Pan Wei, who stayed in Gujarat, learned more news about the Mughals from the crown prince every day.
He wrote in his work notes:
"The Mughal state of India has completed organizational decentralization, but this system is full of loopholes."
"Each local province has a provincial governor, just like the governor of the previous Ming Dynasty. Under the provincial governor, there are Subadar and Diwan. Subadar can be regarded as the chief envoy. Diwan is responsible for the finance of a province."
"The princes of the Mughal Kingdom were all appointed governors. One person managed one province, or one person managed several provinces. There were also clan members or nobles who were appointed governors by the Mughal monarchs. These nobles must live in Delhi or Ala
Ge, his family is like a hostage held by the king."
"However, the Mughal emperor is old and faint. The governors of each province have more and more power. They can mint their own coins and appoint officials at will. The promotion and replacement of provincial governors is continuously extended. If things go on like this, within a hundred years, the provincial governors may become
Zhou Mu was in a state of separatism at the end of the Han Dynasty..."
If the provincial governors separate and become independent, they will become feudal states, which will appear one after another in about fifty years.
Of course, there are other forms of feudal states.
One is the Rajputs, which are foreign ethnic groups that have arrived in India one after another for thousands of years. They have their own territory, their own army, and remain relatively independent in the Mughal Empire.
One is the combination of capital landlords and military groups. With the development of Mughal commerce, landlords continued to erode power, even obtained the right to collect commercial taxes, and gradually became merchants and bankers. Long-term wars and chaos led to the traditional military
As the system declined, local powerful factions began to train Western-style mercenaries. This model was very expensive and required loans from merchants. Gradually, military groups formed a community with merchants and landlords.
When the British colonized India, India was full of feudal states, which were formed due to the above three reasons.
At this time, the Mughals were still at the peak of their emperor's centralization of power, but there were already signs of the collapse of their rule.
The fundamental reason was that Shah Jahan's aggressive military campaign emptied the finances of the entire empire, which urgently needed to stop and recuperate. In order to relieve the financial pressure on the central government, provincial governors were given more power, allowing them to raise money to raise troops locally.
The first thing the next emperor should do is to take back power and disarmament.
However, the actual situation is that the emperor is not dead, but is seriously ill, and the four princes start to fight. The number of armies is increasing, and the power of provincial governors is getting stronger and stronger. The new emperor who has ascended to the throne is facing one after another rebel armies. Not only
If we cannot disarm, we must continue to expand the army. After the expansion, we cannot reduce the army. We can only use external troops to deflect internal conflicts.
As a result, the unfilial son born to Taj expanded the territory of the Mughal Empire to its peak. Once this man died, the local areas lost control. The provincial governors separated themselves into princely states, and the central government could no longer control the military and political power of each province.
The British East India Company took the opportunity to collude with the princely states and made huge profits crazily.
Today's Mughals and local officials are still very obedient.
Emperor Shah Jahan warmly received the Chinese delegation, and the nobles in the capital responded immediately, rushing to visit the members of the delegation and hosting banquets from time to time. On the way back to the delegation, local officials also received it attentively, for fear of neglecting the emperor's distinguished guests.
In this situation, there was no danger, and no one dared to touch the envoys as the emperor protected them.
After returning to the ship without any danger, Pan Wei submitted his work report, and others also submitted a summary of what they saw along the way.
Next stop, Persia.
Like the Mughal Empire, Saphi Persia was also in its heyday, and the centralized monarchy system had reached its peak.
King Abbas II of Persia combined political, military, judicial and religious power. Even most of the land in the country was declared to belong to the royal family, and some of the land was enfeoffed to officials in the form of land. However, farmers had no rights.
own land.
Abbas II worked hard to govern, not only continued to regain the lost land, but also built water conservancy, improved farming, reduced taxes, encouraged industry and commerce, built post roads, and encouraged literature and art... Overall, the national power has far exceeded that of the Mughals. No wonder it can start from the Mughals.
captured Kandahar from his hands.
