Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

The current Wu Shigong has already begun to train the prince Xue Chenglin.As long as it is an important state affairs, Wu Shigong always asks Xue Chenglin to watch the affairs from the sidelines.Although due to the war, Xue Chenglin's wedding was delayed until the second half of the first year of Qiongyuan.But Wu Shigong has treated him as the crown prince and carefully cultivated him, taking him by his side all the time.

But to Wu Shigong's regret, Xue Chenglin was never by his side when he was young.Until now, Xue Chenglin has been educated by the strict nobles and cultivated into a mature person.Although as a prince, it is better to be older, but the father and son always feel that there is a lack of emotional communication. Whenever they meet, they always talk about state affairs.

When Wu Shigong talked about Zheng Zhilong's evaluation, Xue Chenglin quickly remembered it with his heart.However, when he heard that Wu Shigong spoke highly of the Zheng family's fleet, Xue Chenglin, who had been educated by the right to land, couldn't help but raise a question in his heart: "Father! Mr. once said that China's land is vast and abundant, and all things are indistinguishable." But opening the sea is a waste of property, a waste of national power for playthings. That's why Ming Taizu banned the sea, and later generations of virtuous people also insisted on the previous Ming ancestor's system. But the father said that the Zheng family's fleet is getting richer every day, so why? Is it true? Will my Daping Dynasty still ban the sea?"

Wu Shigong saw Xue Chenglin not only listened and watched more, but also began to think about problems, so he was very happy in his heart.So Wu Shigong began to ask questions: "Actually, the sea ban is very complicated. Before talking about this, I will test you first: what is your opinion on military affairs?"

"A military matter?" Xue Chenglin was taken aback by Wu Shigong's jumpy question.He thought for a while, and replied, "Soldiers. The important affairs of the country, the place of life and death, and the way of life and death, must be investigated. Therefore, according to what my child sees, you must be cautious when using soldiers."

Wu Shigong was amused by Xue Chenglin's standard answer quoted from "Sun Tzu's Art of War".He smiled and said: "Lin'er, what you said is correct. But before a battle, the most difficult thing to do is to know yourself and your enemy. If you just want to know the commanders and strength of the two armies, you can send spies to find out, but you But it is difficult to judge whether this war will exhaust the country's strength. Therefore, the use of troops is not only based on soldiers, but the most important thing is whether there is money."

"Huh?" Xue Chenglin was immediately attracted by this novel statement.He immediately bowed and said: "Please teach me, Father!"

"Actually, you decide whether to go to war, except for the survival of the country, you have to fight. Generally, you just need to grasp one point-whether the battle will make money." Wu Shigong said.

"Ah?" Xue Chenglin exclaimed immediately.

"Don't be surprised." Wu Shigong smiled and patted the eldest son's shoulder.Then he said, "In fact, as long as there is a war, the money is like running water. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Korea three times, exhausted the national power of the Sui Dynasty, and turned the world against him, so that he died and the country was destroyed. And Ming Chengzu conquered Annan in the south and won And the return loss is because the land tax received is not as good as the military expenditure paid. Annan has also become tasteless. Why is it so? It’s just a word of money.”

"But...but what the father said, it seems..." Xue Chenglin's face immediately became weird.He also started hesitating when speaking.

"Are you trying to say that father is a traitor?" Wu Shigong smiled and added Xue Chenglin's words.

"Hahaha!" The father and son laughed at each other.

"Chunqiu fights without righteousness!" Xue Chenglin sighed and shook his head with a smile.

"Lin'er!" Wu Shigong continued, "Although the teachings of the sage are good, they also have shortcomings. In governing the country, military affairs, etc., you can't completely follow the sage's words. Otherwise, why are there hundreds of schools in the Spring and Autumn Period? For the king To govern the country, there are two important things to grasp: one is the way to drive people down; the other is money."

"In the pre-Ming Dynasty, in addition to the land tax, there were three sources of income: one was salt tax; the other was sea trade; Taxes are also decreasing day by day, resulting in the flood of private salt in the world, but the people want to eat expensive salt. Not to mention the sea trade, which is occupied by sea merchants and pirates like Zheng Zhilong, but the imperial court clings to the ban on the sea. , It’s really giving away the imperial property to the sea merchants for nothing. Weaving is also closely related to sea trade. The reason why Songjiang cloth is famous all over the world is because it is sold overseas through sea trade.”

"So, as long as we firmly grasp these three sources of income, we will be able to make the country rich and the people strong. Of course, there is also a commercial tax, which will be a major source of income for the future imperial court."

"It can be seen from this that Zheng Zhilong owns the sea trade, as well as the sea soldiers and horses. If he manages it wholeheartedly, he can support at least one hundred thousand troops. Fortunately, his short-sightedness made the Zheng family retreat if they did not advance. Now, it is far inferior to mine. The great peace has come."

"That's it!" Xue Chenglin nodded and said, "But I have another question: fighting against the captive chieftains in Liaodong can be said to be a major event for the country's survival, but why did the father go to North Korea? It's not that North Korea is barren and few people, so Ming Taizu That’s why you regard North Korea as a country that will not be confiscated?”

