Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 36 Requires Million
When Zhu Yunfeng came to the Ming Dynasty, since he wanted to take a certain initiative, he naturally had to come prepared.

And after his research and analysis.

Institutional rigidity is the root cause of the Ming Dynasty’s demise.

After all, it's about corruption.

Is there any government in later generations more corrupt than the United States?
Those officials can reasonably and legally accept any political donations while in office.

After leaving office, officials go to work for companies that have received political donations, thus accepting bribes in a more reasonable and legal way.

There were also $600 million for goats and $9 for nuts. The huge military expenditure every year was mostly embezzled.

Speaking of natural disasters, throughout the dynasties, has there been any period without disasters?
The third Little Ice Age was from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the early Northern Song Dynasty. Song Renzong was still able to create a prosperous era at the end of the Little Ice Age.

Saying that treason is rampant.

There were treacherous ministers everywhere in the Northern Song Dynasty, and six of them were the most treacherous ones at one time. Yet, the Southern Song Dynasty still managed to last for more than a hundred years.

Talk about foreign invasion.

This makes even less sense, because the Ming Dynasty was not destroyed by the Qing Dynasty, but by an internal uprising.

It can only be said that the foreign invasion caused the Ming Dynasty to spend a lot of money on this matter, which accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but it cannot be said that the foreign invasion was the decisive factor in the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, in the final analysis, the rigidity of the entire society, the inflexibility and obsolescence of the system, the loss of a sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty by everyone across the country, and the lack of identification with it are the fundamental reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

It's even funny to say that the weakening sense of national and ethnic identification gave the Qing Dynasty an opportunity to take advantage.

The invasion of foreign races also strengthened the identification with the country and the nation, which led to the awakening of nationalism in the late Qing Dynasty and so many movements that created later China.

I can only say that history is sometimes really ironic.

Zhang Juzheng once wanted to change all this.

He did it while in office.

As a result, he was liquidated after his death and everything returned to the time before liberation.

Then why was the Ming system so rigid and inflexible?

Isn’t it caused by the many policies formulated during the reigns of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di?

Therefore, some people in later generations said that the Ming Dynasty seemed to have perished under Chongzhen, but in fact it was perished under Zhu Yuanzhang. This is not without reason.

of course.

It only seems to make sense, but in fact it is still a problem for future generations.

After all, when Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di formulated these policies, they were conducive to maintaining the country's rule at the time. How could they have predicted the impact these policies would have on the Ming Dynasty later?

The fundamental reason is that the later successors did not adapt in time and insisted on adhering to the ancestral laws as immutable, which led to what happened later.

Therefore, when Zhu Yunfeng was speaking, he was actually emphasizing that although the policies of the ancestors caused trouble for the Ming Dynasty, they were beneficial and positive at this time.

Unfortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang's self-esteem got the better of him. He couldn't stand others saying that his policies were bad, and he kept harping on those few negative comments, which made him furious.

Now Zhu Yunfeng’s words forced the Zhu family’s two sons and fathers to think, perhaps what he said was right.

But Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't bring himself to do that, and Zhu Di had no right to speak.

Only Zhu Biao has always maintained a friendly attitude with Zhu Yunfeng.

So he couldn't help but ask first: "Is there no solution to this? If we cancel these current national policies, can we avoid future destruction?"

"It's hard to say, because as I said just now, our ancestors set these strategies mainly to maintain the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, but later they stubbornly adhered to the ancestral system, which led to the institutional rigidity."

Zhu Yunfeng put away the question booklet and spread his hands, saying, "If we cancel these national policies now, no one can say whether it will lead to chaos in the Ming Dynasty."

"This"

Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment. Isn't it possible to neither advance nor retreat?

"But I have an idea."

Zhu Yunfeng smiled.

"any solution?"

Zhu Biao felt like he had found a life-saving straw.

"As I said, we need to grasp the main contradiction. The main contradiction of the Ming Dynasty is that the cake plate is too small and there is not enough for everyone to eat. Only by expanding productivity and increasing the cake can even the worst system alleviate all social contradictions and make the whole country prosperous."

Zhu Yunfeng pointed out the essence of the problem.

This is the truth. As long as your productivity can keep up, even if it is a slave society, as long as everyone has food to eat, clothes to wear, and good living conditions, it doesn't matter.

Isn’t this the case in America today?

In a capitalist society, American citizens cannot get assistance or protection when they are hit by disasters.

