Chapter 1594 I am not a minister, I am happy to see a turtle
"Yes, we must first stabilize the country before we can resist foreign aggression. What my father-in-law said is very true." Zhao Hao nodded, and still advised:
"But father-in-law, times have changed. Some things are different. In the past, due to technical limitations, people could only move on land, and they had to send troops to distant places and exhaust their national strength. But now the world's navigation technology has made great progress. The oceans have become thoroughfares, and the world is close at hand. People can achieve expeditions at a lower cost. Europeans have taken the lead and colonized the world. Relying on the technological gap, they have conquered vast areas with very few troops and very low costs, and have gained extremely high profits! And the overseas profits have fed back to their rapid progress at home. If we don't catch up quickly, we will be completely left behind."
"Not only that, we are falling behind at every step. Time is running out for us, father-in-law!" At the end, Master Zhao was about to shout.
"I have thought about this carefully over the years. The world is indeed different now. Some concepts should change. For example, the idea that people who emigrate overseas are 'abandoning the rule of the king' is a bit out of date."
Zhang Juzheng remained unmoved and skillfully assembled his briar root knot pipe, which had become his signature move when thinking.
Zhao Hao quickly picked up the lighter and lit it for Zhang Juzheng. Bu Gu took a slow puff, closed his eyes and enjoyed it for a moment before saying:
"Because the biggest problem of our Ming Dynasty now is the contradiction between land and population. Land annexation is serious. The rich own lands for miles, but the common people have nowhere to live. I plan to start a nationwide land survey after the autumn harvest. After getting accurate data, I will start to crack down on annexation. In fact, land survey itself is the best way to crack down on annexation."
"But I don't have many solutions for the population problem. Last year, I ordered someone to send the yellow book of a county to Beijing and personally reviewed it." Zhang Juzheng bit his pipe, frowned, and said in a fatherly manner:
"That's the yellow book of Xinghua County, Yangzhou Prefecture, the hometown of the former Prime Minister Li. There are 3,700 households in total. What's shocking is that the age of each household head is over 100 years old, and there are even elderly people over 150 years old. What kind of longevity town is this? It's really a great auspicious sign!"
Unfortunately, when he said this, Mr. Zhang had a murderous look on his face, and there was no trace of joy on his face when he mentioned the auspicious sign.
"So what is the secret of Xinghua County's longevity? Just four words, made up!" Zhang Juzheng suddenly raised his voice and said angrily:
"I asked a few of my trusted students to do a quick survey, and the results were shocking! In Fujian Funing Prefecture, an economically developed place, the number of registered permanent residents has actually decreased by two-thirds compared to the beginning of the country!"
He glanced at Zhao Hao coldly and said, "And your Yingtian Prefecture, the population has been reduced to one-fifth. What on earth has your Jiangnan Group been up to? Have you lured all the people overseas?"
"Father-in-law is innocent. The statistics of Jiangnan Group show that the population of Yingtian Prefecture is a net inflow, with an annual increase of more than 10%." Young Master Zhao quickly cried out: "As for the records in the Yellow Book, Jiangnan Group has always been law-abiding. How dare we ask about the affairs of the government?"
"Humph, I know it wasn't you who did it, otherwise why would you still be sitting here?" Zhang Juzheng sneered, "It's nothing more than a trick to conceal the population and evade taxes and labor service. If the Ming Dynasty still had a population of only 60 million like it did at the beginning of the country, how could it be so difficult now? Just looking at the situation in the dozen or so counties that we surveyed, the population has generally increased four to five times in the past two hundred years. In other words, the population of the Ming Dynasty must have exceeded 200 million now."
"Father-in-law is wise." Zhao Hao nodded in agreement. According to the results of Jiangnan Group's research, it is about 250 million.
"Too little land and too many people are the root cause of the Ming Dynasty's problems!" Zhang Juzheng took a puff of his pipe and said, "It's too dangerous for so many people to have no land. The pressure is too great, and there is no room to maneuver if we want to do something. If we can move some people overseas, at least it will offset the annual population growth, and the situation will have a chance to improve."
"Father-in-law is absolutely right!" Zhao Hao couldn't help but applaud, "A population that cannot be fed is a disaster, and a population that has somewhere to go is wealth. Just like orange trees in the south and citrons in the north, these people who are a burden in the country, as long as they are organized to immigrate to Southeast Asia and America, are the seeds sown by our Chinese nation. Given time, they will surely grow into dense forests. Then the land under the forest will forever be Han territory; wherever the sun and moon shine, it will all be the Celestial Empire! The merits will last for thousands of years, and the benefits will be passed down to generations to come!"
As he said this, he bowed to Zhang Juzheng and said, "Father-in-law, you don't need to waste military funds to expand the territory! The eagle flies thousands of miles away, but the treasury is filled day by day! There is no wise prime minister in ancient times who can compare to you! You can be called the best prime minister in history!"
Zhang Juzheng was so flattered that he felt relaxed and happy. After a while, he snorted and said, "I am not the prime minister..."
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhao Hao nodded quickly. The chief minister was indeed not the prime minister. Strictly speaking, he was just the emperor's chief secretary...
Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng changed the subject and said:
"It's a photo!"
"Uh..." Zhao Hao almost choked to death.
