Chapter 576: Forget it, Let's Kill People First

The acceptance inspection of the Drum and Bell Tower of the Main Office began. After the Embroidered Uniform Guards conducted the necessary safety inspections, the Great Ming Emperor led the group of officials toward the Drum and Bell Tower. The entire Drum and Bell Tower was thirty-three zhang high, with a total of 1,050 steps. Zhu Yijun led the group of officials to start climbing the stairs.

When they reached the 170th step, Zhu Yijun looked behind him; some court officials were already panting.

"Court officials over fifty years old, wait downstairs." Zhu Yijun saw that their physical strength was insufficient.

The height of thirty-three zhang was about 105.6 meters. It was really not something an ordinary person could climb to the top in one breath. Plus, everyone was wearing thick clothes in winter, and a large cloak weighed three or four jin. Climbing such a height, court officials over fifty who lived in luxury really couldn't climb up.

Zhu Yijun climbed a few more floors, looked at Zhang Juzheng, and said with a smile, "Master, take a rest."

"It's fine, I can still climb." Zhang Juzheng glanced at Wang Chonggu, who was still climbing, and decided to continue climbing up.

Wang Chonggu could use a seven-star ring-headed saber and could carry a big saber to chase Wang Qian for four streets. Physical strength was not a problem. On the contrary, although Zhang Juzheng came from a military household and was a military noble, he was actually a scholar, so climbing was indeed a bit difficult.

Wang Chonggu liked to compete with Zhang Juzheng. Originally intending to wait downstairs, seeing Zhang Juzheng still persisting, he chose to follow the Emperor upward.

This walk took nearly fifteen minutes. The Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun was still at ease, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. Zhang Juzheng was also fine, because Zhu Yijun had two Embroidered Uniform Guards take a sedan chair carried by two people to carry Zhang Juzheng up. As for Wang Chonggu, he was panting with exhaustion.

It couldn't be said to be differential treatment; it could only be said to be a world of difference.

Zhang Juzheng was helpless. Being carried up was not as good as waiting downstairs!

The only court officials who could follow the Emperor's footsteps to the top were Zeng Shengyu and Wan Shihe. When Zeng Shengyu pacified the Nine Streams, he personally put on armor, wishing he could rush to the front. Zeng Shengyu could also ride horses, kill people, and fight wars; he was not just a simple scholar.

What was particularly surprising was that Wan Shihe also climbed up. Although he was exhausted like Wang Chonggu, he still persisted.

"Cabinet Elder Wan's physique is very sturdy." Zhu Yijun said with great surprise.

Wan Shihe leaned against the wall and waved his hands repeatedly, panting heavily. He had actually wanted to give up many times, but it was that heart of following His Majesty that made him persist.

Loyalty!

Loyalty was not something said, but something done in every word and deed. In the entire Great Ming Capital, only Wan Shihe could be considered a staunch "Emperor Party." The Emperor did not establish a crown prince, and Wan Shihe supported him.

"Dangerous building a hundred feet high, hands can pluck the stars; dare not speak loudly, for fear of startling the heavenly people." Zhu Yijun stood on the top floor of the Drum and Bell Tower, looking at the complex pendulum clock.

At the very top was a huge copper bell. Hanging this thing at the highest point had exhausted the brains of the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works.

The wind was very noisy, carrying a bone-chilling cold. The heavy snow had stopped, but the cold wind was still biting.

Zhu Yijun liked Li Bai very much. Among Li Bai's many poems, Zhu Yijun uniquely disliked the one "Narrating Virtue and Chen Qing to Geshu Grand Doctor." Geshu Han's surname was Geshu, a Turkic surname. In the poem, Li Bai praised Geshu Han, and one of the lines was: "Wei Qing is just a general, Bai Qi is truly a boy."

It meant that even Wei Qing was just a general, and Bai Qi was truly a boy compared to Geshu Han.

Setting aside the fact that after Geshu Han was defeated, he immediately knelt and surrendered to An Lushan, Geshu Han's lifelong record could not be compared with Wei Qing and Bai Qi. Han Xin, Bai Qi, Wei Qing, and Huo Qubing were collectively known as the "Han-Bai-Wei-Huo." Geshu Han was a bit far behind.

Li Bai couldn't predict the future. When he wrote this poem, Geshu Han hadn't surrendered to An Lushan yet.

