Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 140 This King is Not Good at Governing the People! (Second Update)
One side of the camp.

Zhu Di looked at Xia Zhibai coming over.

His expression still hadn't recovered, and he was still confused.

When Xia Zhibai approached, Zhu Di couldn't help but ask, "Why do my soldiers look at you differently? You can even say they are respectful to you. I want to know the reason."

Zhu Di stared at Xia Zhibai with his eyes fixed.

He must find out the reason.

Otherwise it will be difficult to calm down.

Xia Zhibai stopped, turned his head and looked at the soldiers behind him who had a confused and somewhat longing look on their faces, with a faint smile on his lips.

Xia Zhibai said slowly: "Everyone in the world cares about how high they fly, but I am the only one who asks them if they are tired."

“That’s why they’re close to me.”

Zhu Di was not satisfied with this answer and said coldly: "You are lying."

"They are soldiers. Since they have joined the army, they should charge into battle, march forward courageously, and risk their lives!"

"Soldiers?" Xia Zhibai showed a strange expression on his face. He looked at Zhu Di suspiciously for a few times, shook his head and said, "Your Highness, you are wrong. They are not soldiers."

"They are." Zhu Di said with great certainty.

"No." Xia Zhibai continued to shake his head. He leaned slightly, his eyes fixed on the soldiers behind him, and said calmly, "They are not soldiers, they are farmers. The identity of soldiers was imposed on them by His Highness and the court."

“They don’t have much buy-in to it.”

Zhu Di's face darkened.

He looked at Xia Zhibai gloomily, his fists clenched tightly.

Xia Zhibai looked at Zhu Di, who was furious, and said calmly, "Your Highness, do you think what I said is wrong?"

"Of course not. They are military households. They are farmers in their spare time and soldiers in wartime. They have two jobs at the same time. Now they are in the camp, and they are soldiers." Zhu Di did not soften his words at all.

Xia Zhibai chuckled and said, "Your Highness, have you ever farmed?"

Zhu Di was stunned, "What does this have to do with it?"

"Yes, and it is very important." Xia Zhibai pressed down the corner of his clothes that were blown up by the wind, straightened his clothes, and continued: "If Your Highness really went to the fields to plant crops, he would not say such absurd words."

“Farming is hard and tiring.”

"Military households are actually farmers. They plant crops in the spring, work in the summer, and harvest in the fall. They cannot be lazy at any time. Once they are lazy, it means that they will have no place to live for the whole year, and they may not even be able to pay the rent for the land and the taxes for the people."

"They have families to support, wives and children, and they have to work day and night to make a living."

“They don’t have time to spare.”

“It’s always the busy farming season.”

"Perhaps in your Highness's mind, the court has clearly allocated land to them and exempted them from certain corvée labor, which is already a great gift from heaven."

"They only need to come to the camp for training when the court needs them, and they only need to rush to all corners of the world with the imperial edict of the court. Everything they do should be extremely glorious, because it is for the country and people of the Ming Dynasty, and for the long-term peace and stability of the world."

"But does Your Highness know what these military households are pursuing?"

"What is it?" Zhu Di asked.

"Stay alive!" Xia Zhibai said with blurry eyes.

"Alive" Zhu Di was completely stunned, staring at Xia Zhibai in disbelief.

Xia Zhibai sneered and said, "Your Highness, do you find it incredible?"

"When did the military households reach a point where they could no longer survive? But this is the bloody reality under the military system."

“Military households can’t survive.”

"The court thinks everything is too good."

"Even His Majesty once boasted that 'he could support a million soldiers without spending a single grain of rice from the people'."

"Is it really so?"

"At present, the military households follow the rule of 'being mobilized to fight in times of war, and returning to farmland when there is no war', that is, they serve in the army during wartime and farm during leisure time, so as to achieve self-sufficiency in food. The imperial court even specially implemented the Kaizhong Law in border areas to meet the salt demand in the border areas."

“It’s all so beautiful.”

"But the court has been ignoring one thing."

"Even if the land is distributed, it won't grow on its own. It needs people to cultivate it."

"As for real farming, you can't rest for a single moment in spring, summer, and autumn. But will the court allow military households to be farmers all year round?"

Xia Zhibai looked sarcastic.

Zhu Di's face darkened. This was naturally impossible.

If military households were required to stay in the fields all year round, the army's combat effectiveness would decline too quickly.

The court would never agree to this.

Throughout the year, the imperial court would occasionally conscript military households for training, which would last for ten days to half a month, or sometimes even longer, to maintain the army's combat effectiveness.

Xia Zhibai said: "They don't have that much time to do farm work, and under the guard system, two young and strong men will be forcibly recruited every time. A family will lose two young and strong men. Your Highness, do you know what this means?"

“Food production will definitely decrease.”

"Military households were exempted from many corvée and taxes, but their harvests were also forced to be reduced."

"For the military households, the so-called policy support from the court is just to maintain their normal life. But Your Highness, don't forget that this is because the Ming Dynasty only launched three northern expeditions in 18 years. If the court is determined to destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty, it will definitely launch the fourth, fifth, or even more northern expeditions."

