Perhaps because many of the great ministers were from humble origins and only became prominent figures after joining Zhu Jinsong's rebellion, the magnates in the imperial court of the Great Ming had never learned what "harmony" meant.
Especially when a substantial budget was involved, it was considered restraint that these magnates had not resorted to cursing or physical altercations.
However, to the surprise of all the magnates, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, personally intervened: "The budget saved from literacy campaigns will not be allocated to the Ministry of Works, nor to the Ministry of Communications, nor to the Ministry of Rites. I have other arrangements."
Liu Huaiwen, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, immediately became anxious. "Your Majesty, what does the Emperor intend to do with such a large budget? Whose domain is he planning to disrupt now?"
Upon hearing Liu Huaiwen's words, the magnates such as Zeng Cheng also grew anxious, while the magnates from the Five Army Commanderies, like Liu Heming, became excited.
In the past, the Great Qing had wished for the common people to remain ignorant, and therefore, they had always economized on the promotion of schools and education. The literacy rate in the Central Plains had plummeted to a mere one percent.
It was easy to reduce the literacy rate from one hundred percent to zero, but it was difficult to go from zero to one.
Since Zhu Jinsong occupied Menglianggu, he had instructed Liu Huaiwen, his chief steward at the time, to allocate funds for literacy campaigns. After the complete eradication of the Great Qing and the re-establishment of the Great Ming, the annual expenditure on literacy campaigns had increased significantly.
There was no need to say more; this funding was sufficient to disrupt a small country like Myanmar, Jiaozhi, or Wajapan.
It was precisely because this saved expenditure was substantial enough to disrupt a small country that Liu Huaiwen and Zeng Cheng, along with other civil officials, became nervous, while Liu Heming and other military officials became excited.
However, Zhu Jinsong's subsequent words brought sighs of relief to the civil officials and great disappointment to the military officials led by Liu Heming.
"As I have said before, the population of the Great Ming is too small. It is already a good thing to consolidate our existing territories, and we cannot afford to go out and disrupt any country in the short term."
Zhu Jinsong tapped his fingers on the table and said, "The budget saved, I plan to invest in those mountainous regions and in the west—although the barbarians of Europa regard our Great Ming as paradise, does our Great Ming have no impoverished areas?"
Zeng Cheng and Liu Heming, along with the other magnates, fell silent.
As the most prominent figures in the court of the Great Ming, magnates like Zeng Cheng were well aware that the Great Ming not only had impoverished areas but also some extremely impoverished regions.
This situation was indeed problematic.
Did the Great Ming lack land?
Absolutely not.
Setting aside the fiefdoms of Prince Jin, Zhu Sanshun, in Xinxinzhou, and Prince Qin, Zhu Erdan, in Louisiana, even the provincial administrations of Jiaozhi and Myanmar had vast tracts of undeveloped land waiting to be cultivated.
Not to mention the provincial administrations of Jiugang and Lanfang, and soon, India, which would be completely pacified.
With so much territory and so much undeveloped land, even if the entire population of four hundred million people in the Great Ming were evenly distributed across these lands, there would still be a considerable amount of undeveloped land remaining.
From this perspective, the notion of the Great Ming having impoverished areas seemed like a joke.
In reality, however, the Great Ming did indeed have many regions in a state of poverty, or even destitution—poverty was defined as an annual income of less than six hundred Long Yuan per capita, and poor as an annual income of less than one thousand Long Yuan per capita.
Although the standard of six hundred Long Yuan per year would be considered high income, even belonging to a wealthy family, in other countries of the world, one had to consider who was being compared to.
Compared to the annual income of fifteen hundred or even nearly two thousand Long Yuan per capita in the capital or coastal provincial administrations, an annual income of less than six hundred per capita could only be considered impoverished.
This was unavoidable, as not all areas were suitable for economic development, nor were all areas suitable for port development.
For example, mountainous regions, and grasslands.
Relocating all citizens to prosperous regions was not feasible.
Consider the sentiments of the people who were reluctant to leave their ancestral lands, or whether the prosperous regions could accommodate such a large population.
Even without considering these factors, or the budget required for relocating the populace, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, and magnates like Zeng Cheng could not adopt a direct relocation approach, which was almost a one-size-fits-all solution. If such a measure were implemented, nearly half of the Great Ming's territory would become desolate.
Zhu Jinsong continued, "I have always said that to become rich, one must first build roads."
"Our Great Ming has now built many roads, and both the railway network and the road network have begun to take shape."
"However, many areas in our Great Ming have not yet become prosperous. This is the responsibility of us, both ruler and ministers."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Zeng Cheng and the other magnates lowered their heads. Even the military magnates like Liu Heming, who always enjoyed disrupting others, fell silent.
Within the culture of the Central Plains, "universal harmony" was both an ideal and a goal.
Even if a more utilitarian perspective were adopted, magnates like Zeng Cheng could not ignore the issue of widespread poverty among the people of the Great Ming—if the populace was not prosperous enough, could the Great Ming remain stable? If the Great Ming could not remain stable, it would be very difficult to be an official!
