Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 311 Raising troops to kill!
“Destroy and establish.”

Zhu Yuanzhang tilted his head and looked at Xia Zhibai.

He didn't give an answer, and he can't give one now.

Xia Zhibai did not give up and said slowly: "There is no perfect system in the world. The thousands of years of order, chaos, rise and fall of China are not simply a problem with the system. The real problem lies in humanities."

“No matter what kind of system it is, if there is something wrong with the people themselves, the system will inevitably decay and collapse.”

"It has been like this for thousands of years and has never changed."

“Not to mention beyond.”

"Therefore, your majesty's foundation for eternity has always been fanciful, and your majesty has probably realized that even though your majesty has been accommodating to your comrades and brothers in arms and has said all kinds of words, whether it is Li Shanchang or others, they still stick to the old ways in terms of culture."

“Not even just the officials.”

“Even local people are still like this.”

"Since ancient times, emperors have been called lonely men."

"The more accomplished and ambitious the emperor is, the more this is the case. Some emperors say that the people can't keep up with the emperor, while others say that the emperor doesn't understand the people's feelings. There are many different opinions, and each one has its own reasons, but no matter which one, the final result is the same."

"The emperor is now alone!"

"It's just like farming. Twenty or thirty years ago, Your Majesty was an expert at farming. Looking around the court, few people were more proficient in farming than Your Majesty. But twenty or thirty years have passed. Is Your Majesty's farming skills still the best in the world?"

"I'm afraid I won't see it."

"But as the supreme emperor, if your majesty says it is, then it is. But if you ask the people to continue to do so, most of them will not be willing, because the technology your majesty knows may not be the most efficient."

“Only by keeping our feet on the ground and truly understanding the current situation can we make correct judgments.”

"Because it's my personal opinion."

"Reform is always on the way and must always be on the way."

"As far as Chinese history is concerned, there has always been revolution and development. The ideal state of any monarch is that the world develops for the sake of development. However, the rise and fall of dynasties have proved that driven by human desires, it is impossible to have rational development for the sake of development."

“Human nature will not support long-term development.”

“So when the world was in a state of stagnation for a long time and people’s lives became increasingly difficult, they fell into another situation.”

"Revolution for the sake of revolution!"

"Your Majesty should have seen that after you overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, your followers and supporters took the road of history after they seized power. They only cared about getting promoted and making money. They even started the revolution for the sake of getting promoted and making money."

"Your Majesty, the same is true."

"That's why I said that Your Majesty betrayed the peasant class!"

"Because after becoming emperor, Your Majesty completely forgot his original intention and vision, and became no different from other emperors."

"The risks belong to the world, and the benefits belong to individuals!"

"From the emperor to the common people, everyone is doing this."

"Your Majesty has lost the courage and guts to look down."

"If your majesty is like this, how can the prince who takes your majesty as a model be immune to this?"

"And your majesty has never considered one thing: seeing a problem does not mean you can solve it."

"Just like your majesty, you saw the corruption in the world and issued various policies for this purpose. However, if the policies are tight, they will backfire and the whole court will be in turmoil. If the policies are loose, you may be afraid of pretending to obey but actually disobeying. Without strong power, you cannot support the reform. If you want to build a strong power, many emperors may just end up like this for the rest of their lives."

"Plus, we have to consider the impact of the external environment. It will become more and more difficult to make drastic changes as time goes on."

"Therefore, there are some matters that your Majesty must decide." "Your Majesty, please make the decision."

"It is better to destroy and establish things sooner rather than later."

"This concerns the foundation of the long-term stability of the future of the Great Ming Dynasty."

"Power is wonderful and makes people unable to stop. However, if you are too obsessed with power and become a puppet of power, then the gain will not outweigh the loss. There is no big problem with concentrating power at the top. After all, only by concentrating power can great things be accomplished. But if power is concentrated just for the glory of one family, then isn't that going against the grain and putting the cart before the horse?"

"My proposal is to reform the military."

"Re-establish military discipline, let the army 're-sweep' the world, and establish real prestige."

Zhu Biao frowned.

He could hear Xia Zhibai's sincerity.

What does it mean to just sweep the country again? Now that the Ming Dynasty has firmly established its rule over the country, where is it worth sweeping the country with a large army?

Again.

Is it true that the deployment of the army will not cause civil unrest?
The people fear the army like a tiger. Wouldn't they be panic-stricken when they see the army moving out?
Is this really not a bad thing?
Zhu Biao lowered his eyebrows and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang did not express anything, he hesitated for a while and said, "Xia Zhibai, I roughly understand your idea. It is nothing more than starting with the army and keeping the army under the control of the court, and then ensuring that the court is always supported by a strong force."

"But sweeping the world again, what does this mean?"

Xia Zhibai smiled and said cunningly: "Your Highness, do you still remember what I said before?"

"The military's position is to stand on the side of the people."

"Sending out the army will naturally kill people!"

"It's just different from your Majesty's killings. Your Majesty killed corrupt officials. It seems that the people all applaud, but when it comes to the people, there is actually not much change. The officials are still the same officials, and the officials are still the same officials. It's just that a new group of people have been replaced."

"Your Majesty's killing has little to do with the people."

"So we can't send out the army just to kill corrupt officials, because that would win the support of the people too much."

"Only when the people can truly benefit and gain real gains will they truly support the Ming army. So it is not the officials that need to be killed, but the local ruffians, bandits and bullies. These people live under the noses of the people, often do harm to the local area, and are also lackeys of many officials. Killing these people will have an incomparable improvement on the customs of the people."

"These people are also the hidden 'hands' of local officials."

"After these hands are cut off, if the officials want to take action against the people again, they will have to do it themselves."

"Then it will be easier for the court to punish the criminals."

"Killing people also requires careful consideration of methods and targets, and more importantly, the purpose of killing must be clear."

"Killing is a check and balance, not a demonstration to vent anger."

Zhu Biao's heart moved.

Xia Zhibai's words woke him up from his dream.

Yes.

Officials are too far away from the people, but bandits and thugs are right in front of them. Even local people have suffered a lot from these thugs in the past. If the court spends a lot of effort to rectify the situation, it will be of great benefit to winning the hearts of the people.

It can also effectively deter local officials.

And what Xia Zhibai said was right. If these ruffians were cleared out, the morale among the people would improve. Then, whatever the court promoted would be more convincing, and the army would also achieve the effect of being "close to the people."

It can be said to serve multiple purposes.

Zhu Biao couldn't help but clap his hands and said, "Good."

(End of this chapter)