Chapter 200: Ming Dynasty Dominates the Silk Road
Of course, Zhu Biao did not support the issuance of paper money in the past.
Without systematic economic knowledge, and without control over one's hands and greed, paper money is just a tool to plunder money from the people.
True, he might be able to avoid these traps himself, but could the Hongwu Emperor listen to him once and always?
Now Zhu Biao found out his father was Zhu Yuanzhang, so he thought, "Oh, that's all right. My father will definitely listen to me every time. When I become emperor, I will listen to myself too."
Zhu Biao's father was famous in history for his exceptionally long reign, and Zhu Biao himself had rarely been ill since childhood, convinced he possessed a healthy constitution. Together, the two of them could maintain a reign for sixty or seventy years without much trouble.
Sixty or seventy years was enough for the Ming Dynasty's productivity to leap to the modern level. Even if the Ming Dynasty royal family became useless starting with his son, the foundation accumulated by the father and son for China was enough to support the smooth transformation of Chinese society and prevent it from being invaded by foreign powers.
If his son had worked a little harder, the three founding generations of the Ming Dynasty would have been able to maintain a century of prosperity. Such a huge family fortune would be enough for future generations to find the right path, right?
Zhu Biao complimented the Hongwu Emperor, and Zhu Yuanzhang laughed triumphantly. Zhu Biao looked at his father's smile and couldn't help laughing too.
Zhu Yuanzhang's confidants kept exchanging glances.
Afterwards, they squeezed into a carriage and pretended to go to a restaurant for dinner together.
On the way, Li Shanchang was the first to ask: "Has Biao'er already known?"
Liu Ji fanned himself in the middle of winter and said, "It's obvious."
Wei Lian sighed: "Biao'er's body..."
Ye Chen said: "As long as it is not announced that Biao'er is the prince, Biao'er will be fine."
They were silent for a while and then continued chatting.
"Biao'er really doesn't hide it at all."
"Biao'er didn't hide it, but the lord didn't notice it at all."
"My lord's concealment was very poor before. Didn't Biao'er notice it at all?"
"Hahahaha, that's because Biao'er trusts the lord."
"My lord, you are my lord too. I will repay you with my revenge."
Everyone laughed out loud.
Zhu Biao was such a smart person, yet Zhu Yuanzhang's concealment of the matter was so full of mistakes and omissions that he was able to keep it a secret until he was seventeen years old.
Zhu Yuanzhang was so meticulous and suspicious that Zhu Biao's concealment was almost the same as not concealing anything, but he didn't notice it at all.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao are probably the smartest father and son in the world. However, when they face each other, they are both a little silly, as if their brains are blocked by something.
Perhaps their minds were indeed confused, confused by the deep affection and trust between them as father and son.
…
After knowing that he was the crown prince, Zhu Biao became more relaxed in his work.
In winter, he moved his family and uncles to a manor near the textile factory.
Boiling water is required to process cotton yarn and silk, and water vapor and wastewater flow through pipes throughout the estate, acting as a low-end heating system.
With the addition of a kang, this manor can even grow greenhouse vegetables in winter.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very proud.
"I told you that you should spend the winter here in Biaoer!" Zhu Yuanzhang boasted while eating the watermelon grown in the greenhouse with watermelon juice dripping from his mouth.
Xu Da, Tang He and Zhou Dexing were gnawing on melons, too lazy to talk to Zhu Yuanzhang.
They hear this boast almost every day and are tired of it.
In the courtyard, Zhu Biao leveled the land where he had just harvested fruits and vegetables, set up a large net, and made a badminton court.
If you don't have a rubber sole, you can use animal bones and fish bones to make glue; if you don't have special steel wire, horsetail hair and silk can be used to make guitar strings, and naturally they can also be used to make rackets; add a wooden frame, and the ball and racket are ready.
Although it could not be mass-produced, badminton became a luxury item, and the "Chenji Shop" of the imperial merchant made a fortune from it. Now badminton has become a common entertainment for the nobility.
Li Shanchang, who usually uses a cane, rolled up his sleeves, revealing his bulging bare chest, and played badminton with Liu Ji.
