Chapter 1086

Zhu Yijun had been keeping a close watch on everything happening in the Sun family. Everything that occurred in the Sun family was merely a silhouette of the infighting among the many wealthy and powerful families of the Great Ming. There were too many similar cases like the Sun family, constantly occurring in the past, the present, and the future.

Sun Kehong chose to send his second son to prison for execution for the sake of the Sun family's continuity. He paid such a heavy price for this, and even expelled his third and fourth sons to prevent the infighting from escalating further.

Sun Kehong was so decisive, but the Sun family's infighting would not end. Even he himself knew that the infighting would erupt and escalate again following his death.

The history of the rise and fall of the most luxurious family in Songjiang Prefecture was also the history of the rise and fall of many luxurious families in the Great Ming. The reason Zhu Yijun was so concerned about this matter was simple: because the basic principle of social operation is like monkeys climbing a tree—if the monkeys at the top refuse to come down, the monkeys at the bottom cannot go up.

Sun Kehong led the Sun family to become the number one wealthy family, but as the infighting began and escalated, the Sun family fell apart, and new monkeys came to take his place.

The Emperor unconditionally favored the poor and the laborers because the powerful and wealthy acted as exploiters in production, gnawing to the bone and marrow, and being driven solely by profit. But the Emperor was also very clear, and even more so acknowledged, the importance of the powerful and wealthy, because they acted as organizers in production and were important participants in the construction of social order.

Unconditional favoritism toward the poor and laborers was the result of class stance, class identity, and preference selection. Acknowledging the importance of the powerful and wealthy was because of the current reality, which required someone to act as the organizer of production.

The official factories led by the Great Ming could not accommodate all the craftsmen in the world; they needed more civilian workshops to participate. Moreover, the official factories mainly maintained their productivity and competitiveness by absorbing craftsmen from civilian workshops. Without enough civilian workshops, there would be no sufficiently strong official factories.

Wang Chonggu had repeatedly mentioned this many times while he was alive: official factories also needed competition; otherwise, they would head toward destruction under rigidity and bloat.

Regarding the position of the General Manager of the Songjiang Ocean Trading Firm, there were now two choices. One was Xing Yanyou, who liked long-distance running. The reason the proprietors of the Trade Alliance would push for him was simply because Xing Yanyou understood nothing.

A person like Hake, who was skilled in agriculture, would not be appointed as the Minister of Agriculture; a young Humphrey who did not understand the law would be put in charge of the Ministry of Justice. If Xing Yanyou, who had never been to sea, were made General Manager, then Xing Yanyou would only be able to obey these proprietors' every command.

Because Xing Yanyou lacked sufficient experience and background, he was completely unable to effectively oppose the orders of the proprietors. Xing Yanyou was a smart man; he immediately went to pay his respects to Chen Jingyi. As long as Chen Jingyi was willing to provide guidance, he wouldn't end up looking too ugly after becoming General Manager.

The proprietors of the trading firm actually did not like Chen Jingyi; this person was too ruthless. While Sun Kehong was alive, he could still suppress him, but once Sun Kehong died, there would be no one left to control Chen Jingyi. Since the disobedient Chen Jingyi had made a mistake and left, this time they wanted to replace him with someone obedient.

The second candidate was Dai Shi Heng, a Jinshi from the seventeenth year of Wanli. This Dai Shi Heng was a Fujian native, extremely upright in character. He served as a surveillance official for three years and then transferred to become the Magistrate of Xinjian, where he had a very virtuous reputation. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue recommended him as General Manager.

The intentions of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue were very clear: since everyone wanted an outsider to be this General Manager, the imperial court might as well appoint one directly.

Among these two candidates, Zhu Yijun chose and chose, and ultimately selected Xing Yanyou instead of Dai Shi Heng. Of course, it was not that Zhu Yijun had any objections to Dai Shi Heng; he appointed Dai Shi Heng as the Magistrate of Shanghai County, which was a position of heavy responsibility.

"As for the position of General Manager, it should still be left to the people to decide." Zhu Yijun chose to respect the joint recommendation of the trading firm's proprietors rather than having the imperial court bestow it.

