Chapter 195: A Mudslide Among the Restoration Faction

Why had Zhu Zhu Yijun been forgiving Wang Wang Chonggu all along? Wang Wang Chonggu himself didn't understand, but Zhang Zhang Juzheng could understand a little.

Eliminating a class must use another class to fill its position in the state system. While the powerful gentry obtained privileges such as tax, judicial, and labor service, they also needed to bear the responsibility of settling the people and grazing the land, but the powerful gentry only wanted privileges and did not want to bear responsibilities.

The powerful gentry were an important force for stability in the Great Ming.

And Wang Wang Chonggu was unconsciously creating a class. This class possessed a certain culture and controlled certain means of production, and was also the most law-abiding, because in the factory, anyone who did not follow the rules would die very miserably.

And Wang Wang Chonggu actively improved production tools, actively improved the production environment of the labor workshop, steadily increased production efficiency, maximized profits, and founded a school for craftsmen's children to settle the craftsmen's children. These were the reasons why Wang Wang Chonggu was forgiven by His Majesty, and they were also the reasons why Wang Wang Chonggu deserved to die.

In the court, following Zhang Zhang Siwei's death, the main contradiction had become the contradiction between the reform faction and the "ancient tomb faction," and this contradiction was constantly intensifying. The Great Ming's New Policies needed a new class that occupied a leading position to support the Great Ming's New Policies.

Scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants—these were the four people of the country, the pillars of the country. The status of the gentry had never been challenged since ancient times.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not expect workers and farmers to challenge the scholars. As long as they had the strength to challenge the status of the scholars, the subjective initiative of the scholars themselves would be exerted.

How to make workers and farmers have the strength to challenge and threaten the status of the gentry required large-scale employment and commodity production, and these required silver to support. 【195-1

Zhang Zhang Juzheng is clear, and Zhu Zhu Yijun is also clear, that the Great Ming's money famine needs to be fundamentally alleviated, which requires more, massive amounts of silver to flow in.

Qiu Jun is also studying the Great Ming's monetary policy. He expressed the importance of currency in the economy very clearly: "Heaven established the ruler for the people, entrusting him with the power of profit, so that he may facilitate circulation to benefit the world; it is not exclusively for the use of one family or one person. Therefore, that which circulates all goods to flow in all directions is currency."

And gold and silver are natural currencies.

"Can I really buy more ships? That is truly my good fortune." Antonio was directly shocked. Five-masted ocean-crossing ships—selling one or two of these things would be enough, but he could actually buy more?

These are sharp weapons for naval warfare!

Philip II prohibited the sale of galleass warships. Even after seeing the five-masted ocean-crossing ships, galleass warships—these oared sailing ships that could not cross the ocean, required hundreds of oarsmen, had very few cannons, and relied mainly on boarding battles—looked more backward the more one looked at them, but they were still warships.

And looking at the Great Ming's intention, it is... that he can buy more?

"But I don't have that much money right now," Antonio said very annoyedly. If he hadn't lost the cargo of two ships, he could have converted the goods into silver to purchase five-masted ocean-crossing ships from the Great Ming. But he lost two ships, and he only had the funds to purchase two ships.

One five-masted ocean-crossing ship might require 200,000 taels of silver, and he only had the funds for two ships' worth of goods now. He still had to purchase silk and various goods for the return voyage, which made him feel exceptionally uncomfortable.

The Great Ming's ocean-crossing ships have hard sails and also require arranging more Great Ming sailors to board and operate the ships.

"You can borrow money. Since I am your investor, I naturally should invest in you." Zhu Zhu Yijun's tone carried a simplicity and innocence, just like a political novice who didn't understand the ways of the world, proposing a naive fantasy.

If he lends out so much money, what should he do if Antonio doesn't pay it back?

Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at the little Emperor; his disciple had already turned into the likeness of a powerful magnate.

When there are no natural disasters, powerful magnates and gentry also annex land by utilizing "green rice loans." The interest on green rice loans is extremely high. Once the common people use their land as collateral to borrow money, they are driven to distraction by the snowballing interest, eventually becoming landless tenant farmers, while the gentry harvest the land.

"Green rice loans"—when the rice is still green, it is when the common people have the least stored grain in their homes. Borrowing money at this time is also when the interest is highest. Therefore, although the name "green rice loan" sounds good, behind it is bloody annexation.

Scholars have always been like this: their names don't carry a hint of worldly smoke, full of poetry and painting, but the things they do are often dirty and cannot see the light of day.

