Chapter 787: Excessive Love Easily Turns into Hate

"It's just a trick used by the Azuchi Shogunate to cover up their defeat. If it weren't for the push of those court nobles and daimyo in the Shogunate, how could a group of compradors who are not on the stage, a group of lunatics who believe in Bliss, succeed?" Zhang Juzheng shook his head after listening to Wang Chonggu's words.

The white chicken feather movement is a phenomenon, and the Azuchi Shogunate covering up the defeat is the essence.

Phenomena come from essence. Zhang Juzheng looks at problems and never just looks at phenomena.

If someone uses all kinds of flowery language to incite all kinds of wind public opinion, making phenomena override essence, and only letting most people see phenomena, not letting most people see essence, then this must be a scam.

The inference of Qi Jiguang's new military book "On War": Military failure will spread most rapidly to political activities, leading to political failure.

And the white chicken feather matter in Japan is the result of Japan's defeat on the Korean battlefield.

"Insufficient troops, low morale on the front line, but no sufficient troop replenishment." Zeng Shengwu, the Minister of War, confirmed Zhang Juzheng's angle of looking at the problem.

Judging from the war reports, Japan has insufficient troops on the Korean battlefield, and successive major defeats have made morale sluggish. There is no sufficient troop replenishment in the rear. Many attacks and defenses are just for show, and sometimes they will deliberately surrender, exchanging bells for more than ten years of full meals.

The Azuchi Shogunate needs more samurai and foot soldiers to enter the battlefield. Even if it is rendered as a victory transfer in the war report, the battle line is shrinking frequently.

Great Ming has opened the sea for fifteen years. Merchants from Japan to Nagasaki will always bring some war reports from Great Ming. These war reports are not all great victories like the military reports of the Great Headquarters.

On the contrary, the news of being castrated and sent to the Xianbei Plain to plant potatoes has spread throughout Japan.

Samurai and foot soldiers generally do not want to enter the battlefield. That is sending their lives.

The humiliation method of white chicken feathers is to stimulate the so-called samurai spirit. If you don't die on the battlefield, you will die in humiliation.

Even the military soldiers who retreated from the front line have to face this kind of humiliation, so that the Japanese samurai and foot soldiers would rather die on the front line than return to their hometowns to face the humiliation of white chicken feathers.

Shen Li pondered for a moment and said, "According to the country's construction by Master Wan, Japan is just at the critical time of failing to complete the country's construction. Specifically, it has a certain morality, some small etiquette, but no great righteousness. This is the state of Japan at this time."

"If it were before Great Ming's intervention, whether it was Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, or Tokugawa Ieyasu, whoever completed the unification of Japan would complete state construction."

"With enough consensus, if you fight, you will exhaust the country's strength and twist into a rope. Where do you need to use this method to humiliate foot soldiers and samurai and make them go to the battlefield?"

"If it were like other barbarians, the foundation of state construction would not even be dug, just like the Inca ancient country facing Western colonists, they would scatter like birds and beasts, and there would be no talk of war at all."

"This is also the reason why the Azuchi Shogunate allows the wind of white chicken feathers to become more and more intense."

The Minister of Rites started from the ritual itself to discuss this problem. Japan is now neither up nor down, so it has created such an abstract scene.

Further down, there would be no war of invasion of Korea at all, and it could not be organized;

Further up, directly grabbing strong men, where do you need to engage in white chicken feathers.

Li Youzi listened for a long time, frowned and said: "According to Japan's Sword Hunting Decree, Japanese civilians cannot hold weapons, while samurai and foot soldiers can hold them."

"If those who have no weapons are humiliated, that's fine. These wounded soldiers who retreated from the battlefield have weapons in their hands, and they can still be humiliated like this?"

Li Youzi could not imagine that all this happened in Great Ming. If it really happened, all the loyal shrines built by Great Ming would have been built in vain.

"Yes, holding weapons, and still being humiliated by people holding chicken feathers? It's really a strange story in the world." Zhu Yijun spread his hands and felt that the Bliss Sect could do this, which was really a bit magical.

Holding a knife and being humiliated by people holding chicken feathers is really a strange story in the world.

