Chapter 987: Failure is daily, success is accidental

Zhu Yijun has one last move to deal with the change of heaven: land equalization. It is not returning land, but equalizing land.

Returning land is the court paying a price to take land property into public ownership, and then either granting land or leasing it, letting the people cultivate it themselves, not confiscating it for nothing;

While equalizing land is killing the gentry and equalizing the land. The nature is completely different. It is confiscating the family property. This is the last means. If even land equalization cannot solve it, then Zhu Yijun can only live and die with the Great Ming.

Zhu Yijun told Wang Guoguang about the assassination of the imperial envoy Xu Chengchu in Rongcheng County and the dispatch of troops to Rongcheng, indicating that he still had a hand left.

In Zhu Yijun's view, the current migration policy is just to reduce the scale of possible civil unrest. His bottom-line means are different from Wang Guoguang's bottom-line means.

Wang Guoguang listened to the Emperor's ideas very patiently, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "Your Majesty, you really have the people in your heart. Your subjects are really not as good."

The Qingmaqiao case in Rongcheng County, after the Emperor said it, Wang Guoguang remembered that he had seen it. For attacking the imperial envoy, no matter what the reason, he had to be like His Majesty, dispatching troops to Rongcheng!

The imperial envoy was assassinated. No matter how intense the reaction was, it was not too much. Even if the Rongcheng Magistrate Sun Qifeng was multiplied, it was not subjective intent, he still had to do so.

In the time of Emperor Wen of Han, there was a maternal uncle named Bo Zhao. The biological sister of Bo Zhao's mother was the mother of Emperor Wen of Han. After the chaos of the Lu family, the city of Chang'an was killed in rivers of blood, and finally it was decided to support Emperor Wen of Han.

Emperor Wen of Han had doubts about this result, and sent his maternal uncle Bo Zhao to Chang'an to negotiate, determining various matters of ascending the throne.

Bo Zhao had the merit of supporting the dragon, and was also a founding hero of the decision. Emperor Wen of Han was very indulgent to him.

In the tenth year of Emperor Wen of Han, Bo Zhao killed the Han court envoy without authorization. Emperor Wen of Han sent ministers to persuade Bo Zhao to end himself, giving everyone dignity. Bo Zhao refused to be dignified, so Emperor Wen of Han ordered the hundred officials to cry at Bo Zhao's home, forcing Bo Zhao to commit suicide.

The mother's biological younger brother, the great merit of supporting the dragon, the founding hero of the decision, even so, Emperor Wen of Han still achieved this step.

In the end, Bo Zhao, whose face was as thick as a city wall, could only commit suicide. If he didn't commit suicide, Emperor Wen of Han would go to his door to cry.

Killing the Emperor's imperial envoy, no matter what the reason, must be regarded as assassinating the king and killing the driver. His Majesty's move to dispatch troops to Rongcheng was a matter of course, and could even be said to be very benevolent.

His Majesty just executed all the powerful and wealthy and local gentry in Rongcheng County, exiled their families to the Jinchi Governor's Office, and equalized the land, without killing the nine clans. Who dares to say that His Majesty is not benevolent?

His Majesty told about the land equalization in Rongcheng County, which was to tell Wang Guoguang that he, as the Emperor, had the ability, responsibility, responsibility, and means to provide a bottom line for the change of heaven.

Wang Guoguang was confused, not that he lost the ability to think.

The biggest difference between these two fallback measures—one being cutting off the arm to save the body, and the other being the equal-field system—is that the Emperor truly has the people in his heart. Even if a large-

scale civil unrest erupts, he is unwilling to abandon these 'stubborn people.'

Ministers think and worry, their position, thinking does not leave the position. Although everyone shouts that the people are the foundation of the country, when making decisions, they still involuntarily take maintaining the survival of the court and the country as the main purpose.

