Dominate the Country

"Ming Li... Play music..."

When Chen Ming's boat approached the Shangxiaguan Wharf, the whole of Nanjing was boiling. Because this moment was a new beginning for Nanjing. More than a hundred years after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing returned to the most central stage of China politically. Salutes and firecrackers rang out, gongs and drums roared, and the crowd cheered. The huge sound scared Chen Ding, and his little hand tightly grasped his father's big hand.

"Don't be afraid." Chen Ming stroked the back of his son's head with his palm and comforted him: "This is to welcome us, don't be afraid. Follow Dad." Chen Ming and Chen Ding still need to show up in public, especially Chen Ming. As for Chen Ding, who was brought by him on purpose, this was a very obvious hint.

There was no need for the female family to show off. The carriage had been arranged at the wharf long ago. They just got on the carriage and entered the Prince's Mansion.

Yes, the Prince's Mansion, not the Eastern Palace. Chen Ming did not live in the inner palace, but set up another mansion.

The newly renovated palace is only one-fifth or one-sixth the size of the original Ming Imperial City. Although this area is the core area of ​​the Ming Palace, if you look at the Ming Palace from the top of Zijin Mountain, you can clearly see that there are large areas of blank space or dilapidated houses inside, such as the inner palace.

The repaired part of the Ming Palace is entirely along the central axis of the palace. The Meridian Gate, Chengtian Gate, Fengtian Hall, Huagai Hall, Jinshen Hall, Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, etc. have been properly built, while Fengxian Hall, Wuying Hall, Wenhua Hall, Rouyi Hall, etc. have all been saved. His responsibilities have been transferred to the three major halls.

Chen Han couldn't repair the entire Ming Palace. The time was too short. It was difficult to quickly prepare wood, bricks and tiles - glazed tiles. The total repair work was too huge, the silver and money consumed were too huge, and it would take a long time. So Chen Han only did a face-saving job for the restoration of the Ming Palace. Even the Chunhe Hall where the crown prince lived was only simply renovated, because the former Liangjiang Governor's Office outside the imperial city was opened up as a new crown prince's residence.

--It is not clear whether Chunhe Hall is the crown prince's eastern palace. I only found out that in April of the 25th year of Hongwu, "the crown prince died, and three days later he went to Chunhe Gate to cry in mourning.

Chen Ming was very different from the previous crown princes of the Ming Dynasty. He had to deal with numerous official and military affairs every day, and he had important responsibilities. What was the point of staying in the inner palace for a long time? Don't forget that there is also a Grand Commander's Office. So a new crown prince's residence was built, and for the sake of saving, the original Liangjiang Governor's Office was taken away.

The East Six Palaces and the West Six Palaces were only Each of them repaired a palace, and the inner garden was empty. The West Five Houses and the East Five Houses were in ruins.

With the arrival of Chen Ming, a new era officially arrived.

When summer and autumn turned, Chen Hui and his group moved from Lushan to Nanjing. The situation of Xinwu on the eve of Zhu Ming's northern expedition to the Central Plains was not only fully restored, but also greatly strengthened. Zhu Yuanzhang did not have the southeast coast at the time. After breaking Dadu, Zhu Baba proclaimed himself emperor and sent generals to clean up Fujian and Guangdong like a whirlwind.

When the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the Grand Military Governor's Office and other departments were completely settled, it was already April. Soon, European merchant ships would arrive.

On the glazed tower of the Great Baoen Temple, which was later regarded by Europeans as comparable to the Seven Wonders of the World, Chen Ming looked down at the Yangtze River. Merchant ships kept coming and going, just like the Yangtze River flowing eastward. It may also be like the monks of the Great Baoen Temple under his feet. They fled during the war in Nanjing, and now that they have just settled down, they have returned in a mess. .

