The performance of "The Matchmaker" was very successful. His mother liked it very much and the atmosphere was very good. Zhu Yijun narrowed his eyes and looked at the stage with a smile on his face.
He had made arrangements for this troupe. It was not a simple troupe.
Watching the play and eating lunch, the family was happy and harmonious. The laughter in the Palace of Peace and Tranquility never stopped.
After lunch, everyone chatted for a while. Then Zhu Yijun asked someone to send Wu Qingbo's family back. After all, it was the New Year today. It was not appropriate to keep them here.
It was time for activities in the palace in the afternoon. The concubines of each palace also came over.
The play arranged in the afternoon was "Locking Qilin Sack". This kind of play was very correct in this era.
Helping people in danger and repaying kindness, the tone of the whole play was very good. The key was that this was a woman's play. It was the story of two women.
This kind of play was very suitable for his mother. Middle-aged women liked it the most.
Although his mother was only twenty-eight years old, her mentality was that of a middle-aged woman. Of course, this was also related to the lifespan of people in this era.
Standing at thirty, not confused at forty, knowing destiny at fifty, obedient at sixty, rare since ancient times at seventy.
In this era, many people died at forty. Those who died at fifty were not considered premature deaths. Those who died at sixty were considered happy funerals.
If the average lifespan was calculated, it was estimated that it was around thirty years old. People in this era matured early because their lifespan was short.
Sure enough, the "Locking Qilin Sack" in the afternoon was very popular. His mother and Empress Dowager Chen liked it very much. It was also loved by the old concubines.
The vigil at night also went very smoothly. Everyone ate happily and chatted happily.
From the New Year to the Lantern Festival, it was the happiest time for Zhu Yijun since he came to this world.
He didn't need to study, go to school, read memorials all day long, and there was no deception.
As the days passed, Zhu Yijun's mood became better. The 16 yamens opened for work in the New Year and Zhu Yijun also held a court meeting.
However, the court meeting was very easy and no one came out to cause trouble at this time.
It was not until the end of the first lunar month that the yamen gradually got on the right track. Zhu Yijun also followed suit. Apart from exercising every day, Zhu Yijun also made a plan for himself for the New Year.
He had to start from himself first, and then he could push it to the imperial court in the future, step by step.
Just after the first month, something big happened in the imperial court. Zhang Juzheng's inspection of the capital began. At the same time, Zhang Juzheng submitted a memorial to the emperor, which shocked the entire Daming court.
The theme of Zhang Juzheng's memorial was very clear, which was, "Respect the sovereignty, the duties of the officials, reward and punish according to the letter, give orders in accordance with the law, be pragmatic in everything, don't make empty promises!"
To put it bluntly, it was to assess the officials.
At the end of the memorial, Zhang Juzheng wrote down in detail what he was going to do. This was the famous test.
As soon as the examination method was announced, the bureaucracy was shaken. Countless memorials to the throne were sent to the Imperial Palace. Most of the memorials were even sent in carriages.
Zhu Yijun couldn't even be bothered to look at them. He just had the Department of Rites pick out the memorials and burn them.
No matter what the reason for opposing the examination method was, Zhu Yijun didn't want to hear it, nor did he want to see it.
There were many people in this world who knew how to talk, but not many who knew how to do things. The Daming court was about to have a faction that talked big, and it was the famous Donglin Clique.
Other than talking big, these people didn't know how to do anything.
Their slogans were loud enough to shake the heavens, but they couldn't hide their filthy nature.
Zhang Juzheng didn't like them, and Zhu Yijun disliked them even more. Although their slogans were beautifully packaged, they were just a clique for personal gain. They were the spokespeople of big landlords, big businessmen, and big bureaucrats.
The Donglin Clique's slogans were: Be honest, serve the public, revitalize the government, open the way of speech, get rid of the accumulated abuses in the court, and so on.
It sounded very noble, but they could only shout it. No one had any concrete ideas on how to do things. Zhang Juzheng's examination method was the way to do things, while the Donglin Clique was just talking big.
Later generations would say, "Empty talk will harm the country, and action will prosper the country."
The Donglin Clique wasn't just empty talk. They influenced public opinion and interfered with the administration of the court. In Zhu Yijun's eyes, they were a group of rebels who would bring disaster to the country.
Why hadn't Wei Zhongxian killed them all? If he had, the Daming Clique wouldn't have perished so early.
Of course, it wasn't that the Donglin Clique didn't do anything. They did, and they did a very good job.
The Donglin Clique did their utmost to oppose the Emperor's sending of mining supervisors and tax envoys to wildly plunder and collect taxes.
They advocated for both agriculture and industry, demanding that the merchants and the people be compassionate, reducing taxes, opening up wastelands for farming, and building irrigation works.
They opposed the frequent cheating in the imperial examinations, advocating that officials be selected regardless of their social rank, and that they be hired according to their talent and intelligence.
They all sounded noble, but Zhu Yijun knew that their most practical position had always been taxes.
Abolish mining taxes, abolish industrial and commercial taxes, and reduce agricultural taxes. Of course, if things didn't work out, they could also increase agricultural taxes, but they couldn't increase mining and commercial taxes.
Mining and industrial and commercial taxes were all controlled by officials. They were all overflowing with wealth, but they didn't even want to pay taxes.
These people were exempt from paying agricultural taxes. Even if agricultural taxes were increased, they wouldn't be able to pay them. They could only be self-employed farmers. In the end, refugees were everywhere, and when there was a disaster, the flames of war would rise everywhere. In the end, a large-scale peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty was brewed.
As for the irrigation works and opening up wastelands for farming, those were just a joke.
Irrigation works were a good thing, but the fields were theirs, and they didn't pay taxes. Then, they had the court build irrigation works to irrigate their fields.
The court didn't have taxes, so how could they build irrigation works?
Opening up wastelands sounded nice, but the amount of land that was opened up wasn't enough for them to swallow up. The more they opened up, the more they would profit.
Later, they said that officials were selected regardless of their social rank, and that they would be hired according to their talent and intelligence.
On one hand, this kind of saying was to buy people's hearts, and on the other hand, it was for their own benefit.
Admission was based on individual talent and intelligence. Who had talent and intelligence?
Wasn't it up to them to decide?
What looked like lofty slogans were actually just to cover up their shameful goals.
When Wanli died, through the three major cases, their hard work was finally realized. They abolished the mining tax and lowered the commercial tax and customs duties.
However, Taichang Emperor only lived for a month before he died, and they didn't have time to do more.
Emperor Tianqi, who came up, didn't care about these people who talked big. Instead, he appointed Wei Zhongxian and established the eunuch's party, which was the people who had been beaten up in the three major cases.
However, the Donglin Party had the support of the Jiangnan Group, and they had a deep foundation. After Emperor Tianqi died and the eunuch's party was overthrown, they rose again, or rather, fooled Emperor Chong Zhen.
They abolished or lowered the overseas trade tax, mining tax, salt tax, tea tax, and other taxes.
If there was a problem, they would ask for money from Emperor Chong Zhen's palace treasury, or they would increase agricultural taxes. In the end, the entire economic system of the country was thrown into chaos, and Emperor Chong Zhen was so poor that he had to sell his underwear.
Only before the Daming was destroyed did Emperor Chong Zhen remember his big brother's words and Wei Zhongxian.