Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

As the leader of the largest violent organization under the Great Tomorrow, Zhu Di couldn't help but responded: "This is the inevitable result of the violent organization 'Ma Bandit', as Mr. Jiang said, starting to pursue the maximization of long-term returns in blood rewards. .”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded, but changed the subject.

"But as the number of Mazi gangsters increased, the powerful Wang Mazi gang attracted the attention of another violent organization that also relied on blood for its living."

At this point, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu, Zheng He and the others recalled that the so-called "Duck City Storm" did seem to have two violent organizational camps.

One is a Ma bandit gang headed by Wang Mazi, and the other has not yet appeared.

"Another violent organization that lives off blood? Who is it?" Zhu Gaoxu asked curiously.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't have the habit of titillating people, so he simply said: "That is the real official army, Huang Wulang, the recruiting envoy of Luzhou in Jiannan Road."

"Who is Huang Wulang?" After Li Jinglong left, Zhu Gaoxu's complimenting skills became more and more natural.

Jiang Xinghuo slowly introduced: "Huang Wulang, was born in the local Badong Huang family in Jiannan Road. He was the descendant of Huang Quan, a famous official in the Jihan Dynasty. He has been a local county commander for hundreds of years. He is often called Huang Wulang based on his ranking."

Hearing this, Zhu Di nodded.

When it comes to making up a story, at least Jiang Xinghuo did it in a decent way, because it seems that the Badong Huang family was indeed a powerful figure in the county in the past.

"During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Bashu, the Kingdom of Abundance, was also full of factions of officials and soldiers, fighting endlessly. Huang Wulang was obviously an official soldier, but his military discipline was corrupt and he committed all kinds of evil."

When Jiang Xinghuo said this, Zhu Di and the others were not surprised.

In troubled times, as long as people's hearts are dispersed, the world will become worse and worse, and it is not surprising that they will behave in any ugly way.

Jiang Xinghuo finally said after talking about the various crimes Huang Wulang committed in Yacheng.

"Huang Wulang even collected all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes from Yacheng under his jurisdiction ninety years later."

This number obviously stunned several people for a moment.

How dare you accept it!

"Why?" Zhu Gaoxu asked again.

Zheng He couldn't help but ask: "It stands to reason that the officers and soldiers should not be more interested in protecting the country and the people in order to maintain the local area for a long time? After all, the officers and soldiers are not gangs, and they should not act like this."

"Because everything is precarious."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and said: "If Huang Wulang cannot rely on the violent organization of the official army to ruthlessly scrape the territory, pursue the maximization of short-term profits in blood rewards, and then expand the army to build weapons, then he will soon be recruited by other envoys. It was a common thing during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that the enemy was defeated by a defensive force."

"After all, although the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was only fifty-three years in length, there were a total of five generations, nine surnames and fourteen emperors. The average length of each emperor's reign was only two and a half years, ah no, three and a half years. This is true for emperors, let alone places.”

Jiang Xinghuo, who almost turned into a fool for a while, stopped at the edge, calmed down and continued.

"If Huang Wulang doesn't do this and doesn't extend Yacheng's taxes to ninety years later. Then when he is defeated, not only will Yacheng become the territory of other envoys and defense envoys, but the taxes he did not collect at the beginning will , it has also become a source of tax for others, and they are still good at scrapping the land.”

"That's true." Zhu Di nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

After all, in troubled times, if you are not cruel enough, you will most likely be defeated by someone who is more cruel.

"Then what did Huang Wulang do next? Kill the bandits?" Zhu Gaoxu asked curiously.

Jiang Xinghuo did not answer his question directly, but said.

"Before telling the second half of the story, we might as well talk about the first half of the story. What can we learn?"

——————

In the secret room next door.

Dao Yan said: "Obviously, whether it is the gangsters headed by Wang Mazi or the officers and soldiers headed by Yacheng's recruitment envoy Huang Wulang, according to the law of blood rewards, they are all violent organizations that make a living by blood rewards, or in other words , whether it is the establishment of a feudal country or the management of a feudal country, the corresponding shadow can be found in this story called 'Duck City Storm'."

Xia Yuanji agreed with Dao Yan's point of view and continued: "It is true. If we look at the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in history, and even push it back a little further, to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many feudal state regimes have nothing to do with gangs. Different small violent organizations slowly expanded their territory and recruited soldiers, and gradually emerged as a feudal country."

"So, the path taken by the bandits, which is the so-called maximization of blood rewards, is actually no different from establishing and managing a feudal country?" Zhu Gaochi asked tentatively.

"I'm afraid Jiang Sheng means more than that."

Dao Yan turned the prayer beads in his hand and continued: "In fact, from another perspective, Huang Wulang, the Yacheng envoy, the military discipline of his officers and soldiers, and his own violent conquests, are not a feudal country. What about the decline?"

Zhu Gaochi heard this, smacked it carefully for a long time, and then asked: "According to Master Daoyan's wishes, will I do the same in the future? In order to expand the military, exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes will be levied until ninety years later."

