People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 539: Ming Dynasty was once weak

The smartest thing about Wang Dahai is that he does not just brag about how powerful the Ming Dynasty was.

Nor is it to simply belittle how weak the country of Sanfuqi was, or how comfortable the people of Mandala City once were.

Instead, he stood on the standpoint of an ordinary person and told the people here that the Ming Dynasty had also been bullied.

In this way, we will be able to integrate with the local people in the shortest possible time.

Let the people know that the Ming Dynasty was once so cowardly.

This was indeed the case in the early Ming Dynasty. Although Emperor Hongwu founded the Ming Dynasty, pirates and Japanese pirates were already a serious problem during the Yuan Dynasty.

It is very common for people in coastal areas to be bullied.

Especially because of the war, a large number of people lost the land on which they depended for survival, and they had to find other ways to survive.

When pirates attack merchant ships on the sea that are trying to profit from war, it is a particularly good option.

This way, they can not only meet their own life needs, but also take revenge on those businessmen who make money from the war.

This pattern is like a plague that can infect many places.

As a result, many young and talented people along the coast began to go to sea in an organized manner to collude with the Japanese pirates.

They were familiar with the terrain and were bold and daring enough to do big things, especially those young people who had been bullied by landlords or some people. After becoming pirates and Japanese pirates, they became even bolder.

People now dare to do things that they didn’t dare to do before, and now dare to kill people that they didn’t dare to kill before, to the point of becoming a scourge.

It's even like the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the Han Dynasty.

In the beginning, it was really the volunteers who wanted to find a way to survive, but in the end it turned into a military disaster.

To put it bluntly, at the beginning, those who were forced into the sea were probably ordinary people with no way to make a living, but there were even more treacherous and cunning people.

They saw that they could make a fortune by being pirates and do whatever they wanted, so they were naturally willing to do it.

And it has formed a so-called industry, bringing along the whole family.

Therefore, although the Japanese pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were serious, most of them were actually internal troubles.

It was because of the war and too many corrupt officials that many people were forced to take risks.

Don’t they know that if they are caught they will be beheaded, or even have their homes confiscated and their families exterminated?

They all know.

But why do this?

Because if you don't do this, you will die.

So Wang Dahai told the people here about the situation in the Ming Dynasty at that time.

“In fact, there are many such things in our Ming Dynasty. The reason why such things happen is entirely because there are many corrupt officials.

They forced the people to become pirates and Japanese pirates, who in turn persecuted the local people."

The people of Mandala City were actually very moved when they heard this, because to put it bluntly, many people wanted to become pirates.

why?
Because what’s the difference between the local landlords in Mandala City and the corrupt officials of the Ming Dynasty?
They are even more hateful.

The corrupt officials of the Ming Dynasty only wanted to embezzle money, but the landlords in Mandala City are not just after money, they also want your life.

How many common people died of exhaustion while working for those landlords.

Even if he died of exhaustion, there wouldn't even be a coffin. He could just be rolled up on a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave.

The victims went to the landlords' house just to ask for an explanation, but they might be killed by them.

The common people also thought about reporting to the authorities, but the government and these landlords were in cahoots with each other.

After reporting to the authorities, he was taken directly to the back hall of the government office and beaten up.

Then they give you a piece of paper, tell you that it is voluntary, and force you to sign it. If you don’t sign, they will beat you again.

Under such circumstances, who would dare to sue the landlords?

As a result, these landlords became more unscrupulous, doing whatever they wanted, and even did not take the common people seriously.

They just kill whoever they want to kill, and beat whoever they want to beat, no matter whether you are a man or a woman, young or old, as long as they are unhappy they will vent their anger.

This is the current situation of the people in Mandala City. The reason why the people hate these landlords is that even when they see the children of those landlords being killed without leaving a single piece of armor, some of them kneel on the ground.

Some of them were dragged like dead dogs on the street and even when they were dragged to the city lord's mansion, no one thought that the Ming army had gone too far.

The problem is that what these landlords did to the people was even more excessive.

And now we hear that it was the same in the Ming Dynasty, which makes us even more interested.

How did the Ming Dynasty manage to escape from that situation and at the same time reach Sanfuqi thousands of miles away?

It cannot be said to be a show of force, but it did demonstrate enough national strength to let everyone see that the Ming Dynasty could be so powerful.

If Mandala City can learn from the successful experience of the Ming Dynasty, would the people of Mandala City be happier and healthier?

Thinking of this, the people all wanted to hear what Wang Dahai had to say.

Wang Dahai saw the people's expectations and did not say any more words, but directly said, "The reason why the Ming Dynasty can reach this point today is not only due to your Majesty's thunderous means, but also more due to the reforms of the Duke.

In just one year, our Ming Navy was able to cross the ocean and reach Sanfuqi, thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty.

Even our muskets and artillery are so powerful, all thanks to our Duke’s reforms.”

Everyone present gasped after hearing this. It was so unbelievable that one could become so powerful in just one or two years.

If Mandala City can be like this, or if Sanfuqi can be like this, wouldn’t they also be able to become so powerful?

If he could really become that powerful, would Sanfuqi still be afraid of those pirates?

The people were not fools and they understood very well why Sanfuzi was not willing to do business with those pirates.

Rather, the pirates had powerful military force and forced Sanfuqi to do business.

Or perhaps the pirates colluded with some unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt officials in Sanfuqi, forcing the imperial court to do business with the pirates.

Because from the beginning to the end, the people did not get any benefits at all. All these benefits were taken away by corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen. Even the imperial court did not get any benefits.

The reason why ordinary people live such a hard life is that the little food they grow with great effort in the fields is taken away by unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt officials. Not only do they not get any compensation, they can't even get the basic price guarantee, and they have to pay compensation instead.

