Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 74: The world is thirsty for grace, and the people are surging

Many people work overtime all night.

Because of the special nature of the enthronement edict, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was destined to be in turmoil during the three nights and two days before the court meeting.

The emperor also exempted the curfew for three nights, as if to encourage everyone to visit each other more often and exchange ideas.

Everyone smelled the difference in the new monarch.

Could it be that the new monarch, who has never seen the world, is looking forward to the bitter (siege) and remonstrance (attack) from his ministers?
All this was because the edict did not contain the exemptions that were required when a new emperor ascended the throne in every dynasty.

Liu Jing pondered over it all night but still couldn't figure out what Tian Le meant.

He was a little puzzled, because he had no shortage of strategies when it came to marching and fighting!

Wei Yunzhong, Cheng Qinan and Meng Xikong from Lu'an Guild Hall joined the group for a drink and tour after the curfew was lifted.

It was mainly paid for by Prince Wei.

Life in the capital city inevitably wears down one's will.

Fine wine, beautiful women, and lively discussions, in this rare bustle of the imperial examination in Beijing, Cheng Qinan and Meng Xikong silently listened to the discussions of many candidates from Jiangnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, and the north.

Among them were naturally some famous people who had already gained great reputation, such as Gong Nai from Mengyin, Shandong.

The Mengyin Gong family had had Jinshi degree winners for four consecutive generations up to the generation of Gong Nai's father. Gong Nai's father, Gong Jiachen, was also appointed as an editor in the Hanlin Academy.

Gong Nai was a prodigy since childhood. His performance was so outstanding in the scholar qualification examination that Mengyin County was promoted to Zhongyi, and from then on, six more scholar vacancies were added every year.

At that time, Gong Nai was already famous far and wide. Now he is already 43 years old, why is he still a candidate for the imperial examination?
Because Gong Nai was demoted by Zhang Juzheng in the fifth year of Wanli, and because of the ups and downs during that period, including the death of his father, Gong Nai did not pass the imperial examination until the twenty-fifth year of Wanli when he was forty years old.

Just because he didn’t pass the last examination doesn’t mean he won’t be popular this time.

On the contrary, with his accumulated experience, many people believe that he still has the ability to challenge for the top three this time.

"Brother Xiaoyu, do you remember the imperial edict when the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne?"

"Why don't you remember? My father was appointed editor in the fifth year of Longqing, and I followed him to study in the capital. My father once asked me to memorize the edict of the emperor's accession to the throne."

Gong Nai cleared his throat and began to recite it word by word.

This is also strength. It is not only his natural capital, but also the requirement of the four generations of Jinshi in the government: he will be an official in the future, so how can he not care about the major policies in the enthronement edict?

Maybe there will be a detailed interpretation from the parents later.

People like Cheng Qinan and Meng Xikong do not have such a family background, and they really don't know the details of the edict when Emperor Wanli ascended the throne.

Now they listened slowly and counted the word "蠲免" silently in their hearts, because this was exactly what a group of candidates were talking about before.

"…Recently, border expenses have risen above the annual quota. Regardless of whether they are incurred or not, we plan to exempt them all…"

"…From the 43rd, 44th, 45th and 1st year of the Jiajing reign, except for the gold and silver, all other arrears of summer and autumn taxes, horse grass, agriculture, silk, cloth, cotton, household salt, salt notes, grain from the imperial farm, the price of various materials, rent for farmland and horse grazing, grain from pastures, rent for craftsmen, firewood and charcoal, etc., will be exempted. Three tenths will be exempted in the second, third and fourth years respectively."

"…Huai'an Prefecture and Xuzhou have been hit by floods many times, and the people are suffering. The soldiers in Huizhou and Huzhou Prefectures in Guangdong have suffered heavy casualties. In addition to the previous exemption, they will be exempted from the second and third years of the Longqing reign as a gesture of relief."

"…exemption…"

"…exemption…"

Cheng Qinan and Meng Xikong looked at each other in bewilderment: a total of eight exemptions had been proposed, and the contents of the exemptions covered almost all kinds of levies and taxes, and special consideration was also given to some specific provinces, prefectures, and counties.

Does Gong Nai really remember the content of such a long enthronement edict after reciting it for more than 28 years?
The two of them felt a little regretful about coming to attend today's "literary meeting".

"This is really strange. Your Majesty, the emperor has ascended the throne, but the decree of ascension did not mention a single word about exemption. Years of war have plagued the local areas, and the common people are overwhelmed by the mining taxes. Many provinces, prefectures and counties have arrears in taxes. Are they not all exempted? Your Majesty, the emperor, why did the cabinet ministers draft such an edict? I have never heard of an emperor who would not show favor to the people to win their hearts."

Listening to one of them exclaiming in amazement, Meng Xikong lowered his head.

not like this.

The common people are indeed overwhelmed, but how could a real common person dare to default on paying taxes?
He really came from a humble family.

Even those middle-class households who were appointed as grain collectors dared not default on their payments.

The only ones who dared to default on taxes were officials and gentry, at least those groups of people based in prefectures and counties.