Green rice loans are "snowballing loans," they are usury. Names can be misnamed, but nicknames are never wrong.

The people close to His Majesty, like Wang Wang Yaozhuo's situation, are even more special. Their family encountered a disaster year and had to borrow money from the Lu family of Shanzhou, but the operation is the same. Robbery can only make people lose their family fortune, but deception can make people debt-ridden.

"I am also not very wealthy. I will lend you 500,000 taels of silver, but if you leave like this and don't pay back the money, won't my silver be gone? Therefore, you need to use collateral to secure it," Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "For example, all the palm plantations and sugarcane plantations in the Nanyang."

"Oh no! Supreme Majesty, those are my most valuable possessions!" Antonio let out a painful wail.

Antonio naturally did not want to agree. The plantations spread throughout the Thousand Islands within Malacca produced over 100,000 taels of silver annually. That is to say, if the Great Ming Emperor confiscated his plantations, it would only take four years to recover the principal, and the days after that would be pure profit.

Zhu Zhu Yijun, however, said with a calm face: "The Great Ming is currently expanding its naval forces."

Is this forced buying and selling? Not entirely.

If Antonio can repay the money on time, then these plantations will still be Antonio's. If he cannot repay the money on time, the imperial court's naval forces will help the Emperor collect the debt.

If Antonio refuses to borrow the money, then when the Great Ming Emperor's imperial naval forces expand the empire's territory, these plantations will be expanded into the Great Ming's rule together.

"Are you sure your most valuable possessions are the plantations? Not those slaves? I heard that plantation owners have to personally get involved, producing various mixed-race slaves, so that they can propagate more." Zhu Zhu Yijun's tone remained calm.

The current Westerners use slavery; the bulk commodities of the "Free Corner" and "Free City" are slaves.

Zhu Zhu Yijun continued: "An adult slave who has good teeth and is honest and obedient requires 20 taels of silver at the Great Ming's ten-thousand-mile sea embankment in Nanyang. Working in a plantation, the cost will be recovered in just four years. As long as this slave is still alive, it is all profit. And a slave in a plantation creates 5 taels of silver in value per year."

Before Yin Yin Zhengmao explained the Nanyang plantation business, Zhu Zhu Yijun had always thought slaves were very cheap, but in fact, 20 taels of silver is already a very expensive price. It is fortunate that the Great Ming naval forces can guard the Great Ming's sea borders; otherwise, trafficking Great Ming people would be an extremely lucrative trade.

And a slave can create 5 taels of silver worth of goods in a year; spices, palm oil, refined sugar, cocoa, etc., are all products of plantations.

"Your Majesty, why can't you let me use slaves to pay off the debt?" Antonio asked with some confusion.

"There are already many people in the Great Ming, and there will be more in the future. This land only grows and nurtures Great Ming people." Zhu Zhu Yijun gave an answer, but in Antonio's view, the Emperor did not need slaves because the Great Ming possessed cheaper production tools.

Plantations are means of production. The opening of plantations requires investing a large amount of manpower and material resources, from the initial search for suitable land, to logging, cultivating the fields, finding suitable cash crops, etc., all requiring a large amount of time and cost. And slaves are production tools.

Antonio does not understand the Great Ming, which is why he thinks the Emperor refused slaves to repay the debt because the Great Ming possesses more and cheaper production tools, or more bluntly, slaves.

If the Great Ming's monarch and imperial court truly treated the common people as slaves, the common people would release their power to destroy the imperial court, eliminating the tyrannical monarch and imperial court. The Central Plains dynasties have already experienced several such dynastic changes.

The Great Ming Emperor wants people to risk their lives to fight for him, so he must give every soldier in the Capital Battalion 18 taels of silver per year.

Wang Wang Chonggu wants poor people and laborers to endure high temperatures to engage in production, so he needs to give craftsmen about 1 tael of silver in labor remuneration per year, as well as corresponding government-run schools to solve their worries.

"Your Majesty's gaze pierced through the heavy fog and saw the truth." Antonio finally gave up resistance and intended to borrow the money. As for the amount of interest, that would depend on the negotiations. Currently, there is only one official in the Great Ming who promotes profit, and that is Wang Wang Chonggu.

This interest rate will not be too expensive, between 4% and 6% per year. With such interest, Zhu Zhu Yijun can absolutely be counted as a great philanthropist.

Zhu Zhu Yijun's main purpose is to sell more ships. The internal significance of selling more ships is to promote the further stabilization, standardization, and increased production of the industrial chain. Large-scale production can effectively improve productivity and promote the maturity of the industrial chain, while the external significance is entirely for the flow of silk and silver.

