When Yuan Keli left the palace gate, he was still thinking about what Chongzhen had just said to him, about the basic rights of people.

In his opinion, Chongzhen's remarks are really contrary to the sage road, but they are similar to the ideas of Li Zhen and the Taizhou school.

However, he soon thought that Xu Guangqi's mentor was Jiao Hong, who was good friends with Li Zhen. Compared with Li Zhen, who promotes the merits of businessmen, advocates utilitarian values, and has radical thoughts. Jiao Hongjiao, who stands as a scholar and integrates various academic thoughts, is known for his profound knowledge and generosity in accommodating new knowledge.

Obviously, Chongzhen was deeply influenced by scholars like Xu Guangqi who admired Western studies. After thinking all the way in the carriage, Yuan Keli made this judgment in his heart.

Hearing the news of Yuan Keli's return to the house, the eldest son Yuan Shu and several Henan gentry who were waiting for the news in the mansion immediately hurried out of the courtyard to greet them.

"Mr. Jiehuan, what did Your Majesty say?"

"Lord Shangshu, can Your Majesty agree to suspend the relocation order?"

"Father..."

Listening to a group of people asking questions to him, he didn't have the bearing to see each other in the past, Yuan Keli couldn't help but shake his head secretly in his heart.

He stopped and said unhappily to his eldest son: "I asked you to entertain a few hometown fathers and elders, and that's how you entertained them?" I didn't invite a few hometown elders to come in, I went to change my clothes first, and then came out to talk to my fathers. ”

Although Yuan Keli was teaching his son a lesson, several Henan gentry suddenly quieted down. They naturally heard that this criminal department secretary was very resentful in his heart.

Several gentry were also a little embarrassed at this time, but they also had some complaints in their hearts, and it was time to burn their eyebrows.

When Yuan Keli changed into his regular clothes and came out, several gentry in the living room were already a little eager to wear them. However, they haven't forgotten Yuan Keli's attitude when he entered the mansion just now. Therefore, although he was in an urgent mood, he still patiently greeted Yuan Keli first.

After describing the etiquette, Yuan Keli unhurriedly said the conversation with Chongzhen when he entered the palace today. Although many details that cannot be said are omitted, they generally explain the attitude of the emperor.

After listening to Yuan Keli's words, a gentry finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems that Your Majesty has not received the news that the official army failed in attacking Huaiyuan Lujiazhuang. If I knew this news, I am afraid that I would not be able to talk to Lao Shangshu calmly today. ”

"Yes, fortunately, as soon as we received the news, we hurried directly to the capital. I am afraid that Xu Xianchun and Li Kuilong will use this matter to slander Your Majesty, and if they move Your Majesty and use this matter to create a great deal of injustice, I am afraid that the people of Henan will suffer a big disaster. ”

Several gentry said with fear and rejoicing, and another gentry said indignantly: "Xu Xianchun and Li Kuilong, these dog thieves, after coming to Henan, they were unjustly imprisoned and persecuted the good.

Even local clans like the Huaiyuan Lu family were cornered by them. The Huaiyuan Lu family has been in Tongbai for more than ten generations, and it is a well-known family of benevolence in Henan.

Mr. Jiehuan, everyone, do we really want to watch Xu Xianchun and Li Kuilong just bully and oppress the good in our Henan and beat the Huaiyuan Lu family into a rebel? ”

The words of this gentleman immediately quieted down the gentry in the hall, and they all looked at Yuan Keli, who was sitting at the top, as if waiting for this Shangshu lord to speak.

Now the leader who can be expected among the gentry in Henan is probably only this Yuan Keli, the patriarch of the Four Dynasties.

Yuan Keli is not only famous among the gentry in Henan, but also very good in the Shilin. In addition, his personal relationship with Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi is also good, so once something happens, the Henan gentry will naturally follow suit.

In fact, although these gentry bowed their heads to the emperor, they were only convinced to avoid a greater disaster.

As the gentry said, the fall of a local clan like the Lu family in Huaiyuan inevitably made these gentry feel sad that the rabbit was dead and the fox died, and they hoped that Yuan Keli would be able to come out again and rescue the Lu family.

However, Yuan Keli said lukewarmly to several gentry: "What kind of good people can support fugitives at home?" Still harbored ordnance in Zhuangzi?

The county government passed on the message and did not go, and the officials and soldiers came to the door and guarded it. There are not a few Franc cannons in the whole of Henan, and the Lu family has 6 hidden them, what do they want to do? Disobeying officials and soldiers by force is a crime of rebellion.

If you still think that the Lu family is wronged, you might as well go to the book for his family to shout grievances, the old man is not so bold, and he is involved in the conspiration against the big case. ”

Hearing that Yuan Keli's words meant to let them go, several gentry suddenly started a round, and even the gentry who was a little indignant just now was silent at this time.

