Chapter 182: The Contradiction of the Great Ming

Yin Zhengmao's opposition was not without cause; it was based on realistic considerations. The most important task for the Great Ming at present is to achieve the grand goal of making the Great Ming great again.

When everything contradicts this, moderate means should be adopted. The pursuit and killing of Zhang Siwei will affect the realization of this goal.

This is the distinction between the primary and secondary contradictions in the theory of contradictions. As a disciple of Zhang Juzheng, Yin Zhengmao reads the theory of contradictions, and he reads it very seriously.

Yin Zhengmao said quite definitively: "If one reads history, one will find that new policies have always been highly bound to individuals. The reforms of Li Kui, Wu Qi, Zou Ji, Shen Buhai, Shang Yang, Wang Anshi, and Fan Zhongyan—this does not conform to the theory of contradictions. Why must there be reform?"

"The principles of the world are most clear, and the trends are inevitable. If the Imperial Ming does not reform now, it will surely perish."

"Reform is the trend of the times. It is when social contradictions have intensified to a certain point. Reform is not the whim of one person; it is when change becomes unavoidable, when things have reached their limit. When things reach their limit, one thinks of change; change leads to smoothness, and smoothness leads to success."

"This is also where the contradiction lies. It is clearly the trend of the world and caused by the intensification of social contradictions. Taking today as an example, is it the Grand Secretary reforming by his own strength, or is it because the ambitious people of the Great Ming support the Grand Secretary's reform? Do the times create heroes, or do heroes create the times? Yet, throughout the dynasties, reform is often highly bound to the aspirations and blood of a single person."

"Why must this be done? Why bind reform so highly to one person?"

"In most cases, reform fails. Except for the reforms of Li Kui and Shang Yang, all ended in the death of the person and the cessation of the policies. Even with Shang Yang's reform, the final outcome was being torn apart by five chariots."

"Because opposing one person is far easier than opposing the trend of the times. When new policies and reforms are highly bound to a certain person, we can label this person with all sorts of things—greedy, lustful, bloodthirsty, intimidating the sovereign, unbenevolent, and immoral—to oppose and negate this person."

"From opposing one person to opposing all his political decrees, it becomes a matter of course and falls into place. Except for Shang Yang's reform, this has been the case for all."

"This makes things much simpler. This is also the power of the 'skinning and exposing the bones' technique: by negating one person, one negates all his achievements, thereby completing the comprehensive opposition and negation of the new policies."

Yin Zhengmao elaborated on his worries in detail. He was not pleading for Zhang Siwei, but stating the difficulties and resistance to the Great Ming's reforms. There were simply too many opponents. While Zhang Juzheng was there, he could suppress them somewhat, but could the young Emperor, who had fully inherited Zhang Juzheng's legacy, really suppress the tide of opposition from these people?

Facing many difficulties, almost everyone naturally developed a sense of pessimism: just let it be, forget it, it's good enough, it doesn't matter if it's done or not, why do it? Doing more leads to more mistakes, doing less leads to fewer mistakes, doing nothing leads to no mistakes—maintaining the status quo is enough.

With many opponents and the whole world blaming him, no one could guarantee that the Emperor, this heaven-born noble, would bravely face these predicaments instead of choosing to lie down and escape.

Zhang Juzheng was quite moved by Yin Zhengmao's words. He had also pondered his own aftermath, but after thinking it over, he only arrived at one answer: seize the day. No matter how capable a person is, they cannot control what happens after they are gone. Even Emperor Taizu Gao let Emperor Jianwen be the Emperor, and in the end, the Yan Palace still seized the throne from the Crown Prince's Palace.

"With the great interests of the state at stake, how can one care about personal honor or disgrace?" After a moment of silence, Zhang Juzheng gave Yin Zhengmao his answer.

Yin Zhengmao shook his head and said: "This is not about personal honor or disgrace; it is about the great interests of the state. You, Zhang Juzheng, are completely bound to the new policies."