"Okay, you don't need to persuade me anymore." Zhang Juzheng paused while holding his pipe, ending the topic and saying, "As I said before, the Ming Dynasty is too seriously ill. We must first nourish the heart and clear the meridians and treat the root cause. If we rashly use all kinds of supplements, it will make the body weak and unable to receive the supplements, making the condition worse. So let's follow the previous agreement. Your group will handle overseas affairs first. When the domestic problems are resolved, the court will decide whether to take over or not based on the situation."
After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "As for immigration, the pace can be a little bigger. I think it should be limited to no more than two million per year!"
"Father-in-law really thinks highly of me..." Young Master Zhao couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Immigration and pioneering is not exile overseas. The group doesn't have the ability to resettle so many people in a short period of time."
"Then work harder and try harder!" Zhang Juzheng said decisively: "I'll give you three years, starting from the eighth year of Wanli. If you can't move two million people out every year, I will take back the monopoly on maritime trade!"
"Well, okay..." Master Zhao took on this difficult task with a sad face.
"But father-in-law, if this happens, we will have to recruit people from all over the country, and the local government offices..."
"I'm issuing an order, and government offices everywhere must cooperate with you unconditionally. But there's one thing: no trouble can be caused. If there is any trouble, you will be held responsible!" Zhang Juzheng said in a deep voice.
"I understand." Zhao Hao nodded reluctantly.
Seeing that he agreed, Zhang Juzheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and bit his pipe with much less force.
~~
As the saying goes, 'one man's meat may be another man's poison'.
In the eyes of Mr. Zhao, who is promoting the "Hundred Years Immigration Plan", the most valuable thing about the Ming Dynasty is its endless population.
However, for Prime Minister Zhang, who is determined to reform and save the country, this growing population is a hidden danger and burden.
Why two million people?
Mr. Zhang had a calculation in mind. If the real population of the Ming Dynasty was calculated at 240 to 250 million, it could be deduced that the annual growth rate was about 0.7%. Therefore, the current annual net population increase should be no less than 1.7 million and no more than 2 million.
Don't underestimate these two million people. With no land left to distribute, these are all new refugees for the imperial court! And they are increasing every year...
It's still okay in normal times, but if we encounter a year of great disaster, there will inevitably be chaos in the world.
In fact, the central government of the Ming Dynasty had been ineffective for many years. When encountering famine, it could only rely on local officials to mobilize gentry for relief. Of the court's annual income, 45% was for food and wages for border towns, 15% for salaries for soldiers in the camps, 30% for salaries for vassal states, and 10% for supplies for the inner court. After meeting these basic needs, there was nothing left.
Therefore, in the first year of the Wanli reign, the imperial court could not even pay the salaries of officials. How could we expect the imperial court to provide disaster relief?
Do you think that Emperor Daojun prayed all day long just to pray for his own longevity? He also prayed that his empire would not suffer a national disaster. That would be really bad.
Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty was not doomed yet, and no major disaster that would have devastated the entire country had occurred in recent years. This gave Prime Minister Zhang time to carry out reforms.
Now, under the pressure of Prime Minister Zhang's performance evaluation system, the court finally had a surplus, but it was still very vulnerable to disasters.
Why did Mr. Zhang start to believe in auspicious signs? Was it really just a moral decline, a way to flatter the superiors and bully the subordinates? No, in fact, he was also afraid.
After becoming the head of the family, I realized that if the Ming Dynasty wanted to survive, it really had to rely on God’s blessing!
Mr. Zhang prays every day for good weather and no disasters in the world, so he is particularly fascinated by auspicious signs.
Speaking of auspicious signs, Master Zhao quickly asked his father-in-law to move to the front yard, saying that Xiaojing and his friends had found a giant turtle overseas, and thought it should be a good omen, so they brought it back to present to his father-in-law.
But there are many kinds of turtles, each with its own strengths, and I don't know which one it is, so my father-in-law has to decide. If it is auspicious, then that's good. If not, then I'll stew it to nourish my father-in-law.
When Zhang Juzheng heard this, he became interested and immediately stood up and said he would go and take a look.
The father-in-law and son-in-law came to the front yard and stood in front of the magnificent sedan chair.
Zhao Hao nodded, and Cai Ming lifted the curtain of the sedan chair. The giant tortoise, which was bigger than an adult, showed its head.
"Fuck, a turtle is this big?!" Zhang Juzheng was shocked. Where had he seen such a big turtle?
"Why would they come all the way here to send my father-in-law off?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile, "Can my father-in-law tell which one it is?"
Zhang Juzheng looked at the giant tortoise carefully and said slowly:
"Ancient books say there are ten kinds of turtles: the divine turtle, the spirit turtle, the hermit turtle, the treasure turtle, the decorative turtle, the black turtle, the mountain turtle, the marsh turtle, the water turtle, and the fire turtle. A one-foot-long turtle is considered very big. This turtle must be seven or eight feet long..."
As he spoke, he showed an excited expression and said, "Moreover, its upper part is round like the sky, and its lower part is square like the earth. There is a Panfaqiu Mountain on its back, and cloud patterns intertwine to form constellations, so it must be a 5,000-year-old divine tortoise without a doubt!"
(End of this chapter)