Chapter 259
Probably every dynasty is similar, the Han, Tang and Song dynasties were different, but the reasons for the collapse of the country were land annexation. More than a hundred years have passed since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Hongwu was born in a peasant uprising, but now, the problems of land and refugees in the Ming Dynasty have also become serious.
When the emperor first ascended the throne, half of the world's farmland had been appropriated by interest groups in various names, the refugees accounted for one-tenth of the total population, and small-scale farmers had moved in all directions.
It is not a good start for the emperor to take over, but he must first settle down in order to fight against the outside world. After he ascended the throne, the first half of his ruling career constantly relied on the great ceremony to stabilize his position and eliminate the disobedient officials in the court. Now, the power has been completely taken back into the hands of the emperor, and the emperor has also begun to attack the country's accumulated abuses.
The emperor appointed Zhang Jinggong, on the one hand, Zhang Jinggong made great contributions in the ceremony, and on the other hand, Zhang Jinggong was indeed capable. Zhang Jinggong's political opponents scolded him for being self-willed and arbitrary, but this also shows that Zhang Jinggong is not afraid of offending people, and something is really wrong.
Since Zhang Jinggong entered the pavilion, he has both moved the fields and moved people. He surveyed the farmland in Gyeonggi, liquidated more than 50,000 hectares of land that had been embezzled by heroes, dignitaries, and relatives of the royal family. returned to the state treasury.
In addition to Gyeonggi, there are also vast territories in other provinces. At this juncture, the emperor will never give up Zhang Jinggong.
Zhang Jinggong was right, not long after the end of the Shangyuan holiday, the emperor restored him to his original post. This time, however, something was different.
After Zhang Jinggong returned to the cabinet, his heart was full of energy, and he wanted to show some achievements to everyone, so he immediately expanded the scale of Qingzhang's land to the whole country. Among them, the areas of Huguang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang with the most serious land loss are the focus of Zhang Jinggong's rectification. At the same time, he also vigorously dismissed redundant officials and investigated corruption. Unexpectedly, this move suddenly stabbed the hornet's nest.
Jiangxi and Zhejiang are both major imperial examination provinces. Half of the Juren and Jinshi come from these places every year, and the land that Zhang Jinggong wants to liquidate happens to be in the name of this group of Shilin families.
Previously, when Zhang Jinggong surveyed the land in Gyeonggi, the civil servants were watching the excitement, but now the interests of the country gentry have been shaken, and half of the civil servants in the court can no longer sit still. Many people jumped out to accuse Zhang Jinggong, and the articles of impeachment were overwhelming, not only the officials in Beijing were impassioned, but also many officials from other places.
The most outrageous thing is that a comet appeared in the sky. Feng En Shangshu, the censor of Nanjing, said that this was a warning from a vision from heaven. Zhang Jinggong was a disaster comet in the court. There is bound to be a catastrophe, and I implore the emperor to behead his minister Zhang Jinggong.
The emperor is a sensible person, and he knows that the so-called disaster from heaven is nothing but nonsense. It was his idea to reform the land. Feng En seemed to be scolding Zhang Jinggong, but wasn't he actually scolding the emperor as a bum? The emperor scolded the book again in the morning, and scolded: "Feng Enfei specifically refers to Zhang Jinggong, but he really hates the emperor in the name of propriety, and there is more than sin in death."
The emperor attacked, but the impeachment storm did not stop there, and the momentum became more violent. In the chaos, impeachment gradually turned into rumors, slander, and scolding. Rumors spread with the wind. Some truths were mixed with falsehoods, and it was impossible to distinguish the truth from the truth.
Zhang Jinggong had long anticipated that he might offend people, but he didn't expect that, as literati, these literati who had read the books of sages and begged for the people's orders would be more interested in wanting him to die than their peers when their interests were touched. The impeachment turmoil was much more serious than Zhang Jinggong had expected, and it got out of hand and became more and more intense.
In this wind, of course, the Marquis of Wuding also contributed. After all, many of the more than 500 Gyeonggi farms confiscated by Zhang Jinggong belonged to Guo Xun.
As the old saying goes, three people become tigers. It turns out that Zhang Jinggong is not afraid, but a few years ago, the trust between him and the emperor had just cracked. Zhang Jinggong can use a small Xue Kan to attack dissidents, can he use the land of Qingzhang to seek other personal interests?
When the first person said this, the emperor ignored it, believing that Zhang Jinggong had touched the interests of others, and that was why he was criticized. But more and more people said it, and the emperor's heart was shaken.
Once the seeds of suspicion are planted, they will take root and sprout like a parasitic vine, and any gust of wind and grass will cause the suspicion to grow wildly. So one day, Zhang Jinggong suddenly discovered that the emperor no longer fulfilled his demands unconditionally. When he wrote to request the dismissal of certain officials, the emperor stayed longer and longer, and his eyes were filled with scrutiny unconsciously.
Zhang Jinggong was like being drunk, and his enthusiasm for reform was also quenched by a basin of cold water.
At the beginning of the year, the weather was repeated, infectious diseases were prevalent, and the elderly were prone to fall ill. Zhang Jinggong was impeached for two months. He was overworked and stressed, and Hou Chaoshi suddenly passed out in the duty room. Everyone hurriedly sent Zhang Jinggong home. The emperor heard that and sent an imperial physician to Zhang's house for diagnosis and treatment.
Zhang Jinggong was unconscious for more than a day and did not wake up until noon the next day. However, this time, after Zhang Jinggong woke up, his spirit seemed to have dissipated, and his body was not as good as before.
The emperor pro-medicated bait and ordered Zhang Jinggong to recuperate in peace, but Zhang Jinggong offered to serve as an official and resigned as the first assistant.
After this illness, Zhang Jinggong also wanted to understand that if he dared to be the first in the world, he should not die. Reformers in all dynasties and dynasties were all smarter, more capable, and more respected than him, but none of them had a good death. Shang Yang's reforms, his car split in the city, and An Shi's reforms, so he didn't dare to go to the door. Why did he think he could be an exception?