Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 377 377 Taizong becomes Shizu?
Although Wang Buli had been using yin and yang tactics more than once or twice, Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't understand him many times.

Or maybe he is just too lazy to understand. He has his own set of logic and does not need others to correct him.

Zhu Yuanzhang was able to change some policies because he saw how big a problem the Ming Dynasty would face in the future and felt that some changes were necessary.

But he had no better idea to correct it.

He would not tell anyone about these things, keeping all the secrets to himself.

Zhu Yuanzhang had never thought about plundering foreign people. In his opinion, this would undermine the reputation of the Ming Dynasty for benevolence and righteousness.

Both the father-in-law and the son-in-law found the other's thinking difficult to understand, so they didn't say anything more.

After arriving at the post station, they had their meal and rested.

This time, Zhu Di brought his wife into the fairyland. Xu Miaoyun first saluted Zhu Yuanzhang stiffly, and then Zhu Di held her hand and waited outside the door.

After Wang Buli opened the door, Xu Miaoyun's eyes widened and she saw the decorations in the room at a glance, many of which she had never seen before.

Even though she had heard Zhu Di describe many objects to her, it was difficult to imagine things she had never seen by just imagination.

Zhu Di also kept his father's teachings in mind and did not draw any pictures casually, so as to prevent some secrets from being leaked out.

"Brother-in-law, can I just sit here?"

"Well, sit wherever you want."

Wang Buli handed Xu Miaoyun paper and pen and told her that this was different from a brush. He also took some food and drinks.

Xu Miaoyun was greatly surprised. This was something from the fairyland. The pen could automatically produce ink!

After seeing with my own eyes the giant screen that Zhu Di had talked about countless times, I realized that this is the place where one can peek into the future of the Ming Dynasty.

As a result, Xu Miaoyun dealt her a critical hit when she came for the first time, and the last time it ended was when Zhu Di died of illness.

At this time, some of Zhu Di's deeds were being summarized.

For example, the Jingnan Campaign was to purge the remnants of the old era.

Restore the old Hongwu regime, make Xu Miaoyun the empress, and move the capital to Beijing;

Conquer the northern desert and Annan, and strengthen the close ties with U-Tsang and other places;
Of course, because of the capital relocation, officials were ordered to organize logging in the forest areas of Jiangxi, Huguang, Zhejiang, Shanxi and Sichuan.

Others organized brick-making in northern Zhili.

The imperial court recruited a labor force consisting of craftsmen, soldiers and ordinary laborers from all over the country, including more than 7000 Annan craftsmen who were captured by Zhang Fu and escorted to Beijing.

But construction has been hampered by an inadequate supply system and a lack of close supervision.

The project progressed slowly, and no major buildings were completed in Peking in recent years.

However, the combined sea and land transport method is far from satisfactory for gathering manpower and material resources to Beijing.

The sea route is dangerous, the Loess Plain is very high, and the river and land routes are long and tiring.

In order to reduce Beijing's dependence on grain from the south and strengthen the local economy, over a period of several years, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi reduced land taxes or distributed relief grain to residents in the Beijing area and those areas affected by natural disasters in Shandong and Henan.

This situation gradually changed with the opening of the canal.

The Yuan Dynasty had completed a canal system connecting Beijing to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River by 1289, but frequent siltation of the canals and difficulties in maintaining water sources delayed the project's completion until 1325.

The canal system never played an effective role in the Yuan Dynasty, so coastal transportation gradually replaced it and became the main means of grain transportation.

By the early 15th century, large sections of the Yuan Dynasty's Grand Canal had become damaged, silted up, and unnavigable.

Although repairs were carried out during the Hongwu Dynasty, heavy rains caused the river to be blocked again in more than one section.

After the completion of the Grand Canal project, it became much faster to transport grain from the rice-rich lower reaches of the Yangtze River (i.e. the provinces south of the Yangtze River) to the north, and from then on grain could be transported directly from these provinces to Beijing.

The economic situation in Xindu improved, but the loss of grain also increased.

Zhu Di needed a large amount of food supplies because of his large-scale military adventures and construction projects.

