Are villages like Xingping and Xing'an qualified to be called clan powers?
Clearly, no.
True clan powers must first have the strength to influence the government. To influence the government, either someone in the clan must hold an official position, or someone in the clan once held a high-ranking official position, with a vast network of former subordinates and associates.
Clan powers like Xingping Village and Xing'an Village, where most people share the same surname and have a clan elder and a few village elders, no matter how united or how much influence they garner, are not qualified to be called clan powers. At best, they are considered easy targets. The imperial court has no reason to worry about these people, and they cannot cause any major disturbances.
Only those aristocratic families with deeply intertwined relationships with the imperial court and local governments can be called clans. These are the people who possess the capital and courage to oppose the imperial court and government. The clans depicted in popular imagination or on screen are actually those who pick up the scraps behind them.
To put it bluntly, the birth of clan powers typically stems from meritorious officials who followed the emperor in conquering the realm but did not become nobles, or from ministers who gradually rose to high positions after decades of diligent study. These individuals hold status and connections in the imperial court, and upon returning to their hometowns, they naturally gain a certain degree of influence, leading to the gradual formation of clan powers over time.
Throughout the thousands of years of history in the Central Plains, every process of founding and collapsing dynasties involved the reshuffling of some clan powers; some faded into obscurity, some emerged onto the stage, and others remained behind the scenes.
The Ming Dynasty was no different.
For instance, Zeng Cheng, the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, also had clansmen. Although he couldn't directly appoint his clansmen to official positions or grant them possessions, would local officials not show them some favor out of consideration for Zeng Cheng?
Even if it was a slight favor that didn't violate Ming law, it could save ordinary people dozens of years, or even a decade or more, of struggle.
Ultimately, the fundamental cause of the clan problem lies in the existence of the bureaucracy. The greatest beneficiaries are not the local gentry, but the "officials" themselves. They wish to maintain their prestige and power upon returning to their hometowns. If imperial power were to descend into the villages, wouldn't that be creating trouble for themselves?
This also aligns with the online saying: "Why should others' generations of effort lose to your decade of hard study."
Fortunately, the existence of agricultural associations, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, Supervisory Censors, and Investigating Censors, along with the "Great Ming Daily" serving as a semi-supervisory organ, cannot completely resolve the issue of clan powers, but it can at least curb it to some extent.
Therefore, although Zhu Jinsong wished to address the problem of clan powers, he would not rely on local officials, especially the provincial governors, to do so.
More importantly, the issue Zhu Jinsong considered was far more critical than that of clan powers – the land surrounding Xingping Village and Xing'an Village was vast, but it was not planted with grain, but with mulberry and hemp!
Especially after carefully recalling the farmland he had seen on the road, Zhu Jinsong was astonished to discover that seven or eight out of every ten mu of farmland were planted with mulberry and hemp, with very few people cultivating grains like rice or wheat!
This was highly abnormal. While the poem "Drinking with a friend among mulberries and hemp" was indeed well-written, a large amount of farmland being converted from grain cultivation to mulberry and hemp might not be as idyllic as it sounds.
The Ming Dynasty was still a considerable distance from industrialization. Grain production was not yet advanced with high-yield hybrid rice or wheat varieties; it primarily consisted of ordinary wheat, corn, and rice.
With a large population and relatively low grain yields, and a significant reduction in land used for grain cultivation, where would the grain come from?
The thought of the "conversion of rice paddies to mulberries" during the Ming Dynasty caused Zhu Jinsong's expression to darken. He summoned Ke Zhiming and ordered, "Send people to retrieve the case files and see how many households in the Jiangnan administrative provinces have converted rice paddies to mulberries, and what role the officials played in it."
It was truly unavoidable for Zhu Jinsong to be concerned.
The lands of Shandong, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, after thousands of years of development and cultivation, had inevitably suffered degradation. The grain cultivated was only enough to meet the needs of the local populace, and was even insufficient to supply the capital.
The capital's grain supply relied more on external input, such as from high-yield regions like Liaodong, Jiangnan, and Jiaozhi.
Now, with more than half of the land in Jiangnan planted with mulberry and hemp, it meant that the grain output in the Jiangnan region would inevitably decline. If there was a shortage of grain, it would affect hundreds of millions of people in Jiangnan!
However, by the time Zhu Jinsong traveled from Ruijin to Quanzhou and obtained the information collected by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was somewhat bewildered.
The problem actually stemmed from himself?
The matter of converting rice paddies to mulberries was initially promoted by the Zhejiang Provincial Administration, after seeking the opinion of the Ministry of Revenue.
The reason provided by the Zhejiang Provincial Administration was simple: the Ming Dynasty had plenty of places for grain cultivation, especially in the Jiaozhi and Xianglin administrative provinces, which could grow three rice crops a year. Losing one Zhejiang wouldn't be a big deal. However, starting the conversion of rice paddies to mulberries in Zhejiang was different. At the very least, it could be an attempt to let the populace get rich first, couldn't it?
Later, after the Ministry of Revenue and the Grand Secretariat deliberated, they felt it was not an unfeasible matter. At worst, they could try it in one region first; if it succeeded, it would be excellent, and if it failed, it wouldn't have too significant an impact.
Then, the Ministry of Revenue and the Grand Secretariat reported this matter to Zhu Jinsong, who also agreed.
Upon receiving permission from Zhu Jinsong and the imperial court, the Zhejiang Provincial Administration selected a location to pilot the program and allocated a portion of local finances to encourage the populace to convert rice paddies to mulberries.
