Chapter 460: The Unevenness of the World

The Great Ming's attitude toward barbarians is undergoing a fundamental change. If you want to explain the change clearly, it is not difficult. In summary, it has changed from having an addiction to being a father to being extremely conservative now.

Zeng Shenwu is this kind of extremely conservative person. When disobedient barbarians refresh at the border of the empire, killing them all is the most effective way. This attitude of not being open and inclusive at all is extremely conservative. He thinks so, and he does so. In the first year of Wanli, he pacified the Nine Streams, and only the hanging coffins proved that the Duzhang barbarians survived from the pre-Qin period to the first year of Wanli.

Being addicted to being a father is not a derogatory term. It is about face and suffering. When the war with the Northern captives could not be won and had to be negotiated, it dragged on for four years just for the face problem of who is the father and who is the son. The ministers who came up during the Jiajing period of the captive change and the Japanese pirates finally completely suppressed the wind of "softening the distant people" in the court.

Zhang Juzheng always discusses a problem, that is, correcting mistakes must be overcorrected. This kind of thing always happens.

When promoting literature and suppressing martial arts, he immediately put the horse on the southern mountain. The civil officials who toured the local area had the power of life and death over the military generals, and the imperial court did not say a word; when "softening the distant people" did not work, it immediately became a thorough elimination; when revitalizing martial arts, it was easy to accidentally get to the point of regional warlordism; when not paying attention to technological progress, he stepped on the craftsmen into the humble status, scolded the strange skills and ingenious skills for disturbing the heart, and took shortcuts. When paying attention to technological progress, he held the craftsmen higher than the gods.

Lin Fucheng's theory that only those with productive forces have freedom is to hold craftsmen and technological progress higher than gods. The key is that the logic is self-consistent. He completely forgot how to criticize craftsmen at the beginning, shouting loudly: those who make strange skills and ingenious skills will be punished! He also completely forgot that technological progress was encouraged by the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun, who practiced it himself for several years as one day.

The Official Factory Group Law is the vertical scale of history, the Han's Tuntian Law, the Tang's Fubing System, the Great Ming's military colony guard system, the Chengzu Wen Emperor's resident craftsman households, and the 27 official shipyards in the Great Voyage. The horizontal scale is the Xishan Shengzhou Womagang Coal Bureau, the Yongsheng Yongding Lanzhou Wool Mill, the five major shipyards, the nine shipping commissioners, and the five ocean trading firms.

The Official Factory Group Law is the dual result of vertical scale and horizontal scale. If you really listen to Lin Fucheng's imperial court not to interfere too much, it will be nothing.

When you eat the fifth bun, you are full. You are annoyed and say, if you knew that eating the fifth bun could be full, why eat the other four?

The sun rises because the chicken calls.

Zeng Shenwu believes that the best way to deal with the Toungoo Dynasty is thorough conquest. The ministers of the imperial court could not beat Zeng Shenwu on this, because Zeng Shenwu came from the southwest direction and knew more about the situation there.

In Zeng Shenwu's view, Toungoo is sick, Mang Yingli is very sick, and needs to be treated with fire guns and fire cannons.

The people there recognize this. If you talk nicely and discuss, they won't understand. Only the roaring sound of fire guns and fire cannons can make Mang Yingli wake up completely.

Moving troops against Toungoo has become a foregone conclusion, but we must wait until Malacca City is completely taken. This is a throat place. Even Zhu Yijun, who has zero military talent, knows that under normal circumstances, bypassing passes and cities to fight is to completely expose one's supply line to the enemy. The behavior of showing one's back to the enemy is suicide.

"Memorial on Returning Fields." Zhang Juzheng saw that no one was willing to mention it, so he had to speak up.

This thing is really a big deal, and even talking about it, the attitude of the ministers is to avoid it.

"Should this matter be discussed in the long run? Is it better to discuss it slowly?" Wang Chonggu naturally finished reading the Memorial on Returning Fields. The long 10,000-word book made Wang Chonggu unable to sleep or eat. It made Wang Chonggu stunned. He engaged in the Memorial on Equalizing Fields and Corvee, which was just to distribute the four-difference silver of the poll tax to the land, just to force people into the official factory group to work like cattle and horses. This has already sat in the ranks of treacherous officials, and he was scolded dizzy.