Breaking the wrist, blocking the civil unrest in Tongguan, letting the change of heaven and civil unrest kill the people, letting the population drop to the range that the land can bear, regardless of the life and death of the people in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Suiyuan, this is definitely not preserving the overall situation.

It cannot preserve the overall situation at all, because the country loses great trust, and people's hearts are suspicious. After the people in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Suiyuan are sacrificed, the people will definitely think, will I be the next one to be abandoned?

Blocking the rebel army in Tongguan and not letting the rebel army go out of the pass is just the last gasp of the Great Ming Dynasty.

The Majesty in front of me is completely different. The Emperor's decision is completely based on the idea that the people are the foundation of the country, the foundation is solid and the country is peaceful, and it is put into action.

There is a big problem here. If the Emperor really wants to equalize land in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Suiyuan, he must equalize land in the entire Great Ming.

Otherwise, the gentry in the hinterland will be separated from the Emperor because of the worry that the policy will expand, and Shaanxi, Gansu, and Suiyuan will fall into the quagmire of civil unrest, and the Emperor's foundation of rule will be completely shaken.

As long as policies similar to land equalization and equalizing wealth are launched on a large scale, either don't do it, or sweep the entire Great Ming. And His Majesty

As long as policies similar to equalizing land and wealth are launched on a large scale, they must either not be done at all, or they must sweep across the entire Great Ming. And for so many years, His Majesty seems to have been preparing for these things.

It could even be said that in His Majesty's heart, whether the Great Ming perishes or not is not particularly important. What His Majesty seeks is merely that China does not perish and civilization is not extinguished.

Wang Guoguang could clearly feel His Majesty the Emperor's firm will, his courage to face problems directly, his indomitable perseverance, and his determination to be ready to burn everything to the ground.

"Your Majesty, this subject is old and senile." Wang Guoguang took back his memorial. The problem of long-distance migration in General Qi Jiguang Jiguang's memorial on relocating the people—I am afraid it is not that General Qi Jiguang Jiguang did not know.

If General Qi Jiguang Jiguang did not understand, could Zhang Juzheng, who helped General Qi Jiguang Jiguang write the memorial, not understand?

The goals of Zhang Juzheng, General Qi Jiguang Jiguang, and the Emperor were completely identical: at worst, they would use military control to implement the equal-field system!

Zhu Yijun chatted with Wang Guoguang for a long time before leaving Wang Guoguang's residence. Truth be told, Wang Guoguang's memorial and Ling Yunyi's opinion were the absolutely rational considerations. Maintaining the survival of the state while ensuring that civil unrest did not expand to the hinterland was the rational choice.

What the Emperor and General Qi Jiguang Jiguang thought and did was simply more resolute; they were even willing to use the Great Ming imperial court as the price.

"Report to the Son of Heaven above, and save the common people below—this has never been an empty phrase." Wang Guoguang sat on his reclining chair, looking at the parkia tree in front of him. He pondered for a long time and thoroughly understood the confidence behind His Majesty the Emperor doing this.

If ten thousand men act as one, the world

is invincible. As long as the military soul is not extinguished, for the Great Ming, there is no hurdle that cannot be overcome.

Wang Guoguang leaned back on the reclining chair, rocking it with one foot, feeling carefree. He was in an excellent mood now, feeling quite relaxed. If this military soul could continue to exist, he wouldn't dare speak of other things, but at the very least, it could keep the interior of the Great Ming stable.

Being able to live and work in peace and contentment, having peaceful days to live, and pointing out state affairs on street corners and under tea stalls—for the common people, this is the most beautiful time.

Making a decision is making a choice. He chose himself or the ten thousand people, and His Majesty once again chose the ten thousand people instead of himself, just like the imperial road, just like the Dinghai academic system.

Zhu Yijun returned to the Imperial Study in the Tonghe Palace and reflected on the policies of August in the nineteenth year of Wanli, discovering two things.

