Chapter 848: The gold flower silver sent to the Inner Treasury should be increased

The new and old scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant had no place for tenants, drifters, commoners, and laborers. Under the small-scale peasant economy, they were slaves in the strong personal attachment production relationship; under the commodity economy, they were laborers under the large-scale free employment relationship.

The Great Ming had a special word to describe this kind of person: "grass mustard."

Li Zhi, after synthesizing the theory of contradictions, production diagrams, class theory, and other thoughts, was very desperate.

According to the third volume of the Class Theory, the Struggle Volume, theoretically, these slaves, these laborers, these "grass mustard" people could never obtain enough respect, because economic status determines political standing.

According to the explanation of the Production Diagram: personal knowledge and past experience accumulation were also personal fixed assets, because these assets could allow people to obtain long-term benefits, could allow labor to be endowed with more value, could allow people to obtain enough economic status, and then obtain political standing.

What makes people desperate is: "grass mustard" people cannot obtain enough economic foundation. They have no assets, let alone time, to accumulate knowledge and experience through learning, accumulate production experience, understand the laws of social operation, and even cannot distinguish rumors, cannot complete their own accumulation, cross the class they are in, naturally cannot complete class mobility, and cannot obtain political standing.

"Soul-calling" sorcery ravaged Shanghai County. Shanghai County Magistrate Yao Guangqi knew very well that this was a deceptive trick. He exhausted his schemes and finally obtained the beautiful name of "Great Merit Scholar." Some people firmly believed that Yao Guangqi possessed magic and had broken the soul-calling sorcery, restoring peace to Songjiang Prefecture.

Even though Yao Guangqi went to correct it himself, he still did not change this consensus.

Even if it was a small number of people, through their own intelligence and hard work, they completed class mobility. Soon, this small group of people would identify with the class they were in.

The Struggle Volume says: Class identity is greater than group identity, that is, class identity is the greatest identity.

These people who completed class transformation would immediately identify with the new class and would not run for the interests of the poor and suffering. In history, there were too many such things.

Even if it was a change of dynasty, the means of production were redistributed under the purest violence. These poor and suffering people lived like a human being for a short time, but soon because of annexation, they would slide down from human to "grass mustard" again.

Such a cycle appeared in history again and again.

Li Zhi and Lin Fucheng were both liberals. The freedom they pursued was limited, limited to the scope of Great Ming people. They hoped that every Great Ming person would obtain limited freedom, not irresponsible freedom.

But after defining the new scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant, Li Zhi was somewhat desperate, because even in theory, it was very difficult to achieve freedom.

"The Dinghai School System is imperative." Zhu Yijun looked at the miscellaneous reports for a long time, and he had no good way to solve the problem. Only by popularizing education, letting everyone read and understand the truth, and letting everyone accumulate enough knowledge and experience, was there no other way.

Zhu Yijun proposed the five big tile-roofed houses of the Wanli Reform: the comprehensive popular education of the Dinghai School System, the medical care of cultivating enough professional doctors and not-so-professional rural health workers, the freedom of movement with reduced travel costs, the free employment production relationship of the commodity economy, and everyone being able to eat their fill.

These five goals, using one hundred or two hundred years to achieve, this was the answer Zhu Yijun gave.

Admittedly, this answer was not perfect, could not bring true fairness and justice, and could not live freely, but at least it allowed people to live in limited freedom.

Zhu Yijun thought for a while and said, "This is a distribution method."

The last court discussion of the sixteenth year of Wanli ended, and the Great Ming Emperor became even busier.

On the 26th, the Great Ming Emperor met with foreign officials, elders, and common people at the Imperial Gate. The "Danchi Questioning Politics" had become a convention;

On the 27th, the Emperor went to the Nanhaizi in Daxing to comfort the families of the mound-platform scouts and maritime patrol inspectors, and went to the Yongding Wool Factory and the Xishan Coal Bureau in the afternoon;

On the 28th, the Emperor went to the Northern Earth City, the Ten Princes' Mansion to see the clan, and the Royal Institute of Technology to see the doctors and scholars, and reviewed the military horses in the afternoon;

On the morning of the 29th, the Emperor and the Empress went to the Nurturing and Relief Institute to visit the widowed, lonely, old, weak, sick, and disabled.

The current Great Ming Emperor was the most active Emperor in the history of the Great Ming.

The New Year of the seventeenth year of Wanli arrived on time. Everywhere was full of joy. On the evening of the 30th of the twelfth month, the Great Ming Emperor met with the civil and military officials who came to pay New Year's greetings in the Tonghe Palace, and the Empress met with the noblewomen in the back garden.

