Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The secret room of the imperial edict.

Five chairs were placed today. Not only did Ji Gang, who had been standing all the time, have a seat, but a wide chair of a different style was also added for Zhu Gaochi, who was wide and fat.

The two clerks had already melted the ink, picked up their pens and inkstones, and put them on the table ready.

Your Majesty, please. Ji Gang bowed.

Accompanied by Ji Gang, Zhu Di entered the secret room first, but he did not sit on the chair. Instead, he stood there with his arms on the upper edge of the thick chair back.

Zhu Gaochi moved his fat body with difficulty from the back of the chair to the edge of the chair, then carefully sat down, then reached out and put his two thick arms on the armrests and fastened them tightly.

Only in this way can we be completely seated.

Zhu Gaochi raised his head and looked forward. He saw more than ten bright yellow oil lamps lit in the secret room, and the walls were covered with large pictures of torture instruments. But these were not important.

The important thing is that there is a huge portrait hanging on the wall facing the north. The person in the painting is a middle-aged man, wearing a red dragon robe, with no smile on his face, and a rather heroic look on his face. He is clearly his grandfather, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Gaochi was stunned for a moment.

Zhu Gaochi remembered very clearly that his father Zhu Di, who was invincible in the world, actually had inner demons.

This inner demon is Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Jingnan launched his army, Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait has no longer been displayed in Prince Yan's palace.

Because Zhu Di once told Zhu Gaochi personally that he dreamed countless times that his biological mother was whipped by Zhu Yuanzhang with a riding crop underground, scolding her for giving birth to such an unfaithful and unfilial son like Zhu Di.

In his dream, Zhu Di was also tied to the ground and held by General Xu Da and General Chang Yuchun, one on the left and the other on the right.

Zhu Di didn't dare to move, and couldn't move. He could only reluctantly turn his face and watch his biological mother suffer.

That feeling frightened Zhu Di so much that he asked the Prince of Yan to remove the portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang, but it didn't work.

Even though Daoyan held a grand water and land ceremony, it still didn't work.

The final solution turned out to be that Zhu Gaoxu stood guard in front of Zhu Di's door and said to Zhu Di.

We have committed this rebellion together. No matter we win or lose, we will be eternal thieves. Are you still afraid that grandpa will steal your eggs? Don't worry, old man. Even if you go underground, I will protect you. I won’t recognize grandpa even when he comes!”

In this way, probably because he and Li Shimin, who killed his brother and imprisoned his father, had the same principle as Yuchi Jingde and Qin Shubao being door gods, Zhu Di just slept peacefully, and gradually stopped having this nightmare in the future.

And Zhu Di also saw what Zhu Gaochi was thinking. He took two steps and came behind the good old man. While squeezing Zhu Gaochi's shoulders, he said: You can't avoid what is coming, but your grandpa is really waiting underground. As for me, I will have to face it sooner or later. What I originally wanted to do was to make some achievements, like Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Grandpa Ni couldn't say anything about it. Now that I have met Jiang Xinghuo, I feel that maybe I am really in the founding of the country. Among the kings, they can surpass the two of Tang Zong and Han Wu.

Zhu Gaochi shrank his shoulders, but was pulled back by Zhu Di's strong hand. He no longer tried to break away, but asked with some suspicion: Is Jiang Xinghuo really so magical?

Zhu Di was surprised, then smiled and said: I haven't heard it with my own ears. It's normal for you not to believe it. Just like the old monk Dao Yan, doesn't he also believe it? After listening to Jiang Xinghuo's class, I didn't understand the dynasty periodic law, but now I do I stay in seclusion in the temple every day, and I don’t know what to comprehend.”

Although he cited the example of Master Daoyan, Zhu Gaochi was still hesitant.

If nothing else, the think tanks around you, Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi, and Xie Jin, have worked with you to think of ways to improve the two tax laws. You must feel that this is the best way to solve the problem of land annexation. There’s a way out, right?”

Zhu Gaochi nodded and asked, Father, do you think there is a better way?

Of course I don't. If I did, I wouldn't have to let you think about it. Zhu Di replied matter-of-factly.

But. Zhu Di pondered for a moment and said firmly, Do you believe that Jiang Xinghuo must have a better way to solve the land annexation?

Zhu Gaochi was honest. He followed his own heart and shook his head.

I do not believe

This is of course a normal psychology. Why can't the smartest civil servants in the Ming Empire come up with a better solution? How come a death row prisoner in prison can come up with it casually?

If this is the case, doesn't it mean that the most powerful young talents in the world, who have studied hard for more than ten years and passed the imperial examination, have learned a subset of classics and history in vain?

After all, even if Jiang Xinghuo is equally smart, to put it in the most unpleasant way, three bad generals can still stand up to Zhuge Liang.

Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi, and Xie Jin, three great talents, can't they compare to Jiang Xinghuo?

Zhu Gaochi shook his head secretly. He didn't believe the conclusion his father came to at all.

However, Zhu Gaochi couldn't deny his father Zhu Di face to face, so he could only express his attitude and then fell silent.

At the same time, Zhu Gaochi had not thought about the possibility that Jiang Xinghuo's solution was better.

But it only flashed by and disappeared from my mind in an instant.

Suddenly, Zhu Gaochi felt the hand on his shoulder stop, and the voice of Jiang Xinghuo next door also came out from the loudspeaker on the west side of the secret room in front of him, which was composed of a complex set of pottery and porcelain.

Last time we talked about the law of dynasty cycles, the core of which is the irreconcilable contradiction between land annexation and population growth, that is, the contradiction between man and land. This is the main contradiction that leads to the change of dynasties.

And the far-sighted people of all dynasties have always worked hard to explore a land system that adapts to the changes of the times, with the intention of slowing down the speed of land annexation, stabilizing the tax base and extending the life of the dynasty.

Therefore, the land systems in the early, middle and late dynasties were often different, even polar opposites.

So Gao Yu, what do you think the current Ming Dynasty should do to resolve or inhibit land annexation and alleviate the conflict between man and land that is bound to become more intense as time goes by?

When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he immediately sat upright.

And in his mind, for some reason, his second brother's words, How do I know? suddenly appeared.

There was no way. When Zhu Gaoxu was a child in school, he basically gave this fixed answer to his teacher's questions.

This sentence was so destructive to the teacher that an old gentleman even fainted from the anger. Later, Zhu Di had to ask Zhu Gaoxu to be his teacher alone.

To Zhu Gaochi's expectation, the second brother Zhu Gaoxu seemed to be a different person, answering Jiang Xinghuo's questions with a stumbling but clear logic.