Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 85 Gao Banban, do you have any books like that...?
Zhu Youjian sat upright behind his desk, carefully reading the answer sheets that had just been collected.

Just now in the Wuying Hall, time was too short, so I only picked one article to read carefully.

Now, taking advantage of the moment when Xue Guoguan enters the palace, I can finally calm down and read carefully.

Of these answers, apart from a very small number that were still playing those superficial tricks, the vast majority were very realistic and detailed, truly deserving of his performance.

Zhu Youjian turned the pages one by one, his gaze completely unmoved.

One of the answers was written about the capital city. Although it was written in the standard official script, some words were written with bold, flowing ink, and the resentment could be said to be overflowing from the paper.

The inscription reads: "In the winter of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, he was preparing for the imperial examinations in the capital. Unable to bear the cold winter, he wanted to go out to buy charcoal."

But on the street in front of the gate, there was a constant stream of carriages and horses, and a group of people carrying food boxes blocked the entire street.

He initially thought something serious had happened, but after asking around, he learned that these were all servants of wealthy families in the city.

The carriage was carrying gold and silver, and the food box contained treasures.

Recently, it happened to be the time for the Lantern Festival, and all these people were going to pay their respects to the officials of the Military Command.

The man wrote indignantly at the end:

"Right next to the street is the Shuntian Prefectural School. We, the students, study hard every day and see this scene. What should we think?"

"The sage said that the superior man understands righteousness, while the inferior man understands profit. But nowadays, the inferior man occupies a high position in the court, while the superior man lives a life of seclusion in the countryside. What kind of world is this?"

Your words are truly sharp...

However, I wonder if there's a hint of resentment in this situation, that others get what they want while I don't.

And little friend, those "gentlemen" you think of are probably also greedy, just perhaps a little less, and they do it in a more refined way.

Zhu Youjian showed no reaction and picked up the next one.

The author of this answer sheet cited examples from his travels to Liaodong.

He did not offer a lengthy analysis of the Liaodong war situation, nor did he passionately proclaim his loyalty and righteousness; he simply described in a straightforward manner the scenes he witnessed in Liaodong.

"The residence of the Liaodong military general was magnificent in structure, the best in the city. It had multiple gates and rooms, was glittering with gold and jade, had strange carvings, and was extremely luxurious with painted walls and white walls."

"Since the Battle of Sarhu, over the past ten years, the imperial court has spent tens of millions of taels of silver, yet Liaodong remains in such a state of decay."

"How could such extravagance be supported by the mere salary of a military officer? Is there no evidence behind this that there is embezzlement of military pay, land consolidation, or false reporting and fraudulent claims?"

At the end of the answer sheet, only a brief conclusion was left: "The impossibility of the Liao affair can be seen from this mansion."

color!
Although it's still a bit too naive, being able to personally go to Liaodong and see the problems with the military generals is already a mediocre achievement.

Zhu Youjian's gaze lingered on the last line for a long time before he continued reading.

Some of the responses, though perhaps from individuals who hadn't traveled far, focused on more subtle rural areas.

“In every town and city today, there must be cunning and wicked people who lead a group of scoundrels to either open gambling dens or set up scams to harm the local people.”

“When monks or Taoist priests chanted Buddhist prayers, they would go door to door demanding money for incense; when festivals or fairs were held, they would force villagers to contribute money to help with the celebrations.”

“Even worse, some colluded with unscrupulous merchants to smuggle government-owned salt for huge profits, spread rumors and disturbed the peace of the surrounding neighborhoods, and did all sorts of things.”

"Behind these people, there are often retired local officials supporting them. Even if there are one or two honest and upright retired officials in the countryside who are unwilling to compromise their integrity, they can only protect themselves behind closed doors and live a life of idle talk. They can do nothing to help the overall situation and are powerless to reverse the situation."

……

Zhu Youjian read through the documents one by one.

Rampant thieves, hereditary clerks, dissolute Jiangnan scholars, and local gentry obsessed with annexation...