"That's not true. Ninety years later is an exaggeration."

Daoyan smiled and shook his head.

But Zhu Gaochi's heart slowly sank.

Because Daoyan didn't answer the first half of his question!

——————

Under the new crooked neck tree.

Zhu Di also thought about this problem, and he asked: "Then Mr. Jiang thinks that since Yacheng recruits the officers and soldiers under Huang Wulang's command and the bandits under Wang Mazi's command, they represent the short-term/long-term maximization of blood rewards respectively. The two extremes of evolution, and said that this is no different from the establishment and management of a feudal country. Does that mean that Huang Wulang's path of expanding armaments for self-protection and depriving the people of their benefits is also the path that feudal state management will take in the final stages? Woolen cloth?"

"Not bad." Jiang Xinghuo replied affirmatively.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at his father and asked hesitantly: "Mr. Jiang, will the Ming Dynasty do the same?"

When Zhu Gaoxu asked this question, Zheng He immediately looked at the gray winter sky.

"We discussed this issue in the first class when we sat under that tree."

Jiang Xinghuo said calmly: "The combat power of the border troops has declined. If the alien race rises, then the Ming Dynasty, whose center of gravity is in the north, must invest more resources in border defense to ensure the safety of the temple center. So, please provide hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands Where did the money come from for the pay, uniforms, baggage, weapons, rewards for the frontier troops, the auxiliary troops needed to transport food thousands of miles, and the food for the civilians?"

Zhu Gaoxu said with some guilt, "Add, increase taxes."

"What a coincidence!"

Jiang Xinghuo patted Zheng He's thigh and said, "Huang Wulang thinks so too!"

"Huang Wulang, the envoy of Yacheng, heard that a gang called 'Ma Bandits' had emerged in the area under his jurisdiction, and they also engaged in the business of selling Ma cards to protect the environment and the people. Naturally, he was unhappy. So in order to wipe out the Ma Bandits , Huang Wulang levied additional 'money' from the residents of Echeng."

Zhu Gaoxu, who felt guilty, asked, "So Huang Wulang sent troops to suppress the bandits?"

"what's on your mind?"

Jiang Xinghuo looked at him strangely and asked, "Think about the three characteristics of the law of blood reward I mentioned before. Do you still remember it? Repeat it again."

Zhu Gaoxu recently benefited from being in prison and abstaining from sex, and his brain memory that was corroded by alcohol and sex has recovered a lot. He reviewed the three characteristics of the law of blood reward and repeated it.

“First, blood reward is the gain from violent plunder at the cost of life.

Second, when the blood reward is greater than the cost, violent competition occurs.

Third, violent competition does not create wealth. "

"That's it." Jiang Xinghuo said, "They are also a violent organization that pays with blood. The army under Huang Wulang, the Yacheng envoy, naturally has to consider these issues when it comes to whether to send troops. They may not Understand the three characteristics of the law of blood reward, but the principles of weighing pros and cons must be the same in the world."

Jiang Xinghuo opened it for him one by one and analyzed it: "First, sending troops to fight and getting blood rewards will kill people, right?"

"right."

"Second, the prerequisite for sending troops to fight must be that the benefits gained from winning the battle are much greater than the cost of death, right?"

"Yep."

"Article 3: War itself doesn't create wealth, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Isn't that the end?" Jiang Xinghuo said: "Huang Wulang sent troops to suppress the Ma bandits. They wanted to kill people, but they couldn't create wealth. Moreover, the Ma bandits were so powerful and powerful, but they didn't make much money. Huang Wulang couldn't be sure that he would win. The trophies obtained are worth more than the dead people. What if we lose our strength in the fight and are taken advantage of by other recruiters and defense envoys?"

While Zhu Gaoxu was still puzzling, Jiang Xinghuo continued: "Moreover, think about the benefits of not sending troops."

"Without sending troops and killing people, we can continue to collect money from the people of Yacheng in the name of exterminating the bandits. We can also be sure that we will not waste our strength with dead people and will not be missed by other recruiters and defense agents," said Huang Wulang. Why send troops?"

"This Huang Wulang's heart is so dark!" Zhu Gaoxu was speechless, and he said angrily after a long time, "Then he is not afraid that if he accepts the money and does not do anything, will the people of Yacheng be dissatisfied? If the people of Yacheng rise up and cause trouble , I guess he won’t be able to collect Huang Wulang’s salary, right?”

Jiang Xinghuo said matter-of-factly: "This is a little trick in the governance of a feudal country. The people are dissatisfied with tax collection. How should the civil service system respond?"

“First, we claim that nothing happened.

Second, we say that maybe something happened, but no action should be taken.

Then, maybe we should take action, but nothing can be done.

In the end, maybe we could have done something, but now it's too late. "

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, a little shocked by the shamelessness of the civil service system, but then he asked in depth: "What if the people of Yacheng are still dissatisfied with the money they receive?"

"Then we need to support a group of fake gangsters who will not weaken Huang Wulang's strength."