Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 531
The new book "The Rise of Great Powers 1900" is for collection.

------------

It's just land similar to the Wangzhuang that the Ming emperors gave to their sons.

Let everyone go to enclose the land first, and let the local officials who have just been sent to cooperate with them to allocate enough land for them.

A marquis can enclose [-] mu of fertile land, and give priority to enclosing from the former prince's Wangzhuang, and allow them to occupy the local prince's palace. Wang Pu occupied the Jin Palace, and Li Wuliu occupied the Shu Palace.

The earl has [-] acres, so they have no right to enclose the palace, they can only occupy the castle full of Qing nobles.

In addition to these uncles, Yang Chao also enshrined more than 500 nobles, more than 100 viscounts and more than 300 barons.

The fief quota for a viscount is [-] mu, and for a baron is [-] mu. Both the viscount and baron's land are in Sichuan.

Because although Beizhili and Shanxi have also enclosed land, most of the population is still left, and Sichuan has really been wiped out.

There was no one to farm it in the first place, so these nobles just happened to be mobilized to develop it.

For these new nobles, although they have fiefs, their fiefs still have to be taxed in accordance with the regulations, just like civilian land. These land assets are the rewards for their dedication to the country over the years. In addition to a noble title, there are these lands Besides, Yang Chao didn't plan to pay them and their descendants any more.

The Ming Dynasty was basically consumed by those hundreds of thousands of princes and nobles. The salary used to support the vassal kings alone was more than 800 million tons per year, which was higher than the salary paid to all civil servants and second only to military expenses.

Without the burden of 800 million loads, Yang Chao felt that the Ming Dynasty would not be able to survive the Little Ice Age. Zhu Yuanzhang, with the shrewdness of a farmer, was too harsh on officials and gave too much preferential treatment to his descendants. As a result, the officials were corrupt. And every descendant of future generations can rely on it.

Yang Chao didn't want the country to bear such a large financial burden. At the same time, he also had to consider the livelihood of these heroes and their descendants. Although these honored lands had to pay taxes like civilian lands, they were not allowed to be bought and sold, and the eldest son inheritance system was implemented. Fengtian can only be inherited by one offspring, and can never be separated, which ensures that these honorable heirs will always enjoy wealth.

Obviously, this will cultivate a powerful group from generation to generation, and if these powerful groups want to maintain their wealth, they can only firmly support the rule of Yang Chao and Yang Chao's descendants.

Of course, Yang Chao doesn't think they can be relied on. When Azig attacked Nanjing back then, he counted the group of nobles who surrendered quickly. Which one of Zhao Zhilong and Xu Hongji was not the descendant of the founding hero, which one was not a high-ranking official with a rich salary? At that time, their only thought was to keep their wealth by betraying the Savior.

The reason why Yang Chao cultivated this group of dignitaries was just to show the world that those who have dedicated themselves to the country, their descendants can enjoy wealth forever, to satisfy the traditional concept of Chinese people conferring their wives and sons.

As for this group of people, it would be great if they could develop an aristocratic culture.

But the cultivation of this aristocratic culture is not so easy.

There are no three generations to cultivate an aristocrat, and it is impossible to cultivate an aristocratic culture within 100 years. The most prosperous era of Chinese aristocratic culture can be said to be the Zhou Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty was 500 years old. Guarantee the emergence and development of this culture.

People at that time valued integrity and valued righteousness over life and death. This was the time when Chinese moral standards were the highest.

However, Song Xianggong, who paid attention to the attitude of the nobility, refused to attack the Chu army that had not crossed the river, and even crossed the river and refused to attack the Chu army that had not set up a battle formation. , killed.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Song Xianggong was scolded all over by later generations, but he didn't understand that it was a kind of aristocratic culture, noble and proud. Later, in the Warring States Period, when the Qin people with backward culture and the invincible army swept the world, the aristocratic culture received the first The second blow, when Liu Bang, who was born in the market, defeated the great nobleman Xiang Yu, the aristocratic culture completely disappeared in China.

