Chapter 587: Strict Laws, I Will Be the Villain

In the West, there is a widely circulated legend that in the vast ocean, there is an island called the Taixi Island, and the Taixi Island is in the dangerous Peru Sea. The lost Western fleet once set foot on that dreamlike land.

Everything is so prosperous, everything is so orderly, everything in this island, everything in order, everything in the laws that are different from the world, comes from the place where the sages gather, the Palace of Solomon.

The Palace of Solomon is the temple of science.

In the continuous spread, this Palace of Solomon has become more and more concrete. It has existed for 1,900 years. It was initially composed of craftsmen on the island. It is a union, a noble organization, a beacon of the Taixi Island, specially founded for the study of nature and mankind.

The Palace of Solomon has huge talent reserves, perfect experimental places and equipment, an astonishing number of research teams, a relaxed and free public opinion atmosphere, everyone can speak freely, a rigorous and rigorous demonstration process, and is committed to promoting various magical scientific equipment to every corner of the Taixi Island.

Of course, this is a legend in the West. In the legend, the Palace of Solomon is also a church.

A place specially engaged in scientific research is a church, which is a bit contradictory and a bit ironic. People cannot imagine things they have never seen. In the imagination of Westerners, there is no way to live without a church. They have never seen a world without a church, and it seems that they lack the instructions of God.

The most important thing in the West now is secularization, which is to oppose the cruel oppression of the religious court. Doing science in the West is a relatively dangerous thing, because the ubiquitous believers often pick out these heretical people who do not respect God and send them to the stake.

Li Yashi has told the Emperor about this story more than once, and he has perfected this story, but the place where it happened is not the Taixi Island, but in the distant East, the Great Ming with a long civilization. The Palace of Solomon has a more concrete name, the Royal Academy of Things.

And the description of the first generation of sages, Li Yashi referred to Mozi, not Lu Ban.

Because he witnessed it with his own eyes, Li Yashi's description of the temple of science is more concrete and detailed.

Zhu Yijun moved the small ball in his hand. He is just a diligent emperor, a bit out of tune with the world of geniuses. A parabolic track, a small ball, can be associated with the vast starry sky, and get a near-correct answer.

"It is still the trivial affairs that affect the Emperor's mood. If the courtiers have a heart of submission and do not let the Emperor be so busy, the Great Ming will inevitably have one more all-round Five Classics Doctor." Zhu Zaiyu said with regret again.

It is the trivial affairs that delay the Emperor's time, so that the Emperor cannot put more energy into the study of things. It is the secular intrigue that makes the Emperor's imagination polluted. Otherwise, the Emperor will definitely become an excellent Five Classics Doctor.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "I can just understand what everyone is saying."

Zhu Yijun moved the small ball in his hand with great interest. From these trivial experiments, the Great Ming Royal Academy of Things extracted Newton's First Law: any object must maintain uniform linear motion or a state of rest until an external force forces it to change its state of motion.

Newton doesn't like others to praise how great he is. He said in a letter to Hooke: If I can see further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants.

This is both Newton mocking Hooke for being a hunchbacked dwarf, not one of the giants he stood on, and also self-humility that his achievements stood on the shoulders of giants.

Because the first person to propose a similar view was Galileo. After the inclined plane experiment, Galileo summarized: If there is no friction, the ball will roll forever. If it is not forced by any external force, it will not change.

Then a natural question was born: what force was the ball, or the slider, sliding down from the inclined plane subjected to?

This force is obviously the same force that makes the ripe apple fall from the tree.

"Rainwater will fall from the sky, and wind and sand are the same; arrows shoot and draw arcs, and cannonballs are the same; but people have been accustomed to these phenomena they have heard and seen, and have never studied the mystery in them." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Zaiyu and said with a smile: "The Royal Academy of Things has not lived up to the expectations of my establishment."

"I am very gratified."

"Then, Imperial Uncle, is the Academy of Things really not short of money?"