However, unexpectedly, the people in other regions, seeing the prosperity of the people in the pilot area, became restless!
Why could they convert, and we couldn't?
Convert!
After collecting the previous year's grain, a large number of people chose not to cultivate rice, wheat, or corn, but instead opted to plant mulberries.
Even more exasperating was that the local agricultural associations took the lead in this matter. By the time the Jiangsu and Guangdong Provincial Administrations became aware of it, the mulberry saplings were already quite tall. Could they really force the people to destroy all the mulberry saplings and switch back to planting grain?
This greatly troubled the Jiangsu and Guangdong Provincial Administrations. Their immediate reaction was to find a solution – with so many people switching to planting mulberry trees, it was uncertain whether it would affect the price of silk next year, but the grain deficit was an immediate concern.
If any unrest were to arise due to grain shortages...
To solve the problem, the Jiangsu and Guangdong Provincial Administrations immediately thought of Jiaozhi, Myanmar, and Xianglin, planning to purchase a large quantity of grain from these places and transport it via sea to these regions for the populace to purchase.
This situation was somewhat absurd – the people in these administrative provinces could earn money by planting mulberries and hemp, and the money earned was more than enough to buy grain. Meanwhile, the people in the Hainan administrative provinces also earned money by selling grain and became wealthier.
In the end, no one lost money, and the imperial court even received more taxes.
From a purely governance perspective, the conversion of rice paddies to mulberries was not only unobjectionable but could even be considered a good thing.
The Ming Dynasty had over thirty administrative provinces. If several administrative provinces abandoned grain cultivation and focused entirely on silk weaving, it was essentially similar to several administrative provinces in the grasslands focusing on animal husbandry rather than cultivation.
The cattle and sheep on the grasslands were not valuable, and the silk from these administrative provinces was also not valuable, just as the grain from Jiaozhi was not valuable. However, when the cattle and sheep from the grasslands were transported to the Jiangnan provinces, they could be exchanged for silk, and when transported to Jiaozhi, they could be exchanged for grain. This essentially formed a cycle, and in the end, no one could do without the others.
However, this matter was not without its issues.
As the saying goes, where there's a precedent, there's a follow-up. When the people in other regions saw the people in these four administrative provinces earning money by planting mulberries and hemp, what would the people in other regions think?
If more and more people began to convert rice paddies to mulberries, could Jiaozhi's grain supply still keep up? Even if it could, wouldn't the price of grain skyrocket?
In short, behind the conversion of rice paddies to mulberries, there were definitely a lot of messy problems.
The thought of these messy problems made Zhu Jinsong lose any desire to continue wandering.
And what further dampened Zhu Jinsong's mood was yet to come.
Urgent reports from the Five Military Commissions and the Court of Diplomatic Relations stated that the Ming Dynasty's Right Army Command had moved from Gurkha to engage the Ottomans. However, when passing through the territory of "Third Brother," the "Third Brother," still colonized by England, had the audacity to attack the Ming army first, with the reason being that the Ming army had invaded "Third Brother's" territory?
The Ming army could not tolerate such an insult and immediately used its most skilled tactic of artillery bombardment to defeat "Third Brother."
And unfortunately, among the "Third Brothers" who were beaten, there were several English officers. These English officers, not understanding the difference between the Ming and Qing armies, thought it was appropriate to help the Ming beat the Qing.
And then it all devolved into chaos.
The English army had cannons, and the Ming army was not lacking in cannons either. The English army dared to play the tactic of "linear formation," while the Ming army retaliated with the tactic of "Divine Machine Arrows and Hand Grenades" to teach them a lesson.
This immediately stunned the English army.
Weren't the Qing army supposed to be quite useless? How could they fight so well?
It wasn't until the English army was beaten black and blue and sent people to negotiate with the Ming army that the English army realized they had been beaten by the Ming army, and the Ming army also realized they had beaten the English army.
And at this time, it was also the annual "Small Broken Pot Conference," and George III was about to arrive in the Ming Dynasty.
So, the current problem is, what should be done about this matter?
According to the Court of Diplomatic Relations, of course, all the responsibility should be shifted to "Third Brother." After all, "Third Brother" initiated the attack first, and the Ming army was forced to retaliate. No matter how you look at it, it was not the Ming army's fault.
Of course, after the beating, the matter was almost over. After all, they still had to go beat the Ottomans, and it was not appropriate to be distracted. In short, this matter could be discussed later, no need to rush.
However, the Five Military Commissions did not think so.
In the view of the Five Military Commissions, just as it is said that chasing one sheep is the same as chasing two, having an appetizer before beating the Ottomans seemed like a good idea?
It's like picking up grass to catch rabbits. Beating an additional "Third Brother" and England would not delay anything. It's just that your Court of Diplomatic Relations must be more capable, striving to turn the dead into the living and push all the blame onto "Third Brother" and England.
Then the Five Military Commissions started arguing with the Court of Diplomatic Relations. The Court of Diplomatic Relations accused the Five Military Commissions of only knowing how to fight and kill, and if they messed up "Third Brother's" territory, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty have to clean up the mess afterwards? Would the stingy Liu from the Ministry of Revenue be willing to spend money?
The Five Military Commissions also accused the Court of Diplomatic Relations of being too cowardly. It was simply a matter of firing a few more rounds of cannonballs, and they could even reclaim the ancestral lands of the Great Tang. Xuanzong Wang defeated India, which was equivalent to the Great Tang defeating India, so shouldn't this be considered Tang territory and be reclaimed?
Now, the lawsuit has reached Zhu Jinsong.