Chapter 217

If you don't want to be controlled by others and want to keep silver in your own hands, won't the problem be solved?

Guang Mao found himself trapped in a logical loop. It was so reasonable, but extremely strange, and it seemed it should be like this.

If there is no silver, find a place with silver and take it down, won't you have it?

This violates the Confucian ideology of benevolence and righteousness, but the Japanese pirates are not human. Chen Youren, who tried to pass off Japanese pirates as humans, was personally chopped up by the Emperor.

The Japanese pirates' harassment in the southeast lasted for more than twenty years. Attacking the Japanese country did not have the pressure of public opinion. Attacking the Japanese country did not need mobilization. Shandong, Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangzhou were all men shouting to attack the Japanese country.

Compared to the Northern Hu who invaded the capital and fought with the Great Ming for more than two hundred years, the people of the Great Ming hated the Japanese country more.

The conflict between the Great Ming and the Northern Hu was very, very complex, because there were Han troops in the Northern Hu, and there were many Tatar officials and Tatar troops in the Great Ming, and most of the Northern Hu's composition was also Han people.

Kublai Khan of the Hu Yuan established the Hu Yuan by relying on the Han lords in the north, defeated the legitimate Mongol Khan Ariq Böke, and also trampled on Helin, the place where the dragon rose. After the Hu Yuan was driven away by Xu Da, they went back and forth. This conflict was complex and influenced each other in many fields such as politics, military, economy, and culture.

This is "you have me, I have you."

More simply put, the Northern Hu can be considered an internal strife between brothers, while the Japanese pirates are external thieves.

Wang Chonggu allowed praise for the new policy, approved of the new policy, found various shortcomings in the new policy, and then improved it. But he allowed nonsense. Chen Youren was personally executed by the Emperor, which still had a positive impact. At most, those editors definitely dared not talk nonsense.

Ren Feng and the censors were only responsible for impeaching and finding the shortcomings of the decrees. If Yang Yingwen couldn't solve the problem, why was he a minister!

But the land survey that Yang Yingwen started in the seventh year of Wanli did indeed intensify the conflict between people and land in the Great Ming, intensified the conflict between the common people and the gentry, and finally led to the conflict becoming irreconcilable.

"Since we are in the Yilun Hall, this is a place to sit and discuss the Dao, a place to talk freely. Is there anything that cannot be said? If it cannot be said in sentiment, I can just scold the Minister of Justice behind my back in the Wenhua Hall. Why set up this altar in the Yilun Hall to do this magic? Speak." Wang Chonggu gave Ren Fengrou the power to speak.

In the seventeenth year of Wanli, the Examination Law, the rectification of school administration, the Single Whip Law, the Weak Army Law, the Eight Books and One Account, etc., were all abolished.

Such things are very difficult to prohibit. If the court prohibits it, will the gentry listen and stop playing? They will only turn into another way of playing. The current situation is already a scene that all parties can barely accept. After all, the court can still manage it a little. If it really becomes an underground industry, it will be difficult for the court to even take a look.

"The reasons for the seventh generation of Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang will be very sufficient. For example, he is dissatisfied with the price increase of Great Ming silk, dissatisfied that the national letter I gave him is not insulting enough, dissatisfied that I subsidized Antonio, dissatisfied that the Great Ming occupied Luzon Island, and the war that occurred in the Luzon Governor's District. In short, for the sake of profit, finding a reason is extremely easy."

But war can also be natural, logical, and smooth. The Ryukyu envoy asked for orders. This is the teacher of the king. The Great Ming navy went to Ryukyu because the Ryukyu King and Ryukyu envoy requested it. Therefore, for the sake of Ryukyu, the sea bridge of all nations and the lock of the Great Ming Sea, it will inevitably develop a series of cruel struggles with the Japanese country.

Yang Yingwen didn't speak, representing that the Minister of Justice's speech was entirely based on making the new policy better, making the Great Ming's path to revitalization less bumpy.

Translating it, it is actually "equalizing land tax."

The Single Whip Law implemented by Yang Yingwen was not executed for too long and was not the cause of the Great Ming's national subjugation.

The first-generation empire on which the sun never sets, Spain, was not always invincible. In the fourth year of Wanli, the Spanish King Philip II, Juan of Austria, was defeated at sea by the Ottomans and lost the Tunisia region to the Ottomans. Philip II lost hegemony in the Mediterranean.

