Traveling through the heavens from swallowing

Chapter 49 Return!

The battle at the top of the Forbidden City established Liu Mang's position as the best in the world and also demonstrated to the world the power and terror of the innate realm.

After the war, Dongfang Bubai was unwilling to accept defeat, so he joined the Wulin Alliance and became the supreme elder to continue fighting against the Fuwei Escort Agency and Liu Mang. The bipolar force did not collapse, but became even stronger.

The martial arts world became more stable, and the Fuwei Escort Agency and the Wulin Alliance became more prosperous.

The era of armed struggle has ended, and the two sides have begun to compete in economic development, humanistic construction and martial arts deduction.

In the constant confrontation and learning, the two alliances gradually improved, various policies, regulations, and systems were customized, and they gradually transformed from a system that prioritized strength to an institutional governance system. The degree of stability increased significantly, and the treacherous nature of people's hearts was slightly curbed.

Under Liu Mang's arrangement, the imperial court abolished the policy that various sects were exempt from paying taxes, and expanded the scope of taxation to martial arts sects and Jianghu families.

With the suppression of the Supervisory Yuan, everything went smoothly. The two alliances took the lead in paying taxes, and there were very few rebels, so no waves were caused.

In 1510, without increasing taxes, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue increased significantly, from more than million taels to more than million taels. The extra money was used for people's livelihood construction, and the people's happiness index improved slightly.

In 1511, after successfully collecting taxes in Wulin, Liu Mang turned his attention to local landlords, gentry, and officials, demanding that the gentry pay taxes together and abolishing the tax exemption or tax reduction policy.

As soon as the news came out, the Ming Dynasty was in an uproar. Landlords and officials everywhere submitted memorials of opposition, and the vast majority of ministers in the court also opposed it!

They worked so hard to pass the imperial examinations, not for the little salary of an official. Without tax exemptions and tax reductions, once the hundreds of thousands of acres of land in their family are taxed, it will be a huge expense!

For six consecutive rounds of court meetings, all the ministers opposed the gentry paying taxes together, and the court was full of clamor. Memorials from all over the country piled up like a mountain, all expressing opposition.

But the memorial of one person was different. That was Wang Shouren, the head of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice, also known as the famous Wang Yangming.

This man is extraordinary. He is a very important figure in the entire history of Chinese philosophy. He is a real master of "Xinxue" and the epitome of Xinxue. His thoughts still have considerable value even in modern society!
He opposed viewing the Confucian thoughts of Confucius and Mencius as unchanging precepts, opposed blindly obeying feudal ethics and morals, and emphasized individual initiative.

The philosophical proposition of "reaching conscience" and the methodology of "unity of knowledge and action" he proposed required breaking through the shackles of feudal ideology and called for the liberation of thought and personality.

And now he is Wang Yangming, who has reached the great success stage after attaining enlightenment in Longchang!
His advanced and lofty thinking made him incompatible with feudal ethics. In his memorials, he talked a lot about the benefits of the gentry paying taxes together, and further proposed a strategy for optimizing the overall taxation of the Ming Dynasty. His ideas were truly amazing.

It’s not that the idea is really amazing, but in such a feudal society, he dared to propose the idea of ​​taking action against the entire vested interest group. This courage is amazing.

Liu Mang was very interested in him and planned to call him over to meet him.

The next day, a transfer order was issued, promoting Wang Shouren, the head of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice, to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of tax reform and to take office in Beijing that same day.

Wow, a sixth-rank official directly defeated a third-rank official and was promoted six levels in a row!

When the ministers saw that an unsociable Minister of Revenue was transferred to preside over the reform, they knew that it meant that the emperor and the gentry were determined to pay taxes together, so they stopped trying to dissuade him. However, undercurrents continued to surge.

After Wang Yangming took office, Liu Mang visited him privately and asked him about his philosophy of mind.

As expected of Wang Yangming after he attained enlightenment in Longchang, he actually reached the innate realm with his mind without any true energy, and went very far away. With a thought, he was even able to pull Liu Mang into his spiritual space to show his heart and his will!

Although his realm is high, he has no real strength. Although he is not a weak scholar, he is just a strong man. He may be called a fierce general in history, but he is just like that in the world of martial arts.

But Liu Mang gained a lot. This was the first time he intuitively felt the power of the mind and thoughts, which was similar to intention, but completely different.

