Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

【And outside the privileges of the gentry. 】

【The Ming Dynasty's royal family policy was even more important. 】

[Generally speaking, a landlord who owns tens of thousands of acres of land is considered a big landlord. ]

[There were many princes of the Ming Dynasty who owned millions of acres of land across the country.]

[For example, Wanli's favorite youngest son, Prince of Fu Zhu Changxun, was granted the title of Duke of Luoyang, Henan.]

[When he was enfeoffed, Wanli required local officials in the Central Plains and provinces to provide 400 million hectares of good farmland for the Prince of Fu as his own farmland.]

【It met with unanimous opposition from the court. 】

[In the end, it was barely reduced to 200 million acres.]

【But Wanli still felt that it was not enough and was afraid of mistreating his son, so he gave the privileges of miscellaneous taxes along the Yangtze River, tea taxes, salt taxes, etc. to Prince Fu.】

[As a vassal king, Prince Fu had too much money but not too much political power. He had nothing to do every day but eat, drink, and have fun, and he randomly killed a few common people for fun.]

[I raised my weight to nearly 400 kilograms. ]

[Prince Fu was one of the richest princes, but he was not an exception.]

[Because the Ming Dynasty's royal family policy was purely about raising pigs.]

[Most members of the royal family have no real political power.]

【But they have generous financial benefits. 】

[These royal family members have a lot of money and privileges, but nothing to do, so they have to desperately make babies.]

[The more you build, the more privileges and benefits your family will get. ]

[During the reign of Chongzhen, there were 8 princes in Henan Province alone! ]

[The land owned by the palace accounts for half of Henan’s arable land.]

[And the prince's land is completely exempt from taxes. ]

[The state cannot collect money, but these princes are rich enough to rival a country, even richer than Chongzhen.]

【So after the 30-year-long Wanli reign, the Tianqi Emperor came. 】

[When Emperor Chongzhen took over, the entire Ming Dynasty could not be said to be barely maintaining itself, but was on the verge of extinction.]

[It is clear that the population is increasing, and more and more land is being reclaimed. ]

[But the amount of land available for tax collection is decreasing.]

[In order to maintain expenditures, the imperial court had no choice but to increase taxes, causing the actual tax rate in the Ming Dynasty to become higher and higher.]

[The taxes that the princes do not pay have to be borne by the common people.]

[Later, the taxes collected completely exceeded the actual output of the land.]

[Farmers would rather abandon their land and flee than continue farming.]

……

While Tianmu was telling the story, he also provided images from the film and television drama.

In the film and television drama scenes, a cowherd leads a group of ragged children to peel tree bark and dig grass roots in the wilderness.

Herding cattle for the masters.

They were all starving and looked pale and thin.

The notes at the back show.

The name of this TV series is "Zhu Yuanzhang".

Netizens’ comments also flew out one after another.

《Source of the material: Zhu Yuanzhang.》

"The boomerang hit Lao Zhu."

"Using Zhu Yuanzhang to describe what happened at the end of the Ming Dynasty is truly the cyclical law of history."

"It's really ironic to use Zhu Yuanzhang's material to tell the story of the late Ming Dynasty!"

"Think about why people were forced to rebel throughout history."

"Don't ask, the answer is the Little Ice Age."

"Give me a cup at the Fulu Feast."

"Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he came alive."

"After seeing this, Zhu wanted to destroy the Ming Dynasty."

"Zhu Yuanzhang's policy towards the royal family was outrageous."

"It's not Zhu's fault. In fact, it's all Zhu Di's fault after the Jingnan Rebellion."

"This mess almost led to the revival of the country. Zhang Juzheng is amazing."

……

And the Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng read the royal family policy of the later Ming Dynasty.

Seeing how they indiscriminately enfeoffed princes and caused the people to live in misery, I can only express deep contempt.

Ying Zheng said with disdain:
"How stupid!"

"The feudal system should have been thrown into the cesspool long ago, but the Zhu family kid treats it as a treasure?"

"No wonder there were princes overthrowing the emperor in the Ming Dynasty. It's really laughable."

"If it were me, I would never allow such a thing to happen."

"If I were in charge, I would first deal with these blood-sucking vassal kings, and then the country would be stable!"

"The Zhu family's royal family consumes so much tax from the country every year, it's probably enough to build ten straight roads!"

“The country deserves to be destroyed!”

After a few words of emotion, Ying Zheng calmed down a little, and said with a superior attitude:

"Zhu Yuanzhang was also a great hero who built his empire from scratch."

"But this royal family policy is really not working."

"Zhu Yuanzhang's feudal system gave the feudal princes too much land and power. Isn't this just nurturing a tiger to cause trouble?"

"The princes relied on their status to do whatever they wanted, and the people suffered terribly."

“The country is in deficit.”