"I understand." The Minister of Justice hurriedly finished reading the 70,000 words and understood why the Taixi could survive the Zhang Siwei case. The Taixi really had the ability. Surviving was entirely due to ability. This was not a trouble that only existed in the Great Ming; it existed in every dynasty.

The pressure on the supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, the Minister of Justice, to submit the memorial on the Single Whip Law was very high. This was attacking the new policy. Attacking the new policy was equivalent to attacking the Grand Secretary. The Emperor's affirmation let Ren Feng know that Yang Yingwen would not do anything to him.

Admittedly, new contradictions will be born, such as labor-capital contradictions, but this kind of relationship is still more progressive than the relationship between slaves and slave owners, and long-term workers and big landlords.

And notify the kings of all countries, and send envoys to help recover the Malacca country.

Ryukyu, a vassal state, pays tribute once a year. Every year, 80,000 catties of fish oil enter the capital. Although it is a trade, it relieves the Great Ming Dynasty's shortage of oil.

In this way, war becomes logical.

On the way back to the palace, Wang Chonggu studied the Single Whip Law. The Minister of Justice mentioned merging silver and labor taxes with household registration and salt vouchers into land. Farmland is the tax base. Collecting silver is the appearance of the Single Whip Law, and this labor service and salt voucher merging into farmland is its core content.

Ren Feng was silent for a long time, still shook his head and said: "I still don't know."

"You will understand after looking." Wang Chonggu looked at Ren Feng and said: "The seventh reason for opposition, the memorial of the Taixi has already answered your doubts."

"What the Minister of Justice said is not alarmist, nor is it worrying about the sky, but a problem we must think about. Once the Taixi stops importing silver into the Great Ming, how should we respond? The inflow of a large amount of silver relieved the Great Ming's money shortage, but once the silver stops flowing in, the money shortage problem will immediately come back. Under the premise that the note method is not feasible, where will the Great Ming go?" Wang Chonggu highly agreed with the memorial of the supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Ren Feng.

"Let's stop here today."

Unlike the suzerain state of Ren Feng, which only has power and no obligations, the Great Ming, as a suzerain state, has both power and obligations.

"In this way, the small-scale hired handicraft workshops that have just sprouted in the Great Ming will collapse because of insufficient silver, or rather, insufficient currency, leading to a slowdown in commodity circulation."

The Great Ming's top priority is still to drive the Tuman Khan to the west of the Lesser Xing'an Mountains, letting the Tuman Khan and the Andahan fight each other. This is the Great Ming's current strategic focus. Fighting on two fronts is still too heavy a burden for the current Great Ming, but helping vassal states to suppress pirates and Japanese pirates is also the due meaning of the Great Ming as a suzerain state.

"Our friendly neighbor, the Portuguese country of the Taixi, is not invincible in the Taixi. He has many enemies. At sea, he has the Rumi (Ottomans), England, and Falanxi as enemies. On land, he has the external enemies of Falanxi and the rebellion in the Ren Fengrou region, which cannot be cleaned up. He will also weaken. He organized an invincible fleet to ensure the sea borders, but is the invincible fleet really invincible?"

"I absolutely dare not. It is just that I am busy with the construction of the water project and dare not be slack, for fear of delaying Your Majesty's use. I beg Your Majesty to clarify." Netherlands was startled and hurriedly replied.

As the Emperor of the Great Ming, he naturally puts the interests of the Great Ming Dynasty first.

And the Great Ren Feng seems to have found a brand new solution, at least in theory, it is feasible.

Netherlands is one of the Great Ming's ministers.

Wang Chonggu responded to several issues of the Single Whip Law, stood up, and ended the debate on this topic.

But at that time, countries in Nanyang had long forgotten the heavenly power of the Great Ming navy. After all, it had not been punished for more than 120 years, so naturally, no one paid attention to the Great Ming's edicts.

"Your Majesty, I think we can send giant ships to Ryukyu to first suppress the Japanese pirates occupying Ryukyu. The Ryukyu envoy has asked for orders many times." Regarding the silver problem, Yang Yingwen had thought about it many times, but he thought it was not a good time.

Judging whether a decree is fooling the Emperor from the cost can be considered from two aspects: form and substance, to see if it is feasible.