The so-called heart is a kind of path and a kind of persistence.

Those with a firm mind will never change; those who are confused and distressed will go with the flow.

The spiritual realm reflects a person's ability to accept things and his determination on the path.

Setbacks do not change his heart, life and death do not change his mind; in the face of all kinds of temptations, I am the only one; in the face of all changes, I am tolerant. These are all profound spiritual realms, there is no high or low, only choice.

At present, Liu Mang has not yet reached any state of mind. Without the struggle between life and death, it is difficult for him to understand his true heart.

But he will keep searching until he sees the truth!
In 1512, as tax reforms continued to be implemented, a rebellion broke out.

Zhu Chenhao, King Ning of Jiangxi, launched a rebellion seven years earlier than historically expected.

The rebellion of Anhua King Zhu Zongqi was postponed by two years compared to the history. (Because Liu Jin did not have time to do anything.)
At the same time, in addition to the rebellions of the two vassal kings, a series of civil uprisings also broke out, such as the Zhao Shi uprising of Caozhou people, the Liu Liu and Liu Qi uprisings in Wen'an, Hebei, etc. The timings do not match those in history. I think this is the Dancing Butterfly Effect brought about by Liu Mang.

Dozens of rebellions broke out across the country at the same time. Liu Mang knew without hesitation that it was the vested interest groups who were causing trouble. They wanted to use this to force the cancellation of reforms, which was wishful thinking!
The entire Supervisory Council was mobilized, and hundreds of top masters stationed in various places launched a heavy attack. Everyone was highly skilled in martial arts, and it was no problem for them to decapitate a general in the midst of thousands of troops. Even the army was not dispatched, and all the rebellions were quelled in half a month!
Except for Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao and Anhua Wang Zhu Zongqiang who were captured alive and escorted to the capital, the rest of the bandit leaders were beheaded and their heads were escorted to the capital.

The Supervisory Commission also found out through investigation that many of the people behind the incident were the local landlords!
Blood covered the Ming Dynasty for a while. The swords of the Censorate killed so many people that no one dared to resist the emperor's orders! In 1514, the tax reform was successful and the land survey was completed. During this period, many evil officials and landlords who exploited the people were killed. In the end, this action was completed with blood.

That year, the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue rose to 80 million taels, almost catching up with the revenue during the Qing Dynasty.

Simply by including the gentry in the tax payment scope, the income more than doubled. It can be seen that the landlord class, which is a very small number of people, actually controls more than two-thirds of the assets of the Ming Dynasty. This is terrifying!
The financial pressure was suddenly relieved, and Liu Mang finally had money to start the plan he had been preparing for a long time.

In this era, if the Ming Dynasty wants to continue to move forward, it cannot do without the sea.

The Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology led the world. During the Yongle period, fleets could be sent to sail to the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as far as East Africa and the Red Sea. Now, nearly a hundred years have passed, but the shipbuilding technology has not improved but regressed!

This was caused by the maritime ban order. After Zheng He's voyages to the West, the imperial court no longer organized fleets for long-distance voyages, and private merchants were not allowed to go out to sea to trade privately. Ocean-going ships were no longer useful, and naturally no one studied them. After the older generation of craftsmen who built treasure ships died, the technology naturally disappeared.

You can ignore everything else, but you must build the boat. At least you must get high-yield seeds of cold-resistant and high-yield crops such as potatoes and corn!

Liu Mang traveled through time once, and he could not just ignore it when he knew that the people were having a hard time in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

During the Little Ice Age, he had no choice but to try his best to leave something for the Ming Dynasty and the people. High-yield crops were one aspect, and fertilizer production, farming, irrigation and other technologies were another.

With the plug-in, Liu Mang can spend experience to complete his knowledge based on some impressions, and the technical aspect is not too difficult.

There is no way to deal with crop seeds. He is indeed very strong and can be called a land god, but he cannot cross the ocean to America in his physical body!

Therefore, although Liu Mang provided the shipbuilding technology, the shipbuilding personnel and materials still needed to be retrained.

In 1518, the first batch of new steamships were launched.

