Chapter 938, the prosperous world is just the beginning (supplement)
In the imperial palace of the capital and the study room of the Palace of Qianqing, Emperor Hongzhi and his party came back here again. They all had a lot of feelings. They walked around and took a look at many things. Naturally, they would have a more intuitive and clear understanding than staying at home. .
At first, I was worried that there would be big problems if no one was growing wheat in Beizhili. Now it seems that this is simply a trivial matter. With convenient road transportation, developed shipping, and the bumper harvests in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, the food supply is basically There is so much to eat. Even though it is difficult to find a wheat field in Beizhili, the food in Beizhili is still sufficient.
The problems the court faces now are completely different from those in the past.
In the past, I just prayed for good weather, a good harvest in the Ming Dynasty, and enough food for the people. I prayed up to the sky for peace and prosperity for the country, and for the neighbors to live in harmony with me.
There is almost no difference from the history of this land for thousands of years. It is just repeating what happened in the past year after year.
But the problem we are facing now is no longer the problem of having enough to eat.
The Ming Dynasty now has vast land. Most of the fertile land is Liaodong, the Western Regions, Hezhong, Nanyang, Australia, and Golden Island. A large number of immigrants are developing new territories. There are also high-yielding food crops, and there is too much food to eat. , the grain produced in one year is enough to feed the Ming Dynasty for several years.
It can be said that the Ming Dynasty has solved the problem that has plagued this land and this nation for thousands of years, the problem of having enough to eat.
In the past, a large number of people were concentrated on the land of the two capitals and thirteen provinces. There were many people but little land, and the land had been cultivated for thousands of years. Many places had long been barren, and the ecological environment had become extremely bad.
Under such circumstances, eating has been a headache for all dynasties.
Because if the people don't have enough to eat, the country will not be stable.
In addition, the traditional Ming Dynasty's two capitals and thirteen provinces are typical monsoon season areas, and famines occur almost every year, but they are in the minority when the weather is good.
This problem of eating has become a big problem that has plagued all dynasties.
But things are different now. Through external expansion and colonization, a large amount of fertile land has been acquired, and a large number of people have migrated overseas and to colonies.
Not only were the overseas colonies and provinces vast and sparsely populated, the population of the Ming Dynasty's traditional two capitals and thirteen provinces was also greatly reduced, slowly changing from more people and less land to vast land and sparsely populated areas.
Coupled with its wide distribution, various climates and natural conditions, and its ability to face disasters, fertile land, and hard-working people, it can be said that it has truly solved the problem of food that has not been solved in previous dynasties. question.
Everyone is clearly aware of a problem. The problem facing Ming Dynasty now is not about the people having enough to eat, but the problem caused by the people's pursuit of a higher quality of life after having enough to eat.
People's lives have become better and they want to eat meat. However, the current breeding and animal husbandry industry in Ming Dynasty is not developed and cannot provide enough meat for the people. This is a problem.
People's lives have improved and they have higher pursuits. Their children need to be educated and literate. However, the private schools, schools, academies, etc. in the Ming Dynasty are seriously insufficient. There are too many, too many children who cannot go to school. This is also a problem.
There are also ordinary people who have money in their hands. They have seen the prosperity in the city and are no longer satisfied with the original brick houses in the countryside. They also want to live in comfortable new houses, houses made of reinforced concrete.
.
However, the current steel and cement production in Ming Dynasty is still not enough to meet the demand, which is also a problem.
In addition, as the Ming Dynasty's economy developed towards capitalism and the Ming Dynasty developed into the colonial era, transportation between various places required closer communication.
However, there are still very few cement roads in Daming, covering not enough areas and not wide enough. People mainly rely on walking to travel, which is also a problem.
Generally speaking, it is the relationship between the pursuit of a better life by the people of the Ming Dynasty who are already full and starting to become rich, and the backward productivity of the Ming Dynasty at this stage.
"My dear friends, what do you think?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a long time, looked at everyone present and asked.
Everyone was silent for a while, and no one knew how to reply.
If you just flatter Emperor Hongzhi, everyone will do it, and every one of them is a master. It can be said that the sky is full of flowers and the earth is full of golden lotuses.
But the key point is that Emperor Hongzhi obviously does not want you to flatter him, but to find out the problems that the Ming Dynasty is facing now and propose corresponding solutions based on what he sees and hears today.
This troubled traditional ministers such as Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhong Zhong, and Zhang Mao. The way they knew to govern the country was the way they had been used for thousands of years.