The two old men were running around the field, fighting with murderous intent.
Ye Chen and Song Lian were whispering on the side, waiting for whoever lost on the field so that they could replace him.
Liao Yongan, wearing a cloak and holding a hand warmer, looked at the two shirtless scholars on the field and turned to ask Ji Renshou, "Aren't they afraid of the cold?"
Ji Renshou coughed a few times and said with a smile, "I don't think they are afraid."
Zhu Sheng frowned: "You are not feeling well, go back to your room and sit down, why are you blowing the wind here?"
Ji Renshou shook his head: "It's warm outside, and my cough isn't caused by the wind. Let me take a closer look."
Zhu Biao led his brothers, who were carrying wooden boxes, into the courtyard and said, "Playing badminton is too tiring. How about trying this?"
The younger brothers put the wooden box on the ground and Zhu Biao opened it.
The box contained spinning tops, bouncing balls and other fitness toys commonly used by the elderly in the park, as well as some incomprehensible metal devices.
Zhu Biao led his younger brothers to act as craftsmen, banging on the ground, and installed fitness equipment such as "space walk" and "steering wheel" in the community in later generations into the yard. He also built a shed on the fitness equipment to protect them from wind and rain.
While Zhu Biao and his brothers were busy, Zhou Dexing, holding a melon in his mouth, said, "Boss, aren't you going to help?"
Zhu Yuanzhang walked over holding the melon and said, "Biao'er, how do we do this? Daddy is here!"
Zhu Biao waved his hand and said, "Dad, you go and have a rest. My brother and I will do the work."
"Oh." Zhu Yuanzhang walked back with the melon in his hand and said to Zhou Dexing, "Biao'er said no."
Zhou Dexing: “…” So perfunctory.
Xu Da threw the melon peel into the basket, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said with a smile: "Come to Biao'er, this is how you enjoy life. If Biao'er wants us to do something, he will tell us directly. If Biao doesn't say it, don't worry about it."
Tang He buried his head in the melon and panted, eating while mumbling: "He doesn't know. He doesn't come here often."
Zhou Dexing: “…” You always leave me aside, you are awesome, you are amazing!
Xu Da and Tang He said, "We have good acting skills, we are amazing. Unlike some people, Biao'er has grown up, and only your acting skills can make you come to eat for free."
Xu Da said: "I am also better at fighting than you. "
Tang He said, "I am better at governing the people than you are."
Xu Da and Tang He said in unison: "My official position and title are higher than yours."
In history, Tang He's love of wine led to his failure to make strategic decisions during the battle against Chen Youliang, nearly leading to a major defeat. If this happened to any other general, they would have been executed. Tang He was simply not among the first group of Dukes when the country was founded, and was often nagged by Zhu Yuanzhang every year.
When Zhu Yuanzhang finally conferred the title of Duke on Tang He, he engraved this incident on Tang He's golden medal of immunity from death.
People in later generations said that Zhu Yuanzhang was wary of, suppressed and excluded Tang He.
It is unknown in official history what Zhu Yuanzhang’s motives were, but if it were Tang He today, he would probably mutter to his face, “The boss is so nagging.”
Tang He did not drink and mess up this time, so he was naturally the first to be granted the title of Duke. Zhou Dexing was far less talented and diligent than the other two, and his contributions were much smaller, so he was only granted the title of Marquis.
Xu Da and Tang He mocked Zhou Dexing every other day, just like they mocked Zhou Dexing for not being able to come to Biaoer's place for a free meal more than ten years ago.
Brother, we are the boss's closest brothers, and you can't even become a duke. You must be so useless.
We are both Dukes, and you are the only Marquis. The Duke is so awesome, he excludes you and laughs at you!
Today, Zhou Dexing was ridiculed again.
Zhou Dexing wiped his mouth and sneered, "I'm certainly no match for you, but my son is. What about you? Tang He, where is your son Tang Ding? Xu Da, where is your son Xu Huizu?"
Tang He: “…My son is also in the top ten!”
Xu Da: "...My son is young!"
Zhou Dexing snorted coldly, "Top ten? Your son was defeated by my son. Young? Your son is the only one among the three of us who doesn't have a flame robe. Isolate him!"