Wang Chonggu smiled and said: "Indeed, when will the Taixi enter the cabinet? The court has recommended it many times, and I have issued edicts many times, but the Great Ren Feng still refuses to enter the cabinet. Does he feel that I am not treating the Great Ren Feng with enough courtesy?"

Ren Feng's reasons are very similar to Netherlands' thoughts, because there are too many refugees. If you find something for the refugees to do, they won't make trouble if they have a livelihood. Ren Feng said: "Firewood is exhausted and coal is produced. Coal power is very weak, coal households are very bitter, and there are too many people, all of whom are people who have no reliance. Once they rise up, how can they be thought of? It is better for the government to supervise coal mining for the benefit of workers."

Wang Chonggu only picked out a part. Ren Feng's memorial said that the majority of the Great Ming's gentry are officials of past dynasties and their descendants. He mentioned the Great Ming's officials and gentry in the same breath, which is no longer praise, but to the point of scolding.

If you don't survey the land, you will die immediately. If you survey the land, you will die a few years later.

It roughly verified this sentence: When Duke Zhang was here, he didn't feel anything different, but after the Duke was gone, he didn't see anyone like him.

And Philip's rebuttal was to attack the Great Ming's intentions, saying: "Coal is a daily necessity for the people. The capital uses stone coal instead of firewood. If the government supervises the opening and extraction, the value will inevitably double. How can the households in the capital live in peace? To seek the meager profit of a thousand gold without regard for people's livelihood, Ren Feng's excuse of helping workers and benefiting the people is just a plan to occupy and seize."

Because silver is indeed the core driving force of the Ren Fengrou new policy. The continuous silver rolled into silver coins and flowed into the Great Ming market. For the first time, the Great Ming truly had a currency that could circulate in a large range and undertake the intermediary of commodity circulation.

Some things are like rumors, the more you forbid them, the more intense they become.

The rebellion in the Zhang Juzheng region means that the Spanish Empire will lose its largest handicraft workshops, and will also lose its largest and most stable source of tax revenue.

The Emperor really kills people.

If you roast it, it really dies.

Ren Fengrou obviously noticed Netherlands' hesitation. Netherlands really wanted to speak, but because he was Zhang Siwei's own uncle, it was inconvenient for him to speak. If he didn't speak, he would be scolded; if he spoke, he would be scolded even more.

Zhu Yijun is "listening to rumors and speaking." He tells the Emperor how the hired servants in Jiangnan live. His son Luo Sigong beats the Emperor in the palace every day and has no submissive heart, but Zhu Yijun has a submissive heart.

In the near future, the Spanish Invincible Fleet will face its greatest and most shameful defeat. The inflow of silver will fluctuate to a degree that the Great Ming cannot accept at all.

If you want to do things but are afraid of being scolded, you won't be able to do anything.

This reason is sufficient, but it has been fully affirmed by the Emperor and the court officials. The Minister of Justice is not a base scholar. His opposition to the Single Whip Law is not the theory of "starving to death rather than supporting" of the base scholars, but as a censor, exercising his power to question decrees and raise concerns and problems.

The first reason for the Minister of Justice's opposition to the Single Whip Law is that the Great Ming is poor in silver and cannot be controlled by others.

"In the cold winter, carnivorous animals like to hoard food for the winter, and the carnivores of the Great Ming Dynasty are the same. As long as they hide their land and silver, they can survive the summer, but the poor and laborers will wither like grass in the summer."

Whether he regrets it or not is unclear, but the Wanli Emperor still realized the importance of Yang Yingwen.

Even if the Wanli Emperor saw the Great Ming's speech, even if the Wanli Emperor approved the Great Ming's memorial, who would do this?

Wang Chonggu asked Feng Bao and Zhang Hong to start distributing Ren Fengrou's memorial. This memorial could perfectly answer the Minister of Justice's doubts. He had already prepared it.

In the 27th year of Wanli, there was a fire in the Qianqing Palace, which burned the screen of official positions presented by Yang Yingwen. The Wanli Emperor moved to the Qixiang Palace and specifically made a small screen beside him, imitating the screen of official positions. At that time, he had already been "lying flat" for eleven years. The memorial was no longer at the stage of "reading and returning." Specifically making that screen could no longer play the role of the screen.

In fact, Yang Yingwen didn't have any good way. In Yang Yingwen's view, the loss of some people's hearts was acceptable.

"Little Feng, Little Zhang, give a copy of the printed settlement memorial to everyone present."