Even American officials have claimed that disaster relief is our party's obligation, and that our great America owes you nothing. If you have no water or electricity, it's because you are weak and lazy. You have to find a solution yourselves.

It can be said that the entire American society is plagued by various ills, including excessive military spending, rampant corruption, social disorder, rampant guns, poor public security, and riots.

But after all these years, the American empire remains as solid as a rock. Although there are signs of decline, it is still a Western power among the many superpowers on the planet.

What is the root cause?
The underlying logic here is simple.

That is, after the fall of the Russian bear, the United States became the global hegemon, reaping the wealth of the world through military and finance.

The US dollar can be printed indefinitely, but it has a global backstop, which is equivalent to the entire earth supporting Americans.

In this way, even though the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is huge, the wealth of the entire country is extremely huge due to the harvesting of global wealth by US dollars and financial capital markets.

Even if a little soup dripped from the nails of the rich and powerful, it would be enough for the lower-class Americans to have enough food and drink.

Even homeless people can get free food on the streets so they don’t starve to death.

So to some extent, as long as the cake continues to grow, then no matter how many internal problems the country has, they can be alleviated or covered up.

But Zhu Biao obviously didn't understand what productivity was and what cake was. He was confused and asked, "Productivity? Cake? What does this mean?"

"It's still difficult to explain this concept to you. It can be simply understood as the ability to create food and wealth. In other words, the more money and food there are in the market, the more stable the country will be."

Zhu Yunfeng said: "Think about it, if there is enough food and everyone can eat, then no one will rebel? If the salaries of officials are high enough, will corruption be reduced?"

"Of course, it's just a reduction, not an end. There are certainly many greedy people. But for those who want to make a difference and have ambitions, as long as the country can guarantee their livelihood, there will definitely be many officials who will choose to devote themselves to governance and construction, and not to the point where even if the consequences of corruption are so serious, and they are skinned and stuffed with straw, there will still be countless people who continue to do so."

"And the royal family. These people already eat up the largest part of the Ming Dynasty's expenses. But if the money in the Ming Dynasty's treasury is ten times, a hundred times, or even a thousand times, what they have is just a drop in the bucket."

"Needless to say, the gentry group is the parasite of the country. Most of the wealth of the entire Ming Dynasty flows to them. But if there is enough food and money, the wealth they occupy will not affect the overall resources of the country at all."

"Even if natural disasters or man-made disasters occur, the country will not be without money or food."

"When the time comes, the people will have food to eat, jobs to do, and channels for advancement. Officials, nobles, royal family members, and gentry, and every interest group will be able to get a piece of the pie. How can this country possibly fall?" "Is there any water? Let me get you a glass. You've said so much, you're dying of thirst. Forget the water. Let's talk business first."

By the end of his speech, Zhu Yunfeng felt his mouth dry.

I don't know why, but I suddenly thought that I seemed to have miscalculated.

I came fully armed, but forgot to bring water.

What if the other party has bad intentions and poisons the water?
So after saying this, he felt a little regretful, and said, "This is why the first step I made before was to increase the grain in Ming Dynasty rapidly, and then let you use gold to exchange silver from our modern times, so as to get more money and grain."

"I see."

Zhu Biao suddenly realized what was going on, and then looked at Zhu Di and said, "Fourth brother, why don't you go get some water?"

I'm kidding!

The expressions on Zhu Di's face were already rich and colorful.

I was secretly complaining in my heart, who is the ancestor, me or this guy?
I am of such a high generation, the 26th generation ancestor, and I am pouring water for a junior?

It's so fucking unfair.

And brother, you have no opinion of your own. You just do whatever a junior tells you to do. How come you don’t behave like your ancestors at all?

But I have to go.

First, he had the lowest status. In front of Zhu Yuanzhang, he was a son, and in front of Zhu Biao, he was a younger brother.

Second, the news about Zhu Yunfeng cannot be leaked. Now, only the three of them, father and son, have seen Zhu Yunfeng, and then Empress Ma knows about this. The rest of the attendants, eunuchs, and palace maids outside are all unaware of it.

Among the four people who knew about this, Zhu Di had the lowest status. He couldn't let Empress Ma pour water, right?
So even though he complained in his heart, he finally got up and poured some water.

Zhu Yunfeng originally wanted to stop it.

But after thinking about it, I decided to just not drink it when the time comes.

When Zhu Di went to the next room to get some water, Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Yunfeng and said seriously, "In that case, I'll leave everything to you, Yunfeng."

