People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 540: One sentence made the craftsmen sad
The people of Mandala City are not fools and everyone can see who will bring good days to them.

Although the Ming Dynasty was not a local dynasty, and although it used some tricks when it first entered Srivijaya, it seemed reasonable.

After all, when you go to a new place, you have to show off your muscles, right?

On the other hand, everything in their own country is so up and down and is completely for the enjoyment of the upper nobles. Ordinary people like them have no chance to come into contact with it.

Just as the general of the Ming Dynasty said, the Ming Dynasty also faced such a situation. We have lived under this situation for so long, why must we break this situation? Why give up the comfortable life?

Because this kind of comfort will erode a nation's most important will to fight.

When this nation does not have positive and progressive changes, it will surely become stagnant water and eventually turn into marsh gas.

This is what Wang Dahai wants to express now.

In fact, Wang Dahai himself didn't know why he could say so much here, things that he would normally be too embarrassed to say. It was not because he had become thicker-skinned now.

It’s not because he is leading the army alone and feels that he is the monkey king when there is no tiger in the mountain.

Those are some arrogant and domineering habits, which will never be recognized by everyone. Even in the Ming Dynasty, such a trend will never be respected by others.

The real reason why he could say such generous words without any obstacles was that he truly felt that the Ming Dynasty had changed a lot under Chen Han's reforms.

The Ming Dynasty once showed a tough attitude when facing powerful enemies, just like when the Emperor chose to close the country when facing pirates.

Since we can't fight on two fronts now, we can't go to the north to deal with the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty on the one hand, and go to the sea to fight pirates on the other.

Since these cannot be achieved, we have to choose a compromise. We can only sacrifice the quality of life of the coastal people and solve the hidden dangers in the north first.

After all, the threat posed by the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in the north is greater than that posed by the pirates on the sea.

Perhaps the Ming Dynasty at that time really did not expect that such decisions would form an inertia.

This would prevent the Ming Dynasty from enjoying the convenience brought by the sea for many years.

This cannot be blamed on them but is due to the limitations of the times.

There is also the active promotion of some selfish people.

Because once the ocean becomes a restricted area, it will become a tool for some people to make profits.

The reason why so many people opposed opening the sea in the first place was very simple, that is because once the sea was opened, the interests of those smugglers would be diluted.

The pricing power of these people on the sea might be in the hands of the imperial court. In order to prevent this part of the benefits from being taken away by the imperial court, these people took the risk and organized their own armed forces to fight against the imperial court.

In fact, so many pirate incidents in history happened in this way.

There were no real pirates or Japanese pirates. They were just organized by interest groups to fight against the imperial court.

Because the benefits of the ocean are so great.

Wang Dahai's family has experienced the destruction of these interest groups, so he understands what these people are thinking. It is precisely because of this experience that he is now sharing it with the people of Mandala City, which makes him so moved and sincere.

This is not a hypocritical courtesy, this is sharing from the heart.

When the people heard that the Ming Dynasty, which was so powerful, could be bullied by pirates, they felt relieved.

See, it's not that we are very weak but those pirates are really powerful.

But soon, people began to wonder what other means the Ming Dynasty had besides economic ones to suppress the pirates.

What the people are concerned about now is how to become as powerful as the Ming Dynasty.

How could we become such a powerful country in such a short period of time?

This is what they particularly want to know now.

Since the Ming Dynasty had been invaded by pirates like them, it should be impossible for it to become so powerful all of a sudden, just like their own country.

Otherwise it would be unfair, and this is what they particularly want to know now.

Even the common people here are actually very curious about this.

For many years, they had no way to fight against the attacks of pirates and Japanese pirates on the sea, so they had to compromise and even migrate inland.

But one thing is particularly obvious, that is, the inland areas cannot accommodate so many people.

If the inland areas could accommodate so many people back then, why would the common people have to flee to the sea?

Everyone knows that fishing on the sea is full of risks. Whether it is wind and waves, or encountering big fish on the sea, it may result in the boat capsizing and people dying.

At least if you farm in inland areas, you won’t encounter such problems.

If the common people back then could survive in the inland, who wouldn’t want to live a good life there?

Who would like to keep drifting like this?

This really makes life difficult for the people living along the coast.

Cities like Mandala City are actually not far from the sea.

Many of their ancestors made a living by fishing on the sea.

It was only in the last few decades that the country finally settled down and had a city to protect it.

Their ancestors had encountered countless attacks from pirates and Japanese pirates on the sea. Although the entire country of Sanfuzi later cooperated with the pirates on the sea to reduce the frequency of such attacks, there are still other pirates who will attack Mandala City.

It was precisely because of the appearance of other pirates that the previous city lord invited the pirate king Chen Zuyi to Mandala City to personally guide the work.

In fact, it is not the so-called guidance work. It is very simple. Let Chen Zuyi come to Mandala City and take a walk to intimidate the pirates nearby, let them know that we are not easy to mess with, and we have a relationship with the Pirate King.

If you come again, don't blame us for being rude.

This method is indeed quite good and can scare away many small drum pirates.

But doing so would require paying very high protection fees to Chen Zuyi and his group of pirates.

In the end, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and agree.

Because actually there is no other way. If we don't cooperate with Chen Zuyi and others, the pirates will raid Mandala City and they will not just rob money.

