Chapter 1429: Our Ming Dynasty Is Based on Agriculture and Sericulture, and Maritime Trade Is the Source of Troubles in the World!

"Ah! The words of the governor are from a righteous heart and are in line with the way of a gentleman... When I heard them, it was like hearing the morning bells and evening drums of a Buddhist temple, and I suddenly felt enlightened... I must follow your teachings and practice them from time to time in the future!..."

Faced with the sudden inquiry of the Governor Wang Zhe, Shi Wende immediately responded sincerely, showing his admiration from the bottom of his heart. Then, he stood in the courtyard and solemnly performed a scholar's bow to Wang Zhe in the study in the courtyard. He first stood with his hands clasped, bowed deeply, then raised his hands, pushed his hands from top to bottom, and finally stood up slowly.

"Well!...You are still calm...Sicheng, come and sit!..."

Governor Wang Zhe smiled faintly, and after receiving this set of solemn bows, he pointed to the small chair in front of the desk and asked Shi Wende to come and sit. For him, ruling the people above is nothing more than using both kindness and power. Asking Shi Wende to wait for two hours and then stand for another hour were just the most common ways of showing off his power.

With more than 30 years of experience in the officialdom of Wang Zhe, the governor, it never takes too long to judge a person. Simple tests like this can easily reveal Shi Wende's character. Those subtle expressions and movements can reflect whether the other party is in awe, respectful and grateful.

As for the logic of employing people in the scholar-official class, officials at the level of Wang Zhe, the governor, believe that whether they are Jinshi or Juren, they are all officials, not clerks. For most positions in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, the ability is never the first consideration factor, and it is not even important!

There are many capable staff members in Jiangnan, who can naturally help officials do things well. Too capable staff members and clerks who do too much can sometimes be a disaster. The first priority for the literati to select officials is to look at "character and conduct", followed by "behavior and writing", and finally "training and experience"...

"Sicheng, I remember that you were a successful candidate in the provincial examination in Zhejiang two years ago?"

"Yes! Your Excellency. Two years ago, Mr. Liu, the teacher, presided over the provincial examination in Zhejiang. I was lucky enough to be selected for my writing and was named a successful candidate..."

"Well... not bad! The Shi family of Chongming is quite famous in the countryside. After three generations of farming and studying, you finally became the first successful candidate, which can be regarded as embarking on the right path!..."

"Ah!... Yes... Yes!..."

Hearing the words of the governor Wang Zhe, Shi Wende was horrified and sweat ran down his back. It is not as happy to get a comment of "quite famous" in the Ming Dynasty as it was in the Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties.

You must know that the Ming Dynasty is the Ming Dynasty of literati and officials, the Ming Dynasty of gentry and prominent families, but it has never been a "powerful" Ming Dynasty! For local tyrants who have no reputation to protect and no connections with the court, even if their families are confiscated and their families are exterminated, it is only a matter of a post from the prefect. And for a high-ranking official of the provincial government, as long as he issues a word today, the Chongming Shi family will not survive tomorrow!

Even if the Chongming Shi family secretly has ten large sea trade ships and supports two or three hundred sea merchants and bandits. Even if the Shi family is known as a tyrant in the Zhejiang sea, and can make the magnates of the Western countries admire and make friends, and the sea lords they can pull together can match the navy of small European countries...

They are still just snails that can be crushed to death by the Zhejiang Provincial Government with a light foot! The reason why they are not being stepped on now may be that they are not noticed, it may be that they find it difficult to lift their feet, it may be that they find it dirty, or... they are still valuable!

"Yes... yes! Lord, my family Shi has always been a family of farmers and scholars, and we admire the righteous way of the saints... Those rumors in the countryside are all rumors spread by the villagers... In the future, my family Shi will definitely follow the right path and contribute to the saints' education!"

"Hmm..."

Governor Wang Zhe nodded slightly. He used both kindness and power, and only when the power was almost applied could he show a little kindness. He brushed the "Collection of Li Wenxi Gong" on the table and turned the topic back again.