"Not short, another sum of silver has arrived." Zhu Zaiyu said quite definitely. The dividends from the production of steam engines last year haven't been spent, and this year's has arrived. Can't spend it, can't spend it at all. The Five Classics Doctors have been trying very hard to spend money.

The scale of the Five Classics Doctors is still too small. One day, when the Great Ming is full of doctors of things, Zhu Zaiyu cannot imagine what a grand occasion it will be.

Zhu Yijun stayed in the Academy of Things for a long time. Huang Zifu showed his discovery, which was not the reason why the Royal Academy of Things invited the Emperor to drive this time. The steam engine was.

Compared with abstract theory, more concrete reality can more realistically express their role. Huang Zifu publicly refused the first-class merit award, which is to hope that the Academy of Things can get more recognition. Compared with the deep-rooted Confucianism, the influence of the Academy of Things is still too small.

Zhu Zaiyu took the Emperor and introduced in detail the various concrete improvements of the thirty-six horsepower steam engine. Compared with the eighteen horsepower iron horse, the thirty-six horsepower steam engine has become smaller, from half a room to the size of a large table.

Miniaturization, standardization, and scale are the three requirements of the Great Ming Emperor for steam engines, and the Royal Academy of Things is fulfilling the Emperor's requirements.

The improvement worth noting here is the improved boiler, which has many more heat chambers inside, and the boiler has become a honeycomb coal structure.

This allows the heat of coal combustion to be more evenly distributed throughout the boiler, the steam is produced faster, and with the increase in airtightness, the air pressure of the boiler begins to increase.

"Perhaps from the beginning, my path of steam turbine was wrong. It should have been from ordinary reciprocating steam engines to high-pressure reciprocating steam engines, so that the high pressure required by steam turbines could be realized." Zhu Zaiyu had been working hard for seven years for the steam turbine. With the continuous development of reciprocating steam engines, he desperately discovered that this path was impassable.

Exploring the boundaries of human cognition is always accompanied by such pain. You don't know where the road ahead is, and you don't know if your path is correct, and whether you will waste your life on the road.

"The Master told me, don't be discouraged, don't be disappointed. It is indeed very cruel to have no harvest after hard work, but you still have to go on. Not being annoyed because of failure is the perseverance of a gentleman." Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "And, Imperial Uncle, is the research and development of the steam turbine really fruitless?"

"The boiler with higher temperature and higher pressure used in this thirty-six horsepower steam engine in front of me is not a small step towards the success of the steam turbine?"

"If you don't accumulate small steps, you can't reach a thousand miles; if you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become a river."

Zhu Yijun encouraged Zhu Zaiyu. It is not that this path is impassable, but that this path is impassable at this moment. Why be anxious? If it cannot be realized today, one day, the Five Classics Doctors of the Academy of Things will eventually realize it.

Zhu Yijun asked about the mass production of thirty-six iron horses, the production capacity of hydraulic minting machines, and other key issues, and then waved his hand to reward the Five Classics Doctors before leaving the Academy of Things with unfinished interest.

The Royal Academy of Things is a stage built by the Emperor himself, and even the pillars were invited by the Emperor from the Zheng Wang Mansion. Zhu Yijun really likes it here, but he can't stay long. There are state affairs waiting for him.

Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu went to the Tonghe Palace Imperial Study together and submitted a memorial. In summary, it was one sentence: "It is dangerous to the country, and I feel palpitations when I speak of it."

In the eyes of Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu, the crisis encountered in the Empress's production this time was a major event that endangered the country.

It is really not Zhang Juzheng's alarmist talk.

If Wu Lian's hand slipped during the cesarean section, causing the Empress to die on the spot, what would happen? Would Wu Lian be investigated in the imperial prison? Would there be implication of the family during the investigation? Would the country even experience violent turmoil, with one wave of purges after another?

Or more simply and clearly, would the supreme Emperor of the Great Ming go crazy?

I don't know. Zhu Yijun himself doesn't know what will happen.

This is the biggest drawback of the imperial system. Success is also Xiao He, and failure is also Xiao He. The upper and lower limits of the empire are closely related to the emperor himself.

And Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu also talked about a problem in the memorial, that is, the Emperor must protect Wu Lian, this medical officer.

Wu Lian saved the Empress. Such a great merit actually requires the Emperor's protection. This looks very absurd, but Zhang Juzheng told an old story.

In the twenty-first year of Jiajing, the Renyin Palace Change, the Daoist Master was assassinated by a palace maid, and the imperial physician Xu Shen gave a strong medicine to save the Daoist Master, and then several prescriptions were finally cured. The Daoist Master was grateful for Xu Shen's life-saving grace, added the official Minister of Rites, Crown Prince Taibao, and gave a very generous reward. Later, Xu Shen died of palpitations. He saved the Emperor and got a high official position, but died of palpitations in March of the following year.

What was Xu Shen afraid of?

Time flies, and Zhang Juzheng can no longer ask what Xu Shen was afraid of. The person has passed away, but the lesson remains. Wu Lian cannot die of palpitations.

Wang Chonggu talked about the four untrustworthy things in the capital: the articles of the Hanlin Academy, the knives and guns of the Martial Arts Department, the prescriptions of the Imperial Hospital, and the tea soup of the Guanglu Temple.

The untrustworthiness of the Imperial Hospital's prescriptions here is often not because the imperial physicians are powerless, but because they cannot have the ability. If you can't save the royal family, you will die, and if you save the Emperor's family, you will also die.

After the Ming Wuzong was seriously ill, he wanted to change an imperial physician, but Yang Tinghe didn't allow it. Finally, he dragged it on and on, and dragged it to death.

"Wu Lian will not be embarrassed by anyone. Even if she is a woman, I will not let anyone embarrass Wu Lian and her family. This is my promise." Zhu Yijun picked up the vermilion pen and wrote this sentence on the memorial. This is the evidence set up.

"Now she has a weakness that can be attacked, she is a female official." Zhang Juzheng said with a complex expression: "I am very worried that after this joy passes, the court officials will start to attack this matter."

"Cheap Confucians" are like this. The reformists only need to practice the reality to make the Great Ming better, while the "cheap Confucians" have to consider more. "Cheap Confucians" can always find all kinds of strange angles to deny the new policy, and then constantly promote the theory of the Three Generations of Law, causing everyone to laugh and constantly performing their lower limit.

Because the mother and child were safe, the Emperor was very happy and gave "Everything is Great" boxes to the officials. At this time, no officials played to make the Emperor unhappy, but after the happy atmosphere, they would play.

Confucius said: "Only women and villains are difficult to raise. If you are close, you are not respectful; if you are far away, you are resentful."

And in political practice, it is a lesson from Wu Zhou. Even if later generations conclude that Wu Zetian was an Empress, not an Emperor, etc., but Wu Zhou was established, and Tang Gaozong Li Zhi was indeed the king of the fallen country of the Great Tang. This is an indisputable fact.

"For this problem, Chief Minister Wan Shihe has already submitted a memorial. He said that this is the ancestor's method." Zhu Yijun took out a memorial and handed it to Zhang Juzheng.

"Is this also the ancestor's method?" Zhang Juzheng was stunned for a moment, even a bit dazed. How could everything become the ancestor's method when it reached Wan Shihe's hands?

Zhang Juzheng opened it and looked at it for a long time before he found that it was really the ancestor's method. The first Jiugang Pacification Commissioner of the Great Ming, Shi Erjie.

After the first Jiugang Pacification Commissioner Shi Jinqing died, Shi Jinqing's son and daughter fought for the position of King of Srivijaya, that is, the position of Jiugang Pacification Commissioner. This fight had no result.

After Zheng He went to the Jiugang and learned the details, he finally identified Shi Erjie as the Jiugang Pacification Commissioner.

This is the ancestor's method in the Yongle period. This is really not a far-fetched connection. Under the understanding of the Great Ming, the Pacification Commissioner is an official of the Great Ming.

The ancestor's method is true!

Zhang Juzheng said sincerely: "Mencius said: 'If our king cannot, it is called a thief.' But if it is said that the way of the former king is not what our king can do, that is a thief."

