Chapter 5 Believe (3)

  Slowly, Zhong Jinwei's voice became more and more hoarse. He wanted to drink some water to moisten his throat, but unfortunately, he didn't see a cup. Looking at the two listeners who were listening very intently, he could only endure it and continue speaking. But in the end, he really couldn't bear it anymore and said: "Your Majesty, can I have a cup of water to moisten my throat?"

  Chongzhen Emperor felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing this, and told Wang Chengen: "Quickly brew a cup of my favorite fishhook tea for Mr. Zhong." Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhong Jingying asked: "I wonder what Your Majesty thinks about what I just said?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor pondered for a moment, then said: "Every detail is unbelievable at first, but upon careful consideration, it makes sense. I have been confined to the palace for too long, and my knowledge is limited to what I've seen, heard, and thought within these walls. My teachers have only taught me from ancient classics. Sir, you seem to understand the future of our nation and the path to prosperity for future generations. Please enlighten me." After finishing his words, he made a rare gesture of respect towards Zhong Xingwei. In fact, the Chongzhen Emperor had always been eager to learn, but most of his teachers were from the Donglin Party, who only taught him about respecting teachers and Confucianism.

  Zhong Jinwei hastily humbled himself, saying: "I don't dare, I don't dare, let's discuss it together." After finishing, he slightly lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, how do you view the common people?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor listened, slightly stunned: "My children, the people, I naturally love and cherish them." Zhong Jingwei smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am a straightforward person, so I don't want to flatter you with pleasant words. Whatever is in my heart, I will say it, please do not take offense."

  The Chongzhen Emperor hastily said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I am delighted."

  With these words, Zhong Jinwei spoke up and said: "Your Majesty, from the historical events that followed, in your heart, you still haven't elevated the common people to a very high level of awareness. In Chinese history, there was an emperor who had a very deep understanding. Tang Dynasty's Li Shimin, he once said that the ruler is like a boat and the people are like water; water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it."

  Zhong Jingwei saw that Emperor Chongzhen was listening seriously, so he continued to explain: "That is to say, the common people can support a country, but also overthrow a country; or, the common people are like sheep, with no power at all, easy to kill and slaughter, even if it's a group of common people, still easy to massacre, without any resistance. But under certain conditions, the common people can become fierce and unruly, killing one is easy, but killing a group? Even more so! This is like the hardness of an arrow, easily broken, two arrows also easy, but a bundle of arrows?"

  These words were heard by Emperor Chongzhen, but he did not speak either, just listening to Zhong Xuewei's explanation.

  "In the present day, the Ming dynasty can actually be divided into three groups." At this point, Zhong Jinwei thought of taking out a pen to draw a diagram, but immediately realized that it was not possible and continued to say: "The common people, the scholars-officials, and the emperor - these three groups seem to have someone who said that the scholars-officials and the Son of Heaven co-govern the world. The interests of the scholars-officials and the Son of Heaven are relatively close, and they are opposed to those of the common people. The best situation is when the interests of the common people, the scholars-officials, and the Son of Heaven mutually compromise and reach a consensus - this is when the country is prosperous. Generally speaking, the interests of the scholars-officials and the Son of Heaven mutually compromise, but conflict with those of the common people; while in the worst case, the interests of the common people, the scholars-officials, and the emperor are all in intense conflict, which often leads to turmoil and changes in the dynasty."

  At this time, the tea arrived, and Zhong Jinwei didn't care if it was hot or not. He moistened his throat first, then continued to speak: "On the surface, the power of the common people is the weakest, because this group is too large and can't be coordinated into one voice. But under specific conditions, they will coordinate unanimously and speak with one voice, bursting out with great power. This special condition is when the common people really can't survive, they will start to burst out with a voice, seeking survival."

