Chapter 43: The legacy of the six towns and the foundation of Yuanxing
"There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the six towns, but the land is not enough for cultivation. The land in the six towns often has just begun to be planted and can still produce a good harvest. After a few years, the land is exposed, the wind blows and the sand blows, and the sheep's horns rise up, and the sun disappears. Only Only a small amount of land near water can continue to be planted, but what can be grown is only millet."
"The harvest was not enough to feed the people, and all we could rely on was the baggage sent by the Northern Wei Dynasty. However, after the Northern Wei Dynasty moved south, the army came out of the south, and many Southern Dynasties fought between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River."
"As a result, the soldiers and people in the six towns were extremely poor. Then it caused chaos in the six towns and destroyed the Northern Wei Dynasty in one fell swoop."
When Lian Zining said this, his eyes swept across everyone, and finally landed on Zhu Yuanzhang, and said: "The six towns have become a story. Now the Holy Emperor is here, sweeping the world again, and settling in Monan. Students dare not not take the liberty of hearing this. , the land of Six Towns, the land of Monan, how has this place changed over thousands of years? I don’t know. However, with the sight of Six Towns, I have to think about it. If a large army is stationed in Monan, how many soldiers and civilians will be used? The imperial court How much geometry can it support?”
"If things continue like this, will the loyal and good people in the court turn into an army of grievances in the six towns? Your Majesty, student, please think twice about this."
All history is contemporary history.
This point remains the same whether it is six hundred years later or six hundred years ago.
And He Xi has said before that studying history is to solve contemporary problems. Emphasizing the practicality of studying history, as disciples of He Xi. Of course we adhere to this. So all the things happening in the six towns have long gone by the wayside. The problems faced by the six towns still exist today.
That is whether to station large-scale troops in Monan Mongolia.
Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang stationed troops, but during the Yongle and Xuande years, almost all the guard posts on the grasslands were withdrawn into the pass. You must know that Ming Chengzu and Ming Xuanzong are not faint kings. They don't know the significance of garrisoning troops on the grassland. But in the end, he still chose the faint move.
Zhu Yuanzhang now looks at the rebellion in the six towns and has many thoughts in his mind.
However, he did not speak at the moment and just nodded to Xu Zheng. It was just that Zhu Yuanzhang took off the cap of the gold pen and wrote Lian Zining's name on the white paper in front of him. From today on, Lian Zining can be regarded as a simple person in the emperor's heart.
Xu Zheng immediately asked Lian Zining to go down. Please come up.
The next one is Huang Zicheng.
Huang Zicheng was not as free and easy as Lian Zining. He was a little reserved, but it was not out of character. After saluting, he said: "The topic the students want to talk about is "Genghis Khan and the Fundamental Strategies of Yuanxing"."
What Huang Zicheng is talking about is the policy of Genghis Khan when he ruled the grasslands.
Mainly the Thousand Households Policy.
Simply put, during the Genghis Khan era, the Mongolian ruling unit was the thousand households.
Genghis Khan organized the entire Mongolia into ninety-five thousand households. Coupled with the Qingxue army beside Genghis Khan, it can also be regarded as a proton army. A total of more than 100,000 troops were the fundamental strength of Mongolia during the Genghis Khan period.
Of course, what Huang Zicheng focused on was not the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian army, but the maintenance of the system after the battle.
A Mongolian Qianhu is not only a combat unit, but also a production unit. Almost every Qianhu's equipment, war horses, and food are produced by the Qianhu. It is also because of this that every household has protons and servants to serve in Qixue's army. Thus integrating the power of the entire Mongolia.
And every thousand households cannot be led unless they are meritorious relatives.
And every Mongolian citizen serves in units of one thousand households. It can be said that as far as ordinary people are concerned, they will never escape the management of Qianhu throughout their lives.
And this normality is not without flaws. At least when Mongolia was fighting internally, each household would stand in line with its own leader. It can be said that every Mongolian civil war was a battle between ninety-five thousand households.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he became more serious. The reason is very simple. Although the Ming Dynasty's guard system was based on the military system of the Tang Dynasty, it mostly inherited the military system of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. Mongolia's thousand-household system has many similarities with the Ming Dynasty's guard system.
