Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1126 Your Highness should think this through carefully.

After scolding Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Lao San, and Zhu Lao Si, Heizhi Tangyuan looked at Yang Shaofeng expectantly and said, "Brother-in-law, Lao Er, Lao San, and Lao Si are a bit stupid, but things have already been done so well, look..."

Yang Shaofeng smiled and looked at the black sesame dumplings, saying, "May I ask Your Highness, where did the Second Prince go wrong in this matter?"

Zhu Biao frowned and said, "In my opinion, the second brother's actions are not entirely wrong, after all, it was those officials and gentry who castrated the children of ordinary people first."

"The problem is that the second son handled this matter very poorly."

“He wanted to vent his anger for the people. He could have asked the government to give him a harsher sentence during the trial, or wait until these people were sent to Liaodong before taking action against them.”

"By castrating the children of officials and gentry before the government could conduct a trial, he was accused of violating the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

Black Sesame Dumpling took a deep breath and said, "To put it bluntly, this is not the frontier after all."

"If he did something like this in Fujian, it would affect not only his own reputation, but also the legal provisions of our Ming Dynasty Code."

"This is what's giving me a headache right now."

Yang Shaofeng rolled his eyes and scoffed, "In the end, isn't it all because those officials and gentry are good at spreading rumors and slander? What's there to worry about?"

Pay attention!

The Ming Dynasty has always been an era where double standards were maxed out.

Domestically, the Ming Dynasty had always prohibited the castration of other people's children to become eunuchs, and it also prohibited ordinary people from privately castrating themselves to become eunuchs. Although the prohibition was not very effective, people like Wang Zhen and Li Jinzhong had privately castrated themselves and entered the palace to become eunuchs.

However, when dealing with foreign enemies, especially Japanese pirates or border regions, the Ming Dynasty would usually systematically castrate prisoners of war, especially captured children. Emperor Zhu once issued an imperial edict ordering the castration of captured Japanese pirates.

Therefore, if Zhu Lao Er were to castrate a large number of captured children in the border region this time, he would at most be scolded by Lao Deng and Heizhima Tangyuan, but nothing else would happen.

The problem is that this time, Zhu the Second was castrating the young children of officials and gentry, which has already involved the "Great Ming Code".

To put it mildly, it violates the law that "castrating other people's children to become slaves."

To put it bluntly, it means disregarding the law, abusing private justice, and harming the people. All sorts of ridiculous accusations can be pinned on Zhu Lao Er's head, and then his actions can be used to attack the seriousness of the "Great Ming Code," while also throwing mud at Lao Deng and Heizhima Tangyuan.

Yang Shaofeng picked up the small dragon rice ball and said, "Those local gentry and scholars can slander and smear, so why can't Your Highness have the Second Prince's actions made into a play and let the whole world know about it?"

"The opening scene shows officials and gentry forcibly taking young children from ordinary people's homes, casting them, and using them as servants."

"It just so happened that the Second Prince accompanied his brother on a military expedition. Upon hearing of such a tragedy among the people, he sent people to investigate the facts. Enraged, he decided to arrest the officials and gentry who were plotting a rebellion and castrate the young children in their homes, all to vent his anger for the people."

"His Highness the Crown Prince learned of this matter and ordered that the Second Prince be severely flogged because the Second Prince had violated the Great Ming Code. He then admonished the Second Prince that in the future, he must first undergo trial by the government or the court before taking any action, and must not arbitrarily resort to private punishment. The Second Prince sincerely admitted his mistake."

"At the end, add a scene of officials and gentry plotting a banquet, and have those officials and gentry say a few words like, 'If we just shrug our lips, those peasants will fall for it.' Then have the second prince complain to the crown prince, saying that he was clearly acting in the interests of the people, so why was he being scolded?"

"Then the Crown Prince told the Second Prince that the people were cursing him because they did not know the truth. He said that he should build more community schools and county schools to enlighten the people so that they would not be deceived by officials and gentry."

Yang Shaofeng took a sip of tea and continued, "And Shen Mingting."

“My father-in-law ordered the construction of the Shenming Pavilion in various places, not just for aesthetic purposes.”

"Have the magistrates of each county take their yamen runners to the Shenming Pavilion and explain this matter clearly to the people."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the patrol inspectors accompanied and recorded the officials' words, which were then collected and sent to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's thousand-household offices in various places. The Censorate then conducted random checks and verifications to prevent the officials from making false statements."

At this point, Yang Shaofeng put down his teacup and said with a smile, "It's just like the right to annotate the classics. If the imperial court doesn't seize it, those officials and gentry will occupy the right to annotate the classics."

“Once they seize the right to annotate the classics, they will have complete control over how the classics are annotated.”

"Your Highness, don't think that having the 'Da Ming Newspaper' in hand will allow you to outmaneuver those officials and gentry."

After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Also, instead of worrying about the Second Prince's affairs, Your Highness should think more about the messy business of the maritime merchants."

"No, we shouldn't call them maritime merchants, but rather businessmen."

"This is the most unsolvable problem."

Zhu Biao paused for a moment, then asked, "Merchants? No solution?"

Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement and said, "Merchants, there's no solution."

"Your Highness, although every dynasty has called for prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, every dynasty has also relied on merchants."

"With the existence of merchants, the world's wealth can circulate."

"Then here's the problem."

"Because everyone was advocating for prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, merchants felt insecure. And when a person feels insecure, he will try every means to gain a sense of security."

"What makes merchants feel threatened is power, and what makes them feel safe is also power."

"Therefore, once merchants accumulate a certain amount of wealth, they will inevitably try to seize power."

"Then another problem arose."

"Merchants with power are no longer just ordinary merchants, but officials and merchants."

"Don't officials and businessmen want to rise to higher positions?"

"If merchants without power can be checked and balanced by the government, then who will check and balance the officials and merchants who are themselves part of the bureaucratic system?"

"Human desires are endless."

"Merchants think about making money and seizing power, while officials and merchants think about seizing even more power and even greater profits."

"They will try every means to squeeze every penny out of the people's pockets."

"This is precisely the fundamental reason why dynasties throughout history have called for prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce."

Zhu Biao felt like his head was about to turn into mush, but Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "We can't do without merchants, but we can't let them run wild either. We can't manage them too loosely, and we can't manage them too strictly either."

"It's just like what Confucius said: 'If you get too close to them, they become disrespectful; if you keep them at a distance, they resent you.'"

"This is difficult, extremely difficult."

"Anyway, I don't have any good ideas."

"Your Highness should think this over carefully."