Using Liu Mang's modern knowledge of structural mechanics and material mechanics, combined with the treasure ship drawings left over from the Ming Dynasty, he designed a series of large wooden sailing ships. The largest flagship can reach a length of 180 meters and a width of 70 meters. The ship has four floors and is equipped with 96 cannons. The nine masts on the ship can hang fourteen sails, and the anchor weighs more than ten thousand pounds. It takes three to four hundred people to set sail. It is truly the world's number one battleship today!

Don’t blame Liu Mang for designing so many cannons for ocean-going cargo ships. In this era, there were pirates and Japanese pirates. If you didn’t have any cannons on you, how would you destroy the robbers when you encountered them?

Not only does the flagship have many cannons, but all types of ships below it have at least eight cannons. The purpose is to let those who come to rob feel the warmth of the Celestial Empire!
The first batch of ships launched reached 100, just enough to form an ocean-going fleet. Liu Mang ordered them to go to America to find potato and corn seeds and bring them back.

After the crops are brought back, they cannot be promoted directly. They need to go through dozens of generations of breeding before they can truly adapt to the local environment. The sooner they are brought back, the better.

Over the next ten years, the Ming Dynasty's shipping industry developed rapidly, and its footprints reached every corner of the world. Crops such as potatoes and corn were brought back as early as the first year. With the help of plug-ins, it took nine years for them to be bred to a level similar to that of later generations. The imperial court then promoted it nationwide, and grain production increased steadily, which greatly alleviated the number of people who starved to death each year.

In 1529, Liu Mang's sixth grandson was born. Lin Pingzhi was in his forties and finally got married and gave him a grandson. It was really a cause for celebration!

The other six children had already married or had new wives, but the eldest brother Lin Pingzhi had remained silent. Now Liu Mang's wish had finally come true.

Yue Lingshan has never had any children. Liu Mang guessed that it was because his life level had increased after his horizontal training was completed, making it difficult for him to have offspring. Although Yue Lingshan felt sorry, she did not have high demands. Being with Liu Mang was enough for her. If there were no children, then there were none. Anyway, Liu Mang's other wives had some, so she would just treat them as hers.

The requirements of Task Four have already been exceeded by a lot, and Task Two was completed more than ten years ago. What remains now is Task One, the most time-consuming, and Task Three, the least humane.

Mission 60: Overturn the ending of the Lin family's demise. Mrs. Lin and Lin Pingzhi must live to at least years old.

Mission three: Master the sword technique to ward off evil spirits and become the best in the world.

Mrs. Lin, also known as Wang Wan, is now sixty years old and is waiting for Lin Pingzhi. As for the Sword of Exorcism, he has decided to practice it after his wives are old and dead. He can't let them live as widows, right?

Wang Wan and Yue Lingshan both practiced the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra and entered the peerless world. Even at the age of 90, they would not age. The other five concubines could not practice martial arts, but after Liu Mang opened up their meridians, they were still peerless. Their life spans did not increase much, but it was no problem for 90 to look like . In short, there was still a lot of time.

In 1531, the first steam engine appeared in the Ming Dynasty, the production method was innovated, and the first industrial revolution began.

In 1539, the first train of the Ming Dynasty was put into operation, and the development of the Ming Dynasty entered the fast lane and no longer needed Liu Mang's guidance.

In the same year, Dongfang Bubai challenged Liu Mang again. On the Black Wood Cliff, the two fought in the air. Their beliefs, thoughts, true energy, and ideas were fully clashed. With the combined power of the two, they vaguely sensed a limit!
In 1550, when Dongfang Bubai was fighting with Liu Mang, his thoughts rose infinitely, surpassing the speed of light, and he drew a passage in the air that looked like a door. Dongfang Bubai seized the opportunity to escape in and disappeared from this world ever since.

This is the broken void!
Another fifty years passed, and Liu Mang, who had made no progress, finally began to practice the Book of the Sword of Exorcism. In a moment, he achieved great success, and the true Qi in his body was transformed into water-attributed true Qi, and then turned back into attributeless innate true Qi. He could now freely transform between the heavenly man and the innate.

Another ten years passed. Liu Mang looked back at the world and no longer saw anyone familiar. His wife, children and grandchildren were all dead and frail.

There is nothing left in this world, let’s go back!
Light and shadow flashed by, and Liu Mang disappeared silently. The world rolled forward and did not stop because of any individual.

Now that we are here, let's save the people of Ming Dynasty.


(End of this chapter)