Nanming: I can build wonders

Sun Zaifeng has a straightforward personality and a bloody spirit. Although he is a scholar and upholds the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor, as a friend who has known him for many years, Zhang Ying knows that he, like many Han officials who were born as scholars, has always been very dissatisfied with the literary inquisition of the Shunzhi and Kangxi dynasties. .

Don't look at Kangxi's theory that Manchu and Han are one family, but in fact it just gives scholars a step to go down. Kangxi was not ambiguous at all about the literary prison.

Typical literary inquisitions in the Shunzhi Dynasty included the Zhang Jinyan case and the "Bian Ji" case, and the Ming History case, Huang Peishi case, and Zhu Fangdan case had occurred in the Kangxi Dynasty.

The "Change of Records" case is the most classic, and it can be said that it opened the bad start of Chinese history.

In the fourth year of Shunzhi, Hanke, a monk from Guangdong, was seized by the Qing soldiers at Yingtian City Gate with a historical manuscript "Bianji" recording the tragic deeds of the anti-Qing fighters. After a year of torture, Dingqiao was exiled in Shenyang.

In the following year, Mao Chongzhuo and others had a preface to engraving art in the workshop. The preface written by Mao Chongzhuo for the engraving art in the workshop did not include the year name of "Shunzhi", which was considered by the University scholar Ganglin as "no origin of the dynasty". Orthodox "Article of Unforgiveness".Therefore, it was stipulated that "from now on, Chinese ink slips must be drafted by Ci officials, reviewed by courtiers, and then published, and other miscellaneous manuscripts of Fangshe are prohibited." From then on, the public opinion censor of the Qing Dynasty was born.

The more the scholar-bureaucrats in Ming Dynasty were punished by the court, the more they were praised by the public opinion, so they became more energetic, while the Qing Dynasty was the opposite.

In addition to literary inquisition and corruption and perverting the law, the literati in the Qing Dynasty were rarely punished, but it was not the benevolence of the literati, but the "dead appearance" of the literati. It can be said that the backbone of the Chinese intellectuals was actually broken in the Qing Dynasty. I said that my Qing Dynasty did a good job, but in terms of advocating freedom, openness and social development, it seems that Daming is more open-minded.

Although scholars are cowardly, they can still distinguish between good and bad.

Today, even the capital of the Qing Dynasty has been occupied, the real emperor hunts north, and the false emperor surrenders.

Even officials from Zhili, Central Plains and other places defected to Daming one after another. At this time, Zhang Ying's friend continued to talk about the matter of Yanshenggong's mansion, and his intention was obvious.

It was nothing more than wanting to test himself and his attitude towards Daming.From the looks of it, he wants to surrender to Daming!

At the moment, Zhang Ying has figured out the cause and effect.

"That's right! Brother Dunfu, in today's world, Ming has already occupied three quarters. Judging by the situation, it won't be long before China will be unified and become a new generation of Ming rulers!"

"Although the Son of Heaven does not love the Four Books and the Five Classics, his true Confucianism and the concept of studying things and extending knowledge are still in the category of Confucianism, and the emperor builds schools everywhere, which is really a blessing for scholars!"

Speaking of this, Sun Zaifeng said excitedly: "Brother Dunfu, I dare to reveal that my younger brother is going to lead the Sun family's scholars to serve Daming. I don't know what your brother thinks?"

Zhang Ying's face was uncertain, Sun Zaifeng, who has been a good friend for many years, said that it would be impossible for him not to express his position!

He also admitted that, just like what Sun Zaifeng said, Daming is really worth relying on.

One is that his hometown has already been taken over by the Guangfu of Daming, if he offends Daming, his Zhang family will not be able to please him.

Two, as Sun Zaifeng said just now, Zhu Kezang valued Confucianism, valued scholars, and was a Han Chinese. In this case, why did he have to hang himself on the overturned tree of the Qing Dynasty?No matter how you look at it, I still have to think about the future of these many nephews. They studied hard and sold them to the emperor's family. Now that the Ming Dynasty has achieved the unification of China, he is a vision of a generation of Ming masters , why not surrender?
After all, having been an official of the Qing Dynasty for a few years, would it be unreasonable in terms of etiquette to take refuge in Ming Dynasty so soon!

"Father, according to my son, this great son of heaven is the master of a generation!"

No one expected that when Zhang Ying was in a difficult situation, his son Zhang Tingyu who was standing aside suddenly spoke up.

I saw that his expression was as usual, and there was a trace of maturity on his still young face: "In my son's spare time, I have read several copies of "Huangming Daily" published in the south. The content in it is eloquent and covers many contents. The ones that impressed me the most were the news pages on current events, practical knowledge, and publicity.”

"What is said in this newspaper has always been true, and I have also verified that several incidents mentioned in it are really true."

