The generals pondered over it all night and were finally able to speak today.
Song Lian and Ye Zheng also temporarily stopped attacking each other, calmed down to record the speeches at the meeting, and put forward their own opinions.
What surprised them was that last night this group of people were staring with their eyes wide open and pretending to be stupid, but today everyone was speaking very enthusiastically and the opinions they put forward were very pertinent.
After careful consideration, Song Lian and Ye Zheng understood the reason. These generals had likely all experienced the hardships of farming and understood the pressing problems facing the poor farmers.
For example, after a woman is granted land, if she marries someone from another village, how should she exchange the land?
For example, if a family is divided into many fields, but has insufficient people to cultivate them, insufficient farming tools, and insufficient livestock, how can they help each other?
For example, how to supervise the allocation of land to the adult population? It is definitely not enough to rely solely on the county magistrate. Is it necessary to have new officials under the county magistrate?
For example, apart from the simplest land tax, how should the corvée labor, especially the corvée labor of women, be levied on the adult population?
For example, if adults go out to do business or become officials, how should their land, taxes, and labor service be handled?
After hearing the end, Song Lian and Ye Zheng shut up and wrote down every question raised by the generals.
They suddenly discovered that many of the issues raised by the generals had never occurred to them. They had overlooked so many issues simply by looking through the old documents about the land tax policies of their predecessors.
However, the two were great sages after all. Soon, they were able to help Zhu Yuanzhang improve his policies from their own perspectives.
As a descendant of the pragmatic school of thought and having grown up in a mountain village, Ye Zheng often brought his disciples to mediate disputes between neighbors. Many of these disputes were related to farmland, and Ye Zheng quickly followed the generals' thinking and offered practical and useful advice.
Song Lian studied under renowned teachers from a young age, spending years in his study. He lacked practical experience but possessed a wealth of theoretical knowledge. While the Zhu-style well-field system was a novelty, many of the problems it encountered had already been encountered in history.
For example, the problem of women sharing land had already been encountered in the Tang Dynasty and before. The generals present did not understand, but Song Lian had thoroughly studied the equal-field system.
…
While Zhu Yuanzhang and others were scratching their heads and filling in the content in the framework of "Zhu's Characteristic Well-Field System" written by Chen Biao, Chen Biao was also explaining "Zhu's Characteristic Well-Field System" to his three brothers.
The unique well-field system of the Ming Dynasty and the Zhu family is actually the rural land contracting system of later generations.
The nationalization of land, the contract responsibility system for linking output to remuneration, and the mutual assistance and mutual benefit among rural communes have not only increased farmers' enthusiasm for production, but also minimized the personal productivity gap caused by the physical differences among farmers.
But Chen Biao did not believe that this policy could reach the level of later generations.
When this policy was implemented in later generations, the country already had a complete mechanical production line.
In the vast plains, large machines such as combine harvesters are used to haul crops; in small mountain villages with fragmented fields, rural communes also have small machines for farmers to use.
What was there in this era? In the rural communes they established, people were lucky to have a working ox.
The imperial court rented out oxen to farmers for collective use... Sorry, this existed in the Western Han Dynasty. Do I need Chen Biao to explain?
Next, it depends on whether Zhu Yuanzhang’s butcher knife can keep the officials who manage the oxen honest for a few years.
By the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, the only oxen available for rent were old, weak, sick, and unusable. The money used to replace the oxen went to officials and powerful individuals. Commoners were unable to farm their own fields and were forced to sell their land to pay taxes.
Selling the land for rent now is just an insurance for the dynasty's redistribution of land. As long as the Ming Dynasty does not encounter incompetent rulers again and again, it will not fall into complete ruin.
Let’s talk about corvee labor.
It's often said that heavy taxes can crush people. In fact, land taxes throughout the dynasties were very low; it was the exorbitant taxes and corvee labor that crushed people. And many of these exorbitant taxes were in turn supported by corvee labor.
In ancient times, officials were not exempt from land taxes; they were exempt from corvee labor. Ordinary people did not want to be killed by the heavy corvee labor, but could not afford the exorbitant taxes and levies that replaced it, so they could only sell themselves as tenant farmers to at least survive.