If it weren't for the Minister of Justice reporting, Zhu Yijun would have thought it was a rumor of drumming up quick victory.

Some people in Great Ming are extremely arrogant. Great Ming has everything and uses everything, the soldiers are well-trained, and the military equipment is excellent, so they want to push Japan into the sea in one month and occupy the whole territory of Japan in three months.

Quick victory and quick defeat are both absurd points of view that do not conform to the reality of practice. The confrontation between countries is always long-lasting.

Wang Chonggu answered: "Few people. Japan has 150,000 soldiers on the Korean front line, and 150,000 waiting. There are many Bliss Sect members in the city, and there are few samurai and foot soldiers left in the rear. Because there are few people, even if they are indignant, they can only commit suicide."

"The bravest people died in battle; those who are not brave enough and have some thoughts are living in the mountain cities built on the Korean battlefield; those who have some sense of shame cannot bear the humiliation of white chicken feathers and are already preparing to enter the battlefield."

"The remaining mob is even more completely unable to resist."

Wang Chonggu explained in detail the key to this problem. Defeat or a victory with huge losses is the pain of extracting bones, extracting the backbone of the state, so naturally all kinds of monsters and ghosts emerge one after another.

"So that's how it is, I understand." Zhu Yijun understood, and Li Youzi also understood. These people holding weapons are also the weak side in the coastal towns in the rear.

Wang Chonggu continued: "The white chicken feather action of the Bliss Sect is in line with their doctrine."

"In the eyes of the Bliss Sect believers, the war launched against Korea completely offended Great Ming, making Great Ming completely tighten the Maritime Trade Office. Before the war, Japanese merchants could still be active in the Ten Thousand Nations City. After the war, they could never set foot on the Bliss Pure Land again."

"The Bliss Sect believers believe that the war cut off their road to the other shore and the Bliss Pure Land, so the Shogunate that launched the war is a sinner, and the foot soldiers and samurai who participated in the war are accomplices."

"Then, humiliating these wounded soldiers and cowards who refuse to go to the battlefield is a matter of course, because they are all sinners, sinners with original sin."

As soon as Zhu Yijun heard words like original sin and sinner, his mouth twitched. The strange smell of this religion was really too heavy!

Even if it's just a bit of feudalism!

This is also the reason why Zhu Yijun is very resistant to the Great Light Sect. His attitude is still firm, because if his attitude is slightly loose, I am afraid that this Great Light Sect will spread all over Great Ming.

"Tsk tsk, demons dancing." Wang Daokun, the Minister of Works, who usually doesn't like to talk much and has a bit of faith in the Fire God Steam Engine God, rarely expressed his opinion.

Too chaotic.

"Your Majesty, we should strictly prohibit the spread of the Bliss Sect in Great Ming. We must use heavy punches, define it as an evil spirit, use severe punishment, and absolutely must not spread it widely in Great Ming." Wang Chonggu mentioned this to strictly prohibit the spread of the Bliss Sect in Great Ming.

"Yes, Junior Grand Secretary Wang, just do it!" Zhu Yijun said very affirmatively: "When necessary, the Embroidered Uniform Guard can be dispatched to cooperate with the action."

The Northern Town Fusi Embroidered Uniform Guard has priority law enforcement power, and the Tax Inspection Institute is affiliated with the North and South Town Fusi. The dispatch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard represents the Emperor's heavy punch.

It is much more outrageous than the soul-calling case in Songjiang Prefecture. The soul-calling case at least has something to catch the wind and shadow. This Bliss Sect is completely an evil spirit, several times more abstract than the Unity Crowd of Wang Xiangu in those years.

"The concubine obeys the edict." Wang Chonggu bowed and took the order. He actually wanted to explain that in fact, the Censorate of various places in Great Ming is not a display. If the task is really assigned, these Bliss Sect members will become part of the indicators, and generally, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will not be needed.

Wang Chonggu did not say it. In the officialdom, you have to leave yourself redundancy.