"For example, the current affairs news written in the newspaper, Zhangxi Town, Chizhou Prefecture, which is across the Yangtze River from Tongcheng, suffered a lot of suffering due to food shortages a few years ago, but after three years of governance in Ming Dynasty, not only can eat enough, but also some Surplus grain. This is true, a few days ago, I knew that there were several families in the outskirts of the city who smuggled to relatives in Chizhou Mansion opposite to beg for food because of lack of food at home.”

"Moreover, according to some methods of arable land planting mentioned in the newspaper, the yield of crops has really increased. Moreover, there are many magical things, such as trains and railways that travel thousands of miles a day, and sea ships that are as big as a castle. What a lie, my son is looking forward to seeing what is depicted in the newspaper!"

Zhang Tingyu's face was full of longing, and his eyes were full of longing. The meaning in his words was nothing more than begging his father to submit to Daming.

Zhang Ying seems to have listened.

He thought about what his son said, and it was true!
The rule of the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were almost completely different.

The focus of Qing Dynasty rule was to control the people.

The 33 taels of silver theory that will go viral in the future highly summarizes how the Qing Dynasty controlled the people.

Of course, Zhu Kezang thinks that three taels of silver is about the same, because farmers in the Qing Dynasty can't earn 33 taels of silver a year at all.

So what is the 33 taels of silver theory?
It is a state of artificial poverty.

According to foreign historical records, the average British farmer can still have eleven pounds left over a year after digging out food, clothing and drug use.

Eleven pounds is equivalent to about 33 to 44 taels of silver, and the total income of a middle-level peasant family in the Qing Dynasty is only 33 taels a year, which is about 6600 yuan when converted into soft sister coins.

It doesn’t matter if the income is low, but the annual rigid expenditure of farmers in my Qing Dynasty, that is, the cost of eating, clothing and raising children is only 36 taels.

That is to say, those who work hard with their backs to the loess and their faces to the sky will have to pay two or three taels of debt to survive a year.

Therefore, in case of famine and other accidents, ordinary people will immediately go bankrupt and sell their children and daughters.

In fact, for thousands of years, farmers in China have had a miserable life. Their staple food has always been coarse grains and vegetables, and meat, eggs and milk are pitifully scarce, so pregnant women can eat more eggs when they are raising babies. You have to pick and eat wild vegetables to get by.

Even in the so-called prosperous age of Kang and Qian in the Qing Dynasty, there are many records of people eating bran swallowed vegetables.

Then why are peasants in the Qing Dynasty generally in debt?

If farmers work harder to increase yields, or look forward to a good year, won’t they break the vicious cycle of not resisting harvest?
But this is impossible, the reason lies in the Qing court.

Whenever there is a bumper harvest of grain, the government will increase taxes and collect more, and pay the excess money in your hands.

If there is a famine, the government will save taxes and provide disaster relief, and when the peasants are calling for the emperor's grace, they will control the money in their hands to 33 taels.

Then you said that intensive farming to increase yields, or getting up early and working in the dark to do farm work, didn’t you have already passed this hurdle by saving a lot?
This is impossible, because your life cannot be smooth sailing.

If you commit a crime and go in, you need to order the yamen servants, and whether you commit a crime or not is not up to you.

In addition, it costs a lot of money to see a doctor, get married and have children. If there are no special circumstances, just relying on these few nirvana, you can control your lifetime annual income to 33 taels of silver.

Then why is it controlled at 33 taels of silver instead of 31 taels, 32 taels or 35 taels?

Because if the income is 33 taels of silver, the peasants will be in debt for just three taels, and the average peasants in the Qing Dynasty can borrow and work hard to earn more money, which is just enough to maintain a state of survival.

In fact, this can partially answer the famous historical question Needham asked, China has a brilliant technological culture, why did it fall behind in the Qing Dynasty?

The reason lies in the practice of the Qing court's 33 taels of silver. He made everyone run around for that one bite of food. No one can stop, no one can think about new technologies, and at the same time, people will not feel sympathy for others.

During the so-called heyday of Qianlong, Britain sent a Magartney mission to visit China.

There was an envoy named John Barrow, who wrote a book about what he saw and heard in the Qing Dynasty, called "My View on the Prosperity of Qianlong".

Among them, he recorded many real situations in the so-called prosperous times. For example, when the mission's boat passed the canal, a group of onlookers overturned a small boat in the river, and many people fell into the river.

Barrow said: Although many boats were sailing in this area, none of them came to rescue people struggling in the river. We persuaded the people on our boat to go to rescue them, but the boatman refused with righteous words.

His reason was that the speed of the boat was seven miles an hour.

Although this reason is difficult for foreigners to understand, let us bring it into the perspective of a boatman. It is limited to a poor state of 33 taels of silver. Once the hand stops, the mouth stops.

Stopping the ship to save people, not to mention that they will definitely be saved, even if they are saved, it will not do any good, and if you delay your work to earn money.

It is very likely that the whole family will not be able to eat, and no one will pity them on their hungry stomachs.

In the end, Barro said: He watched several people fall into the water and drown in this excitement, because they were influenced by Marco Polo's travels.