The reason for this choice was actually simple: the scholar-officials of the Great Ming did not understand how to conduct business at all, let alone how to trade. Being a merchant meant pursuing profit, being driven solely by profit. Anyone who spoke of morality in commercial competition would end up in a crushing defeat.

It was precisely because the yamen did not understand business that the Songjiang Prefecture Yamen had become the major proprietor back then, rather than directly managing the trading firm, which would have caused the firm to lose its autonomy and flexibility.

And today, Zhu Yijun chose to continue this way, without making any changes.

Moreover, once Dai Shi Heng became this General Manager, his life would be over.

This was not the Emperor trying to make things difficult for Dai Shi Heng, but rather that once he was stained with the smell of copper, it would be very difficult for him to be promoted again. A gentleman is ashamed to speak of profit—this was a moral accusation. There was also a concrete, realistic consideration: once Dai Shi Heng became this General Manager, he would have a close relationship with these powerful and wealthy people.

Having close relationships and dealings with the powerful and wealthy was not just unfavorable for progress; it made progress impossible. Firstly, the Emperor had prejudices against the powerful and wealthy, and in the overall trend of the imperial court, these bureaucrats who were close to the powerful and wealthy found it very difficult to be entrusted with important tasks.

Secondly, the Anti-Corruption Office watched them every day. Let alone being investigated several times, even one investigation would be enough to make one's heart unable to bear it.

After several years of development, that yamen, the Anti-Corruption Office, was even more terrifying than the gates of hell.

Once a person went in, there would be no news at all. What crime they committed, how serious it was, how it should be dealt with, who to ask for information, how to pull strings to get someone out, whether the person was still alive, etc. —not a single bit of news could get out.

Compared to the Anti-Corruption Office, Zhang Juzheng's Method of Examination and Assessment, no matter how one looked at it, was very benevolent. Zhang Juzheng was merely putting a halter on officials to make them work hard, but this Anti-Corruption Office was essentially holding a knife to the officials' throats.

And the preparation for the Anti-Corruption Office began after Hence Hai Rui returned to the capital to take charge of anti-corruption, and it was only officially established after he passed away.

The Anti-Corruption Office once detained a corrupt official, and he was locked up for four years without a single bit of news. Finally, when the corruption case was fully investigated and the verdict was announced, even the person himself felt a sense of relief.

That terrifying atmosphere was no less than that of the Dissection Institute.

People are really not as brave as they imagine themselves to be. Once they sit in the Regret Chair, they don't even need to be tortured; with just a few words, they confess everything. Once targeted by the Anti-Corruption Office, one should never expect to have a peaceful night's sleep for the rest of their life.

Once Dai Shi Heng became this General Manager, he would become a target for the Anti-Corruption Office in the future. This life, for anyone, would not be a life worth living.

Dai Shi Heng was another heavyweight figure at the end of the Wanli era. For example, during the Jizhou Mutiny, when Regional Commander Wang Bao slaughtered the southern troops left behind by Qi Jiguang, Dai Shi Heng cried out for justice for these soldiers, believing that if one wants to condemn someone, one can always find a pretext. He was also a participant in the Succession Dispute and the Case of the Demon Books.

And when Zhu Yijun saw this name, he thought of the absurd affairs of the Wanli Emperor.

In the forty-second year of Wanli, two major events occurred in the Great Ming Dynasty. The first major event was the passing of Empress Dowager Rensheng, Empress Dowager Li, and the second was the Prince of Fu taking up his fief. Both were major events.

The Great Ming was able to pass through the years of a young ruler and a suspicious nation peacefully because Empress Dowager Li had the merit of stabilizing the state. It was Empress Dowager Li who drove away Gao Gong.

Empress Dowager Li passed away, and her coffin was sent for burial at the Zhao Mausoleum to be interred with the Emperor Muzong. However, the Wanli Emperor did not personally preside over the funeral, nor did he personally send her off. At the funeral, Dai Shi Heng insisted on asking the Wanli Emperor, who was staying behind closed doors and neglecting his duties, to personally send her off.

He said: "The love between mother and son is the most profound; sending off the dead is a major event. How can you begrudge a few steps of effort within the inner court? Now that the burial is complete, I hope Your Majesty will lean on a staff to welcome the spirit tablet, so as to slightly comfort the spirit of the Holy Mother and answer the expectations of the subjects."