On New Year's Eve, the firemen in the watchtower observed the whole city with telescopes. Once there was a fire somewhere, the firemen would collectively go out to extinguish the fire. Even though Shun Tian Prefecture Assistant Wang Xiyuan stipulated the area for centralized fireworks and firecrackers, some people still did not follow these rules and set off fireworks in the city.

This was not setting off fireworks at all, but setting a fire!

"Year after year." Zhu Yijun stretched and looked at Zhu Changji with a smile, "Is it particularly boring?"

Zhu Changji had a good personality and was very patient, but after all, he was still a child. This kind of boring ritual always consumed the child's limited patience the fastest.

"It is indeed a bit boring," Zhu Changji replied in a low voice after seeing that all the ministers had left.

Zhu Yijun was happy and said with a smile, "I think so too. It is indeed very boring."

"But if I don't let the ministers pay New Year's greetings, the ministers will memorialize again, chattering endlessly, saying that the Senior Grand Secretary is blocking and not letting the ministers see the Emperor, and is about to usurp the throne. If I don't let the ministers see you, they will say that Zhu Changji has lost favor, and so on."

"Ministers are always reasonable, even more reasonable than children." Zhu Changji showed a very sensible expression. He rarely cried or made trouble. He felt that his performance was better than the ministers.

... Ministers can occupy reason in everything!

"So, even if it's boring, I have to do it. If I have this time, how many memorials can I read? I have only read 400 of the 1,000 memorials of the Danchi Questioning Politics, and they have to be issued to the Cabinet on the 6th," Zhu Yijun laughed.

Empress Wang had cultivated the Crown Prince very well. He was polite to the outside world, but in private, he was also a very lively child who would express his true thoughts, at least not timid, and would not say some auspicious words in a state of anxiety.

Of course, when Empress Wang beat Zhu Changji, Zhu Yijun had to avoid the edge.

Of course, when Empress Wang beat Zhu Changzhi, Zhu Yijun had to temporarily avoid her edge.

"Report!" A Night Scout quickly ran into the Tonghe Palace, holding an urgent *Tang Bao* in his hand, and said loudly: "Urgent report from the front! General Qi led the Capital Battalion at Changmen City and completely annihilated 18,000 of Mori Terumoto's main force!"

"Present it." Zhu Yijun stood up immediately, walked to the topographical map, and looked at the contents of the *Tang Bao* bit by bit against the map.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi ceded the northern cities of the three countries of Izumo, Iwami, and Nagato to the Great Ming, hoping that the Great Ming would help ban the Joyous Sect. The Great Ming agreed. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi ceded the land, he did not feel heartache at all; the multiple cities of these three provinces all belonged to Mori Terumoto.

Mori Terumoto had preserved too much strength on the Korean battlefield. If it weren't for the fact that the Great Ming army was already on his territory, Mori Terumoto would have long since started raising his sword to march on Kyoto to contend with Toyotomi Hideyoshi for the position of *Kanpaku*.

Mori Terumoto was somewhat unconvinced and wanted to take advantage of the cold winter before the New Year to catch Qi Jiguang off guard and recover some lost territory.

He planned to attack Changmen City while Qi Jiguang was away to retake Nagato. In this way, the Great Ming's actual control in Japan would lose its greatest fulcrum.

The Great Ming's rule in Japan proper relied entirely on the fulcrum of Changmen City, because all maritime transport had to go from Busan Port to Changmen City before being transshipped elsewhere. Once Changmen City was retaken by Mori Terumoto, not a single city conquered by the Great Ming could be held.

The reason Mori Terumoto wanted to take a risk was not because he was crazy; not acting now was waiting for death. If he really let the Great Ming operate for a few years and take root, he would never be able to retake the Iwami Silver Mine again.

The Iwami Silver Mine was the largest silver mine in all of Japan, and second only to the richest silver mines in the world. This was Mori Terumoto's money bag; without the money bag, he would completely lose the possibility of raising his sword to march on Kyoto.

He thought very well: surprise attack on Changmen City, recover all lost territory, counterattack Tsushima Island, and cut off the Great Ming's ability to directly intervene militarily in Japan proper.

Mori Terumoto's intelligence was sent to the Iwami Silver Mine. Qi Jiguang was building a camp at the Iwami Silver Mine to inspect the Emperor's mines for Him. Upon hearing the news, he secretly returned to Changmen City and began to formulate an ambush plan.