Implementation of the new transportation system greatly increased the demand for military and civilian labor, thereby increasing expenditures.

People living in various areas south of the Yangtze River had to pay their taxes to the Huai'an granary; people living between Huai'an and the Yangtze River had to pay their taxes to the many granaries built along the canal.

Food was shipped from granaries to Beijing by government troops four times a year, a system that was later adjusted to reduce the number of troops transporting food due to the urgent need to use the army for construction projects and military expeditions.

However, the army needed more manpower when going into battle, so Zhu Di re-implemented a system whereby the people who paid grain had to transport the grain to Beijing at their own expense.

To the extent that many people had to give up their working time in the fields and serve the emperor as corvee labor.

The time that people work for nothing and lose money is getting longer and longer.

Under this arrangement, the people had to pay their full quota of taxes and additionally bear the costs and labor of transportation.

Therefore, taxes during the Yongle period were 10% higher than during the reign of his father, resulting in more people fleeing the country.

Finally, in the cultural field, more than 3,000 people were organized to compile the Yongle Encyclopedia.

The emperor's support for the compilation of several large collections of scriptures and texts earned Zhu Di a reputation as a patron of the scriptural legacy and the scholarly elite, while also providing guidelines and ethical standards for civil servants and members of the royal family.

Zhu Di blushed a little when he looked at the summary of himself.

He didn't want to be known as a tyrant.

Not to mention the purge of old ministers, the fact that he collected taxes was even harsher than his father's, was something Zhu Di could not accept.

He couldn't help but ask, "Brother-in-law, why does building a new capital cost so much money?"

Wang Buli smiled and said: "When you have the chance to return to Beijing, go to the Ministry of Revenue to find out how much money, grain, manpower and material resources were spent on building the palaces in Nanjing and Zhongdu Fengyang. Nanjing is not yet completed.

Not to mention that you launched five expeditions to the northern desert, the last three of which were unsuccessful and cost so much money and food.

Do you really think that food can just be grown by throwing rice seedlings into the air and there is no need to take good care of it?

This time I went south with my father to investigate, and many granaries were empty."

Zhu Di didn't say much, he knew that Wang Buli was right.

But when it really came to that, he was determined to move the capital to Beijing.

What's more, this time the old system of Hongwu was restored, and heavy taxation had been levied on the south!
No problem.

Xu Miaoyun had always been remembering the great things her husband had done. When he asked about this topic at this time, she had always kept in mind the previous instructions and did not speak.

Instead, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "Old Four, you don't know how to sympathize with the people."

Then Zhu Di was educated by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although Zhu Di's approach was completely inherited from him and he even surpassed him in the area of ​​Jiangnan, as an emperor he still had to teach his descendants to love the people.

Even if the deed is done, you cannot speak according to the facts.

"It seems that the silver in our treasury is still not enough."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed slowly:

"Even though we have silver and copper mines, many people still don't live a good life. Could it be that we didn't invest a lot of money in water conservancy projects, or that it's difficult to mine minerals?"

“Who can know this clearly?”

Wang Buli took over the conversation and said that if it weren't for him, Old Zhu would never know about the copper and silver mines until his death.

He just waited for the Ming Baochao to depreciate again and again and become the Gold Yuan Coupon.

"Governing a country is really not an easy task." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "It seems that we need to find a few businessmen to ask them carefully."

Zhu Di was very surprised when he saw the title "The Legacy Left by Emperor Yongle".

There is also this?

He didn't know whether his father would give him a summary after his death.

After all, the future that I can see now is only a minority.

Emperor Yongle died in Yumuchuan outside Duolun when he returned from his last expedition against Mongolia. He was 64 years old.

The exact circumstances of his death are not recorded in official history, it is simply stated that he died of illness.

But some private and foreign records say that Emperor Yongle suffered several strokes in his later years and died of the disease.

He was occasionally unable to attend court, sometimes for more than a month. The cause of his inability to move is unknown, but to alleviate the symptoms, the emperor habitually took stimulant medicines made from musk or camphor, as well as Taoist elixirs prescribed by several of his followers.

The elixir temporarily relieved his paralysis but proved harmful and addictive, causing periodic temper tantrums.