The Great Ming possesses a commodity advantage. Although the Great Ming lost the commodity advantage of ships for a short time, means such as archaeological-style scientific research and plundering the Manila shipyards in Luzon eventually allowed the Great Ming to restore its commodity advantage in ships.

Possessing a commodity advantage means possessing a structural trade surplus status, and the substance of this surplus is—silver.

Relying on its unparalleled manufacturing and exports in silk, glassware, porcelain, and many other aspects, the Great Ming has a surplus in trade with any country. This structural trade surplus status will cause the established fact of "tribute" in commerce.

The more ships that can drift across the ocean, the more beneficial it is to the Great Ming.

"This time I brought a book, I ask Your Majesty to take a look." Marino took out a book; this book was the gift he brought.

Zhu Zhu Yijun could understand it; he had been learning Latin for a long time. The author is Copernicus, and the name is "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium." Opening the book, a passage was written on it: "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here."

This book is the carrier of the Heliocentric Theory.

And in the preface, there is also a postscript written by the priest Osiander. The postscript is the purpose of writing this book.

"Orbium" (celestial sphere) is a concept that was abandoned in later generations, but in the fourth year of Emperor Wanli, it was still regarded as truth in the West—an imaginary sphere that can drive visible celestial bodies to rotate.

Only after continuous processing in later generations did it slowly become the theory of celestial motion.

In this postscript, according to the priest, the first purpose of Copernicus writing this book was to dedicate it to Pope Paul III; the second purpose was to compile star tables and mathematical models to predict the positions of planets, not representing the true movement of planets in space.

【This book cannot be a scientific fact, but a dramatic fantasy.】 Just this one sentence deceived people for a very, very long time.

The Heliocentric Theory is the landmark theory of natural science liberating itself from theology.

But this theory did not oppose theology at the beginning. In order to be published, it looked more like a tool book, but with the development of the times, the Heliocentric Theory was endowed with more meaning and emotional value.

After Magellan's circumnavigation, the West had already confirmed the basic fact that the Earth is a sphere. In order to maintain the majesty of religion, theology added a patch, constructing a new theological philosophy with the Geocentric Theory as the core: eternal, sacred celestial bodies can only correspond to their noble status by rotating around the Earth.

But this patch became precarious again in the face of the Heliocentric Theory.

"Niulunbao is truly a magical place. The previous 'Niulunbao eggs' came from here, and this book now is also printed here." Zhu Zhu Yijun closed the book. He wanted to study it carefully; this book has six volumes in total, and each volume is worth careful reading.

Zhu Zhu Yijun ended the meeting with Antonio and began today's imperial court session.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng specifically reported on the construction of the Buddhist pagoda, sparing no words of praise. The degree of sycophancy could be called flattery, but the court officials not only did not oppose it, but each person also wrote a congratulatory memorial to the court. When the Buddhist pagoda is completed, all Great Ming officials of the seventh rank and above must submit a congratulatory memorial.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng felt grateful to Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen, thanking them for not coveting power.

Zhu Zhu Yijun can understand Zhang Zhang Juzheng's gratitude. If Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen opposed the New Policies, they could truly do things that would harm the Great Ming.

The Qing followed the Ming system. A slight understanding of the Qing will reveal that the Qing had extremely strict restrictions on empresses interfering in politics. Even Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, Da Yu'er, never acted on behalf of imperial power by presiding over the court.

And the first time the Qing had an empress dowager presiding over the court was in the late Qing years, with Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi, who ruled from behind the curtain.

The two empress dowagers, united with Prince Gong, Yixin, launched the Xinyou Coup, executing the eight regents: Prince Yi, Zaiyuan; Prince Zheng, Duanhua; Grand Secretary Sushun; and Prince Consort Jingshou. Four members of the Grand Council were killed, seizing political power.

Since then, Cixi began her 47-year rule from behind the curtain.

Taking Grand Secretary Sushun as an example, he successively recommended Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Zeng Guofan, Hu Lin Yi, and others. During his time in power, Sushun repeatedly reduced the treatment of the Eight Banners, while Prince Yi, Zaiyuan, and Prince Zheng, Duanhua—these two "Iron-Cap Princes"—were firm supporters of the Westernization Movement. These two princes did not understand Western affairs, so they promoted Han people to handle Western affairs.