Mori Terumoto thought he was attacking Changmen City, which had no main general and weak defenses. As a result, he was caught red-handed by Qi Jiguang. Mori Terumoto's main force of 18,000 men were either killed or captured, and fewer than 2,000 escaped the battle

field.

"Good, good, good, reward them heavily." Zhu Yijun smiled brightly.

This battle completely severed the Japanese people's wild ambition to recover lost territory. Afterward, Mori Terumoto truly had no ability to counterattack; the strength he had preserved on the Korean battlefield had all been filled in.

"Is this Mori Terumoto sick? He even wanted to use the pretext of condolences to poison the Great Ming army? He can't even play conspiracies and tricks well." Zhu Yijun handed the *Tang Bao* to Feng Bao for the Cabinet, and said with a bit of schadenfreude.

Mori Terumoto wanted to poison the Great Ming army; he used Japanese women for the condolences, and the method of poisoning was wine.

People cannot imagine things they have never seen. Mori Terumoto thought the Great Ming army had the same character as their Japanese pirates, and felt that this plan would surely succeed, so he prepared 1,000 Japanese women with poisoned wine and came to the Great Ming camp.

Mori Terumoto received the signal that the plan had succeeded and began to advance, completely unaware that the signal that the plan had succeeded had been sent out by Li Rusong. Mori Terumoto led his men to charge up, and then, they were wrapped into dumplings by Qi Jiguang.

It was still the orderly line formation and dense muskets that caused the men and horses to fall on Mori Terumoto's charging path. Soon, morale became low, and when the samurai supervising the battle began to flee, the great rout began.

"Completely annihilating an opponent in a large-scale war is a very, very difficult thing. Every time it happens, it is full of all kinds of coincidences." Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with this victory.

Qi Jiguang did not specifically arrange this to offer a gift for the New Year; it was just a pure military action, and the report of victory happened to arrive just in time for the New Year, which was also part of the coincidence.

There was another coincidence this time: halfway through the battle, it suddenly started to snow, and it was a heavy snowfall, causing the temperature to drop rapidly, which led to the ground becoming wet, slippery, and muddy. The Japanese were completely unable to disengage from the battlefield, adding a heavy stroke to Qi Jiguang's dazzling military exploits.

This battle completely destroyed the Japanese people's courage. The Great Ming Capital Battalion could finally return in triumph smoothly. Of the 70,000-plus Liaodong troops, 40,000 would be stationed in Japan under the leadership of Regional Commander Zu Chengxun.

"I remember that back then, General Qi ambushed Dong Huli, and that's how he did it. He ate up Dong Huli's troops, and even his nephew was captured by General Qi." Zhu Yijun mentioned the old events from back then.

Feng Bao also said with some emotion: "Your Majesty is holy. At that time, General Qi came to the capital to receive his reward, and Your Majesty directly enfeoffed General Qi as Marquis of Qian'an, which made the Senior Grand Secretary very surprised. Yang Bo took the opportunity to make trouble, but the Senior Grand Secretary responded flexibly and blocked Yang Bo back with the argument of 'punishing the heart'."

"Sixteen years have already passed." Zhu Yijun looked at the topographical map of the Great Ming world. This map was the account given to all the people of the world in the 16th year of Zhenwu of the Great Ming.

This New Year, Zhu Yijun spent it very happily. Of course, this year's Aoshan Lantern Festival was also very spectacular.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the last day of the holiday, the Great Ming Emperor, who had finally managed to steal half a day of leisure, leisurely picked up

a *Za Bao*. After reading two paragraphs, He immediately discovered that He had a phobia of huge objects; He truly hated big idiots from the bottom of His heart!

The editor of this *Za Bao*, titled *Liangyou Zatan*, was quite puzzled by the imperial court's cultivation of health workers who were not so professional. He believed that the imperial court should focus on cultivating professional medical officials and running every People's Benefit Pharmacy well.

This editor believed: Health workers can't treat illnesses well; at most, they are at the level of wandering quacks. Why not let patients go to the People's Benefit Pharmacy in the county or city to see a doctor? Wouldn't it be better to use all efforts to build People's Benefit Pharmacies?

The logic seemed seamless: use the money for cultivating health workers to build People's Benefit Pharmacies, cultivate more professional medical officials, and treat all the patients who come.

Zhu Yijun slapped the *Za Bao* on the table, pointed at it, and said: "From the countryside to the county, it's a journey of more than forty *li*, and one must return within a day, otherwise one has to stay in the wilderness! Ox carts, donkey carts—those have to be borrowed from the landlord's house. Rural people entering the city all walk. A patient walking eighty *li* a day? The road is not easy to walk, and there are jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards on the road, and one needs a travel permit to enter the city."

