Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 383: Disagreement between Zhang Juzheng and the Crown Prince

Zhu Houzhao discovered that since the Ming Dynasty had a free Japanese zone, the entire society suddenly became much quieter.

There were fewer noisy scholars and fewer demonstrations.

It seemed as if all the restless scholars had gone to the Dongying District. Perhaps it was the current disorder in the Dongying District that made these people realize that it was impossible to achieve a free society where no one was in control. Even if they set up their own government, it would lead to chaos because of human selfishness.

Minister of Rites Chen Yiqun is very sad now. He did not expect that the Dongying District, which has no king and elects its own officials, would be in such a situation. Now even his son has been killed, but the criminal is not punished because there are no laws and law enforcers.

"Etiquette cannot be abolished, and neither can law. The current chaos in Japan tells us that in the face of power struggles, you can never imagine what crazy things people will do to satisfy their greed. And the reason for all this is that the way of struggle is not a contest between individuals, but a contest between groups, even armed groups! Otherwise, there would be no assassinations and large-scale fights!"

Zhu Houzhao has always been very concerned about the future direction of the Ming Dynasty. Although he is confused, he has been thinking about it.

Now, Zhu Houzhao was inspired by the results of the political pilot project in the Dongying area, which followed the mainstream ideas of the gentry and the middle class, namely freedom and civil rights. He could not help but call his emperor son Zhu Zaile and crown prince Zhu Yizhu together and held a meeting in the form of a family gathering to decide the future development of the Ming Dynasty.

of course.

The reason why the family gathering of Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Zailei and Zhu Yizhuo could determine the future of the Ming Dynasty was because the Ming Dynasty was still an empire, and the main wealth and violent organs of the Ming Dynasty were still controlled by their Zhu family.

Therefore, even though the value of equality for all is generally accepted in the Ming Dynasty today, the royal family can still decide everything in this empire.

However, Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Zaile and Zhu Yizhuo did not indulge themselves in pleasure and demand just because they enjoyed most of the benefits and power of the Ming Dynasty. They also did not truly regard the entire empire as their private property. They still regarded themselves as members of the entire Chinese civilization and as one of all Han people.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao and his sons and grandsons have been thinking about how to make the Ming Dynasty better and make this prosperous era last longer, instead of just thinking about how their own royal family can own more social wealth and how to be the masters of everyone for a longer period of time. After all, with the development of science, materialistic thinking has become more and more common, and it is difficult for the royal family to say that they are descendants of God to enslave the people of the world. Even if they still preach to the world that they are descendants of God, they have to be descendants of God who can bring good news to the world. After all, people believe that God is kind and loving, and only the devil is cruel and greedy.

"So, if we want the people to truly rule the Ming Dynasty and if we want the Ming Dynasty to truly achieve the goal of great harmony and equal wealth, there cannot be multiple violent armed groups. That will only lead to chaos, but it is human nature to stick together. After all, people live in groups, so we cannot eliminate the existence of groups. The only thing we can do is to separate the violent organs, that is, the court's troops, from these groups. All social parties cannot have armies!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Emperor Zhu Zailei couldn't help but say: "But, Father, now all the non-commissioned officers and officers in the court army are members of the Loyalty Society."

"Yes, this was also the last resort I had to take in order to control military power, concentrate power, and carry out reforms. If it weren't for the Loyalty to the Emperor Society, I would have no way of curbing the power of those civil servants and gentry who dared to depose the emperor."

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhu Zailei said, "However, the current Zhongjun Society is different from the Zhongjun Society that my father first established. The number of members has already exceeded 10 million, and there are people from all walks of life, and most of them are wealthy. Moreover, most of the members are no longer pure members. There are even non-believers and even the most reactionary people. It can be said that there are both good and bad people, and they all just want to get promoted and make money."

"I have also discovered this phenomenon, so it can be said that the Loyalty to the Emperor Society is in name only. Therefore, I have decided that we can abolish the Loyalty to the Emperor Society and disband all the social organizations of the Guards and Border Defense Forces. In short, we want the army to be independent from the government."

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhu Yizhu hurriedly stood up and said, "Grandpa Emperor, no! Although the Zhongjun Society is different from before, it is not entirely filled with hypocrites. There are also people who truly believe in it, and there are even quite a few of them. If we directly abolish it, these people may fall into despair. I think that the Zhongjun Society is like this now, not because of its ideology, but because people's pursuits are different."

"So, my grandson suggests not to abolish it, but just to reorganize it. After all, it is no longer appropriate to ask the people of the world to obey the emperor. Even our royal family does not believe in it. So my grandson thinks it can be changed to Zhongguo Society, and directly and clearly put forward that this society's ideal is to make the world public, that is, to pursue the goal of public ownership of power and equal wealth for the people."

