Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 86: Living King of Hell and Living Bodhisattva

In the study, Zhu Yuanzhang sat behind the desk.

Zhu Yunfeng sat on the sofa opposite him, leaning on it casually.

Ji He was in charge of handling company affairs, Zhu Di was playing games at home, and Zhu Biao went to the imperial farm to inspect agriculture.

It happened that Zhu Yuanzhang was handling state affairs, and Zhu Yunfeng came over, thinking it would be a waste not to recruit this able-bodied man.

Old Zhu said with a smile: "Since you are here, you can just help me with some reference. You know that the Ming Dynasty is seriously divided between the north and the south."

"This is the matter."

Zhu Yunfeng became interested and said, "Of course I know. This is one of your greatest achievements."

"Ugh."

Old Zhu sighed and said, "Since the Jin invaded the south, a large area of ​​the country north of the Huai River has been lost, and the Southern Song Dynasty has been confined to the south of the Yangtze River, so that the north and the south have been divided since then. The Mongols and Yuan Dynasty seemed to be unified, but in fact they accelerated this division, so that now people in the south and the north regard each other as enemies."

"Ah."

Zhu Yunfeng nodded. He knew this.

In order to erase Zhu Yuanzhang's achievements, some people in later generations said that it was the Mongols that made up for this division and that Zhu Yuanzhang simply took advantage of the Mongols. In fact, this is nonsense.

Because the Mongols implemented a caste system, the first class of people were the Mongols, the second class of people were the Semites, the third class of people were the Han people, and the fourth class of people were the southerners.

The Han people here are the northern Han people, and the southern people are the southern Han people.

How can it be helpful to bridge the gap between the north and the south if the status of northern Han people is higher than that of southern Han people?
So much so that Kong Keqi of the Yuan Dynasty recorded in his book Zhizheng Zhiji:
It is to ridicule the Semu and northerners who come to the south of the Yangtze River. They can be rich or poor, but they have nothing. They still insult and abuse the south. They think they are the nobles of the right tribe and treat the south like slaves. However, the southerners also look down on the northerners, so there is often such ridicule.

What this means is that Southerners ridiculed Northerners for being poor, and Northerners ridiculed Southerners for being slaves. The mutual contempt and hostility between the two sides further exacerbated the division.

By the time of the Ming Dynasty, this problem had become very serious.

Not only is there a north-south divide among the people, but there is also a serious division in the officialdom. Most of the officials are from the south, and they exclude the northerners, so that there are very few northerners in the officialdom. Even if there are northerners, they are excluded by the southerners.

Today Zhu Yuanzhang is discussing this issue and trying to find a solution.

What he did in history was to change the method of recruiting people from the north to the south.

People from the south were sent to the north to serve as officials, and people from the north were transferred to the south to serve as officials, in the hope of integrating the officialdoms of the north and the south.

At the same time, it can also prevent northerners from ruling northerners and southerners from ruling southerners, which would lead to further division.

But this is obviously only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.

Because the North and the South are currently facing many problems.

There are huge differences in economy, culture, education, ideas and so on.

This led to a serious north-south divide.

The later North and South List case was a typical example.

So he had to ask Zhu Yunfeng to see if he had any good ideas.

"What can you do?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Zhu Yunfeng thought about it for a long time before speaking out: "There are many ways, such as moving the wealthy families in the south to the north, building more schools in the north, allocating educational resources, and trying to balance the educational and economic gaps between the north and the south. But to be honest, they are only temporary solutions and not fundamental solutions."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not ask, but looked at him and waited for what to say next.

Zhu Yunfeng continued, "In fact, the best way is to build national identity and truly integrate the Han people in the north and south. To be honest, there are many controversies about nationalism in later generations, and I will not comment on it. But in ancient times, this was something that had to be done. Because the ancient people lacked education, their origins and identities were often ruled and given by the upper class. After the Five Barbarians invaded China, the Hu people treated the Han people as pigs and dogs. Many Han people really treated themselves as pigs, dogs and slaves. The Han people spoke the language of the Hu people, but cursed the Han people on the city walls."

"But there are still a large number of Han people who continue to fight, stick to their national aspirations, and are unwilling to be assimilated by the Hu people, firmly guarding the bottom line."

"Let's not talk about Ran Min's order to kill the Hu people for now."

"The northern barbarians plundered the country, and the Han people migrated south to continue the Han civilization. Liu Gui just said that the life of a Han Chinese was only worth one copper coin, and Gao Aocao chased him and hacked him down several streets."