"Come, let's drink." In the end, Zhang Juzheng did not agree. He did not want to persuade the young Emperor to stop. It is normal for people to have differences. In Zhang Juzheng's ideal world, the Great Commonwealth, it was for the wise monarch he cultivated after him to lead the Great Ming forward.

Yin Zhengmao hoped more to make Zhang Juzheng impeccable by protecting his reputation, so that the five words "Zhang Juzheng's New Policies" could continue.

When the two had differences, Zhang Juzheng did not argue with Yin Zhengmao, but chose to shelve the dispute.

For the next half month, Yin Zhengmao participated in the court discussions, participating in the discussion on the process of turning Luzon into counties. On one hand, Yin Zhengmao was the Koxinga, which was feudalism; on the other, the Great Ming wanted to turn Luzon into counties, which was the county system.

Feudalism and the county system are opposing in most cases, but unified at certain times. For example, the Qian Guo Gong Mansion, this successful practical case, made everyone very optimistic about the process and future of Luzon being both feudal and county-based.

After the agenda finally ended, Zhu Yijun had another screen of the same size as the official book screen brought out and placed on the right side of the court discussion. The official book screen was on the left, and this screen was on the right.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Feng, tell everyone what this is."

"I obey the decree." Feng Bao walked down the moon platform and pulled off the red silk cloth. The true face of the screen appeared before everyone. On it were grids, and each grid had a chart. These charts included: Fish-scale Registers, Yellow Registers, grain tables of various places, official assessment tables of various places, etc. All the tables the court officials could think of and couldn't think of were on it.

Feng Bao smiled and said: "Fifteen Screens of Comprehensive Numerical Understanding."

"Taking the Fish-scale Registers as an example, the Directorate of Ceremonial has checked all the national history. The Fish-scale Registers of the last month of each year were compiled into tables. The changes in farmland over two hundred years, although they have been declining since the 26th year of Hongwu, from 8.5 million qing, gradually decreased, but by the 15th year of Hongzhi, it plummeted to 4 million qing, 400 million mu of land. It is worth noting that the amount of official land decreased from 4.25 million qing in the 26th year of Hongwu to 600,000 qing. Official land plummeted from half to one-seventh of the national farmland."

"This is the fiscal and tax table. The national fiscal and tax increased from the Hongwu years to the Yongle years, and then began to decrease from the first year of Hongxi. To this day, there are only 4 million shi of canal grain and over 2 million taels of silver in the Taicang Treasury."

Feng Bao introduced the various data of the Great Ming's comprehensive numerical understanding in turn. This is ironclad proof of the steady decline of the Great Ming's national power.

The 5th year of Longqing was the year when the Great Ming's Fish-scale Registers, Yellow Registers, fiscal taxes, and treasury storage were at their lowest. The 6th year of Longqing was slightly better. In the 5th year of Longqing, the national treasury had only 120,000 taels of silver, and at the end of the 6th year of Longqing, there were 390,000 taels.

Feng Bao came to the last of the fifteen screens, stood in front of the screen, and said: "This screen is the public opinion table."

"The Emperor had the Directorate of Ceremonial check all the memorials from last year, divided them into several major categories, set several keywords for selection, and organized and classified all related memorials."

"The first major category is 'Chonggu'—not the Chonggu of Minister Wang Chonggu, but the ignorant 'venerating the ancient' of the three generations. There were 4,581 memorials discussing the three generations. This was the hottest keyword last year. To avoid bringing trouble to the Minister, the Emperor changed this category to the two words 'Restoring the Ancient'."

After hearing this, Wang Chonggu flicked his hands, knelt on the ground, and remained silent for a long time. After a long pause, he said loudly: "I am deeply grateful."

Names are given by parents. To avoid trouble for him, the Emperor specially changed "Venerating the Ancient" to "Restoring the Ancient," which was more precise and saved Wang Chonggu from a lot of trouble.