The culture of the Zhou Dynasty was only preserved in the thoughts of Confucius, who was born in a minor aristocrat.

So Confucian culture is originally a kind of aristocratic culture, which emphasizes etiquette, loyalty, faith and so on.

Through Confucian culture, the Chinese continued the aristocratic culture of the Zhou Dynasty for more than 2000 years, until the era of the Celestial Dynasty.

Is aristocratic culture good? It’s not all good things. Pride, contempt for common people, and family background are bad things; but things like etiquette, integrity, and loyalty are definitely not bad for Yang Chao.

So is Confucianism wrong to be blamed?It’s not entirely wrong, because Confucianism has ruled China for 2000 years, and Confucianism has indeed led China to stand still and not complete the transformation into modern society; but it’s not entirely right, because it’s the Chinese who have ruined Confucianism. This is an idea. It is right to use a kind of thought to cultivate cultural accomplishment and improve personal cultivation, but it can only be used to govern the country.

So Yang Chao does not prohibit it, and even advocates Zhou culture. After all, this is a culture developed by the Chinese themselves. If it can be developed, it will be better than the future. It is better to have no roots in the culture and people's thoughts to float.

Pull a little far.

At the same time as Yang Chao made great contributions to the heroes, after more than a year of trekking, Li Xiangjun and others finally arrived in the west.

Disembark from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

After the ship's craftsmen were relieved, they bought a place near the canal in the countryside not far from the port, and then began to build houses with the help of the Dutch.

A simple dome house, supported by huge stone pillars and skeleton arches, has only one floor and more than ten houses.

But then they laid the golden glazed tiles made in Nanjing and used in the imperial palace on the roof outside, and pasted the best white porcelain pieces from Jingdezhen on the walls, and blue and white porcelain, tortoise shell porcelain, celadon, etc. on the walls inside the house. Porcelain.

While building the house, Lu Daqi started to visit various countries with a delegation, and the first step was to go to France.

When Lu Daqi, a civil servant, was ordered to visit Fanbang, he was filled with contempt.

But when he arrived in Holland, he was a little surprised to see the bustling port of Amsterdam. The bustling docks, neat streets, and neat stone houses were all accidental. He just didn't expect the barbarians to be able to build such a city.

It's just that although Amsterdam is prosperous, it is a small city after all, and there are no particularly outstanding buildings.

But when he arrived in France and Paris, Lu Daqi was slightly shocked.

More magnificent cities, tall city walls, especially the towering Notre Dame Cathedral, obviously, Lu Daqi could not find this kind of architecture in China. This is a completely different type of architecture from Chinese wooden buildings. The key is that Tall, brick-and-timber structures simply weren't possible.

When Lu Daqi started communicating with the French high-level, he had put away his arrogance and could treat these barbarians more equally.

Unexpectedly, Mazarin, who was favored by the Empress Dowager, was underage in King Louis XIV, and the cardinal in charge of the government was also the Prime Minister of France, very much agreed with Lu Daqi's political philosophy, which was actually the same as the unification of China.

France is different from its surrounding countries. Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, a pair of model monarchs and ministers, spent their entire lives attacking the power of the aristocracy, expanding royal power, and highly centralized power, which also made the French the overlord of continental Europe.

However, after Richelieu and Louis XIII both passed away, Mazarin came to power, but received a strong backlash from the old dignitaries, so Mazarin was very moved by Lu Daqi's proposal of appointing talented people instead of relying on the aristocratic political system. interest.

In fact, this is China's imperial examination system for selecting talents, which appeared in the unified China and was also recognized in the unified France.

Yang Chao did not expect that Lu Daqi would be moved by the French monarchs and ministers, and finally agreed to stay in France as a consultant. He served as a consultant for 20 years, and finally died of old age and was buried in Notre Dame Cathedral in France with a state funeral.

Because Lu Daqi assisted Louis XIV in establishing the first imperial examination system in the West after Louis XIV became an adult, using examinations to select civil servants, making France even stronger than in history. Let France rule Europe.

