At the wine table, Li Jin's words made Zhu Yuanzhang, Lan Yu and Xu Da fall silent.
They survived from that era and naturally knew the horror of the end of the dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang's parents, because they could not pay taxes, were forced by the damn corrupt officials to hang themselves.
Several of his brothers and sisters also starved to death.
That was a pain that Zhu Yuanzhang would never forget. Xu Da and Lan Yu were in the same era as Zhu Yuanzhang, so naturally their childhood experiences were similar.
It is precisely because there are so many people who do not have enough to eat that they may starve to death at any time.
When the Red Scarf Army rebels, the forces of uprising in the world will surge forward and continue.
When living has become a luxury, can we still expect the people to be peaceful and obedient citizens?
However, Zhu Yuanzhang previously believed that the main culprit leading to this situation was corrupt officials.
It is because of these people's excessive corruption, wanton demands, and oppression of the people that the people are in dire straits.
Of course, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were extravagant, greedy for pleasure, and robbed the people, which was also the reason why the people hated the court.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought he had learned the lessons of the previous dynasty and taught his children to be diligent and thrifty. He was especially strict with the prince Zhu Biao.
There must be no extravagance. At the same time, the people should be lightly taxed and the burden should be reduced so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment.
For the most disgusting corrupt officials, the most severe punishment in Chinese history was used.
Corrupt officials who dared to embezzle more than three taels would have all the day lilies peeled off and placed on top of Yingtian City as a warning to others.
It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang learned the lessons of the previous dynasty's demise, but not much.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang still has not solved the most fundamental and core problem. In other words, as long as it is a feudal dynasty, the core chronic diseases cannot be solved at all.
That's land.
The Chinese farming civilization and the surrounding terrain have determined that the Han people can only occupy so much territory on land.
Looking at the topographic map of China, we can see that the Chinese Han people basically occupy the richest land in East Asia and the land most suitable for human survival.
Surrounding Huaxia, in the northeast are the Changbai Mountains and the Daxinganling Mountains, which are deep mountains and old forests. They are in the cold season all year round. Although the Han people have occupied this place, they still cannot adapt to this cold climate.
In the eyes of the Chinese people, Liaodong is a bitter and cold place. Only those who really can't survive will have no choice but to go to Guandong and enter Liaodong to seek life.
The north of China belongs to Mobei, not to mention the environment. Even the nomadic people live in poverty in Mobei, let alone the Chinese people who don't understand nomadism, they simply can't live in Mobei.
The west of China is the desert Gobi, the southwest is the plateau area with hundreds of thousands of mountains and rugged roads, and the south and east are the sea.
From east to west, from north to south, as long as it is land suitable for farming, it is all included in China's possession. This shows that it is already extremely difficult for the Ming Dynasty to expand.
Places such as the southeast, northwest, etc. are faced with terrain like natural chasms.
Before humans entered the mechanized era, it was difficult for humans to transform these environments by themselves. All we could do was adapt to the environment.
Therefore, throughout the history of Chinese dynasties, the curse of the dynasty's three-hundred-year fortune has never been escaped. The reason is that the land has been fixed.
Like a time bomb, when these lands are concentrated in the hands of a few people, it means that the countdown of this time bomb is over.
Next, there will be an earth-shattering peasant uprising. The people who cannot survive will use their teeth and nails to defeat the well-equipped but decayed imperial army and end the rule of these dynasties.
Then the privileged class was liquidated, the population died in large numbers, and the land was redistributed.
With the land, the Chinese people are full of vitality again. This is the early stage of a dynasty, and there can often be one or two prosperous times.
This is because the demands of the people of China are very simple. As long as they have land to grow, food to eat, they can support themselves, and they can have enough to eat after working hard, then the people of China will give 200% of their efforts and work hard.
As long as the rulers of the imperial court are not particularly bastards and their politics are relatively clear, then the Han people will be able to burst out with great vitality.
It is precisely because of these hardworking and tireless people that we have created the so-called prosperous times in the past dynasties.
When Li Jin finished speaking these words to Zhu Yuanzhang and the others, Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent.
Because as Li Jin analyzed, ever since the dynasty was established, the fate of the dynasty has been determined.
