Chapter 17: The Case of Hu Weiyong; Those Things in the Ming Dynasty; Heaven's Bookstore

  Hu Weiyong has triumphed, with the help of Zhu Yuanzhang he defeated the Zhe Dong faction and eliminated Liu Ji, the number one strategist in the land. Now that he holds great power, Li Shan Chang also has to give him some face.

  But was he really the ultimate winner?

  He did not understand the real reason for his victory, it was not that he was stronger than Liu Ji, but because Zhu Yuanzhang stood on his side. Zhu Yuanzhang was very clear about the struggle between the two major factions, and the reason why he did not come out to mediate was that no matter who won or lost in this struggle, the ultimate winner would be him. Whether it was the victory of the landlord surnamed Hu or the victory of the landlord surnamed Liu, as long as the highest status of the Zhu landlord was guaranteed, it would be fine.

  Zhu Yuanzhang chose Hu Weiyong not because he was strong, but on the contrary, it was precisely because Hu Weiyong posed a small threat to Zhu Yuanzhang that Zhu allowed Hu to become the winner. However, foolish Hu did not understand this point.

  After overthrowing Liu Ji, Hu Weiyong became more and more arrogant. He was corrupt and took bribes, squeezing out anyone who did not obey him, even daring to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang's power, privately intercepting memorials from subordinates, promoting or demoting officials, and executing criminals without going through Zhu Yuanzhang's approval.

  In 1373, the sixth year of the Hongwu era, Hu Weiyong squeezed out another Grand Chancellor, Wang Guangyang, and monopolized the power of the Grand Chancellor for seven years.

  But what is puzzling is that Zhu Yuanzhang did not show any reaction to Hu Weiyong's offense, which is very unusual.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was a man with an extremely strong desire for power, who rose from the flames of war and was the most outstanding talent of his time. Li Shanchang was slightly autocratic and was forced to retire by him. Who is Hu Weiyong? He has no military achievements or political merits, yet he dares to be so arrogant!

  This is really puzzling, as many historical records have recorded various stories of Hu Weiyong's illegality and Zhu Yuanzhang's disregard for him, and from this, it can be inferred that Hu Weiyong's crime was deserved, and Zhu Yuanzhang's defense was justified.

  When we uncover the facade of facts and analyze their essence, we will find that there is much to write about.

  In history, the famous Duke Zhuang of Zheng was never loved by his mother. His younger brother relied on their mother's doting and made all sorts of unreasonable demands to him, but Duke Zhuang always satisfied him. Until finally, when his younger brother plotted a rebellion, Duke Zhuang sent troops to destroy his younger brother.

  Later generations often thought that Zheng Zhuang Gong was benevolent and righteous, passing it down as a beautiful story. However, some people pointed out that Zheng Zhuang Gong was actually a hypocrite who wanted his brother's life and therefore tolerated his lawlessness.

  When we deeply understand this story, we will have a clear conclusion about Zhu Yuanzhang's abnormal behavior - it is a conspiracy.

  This conspiracy has different expressions in various languages, the idiom is "to catch by releasing", the academic name is called "killing with praise", the vulgar language is to take what you want, you must first give it, and in Xiaobing Zhang's words, it is "don't look at today's excitement, be careful about settling accounts in the future".

  But we still have a question, to deal with a small Hu Weiyong, does Zhu Yuanzhang need to use so many brains and tolerate him for seven years?

  Not bad, when we carefully analyze history, it can be found that Hu Weiyong is not the real target of Zhu Yuanzhang. What Zhu Yuanzhang wants to destroy is the huge thing behind Hu Weiyong.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to tolerate Hu Weiyong's arrogance, letting this clown perform to his heart's content. To use a phrase from Go, it can be described as "not seeking small gains, but having great plans". He had gone through so many hardships, and Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and Wang Baobao, the heroes of the time, were not his opponents, let alone the insignificant Hu Weiyong!

  He humbled himself like this, only because his target opponent was too powerful. This opponent was not Li Shan Chang, nor the Huai Xi group, but the Chancellor system that had continued for thousands of years behind Hu Wei Yong.

  Since Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor, he has always felt that this system is too restrictive of his power. He has always believed that his reign was won by his own ability, and yet someone wants to share power with him, what a ridiculous thing!

  However, this system has a long history, and whether it is the minister or the general people, they all think that the prime minister is indispensable. To abolish this system, there must be sufficient reason, and Hu Weiyong's arbitrary behavior as a wicked person can provide him with an excuse.

  He gazed quietly at Hu Weiying, waiting for an opportunity to arise.

  Hu Weiyong's countermeasure

  Hu Weiyong was a despicable person, but he wasn't stupid. As his behavior became more and more outrageous, his fear of Zhu Yuanzhang grew greater. However, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't take action against him, which gave Hu a bad premonition. He knew Zhu well - this man either did nothing or went all the way, never compromising.

  After a long time of thinking, Hu Weiyong came up with a wonderful countermeasure, which was to pull people into the water.

  In his view, in order not to be killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, he must ensure that there are enough people standing on the same side as him. As the saying goes, "the law does not blame the crowd", you Zhu Yuanzhang can't catch all the ministers at once, right?

  As for the means, it's also relatively simple. First, find a good target, then seal the deal with a promise, have everyone eat together, take a bath, and then put on some entertainment programs. After emotions are intertwined, find a topic that both parties care about to discuss. During this time, you need to invest some emotions. If you can shed some "sincere" tears during the conversation, the effect will be better.

  After this set of rituals, both parties became sworn brothers, then they formed an alliance and vowed that in prosperity they would share the blessings and in adversity they would face the difficulties together.

  If you analyze the phrase "dragging someone down" carefully, you'll find that there are many problems with it. If it's a good place to go, no one needs to be dragged, and if it's water that requires dragging, then this "water" is either a boiling pot or a fiery pit. As the saying goes, "You take the risk, I'll take the credit." Once trouble arises, the vow will change to "When there's hardship, you're in charge; when there's good fortune, I'll enjoy it."

  Those who were pulled down by him include Lu Zhongheng, the Marquis of Ji'an, Chen Ning, the Imperial Censor-in-Chief, and Mao Xian, the Commander-in-Chief, among other senior officials. For a time, all the officials in the court were Hu Weiyong's informants.

  But Hu Weiyong was not satisfied, he also wanted to win over the most important person - Li Shan-chang.

  Because Li Shan Chang was not only highly respected and admired, but also had a rare treasure on his body, that is, the Iron Certificate of Pardon.

