The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 258 Getting what you want

Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors and grandson all looked solemn.

They did not doubt Chen Jingke's words. Match rope muskets and flint hair muskets had already proven his abilities.

They can also understand the principles of custom-loaded metal bullets and machine guns.

As for steam engines... there are thermoelectric engines, and it is not impossible for another steam engine to appear now.

If the countries in the far west really research these things...

Battleships and chariots driven by steam engines, various advanced firecrackers, artillery and machine guns...

Facing such a torrent of steel, Ming Dynasty had little room to fight back.

At this time, they couldn't help but think of what Chen Jingke had just said:

A country is an organization formed by groups of people in a certain area in response to the natural environment and similar competition.

"The central government will directly integrate these excess people and land into its own management system, and will no longer hand it over to the nobles for management."

“The Song Dynasty abolished the system of good registration and low status and adopted two systems: urban household and rural household.”

Chen Jingke said: "The competition faced by the Ming Dynasty was more severe than that of previous dynasties."

Chen Jingke also knew what he was worried about and further explained:
"Your Majesty, the people are gradually gaining human rights and the court is centralizing power. The two things are not isolated, but the result of mutual promotion."

"The people at the lowest level who had no household registration, no name, nothing, have now gained official status for the first time."

Zhu Xiongying sighed: "Our ancestors faced a lot of competition back then, and we are the same today."

Chen Jingke said: "In the pre-Qin period, the emperor, princes, kings and nobles jointly ruled the world."

Zhu Xiongying was completely convinced, and Zhu Biao was also a little moved.

"We still have to face the extremely bad situation of large-scale desertification in the Shanxi-Shaanxi Plateau and Hetao Plain."

But Zhu Yuanzhang still had doubts on his face and indulged the people's freedom, which was completely contrary to his knowledge.

"This also laid the foundation for Qin's subsequent reforms and the implementation of the military merit system."

"There is a saying that goes, whoever controls people controls power."

"Since the imperial court has included them in the category of 'people', it will naturally give them corresponding rights and obligations in law."

"In similar competition, we are facing the pursuit of countries in the far west."

"The common people who are imprisoned by the nobles are the slaves of the nobles and cannot escape from them for the rest of their lives."

"And the nobles who control the population can in turn threaten the imperial court..."

"The two Jin Dynasties can be said to be the peak of family politics. Each noble family raised hundreds of thousands of people."

"In terms of the natural environment, we are about to face a Little Ice Age."

"This problem was still common in the Tang Dynasty. People with good family status were under the management of the state, while those with low family status were by default the slaves of aristocratic families."

"Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was a talented and strategist. Knowing the disadvantages of this situation, he legislated to nationalize the population hidden by the nobles..."

"From this moment on, the common people became real 'common people' and initially gained the most basic rights as human beings."

"Therefore, there is not much time left for Ming Dynasty. We must improve productivity as soon as possible."

"When Mi Zhu married his sister, he was accompanied by three thousand slaves."

"The emperor does not directly manage the people, but the nobles manage them on their behalf."

Even though I knew what Chen Jingke said was right, it was still difficult to make a decision.

Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly surprised: "Oh, what should I say?"

"To deal with the possible arrival of foreign enemies and the inevitable bad weather."

"It was not until the Song Dynasty that this problem was completely solved."

“More people, more land has been reclaimed.”

"But how does the central government manage these people? So the household registration system emerged."

"Later, with the development of productivity, more food was produced and more people were fed."

"He recruited thousands of young men from the people raised by his family as his team, and that was how he accomplished the feat of the Northern Expedition."

"To put it bluntly, the central government bypasses the nobles and directly controls the population."

"In the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, the powerful families were so powerful that they kept countless people in captivity."

"Zu Ti relied on his family's heritage for his Northern Expedition without the support of the Eastern Jin Dynasty."

"The people paid allegiance to the nobles and paid taxes, and the nobles handed over the taxes to the emperor in proportion."

"But he still hasn't solved the most fundamental problem, slavery."

"But whether they are urban households or rural households, they are all 'citizens' directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court and have rights conferred by the law."

"He is just a businessman. A truly powerful family will only control more people."

"At that time, the people were in the hands of the nobles, so they could compete with the central government."

"This also means the strengthening of central power."

"The employment of slaves by wealthy officials is no longer a slave in the traditional sense, but a contracted employee."

"When the contract ends, the employment relationship ends, and the slave can regain his freedom."