The communication between scholars and officials still needs to be through the "literary context" to be subtle and decent. This is even more true for scholars who are not well connected. If the other party doesn't understand, it proves that the background is not enough, or the family education is not enough, and further communication is meaningless...

"Sincerity is the way of heaven; thinking of sincerity is the way of man. 'Loyalty' is 'sincerity', a kind of 'virtue'...Sicheng, your name is very good! Who gave you the name?..."

"Sir, my name was given by Ma Tingxuan, the prefect of Ningbo ten years ago..."

"Oh! It's him, Ma Qin Ma Tingxuan! The third-class Jinshi in the second year of Chenghua... The Ma family is a prominent family in Chengdu. Ma Qin and his brother Ma Lun were two Jinshi in the same exam, which was also a good story in the imperial examination at that time!..."

Governor Wang Zhe recalled a little and roughly connected the characters. Ma Qin was a Jinshi from Sichuan and served as a prefect in Ningbo. His local network in Zhejiang should be relatively weak, and he needs the help of local tyrants. In addition, the expenses in Jiangnan have always been relatively large. He may still lack some ceremonies, and it is not easy to intervene in other aspects. This is how he gave a character to a son of a powerful family, and at the same time he helped to improve his family background…

“Ma Tingxuan worked diligently, and during the years he served in Ningbo, he also encouraged people to learn agriculture and sericulture, and he did not do much wrong… That’s why he was promoted and left his post… Sicheng, don’t let Ma Tingxuan down, and let down such a good character as “Sicheng”!…”

At this point, the governor Wang Zhe’s face softened, picked up the “Collection of Li Wenxi Gong” on the table, let Shi Wende, who was only sitting on half of the chair, take a look, and asked in a deep voice.

“Sicheng, do you know the relationship between Li Wenxi Gong and your teacher Liu Shiyong Gong?…”

“I heard from Mr. Liu… I once studied at Longfeng Academy and served Mr. Li as a disciple…”

"Yes! Mr. Li and Mr. Liu are from the same hometown and studied in the same academy. Although Mr. Liu called himself a disciple, they were close friends. As for their backgrounds in the imperial examinations, Mr. Li was the top scholar in the Dingchou year of the first year of the Tianshun reign (1457), I was a Jinshi in the Gengchen year of the fourth year of the Tianshun reign, and Mr. Liu was a Jinshi in the Jiashen year of the eighth year of the Tianshun reign... There were only three imperial examinations during the Tianshun reign, so we were half of the same year!..."

"After that, Mr. Liu first served as the Left Governor of Zhejiang, and later was promoted to the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief to go to the Yellow River to control floods... I participated in politics from the Governor of Shaanxi, and was promoted to the Right Governor of Zhejiang... Mr. Liu and I successively governed Zhejiang, and we were close colleagues!..."

Governor Wang Zhe was calm and leisurely, slowly telling the connection, and once again, for Shi Wende, who came from a maritime merchant family, he revealed a gap in the upper echelons of the officialdom.

Unfortunately, Shi Wende was at a loss, not knowing what these relationships meant, and even less knowing why Wang Zhe wanted to tell him these old stories. He also did not have the acumen of a political creature to use the nominal relationship of Liu Daxia's "disciple" to grasp the "spider web" of the governor Wang Zhe in a way recognized by the scholar-official class.

"Mr. Li was honest and upright all his life, and he rarely associated with others. He never followed the trend, nor did he indulge in any extravagance. He taught the Master the way of benevolence and righteousness, which not only made Mr. Liu admire him as a disciple, but also made him the teacher of the current emperor. Two years ago, Mr. Li passed away, and there were hundreds of disciples, students and old friends who came to mourn him, most of whom were honest gentlemen..."

"And Mr. Liu was honest and upright, just like Mr. Li. He was more daring and capable, which made people admire and feel ashamed! At present, Mr. Liu went to Henan to repair and control the flood of the Yellow River without any hesitation or fear of difficulties. If he could succeed... he would be a model of a famous official!..."