"Minister, no need for formalities." Zhu Yijun waved his hand to signal Wang Chonggu to sit down and continue listening.

Feng Bao smiled and said: "The second major category is 'Down with Zhang,' memorials opposing the Grand Secretary's governance and the Grand Secretary's new policies. All were classified, totaling 4,519. The first and second categories almost completely overlap. Court officials closely linked 'Restoring the Ancient' and 'Down with Zhang' together, confusing them as one."

"Admittedly, many memorials did not explicitly oppose the Grand Secretary's governance, but the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial are also scholars from the Inner Study, and they can still read the sarcasm and veiled criticism. What exactly is meant in the memorials, the court officials know, the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial know, and the Emperor knows even better."

Feng Bao knew for certain that the young Emperor read books very well. According to the first principle of approving everything that should be approved, the Emperor had read almost every memorial. The Emperor even remembered Wang Shizhen's memorial on the earthquake, so Feng Bao had no intention of deceiving the Emperor, but was doing his statistics conscientiously.

"I don't know whether to feel honored or angry, or perhaps indignant." Zhang Juzheng had never conducted such data statistics. The Great Ming court officials actually closely linked 'Restoring the Ancient' and 'Down with Zhang' together, constantly manufacturing this kind of public opinion.

"The third major category is 'Accumulation.' This category points to the Grand Secretary, and at the same time points to Minister Wang Guoguang and Minister Wang Chonggu. Yes, since the Minister took over the wool factory business, he has also become a minister of accumulation. Look, the Minister's name is on the list of guilty ministers. There are also eunuchs of the weaving bureaus in various places of the Great Ming, general managers, officials at all levels of the Yunnan Governor casting money, Wang Daokun, the Songjiang Governor who presided over opening the sea, Song Yiwan, Pan Jixun, Xie Pengju, Pang Shangpeng, Ling Yunyi, etc., who presided over the land measurement, all are guilty ministers of accumulation."

"There are 3,490 memorials in this category impeaching ministers for accumulation."

"The fourth major category is 'Harsh Criticism,' memorials harshly criticizing all officials in the world, totaling 3,205. These memorials mainly oppose the Assessment Law and oppose the harsh criticism of all officials. This category points to Yang Bo, Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Han, and Wan Shihe. Everyone, it is specifically pointed out here that Zhang Han was scolded more than 1,500 times, believing that he fawned on the Grand Secretary and powerful ministers, was cowardly and did not fight, and sat idly by watching the power of the Ministry of Personnel be lost, etc. He was scolded more than 1,500 times last year alone."

Hai Rui said incredulously: "Zhang Han is already like that, and he was still scolded more than a thousand times?"

"If you want to see, go to the Wenyuange to see. You will know the truth at a glance." Feng Bao did not explain the authenticity of the data. He knew that Zhang Juzheng's suspicious character would definitely check it himself to prevent the young Emperor from being deceived. Feng Bao was too lazy to explain more; one would know the truth at a glance.

"The fifth major category is 'Promoting Literature and Suppressing Martial Arts'..." Feng Bao continued to explain the data analysis, and the data inside were very detailed.

"If these subsequent categories are classified as opposing the new policies, they immediately become the first major category, totaling 4,912." Feng Bao introduced the various data of this public opinion table and even made a summary.

In summary, it is 'Restoring the Ancient,' 'Opposing the New Policies,' and 'Down with Zhang.' This is the content that the Great Ming court officials chattered about all year long. There were very few court officials who could put forward constructive opinions. Asking them to work hard to revitalize the Great Ming, they couldn't do it, but they were extremely good at holding back.

Those who put forward constructive opinions were mainly court officials, and among the court officials, there was only Hou Yuzhao, who could be considered loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and put forward a few constructive opinions.

The most influential one here is the military merit reform, changing from head-count rewards to achievement rewards, with the battle line becoming the standard for measuring military merit.