Before the Tang Dynasty, women were granted land, half the amount of land granted to men.
In ancient times, corvée labor was tied to land. In the early Tang Dynasty, following the Sui Dynasty system, women were originally granted land. Later, the equal-field system was improved. Later, in order to increase the population, the granting of land to women and slaves was gradually abolished, and the corvée labor of women and slaves was also abolished accordingly.
At that time, this was a benevolent policy for women.
In the early Tang Dynasty, each household was granted enough land to support the women in the family. Women were exempt from corvée labor and could continue to farm and support their families while men were doing so.
In the long run, women gradually became dependent on their families, having a life but no status. But for ordinary people, just surviving was good enough, not thinking about the future. Moreover, in dynasties before the Song Dynasty, women could inherit family property, so their status was not too low.
By the Song Dynasty, not only were land not granted to the people, but land annexation was encouraged. Lower-income families could not support many people, and it became common for women to be abandoned.
In the inheritance of property in relatively wealthy families, the term "family-extinct daughter" first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty. A family-extinct daughter would only receive one-third of the family wealth. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, a family-extinct daughter could not leave the house due to legal constraints, and her inheritance was managed by the clan.
Women have lost both their lives and their status.
Now Zhu Yuanzhang granted land to women not to improve their status, but to increase the labor force. Zhu Yuanzhang did not have such a high level of ideological awareness.
No matter what kind of human rights we pursue, it is only when human productivity reaches a certain standard and material distribution is relatively sufficient that most people in society are willing to give up some of their own interests for the sake of "greater civilization" and transform them into "public welfare."
With current productivity and social cognition, if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to grant land to women now, it might be considered as persecution of women.
What? Making women work in the fields? And forcing them to do forced labor? What a tyrant!
As for the idea that property determines status, that without property, one's life is ultimately controlled by others, and that the hard work of women today will lay the foundation for the status of women in the new era after the development of productivity...
Who cared? Most people only knew that working in the fields was tiring, that corvée labor was exhausting, and that being exempted from it cost a fortune.
Of course, Chen Biao could also come up with a solution from later generations—join the engineering team! No more corvée service for all the people!
But that's impossible.
Without an established industrial system, all major infrastructure projects like river management, road construction, and city building required manpower and even human lives. If forced labor were to become voluntary, no prosperous court could afford it.
The kind-hearted imperial court would at most give the people who were doing labor service enough money and food, some compensation, and proper rest so that they could return alive.
Therefore, as long as Zhu Yuanzhang dared to promulgate the Zhu family's unique well-field system of granting land to women, he would be labeled a tyrant.
Chen Biao has already written these disadvantages very clearly, it depends on what choice Zhu Yuanzhang makes.
Chen Biao scratched his head.
Feudal society is miserable, even he, a capitalist, feels a little bit sorry for it.
He suddenly felt that it was fortunate that the world belonged to the Zhu family, not his Chen family. If it belonged to the Chen family, he would have to do so many things that went against his conscience.
Chen Biao touched his chest.
If you don't go against your conscience, your country will perish. If you want your country to prosper under the current conditions of productivity, you have to be ruthless. It's really difficult.
Chen Biao sighed, "Fortunately, the Zhu family will be the emperor in the future. Such a wise ruler is not something that anyone can become, at least not me."
The three brothers were all confused by what they heard, and even Chen Ying, who had been staying next to Chen Biao, had circles in his eyes.
They were digesting the profound contents that Chen Biao said, and were speechless when they suddenly heard this sentence.
Chen Wenzheng held his head and shook it vigorously, as if trying to shake out the swelling in his head. "It's too complicated! How can it be more complicated than fighting a war? I'd rather fight a one-on-ten city defense than listen to this!"
Li Bao'er held her forehead with one hand. "I, I kind of understand. Although women lack land and are the first to be abandoned and killed during famine, chaos, and poverty, as long as there's enough food, they don't have to work in the fields or perform corvée labor, and their lives are relatively easy. So they're against the Marshal granting land to women?! And they're calling him a tyrant?! This, this is hard to understand!"
Chen Ying nodded vigorously. It was incomprehensible, incomprehensible, too incomprehensible!