It is nothing more than light corvees and low taxes, recuperation, light punishments, keeping close friends with virtuous ministers and alienating villains, etc. This kind of country-governing policy has been implemented for thousands of years, generation after generation, and has always been like this.
Under such a way of governing the country, if the people can live and work in peace and contentment and have food to eat, it will be considered a prosperous age. A few years ago, civil servants liked to preach to Emperor Hongzhi that Hongzhi would revive the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty would be prosperous.
However, the famine in the three northern provinces made it clear to everyone that this so-called prosperous age and the so-called ZTE were just blown up by civil servants. For them civil servants, scholar-bureaucrats, landlords and gentry, it was indeed a prosperous age.
Because the imperial court was light on corvee and low on taxes, and the emperor favored civil servants and military generals, respecting Confucianism and Taoism, their life was certainly the best, but for the people at the bottom, life was still very hard, and they could not even afford food and clothing.
Wandering between life and death, barely surviving.
If there is a slight disaster, the land will be filled with hungry people, children will be exchanged for food, and wars will start everywhere.
This is bullshit, a renaissance, a prosperous age, coupled with external factors, the Tatars in the northern grasslands go south to plunder every year, the Japanese pirates on the southeast coast, pirates are rampant, and the chieftains in the southwest are capricious, it can be said that there are internal and external troubles.
Therefore, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and other traditional Confucian civil servants had no way to break out of the original box, and they also had no way to propose any substantively progressive policies.
As for flattery, forget it, Emperor Hongzhi was tired of hearing it, so everyone remained silent or stopped talking at all.
As for Liu Jin, he has been thinking in his mind why the Ming Dynasty developed so rapidly and the lives of the people changed too much and too fast.
This made Liu Jin feel incredible.
But if you think about it carefully, all of this is very reasonable. Ming Dynasty is at the top of the global food chain. It has not experienced a hundred-year disaster, and it has not been exploited and squeezed by others. Instead, it can squeeze, exploit and plunder other people.
s country.
Only in this way can Ming Dynasty have everything it has now. You must know that what Ming Dynasty has now is far more than what China will have in the past few decades of development.
Although there is a huge gap in technology, the international status of the Ming Dynasty, the life and status of the Ming Dynasty people, and the most important national pride and self-confidence are far from being comparable to those of later generations.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said to Liu Jian: "Liu Aiqing, please talk first."
Being named by Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian was also slightly stunned in his heart. He has been the chief minister for many years. To be honest, this is the first time.
"Your Majesty, judging from what I have seen and heard today, the people of our Ming Dynasty have no worries about food and clothing and have a prosperous life. All this is because of your majesty's sage. Under your leadership, our Ming Dynasty has today's prosperous scene.
To achieve today’s prosperity.”
After thinking about it, Liu Jian applied the formula and flattered Emperor Hongzhi first. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, it would never go wrong if he flattered Emperor Hongzhi more often.
"Hmm~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, but it was obvious that what Liu Jian said did not get the key point of Emperor Hongzhi.
"But as the saying goes, water flows to lower places and people move to higher places. People who have no worries about food and clothing also have more needs, whether it is meat, housing, or education."
"And these issues will become important issues for our Ming Dynasty in the future."
After all, he is also the chief minister and a wise minister, so he still put forward some of his own opinions and saw the current problems.
"Then what good advice do you have?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded in approval. The problems faced by the Ming Dynasty now are indeed completely different from those faced in the past. Naturally, the national policy of the Ming Dynasty should also be changed.
In the past, it was enough to lighten corvee and reduce taxes, be diligent and frugal, lighten criminal laws, etc., and even govern by doing nothing. In short, the country does not need to be overly complicated and refined management, and the country itself can slowly
Prosper slowly and develop.
But now, according to traditional standards, the Ming Dynasty is not just a prosperous period. No dynasty in the past has ever been as rich and prosperous as the Ming Dynasty.
And externally speaking, in terms of martial arts, the Ming Dynasty has far surpassed all previous dynasties. Even the Han and Tang Dynasties cannot be compared with the current Ming Dynasty.
You must know that the current Ming Dynasty is really huge, including Liaodong, the grasslands in the north, the Western Regions, Hezhong, Uszang, the Nanyang provinces in the south, and the even more vast Golden Continent and Australia, as well as many overseas colonies and vassal states.
etc.
In the past, no dynasty had such a vast territory and territory.
Therefore, whether it is in terms of culture or martial arts, the Ming Dynasty has far surpassed the most prosperous and powerful period in the previous dynasties, and has surpassed what everyone used to call the prosperous age.
But in everyone's feeling, this is just the beginning, and there is no reference for previous dynasties on how to proceed from here on out.