Zhu Houzhao thought what Zhu Yizhuo said made sense, and he also thought that if the Zhongjun Society was abolished, it would mean that all those who relied on their membership in the Zhongjun Society to gain power and benefits would lose the basis for safeguarding their own status, which would certainly cause dissatisfaction among millions or even tens of millions of people.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao agreed with Zhu Yizhuo's point of view: "Then let's reorganize it. Among the high-ranking officials in the court, who still truly holds the ideal of serving the public?"

"I know that the deputy minister Zhang Juzheng really believes this, and he has published similar articles in the Huangming Daily many times. Although many people criticized him for his official language, I know that Zhang Juzheng really thinks so. He also advocated that the court prohibit private academies and prohibit students from discussing matters, and hoped that the court would strengthen control over culture. These ideas are very contrary to those officials in Jiangnan who advocate returning power to the people."

After Zhu Yizhuo said this, Zhu Houzhao also felt that Zhang Juzheng should really take the world for the public as his ideal: "In this case, you and Zhang Juzheng will reorganize the society. I can see that you should believe this."

Zhu Houzhao then added: "But military power still needs to be returned to the people of the world, so the Privy Council is ordered to abolish the General Political Department, and all officers and soldiers must either retire or give up their association status."

"My grandson will obey the Emperor's order. What does my father think?" Zhu Yizhuo looked at Zhu Zailei.

"Since it is your grandfather who ordered you to do this, you should go directly to Zhang Juzheng to do it. Remember to be cautious and discerning. When you become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, whether you can continue to let the Ming Dynasty develop according to your will depends entirely on whether your new society is truly for the public and for the people."

Zhu Zailei said with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao also smiled and said to Zhu Yizhuo: "You don't have to worry too much, you can just let Zhang Juzheng do it. In my opinion, no matter what the Ming Dynasty becomes, our royal family will still be able to continue to be rich and prosperous. With your great contributions to expelling the Tartars and rebuilding China, and with the glorious era I have created and the dignity I have given them, the people of the world will no longer regard the royal family as their masters, but they will not regard them as enemies, but only as a symbol of national peace and tranquility, and will respect and treat them well for eternity."

Zhu Yizhuo agreed.

A royal family gathering ended like this, but after this gathering, both Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Zailei, the two most powerful people in the Ming Empire, made clear the future direction of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not let Zhu Zailei and Zhu Yizhuo tell the world about this matter, because this was just their royal family's own idea.

Of course, restructuring cannot be achieved just by saying it, because most people are not sure whether they believe in it or not, and most people are confused.

Therefore, when Zhu Yizhuo started to do this, many people began to think about whether they believed it or not. Some even worried that if they said they did not believe it, it would affect their career. Therefore, although they were confused, most of them said directly that they definitely believed it.

Even when Zhu Yizhuo and Zhang Juzheng were talking, a conflict arose. "Mr. Zhang, this prince has something to tell you. The emperor intends to reorganize the Zhongjun Society. This prince suggests that you take charge of this matter..."

After Zhang Juzheng heard Zhu Houzhao's intention conveyed by Zhu Yizhu, he was also shocked, because he did not expect that the emperor would make such a decision.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng asked Zhu Yizhuo in confusion: "May I ask Your Highness, what does the Emperor Retired mean by this? Why does the Zhongjun Society need to be reorganized? Isn't it right that the world belongs to the public?"

"Mr. Zhang has misunderstood. It is not a question of right or wrong, but some people do not believe that the world should be shared by all. Therefore, we need to exclude these people. Of course, this does not affect their secular status, but they can no longer engage in military service."

After Zhu Yizhuo said this, Zhang Juzheng stood up and bowed to him in a very serious manner: "Your Highness, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Those who dare not believe that the world belongs to the public do not take the world as their own responsibility. If such people are officials, they must be corrupt officials. If they are engaged in business, they must be unscrupulous merchants. If they are scholars, they must be frauds who steal the world and steal reputations. They should be executed directly! Why do we still keep their status and position?!"

After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Zhu Yizhu didn't know what to say for a moment. After a while, he said, "Mr. Zhang, even if we have different beliefs, there is no need to be incompatible. After all, whether it is a corrupt official, a profiteer, or a villain who deceives the world and steals fame, if they are punished, it is because they violated the law, not because of different beliefs."

"This is not a matter of different beliefs, this is a matter of right and wrong. In other words, Zhang believes that the Ming Dynasty can only have one belief, and that is that the world belongs to all!"

