"Husband, is the matter of the sea really that important?" Qian Yiniang, who was pregnant with Liujia and gradually became plump, lazily leaned on the couch of the water pavilion, covered with a thin blanket, took a sip of the soup handed by the maid, and asked curiously to Zhu Qizhen, who was holding a piece of paper and teaching Zhu Jianshen, the little guy to origami.

And that Concubine Zhou looked at Zhu Jianshen, who was a tiger with a pampered and proud face, clumsily learning Zhu Qizhen's movements, folding a good piece of white paper crookedly, as for Nan Naren, this person was holding a dagger, and was cutting pieces of cowhide pieces that had been nitrated, and then used her dexterous fingers to thread those cut cowhide pieces together.

This is she is making leather armor for her husband Zhu Qizhen, as a female surname on the grassland, making a set of protective armor for her husband who is about to go on the expedition, it is a custom, after Zhu Qizhen persuaded him to no avail, he could only get this stubborn county lord His Royal Highness.

"Nature is important, you know, I Ming Dynasty is now prosperous in the south, is in the interests of maritime affairs, but unfortunately, the court opened up the sea route, but it has not been greatly used, but the private businessmen have profited a lot from it......" Zhu Qizhen finally folded a small paper boat and handed the paper boat to Zhu Jianshen, who looked forward to it.

The little guy excitedly held the small paper boat in his hand, and thanked his father with a milky voice, accompanied by Concubine Zhou and Wan Zhen'er, he came to the front of the water pavilion and put the paper boat into the water. "Father, look at the boat, the boat will swim by itself."

"This kid, it's not the boat swimming by itself, it's the waves of your Aunt Wan's hand that pushed the boat away." Concubine Zhou couldn't help pinching Zhu Jianshen's fleshy face, and smiled dotingly.

"Your Majesty, didn't you say that if you hide the wealth from the people, then the country will be safe and the people will be safe, doesn't Your Majesty think it's inappropriate?" Qian Yiniang stroked the abdomen that was as tall as a mound, with a look of curiosity, even Wan Zhen'er and the others also turned their attention.

"It is good to hide wealth from the people, but the people cannot obtain wealth by destroying the system of the state, and in that case the interests of the state will be harmed. What the state is is is an interconnected organic whole composed of many parts. Or rather, the state is a machine. Zhu Qizhen patted his forehead, and after thinking about it, he tried his best to transform the political science knowledge about the country in his brain into a metaphor of language and images that Qian Yiniang and others could understand.

--------------------" is just like what Tang Taizong said, and the people are the water of the turbulent river, which can sink boats and float boats, and the Tang Dynasty is a boat, and this boat can also be used to refer to the Ming Dynasty. ”

"For example, the state, that is, the court, needs officials who have the power to exercise the will of the state, and there are coercive organs to guarantee this right, such as the army and the brocade guards, and of course, there are taxes that need to support officials and coercive organs......"

"The state can only be built by relying on the people, and the strength of the country comes from the supply and payment of the people, and the state not only takes it, but also needs to pay, such as protecting the people, so that they can live in peace on this land, and ensure the safety of their lives and property from others.

And how should the two sides deal with each other, relying on the law, whether it is the court or the people, both sides must abide by it, so that everyone can live together peacefully. And when one side breaks that rule, then there will be turmoil......"

"But what does this have to do with hiding wealth from the people?" At this time, he couldn't help asking, but it was Qian Zhong, who was exercising the responsibility of a living room, and when he saw several pairs of eyes sweeping over, Qian Zhong, who realized that he had suddenly disturbed Zhu Qizhen's speech, couldn't help but be a little embarrassed and wanted to ask Zhu Qizhen for guilt.

Zhu Qizhen smiled and waved his hand, and continued: "It seems to be unrelated, but it is actually related to ......" After Zhu Qizhen cleared his throat, he began to show off the kind of knowledge he had gained since he came to ancient times and worked hard to study the experience and lessons of ancient politicians.

Since ancient times, the monarch has been ordered by heaven to govern the people, which is the consistent thinking of ancient Chinese rulers. Therefore, although Mencius put forward the idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light", there is no one among the emperors of the past dynasties who openly rebelled against the will of heaven, but there are many people who have lost the hearts of the people.

Occasionally, there is an emperor who "respects the heavens" and "sympathizes with the people", which is the luck of the people. And Zhu Qizhen's preference is for his great-grandfather's father (right?) Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang is one of them. Zhu Wuzhang has always believed that the common people are the foundation of the country, the so-called: "the people are the foundation of the country", and the reason why the country is in turmoil is because the people are uneasy.

Zhu Yuanzhang realized that peace and security was the prerequisite for seeking the rule of the world. So, how can we reassure the people?" The people flee if they are embarrassed by food and clothing or forced to take advantage of the government." Zhu Yuanzhang believes that there are two reasons for the people's unrest: one is that they are embarrassed by food and clothing, and the other is that they are forced to harsh the government. Therefore, he paid special attention to the "hiding wealth from the people" and the rectification of the rule of officials. It is said: "The way to protect the country is to hide the wealth from the people." If the people are rich, they will be close, and if they are poor, they will leave. The rich and poor of the people are closely related to the country. In feudal society, the main content of "hiding wealth from the people" was to develop agricultural production and solve the problem of food and clothing.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "For the way of the country, take sufficient food as the foundation", "Those who have enough food and clothing lie in persuading farmers and mulberries". Therefore, in view of the actual situation at that time, when "the world was initially decided, and the people's financial resources were in dire straits," the policy of "recuperation and recuperation" was formulated, and measures such as adjusting land relations, rewarding the reclamation of wasteland, and building water conservancy projects were adopted to vigorously promote the restoration and development of agricultural production.

Another important measure for "storing wealth for the people" is to lightly shake the small amount of money and lighten the peasants' burdens. Stressing the need to control the exploitation of enslavement within a certain limit, and to "take what is taken in a controlled manner and use it sparingly"; we must not only take care of immediate interests, do everything we can to catch fish, and squeeze the people out of their pockets, even if they have no basic food and clothing, then the common people will inevitably feel resentment, and the foundation of the state will begin to waver.

Therefore, the national policy of the Ming Dynasty has always been to shake the thin endowment, and since Zhu Yuanzhang, decades have passed, the population of the Ming Empire, as well as the wealth of the people, can be compared with the former Song Dynasty, but the tax income of the Ming Dynasty is still pitifully low, anyway, it is more than two million taels.

However, Zhu Qizhen only through the trade of Xuanfu alone, in less than a year, obtained nearly a year's tax revenue close to that of a country in the Ming Empire, from this point of view, Zhu Qizhen found that the Ming Dynasty was really not poor. Of course, it does not refer to the peasants who fish from the land, but to the merchants whose main business is to buy and sell, and they are really not poor. It can even be said that it is rich and oily.

However, the low rate of commercial tax collection in the Ming Dynasty is really jaw-dropping, even to the point of making people laugh and cry......

(To be continued)