Chapter 589 0584 [Each Has His Own Agenda]

Zhang Gen sat at the head of the class, looking at his nose and nose, as if he was wandering in the sky.

Despite his indifferent appearance, as Prime Minister he actually thinks the most.

In Zhang Gen's view, the prince was taking the opportunity to establish his authority!

This time last year, the emperor had just ascended the throne, but the prince had military power, so the officials listened to the prince even more.

In just one year, the basic system had been established, the court was operating effectively, and the ministers had adapted to the cabinet system. As a result, everyone focused on the emperor, at least on the surface, and gradually stopped thinking about the special features of the prince.

The decree of the Yi clan to privately mint coins was also made by the prince. Now it is actually opposed by the ministers. What do you think from the prince's point of view?

The butt determines the head, and this is the case with Zhang Gen, with completely different perspectives.

Zhang Gen did not pay attention to the counterfeit silver dollar case. He was always worried about the bizarre situation of "the emperor and princes dividing military and political affairs." There is no way to divide and conquer. Major military and political affairs are all cross-influenced. The cabinet has been very careful, for fear that doing something wrong will affect the relationship between the emperor and the prince.

Worrying about this all day long and taking over everything, Zhang Gen could easily think wrongly and think that the prince was showing off his muscles.

Therefore, Zhang Gen did not dare to get involved. The battle between the emperor and the prince was already terrible enough, and adding a prime minister was simply unimaginable.

I am afraid that there are more than one or two ministers who look at the problem from this perspective, and they are even involved in civil and military disputes.

For example, Deputy Prime Minister Zhai Ruwen is speaking for the civil servants.

The prince was obviously the representative of the military officials, firmly controlling the Privy Council, the Generalissimo's Office, and even used Zhang Bor to control the Ministry of War, and also controlled the entire Tokyo army.

Civil servants have almost no say in matters related to the military.

Now that the emperor is still suppressing him, what will happen if the prince ascends the throne in the future?

There is already a Zhongshi Dao who has joined the cabinet. Will more military ministers join the cabinet by then?

The prince ransacked his house and killed people at every turn last year, and this year he even wanted to kill the three Yi tribes. He must have been influenced by the military's habits.

Zhai Ruwen's idea was actually very simple. He felt that the prince's butt was sitting crookedly, and as a loyal minister, he should get it back as soon as possible. Otherwise, if it continues to develop, the prince will inevitably become more "martial", relying on violence to solve problems at every turn, and may even become a tyrant if he develops a habit.

Zhang Gen and Zhai Ruwen each have their own opinions.

It's just a bit unclear on how to be a teacher. This old gentleman is good at fighting, but he doesn't play politics with too much thought.

Zhong Shidao was regarded by everyone as a military minister entering the cabinet, but he still thought that he was a civil servant. After all, he is also familiar with classics and history, and his ancestor was a direct disciple of the great Confucian scholar. He himself even served as a civil servant and governor of the state.

Since he became a cabinet minister, Zhong Shidao has always regarded himself as a civilian official. He believed that the actions of the Yi tribe were not "benevolent government", so he openly stood up to oppose this matter.

As for Liu Yao, who had just joined the cabinet, he was surrendered by the emperor. He always followed the emperor to do things, and his relationship with the prince was extremely alienated.

Liu Yao could only choose to move closer to the emperor. His statement did not take any position, it was just for the "statement" itself, and it was purely for the emperor to see.

As for Chen Dong...well, needless to say, this guy has always accepted death.

He could have stayed in the old Song Dynasty for ten years because he denounced traitorous ministers every day, and yet he dared to remonstrate with the prince for "justice" in the new dynasty!

Zhai Ruwen sighed: "Your Highness, even if private coin making is akin to conspiracy in the future, we cannot punish the Gao family like this now. Otherwise, it will be like killing without teaching!"

Ju Ming said: "Notices about the private coin-making of the Yi tribe have been posted repeatedly in all prefectures and counties for half a year. How can we just punish them without teaching them?"

"After all, I didn't explain it clearly." Zhai Ruwen said.

Zhu Ming asked back: "There are sun and moon patterns on the silver coins, which represent the Ming Dynasty. What is the difference between privately making coins and privately making dragon robes?"

Zhai Ruwen was momentarily speechless.

Zhu Ming took the opportunity to instill ideas into the officials: "Why do you say that private coinage is tantamount to conspiracy? In the old Song Dynasty, 'redundant officials, redundant soldiers, redundant expenses' can be boiled down to two words: lack of money! That's why Wang Linchuan's reform was launched, so This led to the struggle between the old and the new parties, and that’s why Cai Jing reorganized the party and took over power—the old Song Dynasty is gone!”

"Wang Linchuan's reform was to make money for the court, and he made no secret of it. Many of the evil policies implemented by Cai Jing were also to collect money for the faint king Zhao Ji."