Even so, if you don't thank these landlords well, you will definitely be retaliated by them. It is precisely because of these people that they actually have no good feelings towards the landlords of Mandala City.

They never thought about fighting for such a person, so even if they heard that the city lord was killed by a cannon, they didn't feel any regret. I guess some of them were still thinking: Oh, he was killed, was he beaten into pieces or into pieces?

No one would care how miserable the lives of the city lord’s women would be after his death, and no one would consider how they and others would spend the days and nights after the city lord’s death.

Do you often laugh secretly or do you often recall the past with gritted teeth?

nothing.

For them, saying they are happy now seems a bit cold and indifferent.

After all, this city lord has not done anything good, but he has been conscientiously oppressing the people over the years.

But if I say I'm unhappy, it seems like I'm sorry for being bullied by this guy all these years.

Anyway, I have mixed emotions right now, but I am still very interested in how the Ming Dynasty got rid of the bullying by pirates.

They couldn't understand how such powerful pirates could be defeated by the Ming Dynasty within just one or two years.

Even after defeating them, we may still be able to chase them and destroy their lair.

If this true scripture could be obtained, perhaps our lives would be just as good.

Wang Dahai also said at this time, "Before, there were many corrupt officials in my Ming Dynasty, and our emperor killed them so many that rivers of blood flowed.

After our Duke's reforms, there is no room for corrupt officials to survive.

This will completely eliminate the breeding of corrupt officials and allow our people to survive in an environment without corrupt officials.

At the same time, the reform has given our people hope and relieved them of such high tax pressure.

Our people now have a better living environment and a better environment for doing business.

It seems that the local people cannot trade freely."

These words really touched the hearts of the people of Mandala City.

In the city of Mandala, the only ones who can do business are the big landlords and big families, who control all the business in Mandala.

Even small vendors must obtain their consent before they can do business.

However, street vendors have to pay very high taxes when doing business. Not only do they have to pay taxes to the imperial court, but they also have to pay taxes to the Mandala City Lord's Mansion.

With the pressure of two taxes, who would dare to do business casually?

But even so, the common people who were charged higher agricultural taxes by the Chengzhu Mansion could only do business to survive.

Under the pressure of two taxes, it is good enough to survive.

After hearing what Wang Dahai said, the people below immediately started talking about it: "No wonder after the Ming Dynasty came, they said they wanted to reduce our taxes and let the rich pay more taxes. So this is the reason. The Ming Dynasty had already done this."

"If that's the case, then life will be better for ordinary people like us."

Another person said: "At first, when those people from the capital came to spread propaganda that they would reduce the taxes of ordinary people and increase the taxes of the rich by dozens or hundreds of times, we didn't quite believe it."

The family landlords in Mandala City are still spreading the word that this must be a sugar-coated bullet given by the Ming Dynasty, saying that it is just to paralyze the people.

But it seems that this is not the case now. The purpose of the Ming Dynasty was to make life better for ordinary people like us.

Of course, the most important reason is not just to make the people live better, but to make our Mandala City or the entire Sanfuqi stronger, just like the Ming Dynasty."

Of course, someone soon expressed a different opinion, "If that's the case, then our Sanfuqi has been conquered by the Ming Dynasty and has become as strong as the Ming Dynasty. Aren't they afraid that we will counterattack?
By then, all their efforts will be in vain. What is the point of this?"

This makes sense.

If Sanfuqi became so powerful under the support of the Ming Dynasty, then Sanfuqi had every reason to drive the Ming Dynasty away and establish his own regime.

Of course, this was still a bit naive, and some people immediately said, "Look at how ignorant you all are.

Haven't you heard the story of a cat teaching a tiger a trick, but the tiger still has one trick up its sleeve: the skill of climbing a tree?

I believe that even if the Ming Dynasty wanted to make our Sanfuqi as strong as us, it would definitely hold back and it would be impossible for it to teach Sanfuqi everything.

But this is enough. Compared with other countries, very few countries can get such help from the Ming Dynasty.

As the first country they conquered, they would definitely make us a model and make more countries submit to the Ming Dynasty.

But for ordinary people like us, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who is in charge, as long as it is better for us.

Rather than being enslaved by the so-called kings, queen mothers and landlords of Srivijaya, it is better to live under the Ming Dynasty, a dynasty that is willing to treat us as human beings.

This way, we ordinary people can at least live like human beings, instead of living like dogs without dignity and not having to go hungry for a meal. "

When the common people talked about this, they deeply agreed. They just wanted to have enough food to eat.

This was actually just a very easy problem to solve.

But because it is in Srivijaya, because of the city of Mandala, it becomes so impossible to accomplish and so difficult.

The big landlords in Mandala City treated the common people as non-human beings just to have more slaves for themselves.

Wang Dahai said again, "So in order to make Sanfuqi become like Ming Dynasty, in order to make you become like us people in the Central Plains.

I hope you can cooperate with Ming Dynasty in future reforms and changes.

We won’t say that we will make every one of you rich in a short period of time, but at least we will reduce your taxes a lot in a short period of time.”

After Wang Dahai finished speaking, the people below burst into thunderous applause.

When they heard Wang Dahai's simple and down-to-earth words, they immediately thought that was enough.

No one has ever thought about becoming extremely rich in a short period of time.

I just think that if there is not so much tax pressure within a short period of time, that would be enough.

If this is the case with the general, then we think the people of Mandala City will be willing to cooperate.

Do you think so? "

The people immediately laughed.

"No one is stupid, and no one wants to live such a miserable life.

We also want to live a better life, and if that's the case, we're willing to cooperate."

……

(End of this chapter)