"Why cultivate health workers? Making people get sick less is the significance of cultivating health workers!"

"Are the rural people not human? Are they not human?! You dog things who don't know the taste of meat!"

Zhu Yijun was very angry because He saw the arrogance of not treating people as human beings from these editors. These editors didn't consider the rural people at all, and didn't even treat them as human beings.

Just like the old and new "scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant," these editors didn't think at all in their hearts about what the poor people and laborers—the patients who couldn't walk to the People's Benefit Pharmacies in the county or prefecture—should do.

Rural people, when they have a serious illness, at most invite a shaman to dance; if it can't be cured, they resign themselves to fate. They would never be taken to the People's Benefit Pharmacy in the city. Even if the People's Benefit Pharmacy holds the banner of benefiting the people, the cost of medicine is still very expensive and cannot be afforded by the poor and laborers.

Death is a very common thing for the poor and laborers, which is why there are village women who cut off their own wombs and reward themselves with a bowl of brown sugar egg soup, and why there are carpenters like Carpenter Zheng who saw off their own legs and died of infection.

The health workers sent to the countryside are all people selected from the camps and villages, who go to the People's Benefit Pharmacy in the county to study simple methods of hygiene and prevention for a while, to popularize rural hygiene and make people get sick less.

Even if these health workers sent to the countryside are indeed wandering quacks who can't treat illnesses well, they are still better than nothing.

But in the eyes of these scholar-official editors, it is simply a waste of the State Treasury.

"The masters in the city are human, but the villagers outside the city are not? Who is this person?" Zhu Yijun's expression was somewhat heavy.

Feng Bao looked at the editor's name, found a roster from the study in the Imperial Study, searched for a moment, handed it to the Emperor, and said: "This editor's name is Liu Wenlin, a native of Huangzhou Prefecture, Huguang. Three years ago, his grandfather once went to the People's Benefit Pharmacy in Wuchang Prefecture to have an append

ectomy."

"So Liu Wenlin naturally believes that when people get sick, they should go to a big pharmacy to see a doctor properly; rural quacks are unreliable, and big pharmacies can cure illnesses."

"That's not strange. Liu Wenlin has lived like this all his life; he naturally believes that everyone else lives like this too."

Liu Wenlin's family is well-off and has no worries about food and clothing. For him, the Great Ming's transportation is very convenient. With his status as a *juren*, he can go anywhere. With his parents' wealth, he came to the Great Ming capital with three carriages on the road, and also brought more than ten retainers to protect his safety;

for him, the Great Ming's transportation is convenient and medical resources are extremely rich. If he can't be cured in Huangzhou Prefecture, he goes to Wuchang Prefecture; if he can't be cured in Wuchang Prefecture, he goes to the Northern Capital, Shuntian Prefecture.

Liu Wenlin has lived like this for more than twenty years. If you ask him to write an article, he will write this kind of "why don't they eat meat porridge" article.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a while and said: "This won't do. These editors are lazy and don't know the five grains."

"Order the Ministry of Rites to convey My decree: from now on, those who work as editors for *Za Bao* must first go to the Imperial Manor in the Northern Capital to do farm work for a year, and then go to the Xishan Coal Bureau to do physical labor for a year before they can take up their posts. Not participating in labor is truly not acceptable."

"Your servant obeys the decree!" Feng Bao ran happily to the Ministry of Rites to proclaim the decree. As long as he could make things difficult for the scholars, he was willing to supervise it himself!

Feng Bao took the imperial decree stamped by the Emperor and pedaled all the way to the front of the Ministry of Rites on a "dry duck." Feng Bao called this kind of vehicle a *cunwu*, but the Emperor called it a "dry duck." After a long time, no one called it a *cunwu* anymore.

Feng Bao waited until the officials of the Ministry of Rites had gathered before he raised his voice and shouted with cadence:

"The Emperor has a decree, which says: All those who are editors of *Za Bao* must first go to the Imperial Manor to engage in farming for one year, and then go to the Xishan coal mines to work for one year before they are allowed to hold a pen. If one does not experience the hardships of farming, how can one know the suffering of the people? Those who violate this will never be allowed to practice their profession. Respect this!"

This is the Emperor. The Emperor did not get angry at Liu Wenlin as an individual, because these editors—it wasn't just Liu Wenlin who thought this way; all the editors thought this way. So when targeting, He targeted the group of editors directly.

