New Shun 1730

The many roots of this actually show that the system of the previous Ming Dynasty was successful and tenacious for a dynasty.

It was just too successful and too tenacious, and it was difficult to solve the various problems brought about by the development of the times.

Those who finally jumped out of the rut tossed around and found that it was useless. Finally, the entire scholar-official class reflected and reacted comprehensively.

If we add an idealized filter, what exactly was the system of the early Ming Dynasty with idealized glasses?

If we only look at the bottom, in fact, the idealistic view is to try to carry out rural self-government, with scholars as village sages, educating the people, attaching importance to village agreements, and curbing gentry.

After the Taizhou School went around in circles, with the death of Li Zhi, the remaining people quickly returned to the state of nostalgia for the previous system.

This attempt to religiousize Confucianism by combining mysticism is also centered on "rural self-government, attaching importance to village agreements, and educating the people." That is to say, "Each person should live a peaceful life and not do anything wrong", and follow the "Six Edicts" to be more down-to-earth.

If you only look at the village covenant and village self-government itself, you will often have an illusion that this thing is very good, and many things will not be outdated in the future.

Take a look at a few local village covenants, they are all very beautiful.

For example, in terms of marriage, the village covenant says: Whenever two people love each other and their children match each other, this is a true fate for a hundred years. There is no need to compare the thickness of the betrothal gift, and do it according to your ability. I have seen that the couples are in love at ordinary times, but later they care about the gift, which hurts their feelings. It is hateful for the woman's family to ask for it. It is especially mean if the man's family can do it but is stingy and vulgar. If the marriage is made in the prosperous period, or one is poor and the other is rich later, the man's family is poor and the woman's family is rich, then they should prepare clothes according to their ability to pay off the debt of their children. If the two families are poor and cannot get married, their most sincere relatives and friends should help them, so that there will be no resentment of the woman and the husband, which is also kind.

The meaning is very clear, against betrothal gifts and dowries, focusing on fate, don't worry about the size of the betrothal gift, just do what you can.

For example, the village agreement says: In the past, banquets were simple and the atmosphere was sincere, but recently they are extravagant and full of cups and plates, which is disgusting. From now on, there will be two people at a table for a large party, and four people at a table for a regular party. There will be only five dishes and only four and five dishes of fruit. Only vegetables are allowed. If there are guests staying, sit at home for a short time. If you see someone with one dish or one fish, don't think it's too little, raise your glass to toast, and don't use a huge cup. So the guests can come, the host can also host, and the party can continue, and the customs will not be licentious.

The meaning is also very clear, against extravagance and waste. Four people at a table, five dishes; for a small party, two people can have one dish and one fish, and drink from a small cup.

There are also things like not taking too many gifts when visiting relatives, respecting the address when meeting, respecting the elderly, and having family harmony...

Basically, it all revolves around this set of things.

It all looks pretty good.

But the reality is that the real problem is not discussed at all. "Among the people in Wuzhong, 11 have land and 19 have no land." They avoid economic issues and ownership issues and talk about a bunch of eternal moral justice, etiquette and customs.

This fantasy is comparable to the September 18th Incident in Japan, when the people paid taxes until the year 2000, and then tried to solve the problem with the New Life Movement and rural self-government construction.

It should be consistent and inherited.

Village covenants, village sages, villages, and village governance, through the "Six Edicts" and subsequent variants of the Six Edicts, try to maintain the stability of the village, educate the people, and finally become a sage inside and a king outside.

Therefore, Liu Yu doesn't care about these people.

They are the favorite grassroots self-employed stability maintainers of the Dashun imperial power, and they can't make trouble.

Expecting them to organize the people, divide the land equally, and violently resist, it's better to believe that there is a heaven after death.

The protagonists of the disturbance in the Jiangnan region are either slaves or miners like the slave rebellion of the previous dynasty, or urban handicraftsmen.

The former is to smash everything when they have nothing; the latter is to concentrate their lives and can be organized like an army with a little incitement.

He has already divided and disintegrated the salt households.

On a larger level, the ticket reform, which pretends to be "fair", has divided and disintegrated the big salt merchants and small salt merchants, as well as transporters and sellers.

These local nobles are worried that this incident will trigger a riot among the poor, or that the issue of salt households will trigger a rebellion among landless people or tenant farmers.

Their mentality is still easy to grasp.

They are worried that Liu Yu's methods are too rough, and that at that time he will directly declare that the contracts of the grass marshes annexed from the salt households by the market merchants, gentry, and big families are valid.

Then the salt households will resist, which is almost inevitable, because this is a deprivation of nothing. The resistance of the salt households will eventually lead to the resistance and riot of the landless and landless people in the countryside, and they will be eager for equal distribution of land and grass marshes, which will be troublesome.

But if they are asked to give up the grass marshes and distribute them to the salt households, they will definitely not agree.

That is why they kept reminding Liu Yu to transfer the army.

Once there is a sign of something wrong, suppress it immediately and put out the flames before they burn.

And they are actually very afraid of organizing the people, especially when things get bigger and bigger and more and more people get involved.