When Chen Ming attacked Nanjing, the Qing army had weak resistance, and Gao Jin, then the governor-general of Liangjiang and the governor of Jiangsu, did not attack the Da Baoen Temple. Even if the Qing army counterattacked later, the offensive stopped at Zhongshan, and did not hinder the Da Baoen Temple on the Qinhuai River. When the situation stabilized, the monks of Da Baoen Temple raised more than 3,000 taels of silver, and Chen Min, who was in Nanjing at the time, also allocated 5,000 silver dollars to slightly repair the glazed tower.

"The merchant ships on the river are as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river. How can such a thing that benefits the country and the people be banned?"

"Is it true that the Celestial Empire is rich in products and has everything, and does not rely on foreign goods to exchange what it has? ”

The Ming Dynasty fell at the hands of the literati, but ‘China’ fell at the hands of the Qing Dynasty. Even in later generations, the Mongols who also slaughtered the world were not as hated as the Qing Dynasty, although the ‘glory’ of the Mongols had nothing to do with China!

Chen Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Although Chen Han’s current tariff types were fewer and the amount was lighter, the gradually prosperous commerce, frequent trade exchanges, and the continuous growth of domestic and foreign tariff revenues still made the tax silver amount rise sharply from the initial low. Just after the spring of this year, the tariff statistics exceeded 2 million silver dollars. If the summer and autumn boom period is added, and the winter is counted, this year’s tariff tax silver will definitely exceed 10 million silver dollars. It’s only been two short years, and it can provide Chen Han with an annual income of tens of millions of silver dollars [year]. The total annual income of the Qing Dynasty in the 30th year of Qianlong was 43 million taels [and tens of millions of shi of grain], and the annual tariff silver was 5.4 million taels, which can only be regarded as five-sixths of Chen Han’s tariff income.

"Your Highness. Intelligence from the base secret camp shows that from the beginning of the year to now, merchants from all over the country have ordered a total of 565 steam engines, water-powered looms and other machines from foreigners in Britain, France and other countries. If we include the numbers that the secret camp has not been able to find, the total number of machines will probably not be less than 700. "

"It's not just those merchants in the supply and demand system of the Industrial and Commercial Administration and the Logistics Department. There are also major textile companies in the Jiangnan area. These people don't order much machinery individually. It seems that they all bought it with the intention of imitating it."

"Now making simple Jenny machines has become popular. Carpenters everywhere have become a hot commodity..."

A smile appeared on Chen Ming's face. He knew that without the strong control from above, the profit-seeking nature of businessmen would make them take the initiative to explore the machinery. "Cotton prices are expected to rise again this year." As for those conservative businessmen, they will naturally be completely wiped out by the impact of the new wave.

Chen Ming didn't have the kindness to care for them either.

"Tai Shigong once said: The bustling world is for profit; the bustling world is for profit..." Chen Ming said with emotion, this sentence is an eternal truth.

Even Confucianists who are shy about speaking out and profiting, don’t they still seek a ‘fame’? So isn’t that another kind of ‘profit’?

Zhao Yi followed Chen Ming down the Glazed Pagoda calmly, and Chen Ming went home. In the afternoon, he had to discuss military affairs, but Zhao Yi stayed in the Qinhuai River, and Wang Huizu stayed with him.

"Brother Huan Zeng, it is true that corrupt Confucianism has harmed the country, and too much business power has harmed the country and disrupted the government. Your Highness is the prince of the Han Dynasty, with great prestige. In the future, he will inherit the rule and suppress those who dare to disobey. Your Highness means to come. The state affairs of the Japanese Han Dynasty have been going on like this for a long time, and the Han Dynasty is sharing the world with businessmen! "If Taoism does not exist and true Confucianism does not exist, is this still China? How absurd is it for a dignified prince of a country to ask for equipment because of the price of cotton?

In addition to having the blood of Han people, this Chen Han is really more 'deviant' than the Manchu men who shaved their heads and changed clothes. It's just that Zhao Yi didn't dare to say a single word of this psychological saying, as it would make his head fall off.