Chen Biao said, "What's so hard to understand about this? Poor women who are abandoned and killed have no voice in this world. Do you expect a woman from a wealthy family who voluntarily binds her feet to sympathize with a poor woman who can only change clothes with her family when she goes out?"
He clapped his hands together, then spread them out. "Only those who have clothes to wear when they go out are human beings. Those who have no clothes to wear, whether male or female, are not human beings. Only humans can make a voice and seek benefits for themselves."
Chen Wenzhen, Li Baoer and Chen Ying moved their lips but were unable to speak.
The three of them are men.
In this era, few men consider women's feelings.
The three of them had never considered the feelings of women other than their biological mother and stepmother.
But after hearing Chen Biao's words, they felt sad and unbelievable.
Because of Chen Biao's words, they felt deeply empathetic.
Before they followed Zhu Yuanzhang in the uprising, they were also one of the "not human" ones.
…
There are still many areas that need to be improved in the subsequent land tax policy. But these can be filled in later, and the land in Yangzhou will be divided first.
This time, Zhu Yuanzhang indulged himself in a rare luxury and found a piece of beautiful jade. He personally engraved the three big characters "Zhu Yuanzhang" on it and happily stamped the people's land contract.
Since Zhu Yuanzhang announced the "Zhu's Well-Field System", refugees have poured into Yangzhou City like a tide.
Zhu Yuanzhang watched as Yangzhou City became increasingly bustling, and said to Xu Da cheerfully, "Next year, I'll give you land, too, and give land to all the soldiers!"
His family said that soldiers' families should also have land to increase their enthusiasm for joining the army.
Fight for Zhu Yuanzhang? No! Fighting for the land that has already been allocated to one's family can mobilize the fighting spirit of ordinary soldiers!
Zhu Yuanzhang put himself in the other person's shoes and thought about it.
If he had not yet become a general, but was just a soldier, if his generals had divided land among his family, and Ma lived with Biao'er on the land, he would have fought desperately in every battle to prevent his wife and son from losing their land and starving to death.
But Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates all looked worried. It was obvious that these guys had already occupied a lot of land in advance.
However, no matter how sad they were, they never thought of rebelling against Zhu Yuanzhang.
Given their contributions, they would definitely receive a good share of the land. The Marshal also said that meritorious land could be passed down to their descendants for another generation. Furthermore, if they purchased, no, contracted, land with their money, their descendants would continue to be wealthy as long as they didn't squander their wealth.
If the descendants' family declines, there is still land for adults to divide, and there is hope for a turnaround in the future.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's soldiers figured it out, they smiled again and took out their maps to gesture to Zhu Yuanzhang to grab the land.
Zhu Yuanzhang beat these generals one by one and told them to get out of here immediately. Those who needed to train should train their troops, and those who needed to farm should farm the land.
Two great scholars, Song Lian and Ye Zheng, personally went to the scene to explain Zhu's unique well-field system to the people who received the contract.
In this era when there were no microphones, the intellectuals who could give lectures outside had great lung capacity.
The two great writers' righteous spirits were so strong and their voices were like a bell that even scared Zhu Yuanzhang.
He said to Chang Yuchun, "Are Mr. Song and Mr. Ye usually this loud? Even louder than when we challenged them."
Chang Yuchun said, "They usually... usually have very calm voices."
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't believe it: "Really?"
Chang Yuchun lied, "It's true."
In fact, they usually quarreled very loudly, but Chang Yuchun didn't dare to say anything bad about them.
The sarcastic confrontation between Song Lian and Ye Zheng at the gate of the Marshal's Mansion made Chang Yuchun realize that Ye Zheng said he was going back to get the amulet, but in fact he had talked to Marshal Zhu alone and won his trust.
Given Marshal Zhu's abundant energy, he probably dragged Ye Zheng along to chat all night, and even forced Xu Da to stay awake to listen. That's why Ye Zheng stayed overnight at Xu Da's residence, and why Xu Da had dark circles under his eyes, as if he'd been beaten.
What made Chang Yuchun even more terrified was that Ye Zheng even went in and out of Chen's house afterwards!
Even he was not allowed to go to the Chen Mansion!
What on earth did Ye Zheng say to Marshal Zhu that he suddenly became Marshal Zhu's confidant!