  We need to mention the "免死铁券" (Iron Certificate of Pardon), in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's highest reward for his ministers was this certificate. Its function is that if a minister commits a crime in the future and the锦衣卫 (Imperial Guards) come to kill him at home, as long as he hasn't lost it (it's unlikely anyone would lose it anyway), and takes it out before they chop off his head, he can be spared from death. Many ministers thought about their heads and tried every means to get one, because no matter what kind of gold or silver certificate, none were as useful as this iron certificate. Those who were lucky enough to get one would place it in the main hall of their home and show it off to visitors, as if having this certificate meant they had two heads.

  Li Shan-chang had such a treasure, and there were two more. Hu Wei-yong was desperately trying to curry favor with him. These two iron certificates were one of the important reasons. Although Hu Wei-yong couldn't take them away for his own use, as long as Li Shan-chang didn't die, he would have a powerful backer.

  But the effect of this iron certificate is actually problematic, because the iron certificate was given by the emperor, just like a check, whether it can be cashed depends on the bank that issued it. The emperor is the issuer, he says it's valid then it's valid, he says it's expired then it's expired. It's hard to imagine that the emperor would change his mind about killing someone because of an oral IOU he once issued. To put it in a phrase we often use today: "I can lift you up, and I can also knock you down!"

  Change your mind, there are many variables in it. The emperor doesn't have to kill you necessarily. He can lock you up, beat you half to death, and then secretly find someone to harm you, and report a sudden illness and death. This way, he can both maintain his reputation and fulfill his wish, killing two birds with one stone. It's not that I don't keep my promise, it's just that you're not lucky enough.

  At that time, Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang attached great importance to these two blank cheques, which fully demonstrated their political level compared to Zhu Yuanzhang was only at the primary school level.

  After Hu Weiyong revealed his intentions, Li Shanchang did not take him seriously. Unlike the foolish Hu Weiyong, he had personally witnessed countless heroes and talents fall at the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, and was deeply aware of Zhu's terror. He would never make the mistake of opposing Zhu. He could hardly believe that the minor figure he had chosen years ago now dared to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang, and even wanted to drag him down with him. Times have changed, indeed! He firmly rejected Hu Weiyong's request.

  Hu Weiyong is not good at seeing problems, but he has a set of ways to deal with people. He found that Li Shan-chang didn't eat his set, so he started to take the route of visiting relatives. It just so happened that Li Shan-chang's younger brother, Li Cunyi, was Hu Weiyong's son-in-law. So Hu Weiyong pulled Li Cunyi down into the water. After Li Cunyi got benefits, he kept persuading Li Shan-chang. At first, Li Shan-chang severely scolded Li Cunyi, but later on, after listening to him many times, he tacitly agreed. He said a meaningful sentence: "I am old now, when I die, you all will take care of it yourself" (吾老矣，吾死，汝等自为之).

  Li Shan Zhang was thus pulled underwater.

  Hu Weiyong finally felt at ease. All the civil and military officials in the court were his people. What could Zhu Yuanzhang do to him? If he could be emperor, why couldn't he?

  Now it seems he is indeed a clown who knows no shame.

  But Hu Weiyong's actions indeed posed a difficult problem for Zhu Yuanzhang, after all, so many ministers were in one party, and Zhu Yuanzhang had to consider how to divide and dissolve them in order to eliminate Hu Weiyong's power, which was not easy at all, what a difficult problem.

  However, Zhu Yuanzhang solved this difficult problem with just one sentence after listening to the secret agent's report on Hu Weiyong's abnormal behavior, and his level was quite high.

  "Then let's just kill them all."

  A life for a life

  In the matter of killing, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been a man of his word. He watched Hu Weiyong's every move with cold eyes, waiting to see what tricks he would come up with. Meanwhile, Hu Weiyong was also actively preparing for a showdown with Zhu Yuanzhang, knowing that he and Zhu would eventually clash head-on.

  That day will come soon.

  During an outing, Hu Weiyong's son fell off a horse and was killed under the wheels of a passing carriage. In a fit of rage, Hu Weiyong killed the carter without reporting to the judicial authorities. The matter reached Zhu Yuanzhang, who ordered Hu Weiyong to explain himself.

  Hu Weiyong rushed to Zhu Yuanzhang's place, and on the way, he had already thought of all the excuses and words. As soon as he saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he hurriedly poured out his grievances, saying how pitiful he was, how filial his son was, and how the carriage driver did not follow traffic rules, violating regulations by driving over the line, etc. However, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude was very strange.

  He just remained silent, staring at Hu Weiyong with a cold gaze.

  Hu Weiyong still didn't know the meaning, and continued to talk about his grievances. Until he realized that in this conversation between two people, only one person was speaking all along, he stopped, looking at Zhu Yuanzhang, and found that Zhu Yuanzhang was also staring at him.

  Frightening silence.

  Zhu Yuanzhang finally stood up and walked in front of Hu Weiyong, saying in a calm and clear voice that was not loud but very distinct: "A life for a life."

  Then he floated out without looking at Hu Weiyong again.

  Hu Weiyong was stunned, he sat on the chair, staring blankly ahead like a wooden chicken.

  Suddenly, Hu Weiyong's hands began to tremble. He used his body to press down on his own hands, but it was no use. His entire body shook violently, just like a person with epilepsy.

  He could no longer suppress the fear in his heart, this was a natural reaction of his body.

  When discussing with his fellow party members at home, he felt that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed too weak to withstand a blow, each department had its own people, and Zhu Yuanzhang didn't have any trusted followers. As the number of his fellow party members increased, he constantly felt his own strength growing. In the midst of their flattery, he seemed to see himself replacing Zhu Yuanzhang as the supreme ruler!

  But when he really faced Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, he felt that he was far away from the person in front of him. He himself was also a talented person, but his opponent seemed not to be human, but a shining cold knife.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was able to reach this point, from the wind and rain of the thatched cottage to the solitary lamp of Huangjue Temple, from the sword lights and shadows of Chuzhou to the beacon fires of Poyang Lake. He rushed out of the thousands of horses and men, standing up from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He had gone through countless hardships, endured countless sufferings, feared no authority, and was not afraid of any enemy. One by one, the heroes of the world fell before him, he saw more dead people than Hu Weiyong saw living people!

  Hu Weiyong finally understood why Li Shanchang was unwilling to make an enemy of Zhu Yuanzhang, it wasn't that he didn't have ambition, but because he was afraid.