Zhang Juzheng made a move, which was the "Memorial on Returning Fields," and it was organized extremely detailed. It was obviously planned and then decided.

Wan Shihe also immediately said: "That is to say, it is better to wait two years, wait for the finance to be abundant and then discuss it."

Wan Shihe likes to mix mud and likes to compromise. He dislikes this kind of matter with too clear a position. If this combination of punches is hit, the Great Ming imperial court will stand on the opposite side of the powerful gentry. Whether the Great Ming imperial court will learn from the Southern Song imperial court is an answer that no one knows. Of course, Wan Shihe does not know that this is the Emperor's persistence. After all, the communication in the Wenchang Pavilion of the Quanchu Hall is only known to the parties involved.

Zhang Juzheng does not intend to say it. After there are definite results, it will be the Emperor's holy will to decide.

Wang Guoguang thought for a long time before saying: "Wait until Qi Shuai returns to the court to discuss it."

With the Capital Battalion, even if there is any trouble, Qi Jiguang can clean it up. This is Wang Guoguang's meaning. Without sufficient military deterrence, wanting to confiscate property, you must have the Capital Battalion to suppress the scene.

The powerful gentry also have something to say: my ancestors worked hard, took advantage of natural and man-made disasters to gather land, and lived a good life today. The imperial court just took a little silver and wanted to take it away for nothing! Why!

Wang Guoguang studied the Memorial on Returning Fields seriously. It is really bold and dangerous. He tends to maintain the status quo.

"The Senior Grand Secretary Wang's meaning is, let me surrender to the powerful gentry and local gentry?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and asked calmly.

"This subject deserves to die." Wang Chonggu knew that His Majesty was really angry, so he knelt down to apologize.

Zhu Yijun instead signaled Zhang Hong to support Wang Chonggu, shook his head and said: "Get up and speak. I will not kill because of words. The Senior Grand Secretary Wang's words are very reasonable, but I am ready. The Memorial on Returning Fields, I have decided."

"An age of great contention, the strong prevail, the weak perish."

"Your Majesty, how to practice? Your Majesty is for the people of the world, but how can it be realized? Who will do these things? Who will supervise? Who will organize, and further, what power will be used to resist the counterattack of the crazy local gentry? Your Majesty, the 100,000 Capital Battalion are all elites, but there are only 100,000." Wang Chonggu did not stop remonstrating, but instead blocked it more fiercely.

His Majesty is very easy to understand and very simple. Before the imperial decree is issued, you can oppose it, but once it passes the court discussion, you must twist it into a rope.

(End of chapter)

Tan Lun had indeed left, but his spirit was still shining on the Great Ming, continuing to move forward.

Wang Chonggu had had no chance in the past; he was previously just a usurping official. Therefore, when the Emperor reached out his hand and handed him a pair of scissors, a formula, and a wool brush, Wang Chonggu seized the opportunity. A posthumous name was indeed unimportant to the living, but after death, if everyone mentioned this name and gnashed their teeth in hatred, it would be too miserable.

Wang Chonggu wanted to be praised and blamed, but at least not have bad reviews everywhere.

Feng Bao organized four young eunuchs to carry the Emperor's dragon chair onto the platform. This was ascending the throne. Zhu Yijun held the Memorial on Returning Land in his hand. The old man had passed away, and the headache-inducing problems were still causing headaches.

Whether to thoroughly reform the land, to thoroughly push forward the land movement of measuring land that Zhang Juzheng had started—the court officials were divided into two distinct factions: one faction for Zhang Juzheng and one for Wang Chonggu. The New Year was like pressing a pause button for the Great Ming, but the court officials had already clashed many times in secret.

Zhang Juzheng still hadn't convinced Wang Chonggu, even though he had brought up the argument that the iteration speed of the steam engine would exceed everyone's imagination. He still hadn't convinced Wang Chonggu. The Official Factory Group Manufacturing system needed a large number of cheap craftsmen. Even with the median labor compensation of ten silver per year and the treatment that their children could attend government-run schools, craftsmen were still cheap.

Compared to the terrifying profits of the government factories, the unit price of craftsmen was still extremely cheap.

Zhang Juzheng's Memorial on Returning Land also settled displaced people. Those without houses or land were called "displaced," and those who were unemployed and idle were called "vagrants." Those tenant farmers and servants were also displaced and vagrants. This was competing with the Official Factory Group Manufacturing system for population.