"This is because the Han people were the first to endow the Han ethnic group with this identity and the original value of the Han ethnic group."

"During the Tang Dynasty, the Han people's sense of national identity was perfected. When merchants from the Western Regions gave alms to beggars in the Tang Dynasty, the beggars felt ashamed."

"When the Han people were in the most difficult times, they still did not give up their Han identity and integrated their blood and ethnicity into the upper-class Hu people. Only in this way could the Han people stand firm."

"We don't advocate that the Han people are superior to others, but we are close to all other Han people and cannot be abandoned. This is the consensus of value. Not just all Han people, but as long as the ethnic awareness of the vast majority of Han people in the north and south is improved, there will be no division."

The nationalist wave awakened in large numbers in the early 20th century, and it is a consensus that radical nationalism and narrow nationalism are undesirable. However, nationalism is not populism, but an important value that unites the nation.

There was actually no systematic construction in this regard in ancient times.

It was only during the heyday of the Han, Tang, and Ming dynasties that the nation spontaneously had a sense of honor. During the Five Barbarians’ Invasion of China, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Jin, Mongolian, and Qing dynasties, when the barbarians were rampant, the nation spontaneously united to fight.

We are now in the early Ming Dynasty, and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty has just ended. In terms of national construction and identity, the Han people have not yet come out of the division of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

If no intervention is made, it will probably take a long time to reconcile.

Therefore, this is a good time to rebuild national identity and repair the current situation of ethnic division between the north and the south since the Jin people invaded the south and the Mongols destroyed the Han people's territory.

After listening to Zhu Yunfeng's words, Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought.

The so-called nationalism was not concretized in the thinking of the ancients, that is, the specific meaning was not interpreted, because this word and its meaning are modern products.

But the fact that it has not been concretized does not mean that this idea or concept does not exist.

"The Chinese are close to us and cannot be abandoned", "It is better for the Chinese to have no king than for the barbarians to have one", and "Those who are not of our race must have different hearts" are actually the earliest nationalist ideas.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to quickly understand what nationalism meant.

But how to construct it and how to reshape it were not something he could figure out.

After all, historically he could only use very rough methods to deal with things.

For example, officials from the north and the south were transferred, a large number of examiners were executed in the North-South Case to appease the northern candidates, the North-South Case, and the forced relocation of wealthy families and common people in the south to the north, etc.

Although doing so would be conducive to the integration of the North and the South.

But how to say it?

Many people died in the process.

This is also a loss for the Ming Dynasty.

"Is there any way to do that?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang digested and understood nationalism, he began to ask.

"We have to start with education, the legal system, and the economy. Of course, there are shortcuts."

Zhu Yunfeng thought for a moment, and then said, "The fastest way is actually to shape ideology. The Three Principles of the People proposed by our founding father, Dr. Sun, is an extremely influential ideological shaping method."

“Ideology?”

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't understand again.

Zhu Yunfeng explained it to him briefly, and then said: "In fact, what you, the ancestor, called for, 'expelling the barbarians, restoring China, establishing rules and regulations, and saving the people', is a way of shaping nationalism and ideology."

"You can actually start from this point and make the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Jin people's southward migration, and the humiliation suffered by the Han people during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty compulsory courses in education."

"Then we established the image of national heroes and widely spread the deeds of national heroes such as Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Zu Ti, Yue Fei and Wen Tianxiang."

"We should not call northerners or southerners the same thing, but call them all Han people. We should also make public the Mongol Yuan's deliberate plot to divide the north and the south, establish the Mongol Yuan as the enemy of the Han people, and let the Han people in the north and south unite to resist it together."

"Finally, with other measures, we can balance regional disparities as much as possible, ensure equal education resources, rule of law, and economic development, and we should be able to greatly eliminate the current situation of hostility and contempt between the north and the south."

"it is good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed after hearing this and nodded repeatedly, saying, "I really did not make the wrong choice. Letting you come to the inner court was the most correct decision I made."

'Um? '

Zhu Yunfeng was full of questions.

you sure?
Don't blame me if you screw up next time.

"Cough cough."

Zhu Yuanzhang coughed twice and continued, "Then let's do as you wish. I will continue to convene the inner court to discuss matters with everyone in the afternoon. You can bring it up during the meeting then."

"Ah? It's executed now?"

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head and said, "You are too hasty. Specific policies still need to be studied in detail. Besides, can you handle education?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. He was still trying to find ways to open schools in various prefectures. Although a large number of primary school textbooks had been sent, the court currently had no money to build public schools and no teaching staff.