"I'm afraid even a three-year-old child knows how important money is."

"Once private coinage becomes popular, it will inevitably lead to currency chaos. Those who take risks will not make good money honestly. As a result, the market will be completely chaotic, and so will the prices!"

"..."

In fact, many things are unclear. Everyone knows that privately minting coins is a serious crime.

But if the coins produced are of good quality, most officials will not bother to pursue them. Because there has always been a money shortage in ancient China, when the economy reaches a certain level of prosperity, there will always be a problem of insufficient currency circulation.

The government and the public are eager to make more coins.

In other words, shoddy private money will be despised by everyone.

But the imperial court often made shoddy products, so how is this different from private money?

In an era when many villages were still bartering, casting private money was more like a production activity, which could essentially create social value...

The crackdown on private money in the past dynasties was actually the same as the crackdown on private salt. It was nothing more than protecting the interests of the court and the government, and had little to do with maintaining market order (with the exception of counterfeit banknotes and bad money).

Fortunately, the silver content of the silver coins made by Gao Jiaqi this time was not enough. If the silver content was enough, I am afraid that the voices of the ministers against the execution of the clan would be even louder.

Zhu Ming talked for a long time, but still couldn't change the inherent concept.

Because you can't use modern financial common sense to force it on ancient society - that's extremely stupid and unscientific!

In the case of insufficient productivity, including inferior coins, private money itself has value.

Officials equate the nature of private money with private salt, so of course they don't agree with the harsh sentence. To put it more bluntly, there is no problem with beheading for selling private salt, but I have never heard of exterminating three clans for selling private salt.

Zhu Ming talked for a long time in the court, and debated with several ministers, and soon found that he was wasting his breath.

Since it doesn't make sense, enforce it!

It's Zhu Guoxiang's turn to perform on stage.

I only heard Emperor Zhu say: "The prince and the ministers are all right. Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. It should be reasonable and moderate to last for a long time. Xu Fuyan!"

"I'm here."

Xu Fuyan, who took over the Ministry of Justice not long ago, also took over the task of compiling the "Great Ming Law".

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Write the sentence 'privately making coins is equivalent to treason' into the Ming Dynasty Law."

"I obey your order!"

Xu Fuyan immediately took out a bamboo pen, borrowed ink from the court secretary, and wrote it on the tablet very seriously.

Zhu Guoxiang said again: "The Wang and Wei families not only knew about it but also helped transport and distribute fake silver coins. All of them were exiled to the northwest border with their entire families, and all their family property was confiscated. Children within three generations are not allowed to take the imperial examinations and become officials!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The ministers immediately shouted that at least these two families were not executed.

Zhu Guoxiang continued, "As for the main culprit in this case. All the men within the five mournings of Gao Shizuo's father's family will be killed. Married women will be exempted, and those with other surnames will be exempted. Elders over 70 years old and children under 12 years old will all be exempted. As for the women in the family, all will be exiled to the northwest border and allowed to marry soldiers and civilians in the border areas. All the family property will be confiscated!"

"All the men in the maternal family of Gao Shizuo will be killed."

"All the men in the wife's family of Gao Shizuo will be killed."

The court was quiet, and the ministers had different expressions. They all understood that Zhu Guoxiang was trying to smooth things over.

Shouldering is one mourning, and mourning is two mournings, which is more complicated to calculate.

For example, the eldest grandson is counted in the mourning relationship and must be killed. Other grandchildren are outside the mourning relationship and do not need to be killed.

For example, uncles are in the mourning relationship and must be killed. But cousins ​​are outside the mourning relationship and do not need to be killed.

Many people can be killed less!

But it was still very cruel. The paternal clan was executed for five generations, the maternal clan was executed for two generations, and the wife's clan was executed for one generation. It did not involve outsiders and women. It was a particularly lenient version of the three tribes of Yi.

Zhai Ruwen wanted to object, but he didn't dare to speak again.

Zhang Gen looked at the emperor, then turned his head to look at the prince, dumbfounded and didn't know what to say. He found that he seemed to have misunderstood. The relationship between the father and son of the Zhu family was much more harmonious than he imagined.

There was no grudge between father and son at all. The emperor and the prince were as close as one person.

Today's good show was obviously discussed by the father and son.

The prince was responsible for playing the good cop, making a fuss about giving the three families of Gao, Wang, and Wei to the Yi three tribes. In fact, he was asking for a sky-high price and waiting for the ministers to pay it back.

The emperor was responsible for playing the bad cop, and finally came out to be a peacemaker to clean up the mess.

Zhang Gen was suddenly shocked. Today's show seemed to have another purpose. The ministers who stood in the wrong line were being punished. The emperor party and the prince party could be involved, but they could never mess around, because the emperor and the prince were one.

Qin Hui was overjoyed. He had made the right bet. He could get the prince's attention without offending the emperor.