However, Huang Zicheng did not just describe the Mongolian rule. He next explained why Mongolia did this.
It is mainly discussed from the economic aspect.
Huang Zicheng said: "Each thousand households is essentially a separate tribe. Except for protons, the Mongolian center has no checks and balances on each thousand households. Only in this way can there be a subsequent meeting of kings to decide the Mongolian monarch. The fundamental reason why the kings can decide the monarch is that each person controls thousands of tribes."
"Did Genghis Khan realize this? I don't think so. But Genghis Khan could not change the conditions on the grassland. The nomadic tribes lived in pursuit of water and grass. It can be said that it is a burden for any personnel. It is impossible for the Central Plains court system. Any additional official will It’s an unbearable burden on the grassland.”
"Students think that if the imperial court wants to establish rule on the grasslands, the Yuan and Meng Qianhu system can be used as a reference."
Zhu Yuanzhang heard this and said to He Xi: "They must have read each other's homework."
He Xi said: "Your Majesty is wise."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "The two of them are positive and negative, and they correspond to each other, which makes people think deeply. However, what are your thoughts on the issue of Northern Xinjiang?"
He Xi said: "Your Majesty, it is better to listen to the students first. I am not talented and want to be the finale."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and then waved his hand. Let Huang Zicheng go down. Xu Zheng brought Ding Xian over again.
Ding Xian was in high spirits, even more so on such an occasion. Hot blooded head. Said: "What I said is the "Northern Xinjiang Policy"."
He Xi's face showed a look of disbelief. He immediately lowered his head and said in Zhu Yuanzhang's ear: "The homework he handed in before was not this. It was "Changes of Cities in Monan Region". It was an article on the suitability of cities for construction in Monan Region. regionally determined articles.”
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "I know, I have seen many people like this."
Some people will be nervous when encountering big scenes. This is human nature, but some people will be nervous when encountering big scenes. He will become very excited, which is called people going crazy.
Being able to meet the emperor is an opportunity for everyone. Everyone has different choices for this opportunity.
Compared with Lian Zining and Huang Zicheng, they are young and mature. Ding Xian is not inferior to them in terms of talent. But I was a little restless. Before this, everyone had seen each other’s homework. It was just a homework before, but now it has to be done in front of the emperor. Just a perfect opportunity.
An opportunity to soar.
When Ding Xian felt that his article was inferior to the first two, he made up his mind to change the article temporarily. Want to be a blockbuster in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.
But from He Xi's point of view, this was just being smart.
After all, Zhu Yuanzhang has never seen what kind of person he is. Ding Xian still lost points by doing this. Even if you have talent, you may not be reused. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang attaches great importance to rules, which is reflected in the fact that he attaches the most importance to laws in governing the country. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang himself may not take the laws seriously and can promote others beyond the standards. But he hates it when his subordinates do this.
After all, if such a person becomes an official in the future, he may not take the court rules and regulations seriously.
At this moment, He Xi could only sigh in his heart. Sorry for this student.
At this moment, Ding Xian didn't know that what he did today was ruining his future, and he was still trying his best to perform. Explain the strategy you have formulated to determine the northern border.
The core content of Ding Xian's policy in northern Xinjiang is to govern according to the customs.
That is, without changing the economic basis of northern Xinjiang, the Ming Dynasty's rule over the grasslands was determined through enfeoffment, city building, trade, etc.
Enfeoffment means enfeoffing grassland pastures, either to meritorious officials, to surrendered ministers, or to clan members. In short, on the steppes, the policies of Genghis Khan were followed. The prairie tribes headed by Qingui set up checks and balances on enfeoffment. Let no one tribe dominate.
Then build a city. It was to build a city at a strategic location on the grassland. The city served as a residence for court officials, allowing them to command the vassals on the grassland. Commerce is based on transportation and the construction of post roads. Communicate internally and externally, and transport products from the grasslands to the Central Plains. At the same time, products from the Central Plains were transported to the grasslands.
Since then, the two sides have been closely linked, economically and politically, inseparable. Let the grassland become the territory of Ming Dynasty forever.