The instability of the Great Ming system; the trouble brought by the celestial changes is more difficult than imagined.

What Ye Xianggao asked was actually about the instability of the Great Ming system.

The system of joint decisions through court discussions in the Wenhua Hall requires too many coincidences to maintain stability. It is interlinked; as long as one link has a problem, the entire system, like collapsing dominoes, can easily fall apart completely.

For example, right now, with Zhang Juzheng having retired and the relationship between the Emperor and the Senior Grand Secretary no longer being intimate, this system looks like it cannot operate effectively.

This problem is one that Zhu Yijun must constantly summarize experience in during long-term practice to increase the stability of the public discussion system.

Zhu Yijun believes that the Wenhua Hall court discussions are more stable than Zhang Juzheng and Ye Xianggao think, rather than being as fragile as imagined, shattering at a touch.

Because the Wenhua Hall court discussions are a system born from the long-term practice of the Great Ming. It looks like it has great contingency, but in fact, it possesses a certain necessity. According to Zhu Yijun's experience, systems that have been tested by practice often possess more powerful resilience.

The Wenhua Hall court discussions will undergo drastic changes following the departure of key figures. This kind of change is also adaptation, self-correction, adapting to changes, and adapting to new environments; it will not completely disintegrate as Zhang Juzheng and Ye Xianggao imagined.

This second thing is naturally the celestial changes.

Regarding the celestial changes and the lack of harmony between water and drought, the imperial court should treat them more cautiously. The imperial court has somewhat underestimated the potential harm of the celestial changes. The "cutting off the arm to save the body" that Wang Guoguang thought of is not alarmist talk.

Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sui, which are short on grain and power and slightly deficient, will become highly deficient in grain and power due to the celestial changes. How to solve this requires the imperial court to be extremely cautious.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Prince of De requests an audience." A young eunuch walked in and bowed his head, saying.

"Proclaim him."

Zhu Zaiyu bowed his head and said, "This subject pays respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well."

"No need for formalities." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Sit. My Imperial Uncle never visits the Three Treasures Hall without a reason. I wonder what brings you to this mundane world of mine this time?"

This Tonghe Palace of Zhu Yijun's is also a mundane world.

The Academy of Physics is transcendent, not within the Five Elements.

"This subject comes this time for three things. The first is that since the 'Degrees and Numbers' were mastered, our Great Ming has cultivated thousands of mathematical talents. We also have mathematical geniuses like Li Kaifang, Li Zhizao, and Xu Guangqi. However, the time has been short, and Western mathematics still has its unique aspects. This subject requests imperial grace to allow the outsider Kepler to enter the Academy of Physics as a Doctor of Mathematics." Zhu Zaiyu reported the first matter: Kepler entering the Academy of Physics.

This is a special grace because Kepler did not submit a letter of allegiance. Before Galileo was admitted to the Academy of Physics, he even served as a doctor for a year, vaccinating the people of Great Ming against smallpox. Kepler did not submit a letter of allegiance.

However, Kepler came to Great Ming with his lover to pursue the path of truth. Moreover, because of the torment of smallpox, Kepler has some problems with his eyes and hands. Zhu Zaiyu believes that he can be given some trust and leniency.

"I have heard that this person has considerable talent. Let it be as you say, Imperial Uncle." Zhu Yijun agreed to Zhu Zaiyu's request. Kepler is different from the missionary Matteo Ricci; Matteo Ricci came to Great Ming to preach, while Kepler came to Great Ming to engage in scientific research and study astronomical matters.

"This subject's second matter is to present an auspicious sign." Zhu Zaiyu signaled the young eunuch to present the model of the Princess Shengping No. 10 steam engine he brought before the imperial throne.

Zhu Zaiyu explained in detail the improvements of the Princess Shengping No. 10 over the Princess Shengping No. 9. The horsepower in the middle is still 450, but the weight has been reduced from 10,000 catties to 4,700 catties. It can be considered an improved model.

