Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 35 People in the world have been disloyal to Your Majesty for a long time!

Under your sharp pen, the seemingly prosperous Ming Dynasty was ripped open beneath its veneer of paint, and a core issue gradually emerged...

[That is, why did the Ming Dynasty perish in history? ]

[Looking back, there are many reasons, but the main ones are as follows: First, the so-called "Little Ice Age" that has been hotly debated in later generations!]

The so-called Little Ice Age refers to the Ming Dynasty coinciding with cyclical climate changes, which, combined with climate change, led to various natural disasters, such as locust plagues, droughts, floods, hail, and so on. This makes sense, as the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty was plagued by numerous natural disasters, which in turn led to large numbers of refugees and food shortages, leading to widespread civil unrest.

[Some extremists even believe that the Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed by a natural disaster caused by the Little Ice Age!]

This sounds like it could really inspire those who have a special filter for the Ming Dynasty, because it evokes a sense of powerlessness, a sense of fate that "man proposes, God disposes." It fits the tear-jerking plot of heroic stories where the invincible hero, despite doing everything he can, is still crushed by an unmatched world boss, only to be plucked out of his gains by the despicable "Qing Dynasty." It's extremely sad and infuriating...

But what if I told you that the worst period of this "Little Ice Age" wasn't during the disastrous mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, but rather during the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty?

The invincible hero "Da Ming" couldn't even withstand the boss's casual attack, and his gold coins exploded on the spot... But the despicable peach-picking villain "Dai Qing" used the equipment and gold he scavenged from corpses to not only withstand the boss's most violent period, but even while holding the boss back, he created the Kangxi and Qianlong prosperous eras that lasted 120 years. The population soared from less than 100 million at the end of the Ming Dynasty to 400 million...

[Daiming: Encountering a Little Ice Age. The ferocious Little Ice Age is as strong as a monster, and even with all our might, we can't defeat it!]

【Daiqing: It’s not a monster…】

Anyone who isn't an extreme fan can definitely see that the Little Ice Age wasn't that dramatic; it was just one of the many factors that contributed to the Ming Dynasty's demise.

So now comes the second important part: resource allocation!

The distribution of resources in the late Ming Dynasty was extremely unbalanced. The poor were extremely poor, and the rich were extremely rich!

[Poor people like Li Zicheng, who was so poor that he became a monk when he was young, and even herded sheep for the landlords to make ends meet. His parents and others died of poverty and illness... He was a replica of Zhu Yuanzhang!]

[A wealthy individual like Zhu Changxun, Prince of Fu in Luoyang, was so beloved by his father, Emperor Wanli, that he gave him tens of thousands of hectares of fertile farmland in the Central Plains as a fiefdom. He ate so much that he became a gigantic man weighing hundreds of kilograms!]

[Wealth and poverty are not only reflected in class, but also in region. For example, the northern regions, represented by Shaanxi and the Central Plains, are typically poor places where people work hard all year round but can only have a few full meals.]

In contrast, in Jiangnan, there were even some Ming loyalists who later wrote in their books: "By the time of Wanli, let alone other benefits, just talk about firewood, rice, oil, salt, chicken, goose, fish, meat, and all kinds of food. Which one was not cheap? If a family of several people ate a lot of fish and meat every day, the cost would be only two or three cents..."

[Look, is this human language?! ]

Obviously, the disparity between the rich and the poor across social classes and regions in the late Ming Dynasty was enormous...it would be strange if the poor didn't rebel!

[The third reason is: the complete decay and collapse of the bureaucracy and taxation system!]

The main motto of officials in the late Ming Dynasty was "As long as they are greedy enough, they will be greedy to death!" A landmark event was when Chongzhen was besieged by the rebel army and asked his ministers to donate money to help defend the city, but they all said they had no money.

[But after Li Zicheng invaded, the officials in the capital coughed up over 70 million taels of silver after being severely tortured by his army...]

[The key point is that they not only embezzle money, but also don't do their job. The administrative effect they should have is almost non-existent... the typical case of all-for-nothing!]

[It's said that the Ming Dynasty was a big stage for insects, there's no doubt about that. It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that all the officers were insects, but nine out of ten officials were skinned, so there were definitely some insects that were missed...]

[There was also the collapse of the tax system. Due to the bureaucracy being a mess and the fact that the Ming Dynasty's tax system had always been problematic, it was almost impossible to collect the taxes that should have been collected. For example, the wealthy merchant resistance groups in the Yangzhou and Suzhou areas did not pay taxes at all. Millions of wealthy royal family members also did not pay taxes. Even the landlords and gentry with official titles did not pay taxes!]

[But the imperial court always had to collect taxes, so Chongzhen, realizing he couldn't afford to offend these wealthy gentlemen, had no choice but to extend his tangible hand to the poor people in the north...]

[Let the people suffer even more, and whoever wants to bear the blame can do so, but I won't bear it!]

This tangible giant hand swung down, directly destroying the homes of countless starving and cold people in the north. Millions of angry men from Shaanxi and the Central Plains immediately joined this son of a bitch in a fierce fight!

【Thus, the Dashun Yongchang Emperor officially came into being! 】

Besides the aforementioned internal factors of natural disasters, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, bureaucratic corruption, and the collapse of the taxation system, there was another external factor that should not be ignored that led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

【It is... Daiqing Lao Aijia! 】

[The Wild Boar Skin humanoid Gundam, Huang Taiji is a typical holy ruler, and the various princes and nobles are all small bosses with superb tactics... Perhaps the Later Jin during the Wild Boar Skin period could still be pacified by the Ming Dynasty, but after Huang Taiji's feudal reforms, the Qing Dynasty was no longer something that could be solved by the late Ming Dynasty!]

