Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

In fact, Dao Yan had already got the news from Zhu Di. Zhu Di planned to establish North and South Zhili, that is, the current Zhili was changed to South Zhili, and the "Jingnan Old District" included Beiping Prefecture, Yongping Prefecture (Ji The area from the prefecture to Shanhaiguan), Baoding Prefecture, and the Hejian Prefecture, Zhending Prefecture, Shunde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture that were later controlled were set up as North Zhili, which was the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life.

Of the two princes, one stayed in South Zhili and the other went to the "Jingnan Elderly Area" in North Zhili where conditions were relatively difficult.

Where Jiang Xinghuo goes is also an issue that Dao Yan must consider. It can even be said that it is the first issue that needs to be considered.

After all, whether it is to promote new ideas or inspire new manufacturing capabilities, there is a need for a test field, and no matter which one is used as a test field, South Zhili or North Zhili, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. No one place is the same. There are no benefits. On the contrary, in Dao Yan's view, even the advantages and disadvantages of the North and South Zhili are equal.

In South Zhili, the advantage is that South Zhili has developed commerce and a good material foundation. Just like the Southern Song Dynasty, it is easy to spawn large-scale handicraft workshops for export industries through the maritime trade brought by the voyages to the West (not in China). factories), such as silk, ceramics, tea bricks, etc.

The disadvantage is that Nanzhili is also the basis of the gentry class in Jiangnan. These scholars who use the fields as the capital of "farming, reading and passing down the family" not only hate commerce and trade, but also hate any change that destroys the traditional order. .

Moreover, the gentry class has an absolute advantage in terms of the right to speak in public opinion and control at the grassroots level. If they want to start reforming from South Zhili, they will face huge resistance from all aspects.

In Beizhili, the disadvantage is that the population in the north is sparsely populated, and now it has been devastated by war, and the economy is basically on the verge of collapse. Talk about moving to the next stage?

The advantage is that they are all "Jingnan old areas". After four years of the Jingnan War, from government organizations to private villages, they have completed a complete military transformation. All resources, including manpower and material resources, are uniformly dispatched. Serving the war, this also means that Beizhili is extremely organized and faces extremely low resistance.

The war has just ended and normal conditions have not yet returned, so if you want to change things, you only need to give an order and it will be implemented well, with little resistance from top to bottom.

Of course, the premise is that if the obstacles from the Yan army's internal civil service system, that is, the northern civil service system, can be eliminated.

Here is an important person who has to be mentioned.

As the most important supporter of the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi, Guo Zi, the chief envoy of Peking.

If Dao Yan was Zhu Di's "Zhang Liang", and his army chief Jin Zhong was Zhu Di's "Chen Ping", then the Peiping envoy who assisted Zhu Gaochi and was actually responsible for the administration of the Yan army is now Beijing's Xingbu Shangshu (Xingbu Shangshu). , a special official name in the Yongle era, with the same rank as the six ministers, and the same position as the chief envoy of Peking) Guo Zi was Zhu Di's "Xiao He".

The Yan army had been fighting for four years, and it was all thanks to Guo Zi who was in charge of military pay. There was never any danger of starvation. It was Zhu Di who compared Guo Zi to "Xiao He".

However, Dao Yan's thoughts about which one of the North and South Zhili will be used as the experimental field after Jiang Xinghuo is released from prison only ends here.

After receiving the answer, Jiang Xinghuo continued talking.

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"I feel that there are only two violent organizations that comply with the law of blood reward, one is the army and the other is the gang." Zhu Gaoxu said.

"What do you think?"

Jiang Xinghuo turned around and looked around at the other two people.

"I think so too." Zheng He said, stroking his beard.

Zhu Di nodded without saying anything.

Seeing that several people had the same idea, Jiang Xinghuo said: "In order to help you understand the law of blood rewards, it is also to understand the two extreme models of feudal state management, namely the pursuit of long-term maximization of blood rewards and the pursuit of short-term blood rewards. Maximized situation. I will use a short historical story as an example to illustrate this part."

"This story is called Duck City Storm."

"Blood reward is a reward for the bloodshed and hard work of violent organizations, either from the army or gangs. Our story starts with a gang in the mountains near Yacheng, Jiannan Road during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. , how violent organizations evolved to pursue the long-term maximization of blood rewards."

Several people listened to this little story called "Duck City Storm" with great interest.

Obviously, the times are real, but the names of people and places should be fictitious.

And Zhu Di is also looking forward to how to understand blood rewards from a group of gangsters, and how to see the shadow of feudal state management from a group of gangsters.

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and said.

"There is a group of gangsters near Yacheng who are kings of the mountain. They use the pattern of leaf tiles (an early prototype of mahjong that originated in the Tang and Song Dynasties) as masks. They are called 'mah bandits' and stop on the trade road to rob. As long as they are passing by, don't worry. No one can avoid the process of killing people and stealing goods."