"And the Song Dynasty court, which directly controlled all the people, once again completed the enhancement of central power."

Chen Jingke took a breath before continuing:
"In the pre-Qin period, the emperor and the people joined hands to fight against the nobles."

"The emperor's authority was further strengthened, and the people gained certain rights."

"During the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, the emperor and the common people joined hands to compete with powerful families."

"The emperor's authority has been strengthened again, and the people have gained more rights."

"By the time of the Song Dynasty, all the nobles and powerful families disappeared, and the imperial court nominally controlled the entire population."

"The emperor's authority has reached a new historical high, and the people have finally become the 'people' recognized in the law."

“So, centralization promotes the development of human rights, and the improvement of human rights in turn strengthens centralization.”

Zhu Yuanzhang showed a thoughtful expression.

To put it bluntly, the emperor won over the people and defeated the nobles and powerful men, and the people paid their allegiance to the emperor in exchange for human rights.

This exchange is very reasonable.

From this perspective, centralization and the development of human rights are indeed complementary to each other.

At this time, Zhu Biao suddenly said: "The emperor is a man of heaven."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, and then realized what he meant.

There is a saying in the Tao Te Ching: The way of heaven can make up for the excess if there is more damage; the way of man cannot make up for the loss but make up for the deficiency.

Chen Jingke once explained from another perspective:

The powerful and powerful bureaucrats act as if they are human and plunder the wealth of the people to strengthen themselves, which eventually leads to the collapse of the country.

The court should act on behalf of heaven, limit the wealth of the rich, ask the rich to collect more taxes, and then use these taxes to subsidize the people.

What else can I say, the interests of the court and the people are the same.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "In the past, we could not agree with your theory of 'acting on behalf of heaven', but today we understand its profound meaning."

"The emperor's responsibility is to ensure peace and prosperity for the country and the people, and the people's prayers are also for peace and prosperity for the country and the people."

"Only when the emperor and the people work together can they fight against the powerful bureaucrats and achieve peace and prosperity for the country and the people."

Chen Jingke was also a little surprised. He had almost forgotten about this incident.

Unexpectedly, the words he casually deceived Lao Zhu a few years ago actually took care of him at this time.

It can be said to be an unexpected surprise.

"Your Majesty is wise, but the power of the people is both strong and weak."

"The strength is that once they gather together in one place, they can change the world." "The weakness is that most of the time they are just a piece of loose sand."

"The emperor has a great righteousness and is naturally able to unite the power of all people."

"Only when the emperor and all the people work together can the great ambition of national peace and prosperity be realized."

"But some people never understand this truth, such as the Song Dynasty royal family."

"After the aristocratic family disappeared, a group of bureaucrats and gentry emerged as the times require. They took the place of the emperor and guarded one side."

"However, this group slowly followed in the footsteps of their predecessors, bullying the emperor and oppressing the people."

"The Song Dynasty did not want to work with the people to limit the power of the bureaucrats and gentry, but wanted to rule the world together with the scholar-bureaucrats."

"As a result, everyone has seen that in just a few decades since the founding of the Song Dynasty, land annexation exceeded the previous dynasty's history of more than 100 years."

"The scholar-bureaucrats occupied most of the country's land and forced the people to become homeless."

"In order to solve the problem of refugees, the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty had the consequences of redundant troops, which ultimately laid the foundation for the demise of the Song Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "It was indeed not a wise move for the Song Dynasty to rule the world with scholar-bureaucrats."

Zhu Biao interjected: "Although human rights are becoming more and more perfect, the unbinding of the people is not done randomly, but in a way that is beneficial to the centralization of power."

"Although population movement was frequent during the Song Dynasty, the court had been curbing this behavior."

"Even if the Ming Dynasty wants to reduce the burden on the people, it cannot do so casually."

Chen Jingke felt happy. If you think like this, it means you have accepted the concept of human rights, but he said calmly:

"This is inevitable. Unrestricted freedom will lead to chaos in the country."

"It was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to give its people the freedom to move as they pleased, but it also could not go against the trend and not allow people to move at all."

"His Majesty compiled the "Da Gao" and allowed the people to use the "Da Gao" to complain to the emperor."

"However, with the current restrictions on population movement under the law, people can't even leave their homes, so how can they file a petition?"

On the one hand, it encourages petitions, but on the other hand, it strictly restricts the movement of people. Isn't this a joke?

The common people were kneeling in front of their homes with their imperial edicts. How could you, Emperor Zhu, see this in the Yingtian Palace?
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was one of embarrassment: "It was a mistake. This is due to our lack of consideration."