"Brother Yunsong, Mr. Zhao, things have changed, times have changed, how can we embrace the weak and remain weak?" Wang Huizu somewhat understood Zhao Yi's thoughts. He had also experienced this process at the beginning, but he had to give in. So Wang Huizu knew that he was bidding farewell to the word "scholar-bureaucrat" forever.

Wealth and honor cannot lead to sexual immorality, poverty and lowliness cannot change, and power and authority cannot yield. This is called a true man. Wang Huizu was not a man as Old Master Meng said.

"In the past, we relied on swords, guns, and horses to conquer the world, but now we rely on cannons and guns." The military expenditure of the Fuhan Army's soldiers and horses after all equipment has been replaced is how many times higher than that of the Qing Army with the same number of people? Chen Han was able to achieve today's great cause by chance, not because of Confucian farming, but because of the steel in the mines, but because of the wonderful method that allowed them to produce a hundred times the guns of the Qing Dynasty in a short time.

"The reality has changed, and the state system has naturally changed. If our Fuhan Army wants to maintain its strong combat effectiveness, it must have high military pay, and it must have guns and equipment that are much more advanced than those of the Manchus and more numerous than those of the Manchus."

"Brother Yunsong, is this something Ruzhi can give you?"

Confucianism cannot give it, but industry and commerce can. Therefore, Wang Huizu drank a glass of wine and said, "Chen Han can only work in industry and commerce."

"Don't talk about military affairs, just civil affairs. How much money has the imperial court spent in the past two years? Repairing bridges and roads, building river embankments, dredging canals and rivers, tax exemptions, and small-amount loans? Brother Yunsong, does he know how much money it is? ?

To tell you the truth, now Chen Han doesn't attach importance to industry and commerce, and he really can't even support the imperial court.

In that county, the number of officials, big and small, ranged from a dozen to dozens; the number of public officials and minor officials ranged from a hundred to hundreds. The annual salary alone costs thirty to forty thousand yuan. In the future, as the working length of these people increases, the monthly salary will increase accordingly. The official salaries and benefits in a province cost five to six million silver dollars a year. "This is still the most basic expense.

"The annual tax of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is only more than 40 million taels of silver. Now the Han Dynasty covers half of the southern country. If we go on the old way, the tax of that year will only be enough to pay the official salaries. What about the army? The world is big and small. There are so many places to use money?”

To put it bluntly, Chen Han now does not attach importance to industry and commerce, and they themselves cannot sustain it. For the Chen family dynasty, one side is their own survival, and the other side is Confucianism, Confucius and Mencius' way of governing the country. What choice do you think Chen Han will make?

Could it be that they would risk the world's chaos, lay off officials, lay off the army, lower civil and military salaries, and destroy the Great Wall to implement the Confucian and Mencius methods of governing the country? No idiot would do this.

"The Chen family values ​​its own world, not some bullshit orthodoxy." This is what Wang Huizu thinks, but he won't say it out loud.

"Brother Huan Zeng's words are wrong. In today's troubled times, fighting for the world and pacifying the Tartars, the Han Dynasty relies on the army formed by the simple farmers and the return of the world's scholars, not the businessmen in the market! Businessmen are only interested in profit. He is incorruptible and shameless, and he is good at deceiving people and corrupting people's morals. If it is not curbed, the world will despise agriculture and emphasize business, and the people will be shaken and oily. Without self-examination, simplicity will disappear, and the world will be ruined. Farmers are the foundation of the country!" Zhao Yi has been in the governor's office for some time, and he has also served as an official in Guangxi and Yunnan. He knows that Siam, Annan's grain output did not say that commerce was valued over agriculture, agriculture declined, grain production was not abundant, and the world would be in trouble.

"There can be one Huizhou in the world, but Huizhou cannot become the world." Zhao Yi's thinking still failed to break away from the old path. Surrendering to Chen Han and changing one's thinking are two completely different concepts. In the former case, Chen Han is making very good progress, while in the latter case, he is just miserable.

