There's an old saying in the Central Plains' chambers: "Only officials are allowed to set fires, not the common people to light lamps." Emperor Zhu was much the same. Despite his frequent orders to build ossuaries, Emperor Zhu felt a pang of heartache whenever he thought of Lin Yu, Wang Zixuan, and others killing and plundering without recruiting labor.
After a thorough scolding, Emperor Zhu continued, "How have things been overseas recently? Have you made any money?"
When the topic of making money came up, Wang Zixuan's spirits immediately lifted. "Made money, made money! With my business acumen, if I don't make a hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand a year, I'd be too embarrassed to show my face! Oh, and that Mukara Port you just mentioned, is that ours, Great Ming's?"
Emperor Zhu replied unhappily, "Don't even think about it! We don't need you for matters of war. Don't cause us any more trouble!"
Wang Zixuan, his hopeful plan exposed, chuckled sheepishly. "If you don't need us, you don't need us. How is that causing trouble?"
Emperor Zhu couldn't help but glare at Wang Zixuan, then asked, "How are our Great Ming citizens doing overseas?"
Hearing Emperor Zhu inquire about serious matters, Wang Zixuan's expression turned solemn. "Thanks to your blessings, it's not an exaggeration to say that our Great Ming citizens overseas can walk unimpeded, if not swagger. Aside from that incident with the Bengazi barbarians losing their minds last time, which barbarian country dares to disrespect Great Ming?"
However, his solemnity lasted less than three seconds before Wang Zixuan reverted to his flippant self. "Speaking of which, it's actually quite boring. Those barbarians are too honest, especially after the Bengazi affair. We can't even find any military merits to claim. It's truly a pity."
Emperor Zhu couldn't help but glare at Wang Zixuan again.
It was truly infuriating how these merchants of Great Ming behaved. Instead of focusing on honest business, they were all thinking about causing trouble overseas and earning military merits. It was truly bizarre.
After some thought, Emperor Zhu grabbed the globe and steered the conversation to New South Wales. "See this large island? Originally, there were some natives on this island. Later, those Dutch and English barbarians discovered this large island, enclosed land here, and each made a fortune."
Hearing Emperor Zhu specifically mention New South Wales, Wang Zixuan's heart stirred, and he inquired, "Your meaning is? Can our Great Ming merchants go there and compete with those barbarians?"
After Emperor Zhu nodded in confirmation, Wang Zixuan chuckled, rubbing his hands together, and asked with a fawning expression, "Well, I'm just saying, if our Great Ming merchants could seize this large island, would it be counted as military merit? I'm not after the rewards, I just want to rank ahead of my father when entering the ancestral hall."
Emperor Zhu snorted, "You should worry about seizing it first. Those Dutch and English barbarians have managed this large island for many years. You can't seize it by yourself."
Wang Zixuan exclaimed indignantly, "If I can't seize it by myself, wouldn't I just rally more people to seize it together? After all, our Great Ming merchants overseas are not to be trifled with!"
Emperor Zhu pursed his lips and asked, "How many people can you rally to join you in seizing it? I'll tell you in advance, not only are there barbarians on that island, but there are also natives, snakes, and fierce beasts. Don't go trying to seize the island and end up losing yourselves."
Hearing Emperor Zhu's words, Wang Zixuan became even more displeased. "What are you talking about? I wouldn't dare to say more, but rallying a hundred or so people to go with me shouldn't be a problem. If each of these hundred or so people brings their own subordinates and the strong men from their families, we can easily gather a thousand or so people."
"And aren't there natives on that island? Can't we win over those natives and have them target the Dutch and English barbarians?"
"As for those snakes and fierce beasts..."
Wang Zixuan curled his lips in disdain. "If they can be eaten, we eat them. If they can't be eaten but can be used in medicine, we use them for medicine. If they can't be used in medicine, we feed them to livestock. If all else fails, we burn them for fertilizer. We living people can't be held back by a bit of urine, can we?"
As the saying goes, "The best way to get a horse to run is to stimulate it." Seeing that Wang Zixuan had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker, Emperor Zhu smiled with satisfaction.
This was perfectly in line with the consistent style of the Central Plains' chambers – divide and conquer, using natives to deal with barbarians, which was sound military strategy. As for the snakes and fierce beasts, they would all be utilized: either eaten, used for medicine, fed to livestock, or turned into fertilizer. This adhered to the principle of making the best use of everything.