Based on Chang Yuchun's understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang, it was difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to trust scholars. With the exception of Li Shanchang, Zhu Yuanzhang always prioritized military commanders who fought on the battlefield when awarding honors.
Because Chang Yuchun knew Zhu Yuanzhang too well, he couldn't even feel jealous of Ye Zheng.
He just felt that Ye Zheng was too terrifying.
Afterwards, Song Lian made great efforts to catch up. He wore out several pairs of shoes and visited the soldiers in the army who were once farmers one by one. He also personally walked around the fields near Yangzhou to measure the land and complete the land distribution affairs in Yangzhou.
Marshal Zhu began to favor Song Lian again.
But soon, Ye Zheng actually took out the land tax and corvee details that could be used temporarily in Yangzhou, and improved the "Qingjun labor reform" policy that Zhu Yuanzhang had only mentioned verbally.
Well, Ye Zheng has surpassed Song Lian again.
The bloodless fight between the literati made Chang Yuchun, who lived with them, tremble with fear.
What made Chang Yuchun tremble even more was that even though these two people were fighting so hard, they still faced each other with very warm smiles every day, as if they were as close to each other as their own brothers.
They read together, discussed scriptures together, and explored things together. If it weren't for the fact that what they produced each time was completely different from what they discussed, Chang Yuchun would have truly believed that they were as close as brothers.
Not to mention Chang Yuchun was scared, even the brainless Lan Yu felt something was wrong and started to walk around the two great masters.
However, these two great masters often carried Lan Yu to grind ink and bring them water. In just a few days, Lan Yu was tortured to the point that his eyes were dull and he looked like a walking corpse.
Chang Yuchun, who was so scared that he wanted to "move", immediately stopped.
Seeing that Lan Yu (crossed out) suffered (crossed out) and received a good education, he, as her brother-in-law, was willing to make sacrifices.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Chang Yuchun suspiciously.
Chang Yuchun looked self-righteous, but in fact he glared back at him in a bandit-like manner.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked away. He was afraid that if he continued to watch, he would want to beat Chang Yuchun.
Can't Chang Yuchun imitate Xu Da and keep a straight face? Why does Chang Yuchun have to keep a sarcastic face all the time?
Zhu Yuanzhang touched his face, feeling very proud.
Fortunately, I have a full forehead, a square chin, straight facial features and a dignified demeanor.
The land distribution went smoothly, and all Zhu Yuanzhang heard were the poor people praising him.
Mr. Zhu has been very proud recently, and even his daily routine has become much more regular.
Although he was busy with his work, he still took time out every day to spend time with his son. When he was with his son, he would praise Zhu Yuanzhang and persuade Chen Biao to stop being prejudiced against Zhu.
Chen Biao just rolled his eyes at him and didn't bother to pay attention to his father, the veteran "Zhu Yuanzhang flatterer".
There were only 18 families of the elderly, the weak and the disabled left in Yangzhou. Zhu Yuanzhang felt sorry for the people of Yangzhou who had been wiped out, and moved all the unowned supplies in the city to his own warehouse.
Especially the books, all of which were stuffed into the Chen family's yard and became Chen Biao's private property.
Zhang Mingjian robbed Yangzhou, I robbed Zhang Mingjian, what I, Old Zhu, got was innocent! Justified!
Chen Biao, at his age, shouldn't have left home in troubled times. Now that he had so many books he hadn't read, Chen Biao didn't mention returning to Yingtian immediately. He stayed in Yangzhou to accompany his father, and also served as an advisor to his father and Xu Da.
Anyway, he just changed the place where he studied.
Zhu Yuanzhang rarely bothered Chen Biao with the issue of land distribution.
His son had already laid out the general framework for him, specifying the problems he would face. If he couldn't even resolve the land distribution issue independently, how could he still be emperor? He should have abdicated and let his son become the general.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very tough this time.
I, Zhu Yuanzhang, will never ask my son for help this time!
Chen Biao said as he sat cross-legged on his father's belly and read a book, "Yeah, yeah, yes, yes."
Judging from the time, it is almost time for the gentry and powerful to fight back.
Chen Biao had a crooked smile on his chubby little face, looking evil and crazy.
