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Chapter 157 The defeated Ming Dynasty
  Listening to the anchor's description of how Hou Jin gradually encroached on the Ming Dynasty and finally stole the Ming Dynasty and changed the dynasty, Chongzhen had a complex expression and was filled with emotion.

It is really unimaginable that the Tatars, who are so inconspicuous outside the customs and have a pitifully small population, could eventually take over the Central Plains.

But not anymore, he won't let history repeat itself.

On the contrary, he will revive the Ming Dynasty and bring it to a new level, beyond what it has been before.

He is very confident to do this. Knowing the direction of history and solving the food crisis, it is not difficult to revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

The anchor has now told him the four fundamental reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Next, he needs to think carefully about countermeasures and how to solve them one by one so that Ming Dynasty can regain its vitality.

Regarding the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the one who had the most complicated feelings was the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

He worked hard to build the country in order to make the Ming Dynasty last forever and let the descendants of the Ming royal family enjoy glory and wealth forever.

But the result was a tragic end. The Ming Dynasty was gone, and the descendants of the Zhu family would not be much better off.

But then he thought that now that the trajectory of history has changed, his descendant named Zhu Youjian might be able to turn the tide.

Zhu Yuanzhang: @Chongzhen, now that the anchor has told you the direction of history, and with high-yielding grains such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, we believe that you can revive the Ming Dynasty and protect the descendants of our Zhu family.

Chongzhen: Please rest assured Taizu, I will definitely remember Taizu's teachings, revive the Ming Dynasty, and protect the descendants of the Zhu family.

When Su Chen saw Zhu Yuanzhang's barrage, he suddenly remembered that the descendants of the Zhu family had a lot to do with the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

"Speaking of which, His Majesty Hongwu also had a big responsibility for the demise of the Ming Dynasty."

Su Chen's words were like a groundbreaking statement that shocked the hearts of the ancients of the Ming Dynasty, especially the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment. He was more than two hundred years away from the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and he couldn't be beaten. How could he be responsible?
  Zhu Yuanzhang: I don’t know why the anchor said this. Please explain it clearly and let’s see if it makes sense.

"The tragedy of the Ming Dynasty's fall is closely related to a decision made by His Majesty Hongwu."

"In order to consolidate the central imperial power, His Majesty Hongwu conferred the title of 25 hereditary vassal kings in one go."

"Obviously His Majesty Hongwu doesn't understand what geometric doubling is, so the major malpractice that destroyed the Ming Dynasty's finances starts with these 25 clan kings."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked unconvinced. He had just conferred 25 hereditary vassal kings so that the descendants of the Ming Dynasty could enjoy prosperity and wealth for generations to come. How could he possibly ruin the Ming Dynasty's finances?

There are so many people in the world, but he only has 25 sons. Even if he eats freely, it is impossible to defeat the Ming Dynasty.

Even if his 25 sons were particularly fertile, how many descendants would there be? Couldn't the huge Ming Dynasty feed so many mouths?
  As for the word "eating", he thinks the anchor is exaggerating.

Chongzhen deeply agreed that the descendants of the Zhu family had become a heavy financial burden for the Ming Dynasty, which made the Ming Dynasty breathless.

But there was nothing he could do about it. It was the ancestral precept set by Taizu to support the descendants of the Zhu family, and no one could disobey the ancestral precept.

"These 25 vassal kings conferred by His Majesty Hongwu took root in various parts of the Ming Dynasty one after another like seeds."

"These princes, who have no military power or political participation, put all their enthusiasm into the matter of childbirth."

"So these families spread out and soon produced an astonishing number of descendants surnamed Zhu."

"How good the feudal lord is at giving birth to children. The anchor will give a simple example."

"In the fifth year of Hongzhi, the governor of Shanxi submitted a memorial to the court, reporting that Zhu Zhongyi, the Qingcheng King of Shanxi, was happy with his 94th child."

"After the death of King Qingcheng Zhu Zhongyi, his son Zhu Qidian succeeded to the throne."

"Zhu Qidian seems to want to differentiate himself from his father. In 33 years, he gave birth to 100 children."

"Except for the eldest son who holds the hereditary throne, the other 99 people are named generals of the country."

"So much so that every time the Qingcheng Wang family gathers, brothers exchange greetings and need introductions from acquaintances before they know each other's last name. It can be said to be a strange story that has never happened before."

"Although the humanoid seeder King Qingcheng is an extreme epitome of the Ming Dynasty sect, it is undeniable that the fertility of the Zhu family is indeed very powerful."

Zhu Yuanzhang: After giving birth to 100 children, is this Zhu Qidian a pig?

When he heard this, Zhu Yuanzhang took a breath of air. He never thought that someone could give birth to a child like this.

One gave birth to 94 and the other gave birth to 100. The father and son could give birth to more babies than the old sow.

At this moment, he had a bad premonition in his heart.

Although he didn't know how many descendants there were in the Zhu family, if the descendants of the Zhu family were born like King Qingcheng, the number of descendants would be unimaginable.

Originally, he thought that a person could give birth to more than ten or twenty children, which would be considered too many.

It is precisely because of this that he canonized his 25 sons as hereditary. After all, how many descendants can 25 sons have.

But now he doesn't see it that way. He has begun to believe what the anchor said.

Zhu Qidian: What a humanoid seeder? The anchor's words are too unpleasant. The reason why I have so many children is because having one child can get a lot of subsidies from the court. The more children you have, the more subsidies you will get.

"Starting from the Jiajing Dynasty, the number of vassal kings and vassal princes and daughters began to grow explosively."