Many people say that the Qing Dynasty took advantage of Li Zicheng to gain control of the Central Plains, but in fact, it was Li Zicheng who took advantage. If the Ai family had not annihilated almost all of the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty within a few decades, Li Zicheng would have been wiped out long ago...

[So, even if Li Zicheng didn't destroy the Ming, the Qing would have marched south to destroy it sooner or later. The Ming-Qing transition was a foregone conclusion. Li Zicheng simply stepped on the accelerator...]

[To sum up, these are all the main reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty in history.]

[Although the God Emperor's extraordinary birth, with his deus ex machina-level power, restored Dai Ming's life, he actually only solved two and a half of the above problems!]

[One is Lao Aijia. This biggest external factor was severely ploughed by the Divine Emperor, killing almost all the people in Liaodong. This can be considered a complete physical solution...]

[The other is the tax system. After he slaughtered Yangzhou and Suzhou, two of the vanguards of tax resistance, no one dared to refuse to pay taxes anymore... Rich merchants had to pay, and so did landlords. If they didn't, their entire clan would be exterminated, even nine or ten of them...] [The remaining half is the issue of resource allocation.]

Why do you say He only solved half of it?

[Because His solution was to carry out a mass slaughter that year!]

Why are resources so unevenly distributed? Because there are so many people! So, as long as enough people die, we can achieve a certain degree of resource redistribution...

The Divine Emperor directly massacred tens of millions of "unruly people" and indirectly killed tens of millions more. This created a vast amount of unowned land. Poor people like yours suddenly acquired hundreds of acres of prime land for free. While they didn't achieve a class transition, they did gain some wealth.

With such a material foundation, your parents were able to move from their hometown to the county town, support you in attending a government-run school, and even afford you to take the provincial examinations for 24 years without working.

[The Divine Emperor's kindness is not over yet! ]

However, this approach only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. As long as the living environment is suitable, the population will grow rapidly. Now, nearly sixty years have passed, the population loss has long since recovered, and the contradiction between population and land is gradually reappearing.

Although everyone is afraid of the Divine Emperor, as the saying goes, if the people don't fear death, how can they be frightened by it? They can't survive anyway, so rebellion is just a death sentence... Given time, the world will be in turmoil again, and it's just around the corner!

[That's why it's said that the Divine Emperor only solved two and a half problems, and that half of the problem will soon be revived.]

[As for the remaining numerous problems, even with the Divine Emperor's supreme power, he is still unable to solve them...]

The Little Ice Age is still raging, even intensifying, gradually approaching the worst level seen during the Kangxi and Qianlong eras. Natural disasters have caused countless deaths!

Resources remain unevenly distributed. The Jiangnan region is a paradise on earth, while the Central Plains and the north suffer from hunger and cold! Imperial princes, landlords, and wealthy merchants continue to live a life of luxury, while the vast majority of the poor still struggle to feed themselves!

The bureaucracy remains as corrupt and dark as ever, even more so than before. Countless incompetent individuals who only know how to be loyal are in high positions, and the level of corruption is even worse than before!

【And at this time, what is our great Divine Emperor doing? 】

[Oh, He hasn't done anything good. He even condones corruption while using absolute force to oppress hundreds of millions of unruly people. They would rather starve to death at home than raise the flag of rebellion...]

[A zombie that should have been buried long ago was forced to regenerate. The price of regenerating the zombie was the blood and tears of billions of people in the world!]

【so……】

[…The people of this world have long disobeyed Your Majesty!]

You finished writing fiercely, then calmly put down the brush in your hand. Looking at this unparalleled admonition that practically slammed the Divine Emperor and the Ming Dynasty to the ground, if you didn't want to be pointlessly splattered with blood, you would have burst out laughing!

[This is what a man should do! 】

【How wonderful! How wonderful! 】

[Next, I'll just wait until the time is up and hand in my papers with everyone else. Then I'll go back to the dorm and wait for the Imperial Guards to yell, "JYW! Open the door!"...]

You feel relaxed and not afraid of the impending misfortune.

【However, an unexpected event occurred...】

"Then, student! Have you finished writing?"

[A sharp eunuch's voice made you look over in surprise, only to see the old eunuch on the jade steps staring straight at you!]

Seeing your astonishment, he simply came forward. When your heartbeat slowed down, he picked up your paper, the ink of which was still wet, and walked straight towards the Divine Emperor in the hall, muttering as he walked, "This candidate writes very quickly, but why does he look so stunned? He doesn't even answer my questions..."

"Hurray! Someone has already written it!"

"Hmm... what a coincidence! He's the same fellow countryman as the bandit... Zhou Liang, the champion from Mizhi County in northern Shaanxi!"

[The shrill voice of the eunuch from afar makes you feel like you are falling into an icy cave...]

Although you've already prepared to charge the tower and be killed, you'd rather wait until the Imperial Guards capture you and torture you. That way, you'll have a chance to leave a final poem like the heroes in the storybooks, and die a glorious death.

[And now, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to recite poetry, laugh, and become a hero...]

[You are about to be splattered with blood in the Golden Palace!]

……

(End of this chapter)