Daming 1805

Chapter 459 Seemingly irrelevant

The French elite, headed by the French king and his wife and the crown prince, held a grand banquet on the capital ship after visiting the new Ming fleet.

The next morning, Shen Fu, the representative of the Ming court, and Niu Jian, the personal representative of Zhu Jingyuan, returned to Paris accompanied by the French royal family, nobles, and senior court officials.

Against the backdrop of the lively news that the new fleet of the Ming Dynasty visited Taixi, the French Crown Prince Louis Charles was officially crowned as the new king at the Palais Royal in Paris instead of Versailles on the outskirts.

By convention, he would be called "Louis XVII" by the French and Westerners.

The original Louis XVII in history was only a figurehead king for a few days with the support of his uncle.

But in this world now, he has become the real king with complete authority.

Control a lot of resources and wealth, won the support of most of the middle class and laborers.

Controlled the main military power of France and suppressed most of the remaining traditional French nobility.

At the same time, there is friendship and good cooperation from Daming.

Louis XVII's position and power are very stable.

After the coronation ceremony, Louis XVII returned to Le Havre again, and held a grand review ceremony as planned.

The French fleet was arranged at the forefront. Not all the ships of the French Navy participated in the ceremony, but all the elite ships of the French Navy were also displayed.

The two ships in the front are the two battleships that just entered service last year, and they are all high-speed cutting-edge battleships completed with the technical support of Daming.

All have a full-load displacement of 360 tons, a maximum speed of [-] knots, and three triple-mounted [-]mm naval guns.

It was followed by two high-speed battleships designed and built by the French themselves.

Both have a displacement of 360 tons, four double-mounted 27mm artillery, and a speed of [-] knots.

Then there is the aircraft carrier, which was only commissioned at the end of last year, with a full load displacement of [-] tons and a maximum speed of [-] knots.

The early test Dreadnought battleships, as well as the test modified aircraft carrier, were not pulled to show.

The last part of the French reference fleet consisted of older conventional capital ships and armored cruisers in better condition.

This part of the warships will be gradually retired as more new warships are launched, but the current scale is still quite large.

Behind the French main fleet is the reference fleet from Ming Dynasty.

After comprehensive consideration by himself, and after discussing with Shen Fu and Niu Jian, Charles decided to invite all the capital ships of the Ming Fleet to participate to show their strength, but there is no need for a large number of cruisers to take up space.

The size of the main fleet of Ming Dynasty can be called huge, even larger than the main fleets of all countries in Thailand and West today.

After all, the naval treaties of the Western countries stipulate that the tonnage of capital ships of the Western countries shall not exceed 32 tons.

At present, even Lucia and Prussia, which are relatively well-off in finances, have to put into service the last batch of high-speed battleships that are still under construction in order to use up the 32-ton quota.

Countries with poor financial status, such as France and the United Kingdom, are moving at a slower pace. At present, the second batch of two [-]-ton cutting-edge battleships of the Ming standard has just started, and the third batch will not start until two or three years later.

It will take at least five years before the quota of 32 tons can be used up.

If the aircraft carrier is counted, the tonnage of the capital ship of the Ming Dynasty fleet has exceeded 32 tons, and the tonnage of the aircraft carrier is 28 tons.

The fleet of the Ming Dynasty has almost become the protagonist of the ship review, and soon became the garrison of the entire Western Pacific continent.

After the ship review, the Ming Fleet stayed in France for another two days, and then began to visit various countries in Thailand and the West.

Show the new developments of the Ming Navy, and remind the Thai and Western countries that have completed the construction of new warships one after another, let them know that no matter how hard they are in the future, they will not be able to bridge the distance with the Ming Navy.

Journalists and politicians from various countries in Thailand and the West couldn't help feeling that Daming was really invincible.

On the other side of the world, after Zhu Jingyuan arrived at Yingtian Mansion, he directly lived in the Palace of Spring Harmony in the Forbidden City.

The biggest difference between the Forbidden City in Yingtianfu and the Forbidden City in Shuntianfu is that the Palace of Spring Harmony is still there.

The Chunhe Palace was planned and constructed in the Taizu era, and it was specially designed for the prince and grandson's family to live in.

In front of the Chunhe Palace is the Wenhua Palace, which was originally used as the office for the prince to watch and regent.

However, since the Zhengde Dynasty, there were basically no older princes in Ming Dynasty to participate in politics.

During the Jiajing Dynasty, the Wenhua Palace in the Forbidden City of Shuntian Prefecture was completely transformed into a convenient palace for the emperor's office.

In the Forbidden City of Yingtianfu, no emperor actually lived there, and the functions of the Spring Harmony Palace and the Wenhua Palace remained unchanged in name.

However, during the Renwu Dynasty, Emperor Shizu managed the government in Yingtian Mansion for a long time, and at the same time decided not to appoint a prince in the future.