He was just waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to get angry, and his father would be scared by the angry Zhu Yuanzhang and ask him for help, huh!
Zhu Yuanzhang was leaning against the bedside reading a book, while Chen Biao was sitting cross-legged facing Zhu Yuanzhang. The corner of his mouth twisted, which immediately frightened Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang lifted Chen Biao up and rubbed his face vigorously. "Biao'er? What's wrong with your face? Is it cramped? Did you get too much wind while doing fitness boxing in the yard today and have a stroke? Doctor!"
Chen Biao was so angry that he rolled up the book and beat his father hard.
You're having a cramp! You're having a stroke! I just mentioned it with a disdainful smile! What do you mean by cramp or stroke?
When the doctor was hurriedly called by the servant guarding the door, he only saw Zhu Yuanzhang kneeling on the bed, and fighting with his son who was standing upright with his palms and fists.
The doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked in confusion, "Who is sick?"
Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Biao pointed at each other and said, "He is sick!"
Doctor: “…” I think both of you are mentally ill!
In the end, the doctor took the pulse of both of them and very cautiously prescribed them a very bitter summer-cooling medicine.
Chen Biao blamed his father for having to drink the bitter medicine, and made another entry in the little notebook of "fatherly love and filial piety".
Under Chen Biao's earnest anticipation, the gentry in Jiangnan finally understood the "Zhu family's unique well-field system" and began to fight back.
What Chen Biao didn't expect was that the first clarion call was not the poems written by literati expressing sympathy for the women doing forced labor, but the sad tunes of the famous prostitutes in the brothels.
Even in troubled times, there were luxurious and extravagant brothels, and there were also famous prostitutes with hair full of jewels and jade and celebrities of high moral character who appreciated each other and sang romantic stories for thousands of years.
Yingtian used to be a place along the Qinhuai River. But after Zhu Yuanzhang conquered Yingtian, because he didn't understand the customs and was afraid that it would corrupt the precocious Chen Biao, he closed all the brothels in Yingtian and beheaded all the brothels.
The Chen family ran a theater in Yingtian, occasionally putting on a few songs and dances, but they never engaged in such inhumane activities. Even though Chen Biao had no desire to save the country and the people, and only wanted to provide for his own family, he had no interest in torturing others. He was just an ordinary person with normal values.
Zhu Yuanzhang, a rough man, saw the power of famous prostitutes for the first time.
Prostitutes were held in a very low position, denied even a share of land and exempt from corvee labor. Yet, as they played their pipa and shed tears, singing about the plight of impoverished women forced into brothels, they captivated the literati, as if these beautiful women had been forced into brothels because Zhu Yuanzhang had divided their land and could no longer bear the hardships of farming and the oppression of corvee labor.
These courtesans were like ancient celebrities: common people might not understand the poetry of the literati, but they would certainly sing a few lines of their songs, even if they didn't understand what they meant.
As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation immediately became infamous outside of Yangzhou.
At this time, the talented women in the inner house also spoke up.
At one time, so many female teachers and Confucian scholars emerged from nowhere. All of them were well-read and good at writing poetry and prose.
In just one month, the number of poems and books published in the name of women was probably equal to the total number of books published in the entire Yuan Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not allow women to bind their feet, which was also said to be a way for Zhu Yuanzhang to force women to work and to exhaust them to death.
The play about Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall was also changed. It became that Meng Jiangnu was forced by the tyrant Qin Shi Huang to build the Great Wall and her crying caused the wall to collapse.
The separation of husband and wife, father and daughter, mother and son, Zhu Yuanzhang caused so many human tragedies.
At this moment, thousands of women cried together, and even Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates in Yingtian were shaken.
Chen Wenzhen was the first to suffer.
He had originally arranged a verbal marriage with the daughter of Xie Zaixing, a general under Zhu Yuanzhang , but now Xie Zaixing had changed his mind and defected to Zhang Shicheng with his family.
Chen Wenzhen was supposed to get married at the end of this year or early next year, but now his bride has flown away.
Apart from the starvation he endured in his early years, he had never suffered such a severe blow before. He actually fell ill.
Not only did Chen Wenzhen fall ill because his marriage was broken off, but Xie Zaixing also became the first general under Zhu Yuanzhang to betray him, which was a huge blow to Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.