Emperor Zhu smiled and cautioned, "You can fight for territory, but the premise is to protect your own safety. If you really can't beat those barbarians, don't engage in a head-on fight. If necessary, run directly to Old Port and Lanfang. I know you're not afraid of death, but you must also think of your elders and children at home. Don't charge forward recklessly on a whim."
Hearing Emperor Zhu's words, Wang Zixuan felt a warmth spread through him.
Those who ventured overseas to forge a path and achieve success in this era, if not possessing eight hundred minds, at least couldn't be fools. Wang Zixuan naturally knew that Emperor Zhu was trying to provoke him. He swallowed the bait thrown by Emperor Zhu, partly to gain military merit, and partly out of resentment towards Emperor Zhu, despite his trust in him. Back then, it was Emperor Zhu who prevented him from becoming a soldier. Now that he had this opportunity, he definitely had to show Emperor Zhu up!
However, upon hearing Emperor Zhu tell him to think of his elders and children at home, Wang Zixuan felt that familiar, relaxed spirit return.
Wang Zixuan's eyes turned red, and he said softly, "I understand. Our Great Ming merchants are not fools. We know the principle of escaping when we can't win."
As he spoke, Wang Zixuan became excited again. "I've calculated it. Even if we can gather three thousand people this time, that's enough for a regiment of soldiers. They are all trained, and with proper equipment, they'll be excellent soldiers. I'll get to experience being a regimental commander!"
Emperor Zhu's expression immediately darkened. He slapped Wang Zixuan on the back of the head. "Why don't you recruit ten thousand people and experience being a division commander? You damn fool! I'm telling you to go to New South Wales to make money, seize territory, and recruit labor, not to establish your own base there. What, do you want us to send our Great Ming army to suppress you?"
...
After Wang Zixuan left, Zhu Jianyong tentatively asked, "Your Highness, are you planning to take New South Wales directly, rather than using it to pressure England?"
Emperor Zhu smiled and nodded. "If I hadn't met your second sister's uncle today, I wouldn't have had this idea."
Zhu Jianyong was puzzled and asked, "How is this related to second sister's uncle?"
Emperor Zhu smiled and shook his head, then inexplicably asked, "Let me ask you, throughout history, what were the reasons for prosperous eras and the calamities of fallen dynasties?"
Emperor Zhu's question only confused Zhu Jianyong further.
Since Emperor Zhu had established many schools, from village to county and prefecture levels, the number of scholars in Great Ming gradually increased. Later, controls on newspapers were gradually relaxed, allowing scholars to contribute to them. Gradually, the content of newspapers became more diverse.
The causes of prosperity and downfall in successive dynasties were particularly hot topics in the newspapers.
The more popular the topic, the more participants there were, and the more participants there were, the more conclusions were drawn.
Regardless of right or wrong, the reasons for the rise and fall of dynasties summarized by Great Ming now numbered in the dozens. The most widely circulated and accepted explanation was that population decline due to warfare during each dynastic change led to the redistribution of land resources, and that the downfall of dynasties was also due to land being unable to support the massive population.
But what did this reason have to do with Emperor Zhu directly taking New South Wales?
Take the redistribution of land resources, for example.
Great Ming's defeat of Great Qing was relatively easy. As soon as Emperor Zhu raised the banner of rebellion and dealt a few blows to the Jianyi, various rebel kings emerged throughout Great Qing. Moreover, Great Qing's military strength was extremely weak. Coupled with the ingenious strategies concocted by the old dog Qianlong and Minister He, Great Qing collapsed like an old man with chronic erectile dysfunction, without even a chance to find a military doctor.
During this process, the Green Standard Army of Great Qing surrendered whenever possible, returning to collect their Jianyi pay after handing over their equipment. Often, with just the sound of a cannon, the Green Standard soldiers opposite would simply abandon their weapons and armor and flee.
This had nothing to do with loyalty, but purely with whether they were foolish or not. No matter how foolish the Green Standard soldiers were, they knew that Great Qing relied on them to "suppress" the so-called rebels in various regions. Therefore, abandoning their equipment and armor and fleeing was not a problem; it would be truly foolish to hunt down all the rebels.
