The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

"Economic lifeline?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded as if understanding.

"To give a simple example, if one day after they establish a country, their citizens will need salt, clothing, and daily necessities such as pots and pans, right? Overseas production technology is generally backward and there is no level at all. "

"What can they make on their own? They can't make it. Not to mention the Japanese people who were enslaved by us. Most of the Japanese people can't make it, so they need to trade with the Ming Dynasty to meet their daily needs. , they need Daming to supply them.”

"And this gives us the opportunity to impose economic sanctions. If you want Ming Dynasty's goods, you have to listen to Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, Ming Dynasty will not supply them with goods. This is called economic sanctions. Unless they want to be monkeys in the tree, they will We can’t live without Daming!”

hiss……

Zhu Houzhao took a breath after hearing this.

He had never heard of this statement before!

You can control other countries through trade alone without starting a war!

"No, savages, what if they learned to make these things?"

"By the time they have learned our existing technology, our Ming Dynasty's new technology will have already been popularized. Unless Ming Dynasty stops moving forward, then even if they don't know anything, they can still go out on their own."

Tang Hao smiled and said: "Just like firearms and artillery. The reason why our Ming Dynasty can sweep all foreign enemies now is because we have more advanced firearms and artillery than them, so we can crush them."

"But think about it on the other hand, once other powerful countries have more advanced armaments and more lethal firearms and artillery than our Ming Dynasty, can our Ming Dynasty still be able to defeat it?"

"No!" Zhu Houzhao blurted out.

"That's right, you can't!"

"So Ming Dynasty needs to continue to make progress in order to stand in the forest of this world. The outside world is so big. If we don't strengthen ourselves, one day others will come knocking on our door."

Tang Hao finally brought the topic to the right path.

The biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty and even China as a whole was slow progress, or in other words, there was no need for progress.

Under the influence of the concept of "Chinese-Earth-style kings", the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty looked around and saw that they were all barbarians who had just learned to eat and dress. At most, they had one tail less than a monkey. China is still the top existence in the surrounding area, so why bother? Isn’t it nice to just lie down and enjoy the strenuous development?

The problem is that the Ming Dynasty only sees its surroundings. Even when Zheng He sailed to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, he still saw the poor and backward indigenous barbarians. He did not see the vigorous Renaissance going on on the other side of the earth. The secular power was in the Renaissance. The Ming Dynasty gradually overpowered the divine power, and the long-term threat of war made them attach great importance to the development and inheritance of technology. In just over a hundred years, at least in the research and development of weapons and equipment, the Ming Dynasty has lagged behind the world's advanced level.

It was not until the Jiajing period that Westerners began their great voyages, and people officially entered the era of great navigation and hegemony. However, the Chinese Ming Dynasty was still gradually collapsing under the mediocre governance of Emperor Jiajing.

When Western weapons began to be introduced to the East, the Ming Dynasty seized the Japanese pirates' blunderbuss, and then discovered that its firearms had fallen behind the times, and this blunderbuss was no longer the most advanced weapon of the Western powers, and flint-fired muskets were already being developed. , even a prototype gun has appeared!

However, the Ming Dynasty seemed to have obtained a treasure, imitating a large number of equipment for the army. On the contrary, the Rumi gun copied by Zhao Shizhen did not have a large amount of equipment due to its high cost. The main reason was that the Ming Dynasty was already on the verge of financial collapse by that time, and it no longer looked at the quality. Instead, measure quality by price.

The final result was slow and slow, not to mention that after the Ming Dynasty, the slaves of the Manchu Qing Dynasty took a series of measures to deceive the people in order to maintain their rule and imprison the people's thoughts. A century of humiliation.

"Your Majesty, you should know that the earth is round, and there are many countries in the west that are rising strongly. If the Ming Dynasty stops moving forward, sooner or later their military technology will surpass that of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, they will not come from the land because If they are too far away, they will come from the sea and knock on the door of our Ming Dynasty with their strong ships and cannons!”

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's originally lazy expression began to become serious.

If there really comes a day when the gates of the Ming Dynasty are forcibly opened, doesn't it mean that everything in the Ming Dynasty will be allowed to be taken by these damn Western barbarians?

No!

This must not be the case!

"Savage, what should we do?"

"Develop industry and commerce!" Tang Hao stated his ultimate goal.

"Without farming, there is no stability; without work, there is no wealth; without business, there is no life. Your Majesty should still remember these words, right?"

"Of course I remember!" Zhu Houzhao immediately replied, "I still remember Long Jimmy's example to this day. Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce should go hand in hand!"

"Yes, but now the craftsmen are living in dire straits because of the household registration system. They are worse than beggars and cannot see any hope. It is difficult to even support their families and provide food and clothing. Naturally, they have little spare time to develop military inventions and innovations. This is the real That’s the problem!”

"The development of technology is inseparable from the efforts of craftsmen. Any craftsman may advance technology to a higher level. Therefore, when we move people overseas, we must identify whether they are skilled craftsmen. Some have special skills. Craftsmen must not leave the scope of Ming Dynasty."

"Now that His Majesty has gathered the power of the emperor, and I am still suppressing it, why not take this opportunity to reform the craftsman system and open up a promotion path for craftsmen all over the world, thus motivating them to continue to develop military inventions and innovations, and ensure that our Ming technology will not Stop moving forward!"

Zhu Houzhao frowned when he heard this.

"But this household registration system was decreed by Emperor Taizu Gao. If we change it without authorization..."

"Hahaha..." Tang Hao laughed, "What? Does Your Majesty still care about your reputation as an emperor now?"

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and cursed angrily: "You guys are waiting for me here!"

"If you don't care, the worst you can do is be called a fool by those gentry!"

"Then change it and make it an order. No one in future generations can change it!"

Zhu Houzhao is also a resolute person. As long as he makes up his mind, he will not hesitate.

Tang Hao nodded with satisfaction upon seeing this.

"In fact, any technology can come out as long as the conditions are mature. The most important thing is to create conditions for the development of technology. For example, in the Ming Dynasty's craftsman household system, craftsmen's life is worse than death. With such a system, do craftsmen still have the desire to develop new technologies? ?”

"An even more important point is how the technology is passed on. Is it still passed down orally as before? Once someone who masters the technology dies suddenly, it is very likely that a technology will be lost."

"So, reforming the craftsman system and opening technical schools is what we need to do next, and what we must do!"