Chapter 217 The imperial court is an arms dealer, a hard-working gentry!

   "A chance to get rich?"

   Tian Qi's eyes lit up.

  He likes getting rich the most.

   After all, having money can really solve many problems.

Zhang Gui nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty! These poor scholars from Xilin Academy and the people in Jiangnan obviously dislike our slow pace of reform and can't wait any longer, so they rush to implement the New Deal directly with violence. But they To do it, it is necessary to use the funds they obtained from the liquidation of the Jiangnan gentry to buy the firearms of the Xishan Industrial Division. In this way, the Xishan Industrial Division can obtain more profits. Your Majesty holds the largest share in the Industrial Division. Wouldn't it make a fortune? ?”

  Tianqi suddenly realized after hearing this: "That's true! If this is the case, it is equivalent to helping me steal money from the gentlemen in the south of the Yangtze River."

   "Your Majesty is wise!"

   Zhang Gui replied.

   Tianqi stood up and said: "In this case, they cannot be classified as rebellious parties."

   "They were not a rebellious party in the first place!"

   Zhang Gui replied, and said: "They are from Chen Xichang in name, and they are following the order to eradicate rape!"

"Donglin Academy colluded with the Japanese pirates, so they naturally wanted to wash Donglin Academy with blood; other Jiangnan gentry colluded with foreigners, and they naturally had the right to liquidate it. As for the equalization of land and labor, it was just a spontaneous behavior of the people, and it had nothing to do with Xichang. "

   Tianqi nodded, and said: "But the big families in Jiangnan will not sit still. The court said they are not a rebellious party, but they may not necessarily listen to the court, thinking that they are not a rebellious party."

  Zhang Guidao: "Your Majesty said that, but at least the imperial court cannot stand on the side of the big households in the south of the Yangtze River to prevent the people from spontaneously changing!"

   "First of all, this is not good for the court."

   "Secondly, Your Majesty, if the court does not secretly support these people's spontaneous reforms, it will affect the overall situation of the entire Ming Empire."

  After Zhang Gui said this, Tian Qi asked: "What is the explanation for this statement?"

Zhang Gui then replied: "Your Majesty, in fact, the Industrial Division of the Chinese Military Governor's Mansion has serious overcapacity! Too advanced smelting and forging technology, and hundreds of thousands of craftsmen, make ordnance and other industrial products continue to be sold at a very fast speed. It is not enough to consume so much ordnance just by being close to the guards and the newly established Huben Army."

"The key point is that the Department of Industry has to continue to expand its scale because it needs to feed more refugees. After all, the refugees who came here from all over the country are also His Majesty's subjects, and His Majesty cannot ignore their lives. Therefore, even if it is to solve these surplus Armaments, so that more refugees can survive, His Majesty has to support the people in the south of the Yangtze River to launch a war against the gentry!"

   Tian Qi fell silent after hearing this.

  Influenced by Zhang Gui, he now knows the concepts of overcapacity and slow sales.

   It's just that he didn't expect that one day, when he supported Zhang Gui's industrialization, he would need to launch a war to solve the problem of overcapacity after industrialization.

Zhang Gui continued to say at this time: "Your Majesty, I still have something to report to you. Since February of the seventh year of Tianqi, there has been a severe drought in Guanzhong, and the number of local refugees has increased greatly. Therefore, even if the Industrial Division has overcapacity, continue to After that, I’m afraid we have to continue to expand the scale, otherwise there are so many refugees, what are they going to do? The severe drought continues, and it’s impossible for them to resume farming and engage in engineering in a short period of time.”

   "I actually already knew about the severe drought in Guanzhong, and Wei Zhongxian reported it to me."

As he spoke, Tian Qi sighed and said, "God bless my Ming! The original internal and external problems have not been resolved, but new internal problems have arisen. Now it seems that we can only suffer from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and let the local people use it. The firearms we provide, just liquidate them!"

Then, Tian Qi smiled at Zhang Gui: "Speaking of which, you, uncle of the country, cannot escape the relationship. If you didn't go to the Donglin Academy to open a Xilin Academy, and teach many radical ideas For the humble scholars, let them get in touch with the common people, seek truth from facts to find out the way to save the common people, and they will not directly encourage the common people to engage in violent reforms!"