For the fights that happened in the county before, these wealthy families were very stable.

This kind of thing has happened a lot. In fact, it is similar to party disputes. It is within the controllable range. The real winner is still those professional gangsters.

Now, things are delayed again and again, and more and more people are involved. I am afraid that in the end it is no longer something that political gangsters can control.

They are not afraid of those who "use the interests of the people to make trouble". Whether it is the siege of Xu's mansion in the previous dynasty or the people's seizure of Dong Qichang's property, to put it bluntly, they are all playing tricks between officials, using the name of the people.

If the game is too big, the imperial power will feel threatened, so they will find some people to take the blame and take the blame; if the game is too small, they will say that the people are in a state of turmoil and the people's will is in their favor.

What they are really afraid of is that the more the game gets bigger, the people will really think about where their own interests are, and whether the people who are "competing with the people for interests" in the mouths of the scholars and gentry are really themselves.

How could Liu Yu not know what they meant by this reminder?

In order to reassure these gentry, Liu Yu perfunctorily said that he knew what was going on.

Then he said: "This matter of abolishing salt and reclaiming wasteland will benefit the country and the people. If it benefits the people, how can we avoid it because of personal fortune and reputation?"

"As for the salt households, that is another matter. The issue of grassland and the issue of abolishing salt and reclaiming wasteland are not the same thing. No matter who owns the grassland, it must be reclaimed."

"There is no doubt about this. You just need to understand this matter in your heart. The rest is up to you."

The so-called letting them consider it themselves is actually to remind these gentry who are related to grassland but not to salt permits: those salt merchants are not the same as you, and the contradiction between me and them is irreconcilable. I want to kill them; but unlike you, we can discuss it. I am not the kind of honest official who favors the common people.

At the same time, they are also dividing and instigating the relationship between these gentry and salt merchants: as long as the salt merchants can keep Huainan and continue to produce salt, they will have a way to control the salt permits, so they may abandon the car to save the general, shout out the slogan for the benefit of Baixin, and support the equal distribution of Caodang to salt households; the Caodang in your hands may become the thing they abandon the car to save the general.

Because things have come to this point, it is impossible to keep it the same.

Either retreat; or move forward.

Between retreating and moving forward, these gentry, as "fake landlords of Caodang", need to understand which side they should stand on.

"The army in my hands is to ensure the abolition of salt and reclamation of wasteland, not to fight these Caodang lawsuits. Caodang lawsuits are your business; obstructing reclamation is what the army should suppress. Have I made it clear enough?"

These murderous words made the gentry feel cold, and they said repeatedly: "Understood, understood."

When they were about to say something to Liu Yu, a burst of cheering came from behind, which came from the Confucian temple next to them.

The Fan Wencheng Temple in the county town is just behind the Confucian Temple. After exiting the back door of the Confucian Temple, the Fan Wencheng Temple is right in front of you. Listening to the noise coming from the Confucian Temple, Liu Yu frowned and stepped into the Confucian Temple.

In the Confucian Temple, forty-five students and scholars were cheering in unison. When they saw Liu Yu coming, they stopped cheering. After all, Liu Yu was not an ordinary soldier, but a senior official of the dynasty, and these students could still tell the difference.

"Duke, we risked our lives to disturb you because we have grievances to tell. A few days ago, a local student pleaded for the people, but was beaten by thugs hired by wealthy merchants. Now he is seriously ill and bedridden, with blood in his urine, and the assailant is nowhere to be found."

"Profits are light but righteousness is heavy, and his body is light but his reputation is heavy. He originally had a compassionate heart and a noble spirit, and he ran around for the interests of the salt households and the common people."

"Now he has been accused of "malicious incitement" and "being hired by others". We risked our lives to ask the Duke to clear his name!"

Liu Yu looked back at the Confucian scholars of all dynasties standing there to offer sacrifices since Duke Zhou, and then shook his head at these students.

"If you need money for treatment, I can give you some."

"If you want to clear my name...how can I do it?"

"The pen is in your hands, you can write whatever you want."

"The county has not yet made a judgment on this matter, and the court has not made a judgment either. It's just some rumors."

"They say you are malicious incitement and hired by someone. Can't you say that you are asking for the people and are indignant?"

"From the county to the court, no one has made a judgment on this matter. How can you ask me to correct the chaos and correct the mistakes?"

The students hurriedly said, "The Duke doesn't know."

"The people are stupid and the people are not smart. After the fight that day, those people controlled The market is confusing right and wrong, and the ignorant people all think that we are to blame, and many of them think that they have received money and malicious incitement. "

"He was originally a pure heart, but now he has ended up like this. That's why we risked our lives to ask the Duke to clear his name."

Liu Yu snorted and laughed, "People's hearts are separated by their stomachs. How do I know whether he is a pure heart? You are locals. If you have any reason, you can explain it to the people. Justice is in the hearts of the people."

"Besides, as students, you have the responsibility to educate the people. Do you think the court's preferential treatment is in vain? How do you educate them on weekdays? How did you educate the people to be dull and ignorant?"