  Without a fight, Hu Weiyong already understood that he had gotten on the wrong stage, and he was not in the same weight class as Zhu Yuanzhang at all.

  But it's too late for regrets, let's just go down this road till the end.

  There are many different accounts of what happened afterwards, and many historical records state that Hu Weiyong was planning to rebel and was exposed by others, so Zhu Yuanzhang took action against him. However, some historical records also state that there were other hidden circumstances behind this matter, and in my view, the latter may be more credible.

  In the tenth month of the twelfth year of Hongwu (1379), Champa (now central Vietnam) sent an envoy to Nanjing to pay tribute. However, Hu Weiyong did not report this matter to Zhu Yuanzhang, which should be considered a serious diplomatic incident. When Zhu Yuanzhang learned that the Champa delegation had arrived in the capital, his long-accumulated anger finally erupted, and he severely reprimanded Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang (then Left Supervisor of the Imperial Censors) for their handling of this matter.

  At this time, Hu Weiyong's most correct response was to admit his mistake. Who hasn't dozed off sometimes? However, he and Wang Guangyang shifted the blame to the Ministry of Rites, thinking that would settle the matter.

  Zhu Yuanzhang fully demonstrated his creative thinking and applied it to the handling of this matter. He did not follow Hu Weiyong's lead in investigating who was responsible for the affair, but instead executed Wang Guangyang first and then detained all officials related to the case.

  If it's not you then it must be him, so I'll just arrest both of you and that way I won't go wrong.

  The knife is already placed on Hu Weiyong's neck, and when it will be cut down is only a matter of time.

  He didn't have to wait too long.

  Tu Jie was a close associate of Hu Weiyong, and at that time he held the position of Yu Shi Zhong Chen. I believe everyone is familiar with this official position. He played a very important role in the Hu Weiyong group, launching public opinion attacks on political enemies, forming cliques and plotting evil deeds, none of which could be done without him, and Hu Weiyong always regarded him as his trusted confidant.

  However, this relative redefined the meaning of "partner in crime" - a partner who would bring you to death.

  He saw that Hu Weiyong was doomed, so he reported Hu's plot to the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang had been waiting for this moment, and he ordered the immediate execution of Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning, and other key members of the Hu faction, as well as the extermination of Hu's three clans. Then he commanded a thorough investigation into who else was involved in the plot, and if evidence was found, they would be put to death!

  The notorious Hu Weiyong case thus began, and the facts proved that it was very difficult to verify the truth because it was too troublesome, while executing everyone was easy. The interrogation method at the time also facilitated the development of this case. When the officials in charge of the case caught a suspect, the first treatment they received was not coffee or tea, but a severe beating. After the beating, there would be some guys who had grudges against the officials being interrogated and took advantage of the situation to take revenge, which could also be understood as doing official business while taking care of personal grievances.

  Then they would interrogate the same party, and those who had read books could not withstand the beating. They would pull out many so-called accomplices, as long as they knew them, had a nodding acquaintance with them, had borrowed money from them, or owed them debts. The officials in charge of the case were overjoyed, and reported to the emperor, then went on to arrest others. As a result, the case grew bigger and bigger. From the time it broke out in the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), several years passed while they continued to investigate, and more than 10,000 people were killed.

  Hu Weiyong's carefully planned and organized plans for many years were destroyed, and it turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang could easily eliminate him, just like pinching a small ant to death.

  No matter from which angle to look, Hu Weiyong is just a clown. His only effective work was to pull tens of thousands of people with him to the Yellow Springs.

  We almost forgot about the informant Tu Jie, whose ending was quite dramatic. This person who played a comedic role in the Hu Weiyong case was taken to the execution ground immediately after the case was solved and was executed along with Hu Weiyong. I wonder what kind of feelings these two people would have when they met on the execution ground.

  Hu Weiyong is dead, and this result is exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang needs. Now he sits on his dragon throne, looking at the ministers below, these poor survivors who served with Hu Weiyong in the same court, some of whom had more or less contact with him, watching as their colleagues are taken out to be killed one by one, their hearts filled with fear.

  Isn't it over yet? We just want to live on.

  Zhu Yuanzhang did not think so, in his view, there were still many things to be done.

  Don't rush, the good show has just begun.

  It is noteworthy that Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the position of Grand Chancellor just one month after executing Hu Weiyong. He cancelled the establishment of the Secretariat, and arranged for the personnel to be dispersed to other institutions. Such a major move was carried out with lightning speed and efficiency, which makes us suspect that he had been preparing for it all along, just like Song Jiang in Water Margin, who refused to take over after Chao Gai's death, but once he reluctantly agreed, he immediately organized a grand celebration.

  In any case, Zhu Yuanzhang achieved his goal, the detestable position of Chancellor was finally abolished, and everything was in his grasp. However, he did not realize that this would be the greatest mistake of his life for his dynasty and his descendants.

  To explain this issue, we must first introduce why the position of Chancellor is a must. Below we will begin to elaborate.

  How the Prime Minister Was Tempered

  Many friends will ask, isn't it interesting enough to understand the historical facts? Why do we still need to talk about these essential things of history? We have a necessity to let everyone know the benefits of doing so.

  Everyone knows that historical facts are rich and colorful, and there is a lot of room for play when writing about them, making them more interesting to read. However, the so-called historical connotations and laws are quite dull. But please note that grasping these connotations and laws can give you unimaginable abilities.

  Many people admire Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, these two embodiments of wisdom. They can often foresee the direction of things development, even living in rural areas, they can't enter the city several times a year, but they can know the overall situation of the world and accurately predict the future trend, such as Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan and Liu Bowen's Anfeng Battle. Why can they know what will happen in the future?

  This is because they are not satisfied with seeing the surface of things, but have a deep understanding of their internal development laws. We know that what people fear most is the unknown. If everyone knew their future, they would no longer be afraid. But before the invention of time machines, we can only learn from Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, for example, when we understand how landlords are made, next time you see a peasant leader uprising in history books, you don't need to read on, you can make judgments about his future, as long as this person is not killed during the uprising process, you can be sure that the next dynasty will have one more landlord. This is the power of law! When you grasp those laws and connotations that others do not know, you grasp the key to opening up the future!

  The reason I explore these historical laws with everyone is not only to tell you about the growth path of emperors and generals, but more importantly, I hope that through this exploration, each and every one of us can embark on the path of Liu Bowen and Zhuge Liang.

  I firmly believe it is very likely.

