Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 381: Recovering from war and entering a peaceful and governed world!
Zhu Tongdao: "Your idea is quite desirable. I agree with it."

"The court cannot be so passive all the time. Sometimes, being proactive is not a bad thing. However, this will put higher demands on officials, and even significantly increase the demand for officials. Moreover, if things are not understood properly, it will easily lead to confusion. It will be difficult to achieve what you want."

Xia Zhibai smiled slightly and said, "Where there is a will, there is a way."

"How can you be so easily discouraged when you haven't done anything yet?"

"I do like to be proactive, because only by being proactive can I better face everything in the world. If I am too passive, I will be restricted everywhere. The economy of the Ming Dynasty is very sluggish now, and people's livelihood is in decline. Although the court has intentionally carried out some control and planned operations, it is still too passive for the whole world."

“It is not enough to inspire vitality in the world.”

"Besides."

"Since the Song Dynasty, the taxation system of the country has been reformed again and again, but the Ming Dynasty has gone backwards. This is not right. As a unified dynasty, it should have controlled the financial power of the country in a tyrannical and even overbearing way, thereby controlling the entire country and making powerful adjustments to the world's economy."

“Money makes money.”

“And money can greatly influence social trends.”

"The court has money to improve the world's economy, boost people's morale, and make people's lives better. It can also achieve technological breakthroughs through self-regulation and control of the flow of money, and then seek greater economic stimulus to allow the world's economy to recover and improve faster."

"Relying on spontaneous recovery by the people, this period of time is bound to be very long."

“People’s lives are difficult.”

"The Ming Dynasty was established in the flames of war. From the beginning, this new empire and its subjects should have a clear goal. The Ming Dynasty should not and cannot compare itself with the ruined world during the war, but should look higher, higher than the Han and Tang dynasties, or even far beyond them."

"If the officials of the Ming Dynasty keep comparing themselves with the late Yuan Dynasty, and even feel complacent about it, then these officials should not stay in the court."

"These people will surely be a disgrace to the world!"

"They lack the courage to climb the mountain, the determination to see the other mountains from a distance, and they are just wasting their time in the court, occupying the toilet without doing anything. Such people may seem to be working diligently, but in fact they are extremely harmful to the world, because they drag the whole world into a long period of post-war recovery, and prevent it from entering the new era of rapid development as soon as possible."

"The destructive power of these people is staggering."

“To this day, I’ve always been curious about one thing.”

"Has the Ming Dynasty recovered from the war? If not, what has the Ming Dynasty done in the past twenty years? The world has not recovered sufficiently for such a long time, which is a whole generation's time."

"When the world was first settled, the people had houses and fields, but after so many years, the people's homes have not improved much, they are still poor, and they don't even have a decent piece of clothing. Shouldn't the officials of the Ming Dynasty reflect on this?"

"What have I done for the people in this position?"

"even"

"I would also like to ask the officials of the Ming Dynasty to go among the people and feel their enthusiasm. They would also like to see whether the people love and support these officials more or scold and abuse them more."

"If so."

"Then why hasn't the Ming Dynasty's policy changed over the years?"

"Why are they still following the post-war reconstruction plan? Are they really trying to make a fortune with just one trick?"

"Is letting the people live as if they had just escaped from war the ultimate goal of the court?"

"With so many officials from the Ministry of Revenue present today, you know the economic situation of the Ming Dynasty better than I do, and you also know the actual situation in the local areas. In the past twenty years of development, let alone the steps we have taken, at least we should be steadily moving forward, especially compared to when we just emerged from the war, there should be a significant improvement."

"If not."

"That only proves one thing." "There is something wrong with the current economic system of the Ming Dynasty."

“And it’s a big problem.”

Xia Zhibai's voice, high-pitched and passionate, echoed in the East Palace.

The audience was silent.

Zhu Tong, Yang Jing, Zhao Mian, Huang Zicheng and others all lowered their heads in silence, and no one dared to respond.

As officials of the Ministry of Revenue, they were well aware of the situation in the accounts. The current situation of the Ming Dynasty had improved, but not much. In fact, if it had not been for the last Guo Huan case, when the court confiscated a large amount of property, the economic situation of the court would have been very serious.

As for the reason, they dare not say.

The imperial court could only collect so much money every year. No matter how stingy they were, no matter how economical they were, they could not cook without rice. Without money, there was no money. Moreover, floods or droughts occurred in some places in the Ming Dynasty every now and then. The imperial court was always short of money and could not spare any extra for other things.

They really had no choice.

Zhu Biao looked a little embarrassed. Everyone in the world knew about the problems with the Ming Dynasty's financial system and knew who the problem was. But except Xia Zhibai, no one dared to say it out loud. As for the 19 years since the Ming Dynasty was founded, the world had made great improvements.

No!

Although Zhu Biao did not want to admit this, it was indeed the case.

The power of the imperial court is now only enough to barely maintain the normal operation of local areas. If you want to promote more things, it will not be supported under the current circumstances.

I can’t do it, and I don’t have the money.

When encountering some unexpected situations, the imperial court would levy additional taxes. Only in recent years has there been some improvement, but all of this was actually based on the massive confiscation of property, and this action also directly led to the bankruptcy of many landlords and merchants across the country.

But in the past, no one thought there was a problem.

Until Xia Zhibai pointed out the real reason.

Everyone in the Ming Dynasty, from the emperor to the officials, used the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty as a comparison point. The current situation in the Ming Dynasty must be better than it was then. After all, there was chaos and war at that time, and the people were displaced, and this became the crux of the problem.

The Ming Dynasty’s vision is too low.

It was so low that Zhu Biao felt a little embarrassed.

Xia Zhibai took a deep breath and continued, "Compared to the war period, the Ming Dynasty can indeed be called a prosperous era, but compared to the real prosperous era in history, the Ming Dynasty has only just escaped the suffering of war. It's just that the current Ming Dynasty does not give people any hope or expectation of economic improvement or better life."

"The world from top to bottom is filled with two words."

“No money!!!”

"If the Ming Dynasty cannot solve the problem of lack of money, it will directly affect the Ming Dynasty."

"This is not alarmist talk, but a cruel reality."

"Perhaps it's time for the Ming Dynasty to change."

"Recover from past wars and enter a truly peaceful and governed world!"

(End of this chapter)