Weight reduction and miniaturization have given this steam engine more possibilities. While reducing the weight by half, it can use less coal and less water.

Greater horsepower and smaller volume are the tireless pursuits of the Academy of Physics. According to Zhu Zaiyu's design plan, in the near future, an iron horse weighing 500,000 catties with 8,000 horsepower will be enough to bring the imperial road into a golden age.

"Very good, very good." Zhu Yijun fiddled with the model of the steam engine, added water, and lit the alcohol lamp. The steam engine erupted with a short whistle and began to rotate. Zhu Yijun asked in detail about some problems in process improvement. Great Ming has been digging cylinders for nineteen years, and the airtightness is getting better and better.

"The third matter is that the glider I made before has made a little progress, but I have abandoned the plan to put an iron horse on the glider." Zhu Zaiyu's third matter was to admit his own exploration failure. Years of research proved that he had walked into a dead end.

Coal, water, and a steam engine, added together, are truly too heavy. Even if the steam engine is improved to be smaller, it cannot fly into the sky. The calorific value of coal is truly too low, and it also requires consuming a large amount of water. Wanting to fly into the sky is simply impossible.

Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "If it can succeed, that is naturally best. If it cannot, it is also an exploration of the infinite principles of all things. Isn't this weight reduction of the Princess Shengping No. 10 also something that came out of researching the glider? On the path of exploration, failure is also success."

Zhu Yijun directly served up a big bowl of chicken soup, telling Zhu Zaiyu not to be discouraged. A brief failure is for the sake of a more

glorious success in the future.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your comfort." Zhu Zaiyu said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "I wasted one million silver from the inner treasury. I ask Your Majesty to forgive my sin."

Taking the Emperor's silver but failing to produce corresponding results—this is a sin.

"What a small matter, it's just one million silver." Zhu Yijun signaled that Zhu Zaiyu need not care. It's just small change; compared to the glorious achievements of the Academy of Physics, it is not worth mentioning.

Just studying astronomy and the technique of navigating the ocean to allow merchant ships to return safely is a great contribution that will benefit a thousand generations.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Only then did Zhu Zaiyu breathe a sigh of relief. As long as His Majesty did not blame him for wasting one million silver from the inner treasury, it was fine.

"How is the steam turbine you were tinkering with, Imperial Uncle?" Zhu Yijun was still concerned about the steam turbine that could rotate but could not be used initially. This thing had great power.

Zhu Zaiyu shook his head and said, "There is no progress. It is unstable, unreliable, and the materials cannot withstand it. It is very difficult to go any further at present."

In research projects, not every one can succeed. On the contrary, failure is the daily routine, and success is the contingency.

The progress of the steam turbine was almost no different from what the Emperor saw initially, but in this research and development process, Great Ming had accumulated enough experience in controlling high-pressure and high-temperature steam.

Zhu Yijun asked about several projects, and the answers he received were similar. There were not many projects with progress, but as long as they were still studying, these mountain-like difficulties would all be overcome bit by bit.

"Is the Academy of Physics short of money? I still have 2.1 million silver in my inner treasury." Zhu Yijun thought about it and felt it was better for him to bring it up himself. Zhu Zaiyu rarely took the initiative to ask for funds. Since the establishment of the Academy of Physics, it had asked for a total of two million silver from the Emperor.

"The Academy of Physics still has money—over 800,000 silver, which is enough to use." Zhu Zaiyu shook his head. He came to the palace this time to report achievements, not to ask for money.

Zhu Yijun and Zhu Zaiyu chatted again about the Dinghai academic system. The Academy of Physics would give its full support to the talent cultivation of the Dinghai academic system.

"This subject takes his leave." After reporting the recent situation of the Academy of Physics, Zhu Zaiyu left the Imperial Study in the Tonghe Palace.