"I estimate that although Zhu Yuanzhang will make rules, if nothing unexpected happens, Zhu Yuanzhang's rules will not be able to restrain these princes in the middle and late Ming Dynasty."

If we say that Qin Shi Huang was contemptuous, gloating and superior, then in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang really couldn't sit still at this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes wide, staring at the scene on the screen where the princes of the later Ming Dynasty were abusing their power.

Especially the video footage used on the sky curtain, which clearly had Zhu Yuanzhang written on it!
Old Zhu's originally dark face turned red at this moment, and veins bulged on his forehead.

"What the hell is this!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the table so hard that the teacups on the table jumped up.

"I worked so hard to build this kingdom, and these descendants are bringing disaster to me?"

Zhu Biao quickly handed Zhu Yuanzhang some tea and advised:
"Father, please calm down. Father, please calm down!"

But Zhu Yuanzhang pushed Zhu Biao away, stamped his feet back and forth in the room, and cursed:

"When we conferred titles on the vassal kings, we thought that the descendants of the Zhu family would help defend the country and support the people."

"Look at what they are doing now. They are pushing the people into a desperate situation!"

"What's the difference between this and when I started my rebellion?"

Zhu Yuanzhang stopped and looked at the half-dressed, skinny people on the screen. His eyes were red and his voice was trembling:
"I started out as a cowherd and fought my way up here, all for the sake of giving ordinary people a good life."

"We set so many rules because we are afraid that future generations will forget their duties!"

"But these unworthy descendants have thrown away all the hard work of their ancestors."

Zhu Yuanzhang was angry, but didn't know what to do.

He sat back in his chair, his face full of regret and he said dejectedly: "Seeing the people suffer, my heart feels like it's being cut by a knife."

"The Ming Dynasty would perish in their hands."

"How can I face those brothers who followed me to conquer the world?"

"How can I be worthy of the people of the world!"

And the sky continues.

[In northern Shaanxi where Li Zicheng started the rebellion, people were living in dire straits. ]

[The land in northern Shaanxi is barren and lacks water. ]

[In a good year, ordinary people could barely make ends meet.]

【In the late Ming Dynasty, due to the Wanli Emperor's poor governance, there were almost no competent local officials in many places in northern Shaanxi.】

[Many local officials such as county magistrates and prefects were temporarily replaced by scholars and students.]

【These people have no future in politics.】

[The purpose of being an official is to amass wealth. ]

[This led to the further accumulation of social contradictions in northern Shaanxi.]

[This was already the case before Chongzhen came to power.]

【After Chongzhen came to power, natural disasters occurred one after another. 】

[In the first year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi.]

[In the second year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought in northern Shaanxi. ]

[In the third year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought in northern Shaanxi. ]

[In the summer of the fourth year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought throughout the province.]

[In the winter of the fourth year of Chongzhen, there was a heavy snowfall in northern Shaanxi.]

[In the fifth year of Chongzhen, there was famine in northern Shaanxi.]

[In the sixth year of Chongzhen, drought, locust plague, and frost disasters hit Shaanxi, leaving thousands of miles of barren land across the province.]

[In an official's report to Emperor Chongzhen, it was said:]

[All local people in Shaanxi fled to the mountains.]

[It feeds on wild grass, and when it runs out of grass, it eats tree bark, and when it runs out of tree bark, it eats Guanyin soil. ]

[Children should not go out alone, or they will be caught and eaten by others.]

[Starving people were everywhere, and every county was digging mass graves to bury the bodies.]

[However, even so, the people of northern Shaanxi not only failed to receive disaster relief from the imperial court, but had to continue to bear heavy taxes.]

【And those who died and those who fled. 】

[If the imperial court cannot collect their taxes, the remaining people will have to continue to bear the burden.]

[Originally a household had seven or eight people, but now only one or two people are left. Then these one or two people will bear the taxes for the entire household.]

[Originally, there were ten households in A, but now there are only one or two. ]

【Then the remaining one or two households will have to bear the entire tax burden of A.】

[Before Chongzhen ascended the throne, there had already been a small-scale uprising in Shaanxi.]

[After he ascended the throne, there were successive years of severe drought.]

【So the local people rose up in rebellion. 】

……

At the end of Ming Dynasty.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he couldn't help but shed tears.

"I never thought that the life of the people of the Ming Dynasty would be so difficult."

"When there was great famine, people would eat each other."

"The Ming Dynasty under my rule is so bleak."

"I have to say, this is my fault."

"I must write a confession of guilt, review my mistakes, and let the world know my attitude."

"but."

Chongzhen was thinking about the bleak figures in the national treasury again.

"If I am to say something wrong, it is definitely not the main one."

"My ancestors! How come the country that was handed over to me has become like this?"

"Emperor Shenzong has been away from court for decades and has been able to enjoy his leisure time, but I have encountered a small ice river!"

"The sun is shining! The sun is shining!" (End of this chapter)