My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 49 Zhu Biaoxiu (asking for monthly ticket)

Empress Ma thought her son was hurt and quickly comforted him:
"Don't underestimate yourself. What Yu'er said was also passed down by our elders."

"If you were exposed to this from childhood, you wouldn't be worse than him."

Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed: "Yes, our family is still too humble."

“There are many things I want to learn but I can’t. I can only figure it out on my own.”

"But now it's all good. Now our family has the highest status. From now on, our descendants can learn whatever they want."

Feeling the care of his parents, Zhu Biao felt warm in his heart and said with emotion:

"Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Mom. I'm fine."

"As my mother always taught me, as a prince you don't need to know everything. What's important is to know how to use people."

"I still understand this principle."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Haha, good, good, Biao'er, if you can think like this, you are already a qualified monarch."

"But you still have to learn, otherwise you don't know when you will be cheated."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "I know. My cousin often says in private that having many skills is always a good thing."

"No matter what your status is, it's always a good idea to master a few more skills."

Seeing that he was indeed not upset, Empress Ma was relieved and said:

"I'm becoming more and more curious about how Yu'er's elders taught him. He knows so much at such a young age."

Zhu Biao said seriously: "The guidance of the elders is certainly important, but his own talent and hard work are equally important."

"He said his learning process was easy and wonderful, but it must have been extremely hard, and he just enjoyed it."

Empress Ma agreed, saying, "There is no such thing as easy in this world."

The more Zhu Yuanzhang listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He said unhappily, "Just talk about the matter, why are you praising him?"

"He doesn't even understand the basic principles of respect for elders and juniors. We think he has talent but no morals... No, even his talent is only half-baked."

Queen Ma smiled inwardly, "Okay, okay, let's not praise him. But what he said today is indeed thought-provoking."

“It gave me a whole new perspective on many things.”

Zhu Yuanzhang had to admit: "His elders are indeed quite capable."

"I've been thinking about what kind of system to adopt after unifying the world."

"At that time, our idea was to distribute land to the people so that they would have something to rely on."

"Then strictly restrict its movement, and that will reduce most of the trouble."

The movement of people not only makes it easier for them to rebel, but also makes it easier for them to commit crimes in other places.

Things like kidnapping, theft, robbery, etc., if the crime is committed by a local, there is still a chance to find it out.

If the crime was committed in a different place, given the level of technology at the time, there were almost no effective preventive measures and no effective means of investigation.

The best way is to keep people in place and not let them move around freely.

It can reduce social crime problems by 70% to 80%.

This way of thinking gradually evolved into a fear of "change".

All dynasties hope that everything will remain unchanged. You should do what your ancestors did originally.

If there is no change, there will be no trouble.

Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally no exception, and he was even more extreme than his previous peers.

"We're also thinking about preventing people from changing jobs freely and continuing to suppress businesses..."

“But now it seems that this approach is no longer feasible.”

As his bedmate, Empress Ma naturally knew some of his thoughts and said:
"Although I thought your method was a bit extreme before, I didn't think it was a big problem."

"After listening to Yu'er's analysis, I realized that this method only suppressed the problem and did not solve it fundamentally."

"It will explode sooner or later, and then the trouble will only get worse."

"According to Yu'er's theory, this outbreak will probably occur in fifty years."

That is when the population grows to the point where the land can no longer support so many people.

Zhu Biao's face was solemn as he said, "According to my cousin's speculation, there is enough land in the world to support three or four hundred million people."

"The problem lies in land annexation, where a small number of people own most of the land and live a life of luxury."

"Without land to farm, the people can only starve to death."

Empress Ma nodded and said, "This is what Du Fu wrote in his poem: 'The rich have wine and meat, while the poor freeze to death on the streets.'"

"Have you thought of how to solve this problem?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at him.

Zhu Biao hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think this problem can be solved from two directions. I don't know if it's right."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up and he urged, "Two? Tell us quickly."

Zhu Biao then said: "First, my cousin said that the court is the main body of distribution, and the means is taxation."

"The imperial court must find a way to ensure a stable source of tax revenue. Only then can it get things done if it has money and food in hand."

"At worst, we can buy food from the rich and give it to the hungry."

"As for how to do it specifically, I don't have any idea yet."

Zhu Yuanzhang said happily: "Haha, well said."

"No matter how much we talk about morality, it's not as important as ensuring that the people have enough to eat."