"When the birds are gone, the good bow is stored; when the cunning rabbit is gone, the hunting dog is cooked." This not only summed up the experience of the ancestors of the Central Plains' chambers but also the experience of the Green Standard soldiers themselves.
The Green Standard Banner, which had helped Great Qing win the empire, ultimately received far worse treatment than the Manchu Banner of Jianyi. They called theirs "iron-clad crops," while the Green Standard Banner wasn't even considered a stepchild.
Therefore, the Green Standard soldiers basically put in minimal effort, and some even hoped that the rebel kings would win. If the Jianyi won, they would continue to be slaves. If the rebel kings won, the Green Standard soldiers would transform into Han Chinese citizens!
Faced with such a choice, which couldn't be wrong even if made with their heels, the Green Standard soldiers naturally wouldn't make the wrong choice.
As a result, many battles were fought, but these so-called battles were essentially all sound and fury, signifying nothing, or even lacking any substance.
Precisely because of this, Great Ming's overthrow of Great Qing did not result in a significant population decline. In fact, the casualties were far less than those incurred by Emperor Zhu when he eliminated other "Emperor Zhus" later.
Of course, this did not mean that Emperor Zhu's elimination of the other rebel kings resulted in a large number of casualties.
On the contrary, few of the soldiers under the other rebel kings were truly willing to fight to the death. Associating with Emperor Zhu meant being Han Chinese citizens, and associating with other rebel kings also meant being Han Chinese citizens. As long as they didn't go to become slaves of the Jianyi, what difference did it make who they followed?
Besides, who didn't know at the time that Emperor Zhu's power was vast and his treatment was good, and that unifying the world was only a matter of time? If they didn't risk their lives fighting at this time but instead changed their allegiance early, wouldn't they have died in vain?
Thus, a rather puzzling situation arose: the elimination of Great Qing did not lead to a population decline, nor did the unification of the world. Instead, because the Farmers' Association directly ruled down to the village level, a large number of hidden households were investigated, and the population inexplicably increased by millions.
During this process, the Farmers' Association's direct distribution of land to households was a redistribution of land resources.
However, returning to the point, based on the arable land in the eighteen provinces of Han territory at that time, it was far from sufficient to support over three hundred million, approaching four hundred million people.
The real key to solving the problem was Emperor Zhu's vigorous promotion of irrigation systems and industrialization since the Battle of Liangmeng.
The irrigation system, consisting of rivers, canals, and reservoirs, ensured the land's productivity.
The development of industrialization led to the rise of numerous workshops, diverting a large portion of the population and significantly reducing the people's reliance on land.
It was precisely because these two paths progressed in parallel that Great Ming was able to support a population far exceeding its land capacity.
Only after the recovery of Korea, the recovery of Liaodong and Nurgan, the recovery of the grasslands, and the recovery of vast territories like Lanfang, Old Port, and Jiaozhi did Great Ming gradually experience a situation of vast land and sparse population.
So the question arises: If the prosperity and downfall of previous dynasties were all due to land resources, then Great Ming now has vast land and sparse population, and there's no need to worry about insufficient land resources, right?
However, facing Zhu Jianyong's question, Emperor Zhu let out a chuckle. Tapping his fingers on the table, he said slowly, "While the prosperity of past dynasties was indeed due to the redistribution of land resources, you, and those scholars who study this issue, have overlooked the most crucial reason."
"The people's hearts were settled."
"After one war after another, the people began to long for a stable life. Coupled with the redistribution of land resources being sufficient to support the surviving population, a prosperous era would then emerge."
"In other words, it wasn't necessary for the emperor to be exceptionally wise or powerful. As long as they didn't cause chaos, even a dog tied to the throne could lead to a period of great governance."
"Furthermore, you have also overlooked another accompanying problem: the decline of ambition."
"I won't use others as examples for you. Let's take the founding emperor, Emperor Taizu, for instance. Before driving out the Mongol Yuan dynasty, were the armies of Great Ming exceptionally formidable? After the Mongol Yuan retreated to the northern desert, were the Ming troops who went beyond the frontier still as formidable?"
"Because there was no longer a threat, the soldiers began to yearn for their wives and children and warm hearths."
Zhu Jianyong nodded, then asked curiously, "However, what does this have to do with New South Wales?"
Emperor Zhu chuckled and said, "The connection? It's a big connection!"
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