Zhu Yuanzhang, whose temper had gradually mellowed due to his son's healing, suddenly became angry again.
He seemed to be back to the time when he was almost starved to death by Guo Zixing. He looked at everyone with suspicion, like a frightened bird, and dared not trust anyone.
Zhu Yuanzhang swore an oath with his blood that he would cut Xie Zaixing's family into pieces with his own hands and leave no one alive.
Xie Zaixing's defection had an extremely bad impact on Zhu Yuanzhang's newly consolidated power.
At the beginning of this year, Hu Dahai and Xie Zaixing conquered Wuzhou. Zhu Yuanzhang trusted Xie Zaixing and asked him to guard Wuzhou and changed Wuzhou into Ningyue Prefecture.
Ningyue Prefecture bordered Zhang Shicheng's territory. Xie Zaixing surrendered the city, but fortunately his soldiers mutinied, delaying the return of Hu Dahai, who recaptured Ningyue Prefecture and saved Zhu Yuanzhang from losing half of his already limited territory.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang poured a lot of effort into Ningyue Prefecture and finally made it gain some popularity, but it was completely wiped out in the war.
The newly renovated city walls of Ningyue Prefecture were reduced to rubble, further devastating the already struggling Zhu Yuanzhang's territory. Many generals who had originally supported Zhu Yuanzhang's implementation of the well-field system began to waver after Xie Zaixing defected to the enemy.
Xie Zaixing was going to marry Marshal Zhu's adopted son and General Chen's nephew! He even defected to the enemy. Is there really something wrong with this well-field system?
Li Shanchang wrote a letter every day urging Zhu Yuanzhang to return to Yingtian and take charge, as he was worried that something might happen at the Yingtian base.
"Let Xu Da and Biao'er implement the well-field system! Marshal, come back here immediately!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the word "Biaoer", the redness in his eyes faded a little.
Recently, he has been living and eating in the Marshal's Mansion, using the excuse that Marshal Zhu holds meetings with his confidants day and night to discuss countermeasures, and has not returned to the Chen family to accompany his son.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that he was in a very bad state and was full of anger. He was worried that he would scare his son.
Xu Da has been acting as Marshal Xu with a stern face recently, and he doesn't relax even when he is sleeping.
He breathed a sigh of relief only after seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang's anger had subsided a little.
Xu Da walked forward and, without waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to hand it to him, read the letter himself. He was amused, "Leaving the banner here? Mr. Li is quite clever. At this critical moment, the Marshal would probably have tied the banner to his belt. But I didn't expect Mr. Li to support you in continuing with the well-field system. I thought Mr. Li would have advised you to postpone it."
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Li Shanchang's letter, he really thought about leaving Chen Biao in Yangzhou and returning to heaven himself.
Although Yingtian was his base camp, Yangzhou was actually safer than Yingtian at this time.
But as soon as Xu Da opened his mouth, Zhu Yuanzhang asked himself, in his current mental state, he dared not trust anyone but himself. He would definitely take his son away.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was hesitating, Ye Zheng and Song Lian jointly asked for a meeting.
Zhu Yuanzhang quickly let them in.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was under great pressure, these two people not only did not persuade Zhu Yuanzhang to suspend the well-field system and grant land to women, but they became more motivated and efficient, motivating other people in Yangzhou to get busy as well, and they forgot about the matters of Yingtian and Ningyue Prefecture.
Ye Zheng and Song Lian came this time to ask Zhu Yuanzhang to respond to the heaven. They would help Xu Da continue to implement the well-field system.
Moreover, they came to tell Zhu Yuanzhang that they were helping Zhu Yuanzhang fight back and explain the benefits of the well-field system to the people of the world.
Ye Zheng and Song Lian were quite overwhelmed this time.
They didn't expect that the other party would actually use the trick of a famous prostitute. It was simply not playing by the rules and was despicable!
While scholars admired famous courtesans, they also looked down on prostitutes. When scholars clashed, did they ever let prostitutes take the lead? This was sheer shamelessness.
Ye Zheng and Song Lian could guess why they asked the famous prostitute to come forward.
This group of people were really scared when they saw the well-field system. They were afraid that the people would be instigated, so they wanted to calm the people down.