  Zhong Jinwei said, starting to emphasize: "If not handled properly, and the conditions are not cut off, but only killed, eventually one day, the endless killing of the common people will form an overwhelming force, overthrowing everything. Zhu Yuan, ah, no, the Taizu of this dynasty was once a strong representative of such power. Now in this period, according to my understanding, it has slowly reached the intense conflict period between the common people, scholars and officials, and the emperor."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Zhong Jingwei stopped and said no more, looking at Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen was deep in thought and did not speak. Wang Chengen, who was standing beside him, could not help but ask: "How do you know?"

  Zhong Jinwei smiled and said, "Look at my analysis. The interests of the common people are simple, just to survive; while the interests of the scholars and officials are to seek wealth, and they travel thousands of miles to become officials only for wealth. Where does this wealth come from? It comes from two other groups: the common people and the emperor. The common people are exploited, which doesn't need much explanation. So, when it comes to seeking wealth from the emperor, how can we explain this? The emperor is equivalent to the state, and originally, the emperor needed money to maintain his large family, which means collecting taxes, also from the common people. However, at this time, the scholars and officials intervene, intercepting the taxes that should be collected by the emperor, and the more they intercept, the more unavoidable the conflict with the emperor becomes."

  "Impossible!" Wang Chengen interrupted.

  "Impossible, then let me ask you, since the establishment of this dynasty to now, economic development is just about goods and population increasing, has the tax revenue in the national treasury increased accordingly? Even if the places where money is spent have also increased, apart from land taxes, have other taxes not increased?" Zhong Jinwei asked Wang Chengen consecutively.

  The Chongzhen Emperor heard this and thought to himself: What I lack is silver!

  Wang Chengen glanced at Chongzhen Emperor with his eyes and said, "You, sir, how do you explain it?" He remembered that the emperor was also called Mr., so he quickly changed his words.

  Zhong Jingwei turned to Emperor Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, I have a solution, but it requires your great courage to implement. I am willing to be the modern-day Shang Yang for you, to fulfill your wish of enriching the country and strengthening its military."

  Zhong Jinwei only thought that Shang Yang's reform was successful in unifying the Qin state, but didn't think that Shang Yang ultimately paid with his life for this. This analogy is quite ominous. However, even if he knew, he probably wouldn't care, because he doesn't mind about this.

  Chongzhen Emperor's expression was somewhat agitated, after all, he was only twenty years old. From hearing that he would become the emperor of a dying nation to being able to enrich and strengthen the country, revive the great Ming dynasty, who wouldn't be excited? Chongzhen Emperor said: "Good, no matter how difficult it is, I have made up my mind to reform."

  Although Zhong Jinwei did not want to spoil the mood, he still reminded: "Your Majesty, many of the old rules are no longer suitable for the times and may have been violated."

  The Chongzhen Emperor said, "In extraordinary times, one must do extraordinary things!" He paused for a moment, then continued, "Zhong Jinwei, I hereby appoint you as..." But he stopped again. Although Zhong Jinwei claimed to be almost a scholar-official, in reality he was nothing at all, and his background was unclear and hard to explain. If the emperor were to suddenly ennoble him, the officials outside would surely make a huge fuss. Thinking of this, the emperor couldn't help but feel very depressed.

  Zhong Jinwei took one look at Emperor Chongzhen's attitude and immediately understood, besides he himself was not willing to take the lead, it was like playing a game, he liked to stab people in the back. There was no way around it, he didn't have the kind of strength to charge forward. Those who had played games knew that to collide head-on with monsters required very good equipment, while stabbing them in the back generally only required good weapons.

  Zhong Jinwei took the initiative to speak, saying: "Your Majesty, I don't want to be an official, I just give you some advice, and you can weigh it and implement it later." He added a flattering remark: "This way, it will show that Your Majesty is wise and powerful!"

  Wang Chengen thought to himself: "Still saying he's a down-to-earth person, what a sly old fox."

  Chongzhen Emperor was in a difficult situation, considering how to promote Zhong Xingwei. After listening to his words and weighing the pros and cons, he could only say: "Alright, but since you're doing things for me, I must reward you." In the end, he thought to himself: You don't want to be an official, what do you want to do? It's not like you want my position, is it? So, he asked again: "You help me and don't seek to be an official, what can I use to reward you?"