Feng Bao handed the thin sheet of paper with the imperial decree to Shen Li and said: "Grand Minister, this is the Emperor's own handwriting. You must execute it carefully. Although I don't have much ability, I can still keep an eye on them; I definitely cannot let them slack off."

"Easy to say, easy to say." Shen Li confirmed the seal and handwriting of the imperial decree, and after confirming it was an imperial decree, he asked somewhat doubtfully: "What happened in the palace to make the Emperor so thunderously angry? Suddenly sending a strict decree to the Ministry of Rites?"

Feng Bao immediately took a *Za Bao* out of his sleeve and handed it to Shen Li, saying: "Alas! Speaking of this makes me angry!"

"Before the New Year, General Qi completely annihilated 18,000 Japanese pirates at Changmen City in Japan. That was a complete annihilation! In the three years of the Korean battlefield, there wasn't a single battle of complete annihilation. This New Year, the palace was full of joy,

and the Emperor was beaming with joy wherever He went. How many days has it been since He was happy?"

"Who would have thought that today, when He was idle, the Emperor read the *Za Bao* and was directly angered by what this editor wrote."

"Grand Minister, you tell me, is this bullying people?! Bullying the Emperor for being magnanimous and not bothering to argue with these cheap scholars who wag their tongues!"

"Over the years, the Emperor has suffered too many grievances for the sake of opening up the path of speech!"

"Yes, yes, yes, the Great Eunuch is right." Shen Li did not dare to argue with Feng Bao about who was being bullied.

Shen Li finished reading the *Za Bao*, his face pale. Sometimes it really wasn't the Emperor's fault for getting angry. Who didn't know that the Emperor was really happy these days? If this wasn't adding to the annoyance, what was?

The Ministry of Rites is responsible for cultural and educational affairs, and the management of editors also falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites. If there is a problem with the editors, it means there is a problem with the Ministry of Rites.

Shen Li thought for a while and said: "How about this: every spring in the third month and summer in the fifth month, they shall be designated as farming months, specifically to mark out a piece of land for the students of the Imperial Academy and the University to be responsible for farming and harvesting."

"This will save us from making such jokes in the future. I will trouble the Great Eunuch to report this to the Emperor."

"It has to be the Grand Minister! Good idea!" Feng Bao hit his left fist with his right palm, his eyes flashing with light, and said: "No trouble, no trouble. Once this matter is confirmed, I will definitely send someone to tell the Grand Minister. The Grand Minister can draft a memorial, and we will push the process forward."

Even if Shen Li didn't give him money, he, Feng Bao, would still pass it on!

Feng Bao returned to the palace and told the Emperor, and the Emperor agreed immediately. Xu Jue specifically made a trip to convey the imperial will. The Ministry of Rites began to draft a memorial to prevent the students of the Imperial Academy and the University from suffering from the serious illness of thinking that grain grows on shelves.

The Emperor and the Great Eunuch of the Inner Treasury were pondering how to make things difficult for the students, while over there, Zhang Juzheng came to the Tonghe Palace with a memorial to request an audience.

"Your servant pays respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well." Zhang Juzheng bowed respectfully.

"No need for formalities, sit, sit, sit. Great Eunuch Feng, bring good tea." Zhu Yijun signaled Zhang Juzheng to sit down, and He explained the matter of the *Za Bao*, farming, and working to Zhang Juzheng in detail.

"Your Majesty, this must be done!"

"Since those censors of the Censorate started carrying water themselves, they have never made things difficult for the poor and laborers again. This is a great thing. Your servant believes that it should also be promoted in the schools of all prefectures and counties. Even if it is difficult to supervise, it is better than not knowing the five grains, which only cultivates a bunch of cheap scholars."

"Your servant believes that after the metropolitan examination next year, the proportion of mathematics should be gradually increased, at least to 50%. If you are not good at mathematics, you cannot pass the metropolitan examination. Only then will mathematics truly be promoted."

"Mathematics is something that if you don't know, you don't know; it cannot be faked." Zhang Juzheng raised both hands in favor of the Emperor's decision to make things difficult for the cheap scholars, and even wanted to wave them twice to show his approval.

Zhang Juzheng went from bad to worse, increasing the proportion of mathematics in the grades, at least to 50%

—or even 70%—so as not to cultivate cheap scholars.

"It shall be as the Master says. The Master is indeed the Master." Zhu Yijun's eyes lit up, and He expressed His deep agreement!

