Aztec Eternals

"Ah! My Ming Dynasty is based on agriculture and sericulture, and it is important to quell military affairs, but maritime trade is the source of chaos in the world?!..."

In the courtyard study, Shi Wende was horrified when he heard such words, and he could hardly sit on the half of the chair on his buttocks. The reason for his horror was naturally not the saying that "agriculture is the basis, and maritime trade is a disaster" itself.

In fact, he had heard countless times about the mainstream "agriculture is the basis, and commerce is the end" argument of the literati, and he despised it very much. These coastal gentry families, on the surface, "emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce, and advocate education", but secretly annexed land, made alliances, drove sea merchants and pirates, and swallowed up the goods and silver brought back by sea trade, but they never showed any mercy!

But at this moment, the governor of Zhejiang, the highest official in Zhejiang Province, said this to him, a sea merchant who had finally made it to the Juren. What weight did it have? ! Directly defining maritime trade as "the source of chaos", is this a warning? ! …

"Hmm? Sicheng, is there anything you don't understand?"

"Ah... I... I feel enlightened after listening to the teachings of the governor!... The sage Zhu Xi once said... The most important thing for people is to have enough food... The same is true for the country..."

Shi Wende stuttered and said a few words of the "agriculture-based" argument he had heard when arguing with others. The governor Wang Zhe looked at Shi Wende, who was sweating profusely, and smiled and gave instructions.

"Sicheng, Zhu Xi's Annotations are the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's selection of scholars. You should study them well... Zhu Xi's original words are 'the foundation of the people is to have enough food, so the country should focus on agriculture and grain'. The way to govern is to 'base on agriculture' and 'stability'."

"The reason behind this is also Zhu Xi's 'Qi Li'. From the human principle of 'people base on food' to the natural principle of 'country base on agriculture'! For the people, commerce, luxury, and extravagance are just minor matters. As long as you 'control your desires and cultivate yourself', you can restrain yourself. Only 'agriculture', eating and drinking are the only things that are important. Being well fed and clothed is something that must be satisfied. Otherwise, the people will have no way to survive and the country will be in turmoil…”

“Therefore, we follow the teachings of the saints and govern a region… The first thing is to ‘encourage agriculture’! Starting from February every year, we will inspect all prefectures and counties in the province, ‘invite the elders to teach them to supervise their children and work hard in the fields’. For example, this time, I started from the provincial capital Hangzhou and have been inspecting for more than two months. And the Ningbo Port, where the Maritime Customs Office is located, is the last stop of my inspection! …”

The seat of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration is naturally in the most important Hangzhou Prefecture. The official residence of the Right Provincial Administration Wang Zhe is naturally also in Hangzhou.

Agricultural production in the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain has always been a top priority for the entire Zhejiang Province, and it is also the most important indicator for the examination of officials in Zhejiang Province in the Ming Dynasty, and it must be urged as soon as possible. After the spring plowing supervision was completed, Wang Zhe, the Right Provincial Government Commissioner, chose Ningbo Port, which was "open to trade", as the last stop of the inspection and stayed here for a long time... Thinking about it, it is indeed meaningful.

Just like Wang Zhe ordered his servants to set up a separate courtyard in Ningbo Port, which was "open to trade with Japan", as soon as he took office last year, and often came to inspect. For this provincial government commissioner who was born in Shanxi, served as a councilor in Shaanxi, and guarded against "northern barbarians" in the border areas, he must have followed the experience of the north and regarded Ningbo as the biggest "unstable factor" in Zhejiang Province and the most unstable "border town".

"Ah! Yes...what the governor taught me is...Zhu Xi's learning is profound, broad and all-encompassing. I still have to study the 'nature' and 'qi' in it carefully...I also have to ask for advice from the erudite teacher like the governor for the parts I don't understand!..."

Shi Wende was smiling and flattering sincerely, and moved his butt forward again, sitting on the side. Zhu Xi's knowledge has always been the standard answer for the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations, equivalent to the original book of the "national examination". But the real difficulty in it, how can Shi Wende, a sea merchant without the guidance of a famous teacher and the inheritance of family learning, understand it?

This is not the later generations with advanced consultation. It is very difficult to learn some real things about the imperial examination. The inheritance of each academy and each master is based on the "original book", and has its own set of "annotations" explanations, that is, different "Zhu Shu".