So Emperor Shizu remodeled the Chunhe Palace, changing the palace that originally belonged to the prince and grandson's family into a place for all the young princes to live and study.

Of course, Zhu Jingyuan's direct living here is completely in line with the rules after the Renwu Dynasty.

Although only my family lives in the entire Chunhe Palace now...

After resting in the Chunhe Palace for a day, Zhu Jingyuan summoned the main officials of Jianghuai Province in the Wenhua Palace the next day.

Zhu Jingyuan is now the Chief Envoy of Jianghuai Province, the Chief Executive of Jianghuai Province.

After the two parties simply greeted each other and sat down, Zhu Jingyuan directly expressed his attitude without waiting for the officials here to ask:

"You should have heard about the policies I implemented in the Northwest.

"Don't hesitate and think, and don't think about prevarication and delay.

"The whole of the South must be implemented immediately and as soon as possible.

"Including the earliest general education certificate system, the later ticket system and purchase restriction policy, and the latest policy on migration of residents in remote areas and accelerated urbanization.

"If you have any difficulties, you can ask me as soon as possible.

"If there is nothing to say, start implementing it as soon as possible.

"Mr. Lin, record it, and send the request to other provinces later."

Local officials in Jianghuai Province cannot be said to have heard about Zhu Jingyuan's ruling attitude and the reforms and policies implemented by Zhu Jingyuan in other regions, but can only be said to have studied them thoroughly.

The officials of Jianghuai Province have a very clear understanding of the special status of their province.

With Zhu Jingyuan's special status and his experience in supervising reforms in the past few years, [-]% of the target locations for the final stage of local governance training are Jianghuai Province where he is.

So well-informed officials have spent a lot of energy studying Zhu Jingyuan's policies and habits.

These officials basically believe that it is not difficult to implement all Zhu Jingyuan's previous policies in Jianghuai Province.

The reason is also very simple, Jianghuai Province is really the most core province of Ming Dynasty, this is Nanzhili.

There are royal consortia and Daming Airline Daming's investment here.

There are basically no ethnic minorities who hold the identity of Ming people in the local area, and the certificate of passing the general education exam must be issued directly.

Industries related to land and housing were originally mainly controlled by the royal consortium.

In recent years, large-scale construction of government-run manufacturers has also been completed.

Although the local private capital is also the strongest in Ming Dynasty, under the suppression of the royal family, bureaucratic system, government-run manufacturers, and royal consortia, it will definitely not make any waves.

After the local officials learned about Zhu Jingyuan's intentions, they began to cooperate interestingly before Zhu Jingyuan's arrival, and controlled the corresponding market conditions in advance according to Zhu Jingyuan's strategy.

Migration from remote areas to big cities is also not a big problem.

The southern region is generally much wealthier than the northwest. The provinces already have money, and with the cooperation of government-run manufacturers and royal consortiums, there shouldn't be any major problems.

So the attack is not worried about Zhu Jingyuan's past policies.

They just don't know if Zhu Jingyuan has any new plans and experiments for the southern region.

Zhu Jingyuan obtained a certificate of passing the general education examination in Mozhou and Xintianfu.

In the Nanyang region, an "absolutely free" migration policy has been implemented for the elderly and overseas sects.

In the Edo area, ticket and purchase restriction policies were developed.

In the Northwest, a policy of migrating remote areas to cities has been implemented.

It seems that every time we go to a place, new ideas come up and local officials cooperate.

So it's all about this aspect that the blow is worried about.

These officials also had an in-depth understanding of Zhu Jingyuan's character, and after honestly responding to Zhu Jingyuan's orders, someone immediately came out to ask if there were any other new requests.

Zhu Jingyuan also said very directly:

"Not yet, our Jianghuai region is the real confidant of Daming after all, and it is the wealthiest place of Daming.

"Most of the problems in the border and overseas are not problems here.

"You are also the highest-level officials in our entire Ming Dynasty.

"My governance training for the next two years may seem to be the most difficult, but in fact it may be the easiest task I have had in these years.

"However, I can't guarantee it. First of all, I need to have a deep understanding of our local situation. If I really find that there are problems that need to be dealt with specially, I will also increase the burden on you.

"So in the next few days, everyone will first implement the established policies and wait for new notices."

Hearing Zhu Jingyuan's response, the surrounding officials were obviously relieved.

Based on their understanding of Zhu Jingyuan's past habits, since Zhu Jingyuan has made such a statement now, it is very likely that there is really no special plan for Jianghuai Province.

As for Zhu Jingyuan's previous policies, the local officials have long been aware of it, and it is not a big problem.

Zhu Jingyuan continued to chat with these officials for a while, and improved the relationship a little bit in a polite manner, and then let them go back to work on their own affairs.

Then Zhu Jingyuan started his own thinking.

It is not that Zhu Jingyuan has new ideas about the southern region including Jianghuai.

Rather, the idea cannot be spoken.

