Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 176: True Immortal Seed

"His Majesty."

Zheng He said respectfully: "If the Ming Dynasty can introduce these two crops, in a few decades, the food produced in the world will be enough to feed ten times or even twenty times the current population. Since there is such a large population, there will be tens of thousands of people." With tens of millions of talented people at the service of the imperial court, the Ming Dynasty will be as stable as Mount Tai!"

Zhu Gaoxu knew, however, that what Zheng He said was not correct.

According to the research of authoritative scholars of demography in later generations, the population of the country at the end of the Ming Dynasty was approximately [-] million.

However, such a populous country was replaced by a female straight population with only a few hundred thousand people.

It can be seen that population is not the decisive factor in determining whether a dynasty's regime can continue.

When a dynasty faces an invasion by a powerful foreign enemy, whether it can survive depends on its court's financial revenue, the combat effectiveness of its army, and its population and other comprehensive national strength.

There are many reasons for the collapse of the dynasty, such as the court's system and the vision of those in power, as well as the fact that the people did not have enough to eat and chose to rebel, eventually overthrowing the court.

But the fundamental reason for the collapse of the dynasty was financial collapse, and the cause of financial collapse was that imperial spending exceeded tax revenue.

As for the reasons that will lead to the imperial government's fiscal deficit, there are four main reasons.

First, the inequality between rich and poor caused by land annexation has caused those who should pay taxes not to pay taxes, and they are extravagant and wasteful, do not know how to restrain themselves, and are even more greedy, exploiting the people at the bottom.

The second is the reduction in agricultural production caused by climate change, which means that people who can pay taxes cannot pay taxes and have enough to eat.

The third is huge military expenditures such as suppressing rebellion or resisting foreign forces.

The fourth is administrative inefficiency caused by the corruption of the privileged class, corruption and public dissatisfaction.

Putting aside the above for the moment, as long as the court can ensure that the vast majority of the people have enough to eat, then it will be a good court that wins the hearts of the people.

Whether people can have enough to eat is determined by the amount of food stored in their homes.

If the Ming Dynasty introduced corn and sweet potatoes and gradually promoted them throughout the country, then in a few decades, as long as there were no unprecedented floods, fires, earthquakes, or plagues, the people of the world would be able to get rid of hunger and never suffer famine again.

Even if several provinces suffer from natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes, the imperial court can rely on the huge amount of food stored across the country to help the people in the disaster areas tide over the difficulties safely.

"Father, I really can't imagine how strong the country and the wealth of the people will be for a dynasty that is not afraid of natural disasters!"

Zhu Gaoxu responded to Zhu Di's question with emotion.

At this time, Zhu Di and Zheng He's eyes were fixed on the northern part of the Great Wilderness Nanzhou on the globe. Their thoughts had already flown to decades later, imagining the glorious Ming Dynasty that was far away from the Han and Tang Dynasties and unrivaled in the world.

"If in a few decades, the population of the Ming Dynasty increases tenfold compared to now, then with its strong national power, it will be able to expand its territory beyond the Yuan Dynasty, and even continue to encircle the sea, so that China will be spread all over the nine continents. Erlang! After all, I, the Chinese, were born by destiny and have the mission to educate all races and spread civilization!"

Since the pre-Qin period, Huaxia has gradually formed the concept of "Chinese supremacy". It believes that all foreign races except Huaxia are beasts that walk on two legs and cannot be regarded as human beings at all. They have given a general name to the foreign races from all over the world. , called Dongyi, Xirong, Nanman, and Beidi.

Many scholars in later generations believed that ancient China had no concept of nation, but in fact, the most prominent expression of the national consciousness of ancient Chinese people was the "Hua-Yi distinction".

The "distinction between Huayi and Huayi" has a profound national ideological color. Therefore, the ancient Chinese people had the strongest national ideological spirit rarely seen in history.

In the pre-Qin period, culture such as clothing, etiquette, thought, morality, etc. was strictly used to distinguish the advanced Chinese people from the backward barbarians.

After the pre-Qin Dynasty, the "Hua-Yi distinction" was measured by three standards in parallel. The view of measuring by blood and region generally took the mainstream when China faced serious threats, that is, suffered serious invasions and disasters, and this was mainly for the purpose of Protect the survival of the Chinese ethnic group.

For now, Zhu Gaoxu's remarks are deeply recognized by Zhu Di.

When Zhu Di was born, the land of China was in the war period at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. By the time he grew up, the Ming Dynasty had been established and the Chinese clothes had been restored to the Central Plains.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty, shouted the slogan "Expel the Tartars, restore China, establish discipline, and save the people", which had a great influence on Zhu Di.

It can be said that the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who was born as a vassal king, also believed in the concept of "Chinese supremacy" of "all the Xia within and the barbarians outside".

"What Gao Xu said is absolutely true! It seems that this wild southern continent is a treasure land!"

Zhu Di stroked the globe, stared at the wilderness Nanzhou and said: "I wonder if I will have the opportunity to go there and take a look in this life?"

