Chapter 37 How to support the people

The sun is slightly facing west.

The sun is still very vicious. There seems to be no change at all.

In the Biyong Hall, the flowing water outside flows silently under the smooth floor, bringing away a hint of heat.

Everyone was focused and heard Qiu Jun say loudly: "Mencius said: 'If you do not violate the farming season, the grain cannot be eaten; if you do not enter the pond, the fish and turtles cannot be eaten; if you enter the mountains and forests at the time, the timber and wood cannot be used. The grain and fish and turtles cannot be eaten, and the timber and wood cannot be used. This will make the people live without regrets in their health. Health and death are without regrets, and the king's way is the beginning of the king's way." Zhu Zi said: 'Farmers are where food and clothing come from. The cause of the people is not important. A man's strength can cultivate a hundred acres, and he will live to die, and he will pay taxes to the husband and give them to the princes.' It can be seen that if your Majesty wants to seek a great harmony, he must seek the rule of the king's way. If you want to seek the rule of the king's way, you must seek the land and the taxes are equal. Is it possible now?"

Qiu Jun paused slightly, as if waiting for someone to refute.

But no one refuted it.

The so-called ultimate ideal of Confucianism, the well-field system, itself is an ideal state without land annexation. It is in line with the family contract responsibility system in later generations.

It can even be said that if a great scholar resurrected underground and saw such a system, he would probably applaud. This is the embodiment of an ideal social system.

But now, no one can talk about the well-field system or the equal-field idea.

In fact, what is truly practicing in this aspect is Emperor Taizu. Emperor Taizu had so many major cases back then that they would be a big family at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and wiped out one by one. The big family with thousands of acres of land would be easy to move to foreign lands or fall apart. In modern times, many families were just hundreds of acres of land.

Only Beijing, Nanjing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other areas have a higher degree of mergers because there are many high-ranking officials and nobles.

And who are you doing it?

Great scholars, officials, nobles, and scholars.

They were the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty and the main force of land annexation. Especially the nobles, who came from the army, were much ugly than some scholars and officials in terms of food.

At this time, who would say that the land should be equalized and that the land of the ploughers would be the only one that would offend everyone present.

What's more, the emperor today is not an ordinary emperor.

If he really incorporates this policy into the national policy and takes these high profile seriously, he doesn't know what kind of chaos will be created.

So, no one refuted it and agreed.

Qiu Jun then said, "You can't do three."

"Taizu saw the suffering of the people, and the uprising soldiers cleared the world. They all paid taxes and set grain taxes. But now it has only been decades. In decades, the situation in the world collapsed. His Majesty Xing and his strong advocated clearing the 1 or 2 can be saved. Even if the land is equalized now, the merger will be reborn in less than decades. This is the case."

"Taizu was in a time when the world was in chaos and people were determined. There was no one in the wilderness, so they could reclaim land. Taizu Daxing settled and reclaimed idle land. There was the prosperity of today, but now there was no idle land except the northeast, northwest, Huguang, and Yunnan-Guizhou areas. There was no land to reclaim, which was the second thing."

"The population is growing, with a large population and a small land. Many places, even if they strongly advocate equalizing the land, their land may not be able to support them. Fujian is one of them, and this is the third one."

This is why, in ancient times, administrative violence may be used to redistribute land, and then it is impossible to use swords from the field system.

Even things like clearing the land and clearing the tax base can be said to be a big deal.

Qiu Jun said: "In this way, the population has grown and the people have no land, so they can only become refugees. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees between Yunyang, which are pacified by the court. In just a few years, tens of thousands of them gathered."

"Where is Yunyang?"

"The upper reaches of the Han River, surrounded by mountains, there are many mountains and few lands here, and only barren land in the mountains can be cultivated. Only a few buckets can be collected, and there is still a shortage of filling the belly. Not to mention, during the appearance of jackals, tigers and leopards in the mountains, this is a harsh rule than a tiger."

"If the imperial court does not think about change, decades later, there will be people like Zhang Jiao Huang Chao who are born among the grassroots. The so-called peaceful and prosperous era is just a disaster."

This is also what Zhu Qizhen is worried about.

Zhu Qizhen's actions seemed to push the Ming Dynasty to its strongest prosperity, but did not change the most fundamental logic of the Ming Dynasty's economic operation.

