Chapter 163: The Idea of Working the Land

Xu Guangqi left.

Zhu Youxiao watched Xu Guangqi's receding figure, his smile slowly fading. Finally he sat up straight, glanced at Chen Hong beside him, and said, "Has the Embroidered Uniform Guard already begun?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it has already begun." Chen Hong hastily bowed.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, said nothing more, and turned to rest.

At this very moment in Beijing, one place had become lively once again — the place where Chen Kedao had lectured last time. Countless people had gathered there once more.

Today's topic from Chen Kedao was rather sensitive — it concerned lecturing throughout the realm.

Chen Kedao believed that lecturing throughout the realm should rectify academic standards, thereby achieving the goal of changing social mores. As for how to rectify academic standards, that meant prohibiting private lecturing — in plain terms, not just anyone could come out and lecture; only those with proper qualifications could do so.

Moreover, not just any place could host lectures. Academies could not be opened by just anyone; they required permission from the court.

Only thus could one restore the source and clarify the root, achieving the goal of rectifying academic standards, and thereby cleansing people's hearts and purifying the world.

Once Chen Kedao put forth this proposal, it naturally stirred up an uproar, because this was yet another act of digging up graves.

How did many of the realm's factions come into being?

They relied on lecturing.

With a nominal master-disciple relationship, they then colluded with each other in officialdom, and these people were also all fellow townsmen. Because academies were built by fellow townsmen — especially those of powerful figures at court — they would use this method to enhance their prestige and cultivate juniors.

Once these juniors entered officialdom, they naturally became the powerful figures' born-and-bred partisans.

Under such circumstances, when Chen Kedao's arguments were brought out, they were bound to affect countless people, so for a time the opposition was quite fierce.

Even with Embroidered Uniform Guard personnel protecting Chen Kedao, it nearly sparked a riot.

Last time, because of this matter, quite a few people had been arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and were still locked up to this day.

This time they still made a fuss, with many people shouting slogans.

No one directly stuck their head out — they had learned their lesson, lest they be arrested on the spot by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. So they played the trick of "the law cannot punish the multitude."

In the end, the Embroidered Uniform Guard could barely maintain order and dispersed the crowd.

Everyone thought such behavior would stop, but no one expected it to continue.

At the next lecture, Chen Kedao spoke on the contributions of women.

Chen Kedao believed that a person's insight was determined by their learning, not by their gender. That is to say, women were not "long on hair, short on knowledge" — they simply had never had the opportunity to receive an education.

So Chen Kedao hoped to give women the chance to receive equal education, establishing academies that accepted only female students.

As soon as this argument came out, it stirred up another uproar. Countless people surged toward the lecture site, but this viewpoint won the support of quite a few women.

Because Chen Kedao did not subscribe to the notion that "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue," and his advocacy sounded very appealing.

And so the capital was in an uproar again, with many people running to the Shuntian Prefecture to lodge complaints.

The Shuntian Prefecture yamen was caught between a rock and a hard place. Any fool could see this matter was bound to blow up. Naturally, they could not just sit there and take it — the Shuntian Prefecture was usually treated like a punching bag, and they certainly would not stick their necks out for this affair.

So after these people were turned away at the Shuntian Prefecture's door, they raised a ruckus in the capital, and quite a few began stirring up trouble.

Such a commotion naturally affected the court.

Countless people submitted routine memorials impeaching Chen Kedao, saying he was propagating heretical doctrines, that someone like him should be knocked flat on the ground, and hoping Your Majesty would punish him and strictly forbid him from spreading such doctrines any further.

But not everyone at court opposed Chen Kedao. One matter was dredged back up — namely, the routine memorial previously submitted by Censor Zhu Tongmeng.

In Zhu Tongmeng's view, the root of the realm's chaos was private lecturing and those academies. So he had submitted a routine memorial long ago, hoping Your Majesty would prohibit private lecturing and order the destruction of all academies throughout the realm.

Under such circumstances, this matter was naturally brought to the table.

Of course, if no one had pushed this matter forward, Zhu Tongmeng's memorial might have sunk like a stone into the sea. But the Censorate was the one that brought it out.

Because many in the Censorate saw an opportunity in Chen Kedao's lectures this time — especially Cui Chengxiu and his ilk.

Cui Chengxiu and his group did not agree with Chen Kedao's doctrines; rather, they felt Chen Kedao's doctrines were useful to them.

For instance, prohibiting private lecturing and destroying all academies throughout the realm — these were things Cui Chengxiu and his group had always wanted to do. Wasn't the reason the Donglin Faction was so powerful precisely because they had academies as a crucial channel for deceiving people's hearts?

So the Censorate began impeaching, roughly writing along the lines of Zhu Tongmeng's doctrines, but they took a detour and attacked directly from the angle of forming cliques for private gain.

Once they began their attack, people were bound to step forward in opposition, because these people would not easily let them destroy the academies.

For a time, the court was in a welter of noise and commotion.

Amid this atmosphere of public opinion, Zhu Youxiao lounged sideways on his daybed, various plates of fruit set out around him, occasionally reaching out to toss a candied fruit into his mouth.

