First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Seeing that they were chatting happily, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but said: "This Shen Xiu has actually been overseas. If he is alive, we really want to invite him over and have a good chat."

Zhang Ximeng just rolled his eyelids, thinking that you should stop thinking about it, or you will be blamed again.

I believe many people have heard that when Shen Wansan repaired the Nanjing City Wall, he was envied by Lao Zhu and almost lost his head. It was Empress Ma who persuaded Shen Wansan to save Shen Wansan's head. Under the blow, the Shen family fell, and Shen Wansan was exiled to Yunnan and died!

This story spread so widely that many people believed it to be true.

Moreover, in the history of Ming Dynasty, it is also grandiose, and it is written in the biography of Empress Ma. The official history says so, it can't be wrong, right?

But the problem is that according to the Wujiang county annals, Shen Wansan died when Zhang Shicheng occupied Suzhou, and his two sons helped Zhang Shicheng, a loyal minister of the Yuan Dynasty, transport grain to the capital.

Since Shen Wansan died long before Zhang Shicheng occupied Suzhou, no matter what, it is impossible for him to help old Zhu build the city wall and be sent to death by Zhu Yuanzhang.

There is a conflict between county annals and official history, which one should I believe?

In fact, this matter is not difficult, as long as you have a little common sense, you can figure it out. Xiuyingtian's city wall is an important place in the capital, and the foundation of Lao Zhu's family.

Will it be handed over to a businessman?

And can the city wall be built with money?

For such a large project, almost all the power of the country must be exhausted, recruiting 10,000+, hundreds of thousands of civilian workers, and the bricks and stones used for the city walls must be specially fired locally.

From the Ministry of Industry to the local government, countless officials have poured their hearts and blood on the city wall. If something goes wrong, it will cause heads to roll and blood to flow like a river.

At this time, a businessman stood up and said that I am rich and can build city walls, which is better than government offices at all levels... If you don't believe me, let me try!

Then the king of a country agreed, and the yamen at all levels had nothing to say, and he really built a third of the capital's city wall!

This kind of jokes is almost at the level of low-level jokes when chatting in teahouses.

But if this is the case, why is it written into the official history?

This leads to another very interesting thing, is the history of the Ming Dynasty well?

It seems to be good, after all, the mainstream experts and academic circles mostly praise Ming history.

But there is also a group of people who are overconfident and think that Ming history compilation is terrible. It doesn't mean that history has hacked the old Zhu's family and compiled history for the previous dynasty. Who can say anything good?

The problem is that the history of the Ming Dynasty is very dark.

Like Shen Wansan, it is obviously a folklore, and even the local county chronicles can be seen to be fake, and no one believes it.

But those who compiled the history of the Ming Dynasty wrote it in it openly.

Examples like this abound.

Ming history has been studied for more than 100 years, and only such a thing has been produced. If you say that the people who compiled history were vicious, it is true... But the level is so low, and it belongs to the food and loves to play. It is really speechless.

Zhu Sheng talked eloquently. He really knew Shen Wansan quite well. This man made his fortune by doing overseas trade. Among them, Jingdezhen porcelain accounted for 5% of his income, and he earned [-] taels a year.

After Shen Wansan made money, he also took out some to help Zhu Sheng run the school.

Until a few years ago, when Shen Wansan died, there was no intersection with Lao Zhu fart.

Zhu Yuanzhang belongs to the marching army of cooks, and he is a scapegoat.

"According to my rough estimate, Jingdezhen earns three to five million taels a year from overseas business alone. If you count the domestic ones, it's really unimaginable."

Zhang Ximeng asked: "Mr. Fenglin, do you think there are female workers in the porcelain workshop in Jingdezhen?"

"how come!"

Zhu Sheng couldn't help shaking his head, "Master Zhang, you are confused. Porcelain-making skills are people's jobs, and they are passed down from generation to generation. It has always been passed down from male to female. How can there be female workers?"

Zhang Ximeng still didn't give up, "Even if you don't teach the key porcelain firing techniques, female workers can always do those simple paintings, right?"

Zhu Sheng murmured: "Of course it can be done, but I'm afraid no one is willing...I said Zhang Xiang, why do you keep staring at the female workers so hard? Could it be that you want to get married? Haha!"

Zhang Ximeng gave the old man a hard look, "Mr. Fenglin, do you really not understand? Just like tea picking, weaving, and porcelain making, women can be responsible for most of the crafts here, and they must be used for men. Not many. For example, in a family, there are three men who work in a porcelain workshop. They work hard to support a large family. But if women can enter the workshop, men’s work will be replaced. Men can If you join the army, you can become civilians, and the number of troops we can mobilize can even be doubled!"

"Mr. Fenglin, you know the secrets of the sky, let the lord build walls high, accumulate food widely, and slowly become king... Why didn't you think that if women were allowed to enter all walks of life, our 100 million people would be worth as much as the sky. 150 million people, 200 million people! We only have the territory of one province, and we can equal to two of their provinces. This is a matter of doubling our troops! Maybe we won this, how can I relax? "

"This one……"

Zhu Sheng was left speechless, the old man thought about it silently, this is really the case!