Wang Huizu shook his head mentally. Even though Zhao Yi had such a great reputation, if he couldn't change his mind, he wouldn't be able to stay with Chen Ming for long.

What Confucianism, what scholar-officials? After being instilled with the concept of 'cynic' by Chen Ming, Wang Huizu felt psychologically embarrassed, but he felt that it was really an appropriate description. If people really follow the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, even if they don't die, they won't serve as officials for foreigners, right? Recently, the prince was about to raise the pedestal of Nankong in Quzhou. Isn't it because Nankong had maintained some integrity during the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties and performed much better than Beikong. Although in the Qing Dynasty, their eldest brother let alone their second brother.

"Brother Yunsong, you and I are both scholars, so we don't have to flatter ourselves on the face of it. So where is the scholar-bureaucrat's return to his heart? It's a knife to his neck, and he has to surrender." To return the scholar-bureaucrat's return to his heart, give Chen It's more like Han making trouble.

Zhao Yi's face turned a little red. He was a typical person who was immediately 'persuaded' by Pang Zhenkun after the knife was put to his neck. He felt that Wang Huizu was trying to expose his shortcomings. However, Wang Huizu didn't give him a chance to lose his temper. Wang Huizu used himself as an example, Yuan Mu as an example, Yan Xishen, Peng Zhongrui, and Qin Dacheng as examples. Don't have too many people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. So:

"Stop talking about the moral integrity of scholar-bureaucrats. We have long since lost it, and so have our ancestors."

"When the Five Husbands invaded the Central Plains, Confucians could bend themselves to serve as thieves; when the Mongols destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, although thousands of scholars died for the Song Dynasty, more people bent themselves to serve as thieves; after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, this was even more true . Not to mention the Liao and Xia kingdoms that stood side by side with the Northern Song Dynasty. "The integrity of Confucianism has long been lost.

If the Manchu Qing Dynasty still practiced Han law and respected Confucius and Confucianism, then:

"Can these alien races be governed by Confucianism when they founded their country?" It is said that Hu has no luck for a hundred years. Which of the Liao and Xia countries has not lived for a hundred years? Although many Han literati went to Liaoxia to serve as officials during this period, as well as their local Han people, and even in the end Liaoxia had been basically Chineseized, the state governance in Liaoxia was still very different from the traditional Han law. .

"The teachings of Confucius and Mencius are deeply rooted in our Han people, and the virtues of education have lasted for two thousand years. They cannot be changed overnight."

"So the Mongolian cavalry that swept through the wilderness was expelled by Emperor Gao, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, less than a hundred years after entering the colorful world of the Central Plains."

"The Manchu and Qing Dynasties learned the lessons of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. They followed Han laws, respected Confucius and Confucianism, and the world was peaceful. Kangxi flattened the three feudal vassals and defeated the Junggar Mongols. In the middle and late stages, the government was chaotic and the officials blindly won people's hearts and took root in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. However, Also the officials were corrupt. Fortunately, Yongzheng rectified the world and cut down the officials. The magistrates enriched the treasury, and the elite troops under control were used to purify the world. By the time Qianlong became emperor, the Qing Dynasty was consolidated. If it weren't for the extraordinary talent of His Highness the Prince, we would have been the leader of hundreds of thousands of people who were captives of the Tartars." Compared with the original Manchu Qing Dynasty, Wang Huizu certainly prefers the current Chen Han.

"Brother Yunsong. Regarding kings, respecting Confucius and Confucianism and the learning of saints are all fake. Only the stability of their country is real. Do you think that if the Manchu and Qing Tatars didn't think that respecting Confucius and Confucianism and opening up schools to recruit scholars would help If they are to stabilize their country, will they take Confucianism seriously?