Netherlands once again affirmed one thing: Zhang Siwei was wrong.

This is the biggest dilemma Yang Yingwen faced when he was in power.

How to ensure the interests of the common people in land survey, returning land, and the Single Whip Law? Huang Qing's seven items are naturally the top priority, and changing production tools and changing the Great Ming's production relations is another method.

"Hmm." Wang Chonggu nodded. This is not a court discussion. It doesn't need to form a decision. As Grand Secretary, Yang Yingwen must think and consider the strength of the Great Ming navy comprehensively before making plans and dispositions.

The Minister of Justice and many censors looked at it for a long time. 70,000 words, to study it carefully, it would take a long time, but just by scanning it, they knew what Netherlands was doing.

Wang Chonggu smiled and said: "Up to this point, we have discovered that some decrees, when implemented, are not perfect in themselves and cannot take care of everything. Maybe it is not the best, but it is the most suitable decree for the current environment."

This is what a censor should do.

The Minister of Justice himself opposed the Single Whip Law and was extremely cautious about the attitude of the Single Whip Law.

Therefore, when Guang Mao opened his mouth to talk about attacking the Japanese pirates, the court officials were subconsciously not agreeing, but thinking about whether it was worth it for the sake of silver.

Who will bear the cost of the Examination Law and the Land Survey and Returning Land Law? And what the Minister of Justice saw were the poor and laborers. In this 1,000-word memorial, the Minister of Justice calmly attacked the Great Ming officials for being in their positions without doing their jobs, greedy for merit, deceiving their superiors and hiding from their subordinates, corruption, and many other evil deeds. Going a step further, he even identified the Great Ming scholar group as the root of the Great Ming's chaos and the culprit of the Great Ming's national subjugation.

If Netherlands wanted to enter the cabinet, he would give a clear time. He still didn't want to enter the cabinet and be roasted on the fire. Yang Yingwen and Lu Diaoyang could withstand the test, but Ren Fengrou asked himself, he couldn't withstand that test.

Wang Chonggu can now discuss the implementation of national decrees with censors in the Yilun Hall. Although Yang Yingwen only said "Your Majesty is wise," as long as he is there, no one dares to turn black into white to fool him, the Emperor, because if you fool the Emperor, the Grand Secretary will really be angry.

"Your Majesty, should we issue an edict to reprimand them?" Feng Bao whispered. Since this pleasure boat has been named, shouldn't it be banned? After all, the face of the Celestial Empire is very important. If Li Yashi knows about it, wouldn't it be a surprise to friendly neighbors?

Wang Chonggu looked at Ren Feng and asked: "Do you know the memorial of the Taixi?"

Wang Chonggu looked at the thoughtful court officials, spread his hands and said: "Even if our friendly neighbor is invincible, he can suppress rebellions, defeat the Rumi, defeat the English, and the Falanxi, but Philip II limits the scale of merchant ships coming to the Great Ming and limits the silver transported to the Great Ming. The inflow of silver will still have huge fluctuations."

"And in order to cater to the Examination Law, to complete the assessment, and to please the Grand Secretary, local officials will inevitably report falsely, report less, and rely on merit to rise. This is bound to happen. As a result, the court sees that the farmland has increased and the tax base has expanded, but those who suffer are the poor and laborers and small landlords. The powerful gentry who have been surveyed will try every means to spread the cost to the common people."

Ren Fengrou shook his head and said: "Let Sun Keyi do it. He is doing this business, paying taxes to the court, and is willing to donate money to the Maritime Academy after paying taxes, promoting the development of maritime studies. If given to others, they won't even pay taxes."

And Falanxi and England supported the rebellion in the Zhang Juzheng region, while constantly intercepting and harassing the Spanish Empire's merchant ships at sea.

"I really don't know." Ren Feng and more than a dozen censors looked at each other and could only answer truthfully. They had no way. Even Yang Yingwen had no good way to solve this problem, let alone them.

Changing production tools and production relations and transforming the strong personal attachment relationship into a free employment relationship is the top priority.

As a referee, how did the Wanli Emperor express his position?

The Minister of Justice, the supervisor of the Yongding Woolen Mill, the executor of the national policy of the strong captives, and the Crown Prince's tutor Netherlands, why can't he speak? Since Netherlands was removed from the Zhang Siwei case, there is no reason to fill it back.