Tang He glanced at Xu Da, then, despite the watermelon juice still in his hands, slapped his thigh and laughed heartily: "Yes, your son is the only one who is not among the first batch of disciples that Biaoer personally taught!"
Xu Da's face suddenly turned dark.
He immediately said, "Boss!"
Zhu Yuanzhang moved his chair with his buttocks and took a step back: "It's useless for you to call me boss, the rules are the rules."
Xu Da said, "How can Chang Wei, Chen Li, and Ming Sheng be considered the first batch?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Chang Wei's grades have always been in the top five. Biao'er's students have petitioned Biao'er to issue a robe for Chang Wei. Chen Li and Mingsheng have special statuses. Zhang Shicheng's sons will also have robes in the future. Why don't you rebel against the country first and then surrender?"
Xu Da: “…” Believe it or not, I really rebelled against you!
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't believe it, and neither did Xu Da. So Zhu Yuanzhang continued to eat the melon, and Xu Da was so angry that he wanted to beat someone up.
Although the students of later classes also had robes, could the robes worn by Biaoer’s first batch of students be the same as those worn by the later students? Could they be the same?
Xu Da was almost mad at himself for marrying and having children late. Why didn't I want to get married before?
Zhou Dexing scored a comeback and mocked Xu Da wantonly.
Tang He originally mocked Zhou Dexing together with Xu Da, and now he also mocked Xu Da together with Zhou Dexing.
Anyway, we are all brothers, and Tang He is happy to laugh at anyone.
Zhu Yuanzhang fanned the flames from time to time, almost shouting, "Fight, fight, I want to see a river of blood."
On the badminton court, Liu Ji and Li Shanchang started arguing over whether a single shot counted as a point. Song Lian and Ye Chen were trying to mediate.
Liao Yongan put down the hand warmer and tried to whip the spinning top, but failed no matter how hard he tried.
Ji Renshou and Zhu Sheng stood beside Zhu Biao who was hammering something, and asked curiously about the function of these instruments.
It was not until Ma Xiuying and Li Zhen came in, talking, with Li Wenzhong and Zhu Wenzhen carrying sheep, that they stopped quarreling and prepared to have dinner.
In the evening, a bonfire for roasting lamb was lit.
Dark clouds floated in the sky, and light snow fell. Before it reached the ground, it was evaporated by the heat in the yard.
Zhu Biao stood up, put his hand on his brow and looked up at the sky: "The snow has come so early in Beijing this year. What a good omen."
Winter snow indicates a good harvest. The winter snow can freeze pests to death and alleviate spring drought.
Zhu Yuanzhang tucked his hands into his sleeves, his shoulders hunched, like an old farmer afraid of the cold: "Next year will definitely be a year of good harvest."
"Um."
The father and son looked up at the snow that was not falling for a while, then smiled at each other.
"What are you looking at? Come and have dinner!" Ma Xiuying said loudly.
“Here I come!”
The fifth year of Hongwu ended.
…
The sixth year of Hongwu arrived, and according to his lunar age, Zhu Biao was already eighteen years old.
As for his age, he was only sixteen, and he turned seventeen in December of the sixth year of Hongwu.
The prediction of "weak crown" is based on the lunar age. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his son with satisfaction, as the time for his son to return to the throne was getting closer and closer.
"Dad, why are you still in Beijing? Why don't you go back?" Zhu Biao said with disdain.
Zhu Biao looked at his father as if he were looking at his son who had come home for winter or summer vacation. He had been very fond of him a few days ago, but now he was annoyed.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. "There will be too much to do if I go back. Sigh, I might as well submit a petition to His Majesty, and ask Him to move the capital to Beijing."
Zhu Biao said, "It's up to you. But it's best not to move now, because the south is still unstable."
The north has not been developed much, and Nanjing is located on the center line, which is suitable for north-south coordination.
Only with himself in charge of the north and his father watching over the south can the Ming Dynasty be stabilized during this drastic change.
Zhu Yuanzhang obviously knew this, he just complained.
