Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

In February in Beijing, spring is getting stronger.

With the recovery of all things and the melting of ice and snow, many farmers have appeared in the farmland in the Gyeonggi area. The hard-working people have begun to work on spring plowing and even use spring seeds to cultivate spring seedlings.

This is not an isolated case, but the main theme that is playing out in the vast land of China. From south to north, the atmosphere of farming society is evident everywhere.

At this time, Emperor Zhu Youtang of the Ming Dynasty, who lived in the splendid palace, was not handling government affairs in Dongnuang Pavilion. Instead, he had come outside the palace and boarded the palace carriage to go to the Shanchuan Altar outside the city.

When Zhu Youtang was reading novels, he also had wild dreams of building airplanes, cannons and nuclear submarines. However, when he came to this era, he discovered that technology could never be achieved overnight, and even a spring was intentional but powerless.

It’s fun to read the “Secret Box Play” in some books, but when I really want to imitate it, I realize that my lock has been lost in the damn 21st century.

As for the flintlock gun that I have been thinking about for a long time, even though there is a relatively complete sketch of the flintlock gun in my mind, the Ministry of Industry cannot build it at all, and there is no news about it being supervised by Wang Zhi in Nanjing.

At this moment, he finally understood why the Internet giants in the previous life spent money to steal the jobs of vegetable vendors. In fact, it is not easy to innovate in science and technology.

Just like you think that the principle of nail clippers is simple and visible to the naked eye, but if you give the sketch to the officials and craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry, they can only kowtow to you and apologize.

Facts have proved that unless you have Edison's skills and travel through time, ordinary people in this era still have to stand on the foundation of agriculture and slowly promote the advancement of technology and manufacturing.

Zhengyangmen Straight Street has been cleared, and the royal honor guard came out of Zhengyangmen in a mighty manner and headed straight for the Shanchuan Altar on the west side of the official road.

If the extension line of the Zhengyang Gate is used as the central axis, the altar of mountains and rivers is on the east side and the altar of heaven and earth is on the west side.

It is worth mentioning that the altar of heaven and earth was originally divided into north and south, but Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought that he was the son of heaven, heaven was his father and earth was his mother. How could his parents live apart, so he created the system of worshiping together in the same altar of heaven and earth. .

The Shanchuan Altar is the predecessor of the Xiannong Altar. It has an altar wall outside, and inside it is the Taisui Hall, the Divine Kitchen Storehouse, the Farming Room, the Farming Platform, the Gufu Hall, the Qingcheng Palace, the Divine Storehouse, the Sacrifice Storehouse, and the Altar.

"I would like to send you your holy greetings!" Li Yu, the official minister, and other important ministers had already been waiting here, kneeling down and saying respectfully.

Although today is not a grand celebration, this day is quite special. All the officials who came to participate in the plowing ceremony changed into a new set of uniforms.

In this farming society, farming is the top priority of the times.

Zhu Youtang came this time wearing a dragon robe and a Yishan crown. He only had to go to the Jufu Hall to change into the black-based sacrificial robes of the King of Zhou, and then offered incense to worship Xiannong, Taisui, Fengyun, Leiyu, Five Mountains, and Five Towns. , Sihai, Sidu and Zhongshan gods.

Sacrificial offerings of cattle, sheep, and pigs have been placed on the altar. In compliance with Zhu Youtang's orders, the officials of the Ministry of Rites have greatly reduced the meaningless sacrificial words.

After Zhu Youtang offered incense and offered sacrifices, he went to the Jufu Hall to take off his sacrificial clothes and put back on his original imperial clothes, which was regarded as following the local customs.

After the sacrifice, they went to the farmhouse. There was a field with an area of ​​"one third of an acre" to the south of the viewing platform. Officials from the six ministries and nine ministers had to watch the ceremony here.

"Jin Lei!

"Enter the whip!"

"Farm it yourself!"

…

Jia Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and He Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, sent objects one after another. Then two Han generals pretended to be farmers and helped the plow on both sides, and two elders led a docile old ox with a broken horn.

It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Rites did not saw off the horns of old scalpers out of safety considerations, but used this as a standard when selecting, and the broken horns were still wrapped with cotton silk.

Zhu Youtang is becoming more and more proficient in riding horses in Xiyuan, so he is not worried about this old scalper going crazy.

Originally it was just a show-off, but when I stepped on the soft soil full of earthy smell with my bare feet, I discovered that it was actually a very interesting thing.

Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, and other officials couldn't help looking at each other when they saw that Zhu Youtang didn't look impatient.

Now that the morning dynasty has been changed to the eighth dynasty, and the daily lectures and sutra feasts have been directly abolished, but I did not expect that the emperor would pay more attention to the unconventional farming and borrowing ceremony.