  Let's start from here, still in our own way. This time, our protagonist is still Zhang San. He has just finished being a landlord. This time, we will still use him as the main character, but in this chapter of the Grand Councilor, he cannot directly become the Grand Councilor, and must first become the village head.

  Zhang San became the village head of a certain village, he began to manage, every day he would walk from the east end of the village to the west end, checking if Jia's family door was locked properly, whether Yihai couple had a fight, the village is not big, can take two or three trips in one day, after finishing work go home and sleep, this is the life of a village head.

  Soon, Zhang San became the head of the township. The township was very large and he had to spend a whole day walking around it, so he started going on rounds every two days, leaving the work to the village chief in charge.

  Due to his outstanding work, Zhang San became the county magistrate. He could no longer go out for a stroll every day, and all his time was spent reviewing reports from township heads and fully trusting them.

  Afterwards, Zhang San continued to rise through the ranks, from being a provincial governor to a minister of finance and then to prime minister. The entire country was under his control (assuming there is no emperor). As a result, Zhang San became extremely busy, he didn't even have time to read memorials, every day he saw countless people, and was still busy until late at night. All the department heads wanted to see him, and he alone had to make decisions on their proposals. He was really too exhausted, so he found someone to help him with his work and gave some of his power to this person.

  The situation is roughly like this: Zhang San's position is similar to that of an emperor, and the person he finds to help him is equivalent to a prime minister in reality.

  Due to too many national affairs and the emperor's limited energy, he had to find someone to hand over part of his power.

  Everyone should have understood the origin of the Grand Chancellor by now. This story, although simple, contains a very profound theory in political science - the theory of separation of powers and checks and balances.

  There have been many wise emperors throughout history, who were no worse than Zhu Yuanzhang, yet they all adopted the system of prime ministers. In a feudal society where the emperor held absolute power, the emperor was unwilling to give up his own rights because once he gave power to others, he would be in danger of being restricted. However, the inevitable contradiction between the infinite expansion of imperial power and the limited energy of the emperor led to the emergence of the prime minister system.

  In the end, the prime minister is indeed a hateful guy. He keeps giving opinions to the emperor and even dares to refute him. As an emperor, he wouldn't like this guy. He thinks that this person is just a worker he hired to do his bidding, he gave him work, gave him power, but this guy wants to control everything.

  He not only has to take care of national affairs, but also his own private matters. If he wants to build a house, he will be in charge, saying it's a waste of money; if he wants to go out and have fun, he will be in charge, saying it's exhausting for the people. Some overbearing guys even want to control what he eats, rests, and sleeps with his wife, not only controlling but also speaking eloquently, claiming "for the sake of Your Majesty's health", with a frequently smug expression on their face, as if they are always owed two hundred bucks by him.

  Who is the boss and who is the employee?

  The problem is that you can't lose your temper, those officials are all watching, and you have to accept his opinion with a good attitude. If you can't bear it and scold him, or even punish him, then trouble will arise. The reason will always be on the side of the prime minister, and history books will record that he dared to speak out, while you unfortunately bear the evil name of not accepting advice. The officials below will also stand on his side and look at him with admiring eyes.

  Those prime ministers also knew it in their hearts, so when they did these things, they often fell forward and backward, as if they couldn't wait for you to beat them up.

  Ugh, these annoying guys.

  Because of these reasons, the emperors did not like those chancellors. They all wanted to abolish this position just like Zhu Yuanzhang, but the problem was that if they abolished this position, everything would have to be done by themselves. However, being an emperor is not just about working hard; they also want to enjoy life. They are not triathletes and do not have such strong energy. So this position has been retained until Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was diligent and hardworking from a young age, with a strong physique and robust spirit. He had a large appetite and could finish several bowls of food in one meal. Not only was he a top-notch athlete, but his endurance for long-distance running was also impressive. In his opinion, sending the prime minister back home was just a matter of doing some extra work and getting tired himself, which wasn't a big deal. Thus, the glorious deeds of model worker Zhu Yuanzhang were left in history.

  Mr. Wu Han once counted that from the 14th to the 21st of September in the 17th year of Hongwu (1384), within just eight days, he received 1,666 official documents, totaling 3,391 matters, averaging 200 files per day and handling 400 things.

  This is a chilling number, during the Zhu Yuanzhang era there was no labor law, he worked for eight days and would not have been paid overtime. But he just kept working non-stop, which also made him very annoyed with those who couldn't get to the point in half a day. There's a famous story that illustrates this, when the Minister of Revenue at the time, Ru Taosu, submitted a memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang had someone read it aloud to him, but after reading for about three hours, he still hadn't gotten to the main point, just talking about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, benevolence, righteousness, and morality. Zhu Yuanzhang made a swift decision, ordering them to stop reading, counting the characters, there were already over 10,000 words.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and ordered Ma to summon Taizu Su into his presence. He had the guards give him a severe beating.

  It can be seen that after abolishing the Grand Chancellor system, Zhu Yuanzhang paid a heavy price, but he didn't mind because in his view, doing more work would do. However, things were far from being as simple as he thought.

  To more clearly illustrate the balance of power between the emperor and the chancellor, let's put it another way.

  The relationship between the two can be described by the sport of tug-of-war. The emperor and his ministers are at opposite ends of the rope, pulling in their own direction. This game has no referee, but there is an unwritten rule that one cannot go too far. Both sides have a certain limit to their advances and retreats.

  This limit is precisely the boundary defined by thousands of years of political practice, telling both sides of the river that some things can be done by the emperor and cannot be interfered with by ministers, while others should be managed by ministers and allowed by the emperor.

  In the game of emperors and ministers over thousands of years, this rule has been constantly improved. Both sides know what they should do and can do, and in such a rule, power reached a balance.

  But Zhu Yuanzhang did not follow the rules, changing everything. He pulled the ministers around and announced that they were all fired from then on. Then he took the rope home to hang clothes.

  He seems to think that this solves the problem, and that power can be held by one person alone, without the need for so-called balance.

  It turned out that he was wrong, the rules of history are not something that a small Zhu Yuanzhang can change. Since Zhu Yuanzhang did not like this balance, the god of history would arrange another opponent for him and his descendants to pull the river, and this opponent is different from those before.

  They don't follow rules either.

  We must note that Zhu Yuanzhang's unorthodox behavior only harmed himself and his descendants' hard work, but for the entire Ming dynasty politics, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Zhu Yuanzhang lifted the stone and hit his own foot, but did not hit this dynasty.