"The Ministry of Works reported that on the seventeenth day of the fifth month, the Nine Dragon University officially started construction. The national treasury and the inner treasury each contributed half, and the localities contributed half. Currently, the governors of various places have reacted positively, and they are all ensuring that the first phase of the project is completed by the end of this year, and enrollment will begin after the Lantern Festival next year." Zhang Juzheng reported the specific situation of promoting culture.

Like the Royal University of Science and Technology, it is divided into four phases of construction. First, build the school buildings and classrooms, lay out the stall, and then add others in the next four years.

Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao to take the checkbook, opened the fountain pen, wrote the small and large numbers, signed his name, tore off the check, handed it to Feng Bao, and said: "The two million silver for the first phase of the inner treasury, after the court session, the Ministry of Revenue will withdraw it from the inner treasury."

"The concubine obeys the edict." Wang Guoguang took a deep breath and took the Emperor's check.

His Majesty still pays money very quickly.

It has to be said that the Emperor's appearance of tearing the check is indeed much more dashing than Shah Mai Mai Ti throwing the money bag. After all, Shah Mai Mai Ti only throws a few thousand taels of silver a year, and His Majesty waves his hand, which is two million silver.

For serious matters, Zhu Yijun has never been stingy, spending money like water;

But for things that are not very serious, such as rewarding the hundred arts, which is like putting on a brave face, he is respectful and avoids it.

Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Revenue, stood up and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Great Ming has realized the convection of coal and silver, and the economy has begun to circulate. Ding Qinghe to Great Ming, congratulations to Your Majesty."

"We congratulate Great Ming, congratulate Your Majesty." Zhang Juzheng led the group of ministers to congratulate Great Ming and congratulate the Emperor.

There are two things worth celebrating here. The first thing is naturally the convection of coal and silver mentioned by Wang Guoguang. The coal in the north and the silver and goods in the south formed a convection, and the economic cycle was established.

When the convection of coal and silver was established, when 1.2 billion catties of coal went south a year, a wound finally stopped bleeding.

Since the Xiaozong dynasty, the tearing and opposition between the North and South began to intensify, because after the Opening Method, which originally regulated silver and various goods, completely failed, the North and South looked at each other unpleasantly. The South felt that the North was a vampire, and the North saw the South as a big fat sheep.

(The dilemma of cheap silver and expensive grain in the border, and expensive silver and cheap grain in the hinterland)

Great Ming spent a full fifteen years to sew up this wound and stop the bleeding. As for when it can be completely recovered, only God knows.

The tearing of the economy caused political tearing and the tearing of consensus. The final result was that Dorgon took the northern Han people and fought the world again.

After the Qing Dynasty unified the world, it conferred four Han people: Wu Sangui, the Prince of Pingxi; Shang Kexi, the Prince of Pingnan; Geng Jingzhong, the Prince of Jingnan; and Kong Youde, the Prince of Dingnan, all with great military exploits.

And the first Han prime minister of the Qing Dynasty was Hong Chengchou, and Hong Chengchou was both the backbone of the Qing Dynasty entering the Central Plains and the mainstay of the Chongzhen dynasty.

The Jin merchants constantly smuggled various steel feathers to Liaodong during the Tianqi and Chongzhen years, and became guests of honor of the Qing kings when the Qing Dynasty sat on the country.

Hong Chengchou pacified the southern provinces and managed the five provinces, and could be said to have gone through fire and water for the country and society of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, after the Qing Dynasty sat firmly on the country, these people all entered the Biography of Traitors and became "traitors who encountered difficult times and could not die for their masters, and whose integrity was lost." And the Jin merchants were also harvested by Kangxi to gather military pay to fight the Dzungars.

And the convection of coal and silver bridged this contradiction. After all, the coal, cotton, machinery, wool, etc., in the north are all rigid demands of the south.

Economy is the foundation of everything. Once the economic cycle is established, the tearing between the North and South based on the economy will stop, and the consensus will be re-established.

Shen Shiying told Yao Guangqi that the North and South can naturally vie, have differences, compete, and even be in opposition, but they must be a unity of opposites.

This unity of opposites must be established on economic unity. If the economic foundation is not improved, the tearing of Great Ming against Great Ming will become more and more serious.