Chen Jingke pretended not to see anything and continued:

“Wealth mergers cannot be reversed, only contained.”

"After the Ming Dynasty, there will inevitably be a large number of landless people, and they will gather in major cities to make a living."

"This cannot be restricted by imperial law."

"Not letting them leave their hometown to make a living is forcing them to rebel."

"Either they can only sell themselves to the wealthy gentry, break away from the court and become slaves of the wealthy families."

"And if a large household controls the population, it can in turn constrain the court."

"But if the court does not restrict the refugees, they will be allowed to gather and do nothing."

"Just as His Majesty is worried, it will inevitably bring about various problems."

"As the country's supreme leader, you must foresee this problem in advance and plan to solve it as soon as possible."

After saying that, he let out a sigh of relief.

After talking so much and going in such a big circle, I finally brought the topic back to the beginning.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "Is it really feasible to use industry and commerce to take over the landless people?"

Chen Jingke did not directly say whether it was possible, but said: "With my wisdom, I can only think of this solution."

Zhu Biao said aloud: "If the imperial system in Jing Ke's plan can be completed, industry and commerce will definitely flourish."

"It is not difficult to take over some landless farmers."

Zhu Yuanzhang was still worried: "The workshops were built by big businessmen, and if the people went to work, wouldn't they be controlled by the big businessmen?"

"With a large number of young and strong businessmen, wouldn't it be possible to imitate the powerful nobles of the previous dynasty and threaten the imperial court?"

So that’s what you were worried about.

Chen Jingke felt a lot more relaxed and said:
"It's different. When the common people of the previous dynasty surrendered themselves to the rich and powerful, it was equivalent to losing their identity as a 'people'."

"In other words, he is no longer in the country's household registration system."

"He and his family no longer receive the protection of the law."

"Their life and death, honor and disgrace, all depend on their master's mood."

"When the laws of the imperial court no longer protect them, they can only be loyal to their masters for the rest of their lives."

"And when we, the people of the Ming Dynasty, went to work in the workshops, they joined as hired workers."

"No matter which workshop he goes to work in, he is a citizen of the Ming Dynasty and enjoys the protection of the Ming Dynasty's laws."

"How many people are willing to be slaves if they can be normal 'citizens'?"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but nodded, he agreed with this very much.

Who would want to be an animal if he could be a human being?

Chen Jingke continued: "But the premise is that the court must protect the interests of the people."

"When they are bullied by their employers, the court can provide them with justice."

"In this way, they will naturally turn to the court instead of listening to their employers."

"That's why I suggest setting up an employee protection system."

Zhu Yuanzhang understood immediately.

Just like when the emperor and the people worked together to fight against the nobles and powerful families.

Now the emperor and the people are fighting against the bureaucrats, gentry and big business class.

To put it more bluntly, if the emperor wants to monopolize power, he must provide benefits to the people in order to gain their support.

This benefit is reflected in protecting the interests of the people.

Chen Jingke continued: "There are many ways to restrict big businessmen. If nothing else, just a tax can control them to death."

"The Tax Audit Department is not a vegetarian."

The Tax Audit Department is really notorious.

It has been despised by people all over the world since the day it was founded, and countless memorials are written to impeach it every day.

That is to say, Zhu Yuanzhang was strong-willed and monopolized power, so another emperor would have been unable to bear it and would have withdrawn it.

However, the results of the Tax Inspection Department were indeed great, and a large number of tax evaders were uncovered for the imperial court.

A large number of landlords and wealthy businessmen had their homes confiscated, leaving the state treasury with a windfall.

The biggest effect is to deter landlords and powerful people from evading taxes wantonly.

On the surface, the cultivated land in the Ming Dynasty did not increase, but the actual amount of taxes collected increased.

In the past, large households would collude with local officials to pass taxes on to the people.

With the Tax Audit Department watching, they no longer dare to be so blatant and can only grit their teeth and pay the taxes themselves.

In a disguised way, the burden of the people is reduced.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed again: "Tax Inspection Department, it turns out that you have already counted from that time to today."

"That's all, just do as you say."

Finally getting the result he wanted, Chen Jingke was overjoyed: "Your Majesty is wise."

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored him and said to Zhu Biao: "Biao'er, please lead someone to formulate a set of employee protection laws."

"Help us think about how to relax restrictions on people's personal lives without affecting the stability of the country."

(End of this chapter)