  There are many mysterious rules in our history and life, which are invisible and intangible, but always play a role. For example, the famous golden ratio, patterns determined by the golden ratio are the most beautiful, and the divided structure is the most reasonable. Many excellent erhu players have found that pulling out the sound at a certain position on the erhu string produces a particularly beautiful tone, and after verification, that position is exactly the golden ratio of the erhu string.

  These rules are really amazing. If you follow these rules, you will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort. And if you violate these rules, you will be punished by them.

  There are also mysterious rules in history that manipulate everything in silence, and no one can resist them.

  In this tug-of-war, historical conventions also played a role. For over a thousand years, kings and nobles had determined their positions according to these conventions, but Zhu Yuanzhang ignored them, believing he could thoroughly eliminate the system of chancellors. In a sense, he succeeded.

  He abolished the office of Chancellor and forbade its re-establishment. He used his own power to eliminate the title of Chancellor, but did he really win in this struggle?

  It turns out that the dialectics of history played a big joke on him, and it produced a group of people called cabinet scholars. These people, except for their names not being chancellors, had nothing to distinguish them from chancellors in everything else. More ironically, their power was even greater than that of any chancellor in the previous dynasty.

  They interfered in everything and controlled all matters. They not only managed state affairs but also the emperor's private life, they did not allow the emperor to ride horses at will (Zhengde), did not allow the emperor to eat aphrodisiacs (Longqing), did not allow the emperor to choose his own successor (Wanli), and even created their own era of famous ministers, an era with almost no imperial power constraints (Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng)!

  Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to change the power balance that had lasted for thousands of years with his own strength, but ultimately suffered the punishment of historical rules. Zhu Yuanzhang came to the store of history and wanted to buy a bar of soap, but the dialectics of history forcibly matched him with a roll of toilet paper. If Zhu Yuanzhang knew in the afterlife that his actions had led to such a result, he would probably be left crying and laughing at the same time.

  Zhu Yuanzhang, you are great, but also insignificant.

  In front of this behemoth of historical rules, you are so weak and small, your resistance is so powerless.

  The great tide of history surges forward, overwhelming all in its path! Those who follow it will prosper, while those who resist it will perish!

  Indeed it is so.

  Spy

  Zhu Yuanzhang killed Hu Weiyong, abolished the system of Grand Chancellor, but he did not stop there. His eyes turned to the Grand Commandery which controlled the military power. At that time, the person in charge of the Grand Commandery was his nephew Li Wenzhong. In fact, it proved that when it came to distrust of ministers, he treated his relatives equally. He reorganized the Grand Commandery, dividing this military institution into five parts: left, center, right, front and back. As for the original commander-in-chief Li Wenzhong, he did not let him off either.

  Because Li WenZhong had previously accused him of indiscriminate killing, and had also offended Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to get rid of both Li WenZhong and the Buddha. Just as he was about to take action, Empress Ma stepped forward and stopped him, begging him to spare Li WenZhong's life in consideration of his great contributions. Although Zhu Yuanzhang never spared anyone else's face, Empress Ma had shared hardships with him and their relationship was deep and meaningful, so he listened to her advice and let Li WenZhong off, but still severely punished him and stripped him of his position.

  Punishing Li WenZhong is not an isolated incident, it has a deeper meaning. This matter tells all the ministers that Zhu Yuanzhang has the spirit of "great righteousness and family extermination" in eliminating dissidents, no one can be exempted.

  The Hu Weiyong case has implicated more and more people, to the point where it has evolved into a massacre. The officials handling the case hold lists of names, going from one government office to another to find people, arresting them as soon as they are found, beating them after arrest, forcing confessions, and then using those forced confessions to obtain more names to make arrests. These men have enormous power, and even if a government office is in session, they can still brazenly burst in, taking away the so-called criminals. This has led to some very comical phenomena: often just as an official was proudly pronouncing judgment from his dais, these men would enter, pull that gentleman down from the dais, and drag him off with a cangue on his neck. The other prisoners present look on in stunned amazement.

  The clues for handling this case mainly came from two departments, one of which was called the Qīn Jūn Dū Wèi Fǔ. You may not be familiar with this name, but if you mention its later name, it's a household name - the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

  Another group that cannot be called a department, but only a group, is called the Inspection Department. They do not have a fixed establishment and report directly to Zhu Yuanzhang on various situations they have investigated. They are Zhu Yuanzhang's main eyes and ears. These people do not sleep at night and wander around everywhere. From historical records, their eavesdropping and tracking skills are very clever. For example, one day when the National Academy's sacrificial wine Song Nong went to court, Zhu Yuanzhang asked him why he was unhappy the night before, Song Nong was shocked. Zhu Yuanzhang took out a painting, which was exactly the portrait of Song Nong's angry expression last night.

  This is truly terrifying, to think that Song Nun wasn't sleeping on the street, he was in his own home, and these inspectors not only kept a close eye on him but also drew pictures of his angry face with great interest. You can imagine, in those years without cameras, deep at night, you're sitting in your own room, and someone is watching you from not far away (very likely right in your house), drawing your portrait while looking at you. This kind of scenario often appears in modern horror movies.

  The origins of these inspectors were also complex, mainly consisting of idle social personnel, as well as civil and military officials, and even old acquaintances of Zhu Yuanzhang - monks. These people did not know each other and only accepted the dispatch of Zhu Yuanzhang.

  These people were everywhere, catching wind and shadow, creating many wrongful cases. It was with the help of these people that Zhu Yuanzhang handled the Hu Weiyong case more and more smoothly, killing more and more people.

  The officials were in a state of panic and the number of people involved was increasing, even retired personnel were being brought back, with Song Lian being the most notable.

  Song Lian was a famous civil minister under Zhu Yuanzhang and also an excellent scholar. He was a fellow townsman of Liu Ji and was entrusted by Zhu Yuanzhang with the important task of being the teacher of Crown Prince Zhu Biao. He perfectly completed this task, and under his guidance, Zhu Biao was completely different from his father Zhu Yuanzhang, being kind, benevolent and having the appearance of a wise ruler. Later, he was also entrusted with the task of revising the history of the Yuan dynasty, serving as the chief editor.

  But Zhu Yuanzhang did not value him, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, Song Lian was just a scholar, writing some articles was okay, but he couldn't make strategic plans, so the highest official position he granted to Song Lian was only a small Hanlin Academy Scholar (5th rank). Until Hongwu 10th year (1377) when Song Lian retired, his official position was still just an Academician.

  Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not reuse Song Lian, he trusted him very much, which was largely due to Song Lian's personality. Song Lian was a well-known honest man who always spoke the truth no matter what. Zhu Yuanzhang once sighed: "Song Lian has served me for 20 years and has never told a lie or spoken ill of others. He is truly a virtuous person."

  When Song Hui retired at the age of 68, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a piece of cloth and instructed him to make a "century-old clothes" with it after 32 years. Song Hui was so moved that he burst into tears.

  However, in less than three years, Zhu Yuanzhang had a new set of clothes prepared for Song Lian - prison garb.

  Because of Song Lian's grandson's involvement in Hu Weiyong's rebellion, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned him back from afar to kill him. This also reflects another characteristic of Zhu Yuanzhang - selective amnesia.

  At a critical moment, Empress Ma stepped forward and successfully persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang to spare Song Lian's life.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior became increasingly extreme and his methods more ruthless; apart from Empress Ma, few people could change his decisions.

  In August of the 15th year of Hongwu (1382), a man died. This man's death seemed to be no big deal in history, but for Zhu Yuanzhang, it was a real tragedy.

  This person is Queen Ma.

  Empress Ma

  She risked her life to deliver food to Zhu Yuanzhang when he was in a desperate situation and on the verge of starving to death. Although she was a woman, she had great courage and wisdom. When Chen Youliang attacked Longwan, she donated all her jewelry and wealth to support the army and organized women to sew clothes for the soldiers.

  Even after becoming rich and noble, she maintained a simple style, not arrogant or extravagant, and advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to forget the hardships of the people. Even in personnel matters, she also put forward her own views: "Willing to get talented people to govern the world together", which was quoted by Zhu Yuanzhang as a famous saying.

  What is even more valuable is that he stopped many of Zhu Yuanzhang's evil deeds.

  Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Zhu Wen Zheng, she advised Zhu Yuanzhang, "Zhu Wen Zheng is your nephew and has made great contributions, please don't kill him."

  Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Li Wenzhong, she advised Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Wenzhong is your nephew and also your adopted son, spare his life.

  Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Song Lian, he knelt down and begged Zhu Yuanzhang, saying that Song Lian was the prince's teacher, ordinary people still respected their teachers, let alone the imperial family.

  She used her kindness to care for every person she knew or didn't know, rescuing them from Zhu Yuanzhang's slaughter.

  She knows more than Zhu Yuanzhang about the preciousness of human life.

  After she fell seriously ill and knew it was hard to cure, she surprisingly refused the doctor's treatment. Zhu Yuanzhang asked her for the reason, and her reply was truly touching.

  She said: A person's life and death are determined by fate, praying to gods and Buddhas is useless, doctors can only cure illnesses, not fate. If the doctor treats me and the medicine has no effect, Your Majesty will certainly punish the doctor, which is something I do not want to see.

  She was a person who always cared for others with her own love, and she did so even when her life was about to end.

  She left behind a will for Zhu Yuanzhang on her deathbed:

  "May Your Majesty seek out wise men and accept remonstrance, from beginning to end. May your sons and grandsons all be virtuous and talented, may the people live in peace and prosperity, and may the mountains and rivers last for ever."

  She smiled and left after finishing speaking.

  Zhu Yuanzhang leaned on her side, she was the most beloved woman in his life. This woman gave him countless help, but never asked for anything from him. Her whole life was spent like this.

  After going through so many hardships, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart had long been harder than iron and stone. Since his parents died, no matter how desperate or painful he was, he rarely shed tears. Because he knew that crying couldn't solve any problems.

  But at this time, he finally couldn't control his emotions, he burst into loud sobs, only wailing could mourn the person in front of him, only wailing could vent the extreme pain in his heart!

  Because he finally realized that the person in front of him was his everything, his only one.

  Ma Yuzhen, this ordinary woman, in the difficult years, she did not despise Zhu Yuanzhang's humble origin, but followed him and dedicated everything to him. No matter how dangerous the environment was or how complicated the situation was, she always kept her promise from those years ago.

  Through thick and thin, in life and death, never abandon each other.

  After her husband became emperor, she still treated people with kindness and compassion. Every time Zhu Yuanzhang raised his butcher's knife, she would step forward to stop him. With the maternal love and care unique to women, she saved many lives. Although she ultimately failed to bring Zhu Yuanzhang's runaway chariot back on track, she had done everything in her power.

  Today, we can say she is a great woman.

  Born like summer flowers, died like winter snow.

  Life is like this, what regret and resentment.

  The death of Empress Ma dealt a huge blow to Zhu Yuanzhang, after which he went further and further down the wrong and biased path until the end of his life.

  The case of Hu Weiyong is still ongoing, with people being arrested and killed one after another. Li Shanchang confessed his mistakes to Zhu Yuanzhang and accepted punishment, but managed to escape with his life. However, Zhu's character dictated that Li would not have a good end.

  Before we talk about these things, it is necessary to introduce the living conditions of a special group during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, that is, officials.

  The Tragic Fate of Officials

  Being an official is a golden rice bowl in any era, but during the Hongwu years, the fate of officials can only be described with one word - miserable.

  In Zhu Yuanzhang's era, officials lived as if in hell, and this description is not exaggerated.

  Here is the translation:

  Let's first introduce the ranking of officials in the Ming dynasty. Everyone knows that the first rank is the highest official position, and throughout history, there have been many high-ranking officials who were revered and respected, even by emperors. However, in the Ming dynasty, a first-rank civil official was almost like a mythical figure, extremely rare. After the abolition of the Grand Chancellor system, the highest rank among civil officials under Zhu Yuanzhang was the Minister (a second-rank position), while the first-rank positions were merely honorary titles: Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao (all first-rank), as well as Shaoshi, Shao Fu, Shaobao, Crown Prince's Taishi, Crown Prince's Taifu, and Crown Prince's Taibao (all second-rank). In addition, there were also positions such as the Director of the Imperial Clan, the Minister of Rites, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies that held first-rank status, but these were not positions that ordinary civil officials could attain.

  These positions look very attractive, but are difficult to obtain. If not for some special merit, such as conquering the world (few opportunities, extremely dangerous), saving the emperor (high difficulty, few chances), putting the emperor aside and manipulating state affairs (only a handful of people), otherwise, being able to retire at the second rank is already a blessing from one's ancestors.

  Two ranks are just two ranks, the officials don't care too much about it. Anyway, no matter how many ranks they have, they still need to work hard. But what makes them feel extremely unfair is that there is a group of people who have made no contributions at all, yet almost every one of them is a first-rank official.

