I'm really not doing business

Chapter 939: High Morality: Avoiding War

The Shanxi Governor's Office was in Taiyuan, but after Zhou Liangyin left the Northeast, he had been in Datong Prefecture, Shanxi.

The governor's office was not located in the capital, Datong. This was a common phenomenon since the Taiping Rebellion in the 29th year of Jiajing.

During the Jiajing Rebellion, the Ming Dynasty learned a self-evident lesson: if the border areas were not at peace, the Ming Dynasty would not be at peace.

The rebellion of the barbarians and the Japanese invasion, these two border troubles that seemed to occur in the northwest and southeast, actually had an impact on the entire territory of the Ming Dynasty. Even the wolf soldiers from Guangxi left Guangxi and went to Zhejiang to fight against the Japanese invaders.

Just as no one objected to the Emperor's proposal to reopen the Western Regions, the value of security is a value that is easily overlooked but the most important value for everyone.

Datong, Shanxi, developed rapidly due to its distribution of coal. In the population census in the 15th year of Wanli, the total population of Datong, Shanxi exceeded 600,000, making it a veritable important town outside the Great Wall.

Outside the city wall of Datong Prefecture, which is no more than 30 miles in circumference, there are endless houses.

If the color of Shanghai is decadence and extravagance, Hangzhou is the misty Jiangnan with hazy mountains and strange rain, and Beijing has particularly solemn and serious tones due to its political centralization, then the color of Datong is gray.

The sky was gray and the light was a strange purple color due to the haze.

At the end of February and the beginning of March, when the spring breeze was not blowing, there was not a single green in Datong Prefecture at a glance, only grayish white in the shadows. That was snow, and even the snow was covered in coal dust.

The houses outside Datong Prefecture are all thatched houses. Thatched houses do not have adobe walls, roof beams, and thatched roofs. Those are the thatched houses in the hinterland.

The thatched huts outside the Great Wall are triangular huts built with five pieces of wood, no more than six feet long, three feet wide and three feet high. Outside the huts, layers of straw mats are laid to keep out the cold.

Inside the shacks, there was an air of poverty. It took three or five shacks to have a stove for cooking and a low-quality iron pot, and more than a dozen shacks to have a rickshaw.

Even though they are so poor, there are still people getting married in the shack. Every once in a while, the place becomes festive and they set up a big pot with a pot of vegetables cooked. The staple food is steamed corn bread, and the open-air banquet is still very lively.

The shacks were the main residences of the people living in the suburbs. Only at the foot of the city wall were there adobe houses, and only in the city were there brick and tile houses. Standing on the city wall of Datong Prefecture and looking out, the different classes were clearly distinguished.

Looking inward from the city wall, the most magnificent and imposing building in the city is undoubtedly the Dai Wang Palace. Covering an area of ​​285 acres, the Dai Wang Palace has more than palaces of various sizes and more than houses.

Ever since the Prince of Dai moved to the Ten Princes' Palace in the northern city of the capital, the Prince of Dai's Palace became the governor's office of the Ming Dynasty.

The original Changchun Palace, which was the sleeping palace of Prince Dai, was converted into the governor's backyard, where Zhou Liangyin's family lived. The study in the West Flower Hall became the place where Zhou Liangyin stayed the longest.

The moonlight was bright, casting a silver-gray tint on the bricks and tiles of the governor's office. The moonlight also shone through the willow trees that had just sprouted new buds. The shadows of the moon and the trees fell on the reflection in the Yunzhong Pond. The wind blew away the reflection in the water and rang the wind chimes hanging under the eaves of the study in the West Flower Hall.

The lights in the study of the West Flower Hall were bright, as if it were daytime.

Even when the moon was above the willows, Zhou Liangyin still did not rest. He received a transfer order from the court. Ten days later, he left Datong and went to the capital to serve as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. This was a high promotion, and his colleagues never stopped congratulating him, but he felt that he left too hastily and did not leave more blessings for Datong, Shanxi.

Zhou Liangyin suddenly slapped the table, sat up straight and said: "This highway from Datong, Yanmen Pass, Xinzhou, Taiyuan, Pingyang, Yuncheng to Xi'an must be built no matter what. This is the lifeline of Shanxi. Only when Shanxi's coal is transported out can Shanxi become rich."

