Chapter eight hundred and sixty seventh China Conference
Things have come to this day, and Zhang Ximeng has to admit that it is somewhat beyond his control... His understanding of overseas development is nothing more than to seize land, mines, open up markets, obtain profits, and then fill the Ming Dynasty's treasury and complete the accumulation of wealth.
But just imagine, even the princes of the Eastern Roman Empire traveled thousands of miles to seek advice from the Ming Dynasty. The impact on the surrounding countries can be imagined... The huge impact brought by the establishment of the Ming Dynasty has gradually begun to appear.
In fact, the Central Plains dynasty was originally the core of the entire order. The surrounding countries, more or less, had to imitate the Central Plains model, weave a bureaucratic system, and determine the strategy for governing the country.
Goryeo, Wa, Annan, and many other vassal states almost all followed Dong Shi's example, without exception.
For thousands of years, the sages of Confucius and Mencius have been equally effective in this vassal country.
However, since Zhang Ximeng re-evaluated history, argued for the equalization of land, and advocated the unity of all peoples, the set of ethics represented by Confucianism, which represented scholars, farmers, industry, and commerce, and the order of the four peoples, has been shaken.
After more than ten years of continuous elaboration and enrichment, this system has taken an absolute advantage in the Ming Dynasty...and in turn, has begun to radiate outwards.
Moreover, compared with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, this idea of advocating equality, uniformity, and equal land and endowment is more in line with the interests of the common people. Some middle- and lower-class scholars also enthusiastically advocate and highly agree with it. They are simply praised to the sky.
With the outbreak of the Annan Uprising, this sentiment was pushed to the extreme.
Action has already begun on the Champa side.
There was actually a scholar who distributed three thousand acres of his family's land to his tenant farmers. He said that he would follow Zhang Zi's proposition of realizing land to the tiller!
And he also put forward a very interesting point of view. He believed that if all countries had equalized land and every common person had their own land and could live and work in peace and contentment, there would be no wars or disputes.
At least this is the case for Champa and Annan. Now that Annan's land equalization policy has almost succeeded, Champa cannot lag behind others.
His view is very interesting, as it connects equalization of land with peace.
It's hard to say what he said makes sense, but there is indeed a market in Champa... The fundamental reason is that after so many years of fighting, they are also afraid.
Although Champa defeated the 120,000 Annan army, in terms of strength, Champa was far inferior to Annam.
The reason is also very simple. After all, Annan borders the Ming Dynasty and occasionally participates in battles in the Central Plains region.
As for Champa, it is purely an excellent matching mechanism for the Nanyang region. Facing Annan, it will be annexed sooner or later.
In this case, why not seize the opportunity, implement the land equalization system, and be included in the Chinese territory, and gain the protection of the Ming Dynasty. From then on, there will be no threat.
Wouldn't it be nice to live in peace and enjoy peace?
"Sir, if you look at it this way, wouldn't our Ming Dynasty be able to swallow up these territories easily?" Zhu Yuanzhang was not without excitement. Obviously, Lao Zhu was looking forward to expanding his territory. What made Lao Zhu even more excited was that along with
Juntian argued that the nine states of China are also growing. In this way, in his lifetime, the Ming Dynasty will indeed be far ahead of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and by then he will also be able to smile at Jiuquan.
Maybe when you go underground, you can see the emperors of the past dynasties, and everyone gathers together to chat... Qin Shihuang unified the world. Needless to say, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set the benchmark for civil affairs and martial arts. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was at the pinnacle of national power, and the Tang Dynasty was prosperous.
Where is our Emperor Hongwu?
We are of the lowest origin, we drove out the barbarians and restored China. Do you want to acknowledge this credit?
We will use civil and military skills to eradicate bad governance at home, expand the country abroad, and incorporate the places that you cannot take over into the territory of China, and then we will enter a prosperous and glorious era.
No matter what, we still look down upon heroes and look down upon kings... As for that good-for-nothing Zhao Kuangyin, he can't sit at the main table at all, so go away!
This picture is absolutely beautiful, and Zhu Yuanzhang was quite satisfied.
However, Zhang Ximeng was not so optimistic, "My lord, if nothing else, it would be a good idea to set up the Chief Envoy Department of Jiaozhi now, but I would like to ask, if we open a new school to obtain scholars, how many people from Jiaozhi can become officials in the court?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly startled. The excitement just now was gone, and he even looked a little depressed.
Not to mention Jiaozhi, even in the Ming Dynasty, this problem was not solved very well.
As mentioned earlier, the schools in the south, headed by Jimin School, took 70%, and the schools in the north, led by Fudan School, took away 30%.
This ratio in schools is reflected in the officialdom, and the situation is similar, or even more outrageous.
Officials from Jiangxi can account for 30%. If you include officials from Jiangnan, combined, more than half, completely control the government and influence the country.
After continuous reforms, coupled with the rise of Peking University, the North now accounts for about 40% to 45%. The South still has an advantage, but it is not so obvious.
