My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 171 The State Does Not Know Its People, and the People Do Not Know Their State

"Father, you are busy with state affairs. If you have nothing else to do, please go back first. Don't worry about your daughter. But you must promise me not to punish the maids and eunuchs in Chongning Palace, okay?"

Seeing Zhu Funing looking at him with his eyes wide open, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart softened and he had to nod in agreement.

"Okay, okay, I promise you, I won't punish them, as long as Huaiqing is fine."

If you want to work, just work. Just don't hurt yourself. Mr. Zhu's daughter is not that delicate.

The Zhu Yuanzhang in front of Zhu Funing at this time was not the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but just an old father who loved his daughter.

It’s all the fault of those Japanese. Look how scared they are to their daughter. Old Zhu will never let them go!

Now Zhu Yuanzhang calls the Japanese "Little Japan" just like in the video.

After returning to the bedroom, he went to the Buddhist temple first. Seeing that Li Han had already replied, he felt relieved.

In addition to the letter, there was also a USB flash drive. I guess Lao Li sent me new videos.

There were two letters in total. I knew without even looking at them that one was for myself and the other was for Huaiqing.

He suddenly had an idea. Why not let Huaiqing and Lao Li communicate frequently? Maybe after they wrote to each other so many times, it would become a way of expressing their feelings through letters.

Maybe in the future I can really drink the tea that Lao Li kowtows to me, and then call me Master Taishan...

When Zhu Yuanzhang thought of that scene, he felt extremely refreshed.

I picked up the letter, returned to my bedroom, put on a pot of fragrant tea, took a sip, and it was delicious.

Then he opened the letter Li Han wrote to him and read it carefully.

"Old Zhu, as the saying goes, great minds always agree. Regarding the issue of traitors, we almost think the same thing."

Lao Li also wants to discuss the issue of traitors with me?

Our Lao Zhu and Lao Li really understand each other very well. "Great minds always agree on the same thing." Look at the way Lao Li speaks, it sounds so nice. He is praising the greatness of Lao Zhu!
However, he seemed to be bragging about himself. This Old Li, his humorous style of speaking, when will Old Zhu learn to do that?

“As for why there are always traitors in China, the question can actually be asked in another way, that is, why there are always traitors in a certain group.

Just like Lu Bu in the Three Kingdoms period, the famous slave of three surnames, who jumped back and forth between Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo. Why was this so? In addition to external political reasons, it was also related to his own low resistance to temptation and weak will.

Another example is Shi Mi Ming'an of the Jin Dynasty. He was a Khitan, but he betrayed his own nation and joined the Jurchens. Later, in the war between the Jin Dynasty and Mongolia, he betrayed the Jin Dynasty and joined Temujin. You see, this kind of two-faced person is not only found among the Han people.

If I put it this way, I think Old Zhu will understand a little bit."

That’s right, after your explanation, Old Li, I, Old Zhu, now understand. That is to say, traitors are not unique to the Han people, there are traitors in all countries and all nationalities.

"Through the examples of Lü Bu and Shi Mi Ming'an, we can see that the reasons for the emergence of traitors can be divided into two categories:

The first type is those who cannot resist temptation, commonly known as the type who thinks, "I can't help it. The enemy offers too much and I simply cannot refuse." This type of traitor is also the most numerous.

Although the topic was a bit heavy, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing. After laughing, he immediately covered his mouth and felt a little guilty in his heart.

It's all Lao Li's fault. He made jokes about such a serious topic, which made Lao Zhu become less serious. "The second type of traitor is the one we need to be most vigilant about. They are people who do not have a deep sense of identity with their own nation or country. They may not identify with the ideology or identity, or both, just like Shi Mo Ming'an of the Jin Dynasty.

This type of people often have the greatest impact on the country. Not to mention the distant past, just take the late Tang Dynasty as an example. The country was torn apart, with various military governors ruling their own regimes. The Western Regions were split from China's territory and did not return to the Chinese family until you, Zhu Yuanzhang, founded the Ming Dynasty.

This also caused a huge geopolitical disaster for China. The Silk Road was cut off, and the influence of the Central Plains regime could not penetrate into Persia and the Arab world. China also lost its natural barrier to resist invasions by various foreign races!

Just think about how difficult it was for the Song Dynasty to fight against a small country like Western Xia, and you will understand.

The reason for this is probably that the ethnic groups in the Western Regions do not have a strong sense of identity with China.

The ultimate manifestation of this type is "the country does not know that there are people, and the people do not know that there is a country!"

When this was said, Zhu Yuanzhang was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. “The country does not know that it has people, and the people do not know that they have a country.” This is a constant saying to awaken and warn the world!
This sentence vividly presents the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.

The south of the Ming Dynasty was not so difficult to deal with. After the Han people moved south, the south became the main carrier of the Han economy and culture, and the inheritance of civilization has never been interrupted.

But it is hard to say about the north. Since Zhao Gou moved south, the north became the world of the Jurchens. Until the Jin Dynasty was destroyed by the Mongols, it became a pasture of the Mongol Empire.

It took him two hundred and forty-one years to finally capture the Yuan capital and unify the north and the south again!
In other words, during these two hundred and forty years, the entire north and south were in a state of division. In the north, the Liao people were replaced by the Jin people, and then the Mongols took over. After experiencing countless wars and chaos, the Han heritage had long been diluted.

In the northern part of the Ming Dynasty today, aren’t the people in many places in a state where “the country is unaware of the people, and the people are unaware of the country”?

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang felt somewhat fortunate in his heart. Fortunately, Lao Li reminded him to completely exterminate the Mongol Empire, eliminate the Yuan court, and occupy the desert as soon as possible!

Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty strengthen its control over the north and win back the hearts of the people in the north.

Suddenly he thought, if according to the original historical course, Zhu Di insisted on moving the capital to Beiping after becoming emperor, could he have also considered this aspect?

"Therefore, compared to individual traitors, what we need to be most vigilant about is the people's complete alienation from the country and the government. The consequences of this are unbearable for any regime!"

Ah!
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded heavily. What Lao Li said was absolutely right. Emperor Taizong's words, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," were exactly the truth.

"Although this problem is very serious, it is not unsolvable. Let me ask you first, what policy are you implementing towards the North now, Old Zhu?"

How did you do it?

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard. What he did was undoubtedly to distribute land, reduce taxes, eradicate foreign customs, move people from the south to the north, and win the hearts of the people.

Does Lao Li have a better idea?
No, Lao Li must have a better way!

He perked up and continued reading.

"The policies you have implemented towards the north are nothing more than recuperation and winning over the people. These are in line with the practices of a good emperor, but I can clearly tell you that these are far from enough!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched. I knew that Lao Li would say this. Alas, I'm used to it.

"To solve the problem of people's hearts, first of all, we must know what the Chinese nation is made of and how our national character developed!"

(End of this chapter)