What they are waiting for is the amnesty and grace for the world due to the new king's ascension to the throne, wedding, birth of a child, great victory...all kinds of reasons!
"Everyone! We scholars study to serve our country. How can we not plead for the people after hearing this edict? In my opinion, the ministers who drafted this edict are all treacherous and flattering!"

"How can an important minister of the state not help the people win over the new ruler? What a traitor!"

"Your Majesty Su Wen has only been studying for six years. You must not let these people who are just sitting there doing nothing to fool you!"

Cheng Qinan also lowered his head.

The Minister of Rites was Zhu Guozuo, who was promoted through special grace. It is hard to imagine that his promotion to the position was the result of seniority-based promotion among important officials in the court.

Does the emperor really not understand the waves this kind of edict will cause?
Did the ministers trick the emperor, who was unaware of the situation, into drafting such an edict? Or did the emperor insist on using such an edict and the appointment of the Minister of Rites to make the middle and lower-level officials and young scholars target the ministers? Cheng Qinan was already 39 years old. Although he came from an ordinary family and had few friends, he had more experience than the young Meng Xikong.

Now, these candidates are talking about pleading for the people after drinking. Do they want to stand on the side of the new emperor to win the favor of the Minister of Rites, or do they want to take advantage of the situation and stir up dissatisfaction with the new emperor's "lack of grace"?

Naturally, we cannot directly accuse the emperor of being ungrateful, so the cabinet becomes the scapegoat.

Is the cabinet's decision to issue such an edict to the world a step forward in order to let Your Majesty know how difficult it is to govern a country?

After all, Cheng Qinan had never experienced the officialdom, so he couldn't figure it out.

Shen Shixing hasn't fallen asleep yet.

As we age, we sleep less.

The light in the study was still on. He was weighing his words, drafting his first secret letter after becoming a cabinet minister.

Shen Shixing knew that Shen Yiguan's previous "gaffe" had a reason. If he allowed the new emperor to issue such an edict, he, Shen Yiguan, would have completely failed the expectations of the civil and military officials of the court and the local officials.

So what if the royal family is saving money? The treasury won't be given to everyone to spend.

Exemption is what the powerful people in the world expect.

Shen Shixing already knew the process of the court discussion that day. It can only be said that Shen Yikuan had no way to firmly reject the heir's proposal on the spot. He just exchanged Yu Jideng for the cabinet, retaining the possibility of "picking up omissions and filling in the gaps" in the process of "polishing" the edict later.

Many ministers requested to dismiss the eunuchs who were sent abroad, which was also a test to let the successor emperor see the "people's will".

Last time, the emperor was able to suppress Shen Yikuan by saying that he had not yet ascended the throne and was worried about the stability of his position.

But the three cabinet ministers who finally realized the emperor's true cunning and tactics actually had more or less the same thoughts.

Let this edict be announced so that the emperor can see again how strong the real "people's will" is.

[I, Shen Shixing, hereby declare with all my heart…]

Shen Shixing wanted to tell the emperor: There is nothing wrong with wanting to govern the country, and the ministers have never been the emperor's enemies. The complexity of state affairs is not because the ministers and important officials always look back and forth, shirk their responsibilities, and give advice.

Some things really can't be solved in a rough way.

You can suppress the Prime Minister with such brutal means, but doing so will have no effect on what happens next.

People say that I "stay away from cliffs and don't raise different flags." Your Majesty, it is very difficult to mediate in the middle...

Do you hope that the Ming Dynasty will no longer be able to collect taxes?

The "reckless" emperor imagined by Shen Shixing is now sleeping soundly, and seems to care nothing about the surging "public opinion" that is about to surge.

The ten Shanxi business owners who had been waiting in the capital for more than a month were not planning to sleep tonight.

Because I have to enter the palace tomorrow.

Eat the finest delicacies in advance to ensure your physical strength, because you need to clean your stomach in advance to avoid misbehaving in front of the emperor.

The key point is that they knew that after dawn, the emperor would hold a banquet for his royal family, vassal states, and relatives on the second day of his accession to the throne.

They never expected that they would be summoned by the emperor on this day.

Is there any connection between the two?

They were uncertain, so they became even more anxious and couldn't sleep.

Before daybreak, everyone put on cotton or linen clothes.

Although they were civilians and some of their families had status and imperial decrees, they knew that in front of the emperor, their identities this time were merchants.

If you are a businessman, you are not qualified to wear silk and satin.

"Is everything ready?"

"Master, everything is ready."

"When the angels from the palace arrive, you must not address them as Master. You should be smart and not take it too seriously when you should pay respect to the angels."

"Don't worry, Boss."

"...bring another bowl of ginseng soup."

They didn't know when the emperor would meet them. In response, the palace would ask them to enter the palace early and wait.

I'm afraid I'll be hungry for a long time, and it's not good to go to the toilet in the palace or get a stomachache.

After waiting for a while, the day gradually brightened on the second day after the new emperor ascended the throne.

(End of this chapter)