The basic ideology of Grand Secretary Sushun, Prince Yi, Zaiyuan, and Prince Zheng, Duanhua was: "To hell with the Manchu-Han defense," advocating for Manchu-Han reconciliation, quickly promoting capable people to handle Western affairs; otherwise, if the Qing falls, everyone will be the foreigners' dogs.

"We Banner people have many bastards" is Sushun's basic philosophy.

Cixi and Ci'an united with Prince Gong, Yixin, launched a coup, and killed these reformers in the court.

"Ghost Six" Prince Gong, Yixin, represented the "Ancient Tomb Faction," advocating for Manchu-Han defense. In the final years of the Qing, he missed the only opportunity for reform.

"Ghost Six" Yixin once oversaw the "Five-Character Official Seal Case," investigating collusion between officials, gentry, and merchants, receiving bribes, embezzlement, refusing to buy and encroaching on national treasury funds. Later, Yixin burned the household department's manuscript warehouse clean, playing a "Fire Dragon Burns the Warehouse" trick, and finally, the steward of Prince Gong's mansion was pushed out to take the blame.

Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen did not have high origins, but the "Ancient Tomb Faction" was everywhere in the court. If Empress Dowager Li wanted to indulge Marquis Wuqing, Li Wei, and relied on the "Ancient Tomb Faction" to create big news, Gao Gong couldn't hold it, and Zhang Zhang Juzheng couldn't hold it either.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng thanked Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen, thanking them for the correct choices they made at key historical nodes.

The "Ancient Tomb Faction" in the court actually especially hoped to support Empress Dowager Li, and then openly raise the banner of "filial piety" to continue their previous tricks.

Empress Dowager Li herself also discovered this trend, so she returned power early.

The court meeting continued. Zhu Zhu Yijun quite liked "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium," but some of the content inside needed to be translated again.

Some of the calculation symbols inside were no longer suitable for reading. Symbols similar to △, =, ∠, ⊥, ∵, ∴ did not appear at that time, which would cause some reading obstacles, making it look obscure and difficult to understand, and Zhu Zhu Yijun wanted to provide a more intuitive translation of "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium."

The value of this book is extremely high. For example, it accurately calculated that the Earth-Moon distance is 60.3 times the Earth's radius, and provided proof.

To calculate the Earth-Moon distance, one must use a parallax instrument, and after calculating the Earth-Moon distance, one can calculate the diameter of the moon, the diameter of the sun and moon, and the Sun-Earth distance. Calculating these can accurately determine the time of solar and lunar eclipses.

"This astronomer guessed that not only does the Earth have a satellite, the Moon, but Saturn should also have satellites. And we have already observed Saturn's 'ears' and its satellites, showing that the Earth is not the only center." When Zhu Zhu Yijun was reading "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium," he discovered that Copernicus was limited by instruments, leading him not to see Saturn's ears, which are Saturn's rings, and Saturn's satellites.

Once one can see Saturn's ears and Titan, one can prove that the Heliocentric model is more reasonable.

The Great Ming's guess about the universe model is called the "Qiankun Body Map," which also has the Earth as the center, the first heaven being the Moon Wheel Heaven, followed by the Mercury Heaven, Venus Heaven, Sun Wheel Heaven, etc.

Zhu Zhu Yijun and Zhang Zhang Juzheng discussed this argument for a long time. To translate this book, one needs to understand Latin, understand mathematics, and have time. Zhu Zhu Yijun chose to do it himself and provide the process of proof.

Before Antonio left the capital, at the Foreign Embassy, he purchased the Great Ming's first civilian newspaper, the "All-Jin Miscellany." The "Miscellany" is relative to the "Di Bao" (Court Gazette), and the headline on the front page of this miscellany was a topic published by the Great Ming Emperor: "Labor Illustrated."

Antonio could understand it because it was all written in vernacular language and characters. Antonio calculated the various matters of the first mate purchasing goods and communicating with the boatmen and sailors, and decided to linger in the capital for a period of time.

For the "Restoration Faction," "Labor Illustrated" is poison; for the "Ancient Tomb Faction," it is a tombstone as heavy as Mount Tai!

On the afternoon of this day, after Zhu Zhu Yijun returned from target practice and washed up, he suddenly sent an imperial decree to the Zhang Wenyuan Pavilion, wanting Zhang Zhang Juzheng and Qi General Qi Jiguang Jiguang to accompany him to a private room in Yanxing Tower for a meal.

The Emperor usually holds grand banquets to bestow meals. This private invitation to eat is really rare. Feng Bao even specifically instructed Zhang Zhang Juzheng and Qi General Qi Jiguang Jiguang not to wear court robes, but just to put on a wool cloak when going out.

