The Argument of Targeting the Mind

Zhu Dijun's incisive argument was like a red-hot iron, fiercely branding the body of the Ming Dynasty.

Every word was a test of the souls of those civil officials who called themselves "disciples of the sage."

Inside the Fengtian Hall, the officials who had just been loudly protesting their innocence were now all ashen-faced and silent as cicadas in winter.

They couldn't refute it.

Because what Zhu Dijun said was not a baseless accusation, but rather a direct attack on the deepest greed and fear in human nature.

Many of them, both their fathers and grandfathers, were indeed beneficiaries of the Yuan Dynasty's tax farming system.

Indeed, deep down, they harbored resentment and discontent towards Zhu Yuanzhang's strict governing philosophy, which firmly held power in the hands of the emperor.

Now, this veil of hypocrisy has been torn away by future generations in the most brutal and direct way, leaving a bloody scar!

On the dragon throne, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly closed his eyes.

The anger in his chest had reached its peak, which ironically brought him into a state of absolute calm.

He understood everything.

From the Hu Weiyong case to the death of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, to the future North-South Examination Case, and finally to Zhu Yunwen's "reduction of the power of the princes".

Everything is connected into a clear line.

This is not an isolated incident.

This is a war!

A war that lasted for decades, orchestrated behind the scenes by the "Khazar" and performed on stage by this group of "remnants of the previous dynasty," in an attempt to overthrow the Zhu family's empire!

Their weapon is not swords or guns, but the hearts of the people.

Their battlefield was not the frontier, but the imperial court!

"Good...very good..."

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes, and in those hawk-like eyes, there was no longer a trace of grief or regret, only a fierce killing intent as cold as ancient ice.

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun seemed to sense the overwhelming killing intent of the Hongwu Emperor, and he decided to add fuel to the fire.

"Family members, in order to give you a more intuitive understanding of just how evil this 'tax farming system' really is."

"Let's look at a set of shocking data left over from the Yuan Dynasty!"

The screen shifted, and a chart appeared on it.

"Tea tax in Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty."

"The contract amount stipulated by the government is 70,000 taels of silver per year."

"And according to the records at the time, what was the actual amount collected by the tax-farming merchants? Two hundred and thirty thousand taels!"

"More than three times!"

"Not a single 160,000 taels of silver went into the national treasury; it all ended up in the pockets of tax-farming merchants and officials who colluded with them!"

"And this is merely Hangzhou, merely a tea tax!"

"Watch again!" The screen changes again!

"During the Yuan Dynasty, there was a salt tax levied throughout the land! A Semu merchant from the Western Regions once bought out the entire salt tax revenue of the Central Plains for one million taels of silver!"

"Family members, can you imagine? The pricing power of salt, which is crucial to the national economy and people's livelihood, has actually fallen into the hands of a businessman!"

"To what extent can he drive up salt prices to reap exorbitant profits? What kind of plight will ordinary people be forced into to survive?"

"What's even more terrifying is!"

Judy Jun's voice was like the judgment of the end of the world.

"These tax farmers were granted enormous power by the authorities to ensure their 'profits'!"

"They can keep private armies and set up their own courts! They can arbitrarily arrest, torture, and even execute any citizen who dares to resist or default on taxes!"

"Within their contracted lands, they are the law, they are the emperor!"

"One after another, these states within a state flourished everywhere under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty!"

"This is the system that Yelü Chucai opposed to the death, yet it was still implemented!"

"This is the root of all evil—the breeding ground for local tyrants, the undermining of the nation's foundations, and ultimately, the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty!"

"so!"

Zhu Dijun's gaze swept across all times and spaces, finally settling on the Fengtian Hall in the eleventh year of the Hongwu reign.

"No normal dynasty in the Central Plains, no monarch who aspires to long-term stability, would ever allow such an evil system to exist on their territory!"

"Emperor Taizu abolished it to restore order and to save the lives of the people!"

"And those who attempt to restore it, no matter what banner they wave, what official robes they wear, or what scriptures they chant..."

"They are all—"

"Traitor to the nation!"

The last two words were deafening and resounded throughout the world!

Inside the Fengtian Hall, there was a deathly silence.

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly stood up from the dragon throne.

He walked down the steps one by one.

He didn't look at the civil officials who were already limp and powerless.

His gaze fell upon his eldest son, Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao met his father's gaze, his body trembling slightly.

He understood so much from his father's eyes.

There was relief, there was trust, but more than anything, there was a silent yet weightier entrustment.

"Biao'er".

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was eerily calm.

"You heard everything?"

"Your subject... heard it." Zhu Biao's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"Then tell me," Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze swept over the trembling officials in the hall, "Does this Ming Dynasty belong to our Zhu family, or to these scholars?"

Zhu Biao's heart skipped a beat, and he kowtowed without hesitation, saying, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the emperor! This empire naturally belongs to my father! It belongs to the Zhu family!"

"good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and a smile finally appeared on his face, but that smile was colder than the winter wind.

"Since this is our territory, then we shall be in charge!"

He suddenly turned around, facing the sky, as if making a blood oath to his descendants and all the people of the world.

"We don't care about his 'Khazar' or 'League' stuff!"

"All we know is that if anyone dares to harm our son, or threaten our empire, we'll make their entire family...die!"

"Mao Xiang!"

Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was startled and suddenly stepped forward, kneeling on one knee.

"Your subject is here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice sounded as if it came from the deepest hell.

"Write down every single clue mentioned on the screen today related to the 'tax farming system' and the 'remnants of the former Yuan dynasty'!"

"Investigate for us!"

"From the imperial court to the local governments! From officials to gentry!"

"All those with unclear ties to the former Yuan dynasty, all those whose family land and wealth are of dubious origin, and all those suspected of colluding with the enemy during the Northern Expedition!"

"Investigate them one by one! Judge them case by case!"

"We will ensure that not a single one of these maggots hiding in the body of our Great Ming Dynasty escapes!"

"We must use their blood to commemorate our heroes, to commemorate our... Biao'er!"

At this moment, the Hongwu Emperor's butcher's knife was raised high once again!

But this time, it's not about clearing obstacles for future generations.

Rather, it was to protect the empire he had personally built, and to formally declare war on a civilization that had been lurking for thousands of years!