Wang Chonggu said sincerely: "No wonder this group of 'cheap Confucians' has no time to attack me recently, but turned their guns to aim at Minister Wan. Minister Wan is indeed like a fishbone in the throat in the court, even more uncomfortable than me in the court, and very uncomfortable."

"The key is that Wan Shihe brought the atmosphere of the Ministry of Rites crooked. Shen Li has always been fearless of power and does not flatter. Now he has also become a sycophant."

Wan Shihe attracted all the firepower of the treacherous officials.

In the matter of Wu Lian becoming a female official, either recognize that the Jiugang Pacification Division is not the territory of the Great Ming, or recognize that Emperor Chengzu Wen was wrong, or it is "if our king cannot, it is called a thief."

Saying that the Jiugang Pacification Division is not the territory of the Great Ming does not conform to the established pattern of the Great Ming's re-establishment of the Jiugang Governor's Office. It is going against the trend. The Strait of Malacca is the Jiayu Pass on the sea. This has long been a consensus. Even if there is no legal basis, it must be grabbed. The Jiayu Pass was not in the hands of the Central Plains Dynasty at the beginning, nor has it always been in the hands of the Central Plains Dynasty.

Rice can be eaten indiscriminately, but words cannot be spoken indiscriminately.

But if you want to say that Emperor Chengzu Wen was wrong, then the current Emperor might send the "cheap Confucians" who said so to the underground to debate with Emperor Chengzu Wen face to face.

Whether Emperor Chengzu Wen was wrong or not, say it face to face.

"If our king cannot, it is called a thief." Mencius said this. You can't deny Mencius's words and say Mencius is wrong.

The Great Ming not only has the first female governor, but also the first female marquis. Qin Liangyu was the first female marquis of the Great Ming.

"In fact, the first female official of the Great Ming was the Suiyuan Administration Commissioner, Lady Zhongshun, Na Yan Chu." Zhu Yijun added an argument. At that time, he didn't oppose San Niangzi being the Suiyuan Administration Commissioner. Now he opposes Wu Lian being a female medical officer. Is this bullying Wu Lian because she has no cavalry?

To this day, San Niangzi still controls part of the military power, which is the cavalry of the old reconciliation faction. The Great Ming court did not immediately disband these cavalry, but incorporated them into the establishment of the Suiyuan Border Army, still under the command of San Niangzi, which also showed the Great Ming's determination to transform the grassland.

"If it really makes trouble, the Great Ming's civil officials, whoever says it, is bullying the soft and fearing the hard, without backbone and righteousness." Zhu Yijun first put a label on these people, that is, without backbone and righteousness. Such people are all rats.

The Confucian scholars who love fame are most afraid of losing their reputation. When Zhu Yijun moved out the big hat of "bullying the soft and fearing the hard," the ordinary Confucian scholars couldn't hold it.

San Niangzi has military power, so she dare not say it if the matter is big, but seeing that the medical officer is easy to bully, she bullies the medical officer?

Putting on hats, who can't do it? Zhu Yijun himself is also a scholar.

Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu finally showed a relaxed smile. Before coming to the Tonghe Palace Imperial Study, the two auxiliary ministers were still worried, but now they are not as anxious as before. Now there is Wan Shihe to deal with these "cheap Confucians" head-on, and they can also be more relaxed.

"Your Majesty, Shen Shixing's promotion of the Single Whip Law in Songjiang Prefecture is not going well." Zhang Juzheng's expression was solemn. He came to the Tonghe Palace Imperial Study not only to express his concern for the Emperor, but mainly about state affairs, that is, the Single Whip Law piloted in Songjiang Prefecture.

"The imperial court promotes the Single Whip Law. Because the corvee is incorporated into the field, this has led to a substantial increase in land tax." Zhang Juzheng explained the logic of the powerful and wealthy people.

Straw tax, land rent, and private requests from the township. The private requests from the township include various corvees under various names. And now the imperial court has promised to incorporate labor into the field. Can the imperial court guarantee that there will be no more exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous levies in the future?

