Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 190 You can choose not to fight, but you can’t live without it!

"impossible."

After hearing what Xia Zhibai said, Zhu Biao refused directly.

Thoughts, culture, customs, habits?
Is this movable?
Just hearing these things made his scalp tingle. Such things have happened in history before. The burning of books and burying of scholars in the Qin Dynasty was of a similar nature. The result is well known to the world: the second emperor of Qin died. With such a matter that affects the entire body, who can guarantee that there won't be problems?

He can't guarantee it.

Xia Zhibai can't guarantee it either!
There was no way he would allow Xia Zhibai to have such a crazy idea.

Xia Zhibai can go crazy.

He didn't want to go crazy with Xia Zhibai.

Xia Zhibai smiled faintly and guessed what Zhu Biao was thinking.

He said calmly: "Your Highness, please be patient. There is no need to be so angry."

"Since I've spoken up, I have my own explanation. I can roughly guess what Your Highness is thinking. It's nothing more than the lessons learned from the Qin and Sui dynasties. The Qin and Sui dynasties' approach was indeed a way of 'breaking with force', relying on the power of the imperial court to force the world to submit."

"But in addition to martial arts, there is also literary destruction."

"Even if we follow the trend, like the Han Dynasty, we wait until the time is right and then issue a decree to 'advocate Confucianism alone', thus establishing everything. Changing customs is not an easy task, and in the rush for quick success, it will naturally intensify various conflicts and contradictions, and local unrest is inevitable."

"But the world's great trend is so overwhelming, how can it be effectively stopped by human efforts?"

"Besides."

"The world has long been divided between north and south."

"The economy in the north is sluggish, and the Northern Yuan is eyeing us."

"So the court can make drastic changes to the north under the pretext of boosting the northern economy. As for the south, various traditional concepts are deeply rooted, especially the gentry group, which is huge and difficult to get rid of. Even the court cannot easily touch it. But some things cannot be solved by political means alone."

“Some businesses and business models can also push open closed social structures.”

“There are fewer people in the north.”

"If you want to boost the northern economy, you must attract people from the south."

"In order to achieve the return of northern birds, in addition to the imperial court's order to forcibly relocate the population, the only way is to rely on the people to move north voluntarily. During the war, many northerners fled south and settled in the south. However, since the Jin Dynasty, southerners have been somewhat xenophobic, and these people do not live very well in the south."

“The reason why I continue to stay in the South.”

"Firstly, the social development in the south is better, so they have more chances to survive."

"Secondly, the Northern Yuan Dynasty still exists and there is always the danger of war. When the war breaks out, we will inevitably be dragged into it. Therefore, many people would rather suffer in the south than return to the north. After all, if the north really becomes chaotic, they will die."

"Since you know this, you should also understand that boosting the northern economy is not that easy. Even getting population to return is not easy to achieve," Zhu Biao said.

He also knew something about the situation in the north.

Because of this.

In order to bridge the gap between the North and the South, His Majesty has made a lot of efforts. Not only has he relocated people and donated a large number of books, he has also been keeping officials from the North in place, hoping to attract more southerners to move north, but the effect has been minimal.

Xia Zhibai nodded and said in a deep voice: "This is indeed the current situation."

"But excluding these situations, there is still another problem, that is, life in the north is not easy, and grain and salt need to be transported to the south. Whether it is water transport or the escort of merchants, it greatly increases the cost."

"So if we want to attract people back, we have to lower the cost of living."

“We need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.”

"During the past six months, I have come into contact with many princes and provincial government officials, and we have reached some ideas. In the past, the North implemented the 'Kaizhong Law', which means that merchants transported food and other materials needed by the border areas in exchange for salt permits. When I control the northern salt market in the future, the Kaizhong Law will obviously be inappropriate."

"But someone has to take over the food supplies from the North."

“My suggestion is to open a shipping line.”

"Sea transportation." Zhu Biao's eyes darkened. Some ministers had mentioned the issue of opening sea transportation in the past, but they were opposed by more ministers. Japanese pirates often invaded the Ming Dynasty's sea borders, and there was also a large amount of smuggling.

After weighing the pros and cons, the court gave up.

Xia Zhibai mercilessly revealed the truth: "Your Highness, please don't look so worried. Others may not know the benefits of sea transportation, but as the crown prince, Your Highness must know it. However, under the powerful hand of His Majesty, sea transportation has gradually become the private property of the royal family."

"Only the state officials are allowed to set fires, and the people are not allowed to light lamps."

"The Ming imperial family used sea transport to collect treasures from all corners of the world. The Ming did not ban the opening of the sea, but prohibited the private sector from doing so. However, the royal family's ships were allowed to go out to sea. Maritime trade has flourished since the Song Dynasty, and the Song people took advantage of it to collect wealth from all over the world. Your Majesty is familiar with history books, so how could you not know this?"

"They are just greedy for the wealth inside and don't want to let it flow out."

Xia Zhibai looked disdainful.

The Ming Dynasty did impose a maritime ban, but that is another story.

Zhu Yuanzhang's so-called sea ban actually only banned private citizens from going out to sea. Government ships were still allowed to go out to sea, and the wealth plundered by the government from overseas became the private property of the royal family. This was also the wealth that Zhu Yuanzhang left to his descendants.

It was also the treasury he left to future emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

However, later on, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was fooled by the officials and actually banned the sea completely. He completely abandoned the maritime trade business and handed it all over to the gentry officials who engaged in smuggling along the coast. From then on, the massive import of silver had nothing to do with the royal family.