"Of course, sometimes their leader Wang Mazi has a kind heart and doesn't necessarily kill people. Instead, he robs the money and lets the 'Mazi bandits' let the people go."

"Over time, the news of 'bandits' on this trade road spread among the merchant circles. What do you think the merchants will do?"

Zhu Di pondered for a moment and replied guessingly.

"Since you will lose everything regardless of whether you take your life or not, we must take a detour."

"Captain Yan is right!"

Jiang Xinghuo glanced at Captain Yan who dared to speak in front of the prince. He became more and more suspicious, but he could only hold back for the time being.

"So the businessmen all took a detour, and the people didn't leave here either. The 'horse bandits' began to sit back and eat. The 'horse bandits' realized that they could not continue to do this. This was tantamount to killing themselves. My parents."

"So Wang Mazi announced to the public that in the future, whether they are business travelers or pedestrians, the Ma bandits will not harm their lives or plunder their property. On the contrary, they will be given 'Mah cards' as proof of payment of protection fees. As long as you show the 'hemp card', then in the subsequent sections and forks in the road, the bandits will not harm your life, let alone ask for additional property."

"The selling price of 'hemp cards' is ten cents each, with a minimum price of one. Ma bandits set up cards on the trade roads, and pay copper coins according to the value of the business travel goods or the number of pedestrians, in exchange for the corresponding number of coins. 'Mahpai'."

Jiang Xinghuo continued to ask: "In this case, what do you think the businessmen and the people will do when faced with the 'hemp bandits' headed by Wang Mazi selling 'hemp cards' at clearly marked prices?"

Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard habitually and replied: "Of course we have to consider the time gain and loss of the detour and whether the bandits are trustworthy."

"One more thing." Zheng He reminded from the side: "You may encounter new bandits on the detour."

"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, but he didn't think comprehensively.

Zhu Di thoughtfully concluded: "So business travelers and ordinary people have to weigh a question: Is it cost-effective to buy 'hemp cards' from the hemp bandits, or is it more cost-effective to buy 'hemp cards' from the hemp bandits, or risk spending more time and being exposed to other people? The risk of gang robbery is worth taking a detour."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at his father's expression and carefully analyzed: "It should be a good deal to buy 'hemp cards'."

"Indeed."

Jiang Xinghuo also nodded and continued.

"So gradually, businessmen, travelers and ordinary people discovered that Wang Mazi was trustworthy and could indeed pass safely by buying 'hemp cards', and they gradually began to trust these ma bandits. In fact, some people from surrounding villages would even take the initiative to pay money to the ma bandits. Buying 'hemp cards' is not for the sake of access."

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment and asked subconsciously.

"If it's not for traffic, then what's it for?"

Jiang Xinghuo replied: "The purpose of paying for the 'hemp cards' is to allow these hemp bandits, who do not harm people's lives, to help them resist the looting of other gangs. Sometimes when disputes arise, Wang Mazi will be asked to help administer justice." "

Zhu Gaoxu said in surprise: "Is this still a gang? Isn't this an official army?"

Zhu Di's thinking was obviously deeper than that of his stupid son. Zhu Di was keenly aware that the 'hemp cards' at this time had actually become the equivalent of blood rewards.

Selling 'hemp cards' means that the hemp bandits are collecting blood rewards.

The common people have gone from fear to acceptance, and even need the Ma Bandits to help defend their homes and even mediate conflicts. This is obviously a turning point for the Ma Bandits, a violent organization, to pursue long-term maximization of blood rewards.

Because at this time, the hemp bandits have realized that only by changing from destroyers of order to maintainers of order can they sell more 'hemp cards' for a longer period of time and fish from the pond sustainably, instead of directly draining the pond. Drain and fish out.

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head slightly and said, "No, they are still gangsters, because some gangsters have insatiable desires."

"After all, the Ma bandits are not official soldiers. They can't follow orders and prohibitions. The Ma bandits don't completely obey Wang Mazi's words. Sometimes, the Ma bandits will take off their own leaf brand hoods and put on the costumes of other gangs. The villagers who came to rob had obviously paid money to buy the 'hemp cards'. Unfortunately, they did something dirty one time and were identified by the villagers who escaped."

"Wang Mazi is a hero. He really couldn't stand it when the rules of the bandits were broken, so he personally killed the bandits who broke the rules to express the anger of the people."

Zhu Gaoxu winced. Why did this story sound so similar to the story of his third son?

The only difference is that the third son was caught and raped by his imperial grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang.

Jiang Xinghuo continued to say calmly: "In this small gang of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, things like borrowing the heads of brothers to win the trust of the people would happen every now and then. Of course, this does not affect Wang Mazi's growing power. The bandits even began to put away their autumn supplies in a decent manner, and step by step, they began to really transform into the official army."