Zhu Yuanzhang's territory is not good, and it is in the place of the Four Wars.

No matter the population or the territory, it can't compare with Tianwan.He also drew up the nine-character strategy based on the actual situation.But if we can unleash the power of women, we will have more young and strong soldiers joining the army, and the shortcomings of Zhu's army will be able to make up for it... Now that the Zhu's army is fighting on two fronts, its strength is already insufficient, and it has to be divided into two sides. The pressure is a bit heavy .

As a result, there is a way out there, which can greatly increase the strength of troops. Can you refuse?

Zhu Sheng was speechless, "Master Zhang, why didn't you say this when you were in Yingtian?"

Zhang Ximeng chuckled, "It's not too late for me to say it now! Could it be that Mr. Fenglin hasn't felt the march all the way?"

What do you feel?

……

"Head of the family, don't worry, I can do all the work in the field! Mr. Wu Guogong has been kind to us, and now we are going to fight, there is no need for us to charge into the battle, even if we are transporting military rations, can we still complain? Parents, and children, I can take care of it too."

The man sullenly said, "I see, you should be more careful when you are at home."

The woman agreed vigorously, and stretched out her hand to help her husband push the small cart, and sent him away from the house and onto the main road... One after another, the peasant husbands gathered into a continuous long dragon.

The population of Fuliang Prefecture is less than [-], yet nearly [-] civilian husbands came out all of a sudden to send Zhu's army to the front line of Hongdu.

Chapter 236

Fuliang Prefecture, Leping Prefecture, Raozhou...these few places alone mobilized more than 1 civilians, almost two civilians assisted one Zhu's army, and there were more than [-] livestock and thousands of boats. , Converging into a torrent, tens of thousands of Zhu's troops were sent to the city of Hongdu.

The efficiency was so high that even Zhu Sheng was dumbfounded. He ran for thousands of miles, and the road was densely covered with water networks, making it difficult for vehicles and horses to travel.A month, or even a month and a half, is normal.

But in fact, it took less than 20 days for Zhu Jiajun, and even half a month for Hu Dahai's forward, to appear outside the city of Hongdu.

At this point, Zhu Sheng was completely overwhelmed. He felt that the art of war he had learned in his life might have to be rewritten.

The reason why the nomadic cavalry is powerful is that all the people are soldiers. Like the early Mongols, it is common to draw one for two and one for three.

There are often tribes that claim to have tens of thousands of people who control strings. In fact, they only need to multiply by two or three times to calculate the size of their tribe.For example, Xixia, which is famous for its invincibility, has a limit of 40 people mobilized. Considering that the party members are not necessarily herdsmen, the mobilization rate is lower, and their total population is 300 million. .

It is ironic that such a small country can make Da Song, with a population of tens of millions, look ashamed and embarrassed!

Needless to say what Rusong said, the mobilization ability of the farming nation is indeed not good, and it is already too much to draw one out of ten. It is too much to use all the power of the whole country to arm tens of thousands of people.

For example, after the Northern Song Dynasty's five-way expedition against Xia lost tens of thousands of people, the Northwest's vitality was directly injured, and it did not recover until the Northern Song Dynasty's demise.

Zhu Sheng is familiar with the history books and the tactics of war. He also has his own judgment on the strength of Zhu's army mobilized.In order not to hurt the people's power, and not affect the farming... Basically, twenty or thirty men are needed to support one soldier.

And this is after taking into account the implementation of farming and the adoption of the military household system.

A unified and peaceful Central Plains dynasty, with a population of tens of millions and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to support, is more than one hundred to one, seventy to eighty to one, and it has reached its limit.

If there are more, it will become militaristic and cost people money.

The nine-character strategy was not something that Zhu Sheng said casually. He made repeated evaluations based on the territory, population, and grain production.

The land of Huaixi, plus the prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River, are all under their control. The total population is less than 1000 million, and the number of soldiers and horses that can be supported is about 30.

It is necessary to restore people's livelihood, save food, and practice internal skills well before using troops abroad. Is it okay to not follow the strategy of building high walls, accumulating food widely, and slowly becoming king?

In fact, in the battle of Poyang Lake that determined Zhu Yuanzhang's fate, Lao Zhu mobilized 20 people.

If you count those who control the place and guard against Zhang Shicheng, the maximum strength of Zhu's army at that time was 30.

After defeating Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng and starting the Northern Expedition, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun commanded only 25 troops.

These figures actually show that under the conditions of the end of the Yuan Dynasty, such a large-scale battle could be afforded.

Like Chen Youliang, who mobilized 60 people at once and put all their eggs in one basket.After failure, it quickly disintegrates and disappears, and there is no cure.

But everything changed completely with the granting of land to women and the granting of property rights to women.

In the past, women couldn't stand up to the door, and a man must be present at home to ensure safety.

One of the most important reasons for Hua Mulan to join the army in place of her father was to let her father stay at home to support the family and raise her younger brother who was underage.