Therefore, it is impossible to balance educational resources, promote patriotism and establish the image of national heroes.

He said unhappily, "You can do what you can first, and do what you can't do for now later."

How strange.

It's amazing that Lao Zhu could say "take it slow".

Zhu Yunfeng was amazed.

You know, Zhu was always eager for quick success. In the Guo Huan case, in order to recover the 24 million yuan in stolen money, he killed tens of thousands of officials and forced half of the middle-class rich families in the country into bankruptcy. Now he can slowly come, which is unexpected.

correct.

Thinking of the Guo Huan case, Zhu Yunfeng said, "Speaking of which, ancestor, how are you going to deal with Guo Huan?"

"Guo Huan?"

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes, but said with a slightly unnatural look: "Of course we have to take precautions before it happens. I will send someone to check on him then."

"Oh?"

Zhu Yunfeng touched his chin and looked up and down at Old Zhu who was sitting behind the desk.

Old Zhu was thick-skinned, and although his expression seemed a little unnatural at first, he quickly concealed it and looked at him calmly.

After thinking about it, Xiao Zhu finally decided not to expose the truth.

The four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty were very important events. It is impossible that Lao Zhu did not research them online when he was looking up information.

I guess he has read a lot of professors' research papers and it's not easy for him to say anything now.

The reason is also very simple.

Guo Huan may have certain financial problems of his own.

But according to research in the historical community, he was most likely the scapegoat used by Zhu Yuanzhang to make up for the deficit in the national treasury.

There are very few records about Guo Huan in history books. We only know that he was appointed as the fifth-rank assistant of the Shanxi Judicial and Censorate in the fifth year of Hongwu, and he served in that position for twelve years.

It was not until the 17th year of Hongwu, four years later, that he was suddenly promoted to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang demoted the then Minister of Revenue Li Shu to the position of Left Councillor of Fujian, and let Guo Huan serve as the acting Minister of Revenue in the capacity of Assistant Minister of Revenue.

A few months later, the Guo Huan case broke out, involving more than half of the officials and half of the middle class and above wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty.

To be honest, it's a bit unbelievable.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Six Ministries were dependent on the Secretariat and had very little power.

But after the Hu Weiyong case, the Secretariat fell and the six ministries became extremely powerful.

However, no matter how powerful he was, how could a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue embezzle 2400 million dan of grain in just eight months from the time he took office to the time the case broke out?

Not to mention how blind the regulatory agencies such as the Censorate, the Imperial Censorate in charge of supervision in the Ministry of Revenue, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were at the time, to allow a vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue to embezzle so much money right under their noses.

If he were greedy, he would have to embezzle 300 million shi every month.

Where did the other 50 stones go?
In addition, this case involved tens of thousands of Ming Dynasty officials. Some say 30,000, some say 50,000, and some say 80,000. The exact number is not recorded in history books, only tens of thousands.

But even if we only calculate it based on 30,000, Guo Huan had to set up a network of 30,000 officials who were corrupt with him within eight months of taking office. He also had to contact more than 30,000 corrupt officials from the same party across the country every day. He had to write so many letters that his hands cramped.

Therefore, the Guo Huan case is as abstract as the Hu Weiyong rebellion.

Old Zhu basically doesn't even bother pretending anymore. He just makes up a crime, finds a scapegoat, and starts working towards his own political goals.

The Hu Weiyong case was about centralizing power, so Hu Weiyong was slandered as a rebel.

The Guo Huan case occurred because in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to stabilize the people's hearts, so he established a relatively low taxation system for other places except the Jiangnan region, and the annual treasury tax amount was set at 2950 million shi.

In normal years, the court's expenses were barely enough.

But once a war breaks out, how can we support ourselves with this little income?
The national treasury was in deficit, the government was spending money that it had not earned in the previous year, and the taxes collected were often not paid in full.

So they found a reason to target Guo Huan.

After all, most of the Ming Dynasty’s political problems were actually economic problems.

This was the struggle between the Yan Party and the Qingliu Party during the Jiajing period, and it was also the same during the Tianqi period when the eunuch party and the Donglin Party struggled together.

The deficit in the national treasury needs to be filled.

Kill Guo Huan and slander him for embezzling 2400 million yuan.

Then he asked his subordinates to recover the stolen money, actually to make up for the shortfall of 2400 million.

But where can the people below find so much money?
They could only torture the rich and force those who were middle class or above to pay money to save their lives.

