Chapter 181: Man-eating Beast

"What bad things have you been up to? Tell them out now." Old Zhu stared at Zhu Chong and spoke seriously, word by word.

"If you speak well, I will reward you handsomely, but no matter what you say, I will pardon you."

Hearing what Lao Zhu said, Zhu Chong chuckled, knowing that Lao Zhu was moved.

Zhu Chong really didn't want those 5,000 veterans. It wasn't because he thought they were useless, but he just couldn't bear to use them.

You say the Ming Dynasty is at its end, and it's understandable to pull out the veterans, but it's only been a dozen years since the founding of the country, why are you still letting these veterans charge into battle? This is a blasphemy to the veterans!

From Zhu Chong's perspective, the repatriation of the veterans was not as complicated as he thought. He always believed that repatriating the veterans would cost the court a large sum of money, which would make the court's already stretched finances even more unbearable.

Moreover, Lao Zhu did not think about the fact that the old soldiers who had followed him through life and death and fought for so many years had long since become indifferent to life and death. Those of them who had survived many life-and-death experiences cared more about whether they could return to their hometowns and return to their roots.

Zhu Chong even believed that if Zhu allowed these old soldiers to return home, they would be willing to do so even if the court did not provide them with pensions.

"Your Majesty, please listen to me for a while." Zhu Chong did not express his opinion directly, but turned to another topic, which was an extremely sensitive topic.

"Father, you should have heard the saying that imperial power does not extend to the countryside."

"Huh?" Old Zhu's eyes narrowed suddenly. This kid of his is really getting bolder and bolder.

He was relying on what I just said, that no matter what he said, he would be pardoned. How dare he talk to me like that?

The so-called "imperial power should not extend to the countryside" has always been a thorn in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind. In fact, it is not only Zhu Yuanzhang's fault, but also the weak spot of all emperors.

Emperors all like to seize power. Which emperor doesn’t want his decrees to reach the territory under his jurisdiction?

Of course, the emperors themselves knew that it was impossible for their orders to reach anywhere in the world.

From ancient times to the present, imperial power can only issue decrees to the county level. If it goes down further, the decrees will be difficult to implement.

This is due to geographical reasons and the power of rural clans. Unless it is too extreme, the court will not be able to extend its policies to the rural level.

So when Zhu Chong brought this matter up now, it naturally touched Zhu's sore spot, making him extremely unhappy.

But Zhu Chong didn't give Old Zhu a chance to vent his anger. "Father, there's a saying among the people of the Ming Dynasty that I find quite interesting. It says that even if a driver works at a carriage or boat shop, he should be killed even if he's innocent!"

"The rickshaws here refer to the illegal rickshaw drivers. Boats are just like rickshaws. I'm sure Father is familiar with the knife-cut noodles and wontons that the illegal boats serve. There's also the waiters, those who act according to the situation, the porters who are a hindrance to the cause, and the human traffickers."

"These professions are illegal in the Ming Dynasty, yet they have always existed. They have one thing in common: they are highly secretive. They operate rampantly in remote, underdeveloped areas where government orders are out of reach."

"Of course, the imperial court absolutely has no tolerance for these people. However, for the common people, these people are one of them, and even one of the people who manage them, because many of these five types of people serve as local officials."

Hearing this, Old Zhu probably guessed what Zhu Chong wanted to say, but because he was attracted by the angle of Zhu Chong's approach, he did not say anything, but listened quietly to what Zhu Chong was going to say next.

"Father." Seeing that Old Zhu had calmed down and listened to him, Zhu Chong quickly continued, "You are well aware of the harm that corrupt officials do to the court. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, we have enacted laws to severely punish corrupt officials."

"But over the years, I wonder if your Majesty has seen clearly that the harm done to the people by corrupt officials is actually far less than the harm done to the people themselves."

"What is the real harm to the people? Explain it clearly, kid!" Old Zhu's tone changed at this time.

After hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Zhu felt terrible. Because of the trauma of his childhood, he hated corrupt officials the most.

Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty was established, a law was made that anyone who embezzled ten taels of silver would be put to death without mercy. In order to allow the people to report corrupt officials, a special edict was even printed for the people, allowing the people to use the edict to directly escort the officials to the capital and hand them over to Zhu Yuanzhang for personal interrogation.

So it is no exaggeration to say that Zhu Yuanzhang was the most active emperor in fighting corruption among all the emperors in history, bar none!

But because of this, Zhu Yuanzhang dragged the entire Ming Dynasty into an abyss from which there was no escape.

Zhu Chong noticed that Old Zhu looked unhappy, but he turned a blind eye and continued, "Father, you should understand that in our Ming Dynasty, there is only one county magistrate in each county, and that one county magistrate has to take care of the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people."

"But even if the county magistrate does nothing, or even commits evil, he can only influence dozens or hundreds of people, at most thousands of people."

"But a county government office has at least a hundred runners under its jurisdiction. If these people commit evil, the number of people affected will surely be at least dozens of times greater than the county magistrate I mentioned."

"In short, these yamen runners and local officials are the most basic existence of our Ming Dynasty officials. If all of them are people with good moral character and practical ability, then this county will be blessed."

"But if a cunning and treacherous person takes over a position, it will not only be of no benefit to the local area, but for the people, it will be like the sky falling. What's worse, they will carve up territories and become kings, causing disaster to the people!"

When Old Zhu heard this, he was stunned by what Zhu Chong said. It was the first time he heard such a situation from someone else.

"Second brother, you're exaggerating a bit. In our county, we have more than just county magistrates and yamen runners. We also have village heads, village chiefs, and other rural officials. Those people are local gentry who grew up in the same place as the local people. How could they..."

The baojia system used by Zhu Yuanzhang originated in the Song Dynasty, but was further developed in his hands. Its purpose was to allow the people to manage the people and prevent officials from exploiting the people and harming them.

However, Lao Zhu did not delve into the drawbacks of this. After all, China has been an official-oriented country since ancient times, and being an official means having absolute power.

People with power are easily influenced. It can turn a good citizen who has been kind to others since childhood into a beast that can and dares to eat people in a very short period of time!

The saying "the emperor is far away and the mountains are high" refers to these people. Such people serve as officials in the countryside and have almost the same power as the emperor. In the Ming Dynasty, even the local county officials could not control this kind of power.

Zhu Yuanzhang's baojia system did play a certain positive role in social stability in the beginning, but like the Jinyiwei and the East and West Factories, Zhu Yuanzhang never considered including these entities in the scope of supervision.