Chapter 60: Times have changed
In the past few years, Zhu Xiongying's strength has grown rapidly.
If Zhu Xiongying was in Beijing, He Xi could easily manipulate him. Now when I am in Nanjing, it is different.
The world is at peace. Zhu Xiongying established himself as Zhu Yuanzhang's only orthodox foundation person. Zhu Yuanzhang's shadow naturally moved closer to Zhu Xiongying. Zhu Xiongying didn't need to do anything at all. literature
As long as he doesn't do anything wrong.
After all, Zhu Xiongying and King Yan are different. The King of Yan was not right in his position, and it will be difficult to correct even a single word of tampering thousands of years later. However, there is a lot that can be said about Zhu Yingxiong.
With Zhu Xiongying's efforts, many people have been convinced of one thing, that is, he, Zhu Xiongying, is Zhu Yuanzhang's preferred heir. He is similar to Fusu. When he was serving as a general, Zhu Yunwen took advantage of him.
Don't underestimate it.
What Zhu Yuanzhang thinks of other places is another matter. But it is really good for Nanjing and the counties near Nanjing. No taxes have been levied for decades.
Many people in Nanjing have forgotten how to pay taxes.
Even now in Nanjing Prefecture, there is no need to pay land tax. It can be said that Zhu Xiongying continued Zhu Yuanzhang's benevolence. Of course, this was also because the Ming Dynasty's taxation had shifted from agriculture to industry.
Agricultural taxes are nothing. Although Nanjing is rich. But agricultural taxes are not too much.
Of course, this Nanjing is just the original Yingtian Mansion, Taipei, which is the place where Zhu Yuanzhang first established his foundation after crossing the river. Other places in the south of the Yangtze River, even if they are incorporated into the new Nanjing, cannot enjoy this treatment.
If we say, Beijing’s surname is He. Then Nanjing is named Zhu.
Zhu Yuanzhang's influence is everywhere in this city. As long as Zhu Xiongying manages his business carefully, many people in Nanjing will be willing to support the Zhu family.
Zhu Xiongying feels safer in Nanjing.
In a word, Zhu Xiongying was convinced that He Xi would not dare to launch a coup easily in Nanjing.
Launching a coup is difficult to say and easy to say.
Just a few thousand men and horses, not much. Because there are too many people in the city and it is impossible to move them around. Just rush into the palace and control the main people and centers.
But the difficulty lies in how to act secretly.
Don't let anyone find out.
The problem here is too big.
Especially in the city, hiding thousands of people is a big problem, and convincing thousands of soldiers to defect is also a big problem.
In an atmosphere like Nanjing where people are in love with each other, it is easy for some problems to arise. Whether it is a big problem or a small problem, once the news leaks out, it will be a big problem.
It can even be said that many coups were not leaked beforehand.
It's just a matter of concealing it.
But it's different when you go to Beijing.
Beijing is a city built entirely according to He Xi's ideas. The north entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty relatively late. The loyalty of the northerners to the Ming Dynasty was far less than that of Nanjing.
If He Xi launches a coup in Beijing, it will be difficult for Zhu Xiongying to know in advance or even prevent it. That is He Xi's home court.
Zhu Xiongying was naturally unwilling.
But He Xi was not allowed to do this. Without him, there are actually many scholar-bureaucrats in the south who were suppressed by He Xi and did not die.
And He Xi couldn't really drive these people away.
Social development and evolution also take time. As long as the tenant system, this way of managing land, exists, the landlord class will exist. What the scholar-bureaucrats call "farming, reading, and inheriting the family" will exist. Those who represent the interests of these people will also appear.
This is something He Xi cannot change.
Unless he really kills Jiang Nan in vain.
This is something he can't do.
Nanjing is too close to areas with developed traditional agriculture. Nanjing is easily influenced. Although, with Nanjing as the core, there are already many industrial factors.
Xie Jin is also a good one
During his tenure as Yin of Yingtian Prefecture, he did a lot of things and dredged the good ports of Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture. It opened up the internal water system of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Vigorously develop the textile industry.
Because the foundation of Jiangning District exists. In addition, a large amount of northern capital went south, and for a time Yingtianfu's cotton spinning industry was so prosperous that it could be compared with Shandong and Liaodong.
Even the reason why Shandong and Liaodong can barely surpass Songjiang Prefecture is because there is a large amount of cotton planting in the north. Shandong, for example, is an important land for cotton planting.
They are relatively close to Liaodong.
Production costs are low.
For this reason, Xie Jin promoted cotton planting in Jiangbei. Of course, this matter is difficult to handle. After all, Jiangbei and Jiangnan are not the same province. Jiangbei is Jianghuai Province, and Jiangnan is Yingtianfu.
So Xie Jin came up with a way, which was to include Yangzhou in Yingtian Mansion.
Of course this won't work.
As a result, Yingtian Mansion will be too big. It is basically a Yangtze River Delta.