The imperial court cannot guarantee it.

This is obvious. The imperial court is the imperial court, and the local area is the local area. The imperial court wants to live, and the local area also wants to live.

Therefore, in the eyes of the powerful and wealthy people, the essence of the Single Whip Law is still tax increase, because the imperial court has no way to eliminate the various names and exorbitant taxes.

Hai Rui's advocacy of "general field of the county, undertaking the general service of the county, collecting silver by mu, and hiring officials to recruit" can be achieved in the former tax collection. The land has been cleared and the population has been surveyed, and the head tax has been divided into the field according to the four grades of upper, middle, lower, and poor. This can be done.

But can hiring officials to recruit really be done?

When conquering labor, will local Southern Yamen not use various reasons and excuses to shirk, delay, or simply default? You must know that it is extremely difficult to ask the Southern Yamen for accounts, because the Southern Yamen is the owner of power. Under the current situation where the people sue the officials and hit thirty boards first, how to ensure that the local Southern Yamen fulfills their promises when hiring officials?

By then, will all the people who owe money go to the imperial court and the imperial palace to complain?

The representative of the powerful and wealthy people, Sun Kehong, represented the powerful and wealthy people and communicated with Songjiang Governor Shen Shixing, and raised these two problems one after another.

In addition, when Sun Kehong communicated with Shen Shixing, he raised a third question: the currency tax of the Single Whip Law, the silver it relies on, once it stops flowing in, can it support the silver circulation of the Single Whip Law just by relying on the silver of Womagang?

This question is not based on the current situation of Songjiang Prefecture. Songjiang Prefecture is accessible to nine provinces and gathers all kinds of goods in the world. No matter where the Great Ming lacks silver, Songjiang Prefecture will not lack silver. This is also the reason why Songjiang Prefecture took the lead in transforming from a small-scale peasant economy to a commodity economy.

Sun Kehong stood on the position of the Great Ming's powerful and wealthy people and asked when it was widely implemented in the world, the inflow of silver must be guaranteed. The imperial court that couldn't even mint 10 million silver coins a year still wanted to implement the Single Whip Law in the Great Ming's two capitals and fifteen provinces. The realistic conditions didn't seem to allow it.

"These three questions raised by Sun Kehong are problems that the imperial court must face when promoting the Single Whip Law. I, the auxiliary ministers, and the courtiers still lack some thinking. Even based on the theory of contradiction, we have considered the various problems of the Single Whip Law, but we still need to widely collect the opinions of all social classes so that we can make arrangements at the beginning of the political order, so as not to be at a loss when problems arise and close our eyes and pretend to be dead." Zhu Yijun exhaled and said solemnly.

The Single Whip Law hasn't started yet, and the Great Ming court has been stumped.

The current Great Ming, when making decisions, tries its best to consider from the bottom up, but the pilot of the Single Whip Law still seems to be a bit taken for granted.

The inflow of silver relies on overseas. This is a cliché problem, which can be mentioned temporarily. It is also an urgent problem that needs to be faced when the Single Whip Law is promoted to the whole country. The remaining two problems have become stumbling blocks and stumbling stones.

"The first two problems, one is official governance and the other is the upward transmission of the situation below. If these two problems are not solved, they will definitely become 'exorbitant taxes are fiercer than tigers'." Zhu Yijun tapped the table with his fingers, thinking about the solution.

"Your Majesty, there is actually a way to solve it." Zhang Juzheng said with a solemn expression: "Increase taxes on land tax. Under the Single Whip Law, from thirty tax one to ten tax five, these two problems will be solved."

Zhang Juzheng took out the old method, tax increase.

This time it was not to threaten the powerful and wealthy people, but to face the Emperor. He really had this plan to promote it.

Ten tax five, 50% of the heaven-defying tax burden, local Southern Yamen, powerful and wealthy people want to engage in various names, want to engage in private requests from the township, it is as difficult as going to heaven. After all, the people of the Great Ming are not docile. If they really can't survive, the matter of "holding weapons and seeking contracts" will happen again.

The logic is to increase taxes to suppress annexation.