"No matter what, whether the court agrees or not, we have to build it."

"Master, immediately issue a ticket to the prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture and ask him to come to Datong to see me within three days. Otherwise, go and explain to His Majesty why you are hindering the construction of the highway!"

"Now?" A lawyer looked at the clock in the room. It was already 11 p.m. and many people had already gone to bed for an hour.

"Now." Zhou Liangyin nodded.

This highway from Yunzhong Station in Datong Prefecture to Xi'an is the last gift Zhou Liangyin left to Shanxi. If Shanxi had not taken advantage of the momentum of highway construction to build this highway, it would have remained poor forever.

This is Shanxi's only chance, and it will be gone if we miss it. Wang Chonggu has passed away, and Your Majesty will not give Datong or Shanxi a second chance.

However, the prefect of Taiyuan in Shanxi obstructed the geomancer from surveying along the route and did not allow the geomancer to bring his apprentices to survey the Taiyuan section. The geomancer who was directly under the Academy of Gewu did not express his dissatisfaction with this, but prepared to return to the North Yamen and go to Shandong and South Yamen to survey.

The whole country is short of geomancers and surveyors. Shanxi does not want to build a geomantic omen, but many places do.

In order to build the Chidao, Shandong had to smooth the relationship with Wang Yi'e, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Wang Yi'e could only petition the emperor and ask him to send a geomancer.

The reason why the prefect of Taiyuan, Shanxi, obstructed the construction of the Chidao was that it disturbed the dragon veins.

Originally Zhou Liangyin thought that the prefect had some unspeakable secrets, but soon he found out that the prefect really thought so and there was no other reason.

"Idiot! Chidao is the dragon vein of the Ming Dynasty!" Zhou Liangyin was so angry that he felt dizzy!

The imperial court had finally made a budget and was prepared to allocate 2 million silver coins to help Shanxi build a highway. However, the prefect of Taiyuan single-handedly obstructed Shanxi's development just because he disturbed the dragon veins.

After less than a quarter of an hour of silence, Zhou Liangyin issued another order: "Tear down what needs to be demolished, dig what needs to be dug, build what needs to be built. The Datong Woolen Mill must not be stopped no matter what."

"Send the Datong Zuowei engineering corps to the site to prevent the gentry from causing trouble and holding the people hostage. Anyone who obstructs the construction of the woolen factory will be arrested and held accountable by the court. I will explain to His Majesty."

The first stop for raw materials such as wool trade from Suiyuan, furs from the Xianbei grassland, various minerals from Womagang, alkali and coal from Shengzhou is Datong.

Around these businesses, many workshops for primary processing of wool, fur and mineral materials emerged near Datong, but these scattered workshops were unable to form economies of scale.

After Zhou Liangyin completed the rectification of local administration in Shanxi, he planned to concentrate these workshops together, with the woolen cloth factory, fur factory and coal and steel factory as the core, to create three industrial clusters centered on the government-owned factories. This was the successful experience of the Xishan Coal Bureau and the Yongding Woolen Cloth Factory.

These are the 115 government-owned factories in the north. Three of the first fifty were snatched from Wang Chonggu by Zhou Liangyin. Originally, there was only one in Datong Prefecture.

All the construction has been planned, but the gentry are not very happy about it. The reason for their opposition is simple: if they all go to work in the workshops, who will farm the land?
Shanxi cannot be self-sufficient in food. There are at least 30,000 resident craftsmen, and tens of thousands of them do not engage in farming. While food production is decreasing, these craftsmen also need to eat. Where does the food come from?
Zhou Liangyin has explained this issue more than once. He said that the village-building method should be implemented to concentrate scattered plots of land. After the coal and steel plant is built, the application of machinery and the popularization of water and fertilizer will increase grain production.

But he said these words a thousand times, and these gentry just wouldn't listen. If they didn't listen, he would arrest them.

"The reconstruction of the shacks must begin this year. If the shacks outside the city are not demolished and renovated, they will become the source of the plague. When the plague breaks out in Datong Prefecture, we will all commit suicide to apologize." Zhou Liangyin flipped through the documents in front of him and issued one order after another.

