Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 364 Tolerance!

Xia Zhibai's words were very serious.

But it's the truth.

The Ming Dynasty wanted to maintain a small government model while strengthening its control over the world. Under this extremely distorted situation, it would only become a control over the personal relationships of officials and would not achieve a substantive understanding and control of the world.

Governing anything in the world requires money and people.

The Ming Dynasty currently had no money and no people, so it could only ask officials in the court to work hard as paperhangers to support this crooked house with only one straight pillar to prevent it from falling down.

But it is unrealistic to think about improvement.

Even though there was a peerless figure like Zhang Juzheng in later generations, he was still unable to restore order.

The defects of the Ming Dynasty’s system were too serious.

This is closely related to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang hated oppression by officials and did not want to have too many "officials" in the world. He only wanted to employ more "clerks" in local areas, so that there were only three or four officials in a county, and the rest were "clerks" in service. In addition, under the system designed by Zhu Yuanzhang, the court had no extra money and food, and could not arrange so many officials, and the court could not afford to support so many officials.

This has led to the current situation where the top is light and the feet are heavy.

The legs seem to be standing firmly, but the mind is empty. Once the foot stumbles, the brain is unable to make any corrections and can only fall forward. If the degree of tilt is not enough, the inertia can still barely support it. If the tilt is too much, the head will be broken and bleeding.

Everyone knows that even a good cook cannot cook without rice.

But the Ming Dynasty’s lack of resources was ultimately its own fault.

This deformed and distorted system was imposed on the entire Ming Empire in order to satisfy Zhu Yuanzhang's own "preferences". In Xia Zhibai's opinion, it could only serve as a transition. Once the transition was completed, it was time to rectify the chaos and get the world back on track. However, no one in the Ming Empire, whether the emperor or his subjects, had this idea.

Everyone is happy to pursue their own selfish interests under this system.

The court had little actual supervision over officials, and there were too many ways for them to take advantage of their power. Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he could keep the country running smoothly by only collecting such a small amount of money, and that the amount of money that the Ming Dynasty could collect in the future would be very high. He was considered to have left a great "benefit" for future generations.

Each party feels that they have gained an advantage.

This also made Xia Zhibai feel very speechless and helpless.

Hear the words.

Zhu Biao was silent.

Xia Zhibai was right. Anything that needed to be arranged would require money and grain. This was also the reason why many of the Ming Dynasty's policies were currently in a state of being difficult to implement. The court might have wanted to make changes, but once the accounts were calculated, even if it was just to reform the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the court would have to spend at least hundreds of thousands of silver coins.

The court simply cannot afford it right now.

One wrong step and one wrong step after another.

Perhaps some of the policies implemented by the Ming Dynasty were wrong in themselves, but who could have known at the beginning that these policies would have so many drawbacks and leave so many hidden dangers today?
It was due to the environment at that time, so how can we blame it?

As for the silver mountain that Xia Zhibai mentioned, he didn't take it seriously. Even if it really existed, it would cost a lot to go out to sea, and the location could not be really determined. Going out to sea to search for it based on just a few sentences in an ancient book would undoubtedly be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it would not be easy to transport it back.

Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai and asked in a serious tone, "Is there really no other way?"

Xia Zhibai sneered and said, "Is there a perfect solution in the world?"

"Some things are inherently unreasonable. Under unreasonable circumstances, asking for more is not just asking for too much, but wishful thinking."

"If the court can't come up with the money, then naturally there is no way to set up checkpoints and collect customs duties. Even if the court sets up checkpoints, it won't be done in a short time. The north is still at war, and the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty has not ended. The court is also unable to reach the coastal areas."

"As for spending time on going out to sea or increasing the amount of copper coins minted, it won't be done in a short time."

“And it also requires a lot of money.”

“Without money, none of this can be implemented.”

"But the court actually has some money right now, but it is not willing to spend it on these things, because if the effect is not good, the money will be wasted, and no one in the court can take responsibility, especially since the current emperor has a bad temper and hates to see money being wasted."

"The Ming Dynasty has reached a dead end to a certain extent." "Reforms must be effective."

“No one dares to initiate reforms without seeing results.”

"Reform is a thankless task, and the court has also been very indifferent to it, which has further curbed the initiative of officials. The entire court will only retreat more and more, and the vicious cycle will become more and more vicious. In the end, everyone will stick to the old system and keep silent."

“When the country is a little rotten here and there, and the people can’t stand it anymore, then there will be chaos. But at that time, even if the court wants to send troops to suppress it, the first problem it will face is that it has no money to allocate money and grain.”

"In the end, we may just have to give officials a bunch of waste paper 'Da Ming Baochao'."

"So much so that the credit collapsed and no one responded anymore."

Hear the words.

Zhu Biao's face changed.

Xia Zhibai shook his head calmly and sighed, "The biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty right now is the lack of tolerance for mistakes, so it has to stick to its old ways and act blindly. It has no money, no people, but a good voice, and it shouts all over the world."

"What can I do?!"

When Zhu Biao heard Xia Zhibai mention the word "tolerance", his eyes immediately lit up.

He finally understood why he always felt exhausted and powerless when dealing with state affairs.

The reason lies in this fault tolerance.

Because there is no tolerance for mistakes, there is naturally no way to correct them. You can only keep moving forward. Sometimes when you encounter something that makes you unhappy, you have no choice but to approve it. The problem lies in the tolerance for mistakes.

Yes.

The Ming Dynasty did not have much tolerance for error.

As a result, he could only review state affairs mechanically.

Because there is no other way.

He could only do this and could not have any other ideas.

The difference between the Ming Dynasty and other dynasties lies in its tolerance.

Other dynasties were able to make mistakes, and once they were corrected, they would be revived. However, the Ming Dynasty did not have this opportunity to make mistakes. Once a mistake was made, the situation would continue to deteriorate, and eventually the court could only serve as a paperhanger.

Just fool around for a day.

immediately.

Zhu Biao's eyes dimmed.

Even if I knew, what could I do?

What could he change for the world? He could not question his father's will.

Moreover, he did not have the ability and means to promote reforms throughout the country. He did not even know where to start and his mind was a mess.

Zhu Biao sighed and said, "You are right."

"The options available to the Ming Dynasty are indeed quite limited, and there is only one path left."

"But the situation has come to this point. There is no point in criticizing it any more."

“We still have to move forward.”

(End of this chapter)