"In the 40th year of Wanli, the number of people recorded alone was as high as 10."

"By the end of the Ming Dynasty, according to statistics, the number of descendants of His Majesty Hongwu had reached more than 100 million." "In addition to their daily salaries, these royal relatives also had to receive various subsidies such as weddings and funerals, weddings, and palace construction. "

"This huge expenditure gradually developed from accounting for one-third of the imperial court's financial expenditure during the Wanli period to the point where the fiscal revenue could not make ends meet by the end of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang: What? 100?
  At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and stood there as if struck by lightning.

One million descendants of the Zhu family completely frightened him. Although having more descendants of the Zhu family is a symbol of prosperity, the problem is that each descendant of the Zhu family has a large salary.

If he calculated it this way, he could no longer imagine how much money the imperial court gave to these descendants of the Zhu family every year.

Especially by the end of the Ming Dynasty, he was already unable to make ends meet and could not afford the salaries of his royal family members.

At this moment, he understood the anchor's words deeply. No wonder the anchor said that the descendants of the Zhu family defeated the Ming Dynasty.

"In fact, every authority figure knew the issue of clan clan in the Ming Dynasty very clearly."

"But the key is that everyone is part of an interest group, and no one will take action on themselves."

"As long as someone points out this problem, they are going against this huge interest group. So in the end, basically the current emperor cannot solve the problem, so he will solve the problem."

"So from a fundamental perspective, His Majesty Hongwu is indeed to blame for the formation of this cancer."

"As cruel as His Majesty Hongwu is to his officials, he is as doting as he is to his children."

"His Majesty Hongwu clearly stipulated in the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" that the vassal system will never be changed, and the vassal seat can be hereditary and replaceable. He also specifically noted that all my descendants who inherit my destiny cannot change a word."

"In fact, from this moment on, the tragedy of Ming Dynasty being defeated was already destined to be a dead end."

Zhu Yuanzhang: When we first formulated the ancestral precepts, we did not think carefully about it, but it was still too late.

He took a deep breath. His original intention of treating the royal family members preferentially was to let the descendants of the Zhu family enjoy eternal prosperity and wealth, but not to defeat the Ming Dynasty and cause the destruction of the Ming Dynasty.

Since there is a problem with this ancestral precept, let’s change it.

"When Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, the Ming Dynasty was in complete decline and was in turmoil. Some of the vassal kings' salaries and subsidies had been in arrears for a long time."

"But these vassal kings cry about poverty on their lips, but they don't care in their hearts."

"Because they have already discovered a way to make more money than receiving subsidies, and that is to engage in large-scale land annexation, annexing tens of thousands of fertile farmland at every turn, which makes local people and local officials dare not speak out."

"In the same city, the Zhu clan's sensual dogs and horses, the singing of birds and the dancing of birds, and the ordinary people who have no food to eat sell their sons and daughters."

"With the double blows from the peasant uprising and the Eight Cavalry, both internal and external, these vassal kings with a lot of wealth should have the same hatred as the impoverished Emperor Chongzhen."

"However, it is very ironic that these vassal kings have chosen to sit on the sidelines and be indifferent."

"The reasons for this phenomenon are actually nothing more than the following two points."

"First of all, Chongzhen itself has a very large responsibility."

"At that time, the Qing army was in dire straits, and the Tang king Zhu Yujian, who was stationed in Nanyang, was eager to rescue him, so he privately recruited troops and went north to protect him."

"As a result, Chongzhen was indiscriminate and deposed the Tang king as a commoner based on the ancestral teaching that vassal kings were not allowed to control soldiers."

"From then on, all the vassal kings who were already numb and cold-blooded took this as a warning, and they should just watch the fire from the other side."

"Secondly, these vassal kings are very smart. They know that as long as they donate money, they will undoubtedly announce to the court that they can live a very comfortable life without relying on salary."

"So once Chongzhen settles his accounts, he will get angry and ask for trouble."

"The anchor has to say that there will be no shortage of smart people in the Ming Dynasty at any time, but the bad thing about some things is that there are too many smart people."

Chongzhen's expression was complicated, and the Ming vassal king refused to save him. He was also responsible for this.

Looking at it from his current perspective, he could also guess why he demoted the King of Tang to a commoner.

It was nothing more than fear that the King of Tang would take advantage of the chaos in the world to make achievements and then seize his kingdom.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was already in danger, and there were too many forces coveting the throne. He did not want another Tang king.

But there's no need for it now, he won't let tragedy happen again.

"In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng attacked Luoyang. The soldiers defending the city begged King Fu of Luoyang to give some gold and silver to encourage the soldiers to defend the city, but King Fu didn't take any money and turned a deaf ear."

"As a result, when the city was captured, the angry peasant rebels cooked the more than 300 kilograms of King Fu alive into a pot of porridge."

"The millions of gold and silver in the cellar of Prince Fu's mansion were also looted by Li Zicheng. The fate of Prince Fu was the fate of other vassal kings in the late Ming Dynasty."

"Li Zicheng knew that these feudal princes were extremely wealthy, so Li Zicheng alone killed twelve feudal princes."

"Other vassals did not escape the massacre by the Qing army, and the amount of gold and silver robbed was incalculable."

King Fu was so frightened that he shivered when he heard about his tragic ending.

In order to avoid history repeating itself and being cooked by the peasant army, he secretly made up his mind and decided to help the emperor.

In any case, the emperor belongs to the Zhu family, and only by preserving the Ming Dynasty can he continue to enjoy glory and wealth.

(End of this chapter)