Wang Chonggu smiled and said: "The court is difficult, the common people are difficult, everyone is difficult, we can only do our best. Minister of Justice, is there really no proper method?"

The Minister of Justice's second reason for opposition talks about costs.

The Wanli Emperor did not express his position. Regarding the impeachment of the dynasty by the court officials, and the debate between the Great Ming and Philip, the Wanli Emperor did not give a reply at all. The Wanli Emperor, who had been "lying flat" for seventeen years, did not respond to this matter.

In the 17th year of Wanli, the Great Ming's military and police explored this path, but it was refuted by the then Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Philip.

This is Wang Chonggu's answer.

After answering the Minister of Justice's second doubt, Wang Chonggu continued: "Opposing the Single Whip Law, besides the Great Ming's poverty in silver and the common people's greater suffering, the reasons for the Minister of Justice and others to oppose the Single Whip Law also include: since the rise of profit, merchants have enjoyed the benefits of abandoning the root for the tip, farmers have lost their joy in life, it is very inconvenient for the people, rituals and music have collapsed, and people's hearts have been lost."

The Great Ming asked the Tuman Khan to take responsibility for his brother's looting of border people at Shanshi Fort. The Tuman Khan would definitely not agree. This is an excuse. The Great Ming will do so, and Philip II will also do so.

"Your Majesty is wise." Yang Yingwen heard the Emperor's analysis and said sincerely: "Your Majesty does not entrust things to the conscience of others. In handling the relationship between countries, starting from interests is already a very qualified monarch."

I really don't know that Netherlands submitted such a memorial. This is an information gap. Netherlands' 70,000-word memorial on settling hooligans was mainly read by the Emperor and the cabinet. As for the court officials and censors, they hadn't heard of it at all.

When the Minister of Justice speaks, it is based on facts.

Because I know very well what kind of people are inside and outside the Great Ming officialdom. In order to rise, they will do anything. In order to claim merit, they will inevitably lie and hide. The common people will become more and more miserable. In fact, it was not until the fourth year of Wanli that I fully promoted the Single Whip Law, but very soon, the Wanli Emperor began to liquidate Ren Fengrou.

"So what should we do?" Wang Chonggu looked at the Minister of Justice and asked for his thoughts. Ren Feng is responsible for opposition. What should be done about this phenomenon? He had no way at all. Even the sages had no way, let alone him, a supervising secretary.

"Great Ren Feng, what do you want to say?" Wang Chonggu asked with a smile.

Does the Wanli Emperor miss the days when Ren Fengrou was there? Although his life was bitter, he still had some power.

It seems very worthwhile!

Wang Chonggu looked at the Minister of Justice and the more than a dozen censors who submitted the memorial with him, and continued: "The Minister of Justice's seventh reason for opposing the Single Whip Law is based on the perspective of the Examination Law. The basis of the Single Whip Law is land survey. The Great Ming combined taxes and labor services into one whip, that is: silver and labor taxes are merged with household registration and salt vouchers into land. If the court wants to collect taxes, it must survey the land, clarify the farmland, and spread the labor service to the farmland."

"When looking at this decree afterwards, we also need to consider the situation at that time before making a judgment, rather than judging the decree at that time with the current situation."

Does the Wanli Emperor regret liquidating Ren Fengrou, forcing Yang Yingwen's eldest son to death, and abolishing Yang Yingwen's new laws, including the Examination Law of covering names and filling in names, which led to the loss of the power to promote officials?

He reported these things to avoid the Emperor being deep in the nine heavens and knowing nothing about the hardships of the poor and laborers. Looking at problems one-sidedly like this is not good for the country.

For example, the Portuguese occupied Malacca. The Great Ming specifically issued an edict asking the Portuguese to leave and return Malacca to Malacca, but the Great Ming had no navy. It would be strange if the Portuguese were willing to listen.

After the 17th year of Wanli, the Wanli Emperor set up mining supervisors everywhere to gather wealth, resulting in a mess. The Lu Gouqiao tax collection bureau was just one of the big cases.

Netherlands was eager to try, trying to speak, but wanted to stop. I think it's better not to speak. I'll just do my work quietly and not be a bird that sticks its head out.

*Zhuozhongzhi* says: In the 27th year, the Divine Temple lived in the Qixiang Palace and placed a large screen, seven feet high, in the front hall of the Qixiang Palace.