Just for this one point, Hou Yuzhao would never mention any constructive opinions in his life, becoming indistinguishable from the crowd. Zhu Yijun would not do anything to Hou Yuzhao. The influence is far-reaching. Hou Yuzhao's memorial might not be his original intention, but it is indeed true that head-count rewards are no longer suitable for the trend of the Great Ming. If it wasn't proposed by Hou Yuzhao, it would also be proposed by the Great Ming generals.

Hou Yuzhao dared to be the first in the world, which is the merit of being the first to climb the wall.

Hou Yuzhao is now reclaiming land in Liaodong, reclaiming 140 li of land between Pinglu Fortress and Mount Duerbi. This kind of land reclamation is to build fortresses in key locations to prevent mountain bandits from looting, and military colonies for reclaiming wasteland and farming. Hou Yuzhao reclaimed a total of 130,000 mu of land, 1,300 qing. It seems not much, but many drops make an ocean, and water drips through stone.

"The court officials of our Great Ming are still too idle." Zhu Yijun looked at the screen and said: "Teacher, find them something to do. Don't do nothing all day, opposing this and that every day. For the sake of opposition, can their opposition be based on the practice of reality, instead of shouting about 'Restoring the Ancient' and other empty things all day?"

"To speak for the powerful and gentry, and to be an official for the powerful and gentry, just put it on the table. Why drag the ancients into it?"

The court officials were a bit behind the times. If 'Restoring the Ancient' could impeach people, people like Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng would never have reached the position of Grand Secretary.

Yin Zhengmao looked at the screen of comprehensive numerical understanding and was stunned for a long time. Can comprehensive numerical understanding be used like this? Was this Zhang Juzheng's idea, or the young Emperor's idea? Numbers don't lie. What the court officials want is clear at a glance: 'Restoring the Ancient,' 'Venerating the Ancient of the three generations,' Emperor, court, don't manage so broadly.

"Regarding the case of the fire burning the palace, 1,728 people were sentenced to be beheaded." Zhu Yijun mentioned another matter, the Zhang Siwei case. This case is already an ironclad case. The problem now is that too many people were killed.

Speaking of this, everyone was silent. It was really difficult to express an opinion on this. If they agreed, they were inciting the Emperor to be unbenevolent; if they disagreed, they were disobeying the holy will.

"Minister, if it involves a wide range of people, then we have to mention the Hongwu years. Let's start with the Empty Bei Yinan." Zhu Yijun said.

Wang Chonggu was also one of the culprits. Although a lock of hair was a punishment, if he misinterpreted the holy will, it would be a dead end. He was silent for a moment and said: "The Empty Bei Yinan itself is fake."

Wang Chonggu could not interpret the holy will. He had no idea what the Emperor, who did not play by the rules, intended to do, so he planned to discuss it truthfully.

Wang Chonggu bowed and said: "I have read the national history, the Great Ming Law, the Imperial Great Proclamations, and the Collected Statutes, and none of them have the crime of empty seals. The earliest record of the Empty Bei Yinan is Fang Xiaoru's 'Xunzhizhai Collection.' There is no record in the reliable history, so it cannot be trusted."

"Your Majesty, if Emperor Taizu Gao really wanted to kill tens of thousands of people, it would inevitably be written in the Imperial Great Proclamations, and the scholars and writers of the early Ming would naturally write about it extensively. But with only Fang Xiaoru's unique copy as evidence, I think it is the words of one family. How can it be trusted?"

"Fang Xiaoru said: In the 9th year of Hongwu, the world examined the money and grain policy books, and the empty seal matter arose. All officials who held the seals and signed their names were arrested and put into the censor's prison. There were hundreds of people in the prison."

"But who actually died? The only one who can be verified is Fang Xiaoru's father, Fang Keqin, and the national history records that Fang Keqin was convicted and sentenced to beheading for stealing 200 jin of official charcoal and reeds."

"According to Fang Xiaoru's statement, Emperor Taizu Gao killed everyone who held a seal. In 13 provinces, 153 prefectures, and 1,171 counties, all those who held seals died, and the deputies were given 100 military lashes and then sent to the army. Are there still officials in the world?"