"Old Four, you actually ate something like elixirs?"

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could ask, Wang Buli spoke first: "You don't really think there is a panacea in the world, do you?"

Zhu Di blushed. Of course he remembered that Wang Buli had explained this matter to him a long time ago.

The elixirs made by Taoists are all very toxic. Although you may feel better after taking them, it is just like a last burst of energy and will greatly overdraw your body.

By then, the kidneys and other organs will be poisoned by heavy metals, and even if a god came, he would not be able to save the person.

If there really were elixirs in the world, they would have eaten them themselves long ago. Why would they offer them to you, the emperor?
What a shitty brain!

"Since we are all going to die, why not give it a try?" Zhu Di said stubbornly:
"I am the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but I am bedridden and unable to walk. It would be better for me not to live and leave the world to the Crown Prince."

"Try it and you will die."

Wang Buli snorted and laughed, but didn't say much.

Zhu Yuanzhang was also very wary and curious about this kind of thing.

It's not like he had never seen emperors of later generations taking elixirs before, and without exception they all ended up in failure.

Zhu Di's health was already poor when he suffered another stroke after an exhausting journey across the harsh Mongolian plains, so his death was expected.

The emperor's body was immediately placed in a coffin and transported back to Beijing for burial.

His eldest son Zhu Gaochi then ascended the throne and became Emperor Hongxi.

The posthumous title of Emperor Yongle was Emperor Wen, and his temple name was Taizong.

His mausoleum is called Changling, and it was built extremely luxuriously and magnificently to prove his great achievements.

Zhu Di was very satisfied when he saw this scene. He liked the temple name Taizong very much.

Zhu Yuanzhang also understood that the second generation emperor would usually be called Taizong, and it was also considered a normal succession for Zhu Di.

Of course, as we all know, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, also succeeded to the throne in a normal way!
As a military emperor, Zhu Di felt that he and Emperor Taizong of Tang still had some common topics to talk about.

Soon after, Emperor Jiajing changed the temple name of Emperor Yongle to a more prominent title: Chengzu.

Before Zhu Di's happy expression disappeared, his face was filled with anger.

Why?
How could our descendants be so unfilial!

Emperor Jiajing wanted to elevate the status of his father Zhu Youlu, who had never ascended the throne, and bring him into the ranks of emperors, thereby making himself the ancestor of a new lineage of succession to the throne.

He therefore changed the Yongle Emperor’s temple name from “Zong” to “Zu,” implying that in overthrowing his nephew he had also created a new line of succession, one clearly intended to bolster the legitimacy of Jiajing’s own father.

The choice of the word "Cheng" indicates that in the eyes of his successors, he was the consolidater of the Ming rule and should be recognized as the second founder of the dynasty because he completed the unfinished work of Emperor Hongwu.

"Jiajing." Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing. "I remember him. He was also an emperor who liked to take elixirs and cultivate immortality. He was a good descendant of the fourth brother!"

However, Xu Miaoyun guessed something from this, which was that Jiajing did not succeed to the throne in a normal way because his father was not an emperor.

Then it must be a vassal king who ascended the throne?
Zhu Yuanzhang explained to his son and son-in-law what Jiajing had done.

Wang Buli was listening to Zhu Yuanzhang talking and was shocked.

This old guy knows the details of the Jiajing Dynasty better than I do. How many Ming Dynasty emperors has he seen?
The Yongle Emperor is recognized as a resourceful and energetic conqueror who, through his conquests and foreign expeditions, perfected the achievements of the founding emperors and brought the Ming dynasty to its peak of power and influence.

When Zhu Di saw the evaluation, he immediately straightened his chest and looked at Xu beside him with a proud smile.

Look at your husband, isn’t he powerful?

Zhu Yuanzhang just pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

The silence speaks.

Emperor Yongle not only attempted to implement unified rule from north to south to integrate the border territories with the interior, but also set his sights beyond the borders of his homeland and expanded his hegemony in all directions - looking down on the world from the true center of the world.

This new view of the world guided the Yongle Emperor's foreign and domestic policies.

Once he implements these policies, he will never back down.