On the other side, Li Xiangjun was invited by the empress dowager to live in the Danfonbleau Palace in France, and then he entertained the western ladies every day.

Li Xiangjun brought the best chef from Yangzhou. The tediousness and delicacy, and the royal meal sharing system he learned from Princess Zhu, deeply moved the French Empress Dowager who came from the Habsburg family.

In fact, the European aristocrats have just come out of the Middle Ages. To put it bluntly, they have just made a fortune. The reason is the great development in Europe brought about by the Age of Discovery. However, in this wave of development, the aristocracy is not the only force that has emerged. Fast strength.

These great aristocrats were under the strong pressure of the emerging classes of the wealthy and enemy countries, and they showed some self-confidence in their hearts. In the Middle Ages, most of their aristocrats were illiterate, and they were not ashamed to be rude, just like their barbarians. Like the ancestors.

But in this era, perhaps because of the fact that warehouses know etiquette, after they developed, they suddenly found that they needed to come up with something different to decorate the facade. The kind of thing they found was aristocratic culture. This is how the Renaissance started in Italy. of.

Then it was introduced to France through the two generations of queens of the Medici family, and finally Louis XIV carried it forward and established European aristocratic etiquette.

But before various etiquettes were about to be formed, Zhouli, which appeared in China more than 2000 years ago, obviously resonated with them deep in their hearts.

The rituals of the week are extremely cumbersome, and this is not a problem. Aristocrats are those with a lot of money and a lot of time, so they quietly learn how to eat and drink from Li Xiangjun.

In fact, Li Xiangjun was born in the Qinhuai River, and his diet is different from that of the nobles, but Auntie Zhu is a princess. No matter how poor Chongzhen is, the royal family still has to have some generals, at least during festivals. Auntie Zhu is well versed in that. sets.

The Chinese of later generations lost all the aristocratic culture. They didn’t know that China actually divided meals. They thought it was invented by Westerners. They didn’t even think about it. Did the Empress Dowager Cixi eat two hundred dishes in one meal? ?Aren't they all picked up by the maids, isn't this a form of meal sharing?

In the past, the Manchus were nomads, and the Mongols used their hands to eat. Obviously, these etiquettes were all learned from the court ladies and eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.

So the meal-sharing system spread into the French royal palace before Louis XIV. Of course, there are complicated and exquisite Chinese dishes. After the envoys left, the French spent a lot of money and left the cooks to work for them for three years. How capable.

There is also tea.

This is what Yang Chao is most concerned about.

The procedures are cumbersome, the process is strict, and the tea drinking culture with various patterns is naturally welcomed.

Green tea, black tea, clear tea, scented tea, different types of tea, different types of tea sets, and even different types of water are undoubtedly not only exquisite, but also elegant, and all of them are in line with aristocratic culture.

After Li Xiangjun left, the demand for tea in Europe soared, increasing by ten times in successive years. In less than ten years, it increased to ten million taels of silver, surpassing silk and porcelain, becoming the largest export commodity.

After that, Li Xiangjun spent more than a year visiting the courts of dozens of countries in several famous cities in Italy, several states in Germany, Denmark and Sweden in Northern Europe, and as far as Poland.

In addition to spreading culture, she also has another mission, which is to recruit talents.

Crystal glass craftsmen were recruited from German Bohemia, shipbuilders from Holland, cannonsmiths from England, and watchmakers from Switzerland.

More than a dozen scientific personnel were also recruited from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and France even sent an exchange delegation from the Royal Academy of Sciences to visit Ming Dynasty.

Without Li Xiangjun going to Europe in person, the Netherlands alone would not have attracted the interest of these talents. The culture displayed by Li Xiangjun and his party shocked many people, especially in the era when China was the last to impress the West, and these people finally made up their minds. Determined to go to China.

Needless to say, this move has had a great impact on history. Within ten years, Yang Chao systematically introduced western natural science to China, and Li Xiangjun contributed a lot to this trip.

However, it will take two years for Li Xiangjun and his party to return to China.

Yang Chao didn't receive any news, his first priority was to deal with the emperor's problem.

(End of this chapter)