"Fang Xiaoru was just an ignorant scholar, his words are truly untrustworthy."

"I say his words are untrustworthy because his 'Xunzhizhai Collection' is full of errors and omissions. I will take the Biography of Zheng Shili in the 'Xunzhizhai Collection' as an example."

"Fang Xiaoru said that Zheng Shili submitted a memorial to discuss the empty seal matter to save his brother, in order to save his own brother. But according to the records of the Imperial Great Proclamations, things were not like this."

"Zheng Shili's brother, Zheng Shiyuan, was convicted for speaking out directly. Crown Prince Yiwen pleaded for mercy using the old story of Emperor Taizong of Tang accepting Wei Zheng's remonstrance. In the end, Emperor Gao, because Zheng Shiyuan was clean, honest, and brave in remonstrating and promoting good, promoted him to the fifth-rank official, Assistant Commissioner of the Huguang Surveillance Commission."

"Fang Xiaoru made three mistakes. The first mistake was getting the reason for Zheng Shili's memorial wrong. Zheng Shili's memorial was not to save his brother, but because of the star change at that time, Emperor Taizu Gao issued an edict ordering scholars in the world to speak out. The second mistake was the reason for Emperor Taizu Gao's leniency towards Zheng Shiyuan: it was Crown Prince Yiwen using Emperor Taizong of Tang's acceptance of remonstrance, and Emperor Taizu's leniency towards the brother Zheng Shiyuan, not because of Zheng Shili's words. The third mistake was the result: Zheng Shiyuan was clearly promoted to a fifth-rank official, but Fang Xiaoru said he was exiled."

"The Empty Bei Yinan that spread across the country probably did not exist. I think this was just fabricated by Fang Xiaoru to absolve his father of guilt."

"The reason I believe in the national history and records, and not in Fang Xiaoru's words, is mainly because Emperor Taizu Gao was bright and upright all his life, never avoided talking about his three years of begging for food at Huangjue Temple, and the cases he personally handled are all in the Imperial Great Proclamations. Moreover, Emperor Gao was wise and martial, good at making decisions, and Crown Prince Yiwen's words are more credible."

Wang Chonggu bowed again and said: "Your Majesty, I am terrified. It is the playful words of one family. I implore Your Majesty to make a clear judgment."

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and said: "History books of time?"

"Your Majesty is wise." Wang Chonggu was amazed. The Emperor was really too good at summarizing. Four words summarized his meaning clearly. Time passed, things had already passed, and it was impossible to confirm the truth, and after some biased writing, it became a history book.

Wang Chonggu believed that the Empty Bei Yinan was a history book of time fabricated out of thin air to create public opinion for the Great Ming to stop the donation. Because there is no record in the reliable history, a major case involving tens of thousands of people, killing hundreds, and exiling tens of thousands, not a single word was written in the national history, records, or Imperial Great Proclamations.

Among the four major cases in the early Ming, the Empty Bei Yinan, the Hu Weiyong Case, the Guo Huan Case, and the Lan Yu Case, only this Empty Bei Yinan is the most suspicious. The time is unknown, the characters are unknown, and the disposal is unknown.

For the three major cases of Hu Weiyong, Guo Huan, and Lan Yu, Emperor Taizu Gao specially wrote two books, "Records of Showing the Traitorous Party" and "Records of Traitorous Ministers" in the 23rd year of Hongwu, detailing the evidence of these people's collusion and connection, the time, place, characters, and final disposal results, clearly and clearly.

The Empty Bei Yinan is the strangest. Even the time it happened is debated. Wang Chonggu really cannot believe it.

As the number one meritorious minister of the Great Ming, Grand Preceptor and Duke of Korea Li Shanzhang, when he died, his family of 72 people were all recorded in the case. How come there is nothing in the Empty Bei Yinan?

