After Zhu Yijun heard Wang Xijue say this, he didn't feel that what he said was wrong.

Because the Ming Dynasty does have too many people.

In particular, there are too many ordinary people who are not highly educated to earn income by paying the most basic labor.

Even, most of the highly educated elites are talents such as Confucianism and classics.

The proportion of technical and creative talents is still too small compared to the huge population base of the whole country.

Therefore, this has caused the momentum of private technology to be very slow.

"What Wang Qing said is that in this way, if you want the steam engine to improve the spinning wheel, it can really benefit the country and the people, or the imperial court must take the initiative to intervene, and you can't expect the major private workshops and workshops to have a special need for a steam engine."

Zhu Yijun also said such a sentence at this time.

One of the governing concepts often advocated by the corrupt Confucians is to rest with the people, that is, they hope that the imperial court will try not to toss as much as possible, which is equivalent to the so-called free economy in later generations, advocating that everything should be handed over to the market and the market should decide everything.

The Confucians believed that if they did this, the country would naturally become rich and strong.

However, the actual situation is that this method is effective for the great unified Chinese dynasties in the early stage, but in the middle and late stages of the population explosion, it will be easy for the production technology of the entire empire to progress slowly or even stop progressing because of the population explosion.

As a result, there will be a situation where there are too many people and the existing technology has to be phased out.

As a result, when it is really necessary to carry out some large-scale projects and large-scale technical breakthroughs, it is still necessary for the imperial court to use power to forcibly organize forces to achieve and tackle tough problems.

Originally, in history, China had its own industrialization, which was led by the state, not spontaneously produced by the people.

Now, Zhu Yijun's Ming Dynasty is also in this situation.

That is, even if the steam engine is very well improved, but if you want to start the industrial revolution in the whole of China, you still need to use the imperial power to forcibly implement it, and you can't follow the free economic model of the old Confucians, hoping that the people themselves can appear when they urgently need new machines and new technologies.

"What Your Majesty said is that what should be considered now is how to intervene, how to make the steam engine benefit the country and the people."

Qi Jiguang said at this time.

Luo Wanhua, the official of the ministry, said: "Your Majesty, since the people don't need it, can you not forcibly promote the steam engine?" ”

"Nowadays, there are many lazy people, and once there are a large number of people who do not need to work because of the replacement of manpower by steam engines, I am afraid that there will be more lazy people!"

"And once people are too idle, they are easy to think about wrong, so there will be many disputes between right and wrong;"

"In addition, because the steam engine is controlled by the imperial court, its related technology and talents must be in the government not in the people, once promoted, it must be the official to seize the people's interests, and the official profits have always been easy to be divided by the powerful, so in this way, I am afraid that Zhumen is richer than the Hanmen, and as the saying goes, do not suffer from the lack of wealth but suffer from inequality, once this is the case, I am afraid that the people of the world will feel more insufficient, and their grievances will be deeper."

"But benefiting the people is the outline of governing the country, and the court needs to make the people richer and more prosperous and idle."

Qi Jiguang replied at this time.

Luo Wanhua retorted: "But the purpose of benefiting the people has been achieved!" The small people no longer have the burden of forced labor, the burden of miscellaneous taxes has also been greatly reduced, and there is no prohibition on road guidance, so if the small people in a township are really too ruthless because the local bureaucrats are too ruthless, they can also move out to reclaim the wasteland, and there is no problem in achieving food and clothing! ”

"Therefore, if the imperial court benefits the people, it is no longer just for the people, but to overspoil the people, raise squeamishness, and cultivate their inertia."

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks what Otsuka Zai said is extremely true!"

"The rule of three generations is only to achieve the peace of the people, and the saints advocate only that."

"Now, if the imperial court wants to benefit the people again, it is really beyond the way of treating the people advocated by the sage!"

"Especially once this steam engine can really replace manpower and animal power, the minister really can't imagine what will become of the people of the world's labor in this way, is it idleness, or arrogance and rigidity?"

"If this continues, will no one be willing to abstain from self-discipline and ambition for the sake of the country and the people, and will the future of the country also be affected by this?"

"Everything is unpredictable, so please think twice, Your Majesty!"

Yu Shenxing, a scholar, also put forward his views at this time.

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister also seconded it!"

At one time, several ruling ministers expressed their views.

Zhu Yijun found that these ruling ministers, especially those who were born as scholars, were still very wary of such a new thing as the steam engine.

It cannot be said that their worries are selfish, let alone unreasonable worries, but are obviously based on personal reason, a sense of fear that a new thing in the future will be forcibly promoted by the imperial court without the spontaneous appearance of the people.

The development of Chinese culture to the present, there has been a trend of combining Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, even Confucian scholars have some natural ideas of Taoism, thinking that it does not appear naturally and is prone to side effects.

Moreover, the experience of ancient history has also proved that once a country forcibly implements a certain project or technology, the side effects are indeed very large.