Zhu Jingyuan hoped to weaken the influence of local clans and family power.

For ordinary people, clan and family culture are certainly not without any benefits.

It may even be that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, otherwise it would not be possible to continue to exist for thousands of years.

But for the ruler, it probably does more harm than good.

Clan power is essentially a small group, a primitive party established by relying on blood ties.

The initial party struggle was based on geographical and clan relations.

When the society is unstable, such local groups can provide members with a certain degree of security.

When the society is stable, the clan blood relationship is the link for them to establish a community of interests and help each other to obtain benefits.

Of course the ruler doesn't like the existence of such a small group.

However, in the traditional cultural system of China, it is politically incorrect to destroy clan relations...

Before the Renwu Dynasty, local officials usually let the clansmen first find their own way to deal with and mediate general local affairs and conflicts.

Even if the clan fails to mediate, and if it comes to court, the officials will often try to maintain the harmony of the clan's internal relations.

In many cases, the verdict may even be against the law.

Both the clan and the gentry were actually part of the oriental traditional local self-government system.

Even in the Renwu Dynasty, Emperor Shizu corrected this situation, but he was still very restrained.

A more grass-roots management and law enforcement system has been established, while judicial independence has been achieved, and judicial judges are required to conduct trials in strict accordance with laws and regulations, without considering factors that have nothing to do with the case itself, and any form of lynching is strictly prohibited.

However, Emperor Shizu never said that he wanted to reduce the influence of the clan, nor did he openly encourage ordinary people to leave the clan.

Can it be understood as weakening family ties because of the public request to weaken the power of the family and clan?

It may even be extended to oppose "filial piety".

So it's something that can be done but not said, and it's not even possible to do it blatantly.

So what should we do?

The direction is actually simple, relying on the various reforms that Zhu Jingyuan has made before.

First of all, gradually replace the household registration based on the family unit with the general education certificate that only represents the individual, as the common identity card for local people, and encourage the free movement of the population.

This is followed by proactive industrialization and urbanization on a larger scale.

The countryside is where the clan power is strongest.

Even after the rural land has been completely annexed, the main employees of the farmer are often his own clan.

The clan power in factories and cities would have been much weaker.

The big cities where the population gathers from all over the world, and the bustling, complex and rich life of modern industrial cities are all good solvents for diluting the power of the clan.

At the same time, sending a large number of sparse populations from remote areas to cities in wealthy areas is also a process of diluting the original local clan system.

Then vigorously build government-run manufacturers and royal consortiums.

There are a large number of small and medium-sized towns in the Jiangnan area, and there are also a large number of local manufacturers, as well as a large number of family-owned factories and businesses.

It is very common to use people from one's own family and family as management and key workers, no matter whether it is north or south.

In such places, clan power is actually shifting from the countryside to the city, or directly turning the village into a city.

To deal with this kind of family business, Zhu Jingyuan's thinking is to rely on government-run manufacturers and royal consortiums.

If a person is not taken care of in the family, but will be oppressed by the powerful family in the family, and can get a better life after leaving the family community, then the power of the family will definitely gradually weaken.

But in the same way, if a member of a certain family has obtained a high status in the royal consortium or the government-run consortium, and uses his status to draw other members of the clan into a group, it will also be very troublesome.

Therefore, it is very important to refer to the specifications of the official transfer system and the suspicion avoidance system.

Local people cannot be the management of local government-run manufacturers, and people from the same family cannot work in the same department.

At the same time, efforts were made to improve and control the management level of government-run manufacturers and imperial consortiums, and to compete with private traditional family businesses in various industries, forcing them to hire professional managers to join.

The last is to gradually implement compulsory education, vigorously expand high-level schools, improve the cultural level of the whole society, and continue to improve and strengthen the relevant policies of judicial independence and judicial justice.

The collective education of the new era and the culture of the industrial age are also important solvents for diluting the influence of traditional clan culture.

The more ordinary young people want to be independent and free, the more they will feel the restrictions from the clan.

The obviously correct thinking of pursuing fairness and justice is also an important basis for taking it for granted to resist clan restrictions.

The goal of judicial independence and impartiality would naturally prohibit the clan from resolving internal conflicts by itself.

If the elders of the clan do not have the power to deter and deal with the restless elements in the clan, the influence of the clan will also weaken at the same time.

All these goals and plans are policies and requirements that seem to have nothing to do with weakening the power of the clan, but they are also policies that are truly fair and just.

Of course, no one can directly oppose these natural goals and plans.

However, Zhu Jingyuan also understood that it was impossible for him to completely eliminate the influence of clan-related traditions among the people.

After all, it is a very important basic part of Chinese traditional culture.

In the absence of large-scale social turmoil in mainland China, and no absolutely strong foreign cultural impact, this traditional power will definitely continue to exist tenaciously.

Zhu Jingyuan can only weaken the part that is not beneficial to the rule for the benefit of the royal family...

(End of this chapter)