Chapter 1388, let you taste the suffering of the common people
. , Daming Zhenhai King
"Your Majesty, Mr. Xu, Mr. Li said it is true~"
"The new learning is a crooked way and is not worthy of the Tao. Only Confucianism is the right way and the way to govern the country."
"With the rise of new learning, our Confucianism will decline. If things continue like this, the righteousness will collapse, the country will be in turmoil, all human ethics and morality will be lost, and our Ming Dynasty will be in danger!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, we must strictly prohibit new learning, vigorously support and encourage our Confucian righteousness, rectify the original source, and restore the bright world of our Ming Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, new disciples do not learn to be loyal to the emperor, and do not know etiquette, justice, and integrity. The lessons they are taught are all tricks and tricks, which make people lazy and slippery. They should be strictly prohibited."
"..."
One minister after another stood up, and each regarded the new learning as a wild beast that seemed to be destroying the Ming Dynasty.
I wish I could completely overthrow the new learning now, so that they can keep their Confucianism, rectify its origins, and the Ming Dynasty can proudly continue to prosper and grow.
Liu Jin looked carefully at the ministers who stood up one by one. These ministers were not of high rank, that is, they were officials of fourth or fifth rank. They also had one characteristic: they were all older.
In addition, these officials all have another characteristic, that is, they are traditional gentry. Their families have a lot of land, and they used to live a good life by collecting rent from tenants.
However, with the rapid development of capitalism and colonialism, they did not have time to keep up with the development trend of the times. They did not set up factories or actively set up plantations overseas.
To put it simply, it is the dividend of the new era. They have not tasted a bite, but their original foundation has been completely impacted by the new era.
He owned a large amount of land, but he couldn't find anyone to farm it for him. The family didn't receive much rent from tenants. It was no longer possible to maintain a decent life by relying on rent as before.
Therefore, he is also the person who has always been opposed to new learning, capitalism and overseas colonization.
In their view, the Ming Dynasty should return to its previous state, immersed in the beauty of the Ming Dynasty, and the farmers should be tightly bound to the land, cultivating the land for them for generations, and working as cattle and horses for them.
What they need to do is also very simple, that is, study, take exams for merit, and at the same time, when they have money, they continue to annex land, own more land, and collect more rent.
This is the life they hope and are familiar with, rather than opening factories or establishing colonies overseas. These are too strange and unfamiliar to them, and they are afraid, opposed, unwilling to accept them, and even
To extinguish it.
It is said that they are against new learning, but as more and more ministers come forward, there is a faint trend towards opposing the establishment of factories, workshops, immigration and overseas colonization.
"...Your Majesty, I believe that the scale and number of factories should be restricted. The number of factories is increasing, and their scale is getting larger and larger. A large number of farmers have left the land to work in factories, resulting in a large amount of fertile farmland in the south of the Yangtze River. Originally,
Jiangnan is a land of plenty, but this year, the grain production in Jiangnan has dropped significantly."
"The fertile fields are deserted and uncultivated, and there are a large number of profit-seeking people who use them to plant mulberry leaves to raise silkworms to make huge profits. There are also businessmen who use the fertile fields to plant tea, cotton, mulberry, hemp, etc."
"If things go on like this, Jiangnan, which was once the land of fish and rice, will no longer produce a grain of grain, let alone other places. At that time, our Ming Dynasty will face an unprecedented famine, the country will be shaken, and the society will be in turmoil."
Some officials from the south of the Yangtze River sadly mentioned to Emperor Hongzhi the situation in the south of the Yangtze River. The land was uncultivated and was either barren or used to grow various things. In their view, growing food was the fundamental thing.
Planting anything else is a waste of land.
After hearing this official's words about limiting the number and scale of factories, some big shots in the government finally couldn't sit still, especially those officials who had only begun to invest in factories and workshops in recent years.
"Your Majesty, I think this is wrong~"
Ji Zhongli, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up. He was also a traditional official at the beginning. However, in the past two years, his sons also invested in several factories. The business was very good, and the money they earned was more than what they had earned through renting.
Much, much more.
When he heard someone talking about limiting the number and scale of factories, he immediately became anxious. If you oppose the new learning, just oppose the new learning. When it comes to factories, there are also restrictions on the number and scale.
Isn't this costing your own life?
After finally setting up a few textile factories and cement factories, the business is booming and the money is flowing happily. If your factory can't find workers or closes down, why don't you just drink the northwest wind?
"Over the years, our Ming Dynasty has persisted in opening up territories and expanding its territory. At the same time, it has also moved a large number of people to the newly acquired territories. This in itself will lead to the loss of the population of our Ming Dynasty's original two capitals and thirteen provinces. Naturally, there will be some land
No one is cultivating, but most of them are dry lower fields, and the upper fields must be cultivated by someone."