Fourteen questionnaires, forty-two “problems of the world”. Although the major topics of corruption, taxation and factional strife were mentioned most often, none of the specific cases described were repeated.

From the capital to the frontier towns, from the various aspects of official life to the lives of ordinary people in the countryside, a dense yet corrupt net had enveloped the entire Ming Dynasty, leaving no room for escape.

Finally, Zhu Youjian finished reading the last answer sheet.

He slowly leaned back in his chair and let out a satisfied sigh.

This answer sheet is a hundred times, a thousand times, more brilliant than the ten policies for governing the country and the ten policies for the capital that he has seen in the past few days!
After reading it, he finally had a vague understanding of this dynasty. The declining annual revenue of Taicang? The unpaid wages of the nine border regions? The deterioration of military equipment? These were all just the results of problems seen by the top echelons.

To view the problems of this long-standing dynasty solely through the lens of the millions of unpaid wages in the imperial court and the annual deficit in the treasury would be to be too superficial.

The entire dynasty was like a precision instrument that had been running for over two hundred years; every gear and every bearing had rusted and worn to its limit.

Emperor Wanli's decades-long neglect of state affairs by not attending court completely removed the lubrication and maintenance from this old machine.

Even if some repairs were made during the Apocalypse, it was merely a last gasp before the flames died down.

Even without the Jurchens or natural disasters, the Ming Dynasty would have perished sooner or later if it hadn't produced a figure like Zhang Juzheng.

However, Zhu Youjian is now curious about another issue.

Every organism has the instinct to repair itself.

A dynasty that lasted for more than two hundred years was no exception.

Judging from the people he has met since ascending the throne, setting aside some of his tendency to follow the crowd...

Many of them were not oblivious to the decline of the nation, and a few were even enthusiastic about it.

It is conceivable that the proportion of these people was probably even higher during the Wanli, Tianqi, and even earlier Jiajing reigns.

So what efforts did they make in the past?

What surgeries did these people perform on this crumbling, dying dynasty?

He turned his head and looked at Gao Shiming, the chief eunuch who was standing beside the imperial desk.

"Gao Shiming."

"Does the palace... have any books like that?" Zhu Youjian was momentarily at a loss for words to express his needs.

What he wanted to read were articles about how people of this era used their wisdom to think about and solve specific problems.

Instead of the Four Books and Five Classics or the Huabiao essays.

Seeing that the emperor seemed hesitant to speak, with a hint of hesitation in his expression, Gao Shiming quickly understood.

Hey... Your Majesty is still a boy after all...

He cautiously glanced around, and seeing that the other eunuchs were all standing at attention in the distance, he stepped forward, lowered his voice, and asked mysteriously in what he thought was an unspoken understanding:
"Your Majesty...you mean the picture album?"

Zhu Youjian was taken aback upon hearing this and frowned.

A catalog? What catalog?
Looking at Gao Shiming's furtive manner, he had no idea what the other party was up to.

Why does Gao Banban's expression suddenly look so lewd?

However, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he finally came up with a suitable description.

"What album!" he snapped irritably. "What I want is a compilation of memorials and policy essays from famous ministers throughout the dynasty. I want those that emphasize practical achievements and application to the world. And the more recent the memorials, the better."

Gao Shiming's smiling face, which had been beaming like a chrysanthemum, froze slightly, and he couldn't help but cough lightly.

"Ahem..." Gao Shiming bowed and said, "Your Majesty is probably referring to books like the 'Collection of Essays on Statecraft.' I will send someone to fetch them for Your Majesty's perusal."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand impatiently, signaling him to hurry up.

Watching Gao Shiming's almost hasty retreat, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but touch his newly grown short beard, savoring the conversation he had just had.

A catalog?

He was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized which kind of "picture album" Gao Shiming was referring to.

--Depend on!

Zhu Youjian cursed inwardly.

What kind of nonsense are those eunuchs thinking all day long!

What hasn't he seen? What moves hasn't he used? Does he really need to look at this antique painting album from the Ming Dynasty?
(End of this chapter)