Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 22 If you miss it, you will die!
"Saint?" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and walked down from the steps of the palace step by step.

His back was already a little hunched, and as he walked like a dragon or a tiger, his aura was fully revealed, and it was growing stronger and stronger, like the scorching sun, making people dare not look directly at him.

"I never think of myself as a saint, and I have never thought of becoming a saint."

"We also look down on so-called saints."

“Where were those saints when our parents starved to death?”

"When our brothers and sisters were starving to death, where were those saints? When we were starving and had to chew leaves and eat dirt, and became monks or beggars, where were those saints?"

"saint?"

"I have never believed in these things along the way."

"We only trust the knife in our hands."

"What you said really made me feel a little uneasy. It really touched my heart, and made me feel embarrassed as if I had been seen through. When I heard some of your words, I really wanted to chop you to death with a knife."

"You embarrass us."

"And we know more than you do about what you said."

"Let me tell you clearly that in the third year of Hongwu, a civil uprising occurred in Quanzhou, in the fourth year of Hongwu, a civil uprising occurred in Yangshan, in the fifth year it was Chaozhou, in the sixth year it was Luotian, in the seventh year it was Danzhou, and in the eighth year it was the same."

"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have been many local rebellions."

"It's just that in the past two years, the number of local rebellions has been decreasing, and the scale of the rebellions has been getting smaller and smaller."

"And all this is thanks to the 'Zhi Ding Lu Yin' that you sneered at. We did rely on it, sacrificing the mobility and vitality of the world, but what we gained in return was the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty."

"We have never been secretive."

"We have already written clearly in the Great Edict that there are people who are tired of living in peace and prefer chaos. This kind of foolish people has existed for generations in the Han, Sui, Tang and Song dynasties. Unfortunately, these foolish people have become the source of disasters, and many of them have died one by one, and their surnames have been wiped out."

"There have always been fools in this world who only want to cause chaos, and they can never be stopped."

"However, there are only a few people in the world who dare to rebel. Most of the others are fools. When they see others rebelling, they join in the rebellion. However, these people cannot become a force to be reckoned with in large numbers. The reason why the world can become a force to be reckoned with is largely due to these refugees. When there are too many people, it is easy for them to cause trouble. When there is trouble, it is easy for them to incite more fools, which eventually leads to disaster."

"Let's not let them move."

"We will condemn them to death in the ground for generations."

"I don't have such great ambitions as you say. In my eyes, as long as a family has fields, houses, crops, livestock, etc., has no worries about food and clothing, has filial children and grandchildren respecting their elders, and the middle-aged people inherit their father's business, and then continue to pass on the business smoothly, then the world is enough."

“Rich people have their own way of living.”

"The poor have their own way of being happy."

“Even if we don’t have enough to eat or wear warm clothes, or if we encounter drought, floods, or locust plagues and the harvest fails, and we die of excessive hunger, isn’t that much better than dying in war?”

"We have experienced great turmoil in the world and have seen too many people die because of the chaos and fleeing in a hurry. In comparison, it is much better to let them stay and starve to death than to let them flee in a hurry and die."

"At least someone collected their bodies."

"Isn't it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang walked to Xia Zhibai with his back on his back, his eyes full of mockery and indifference. It was he who ended this chaotic world, ended decades of war, and distributed land to the people so that they could have food to eat.

This is the greatest love for the people.

Xia Zhibai sighed in his heart.

He already understands.

It's not that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know the actual situation of the world, but he didn't care at all. Before he won the world, he was indeed among the common people, but after he won the country, he became a feudal emperor. He was more cruel and ruthless than other emperors in history.

He came from a poor family and indeed did not quite understand what the officials wanted, but he knew deeply what the people wanted. Based on his past experience as a poor man, being able to have something to eat was a blessing from heaven.

And he.

Just give the people this meal.

As for asking for things from the people, they should be collected.

Because the people depend on the food he gives them to survive.

All this is natural.

This is also the social rule that he has been exposed to, accepted and mastered since childhood.

He took this very seriously.

Zhu Yuanzhang used his own values ​​to build the empire he created. From the perspective of a poor man, he believed that "happiness" meant having enough food and clothing, and a further step meant having a good house, and a further step meant eating state-produced food without having to work, and this was the greatest happiness in the world.

Even in Zhu Yuanzhang's own mind, he was a very benevolent emperor.

Because in history, how many emperors would care about the clothing and food of the people under their rule like he did? How many emperors would work so hard to maintain social order like he did?
It's just that he neglected it.

Human happiness is not just about having enough food and clothing, there are other needs as well.

But he didn't consider it at all, nor would he consider it.

What he wants is the prosperity of the Zhu family for generations.

But Xia Zhibai was very confused as to why Zhu Yuanzhang had changed so much.

Before he secured his rule over the country, he had reduced taxes for local people many times because the local people had helped him in the Northern Expedition. When Li Wenzhong's soldiers robbed the people, he killed them in anger. He enforced strict military discipline and was even more furious when officials oppressed the people. He always strictly required his soldiers not to harm the people.

It is totally unbelievable that this emperor, who was rarely recorded in history books as having made the people "very happy" and "greatly delighted", became completely unrecognizable just after he ascended the throne for a dozen years.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood with his hands behind his back, his back to Xia Zhibai.

"You are the most principled, most courageous, and most disgusting scholar I have ever met. However, how can a scholar know how to govern a country, and how can he know how difficult it is to rule the world."

"But I, a poor peasant, have not only secured my throne."

"It can also make the Ming Dynasty last forever."

"Eternal prosperity."

"We know that the Ming Dynasty we founded has many problems, but as long as future generations always follow the "Great Edict" we compiled, our Zhu family's kingdom can be passed down from generation to generation. We don't need our descendants to do too much, and we don't ask for any changes. Those are the root causes of unrest, and we just want to completely ban them."

"Let the people stay in the fields and do their own work honestly."

"The Zhu family's empire will continue to be passed down."

"Eternal prosperity."

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his hands, his eyes filled with excitement and excitement, as if he had already seen that the Ming Empire he founded would be passed down from generation to generation and would last forever, and his descendants of the Zhu family would be able to enjoy the benefits he left behind for generations.

Xia Zhibai turned around and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, who was full of complacency and pride, and shook his head coldly: "Your idea is very good, but unfortunately you missed one thing."

Zhu Yuanzhang's smile suddenly stopped, and he looked at Xia Zhibai suddenly: "What's the matter?"

"You will die!!!"

　Made it up
　　
　
(End of this chapter)