After that, he sighed and said, "It's not easy for father either. The country has just been established and there is a lot of work to be done. There are powerful enemies outside and the people are living in unrest. Father is often worried. Since you are a descendant of the future, you should also contribute to the Ming Dynasty."

"That's right. As the saying goes, harmony brings wealth. Only by sitting down and having a good talk can we achieve results. They say that generations apart are close, but even after so many generations, they don't seem that close. What's the point of losing your temper and banging the table all the time?"

Zhu Yunfeng deliberately raised his voice, which made Zhu Yuanzhang, who had finally calmed down in the study, so angry that he broke the brush in his hand and his face almost turned red.

"But then again, even a good cook cannot cook without rice. It's useless to just talk about it. You still need money."

Then Zhu Yunfeng winked at Zhu Biao, rubbed his right index finger and thumb together, and said with a smile: "Without money, you can't buy seeds and silver, you can't open an agricultural company, and you can't help the Ming Dynasty grow stronger."

Zhu Biao pondered and said, "How much do you need?"

"Ten million is needed."

Zhu Yunfeng raised a finger and said, "This is just the beginning. To get the company started, we may need more start-up capital in the future. After all, opening an agricultural company in our place will definitely result in huge losses. Daming needs to cover the losses for me."

"This"

Zhu Biao looked embarrassed.

Zhu Yunfeng was a little unhappy and said: "Grandpa, this is already the most basic requirement. If this cannot be met, how can we revitalize the Ming Dynasty?"

"It's not that we can't give it to you, but we don't know what your modern 10 million is worth. How much gold is needed?"

Zhu Biao was in great trouble.

In fact, he had discussed this issue with Zhu Yuanzhang a long time ago.

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that what Zhu Yunfeng wanted was nothing more than wealth and honor, and this wealth and honor would be given to him.

But the problem is that they don’t know the modern prices, so naturally they don’t know how to exchange modern money with ancient money.

It would be a big trouble if Zhu Yunfeng asked for an exorbitant amount of money, or took advantage of this information gap to make a fortune and thus stopped paying attention to the affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

So they always need to strike the right balance.

But after just a few days, they were still completely in the dark about the modern world, so they couldn't make a decision at the moment.

Zhu Yunfeng said with a smile: "Not much, not much. If calculated according to the weight of gold, it is only about 30 kilograms. But you have better choices. Just give me a Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain, or a Song Dynasty Ru kiln celadon. I am not picky."

At this point, his eyes were narrowed into slits due to smiling.

The market price of Yuan blue and white porcelain and Song Ru kiln celadon at auctions can reach hundreds of millions, and those in good condition can even reach hundreds of millions. If you can get one of these, you will really become rich.

What Zhu Yunfeng didn't expect was that after he said this, the room fell silent again.

Including Zhu Di, who had already brought a cup of water and was standing at the door, and Zhu Biao in front of him, were both looking at him with strange eyes, leaving him confused.

"What? No?"

Zhu Yunfeng was puzzled. It shouldn't be difficult to get an antique in ancient times.

However, to his surprise, Zhu Biao simply shook his head and said, "It's not that I can't. If I have it, I'll give it to you. We don't have these things."

"No?"

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head and said, "You are the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, don't you even have a piece of porcelain?"

Zhu Di couldn't help but say, "I've also heard people talk about antiques. Do you know why antiques are valuable?"

"That's not clear."

Zhu Yunfeng thought for a moment and said, "Does it have something to do with the age and existence?"

Although I have never eaten pork, I have seen pigs run.

He didn't know much about the antique industry, and the limited knowledge he had came from searching online. It was very complicated, so naturally he didn't understand it.

Zhu Di put the cup on his coffee table and said, "Yes, it has less to do with age and more to do with existence. These things you mentioned are extremely precious even in the Ming Dynasty. They don't exist in the royal family at all, and they are not available on the market. They may be stored in the cellar of someone's home and not displayed to the public. Where do you think we can help you find them?"

Zhu Biao also sighed: "Yes, since Yashan, the Mongols have destroyed the Han people for a hundred years. A large number of precious things have been damaged, and many treasures have been taken away by the Mongols. Even the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty does not have many treasures."

"what?"

Zhu Yunfeng was dumbfounded.

He had heard about the depth of the antique water, but he didn't expect it to be so deep.

I thought that after returning to the Ming Dynasty, I would be able to get some precious antiques and make a fortune.

It seems that this idea still has some difficulties.

(End of this chapter)