In fact, in the eyes of foreigners, Daqing is a land of prosperity flowing with milk and honey, but this time the mission to China saw only poverty, numbness and the misery of peasants under violence.

Barrow also recorded such an incident in the book. At that time, because he was not familiar with sea routes, the first destination he arrived at was Dinghai, a coastal city in Zhejiang, instead of Tianjin. Therefore, the British needed to find a navigator who was familiar with sea routes and take them to Going to Tianjin, so Baro found Dinghai General Soldier.

The general soldier learned that Emperor Qianlong attached great importance to the visit of the British, so he readily agreed to help them find a navigator.

Barrow originally thought that the general soldier would hire someone with a high salary to lead the navigation, but he didn't expect that the general soldier would directly send soldiers to arrest all the common people who had been to Tianjin by sea.

John Barrow said in his memoirs: The commander-in-chief dispatched troops and quickly captured a large group of people. When these people saw the commander-in-chief, they knelt on their knees and trembled all over.

The governor interrogated them one by one, interrogating them again and again, and finally found two people who had been to Tianjin.

However, these two people were unwilling to accept the task, because they had already changed careers and stopped sailing, and now they were all doing business.

But the general soldier was unmoved at all and forced them to leave immediately.

This shocked the people of the British mission, and at the same time dispelled their awe of the Qing Dynasty, sowing the seeds for the subsequent Opium War.

In fact, it stands to reason that when the peasants have money, the Qing Dynasty can levy more taxes, so why did they formulate a law to control the people with 33 taels of silver?
In fact, all of this originated from Shang Yang's reforms. He was the initiator, and the Qing Dynasty was just a master.

Shang Yang's logic is that after the people solve the most basic food and clothing problems, they will involuntarily think about other things, which is prone to chaos.

And to be honest, the Qing Dynasty was indeed a kind of alien rule, and they were guilty of it, so the emperors of the Qing Dynasty decided to rule the poor and the weak.

For example, the last emperor Puyi, in his "My First Half of Life", mentioned that the most important thing in the homework of the little emperor is to learn how to control the people, and the idea of ​​the poor and the weak is reflected in the practical operation, which is 33 taels of silver .

They kept the people’s life less than three taels of silver. At that time, three taels of silver could buy 100 catties of grain. Because of the lack of this 100 catties of grain, the rice in the pot of the people was still not enough to eat. Live the rest of your life in fear!

In this regard, Zhang Ying's feelings are particularly deep. He has been back to his hometown of Tongcheng for many years, and he naturally knows that the situation of Anqing Mansion, where Tongcheng was originally located, is similar to that of Chizhou Mansion, which is next to the Yangtze River.

That is to say, in the past two years of last year and this year, Anqing Mansion was much worse than Chizhou Mansion on the opposite side.

Everyone in Chizhou Mansion now has a ruddy complexion, and the kind of joy from the heart makes the people of Anqing Mansion very envious.

People from Anqing who could not survive often smuggled to the other side. In the first half of this year alone, hundreds of households in Anqing Prefecture went to Chizhou Prefecture to join their relatives and friends, saying that life was better there.

In the past three years, at least 5000 people have flowed out of Anqing Mansion!

Note that this is the number that can be counted for people with household registration, and those black households that cannot be counted!

In order to curb this situation, the prefect of Anqing set up many patrol camps along the Yangtze River, just to crack down on illegal "escape"!
But they couldn't hold back what the people wanted, and even the soldiers of the patrol battalion chose to flee to Daming.

Because they fled to Daming, everyone can have enough to eat!
At that time, Zhang Ying was very curious. He secretly sent someone to inquire about who was the famous minister who governed Chizhou Mansion. Unexpectedly, only the Ming Dynasty over there was No. 30 in the imperial examination. Speaking of it, at most it is the top three, a Jinshi status, a county magistrate who can be placed in a small county is not bad, but I didn't expect to be able to do more than myself.

He inquired again, only to find that it was not the case at all.

If he had gone by himself, he would definitely be much better than that nerd who just became an official.

Only then did he realize that, as the "Huangming Daily" said, it was a problem with the Daming system, and it was the strong leadership of the Daming Son that played a role.

Whoever goes to that position can do this.

Ever since, Zhang Ying suddenly remembered her original ambition to benefit the common people.

That being the case, why do I have to worry about being infamous after betraying the Qing Dynasty and taking refuge in the Ming Dynasty?
Yes, it's decided!

Looking at his son's energetic face, Zhang Ying suddenly felt a heat in his chest, and he felt that he had regained his original intention!

Being an official for a lifetime will benefit the people of several places!

"Since that's the case! Younger brother, you and I will make a good plan together, and return to the Ming Lord!"

Zhang Ying probably didn't expect that at the same time, many scholars from all over the north were planning to take refuge in Daming!
It's the end of the month, and I'm begging the bosses for a monthly pass. The author is begging all the bosses!