But although the voices of literati are loud, they never reach the ears of ordinary people, just as the voices of ordinary people rarely reach the ears of literati.
That's why they let the famous prostitute come forward first. Then they introduced the gimmick of "female teacher" and "female Confucian scholar" to attract people's curiosity and make them pay attention to this verbal battle.
Ye Zheng and Song Lian were able to write articles with reason and evidence to refute that group of ridiculous literati, and they even dared to pat their chests and believe that they could leave more traces in history books.
But the other side had no intention of fighting them head-on in a normal way, and the two truly great writers were instantly at a loss for words.
A good cook cannot cook without rice. There are no brothels in Zhu Yuanzhang's territory. They can't go to Zhang Shicheng and the Yuan court's territory to write poems for famous prostitutes and let them sing, right?
They could only work harder and more diligently at their jobs, and use their actions to tell Zhu Yuanzhang that they would support him to the end and hoped that he would not back down.
If Zhu Yuanzhang had retreated under this offensive, the hope of restoring the well-field system might have been completely lost.
True Confucian students all know that the "well-field system" in "Mencius" is not the real well-field system during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but the "perfect system" imagined by Mencius, an "ideal country" like the world of great harmony.
Therefore, the "Well-field System" and the "Great Harmony World" are both the "Tao" in the hearts of true Confucian students.
Ye Zheng and Song Lian were willing to give everything to help Zhu Yuanzhang implement the well-field system, and would never regret it even if they died.
After hearing the two great writers who had just joined him reveal their loyalty to him in order to reassure him, Zhu Yuanzhang did not help them up as diligently as before.
He sat in his chair, his expression stubborn and bewildered, just like the day Li Shanchang came to plead with him to rescind his decision. "I've done nothing wrong this time. The well-field system can indeed provide food and clothing for the common people. Women, in particular, don't have to bind their feet, aren't thrown away after birth, and can support themselves whether married or widowed. Isn't that a good thing? Why are those most learned and famous women, men of noble birth, and other noble families, scolding me?"
Ye Zheng and Song Lian didn't know how to answer.
They were also confused, but they knew that what Zhu Yuanzhang did was indeed the right thing.
This is proved by the fact that no matter how chaotic the situation was outside, the people in Yangzhou City, including the Qing soldiers who were frightened by the sacrifice, were busy farming.
Less than two months after Zhu Yuanzhang promulgated the well-field system, the once barren city of Yangzhou seemed to have regained its vitality. However, in Zhu Yuanzhang's base camp, Yingtian, the people were in a state of panic, and many fled upon hearing the news.
Xu Da sighed and wanted to comfort Zhu Yuanzhang, but he didn't know what to say.
He didn't understand either, he really didn't understand.
He knew who might understand, but for some reason his eldest brother suddenly became stubborn and refused to go to Biaoer for help.
Even if Biaoer doesn't give the boss any advice, but just comforts him, the boss will definitely feel much better.
Now the boss is completely stuck in a dead end.
When the atmosphere at the scene became extremely heavy, Chen Wenzheng, who was said to be seriously ill, ran in and shouted, "Godfather! Biao'er is coming! I can't stop him!"
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up suddenly. "Ah? What? Wait, aren't you sick? Never mind, that's not the problem. Who brought Biao'er here? Bring him back to me! I'm going to chop him up!"
Chen Wenzheng's face wrinkled up: "Foster father, are you sure you want to chop it off?"
Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the table and angrily said, "I will kill anyone! Even Xu Da! Who is it?"
Xu Da pointed at his nose and closed his eyes. "Okay, okay, okay, now every time you talk about killing people you use me as an example, that's really great."
Chen Wenzheng said: "Oh, it's my uncle. I will tell Baoer now and ask him to choose a burial site for his father... Ouch!"
Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the stone on the table and hit Chen Wenzheng hard on the shoulder: "Shut up! Why is my brother-in-law here?"
Chen Wenzheng: "Godfather, you let something slip, take it back now !"
Ye Zheng stood up, held his forehead and sighed.
Xu Da's mouth twitched: "Wen Zheng, you should shut up."