The chief examiner who reviews the examination papers only needs to look at the content of the article and see "Zhu's ideas and thoughts", and guess the candidate's teacher background and family background. This kind of "ideological" judgment will become the most important reference for admission to the imperial examination!

Therefore, ordinary poor people who have not worshipped famous teachers and have no family background, and rely solely on the "original classics" of the Four Books and Five Classics, will never become Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty. No matter how high the literary talent is, no matter how well the article is written, if it does not meet the "ideology" of the judges, then the Juren will be the top! …

As for Zhu Xi's "nature and reason" and "qi reason", things are divided into material "qi" and "quality", and objective laws that are higher than matter, "reason". With this set of cognitive tools, we can study and explain all aspects of the problem, thus giving Confucianism a "big upgrade".

The most powerful point of this "reason" is that it not only includes "objective laws" and "the unchanging part of science", but also integrates "human morality" and includes "the part of spiritual change". In this way, "reason" becomes all-encompassing and all-pervasive, almost having the flavor of a religious command, forming a very complete logic and system of things!

The so-called unity of "the way of heaven and the way of humanity" can be encompassed from personal "focus, sincerity, and self-cultivation" to social "ordering the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world." The "etiquette" of Confucianism has finally reached its completion and can penetrate into all aspects of society! The current etiquette clarifies all order from life to death, and is extremely powerful, enough to make all "monotheistic religions" feel ashamed and powerless...

"Well...Zhu Xi's knowledge is profound and profound. Sicheng, if you are really eager to learn, then the way to become a saint in the future may not stop at lifting people up!... Of course, compared with Li Gong, my knowledge is inferior. I’m so ashamed of myself…”

Hearing Shi Wende's statement of "diligence in learning", the chief envoy Wang Zhe raised his eyelids, glanced at him, and once again placed his hand on the "Collection of Le Van Xi Gong". Unfortunately, what Shi Wende can't forget is the official statement that "sea trade is the source of trouble."

If this is the tone, how should the Tarshish family's maritime business be handled now? Sea trade, which is making a lot of money these days, can’t really let it go completely, right? And if he let it go, Shi Shi would have saved enough money, bought enough land, and gained the reputation of being a patron. Even if there is no sea trade, one can still sit back and be a big landowner.

But how could the two to three hundred "sailors" raised at sea disperse obediently? These people have seen a lot of quick money, are used to handling swords and guns, and have no family to drag them down. If any trouble occurs, shouldn't it be blamed on them? You can't just hand over all their heads to the army, right? It doesn't matter if the sailor loses his head, but if the officers and soldiers smell it and bite it, the Shi family will still have to peel off a layer of skin! …

Thinking of these dilemmas, Shi Wende felt really uneasy. He licked his dry lips, tried his best to smile, looked at Wang Zhe's face, and carefully asked for advice.

"Fantai...students...students have heard people say that the Southern Song Dynasty flourished in sea trade, the people were rich, and taxes filled the treasury, so our Ming Dynasty can also follow suit...Ah! These must be fallacies and heresies, but the world is so ignorant, how should I refute and give advice? To make them wake up..."

Hearing this, the chief envoy Wang Zhe took a deep look at Shi Wende. He lowered his eyelids, pondered for a moment, and then spoke lightly.

"As for the evaluation of the people of Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty scholars have long had a public opinion. Sicheng, since you sincerely ask for advice, then I will give you a few pointers for the sake of your teacher Liu Gong..."

"First, the loss of land in the Song Dynasty caused trouble on the border. It only benefited from selling ships and could not protect the border and defend the country. Secondly, the Song Dynasty used commercial ships for national purposes, and its internal affairs declined. The Jia people became increasingly arrogant, and their government could not last long. Third, people in the Song Dynasty were extravagant in imported things, accustomed to their licentiousness and extravagance, and lost the elegance of the Central Plains..."