Wan Shihe finally breathed evenly and bowed, saying, "Your subject also started exercising after reading Hu Ying's 'Simple Hygiene Prescription' from the Yongle period. It can be considered barely keeping up with Your Majesty's footsteps."

Wan Shihe explained why he had good physical strength. In fact, it was Hu Ying's way of health preservation, and he practiced the "Five Animals Play" like Zhang Juzheng. However, Wan Shihe was young and his body was much better than Zhang Juzheng's.

"Can't even climb a building; what's the use of having them?" Zhu Yijun looked at the stairs. Over fifty could rest; this was "respecting the old." But among the court officials under fifty, few could keep up with the Emperor's footsteps, naturally causing the Emperor's mockery.

It was not as good as the sixty-year-old Wang Chonggu and the fifty-something-year-old Wan Shihe.

Zhu Yijun led by example. He could do it. He didn't require court officials to be able to do it before him, but at least they should be able to keep up with his footsteps. But no, these court officials were panting halfway up and couldn't come up.

Look at those Embroidered Uniform Guards; was there one panting heavily?

"Simply trash. Your subject climbed up." Feng Bao raised his head halfway and said with great pride. Because Feng Bao, who had witnessed the Emperor's hard work in practicing martial arts, as an old ancestor, was also secretly working hard. For a eunuch, falling behind = death; this formula held true.

He was still very proud of his martial arts value.

There were also armed fights in the Great Ming court. For example, in the 14th year of Zhengtong, after the Tumu Fortress disaster, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Ma Shun, was beaten to death by court officials. And Feng Bao, who practiced the "Classic of Angering People," could scold people to death. If something really happened and they had to do it, Feng Bao wouldn't be afraid of them.

Climbing a building could make them so tired. If they really fought, Feng Bao could say without exaggeration: "I want to fight ten!"

Zhu Yijun stood beside the big bell, looking at the scenery of the capital. Looking from here, the entire capital was in full view. Looking east, one could see large areas of civilian houses and the looming city walls of Tongzhou County; looking north, it was the North Camp, the Royal Institute of Technology, and the Ten Kings City; looking west, one could see the big chimneys of the Xishan Coal Bureau and the wool factory; looking south, one could see the Nanhaizi of Daxing County, although one could only see an outline.

Climbing high and looking far, the mood was open. The wind was strong, and there was no fog, so one could see very, very far.

"Look at the red outfit and white wrapping, exceptionally enchanting." Zhu Yijun looked at the vast whiteness after the snow, feeling somewhat emotional, and recited two more lines.

"The rhythm of these two lines is excellent. It seems to be the end of the first stanza of 'Qinyuanchun.' Does Your Majesty have the full text?" Zhang Juzheng pondered these two lines slightly and immediately asked.

Zhu Yijun blinked. Everyone knew that he, the Emperor, was not good at poetry and songs. These two lines of extremely high level suddenly popped out, immediately attracting Zhang Juzheng's attention.

"Eh, a wonderful hand accidentally obtained, a wonderful hand accidentally obtained." Zhu Yijun really didn't understand the rhythm of poetry. If Zhang Juzheng discussed this with him, he really wouldn't know much. Even if he copied the whole thing, Zhang Juzheng would discuss it with him, and he would be completely in the dark. What should he do?

Zhang Juzheng still insisted, "Your Majesty, this is clearly a line from the tune 'Qinyuanchun.' Why not take it out and let me see?"

Zhang Juzheng thought it was written by the Emperor, just feeling that it was not written well and not daring to take it out for the Master to see. This was nothing; as long as the Emperor did a good job as an Emperor, it was fine.

"Master, let's look at the memorials." Zhu Yijun chose to change the subject. He shouldn't have found someone to carry Zhang Juzheng up. With him panting, where would he have the energy to pay attention to this?

He should have let the stubborn and hard-mouthed Master Zhang detoxify.

"Master, I remember that Master is most opposed to these poems and songs. I remember that Master also vigorously criticized the 'Qingci' Senior Grand Secretary. Let's look at the memorials."

"Qingci is an article for praying to heaven; this is poetry, it's different." Zhang Juzheng immediately replied. This was not Qingci, but a good poem. The Emperor was sophistrying, first changing the subject, and then confusing concepts. The Emperor had learned all of the base scholars' tricks, not missing a single one.

This also proved that there was indeed a full text, but he just wouldn't tell him, Zhang Juzheng.

