards practical learning.

Anyone with eyes can see that these people are the future of the Ming Dynasty, if they all tend to learn practical skills?
Yin Shidan dared not think any further.

In fact, Yin Shidan was somewhat exhausted after joining the cabinet.

Gao Gong was powerful, and he disagreed with Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng on many political issues, while there was not much progress in education.

Yin Shidan had once considered resigning.

But now Yin Shidan has given up on the idea!

For the sake of the survival of the philosophy of mind, I must continue to stay in the cabinet!
He was originally a person of strong will; otherwise, he wouldn't have reached his current position.

It's just that I've recently experienced some setbacks, which has led me to consider quitting.

Now Yin Shidan has figured it out: for the future of the School of Mind, he cannot back down!

Just as Yin Shidan was lost in thought, the cabinet ministers had all finished reading the results of their joint discussion.

Gao Gong spoke first:

"I agree with the conclusion reached through discussion."

After Gao Gong spoke, Zhao Zhenji and Lei Li also expressed their agreement.

Their gaze fell upon Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and said:

"I disagree."

"The annual income of the horse administration in Jiayuguan was no more than 10,000 silver dollars, which was far from enough to support the investment of the Shaanxi-Gansu education administration."

"The Ministry of Revenue had no budget for this amount of silver dollars."

“Education and taxation are intertwined. If we open the door for Shaanxi and Gansu, what will happen if other provinces start to protest?”

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Gao Gong also fell silent.

Although he supported Su Ze's opinion, Zhang Juzheng's statement was not without merit.

The linkage between education administration and commercial taxation was a national policy of the imperial court.

Because Shaanxi and Gansu made an exception, other provinces were naturally dissatisfied and delayed the implementation of the commercial tax.

Shaanxi is also quite resistant to levying commercial taxes.

This is not to say that commercial activities in Shaanxi are particularly developed or that the merchants are particularly powerful.

Rather, Shaanxi people often bore the burden of corvée labor and miscellaneous taxes, and thus had an instinctive resistance to tax increases.

There was no other way. Starting from the decline of the Ming Dynasty's military power in the northwest, the people of Shaanxi had to undertake military service to defend the Hetao region, which was also known as the autumn defense.

This was not simply a matter of serving in the garrisons; it also required levying additional taxes on the people to support the garrisons' defense work.

This campaign lasted for over a century.

This tax was only abolished after Qi Jiguang defeated the Mongols in the Hetao region.

Given the precedent in Shaanxi, it is unlikely that commercial taxes will be levied in Shaanxi unless other provinces are willing to pay them.

Just as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Yin Shidan suddenly said:
"Your Excellency Zhang is mistaken!"

"The Shaanxi-Gansu educational administration was established to prevent missionary activity and to ensure peace and tranquility in Shaanxi and Gansu a century from now!"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Yin Shidan with some doubt.

Since Yin Shidan joined the cabinet, he has kept a very low profile and rarely expresses his opinions except on educational affairs.

Even in matters of academic and political affairs, he tries to avoid conflict as much as possible, as if he were a completely different person.

But why did he suddenly become so irritable today?

Of course, Zhang Juzheng wouldn't give in to Yin Shidan, and continued to speak firmly:
"Which province's education is not a long-term strategic undertaking? Why does Grand Secretary Yin favor one over the other?"

Yin Shidan did not continue arguing with Zhang Juzheng, but instead said:

"I must go to the palace and report this matter to His Majesty in person!"

The faces of the cabinet ministers all turned grim.

Having cabinet ministers speak to each other privately is a serious breach of political consensus.

This is tantamount to exposing the cabinet's internal conflicts to the emperor.

Moreover, if you were to speak privately with the emperor, who would know what you actually said? Did you speak ill of your colleagues?
Li Linfu, a treacherous prime minister during the Tang Dynasty, would always find a way to stay behind and speak privately with the other prime ministers after they had presented their reports to Emperor Xuanzong. He would then attack his colleagues, thus giving rise to the idiom "honeyed words and a dagger in the heart" in history.

Of course, the Grand Secretaries still had many opportunities to meet with the Emperor.

During the Longqing reign, cabinet ministers also served as lecturers to the emperor, which meant they could lecture him. It was normal for them to speak favorably of the emperor at that time.

However, Yin Shidan openly broke this tacit understanding and used his close relationship with the Longqing Emperor to forcefully promote the Shaanxi-Gansu educational administration, which made the cabinet ministers present quite uncomfortable.

Zhang Juzheng, in particular, felt a surge of anger, but he quickly suppressed it.

Zhang Juzheng coldly replied, "Please proceed, Grand Secretary Yin!"

The people in the Imperial Secretariat present didn't dare to breathe loudly.

This controversy has made it impossible for the Gao Gong cabinet to even maintain a semblance of peace.

The political situation in the Ming Dynasty is about to become turbulent again.

(End of this chapter)