The success of the Wanli Reform was just such a puzzle piece by piece, put together bit by bit. Behind it, there was no power of ghosts or gods, only the struggle of comrades walking together and enjoying the journey.

"Liu Yushan, the Censor of Shanxi, has impeached Wang Qian, the Prefect of Songjiang." Feng Bao searched around, found a memorial, and bowed his head as he said.

"This subject is dull-witted and cannot see the problem." Feng Bao said in a low voice, "According to Censor Liu's statement, for every 1,000 shi of grain collected by the Dujiangyan Jiemin Canal now, the imperial court loses three-tenths of a tael of silver."

A very strange account, a very strange calculation method.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorial and said, "It's just the residual poison of precise calculation. If the common people get a little advantage, it's like taking his life."

Zhu Yijun had seen this kind of memorial, and not just once. It was

what he called the residual poison of precise calculation. The style was very similar: not looking at the whole, only looking at one-sided facts.

When Wang Qian went to Sichuan to handle the case of the "Dengtou" (weight-head) fraud, he used his own silver to repair the Dujiangyan and built the 300-li Jiemin Canal to irrigate the land in Guanzhong.

Water conservancy facilities are not something that can be used forever once repaired; they need to be repaired year after year. The maintenance costs for these 300 li of Jiemin Canal fell on the local yamen.

Liu Yushan's calculation method was very cunning. He subtracted the maintenance costs of the 300-li Jiemin Canal from the increased land tax from newly reclaimed fields, spread it over the newly reclaimed land, and concluded that the common people owed the imperial court! For every 1,000 shi of grain, they owed three-tenths of a tael of silver!

"Liu Yushan's meaning is to make the people of these 300 li of Jiemin Canal pay silver—not much, ten wen per mu of land." Zhu Yijun stretched his shoulders and said, "The common people have never owed the imperial court, nor do they owe the yamen."

The land tax collected by the local yamen to maintain the Jiemin Canal was insufficient to cover the expenditures. This deficit was mainly because the imperial court had carried out large-scale reductions and exemptions of land tax to deal with the celestial changes.

The contradiction here is very interesting. The imperial court cannot make up for this deficit, and the local yamen does not want to acknowledge this deficit. In the end, they thought about whether they could ask the common people for canal maintenance fees.

Feng Bao deliberated for a while before answering, "This subject feels that this opening cannot be made. This subject cannot reclaim wasteland, cannot farm, and cannot audit accounts; I cannot calculate this account clearly."

"However, this subject knows what the officials and gentry of our Great Ming Dynasty are. As long as there is a vermilion approval in this Imperial Study, the reclaimed land of these 300 li of Jiemin Canal will have nothing to do with the common people anymore."

It is not that Feng Bao does not understand the key to the problem; he is just putting eye drops on the civil officials! Speaking ill of the civil officials!

One must speak ill of the civil officials every day; one cannot not speak ill of them. One must remain sufficiently vigilant against these clever people at all times!

"You are right." Zhu Yijun agreed with Feng Bao's view. No matter how much the yamen loses, that is public money. But land annexation—once annexed, it becomes the benefit of private gates.

Ten wen per mu seems like a small amount, but as long as the Emperor approves the tax increase, all kinds of clever names for harsh taxes and levies will come rushing in. This stroke of the vermilion brush is a privateering license; it is an imperial decree permitting annexation.

Zhu Yijun read the memorial again before saying, "There is an important problem here. Is this 300-li Tonghe Jiemin Canal really losing money? Is the yamen a business? Only calculating profit and loss, not calculating the importance of settling the people and grazing the land?"

"Three-tenths of a tael of silver can produce 1,000 more shi of grain—what a beautiful thing. If civil unrest truly breaks out, they will know to repent."

"Even if we only look at precise calculation, Feng, my attendant, you tell me, did the local yamen really not collect this dredging fee for the canals?"