Zhu Gaoxu added: "Father, according to my son's research in ancient books, in addition to sweet potatoes and corn, there is also a kind of crop that is very suitable for planting in mountains or barren lands - pumpkins."

"Pumpkin can be eaten boiled, stir-fried, burned, or steamed. It can also be dried into dried pumpkin and ground into pumpkin powder to make steamed buns."

"This crop is extremely tenacious in its ability to survive. Even if a few seeds are randomly thrown on the roadside, they can take root, sprout, bloom and bear fruit, and grow huge fruits when mature!"

"The yield per acre is even more exaggerated than that of sweet potatoes. If you grow ordinary pumpkins, you can harvest about [-] jins per acre. If you plant high-yield varieties, you can harvest at least [-] to [-] jins per acre. And if you use a bracket to hang it and control it well, If the maintenance conditions are maintained and timely water and fertilizer are provided, the yield per mu can reach more than [-] kilograms."

"The yield per mu is tens of thousands of catties!?"

Zhu Di and Zheng He were both shocked, as if they were listening to Zhu Gaoxu bragging, and they couldn't believe it.

Zhu Gaoxu vowed: "Even in a barren land, if you grow ordinary pumpkins, you can harvest about three thousand kilograms per acre!"

"He is truly an immortal!"

Zheng He exclaimed.

He instinctively chose to believe Zhu Gaoxu's words. After all, under Zhu Gaoxu's guidance, Mo Qiaosi had invented and created not many things in the past few years!
For example, bicycles, eucommia gum, soap, telescopes, mercury mirrors, etc., many magical objects that existed in fairy tales in the past were invented and created by Mo Qiaosi under the guidance of Zhu Gaoxu.

If the practicality of many things was not stable enough, I am afraid that the Royal Commercial Bank would have earned enough money for Zhu Di to build two new imperial cities!
In Zheng He's subconscious mind, Zhu Gaojiu can be compared with Lu Ban. If he can successfully bring the immortal seeds back to the Ming Dynasty after returning from his second voyage, then hundreds of years later, Zhu Gaoxu will probably be respected by future generations to the extent that he can be compared with the ancestor of Chinese humanities. Fuxi's situation.

Because Zhu Gaoxu pointed him to the achievement of finding the "immortal seed", which will bless hundreds of generations, thousands of generations, and even all generations of Chinese people!

"Gao Xu, I'm a little curious, why did you discover these overseas crops from ancient books? Could it be that this is God's will!?"

Zhu Di was very surprised that Zhu Gaoxu could find out so many things from ancient books.

It's a pity that Zhu Gaoxu can't explain.

In fact, Zhu Gaoxu really wanted to tell Zhu Di his identity as a time traveler.

However, Zhu Gaoxu felt that it was not the right time yet, so he would wait for a suitable time to confess everything to Zhu Di.

It may be ten years later, or 20 years later, or it may be before Zhu Di's death, which coincides with the time when the two say goodbye.

"My father has a question, and I dare not not answer it."

Zhu Gaoxu said respectfully: "My son previously consulted the ancient books that studied the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and deduced from them the map of the Great Nine Continents. At the same time, he also learned from those ancient books that there are some crops growing on overseas continents that are different from those in China. .”

"Because he was unsure of the authenticity of these records, I did not mention it to my father before Zheng He went to sea last time. However, after Zheng He returned from his first voyage, he confirmed the accuracy of the map of Dajiuzhou, so I felt that Zheng He If you go to sea for the second time, you can try to find the crops recorded in ancient books."

"You are interested." Zhu Di nodded.

After a pause, he looked at Zheng He and said: "Zheng He, you have a heavy responsibility when you go to sea this time, so you must be cautious!" "I understand, your Majesty, please rest assured, I must be cautious."

Zheng He bowed.

At this time, Zhu Di had come out of his fanaticism and his mind had returned to clarity.

He turned around, stretched out his right hand to pat Zheng He's left shoulder, and said in a deep voice: "Zheng He, sailing around the earth is not an easy task. We need to explore the route. I estimate that it will take no less than five years. But I will give you one more year. After six years, I hope to see corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and other overseas crops."

"I accept the decree, thank you for your grace!"

Zheng He immediately knelt down, kowtowed to Zhu Di, and performed a very solemn kneeling ceremony.

"I grant you three days' leave. Go back and think about the route. As the saying goes, brainstorming, you can recruit more veterans with sailing experience this time."

Zhu Di then ordered.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zheng He bowed his head and worshiped again.

Zhu Di said: "You go down first."

"Wei Chen retire."

Zheng He bowed and retreated.

After watching Zheng He leave, Zhu Di turned around and motioned to Zhu Gaoxu with his eyes to sit down and talk, and then continued: "I plan to move the capital to Beidu. What do you think?"

In March of the first year of Yongle, officials such as Zheng Yi, the Minister of Rites, reported that Peiping was Zhu Di's "Longxing Land" and should follow Emperor Taizu's approach to Fengyang and establish it as a companion capital.