Unlike later ages, there was no fresh fruit to eat now, but candied fruit was still quite good.

Still, he had eaten a bit too much candied fruit these past two days — it was too sweet, and he was feeling rather cloyed.

So Zhu Youxiao picked up a frozen pear.

The frozen pear was black on the outside, its outer ice already removed with cold water.

Zhu Youxiao held the frozen pear with a silk handkerchief and gently bit through its skin. The cool, refreshing juice instantly rushed into his mouth.

Zhu Youxiao was thoroughly satisfied — this was exactly the taste he wanted.

Perhaps he should produce large sheets of glass and use glass to build greenhouses. Then he would have fresh vegetables and fruit to eat, supplementing his vitamins and keeping his body strong.

As for using glass to make crafts and trinkets to sell, Zhu Youxiao didn't bother thinking about that. There was already quite a lot on the market, and the high-end market was saturated.

Back in the day, when Zheng He sailed the western seas, he captured quite a few craftsmen who knew how to make glass. After so many years of development, these people could now skillfully fire glass products.

Things like wine cups and wine pots were doable — the only thing they couldn't manage was large-scale mass production of big glass sheets. As for selling glass at the price of gold, that could only be dreamed of in one's head.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao naturally didn't have much enthusiasm for glass products.

Greenhouses, on the other hand — Zhu Youxiao felt those were worth doing.

Once he produced large sheets of glass, he could establish greenhouses outside major cities in the imperial name, gathering up refugee commoners to tend them.

First, it would win people's hearts; second, it would generate revenue.

The Ming had no shortage of wealthy people now. Selling these fresh fruits and vegetables at high prices wouldn't lack a market. Of course, this mainly targeted the north — in the south, it wouldn't work.

But in the south, glass greenhouses could be used to grow flowers, and then fresh flowers could be used to make perfume — that still had potential. As for whether it would work, that depended on his own execution.

This was mainly for gathering up refugee commoners, and it could be operated through the imperial hand — establishing a government office similar to the Imperial Household Department, quietly infiltrating commerce under the banner of "doing good for the people," engaging in business affairs, and later branching out by analogy.

Once this snowball started rolling, it would become state capital in the future.

A state-owned capital that has grown strong, a state-owned capital that can use administrative power to oppress local governments—that is a monster, and no commercial organization can resist it.

You collude with merchants as officials; I, as the Emperor, collude with merchants.

Come on then, if you don't accept it, let's have a fight!

Zhu Youxiao fantasized, and a smile involuntarily spread across his face.

It had to be said, this matter really could be pursued.

Zhu Youxiao wasn't even afraid of competition—even if the secret formula for making large glass leaked out, no one would dare to touch it.

This wasn't a question of intellectual property; it was a question of life and death.

Your Majesty does this for the poor common people of the world; you do this—for what?

To make money?

Then you are contending for profit against the common people of the world and against Your Majesty—are you tired of living?

Besides, this technology belongs to Your Majesty. You developed it? Where did you get it from? If you say you developed it yourself, the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard won't believe it. I'll just say your family stole it—what are you going to do about it?

"Your Majesty, several Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat request an audience." Chen Hong came to Zhu Youxiao's side and spoke softly.

Seeing his master sitting there beaming with joy, Chen Hong knew His Majesty was in a good mood, so he relaxed considerably himself.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong, and the smile on his face vanished instantly as he shot him a fierce glare.

Interrupting my good fortune!

But Zhu Youxiao also knew he couldn't bring this matter up openly. After glaring at Chen Hong once more, he said expressionlessly, "Let them in."

Chen Hong felt somewhat wronged. As he walked out, he pondered—His Majesty had clearly been in a good mood just a moment ago, so why the sudden change of face? Truly, the imperial temper was unfathomable.

After a moment's thought, Chen Hong concluded that the problem wasn't with himself—it must be with someone else. It seemed His Majesty didn't want to see the Grand Secretaries. He'd better keep his distance from them, so that if they got scolded, he wouldn't be dragged into it.

After Chen Hong left, Zhu Youxiao mulled over his idea of building glass greenhouses, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

He could even use this method to send his own people out to the localities, and then he could make a big profit.

Once this department resembling an imperial household office was promoted to various places, the space for him to maneuver would be enormous.

As for the problem of land—simple. Just arrest a few corrupt officials and seize the property of some profiteering merchants in various places. Whether it was land for the greenhouses or startup capital, it would all come from there.

There was no difficulty here, and the operational complexity wasn't high either. Both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot could handle it. By then, gathering up a batch of refugees and commoners would be the foundation of his control over the localities.

If anyone wanted to make trouble, these displaced commoners would all support him—just thinking about it was delightful. He'd look into the feasibility later, and if it could be done, he'd go for it.

While Zhu Youxiao was pondering reaching out toward the land, several Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat had already walked in from outside.

Their expressions were all quite grave. With so many noisy disturbances happening outside, they were naturally overwhelmed and frazzled.

"Your subjects pay respects to Your Majesty." After seeing Zhu Youxiao, the group, led by Han Kuang, bowed to him in salute.