"Your Majesty, my method is to reduce taxes. The proportion of the Great Ming's commercial tax has increased year by year. There is no need to hit the idea on the farmers who face the loess and back to the sky. I think Songjiang Prefecture, which has completed the transformation of small-scale peasant economy, can be bolder and directly abolish land tax. Anyway, there is not much left." Wang Chonggu briefly explained his method.

Reducing taxes will indeed aggravate annexation, but the current Great Ming has been annexed to the point where it cannot be annexed, and there is nothing to be annexed. It is better not to have land tax, stand up, step the accelerator into the fuel tank, and directly complete all annexations, letting the people enter the Government Factory.

This is also a way.

"Aren't you making trouble? The enclosure movement in England made the capital full of beggars. The Great Ming capital has two million people, and it is full of beggars. How chaotic will it be? You are the Minister of Justice, can you not know? Songjiang Prefecture is no exception. With 2.4 million people, suddenly there are hundreds of thousands of beggars. Isn't this Songjiang Prefecture a place where demons dance?" Zhang Juzheng immediately opposed.

"England is a small country, how many people are there? How many people are there in the Great Ming? If your tax reduction decree is issued, the Great Ming will be full of refugees."

Wang Chonggu stood up abruptly and said: "You increase taxes, isn't it also creating wandering people and fallen households? The imperial court increases taxes to 50%. Can the farmers still live? Those finished things in the Japanese country, saying that those daimyo are scum, that is raising them. The tax increase in the Japanese country is higher than your 50%!"

"Has the Yuanfu not considered the evil consequences of tax increase?!"

"So it is ten tax five. The people of the Great Ming are not Japanese! Reduce taxes, the imperial court reduces taxes, who will take care of the poor people? Wool comes from the sheep. If you don't collect taxes from the farmers, will the local Southern Yamen take care of the life and death of the farmers?" Zhang Juzheng also stood up, slapped the table and said loudly.

Wang Chonggu exhaled and said sharply: "So, the Government Factory group construction is one part, and there are also engineering corps. My path, at least there is a way of resettlement, not afraid of refugees everywhere. Your tax increase to this point is to tattoo the faces of the poor people who have no way to go and make them thieves and soldiers?"

"Only that group of scoundrel scholars in the two Song Dynasties could think of such a harmful and unreasonable idea! The rancid smell is disgusting even after hundreds of years!"

"I advocate tax increase, and I didn't say that I don't use Government Factory group construction and engineering corps. Why can't I settle it? Everything is done for the Great Ming, and everything is done for the Emperor. What you put forward doesn't belong to you alone! If you think it belongs to you alone, give me back the theory of contradiction!" Zhang Juzheng played a trump card.

Wang Chonggu was beaten a bit dizzy. The knowledge and methodology that had been learned in his brain, how could Wang Chonggu return it? Should he unscrew his head and return it to Zhang Juzheng?

Zhu Yijun held his forehead. The Yuanfu and the Vice Minister of the Empire argued again because of different political views, argued until their faces were red and their ears were red. Obviously, they didn't reach any consensus in private, so they argued in front of the Emperor.

And both of them seem to make sense.

"Okay, okay! Don't argue! If you have performed enough, sit down." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "It is impossible to increase taxes. Annexation to this point is by no means something that can be suppressed by increasing taxes; it is also impossible to reduce taxes. Thirty tax one is already very low. If you reduce it again, the imperial court's eyes will not look at the countryside."

"Since you can't increase taxes or reduce taxes, and you have to spread the head tax into the field, there is actually one way: strict laws."

"The two auxiliary ministers have performed enough, so sit down. Isn't it just letting me be strict? How big a deal is it?"

"This villain, I will be it." ===== CHAPTER 588 =====

"Since we can neither increase taxes nor decrease taxes, and we must spread the head tax into the land tax, there is actually only one way: strict laws and harsh punishments."

"The two ministers have acted enough, so sit down. Isn't it just asking Us to use strict laws and harsh punishments? What a big deal is that?"

"This villain, We will be."