"War means death."

"It will also consume a large amount of food and supplies." "And this part originally came from these military households."

"On the one hand, war will kill people, and on the other hand, war will consume surplus food. The longer the war lasts, the more miserable the lives of the military households will become."

"The reason they worked so hard during the military training was to please His Highness and satisfy him so that they could end the training early and return to farming."

"Perhaps in your opinion, farming is just like this."

"There are people who farm in the palace."

"Your Highness, you should know that whether it is Your Majesty or the former Prince of Longxi (Li Zhen), farming is just a pastime for them who are in high positions. They experience life and reminisce about the hard days in the past. They don't value the harvest, but for the people, it is life!"

“There is a fundamental difference between the two.”

"Your Highness, it is a bit too much to expect farmers who only care about their fields to maintain the Ming Dynasty."

“They can’t bear this burden.”

"I don't want to worry!"

"Isn't there still winter?" Qiu Fu said.

Xia Zhibai glanced at Qiu Fu coldly and sneered, "Winter? In winter, the government will assign corvée labor to the people south of the Yangtze River. That's when the people have to work hard. North of the Yangtze River, the weather is extremely cold. It's good enough for these military households to gather enough firewood for the winter. In the winter north of the Yangtze River, even horses and cattle will become thinner due to the cold. Do you expect these military households to endure hunger and cold to come to the military camp for training?"

Qiu Fu blushed.

I kind of regretted speaking so quickly.

Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the ministers of Yongle below, and said indifferently: "It is a good thing that Your Highness has ambition, but ambition also needs material support. Now Your Highness only has eyes for higher mountains to climb, but can't see the mud under his feet."

“But if you allow this mud to spread and become a disaster, it’s no longer mud.”

"It's a quagmire."

"These swamps will completely drag Daming and His Highness down until they drown."

"Your Highness, please don't think that I am exaggerating when I say that your military discipline is bad. Your Highness grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Although His Majesty asked you to go to Fengyang several times and told you about some of the sufferings of the people, you cannot understand it."

"Not even the crown prince is enough."

"Although I don't like many of your Majesty's actions, to be honest, your Majesty does understand human nature and is well aware of the darkness in the local area. Therefore, he has repeatedly carried out massacres. Perhaps many people have complaints about your Majesty's killings, especially some scholars and some military generals. But if you ask the common people, you will get a different answer."

"Good kill!"

"Your Majesty has experienced the suffering of the people."

"I also know the audacity of local tyrants and officials."

"If the imperial court does not strictly control it, the chaos that occurred at the end of the Yuan Dynasty will happen again in the Ming Dynasty."

"Land annexation, bold and greedy officers and local tyrants colluded with each other to seize the land of ordinary military households."

"Without their land, the military households could no longer make a living, and gradually became tenants, or coolies and slaves of the wealthy families. Your Highness could secretly check how many of these "military households" in Peking have lost their land, and how many have never been enlisted."

"By the way, let's investigate how these unenlisted military households are living now."

"There should be a 'surprise'."

Zhu Di's eyes darkened, somewhat incredulous.

Peking, right under my nose, how dare someone do such a thing?

But when he thought of the soldiers' reaction just now, Zhu Di's heart sank suddenly, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

He said coldly: "I'll check it out."

"If anyone dares to do this under my nose, I will make him suffer a fate worse than death."

Xia Zhibai shook his head.

He said calmly, "If Your Highness really cares about the soldiers, you should bend down, go to the lower-level soldiers, and listen to their voices, instead of sitting on your buttocks and waiting for others to pass on messages to you. What others pass on is not as true as what you hear with your own ears."

"All right."

"I have answered the question your highness asked."

"Didn't His Highness say earlier that he could command the army on horseback and herd the people on foot?"

"I saw it, Jun."

"Isn't it time to go check on the people now?"

"I am also curious about how the people of Beiping live under the governance of His Royal Highness Prince Yan?"

Hear the words.

Zhu Di's face darkened.

The military affairs that he was most proud of were criticized by Xia Zhibai as useless. If he were to take Xia Zhibai to watch "Governing the People", he would probably be scolded a lot.

Zhu Di flatly denied it, saying, "I am only responsible for Beiping's military affairs, not for governing the people. Governing the people is the responsibility of the local governor. It's just that officials of the Beiping governor's office have been in trouble recently, so I was ordered to take over for a few days. However, I have only been in charge for a short time and have not had much contact with the city's political affairs. I haven't had time to put my way of governing the people to use yet."

"I won't embarrass myself anymore."

"Besides, it's getting late."

"Xia Zhuangyuan must be tired after the long journey."

"It's better to rest early."

"Come on, hurry up and send Xia Zhuangyuan down to rest." Zhu Di did not allow Xia Zhibai to speak, and shouted loudly to the people around him. Then he seemed to have thought of something and said, "As for the matter of the iron factory, let's discuss it tomorrow. There is enough time, so there is no need to rush."

Xia Zhibai hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)