Chapter 182: Pain
As problems accumulated from generation to generation, social problems and contradictions gradually intensified, leading to the emergence of one of the most bizarre classes in China between the people and officials, the so-called gentry!
Zhu Chong heard the old Zhu's words of disbelief, shook his head and sighed, "Father, I dare to speak nonsense here. In our Ming Dynasty, besides you, including my brother the Crown Prince, everyone needs someone to supervise the exercise of their power!"
"Once power is abused without oversight, it will be a catastrophic disaster for the people of the world!"
"Perhaps the situation is still okay now, as the chaos has just been quelled, and the officials appointed to the current baojia system are all good people. But what about the people who will come after us? What if they learn how to use their power for their own benefit?"
"I dare to say that once those people get a taste of the sweetness or experience the convenience that power can bring them, the area they are in will become their own territory, and no one except you will be able to interfere!"
"This kind of thing has happened everywhere. Those village chiefs and village heads can make decisions with just a single word, regardless of whether the people are right or wrong."
"Once they have grown strong enough, even if the imperial court wants to control them, it will probably be out of reach. After all, our Ming Dynasty is really too big. In many places, local laws, even family rules, are more effective than the imperial court laws. This is reality!"
When Old Zhu heard this, murderous intent filled his eyes. He wanted to refute Zhu Chong's words, but he couldn't say anything.
Family rules are more important than national laws. He has seen this kind of thing many times. This kind of situation at the local level can be said to be rampant and cannot be stopped despite repeated bans. But he has never understood why this is happening. Now Zhu Chong tells him the real answer!
No matter what, it is all caused by power. Powerful officials have tasted the sweetness of power, and it is a joke for them to want to maintain their original intentions!
"So what you're saying is that the court should assign supervisory officials to all those village heads and baozhangs and put them under full supervision?"
Old Zhu shook his head, "Second Brother, you know this will cause a large number of redundant officials to appear like in the Song Dynasty!"
For Old Zhu, Zhu Chong’s idea was good, but Old Zhu was short of money. His finances were in deficit every year, and he also lacked talent. Otherwise, how could he not handle such a small matter or drag his feet?
After all, the Ming Dynasty now does not have a relatively safe environment. Without a relatively safe environment, where can we find students who can study hard? Even if there are, they are people from official families.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was no imperial examination. Anyone with a little knowledge would be directly recruited to be an official if Zhu Yuanzhang knew about him.
But even so, the Ming Dynasty still did not have enough officials to use. It was not until recent years, when the imperial examination was reopened, that the court had some people who could be used.
But as for supervising the village head and preventing those people from bullying the villagers, I'm afraid Lao Zhu can't think of that yet, because there are too many things involved, mainly because there is no one, and secondly, there is no money!
"Your Majesty, this is actually not difficult. We can still select talents from the people to serve as village heads and neighborhood chiefs as we do now!" Zhu Chong once again made a shocking statement.
Old Zhu was puzzled and gave Zhu Chong a strange look. "You said a while ago that the village chiefs and baozhang elected from the people are easily blinded by power and turn around to oppress the people. Why are you saying that there is nothing wrong with our baojia system now?"
Zhu Chong laughed. This was just like Old Zhu. His original intention in formulating the system was good, but he never had a deep understanding of the system he had formulated.
He always has a superficial idea that things should be done in a certain way, and if there is anything wrong with it, he will overturn it completely without ever thinking about patching or improving it.
Zhu's baojia system, if implemented properly, would naturally be good for the people of the world. But the key is that it is not implemented effectively now, and naturally, as time goes by, the people will suffer greatly from it.
The key to whether a system is good or bad lies in how the implementers do it. From the beginning, Zhu Chong did not target Zhu's baojia system, but was worried about the current talent selection method of the baojia system.
"Your Majesty, under the current baojia system, the village and borough heads are selected by the villagers of each county. The imperial court has no oversight in this selection process. I'm certain there's been a lot of favoritism and corruption!"
"Does your Majesty consider the talents selected in this way to be truly talented? Once they ascend to the positions of village and borough heads, will they truly serve the imperial court, devoting themselves to it until their death?"
Old Zhu's head began to hurt. He didn't understand how Zhu Chong could talk about one thing and then another, and how talking about another thing could give him such a headache?
I always feel that no matter what this kid says, it makes me feel that my Ming Dynasty is full of holes.
Zhu Chong did not finish his words, "Father, I believe that the so-called talents selected in this way will not stand on the side of the court at all. They will only focus on their own little piece of land."
"After all, the imperial court has no constraints on them, so they have no sense of awe, and naturally it is difficult to get them to be loyal to the imperial court."
"Furthermore, the imperial court has no influence on them at all. Whether they can become village heads or village chiefs, how can they possibly have any respect for the imperial court? Unless they can gain benefits from it, they will only do their own thing in their future official careers!"
Hearing Zhu Chong say this, Old Zhu was immediately hit in the sore spot and shouted sternly: "Let them try and see if our knife is sharp enough!"
Old Zhu was really annoyed. In his eyes, the imperial power was supreme. How could the Ming Dynasty tolerate the existence of such a person who had no respect for the court? And he was an official who received a salary from the court!
Zhu Chong spread his hands, smiled bitterly, and said, "Father, as the saying goes, the emperor is far away. Do you think that if you get angry in Yingtian Prefecture, the people and officials in Guangdong and Guangxi, and in the north, will feel your anger?"
"Those people have lived their entire lives on their own little piece of land, like frogs in a well, looking at the sky from afar. Expecting a group of people like them to always have a sense of awe for the imperial court, hahaha..."
Zhu Chong did not say the following words directly, but his sneer deeply hurt Old Zhu's heart.
Indeed, who can expect those local headmen and village chiefs far away from the capital to always maintain respect for the imperial court?
Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that it was impossible, but when he thought that those who should have been the cornerstones of the Ming Dynasty would become stubborn stones that the court could not influence in the future, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a chill.
If this is really the case throughout the world, then is this so-called Ming Dynasty really the domain of the Zhu family?
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