The meaning of these words was: your mother is being buried, and you, her own son, won't even send her off, begrudging the effort of your feet. If your mother's spirit in heaven knew, how would she look at you? How would all the people and officials under heaven look at you? Are you even a human being?!

In the end, Dai Shi Heng did not manage to get the Wanli Emperor to come out, and there was no response at all, just like the past few decades; the memorials entered the palace and were like stones sinking into the sea, with no news at all.

This kind of silence made people despair. Even if the Wanli Emperor had been furious, it would have been better than being read and not replied to.

At that time, the Wanli Emperor had been neglecting his duties for nearly twenty-five years. Anyone with eyes could see the corruption of state affairs, and that the Great Ming was about to perish.

The second event: the Wanli Emperor's most favored son, the Prince of Fu, was to take up his fief. In the twenty-ninth year of Wanli, the Wanli Emperor had already built a huge Prince of Fu's Mansion in Luoyang City!

But the Prince of Fu's taking up his fief was dragged out until the forty-second year because the Wanli Emperor still wanted to pass the throne to the Prince of Fu.

The Wanli Emperor gave the Prince of Fu twenty thousand qing of land, a full two million mu, and granted him the profits from horse shops, salt shops, charcoal factories, bamboo factories, and other interests. Dai Shi Heng submitted another memorial in opposition.

Dai Shi Heng's words were truly harsh and very long. The gist was: the Great Ming is already in this state, and you are still giving the Prince of Fu so much land. Are there still so many fields in Henan to give to the Prince of Fu? It is truly a sin to entrust the nation to a monarch like you!

This finally annoyed the Wanli Emperor, and the Wanli Emperor gave a response.

Dai Shi Heng was also a participant in the Succession Dispute and the Case of the Demon Books, so the Wanli Emperor directly convicted him, exiled him, and sent him to guard the border. Three years later, Dai Shi Heng died at his post.

The Han Dynasty's empire truly never lacked loyal and upright officials who dared to pierce through the window paper and did not fear power. However, when the imperial court was dim, these loyal and upright officials were all misplaced.

Just as Chen Zhun said, once these loyal and upright officials were all dead, the Great Ming's empire and state would be finished. And where could there be so many loyal and upright officials who could withstand unlimited consumption?

For the imperial dynasty, loyal officials capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities were a precious resource that was renewable but slow.

Dai Shi Heng could not even be considered a truly upright official; there was still a very, very large gap between him and people like Shen Li and Hence Hai Rui. He participated in the Succession Dispute and the Case of the Demon Books because he also wanted to advance and had his own objectives, but he could still be considered a person of great courage.

Pointing at the Emperor and scolding him for not being a human being required courage.

Zhu Yijun granted an audience to Dai Shi Heng and explained to him why he was the Magistrate of Shanghai County instead of the General Manager of the Ocean Trading Firm. Songjiang Prefecture was a matter of great importance, and within Songjiang Prefecture, Shanghai County accounted for eighty percent of the weight.

This position was extremely critical. Of course, the Emperor had to personally grant an audience to appoint officials. At the same time, there was a batch of external officials to be appointed, and the Emperor had to grant audiences to these external officials one by one.

"Your subject kowtows to thank the vast imperial grace!" Dai Shi Heng was extremely excited. He said submissively: "To be a pioneer for the King, your subject is extremely honored. Even if I were transferred to be General Manager, your subject would have no complaints or regrets. Eating the monarch's salary, I will be loyal to the monarch's affairs to repay the Holy Son of Heaven's heart of revitalization."

"You get up and speak." This was the third time Zhu Yijun had excused Dai Shi Heng from the rites. This person kowtowed as soon as he entered the door, so excited that he couldn't even communicate stably.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Dai Shi Heng finally stood up. It had been six years; he had been a Jinshi for six years, and finally, he saw the Emperor for the second time. The last time was during his palace examination.

How many Jinshi in their lifetime could only see the Emperor that one time, and even that one time, they couldn't see him? Before the Wanli Reform, the Emperor might not even personally attend the palace examination.

