Bi Ziyan said "yes" and smiled at Zhu Youxiao and said: "Thanks to this, we can pass on the huge losses caused by the current drought in Shaanxi for five consecutive years and the locust plague raging in the north to the outsiders. Otherwise, Even if the national treasury is abundant, it cannot support such a huge disaster and at the same time maintain so many troops to expand the border in the north."
"This is indeed true. According to reports from ministers stationed in North Korea, Japan, and Annan, North Korea, Japan, and Annan are all starving to death. Every day, foreign people are revolting because of hunger. Originally, their countries were in good weather, unlike ours. Disasters were frequent in the Ming Dynasty, but because of the large amount of food flowing into our country, we often ran out of food. In addition, in order to buy the luxury goods exported by our country to enjoy a more luxurious life, the domestic meat eaters expropriated it more seriously, so the people's livelihood was even worse. It’s difficult. But if we don’t do this, the people of Ming Dynasty will starve, and the uprising will happen in Ming Dynasty.”
Zhu Xieyuan followed.
Liu Hongxun also said: "This is also God's will. If God's will is like this, we can only suffer the foreigners."
"Not only do we have to suffer the foreign people, but we also have to suffer the foreign lords. We should also let them bear some of the pressure of running the country, and don't just think about getting benefits from the Celestial Empire."
Zhu Youxiao said something at this time, and then said: "But as long as they are loyal enough to the Celestial Empire, the Celestial Empire will still have to guarantee their power and position. The only one who can overthrow them is me, and the rest have no decision-making power!"
"I understand!"
Bi Ziyan and other assistant ministers said something at this time.
"At present, the Japanese country is divided into the shogunate faction and the anti-shogunate faction. The current emperor is on the side of the shogunate faction and is Tokugawa Iemitsu's niece. The position was given to my daughter. From now on, whichever of the two parties is more willing to seek benefits for Ming Dynasty in Japan, I will support whoever, but there is no need to push the other party into a desperate situation."
Zhu Youxiao continued to talk about the arrangements for the Japanese country, and then said: "As for North Korea, according to the report of Jinyiwei, the domestic scholar-bureaucrats are very dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty's current foreign policy of domination, and some even advocate no longer recognizing the Ming Dynasty as the suzerainty. Yes, this must be attacked, and we must find ways to go to North Korea to provoke a force to take the initiative to revolt, and then it will also be in a state of division. Only their division will benefit our Ming Dynasty!"
"I will obey your Majesty's instructions."
Bi Ziyan replied.
Zhu Youxiao continued: "Let's talk about internal affairs. Outside the Great Wall and overseas military immigration, both require a large amount of manpower from the mainland. Moreover, as our Ming Dynasty's territory becomes wider and wider, the controllable area becomes wider and wider. , we need a larger population, especially the number of Han people, because we need the Han people to dominate a certain area."
With that said, Zhu Youxiao stood up and said to Bi Ziyan and other auxiliary ministers: "So, you will preside over the court meeting and discuss how to increase the population of the empire in the future. Some old etiquette must be changed, such as encouraging widows to observe festivals. It must be overthrown!”
"What your Majesty said is that the imperial court really needs more Han people now. The Ministry of Rites must have new annotations on etiquette. It cannot overemphasize the widow's observance of festivals. In addition, fertility must be encouraged. Now the imperial court cannot make money from foreign affairs. If there is little external profit, and there are still savings besides disaster relief, military support, education, etc., it is better to provide subsidies and reward and subsidize families with a certain number of children, from encouraging chastity to encouraging children.”
Bi Ziyan replied.
"This is true. For those who have many children, regardless of whether they are male or female, and there are more than five children, the government will allocate funds to build a 'glorious archway' for them. For the people, having more children is a contribution to the country! And those who drown babies, The punishment will be increased and it will be the same as intentional homicide. Once verified, he will be sentenced to death!"
Zhu Youxiao ordered.
"According to the order!"
"In addition, aren't there refugees everywhere in Japan, Korea and other places now? There must be a lot of women who sell their heads by placing bids. There is a department that selects clean girls to buy, and they are raised by the court. Then the Jiaofang Department of the Ministry of Etiquette organizes blind dates, and those who apply for marriage are The wife arranges for the official to send her a wife, which is equivalent to the state sending a woman.”
Zhu Youxiao continued.
"According to the order!"
…
In fact, in the Ming Dynasty, the number of Han people has been increasing.
First, because of the promotion of potatoes and sweet potatoes, and the court's method of transferring disasters abroad and letting foreigners bear the cost, the chance of starving to death has been greatly reduced.
Second, after the prohibition of establishments such as brothels and the prohibition of abandoning female infants, the number of women giving birth to children increased significantly.
Third, the living standards of the people in the Ming Dynasty have improved. This is also the main reason. Military households who were previously poor and had no one to marry are now able to marry wives because the guard system has been abolished and their incomes have increased as workers. Therefore, they are willing to have children. There are more and more children.
But Ming Dynasty is constantly opening up borders, and investment in various large-scale projects is also increasing. Therefore, even if the population increases significantly, there is still a great need for population.
What's more, the current increase in the population is basically children and teenagers, and there are still not enough young adults who can really be used.
This has also led to a problem in the Ming Dynasty. The problem is that the population gap among various age groups is relatively serious, and there are insufficient young people who can be used. However, the number of children who need education has increased significantly. Therefore, the cost of education is It is very high, but the speed of external development has to be limited due to the lack of young people.
"Stop honoring a chaste and martyr woman? Are you saying this is against the laws of nature and humanity? It is not conducive to the prosperity of your heirs?!"
When the Ministry of Rites published such an announcement in Di Bao and made a corresponding analysis in Huang Ming Bao, the announcement that widows were no longer encouraged to observe the festival still caused an uproar both inside and outside the government.
For loyal followers of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, this is unacceptable to them.
At this time, Sun Qifeng, a great scholar of Neo-Confucianism, sat up from his official chair in great surprise after reading the content of this report. His close friend Li Yu said: "This is simply unreasonable! When did the widow observe the law?" It has become something that is not recommended, and it simply goes against the Three Cardinal Principles and Five Constant Rules!"
"The princes in the court are really crazy to increase the population of the Han family. In doing so, they have undoubtedly cut off the opportunity of some nobles to maintain their lintel and hometown status by relying on chaste wives!"
Li Yu also followed suit.
"It's not a big deal. If you have more children, won't you be able to rely on the prosperity of your children to shine on your family name?"
At this time, Liu Yuanlu, who was also a believer in Neo-Confucianism, came over and said, "Now it seems that I, Liu, have to add another archway to the clan and take concubines in order to make my children prosperous!"
Like Liu Yuanlu, marriage and concubinage became common in the Ming Dynasty, for no other reason than to make the family's children prosperous and obtain a "glorious memorial arch."
The Ming Dynasty has undoubtedly entered a period of even greater population explosion, which has undoubtedly added greater costs to the civilian education currently implemented by the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youxiao asked Bi Ziyan and others to find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure so that the imperial court would have more national funds and be able to cope with the sharp increase in education costs in the future.
Bi Ziyan said to Zhu Youxiao after the court meeting: "Your Majesty, the ministers have no other choice. They say that the domestic commercial tax is already very high, and it is inappropriate to increase the commercial tax. Although the land tax is low, even if it is increased, The highest in history, it is only a drop in the bucket, and it is easy for ordinary farmers to suffer. Therefore, in order not to suffer the children of Ming Dynasty, I finally came up with only one way, and that is to suffer the foreigners again! In Manlajia, The three banknote checkpoints in Haojing and Goa will increase tariffs!”
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