Zhu Zhu Yijun began to order dishes. Zhang Zhang Juzheng and Qi General Qi Jiguang Jiguang, as guests, naturally followed the host's lead.

"Bang! Zhang Zhang Juzheng is bullying people too much!" A roar came from the next private room.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng's expression was sluggish. How could he hear someone scolding himself while eating a meal? How much must he attract hatred!

This meal, I'm afraid, is unusual.

It is indeed unusual. Sun Sun Jigao, the top scholar of the second year of Emperor Wanli, saw "Labor Illustrated" and immediately gathered a group of people, preparing to fight back. How could the high ground of public opinion be handed over to others? This is their greatest means of influencing court politics, and now Zhang Zhang Juzheng actually wants to take this high ground too!

In the eyes of Sun Sun Jigao and others, this "Zhu Wu Zhongxing" is Zhang Zhang Juzheng's pen name.

The place Sun Sun Jigao chose is Yanxing Tower, a high-end, atmospheric, and classy restaurant. This restaurant is near the Foreign Embassy. It was originally a restaurant for entertaining foreign envoys during the Yongle period. With the passage of time, foreign envoys gradually decreased. This restaurant was sold off during the During Zhengtong period, changed hands several times, and finally ended up in the hands of the maternal relative Zhang family during the Xiaozong period. After the Zhang family fell, it was collected into the scope of the imperial estates by the Emperor Jiajing Emperor.

After all these years of tossing and turning, Yanxing Tower has returned to the Emperor's name.

This information is not widely known; this is a typical information gap.

And at this time, there were six or seven people around the table, and three servants stood in front of the door, looking around.

"It's simply absurd! 'Material sentiment' is because of supply and demand, not human labor, and certainly not merit!" Sun Sun Jigao's tone was exceptionally excited. Zhang Zhang Juzheng is denying the Great Sage and Teacher Mencius's theory of "material sentiment"—that the value of goods is innate. In Confucianism, this is called "nature."

"What the Compiler Sun said is very true. Beside West Lake, there is a merchant selling umbrellas. On a rainy day, the price rose from one fen of silver to one qian of silver. For pedestrians avoiding the rain, don't they have to obediently pay the money? The umbrella is still that umbrella. Where does this talk of 'merit' come from? Isn't it just supply and demand being 'material sentiment'? Supply and demand together determine the price of goods. This Zhu Wu Zhongxing is simply talking nonsense." Gu Assistant County Magistrate, Mr. Gu from Wuxi, expressed his point of view, providing examples for Sun Sun Jigao.

Zhang Zhang Shaoxian, hearing his disciple Gu Assistant County Magistrate say this, also quite approvingly said: "That's it. This natural disaster is not human sentiment. Powerful gentry and benevolent officials annexing land during disaster years is originally giving the common people a chance to breathe. There are many people selling land and few buying land, so annexation is natural. The imperial court insists on intervening—clearing land, returning land, and pursuing arrears. Why bother?"

"If you lose your land, just work hard. When you earn money, you can buy it back. This itself is a matter of course. Is the imperial court trying to wrestle with Heaven and Earth?"

Zhang Zhang Shaoxian studied under Shi Guanmin, the head of Longcheng Academy. Gu Assistant County Magistrate and Gu Gu Yuncheng are both Zhang Zhang Shaoxian's disciples. This time, the two Gus came to the capital to take the examination, and Zhang Zhang Shaoxian brought his disciples to the capital, naturally needing to visit some famous scholars in the court to run errands for his disciples.

Sun Sun Jigao, Gu Assistant County Magistrate, Gu Gu Yuncheng, and Zhang Zhang Shaoxian are all the backbone of the Donglin Party in the future, the "Ancient Tomb Faction" within the "Restoration Faction."

Jiao Hong, however, frowned and asked: "Gentlemen, do you read history? Besides the Spring and Autumn Annals."

"No, it's just recording events, no great ethics," Zhang Zhang Shaoxian asked indifferently.

"Gentlemen, do you read 'On Contradiction'?" Jiao Hong asked with an even deeper frown.

Geng Prince Dingxiang pulled Jiao Hong's hand, signaling Jiao Hong not to ask anymore. If you ask like this, will you still take the imperial examination? Since Sun Sun Jigao is the top scholar, even if he teaches a little experience in the imperial examination, Jiao Hong would be able to pass.

Geng Prince Dingxiang is Jiao Hong's teacher. They are of the Heart-Mind school. Their "Zhili Wang Faction" is one of the few Heart-Mind schools that emphasize the practice of reality.