It has to be said that the emperor's actions are unpredictable to his ministers, and it is not easy to flatter him well.

“Three pushes, three rewards!”

As the most solemn plowing ceremony began, the palace music passed down from the Western Zhou Dynasty sounded nearby, with bells and chimes, yellow bells, dalu, Xiao Sheng, reeds and flutes playing together, as if to take everyone back to the ancient times through time.

Each period has its own social form that it pursues. In the view of the scholar-bureaucrats in the feudal era, as long as the Zhou Dynasty is restored, the world will be governed.

Just like this, the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties all tried hard to imitate the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, hoping that the emperor would imitate the Zhou king's humility, etc., and now they require the emperor to personally cultivate the land to preach to the world.

Zhu Youtang naturally would not believe in this, nor would he believe in the slavery of the Zhou Dynasty. Even if he wanted to truly believe in it, he would only believe in communism.

Not to mention whether the Zhou Dynasty was as beautiful as described by the scholar-bureaucrats, it has long been proven that those who fell behind would be beaten. The great man's adage that "development is the last word" is a wise saying.

Although Zhu Youtang really wants to change his ideas and beliefs, it is easy to ask a person to donate 100 million, but it is difficult to ask him to donate 100 yuan, because he really has 100 yuan.

It won't work for you to preach to slave owners a socialist society where everyone is equal. Their lives are very good, so why should they change?

Zhu Youtang knew that if he wanted to change all this, he must first become a real emperor capable of life and death, otherwise he would be a one-man show by throwing out "Das Kapital".

"The emperor's ceremony is over!"

Xu Qiong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, was already standing at the edge of the field and hurriedly helped Zhu Youtang up.

In fact, not all the officials present were happy. Liu Jian, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, seemed very depressed. Now he and Xu Pu, the two imperial masters, have been reduced to marginal figures in the court.

Especially in the latest Beijing inspection presided over by Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, moral conduct is no longer the first criterion for assessment, but it is more important than the practice of officials. The Ministry of Etiquette has always been a stable superior, but now it has been reduced to For the sake of inferiority.

Originally, he wanted to use his reputation in the Ministry of Rites to overpower Xu Ming, but the subordinates he had won over were already in danger and faced the risk of being dismissed from office or sent to other places.

After Zhu Youtang came out of the soft field, he saw that his clothes and feet were stained with mud, so he went back to the Jufu Hall to wash his feet and put on a new dragon robe according to the procedure.

In this ceremony, he had to change clothes three times, but the emperor's dressing was a relatively frequent thing.

Zhu Youtang was sitting on a chair enjoying a foot bath with warm water. Fan Jinling came with him this time and was carefully washing Zhu Youtang's white feet away from the mud.

Although she is still a palace maid in the Qianqing Palace, due to the recent favors she has received from time to time, her status has been greatly improved, and the bell on her foot has also been replaced with a real golden bell.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be fun to step on the mud with bare feet in the fields?" Niu Mengmeng was favored because of his loyalty, and asked curiously after giving Zhu Youtang a tea cup.

Zhu Youtang looked at this lively girl with red cheeks and bright eyes, and said helplessly: "Whenever I get potatoes back from overseas, I will open up a field in Xiyuan and let you take care of it!"

"What is a potato? Can it be eaten?" Niu Mengmeng's eyes were slightly bright, but he was confused.

Zhu Youtang ignored this curious girl and started dressing under the guidance of Fan Jinling. Now Fan Jinling was upgraded to a personal bed palace maid.

The plowing ceremony is not over yet. You still need to go to the throne on the viewing platform in the north to watch the ceremony.

When Zhu Youtang returned here, the "nine push and nine return rituals" performed by Shangshu and Jiuqing officials were coming to an end. It was Xu Qiong, the last left minister of the Ministry of Rites, who performed the plowing and borrowing ceremony.

Xu Qiong's whole old face turned red, not because she was holding back urine, but because she was allowed to participate, which proved that she was only half a step away from the position of Minister of Rites.

It was originally a dream to go from Nanjing Imperial College to offering wine to the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, but now he saw the throne of the Minister of Rites waving towards him. How could he not be excited?

Following the results of Jiuqing's "Nine Pushes and Nine Returns", Song Cheng, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, led dozens of old farmers to cultivate the remaining farmland within one-third of an acre.

Liu Jian, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, became a resentful woman. When he saw the flattering Xu Qiong, his face turned red, but he lamented the unfairness of the world.

He is obviously a righteous gentleman with high moral character, the mainstay of Qingliu, and the emperor's mentor to the new king, but he cannot be reused.

"sowing!"

