Although the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty did not understand this, after discussion, they concluded that it was not the institutional advantage of the Ming State, but that it was the military strength advantage of the Ming State.
The Ming army was strong and good at fighting. It defeated the surrounding rebels and had a great reputation. It had a strong deterrent effect on the enemy. Naturally, it also had a strong deterrent effect on the people.
The ferocious Ming army frightened the migrant workers with their bloody and brutal murderous intent, so the migrant workers who were treated cruelly did not dare to rebel.
However, stronger oppression will inevitably bring about more violent backlash. As the Yellow River Project continued to advance, officials in the Southern Song Dynasty kept saying that the Ming Dynasty's Yellow River Project would explode sooner or later, or that it had already exploded twice.
Su Yonglin went south to Kaifeng to command and dispatch the two operations because of the surge in the river water. They considered them to be [There was a riot at the Yellow River construction site, and Ming Emperor Su Yonglin personally went south to command and suppress the rebellion].
It was not because of some so-called surge in river water that the emperor personally went south to take command.
Will the emperor take action on such a dangerous matter?
What if something happens?
Impossible, it was definitely because something happened that the emperor had to personally take action. For example, if the rebellion could not be controlled, he had to personally go out to quell the rebellion, and then cover it up as a flood in the Yellow River.
That's it!
It is precisely based on this speculation that the strategy described in Yu Yunwen's suggestion to Zhao Hao to "destroy the Yellow River construction site" is to send people to sneak into the construction site, spread rumors, and use the rumors to prompt the Ming Dynasty migrant workers on the Yellow River construction site to launch a comprehensive riot.
The workers on the Yellow River construction site must have been driven very hard by the Ming Dynasty. They must have been squeezed very miserably and had great resentment. As long as they spread some rumors, they could achieve their goals. .
For example, rumors such as "The day the Yellow River is completed will be the day of death for all of them" and "The day the Yellow River is completed will require the blood of 100,000 people to sacrifice to heaven". As long as they spread, the effect will be very good.
Anyway, stupid men and women are very superstitious. As long as it spreads, they will definitely be very panicked and fearful. Coupled with the resentment caused by being cruelly squeezed, riots will break out in minutes.
In this way, we can delay and destroy the Yellow River Project of the Ming Dynasty, and use this project to continuously bleed the Ming Dynasty, causing the Ming Dynasty to continue to lose blood, lose national strength, and eventually fall.
The Sui Dynasty fell because of the Grand Canal, and the Ming Dynasty also fell because of the Yellow River.
They no longer have the energy to go south to threaten the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty can take the opportunity to restore its strength and expand its military power. When the Central Plains is in chaos, they can take the initiative to go north to attack the enemy.
Yu Yunwen proudly declared that his strategy was absolutely feasible, and Zhao Min was very moved by this.
So he was sent to join the Southern Song Dynasty envoy to observe the current status of the Ming Dynasty's construction sites along the way to see how well the Ming Dynasty defended the Yellow River Project, how many troops were stationed, how many workers there were, where was the most suitable place to spread rumors and initiate riots, etc., and find out what was possible. Take advantage of the opportunity.
This kind of thing is impossible without first-hand information. There happened to be an opportunity to go on a mission, and Zhao Min needed Yu Yunwen's first-hand report.
But facing the picture he saw in front of him, Yu Yunwen was stunned.
There were no "brutal Ming soldiers" armed to supervise the work, and there were not even a few weapons visible on the construction site. Occasionally, the armed patrols that could be seen were not Ming soldiers, but people dressed as migrant workers wearing ordinary commoners.
Although some of the officials at the construction site were wearing official uniforms, they were all civilian employees. They looked like they were responsible for distributing statistical materials and were unarmed.
There is no one like an uncle who stands on the edge of the construction site with a whip to supervise the work, and whips up any migrant worker he sees being lazy.
These migrant workers work conscientiously and conscientiously. There is no sense of laziness or resentment at all. The construction site is quite peaceful. You can still hear people joking.
Why is this happening?
Yu Yunwen was very puzzled. Before Lu You could ask again, he took a step forward and asked Wang Qi like a question.
"How come there are no soldiers to supervise the work? Why? Aren't you worried that something will happen? What will happen if something happens? Who will be responsible?"
Wang Qi was a little stunned by his sudden inquiry.
"ah?"