"Sit down and speak, drink some tea first." Zhu Yijun told Dai Shi Heng to calm down; otherwise, this audience couldn't proceed. In his excitement, no matter how talented Dai Shi Heng was, he couldn't say a thing.

From Dai Shi Heng's movements, behavior, and expressions, Zhu Yijun only saw one word: fanaticism.

This fanaticism made Zhu Yijun feel a bit unfamiliar, and he even didn't know how to deal with this emotion.

The Jinshi who grew up and passed the examinations after the Wanli Reform gradually walked onto the stage of history. Their fanaticism toward the Emperor was a fanaticism of sacrificing their lives to repay the imperial grace.

For Dai Shi Heng, who was before him, the Emperor was worth his fanatical following, even at the cost of his life.

This kind of fanaticism was much more terrifying than that of religious fanatics. Religious fanatics worked hard for a god they couldn't see, but the Great Ming Emperor was not only visible but could also speak and listen to the holy teachings.

"Have you calmed down?" Zhu Yijun waited until Dai Shi Heng had finished a cup of tea before asking with a smile.

"No..." Dai Shi Heng sat on the edge of the stool, not even sitting fully. As soon as he heard the Emperor's inquiry, he immediately answered, his emotions still very excited.

"Then drink another cup of tea." Zhu Yijun told Dai Shi Heng to calm down a bit more. He took a moment to read two memorials and gave his vermilion comments.

Zhu Yijun waited for Dai Shi Heng to drink another cup of tea and asked again: "Calm?"

"No." Dai Shi Heng still answered the question truthfully; he was still very excited.

"I have two eyes and one mouth, what is there to be curious about? What are you excited about?" Zhu Yijun finally stopped giving Dai Shi Heng time to calm down and asked directly.

Dai Shi Heng stammered, and finally, a thousand words converged into one sentence, which he said loudly: "Your Majesty... the Great Ming has been revitalized!"

Although the Emperor never acknowledged it, twenty-three years after the Wanli Reform, today, the Great Ming's national strength had already surpassed the prosperity of the Yongle era. After all, Zhu Di had established a Guard Command in the Red Sea back then; the Emperor hadn't achieved that yet.

But the scholar-officials of the Great Ming were very certain. For example, Dai Shi Heng could see that the Great Ming had truly been revitalized, and even this time, the common people had also had a taste of the soup. This soup really wasn't much, but at least the Dinghai School System, the Salary Cutting Office, the post roads, etc., were all being built bit by bit.

Making the Great Ming great again included everyone in the Great Ming. The Emperor kept his word; he said it included the poor and laborers, and he never dared to forget it.

Ye Xianggao was a typical example of such fanaticism. The Emperor told him to go to Jilin, and he went to Jilin to eat the wind and snow without a word, and he worked hard without complaint. In places that many officials avoided, Ye Xianggao had no complaints, not a single word of grumbling.

A thousand words converged into one sentence: the Great Ming had truly been revitalized, rather than dying in shame.

Could people living in an era of great change see the decline of national power? The answer was yes, because that was a pain that cut to the bone, a pain that truly cut into the body.

The decline of national power was as painful as a knife cutting flesh. People living in this era could feel this pain and the threat of death even more.

Since the Japanese pirate troubles and the Hu raids of the Jiajing era, how many people of lofty ideals had been near despair? Even in the eyes of many, the Great Ming was already dead, it was just that this behemoth would take some time to fall.

Dai Shi Heng looked at the various memorials piled up like a small mountain on the table. The Emperor's imperial desk was a bit messy, but messy was right! Messy made people feel at ease!

Whose study was neat and tidy? It must be that they never read books to be neat!

"You drink tea while I read two memorials because I still have to inspect the troops in the afternoon. Forget it, the more I explain, the messier it gets." Zhu Yijun found that it would have been better if he hadn't explained; as soon as he explained, Dai Shi Heng's eyes changed, so he hurriedly stopped his words.

He was really a bit busy in the afternoon. Besides inspecting the troops, he also had to go to the completion of the fourth phase of the Songjiang Shipyard's dock and the foundation laying of the fifth phase.

He didn't think he was very busy. He did these things every day, and he had been doing them for more than twenty years. After gaining rich experience, he was able to handle them with ease, and he really didn't think he was very busy.