This is a new progress in the Great Ming's educational reform, taking advantage of these cheap scholars' nonsense to deepen the educational reform.

"Your Majesty, I have brought a memorial from the Cabinet regarding the 'Dan Chi' questioning." Zhang Juzheng handed a memorial to the Emperor; he naturally had something to say when coming to the Tonghe Palace.

This year, during the "Dan Chi" questioning, a Miao person came from Yunnan, from the eighteen villages of Mile Prefecture in Yunnan. These eighteen villages had three local chieftains who were hereditary enemies. This Miao person couldn't even write, and his Han language wasn't very fluent; it was a decree for the Emperor to summon the commoners individually.

The Duke of Qian, Mu Changzhou, the Yunnan Provincial Governor, and local officials were mainly focused on attacking Toungoo, so they didn't have much energy to manage these local chieftains.

With the management slightly relaxed, the three local chieftains with hereditary enemies began to slaughter the Miao people.

Zhang Juzheng shook his head repeatedly and said: "The three local chieftains have been killing each other for years. The Duke of Qian's mansion suppressed them, and the Miao people had a slight chance to breathe. With a slight lack of strength, these local chieftains began to go crazy. Fourteen villages, including Zhuyuan, Pengpu, Luohong Village, and Yimutian, were all ravaged in just half a year. 15,000 Miao corpses were piled up like mountains, which was unbearable to look at."

The eighteen villages had a total of less than 30,000 people. This mutual slaughter of Miao people killed 15,000 people, and fourteen villages were completely burned down.

The Duke of Qian's mansion mobilized 2,000 Han troops to go there. Every time they arrived at a village, they buried the corpses. Finally, they summarized a total number. The Duke of Qian was furious, flew into a rage, and ordered the suppression of the three local chieftains—the Lu clan, the Ming clan, and the Sha clan—beheading all the thieves, which finally calmed the public anger.

But the pain caused could not be compensated. Zhang Juzheng's idea was to comprehensively promote the replacement of local chieftains with appointed officials. This was not only out of the need for rule, but also out of the need to stabilize the locality and settle the Miao people.

Zhang Juzheng was from Huguang, and he had seen Miao people slaughtering villages, but in the past, the imperial court did not have the energy to promote this matter.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Qian must be angry. The Duke of Qian's mansion spent two hundred years sorting out the contradictions of these hereditary local chieftains, persuading this family and then that family. It was only with great difficulty that they finally settled down and gave the people of Yunnan a chance to breathe. With a slight relaxation, it started again."

"Your servant believes that the imperial court should pay attention to the Miao rebellion." Zhang Juzheng said worriedly: "The Han troops in Yunnan and Sichuan are attacking Toungoo, and the local chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan are starting to stir. If someone rebels, suppress them with force and replace the local chieftains with appointed officials; that is the right path."

"The Master's words are very true." Zhu Yijun expressed His deep agreement.

The Great Ming's "driving away the Miao and expanding the industry" was never the evil Great Ming army burning, killing, and looting everywhere, killing people until heads rolled, but rather the hereditary enemies among the local chieftains killing each other, making it impossible for the Miao people to live, so they took the initiative to rely on the Great Ming imperial court, and even led the way for the Great Ming official army. When Ceng Shengwu pacified Jiusi, there were more Miao people pointing the way than Miao people rebelling.

The Miao people in the midst of war could only think of one way: to invite the Great Ming official army to descend to earth, to mourn the people and punish the guilty, to comfort the people, and to punish the culprits.

When the Great Ming army left, they would cry and beg the Great Ming soldiers to stay, replace the local chieftains with appointed officials, intermarry, and finally realize the King's transformation.

"Your Majesty, this year the Ministry of Revenue calculated the annual revenue at over 46 million silver, far exceeding the Ministry of Revenue's expectations." Zhang Juzheng took out another memorial, which came from the Ministry of Revenue.

Last year's annual revenue, calculated in silver, was 41 million silver. This year, the Ministry of Revenue expected 43 million silver, and the year-end calculation was 3 million silver more.

"Land tax converted to silver was 16.5 million silver, a decrease of 500,000 silver from last year. Commercial taxes, official factories, coal, iron, and tobacco monopolies, customs duties, and tariffs, etc. —the commercial taxes in the 16th year of Wanli were over 29 million silver, and the proportion of commercial taxes exceeded 65%."

Zhang Juzheng said with a heavy expression: "The gold-flower silver sent to the Inner Treasury should be increased. It is appropriate to increase it from 1.2 million silver to 2.4 million silver."