"Why read the bewitching words of the Jing people?" Zhang Zhang Shaoxian answered again.

"Oh, so you neither read history nor 'On Contradiction'," Jiao Hong said with a sudden realization.

Geng Prince Dingxiang became anxious when he heard this, stepped on Jiao Hong's foot under the table, signaling him not to speak wildly anymore. The metropolitan examination is next year, are you still going to take it? If you are, be honest, don't be so arrogant!

"So you are base Confucians." Jiao Hong was stepped on, but regardless, he still scolded them.

"You!" Sun Sun Jigao looked at Geng Prince Dingxiang and Jiao Hong with a frown. He originally thought that this teacher and disciple pair and Zhang Zhang Shaoxian's teacher and disciple trio were all here to seek advice on the metropolitan examination. After all, Sun Sun Jigao is the top scholar.

But now it seems not; this looks more like they are here to kick the gym!

"What Zhu Wu Zhongxing said is value. Did he say price? You confuse price and value to discuss them. If this isn't pointing at a deer and calling it a horse, what is it? In the past, Zhao Gao pointed at a deer and called it a horse. It's fortunate you are not officials of the Zhang Yuanfu; otherwise, the Great Ming's vitality would definitely be damaged." Jiao Hong sat upright, but these words were not polite at all.

Jiao Hong continued: "A two-horse carriage is priced at 148 taels of silver, and an umbrella, even at a high price, is no more than 1 qian 2 fen of silver. The price of goods fluctuates around their value. Did Zhu Wu Zhongxing ever deny that 'when goods are many, they are cheap, and when goods are few, they are expensive'? He just included it in the commodity value."

"The fact that your umbrella rose in price on a rainy day just proves the correctness of 'Labor Illustrated'."

"Because the use-value began to rise on a rainy day, and the exchange-value also began to rise, and finally the value rose within a specific time. This is the root of the price increase."

Zhu Zhu Yijun, listening in the next private room, heard Jiao Hong say this, his eyes lit up, and he looked at Zhang Zhang Juzheng and said: "Teacher, keep an eye on this person."

"I understand," Zhang Zhang Juzheng saw clearly that the Emperor was not interested in the wine, but was here to watch the fun.

"It's simply nonsense! According to what you said, price fluctuates around commodity value, then why can the price of grain rise to the sky during disaster years!" Gu Assistant County Magistrate immediately retorted: "Things have no sentiment, let alone value. It is because people need them that there are rises and falls."

"That's it." Jiao Hong looked at Gu Assistant County Magistrate and asked: "Is it really that there isn't enough grain to eat during disaster years?"

"'If there is no disaster in the year, the world will be well-governed.' That is to say, during disaster years, the common people can maintain a stable life. This is a manifestation of the world being well-governed."

"By identifying the high grain prices during disaster years as supply and demand, you can escape the facts of hoarding grain, exploiting the small people, and collusion between officials, gentry, and merchants, and then push all the blame onto natural disasters."

"Who is it that steals the grain from the Ever-Normal Granaries like rats in ordinary times? Who is it that embezzles the imperial court's relief grain when disasters occur? Who is it that hoards grain and exploits the villages during disaster years? Who is it that takes the opportunity to annex land during disaster years!"

"If it were in places like Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xuanfu, Datong, and Liaodong where people are sparse, roads are full of bandits, and the land is barren, it would be fine if grain could not be supplied. But Two Huai, Zhejiang, and Jiangnan are the Great Ming's granaries. Even if there is a flood, there are starving people everywhere!"

"Are you opposing the fact that labor intensity and time endow goods with value, or are you doing all those dirty things and putting them all into the words 'supply and demand' to do evil?!"

Gu Assistant County Magistrate's hands were shaking. Everyone is a student from the Nanyang area and all want to attack the metropolitan examination next year. Gu Assistant County Magistrate had long seen Jiao Hong's power, but he never expected that after not seeing him for these days, Jiao Hong would be even more powerful!

Jiao Hong seemed to have fiery eyes, seeing through their plans at a glance.

"Gu Assistant County Magistrate, look at me! Answer me!" Jiao Hong stood up, holding his hands, and looked at Gu Assistant County Magistrate with a serious tone, asking Gu Assistant County Magistrate to answer.

What kind of "Restoration Faction" or "Ancient Tomb Faction"—it's just finding some reasons for themselves to exploit the common people with peace of mind.

Begging for monthly votes, Awoo!!!!!!!

End of this chapter