And the taxation of Yingtian Mansion is increasing day by day. Last year, it became a prefecture and county with a tax revenue of more than 20 million, and there were only four provincial-level units in the entire Ming Dynasty with a tax revenue of more than 20 million. Shuntianfu in Beijing, Liaodong, Hebei, and Yingtianfu.
It can only be said that light industry has developed very quickly.
However, He Xi also noticed that although many people in the textile industry have already stepped into the ranks of capitalists, they themselves do not have this consciousness.
They instinctively feel that they are subordinate to the bureaucracy.
With the money, he never thought about expanding production, but bought land as the foundation of the family, just like the rich people in this land for thousands of years.
These people and doctors have reaped the dividends of the new era, but their thinking is still in the old era. They still wanted to return to the rule of the old era and felt that the Ming court had too many affairs.
The best virtue of these people is that all the money should be earned by them. But the court doesn't care about anything, and this is the best. Send people to collect taxes and kill them.
Therefore, although the development of light industry has brought some industrial atmosphere to Nanjing, the old-school forces are still quite large.
Ming Dynasty is too big.
The power of the central government is also too great.
Whoever controls the central government can control the local areas and use the world to suppress a corner. There are too many ways to do it.
He Xi and Zhu Xiongying won the Civil War, but He Xi understood one thing, which is difficult to copy. Now the army has been completely reorganized.
Nanjing also has an industrial foundation.
If the North and the South start another war, many things will not go as smoothly as before.
The North cannot afford another military revolution. Not to mention that traditional Chinese bureaucrats would generally not make matters go to this extent.
No need for hard knives, soft knives can also kill people.
He Xi wants to ensure that Beijing remains the capital. Just avoid a lot of things. This was something He Xi couldn't give in to.
But neither side was willing to give in on this matter, and the situation became stagnant for a while.
This is also the reason why He Xi doesn't want to talk to Zhu Xiongying directly. When something happens, if someone sends a message and talks directly, it will easily lead to the current situation. If the talks are deadlocked, what should we do next?
You don’t want anyone to touch you?
What no one wants to see.
He Xi said: "Your Majesty, in the ninth year of Longwu's reign, I will be resigning this term. Has Your Majesty ever considered who the next chief minister will be?"
Zhu Xiongying was stunned and said, "What does uncle mean?"
He Xi said: "Xie Jin has made great progress in these years, but he has not experienced major events, which still makes people uneasy. Well, it's not that the King of Yan won a great victory. I sent Xie Jin to the Yan State to comfort Yan. How is the king?"
Zhu Xiongying was stunned. He understood what He Xi meant.
Although he promised to step back, if he doesn't step back, things will change. Not to mention, even if he retires, he still has the right to decide who will be next.
Before, there was an undercurrent, but He Xi didn't want to deal with it.
. Rather than being unable to control it.
If it is said that Zhu Xiongying really does not give in on this matter. He Xi would not force him, but he could only go further in other aspects. It was Zhu Xiongying who was uncomfortable at that time.
He Xi has not particularly given Zhu Xiongying any stumbling blocks over the years.
Without him, Zhu Xiongying could still understand He Xi's policy. He Xi was sure that Zhu Xiongying would not overturn his policy. Because he knows the future has changed.
Zhu Xiongying agrees with the path brought by He Xi.
However, for Zhu Xiongying, this is only secondary. What he values more is his power.
In He Xi's view, Zhu Xiongying's ability and skills were enough to make him a minister or governor of a province. But this ability is coupled with the blessing of the emperor's status. You can control the overall situation.
maintain a transitional period.
It is consistent with He Xi's plan for the future of Ming Dynasty. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's relationship with his wife Princess Anqing. He Xi had no intention of stumbling upon Zhu Xiongying.
It's just that it doesn't mean it can't be done.
He Xi's current situation goes even further and there is a problem in seizing the throne. Not to mention how much resistance was encountered, the subsequent impact and development were inappropriate for He Xi.
But even if he takes a step back, he can do a lot of things, and Zhu Xiongying, who dares not say it, would be worse off than dead. At least it makes him, the emperor, uncomfortable, but it is a very simple matter.
He Xi opened so many backdoors for the imperial power, which can be regarded as thinking about the Zhu family.
Since people don't appreciate it, He Xi can naturally close them one by one. It is very difficult for Zhu Xiongying to be a virtual king all of a sudden. After all, Zhu Xiongying also has his own supporters. But there is no problem in letting Zhu Xiongying fight for half his life to regain his power in the future.
Zhu Xiongying also understood. He sighed and said, "I thank my uncle on behalf of Xie Jin for his kindness. The desert is so lonely and the sun is setting over the long river. I want to come to Jie Jin to see it all. I just have some ideas about moving the capital to Beijing. Uncle, don't you think so?" Do you think that with the current territory of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing is a little too far north? There are no big enemies in the north now, so it is no longer in line with the original situation of Beijing."