Zhu Yijun couldn't copy it. If he copied it, Zhang Juzheng would ask who wrote it. The momentum of "Qinyuanchun: Snow" was not generally majestic. Throughout the Great Ming, only the Great Ancestor, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, had this kind of spirit, but in terms of literary talent, it was a bit lacking.

"A wonderful hand accidentally obtained." Zhu Yijun handed the memorial over. He shouldn't have found someone to carry Zhang Juzheng up.

He should have let the stubborn and hard-mouthed Master Zhang detoxify.

Zhang Juzheng opened the memorial, read two lines, and his brows furrowed. After reading it, he clenched the memorial in his hand and said sharply, "Simply lawless! Scoundrels! I request the imperial decree to investigate and handle it immediately! Anyone who has this act, kill without mercy!"

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng was as radical as when he was determined to reform, directly shouting "anyone who has this act, kill without mercy," not giving any way out.

Because it concerned food security.

Great Ming was conducting land measurement and population census. These two things had been done. Only the abolition of the "base slave status" was still finishing up. Before the end of the year, all places would be completed. Administratively, the legal support for the sale contract was abolished, and the existence of the base slave status was thoroughly changed, which required a long transformation of production relations.

And in this process, production relations had undergone certain changes. The local virtuous and wealthy families could no longer borrow the name of the imperial court to carry out large-scale annexation and oppress the people with land.

Grain production included four links: planting and production, storage, processing, and sales. The main contradiction in planting and production was the ownership of land. The main contradiction in storage was that the meat-eaters in various prefectures and counties used layers of "pumai" (monopoly purchasing) and manufactured non-existent debts to damage the public and fatten themselves;

And this memorial from the Minister of Revenue, Wang Guoguang, was about the processing and sales of these two links.

Untreated grain was generally not eaten directly. It needed to be shelled into rice, wheat ground into flour, beans pressed into oil, and bean dregs made into feed, etc.

And the problem lay in the processing and sales of these two links. Grain, as an extremely important commodity throughout history, had appeared monopolized in the process of processing and sales.

The characteristic of small-scale peasant economy was self-sufficiency, but people in the city didn't farm, so naturally there were commodity grains. The Southern Office was at the forefront of the transformation of small-scale peasant economy, and the problems were also the first to appear.

A farmer in Kunshan, Suzhou Prefecture, didn't plant cotton but planted rice. In previous years, he would take the surplus grain to the mill and sell it directly. In these years, the mill also functioned as a collection and distribution point for commodity grain.

But in the eleventh year of Wanli, it couldn't be sold. Using the original words of the local mill owner: "If you keep the seed grain and plant rice, I won't accept it." The reasons were also various: not tasty, high moisture, poor appearance, etc. But the result was the same: "Since you kept the seed grain, then you eat it yourself!"

The mills in Songjiang Prefecture of the Southern Office were concentrated in the seventeen prominent families. They controlled over 87% of the mills in the fourteen prefectures of the Southern Office. Now, with such a toss, on the one hand, the farmers' grain could not be processed in the mills, while the city began to lack grain, and grain prices soared.

"These seventeen prominent families truly don't have a long memory! If we don't give them a lesson, I'm afraid this method will spread throughout Great Ming within a year or two!" Zhang Juzheng gritted his teeth and said, "Kill!"

"Master, don't be so angry. Don't shout and kill at every turn. Look, you've scared Wang Wang Cifu." Zhu Yijun said happily.

"Does Wang Wang Cifu also have this kind of business in his family?!" Zhang Juzheng looked at Wang Chonggu fiercely.

"No! Don't smear people's innocence! Why would I do such a wicked thing? Am I Xu Jie?!" Wang Chonggu's face flushed red, and he said sharply, "I just think the consequences are too serious. They are truly too bold!"

Xu Jie was like this.

When Hence Hai Rui was the Regional Inspector of Yingtian, he had also made moves similar to "equalizing land and service." The entire policy was to abolish the rotation system of the row and rank, to bear the service of the county with the land of the county, to collect silver according to the mu, and to hire people for the service. Tang Long, the Minister of War in the Jiajing period, wanted to engage in "equalizing land and service" but didn't succeed. Hence Hai Rui also wanted to do this in Yingtian Prefecture, but didn't succeed either.