Song Lian also stood up silently: "Biao'er? Could it be the Chen family's Biao'er?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Sooner or later, you will know. I will tell you now. Chen Biao is my son. He is a divine child. The fortune teller said that he could not know he was Zhu Yuanzhang's son before he came of age. Mr. Song, you are the only one here who does not know. You must keep it a secret."
Song Lian: "...Huh?"
What divine son? What fortune teller?
Marshal Zhu, there is no need to tell such an outrageous lie just to stabilize the morale of the army.
I'm a history reader. Did I really not know that the cry of a fox is "ying ying ying" and not "The great Chu rises, Chen Sheng is king"?
Song Lian looked at Ye Zheng.
Ye Zheng smiled at him kindly.
Song Lian's face darkened. This old man's smile... Could it be that what Marshal Zhu said was true, and this old man already knew it!
Song Lian immediately connected the series of events that Ye Zheng had previously gone back to look for the amulet with Chen Biao's identity, and his eyes became bloodshot.
Could it be that this old bastard already knew Chen Biao's true identity back then?! Did he figure it out on his own, or did he gain Marshal Zhu's trust that night and have Marshal Zhu tell him?!
I've been battling him for so long, but has he actually been holding the upper hand the entire time, just watching me laugh, and now I'm barely catching up?!
Ye Zheng looked at Song Lian's dark face, curled the corners of his mouth downwards, and then raised the corners of his mouth again in a kind smile.
Song Lian had a heart attack and almost fainted.
Ye Zheng, you old bastard! You and I are irreconcilable!
Zhu Yuanzhang was already as anxious as a headless fly: "Ahhhh, Mr. Song, Mr. Ye! Stop using those sharp eyes! Help me figure out how to hide this from Biao'er! What on earth is my brother-in-law doing! Isn't he afraid of being exposed?!"
Chen Wenzheng rubbed his shoulder, which had been hit by a rock, and said, "Oh, my uncle said Marshal Zhu is on his way back to Yingtian, and asked me to talk to you. Oh, and he also asked me to speak to you privately."
Zhu Yuanzhang: “…”
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped running and asked, "Then why did you yell so loudly in public?"
Chen Wenzheng said: "Am I not too anxious? Brother Biao cannot know his true identity."
Zhu Yuanzhang: “…”
Ye Zheng and Song Lian: "..."
Xu Da put his hand on Zhu Yuanzhang's shoulder and said nonchalantly, "Boss, I strongly suggest you find a doctor to check your nephew's brain."
Chen Wenzheng was puzzled. "Why? I'm already well. I told you I had diarrhea from eating too much ice, not because of love. I'm fine now."
After saying that, he continued to pat his belly: "No more poop."
Zhu Yuanzhang: "...I'll kill you!"
Xu Da: "Boss, change your clothes first before scolding him. Mr. Song, Mr. Ye, you two will pretend with me and pretend that the Marshal has left. Now in Yangzhou, you two will assist me in taking charge. Mr. Song, if you are too surprised..."
Song Lian immediately cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, Marshal Xu. If Ye Zheng can do it, it's easy for me."
Xu Da: “…” When scholars call each other by their full names, isn’t it the same as when military generals show their weapons when they meet?
Ye Zheng sneered and cupped his hands: "I am here to cover for Song Lian, Marshal Xu, don't worry."
Xu Da: "..." They really are fighting, fighting with words, right? Are intellectuals also so irritable? I don't know why they suddenly started fighting!
Xu Da was still shocked by the sudden "fight" between Song Lian and Ye Zheng when Chen Biao's loud, baby voice was heard at the door.
"Dad! Dad! I know the Marshal has already responded to Tianfu, and only you and Uncle Xu are inside!"
"Dad! If you can ignore me for half a month, then come out now!"
"I'm telling you! I'm angry! I want to answer to the sky alone! If you ignore me, I won't ignore you either!"
“Ouch!!”
After changing his clothes, Zhu Yuanzhang rushed out like a whirlwind: "Son, listen to my explanation!!"
The whirlwind blew so hard that it blew Xu Da's hair, which he was too lazy to tie up, into a mess.
Xu Da smoothed the hair from his face and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Okay, okay, Zhu Yuanzhang finally left, and Chen Guorui finally came back.
This period of time scared me to death!