Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Having said that, Wei Wu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a serious expression.

"Uncle Zhu, your majesty as the founding emperor is so great that rats can only hide in the gutter. No one dares to mess around. But the future may be uncertain."

"During the middle to late Ming Dynasty, the gentry and the civil officials were entangled, and their influence even surpassed that of the emperor."

"When these interest groups grow stronger, they may not be able to influence the metropolitan and palace examinations, but they have the final say in the academy and provincial examinations."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard that the power of civil servants was greater than that of the emperor, murderous intent began to surge in his eyes.

The reason why he abolished the Secretariat and the prime minister system was to highly centralize imperial power.

For this reason, he never complained even if he was tired.

However, in Wei Wu's description, the civil service group would actually suppress the imperial power in the future.

Then isn't everything he is doing now in vain?

The consequences of the power of civil officials can be seen from the incompetent Zhao Song.

Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking in his heart when Wei Wu's voice came again from the side.

"Mr. Zhu, do you know why Emperor Chongzhen couldn't even pay his soldiers? Because nine out of ten households in the country don't have land."

Nine out of ten households in the world have no land!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became even more solemn, as he himself had suffered from hunger.

He knew better than anyone the consequences of not having land. He chose to rebel because he was almost starving to death.

If the late Ming Dynasty was really like what Wei Wu said, then the country's demise would be almost inevitable!

"The people don't even have farmland, so how can the state collect land taxes? And those who own a lot of land don't need to pay taxes at all."

"In the beginning, they simply brought out a large number of scholars with official titles, and turned their own land into tribute land, without having to pay taxes."

"But then they were not satisfied with not paying taxes. Instead, they tried every possible way to seize other people's land while not paying taxes."

Having said that, Wei Wu felt a little thirsty, so he took out two bottles of Sprite and handed one to Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer in the mood to drink.

Now he only wanted to know how those beasts had brought disaster to his Ming Dynasty.

Fortunately, Wei Wu didn't let him wait any longer. After drinking half the bottle in one breath, he continued:

"Those wealthy gentry controlled enormous amounts of wealth, and some of them colluded directly with local officials to forcibly buy the land from ordinary people at low prices."

"Or they could collude to hoard grain and manipulate prices, and then easily resell it, forcing the people to have no way out and forcing them to mortgage their land to survive."

"If they use the same method next year, the land will become theirs. Some even go so far as to rob it directly, leaving the people with nowhere to seek redress."

Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well why there was no place to seek justice. As the saying goes, the people do not fight against the officials.

When he himself had not yet made a name for himself, he was also forced into a desperate situation by former Yuan officials.

This is also one of the important reasons why he is so harsh on officials.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang began to think about how to deal with this problem.

We must ensure that the people have a way to seek redress, and officials cannot stop them.

If Wei Wu could hear what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking, he would definitely say that he had indeed come up with a solution.

In the 18th year of Hongwu, a great edict was compiled. Common people could carry the edict on their heads and go to the capital to file complaints against officials, and no one could stop them along the way.

The people could even rush into the government office, tie up the corrupt officials and bring them to the capital to file a complaint.

It’s a pity that this thing is only useful when Zhu Yuanzhang is alive. After his death, it is even worse than waste paper.

All officials did not want to have a sword hanging over their heads, so Zhu Yunwen urged to put it aside as soon as he came to power.

While Zhu Yuanzhang was deep in thought, Wei Wu was still going on.

"At first, it was just the officials and gentry who seized the fertile farmland. Later, the imperial estates, the royal estates, and the nobles all got involved."

"The people suffered terribly. Coupled with the impact of the later Little Ice Age, people everywhere could only eat tree bark, Guanyin soil, and even...exchanging their own children for food!"

"Uncle Zhu, I'm sure no one in the Ming Dynasty, whether civil or military, knows better than you what it's like to be starving to death."

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent. His family of ten starved to death. Who could feel it more deeply than him?

After a long time, he slowly opened his mouth and uttered a word.

"People who are about to die of starvation are worse than animals. As long as they can survive..."

Zhu Yuanzhang only finished speaking halfway, but Wei Wu did not ask any further questions. Instead, he continued:

"They eat everything from grass roots to soil and tree bark. Some people are so hungry that they eat Guanyin soil and eat it until they die!"

"That 'eating one's own children' isn't just a few words in a book; it's a pile of meat cooked alive in a pot to fill one's stomach..."

boom!

"enough!!!"

Wei Wu had just said half of his words when Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly slammed the table and shouted in a low voice.

In fact, Wei Wu also knew in his heart that Lao Zhu was not angry with him, but was reminded of painful memories from the past.

When Lao Zhu was a beggar, no one knew what he ate to survive, and there would be no record of it.

These things will only exist in memory. Human flesh probably won't exist, but I can't say for other things.

But this was Wei Wu's purpose. Otherwise, it could be summarized in one sentence: there were starving people everywhere. There was no need to go into such detail.

Because only by making Zhu Yuanzhang recall the pain of his family starving to death can his knife be sharpened.

After calming down for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang adjusted his mood, looked at Wei Wu and slowly asked.

"Land annexation has been inevitable throughout all dynasties. Xiao Wu, are there any feasible strategies for future generations?"

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Wei Wu slowly shook his head.

"Even in the world six hundred years from now, there is no perfect solution to the problem of land annexation."

"But in our time, people no longer needed to rely on farming to survive, and they focused more on developing the economy."

"Land annexation stems from human greed. No matter what policies are issued, they are only temporary and will be exploited in the future."

Having said that, Wei Wu paused for a moment before continuing:

"But there is a way to enrich the treasury in the short term, and in the long term, collect taxes so that the treasury does not go into deficit."