Until now, Wang Chonggu brought up the old matter again, and based on the official factory group construction and the engineering soldier group camp, he also wanted to engage in "equalizing land and service," but the Emperor was always extremely cautious.

The struggle between Hence Hai Rui and Xu Jie seemed to be that Xu Jie's annexation was too heavy, which was a problem of Xu Jie's personal morality. In fact, Hence Hai Rui was going against the world.

Unable to do anything to Hence Hai Rui, he could only promote him and force him to resign. Yu Shenxing once criticized Xu Jie: "When Huating was in office, the taxes of Songjiang all entered the family, and the officials took empty documents to the capital to take gold from the prime minister's residence. The prime minister summoned craftsmen to pour gold, taking seven zhu as one liang, and the Minister of Agriculture could not distinguish it."

When Xu Jie was the Senior Grand Secretary in the court, the taxes and money of Songjiang Prefecture all entered Xu Jie's home. The tax-collecting officials took the empty documents and went to the Xu residence in the capital to exchange for money. This was exchange, but Xu Jie used seven zhu to exchange for one liang. The officials of the department were miserable but could not argue.

Xu Jie was the Senior Grand Secretary of the dynasty. If someone complained and argued, it would be "Who is below the hall, daring to sue this official?"

One liang was twenty-four zhu. Seven zhu to exchange for one liang meant that for the taxes of Songjiang Prefecture, the Xu family ate seven percent, leaving three percent for the imperial court.

Fortunately, Xu Jie retired early. If Xu Jie had done it for twenty years like Yan Song, the taxes of the world would have been eaten by his Xu family by seventy percent!

Yan Song was the Senior Grand Secretary for twenty years, but he didn't dare to eat seventy percent of the imperial court's taxes. When dividing the accounts, he also tried to take care of everything, including the inner treasury, the state treasury, and the Yan party.

Wang Chonggu didn't need to be like Xu Jie. He only needed to hand over the silver to His Majesty the Emperor. The Emperor would invest it, and their Wang family would get dividends until their hands were soft, until they were afraid of being killed by the Emperor like pigs.

Greedy? How could greed get more dividends?

Wang Chonggu had been greedy for more than ten years and had saved two million taels of silver. He kept scattering money for His Majesty, and he got more than one million silver in dividends every year.

Wang Chonggu's mouth twitched and said, "Their purpose is not to sell seed grain. Their purpose is to control the price of grain. Originally, one shi of grain could be sold for three qian of silver. After they tossed it like this, I'm afraid it could only be sold for one-tenth, three fen of silver. And on the other hand, the commodity grain sent to the city soared in price. This way and that way, the difference was at least three or four times."

"Truly lawless! I don't even have such great courage!"

"I know very well that Wang Wang Cifu is governing the country. It was also because the Master was angry that he thought Wang Wang Cifu's face changed because he was involved." Zhu Yijun comforted Wang Chonggu, which could be considered an apology to Zhang Juzheng.

After all, Wang Chonggu had really been a rebel, so when Zhang Juzheng saw Wang Chonggu's face change, he immediately became angry, regretting that he hadn't left him a life in the beginning. Back then, in the Great Case of the Construction of the Great Wall in Xuanfu and Datong, Zhang Juzheng had really pursued and killed him. Wang Chonggu couldn't escape the fate of being beheaded.

"Master, killing people cannot solve the problem." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng. This Zhang Master, who had already become conservative, was exceptionally radical in this kind of matter.

Wang Chonggu whispered, "Your Majesty, sometimes killing people cannot solve the problem, because not enough people are killed."

Zhu Yijun was stunned. He himself had become a conservative?!

It was normal for Zhang Juzheng to have this attitude. Zhang Juzheng returned to the court because of the six words "the world is trapped in annexation." His administrative actions were to "hate the annexation of big households, force the destruction of powerful families, and comfort the poor and weak people to solidify the foundation of the country."

Wang Chonggu also shouted and killed, which was something Zhu Yijun hadn't expected. Wang Chonggu was a representative of the powerful and wealthy families of the world. Was it really appropriate for him to shout and kill the powerful and wealthy families of the same class and camp?

Zhu Yijun said solemnly, "We cannot resort to violence for everything. Instead, we should issue edicts to admonish and persuade, and then make good use of various tools such as the Ever-Normal Granary and Provincial Governors to suppress grain prices, conduct institutional design, and blindly shout and kill..."

