Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 232 Why did the Ming Dynasty have no chance to meet the New World? [Please give me a monthly

"This is the root of the question 'Why did the Ming Dynasty have no connection with the New World?'"

Jiang Xinghuo patted his prison uniform, put down the globe in his hand, stood up calmly in the cell, and said while rubbing his wrist.

“Since the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, countless kings and dynasties in the past dynasties have treated the common people in such a way as to fool, weaken, tire, humiliate, and impoverish the common people. The purpose is to make the common people hungry and struggling to survive. Therefore, they have no ability and willingness to rebel and threaten the king's rule."

"The common people have never seen the light of day, and have never enjoyed a life of food, clothing, and prosperity. How many talented people do you think die in the fields just because they were born at the wrong time?"

Zheng He didn't agree with this.

Because Zheng He was a typical example of someone who climbed to a high position through his own hard work. Zheng He believed more in hard work than in fate.

In addition, I have read history books about emperors and generals since I was a child. I always feel that as long as you are a hero, you will naturally have a place to turn around in troubled times.

Zheng He's black and red face seemed to be twisted together. He looked at the empty cells around him and said after looking at the empty cells without prisoners: "In terms of origin, isn't Emperor Taizu Gao born as a common man? If there is a true hero, he can create the trend of the times. No."

Jiang Xinghuo was even more bold and chuckled: "Don't tell me that as long as you have the ability, you can get ahead. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the times create heroes. The world's rebellion against the Yuan is like a raging fire cooking oil. Without Taizu and Emperor Gao, wouldn't it be possible?" Will someone else drive out the Tartars and establish a new dynasty?"

Zheng He was speechless for a moment.

Jiang Xinghuo's words became more intense, but he asked in a tepid tone: "Furthermore, for the same Emperor Gao, why are all the elites in Peixian County of the Han Dynasty the world's elite, and why can Huaixi of the Ming Dynasty produce so many people?" How many ministers and generals?"

Zheng He had not thought about this issue. He only thought that according to the traditional saying, clouds follow dragons and winds follow tigers. For the destined king, there will naturally be a group of ministers who follow the dragon.

Not allowing Zheng He to continue thinking about the answer, Jiang Xinghuo continued.

"What did these people do before they rose up in rebellion?"

"Businessmen, petty officials, traders, and pawns!"

"Aren't we all now rich and powerful?"

Zheng He was at a loss for words for a moment, and did not say anything else. He only said that those in the Yan army who were now ennobled in the new dynasty were only low-level officers, street gangsters, and Mongolian generals who came from the capital of Peking.

Even he himself was a eunuch in Prince Yan's palace. Now that he ascended to heaven, was it really God's arrangement?

If you think about it carefully like this, wouldn't it be true that in every city in the world, there is a group of capable people who can rise to become marquises and prime ministers when the time comes?

It's just that these people may be working in the fields at this time and struggling to survive. Just because they have never seen what a wealthy and equal life is like, they have become those who are not enveloped in the light.

"Times create heroes, and China is like Yao and Shun!"

"It's just because the kings of the past dynasties wanted to rule the world for one family, and the ruling groups of the past dynasties did not let the people see the light for the sake of their own family interests."

Mentioning "light", Zheng He inexplicably remembered the previous topic - hard work is a virtue.

It seems that everything has been foreshadowed.

Jiang Xinghuo continued to say calmly: "If there is any monarch who brings peace to the world after the chaos and the people have a little food and clothing, he is the benevolent monarch and the Holy Lord, that's all!"

Next, there was an even more worrying question for Jiang Xinghuo.

"Even if the New World is filled with gold and silver and has countless high-yielding crops, which king do you think would encourage the people to set sail and seek wealth on their own? If everyone has an adventurous heart and abandons his homeland to go to the ocean, won't the world be in chaos?"

Zheng He was a little silent because he knew very well that what Jiang Xinghuo said was right.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang, the great emperor of the Ming Dynasty, promulgated the "Sea Ban Order" was not only to prevent Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng's old troops, but also to prevent people from going to sea and causing instability in the country's order.

"The people cannot be allowed to go to sea." Zheng He said, "Then the Ming government can't do it?"

Zheng He originally wanted to say, Mr. Jiang, please don’t lie to me.

In the first class, you said that Ming Dynasty wanted to go to the West.

Why can't you say no now?

But Jiang Xinghuo's intention obviously goes beyond that.

"Then let me ask you, who makes up the Ming government?" Jiang Xinghuo asked.

Zheng He thought for a while and replied: "Of course it is composed of officials and petty officials."

"Who are these people? No need to think about it, I will tell you the answer, these people are basically large, medium and small landowners!"

Jiang Xinghuo sneered and asked: "There are really high-yielding crops in the New World, do you think they would be happy to encourage them?

"Wrong! The first people to oppose high-yielding crops are the landowners!"

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the dirty cell floor at his feet, his tone inexplicably low.

"Farmers only need a small piece of land to sow seeds and everyone can have enough to eat. Who would sell their land at a low price in a disaster year? Who would borrow farm tools and seeds at a compound interest rate when the crops are still young?"

"If everyone is like this, wouldn't the interests of these landowners be uprooted?"

"Plowing and reading heirlooms, farming is to have land, and reading is to gain power to maintain and increase land. Do you think the landlord really cultivates the land himself?"

Jiang Xinghuo sighed deeply.