After Yuan Keli left the study, Wang Chengen couldn't help but hesitate and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty just agreed to Yuan Shangshu, and plans to let go of those Henan gentry and no longer pursue them?"

The day before yesterday, there was no news from Xu Xianchun's side that some large local households in Henan gathered troops to resist the officers and soldiers, killing and wounding many officers and soldiers. Wouldn't it be too cheap to just let them go? ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said meaningfully: "When did I say that I would let go of the local tyrants and inferior gentry?" I just agreed to let the Criminal Department take over the case concerning the Henan gentry.

The Criminal Department was originally the department in charge of the Ming Dynasty's judiciary, and it was only natural for them to decide the case. Just right, let me see whether the officials of the Criminal Department judge the case according to the law, or rely on favors to handle the case.

Besides, it is the local tyrants and inferior gentry that I want to defeat, not the entire gentry class. If we want to defeat our enemies, we must always distinguish between enemies and friends first. I'm just giving them a chance to draw a line with the local tyrants and gentry.

Xu Xianchun and they have already moved a lot of local gentry and big families, and now that they are willing to bow their heads, they always have to take a slow. Lest they feel cornered, it would be bad to simply fight against the court in a group.

What's more, the next two railways to be built in Henan require the cooperation of the local gentry. As long as they are willing to cooperate with the imperial court in building railways and industrial cities, then there is no need for me to entangle with them. ”

Regarding the first half of what the emperor said, Wang Chengen did not understand. In his opinion, this world belongs to Chongzhen alone, and what the emperor wants to do, in fact, he doesn't need to see the support of these local gentry.

However, thinking that the inner government also has shares, and building two railways in Henan, one vertical and one horizontal, Wang Chengen felt that what the emperor said was still good.

Whether it is the north-south railway connecting the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, or the east-west railway connecting Xuzhou-Zhengzhou-Luoyang, it is a railway plan with good prospects. Because the places through which these two railways pass are the most densely populated Central Plains region.

If the two railways could have been built a day earlier, it would have meant that a steady stream of wealth would have fallen into the pockets of the inner government. Therefore, even for the sake of the two railways, it is appropriate to let those Henan gentry goat.

When Wang Chengen was still figuring out the emperor's thoughts in his heart, the reason for Chongzhen's thoughts was not far from what he guessed.

For today's Ming Dynasty, the most important place to change is to change the mode of production in the countryside. After all, a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy cannot bring about changes in the relations of production.

Just like he moved away from Henan many large gentry who opposed the policies of the imperial court, but after these large families left, except for the land they left behind, which could temporarily alleviate the sharp contradictions between the landless people and the gentry and the imperial court, a new production relationship could not be generated.

As long as the peasants and landlords of the Ming Dynasty were still producing grain for their own consumption, rather than for the sake of selling and producing grain, it would be useless to replace a few gentry.

The purpose of cracking down on local tyrants and shoddy gentry is to alleviate acute social contradictions. However, in order to fundamentally solve the social problems of the Ming Dynasty, it is ultimately necessary to break the small peasant economy that existed in the Ming Dynasty and dissolve the production relations of the feudal system.

In a way, what the Ming needed was to eliminate the entire old feudal landlord class and establish a new bourgeoisie class.

And the most effective way to achieve this goal is to change the mode of transportation.

In order for farmers to produce food or cash crops for sale, they must first ensure that they can transport the harvested produce to the market, rather than producing it and then not being able to sell it because of the high cost of transportation.

In Zhu Youzhen's memory, whether it is India or China. The collapse of the small-scale peasant economy in the countryside came to an end with the great development of railway construction.

This is also an important reason why he always put the plan to build a railway in the first place. The North China Plain and the Central Plains are both rare Great Plains areas.

It is arguably the easiest and most convenient place to build the simplest horse-drawn railway. The coal and iron resources in North China can also be utilized.

What's more, the manor of a local tyrant can actually repel 6 or 7 hundred official troops, or an army led by a fierce man like Zhang Xianzhong.

This kind of setback made Chongzhen begin to re-examine the strength of the gentry in Henan. After all, in the area of Dabie Mountain and Huai River, where Henan and Anhui meet, there are many estates of landlords of this size.

He didn't want his army to fall into the vast sea of the people's war, so it would inevitably become his best choice now to win over a group, suppress a group, and neutralize a group.

After instructing Wang Chengen to put away the manuscript sent by Yuan Keli, Zhu Youzhen got up and returned to the Qianqing Palace. After taking a nap after lunch, Zhu Youzhen went to the Royal Academy of Sciences to inspect according to the schedule.