"According to Wenying's information, he may fight with Dai Viet this year. Your two brothers are going to the south, who will you choose to defend the north together?" Although Zhu Yuanzhang had already made up his mind, he still had to ask Zhu Biao first.
Northern Zhili is Biaoer's territory, so we have to choose someone who can cooperate with Biaoer.
Zhu Biao said, "Hasn't it already been decided that Uncle Xu will come to help me? The second and fourth founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty are both in Beijing. What else can I be dissatisfied with?"
Poor Uncle Xu, his father made Zhu Guorui the first founding hero, isn't it because his father wanted to bully Uncle Xu? He remembers that his father once vowed that he would never let Uncle Xu be among the top three heroes.
The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually played such a big joke on the founding heroes, and this joke even passed the review of the founding ministers. No one banged his head against the pillar to protest against it. There is definitely something wrong with this Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Although they are both powerful, they are old and may not be easy to use."
Zhu Biao was at a loss for words: "Uncle Li is fine, but Uncle Xu is still quite old, right? Well, Uncle Xu is enough. I don't lack any young generals here."
Although most of the first batch of students he taught graduated, many of them chose to stay in the north and be under his command after graduation.
The north happened to be short of people, so Zhu Biao continued to lead this group of students in construction, and only sent a few particularly outstanding ones to work under others.
For example, Tang He, who had already returned to the south to build a naval base, had a lot of people under his command.
In the future, the battlefields of the Ming Dynasty will basically be at sea, and this group of students will be the first batch of naval generals of the Ming Dynasty who have received new-style education.
Zhu Yuanzhang was still a little worried: "They don't cooperate with you very well, and they're not as close as Wen Zheng and Wen Zhong. How about letting one of them stay?"
Zhu Biao shook his head: "They all want to make merit, how can I restrain them? While they can still fight, let them have more fun. In the future, when they can no longer fight, they will still come to help me with work."
Zhu Biao would not let his brothers fight on the battlefield for the rest of their lives, and there were not so many wars to fight in the Ming Dynasty.
Even if it was Zheng Ge, Zhu Biao would force him to work, and no one would be able to escape.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned: "Really not choosing more?"
Zhu Biao was extremely helpless: "How about you ask Uncle Yan to come and help me?"
Zhu Biao finally chose someone, and Zhu Yuanzhang was satisfied.
Zhu Yuanzhang not only let Yan Qian return to Zhu Biao, but also sent Hua Yun.
Hua Yun was full of confusion: "Your Majesty, what should I do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "You are a capable civil official. You can be Biao'er's bodyguard."
Hua Yun: “…” I’m not a civil official, I really am not a civil official!
But Hua Yun was still very happy to follow Biaoer.
As long as he is with Biaoer, he will never lack things to do.
Zhu Biao certainly has plenty of things to do, but there is very little for Hua Yun to do.
His next step was to promote textile machines and transform textile workshops into textile factories.
Improvements in textile machinery have been ongoing. China previously had water-powered looms, but they were not widely used.
Through the refinement of craftsmen and the exploration of textile workers, Zhu Biao obtained new weaving and spinning tools. He didn't know whether these tools were better or worse than the historical spinning jenny and flying shuttle, but they increased weaving efficiency by about five times. With further exploration and improvement, weaving efficiency could be as high as ten times.
Zhu Biao had previously suppressed the production capacity of weaving and spinning for fear of provoking a backlash from stakeholders in the south.
Now he is not afraid anymore. If he has the guts, he can strike back.
As we all know, when the textile industry entered the mechanical age, a large number of small handicraftsmen who relied on traditional weaving methods became unemployed, causing social problems.
Now is the right time to promote the textile industry.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the chaotic times had just ended. Although the people had begun to work hard to cultivate the land, five years was not enough for them to produce a generation. The Ming Dynasty was still vast and sparsely populated, and in many places, there was still no rooster crowing for thousands of miles.
The common people were busy farming to feed themselves, the powerful were being divided, most people were busy making a living, and supplies were not yet sufficient for small handicraftsmen to prosper.
If a few decades later, in the Guangdong-Hong Kong area, many of the rich and powerful's fertile lands will probably be turned into cash crops, but now, everyone is growing grain, and workshops are not very prosperous.