Zhu Biao's eyes were full of energy and he asked Li Jin:
"In this case, why does Mr. Li say that opening the sea can solve the chronic problems of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Could it be that as long as we open the sea, our Ming Dynasty can be passed down forever?"
Li Jinren looked drunk. When he heard the question, he answered:
"Although it may not last forever, it is still easy to extend the life of the Ming Dynasty for one or two hundred years."
"After all, the most fundamental reason for the final tragedy of the Chinese Dynasty was caused by the land."
"But there are large tracts of land overseas. As long as these lands are occupied, some domestic conflicts will naturally be alleviated."
"When the population is saturated and refugees begin to appear, we only need to immigrate these refugees and a large part of them, the wealthy and unkind gentry and landlords, directly overseas."
"Where's the land that can't support people? These refugees are already starving to death. As long as we can provide them with food and promise to provide them with land when they get there."
"Presumably these refugees will just be grateful and rush to go overseas."
"As for those big landowners, they are like the cancer of Ming Dynasty. Eradicating these cancers will naturally extend the life of Ming Dynasty."
"In this way, the number of refugees will be reduced. Even if one or two rebel, they will not respond in large numbers and threaten the rule of the Ming Dynasty."
"Not only that, there are places overseas that produce food. As long as this food is continuously transported to the Ming Dynasty, there will not be so many hungry people in the Ming Dynasty."
"With food, as long as we continue to provide relief to the victims, Ming Dynasty will be able to provide disaster relief even if natural disasters occur."
"So, overseas is very important to Ming Dynasty."
"If we want to free the Ming Dynasty from the fate of the Chinese dynasty for three hundred years, it will be necessary to open up the sea and seize the land of various overseas strongholds."
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly burst into frightening light, and he stared at Li Jin with bright eyes.
In Li Jin's previous explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang was like clearing the clouds and seeing the sun, looking through the fog and seeing through the nature of the demise of previous dynasties.
But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't have a good way to solve it. Now Li Jin gave a solution, but Zhu Yuanzhang still had some questions in his heart.
"County Magistrate Li, how should we manage so many refugees and troops stationed overseas?"
"What if the person who leads the army to station has a different intention?"
"At that time, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. If we want to attack these rebellious officials and traitors, we will have to send out large armies and labor for an expedition. Wouldn't it be worth the loss?"
"It's very simple."
Li Jin said casually:
"When the army is stationed overseas, it is natural to store the army's ordnance logistics in the Ming Dynasty itself."
"In the future, muskets and artillery will become the standard equipment of the navy. After all, in fierce battles in the vast sea, only long-range weapons can gain a huge advantage."
"As long as you control the bullets of the muskets and the shells of the artillery, even if any of the naval generals really want to rebel."
"How long can they hold on without enough ammunition?"
"Sticking the ammunition supply is like jamming the necks of these navies."
"Each navy stationed at sea only needs to carry the prescribed amount of ammunition. If it is used up, it must report to the court how it was used and the reasons for its use."
"And special inspectors are dispatched to strictly control these ammunition. No naval general would dare to raise a flag to rebel without ammunition."
After Li Jin finished speaking his point of view, Lan Yu felt like a light on his back. If it was true as Li Jin said, then the navies going to sea would be tricked by Li Jin.
Just like controlling logistics and food in ancient wars, in the age of firearms, what needs to be controlled is ammunition.
After all, there are places producing food everywhere overseas, and it is no longer realistic for the court to control food and grass.
But if you control the ammunition, when the fire gun has no bullets, it is just a fire stick.
If the artillery has no shells, it is just a big iron lump, which will get in the way on the ship.
When Xu Da heard this, he was thoughtful. After all, among everyone here, except Li Jin, Xu Da knew the power of artillery and firecrackers best.
It can be foreseen that in the Ming Dynasty's army, not only the navy, but also the army and frontier troops from all over the world, firearms will become the main battle weapon.
Swords, spears, even bows and arrows, and crossbows will be completely eliminated.
If one group of people has enough ammunition and the other group of people lacks ammunition, the result is self-evident. The group of people who lack ammunition can only be massacred by the other side.
It can only be said that Li Jin's method of blocking the neck is really amazing.