Even though this is a green country, the social atmosphere is actually very open, and even in paintings, promiscuous women often appear.
Pan Wei gave Persia a very high evaluation and wrote in his work notes: "The ancient country of Persia is not in vain. This country has a prosperous culture, rich people, merchants gathered, and all industries are prosperous. The people are clean and self-loving, and the streets are not dirty.
Compared with the Mughal Kingdom, there is a world of difference..."
In a word, Saphi Persia belongs to a civilized country and can throw the Mughals out of the eight streets.
Even the Ottoman Empire was defeated by Persia at this time. From the hands of the Ottomans, Persia successively recovered Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Sumor, Baghdad and other places. It also completely drove the Portuguese colonists out of the Ho
Strait of Hormuz.
Zheng Dayong, the leader of the personal guard, also wrote in his notes: "The Persian soldiers have a clean and tidy appearance, and the same is true for the city garrison. Moreover, the territory is vast and the supply of troops is endless. Unless there is civil strife, it cannot be attacked by force."
Cai Yuncheng from Qintianyuan wrote a completely different evaluation:
"All the land in Persia belongs to the royal family. The officials in this country have no salary, and the king rewards them with land. Isn't this pre-Qin? In the whole world, is it not the land of the king? The emperor of Zhou just divided the princes. How can the officials be willing to return the land to the people?
King? In this way, officials will be hereditary, and they will eventually control the place and form princes, large and small. The more princes there are, the more they will be alienated from the king."
"The small people in this country have no right to own land. Those who have no permanent property have no perseverance, and the people's hearts will not be with the king. In the countryside, there are many hungry people, and there are many people selling their sons and daughters. Naturally, the people are in a state of poverty. No more than fifty
Years later, Persia will be in chaos and its disintegration is near."
"Sigh, the Holy Emperor of our country is so wise! Your Majesty comes from a commoner background and understands the hearts of the common people. He also understands that the heart of heaven is the heart of the people. So he wrote the "Three Principles" to explain the great way for the king and his subjects. Only in this way can the country be unified.
Eternal stability. The Persian monarchs and ministers do not know this way and regard the peasants as nothing more than grass. How can the country not be destroyed?"
Pan Wei's focus is on the cities and citizens of Persia.
Cai Yuncheng's focus is on the vast number of farmers in the Persian countryside.
Historically, the decline of Saphi Persia stemmed from the peasant uprising, and the Ottoman Empire took the opportunity to invade.
At night, the two drank and chatted.
Cai Yuncheng said with a smile: "Today's Persia is just like the middle Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The cities are so prosperous, the commerce is so prosperous, the culture is so prosperous, and the farmers... are so miserable! You are from a wealthy family, so naturally you only see the splendor of Persian cities.
But I come from a rural farming family, and when I know that farmers have no way to survive, I really want to rise up."
"Brother Cai is exaggerating," Pan Wei said unfazed. "I think in Persia, even though it has not received the teachings of saints and sages, it is already very rare. I asked the merchants in the city and they all said that the king of this country is a kind and wise king.
.Even the common people in the city also praised the Persian emperor. You and I went to sea this time and experienced countries big and small along the way. Who can compare with Persia?"
Cai Yuncheng said disdainfully: "I see, you have studied in primary and secondary school in vain, and you have not seriously understood the "Three Principles" at all. Peasants are the cornerstone of the country, and Persian peasants do not even have the right to own land. This Persian emperor or
Mercy, what about the next one? What about the next one? After meeting the benevolent emperor, the Persian farmers were already so poor and weak. Look at the seaport city, there is a street dedicated to the market, all because the farmers sold their sons and daughters. Again
If there is a tyrant, the peasants will not be able to survive, so they will have no choice but to die. Fight to the death for justice, rise up, kill the emperor and create a new world!"