"Secondly, farmers work hard in the fields for a year, and their income is not enough to feed the family. However, in the factory, they can get at least four taels of silver a month, which is enough to feed the whole family and still have a surplus.
If a couple works in a factory together, they can still save dozens of taels of silver in a year."
"The common people not only have enough to eat, but they can also eat meat. Compared to the past, when they worked hard to farm the land and still had enough to eat, the common people naturally know how to make choices. There are fewer people farming.
It’s also a very normal thing.”
"As for saying there will be famine in Jiangnan, this is pure nonsense."
"The total food output in Jiangnan is less, but the population has also become smaller. With the loss of a large number of people, the food needed will also decrease. Although the land is a little barren, it will not cause famine, not to mention sweet potatoes, corn, etc.
As a supplement, we also have Nanyang rice, so we don’t have to worry about food problems at all.”
"The fact that food prices in the Jiangnan region have fallen for eight consecutive years is enough to illustrate this point. If there is really a food shortage, food prices will not fall."
"I believe that the establishment of factories and workshops should be vigorously encouraged, because a factory can easily feed thousands of people and produce large amounts of cloth, cement, etc., which greatly enriches the products of our Ming Dynasty and enriches the people.
life."
"As for the problem of idle fields, more should be learned from Liaodong, Hezhong, Huanghuangzhou and other places. The right way is to adopt mechanized farming, improve efficiency, and cultivate more land with less manpower."
"Rather than closing down factories and driving people back to the countryside to farm, if farming can help people live a good life, people will naturally farm. If they can't work as workers in factories, workers will naturally
leave."
The sound of the bell is loud and clear, and every word is clearly transmitted to every corner of the Jinluan Palace.
"What you said makes sense~"
"A large number of people in the Ming Dynasty Pass have migrated overseas and outside the Pass. We can't say that we will move these people back and give up the good land to those barbarians, right?"
"Some people are not enterprising and don't know the hardships of farmers. They should be allowed to experience the hardships of farmers. Then they will know why no one is farming."
"Yes, yes, they just stand and talk without pain in their backs. They just think that no one is cultivating their fields and there is no more tenants to collect, so they think they should close the factory and let people go back to farm the land for them. Is this possible?
"
“Who will farm if they can’t even get enough to eat?”
Soon, people who supported Zhong Zhong also came forward one after another. There is no doubt that these people are people who have reaped the dividends of the times. Behind almost everyone there are factories, workshops, trading houses, overseas plantations, etc.
.
For them, the money they exchanged for the grain they used to collect from tenants was insignificant compared to the money they earned from factories, workshops, trading houses, etc.
Let them continue to collect rent and grain as before? I can't even stand it.
Hearing the words of these ministers, Liu Jin also smiled. Over the years, his role in pulling many people to run factories has been demonstrated.
If you are not in a hurry, someone will be anxious first.
If you want to limit the number and scale of factories, you are undoubtedly going against the big capitalists like North Korea and China, so naturally some people will stand up to oppose it.
Look at Emperor Hongzhi on the dragon throne again. His face is expressionless. You don't need to think about it to know what Emperor Hongzhi is thinking in his heart at this moment.
Emperor Hongzhi and the Crown Prince were the largest capitalists in the Ming Dynasty. They had extremely huge industries, including countless factories, trading houses, overseas colonies, plantations, etc.
If we now want to limit the number and scale of factories, wouldn’t this be digging into Emperor Hongzhi’s pocket?
What's more, these people still want to bring people back to the countryside to farm and repeat what has been repeated for thousands of years?
This is absolutely unacceptable to Emperor Hongzhi, and he will not allow such a thing to happen.
"Your Majesty, I think what Mr. Zhang said is true~"
"Although some people are in high positions in temples, they don't know the sufferings of the people. They even threaten to drive people back to the land to farm for them and let them collect rent."
"Then these farmers lived a life without enough food and clothing."
"They are opposed to the new learning. They feel that the things taught by the new learning are all fancy tricks and dirty things, which will make the people lazy and unwilling to work. So I think they should be allowed to taste the hard work and go to work.
Experience the hardships of farming, instead of opening your mouth when you reach for clothes, picking up the bowl to eat and then putting down the bowl to scold your mother."
Liu Jin stood up and expressed his attitude sonorously and forcefully. Don't you think what Xinxue teaches is useless?
Aren’t you saying that you want to bring people back to the land to cultivate it?
Okay, then you go and have a taste of farming first.
"Well, what Aiqing said makes sense~"
"Well, it's the Haiqinghe Banquet anyway. All ministers of rank five or above in the court, including me, will harvest ten acres of wheat and then grind it into flour to experience the hard work of farming."
"But I just said that the things taught in the new school are all fancy tricks. They are dirty ministers. They must use the most traditional methods to harvest wheat and grind flour. After all, you can't be lazy and slippery. People must be diligent.
That’s fine, using machines will make people lazy.”
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately laughed and issued the decree immediately.