The Great Ming had a population of one hundred million, but the Official Factory Group Manufacturing Law still lacked people. Otherwise, why would the major weaving bureaus use a large number of weaving women? Enabling female workers would attract some criticism, but it could alleviate the shortage.

In the court deliberation, the court officials chose to avoid talking about it and reported the work progress of the ninth year of Wanli and looked forward to the work plan of the tenth year of Wanli. Census of households and abolition of base status—these two things were to be pushed forward in the tenth year of Wanli. Regarding the abolition of base status, after in-depth discussion, the Great Ming decided to start from abolishing the deeds of sale.

The deeds of tenant farmers and servants would no longer be recognized. At the same time, the "lazy people" of Zhejiang, the music registers of Shaanxi and Shanxi, the music households of Beijing, the boat people of Guangdong, the nine-surname fishing boats of Zhejiang, the servants of Anhui, and the beggar households of Jiangsu, etc., would all have their base status abolished. Those who had no household registration in the past would be given household registration during this census.

However, a part of the base status needed to be discussed, and that was the descendants of criminals. For example, the Yang clan of Xindu, the Kong family of Yanzhou, the Xu clan of Songjiang, the Zhang clan of Puzhou, etc. —the clan extermination did not extend to those under fifteen. Their family members and descendants were partially demoted to base status. Therefore, the status of these people should be restored to commoner status after five generations.

Actually, there was a better way, and that was for these children to simply change their names and surnames and become children of other families. That would avoid the base status at the legal level and allow them to obtain normal commoner status.

Regarding the abolition of base status, it was not something that could be achieved overnight; it was to be done step by step during the process of the census.

For example, the boat people lived on boats and made a living by fishing, not allowed to live on shore, and their lives were drifting and uncertain. Their clothing was different from ordinary people. Even if they were granted status in law, they had nowhere to go. So how to settle them? The Great Ming also gave a way: the Freshwater Town and Xinglong Village on Jilong Island, the Miyangang and Manila in Luzon, or the Jiugang and Malacca of the Jiugang Governor-General's office.

These were all places to go. When they arrived at a new place, there would be a new life. Surrounded by pioneers and land reclaimers, it would be easier to become commoners.

This was a delicate job, and doing it was far less simple than imagined.

There was another type of person that the imperial court found particularly troublesome, and that was prostitutes. Some prostitutes were forced; they were sold to human traffickers when they were young and received an education that was all about serving people. Some even had bound feet; let alone working, walking on the ground was difficult. Some even couldn't walk after taking off their shoes. For this type of person, abolishing base status was useless. There was another part who were self-indulgent, just because of laziness, they entered the brothel world; the world of smoke and flowers dazzled the eyes.

After abolishing this type, it was actually no different from not abolishing it.

In the end, the imperial court still decided to abolish the base status of prostitutes as a whole and let it be. The imperial court did not have such strong executive power, and the administrative power was not so great that it could solve this problem.

By the end of the court deliberation, the Land-Returning Law had not been discussed. Wang Chonggu was still actively negotiating with Zhang Juzheng, trying to persuade Zhang Juzheng to give up the plan of the Memorial on Returning Land. Wang Chonggu's reasons were also very sufficient: the imperial court measuring land and collecting taxes was also as it should be. Otherwise, how would the naval forces be supported? How would the Beijing Garrison be supported? How would the expenditure of more than two million silver per year for post stations and postmen be borne?

But throughout the ages, whenever the land system was moved, the New Policies would come to an abrupt end, and the intensity of the struggle would suddenly rise to a terrifying degree.

Zhang Juzheng was also somewhat shaken by Wang Chonggu's words. He himself was not particularly supportive either. Simply, Zhang Juzheng took Wang Chonggu to the Zhao Wenhua Palace. After the court deliberation ended, the Emperor was "not attending to his proper duties" in the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Palace, which was considered an open secret.

Zhu Zaiyu was also in the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Palace, and the Empress Wang Yaozhuo, wrapped in a large red cloak, was watching her imperial uncle's performance with great interest.