In fact, smart people understand that behind education is the reflection of economic strength... Zhu Di has worked hard for so many years and invested so many resources. Peiping's industry and commerce are prosperous, the textile industry is superior to the Ming Dynasty, and new machine inventions are emerging one after another... All these added up,
Let Peking get more than 20% of the share.
In addition, Henan's population and economy have recovered rapidly. Combined with Shandong, the two most populous provinces, they also received 20%, which basically makes the difference between the north and the south not big.
But don't be too happy. If you draw a line from the Taihang Mountains all the way south, it will roughly divide the entire country into two halves, the east and west.
Whether it is the number of officials, educational resources, or even the development of industry and commerce... the east side has obtained more than 80% of the share!
The vast west is a complete desert, with only a few scattered places, such as Liangzhou, Dunhuang, Hami, Kunming run by Zhu Ying, and other places such as Guizhou. If Zhang Shuning's efforts in Longchang are not considered, it will be completely dark.
Even in the Central Plains, it is extremely difficult to incorporate Jiaozhi into it.
"My lord, just relying on the efforts of the Cochin people alone, I'm afraid there won't be a Jinshi in a few decades. They won't be able to get a share, so they will naturally have resentment. In addition, the distance is too far and the people's sentiments are complicated. After the land is equalized, enthusiasm will
subsided...I am afraid that soon, Jiaozhi will become a source of chaos again!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's face became more solemn and he looked very irritable... In a nutshell, this is the conflict between ideal and reality.
The external management strategy proposed by Zhongshu Sheng focuses on making money and exploiting.
Qian Tang wrote a letter, believing that the main task should be to strengthen China.
As an emperor with ideals, Lao Zhu even did not hesitate to give the respected Mr. Zhang a blow to forcefully reverse the national policy.
But as things developed, Annam, Champa, Japan, and other vassal states, Lao Zhu was really a little scared. This matter was indeed difficult to handle.
Because relying solely on ideals, when the ideals fade away, what will be left?
"Sir, now that things have come to this, you must have some great ideas!"
Zhang Ximeng smiled, "I can't speak of high opinions... Actually, this is a problem of governance costs. I think we can set up a Huaxia Assembly first... The so-called Huaxia Assembly is a vassal state, a territory, a vassal country, and we recommend virtuous people to come to the Ming Dynasty to face each other.
Meet His Majesty and discuss issues together. All participants will be given titles and status by His Majesty himself, which serves as a channel for communication, allowing them to monitor the situation in the country. If problems are discovered at any time, report them to the court."
"In normal times, local talents are still used to govern the place and reduce administrative costs...but the court must send enough soldiers and horses. In addition, outstanding local students must come to Ming Dynasty to receive education and have economic exchanges.
Arrange for our newspaper to go over... In short, we will plan it slowly, and with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, we will not worry about whether it will be successful."
Zhang Ximeng's words made Lao Zhu fall into deep thought.
The situation is obvious. There is no perfect solution in the world, and people's minds are always complex. No matter what choice you make, you have to find a balance between investment and return.
So Lao Zhu pondered over and over again, and finally made a decree in the direction of Annan.
This decree is very interesting, except that it continues to emphasize the flesh and blood of China and supports the equalization of land.
Lao Zhu came up with a brand new arrangement... The imperial court will not arrange officials in Jiaozhi for the time being. The Jiaozhi rebels and local sages will work together to select the governor to manage local affairs and decide on the use of troops.
The Ming army in Annan must cooperate with the governor of Annan, take care of the people of Annan, adapt to local conditions, promote land equalization, and eradicate the local wealthy families in Annan!
This decree reached Annan and had the final say.
The effect was so good that it exceeded the expectations of Hu Yan and others.
In the process of transmitting the decree, their soldiers and horses have exceeded 30,000 people!
This is just the regular army. Counting all the other militiamen and civilians, there are more than 200,000 troops outside Shenglong Mansion, which is much more than the powerful soldiers and horses inside Shenglong Mansion.
But the problem is also obvious. So many people have almost nothing in common except that they all want equal land. They don't even know who has the final say.
Wang Bi, Hu Yan, and Zhang Dong all had to try their best to coordinate and persuade, and they spent their limited time in endless wrangling, which was miserable.
But as soon as this decree came, everyone was relieved, and the matter was left to the people of Annan to solve. A group of officials were selected from among them, and the Ming army only assisted.
The real value of this decree is that it reassures the people of Annan that the Ming Dynasty is not trying to do anything to the big guys, but is sincerely helping them.
Therefore, they quickly completed the integration and elected Chen Ningbang, whose ancestors were Han Chinese, as the governor.
Then the subordinate officers were set up and the construction was completed.
On the tenth day after the decree was issued, thousands of soldiers, with weapons in hand, rushed towards Shenglong Mansion.
The siege began immediately, and it didn't take much time. Three days later, the east gate of Shenglong Mansion was opened, and then it was defeated thousands of miles away... The sky turned around, and the rebels took control of Shenglong Mansion.
A large number of dignitaries were captured, and the rebels escorted them to the river, and then showed their butcher knives... The popular activities started again. This time, more than a thousand bamboo poles were prepared by the river, which was not enough to replenish at any time... Bamboo, Annan