"And among these three points, the most important one is the first! The people of the Song Dynasty lost their land and settled in a corner, and gradually lost the northern and central plains! The Southern Song Dynasty, when maritime trade was the most prosperous, even built Lin'an as its capital, completely disregarding the life and death of the Han people who had fallen in the northern land!... "

"This is the biggest difference between the two Song Dynasties and our Ming Dynasty! The two Song Dynasties first established their capitals in Bianliang in the Central Plains, and later in Lin'an in the south of the Yangtze River. Although commerce and trade were prosperous, they did not contribute to the state affairs, and instead became increasingly declining. However, our emperor's capital in the Ming Dynasty was Shuntian Mansion. The emperor guards the country's frontiers, and the east, west, and north of Liao are the top priority of our emperor's management!"

"However, the northern land is barren, the people have many hardships, and there are raging bandit disasters. I was born in Shanxi, and as long as I can remember, I have to prepare for the northern bandits every year. Wherever the bandits go, no humans or animals are left behind. In the 14th year of Zhengtong, The Wala army invaded the south, and Yingzong led the northern expedition, which even led to the Tumubao Incident! ...Later, I served as the chief envoy of Shaanxi and participated in politics, taking charge of the defense of the captives in Shaanxi, and saw the captives in the northwest..."

"There are continuous wars in the north, and there are armies stationed on all sides, so it is difficult to provide food for oneself. The money, grain, cloth, and silk from the south of the Yangtze River must be transported to the frontier fortresses, so that they can have enough food and pay! Therefore, when our emperor formulates national policies, he not only considers Jiangnan, we should also consider the north of the river, the nine borders of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Liao, and the northern Zhili of the imperial capital! These two capitals and thirteen provinces are all integrated into the north and the south..."

"In order to balance the north and the south, Emperor Taizu not only stipulated heavy taxes in the south of the Yangtze River, but also created the 'Kai Zhong Law'... This is to use the money, food and cloth from the south of the Yangtze River to support the border affairs of the north!..."

Speaking of this, the chief envoy Wang Zhe's eyes were deep. As a Jinshi who was born in the North, he ruled successively in Shaanxi, the poorest country, and Zhejiang, the richest country. He knows better than anyone else. How unbalanced is the wealth between the north and the south of the Ming Dynasty now! It can be said that the money, grain, cloth and silk produced by Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province are better than those of Shaanxi Province.

But since Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty established Shuntian Prefecture as the capital, the Ming Dynasty has focused on the management of the northern border areas, with Northern Zhili as the "head" and Liaodong and Gansu and Shaanxi as the "arms". The position of Jiangnan is the logistics transportation place for "grain and silk". To put it mildly, it is a "butt".

This "butt" of transportation must listen to the "head", farm and weave, and hand over money, grain, cloth and silk. Jiangnan should not have too much political power and status, let alone too many troops! Otherwise, if you want power, money and food, and an army, you will directly cultivate a second "head"! At that time, will this second "head" still be the "butt" that pays money and food?

If it is the same as Zheng He's voyages to the West, sea trade will be expanded. Nanzhili established a navy with hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of people, and often went to sea on a large scale...not to mention the consumption of southern money and grain, and the impact on the transportation to the northern frontier. The economy and politics of the empire were completely out of balance, with the south being more important than the north, and the top being too heavy... The political structure problems this brought about were huge! Is it necessary to move the capital from Northern Zhili back to Southern Zhili? ! …

Of course, the scholars, especially those in the north, were aware of these political considerations of imbalance between the north and the south, but they were not easy to say so directly. At this moment, the governor Wang Zhe made a serious judgment in a deep tone, leaving no room for doubt.

"Once the sea trade is opened, Jiangnan becomes more prosperous, and the north becomes more destitute. The more Jiangnan becomes richer, the more the Kaizhongfa becomes corrupt, and the grain transported to the nine borders becomes less and less. If this continues, the borders will inevitably wait for food and money, and the border affairs will be corrupted, and even chaos will break out. At that time, how can Northern Zhili be stable?!..."

"This time, I visited Zhejiang and saw that many prefectures and counties have changed fertile fields from rice to mulberry, and grain output has also decreased. The people are pursuing profits and disregarding the overall interests of the country, which really makes me worried!..."

"The Song people took Jiangnan as their foundation and abandoned the north, so they opened up the sea trade... But our dynasty is based in the north. Once the sea trade in Jiangnan is opened, the people will be cunning and profit-seeking, and the Japanese will disturb the sea, which will inevitably cause endless disasters!!..."