Of course, it is possible that Wang Chonggu did not read history well enough and did not find the records in the national history, misunderstanding Fang Xiaoru.

"What about the other three cases?" Zhu Yijun did not say whether he believed it or not. Wang Chonggu also said that it was his family's words. As for whether it existed or not, and what the situation was, it had to be judged by individuals.

"There is evidence for everything." Wang Chonggu finally chose to take a stand and answered the Emperor that there was evidence for everything.

"Then what does the Minister think about these 1,728 people being sentenced to beheading?" Zhu Yijun asked again calmly.

Wang Chonggu could not see the change in the young Emperor's face at all and could not interpret what the holy will was. He bowed again and said: "There is evidence for everything."

Don't ask anymore, just kill them. Isn't the young Emperor holding meetings on the foundation every day just to kill people?

The ministers became quiet again, waiting for the Emperor's decision.

"Kill." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "My mind is made up. Do not discuss this matter."

"We obey the decree. We take our leave." The ministers looked at each other, finally bowed to accept the order, and then left the Wenhua Hall.

Yin Zhengmao and Zhang Juzheng stayed behind. Yin Zhengmao was going to say goodbye to the young Emperor and return to Luzon, while Zhang Juzheng was going to stay for the lecture.

Yin Zhengmao pondered for a long time and repeated what he had said to Zhang Juzheng. Yin Zhengmao believed that Zhang Siwei and the other 24 culprits should be sentenced to death, or simply sent to the Jiekuyuan, but their families should follow his ship south to Luzon and never return to the Great Ming.

"Does the Teacher also feel that they should not be killed?" Zhu Yijun asked: "The reason I hesitated slightly is that I am afraid of damaging the Teacher's reputation."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said: "I think they should be killed. Minister Yin repeatedly told me that they should not be killed, saying that I am bound to the new policies. But in my view, these new policies are not my personal new policies, so where does the talk of being bound come from? Whether I am a sycophant or a traitor, honor and disgrace will be judged by history."

Zhang Juzheng believed that after he was gone, the Emperor would still firmly continue to reform. Then Zhang Juzheng's new policies would become the Wanli New Policies, and his personal honor and disgrace would be cut off from the historical process of the Great Ming.

As for the death of Zhang Siwei's party members and their families, when judging this matter in the future, whether it was his Zhang Juzheng's factionalism, or being a running dog for the monarch, or Zhang Siwei's rebellion and bringing it upon himself, it will be commented on by future generations. Zhang Juzheng is even happy to see it happen.

Taking the pain of the new policies upon himself and attributing the achievements of the new policies to the Emperor, after he is gone, the Emperor can pin all the crimes on him, clear the old accounts, and move forward easily.

Yin Zhengmao understood Zhang Juzheng's meaning and said no more. He said goodbye to the Emperor and went to Tianjin Wei to get the ship. When leaving the capital, Yin Zhengmao also received a naval gun, which made Yin Zhengmao happy for a long time.

No one in the court ran around for Zhang Siwei anymore. The matter of Zhang Siwei and others being exterminated to the third degree of kinship had already been put on the agenda with whip and spur.

When everyone thought this case had been determined, Zhu Yijun suddenly appeared in the prison of the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard Yamen with Feng Bao and Zhang Hong. This was also Zhu Yijun's temporary idea. The prison of the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard was not cleaned at all, appearing exceptionally cold.

The young Emperor decided to see Zhang Siwei one last time.

"The guilty minister pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." Zhang Siwei was finally beaten and hurt. He knelt on the ground, bowing his head and not daring to have any disrespectful remarks.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "Do you have anything else to say?"

"The guilty minister cannot escape his crimes. I implore Your Majesty to spare my family's lives. I have a lowly life. Your Majesty killed our party members, and I have nothing to say. But political struggles affecting relatives—once this precedent is opened, the initiator will have no descendants. I am truly a traitor. There are many people in the world who wag their tongues. Using this as a topic to negate the Grand Secretary and negate the public opinion of the new policies will inevitably become rampant." Zhang Siwei knelt on the ground, terrified.