Seeing Xue Chenglin's question getting deeper and deeper, Wu Shigong's smile became stronger.Today, he is very talkative, and he is also willing to pour out some of his experience: "Lin'er, remember my words: there is no bad place in the world, only people who can't manage it. It's the same in North Korea, and it's the same in Annan. In the past, all the monarchs and ministers only stared at the fields, but they didn't realize that gold mines are far more than that. Is the population worthless? Are the mountains and forests worthless? Commercial taxes and sea trade taxes are worthless? Not to mention the mine land gone."

"Then why didn't people in the past think of this?" Xue Chenglin asked again.

"Lin'er's thinking is wrong!" Wu Shigong said with a smile, "Actually, there are smart people in every generation. But in the past, if they won foreign wars, the monarch thought that everything would be his own. , etc. But in this way, except for some rewards and spoils for the soldiers who went to the expedition, the officials of the court and the people of the world will get nothing. Moreover, other types of taxes have to be managed by people, so where is the land tax? It’s clear at a glance, how much land is taxed! But in this way, everyone will focus on land tax and turn a blind eye to other taxes.

"Then how should our Daping Dynasty solve this problem?" Xue Chenglin then asked.

"There is no other way but to share the benefits equally." Wu Shigong replied, "Lin'er, do you remember? You asked me a few days ago, why did the court set up this wasteland reclamation firm? This firm is not like a firm, and the yamen is not like a yamen. Somewhat nondescript. In fact, this land reclamation firm is used here."

"Nowadays, this wasteland reclamation firm mainly manages the wastelands of various provinces and organizes refugee troops to colonize wasteland. But in the future, when local governments are established and the government affairs of the court and China are straightened out, the affairs of the provinces will gradually be managed by the ministers, and no land reclamation will be allowed. The commercial firm has nothing to do with it. So what should the land reclamation commercial firm handle? It is to expand the territory with the imperial court."

"The Land Reclamation Commercial Bank raises money from the private sector, and then recruits guards from the private sector. In addition, personnel with management experience in the Land Reclamation Commercial Bank will work with the officers and soldiers to attack overseas. For example: this time to go to North Korea, it will be the Marine Corps and the Land Reclamation Corps. The merchants set off at the same time."

"In this way, the officers and soldiers only have to fight, and the land they conquered will be defended and managed by the land reclamation business. This not only saves troops and military expenses, but also uses the power of the people to develop new territories together. When North Korea is conquered, land reclamation As long as the commercial banks paid the Qing military expenses to the imperial court, they could obtain the development rights of North Korea for a certain period of time. This basically did not form any pressure on the expenditures of the North Korean and Chinese, and in the future, the imperial court could benefit from the distribution of stock funds of the wasteland reclamation commercial firms and North Korean taxation. "

Hearing this, Xue Chenglin had a question: "Father! If the government and army are defeated and North Korea is not obtained, then the people who invested money in the wasteland reclamation business will lose everything? And how do they know how much the wasteland reclamation business earns? ?”

"Lin'er! You are really nice! That's a good question." Wu Shigong said with a smile, "If you want to make money, especially a lot of money, how can you not take risks? But you have to remember: the people who invest in the land reclamation firm have Many will also arrive in North Korea to jointly manage the North Korean industry. Even if the land reclamation firm wants to play some tricks, it will still have nowhere to hide under the eyes of many people. In fact, the revenue of the imperial court comes from tens of thousands of people. Supervision, we don’t need to care about it.”

"Another point is also very important! You always remember: no matter what a person says or does, it can't prove his inner thoughts. But as long as he takes out his own money, he can say it firmly. No one is willing to waste their family property. Therefore, as long as the stocks developed by the reclamation firm sell well, it proves that the battle has a great chance of winning. If the stocks are unsalable, then we must be cautious. Sometimes those battles that can be fought are not fought, and they are willing not to fight. This will also prevent those battles that are too expensive and waste the treasury from happening, which is also a great reference for the court to declare war."

Xue Chenglin listened with gusto, and only after Wu Shigong had finished speaking did he say with satisfaction: "It turned out that the father was far-sighted, and my child knows it. But what the father said is different from the laws of governing the country taught by the gentlemen."

Wu Shigong nodded, and said: "Actually, there is nothing wrong with what the gentlemen taught. Apart from the difference between the emperor's power and the official's power, Lin'er, you have to remember: Internally, you must do what you say. Govern the country with benevolence. But to the outside world, you want iron and blood, and you want to plunder. There must be differences between inside and outside!"

Then, Wu Shigong turned his head and said to Hanlin, who recorded the "Notes on Daily Life", "Mr. Mu! Please sort out this passage later, and let the prince study it."

"Yes! Your Majesty!" The Hanlin immediately stood up and bowed, agreeing.

Then, Wu Shigong said to Xue Chenglin: "In the future, if you have anything you don't understand, you can come and ask me at any time. When you have your own opinions, it will be time for you to ascend the throne. At that time, I will be with you. The queen mother can play with peace of mind. Hahaha——!"

"Yes! Father!" Xue Chenglin also bowed and saluted.But then, another question came to his mind, "Father! The foreign territory is far away, what should we do if the ruler there has a different heart?"

"Since we are alone overseas, that's why our Daping Dynasty needs a strong fleet!" Wu Shigong replied immediately.

"Hahaha!" The father and son immediately burst out laughing. (To be continued..)