"Forget it, let's kill people first."

Zhu Yijun said half a sentence and finally gave up. It wasn't that he was afraid of trouble. He found that he had to kill people first, because they had offended the farmers.

According to the "no taxation without representation" proposed by Li Zhi, Zhu Yijun, an emperor who was close to farming, represented the interests of the farmers. At this time, chanting scriptures couldn't solve the problem. Only by using thunderous means to deter them could detailed institutional planning be carried out. Otherwise, all systems were nonsense. Without deterrence, there would be no universal compliance.

No matter how exquisite the institutional design was, if it couldn't be executed, it was useless. This was the experience of Zhu Yijun's eleven years of practice, and it was also the truth that Zhang Juzheng had repeatedly taught the Emperor: the application of the power of the monarch's prestige and blessing.

Prestige comes before blessing.

"This Drum and Bell Tower is really too high!" Hence Hai Rui brought Shen Li and climbed up the Drum and Bell Tower, holding his knees and panting.

"We two old bones should have waited downstairs." Shen Li held his waist. He was younger than Hence Hai Rui, but his physical strength was not as good as Hence Hai Rui's. These two upright officials were both over fifty, but they still climbed up.

"Except for people like Hence Hai Rui." Wang Chonggu saw Hence Hai Rui climb up and hurriedly said. This was just saying that no one was afraid of death, and then he met someone who was not afraid of death and chose righteousness over life. Wang Chonggu hurriedly patched his words.

Hence Hai Rui was not afraid of the axe and the executioner. He dared to carry a coffin to remonstrate, urging the Emperor to walk the right path, so he was not afraid of the two words "axe and executioner."

At the end of the Jiajing period, Hence Hai Rui carried a coffin to remonstrate, the Longqing Emperor hid, and was extravagant in the palace. Hence Hai Rui submitted memorials repeatedly to remonstrate.

It was not just Hence Hai Rui.

In the first year of Longqing, February, there was a eunuch named Li Fang, who was a eunuch of the Inner Palace Supervision. Li Fang remonstrated with the Longqing Emperor to be frugal, not to be extravagant, cleared a large number of redundant personnel, dismissed many miscellaneous servants of the Shanglin Garden Supervision, and while saving palace expenses, opposed pride and luxury, and remonstrated repeatedly.

The Longqing Emperor ordered Li Fang to stay idle, but Li Fang still couldn't stay idle, repeatedly saying the word "frugal," and was beaten eighty times by the Longqing Emperor and thrown into the Ministry of Justice prison, waiting for execution. The reason was: "Serving me without etiquette, imprison him."

Li Fang was indeed quite rude. "Earnest remonstrance" meant earnest advice, and the words must have been very unpleasant.

At this time, the civil officials who had always been at odds with the eunuchs, on the contrary, led by the Minister of Justice Mao Kai and the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Shu Hua, remonstrated with the Longqing Emperor: "He is also a loyal and upright official who followed the Emperor from the hidden residence. If you kill Li Fang like this, won't the old officials of the hidden residence be cold-hearted?"

In the end, Li Fang was driven to Nanjing to be a "clean army," and later went to Fengyang to farm.

After Li Fang left, Chen Hong, Teng Xiang, and Meng Chong, these scoundrels, gradually became favored.

Also losing favor because of remonstrating with the Longqing Emperor to be frugal was Empress Chen, now Empress Dowager Chen;

Also sent away because of remonstrating with the Longqing Emperor to be frugal was the official Hence Hai Rui, who went to Yingtian to be a Provincial Governor.

Similarly, in the second year of Longqing, Zhang Juzheng bargained with the Emperor. The Emperor wanted 300,000 taels of silver, but Zhang Juzheng only gave 100,000. Even if he killed Zhang Juzheng, it would be useless.

Wang Chonggu raked through it like this and found that there were quite a few people who were not afraid of death. He could only say: "The Han dynasty's mountains and rivers have loyal and good people in every generation, but not me."

Wang Chonggu was afraid of death. In practice, killing people could solve the problem.

"What happened?" Hence Hai Rui finally breathed evenly, looking at the Emperor's face as heavy as water, and asked.

"Someone is looking for death." Wang Chonggu handed the memorial to Hence Hai Rui and others, briefly explaining the inside story.