The Great Ming Prince De, Zhu Zaiyu, had come to ask for funding. Everyone knew this clearly. Even to get funding, Prince De had asked for the Empress Dowager's order and asked his disciple, Wang Yaozhuo, to come forward to persuade the Emperor together, mainly for the research and development expenses of the steam engine. Actually, it didn't have to be like this. When the Institute of Physical Science asked for funding, Zhu Yijun had never failed to approve it, and even gave more.

After Wang Yaozhuo entered the palace, she studied reading and writing in the inner study and followed Zhu Zaiyu to learn mathematics and music theory. That zither in the side hall was Wang Yaozhuo's. At that time, the fighting was fierce, and Zhu Yijun would point to the soothing zither music to relax his mind. These years, it hadn't stopped.

Zhu Zaiyu said excitedly, "Your Majesty, every time I imagine that scene, I feel excited and flushed. This is hard to understand, but in general, it is 'If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening.'"

"A few days ago, under the microscope, we discovered that there are many small bugs in the water, opening the door to the mustard-seed world. And then the doctors of the Institute of Physical Science guessed, can this world be subdivided like this?"

"For example, water—are they composed of small bugs? Before, we couldn't see the bugs in the water, but now we see them. Perhaps because we can't observe them, we feel that water is a whole. So is it possible that water is composed of basic particles?"

"We can clearly prove this fact."

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Zaiyu and blinked. He clearly knew what Zhu Zaiyu was talking about; he was talking about water molecules. But in this era, how could Zhu Zaiyu prove it?

Could it be that the world of geniuses was so wonderful?

In the tenth year of Wanli, the microscope used a reflective microscope, and the magnification still did not exceed one hundred times. Observing Jupiter's satellites was a difficult thing. Through observing Jupiter's satellites and calculation, it was determined that light did have a speed, because the time of Jupiter's satellites appearing was always later than calculated. But figuring out the speed of light was another extremely difficult thing.

Now, Zhu Zaiyu wanted to prove the existence of molecules to the Emperor.

This was simply a fantasy.

"Oh, Imperial Uncle, explain in detail. Master and Secondary Grand Secretary, come over and listen too." Zhu Yijun was curious about how Zhu Zaiyu would prove it.

"Your Majesty, this is a glass bottle containing one jin of water. We now light the stove, and the water begins to heat up, getting hotter and hotter, and begins to boil. The water turns into steam. This is very common, isn't it?" Zhu Zaiyu opened the alcohol lamp and began to heat a bottle with a long neck.

The water in the glass bottle began to spit bubbles, then slowly boiled, steam began to appear, and the water was slowly burned dry.

"The steam slides along the glass bottle and then begins to condense. The hot end that is still heating cannot condense. The steam begins to move toward the cold end with the hot air, slowly condensing into water droplets at the cold end, hanging on the glass wall. They begin to gather, and then concentrate on this side. Very common, because we distill alcohol like this, only the process is more complicated." Zhu Zaiyu pointed to the long neck position, where water droplets condensed and flowed down.

The long neck was very long, and the weather in the first lunar month was very cold. The water was sliding down to the bottom.

Zhu Zaiyu pointed to the gathered distilled water and said quite confidently, "After we move this device outdoors, it will condense into ice in just half a *shichen*."

"I know, I have seen the distillation of the national cellar with my own eyes. May I ask Imperial Uncle, what does this have to do with the molecules you want to talk about—no, that water is composed of basic particles?" Zhu Yijun spread his hands. He understood what Zhu Zaiyu was doing. Wasn't this the water cycle of why it rains in the "Ten Thousand Whys" of the Physical Science Report?

Was he teasing a child?

Zhu Zaiyu clapped his hands, a look of ecstasy on his face, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the mystery. If water is composed of basic particles, then everything is normal."

"The heat of the alcohol lamp makes the water… molecules that were originally tightly bound together gradually become active. They move constantly, slowly and gradually breaking free from each other, and then drift into the air. When they encounter cold, the movement gradually slows down, and they begin to condense. When it is colder, their movement becomes lighter and lighter, fixing together, and they begin to freeze."

"Heat is the main reason determining whether they are water, steam, or ice."

"Although I can't observe that scene, as long as I imagine that scene, it feels incomparably magical."

Zhu Yijun understood immediately and at the same time felt the unevenness of the world. Geniuses were creatures that really made people jealous!

From the things that were taken for granted in life, plus reasonable imagination, he obtained an existence close to an axiom, and explained it so cleverly and clearly.