"The four million shi of grain transport in those years was indeed the food and clothing of a million grain transport workers, but looking back today, it was found that these four million shi of grain transport were the shackles of these million grain transport workers, and also the shackles of the canal economic belt." Wang Guoguang said with emotion.

This unity of opposites must be established on economic unity. Without improving the economic foundation, the tearing of Great Ming opposing Great Ming will become more and more serious.

Instead of using the canal, using sea transport released the transport capacity of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Some more expensive commodities chose safer water transport. This great artery of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has never been so prosperous.

This is the second thing worth celebrating. In addition to realizing the convection of coal and silver, the great artery of Great Ming, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, finally radiated vitality again.

When transporting four million shi of grain, because it occupied the transport capacity of the river for four months, the two sides of the canal were actually very poor. Poverty breeds ignorance, and poverty breeds gangs.

On both sides of the canal, there were more than a hundred various grain transport gangs, all kinds of messy evil spirits, confusing people's hearts.

These evil spirits spread everywhere along with the goods, and the imperial court was completely powerless. First, it had no energy, and second, it needed ignorance to maintain stability.

The contradictions inside are very, very complicated. Local officials could not manage them at all, and now, with the formation of the economic belt, the gangs have gradually disappeared.

The yamen does not need to rely on these gangs to urge tax collection anymore. Just the extraction of the banknote pass, the yamen's silver is more than it can spend, and the people on both sides do not need to unite closely around these grain transport gangs to resist the local gentry, powerful families, and yamen runners.

The originally intensifying grain transport gangs and evil spirit culture lost their soil and slowly withered.

Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi, when discussing the alienation of people by religion, believed: To prohibit the spread of evil spirits, the influence of religion on people must first make people leave the environment that must be avoided.

Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Emperor Yao said: If the monarch and the minister are of one heart, their profit will break gold; if they are of one heart and one virtue, their strength will break jade. Today, I warn you all to make the monarch and the minister of one heart and plan for the country together."

"Today's achievement of the Great Ming revival is not my achievement. The ministers are all the backbone of the revival, and the military, workers, and people are all the flesh and blood of the revival."

The Wanli Reform of Great Ming has achieved preliminary results. It is all because the Emperor of Great Ming is wise! The ministers are doing things with all their hearts! The diligence of the soldiers, artisans, and people!

Of course, one thing that the big and small foxes in the Wenhua Hall know

The Great Ming Wanli Reform has achieved preliminary results, all because of the Great Ming Emperor's wisdom! The ministers' dedicated handling of affairs! The diligence of the soldiers, craftsmen, and common people!

Of course, one thing that the big and small foxes in the Wenhua Palace tacitly agree on is: also give a little thanks to free trade.

As for how Great Ming goods flow freely and whether the profits are reasonable, the monarch, ministers, and scholar-officials will not discuss it too much at this time of blooming flowers and brocade.

The Bliss Sect in Japan seems to have no relationship with Great Ming at all. It was not created by Great Ming people, nor was it spread by Great Ming people, nor was it deliberately indulged by Great Ming people, but all of this is closely related to Great Ming opening the seas.

Even if someone opens the history books to judge the crime in the future, Zhu Yijun doesn't care. No one dared to speak while he was alive, and after he died... dead is dead, dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth, speak as you please.

"The imperial court is a bit stretched in some places now. I think we can imitate the Suiyuan Chidao, issue some national debt, and borrow money to repair the Chidao. I don't know what the Ministry of Revenue thinks?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Guoguang.

The Great Ming Suiyuan Chidao has indeed not yet broken even, but the 10 million silver national debt has been paid off, and the Ministry of Revenue has also repurchased a portion of the shares issued at the beginning at the Yanxing Building Trading House. Seeing that the Great Ming fiscal situation is stable, Zhu Yijun set his sights on national debt.

The inner treasury still has some silver, but that little silver is not enough to repair the Chidao.

"Your Majesty, money borrowed must be repaid. If the imperial court doesn't repay it, the Great Ming common people will have to repay it." Wang Guoguang bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the country is not suitable for borrowing money."

Wang Guoguang does not advocate development through debt, because he once said: debt makes people lose their freedom and become slaves.

This sentence holds true for individuals, and for the imperial court, this sentence also holds true.