Governor Wang Zhe spoke leisurely for a while, and seeing that Shi Wende was in a trance, he shook his head secretly. After all, he was just a son of a sea merchant. Without anyone's guidance, he would not be able to go far in the officialdom. He did not take any more detours, took his hand away from the book, closed the crack in the door left for Shi Wende, and ran straight to the point.

"Sicheng, do you know... when your teacher Liu Gong was young, he was the head of the Ministry of War and did something earth-shattering? The whole scholar community admired and applauded him, and regarded him as the character and leader of young scholars!..."

"Ah! Student...student...I don't know..."

"Well... this big thing happened in the eighth year of Tianshun, when Liu Gong had just been admitted as a Jinshi and served as a Langzhong in the Ministry of War... Yingzong was slandered by the eunuchs, who wanted to repeat the old story of Sanbao eunuch and send treasure ships to the West again... So, a eunuch was ordered to go to the Ministry of War to retrieve Sanbao eunuch's Western route and sea charts... But Liu Gong took the lead and hid the sea charts. He was caned for three days without saying a word. Later, he even slandered him, completely giving up Yingzong's idea of ​​going to the West!..."

"During the Yongle and Xuande years, Sanbao eunuch went to the West seven times, spending hundreds of thousands of money and grain, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died! This can be said to be Yongle's The first bad policy during the reign of Emperor Xuande! The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works suffered huge deficits, and the craftsmen and civilians were overwhelmed. Once the huge fleet of treasure ships was built, the annual maintenance costs often cost tens of thousands of taels of silver! "

"Not to mention, once the treasure ships went out to sea, the soldiers and civilians rushed to the sea, died of epidemics, and buried their bones in the land of barbarians... It was a great violation of the saints' benevolence and righteousness, and it made people cry when they heard it!"

"But what can the treasure ships bring back? But precious pearls, spices, agates, and perhaps gold and silver... The former poisoned the style of scholars with extravagance, led the emperor to indulge in greed, and deviated from the teachings of the Master... The latter flowed into the inner treasury, supporting the emperor's extravagance, and even mobilized troops on the border and overseas..."

Speaking of this paragraph, the entire Ming Dynasty scholar-official class had already been set in stone. The evaluation of the bad policies of "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" made the governor Wang Zhe still have some feelings!

The first six voyages to the West were made by Zhu Di, the Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty, who usurped the throne of his nephew and violated the Confucian morality. The literati and officials resisted, and many of them were killed, and finally they could do nothing. But when Zheng He went to the West for the seventh time, it was already during the Xuande period, and there was no gentleman who could stand up to dissuade him. As a result, the "bad politics" reappeared, which is really a pity!

Fortunately, during the Xuande period, the Nurgan Dusi, which had huge deficits every year, was abolished. And the eunuch Sanbao also died on the coast of Tianzhu in the eighth year of Xuande. When the tenth year of Xuande passed, the Ming Xuanzong died, and these futile and futile measures were stopped under the persuasion of the literati and officials!

The eunuch forces that had once been strong, had gone to the West seven times, established the Nurgan Dusi, and sent troops to conquer Annan, were gradually suppressed by the civil service system and gradually moved away from the formulation of the court's major policies. The struggle between civil officials and eunuchs ended with the victory of the civil service system, which also completely covered up the invisible bloody storm behind it...

"Sicheng, do you know why Liu Gong wanted to hide and destroy the Western nautical charts? And why did the entire literati admire Liu Gong's character and respect Liu Gong's benevolence?"

"Ah! This... I don't know, please enlighten me, Lord Fantai!"

Shi Wende's forehead was sweating again, and he had heard the meaning behind the Fantai's words. As for the purpose of this visit, he suddenly felt hanging... But the governor Wang Zhe did not give him a chance to think about it. He was full of righteousness, his voice was like a bell, looking at Shi Wende's face, and shouting word by word.

"That's because... my Ming Dynasty has a population of tens of millions and is a big country with a territory of thousands of miles! To maintain such a big country and to maintain the peace of the world, we must encourage agriculture and sericulture as the foundation and calm down the war as the key point! And maritime trade is the source of chaos in the world!"