There are 600,000 people gathered around Datong City, which is really too many. The highly concentrated population has brought about increasingly prominent public security and sanitation problems. The only solution is to demolish and renovate shacks in a centralized manner.

In addition to the construction of highways, government factories, and the demolition and reconstruction of shacks, there are also matters such as planting trees, reclaiming wasteland, building villages, and developing water conservancy projects, which are all very complicated.

If the court had given him another six months, or even just three months, he would have been able to arrange all these things thoroughly, but the confused Li Shida's stupidity recurred, and Zhou Liangyin had to use ten days to arrange all these things, which seemed a little anxious.

His successor will not offend him. After all, he has been promoted and the local officials in Shanxi have to rely on him. As long as he arranges these things, they will be completed within three to five years.

The wind was very strong outside the Great Wall, and Zhou Liangyin, who had been busy for ten days, fell ill. Spring is a season when epidemics are prone to occur, and he did not pay attention to his work and rest schedule. He felt that he was young and strong, so he did not take the occasional cold seriously and hurriedly took the train to Beijing.

His condition worsened rapidly on the way, and when he arrived in the capital, he was in a critical condition.

Chen Shigong led the medical officers of the Dissection Hospital to hold a consultation and finally confirmed that Zhou Liangyin did not have a cold but pneumonia. Three bottles of "Penicillium Brine" were used to save Zhou Liangyin.

If it were not for the vigorous development of the Shanghai Bacteria Factory and the mass production of this old Penicillium brine, Zhou Liangyin would have passed away now.

Zhou Liangyin was from Jinjiang. He became a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing's reign. He is just 45 years old this year. He is indeed strong and healthy, but in the face of emergencies, no matter how old you are, everyone is equal in the face of death.

The emperor gave Zhou Liangyin, who had just recovered from a serious illness, ten days' leave to recuperate.

On March 13, Zhou Liangyin arrived at Taibai Tower. There was a gathering here today, which attracted hundreds of scholars and officials. The content of the gathering was: lofty morality.

Zhou Liangyin originally disdained lofty morality. This thing has been discussed for thousands of years and has been discussed very clearly.

But when he looked carefully, he realized that this gathering was about discussing the noble morality of the dynasty rather than personal morality, which immediately aroused Zhou Liangyin's interest.

Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty placed too much emphasis on personal morality, and there was almost no discussion of public morality. Obviously, this gathering was a discussion on public morality, which was very necessary.

He spent four silver coins to enter. With his plain appearance, he did not attract anyone's attention, but his dress revealed that he was a nobleman.

The price of four silver coins for two people was very expensive, and it came with fruits, desserts and tea.

Zhou Liangyin and his advisor were eating melon seeds, which are sunflower seeds. They were also a tribute from King Antonio of Portugal to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty as a gift. They came from the Viceroyalty of Mexico and the Viceroyalty of Peru, and were obtained through seed-for-seed exchange.

Antonio was a suave, eloquent and handsome man who knew how to please people. Along the way, he brought all the seeds, both usable and unusable, to the Ming Dynasty. These worthless little things were exchanged for almost endless divine grace.

Through conversations with his entourage, Zhou Liangyin learned that the person attending this gathering was the famous scholar from the south, Gao Panlong.

As an absolute liberal, Gao Panlong was scolded by Lin Fucheng several times, but he still came to Beiya. His purpose of coming to Beiya was simple, he wanted to take part in the next imperial examination and obtain fame.

The noble morality of the Qing Dynasty is a big topic. If Gao Panlong fails to say something attractive at this gathering, he, as an absolute liberal, will probably lose all his supporters and won't even be able to sell aphrodisiacs.

The profit-making method of magazines is very strange. They screen the audience through various viewpoints, and after the screening is completed, they sell aphrodisiacs to these audiences. This is the most profitable part of magazines.

The way these famous scholars gathered together to talk about their profits is similar to that of miscellaneous newspapers. Once they become famous, they will insert the names of these "aphrodisiacs" and "dehumidifying drugs" into their books and sell them to their own audiences. They won't kill people, but they are of no use at all.