"Debt is also an asset." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Guoguang and said very firmly, "The Minister of Revenue also highly recognizes the effect of the Suiyuan Chidao."

"The imperial court borrows money, and the borrowed silver is wealth that can be disposed of. Although these assets need to be repaid, they are also part of the assets."

"The imperial court borrows money and uses the borrowed silver for various operations: building Chidao, dredging waterways, running academies, building official factories, plantations, etc., bringing rich returns to the imperial court, and all we have to pay is interest."

"If the return on debt is greater than the interest, you can develop through debt."

Zhu Yijun is trying his best to convince the Minister of Revenue and the Junior Minister of Revenue that borrowing money is not dangerous. As long as it is controlled within a reasonable range, Great Ming can develop rapidly for a period of time.

After rapid development, it must repay the money, and the economy will enter a downward cycle. But as long as the return on debt is greater than the interest, this is benign debt, not only harmless but beneficial.

In the upward cycle, borrowing money for rapid development, as long as the accumulation of assets is greater and the return on assets is higher, the return obtained in the downward cycle will be greater.

At that time, it can at most be considered relatively slow development, not a downturn, and can even develop counter-cyclically.

The Great Ming Minister of Revenue and Junior Minister of Revenue always see debt as a flood or a wild beast.

"Your Majesty has said this many times. I don't disbelieve the theory; Your Majesty thinks very correctly, but I still cannot borrow money." Wang Guoguang was very tough, and he continued, "I don't believe in people."

"This borrowing is like smoking opium. At first, the scale of debt will be intentionally controlled. When you taste this sweetness, you will keep borrowing, and borrow new to repay the old. In the end, the scale of debt will be so huge that no one can handle it. When the avalanche comes, it will drown everyone."

Borrowing new to repay the old, supporting debt with debt, is very likely to roll bigger and bigger, and eventually, it will be impossible to end.

Felipe has already gone bankrupt twice. If it weren't for the huge wealth of the New World as support, I'm afraid the confidence of the Western people in him would not be able to support his third issuance of debt.

Regarding whether to develop through debt, the Emperor has mentioned it more than once, and the Ministry of Revenue has refuted it more than once.

As long as there are enough emerging industries, enough asset accumulation, and enough rich asset returns, the overall speed of the debt-cycle development is higher than the development speed of the sound fiscal policy.

Because debt development accumulates assets faster.

For the Suiyuan Chidao and Suiyuan Mining, the imperial court had no silver at the time, but urgently needed to build the Suiyuan Chidao and mining official factories. After borrowing money, it immediately had enough funds to invest.

And years later, looking back, this was an extremely successful debt investment, and its early gains exceeded the interest paid.

Completing asset accumulation earlier, profiting earlier.

Zhang Xueyan stepped out and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty, development through debt will definitely fall into an upward and downward cycle. There is a problem here that the Ministry of Revenue, the court officials, and Your Majesty must consider."

"That is, in the downward cycle, how to resist not borrowing more debt to appease people's dissatisfaction with slow development?"

"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality."

Debt development is faster, and the development in the upward cycle is all prosperous; but when it reaches the downward cycle, it will become a mess.

Everyone, from the Emperor down to the common people, is accustomed to the massive benefits brought by rapid development. When it comes to the downward cycle and repaying debt, economic growth slows down, and the incremental profits that can be distributed decrease.

This huge gap is difficult for everyone to accept calmly.

The resentment of the people will increase, the cohesion of the people will be shaken, and the questioning of the country will become louder, eventually conducted by ministers to the Emperor's ears, nagging endlessly.

Continue to issue debt, the scale of debt expands, and eventually, it will smash everyone to death.

This is the reason why the Ministry of Revenue firmly opposes it; uncontrollable debt is better than none.

"Your Majesty, send Li Yashi back to the West. Great Ming has enough interpreters; he doesn't need to continue translating Western books." Shen Li stood up immediately and bowed his head.

Li Yashi told His Majesty about Felipe II's way of making money. Felipe II issued a large number of bonds with the gold in his hands. Genoese merchants rushed to Madrid, bought these bonds, and then resold them to others for profit.