"Your Majesty is wise. These local yamen invent all kinds of clever names; they collect even unreasonable silver. As for reasonable silver, I'm afraid they have already collected it up to a hundred years from now!" Feng Bao said hurriedly.

The Emperor is truly not easy to fool. Regarding what the local yamen are like,

the Emperor knows it in his heart.

"This memorial is actually a test. In our Great Ming, some yamen are a bit unable to make ends meet." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial, his expression somewhat heavy.

The reason why Zhu Yijun was willing to spend energy to deal with this memorial, which looked problematic at a glance, instead of simply stamping it for disposal, was not because of how reasonable this memorial was, but because this memorial reflected a problem.

Under the celestial changes, against the special background of the imperial court reducing and exempting land tax year after year, the interest distribution of the Great Ming yamen, which take land tax as the main body of fiscal revenue, has appeared problematic.

Simply put, there are still as many wolves, but there is not enough meat to eat.

There are still as many meat-eaters, but there is less meat. If they don't think of ways to scrape it from the common people, what other methods are there under a small-scale peasant economy?

The officials and gentry don't even want to bear the bad reputation; they want the Emperor to bear the blame and the bad reputation.

Feng Bao understood what His Majesty said, his brows tightly furrowed. This problem is indeed somewhat tricky. Not all Great Ming local yamen are as rich as Songjiang Prefecture; Songjiang Prefecture has so much silver that it can build a palace for His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, what should be done about this?" Feng Bao could not think of a good method.

"Ignore it." Zhu Yijun thought about it and stated his disposal method.

"Ignore it?" Feng Bao truly did not understand now. It looked like a very serious problem, yet His Majesty's disposal was actually to ignore it.

Zhu Yijun explained, "Feng, my attendant, the officials are testing me. The reason they want to test me is that they dare not act recklessly, which is why they want to ask for my imperial decree."

"Why do they dare not act recklessly? They fear my authority and punishment. If they do it secretly and are impeached by the circuit inspector or the provincial governor, they will lose their official hats. These official hats are more important than their lives."

"Secondly, they fear civil unrest. This reduction of land tax is a national policy announced to all the people in the world. They dare not make an issue of the land tax, so they have to think of other methods. Without an imperial decree, if civil unrest breaks out, the local officials will lose their heads."

The method Zhu Yijun gave was to ignore it. As long as they can collect silver without an imperial decree, this bunch of vermin will not write the memorial to the Emperor's face.

The common people of Great Ming will engage in armed resistance against taxes. Every year when yamen runners go to the countryside to collect land tax, it is a case of "thousands of people rising with sticks, and ten thousand people watching from the roadside." If they act recklessly, it is "cut your wood, raise your poles, follow me, kill the tax officials." The common people of Great Ming are absolutely not lambs that do not know how to resist.

The land-soldier rebellion in Ruijin and Ninghua counties even broke through the county yamen.

There are many wolves and little meat, and they cannot scrape it from the hands of the common people, and the Emperor is unwilling to lend the name of righteousness, so they can only have internal strife among the wolf pack.

"Liu Yushan should go to the Material Estimation Office of the Ministry of Works. Isn't he good at precise calculation? Going to the place of material and labor auditing to do precise calculation is most appropriate." Zhu Yijun used the vermilion brush to approve Liu Yushan's memorial and sent him to the Material Estimation Office.

The Material Estimation Office is a newly established yamen of the Ministry of Works. It has no power at all, and every day they are busy until the sky is dark and the earth is dim, exhausting their minds over accounts

because it is newly established and is precisely the time when people are needed.

Having little power and being busy until the sky is dark and the earth is dim is the true portrayal of most yamen. Only by constantly climbing upward can one control power while being busy.

Power is what moves people's hearts the most. Gao Qiyu, who is noble as a high official of the Ministry of Rites, is still willing to stay up late to write memorials and volunteer for overtime when he returns home because he has truly obtained sufficient power and rewards.

