Emperor Ming's grandson

Chapter 73: What volume? Go to sea!

"Dasun, what is going on with the three-hundred-year dynasty periodic law you mentioned last time? If you want to crack it, what methods are needed?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was very worried about this. After all, even if everyone pooled their efforts, they could only estimate the contradiction between man and land. To ease the contradiction between man and land, it was useless to rely on high-yielding crops, and the only way to start was from the land system.

But now the land system of the Ming Dynasty has been improved by absorbing the experience of the Tang and Song dynasties. How else can it be changed? Even the land equalization system could only effectively control land annexation in the first hundred or even the first fifty years of the dynasty. By the middle of the dynasty, such as the Shenlong Revolution of the Tang Dynasty, it had actually completely collapsed.

Therefore, it is definitely not feasible to take the road of reforming the land system.

However, if the land system is not reformed, the people will continue to have children if they have high-yielding crops. Wouldn’t the contradiction between man and land become unsolvable? The Ming Dynasty has just experienced the war period at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The population is very sparse, and the Central Plains has ten houses and nine empty houses. It is a time when there is a shortage of people, so we have to let the people have babies.

There is only so much land, there is no way to reform the land tenure system, and the population still needs to increase. This is directly blocking the loop.

"Grandpa, the dynasty periodic law can be said to be the contradiction between man and earth, and the essence of the contradiction between man and earth is called involution!"

After Zhu Xiongying explained the concept of involution, the layer of window paper that had been bothering Zhu Yuanzhang and could not be pierced suddenly became clear!
But then, a more serious problem emerged.

Since the essence of involution is actually the struggle for dominance, then for Zhu Yuanzhang, he still has no choice!

Because Zhu Yuanzhang represents the imperial power, and the imperial power itself has the greatest control power. For the imperial power, involution is the best system, and the emperor-gentry-common people is the most stable pyramid structure. Only in this way can the imperial power stand high. be sustained for a long time.

In other words, although the previous emperors did not know the principle of involution, in fact, out of considerations of maintaining imperial power, they had already made the optimal solution, which was to maintain involution. This is why Wanyan Gou did not think about the Northern Expedition. , only regarded Hangzhou as Bianzhou all day long, and continued to reuse civil servants and officials. On the contrary, the Song Dynasty was prosperous.

So, if Zhu Yuanzhang, as the emperor, took the initiative to transfer part of his control, would it make the Ming Dynasty's national destiny longer?
Not at all.

The reason is simple. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang gave up strengthening imperial power and transferred some of his control rights, these control rights would not be in the hands of the people and the involution would not be alleviated.

Because the emperor and the civil servant group are the two ends of the tug-of-war, one is ebbing and the other is ebbing.

The existence of the civil servant group was destined to lead to a situation where the civil servants would control the government and look down upon the emperor, even if the emperor gave up part of his control power. The representative of this model was Zhang Juzheng.

Therefore, it is impossible for the emperor to transfer control, nor to break the cycle of involution. For the emperor, involution is the optimal solution. Only by maintaining involution can we strive to reach the limit of three hundred years, otherwise he may not survive. At this time, the country was usurped.

After thinking through this logic, Zhu Yuanzhang was completely helpless.

This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work either, what should we do? Is it possible that the Ming Dynasty really has less than three hundred years to live?
Zhu Yuanzhang took a few steps, signaled them to go in a direction away from the Yin Yang Qihai, and asked: "What good advice do you have?"

Military Minister Dong Lun and Wang Jing looked at each other speechlessly, with expressions of confusion on their faces.

Although they assist the king and plan strategies, they feel powerless as never before in the face of this three-hundred-year dynasty cycle that seems to be determined by destiny. Dong Lun sighed softly and said: "Your Majesty, it's not that I am incompetent. In fact, this matter is related to heaven and cannot be done by human beings. The three-hundred-year dynasty periodic law is like the reincarnation of heaven. The method to crack it cannot be solved by ordinary people like us. Everything you can see."

Wang Jing also nodded in agreement: "I am too stupid to think of a way to solve this problem. However, I have something to say, and I don't know whether I should say it or not."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "But it doesn't matter."

"Your Majesty, the way of heaven is vague, and the way of humanity is vague. Perhaps, there is no eternal dynasty in this world. Only by adapting to the times can we find a glimmer of hope. The three-hundred-year dynasty cycle law is a warning given by heaven to the world. The so-called 'entering the world' If you can't help the soldiers at home, you can't defeat foreign patients when you go out, the country will be permanently destroyed, and then you will know that you are born in sorrow and die in peace and happiness.' This is the principle."

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment and said slowly: "How can we not know what Wang Qing said? However, as the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, we should build an eternal foundation for our descendants. We must think about this dynasty cycle no matter what. There’s a way to crack it.”

Having said that, Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought again, while Dong Lun, Wang Jing and others could only wait awkwardly on the sidelines. They all knew that this problem was beyond their ability. Maybe God really only Only then can I answer it.

For a moment, there was a deathly silence in front of the Yin Yang Sea. Only the hot summer wind made them feel alive.

At this moment, Zhu Xiongying's voice came out from the yin and yang sea.

"Actually, it's very simple to break the involution. All you need to do is engage in great voyages. Everything else about the Ming Dynasty was fine, just this sea ban."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang instinctively felt displeased.

After all, sea ban is one of the most resolute and thorough national policies implemented by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Of course, unlike modern impressions, the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the sea ban policy was really not for the sake of sea ban. In addition to guarding against the harassment of Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen's remaining troops, and Japanese pirates, the most important thing was actually to stabilize the newly founded Ming Dynasty. The basic plan is to prevent the people from engaging in maritime trade. Only in this way can the people cultivate the land in peace and establish the large rural society in his mind.

The Hongwu Dynasty's "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" policy was also based on this principle. It was not that Zhu Yuanzhang did not understand the role of merchants in commodity circulation, but once business was encouraged, business became profitable and the social status of merchants improved, Then the farmers of the Ming Dynasty were not willing to farm the land safely, so Zhu Yuanzhang had to "suppress business." Of course, "suppressing business" does not mean "eliminating business." The most basic commodity exchange must still exist, otherwise the empire cannot function. After all, Even in a large rural area, you still have to go to the market, right?

For Zhu Yuanzhang, if the sea ban is abolished, people's mentality will change. By then, it is uncertain whether the Ming Dynasty can survive for three hundred years. The disadvantages far outweigh the benefits, so it must not be feasible!

But Zhu Xiongying's next words made Zhu Yuanzhang's expression become serious.

"If in the Yongle Dynasty, like Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, and then the government first and then the private sector launched the Age of Discovery, then all involutions would not be able to keep up with the speed of expansion. Japan's gold and silver mountains, Africa's human resources, The land crops in the Americas cannot be rolled out even if they are being rolled out, so how can they have time to roll inward? If they wait until the stagnation period and then come back to roll inward, I am afraid that the national destiny will have been ruined for four to five hundred years."

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(End of this chapter)