Speaking of ancient commercial prosperity, many people will subconsciously think of the Song Dynasty.
But the commercial prosperity of the Song Dynasty, or to be precise, the prosperity of the cities, relied on the crazy blood-sucking from the countryside. The only thing that the Song Dynasty could beat the Ming Dynasty in business was the prosperity of maritime trade - if maritime trade smuggling is also included, the Song Dynasty
You really may not win.
In the early years of Wanli, the business of the Ming Dynasty reached a peak in the feudal dynasty!
Although the Manchus were often looked down upon, by the middle of the Qing Dynasty, China's business flourished again, and its scale also exceeded that of the Song Dynasty.
Why did commerce flourish in the Ming and Qing Dynasties?
Great agricultural development!
In the Ming Dynasty, it was mainly rice and cotton. In the Qing Dynasty, on this basis, sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes appeared.
In the Ming Dynasty, improved rice varieties from Vietnam were truly popularized on a large scale. The flood discharge canal and reservoir system solved the floods in the south of the Yangtze River that had lasted for thousands of years. The oil residue from rapeseed and soybean oil was widely used to fertilize fields. This was popularized in the Ming Dynasty.
New fertilizers. Cotton planting methods were improved, and the imperial court guided the country to grow cotton.
The increase in rice production has solved the problem of food.
The promotion of cotton solved the problem of clothing.
So, the population exploded!
Big cities can't accommodate so many people, and rural areas can't accommodate so many people, so emerging towns have emerged. These towns not only absorb the redundant labor force in rural areas, but also form rural markets one after another. The emergence of rural markets has given rise to
They are a group of small businessmen who live outside the city. They purchase agricultural products at rural markets and transport the production materials needed by farmers from elsewhere.
Many wealthy businessmen and powerful gentry in the Ming Dynasty grew up from this kind of small businessmen, such as the Fei family where the Queen lives!
Just talking about the six prefectures of Susong, Changhu, Hangzhou and Jia, the number of towns in the Ming Dynasty was more than four times that of the Song Dynasty. You must know that there was the core of the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the prosperity of the countryside was far less than that of the Ming Dynasty.
The emergence of a large number of new towns has completely transformed China's social structure.
Before the Ming Dynasty, the development of Chinese society was actually the same as that of Europe later. The population continued to concentrate in big cities, and wealth also continued to concentrate in big cities. Starting from the Ming Dynasty, although it also concentrated in big cities, more and more
Emerging towns are formed. Large towns are saturated, and countless small towns appear. Finally, towns will appear in just a few villages!
As a result, China has a phenomenon of "separation of oil and water": political power is concentrated in cities and controlled by officials and powerful people. Cities have become centers for power and money transactions, daily necessities consumption centers, and luxury goods consumption centers. The main economic forces are scattered among
There are tens of thousands of towns and cities, which are the productivity centers of China, and it is difficult or even impossible for the government to effectively control them.
Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, it didn’t matter if the imperial power did not extend to the counties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was fatal if the imperial power did not extend to the counties, because the center of the national economy was not in the counties. If someone traveled back in time to the Ming and Qing dynasties and wanted to rebel, there was no need to rush to occupy the city. Go first
It is the last word to occupy those towns where commerce is prosperous and there are no walls.
This is China’s unique rural model. It not only affects China’s economic form, but also affects China’s social form. It even has an indelible impact on Chinese cultural customs and even Chinese people’s thinking!…
Rural China has been engraved in my bones.
Zhao Han announced that private merchants could weave brocade, and the number of merchants engaged in this business increased rapidly. Nanjing city could not accommodate it at all, so they had to move to build factories outside the city. The land outside the city was also limited, so go to the towns near Nanjing city.
transfer.
There are now three major Yunjin production bases in Jinling Prefecture, one outside Nanjing City, one in Jiangning Town, and one in Chunhua Town.
Shen Yourong was in Chunhua Town, and he recruited more than a thousand brocade weavers!
Not long after the Lantern Festival, Liang Xingdao, a wealthy businessman from Jiangning Town, came to visit Shen Yourong in person: "Does Mr. Shen know that His Majesty will ban women from entering the factory to work as weavers?"
"What?" Shen Yourong thought he heard wrongly.
"Your Majesty will ban women from entering the factory to work as weavers!" Liang Xingdao repeated again.
Shen Yourong was frightened and was a little confused. He thought with his remaining rationality: "His Majesty has always treated industry and commerce favorably. As long as they abide by the law, why has he ever given trouble to businessmen? Even Yunjin, a thing used by the former dynasty, is allowed to be operated by private merchants. , how could there be a sudden order banning women from working?”
Liang Xingdao lowered his hand and said: "Isn't it a good thing done by those pedantic scholars? After the Chinese New Year, many newspapers published articles against women's participation in the imperial examination. They said that women should not be exposed to the public. Women should be born to support their husbands, raise children, and support their parents-in-law... This newspaper public opinion It's one-sided, no one dares to speak for women anymore. A few days ago, there was a minister of the Ministry of Rites, named Cao, who asked His Majesty to ban female workers. Naturally, the ministers in the court were opposed to it, but there were also some who supported it. I heard what people say , His Majesty showed a hesitant look on his face when he went to court, as if he wanted to ban female workers!"
"Those bastards, must they be stupid from reading!" Shen Yourong cursed loudly.
Liang Xingdao said: "Aren't you stupid because of reading? You can even say this."
Actually, they used to think so too.