It might also cost many lives, but people like Chen Zuyi only want some money, at least they won't lose their lives.

It is precisely because of this thought that the common people of Mandala City can only grit their teeth and contribute their limited money in exchange for Chen Zuyi and others' protection of the entire Mandala City.

Under the protection of Chen Zuyi and his group of pirates, Mandala City can still barely survive.

But if you want to maintain this status quo, you have to pay a lot of money.

This is their current situation.

The Ming Dynasty had once been bullied, but was able to turn things around within a year or two.

It is not just as simple as turning the tables, it would be enough to just beat the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in the north and make them flee in panic.

He could actually drive such a huge ocean fleet directly to the sea to confront the once majestic pirate king Chen Zuyi.

They were even able to kill Chen Zuyi with one shot, and finally chased him thousands of miles away to destroy the lair of Chen Zuyi and other pirates. This is really admirable. Wang Dahai did not hide anything from them about this matter, but slowly said: "In fact, we were able to solve all our difficulties in such a short time, not only in terms of economic innovation.

It's not just about enabling businessmen to do business around the world, nor is it just about strengthening our navy.

It’s more about some of the new reforms we’ve implemented here.”

As he spoke, Wang Dahai looked at Captain Liu beside him.

Captain Liu took over the conversation and said, "It is true that if we only make economic reforms and allow business to develop, it is not enough.

After all, if you want to rise in the new environment and defeat the arrogant pirate king Chen Zuyi on the sea, it seems too naive to rely on this simple method.

The most important thing is the innovation in weapons.

You have also seen the cannons and guns in our hands, but they are not just some weapons.

It also involves some innovations in our thinking.

That is, our Duke attaches great importance to the training of craftsmen.

Whether in the Ming Dynasty or in your Mandala City, I believe that the status of craftsmen is not very high."

As soon as these words were spoken, people below began to discuss, as the common people have the most say.

Especially the craftsmen smiled slightly after hearing this.

“It’s not just as simple as not being tall.”

These words come out full of resentment.

In fact, the contributions and hard work of the craftsmen are obvious to all.

But most people are unlikely to express their gratitude to them sincerely, and always think that these craftsmen should do these things.

I always feel that these craftsmen should serve themselves.

There is no way around it, or perhaps it is determined by their job.

Because the craftsmen may be blacksmiths, carpenters or other so-called craftsmen.

They do the hardest work, but sometimes they don't get much in return.

So much so that for a long time, everyone believed that only those of low status would do such thankless work.

Over time, who will truly respect these craftsmen?
impossible.

Everyone believed deep down that craftsmen should be the work of lowly people.

Since they are lowly people, why should we respect them?
What are the benefits of respecting them?
No.

Since there is no.

There can be no mercy or sympathy at all.

The craftsmen below said very rudely, "We work so hard but get the least money, but get the most cold stares."

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately resonated with many craftsmen in the surrounding area.

They are filled with grievances in their hearts.

The most unfair thing in this world is to do something that is thankless.

Especially the craftsmen, they know that what they do is thankless, but what can they do?
Can you just give up and do it?

But there are hungry wives, children and elderly people at home who need to be fed. If I don’t do it, someone might starve to death.

Some people may ask, can’t you change your industry?

That's fine. Do you have that much time?

In the short thirty or forty years of life, in order to survive, you can only choose one thing to do. After all, the lifespan of people in that era was very short.

It makes me feel aggrieved when I think that there are many craftsmen here. Just look away, they are men and heads of families.

With elderly parents and young children to take care of, I can only swallow all these grievances.

No one will understand them, nor do they need anyone to understand them.

Only occasionally when someone truly says something that understands them, they feel very aggrieved.

They will also feel sad. After all, they are all human beings and it is impossible for them to have no feelings at all.

However, this is the reality of society, and no one will sympathize with what you do.

Others will only see what everyone gives and gets at this time.

If you give too much and get too little, then you are a lowly person.

As for your contribution, who will see it?
Others only see the so-called achievements on paper.

And what determines success in many cases?
It's not your contribution, it's not your labor, it's not your hard work and sweat, it's the flattery of others and the power and money you get.

Whether you are doing business or being an official, you can always grab money or power.

If you grasp any one of them, your life will be free from the fate of being discriminated against by others.

But if you can't grasp any of them, then I'm sorry, you can only endure other people's misunderstanding and discrimination against you. This is the reality.

But this reality is not necessarily correct.

Because ancient people had no way of understanding the achievements made by craftsmen in each reform process, what they promoted were every little thing in life.

No one will record them, no one will sing their praises.

Even with the achievements of the Four Great Inventions, except for papermaking and printing, there seems to be no real record of who invented the others.

People can just take out the best things and use them, but they won’t record where these things came from.

No one will record the efforts and costs those people have made, and no one will think that they should get some honor in the process.

No.

Pragmatism is always like this, and this is the tragedy of these craftsmen.

When the centurion saw the sadness of those craftsmen, he sometimes felt very sympathetic.

Because actually, their family was a craftsman family at the beginning, but later they conscripted his father into the army like conscripting young men.

His father made some contributions on the battlefield, and only then did their family change their household registration.

But they clearly remembered that their family life was not good since they were young...

(End of this chapter)