This is Zhu Yuanzhang's greed.

He was unwilling to share the profits from the sea with others.

Want to have it all to myself.

Even if you can’t finish the food, you are not allowed to let others touch it.

His vision is too short-sighted. He only cares about the interests of his own family and does not care about the impact on the world.

But the real corruption did not come to Zhu Yuanzhang. Xia Zhibai said: "The prosperity of maritime trade has brought a lot of silver. The Ming Dynasty is short of money. Liberalizing maritime trade will benefit the Ming Dynasty more than it will harm it. Moreover, whether it falls into the hands of the government or the people, the meat will eventually rot in the Ming Dynasty."

Xia Zhibai pointed out thoughtfully.

Subsequently.

He continued to get back to the topic.

Xia Zhibai said: "The shipping I want to open is not for overseas trade, but to transport food and other supplies along the coastline. The coastline is relatively stable, without as many winds and waves as the sea. If we transport last year's autumn grain in spring and summer and return in autumn and winter, it will be completely smooth sailing, fast and inexpensive."

“That’s not the case with the canal transport.”

"The loss of grain transport is ten times that of sea transport, and it is very easy for ordinary people to bear the burden."

"Moreover, over time, it is easy to form interest groups that rely on the canal transportation. Your Highness, have you ever counted how many people are currently engaged in the canal transportation industry? According to my estimate, there are probably nearly a million canal workers."

"Over time, the cost of water transport itself will exceed the cost of transporting grain."

"in other words."

"For every dan of grain the imperial court transported to the north, one or two dan more would be lost."

“The gain is not worth the loss.”

"Besides, the canal transportation is not smooth sailing. It is all done by canal workers pulling the boats. This will also require a large number of 'labor services'. Given the efficiency of the Ming government, how much extra money and grain will be spent if all these orders are passed down?"

“Is it really worth it to enrich one family and harm the whole world?”

"Especially when the canal transport interest group is formed, the livelihood of millions of canal workers depends on it. By then, it will be too big to get rid of. Even if the court wants to make changes, I'm afraid it won't dare to do so, because there are too many canal workers. Once they are incited to rebel, will the court really dare to suppress them so brutally?"

"But if we don't do anything, it means that the imperial court will have to spend millions of dollars every year to feed these interest groups."

"In addition to the canal workers, there are also post stations."

"The same million postmen."

"How many millions of taels can the Ming Dynasty afford to support them?"

Zhu Biao was silent for a while.

Ultimately, it’s a question of interests.

a long time.

Zhu Biao hummed, "But is it true that shipping by sea is a huge profit?"

Xia Zhibai nodded and said with a smile: "If it was before, it would still be a loss."

"Because food, tea, porcelain, silk, etc. are more prosperous in the south, even if the north has output, the quality and output are still not as good as the south. And the south has to transport food to the north. As a result, sea transportation will always lose money, but compared with grain transport, the loss is not that much."

"But that was before."

"The South is now beginning to use steam engines."

"Steam engines consume a lot of iron and coal."

“And these two things are increasingly lacking in Vietnam.”

"If we only rely on coal and iron, it is still not enough, so we must try to sell the grain, tea, porcelain, and silk from the south to the north, and sell the specialties from the north to the south, so that both the north and the south can make profits, and thus make sea transportation a profitable thing."

"How is this possible?" Zhu Biao asked with a questioning look on his face.

The South is more developed and the North cannot compare with it in all aspects. If the South's tea, porcelain, silk and other things are sent to the North, who will buy them?
We can't rely entirely on the local princes, can we?
Although it is a solution.

But if my father knew about this, I’m afraid the soles of several pairs of shoes would be broken by beating.

Xia Zhibai said coldly: "If the north is not possible, then go to the north. When the Northern Yuan fled, they took away a lot of gold, silver and jewelry. In addition, the Northern Yuan had a developed animal husbandry industry, and the Ming Dynasty also lacked enough cattle and sheep. It can be regarded as a win-win situation."

"Xia Zhibai, do you know what you are saying?" Zhu Biao looked gloomy and looked at him coldly.

"You are collaborating with the enemy!"

"Collaborating with the enemy?" Xia Zhibai shook his head and said with a smile: "What if the area ruled by the Northern Yuan Dynasty becomes the territory of the Ming Dynasty? Is that still collaborating with the enemy?"

"What do you mean?" Zhu Biao asked in a serious tone.

Xia Zhibai said: "If the North wants to develop, it must be stable, so the Northern Yuan Dynasty must be resolved. But even if the Northern Yuan Dynasty is destroyed, the threat from the North will still exist. Therefore, if we want to truly pacify the North, we must annex the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

"Military power is a means, and so is diplomacy."

"Just as Qin conquered Zhao, Ming can do the same to conquer Northern Yuan."

"The Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty were both founded on the remains of the Yuan Dynasty. They can be regarded as the north and the south. It is not impossible for them to become 'good brothers' or 'good neighbors'. When the Ming Dynasty becomes more powerful, why can't the wanderers in the 'north' return home?"

"after all."

"The legal system of the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty is the Yuan Dynasty!"

“Sometimes, people just have to be ambitious, especially politicians.”

"There is no good or bad, right or wrong, only eternal interests."

“Black and white doesn’t matter.”

"The important thing is that with this principle, Ming can inherit everything from Yuan, including territorial claims."

“There are some things that you don’t have to fight for, but you can’t live without them.”

Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile on his lips, filled with endless ambition.

(End of this chapter)