Chapter 553 Central Kingdom
At the Mohist construction site outside the city, most of the workshops have been completed. According to Guo Xing, they will definitely be completed by the beginning of next spring.
If it weren't for Jiang Qingzhi's high demands, Guo Xing would have been able to complete the project before winter.
Jiang Qingzhi has high demands, but he pays generously!
Guo Xing got drunk once and said that he had been doing business for half his life, but he had never seen an owner like Long Weber who ignored the construction site. What he had never seen before was that even if the owner didn't care, the laborers would often take the initiative to work overtime.
At the beginning, Guo Xing was worried that the laborers would ask for compensation for this, but after a few times, the laborers would leave after finishing their work and would not even mention the matter of compensation.
Guo Xing was puzzled, so he asked a civilian. The civilian said: This man is empathetic. The uncle is very caring to us. Not only does he give us a lot of money, but he also teaches our children for free. To be honest, if I didn't have to wait for my family to eat, I would be willing to work for the uncle even if he didn't pay me a penny.
For Guo Xing, the relationship between him and the craftsmen and employees is a relationship of struggle, and the best way forward is for both parties to bargain for their own interests.
Guo Xing was quite curious about Jiang Qingzhi's subtle and silent technique and wanted to learn it. However, after two days of study, his craftsmen learned to be lazy.
What the hell, what a bunch of bastards!
Guo Xing was furious. What about treating the craftsmen well? That’s not the case. Just let it go on as it should.
Yesterday, after learning that Jiang Qingzhi had returned to Beijing, Guo Xing specially inspected the construction site, for he was worried that the old man would find problems.
While he was checking, he heard a commotion outside, and someone even shouted that the workshop was on fire. Guo Xing was furious and immediately rushed over with his men.
When he arrived at the scene, he saw dozens of big men fighting with a dozen civilian laborers. Although the civilian laborers were outnumbered, they refused to retreat even a single step, and the fight between the two sides was extremely brutal.
Just as Guo Xing was about to make a move, a man passing by suddenly rushed over. Holding a wooden stick, he was like a wolf among a flock of sheep, and no one was his match.
Led by the man, the civilians beat dozens of big men and made them flee in panic.
All men have the dream of being chivalrous and righteous. Guo Xing immediately tried to retain the man, saying that he was willing to pay him five strings of cash a month to be a guard at home.
The man smiled. At this time, the guards from the Earl's Mansion came over to pay their respects and said, "Meet Mr. Jingchuan." Only then did Guo Xing realize that he had made a big fool of himself.
Seeing that the city gates were closed, Tang Shunzhi stayed overnight at the construction site outside the city. He asked Guo Xing to gather his craftsmen and asked the guards to leave more than a dozen strong civilians.
No one knew why, until the early morning, when the guard on guard suddenly shouted that there was a thief. Everyone rushed out and saw Tang Shunzhi running ahead with a long stick in his hand.
More than a dozen thieves sneaked into the construction site in the early hours of the morning to set fire, and they brought more than ten cans of kerosene.
This time Guo Xing was determined to kill a few thieves, but before he could make a move, Tang Shunzhi beat more than ten thieves to the ground with just a wooden stick.
After the city gate was opened, Guo Xing followed Tang Shunzhi into the city and reported the matter to the Lai Bo Mansion.
"Mr. Jingchuan's stick wielding made me dizzy. When those thieves saw that they were no match for him, some of them shouted as they fled, "Leave your name if you dare."
Guo Xing looked at Tang Shunzhi with envy and admiration, "Mr. Jingchuan said, holding a long stick, I am Tang Shunzhi from Wujin!"
At that moment, Guo Xing felt that a good man should be like this.
Jiang Qingzhi didn't thank him either, and asked, "Have you eaten?"
Tang Shunzhi placed the stick against the wall and said, "I didn't eat it."
"Bring some soup noodles," Jiang Qingzhi ordered, and then asked, "Mr. Jing Chuan, did you gain anything from this trip?"
Tang Shunzhi looked weathered and dark-faced. "I have traveled to many places this time and have seen the people's livelihood in various places... More and more people have lost their lands. From time to time, we can see refugees on the official roads. The whole family is displaced and looks pale and thin. I also gave them the dry food I brought with me. But I gave it to one person, what about the others?"
Tang Shunzhi's eyes were filled with worry. "I went to various places to investigate secretly. Every time I went to a place, I could see completely different scenes. On one side, the powerful were arrogant and extravagant, while on the other side, the people were starving. Looking at those people, I wondered... what would happen if a natural disaster came at this moment?"
"If the government can provide disaster relief, then things will be easy. If it can't..." Jiang Qingzhi smiled, "then war will break out."
Decades later, natural disasters and man-made calamities came together, and the postman rose up in rebellion, eventually destroying the Ming Dynasty.
Many people in later generations believed that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. But that was not the case. The Ming Dynasty was destroyed by Li Zicheng.
Li Zicheng broke through the capital, and Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide. Later, Wu Sangui opened the pass and let the Qing army enter, which led to the Battle of One Stone.
So strictly speaking, the Ming Dynasty perished due to internal strife.
"I have been thinking about how to save this crisis that may break out at any time. Suppressing land annexation is just treating the symptoms, but there is no way to completely change it."
Tang Shunzhi smiled bitterly, "Mind study, mind study, at this point there is nothing I can do."