Pan Wei couldn't argue and could only say: "Alarmist, alarmist!"
Cai Yuncheng sneered and said: "Am I alarmist? This flowery Persia is actually not as good as the Ming Dynasty. No matter how corrupt the Ming Dynasty is, at least the peasants' children study hard and still have the opportunity to become officials in the imperial examination. And what about Persia? All officials are hereditary, and the peasants are hereditary.
No chance of success!"
Pan Wei had clearly had a few too many drinks, and blurted out drunken words: "Since you are a farmer, you can just farm with peace of mind, what else do you need to get ahead?"
"Fuck you, try saying that again!" Cai Yuncheng was furious.
Pan Wei realized that he had made a mistake, so he apologized with an embarrassed smile: "It was my fault, so I will punish myself with three cups of wine. Haha, I will punish myself with three cups of wine."
Cai Yuncheng walked away, disgusted with Pan Wei.
Drunken words are what is spoken from the bottom of one's heart! Back in his room, Cai Yuncheng wrote furiously: "Your Majesty the commoner came from Jiangxi to gather people's hearts to cleanse the filth and restore a cheerful and bright world. However, the policy of dividing land was hated by the gentry and wealthy households.
The fields are connected to the streets, and there are crowds of slaves. This is what people want. Today, many of the princes in the imperial court are from poor and humble backgrounds, but how many of them can "preserve the laws of nature and destroy human desires"? One day, they may turn into jackals and feast on the wealth and wealth of the people in the world.
We, the scholars, should keep in mind His Majesty’s teachings and seek the happiness of all people in the world. We should stick to our true intentions even though thousands of people may point our fingers at you!”
Although he was a little drunk, Cai Yuncheng's thinking became clearer and clearer, and he continued to write:
"The sages have said, . Preserve the laws of nature and destroy human desires. Eat the emperor's salary and share the emperor's worries. Eat the people's salary and be diligent in civil affairs. This is the law of heaven. Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants should all perform their duties. This is the law of heaven. Once you gain power, you will
It is human desire to act as an official and to be greedy and demanding. To make the people rich, to annex land and to keep slaves is to be human desire!"
"Those who uphold the principles of nature and destroy human desires do so in strict accordance with the theory of Sanyuan. In the public theory of Sanyuan, Tianzheng is the leader. Those who destroy Tianzheng are those who bring harm to the country and the people. Everyone should be punished!
There are many wild and ambitious people on your side, so we should always be wary of them causing trouble to the world."
"When I was studying at Jinling University, I consulted the archives of the pre-Ming Dynasty. The reform of the whip law originated from the abolition of official fields in the Ming Dynasty. The abolition of official fields in the Ming Dynasty was due to the occupation of official fields by Gongqing Haoyou. This kind of occupation resulted in the occupation of official fields.
The land administration of the new Datong Dynasty does not allow the sale of land, which is no different from the official land of the Ming Dynasty. Beware of right-wing officials and right-wing officials who embezzle private land without buying it. If you destroy the land administration, you are not guilty!"
What does it mean to embezzle private land without buying it?
That is, the people were bankrupt and could only sell their land to survive. However, the big families did not dare to disrupt the land administration, so they did not trade the land ownership and permanently leased the land to the big families, transforming themselves into tenant farmers of the big families. This is how official land was occupied in the Ming Dynasty.
of.
Cai Yuncheng has decided that when he returns to Nanjing, he will go to Shu to ask His Majesty to close the loopholes in Tianzheng.
At least, make up for it from a legal perspective.
In the future, even if Tian Zheng is corrupted and officials who dare to take action are encountered, they will have full legal basis to take action against Hao You.
During the next trip, Cai Yuncheng continued to enrich his theory. He planned to create an academic sect, which may be called the "Tianli Sect". To conscientiously implement Zhao Han's system is to preserve the natural principles, and to destroy Zhao Han's system is to violate the natural principles and be punished.