The key point now is not whether Chen Han respected Confucianism, but that Confucianism could not give the Han the necessary money and food. "

"The commercial tax of Zhejiang Province last year was as high as four million silver dollars. Shanghai paid nearly one million silver dollars a year. In Jiangsu Province, Shanghai also had commercial taxes of two million silver dollars. This year the amount will only be higher. "

"Everything is fake, the country is real." This is like a strong woman doing it. Since you can't resist, you have to endure it. And these people, represented by Wang Huizu, turned endurance into ‘enjoyment’. A bit like those cynics who knelt down to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. "Brother Yunsong is a great talent. Instead of feeling sad here, why not find a way out for other Confucians?"

Under the auspices of Shen Guozhen, Qin Dacheng, Yuan Mei and others, the so-called "New Confucianism" that was rebellious, has obtained the right to compile Chinese studies textbooks for all grades of primary and secondary schools. This is a "big" victory.

If Confucianism wants to get ahead in the future, it will have to work hard on New Confucianism. "Change leads to unification; change leads to blockage; change leads to prosperity; change leads to decline; change leads to growth; change leads to death." In the future, Confucianism must keep pace with the times and synthesize new knowledge. As for whether it exists in name but in reality, that is a matter of benevolence and wisdom. According to Chen Ming's words, hasn't Confucianism been changing throughout the ages? Why choose to be indifferent instead of enjoying it?

Wang Huizu didn't even know why the Crown Prince had such great discrimination against Confucianism? Privately, he had darkly thought, could it be that Chen Ming was so beaten and hated when he was a child? You must know that Chen Ming's concubine brother was a scholar, but Chen Ming, who was already sixteen years old when he started the army, was not even a boy.

Wang Huizu never revealed a word of this idea to outsiders.

Isn't it better for Confucianism to thrive with the times than to cling to its limitations?

After the King of Han proclaims himself emperor next year, the country's annual revenue will need to be reformed, including central taxes and local taxes, and the sharing of revenue between the central and local governments. Although the proportion of local revenue is not high, this also means that central revenue has decreased. If Chen Han wants to support huge government expenditures, military expenditures, and various financial expenditures, he must go further and further on the road of industry and commerce!

If Zhao Yi can't turn his head around, he may not be able to get kicked out by the prince until next year.

In the Prince's Mansion.

After having lunch, Chen Ming was leaning on the bed and watching Chen Ding playing with building blocks with great interest. His daughter, who was just six months old, was next to him, grabbing Chen Ming's hand with her fingers and playing happily. It seemed that Chen Ming's The palm is a very, very fun toy. While holding it in his hands, he laughed from time to time.

"Almost all the people in the mansion have come in. You have to take care of it carefully."

As a man, Chen Ming didn't want to spend too much time on the backyard, so he left it all to Li Xiaomei.

"Just focus on the things outside. Don't worry about the family." Li Xiaomei has never been a cowardly woman, otherwise she wouldn't have rushed to Xiangyang with the army with little Chen Ding to meet Chen Ming. She has Chen Ming's trust and love, holds the power of the housekeeper, and is the crown princess. If she can't deal with the beauties in the inner court, she is a pig.

"But why do you change other people's plays..." Li Xiaomei said dissatisfiedly.

The high-level officials of Chen Han have a strong habit of watching plays. This is a wave that the Chen Han court took the initiative to stir up. Li Xiaomei not only loves to watch plays, but also loves to watch new plays, but they are not about politics, just some love stories, talented men and beautiful women. In Chen Ming's view, this is just like the new TV series and movies in the 21st century.

It's just some drama content, in Chen Ming's opinion, it's really stupid.

"When a lady from a rich family comes to the temple and comes out to admire the moon in the middle of the night, she doesn't have a maidservant by her side? Are the rules of being a rich family fake?"

"And then there's the one who serves a large family alone, works hard, works tirelessly, takes care of her parents-in-law in their old age, and gives birth to children for her husband. In the end, her husband passes the imperial examination and brings back a lady from a rich family. She feels inferior, has rough hands and rough flesh, and voluntarily becomes a concubine and gives up the position of the wife. She's mentally ill..." Chen Ming must change it.

Art comes from life. Although it can be appropriately artistic, it also needs to tell the truth.