Despite all the contradictions in his domestic and foreign policies, Emperor Yongle was determined to accomplish his goals and left various unresolved difficulties to his less energetic successors.

The Yongle Emperor's domestic programs and foreign wars were costly and wasteful; they imposed an exceptionally heavy financial burden on the state and its people.

The expense of these plans drew criticism from court officials such as Xia Yuanji, who opposed the third expedition against the Mongols and Zheng He's voyages, and Li Shimen, who opposed establishing a capital in Beijing.

Others expressed their opposition to the strain on manpower and material resources caused by the conquest of Annan, the grain transport system, and other domestic plans and foreign adventures.

The cost of all the undertakings undertaken by Emperor Yongle may have exceeded two or three times the normal national income.

These financial needs undoubtedly emptied the treasury (which usually kept only one year's reserves) and indeed weakened the country's financial management.

These policies also reduce state revenues by pushing more and more people into poverty.

For the construction and hegemony of the Ming Dynasty, this price is indeed high.

It first set the tone for Zhu Di, and the rest was almost all criticism of some of his large-scale actions.

The proud look on Zhu Di's face disappeared again, and he directly defended himself: "How can you have both in this world? If you take care of one, you can't take care of the other."

Wang Buli nodded in agreement. He and Lao Zhu were really of the same bloodline, both had their own stubbornness.

"The emperor's great achievements are naturally inseparable from the poor support of many ordinary people." Wang Buli tilted his head and said:

“The emperor wants achievements, and the people want a better life, but after you, the emperor, have achieved your own achievements, you have not given feedback to the people!
Fourth Brother, it is absolutely fine for the people of the Ming Dynasty to secretly curse you for this."

"That's true." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "If I could survive in the Yuan Dynasty, I would never have rebelled. So when I become the master, I must not be too harsh on the people."

"I've got this in mind," Zhu Di responded.

Wang Buli rolled his eyes again.

Meat eaters are vulgar, so of course they say one thing and do another.

The Yongle Emperor left a complex legacy to subsequent Ming monarchs.

They inherited an empire with obligations to distant nations, a long defensive line along the northern frontier, a complex civil bureaucracy and military organization with many unconventional forms, and a magnificent Beijing that required a massive water transport system for its survival.

This could only be maintained under a vigorous leader driven by the ideal of building an empire, but his successor Zhu Gaochi was not a vigorous leader.

Zhu Gaochi was liked by Emperor Taizu because he was impressed by his literary talent and administrative ability.

In terms of administration, he is better than Zhu Yunwen.

However, Zhu Di favored his two younger and more martial sons, Zhu Gaosui and Zhu Gaoxu, and often took them to participate in the battles.

Even during the Jingnan Rebellion, he told Zhu Gaoxu that the crown prince was ill and he should take care of himself.

Wang Buli couldn't help laughing: "Fourth Brother, if your sons want to fight for the throne, you must have contributed a lot."

Zhu Di saw that his eldest son was devoted to studying Confucianism. Due to his fat body, he was not very good at riding and fighting. As a horse-riding emperor, he certainly hoped that his son would be more like him!
How could Zhu Gaochi win the favor of Zhu Di when he was not like his father in the slightest?
Listening to Wang Buli's teasing, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty all made mistakes in the matter of succession.

He didn't get off to a good start.

Zhu Di shook his head and said, "Brother-in-law, I will never let Gao Chi get so fat. I will definitely take him to practice martial arts more often."

"Hey." Wang Buli hurriedly stopped him.
"I'm not saying anything bad about you, Old Four. History has proven that Gao Chi is more suited to studying literature and has administrative capabilities.

If you let him learn martial arts, you will be erasing his strengths and making him practice his weaknesses. No matter how hard he tries, he will not be able to catch up with your second and third sons.

You brothers have received military training like you since childhood. How many of you can surpass you?"

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed with Wang Buli's words. In fact, he liked his chubby grandson Gao Chi very much.

Which grandfather would want his grandson to be as thin as a monkey?

Zhu Yuanzhang instructed again: "When he is older, it would be best if you let Gao Chi and Xiong Ying learn and practice Ba Duan Jin together."

(End of this chapter)