Therefore, Zhu Di vigorously promoted the status of Beiping Prefecture, made Beiping the northern capital, and changed Beiping Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture, which was called "Xingzai".

At the same time, people began to be relocated to enrich the northern capital. Those who were forced to move into the northern capital included refugees from various places, wealthy households from the south of the Yangtze River, and merchants from Shanxi.

"Father, I think it is feasible."

Zhu Gaoxu said respectfully: "However, I'm afraid it would not be appropriate to move here at this time. First, the scale of the original palace is not enough. Second, the transportation of grain from the south of the Yangtze River is long and time-consuming. Third, there are still nomadic tribes in the north that have not been eliminated. Fourth, there are still unsubordinated female straight tribes in the Northeast.”

"Then when do you think it's appropriate to move the capital?"

Zhu Di felt it made sense and asked seriously.

Zhu Gaoxu replied: "First, the new capital has been built, second, the disobedient forces in the north and northeast have been eliminated, and third, the food produced in the Hetao and Liaodong areas can not only meet local needs, but also supply the needs of millions of people in the northern capital. "

"The three things of building a new capital, eliminating dissatisfaction, and expanding cultivated land can be carried out at the same time. Combined with the current comprehensive national strength of our Ming Dynasty, I think that in ten years, it will be almost time to move the capital."

"Well, that makes sense." Zhu Di stroked his beard.

Yongle three years, the third day of November.

"I want to talk about three things this morning."

Zhu Di sat on the golden platform, looked down at the princes and ministers in the hall, and said loudly.

"The first thing is to build a new capital city. I plan to move the capital to the northern capital, so I want to build a majestic palace that is unprecedented and unprecedented to show the glory of my Yongle era. This matter will be handled by the Ministry of Household Affairs. .”

"Your Majesty, as the Minister of Household Affairs, I have to say something. Please forgive me."

Yu Xin bowed and walked out of the queue.

"Go ahead."

Zhu Di said loudly.

"Your Majesty, in order to prepare for the imperial court's second sea cruise, more than 100 million taels have been spent just to build the treasure ship and recruit sailors. In addition to the supplies for the officers and soldiers going to sea, the cost will not be low. At 200 million taels.”

Yu Xin said with a bitter face: "In addition, compiling the "Dacheng of Documents", dealing with floods in the south of the Yangtze River, and preparing food and grass for the northwest army, all of which require silver coins and gold banknotes. Now, His Majesty wants to build an imperial city in the northern capital, sir. It’s really difficult for the household department in charge to supply supplies!”

"The second thing I want to talk about is the "Dacheng Dacheng" compiled under the leadership of Master Jie. I have already understood the progress of the compilation of this book. At present, there are still too few books collected in it, and the content involved is still too narrow. For Confucianism and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius.”

"I said last time that China's thousands of years of history only have this cultural essence? The works of legalists, Mohists, Taoists, military strategists, Yin-Yangists, farmers, etc. can all be compiled into it!"

Zhu Di did not directly respond to the difficulties raised by Yu Xin, but said something about the "Dacheng Dacheng".

"I also heard that some country scholars published a book criticizing me, saying that I went against the ancestral system by sharing a small family home. Can this kind of book be included in it?"

Xie Jin came out of the queue and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, how can this kind of unsightly reading material be included in the Grand Ceremony? This not only insults His Majesty's sage, but also tarnishes the ethics of ethics."

"Wei Chen has repeatedly spoken out and annoyed His Majesty, but His Majesty is tolerant and generous to Wei Chen. He also gives Wei Chen the important task of repairing national ceremonies. This is the highest honor for me."

He leaned down and bowed: "Wei Chen will do his best and dare not neglect. The books used in the compilation of the Grand Ceremony have been strictly controlled. There is no room for sand in Wei Chen's eyes. Please forgive me."

"Xie Jin, people say that you are the most talented person in our Ming Dynasty, but you have trapped yourself in the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. What I want is not just these contents. I said last time that I want this "Documentary" "Dacheng" covers the wisdom and civilization of our Chinese nation for thousands of years."

Zhu Di suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Remember, it is not just a book, but also a milestone in the history of civilization. The content you have cultivated now is too poor. What I want is all-encompassing."

"I am incompetent, your Majesty, please punish me."

Xie Jin bowed.

"I will ask the Prince's Young Master (Yao Guangxiao) to assist you in completing this ceremony."

Zhu Di raised his hand and said, "Just get back on your feet."

"I obey your decree and thank you for your majesty's grace!"

Xie Jin bowed again.

"As for the third thing I want to say, it is the money issue mentioned by Yu Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance just now. Since there is no money, then I will create money."

Zhu Di said with a thought in his chest.

"May I ask how Father created it?"

Zhu Gaoxu mistakenly thought that Zhu Di wanted Baoyuan Bureau to print a large amount of gold banknotes to enrich the national treasury, so he asked this question.

PS: Thanks to Meng Weimian, Ctsqz _, The Cat Walks Alone in the White Night, I Love My Wife, and other brothers for their recommendation votes and monthly votes!grateful!

(End of this chapter)