Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty's Great Edict was aimed at all officials and civilians, but its emphasis was on punishing corrupt officials, and more than 80% of its items were related to governing officials.
Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to issue a strict "great edict" to make his subjects fearful and not dare to violate the law, but it did not actually achieve the desired effect.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang himself had to admit that "once the edict was issued," "the evil people thought it was not true and continued to do the same wrong things as before," and "they committed crimes as if it were common."
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial holy books that were once collected by every household and recited by everyone had become hard to find.
By the time the Ming history was compiled in the early Qing Dynasty, the "Great Edict" had become a rare book, so the historians made many mistakes in their descriptions of it.
As a founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang often had a sense of responsibility to "bring peace to the world for eternity" and was worried that "you will make mistakes after I die." He always wanted to devote himself to creating a perfect ideal system, especially one that would not fade with the passage of time.
However, it turns out that such a system is impossible to exist.
Times are changing, systems will be distorted, and it is impossible for a system to exist forever.
This situation is not uncommon in history.
Even Qin Shihuang was like this.
He said: "I am the First Emperor. Future generations will count me as the second, third, and even tenth emperors, and the line will be endless."
As a result, it was only passed on to Qin II, and no later generations used it.
These founding emperors often have a mysterious self-confidence.
The reason is very simple, they have been winning all the way.
On their road to success, there were countless times when everyone else was wrong and he was the only one who was right.
This will also create an illusion: I am destined to be with you, and my thinking must be correct, and only in this way can I achieve ultimate victory!
In fact.
If they had not always insisted on their own ideas, rejected the opposition and had a unique vision, they would not have eventually reached the position of emperor.
But it is precisely because of this that they often have an extreme level of self-confidence and design systems that appear reasonable but actually do the exact opposite when they operate.
So was Qin Shihuang and so was Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use the system he designed to eradicate corrupt officials forever, eliminate any unstable factors forever, and create eternal peace for the Ming Dynasty.
This set of "Great Edict" was published nationwide and was available in every household. However, after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, everything disappeared and inexplicably disappeared in the long river of history.
Facts have proven that all attempts to use a set of policies to build a foundation for eternity will eventually become a historical joke - unless you can live forever and keep the system from changing shape forever, it is impossible to succeed.
But just as no one can remain immortal, so, there is no system that can run forever!
In the past, Mr. Zhu was too confused by the situation to see any of this.
Su Che stood on the shoulders of his predecessors, so he could see a little further into the future. He was very open-minded and believed that future generations would have their own affairs to take care of. Trying to solve all problems once and for all would only have the opposite effect.
During this period when the whole country was extremely busy, Su Che took some time out from his busy schedule to revise some unreasonable parts of the edict and add some new things.
During this period, no major moves can be made. The entire state machinery is running at high speed and under high load, and it is difficult to carry out other things. Otherwise, once things get out of control, the consequences will be disastrous.
However, there are no big moves, but small moves can be made.
During this period, Su Che expanded the court report department and renamed it "Da Ming Court Report". He wanted to open an official newspaper nationwide, which were complementary to each other.
The literacy campaign in full swing made the literacy rate of the Ming Dynasty continue to rise, and more and more people were able to understand words. At this time, newspapers directly opened up a fast channel from the upper to the lower levels of the country.
Through official reports, even the lowest level of people can know the country's policies without having to convey them through officials. In this way, the difficulty of policies being distorted will be greatly increased.
In this way, the administration of officials will become clearer, of course, only relatively clearer.
But even so, it is a good improvement.
Time passed day by day, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, the Agricultural College finally produced their results.
A group of old farmers stood in an experimental field. After a while of calculation, their eyes were full of excitement: "It succeeded. Your Majesty's hybrid breeding theory has finally succeeded! The yield of this batch of spiritual rice has increased by 50%! "
"And this number should continue to increase. Our current technology is not mature enough, so we can continue hybridization and breeding, and even more powerful seeds will appear!" said an old farmer excitedly.
"Quick, go inform His Majesty!!"
“Finally succeeded!”
"I finally lived up to your majesty's expectations..."
"We finally achieved some results!"
Since the opening of the Agricultural College, these skilled farmers recruited from the public have been given quite high treatment and status by the court, but the number of students entering the Agricultural College is pitifully small.