Before Gao Panlong goes on stage, there will usually be singing, dancing and music, three programs before and four programs after the gathering, juggling, storytelling, short plays, puppet shows, etc. may all be performed on stage.

After three lively performances, Gao Panlong came to the front of the stage, bowed to all four sides, and then said, "I am Gao Panlong, also known as Old Man Gao. I am 28 years old and look old, hence the name."

Gao Panlong's self-introduction triggered laughter from the audience.

Old Man Gao is the nickname of Gao Panlong, because the views he expresses are full of decadent flavor, mainly based on the third generation of retro French. People in the world jokingly call him Old Man Gao. There are some wrong names, but there is definitely no wrong nickname.

Gao Panlong's failures in several debates have made him famous and notorious. Losing is not terrible, but losing in a decadent state is really ridiculous. "I have been embarrassed in debates many times. If I had a little dignity, I would not go on the debate stage again, which would only add to the jokes. But today, I still came because what I want to say is not decadent."

"The noble morality of our dynasty prevents our dynasty from being involved in war."

This is the core point that Gao Panlong will talk about today. The highest morality of a country, a political system, and a court is to avoid war.

"At first glance, the point you made is nothing more than a cliché of the people from foreign lands." Li Zhi stood up, bowed to everyone, and sat down opposite Gao Panlong. Today, Li Zhi and Gao Panlong were performing opposite roles.

Gao Panlong became visibly nervous. After all, Li Zhi was one of the leaders of the limited liberal faction and was difficult to deal with. In addition, Li Zhi was a fifth-rank doctor of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Gao Panlong, as a juren, would only be more embarrassed if he made trouble.

"Dr. Li, can you listen to me?" Gao Panlong did not follow Li Zhi's train of thought, but instead carefully explained what he wanted to say.

"You said."

Gao Panlong looked at everyone and said, "Everyone, it is a common misjudgment that Wan Wengong Wan Zongbo is a sycophantic minister. This is also what I thought before I read Wan Zongbo's works."

"But after reading Wan Zongbo's works, I found that he was actually a famous scholar of etiquette and law. He once put forward a view that the construction of a country is based on four pillars and eight columns."

The content of the Four Beams and Eight Pillars is well known to everyone. Gao Panlong did not quote it too much, and the scholars who were not interested in the results of Wanli's great thinking would not come here to discuss it.

He continued, "Everyone, we are in a world of rapid change. It was the imperial court that took the initiative to save itself and reform, but it was also passively involved in the era of global navigation, development, and global trade."

For the Ming Dynasty, the Wanli Reform was a drastic change;

For the world, the era of great navigation, great development, global trade, and great colonization represented a rapid change.

Gao Panlong said solemnly: "After this era begins, all countries in the world will slowly complete the construction of their dynasties. Whether actively or passively, this time will be very long, at least a hundred years, at most a thousand years, but in the end, all foreign countries will complete the construction of their dynasties."

"At that time, it would be extremely difficult to carry out conquests. The existence of the ocean made ocean deployment and ground attacks extremely difficult, even if steamships were deployed to the sea."

"The construction of the dynasty has been completed and consensus has been reached. Attacking the country that has completed the construction of the dynasty is a loss-making move because resistance is widespread."

Gao Panlong's views sparked discussion.

It is obviously a cost-prohibitive move to launch a military conquest against a country with a complete dynasty. The huge investment of manpower, material, financial and military resources will become a huge burden on the court.

Just like the Battle of Luchuan from the Hongwu period to the Zhengtong period, the Ming Dynasty continued to invest for decades. During the Zhengtong period, it invested a huge amount of manpower and material resources exceeding six million silver dollars each year, and food and wages were circulated halfway around the world. In the end, the Ming Dynasty failed to eliminate the rebellious Luchuan. Up to now, Toungoo is still at war with the Ming Dynasty.

Let alone completing the construction of the dynasty, even if it was to complete the country of the Four Beams, attacking seemed to be an act that would not be worth the cost.

But this speech also has a bit of old-fashionedness, because Gao Panlong's views are a bit actuarial and not fresh.