"Your Majesty, I just wanted to guide them and prevent them from blaming His Majesty for the injustice. There are many scholars in the world, and many of them are from humble families. Because the imperial examinations are secretly manipulated and controlled by wealthy families, the They have no way to advance, and they have a lot of resentment! After all, they also want to seek wealth and become masters through reading, but the reality is that the official positions and fame that the imperial court can provide are monopolized by powerful bureaucrats. And the imperial examination has also lost its role in stabilizing the hearts of the world Therefore, I wanted to set up a Xilin Academy to guide them, instead of allowing Donglin Academy to guide these scholars. They only think that all the evils in the world are related to the king's immorality, and they don't know the root of their unsatisfactory life. Because the gap between the rich and the poor is too large, there are too many people and too little land, and serious land annexation! Let them know who their real enemy is!"

"However, who would have thought that the minister's guidance would wake up many poor scholars and realize that it is not the court's injustice and the king's immorality that block their way to wealth and honor, but the serious inequality between the rich and the poor in the world, but this also makes them As a result, extreme behavior occurred, and they began to take the initiative to coerce the people to liquidate the gentry! Unlike in the past, even if they were dissatisfied with the court and His Majesty, they did not dare to act recklessly because of Confucian principles and national laws. But now it is different, they In order to realize his own ambitions, and also for his own wealth and power, he directly coerces the people to realize their ideals."

   Zhang Gui analyzed it carefully.

After hearing this, Tian Qi said: "Of course you are right to do this, otherwise, these humble scholars who have no way to advance will only blame me! But what I don't know is, let them coerce the people like this and force the imperial court to reform, is it right? Good thing."

   As he said that, Tian Qi laughed: "The people copied Donglin, and the people copied the gentry. This is even more shocking than the people copying Dong Huan back then!"

Zhang Gui thought for a while and said: "It's nothing more than letting nature take its course. Your Majesty doesn't need to worry too much. At least now His Majesty and the court need them to do so more. But they can't be allowed to violate the laws of the emperor and the state. Individuals who behave excessively can be punished." But for most people, it is assumed that they are repelling rape. Now, His Majesty and the court need to pay more attention to the new problems of agricultural production reduction caused by a large number of natural disasters and overcapacity caused by industrialization."

  Tian Qi nodded and was silent for a while.

  Then, Tianqi suddenly asked Zhang Gui: "Do you think I really shouldn't delve into strange skills?"

   "Why does your majesty say that? Didn't the minister and your majesty have reached a consensus that the skills of all kinds of crafts and the study of things are the practical learning to benefit the people and strengthen the country, not strange skills!"

  Zhang Gui asked in surprise.

Tian Qi said: "Think about it! I haven't built the steam engine you mentioned, but just made the spinning machine and hydraulic forging machine you mentioned, which will cause the overcapacity of Daming's industry. If we continue to build the steam engine, the If the new gadgets you mentioned are manufactured and can continue to provide a large amount of production capacity, wouldn’t it be even more surplus?”

Tian Qi said again: "Perhaps Mr. Sun and the Confucian officials are right. Hundreds of crafts are indeed miraculous and ingenious, which will cause new problems. After all, who makes Daming more people? It will lead to more serious surplus and waste money and food."

"Your Majesty! Don't think so. If you think this way, then Daming will really be unable to escape the rule that the dynasty cannot have a national fortune for three hundred years! If you don't improve your own skills, then Daming can't use inferior technology to earn money from foreigners." Grain! Your Majesty, now that Daming is suffering from constant natural disasters due to the impact of the climate, there is a serious shortage of food. It is very necessary to exchange industrial products such as ordnance and firearms for food. Dare to sell it."

   Zhang Gui said.

  After hearing this, Tianqi suddenly realized: "You are right! This is the truth! So, not only can we not suppress the improvement of skills, but we have to promote them?"

   "Yes, Your Majesty. For more advanced technology and knowledge, we can do without, but we cannot do without."

"For example, for the violent reforms spontaneously carried out by the people in the south of the Yangtze River this time, what I have always provided them is the turtledove gun, not the flintlock gun newly made by Bi Shilang. Rely on more advanced firearms such as flintlocks to suppress! It will be the same for foreign barbarians in the future. We sell them inferior firearms to make them give up their own development ideas and keep one step behind us forever. I'm worried that they will suppress me, Daming, in turn!"

   Zhang Gui said.

  Tianqi nodded: "It can also control the military situation of other countries!"

   "Your Majesty is holy!"

   Tian Qi laughed.

  After all, Zhang Gui’s enlightenment made him realize that he didn’t have to suppress his interest in scientific research, but it was still very useful to his rule, so he said:

"Okay! There is no problem here. Even if there is a disturbance in the south of the Yangtze River, I don't care! Leave it to you Xichang to manage! Now it's up to you how to persuade the courtiers. In addition, you and Wei Zhongxian will not be together for a while. Come to disturb me again, I want to do an experiment with Tang Wang about magnetism and electricity, I have no intention of government affairs!"

  (end of this chapter)