Chapter 1583 1585 [Centured insect, dead but not stiff]
"Be safe and don't be impatient." Seeing this, Xiang Nan held his hand that was about to move.
It is useless to beat the tax collector violently. Even if he is beaten to death, someone will still come to collect taxes. It is useless even to raise the banner of rebellion and overthrow the entire imperial court.
Because the essence of the feudal system is cannibalism. The contradiction between the landlord class and the peasant class is irreconcilable, and when the old landlord class is overthrown, there will be a new landlord class. , the contradiction always exists.
After stopping Jun Bao, Xiang Nan quietly stepped forward, reached into the tax collector's arms, and took out his money bag.
Then Xiang Nan took out a broken piece of silver and smiled at the tax collector, "My lord, please calm down, it's not worth it to be so angry early in the morning. I'll pay the tax money for him, so don't dispose of it like him." If you get angry, it won’t be good if you get angry.”
"Oh, you are sensible." The tax collector took the broken silver and smiled with satisfaction, "Forget it, let him go."
Those soldiers just released the hawker.
"My lord is really admonishing like a liar, and loving the people like a son. I wish you every step of the way, and you will be promoted to three levels in a row." Xiang Nan laughed.
The tax collector listened to the flattery, laughed, and led the soldiers away triumphantly.
Xiang Nan helped the peddler up, and gave him another piece of silver, "Take it for medical treatment."
"Thank you, thank you." The hawker thanked repeatedly, grateful.
Xiang Nan waved his hand, and then left with Jun Bao.
"Brother, you can really do it." Jun Bao said in admiration.
"It's nothing." Xiang Nan smiled, "Go, let's eat."
The tax collector had five taels of silver in his purse, which was enough for the two brothers to eat and drink for a long time.
…
After a hearty breakfast, the two brothers continued shopping.
It took a day, and I basically finished shopping in Luoyang City.
After shopping around, Xiang Nan has a certain understanding of the current society.
It can be said that now is a troubled time.
After Emperor Zhengde came to the throne, he indulged in pleasure and abandoned the government. He didn't even go to court for four consecutive years.
He built shops in the palace imitating the street market, and used eunuchs and court ladies as common people and shopkeepers, while he pretended to be a wealthy businessman for fun. However, most of the goods in the shop were stolen by eunuchs, guards, and court ladies, and Emperor Zhengde didn't care.
He also built a leopard house in Xiyuan, played with prostitutes and male favorites every day, completely ignored the government, so that the power fell and the eunuchs monopolized power.
Liu Jin, Zhang Yong, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, etc. are called the Eight Tigers. They take advantage of the emperor's favor, run rampant, control the government, demote loyal officials who oppose them, and promote treacherous officials who cling to them, making the government even more chaotic.
Among them, Liu Jin acted recklessly because he was the most powerful, and forcibly blackmailed all officials. All officials who came to Beijing had to send money, which was called a meeting gift.
Otherwise, it would be trivial to dismiss from office, or even be arrested and imprisoned directly, tortured, charged with crimes, and implicated relatives. Some officials were even forced to commit suicide because they had no money to bribe. Because of this, Liu Jin was once called the Li Emperor.
It is precisely because of the darkness of the court and the corruption of officials that the people are in dire straits, so there are rebellions everywhere in the world.
In the early years of Zhengde, Wang Yuwu of Fuzhou revolted; in the second year of Zhengde, Wang Chenger of Raozhou revolted;
…
However, Xiang Nan knew that centipedes are dead but not stiff.
Although the Ming Dynasty was in troubled times, it was not easy to overthrow it.
On the one hand, Emperor Zhengde's father, Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youtang, was a rare Ming emperor. Generous and kind, practice frugality, not close to women, diligent in political affairs.
He was the only emperor in ancient China who did not accept concubines and only had one queen. During his reign, he built water conservancy, developed agriculture, prospered the economy, made the society stable, and the people prosperous.
Therefore, during the Hongzhi period, there were almost no large-scale peasant uprisings in the Ming Dynasty. The population increased by more than 10 million, and the taxation amount also increased significantly, reaching a new peak.
So although Emperor Zhengde was more nonsense, but with the solid foundation laid by his father, it will not be clean for a while.
On the one hand, although Emperor Zhengde was playful, he was not confused about major issues. He used Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, Wang Shouren (Wang Yangming), Jiao Fang, Wang Jia, Yang Tinghe and other famous officials to assist the government.
So although he has abandoned the government and has not been in the early court for many years, but with these ministers taking care of official affairs, the government can still maintain the government with all his strength, and it is not yet the time when the building will collapse.
In fact, it took another hundred years for the Ming Dynasty to collapse after six emperors including Jiajing, Longqing, Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi, and Chongzhen.
Moreover, if it were not for the Little Ice Age, which is rare in five hundred years, the Ming Dynasty might not have come to an end.
Therefore, Xiang Nan did not plan to rebel and overthrow the Ming Dynasty and become emperor himself.
On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty Guozuo is still a hundred years old, and its luck is not yet exhausted, and it is not yet time to perish; on the other hand, it is not as easy as imagined to rebel.
To raise troops and rebel, you must first have soldiers, and then you must have food and grass. In ancient times, only the poor and desperate would choose to rebel. Most of the poor are malnourished and weak, unable to meet the needs of the war.
In addition, most of the poor are illiterate, so they can't follow orders and strictly abide by discipline. Don't talk about forming a queue, walking in unison, you may not even be able to tell the left and right.
So those peasant uprisings seemed mighty and mighty, with tens of thousands of people at every turn, but in fact, the elite who could go to the battlefield was no more than a thousand people at most. The rest are mostly vassals, and it may be possible to fight with the wind. Once at a disadvantage, the army will be defeated immediately, so it is called the mob.
And food and grass is also a big difficulty. If you rely on robbing the rich to help the poor, you can rob the landlord's granary to keep it running. Then it will definitely be resisted desperately by the landlord class.
Most of them are rich and powerful, and they can form a group to practice resistance. Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the late Qing Dynasty were all defeated by the landlords.
Furthermore, being an emperor doesn't do much good.
Even if he becomes the emperor, with a vast land and three thousand beauties, he will not be able to take anything with him when he leaves.
So, Xiang Nan doesn't expect to be the emperor himself, he just wants to learn a few more martial arts.
…
After shopping around, at night, Xiang Nan and Jun Bao returned to the Buddha Laughing Tower.
"How is it? Have you found something to do?" Little Winter Melon asked with concern.
"Not yet." Xiang Nan waved his hand and smiled.
He walked around today and was deeply touched.
First of all, legitimate business is not easy to do. Local hooligans, officials and tax collectors often come to exploit, and they have to pay taxes and protection fees. After a hard day, the money they earn is not enough to give them.
Secondly, the unemployment rate in society is extremely high now, and there are no redundant jobs at all. Moreover, even if they want to see a job, no one dares to use them. Because looking for a job in ancient times required a guarantor. They are two strangers, no name, no surname, no background, which shop would dare to invite them.
So after careful consideration, it is easier to go the wrong way and steal from the rich and give to the poor.
(end of this chapter)