In history, there was no need to say that the Ming Dynasty was in chaos before and after Tumu Fort. However, after the two emperors of Chenghua and Hongzhi, during the Zhengde period, there was Liu Liu and Liu Qi uprising, which almost spread throughout the north. During the Jiajing period, there were Japanese pirates in the south and Tartars in the north.

These seem to be political issues, but in fact, they are caused by the laws of the economic operation of the Ming Dynasty.

A series of problems such as land annexation and the gap between the rich and the poor have been affected from the economic level to other levels.

Zhu Qizhen has made great achievements. Perhaps his current actions can keep the Ming Dynasty's strength for about a hundred years, but if there is no fundamental adjustment, about a hundred years later, there will be chaos in the country and exhaustion in the military. At that time, even if the Western Regions and South China are in hand, it may not be able to be maintained.

Zhu Qizhen said: "This is where I feel sad and sigh day and night, and I also ask Qiu Qing to answer my doubts."

Qiu Jun bowed and said, "I dare not, I just inherited the rest of your Majesty's thoughts and dared to say something."

"I am from Qiongzhou. I am in the south of the Ming Dynasty and closest to Nanyang. I have always known that the Nanyang area has a humid climate and is ripe three times a year. Although it is harmed by insects and snakes and plagues, its land is enough to nourish people. The Yizhou Prefecture was a place where savages appeared more than ten years ago. Now, in just over ten years, one prefecture and three counties are enough to nourish 300,000 people."

"I don't know how many places are in the South Ocean, Dayizhou Island. With the places in the South Ocean, it can support hundreds of millions of people. There is no idle land in the Central Plains. The north is led to the northeast and western regions, and the south is led to the south. It can support people in a wider area, which is enough to make up for the troubles."

"However, this matter cannot be accomplished in a short time. We must expand our industries to accommodate the people and establish a livelihood to survive."

"Taizu thought of fostering the people, and this is a major event in the world. The people's life and death are related to it. The court dares not forget it for a moment. The descendants of all generations should follow it without doubt."

"As for all the worries of Lord Zhou, it can be said that he is worried about the world. Mencius said: "If a king treats his ministers as his hands and feet, then his ministers regard him as his confidant; if a king treats his ministers as dogs and horses, then his ministers regard him as his countrymen; if a king treats his ministers as earth, then his ministers regard him as enemies." He caressed and raised him, and was born and gathered together. Although his parents have no faults, how can the people not be loyal and filial to seek repayment? Instead, they have a different intention and cause trouble. Is it because someone wants to deceive the emperor and suppress the people, which will lead to the emperor's kindness and cannot give to the people?"

Zhu Qizhen said: "Qiu Qing's words are sincere and good words from gold and jade. What do you think of your family?"

Zhu Qizhen said this, what else can other ministers say?

The tendency of this is very clear.

Zhu Qizhen actually understood this, and he couldn't wait to make his position. After all, Qiu Jun's postulation solved two problems after passing it.

One is to worry about the difficulties on the land. Before, almost all financial changes were based on agriculture. Not to mention that the Song Dynasty's industrial and commercial tax revenue exceeded half, just looking at the Song Dynasty's actions, almost everything that made profits was controlled by the government. The Song Dynasty's economic vitality was actually far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty.

But from this point of view, what the Ming Dynasty developed in the future will definitely not focus on mercantilism, but on heavy industry. It is not about focusing on the efficiency of industry, but to support more people.

In other words, it is for the employment rate.

People without livelihood are the biggest unstable factor. Whether in the Ming Dynasty or later generations, they are common in this regard, not to mention that in this way, it has become a national policy.

"Your Majesty is wise, I can't wait." Yang Hong and others immediately bowed and said.

For the nobles, some people understand many things, while others do not understand them, just like listening to heavenly books. But if you understand one thing, then you will use military service to Nanyang.

This was immediately supported by the nobles.

It’s nothing else. After the Battle of the Western Regions, civil servants were creating a trend of peace and prosperity, and there was a national celebration of the great birthday banquet for thousands of years.

It would rather throw hundreds of thousands of taels of silver into the water than create a peaceful atmosphere. One of the things is to take over the military power from the Privy Council.
Chapter completed!