However, it must also be said that achieving prosperity for all people in the Great Ming was not something that could be done by mere words; there were still a multitude of practical problems to overcome.
For instance, mountainous regions.
The first problem faced by mountainous regions was the inconvenience of farming, as more mountains meant less land. Coupled with the lack of coastal access and high transportation costs, this made it difficult to establish workshops.
As for grasslands,
The problems faced by grasslands were similar to those of mountainous regions, with the added issue of soil and water conservation.
After careful consideration, Zeng Cheng bowed and said, "I humbly request Your Majesty, might Your Majesty consider building a temporary palace on the grasslands?"
Upon hearing Zeng Cheng's suggestion, Zhu Jinsong was somewhat amused and speechless. "I usually reside in the capital, and when I venture out, I do so incognito. I have no reason to flaunt myself like that old dog Qianlong, or to build a temporary palace on the grasslands for no reason."
Zeng Cheng chuckled and said, "I humbly report to Your Majesty that while Qianlong's practice of building temporary palaces and traveling was a waste of labor and resources, Your Majesty building a temporary palace on the grasslands could enrich the local populace."
Zhu Jinsong paused, then realized, "Secretary Zeng intends for me to lead by example and visit the grasslands, thereby attracting more people from the Great Ming to travel there?"
This was indeed a decent approach.
Imagine the Emperor of the Great Ming, Zhu Jinsong, traveling on the grasslands. Afterward, newspapers would report on the Emperor's itinerary, praising the beauty of the grasslands and the deliciousness of the mutton. Wealthier citizens of the Great Ming would surely be enticed to visit the grasslands as well.
This was the so-called celebrity effect.
However, this approach also had its drawbacks.
Firstly, Zhu Jinsong could not build temporary palaces everywhere. After all, there were numerous counties with an annual income below one thousand Long Yuan per capita. If there were a thousand such counties, would Zhu Jinsong have to build a thousand temporary palaces?
Even if the cost of building a thousand temporary palaces were not a concern, one would have to consider Zhu Jinsong's limited capacity, wouldn't one? With a thousand temporary palaces, even changing one each day would take three years to cycle through!
Secondly, there was the issue of sustainability.
This approach might work initially, but what about afterward?
The people of the Great Ming could not spend their days idly, constantly following Zhu Jinsong on his travels.
More importantly, while this approach could improve the economy to a certain extent, from the perspective of the entire Great Ming, it was not necessarily a good thing.
Any economy developed through virtual, non-tangible means could not withstand major shocks.
To give the simplest example.
Was a certain street in the United States not incredibly influential? It was almost as if one street could impact the global economy.
However, what kind of shock could this street withstand?
Once a major crisis occurred, the rooftops on this street would become quite crowded!
Conversely, industries had stronger resilience. For example, during the international financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis, Germany, often described as stubborn and resistant to new eras, was the first to recover after a brief fluctuation.
After careful consideration, Zhu Jinsong shook his head and said, "Economies developed through tourism and similar activities are vulnerable to major shocks. I do not intend to use such methods to increase the income of the people. Instead, I prefer to enrich the people through industrial development."
"It is said that a prosperous nation leads to a strong populace, and a strong nation leads to a prosperous populace. I hope that the people will become strong as well as prosperous."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Zeng Cheng and the other magnates frowned.
While "a prosperous nation leads to a strong populace" and "a strong nation leads to a prosperous populace" sounded similar, their concepts were vastly different.
"A prosperous nation leads to a strong populace" was more realistic, much like the current Great Ming—the imperial court had wealth, and the military was sufficiently powerful. Consequently, the people of the Great Ming had confidence, and they were not afraid of anyone even when they ventured outside the borders of the Great Ming.
In contrast, "a strong nation leads to a prosperous populace" was less realistic—if the populace became too prosperous, there was a possibility of the people gaining power at the expense of the nation.
Therefore, while magnates like Zeng Cheng also hoped for the people to become prosperous, they did not desire a prosperity that, as Zhu Jinsong put it, would lead to "a strong populace and a prosperous nation."
It would be best to control it within a certain "degree."
However, this "degree" was difficult to determine.
Upon hearing Zeng Cheng's concerns, Zhu Jinsong almost burst into laughter—if the populace became prosperous, could there be a possibility of the people gaining power and the nation receding? What novel, nonsensical theory was this?
No matter how prosperous the populace became, could they be more prosperous than the nation?
No matter how strong the populace became, could they be stronger than the laws and the military?
Furthermore, Zhu Jinsong spoke of national prosperity and popular prosperity, and national strength and popular strength; these were two aspects of the same issue, two sides of the same coin. Both a prosperous nation with a poor populace, or a strong nation with a weak populace, were paths to chaos. A nation that was prosperous and a populace that was also prosperous, a nation that was strong and a populace that was also strong, this was the true path to long-term peace and stability.