  These people were relatives of Zhu Yuanzhang.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was poor since childhood, his parents died early, and he had a deep affection for his relatives. Many of his sons and daughters were granted the titles of Prince and Princess, all with first-rank status. The eldest son of a prince would also be a prince, while other sons would be granted the title of Duke, also with first-rank status. What's more, even the husbands of his daughters who married into the imperial family (i.e., the emperors' sons-in-law) were also given first-rank status!

  This is really frustrating for officials, ten years of hard work in a cold window may only end up as a small official of the third or fourth rank, while these people are born as high-ranking officials. It's really "studying well is not as good as looking good (imperial son-in-law), looking good is not as good as being born well".

  But what made officials even more uncomfortable was yet to come. They soon discovered that Zhu Yuanzhang, this boss, was very stingy.

  Zhu Yuanzhang gave officials a salary of 1,044 shi of millet per year for first-grade officials, decreasing gradually to only 90 shi of millet per year for seventh-grade county magistrates.

  Let's take a county magistrate as an example. The monthly salary of the county official who manages a county is only 7.5 shi, note that with this income he has to support his wife and children, as well as a large number of people.

  In the Ming dynasty, the county magistrate was different from today's county head. At that time, the county magistrate also held many positions, he was not only the county head but also the president of the county court, the procurator-general of the procuratorate, the director of the finance bureau, the director of the tax bureau, the director of the industry and commerce bureau, and the captain of the county construction team. A county magistrate managed so many things, it was inevitable to reward the small officials under him, otherwise who would be willing to work for you?

  He also had a large group of attendants, divided into levels as "dà yé" (big master) and "èr yé" (second master). The "dà yé" included the "mén zhèng dà yé" (gatekeeper), the "gǎo qiān dà yé" (seal affixer), and below them were a group of "èr yé", including the "fā shěn" (document examiner), the "zhí táng" (duty officer), and the "yòng yìn" (seal user). These people were the office staff in the county magistrate's seal affixing room. In addition, the county magistrate would send someone to supervise each important department, and he would also bring his own chef and teacher.

  This large group of people are all under the county official, and they all have to be supported by him. With only 7.5 shi of salary per month, everyone can only go and drink the northwest wind.

  When in office, they still have to entertain guests and attend social events during holidays, their salary is far from enough.

  But even this meager salary was discounted.

  During the Hongwu period, when it was time to issue salaries, county officials would find someone to carry a bag of rice to collect their own salary, 7.5 shi of rice (just like begging for food). This was still considered timely payment. By the time of Chengzu, they could only receive six-tenths of their salary, so how were the remaining portions issued?

  Issue banknotes.

  This is no joke, not silver, but paper money. In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, paper money was circulating all over the country. It would seem that there's nothing wrong with giving paper money, but as we continue to look down, we'll find the problem. During the Chengzu period, 10 guan of paper money could be exchanged for one stone of rice, but by the time of Renzong, 25 guan of paper money was needed to exchange for one stone of rice.

  Everyone understands now, the problem is inflation.

  To talk about the issuance of paper money, we have to start from the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty did many things very badly, but this policy of paper money was quite good. The person who formulated this policy should be very capable, and his policy on banknotes deeply reflects the universal applicability of economic laws. The Yuan Dynasty issued paper money with gold and silver as reserve funds. If there were no gold and silver, they would not issue paper money, and the issuance had a fixed quota. Holders of paper money could exchange it for gold and silver from the court at any time.

  This is the typical gold and silver standard paper money issuance system, which was used for thousands of years (until it ended with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system after World War II). However, when Zhu Yuanzhang took over, this brother was not familiar with economics. Seeing that the yuan dynasty's printed notes could circulate, he also printed them. The problem is that he started printing and didn't stop. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the annual income was only a few tens of thousands of silver taels, but the issued paper money was several hundred million. Holding a piece of paper with 5,000 taels printed on it, did you think it could be used as 5,000 taels? The common people are not stupid.

  To be honest, officials are really pitiful. Their salary is already very low, and they still receive a bunch of useless papers that are too rough to use as toilet paper.

  One cannot die from holding in urine, so all sorts of new ways to make money have emerged.

  The officials mainly use two moves, let's introduce them, these two moves have a long history and are very famous.

  Melting tax, everyone may have heard of the term "fire consumption". At that time, the payment of taxes was often in kind, such as grains, silk fabrics, etc., but sometimes it would also be changed to silver and copper coins. When melting and refining silver, there might be losses, and the government would use this excuse to collect extra silver, which is called "fire consumption".

  In fact, whether there is any loss or not, only the government knows. This is just an excuse for overcharging. This trick has been passed down for hundreds of years and has never declined, even longer than the history of the Ming Dynasty. It wasn't until the Yongzheng period that the measure of fire expense being returned to the public was adopted, and this trick finally disappeared from history.

  But this move is what the government says goes, how much to collect is up to them, and the actual operating skills in execution are not too high. The next move is different.

  This move is called Lin Jian Ti Hu, it's worth mentioning that when the common people pay their taxes in grain, the government uses a hu to measure it. The common people put the grain into the hu and then weigh it to calculate how much they have completed. The grain pile must be piled up in a pointed shape, and some of it will exceed the wall of the hu. Just when the common people are relieved that they've finished paying their taxes, something unexpected happens.

  The official uses the momentum of a swift thunderclap to kick the measuring container with one foot! At this time, the grains that exceed the container's capacity will fall to the ground. The common people rush to pick them up, and at this moment, the official will loudly shout: "Don't pick those up, they're losses!" Hey, I'm talking to you, stop picking!

  This is the "kick with the measuring bucket", and the part that is kicked out is what is called the loss in grain transportation, which becomes the official's legitimate income. As for the common people, they can only go home and bring more grain again. The most crucial move here is the kick with the measuring bucket.

  The charm of that kick

  To master this kick, officials had to practice for a long time. The specific method is to find a tree near their home and start with the tree trunk not moving, and the leaves falling as the highest state. Of course, some people choose to practice kicking doors, and they must do it in one kick. If it takes more than two kicks, it's unqualified, and they need to continue practicing. This practice also has benefits for them. If they don't work as officials one day, they can change careers and become burglars.

  On the day of grain delivery, officials prepared themselves. Once the bushel was full, they concentrated their minds, closed their eyes and thought deeply, then took a deep breath, shouted loudly, some people added ten meters to sprint, rushed to the front of the bushel, kicked it with all their might (if not, it wouldn't work, as it would be their own), if more came down, they would laugh loudly.

