Top Scholar

Chapter 643 We cannot betray our ancestors!
The imperial procession led the palanquin slowly into Xizhimen. The common people parted to make way for the roadside, kneeling in a dense mass, not daring to look up at the emperor's face...

Inside the imperial carriage, Zhu Houzhao sat cross-legged on the throne, listening intently to Su Lu's boasting.

"In the future, we will rely on the power of our guns and cannons to compete with foreign nations for the ownership of the world. How can we allow such a small country to arbitrarily divide up the world? Have they even asked His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming?"

"Hahaha, that's right!" Zhu Houzhao placed his hands on his knees, looking around with self-satisfaction, and said, "In the future, I will bring that damned Pope before me, make him kneel on his horse, and ask him one question—who gave you the courage to divide my Great Ming Dynasty with the Portuguese?!"

“Yes, yes, that’s what you call making the most of resources!” Su Lu nodded emphatically.

After the emperor had finished fantasizing, he changed the subject and said quietly:
"However, I believe that such a powerful weapon is unnecessary for quelling rebellions in the interior..."

Zhu Houzhao paused, raising an eyebrow at him: "Oh? What do you mean?"

"Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?" Su Lu said seriously, "Those rebelling refugees are mostly people who can't afford to eat. They have no armor, and they can't even gather a decent steel knife. On the other hand, the government troops are fully armored, equipped with bows and horses. With their current equipment alone, they are more than enough to crush them."

"Therefore, I believe that if we cannot subdue the rioters in this way, it will be of no use to give them even the best weapons." Su Lu paused, then said earnestly, "On the contrary, they may fall into the hands of the rebels, making them even more difficult to deal with."

“That’s true.” Zhu Houzhao nodded. “Those former Imperial Guards could really sell all their equipment for money.”

"Therefore, using these expensive new firearms to quell internal strife is a losing proposition. Moreover, most of those killed by a single shot are ordinary people who should be paying taxes and performing corvée labor for the court. This is not quelling a rebellion, but destroying homes!"

“Brother, there’s something wrong with what you’re saying.” Zhu Houzhao frowned slightly and said, “Even without your firearms, the government troops will still kill a lot of people when they quell the rebellion. Are you saying that’s undermining the foundation of the Ming Dynasty?”

The atmosphere on the imperial carriage suddenly turned somber. Zhu Houzhao wasn't targeting Su Lu specifically, but rather the endless stream of civil unrest had become unbearable for him…

In fact, Su Lu has always adhered to the principle of "not saying anything that displeases the emperor, and not doing anything that displeases the emperor," which is why he has won the emperor's favor and become extremely popular.

But there are things you can't keep quiet about, even if it displeases the Emperor...

If you don't say what you should say, you'll truly become a treacherous minister.

"..." Su Lu did not answer Zhu Houzhao directly, but sighed and said, "Your Majesty, I have to repeat myself again. The root cause of the endless rebellions in various provinces has never been how good the rebels are at fighting, but that the people have no food to eat."

"We've explained the reasons many times already, so there's no need to elaborate... In short, both natural disasters and man-made calamities have reached their extremes. People are destitute, selling their children, and the government is utterly powerless to provide relief. Meanwhile, those who have the ability to help are standing by coldly, refusing to contribute a single penny!" His tone deepened, and his expression became grave.

"The result was that the common people didn't want a change of dynasty at all; they just wanted to survive. But to survive, the only way was to join the rebels and plunder the local tyrants and wealthy families..."

He said, unable to contain his grief and indignation:

"Your Majesty, we must recognize where the real enemy is! We cannot shift all the blame onto innocent civilians, first causing their families to be destroyed, then beheading them, and then making them bear the stigma of traitors..."

Su Lu's voice choked with emotion, yet he boldly declared, "Your Majesty, in other dynasties, these people can be called rebels, but in our dynasty, we cannot."

"Why?" Zhu Houzhao asked, puzzled.

"Your Majesty, remember the ancestors and think about the original intentions of the founding emperor..." After saying this, Su Lu consciously lay down on the ground, his back sweating profusely.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao was struck dumb, finally remembering how his Zhu family had come to rule. How had his founding emperor fallen to the tragic state of starting with just a bowl of rice…

Emperor Taizu was poor from a young age and worked as a cowherd for a landlord. A great disaster caused the deaths of his parents and brothers, leaving him with no land to settle down. He had no choice but to become a monk. Soon after, the temple ran out of food, so he had to beg for alms and wander around. When he was at his wit's end, he joined the Red Turbans.

If we consider the common people who cannot survive and are forced to rebel as traitors, then what about Emperor Taizu, who founded the Ming Dynasty?
Therefore, we should maintain a certain degree of tolerance for the people's rebellion caused by officials' oppression, at least we should keep our mouths clean and avoid offending the emperor, and we should also avoid the tragedy of Emperor Taizu from being repeated, so that the world will not be forced to produce another Zhu Chongba!

However, Su Lu's words were too harsh; the emperor might be furious and even throw him off the carriage...

However, he underestimated his opponent, and Zhu Houzhao fully understood his good intentions.

The emperor did not ask him to rise, but instead descended from his throne and sat side by side with him on the carpet, asking softly, "Do you disagree with the court's policy of suppressing the rebellion?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I believe we should not take a one-size-fits-all approach." Su Lu then said in a deep voice, "Instead, we should differentiate between those who commit heinous crimes, such as burning, killing, looting, and plundering, and we should mercilessly wipe them out. We should even take this opportunity to clean up the local tyrants and restore peace and order to the people!"