"As long as the imperial court has money and food, most problems can be solved."

"It's very good that you have this understanding."

"Go on, there's more."

Zhu Biao was also encouraged and said:

“The second is to give people more means to make a living.”

"For example, we can restrict or even ban the sale of land, which will curb land consolidation to the greatest extent possible."

"Once the people have land, they will have a basis for their livelihood."

"We can also learn from the Song Dynasty and allow the landless people to engage in handicrafts and commerce."

"Then, through ocean trade, these goods were sold to foreign countries in exchange for money."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned unconsciously and said:

"But don't forget that the people of the Song Dynasty rebelled many times."

"Furthermore, the frequent movement of population will also lead to a surge in crimes."

Zhu Biao retorted: "If there is a problem, then we should solve it instead of pretending nothing happened."

“Although there were many rebellions during the Song Dynasty, only a few actually caused significant harm.”

"Except for Fang La's rebellion, there were a few times when the damage was more serious."

"Other rebellions were relatively small-scale and quickly quelled. If it weren't for looking through history books, no one would have known about them."

"I think the reason for this situation is probably because the Song Dynasty allowed most people to have enough food to eat."

"If people have enough food to eat, they won't rebel. If a few who don't have enough food do rebel, it will be difficult for them to gain support from the rest of the people."

"By locking the people in place, we can indeed save a lot of trouble and reduce the number of times they rebel."

"But if someone really rebels, they will gain the support of countless people, and the situation will quickly escalate to a point where it is difficult to control."

"When faced with two evils, choose the lesser. Compared to ensuring that the people have enough to eat, nothing else matters."

At this point he raised his voice and said firmly:

"If the Song Dynasty could do it, there's no reason why we can't do it."

“Not only can we do it, we can do it better than them.”

"We want to achieve a lower limit higher than that of the Song Dynasty and an upper limit far exceeding that of the Han and Tang Dynasties."

"Thousands of years from now, when people mention the Ming Dynasty, they will give it a thumbs-up and say it's great."

After saying this, he looked at his parents anxiously.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned at first, then the corners of his mouth began to twitch, and finally he burst into laughter:

"Haha... Great, great, I'm very pleased that Biao'er has such an ambition."

Empress Ma was also pleased and said: "My son has grown up."

Zhu Biao felt relieved. He was really afraid that his parents would think he was ignorant.

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the subject and said, "It's good to have ambitions, but you also need to be down-to-earth and not aim too high."

Zhu Biao nodded heavily and said, "I will keep my father's teachings in mind." The family of three chatted for a long time and comprehensively sorted out the knowledge points that Ma Yu had talked about today.

There was a general direction for the formulation of the Ming Dynasty's system.

But how to formulate it specifically still requires careful consideration.

When mentioning this matter, Zhu Yuanzhang said with some dissatisfaction:
"That kid must have something else to hide."

"If he can remember such a complex problem so clearly, there's no reason why he can't remember the solution."

Empress Ma nodded and said, "His elders must have a complete plan for governing the country."

"You just don't dare to say it out loud because you're afraid we won't be able to accept it."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What is there to be afraid of? Can we eat him?"

Zhu Biao interjected, "I can guess what his concerns are."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He mocked me, but I could bear it. What else can he worry about?"

Zhu Biao explained: "His principles have never changed: benevolent government to bring peace to the people, enrich the people and strengthen the country."

"The system designed by his elders was probably designed with the people in mind."

"You are deeply influenced by the Qin and Jin legalists, who advocated impoverishing the people and strengthening the country."

"And you've been quite critical of Mencius. I think that's what he's worried about."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face looked a little ugly, but surprisingly he did not refute.

Empress Ma spoke up at the right time: "This is a misunderstanding. Although your father was greatly influenced by the Qin and Jin legal schools, he is not intolerant of other ideas."

"Otherwise he wouldn't have let Mr. Song be your teacher."

"It's just that some ideas are deeply ingrained and difficult to change all at once. We need to proceed step by step."

Then she said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "I think this is also the reason why Yu'er is unwilling to say it all at once."

"By doing this, he's trying his best to avoid conflict with you."

"When you have absorbed all that has been said today, he will tell you the rest."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and said, "I hope so."

The matter was over, and the three of them continued to review the knowledge points they had just learned until the eunuch came to notify them several times that it was time for dinner, at which point the conversation ended.