After the plowing is completed, this plowing ceremony is not limited to the ceremony, but also involves cultivating the three-quarter acres of land, and then taking care of it and harvesting it.

"rice!"

"Millet!"

"millet!"

"wheat!"

"Shu!"

"cotton!"

…

Originally, according to the usual plowing ceremony, grains were to be planted, but Zhu Youtang made a special request and added cotton to the grains.

"Mian Qian, which song are you singing?"

"It seems that there was no such thing as cotton in the Zhou Dynasty, right?"

"Could it be that Liu Mianmian recommended it to fulfill the title of Liu Mianmian?"

"The emperor cares about the people's clothing to keep out the cold. This is benevolent government!"

…

Although many officials were surprised when they learned that Hongzhi had planted cotton as part of this grand plowing ceremony, they all silently accepted the result and even directly praised Hongzhi's move.

Li Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Du Ming, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and Li Si, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, were all members of the clan, while Jia Jun, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Xu Ming, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and He Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, all tried their best to hold on to Zhu Youtang. thigh.

After last year's court struggle, Xu Pu, the left minister of the Qingliu Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Liu Jian, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, who dared to speak against Zhu Youtang, were suppressed. Now the imperial power has slowly been demonstrated.

In particular, Zhu Youtang kicked both Wen Chen and Wu Xun out of the 12th Battalion. Now the 12th Battalion completely falls on Zhu Youtang. It is difficult for them to challenge Zhu Youtang in the capital.

As for Li Yu and other important ministers, after this period of contact, they had already abandoned their earlier perception of the wardrobe prince, but they knew that Zhu Youtang was a monarch with great talents and great strategies.

Judging from the effectiveness of the salt policy alone, the political system that had been invaded by hundreds of insects once became in danger, but the young emperor suddenly saw the crux of the problem.

Being able to glimpse can only be said to be the root of wisdom, but if it can be solved, then it is a truly wise king, and Zhu Youtang has officially surpassed Xianzong.

The latest news has just come from Yangzhou. Wang Yue and Wang Zhi once again worked together to dig out a nest of maggots in Yangzhou, and even officials from the military and political systems were involved.

If the court had earlier expressed its desire to protect the officials of the Yangzhou salt administration system, they all shut up when they learned that the salt administration officials headed by Li Zhiqing were able to share hundreds of thousands of silver every year.

With this nest of maggots dug out, once the Ming salt tax can be restored to half the level of the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's finances will be greatly improved.

Now that Hongzhi has planted cotton as part of this plowing gift, it is naturally not possible for him to be fooling around, but he must have a deeper meaning.

Grain and cotton seeds were buried in the soil one after another, which would breed vitality. Cotton was the first seed planted by Zhu Youtang in the first year of Hongzhi.

In the following activities, everyone held a banquet as usual, and Zhu Youtang rewarded all officials and people who participated in the farming.

When Zhu Youtang was giving the reward, he seriously warned Liu Zhong, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the governor's grain reserve: "Liu Qing, you must pay attention to the cotton matter!"

The road to a strong military cannot be separated from strong financial support, and the textile industry is undoubtedly the best choice.

Taking the UK as an example, its textile exports in 1802 exceeded 7.8 million pounds. It was the largest foreign exchange-earning product at that time, and it was also the confidence that the UK could conquer everywhere.

After the Second World War, the reason why Britain weakened was that the United States, Japan, West Germany and Italy took the opportunity to develop the textile industry and seize the world's textile market.

As for why you value cotton instead of silk?

Although silk is also the most popular in the world, it is still a luxury product. Not to mention overseas, even in the Ming Dynasty, not many people can afford to wear it.

In addition, cotton cloth is a large-scale product that requires a large number of textile workers. Now delivering textiles to the world is not the ultimate goal. What is more important is to lay China's industrial foundation.

This is exactly the case. As long as Ming Dynasty can become the textile center of the world, then it will have a steady stream of bullets to build a strong army. Then it can hit whoever it wants on the world map.

"I will live up to your Majesty's expectations when I accept the decree!" Liu Zhong is a very traditional loyal minister, and he stated his position seriously.

After returning from Yongcheng County to release the huge amount of stolen money that Li Min had embezzled, Ye Qi resigned from Shangshu because he could not complete the errand of buying silver. He took over the position of the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, so he has been treating Zhu Youtang The favor is grateful.

After waiting until all this was over, Zhu Youtang took the palace carriage and returned to Beijing in a grand manner. However, he did not return to the Forbidden City, but turned to Xiyuan.

A slight deviation occurred in history. As a palace named Yangxin Hall was built, the center of power of the Ming Dynasty would move from the East Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace to the west, and the imperial power would inevitably become more concentrated.