If my father joins the army, the Hua family will be finished.

Joining the army is even more dangerous than staying at home.

It is hard for future generations to believe this.

But sorry, it was true in ancient times.For example, if Dad Hua really went to join the army, and there were no grown-up males in the family, the fellow villagers would try to deprive the mother and daughter of the Hua family of their land, stealing it by stealth, and causing the Hua family to lose their livelihood.

In rural areas, many old women lose their husbands and children, and they will be wiped out... It can be said bluntly that they may not die on the battlefield, but if there is no male support in the family, the people around them will put Your bones are devoured to the brim.

Because of this, it is so difficult to conscript soldiers and husbands in the event of war... because all the captured men are adults, they have wives and children who need to be taken care of, and they dare not leave home.

There is no way, in order to avoid conscription, some people blinded their eyes with smoke, cut off the tendons of their thumbs, and became disabled. All kinds of methods are incredible and helpless.

When it was difficult to recruit soldiers, they arrested strong men everywhere. As a result, most of the captured people died on the way... For thousands of years, this has almost always been the case.

In troubled times, it is possible for the population of the Central Plains to drop by [-] to [-]%, or even more than [-]% due to non-stop attacks.

Tens of millions of lives, how many of them actually died on the battlefield?

Behind the natural and man-made disasters, how many bones are there?

And all these tragedies, after granting women land and treating women as adults, most of them are resolved...Women can support the family, and husbands can join the army and become civilian husbands with peace of mind.

Because Zhu Jiajun's decree protects women, they cultivate fields at home, take care of their elders, and raise children. No matter how much they work hard, they don't have to be afraid of plotting by the people around them.

Whoever wants to take their land and property from them, Zhu Jiajun will not agree!

The family is at ease, and the men are relieved. Even if it takes longer and comes back later, they will not be afraid... What's more, among the team transporting luggage for Zhu's army, some strong women can even be seen. people.

Unity is a fortress, mighty and unstoppable.

Only the people who are in it can feel the surge of this power.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of pride and pride. He took the right step. He did not narrowly deny women's land ownership, and he gave women the opportunity to enter school and become an official.

The endless teams in front of him and the enthusiastic crowd are the greatest rewards for him.

Treating everyone fairly, regardless of gender, is the core philosophy of Zhu Jiajun, and it is as important as restoring China and equalizing land rights!

In contrast, Zhu Sheng was even more shocked.

This old man's knowledge and knowledge are naturally far beyond ordinary people.

On the issue of expelling the barbarians and restoring China, Zhu Sheng strongly supported Zhang Ximeng.The old man cannot approve Zhu Sheng's overly idealistic actions towards Zhang Ximeng.

For example, opposing the praise of Shi Moyisun, for example, treating Miao soldiers equally, for example, allowing women to serve as officials... Zhu Sheng felt that all these were questionable.

Even if it makes sense in theory, there is no need to challenge the tradition of thousands of years. Instead of disturbing the hearts of the people and arguing endlessly, it is better to develop honestly and accumulate strength steadily.

Even Zhu Sheng felt that Zhang Ximeng was insane. It's not a good thing for a young man to be too ambitious. He has to be beaten by the society to stop his arrogance!

Although Zhu Sheng didn't mean to compete with Zhang Ximeng, he also hoped that Zhang Ximeng could adjust a bit, learn to be in harmony with the light, learn to lower his eyebrows to be pleasing to the eye, and surrender to reality.

After all, they have been here all their lives.

But until today, Zhu Sheng changed his mind. It seems that he was the one who was wrong, not Zhang Ximeng!

He thinks that he is old, has a wide range of experience, and is wiser than young people. In fact, what he possesses is only the wisdom of compromise and vulgar insight... People like him cannot really restore China and recreate it. Heaven and earth!

Even if the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown according to their ideas, the final result would be nothing more than the resurrection of the Song Dynasty!

How fortunate to have young talents!

Zhu Sheng subconsciously glanced at Zhang Ximeng, and his old eyes were filled with awe and admiration.

At this time, someone suddenly ran up ahead, saying that there was a muddy road ahead, and many grain trucks were blocked.Zhang Ximeng immediately urged his horse forward to check.

Without hesitation, Zhu Sheng followed suit.

Sure enough, the road ahead had to cross a shallow river.

The water was not deep, but the soil was soft, and it sank into half a wheel at once.

Soldiers, peasants, livestock, and vehicles were all stuck inside, making a mass of muddy water, like a paste.

"Go quickly, carry the wooden boards from the back door, and build a temporary pontoon bridge!"

After Zhang Ximeng ordered, someone rushed to make arrangements.

It's just that the pontoon bridge is easy to build, but there are still a few carriages stuck in it, unable to extricate themselves.

"Pass a few people, carry out the food, and then push the car out!"

Zhang Ximeng greeted the staff, and he also stepped on the muddy water and walked over.

When he got to the front of the carriage, he found a little girl with a face covered in muddy water, who was so anxious that she burst into tears, and the flowered jacket on her body was completely stained with muddy water.