"People indeed cannot imagine things they haven't seen, but the doctors of Physical Science have seen the bugs in the water with their own eyes. People are also composed of mustard-seed bugs; they are strange and active all the time." Zhu Zaiyu thought the Emperor didn't understand. Water turned into steam, scattered, and then condensed into water again, and finally the heat decreased further and became ice.

What a logically self-consistent conjecture.

Zhu Zaiyu further said, "Your Majesty, I have many examples. For example, iron. We put coke into the blast furnace and use a blower to blow heated air into the furnace cavity. The coke burns violently, the iron begins to heat up, and the heat becomes higher and higher, turning into molten iron, just like ice turning into water. Their molecules are moving. The higher the heat, the faster they move."

"For example, combustion. What exactly is a flame? A flame needs air, heat, and combustible material. After we give the combustible material a heat that reaches combustion, the combustible material and certain molecules in the air have a wonderful reaction, releasing more heat, making more molecules of the combustible material become active."

Zhu Yijun interrupted Zhu Zaiyu and reached out his hand, saying, "Alright, Imperial Uncle, tell me directly, how much money do you want."

"This year, I might need one million silver, because steam engines are being improved quite a lot. This steam turbine of mine hasn't had any results." Zhu Zaiyu returned from his imagination of the micro world to the macro world. He was just a Prince De. The expenses of the Institute of Physical Science were very large, and those strange experiments were all smashed out with silver.

"Feng Da, take the acceptance bill from the inner treasury." Zhu Yijun wrote the acceptance bill directly and handed it to Zhu Zaiyu, saying very sincerely, "Imperial Uncle, just tell me how much you want next time. No need to show your talent again. I have long known that Imperial Uncle is a genius."

"The name 'molecule' that Your Majesty gave is excellent." Zhu Zaiyu didn't expect that asking for funding from the stingy Emperor would be so easy. He shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, those wild ideas of mine are nothing more than crazy fantasies in the eyes of others."

Zhu Zaiyu really liked the Emperor. Except for the fact that the Emperor didn't like music theory, because those wild ideas of his were always laughed at as delusions when communicating with others, or simply playing the zither to a cow. Only when communicating with the Emperor could Zhu Zaiyu clearly see the Emperor's surprise and earnest listening.

Zhu Yijun said very seriously, "Imperial Uncle, I have a lot of money. Go, do what you want to do."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Zhu Zaiyu left happily with the one-million-silver acceptance bill. This meant that for this year, the doctors of the Institute of Physical Science would not come to disturb him for funding. The Great Ming Inner Palace Supervision had administration in the Institute of Physical Science, and the expenditure of every bit of silver was very strict, but they would not obstruct any experiment. As long as it was used for experiments, no matter how strange, it would receive support.

"Did the Master understand what the Imperial Uncle was talking about?" Zhu Yijun was curious if Zhang Juzheng had understood.

Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment before saying, "Prince De's meaning is that whether it is people or objects, they are actually composed of smaller molecules. These molecules have different forms under different heat. This is because these molecules are constantly moving. The higher the heat, the more active they are. Their movement is like the mustard-seed bugs in the microscope, constantly moving. Water, steam, and ice are all water, just different forms under different heat."

"Between solid, liquid, and gas, because the heat is different, they need to absorb heat and release heat."

"Did the girl understand?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Yaozhuo.

Wang Yaozhuo nodded and said, "It's not particularly difficult to understand."

Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao and Zhang Hong. The two looked at each other, while Wang Chonggu was lost in thought.

What Zhu Zaiyu said was a very abstract thing. People who hadn't gone through systematic learning would think Zhu Zaiyu was crazy, but it was such crazy talk that easily took away one million silver from the Emperor.

From the pot lid that kept jumping because of the steam, Zhu Zaiyu saw not only the power of steam but also some mysteries of the micro world.

It had to be said that in a genius's mind, perhaps there was a world completely different from ordinary people.

Wang Yaozhuo saw that the Emperor had official business to attend to, so she chose to leave. She could see that the Emperor was slightly anxious. Every time this happened, Wang Yaozhuo would play the zither to let the Emperor calm down. Perhaps it was the zither music, perhaps it was a familiar person, or perhaps it was just because of her that the Emperor was willing to put down so many thoughts and think about the essence of the problem.

