Chapter 151 Zhu Yuanzhang’s original intention
But Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the prince took it for granted.
Because Confucianism is not just an ideology or a mode of production. The Confucian system was developed in the Zhou Dynasty and has almost become the consensus of Chinese scholar-officials until now.
This is the most powerful place.
What kind of enemy is the most terrifying?
The most terrifying enemy is the one who cannot be seen, touched or killed?
Confucianism is such an enemy. People cannot kill ideas.
Don't look at the fact that He Xi killed many scholar-bureaucrats, and several great scholars died. But the question is, is this the end? To put it bluntly, even Zhu Yuanzhang has killed all of Song Lian's disciples, one by one. But in less than ten years, a group of new Confucian scholars will reappear. Their political opinions may be different from those of Fang Xiaoru and others, but overall, there will not be much change.
But Zhu Yuanzhang's lifespan is limited, and the prince's lifespan is also limited.
How could it be possible to do it slowly? It was just waiting for the backlash in the future.
But Zhu Yuanzhang's hesitation was not just that the prince's plan was not feasible.
He Xi's plan is also not feasible.
He Xi himself didn't even feel that he had actually reached the limit of what he could do. It is already difficult to go further.
There are many reasons.
The biggest problem is that businessmen have no independent will. In other words, Chinese businessmen are used to being vassals and have no habit of fighting for their own interests independently. Maybe there will be this habit in the future, but at least not now.
Even though the so-called business gangs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties seemed to support many politicians, in essence, this support was dependence. The real decision-making power lies in the hands of these politicians, not in the hands of these businessmen.
These businessmen are subject to the political interests of politicians, rather than politicians being subject to the commercial interests of businessmen.
This is a fundamental difference.
For the nobles, money has never been important. He Xi used commercial interests to win over him. Except for a small number of people, they actually don’t really support He Xi. It's just that He Xi has Zhu Yuanzhang's support, so they don't dare to offend him.
Zhu Yuanzhang's judgment on He Xi's future is the most likely. After his death, Fang Xiaoru and others joined forces with the nobles to abolish some of He Xi's radical methods, restrict the development of blockade technology, limit the scope of use of advanced technology, and put the advanced technologies brought by He Xi under the sole control of several nobles.
In this way, the impact of He Xi's advanced technology on the Confucian order was digested. As long as a small patch is made to Confucianism, everything can be restored to its original appearance in the minds of Confucians, with superiors and inferiors respecting each other in their proper place.
The reason why China did not develop an industrial revolution has never been a problem of technology.
Today, the Confucian-led political structure, which is based on agriculture, benevolent as its concept, and is ultra-stable, simply does not allow a large number of people to be separated from the land. This would be regarded by Confucians as a threat to rule. A farmer could also take care of some handicrafts, and even the profits from handicrafts might have exceeded the profits from agriculture. However, in the eyes of Confucians, this was allowed.
In Suzhou and many places in Jiangnan, the so-called men farm and women weave is essentially like this. 33
But it would not work if we gave up the land and gathered production on a large scale purely as workers. Because that is the hidden danger of imperial rule.
If a man does not plow, he may suffer from hunger; if a woman does not weave, she may suffer from cold. This is the political philosophy of Confucianism.
Reduce the number of non-agricultural populations as much as possible, but China’s ancient agriculture was the best in the world, and this has long been no longer the case. There is already a large amount of agricultural surplus. Someone has done calculations. In the Ming Dynasty, the grain produced by one farmer could probably feed nine people.
The cultivation of a large number of cash crops in the Ming Dynasty was actually a reflection of this situation.
But Confucianism supports the cultivation of cash crops. Opposition to large-scale industrial and commercial operations is almost non-existent in the literature. But documentation is not required. Because at the local level, county magistrates and magistrates have great discretion.
Education and persuading farmers are important functions of local officials. There is a place where many idle people gather and do not grow food. I heard that it is very profitable. But the money earned does not belong to the local officials. Even if it is, this kind of business scale will be greatly restricted.
The larger the scale of industrial production, the lower the cost. If the scale is not large enough and there is no breakthrough in technology, it will not even be as efficient as the handicraft industry.
Since it is not profitable and troublesome, the choice of the businessman is obvious. I would rather support handicrafts than open big factories.
Without factories, there would be no industrial revolution.
Facing such an invisible enemy. Although He Xi has done a lot. But in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, it was not enough, far from enough.
Without the emperor's support, He Xi will definitely encounter backlash in the future.
As for what kind of backlash, Zhu Yuanzhang could not predict. But he estimated that the best outcome for He Xi would be to sit on the bench for more than ten years, waiting for the day when he could make a comeback. If the outcome is worse, we will meet him under Jiuquanxia.
This is also the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang does not want to see He Xi.
The conflict between He Xi and the prince certainly has the prince's problem. But He Xi didn't realize that his partner with the prince was actually intrinsically connected. If the prince and He Xi could work closely together, it would be possible to push forward the reform.
This is what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see most.
Now the prince is gone.
The future of He Xi's reform was bleak, and Zhu Yuanzhang could not find a person who could secure the Ming Dynasty and work with He Xi to implement the reform.
Zhu Yuanzhang even wavered in his intention to continue the reform. If this matter was bound to fail, why not let him put an end to it. Overthrow it and leave more behind than others.
However, after this illness, Zhu Yuanzhang finally recognized himself. In his heart, he secretly thought: "Zhu Chongba, Zhu Chongba, why are you so hopeless? I have never given up on what I want to do. Are you giving up now?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was determined.
For Zhu Yuanzhang, nothing is impossible as long as he is determined. It’s nothing more than a price.
And Zhu Yuanzhang's determination has always been at any cost.
Determination is enough.
Zhu Yuanzhang's change of mind was unknown to the people in front of him.
These people came forward one by one, wanting to express themselves around Zhu Yuanzhang. However, Zhu Yuanzhang behaved very calmly. He just said a few words and sent them away. Only Dai Shenyi remained.
Doctor Dai re-examined Zhu Yuanzhang. Doctor Dai breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Your Majesty, you have passed this period. As long as you rest more and work less in the future, you will recover soon."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Then what happened to my hand?"
Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his right hand and moved it. As a result, the thumb, index finger, and middle finger flexed, while the little finger and ring finger only trembled but did not bend.
Doctor Dai knew what was going on when he saw it. He gently pressed his ring finger and little finger, feeling the power on them. There is only a very weak force, not enough to move two fingers.
Divine Doctor Dai's mind sank, and he immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Tell me the truth, these two fingers." At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang paused slightly and said: "Is this going to be like this from now on?"
Doctor Dai said: "I don't dare to deceive Your Majesty. Your Majesty's hands may recover if you do more acupuncture in the future. But even if they recover, they won't be the same as before."
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed in his heart and said: "I am old. You can go down. This matter will be kept secret."
Doctor Dai said: "Yes." Doctor Dai did not leave immediately, but said: "Your Majesty, this is only the first time, the symptoms are relatively mild, but if Your Majesty still works hard, I am worried that it will relapse in the future. To At that time, I was worried------"
Doctor Dai hasn't finished speaking yet. But Zhu Yuanzhang already knew what Doctor Dai wanted to say. Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "My destiny is in heaven, how can it be between soup, medicine, needles and stones?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's words are not much different from what Liu Bang said, but the intentions of Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang are different.
Liu Bang may have truly believed that his life was destined by destiny.
But Zhu Yuanzhang was not. He originally believed in destiny, but He Xi's arrival deepened Zhu Yuanzhang's belief. It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang's words are more about human affairs than destiny. If the big deal is decided, it doesn't really matter how long he can live.
Some people died, but not completely...