Gao Panlong took a deep breath and said loudly: "Since the Wanli Reform, the court has been trying its best to prevent the Ming Dynasty from falling into the quagmire of war."

"In the Battle of Xifengkou, the Battle of Gulezhai, the attack on Daningwei, the campaign against Altan Khan, the Battle of Toungoo, the Battle of Luzon, the Battle of Ryukyu, the campaign against the Japanese invaders, etc., the imperial court showed great restraint, but these barbarians repeatedly took advantage of it."

"The Ming Dynasty had no choice but to launch a war to suppress the rebels in order to ensure the security of the border."

The Ming Dynasty was the victim, which was the high level of responsibility of the Ming court since the Wanli Reform.

Gulezhai, Jianzhou Jurchen slave chief Wang Gao lured and killed Pei Chengzu in the horse market of Lushun, which was the beginning of the battle of Gulezhai;
The Battle of Toungoo was caused by the Burmese bandit Mangyingli who repeatedly provoked and even broke through the Ming border and threatened Dali;
Not to mention entering Korea to fight against the Japanese pirates. If the Japanese pirates failed to attack from the southeast, they would destroy Korea and threaten the Ming Dynasty from the northeast.

In the series of wars during the Wanli Restoration, not a single one was initiated by the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court maintained lofty morals and exercised utmost restraint, avoiding being dragged into the quagmire of war.

Including the Battle of Luzon and the Battle of Malacca, it was the Spanish and Portuguese barbarians who either attacked the Ming mainland or became pirates and plundered Ming merchant ships.

The territory of Macau was occupied by the Portuguese, and Luzon was the largest hideout of the red-haired pirates.

"Why did the court remain so restrained? Even with 100,000 elite soldiers from the imperial garrison and 160,000 naval forces, it still tried to reason with Annan instead of directly punishing them? Apart from the fact that the cost outweighed the gain, what other considerations did the court have?" Gao Panlong raised another question, which aroused discussion among everyone.

Not long after, Gao Panlong said loudly: "Because of the distribution!"

“The territory, wealth, and population gained from wars were not distributed to the soldiers who participated in the war, but were divided up by the imperial court and the powerful and wealthy, and then distributed to the poor and the common people who paid the price for the war. It was unknown how many times this changed hands, and the price paid by the common people was far greater than what they gained.”

The cost of war is usually borne by the people.

Food and fodder are the food of the poor and coolies, the laborers are drawn from the poor and coolies, and the soldiers for killing come from the people. Only when there is a complete defeat will the ruling class pay the price.

Meat eaters are usually warmongers, while poor laborers should be opponents of war.

However, the people who bear the cost cannot directly benefit from the war, but instead need the mercy of the meat-eaters. This is why the Ming court has maintained the utmost restraint since the Wanli Reform.

Even the Qin Dynasty, which had a system of rewarding military merit with title and land, did not fulfill its promise to the Qin people after unifying the six kingdoms.

When Li Yashi heard what Gao Panlong said, he immediately began to applaud, leading the entire audience to applaud. Li Yashi always felt that the emperor was really too kind. It was extremely rare that an armed force like the Ming Templar Knights did not launch an expedition against the outside world.

Look at Felipe!

The Spanish Grand Phalanx and the Invincible Armada were never invincible, but Felipe still launched many expeditions.

The Ming Navy never directly participated in the conquest of the Jinchi Governor's Office and Jinshan City. These places were all opened up by the dynasty's small forces. Avoiding war as much as possible is the highest morality of a dynasty.

This is by no means a seemingly correct nonsense.

"But I heard that when you were in the Southern Court, you always criticized the court for its warmongering. During the 18 years of the Reform Movement of 1888, there were wars every year." Li Zhi also applauded Gao Panlong's statement, but he soon discovered that Gao Panlong did not say this before!

This guy was in the Southern Court, always criticizing the court for its warmongering.

"In the Southern Court, few people study the contradiction theory, let alone the distribution of class theory." Gao Panlong explained the reason. What he meant was that it was only after he arrived at the Northern Court that he realized the good intentions of the court.

Li Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Gao Panlong, and then asked: "So, you support the court's restraint?"