Shen Yourong's daughter got her diploma from high school. Although she could not go to college at public expense, she was eligible to go to college at her own expense. He first sent his daughter to college at his own expense. After only one year, he found a good husband's family and immediately asked his daughter to drop out of school. marriage.
In his opinion, going to college is just to improve his daughter's worth so that she can find a stronger husband's family.
If his daughter dares to become an official, he will break his daughter's legs with his own hands!
But things are different now, and those scholars must not be allowed to talk nonsense. Yun brocade weaving is his lifeblood, and the female workers are all hens that lay golden eggs. How can he allow scholars to throw dirty water?
Liang Xingdao sighed: "Well, your Majesty has everything going well, but he insists on taking away the gentry's land and giving it to those poor people in the countryside. We gentry have no land to collect rent now, so we can only do some business to live. If the recruitment of female workers is prohibited, , I will have to sit back and have nothing to lose from now on.”
Shen Yourong sneered: "Do you think His Majesty will not attack the powerful gentry without dividing the land?"
Shen Yourong is a descendant of Shen Wansan. From his ancestor's notes, he knows better than anyone else what happened that year.
Shen Wansan died long before Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, but the Shen family was indeed moved to Nanjing by Zhu Yuanzhang. In addition to the Shen family, there were a total of 67,300 households of wealthy gentry in Jiangnan, who were moved to Nanjing twice by Zhu Yuanzhang (except for businessmen) , and there are many local gentry families).…
Zhu Yuanzhang directly stated his purpose. He wanted to follow the example of Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and move the wealthy people from all over the world to Guanzhong. Firstly, it would prosper the Guanzhong economy, and secondly, they would gather together for better management and never allow powerful people to cause trouble in the local area.
To build the Nanjing City Wall, not only the Shen family contributed money, but also tens of thousands of wealthy gentry contributed money.
Why did so many people die in the Lan Jade case?
It was Zhu Yuanzhang who took the opportunity to eliminate the wealthy gentry and powerful people, deal with the very serious collusion between government and businessmen at that time, and at the same time, he could also steal money from wealthy households. The descendants of Shen Wansan were the ones who were involved in the Lan Jade case and beheaded. Exile of exile.
The Ming Dynasty's "Miscellaneous Records of Yufu" also records that during the several years of the investigation of the Lan Yu case, the wealthy merchant family who were moved to Nanjing either moved their entire families, were implicated in being killed, or were exiled as a whole, and almost no one of them survived.
It is estimated that Shen Wansan was the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River and his reputation was so great that people condensed the previous and later events and the experiences of tens of thousands of wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River into Shen Wansan, and the bizarre story of Zhu Yuanzhang and Shen Wansan emerged.
People like Zhu Yuanzhang often kill two birds with one stone.
Killing Lan Yu can pave the way for Zhu Yunzhen. Expanding the Lan Yu case can crack down on collusion between officials and businessmen, eliminate the influence of wealthy families on the court, and ruthlessly confiscate homes and make money.
Compared with other founding emperors, Zhao Han forcibly divided the gentry's property, which actually affected a wider area. Liu Bang moved the rich families all over the world, and Zhu Yuanzhang moved the rich families south of the Yangtze River. Their methods were similar to Zhao Han's, and they directly tapped local powerful people. The foundation, the next step is to kill whenever you want.
Shen Yourong recalled the experiences of his ancestors, and increasingly felt that the current emperor was the reincarnation of Zhu Yuanzhang.
He ignored Liang Xingdao who was walking around and forced himself to calm down and think. He closed his eyes and rested. After a long time, Shen Yourong opened his eyes and said: "This news should be released intentionally by His Majesty. The use of female workers is prohibited, unlike What your Majesty can do."
Hearing this, Liang Xingdao also began to think, and then said happily: "Then there is no need to worry!"
Shen Yourong said: "But if we don't accept the move, His Majesty is very likely to do it."
"Accept the move?" Liang Xingdao was puzzled.
Shen Yourong explained: "Your Majesty must be very dissatisfied with those rotten scholars. But as the emperor, it is inconvenient for him to come forward in person, and even the court is inconvenient. Therefore, His Majesty wants us to be the vanguard and roll up our sleeves to fight with those rotten scholars. Stick. If you don’t believe it, just watch. As long as we take action, next month, or the month after that, the "Datong Monthly" will stand up and sidetrack us, and make a final decision on our victory."
Liang Xingdao said doubtfully: "Since Your Majesty has already made a conclusion, why don't you just explain it clearly?"
Shen Yourong said: "Both the emperor and the court should be impartial, and the same is true for "Datong Monthly". A few rotten scholars jumped up and down, and the emperor was alerted to come forward. Where is the majesty of the court? Moreover, if the emperor is dismissed directly, it becomes a defense against the people. His words are even louder than those of Fangchuan. Not only those corrupt scholars are dissatisfied, but also businessmen like us are dissatisfied. If this thing hadn't happened, would you approve of the women's imperial examination?"
"I don't agree with this either," Liang Xingdao said.
Shen Yourong said: "But with this matter, we don't agree with it in our hearts, but we must agree with our mouths. Our mouths must not only support it now, but also continue to support it in the future."
"That's it!" Liang Xingdao was not a fool either.
Shen Yourong said: "Let's organize a gathering of merchants from the entire Jinling Prefecture. Even those who sell cloth should be invited together. We don't have female workers to weave cloth. Where can they buy it? Several joint ventures will set up a newspaper office to run it. If there are dozens of companies, the government will issue licenses quickly. Before they get the licenses, they can pay for pen writers to write articles to refute those corrupt remarks. The bigger the fuss we make, the happier the emperor will be."