Dai Shi Heng's appearance clearly made smooth communication impossible. Zhu Yijun let Dai Shi Heng leave. He finished processing today's memorials and handed them over to the cabinet ministers and officials of the Six Ministries who were accompanying him south.

Zhu Yijun was busy all day, and the next day he granted an audience to Dai Shi Heng again. Dai Shi Heng was finally not so excited anymore, but his dark circles were very serious, and there were many bloodshot eyes in his eyes. It seemed that Dai Shi Heng didn't have a good night's sleep last night either.

Dai Shi Heng's spirit changed from excitement to slight agitation. He was originally a quick-witted person, and he answered fluently, expounding his understanding of Shanghai County one by one, especially his plans for Shanghai County—dredging canals, building bridges and wharves, etc. —all of which had his own ideas.

Zhu Yijun thought Dai Shi Heng's fanaticism was an extremely individual phenomenon, but as Zhu Yijun granted audiences to a batch of Jinshi and appointed them to go to various places as officials, he found that many Jinshi of the Wanli era, especially those after the fifteenth year of Wanli, all had this fanaticism to some extent, and a few were even more terrifying than Dai Shi Heng.

In the fifteenth year of Wanli, the Great Ming began the implementation of the Dinghai School System. It was also that year that the Great Ming won victory after victory on the Korean battlefield, driving the Japanese pirates into the sea and not letting them land.

"Can one take revenge after nine generations? Even a hundred generations is fine. The Kingly Way restores the ancient, respects the King, and expels the barbarians. A ten-generation feud can still be avenged." After meeting this batch of external officials, Zhu Yijun sighed from the bottom of his heart.

This was an allusion from the "Gongyang Commentary."

During the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Xiang of Qi, in order to avenge his ninth-generation ancestor, Duke Ai of Qi, who died due to the slander of the Marquis of Ji, destroyed the State of Ji to take revenge.

This matter caused very extensive discussion at the time. According to the concepts of the time, a feud would disappear after five generations—that is, no matter what the feud was, after five generations, it could no longer be pursued.

But soon, Gongyang Gao shouted this famous saying that ran through the long river of history: A ten-generation feud can still be avenged.

Private grievances should indeed be put down after five generations, but national feuds could be extended indefinitely. They could cross a hundred years, a thousand years, a hundred generations to pursue this blood debt, because national feuds were not private grievances; they were the dignity of the imperial dynasty and the foundation of the imperial dynasty's construction.

Looking at the practices of successive dynasties after the Spring and Autumn period, one could find that the concept of great revenge had never been eliminated; it was an undercurrent that ran through the long river of history and could not be ignored.

"Confucianism urges people to be benevolent, urges people to be good, urges to treat distant people gently. It has urged for two thousand years, yet this concept of great revenge is still prevalent." Zhu Yijun also clicked his tongue in wonder.

From the fanaticism of Dai Shi Heng and other new Jinshi, one could see that Confucianism had not completed its discipline of people, and even if it later alienated into Confucianism, it could not complete the discipline.

Treat distant people gently? It had been gentle for decades, and it was gentle enough to have Dayan Khan raid the borders and Altan Khan. The correctness of treating distant people gently was shouted loudly by scholar-officials, but what they thought in their hearts could be seen from the attitude of Dai Shi Heng and this batch of Jinshi.

After the Emperor truly completed the revenge for the national feud, he immediately gained support, and even the scholar-officials who liked scolding the Emperor the most were left with only fanaticism.

The correct slogans should still be shouted, but when truly putting them into practice, actions would express the true attitude. Zhu Yijun remembered again how Ye Xianggao used his pen to write for Governor Ling Yunyi, using the Spring and Autumn style to gloss over all the killings Governor Ling Yunyi had committed.

Just because Governor Ling Yunyi destroyed the Japanese pirates and avenged Ye Xianggao's family, Ye Xianggao dared to do such a taboo thing.

Zhu Yijun adjusted his soft rattan chair slightly, adjusted to a more comfortable position, opened Li Ya's "On China," and read it carefully. Zhu Yijun had already read this book countless times, and he felt that this guy was just left with the shell of a barbarian.