Wang Chonggu's attitude had always been very clear: he opposed the Land-Returning Law. He said very confidently, "Your Majesty, Wang Anshi's Green Sprout Law was perfect from the perspective of the system. It guaranteed the imperial court's tax revenue and also guaranteed the livelihood of displaced small farmers, and it would not harm the local gentry. But as soon as the Green Sprout Law came out, the local gentry began to destroy it frantically. Why did they want to destroy the Green Sprout Law?"

"To seek profit." Zhu Yijun pondered for a while and answered Wang Chonggu's question.

Wang Chonggu shook his head and said, "It wasn't to seek profit. If it were purely for that little bit of interest, risking one's head was also something to be calculated. Such a frantic counterattack actually had one reason: because the Green Sprout Law was actually a land system."

"For more than three hundred years of the two Song Dynasties, they didn't establish a land system and didn't suppress annexation. But as soon as the Green Sprout Law came out, even in years of disaster, small farmers could borrow seed grain from the imperial court's Ever-Normal Granary to survive the crisis. Then how could the local gentry still annex land? The Green Sprout Law was actually a land system, so the local gentry destroyed the New Policies so unscrupulously."

"Once the Land-Returning Law is pushed, I'm afraid it will be a boiling uproar."

Zhu Yijun was silent for a moment, looking at Wang Chonggu, his expression exceptionally heavy.

Wang Chonggu continued, "Your Majesty, actually, the wealthy and powerful families of our Great Ming can accept damage to their interests. For example, Yin Zhengmao tearing down people's households was to pacify the Japanese pirates, and the gentry of Liangguang also pinched their noses and accepted it. After all, the Japanese pirates broke through counties and cities, killing and setting fires, doing all kinds of evil. What the gentry of Liangguang cared about was that Minister Yin was too greedy."

"Ling Yunyi killed like hemp to force the gentry of Liangguang to donate and pacify the rebellion of the Yao people in Luoshan. That place had been chaotic for many years, and people and horses couldn't pass, and they often looted everywhere. Although the gentry of Liangguang were unhappy about dying, they also recognized that those Minister Ling killed were all people who colluded with the Japanese and barbarians and deserved to die."

"The Chief Grand Secretary measuring land and returning land—measuring land is to collect taxes. It is well known that the imperial court's finances are in great deficit. The Northern Tatars went south, and the Japanese pirates invaded the southeast. The imperial court collected taxes, organized the Beijing Garrison, issued pay to the border troops to resist the enemy, and organized naval forces to protect the sea borders. After a long time, they also recognized it."

"But this matter of moving people's lifeblood is like cooking oil on a raging fire."

Wang Chonggu remembered what Zhu Zaiyu had just said about what a flame was. The Memorial on Returning Land was the heat that ignited the fire, the fields were the coke, and the local gentry were the air. Once the Memorial on Returning Land was promulgated, it would ignite the contradictions between people and land. When the big fire burned, no one would know where the Great Ming would go.

The fundamental contradiction of the Great Ming was the contradiction between people and land, the contradiction of annexation, and the contradiction of the means of production.

"Does the Secondary Grand Secretary mean that I should surrender to the wealthy and powerful families and local gentry?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and asked calmly.

"Your subject deserves to die." Wang Chonggu knew that the Emperor was really angry, so he hurriedly knelt down to apologize.

Zhu Yijun instead signaled Zhang Hong to support Wang Chonggu and shook his head, saying, "Get up and speak. I will not kill because of words. The Secondary Grand Secretary's words make a lot of sense, but I have prepared. The Memorial on Returning Land—my mind is made up."

"In an age of great contention, the strong will be strong, and the weak will perish."

"Your Majesty, how to practice it? Your Majesty is for the common people of the world, but how can it be realized? Who will do these things? Who will supervise? Who will organize? Furthermore, what power will be used to resist the counterattack of the frantic local gentry? Your Majesty, the ten thousand troops of the Beijing Garrison are all elites, but there are only ten thousand." Wang Chonggu not only didn't stop remonstrating, but blocked even more fiercely.

This person, the Emperor, was very easy to understand and very simple. Before the imperial decree was issued, one could oppose it, but once it passed the court deliberation, one had to twist into a rope.

(End of chapter)