"Your Majesty, Xu Chengchu led the Anti-Corruption Division to audit the accounts of the Six Chambers of the Shuntian Prefecture." Feng Bao searched around, brought out the preliminary results of Xu Chengchu's anti-corruption efforts, and bowed his head as he said.

"What are the results?" Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial, finished reading the floating slips first, and asked Feng Bao about the situation.

Feng Bao thought for a moment and said, "The minor officials are hugely corrupt."

The anti-corruption storm in the Six Chambers of Shuntian Prefecture had just begun. Xu Chengchu's memorial was entirely the result of a preliminary investigation; a larger-scale anti-corruption storm was still brewing.

Minor officials being hugely corrupt is a very common phenomenon. Some minor officials are more corrupt than high officials. Preliminary auditing showed that the scale of corruption in the Six Chambers exceeded 1.5 million silver. More situations required further investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

This scale was on par with the corruption case of the imperial road. However, the imperial road was a grand project with huge investment, while the corruption of the clerks in the Six Chambers was taken from the people down to the last penny, so it appeared even more hateful.

"No, does this Xu Chengchu mean that we should thank them for their corruption? This is simply a strange tale in the world!" Zhu Yijun felt incomparably surprised as he read.

Because these clerks in the Six Chambers were corrupt and took silver, they actually had to go against the natural order and subsidize the deficit of Shuntian Prefecture!

It is the first time since the creation of the world; it is not the clerks of the Six Chambers emptying the treasury, but the officials being corrupt and subsidizing the treasury's deficit!

Zhu Yijun never expected that after investigating for a long time, the Emperor still had to thank these corrupt officials for maintaining the normal operation of the yamen.

The retained land tax and commercial tax of Shuntian Prefecture could fully support the operation of the Shuntian Prefecture yamen. However, because there were truly too many powerful and noble people in the capital—today a Marquis's mansion comes to the yamen to say hello, tomorrow a high official writes a note—this deficit became more and more.

It is very common for high officials to write notes to make things convenient for people. For example, the famous Northern Song Prime Minister Fu Bi asked people to make things convenient for his son. By rights, the notes should have been burned, but the people who helped liked Fu Bi's calligraphy, so they kept them, which became the later famous "Son's Note."

This is still the note that Fu Bi requested to be burned but was not burned and was kept. How many notes were burned?

Yang Junmin, the Vice Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, was attacked by the censorate officials for only valuing tax auditing. This was not a false accusation, nor was it empty talk. Yang Junmin indeed had the suspicion of "government achieved through bribery." As for the clerks in the Six Chambers, whoever could pay taxes could obtain official status through the official selection law.

Therefore, Yang Junmin sought imperial favor to obtain a chance to redeem his crimes through service.

Shuntian Prefecture has the difficulties of Shuntian Prefecture; it cannot ask the Emperor's claws—the Tax Auditing Court—for help with every little thing.

Therefore, the accounts of the Shuntian Prefecture yamen

were very strange. Clearly, the tax base was shrinking, but they could complete the tax collection as scheduled every year.

The scale of corruption of the clerks in the Six Chambers was indeed huge, and it could even subsidize the yamen.

"If it is not taken from above, it must be taken from below; it is all the fat and cream of the people." Feng Bao did not think these clerks in the Six Chambers were good things, because they filled the holes in the Shuntian Prefecture yamen, they must have filled their own stomachs first.

"Moreover, the deficit of the Shuntian Prefecture yamen was caused by them in the first place. Most of these clerks and yamen runners in the Six Chambers are the claws of the powerful and wealthy." Feng Bao added his own point of view.

Damaging the people to make up for the deficit caused by the powerful and wealthy is the fundamental logic of this corruption case. Damaging the interests of the public gates to satisfy private gates is damaging the ten thousand people of the world.

The theory of public and private defines public and private. Public is a larger collective relative to private. To satisfy the interests of private gates is inevitably to damage the larger collective.