At the beginning, they were very happy. There was little work, high pay and high status. What could be better than this?
But as time went by, they became restless.
Although there were few students in the Agricultural College, they were not treated any worse than others and were even given official positions.
But this also generated a lot of rumors, and there were more and more voices outside questioning and mocking them.
Outsiders all say that they are not worthy of their positions, not capable enough for the responsibilities, not strong enough to act, and not smart enough to make plans!
The increase in these voices has caused them great psychological pressure.
Many people even resigned from the court.
In this era, reputation and face are very important, and many people are willing to give up everything for face and reputation.
Faced with the resignations of these agricultural college teachers, Su Che did not accept them, but instead assigned them new tasks - in addition to teaching, they also started the task of cultivating seeds to verify the theories that Su Che had put forward.
If it is done, it will be a great achievement!
This is a daunting task.
The teachers from the Agricultural College had no reason to refuse and gladly accepted the offer.
In fact, they also want to prove that they are not just here to eat for free, but can make contributions.
In the long period of time that followed, they were surrounded by rumors and questioned in various ways, which made them even more eager to produce some results.
And today.
The results are out.
The yield of spiritual rice in this batch of experimental fields cultivated through hybridization has increased by 50%. This is not a small number. If it is promoted to all parts of the country, it will be a very terrifying result!
Moreover, this number can continue to increase, and the seeds of spiritual rice can continue to be hybridized and cultivated. The final result may even double!
These old farmers don’t dare to expect too high a result. In their opinion, doubling the yield is already very terrifying.
This is indeed the case. This batch of spiritual rice has an increase of 50%, which is already very impressive.
As the news reached the palace.
Su Che stood up excitedly and said with a big laugh: "Finally it worked!"
If all else fails, he would have thought that spiritual rice could not be hybridized and cultivated. As it turns out, it can!
Zhu Biao, who was standing by, saw his father's expression and asked in surprise, "Father, what's the matter?"
In the past few days, Zhu Biao was in charge of road construction. He did a very good job and his reputation spread throughout the country. He was supported by countless grassroots people. This also made him gradually find confidence, become more lively and healthier, and his psychological pressure was not so great.
Su Che smiled and said, "The Agricultural College has produced their results. The hybrid breeding was successful and the yield of spiritual rice has increased by nearly 50%. This is still the initial result, and it can continue to improve in the future!"
Zhu Biao was shocked when he heard this. He was not a prince who was unaware of the suffering of the people. He was very clear about the concept of increasing production by 50%. This would greatly improve people's livelihood and enhance people's strength!
The Ming Dynasty has taken another big step on the road to becoming a prosperous and strong country!
"This is great news! Congratulations, father!" Zhu Biao said with a smile.
"Let's go and take a look at the experimental fields at the Agricultural College!" Su Che said with a smile.
"Do you want to bring the ministers with you?" Zhu Biao suddenly thought of something and asked hurriedly.
"Of course we have to take them with us!" Su Che nodded. He had to let these ministers who liked to make sarcastic remarks see that the Agricultural College, which they looked down upon the most, had also produced its own achievements!
"yes!!"
Soon, an order was issued, and the important officials of the Ming Dynasty court quickly gathered together. They were all a little confused. It was not the day of the court meeting yet, and there had been no particularly important events recently. Why were they suddenly summoned?
What exactly happened?
Afterwards, the ministers followed the emperor's carriage to a farm in Yingtian Prefecture. This was an experimental field belonging to the Agricultural College, and all the farmers around it had been relocated.
At this moment, the spiritual rice is ripe, and the rice fields are golden, like a golden carpet.
Each of these spiritual rice grains is so full that the stalks are bent under the weight.
When the ministers saw this scene, they felt relaxed and happy. The scenery was really nice and pleasant.
The ripe spiritual rice swayed slowly in the breeze, emitting an intoxicating rice fragrance.
"These spiritual rices are growing so well!" A minister couldn't help but exclaim.
"Your Majesty, did you bring us here just to see these?" someone responded.
"These spiritual rices are indeed extraordinary. I feel that the yield is much higher than that of ordinary spiritual rice. It is very rare that such a large field can grow so well."