After Hence Hai Rui finished reading the memorial, he said with great certainty: "Why don't we kill them and keep them for the New Year? Send fast horses to the Southern Office and arrest them immediately. Are they crazy? Having a few mills, they don't know who they are? Daring to be so lawless and act recklessly?!"

"I don't want to shout and kill all day either. These fools have harmed me bitterly." Zhu Yijun said sincerely.

There were so many businesses to make money! Why, why did they have to stare at the blood and sweat money of the common people?

In this era without large machinery, without chemical fertilizers, and without perfect water conservancy facilities, farming was hard labor with one's face toward the yellow earth and back toward the sky. In the dog days of summer, one had to go to the fields; in the coldest days of winter, one also had to go to the fields. Composting was done by carrying it on one's shoulders to the fields. Without avoiding cold or heat, they worked hard to grow some grain. Under the closed small-scale peasant economy, there was no profit to speak of, and they still had to play tricks on this grain.

Then one couldn't blame Zhu Yijun for being ruthless.

Even if it was playing tricks like occupying official land or emptying the treasury, it wouldn't have made the court officials reach a consensus to shout and kill.

"Self-inflicted, cannot live."

This thing had too bad an influence.

In the end, the opinions of the court officials who climbed up were very consistent. Because the Secretariat was still climbing the stairs, this Drum and Bell Tower meeting was not recorded. The court officials also spoke freely. Everyone's attitude was consistent: arrest them first and ask clearly.

New Year's must be spent. Just the investigation and supplementary procedures, if not expedited, would take a full year. To investigate the harm clearly, to question and hold accountable in practice, those who should be beheaded should be beheaded, those who should be exiled should be exiled, those who should be sent to the border should be sent to the border. According to the different influences, the leaders should be executed to prevent the bad influence from expanding.

Zhu Yijun began to go downstairs. He didn't go down fast, but the court officials were all old, and they still couldn't keep up with His Majesty the Emperor.

"In the future, you all should come and climb once a month. Climbing high and looking far, I will accompany you. Detoxifying is also quite good." Zhu Yijun looked at the court officials who had no elegance in the stairwell, left a sentence, and headed outside the Drum and Bell Tower.

Soon, a strict decree entered the cabinet, ordering the Southern Office Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Luo Bingliang to arrest these seventeen households, confiscate their property, and handle them according to the law. After careful investigation and supplementation, escort the criminals to the capital. As for the reason for handling them according to the law, it was also written very clearly: driving up grain prices is equivalent to creating civil unrest, equivalent to rebellion.

This was not the correctness of punishment. The Emperor naturally had to work hard to keep his throne. If he let this happen, the world would be in turmoil. Did he still want to be this Emperor?

For the powerful and wealthy families, the current challenge was how to figure out and think clearly about the relationship between themselves and the vast majority of ordinary people during the process of drastic social change, how to handle this relationship well, and make the right choice.

If the powerful and wealthy families of Great Ming could all figure out this problem, then Great Ming ushering in a glorious and prosperous age on a millennial scale would not be a problem at all.

The history of China is very, very long. In fact, it had already given the answer. From "the time of the sun is lost, I and you will all perish," there was already an answer. But these powerful and wealthy families were always unwilling to face this choice.

The Way of Heaven is to reduce the surplus and supplement the deficiency.

Even Confucianism says, "When the Great Way is practiced, the world is for the public."

One stone stirred up a thousand waves. When this strict decree reached the Six Ministries, it caused a great uproar. The court officials immediately asked, what kind of blind guy had done another great evil, causing His Majesty to be so thunderously angry before the New Year?

After figuring it out, the court officials immediately understood why the Emperor was angry.

It was only right and proper.

His Majesty was indeed an Emperor, the most noble person in the world, supreme. But His Majesty was also a farmer, close to farming, and could empathize with the difficulties of the farmers.

Farmers were actually not afraid of natural disasters, because human power could overcome heaven. No matter how terrible the natural disaster, there were ways to deal with it. They were only afraid of human disasters. ===== CHAPTER 577 =====

His Majesty is indeed an Emperor, the most noble person in the world, supreme and above all, but His Majesty is also a farmer who personally engages in agriculture and sericulture, and can empathize with and understand the difficulties of the farmers.

Farmers are actually not afraid of natural disasters, because human effort can overcome heaven; no matter how terrifying a natural disaster is, there are ways to deal with it, but they are uniquely afraid of man-made disasters.