Of course, he paid a price!

Qin Hui openly backstabbed his teacher and mentor, which would ruin his reputation among the scholars, and his personality that he had been building for many years would be completely destroyed.

But Qin Hui thought it was worth the price.

There were too many meritorious officials who changed dynasties, and countless capable officials who were promoted. If he didn't do something tough, it would be difficult for him to stand out. Even if he could force his way into the cabinet, he would probably be in his seventies or eighties by then.

Both Zhong Shidao and Chen Dong were quite satisfied with the result.

They believed that through their own persuasion, they had maintained the bottom line of the benevolent government of the Ming Dynasty and forcibly pulled the prince back from the path of tyranny.

Most of the ministers who opposed the Yi people had similar ideas to them.

Even Liu Yu was very happy. He didn't care about the result, as long as he expressed his loyalty to the emperor.

Li Bangyan looked at the court stupidly and found that he had gained nothing. He was too cautious to express his opinion. He neither flattered the emperor nor the prince, nor earned a reputation through persuasion.

It was a big loss!

After leaving the court, Qin Hui took the initiative to approach Zhai Ruwen: "Sir..."

"Your Excellency, take care of yourself!"

Before Qin Hui finished speaking, Zhai Ruwen left with a wave of his sleeves, and the relationship between the master and the apprentice was completely broken.

Zhang Gen happily left the Daqing Hall. The stone in his heart had fallen to the ground. As long as the emperor and the prince had a good relationship, he felt that everything could be ignored.

Zhai Ruwen was puzzled and said, "Don't you think the sentence is too heavy, Prime Minister?"

Zhang Gen said, "Father's family is five degrees of mourning, mother's family is two degrees of mourning, and wife's family is one degree of mourning. Besides, outsiders and women are not executed. This has saved many lives. When compiling the Ming Dynasty Law, we can add another sentence, that the whole family of the person who reported the meritorious service is not guilty even if he is from the same clan."

"No matter how many degrees of mourning, it is still the extermination of three clans," Zhai Ruwen said, "Throughout the dynasties, only tyrants would exterminate clans."

Zhang Gen muttered, "With the sword of extermination of three clans hanging over our heads, some greedy people can be restrained. It's not a bad thing to be honest."

Zhai Ruwen said: "I am afraid that the prince has been leading troops for many years and has acquired too much martial habits. It will be easy to kill a whole family. I don't know how many innocent people will die."

Zhu Ming was not afraid of scaring the candidates, and he started to kill the whole family the day before the imperial examination.

One head after another was saltpetered and hung on the city wall for public display.

There was also a soldier standing under the city, shouting loudly every two quarters of an hour, pointing at the heads and saying: "Privately making coins is tantamount to treason, and the three clans will be killed. You must go back and warn your family and neighbors. These heads will only be hung for half a month and will be taken to other prefectures and counties. The prince said that he would circulate the heads throughout the country to let the people of the world know that the business of privately making coins is not allowed!"

Some people entering and leaving the city gate did not pay attention to their heads.

After hearing what the soldier said, they hurriedly looked up and were frightened to death.

Damn, it was full of heads!

The soldier laughed and said, "Don't be afraid, they haven't finished hanging yet, there are too many heads."

This time, the three tribes of Yi were particularly gracious, and they also brought an unexpected harvest.

The big families in the capital that had been the nobles of the old Song Dynasty were frightened by the prince, and they took the initiative to split up and migrate.

They quickly sold fixed assets at a low price and let some of the clansmen move to Shaanxi and Shandong. These two provinces have become stable, far from Kaifeng, and the land price is cheap after the war, which is very suitable for outsiders to settle down.

Some people even went to Jingxiang to reclaim swamps, because the swamps there are free, and taxes can be reduced in the first few years of reclamation.

"This kind of thing only needs to happen once," Zhu Guoxiang said, "In the last two court meetings, the ministers looked at you with a wrong look in their eyes, with fear far greater than respect."

Zhu Ming rolled his eyes: "Do you think I like killing people for fun? In a year, the territory has expanded several times, and countless old officials have been appointed. There are corrupt officials everywhere, and the Inspectorate can't investigate them at all. Now even silver dollars are made privately. How can they be suppressed without the Yi Sanzu? They have been spoiled by the old Song Dynasty and don't take corruption seriously at all. Instead, they think that being an official should be a handout, and they simply take corruption and perverting the law for granted!"

"Take your time." Zhu Guoxiang was also quite emotional.

Zhu Ming said: "If you really push me to the limit, let Qin Hui also enter the Inspectorate. This guy's reputation in the literati is already bad. If you give him a little hint and benefit, he can kill corrupt officials and make rivers of blood."

"It's also a way, but it's best not to use this knife. Cleaning up the officialdom is not a matter of one day or one night." Zhu Guoxiang warned.