"Xinxue is the Tao." Jiang Qingzhi said, "And this Tao is more about personal cultivation."
"You are a leader of the Mohist school. Do you have any solution for this?" Tang Shunzhi looked at Jiang Qingzhi with sharp eyes.
You asked such questions so early in the morning... Jiang Qingzhi, who wanted to take a few days off, said: "This is a huge problem. We need to treat both the symptoms and the root causes, but the first thing is to find the root cause of the problem." At some point, Prince Yu and Prince Jing came and stood beside Jiang Qingzhi. Prince Yu said: "The powerful and the bureaucratic are the root."
"Fourth Brother!" Jiang Qingzhi looked at King Jing, who had become thinner.
"Greetings, uncle." The two princes then bowed.
"My cousin once said that the cycle of order and chaos must first be caused by the corruption of officials, followed by the people's livelihood... The two seem to be related, but the root lies in the economy." King Jing said.
Jiang Qingzhi nodded. "Everyone has seen the harm of the powerful annexing land and absorbing population, and they think this is the biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty. But they don't know that all this is superficial."
Xia Yan came and listened silently.
Hu Zongxian and Xu Wei, two good friends, had just finished breakfast and were picking their teeth when they heard these words. They stood there quietly listening.
This is a big question. Successive dynasties have been unable to break out of this cycle of order and chaos. What solution can Mohism offer?
"The root of the problem is that the population is too large. In the past, ten people shared one big steamed bun, and everyone was full. Now the population has increased to twenty or thirty people, and everyone is not full."
Jiang Qingzhi said in a clear voice, "The solution of all dynasties was to let it go, but there was nothing that could be done. But in my opinion, the solution is not complicated."
He looked at everyone and asked, "Why not make this bun bigger?"
"Make the steamed buns bigger?" Tang Shunzhi narrowed his eyes, and suddenly a strange light burst out in his eyes, "There are too many monks and too little porridge. The only way... is to either reduce the number of monks, or make more porridge..."
Xia Yan leaned against the wall and murmured, "Make the steamed buns bigger. Yes, when I was in power, I also thought about this problem many times. I read the history books and found that all the predecessors could do was sit back and watch. For example, Fan Wenzheng and Wang Anshi mustered up the courage to launch reforms. Wait!"
Xia Yan raised his voice, and everyone who was thinking looked at him. Xia Yan said, "In the past, the Song Dynasty launched two new policies. The new policies of Fan Wenzheng and Wang Anshi seemed sharp, but they were trying to take food from the mouths of the meat eaters, so they caused turmoil and ended in disgrace."
Prince Yu was shocked, "This is... wrong!"
"That's totally wrong." Xia Yan said, "Even if the two new policies are successful, the population will still grow. The food taken from the meat eaters will still not be able to fill the stomachs of the people. Even if there are no external enemies, when the hungry people can no longer bear it, the world will be filled with war. And all this..."
Xia Yan looked at Jiang Qingzhi, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "Just as Qingzhi said, they took the wrong path from the beginning. It's right to take food from the mouths of carnivores, but what's more important is..."
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said silently: "Open source!"
"It's about opening up new sources of income!" Xia Yan's eyes sparkled, and he said excitedly, "When there are more and more children and grandchildren in the family, and the income is not enough to make ends meet, the way to solve this problem is not to let the family live frugally, but to go out and find ways to make money!"
Tang Shunzhi closed his eyes. "The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is no different from that of previous dynasties. The population is increasing day by day, and the fields can no longer support it. The meat eaters' annexation of land and absorption of population only speed up the process. Solving the problem behind closed doors is like looking for fish in a tree. The only way is..."
"Outward!" Prince Yu said excitedly, "It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only one day to deploy it. The army of the Ming Dynasty should look for fields for the plow of the Ming Dynasty."
"Who said this?" Tang Shunzhi asked.
Prince Yu looked at Jiang Qingzhi and said, "It's my cousin."
"Purge the Beijing Guards, rebuild the Beijing Guards, rebuild martial arts..." Tang Shunzhi said softly: "Then we must attack, defeat Altan Khan, and sweep across the north. Let the north become the rear of the Ming Dynasty, not a threat."
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "No, the north is not only the rear of the Ming Dynasty, but also the pasture of the Ming Dynasty!"
"What a bold idea!" Tang Shunzhi praised: "Yes, with this large ranch in the north, cattle and sheep will continue to flow into the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty can also form a powerful cavalry..."
"What happened next?" someone asked.
Tang Shunzhi said: "Ask your masters!"
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "What is open source? Why don't you look overseas instead of just focusing on the mainland?"
"Go to sea?"
"Yes." Jiang Qingzhi said in a bewitching tone: "There are countless fertile fields overseas. Once they are cultivated, even if the Ming Dynasty develops at the current rate of population growth, it will still not have to worry about money and food in 500 years."
Everyone was surprised.
"Don't doubt it. This is the news that our ancestors brought back from their voyages. There are endless continents and endless resources overseas." Jiang Qingzhi said, "What we need to do is to build a powerful navy fleet while reforming at home to escort our merchant ships to the sea to trade and conquer...
Ten years later, twenty years later... the Ming Dynasty, which has been continuously supported by the people, will stand at the top of the world."
Jiang Qingzhi looked at everyone and said in an unquestionable manner:
"That kind of Ming Dynasty has a name!"
"The Central Kingdom!"
(End of this chapter)