After having lunch together, Zhu Biao left first because he had classes in the afternoon.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were left.

Queen Ma laughed and said, "Biao'er's ideas are very different from yours, don't you care at all?"

The word "like me" has caused countless tragedies.

Zhu Yuanzhang said leisurely: "Why should I care? It's better that he is not like me. Otherwise, why would we let Song Lian teach him?"

"Governing a country requires a combination of firmness and flexibility. Emperor Xuan of Han once said that the way of hegemony and the way of kingship should be mixed together."

"We all know this, but there are some things we can't do about it."

"The Northern Yuan Dynasty was lenient, and the rituals and music in the Central Plains had already collapsed."

"We must use drastic measures to rebuild the rules of etiquette and laws."

"Many people say that I am cruel and bloodthirsty, and I admit it."

"We simply cannot stand those termites. Only by using harsh punishments and strict laws can we curb this evil trend that has been nurturing for a century."

"We will use the law of tyranny to re-establish a good system of etiquette and laws, and scare away those termites."

"Now that Biao'er has ascended the throne, it's the perfect time to apply the kingly way to appease the people, and the world will be at peace."

Empress Ma nodded. How could she not understand this? Otherwise, she would not have supported Zhu Yuanzhang in killing so many people.

She was just against indiscriminate killing, and no one who should be killed should be spared.

She saved many people from Zhu Yuanzhang's butcher knife, and all of these people had their merits.

She wouldn't even look at the people who really deserved to die, let alone protect them.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "But there are some things that I really don't know how to do. I can only go by my feelings."

"For example, when it comes to governing a country, I really don't understand it."

"Those who do know, hide it like a treasure and refuse to teach us."

"We can only look at history books and grope our way forward."

Queen Ma did not agree with him on this point.

There are certainly selfish reasons why those people are unwilling to teach you.

But it must be admitted that you, Zhu Yuanzhang, yourself are not good at accepting advice.

Others will not take the risk of offering suggestions if they think you are not tolerant.

Liu Bowen is the most typical example.

She had advised him many times about this, but to no avail.

Fortunately, we now have Ma Yu.

The effect of Ma Yu's persuasion is truly unprecedented... No, that can't be called persuasion, it's a lesson.

I will break everything down and put it in front of you, and then it depends on whether you will listen or not.

It turned out that this method was indeed effective for Zhu Yuanzhang.

Even though he was very angry when he first heard it, he still had to listen after calming down.

Now Queen Ma is very glad that she has adopted this nephew.

Thinking of this, she smiled and said to Zhu Yuanzhang:

"Now that you have Yu'er, you don't have to walk in the dark."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted twice in displeasure, but did not refute.

Empress Ma continued to persuade him, "But you need to control your temper. Don't get angry and want to kill people all the time."

"If we get scared by Yu'er again, there will be no one to teach us how to govern the country."

Zhu Yuanzhang said aggrievedly, "Aren't we restrained enough? Look at how he slanders us."

Empress Ma laughed and said, "Yes, yes, Chongba has learned to control his temper. I will teach him a lesson later."

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said:

"We have to find him a marriage as soon as possible. We are always worried about him being alone."

"If he suddenly disappears one day, we won't be able to find him anywhere."

Although having a child may not necessarily tie him down, it is better than having nothing.

Empress Ma nodded and said, "Leave this to me. I have already sent his birth date and horoscope back to his hometown."

"Once he's included in the family tree, we'll start looking for a marriage for him."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "What a pity! Our daughters are too young. Otherwise, we could have recruited him as our consort."

Empress Ma was surprised at first, wondering why Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly came up with the idea of ​​marrying his daughter off.

But I felt relieved immediately.

In the past, Ma Yu only had some talent, but it was not worth him using his daughter to win him over.

It was already the limit to agree to let her take in her nephew.

But things were different after today's class.

Compared to that knowledge, a mere daughter is nothing.

It’s a pity that his eldest princess is only nine years old this year.

The second princess, also the legitimate princess, is only five years old.

but……

Thinking of this, Queen Ma showed a thoughtful expression.

But he had some concerns and did not express his thoughts.

On the other side, Ma Yu came out of the palace and went straight to the shop in Da Gongfang.

This place has become everyone's base camp.

As expected, a large group of second-generation people including Zhu Chong were found here.

What he didn't expect was that this group of second-generation people were actually... doing renovations?

His head was a mess.

What is this for?
(End of this chapter)