“But those civilians who were forced into thievery should be treated leniently as long as they are willing to lay down their weapons and return to their former lives as beasts of burden,” Su Lu said in a low voice. “Pfft, don’t put it so harshly,” Zhu Houzhao couldn’t help but laugh.

"The words may be rough, but the principle is sound." Su Lu said seriously, "People treat cattle and horses as their important property, making sure they are well-fed and watered, not overworked, and taking them to the vet when they are sick. Your Majesty, who can do the same for the people?"

“Alright…” Zhu Houzhao nodded and sighed, “In that case, it really can’t compare.”

"Therefore, the fault doesn't lie with the people, but with the world, with those who make it impossible for them to survive! We can't cut off the leg when the arm is sick; we can't treat the disease where it is!" Su Lu emphasized again.

"The common people and the emperor are naturally on the same side. They hope that the emperor can uphold justice and protect them so that they can have a way to survive. If we simply resort to bloody suppression, we will only become accomplices of local tyrants and evil gentry. Isn't this destroying our own foundation? Isn't this making our own people suffer and our enemies rejoice?"

“That makes sense.” Zhu Houzhao nodded, understanding Su Lu’s meaning, and asked in a low voice, “Are you saying that the key to quelling the civil unrest lies in the granaries of those wealthy households, not in our cannons?”

"Your Majesty is wise." Su Lu nodded and said, "In my opinion, the most urgent task is to issue an edict ordering wealthy households to open their granaries for relief! Think about the temples in the capital that we confiscated last year. How rich they were! Those landlords and wealthy households had granaries full of grain, but they would rather let it rot and throw it away than give it to the people."

"Those who are rich but heartless deserve to die!" Zhu Houzhao nodded emphatically, gritting his teeth as he said, "I will immediately instruct Liu Jin to make wealthy households donate grain for disaster relief! Anyone who refuses to donate can just wait for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to come knocking on their door!"

“Even if fundraising doesn’t go smoothly, we can shift the blame to the wealthy and let the common people know that they are the ones who are stingy!” Su Lu said coldly, “We can’t let them be the good guys while the court is the bad guys.”

"I understand. I'll have Liu Jin adjust the strategy." Zhu Houzhao patted his lower back and said, "Aren't you going to get up? Don't kneel anymore. It hurts me to see you like that."

Su Lu thought to himself, "Then you should have let me get up sooner." After thanking the emperor, he sat down cross-legged and said, "Whether it's a real surrender or a fake one, we should try our best to stabilize the situation and prevent any major chaos. As long as we can get through this once-in-a-millennium drought, the situation will definitely improve."

"But when will the drought end?" Zhu Houzhao asked, lacking confidence. "Just this month, the court provided relief for the spring famine in Zhejiang. They allocated 62,000 taels of silver to Nanjing as reserve funds and also suspended 60,000 taels of miscellaneous payments for the year..."

"And with the addition of Huguang and Suzhou-Songjiang, all the lands of fish and rice have suffered from the disaster." As he spoke, he pressed his hands to his temples and wailed in distress, "What on earth is going on? Is it really as they say, that God has a problem with me?"

"If you have a problem with someone, deal with them. Why bother with the people of the world?" Su Lu's tone was much more relaxed as he said calmly, "Besides, your power is so small, why should you bear all the responsibility?"

"Hey, that makes sense." Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up, and he patted Su Lu's shoulder hard, saying, "You really know how to comfort people. That's right, my decrees don't even leave Beijing, so why should I be responsible for the disasters across the country? It doesn't make sense!"

“It’s illogical to begin with. Your Majesty should stay true to your original intentions and not be swayed by such nonsense,” Su Lu said with a slight smile.

"I've already done a great job, okay? It's been four years of drought before I started to feel the strain." After stopping the internal strife, Zhu Houzhao started to boast again.

"Actually, Your Majesty doesn't need to worry about the current situation. We have money, soldiers, and imperial estates for growing grain. We can sit back and relax, continue to strengthen our troops, expand our elite forces, and watch with a cold eye as those gentry and wealthy families are tortured to death by the rebel army," Su Lu said in a low voice.

"The officials and gentry should be worried; their homes are the targets of the rebel army's attacks. Once they can't hold out any longer and beg the Emperor for help, then we can discuss the terms properly."

"Yes, I'll listen to you," Zhu Houzhao agreed. "Anyway, I only have less than 50,000 troops. We also have to be prepared for the little prince to attack at any time; there's no way I can quell the rebellion."

"So Your Majesty should eat and drink as you please and not worry about so much." Su Lu completely cured Zhu Houzhao's mental exhaustion.

“That’s right, eat and drink as you please. I’ll come to your house for a good meal tonight.” Zhu Houzhao wholeheartedly agreed. “I’ve been starving lately and have lost weight. My aunt needs to be properly nourished.”

"No problem."

~~
The next day, Zhu Houzhao summoned Liu Jin and instructed him: "My lord, I've thought about it again, and focusing on suppression is going too far."

“Your Majesty, in times of chaos, harsh measures are necessary! To correct a wrong, one must go to extremes!” Liu Jin became anxious upon hearing this: “You can’t let that Scholar Su lead you astray! Those scholars keep talking about benevolence and love for the people, but when it comes to suppressing rebellions, they are more ruthless than anyone else.”

"Alright." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand impatiently. "What kind of person do you take me for? Scholar Su is too busy to bother with these trivial matters."

He looked up at the caisson ceiling of the palace for a long time, then sighed deeply and said, "It reminds me of what my family went through before I became emperor. The common people were just looking for a way to survive because they had no food. What crime did they commit?"

"Yes..." Liu Jin saw that the emperor had even brought up the founding emperor, so how could he dare to say anything more? He quickly and respectfully agreed.

(End of this chapter)