The history books say, "All the people from the left and right vice ministers of the six ministries were killed, the stolen money amounted to seven million, and the officials of the provincial governments were implicated, tens of thousands of people were killed. The stolen money was checked and borrowed all over the country, and most of the people's homes were ruined."

In fact, it tells the whole story of what the people experienced during this turmoil.

However, now that gold and silver are exchanged, Zhu Yuanzhang has made a lot of money from it, and it is estimated that he will no longer use this method to forcibly extort money and grain from officials and civilians.

"Oh, I am simply a living Bodhisattva. I have saved so many people without knowing it. My merits are increasing rapidly."

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help but sigh.

In the Hu Weiyong case, due to his influence, tens of thousands of people were saved from death.

The Guo Huan case would have saved tens of thousands of lives.

As for the Lan Yu case, since Zhu Biao was unlikely to die, the Lan Yu case might not happen again, thus saving tens of thousands of lives.

I will discuss the empty seal case later.

If this happened in the world of cultivating immortals, he could probably become a saint instantly just by earning merits from Lao Zhu, the living devil.

"correct."

Old Zhu probably guessed what Zhu Yunfeng was thinking. His face turned red and he changed the subject, "Just now I saw Mao Xiang picking up something for you. What was it?"

"I almost forgot that the silver coins have been produced."

Zhu Yunfeng then remembered the important matter, took out the silver coin from his pocket, walked to the desk and put it down, and said with a smile: "How about it, ancestor, do you like it?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang took it, he saw that the silver coin was sparkling with a luster brighter than silver. It was as smooth as jade, and he could feel a texture rubbing against his fingertips if he touched it carefully.

This is something that the Ming Dynasty is completely unable to imitate with its current capabilities, and since most of it is high-purity silver, it can fully bear the monetary value!
"it is good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed. He held the silver dollar in his hand and couldn't let it go. He said excitedly: "Great, it's a good thing."

"I will give you more than 100 million coins every month. You can use them to pay salaries to officials and let them flow into the market. Next year, there will be a bumper harvest of grain. The currency and output can be quickly absorbed by the market, and there will be no inflation or deflation."

Zhu Yunfeng smiled and said, "At present, I think we can use the mechanism of mutual storage of silver coins and treasure notes. After a few years, when the silver reserves increase, we can officially abolish the treasure notes and let the people exchange the gold treasure notes for silver coins, killing two birds with one stone."

"Why must it be abolished?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.

"It has to be abolished, otherwise the private economy will collapse and it will be difficult to keep money with each other. The anti-counterfeiting technology of the treasure banknotes is not very good, and there are too many imitations by the private sector. When the credit system of the Ming Dynasty is established, I will print anti-counterfeiting treasure banknotes for you."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head.

It’s not that we don’t want to preserve the treasure notes. After all, paper money is the trend of the future.

But since you want to issue silver coins, it will be difficult to keep the treasure notes.

Even if the imperial court stopped printing banknotes, there were still many counterfeit banknotes made by the public.

In the case of excessive issuance of money, you also issue silver coins. Can these silver coins be exchanged for treasure notes?
Can be replaced.

Then I will counterfeit Baochao in large quantities and squeeze you to death.

Cannot be exchanged.

Then the people will only value silver coins and abandon treasure notes, which will quickly become waste paper. When silver coins cannot immediately meet market demands, the economic system will collapse immediately.

Therefore, we have to act early and deal with the problem of treasure notes while there are still few private banknotes in the Ming Dynasty and few counterfeits.

Because it is only the thirteenth year of Hongwu.

The Baochao was first issued in the eighth year of Hongwu, and it has only been issued for five years.

The number issued each year is approximately 5000 million strings of coins.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang issued more and more coins as time went by. In the 9900th year of Hongwu, he issued 9500 million strings of coins, and in the rd year of Hongwu, he issued million strings of coins.

Including imitation and counterfeiting, by the end of the Hongwu period, there were more than 10 billion strings of treasure notes on the market.

But at present the number of treasure notes is still small, and there are also few imitations and counterfeits.

The sooner the exchange is opened, the sooner the sequelae caused by the treasure notes can be resolved, and the risk of the collapse of the economic system will not be caused.

Besides, the exchange is not entirely in silver coins.

Taxes can also be used.

Through taxation, we can collect 30 million strings of cash a year. After a few years, most of the old banknotes on the market can be collected.

Once there is more silver reserves, exchange will be allowed.

This way you can get through it smoothly.

(End of this chapter)