Zhu Yijun said calmly: "Didn't you start this? Threatening Li Le's family, his old mother and young son, forcing Li Le to submit."

"I didn't do it, and I couldn't do it. I was just scaring people." Zhang Siwei bowed again, admitting that he was not that powerful.

Zhang Siwei bowed again and said: "The national vitality is wasted on me. Killing the guilty minister is enough to achieve the effect of intimidation. Killing the guilty minister's family will cause chaos again, and I am afraid the world will not be at peace. The Grand Secretary is the model for all officials. If there is no one to lead, what will the subordinates look at? Today, the Grand Secretary killed my whole family. His subordinates will inevitably follow suit. The world will not be at peace, and the Grand Secretary's way of control will be exhausted."

Zhang Siwei talked about a problem that Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Juzheng, and Zhu Yijun had not noticed.

That is, Zhang Juzheng is not omnipotent. He is a person. His disciple Gao Qiyu even made moves similar to urging the Emperor to ascend the throne. Zhang Juzheng's way of control is not endless. Once Zhang Juzheng governs and causes things that affect families, the people below will think it is a standard and do the same. The world will not be at peace, the infighting will become more intense, and the officials will be exhausted by fighting and will no longer deal with state affairs.

The struggle will expand without any rules, and even be used by people with ulterior motives, expanding to the point where Zhang Juzheng's way of control is exhausted.

"Continue." Zhu Yijun's fingers kept tapping on the armrest and asked.

Zhang Siwei bowed again and said: "The Grand Secretary leads by starting things, but also warns by abiding by the law. There is no such perfect thing in the world. The guilty minister is truly guilty before heaven and deserves to die. I plead for my relatives. If the world is exhausted by chaos and fighting, government affairs will pile up and cannot be organized, and the discipline will be lowered and cannot be revitalized. It will inevitably hurt the national vitality. The guilty minister's crimes are unforgivable. If I delay national affairs again, the disadvantages will outweigh the advantages."

You cannot have both. You cannot kill Zhang Siwei's whole family and also want the officials to follow the rules and not engage in collective punishment. How can there be such a good thing in the world? Everyone is fighting. Government affairs are piled up and cannot be organized. Commander Commander Ji Gang Gang is ruined and cannot be revitalized. It hurts the Great Ming's vitality.

"Continue." Zhu Yijun's fingers stopped tapping and asked again.

Zhang Siwei bowed again, terrified, and said: "The Grand Secretary is the ultimate minister, the Emperor's teacher, and the head of the cabinet, leaving a fragrance in history. Therefore, whatever he does, not only will the people of one generation follow it, but it will be followed by the world for generations. The guilty minister is a sycophant who only knows personal gain and causes great harm, confusing black and white, reversing right and wrong, and using slander to hurt good people. Killing our party members as a punishment is truly feared to delay the Great Ming's great cause of revitalization."

It's not worth it. The disadvantages outweigh the advantages. He, Zhang Siwei, is a rotten person. The Grand Secretary wants to leave a name in history. Killing him and his party members is because they made mistakes and deserve it. But involving a wide range of people, is it really beneficial to the court and the revitalization of the Great Ming?

"The guilty minister is a dying person, and his words are good. I implore Your Majesty to make a wise judgment." Zhang Siwei said tremblingly.

"If you had this realization earlier, how could you have ended up like this?" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Siwei, sneered, and said with great emotion. In this dialogue, Zhang Siwei was much clearer, and his speech became more logical.

The Empty Bei Yinan not existing is one theory, not denying Zhu Yuanzhang's bloodthirstiness. The other three major cases have clear records. Only this Empty Bei Yinan is a bit strange. It may be that the author has read less history and did not notice it. I have something to do in the afternoon, maybe there will be one in the evening, maybe not. Ask for monthly tickets, Aowu!!!!

(End of chapter)