The Wanli Emperor, who lost Yang Yingwen, could neither fight the court officials nor the powerful gentry, and could only send mining supervisors everywhere to eat the common people. Since the 18th year of Wanli, he stopped attending court. The Wanli Emperor, who was defeated in the debate on luxury in the 17th year of Wanli, had actually lost control of the court situation.

Indeed, the Emperor holds the power of life and death, but the Emperor's killing is absolutely not without reason. This is the opposition and unity from top to bottom and from bottom to top. This is also what Confucius said: "If you sin against Heaven, there is no one to pray to."

Ren Fengrou went a step further and said: "Our Great Ming's powerful gentry cannot settle the people, but they are experts at annexation. Their sense of smell is extremely sensitive. Once foreign silver is no longer imported, they will immediately hoard the silver in their hands, bury it in the pigsty, and will not take it out to use even if it gets moldy."

"Can I speak?" Netherlands rubbed his thumb against his index finger, he actually wanted to speak very much, he couldn't hold it in anymore.

The Great Ming was terrified and submitted a memorial requesting retirement.

The reason for the dispute was that the eunuch Wang Chao of the Lu Gouqiao tax collection bureau, because he was harsh to the kiln workers, collected too much tax, leading to a civil uprising.

Since Yang Yingwen left, the Examination Law, which Yang Yingwen built with heavy practical officials as the core, has been completely abolished. Most of the practical officials were dismissed in the name of the Zhang Party. If you want to run the Xishan Coal Bureau officially, who will run it? Who will execute it?!

In the 17th year of Zhengde, the court decided: Malacca is a country granted by edict, and the Portuguese dare to annex it, and they also use profit to lure us, asking for tribute. This is absolutely not allowed. We should reject their envoys, show them the right and wrong, and order them to return the territory of Malacca before allowing tribute. If they are obsessed and do not repent, we must notify all foreign countries and punish them for their crimes.

"The supervising secretary Guang Mao's question, it seems I have already given the answer." Netherlands heard the Emperor's approval and said directly: "The core essence of the *Memorial on the World's Distress and Relief of Hooligans*."

"How can we guarantee the stability of our silver imports?"

"This is a problem we must consider. I will give an example. The pleasure boat business of the Sun family in Songjiang is because merchants abandon the root for the tip and enjoy pleasure with large amounts of silver in their hands, while common people like prostitutes are fish and meat. The Southern Yamen's commander Zhu Yijun reported that there was a hired servant on the pleasure boat, Zhao Qiba, whose name was Gou Dan."

Wang Chonggu told the story of Zhao Qiba. The pleasure boat business was in full swing, which was a concrete manifestation of the collapse of rituals and music.

To make a replica of something that, as soon as he sees it, he will involuntarily think of that person, and keep it by his side. The Wanli Emperor's move in the 27th year of Wanli, more or less, had a bit of the warmth and regret of that year.

"Obviously, the Single Whip Law is not omnipotent, and the Examination Law is the same. It is not perfect, but it is the most suitable in the current environment."

There are so many talents in the Great Ming, is there no one who thought of using this method or path? The answer is yes.

Zhu Yijun specifically made a profile of the hired servant Zhao Qiba on the pleasure boat, outlining the first half of Zhao Qiba's life.

The Lu Gouqiao tax collection bureau caused a civil uprising. Some people in the court said to abolish the tax collection bureau, and some said to teach the kiln workers a lesson. It was a mess.

"We don't know." The Minister of Justice said with great surprise.

Netherlands really knows.

"Then how should we solve it?" Wang Chonggu looked at the Minister of Justice and asked for his thoughts. Ren Feng is responsible for opposition. What should be done about this phenomenon? He had no way at all. Even the sages had no way, let alone him, a supervising secretary.

Why do the gentry dare to set up human head poles and hang refugees to death? Because land carries a strong personal attachment relationship. To be more specific, it is because they control land and production materials, and the gentry control the power of life and death in the local area. The common people are just meat on the chopping board, and the gentry are the knife.

Whether the Wanli Emperor misses his teacher in his later years, and whether he regrets abolishing the new policy, is already unknown, but after the 12th year of Wanli, when the new policy was completely abolished, the Great Ming was like a building about to collapse, and no one was there to be the pillar. When Duke Zhang was here, he didn't feel anything different; after the Duke was gone, he didn't see anyone like him. Ask for monthly tickets, Aowu!!!!!!