"I mean...I mean, if there are no soldiers to oversee the work, aren't you afraid that someone will escape?"
As if he realized that his tone was not quite right, Yu Yunwen quickly made up for it and changed his words.
When Wang Qi heard this, he frowned, looked at Yu Yunwen strangely, and asked, "Why are you running away?"
"ah?"
This time it was Yu Yunwen who didn't understand.
Wang Qi spread his hands.
"Working on the construction site not only provides three meals a day, but also pays wages, which can reduce the burden on the family. Farmers in the prefectures surrounding the construction site who have multiple laborers at home are willing to send one of their young men to work on the construction site.
Not to mention these, some state capitals are densely populated, have many household registrations, and there are many farm families with many children at home, but the number of people needed on the construction site is limited. They are all rushing to send their excess labor to the construction site, and the construction site cannot accept it. How could there be so many people running away? "
"Give me money?"
Yu Yunwen grasped this key point keenly: "You give me money?"
"Yes, isn't this a matter of course? How can the court not pay the people when they work hard? How can there be such a reason? You are... Oh, I remembered it. In the Southern Dynasties, the people did corvee work, but the court would not pay them. Money."
Wang Qi seemed to have just discovered this point. After suddenly realizing it, a sarcastic smile suddenly appeared on his face.
He said: "I understand, Deputy Ambassador Yu, you ask this because you don't know that the Ming Dynasty is different from the Southern Dynasties. The Ming Dynasty will not exploit farmers and will not let farmers work for free.
Those who come to work on the construction site are all organized by the farmers' association. Voluntariness is the principle, there is no coercion, wages are settled every ten days, and there will never be arrears. The construction site is responsible for all food and housing needs. Three meals will be provided, and at least one day will be required. Eat two dry meals and one meat meal every five days.
Not only that, there is an upper limit for daily work. Generally, you can work four hours a day. Even if you need to rush work under special circumstances, it will not exceed five hours at most. There is a special person to supervise and record.
You are given one day off every ten days, and you can get free treatment on the construction site if you fall ill. These are clearly written in the construction site regulations. If you don't follow them, big problems will occur. In the past, His Majesty's anti-corruption campaign, there were some unjust officials. Die for it. "
Wang Qi pointed to the construction site again.
"Because there have been incidents before, in order to protect the safety and interests of working farmers, the court will send people to inspect the construction site from time to time, conducting overt and covert inspections. The local justice bureau and the Renaissance Society branch will also send people to covert and covert inspections. It is a multi-pronged approach. If we want to do something It’s really not easy to do anything.”
The faint confident smile on Wang Qi's face seemed to Yu Yunwen to be a huge mockery. His face turned red and white in turns, feeling extremely embarrassed.
What was even more embarrassing was that he found that he did not understand some of what Wang Qi said.
What kind of revival meeting and judicial bureau, what are these?
Fortunately, Lu You asked the question on his behalf.
"Chief Wang, what are the Justice Bureau and the Renaissance branch...?"
Wang Qi looked at Lu You, thought for a moment, and then spoke slowly.
"Well, this is unique to the Ming Dynasty but not in the Southern Dynasty. I can't explain it clearly for a while... Well, let me think about it, probably... it can be understood as the censor's platform and admonishment officer in the Southern Dynasty."
Lu You nodded slowly, half understanding.
Only then did he realize that his understanding of the Ming Dynasty was so shallow that he couldn't figure out which court departments there were in the Ming Dynasty, so he didn't know how the Ming Dynasty's government operated.
Just relying on a book and some specious gossip is not enough to understand the Ming Dynasty.
Just like the current situation.
On the construction sites of the Ming Dynasty, such a large construction site under the leadership of the imperial court, and a construction site where so many laborers gathered together, there was no army to strictly supervise the construction site, and there was no army to intimidate with bloody murderous intent. It was just left alone.
What's even more strange is that with such good conditions and such a strong regulatory system, it doesn't even feel like a country so close to the Southern Song Dynasty, but like a distant heaven on earth, a country that can only appear in ideals.
The problem of the Southern Song Dynasty facing a formidable enemy did not exist on their side. This...
Lu You fell into a strong waver, and Yu Yunwen was similarly shaken, because Yu Yunwen found that the reality was completely different from what he described in his strategy.
If the reality were completely different, his entire strategy would have to change and be replaced, otherwise it would be of no use at all.
