Chapter 83 Zhu Chong's Purpose
"My father never gets to the point, so it's no surprise that he's angry."
Zhu Chong shook his head, but his words confused Zhu Biao, who couldn't help but ask, "Second Brother, what do you mean by this? What's the point? What are you talking about?"
"Brother, haven't you noticed that our father has been in charge of the north for more than one or two years, but why are those cities in the north always conquered by the Mongols every year? Don't our father pay for the repairs of those cities every year?" Zhu Chong looked at Zhu Biao meaningfully.
Zhu Biao was stunned, a hint of hesitation flashed across his eyes. After a while, he said, "Perhaps there are Mongols inside the city, or the city was breached before it was repaired. Or maybe..."
"Alright, big brother, stop looking for excuses. The key lies in people. Everything depends on human effort. There have always been problems with the northern region's strategy, but no one has exposed them. In fact, our Ming Dynasty is plagued by problems everywhere, but they're all suppressed by our father..."
"Zhu Chong!" Zhu Biao interrupted angrily, "Why are you becoming more and more presumptuous? Do you have any say in this?"
"Just say whatever you want to say." Zhu Chong said as if it was a matter of course. "Dad has decided to pass on the throne to you, but I can't pass it on to you with something that's riddled with holes, can I?"
"We are brothers, and I am a commoner now, so of course I can say whatever I want. As for whether you listen or not, that is your business."
Zhu Chong sneered, "I'm not saying anything, big brother, but when our father formulated national policies, he completely forgot about the tragic things he had done, like farming and paying taxes."
"Didn't our father suffer from an unexpected disaster? The plague hit our family. Even after our grandparents and uncle passed away, the former Yuan Dynasty court still demanded payment of taxes."
"The previous Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty both implemented the same poll tax. My father knew full well that this policy of paying taxes based on headcount had serious drawbacks, and he had experienced it himself. But why didn't he change it? Could it be that he's just used to it?"
"Is there something wrong with this?" Zhu Biao looked puzzled. "The poll tax has been in place for thousands of years. There must be a reason for it..."
"Brother, you're talking nonsense too!" Zhu Chong sneered, "The amount of land will never change, but the population will increase or decrease over time."
"I just don't understand why the Ming Dynasty doesn't just collect taxes based on the number of acres of land, but instead has to collect taxes based on the number of people. A population tax might help restore production in the short term and encourage people to reclaim more wasteland, but disadvantages will inevitably arise as the population grows."
"For example, local governments concealed land and population figures, and the people's families couldn't afford to pay taxes and annual corvée labor, and then there were natural disasters. How many natural disasters have occurred during our father's reign? You know the most about them, right, big brother?"
"With all these things added up, isn't our Ming Dynasty already in tatters? Don't tell me you can only mend the fold after the sheep have been lost. That was when you and our father were around, so we could still hold on. But what will happen if any of our descendants are unfilial?"
Zhu Biao shuddered upon hearing this, but immediately stood up and slammed the table. "You almost led me astray, boy! Since you know everything, how did you turn yourself into a commoner? I won't talk to you anymore. Go eat your meat!"
After saying that, Zhu Biao turned around and left. Zhu Chong did not see him off and continued to eat the meat he had just braised.
"Young Master, were you and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arguing just now?" Tang Sai'er approached cautiously and asked curiously.
"Is this considered a quarrel? Little girl, you have really never seen people quarreling." Zhu Chong laughed, and a strange light suddenly flashed in his eyes, but no one noticed.
In this life, Zhu Chong became the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, protected by his elder brother Zhu Biao and his mother Empress Ma. Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed him openly but doted on him secretly. Zhu Chong has deeply understood why the Zhu Chong in history books is such a bastard.
With such parents and elder brother, the Mongolian princess could ride on him at will, and it was a miracle that he did not rebel.
But the Zhu Chong in this world is no longer the original Zhu Chong. With so many people protecting him, if he continues to be a bastard and still wants to rebel, then his journey through time would be in vain.
The world is so big, you can be emperor anywhere. There is no need to be the emperor in the Ming Dynasty. There are so many lands to conquer in the north and south, and they are all rich in resources and can be taken at will. There is no need to bother here.
Besides, isn't it nice to have Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao as backers? Otherwise, why would Zhu Chong be so deliberate now, letting Zhu Biao instigate Zhu Yuanzhang to focus on the Japanese pirates and lifting the maritime ban? Isn't it just to make things easier for him?
The two most common criticisms against Zhu Yuanzhang in history are that he killed too many people and that he caused the Ming Dynasty to close its doors to the outside world.
Of course, it is wrong to blame all the faults on Zhu alone, but this policy was initiated by Zhu after all, and it basically lasted throughout Zhu's entire reign.
But Zhu Yuanzhang had his own reasons for doing so. It also had a certain significance in the historical context of the time, which was to prevent the remnants of Zhang Shicheng from fleeing to the sea.
But in fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of closing the country to the outside world was actually abolished after Zhu Di came to power. Otherwise, how could the eunuch Sanbao have sailed to the West? Was it really to find the missing Emperor Jianwen? Don't be ridiculous!
The voyages of the eunuch Zheng He to the West at that time were the best proof of the Ming Dynasty's promotion of its national prestige. In addition, it was also a foreign trade activity completely led by the royal family, and it could even be called a tentative foreign colonization by the Ming Dynasty.
It is a pity that with the death of Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty’s foreign trade activities that were completely led by the state never appeared again, but the Ming Dynasty’s foreign trade never stopped.
However, the huge profits obtained from foreign trade did not flow into the national treasury, but were divided up by the bureaucrats and gentry in the southeast coast.
The collusion between officials and businessmen directly led to the rampant smuggling. Through smuggling, these people were able to obtain gold and silver every year that ordinary people could not imagine.
After these people obtained money, they used it as a stepping stone to bribe officials at every level and began to form cliques. As time went on, an interest group that could influence the country came into being.
Zhu Chong knew very well that during the heyday of this interest group, the Ming Dynasty almost lost control of the entire southeastern region, and even the replacement of the two prime ministers could be influenced by them.
This directly led to the fact that during the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates became a disaster along the southeastern coast. No matter how much effort the imperial court expended to eradicate them, even with the emergence of famous anti-Japanese generals such as Qi Jiguang, they were unable to shake their fundamental position. In the end, the imperial court had to completely close the customs.
So although closing the country to the outside world was a family rule established by Zhu Yuanzhang, in fact, it was mainly due to interests!
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