Can benevolence, righteousness and morality provide enough food?
Indeed it cannot.
Whether it was the Hongwu period or the early Yongle period, the imperial court adhered to the tribute principle of "those who receive more and those who receive less" to demonstrate the benevolence, righteousness and majesty of the Ming Dynasty as the "Celestial Kingdom".
But what's the use of this?
The Ming Dynasty considered all countries that came to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty to be its vassal states. As long as they paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty would give generous rewards in return. This is "Housou".
And "Bo Lai" means that every vassal state that came to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty only needed simple tribute to receive generous rewards.
Because what the Ming Dynasty cared about was not the amount and value of the tributes, but the number and scale of the coming dynasties, and these vassal states that could get generous rewards with only small gifts were naturally willing to take advantage of this.
Therefore, based on this policy of "thick exchanges but little return", we can know that a large part of the nearly 150 vassal states that paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty must have come for the rich rewards of the Ming Dynasty. As for the so-called loyalty Or not it's a joke.
However, this method of paying tribute that could not make ends meet ultimately brought misery to the people.
Maintaining the exchange model of "thick exchanges and thin exchanges" for a long time, the Ming Dynasty's treasury became empty and the economy was tight. If you want to replenish the treasury and continue to maintain this "thick exchanges and thin exchanges" relationship, you must increase taxes. In the end, only It will be spread equally to the people at the bottom.
In order to demonstrate the benevolence and majesty of the Ming Dynasty, and to maintain the majesty of the Ming Dynasty as the Celestial Kingdom, from the Hongwu Period to the Yongle Period, the Ming Dynasty was a foolish son of a landlord. He did not know how much money he squandered in food, but he still enjoyed it. !
But there are so many outstanding officials in the court, and there are also wise kings in the past dynasties. Why not raise objections to this?
Because this is a necessary policy and a policy that is in line with Confucian concepts.
Besides, the real money given to the vassal country does not need to come from the pockets of the royal family and officials, so who cares?
Zhu Zhanji used to be the emperor's grandson, and his father Zhu Gaochi was the emperor's prince.
Because of this matter, Zhu Gaochi didn't know how many times he argued with Zhu Di, but they all ended in failure.
Especially during the Great Conference of All Nations that year, the Ming Dynasty gave all the overseas envoys lofty courtesy, including good food and drinks, and a small banquet for three days and a large banquet for five days. They were almost treated as grandpas.
That is to say, Zhu Gaochi, Xia Yuanji and others strongly opposed it and asked His Majesty the Emperor to quickly drive away these rice borers that were eating and drinking for free.
Zhu Zhanji always remembers this incident.
Benevolence, righteousness and morality cannot be eaten until the stomach is full.
"My nephew, if you want to be a real emperor, then you must not believe in Confucian theories!"
"It is true that when dealing with the Han people and the people of the Ming Dynasty, the court can uphold the principle of benevolence and righteousness, but when dealing with foreign barbarians or indigenous barbarians, it must dispel these ridiculous ideas."
"War not only consumes money and food, but also brings benefits. Otherwise, why would the Mongolian cavalry go to all lengths to conquer the entire Eurasian continent? God knows how much gold, silver and jewelry they seized from these wars, and How many huge benefits have been obtained?”
"You have said just now that opening up the people's wisdom will only make it difficult for the people to satisfy their desires, causing their desires to continue to grow. In this case, if they can't satisfy them, then they will not fill them up. The imperial court will send troops to fight, and the common people will be responsible for farming. The imperial court will give them as much land as they want. How many fields have they dug? They are not afraid that they are not greedy enough, but they are afraid that they will not have time to cultivate it!"
"Under such a cycle, do you think these people will still rebel and cause chaos? They wish that the court would launch wars again and again, and wish that the court would break out more foreign lands so that they could invade, annex, and then plant crops. Gain profits by selling food!”
Zhu Zhanji was so shocked that his whole body was trembling with fear.
This kind of imperial court operation mode was something he had never heard of before!
Zhu Zhanji has been studying Confucianism since he was a child, and he was surrounded by great Confucian scholars, so he was inevitably influenced by Confucianism. He believed that the emperor should be a humble and honest gentleman.
But it wasn't until this moment that Zhu Zhanji finally understood what the hell was all that bullshit!
What's the use of the emperor's promotion of benevolence and morality? Can it fill the stomachs of the people? Can the people have enough to eat?
cannot!
If you can't, why do it?
Because the land was not profitable enough, the court stopped eating and adopted a policy of obscuring the people. It seemed that it could ensure the long-term peace and stability of the court's rule, but over time it would also inhibit the development of national power and breed gentry and gentry, which are like rice worms!
Instead of doing this, it is better to open up the people's wisdom and let the people be their own masters, while the court will continuously bring farm benefits to meet the needs of the people, thus forming a new operating model, a model that can ensure the continued strength of the Ming Dynasty. !
Wage war, gain lands, and provide for your people!
Since the cake is too small, make the cake bigger!
If the population is too large, then migrate to foreign lands to cultivate and open up wasteland!
Zhu Gaoxu never wanted a country or a place, he wanted the whole world!
Zhu Zhanji understood and looked at Zhu Gaoxu excitedly.
He laughs at the thought of the past.
This is the real emperor!
"Potatoes are grown in the grasslands and deserts, and rice is grown in central and southern Nanyang. With more food-producing land, do I still need to worry about food problems in the future?"
"With enough food supply, the Ming Dynasty's population will usher in an explosive growth, and population means labor, means soldiers, and means everything!"
"The population is increasing and the number of fields is not enough. They will naturally be eager for the court to launch a war and win a new piece of land for them to cultivate. By then, the people who really want to launch a war will not be just military attachés and ministers!"
"Furthermore, if there is enough food and enough labor, the Ming Dynasty will be free to build various infrastructures such as river transportation, making the connections between various places in the Ming Dynasty smoother, and even building merchant ships and cargo ships together with all overseas vassals, so that cargo and personnel The exchanges are also getting closer.”
"The most direct benefit of close personnel exchanges is that business will become more prosperous and prosperous, and the court will be able to collect more taxes on business. As a result, it will no longer have to worry about the shortage of money and food, and will be able to do more things, and even directly Abolition of agricultural taxes will reduce the burden on the people and open up more living space for the people!"
"My nephew, you have to remember one thing. The winner of a war always makes money, and there is no such thing as losing money! For example, if you want to send troops to the Inca dynasty in South America, you must beat them mercilessly until they are afraid. , hit them until they lose their will to resist, and then you can take whatever you want from them, whether it is fields, money, food, or even population, continuously weakening their strength, and finally destroying them directly with one final word!"
Zhu Zhanji: "!!!"
Mother!
Can we still fight like this?
I seem to have really realized it!
