Chapter 303: Chopsticks float up, heads fall down

Zhu Gang said calmly: "In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a counselor named Jia Xu, who is known as the most vicious counselor in the Three Kingdoms.

He persuaded Li Jue and Guo Si, two generals under Dong Zhuo who wanted to disband their army and flee back to Xiliang, to lead their troops to counterattack Chang'an.

As a result, the two successfully defeated Wang Yun and Lu Bu and occupied Chang'an.

After defecting to Zhang Xiu's camp, Jia Xu advised Zhang Xiu not to take the opportunity to pursue and kill the retreating Cao army.

Zhang Xiu did not listen and ended up returning in defeat.

Later, Jia Xu ordered Zhang Xiu to chase and kill Cao's army. As a result, Cao's army was defeated under his pursuit.

Later, Jia Xu persuaded Zhang Xiu, who was planning to rely on Yuan Shao, to surrender to Cao Cao.

Just as Jia Xu expected, Cao Cao paid enough attention and treated well Zhang Xiu and others who had killed his son.

In order to defeat Ma Chao, Jia Xu offered Cao Cao a counter-espionage plan.

Cao Cao followed Jia Xu's advice and deliberately whispered some irrelevant words to Han Sui in front of the battle.

He also deliberately sent a letter that had been smeared to Han Sui, which eventually led to a rift between Ma Chao and Han Sui.

In his later years, Cao Cao sought out Jia Xu and asked who should succeed him.

Although he knew that getting involved in the fight for the crown prince position was a dangerous thing, Jia Xu couldn't help but say it.

So he said to Cao Cao, 'I am thinking of your old friends Yuan Shao and Liu Biao.

Both of them chose their youngest sons as their successors, but they were eventually killed by you.'

It was Jia Xu's words that awakened Cao Cao, and ultimately prompted the latter to give up the more talented Cao Zhi and choose Cao Pi as his successor. "

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, “Although Jia Xu is one of the best counselors in the Three Kingdoms, his reputation is very poor compared to others.

Jia Xu was not like counselors like Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu, who worked tirelessly throughout their lives to "restore the Han Dynasty."

He was not like other counselors like Zhou Yu and Guo Jia, who also devoted themselves to their lord and gave everything.

Although Jia Xu had served many lords, he had never devoted himself to anyone.

He spent his entire life pursuing his own interests, came up with many vicious schemes to maximize his own interests, and indirectly killed many innocent people.

Although this person has outstanding abilities, he has never cared about the world. I really don't like him!"

Zhu Gang smiled and waved his hand, "In my opinion, counselors can be divided into three types.

Those who plan for themselves plan for themselves, and those who plan for others plan for others.

As for those who plan for the world, of course they plan for the entire world.

The primary task of a ruthless person is to "serve himself". As long as he can be safe, he will use any vicious scheme.

Such people may seem selfish, but that doesn't mean they are useless.

It all depends on whether the master he serves can provide him with opportunities to display his talents."

Seeing that the two had disagreements again, Zhu Biao quickly took on the role of "mediator" again.

"Third brother, Dad asked you to explain in detail why we should reimburse half of the relief funds for those gentry who set up soup kitchens to help the disaster victims.

You said that after telling this fable, the mystery will be revealed. Could it be related to the "Monkey Game"? "

Since his elder brother took the initiative to set up the stage to perform, Zhu Gang naturally would not miss this opportunity.

He first asked Zhang Long, the commander of the Hidden Dragon Guard, to fetch a map of the four prefectures of Su, Song, Jiaxing and Huzhou.

Zhu Gang then ate a golden pie with pepper and salt filling, and then he said slowly: "Suzhou Prefecture governs 1 state and 6 counties, Songjiang Prefecture governs 3 counties. Jiaxing Prefecture governs 7 counties, and Huzhou Prefecture governs 6 counties: Wucheng, Gui'an, Deqing, Wukang, Anji, and Changxing.

By this calculation, the areas that need disaster relief include as many as one state and 1 counties.

If we rely solely on the power of the court and the treasury, do Dad and Big Brother have any good ideas to solve this problem?"

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately looked embarrassed, "Suzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Jiaxing Prefecture, and Huzhou Prefecture are collectively known as the Five Prefectures of Jiangnan.

The living habits and language styles of the people in the five prefectures are very similar, and this is also the initial portrayal of the core area of ​​Jiangnan.

If only one prefecture was affected by the disaster, the imperial court and the national treasury might still be able to find a way to solve the problem.

However, last year, the four prefectures in Jiangnan were hit by natural disasters at the same time. With only the five counties under Changzhou Prefecture, namely Wujin, Wuxi, Jiangyin, Yixing and Jingjiang, it was not easy to resettle the refugees in the other four prefectures! "

Zhu Gang nodded and said, "According to the current laws of the Ming Dynasty: when disputes arise between gentry and common people, judicial departments at all levels have no right to detain and interrogate.

In addition, from an economic perspective, gentry also enjoyed the privileges of tax exemption and exemption from corvee labor.

In order to continuously strengthen their own economic strength, the gentry used various means to annex land, which directly led to the bankruptcy of a large number of small and medium-sized landlords and civilians.

They took advantage of this opportunity to convert the landless peasants from being registered citizens of the state into their own tenants.

In other words, the gentry group has seized control of the grassroots from the imperial power and the court.

The imperial court could only mobilize resources from the grassroots of society by winning over the gentry.

However, on the other hand, the privileges and status of the gentry also required the protection of imperial power.

Only in this way can they "legally" control and plunder people's resources.

After thinking these things through, my son and Yao Guangxiao carefully formulated this "monkey show" for the gentry group. "

Zhu Biao, who was drinking tea, had his eyes light up. "You mean to use the reimbursement of half of the disaster relief funds as bait to encourage the gentry groups in the five prefectures of Jiangnan to take the initiative to provide relief to the victims?
But once those profit-driven gentry tamper with the grain in order to obtain more disaster relief funds afterwards..."

Before Zhu Biao could finish his speech, Zhu Yuanzhang shouted grimly, "If anyone dares to help the disaster victims, we will send all nine of his clans down to reunite with us!"

Zhu Gang also said with a serious expression: "The court has the Inspectorate, and my father also has the Imperial Guards.

I had already asked Right Censor-in-Chief Li Jin to hold a golden medal and lead the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the five prefectures in Jiangnan in his capacity as the Governor-General of Southern Zhili to specifically supervise disaster relief.

Before Li Jin left, my elder brother and I had already made arrangements.

If the government distributes porridge, it must be thick enough to insert chopsticks. If the chopsticks float up, the person's head will fall to the ground.

If the common people give out porridge, they must pour it into a cloth bag without leaking it. Anyone who leaks it will be beheaded!"

However, Zhu Biao still expressed his concerns, "Third brother, even if those gentry have no other options, they can still tamper with the porridge distribution process.

They can also use various means to exaggerate the amount of food they have paid when filing reimbursement for disaster relief accounts.

In this case, won't the national treasury have to pay more money? "

Zhu Gang said in a sinister tone: "Didn't Dad just tell you that?
If anyone dares to lend a hand in disaster relief, all his nine clans will be sent down to reunite!
Now that the imperial court has remeasured the land and implemented the tax system, all officials and gentry have to pay taxes together.

With this case, we can take back the land occupied by the gentry.

All the confiscated land was listed as government land.

In this way, the common people who lost their land in the five prefectures of Jiangnan can also be properly resettled, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone. "

Zhu Yuanzhang said with approval: "The court doesn't need to spend any money to complete the disaster relief. The third brother's 'monkey show' is really ingenious!"

(End of this chapter)