This question is a trap, making Gao Panlong turn against his past self.

"No, I am against this kind of restraint!" Gao Panlong said loudly:

"The Age of Exploration will inspire those small foreign countries that have not yet completed the construction of their own dynasties, but this will take hundreds of years, which is too far away! When the small foreign countries have completed the construction of their own dynasties, conquering them will do more harm than good."

"And now, the feast of dividing the world has already begun decades ago. We have been absent for decades, and we cannot be absent for the next few hundred years!"

Gao Panlong was indeed opposing his past self, but this opposition seemed a bit too radical and excessive.

At this point, Gao Panlong's point of view has been very complete. What the Ming court is doing now is correct. Based on distribution reasons, it is responsible to the people to maintain the greatest restraint in the war and not let the country fall into the quagmire of war.

However, in the Age of Discovery, continuing to maintain this restraint in outward expansion would be extremely irresponsible to future generations.

The world is so small. If the West takes away a bite, the Ming Dynasty will have one less bite to eat. The Wanli Reform has accumulated enough national strength. We should reduce this restraint and gain greater benefits for future generations.

"How should we proceed? The mines are the first target, the ports are the second target, and the territory is the third."

"In the next few hundred years, whoever controls the mines, the ports, and the waterways will control the world. Only by robbing enough can the Wanli Reform continue." After Gao Panlong finished speaking, he sat on the stool.

At the beginning, he said that today, he, an old man named Gao, wanted to talk about something that was not so gloomy.

This time, the meeting was filled with silence. No one raised any objections, and no one clearly supported his views, because his views seemed a bit contradictory, hitting his left hand with his right hand. On the one hand, he emphasized avoiding war, and on the other hand, he was clamoring for war.

When the foreign small countries had not yet completed the construction of their own dynasties, they tried their best to fight wars and obtain enough profits to meet the distribution difficulties of the Wanli Reform.

Li Yashi thought for a moment and labeled Gao Panlong: Jianqi, a cunning, scheming, and unpredictable evil god who is most likely to deceive people. If people listen to his deception, the Ming Dynasty will step into the abyss step by step.

At this moment, Zhou Liangyin finally understood why the Emperor called these people a basket of opinions. It was indeed just a basket of opinions. He stood up and prepared to leave.

"Does this scholar disagree with my point of view?" Gao Panlong was somewhat complacent. He finally stood up straight and won once. When he saw Zhou Liangyin leaving the field, he immediately asked.

Zhou Liangyin and his master stood still. Zhou Liangyin looked at Gao Panlong, sighed, and asked, "You mean, because they are weak, they deserve to be destroyed and divided up, right?"

"The weakness of small foreign countries is due to their own incompetence, not the Ming Dynasty's fault." Gao Panlong had never expected Zhou Liangyin to ask this, and his words became a little halting. He did not notice the shortcomings of his own point of view, and Zhou Liangyin asked the key question.

Zhou Liangyin continued to ask: "So what you mean is that if the Ming Dynasty is weak, it is natural for it to be destroyed and divided?"

"Well, of course not! The Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire!" Gao Panlong's mouth twitched. He originally thought that this middle-aged man who looked somewhat friendly was a soft persimmon, but he didn't expect to hit a wall!
He couldn't answer either of the two questions.

"Sometimes, justice seems ridiculous, but without justice, the world will become too bad." Zhou Liangyin did not continue to embarrass Gao Panlong, the young man, but felt a little emotional, as if he said something to himself, before leaving Taibai Tower with his master.

Zhou Liangyin grew up in the turbulent times of the Ming Dynasty, just like Ye Xianggao who was born in a dry toilet and fled with his mother for four years before returning to his hometown. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had been promoting both civil and military affairs for a long time, but it was defeated repeatedly and even had the tendency to overthrow. Zhou Liangyin witnessed the weakness of the Ming Dynasty with his own eyes.

But Gao Panlong is not like that. As far as Gao Panlong can remember, the Ming Dynasty has been moving from one victory to another, and victory in wars always seems to be a matter of course.

Therefore, Gao Panlong never thought about the problem with his rhetoric.

(End of this chapter)