"Peasants who have not seen the light have not been forced to a dead end. They neither dare nor have the ability, and the government will not allow them to go to sea to disturb the order of the country; while the landowners who have seen the light have only wanted to follow the light for generations. , continue to take the road of farming and studying for imperial examinations to maintain their wealth, and are not willing to take risks at all."

"I once talked about "On the Destiny of the Nation," but it's a pity that you haven't heard of it. That is to say, until the tillers have no land and the landlords are everywhere, a new round of chaos begins, and some farmers become new landlords, and the cycle of internal friction continues. It’s impossible to have the innate drive and courage to explore new lands overseas, do you understand?”

Zheng He was deeply shocked, and even felt a chill down his spine under the warm winter sun shining through the small window of the cell.

He was silent for a long time, still speechless, and finally asked with difficulty.

"Then there is no other way? According to what Mr. Jiang said, Ming Dynasty really has no chance of the New World."

Contrary to Zheng He's expectation, Jiang Xinghuo changed the subject.

"Of course there is a way."

"What method?" Zheng He asked eagerly.

Jiang Xinghuo seemed to be contradicting himself and said: "Exploring the New World is something that the common people cannot do and the government is unwilling to do it. But if there is a monarch who orders it from top to bottom, as long as the process of arriving in the New World is completed, convincing information can be brought back. Wealth and thousands of pounds of crops per acre can be achieved by cultivating new interest groups.”

Zheng He frowned slightly, obviously returning to the cycle of whether times make heroes or heroes make times.

Jiang Xinghuo's words, aren't they inconsistent?

Since I have said so much before, if a certain person is not irreplaceable in the torrent of history, why is it said that exploring the New World can only be done with a hero?

Jiang Xinghuo obviously saw his doubts and explained: "In the affairs of the world, the times have always created heroes. The torrent of history is vast. Labor is the group that creates history and creates all value. Heroes are inseparable. It is up to the workers and the current situation to independently change the historical trend."

"In fact, if we look at the internal and external environment of Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty does not have any internal drive and feasibility to explore the New World, so it is naturally impossible to do it."

"The only variable that exists is a ruler who is 'highly centralized and eager to establish peerless achievements at the cost of exploration.' And this ruler needs to firmly believe that the distant new continent that has never been discovered can bring huge benefits to the Ming Dynasty. interests and consolidate his rule.”

"The current Emperor Yongle meets this condition. Of course, in the future I predict, he will not reverse the situation in the end. After seven voyages to the Western Ocean, China will be completely insulated from the ocean."

"This is why heroes cannot defeat the current situation."

Jiang Xinghuo had already demonstrated his ability to predict the future when he asked the other party whether he could go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. At this time, he had no scruples and the other party did not question it.

"Can you elaborate on the future predicted by Mr. Jiang and the entire process?" Zheng He said hesitantly.

Jiang Xinghuo said softly: "I have told you before that in a few years, Emperor Yongle will send Zheng He to the West."

"The reason why Emperor Yongle can be called the Yongle Emperor is because he broke through the obstacles of the inherent interest groups within the Ming Dynasty and made the decision to sail to the West. Zheng He's voyages to the West reached as far as Africa, that is, Manchuria It is a continent of deserts and grasslands.”

Jiang Xinghuo pointed to the continent on the globe, which was the east coast of Africa, and then continued to turn the globe and said.

"In fact, if Emperor Yongle knew in advance that there was countless gold, silver and high-yielding crops in the New World, and was determined to obtain it, the Ming Dynasty's fleet could have gone south along the African coastline, bypassed the Cape of Good Hope, and reached South America from the Atlantic Ocean. In Central America, all the rich products of the New World can be obtained.”

"Unfortunately, even if Emperor Yongle broke through all the obstacles within the dynasty, in the end Zheng He would stop on the east coast of Africa due to cognitive limitations and miss the New World. Later, he would ban his voyages to the Western Ocean and abandon the huge The fleet burned the design drawings and issued a sea ban. From then on, there will never be peace along the southeastern coast."

"In other words, heroes cannot change the trend of history independently without workers and the current situation."

"Unless we can truly change workers through the advancement of manufacturing capabilities, we can reverse the situation and then change the historical trend."

Zheng He looked at the globe and was deeply shocked.

One step away, the world is so close.

If the continents on the globe looked like the future predicted by Jiang Xinghuo, then he would be only a short distance away from reaching the new continent.

Looking at the globe, Zheng He could easily guess why in the future predicted by Jiang Xinghuo, the Ming Dynasty's huge fleet led by him would end up on the east coast of Africa.

Because that is the end of the world within the scope of one's knowledge.

In fact, Zheng He speculated that he would continue sailing westward after passing Mecca, instead of turning around and returning directly. He probably also received a tip from the local Taoist cultivator in the capital of Mecca, telling him that there was a continent to the west. , you will try it yourself.

After arriving on the African continent, no matter who makes the decision, looking at this barren and barren continent, I am afraid that they will not have the confidence to continue southward to explore the end of the world thousands of miles away.

Therefore, even if he led the Ming Dynasty's fleet to make historic explorations and breakthroughs, he still fell within the so-called cognitive limit.

If he hadn't met Jiang Xinghuo, this might have been his fate!

"No, I am not willing to do so!!!"

Zheng He was roaring in his heart.

Zheng He suddenly raised his head and looked at Jiang Xinghuo.

"Mr. Jiang!"

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