At this time, Zhu Biao promoted textile machinery and pushed the textile industry into the machine age, which would not affect the interests of ordinary people, but would benefit them instead.
Because they were just barely avoiding starvation and had no land to grow mulberry, hemp or cotton. If very cheap cloth were available, they would be able to grow food without worrying about dividing up a few acres of land to grow mulberry, hemp or cotton just to avoid freezing to death.
When Zhu Biao was implementing the well-field system, he rented a lot of land to grow cotton. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang transferred a lot of land to Zhu Guorui as a reward.
In addition to growing grain and paying taxes to fill the national treasury, most of these fields were used to grow cash crops, and a small portion of the land was now used as experimental fields for new grain varieties.
Zhu Biao currently has sufficient raw materials for spinning and weaving.
He was now going to use machines to squeeze out the textile workshops in the South, reap the local powerful forces in the South that were still in a mess after many migrations, and bankrupt them.
Zhu Biao would then sell them machines, guide them in reforming the factories, and force them to join the Textile Association, formulate industry rules such as minimum wages and maximum working hours, and establish the order for the first step of industrialization.
Once the rules were set, Zhu Biao would submit a memorial to his father, asking him to pass relevant laws to further curb the drawbacks of industrialization.
Industrialization is to make people's lives better, and bloody and barbaric expansion is not desirable. This is not in line with our Chinese tradition.
"Can we sell so much cloth?" Li Zhen was a little worried.
Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Don't worry. Our Ming Dynasty's internal market still has great potential. While the people are growing crops now, we can sell them cheap cloth and get them used to buying cloth. This will establish the market. We also have the markets of Goryeo and Japan. Once the unrest in Dai Viet is quelled, the markets of Southeast Asia will also open up to us."
Zhu Biao looked up at the map hanging on the wall and said, "Through Nanyang, the gateway to the West is also open. Our market is very large. As long as we do business seriously and peacefully, we can make a lot of money."
Yes, you can become rich just by doing business peacefully, so Zhu Biao didn’t understand why those countries in modern history had to engage in bloody expansion.
Wouldn't it be nice to use a little bit of development speed to exchange for peace of conscience and morality, and for higher spiritual needs?
Since the Han Dynasty, our Western Silk Road has been profitable for everyone, and everyone has benefited together.
The Maritime Silk Road of the Song Dynasty also supported a number of small countries along the way.
Obviously, we can all prosper together.
Zhu Biao reflected that the current Age of Exploration was initiated and led by the Ming Dynasty. He hoped that the new Silk Road, like the previous one, would be a path to common prosperity.
Li Zhen listened to Zhu Biao's expectations and showed his longing at first, then said: "But many countries are short-sighted. They probably don't want to prosper together with others."
Zhu Biao, with his hands behind his back, looked at the vast map on the wall and said calmly, "I expanded the Ming navy just to reason with them. I believe that with the Ming navy, they will definitely recognize the order established by the Ming Dynasty and the concept of common prosperity of the Ming Dynasty."
Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Biao'er is right. They will definitely agree."
Order and ideals are all within the range of the Ming Navy.
After visiting the naval base, Li Zhen strongly agreed with this matter.
I believe other countries will also recognize it.
Zhu Biao picked up a thumbtack from the table and pinned it on the map of Goryeo.
"First, let's fix the problem here."
In the spring of the sixth year of Hongwu, the King of Goryeo killed Sin Don, the powerful minister who presided over domestic reforms. The domestic reformist forces declined, the conservative forces rose, and the court was in chaos.
The King of Goryeo selected handsome noble sons to serve in the palace, ostensibly to cultivate his confidants, but in reality to satisfy his needs.
Later, this group of noble young men caused chaos in the harem and resulted in deaths.
They were afraid of the punishment from the King of Goryeo and actually attempted to assassinate him.
The King of Goryeo died without a legitimate heir.
At this moment, a minister brought out a child, saying that he was the illegitimate child of the King of Goryeo.
Liao Yongzhong sneered: "If you say so, then it is? Where is the evidence?"
All the Goryeo ministers were silent.