But Zhu Yijun is naturally not so afraid of the new thing as the steam engine, after all, as a person from later generations, he knows what changes the steam industrial revolution can bring.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun said at this time: "If Huimin is just seeking food and clothing for the people, then we have already reached it, so does it mean that I and Zhuqing should also be content with pleasure and do not have to be aggressive?" ”

"We can be content with pleasures, but as there are more and more nobles, there will be more and more people who enjoy honor, and then the world will be able to add a lot of comfort for the new magnates and bureaucrats?"

"Although the happiness of the new elite and bureaucracy can be achieved by exploiting external and internal benefits, the arable land and mines under the world are finite after all, not inexhaustible wealth!"

"Therefore, we have to find a way to make future generations live like us, and we have to work hard to improve our production capacity! Don't be lazy, it's our responsibility for those of us who work hard! ”

"The sage did not mention what else should be done after Min'an, which shows that the sage's words are not entirely correct."

"We can't just think that we can rule for three generations, as long as we are still supported by the fat and ointment of the people of the world, we have the responsibility to increase the wealth of the people of the world, so that they can live a better life, not only to be satisfied with food and clothing."

After Zhu Yijun finished saying his opinion, Luo Wanhua and Yu Shenxing were silent.

"You only know that there are many lazy people after benefiting the people, but you don't know that you also have a lazy heart, so that you don't want to promote the steam engine, a machine that can replace manpower and animal power."

Zhu Yijun also criticized Luo Wanhua and others at this time.

Luo Wanhua was stunned for a while, as if he had been hit hard.

Yu Shenxing did the same, and lowered his head, got up and said: "What Your Majesty said is that the minister thinks about it carefully, the minister does have a lazy heart, and it seems that he is really reluctant to have any new things, especially after seeing that the Haiyan River is clear today, he likes to be unchanged even more, and feels that it is enough to be polite, why pursue the innovation of utensils, after all, once new things appear, the minister who is familiar with the old things will naturally have a sense of unease." ”

"I don't want to be lazy! Don't want the world to remain the same, and save yourself from tossing and hard work? ”

"But the flowing water does not rot and the household hub does not beetle, and only when it is always moving can it not decay, but the national conditions of this dynasty determine that we can't hope that the people will move on their own, so we can only take the initiative to work hard! What's more, those of us who don't produce in the first place, and don't even want to pay for this hard work to increase the well-being of the world, then it's not a thing. ”

Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Luo Wanhua and Yu Shenxing all lowered their heads, and they were embarrassed for a while.

At this time, the scholar Wang Xijue said: "What Your Majesty said is that benefiting the people is not to achieve the rule of three generations advocated by the sage, but to set a new goal of benefiting the people in the new stage, so that the degree of prosperity in the world has been improving, such as sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat; ”

This is also the original meaning of ritual innovation! It is because the old etiquette is because the ancient sages only knew that the world was governed by three generations, so it could only make the world no matter how clear and upright, and only stopped at three generations. ”

"In this way, after the world has reached the rule of three generations, there will be a ritual law suitable for the governance of the world."

"Although the minister is worried that once the steam engine is implemented, it will make a large number of people unemployed, but it does not mean that they do not agree with the implementation of the steam engine, once the new technology is not used, the dust is sealed, it is easy to be despised and even forgotten, so the ability to prevent many disasters and changes will be weakened, if it is stolen by the foreign people, and the foreign Yi because of the small number of people and the wide land, but let its various skills further refined, but we are unwilling to give up manpower because of the large number of people, and despise or even forget, then I am afraid that in the future, the ship will be strong and the gun will not be my Ming, and the person who is afraid of firearms will not be Hu Lu but my China!"

After Wang Xijue said at this time, he said: "After the minister has learned about the war between my Ming Dynasty and Zhuyi over the years, he is even more worried, and I also ask Your Majesty and the princes in the court to think deeply about the worries of the ministers. ”

No matter what other ministers think, Zhu Yijun agrees with this, and admires Wang Xijue's strategic acumen and insight, so he said:

"As Wang Qing said, since the steam engine has appeared, we should not use it for the benefit of the people because we are afraid of causing new problems, but think of ways to make it more reasonable to increase the wealth of the world to benefit the country and the people."

After Zhu Yijun said this, all the ruling ministers said yes.

……

"Your Majesty's ambition is not small!"

After the conversation in front of the emperor was over, Yu Shenxing sighed to Wang Xijue, Luo Wanhua and other colleagues in the official residence.

Luo Wanhua also followed and said: "Yes, it's not that the steam engine can't benefit the country and the people, but it will mean that the imperial court will continue to expand its territory, after all, the population replaced by the machine is not trained as an army, and it is not used in war, where else can it be used, is it true that it must be raised in vain with the country's taxes?" ”

"Your Majesty has a grand plan, and we should act according to the holy will."

Wang Xijue also said.

After hearing what Wang Xijue said, Yu Shenxing only asked: "But the will of the people in the world can't help but worry." (End of chapter)