  Zhong Jinwei listened, but didn't understand the hidden worries in Emperor Chongzhen's words. He directly spoke from his heart: "Your Majesty, my experiences are probably unique in this world, equivalent to living two lifetimes. As myself from a later generation, I deeply hope that the Chinese nation, oh, the Han ethnic group can avoid the tragic fate of several hundred years and not be bullied by Western countries. Let the Han people always stand at the forefront of world civilization on this earth. And in my lifetime, travel around the world and see all the wonders of the universe." After finishing speaking, he secretly added another thought: "Don't let my descendants learn that annoying English again, haha, make everyone in the world come to learn the headache-inducing Chinese language."

  Chongzhen Emperor listened and said, "Oh, so he likes to travel and have fun. As long as he has a request, that's good. Alas, I also want to go out and take a look at the world outside the Forbidden City!"

  Zhong Jinwei spoke again: "However, Your Majesty, I also have a few requests, and I hope you can agree to them."

  The Chongzhen Emperor said: "Very well, sir, speak."

  "My words and actions may seem unbelievable to you and others, and may not conform to the norms. I hope Your Majesty will understand." Zhong Jinwei said while pointing at Wang Chengen and outside, he said this again because his words and actions were out of place in this era, which was a weakness for him coming to this era, and he would probably be attacked by people often, so he had to remind the Emperor many times.

  "After the Emperor Chongzhen nodded, Zhong Jinwei continued: 'Secondly, if this era and my history are different, it's not that I intentionally deceived Your Majesty, I hope Your Majesty can tolerate.'"

  The Chongzhen Emperor nodded and murmured a soft "en", this cannot be forced, nor can it be forced to come.

  Zhong Jinwei continued, "Thirdly, my writing style back then is quite different from now. To be honest with Your Majesty, I can barely understand the books from ancient times. Can you help me find a personal secretary who can assist me in reading and explaining the texts, serving tea, and communicating on my behalf?"

  Wang Chengen couldn't help but roll his eyes after hearing this, then said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I think Mr. Zhong is referring to a storyteller."

  Chongzhen Emperor smiled and said: "This is not necessary for Mr. to request, it should be arranged naturally."

  Zhong Jinwei was afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would send a eunuch to be with him day and night, and he couldn't help but think of the beautiful classical little sister he had just met, who was gentle, virtuous, diligent, and easily frightened. He hesitated for a moment before saying to Zhong Jinwei: "Your Majesty, can, can you let that palace maid A Qi be my book boy?"

  Chongzhen Emperor laughed and said, "So soon you've taken a liking to one of my palace maids? Ah Qi is indeed clever with her hands, not bad." Then he turned to Wang Chengen and said, "Let palace maid Ah Qi come in."

  Wang Cheng'en called in a servant named A Qi who was waiting at the door. After entering, A Qi knelt down before Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Your humble servant pays homage to Your Majesty."

  The Chongzhen Emperor glanced at him and said to the already flushed Zhong Jinwei: "I grant you to Mr. Zhong, serve him well from now on, do not be lazy."

  A Qi lowered his head and couldn't see any reaction, he just replied in a low voice: "Yes."

  After Chongzhen Emperor finished arranging, he said, ignoring Zhong Jingwei's red face: "Mr. Zhong, is there anything else you want?"

  At this time, Zhong Jinwei's brain was already not working well. He replied: "Not for the time being, can't think of it."

  "Wait for Mr. to remember and tell me again. I still have memorials to deal with today, and I will see you tomorrow. Da Ben, prepare the imperial sedan chair for the imperial study."

  After finishing speaking, Emperor Chongzhen took his men and left, leaving only one palace maid, A Qi, standing on one side. On the other side, a time-traveling man, Zhong Jinwei, was also standing there foolishly.