Zhang Juzheng said excitedly.

Zhu Yizhuo had no choice but to ask again: "You know He Xinyin, right? He proposed the view that having no king and no father is not the same as regicide and patricide, and he directly said that he did not believe in the ideas of the Loyal King Society, but only believed in himself. Do you think he should be killed?"

"This man instigated the powerful to resist taxes, made irresponsible comments on state affairs, and even supported the chieftains in rejecting the king's rule. The court should have executed him long ago!"

Zhang Juzheng's words surprised Zhu Yizhuo: "But he is a great scholar after all, and he is quite famous in Thai studies, and he has never violated the law. He just has different beliefs from us."

"Your Highness! Forgive me for being so presumptuous! Your Highness and I already have different views on this matter, so there is really no need to continue! Your Highness does not think that He Xinyin deserves death because he has not committed a crime worthy of death; but I think he deserves death because his beliefs are different from the truth. Those who differ from the truth are stupid or harbor evil intentions, and they must be killed!"

"Since Your Highness has conveyed the order of the Retired Emperor, I will obey your order! But I still ask Your Highness to tell the Retired Emperor that for those who have different beliefs, it is better to severely punish them than to tolerate them!"

Zhang Juzheng said.

"Did he really say that?"

When Zhu Houzhao learned about this from Zhu Yizhuo, he was also quite surprised. He did not expect Zhang Juzheng to react like this.

Zhu Yizhu nodded and said, "My grandson never thought that Mr. Zhang would have such a big disagreement with me on this."

"Forget it. Since Zhang Juzheng has agreed to follow the will of our royal family and reorganize the Zhongjun Society, we don't need to care about what he thinks. We just need to do what we think is right, and let history judge the rest."

This is all Zhu Houzhao can say now. He also discovered that even though people are really different from each other and even if they have the same beliefs, they still handle certain things differently. Some are extreme and some are gentle.

Although Zhang Juzheng still acted according to Zhu Houzhao's wishes and re-established the Loyal Emperor Society, and did not give different treatment to those who no longer believed in the Loyal Emperor Society's ideals, the effect was not obvious in the domestic system and the entire society. Few people chose to withdraw, but the most people who withdrew were those in the military.

Because in order to keep their military positions, officers have to give up their political and ideological stance.

"Uncle, the task entrusted to you by the Supreme Emperor is obviously not good enough. Among the whole court, loyal men like Mr. Tan and Mr. Yang had to withdraw. But Mr. Chen, the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan and a close friend of He Xinyin, did not withdraw."

Gao Gong was still somewhat dissatisfied when he knew that the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao had handed over the task of reorganizing the Loyal Emperor Society to Zhang Juzheng, so he couldn't help but ridicule him at this time.

Zhang Juzheng replied directly: "The emperor has his own reasons for doing so. I think that even if Mr. Tan and Mr. Yang have withdrawn from the society, as long as they have the country in their hearts, it is still the same as if they have not withdrawn."

"Uncle, what you said is reasonable, but the sudden action of the retired emperor also proves that there are indeed impure people in the court, otherwise the Loyal Emperor Society would not have been reorganized. Therefore, Gao believes that we should carefully identify the people in the Council of State Affairs in the future to see who is truly dedicated to the public. Such people must be reused. For example, Hai Rui is the first person who is dedicated to the public. Now that he has been the governor of Yingtian for a long time, he should be promoted!"

Gao Gong said.

"Yes, Hai Rui should be promoted. What Yuanfu said makes sense!" Minister of Revenue Liu Tijian echoed.

"I think Hai Rui deserves a promotion. The imperial court cannot allow such an upright official to serve as a governor in a local area forever!" Wan Shi, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, also echoed this.

"It just so happens that Yang Lin, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, has retired due to old age. We should let Hai Rui take over now. With Hai Rui in charge of the chief censorship, the country will surely be peaceful and prosperous," echoed Zhu Heng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Zhang Juzheng didn't know that this matter was so related to Hai Rui's affairs, but he had to admit that among the high-ranking officials in front of him, there were only a few who were truly worthy of staying in the society.

Zhu Houzhao also learned from Zhu Zaile that Hai Rui was going to be promoted, so he said directly: "Hai Rui is not someone who needs to be promoted. Giving him the power to govern the local area is the best reward for him. Let him be transferred to Henan and serve as the governor! I remember that the Prime Minister Gao Gong is from Xinzheng, Henan, right?"

Thanks to my book friend kankan2015 for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to my book friends Ai Xigua and Coke for the 100 starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)