Felipe declared bankruptcy twice. After bankruptcy, there was no need to repay the money, and then he continued to issue bonds.

In Shen Li's view, it's all the fault of this Westerner Li Yashi for teaching His Majesty the Emperor bad things!

Issuing debt is an act that shakes the foundation of the country. His Majesty mentioned it repeatedly. If this Li Yashi hadn't brought it up, how could the benevolent His Majesty have had this thought!

"Analogical reasoning, the scale of our debt, the gains of development, all have plans, and will not let the debt get out of control." Zhu Yijun said tentatively.

Using mathematics as the reins to firmly bind the scale of debt, using various indices to measure the economic situation and control the scale of debt, seems like a good choice.

Of course, it just looks reasonable.

Zhang Juzheng stepped out and bowed his head, "Your Majesty, decrees, after all, must be implemented by people."

The "Five-Step Snake" Wang Chonggu once summarized three things about being an official in "On the Self-Cultivation of Corrupt Officials." In Wang Chonggu's view, being an official is particularly simple. If you figure out three things, the official position is well done.

They are: what to do when people below are dissatisfied; how to answer when people above ask; and who to specifically hand various matters to.

As long as you think clearly and figure out these three things, when you leave office, you will easily harvest several "Ten Thousand People Umbrellas."

And Zhang Juzheng's meaning is that cold data cannot bind people's decision-making.

Analogical reasoning can at most become a reference, but it cannot control people from making various decisions that do not conform to laws and objective facts in order to protect their status, power, and wealth.

And these cold data, no matter how precisely designed, will eventually be modified to make way for decrees.

Whether it is whitewashing the peace or pursuing promotion, no matter for what purpose, statistical data will be distorted.

Zhu Yijun looked around, and no court officials supported development through debt.

"Alright, continue the court session." Zhu Yijun pondered, waved his hand, and the matter of debt still could not pass the court session.

In fact, there is another reason the ministers didn't say out loud, and that is that the Great Ming Emperor is not Felipe, that King of Spain. The Great Ming Emperor cannot lose his credibility, let alone owe debt and not repay it. The damage to imperial power is fatal.

Felipe II can lose his credibility because his power itself is limited, and various places are highly autonomous.

But the Great Ming Emperor cannot lose his credibility. If the Great Ming Emperor loses his credibility to the world, it is the suspicion of the people, and the country will not be a country.

Carrying the sun and moon on one's shoulders and tying the country to one's body has never been a boast, but a reality.

Actually, Zhu Yijun's idea is also quite simple: if the debt rolls too big, dissolve the imperial court. "I was deceived by treacherous officials, it was all the treacherous officials who misled me!" I will definitely correct my mistakes and clear up the accumulated abuses, and then continue to do as I please.

This kind of trick is too common. For example, the vassal states were not weakened clearly, leading to the Rebellion of the Seven States, and Chao Cuo was killed; for example, Yan Song and Yan Shifan, father and son, made the world boil, so they were pushed out and beheaded, which was enough to explain.

This kind of trick is not rare. The East has the East's way of playing, and the West has the West's way of playing.

The ministers don't want to agree. They are all thousand-year-old foxes, and no one can hide their petty thoughts that can't be brought to the table.

Just as His Majesty understands the ministers, the ministers also understand His Majesty very well.

"Regarding the Official Selection Law, did no censor officials oppose it?" Zhu Yijun asked about the implementation of the decree.

"Reporting to Your Majesty." Liang Menglong stepped out and bowed his head, "Junior Grand Secretary Wang's method is very effective; speed is the essence of war."

"Yesterday, I handled the commissioned training enrollment for 150 clerks. This news first spread among the clerks, and then the officials knew about it. The wood was already a boat; the court officials found it difficult to oppose."

The reason officials are officials and clerks are clerks is because of the huge difference in the channels and speed of obtaining information. Many changes in the trend are known by officials first, and these clerks can only rely on officials to survive.

But this time, the Official Selection Law was known by the clerks first.

One decree opens the gate of heaven, and ten thousand paths shake the universe. The clerks knew about this method, and all of them felt the Emperor's kindness!

It's basically: His Majesty has me in his heart!