"Is this... a sign from heaven?"
In ancient times, auspicious signs were always part of politics.
Sometimes, auspicious signs add icing on the cake of peace and prosperity, sometimes they are related to the legitimacy of the emperor, and sometimes they are even the life-saving straw of the dynasty.
The politicization of auspicious signs originated very early. There are records in Huainanzi that link Huangdi’s political achievements with nature.
During the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu formally established the theory of the correspondence between heaven and man. He believed that "heaven" has consciousness and can see everything in the world.
If the king is unjust, heaven will send down disasters; if the king is virtuous, heaven will send down auspicious signs as a reward.
The Confucian system gradually generalized it into universal moral values, turning it into popular values ​​such as "Man acts, God watches."
Auspicious signs also relate to the legitimacy of changes of dynasties.
In ancient times, dynasties changed frequently, and the way the Mandate of Heaven was presented was "something that comes by itself without any force", that is, auspicious signs.
The rapid growth of these spiritual rices before our eyes is not proof of the auspiciousness of the Ming Dynasty? !
At this time, Su Che came not far away. He looked at these important officials, smiled and said, "I called you together today because I have a great joy to share with you."
"The agricultural college we opened was criticized by you in the past, saying that it was not very useful. Today, I will put the results in front of you for you to see!"
"Yu Shanan!"
"I'm here!" an old farm official responded quickly.
"Tell me about your achievements, let me hear them, and let them hear them too!" Su Che said lightly.
"I obey your command!" The old farmer official Yu Shan'an, whose back was usually hunched, straightened up unconsciously at this moment.
He slowly turned around, glanced at the ministers in the court, and then said seriously: "I am following the king's order to study hybrid rice breeding. Based on the theory provided by Your Majesty, I failed several times, but finally achieved results a few months ago."
“Over time, those seeds grew into fruit.”
"This is what you see in front of you. This is the latest research result of the Agricultural College! Hybridization and cultivation of spiritual rice!"
"We have strictly calculated that the yield of every acre of land has increased by 50%. This is the yield without special intervention. We can continue to optimize the cultivation in the future."
"The final optimization result is likely to increase by 70% to 80%, or even double it!!"
"As long as these hybrid rice seeds are promoted, the Ming Dynasty will surely become more prosperous!"
Finally, the old agricultural official Yu Shan'an did not forget to make a summary: "These are all the results achieved under your majesty's theory. Our Agricultural College has only done some insignificant work!"
After hearing Yu Shan'an's words, all the important officials of the court were stunned, and they all stared at the old farmer official in amazement.
It’s not a good omen?
But is it the result of artificial cultivation?
Can it even be extended to the whole world? ?
This agricultural college really made achievements for them! ! ?
Even those ministers who had previously looked down upon the Agricultural College now realized their achievements. Even though Yu Shan'an attributed the credit to His Majesty, they definitely deserved a lot of credit for their achievements.
Once these hybrid rice varieties are promoted nationwide, will the yield of spiritual rice double?
This is simply unimaginable!
Many ministers held their breath and were filled with shock. The Yingtianfu Agricultural College, which they regarded as a joke, had been ridiculed countless times and had even been given several targeted nicknames.
Who would have thought that such a group of peasants could achieve such a great feat? !
As for the nobles, they were even more excited at this moment.
They have been soldiers all their lives, fighting for most of their lives, and they understand the importance of food and grass. What kind of changes will happen if the rice yield is nearly doubled? Just thinking about it is exciting!
"Don't put all the credit on us. We see your efforts, and the credit of the Agricultural College will not be diminished in the slightest!" Su Che stood up and said loudly:
"We will publish your achievements in the Ming Gazette, so that everyone in the country can be happy together!"
"You agricultural officials will surely go down in history as role models for farmers all over the world !"
As soon as these words came out, the old agricultural officials were immediately excited. Who would have thought that they would also have the opportunity to leave their names in history? What an honor!
When the ministers heard this, they all felt very complicated.
Leave your name in history!
This is the ultimate goal pursued by literati.
The agricultural officials whom they used to look down upon had actually reached this point without them noticing?
Many ministers subconsciously thought, are they worthy of it?
But think about it carefully.
What a match!