  So what about the ordinary people? They can only watch as their food is taken away by these individuals.

  Please note that these two moves were just the most common in feudal society, and many famous ministers of the Ming Dynasty, such as San Yang, Li Xian, Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng, etc., all relied on these two moves to make a living. Later emperors also recognized these as legitimate income.

  Although Zhu Yuanzhang's wage policy is to some extent responsible for the prevalence of these behaviors, it cannot be used as an excuse for corrupt behavior. The internal cause is the decisive factor, and officials should still look for reasons from themselves.

  You may wonder if there were people who didn't take advantage of these bargains at that time. I'd say to you, yes, there were indeed such people, but they paid a heavy price for it.

  Those who live on their salary alone are most famous for Hai Rui.

  This gentleman is indeed the number one honest man, he has been working hard for decades without any luxurious enjoyment (and no money), he doesn't take a single penny that he shouldn't take, and he never took advantage of the benefits of fire expenses and kickbacks. He relies on his meager salary to make ends meet every month, and his family is so poor that they are almost begging.

  His last official position was Nanjing Right Supervisor, a second-grade official equivalent to the Minister of Supervision, and can be said to be one of the highest-paid officials in the civil service. However, his family could not afford to hire several servants, and he had to do everything himself, eating poorly and suffering from long-term malnutrition. After his death, the Supervising Secretary Wang Yongquan came to handle the aftermath, and as soon as he entered the door, he was shocked by the miserable state of Hai Rui's home. He could not have imagined that Hai Rui would end up in such a pitiful state, with old fabric curtains hanging everywhere (they couldn't afford new ones), broken and tattered trunks, and family members wearing patched clothes. Describing his home as "bare walls" was no exaggeration.

  What made it even more unbelievable was that Hai Rui's family couldn't even afford the money for the funeral, and they couldn't buy a coffin either. The burial expenses were still raised by everyone together.

  There were such people in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, for example, Luo Furen, a scholar of the Hongwen Academy at that time. He was very honest and his family was very poor. However, Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't trust him, so one day he went to his home to take a look. Luo Furen couldn't afford a good house, so he could only buy a broken house in the suburbs to make ends meet. Zhu Yuanzhang searched high and low, finally found the place, saw two broken tile houses outside, there was a person carrying a bucket brushing the wall. Zhu Yuanzhang saw that this person had gray hair and a dusty face, with powder all over his face, thinking he was a laborer working for Luo Furen, asked him: "Does Luo Furen live here?"

  Unexpectedly, the wall washer heard someone ask him, turned his head to take a look, was shocked and pale with fright, hastily ran over to kneel down and pay respects, saying: "I am Luo Furen!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang finally got a clear look at his face and realized that this person was indeed Luo Furen. Looking again at his attire, one hand holding a brush and the other carrying a bucket, his clothes were tattered and he looked no different from a beggar. He couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "How can you live in such a house?"

  Luo Furen smiled and said: "My family is poor, so I can only make do."

  Zhu Yuanzhang said with a hint of dissatisfaction: "A learned man like you, how can you live in such a house?" He then bestowed upon him a large mansion.

  Luo Furen was considered poor, but after all, his official position was not high, and there were more powerful people than him.

  In the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel (Ministry of Civil Affairs) was the most important. Wu Lin, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was an honest and clean official. After retiring, he returned home. Zhu Yuanzhang sent a messenger to inquire about his recent situation. The messenger arrived at Wu Lin's hometown and thought that as a former high-ranking official, he should have a large house, so he went to look for it. However, after searching around, he didn't see any big houses, so he found an old farmer who was transplanting rice seedlings by the roadside and asked: "Excuse me, where does Minister Wu live?"

  Who would have thought that the old farmer looked up at him and said: "I am Wu Lin, what's the matter?"

  The envoy was deeply moved and reported this matter back to Zhu Yuanzhang. After hearing it, Zhu Yuanzhang also felt a deep sense of emotion.

  These people are undoubtedly excellent examples, but there are really not many people with such high moral cultivation.

  Apart from the salary system, it is also necessary to introduce the holiday system of the Ming Dynasty. Let's take a look at how ancient people spent their holidays.

  Let's talk about the Han Dynasty first. They implemented a five-day workweek, which means they worked for five days and rested for one day. However, this rest day was not necessarily on Saturday or Sunday, but rather rotated to whichever day it fell on. This day even had a special name called "Xiūmù". On this day, officials could return home. It seems that the Han Dynasty's treatment of its people was quite good.

  During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was changed to a 10-day break, known as "Xunxiu", which seems to be worse than the Han dynasty. In fact, it's not like that. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was already the concept of Golden Week today. They would take a 7-day break during New Year's Day and Winter Solstice. These seven days were paid holidays. Apart from this, any reason you could think of could be used to take a holiday, including our usual Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Ninth Festival, as well as the emperor's birthday (which changed frequently), surprisingly, even Buddha's birthday, Laozi's birthday, and Confucius' birthday were holidays. I reckon if Christianity had spread widely back then, God's birthday would have been included too.

  The Song Dynasty treated them slightly worse, but they still had several dozen days of annual leave.

  By the Yuan Dynasty, things had changed. In the eyes of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, life was about movement and work was rest. There were no more long holidays or big breaks, everyone took work seriously, and there were only a dozen or so days off per year.

  Finally, the position was passed into Zhu Yuanzhang's hands. This brother's work spirit has been introduced before. He thought that giving you a salary and letting you manage things is already very favorable treatment. In those days, Laozi couldn't even eat enough rice, let alone rest?

  Some officials suggested restoring the holiday system of the previous dynasty, but Zhu Yuanzhang rejected it. Then Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated a holiday system, which was simple and easy to implement, with only three days off per year: New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, and his own birthday.

  Want to take another few dozen days off, the kids haven't woken up yet!

  However, many problems arose after actual implementation, such as the problem of separation between two places and children's education (which is objectively existing) could not be solved. Later, it was stipulated that winter vacation would start from December and last for a month, which partially solved some of the problems.

  As mentioned earlier, due to the provisions of these institutions, the contradictions between Zhu Yuanzhang and officials became more and more profound. In order to protect their own interests, officials had to violate Zhu Yuanzhang's codes, while Zhu Yuanzhang would not allow such things to happen. These accumulated contradictions will eventually erupt.

  A historical drama is about to unfold.