In fact, the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty was not ignorant of overseas perceptions.

On the contrary, as a result of the Mongol conquests, both the complete Eurasian land bridge and the intermittent maritime links from the Great Yuan to Marumuk had provided an opportunity for the East-West trade that had lasted for thousands of years to re-understand each other.

Mongols, Semu, Westerners, Persians...... These people were commonplace in the south at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

Therefore, regarding the huge profits of maritime trade, the top management of the Ming Dynasty is clear.

Zhu Di was very aware that the resistance to lifting the sea ban not only stemmed from Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral teachings, but more importantly, the imperial court was worried that overseas trade would cause peasants to leave the land, thus causing instability in Ming society.

To put it bluntly, the first thing that is lost by the lifting of the maritime ban is the interests of the Ming gentry class, who are the spokesmen of the civil service.

How to counter the resistance of the gentry to maritime trade?

Zhu Di took a deep breath and waited for Jiang Xinghuo to show him the way hidden in the fog.

Jiang Xinghuo brushed his thoughts and said slowly.

"As you know, since the end of the Song Dynasty, there have been many local 'scholars' who own a large amount of land, and the Mongol tax system has made their land annexation more and more unscrupulous.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, these people became the gentry class of the Ming Dynasty, and they were widely distributed, ubiquitous, and extremely influential...... With prestige in the countryside and collusion with local officials, they monopolized the land, controlled the population, mastered the direction of public opinion, and even controlled the examination questions of the lower imperial examinations. ”

"These gentry are not only landlords but also scholars, which leads to the relationship between the gentry and civil officials, which is basically derived and derived, and is an intricate force, you have me, I have you, and it cannot be cut off."

"At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Emperor Gao, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, took measures to weaken this force, on the one hand, to investigate land annexation, and on the other hand, to combat corruption...... In the process, the status of these land annexors declined dramatically. ”

"On the other hand, Emperor Taizu Gao began to support a new class at this time, and in this land, a new class of military elites gradually rose."

"These founding nobles and military ministers, like the Guanlongmen lords of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, have a lot of wealth and authority, and have gradually overwhelmed the old land annexors, and even grasped the right to speak in the court."

"At this time, the gentry and civil officials became the common enemies of the emperor and the noble military ministers, and the gentry civil officials and the newly rising noble military ministers launched a fierce confrontation."

Zhu Gaoxu listened attentively, and couldn't help asking: "Then Mr. Jiang thinks that the gentry and civil officials and the noble military ministers, who can win?" ”

"Gentry civil officials."

Jiang Xinghuo replied simply: "In another fifty years at most, the noble military ministers will completely lose power...... In another hundred years, when the noble and military ministers saw the gentry and civil officials, they had to kneel down and lick their boots. ”

How can it be?!

Zhu Gaoxu is a little unbelievable, whether it is the founding nobles of the Hongwu Dynasty or the Jingnan nobles of the Yongle Dynasty today, the power and arrogance are all stable and overpowering the civil officials, and the civil officials cannot compete with them at all, which is a typical era of martial arts.

But Jiang Xinghuo actually told Zhu Gaoxu that the gentry and civil officials could win a more long-term victory?

"Why?" Zhu Gaoxu was puzzled.

"Because the Ming Dynasty cannot repeat the founding of the country and the Jingjing forever, but it must repeat the imperial examination once every three years."

A word of light.

It's like listening to thunder in a silent place.

"Smack!"

The wine glass that Zhu Di had been holding in the air in his hand fell to the ground.

The delicate porcelain cups burst to the ground and became irregular pieces.

didn't have time to clean up, and didn't even have time to wipe the skin scratched by the porcelain, Ji Gang, who was listening to Zhu Di's side, fell into the same sluggishness as Zhu Di.

Ji Gang was born in Xiucai, and he was also deeply shocked by this sentence.

After a long time, Zhu Di repeated silently.

“...... Because the Ming Dynasty could not repeat the founding of the country and the Jingjing forever, but it must repeat the imperial examination once every three years. ”

It's very simple, and it's very straightforward.

Meritorious generals will grow old sooner or later, and the probability of Jiangmen dogs is much greater than that of Jiangmen Huzi.

Famous generals are all killed on the battlefield, not pampered in the mansion of the prince.

However, the gentry and civil officials are destined to pass on knowledge from generation to generation, annotate books from generation to generation, and accumulate more and more.

Zhu Di suddenly had a strong sense of urgency.

He felt that if he didn't do anything during his reign, it would fundamentally change the Ming Dynasty.

Then the future of Daming may be as Jiang Xinghuo said.

His father Zhu Yuanzhang and his Zhu Di two generations, the noble and military ministers who supported against the gentry and civil officials, will gradually become corrupt and degenerate, and eventually become a stepping stone under the boots of civil officials.

And lost the support of the nobles, and the feudal lords were raised pigs again.

At that time, who can the future emperors of the Ming Dynasty rely on?

Relatives? Or a eunuch?

But what can you do?

Zhu Di suddenly remembered the word Jiang Xinghuo mentioned not long ago when he talked about "three lifelines".

-- Limitations of the times.

He seemed to be in a blank fog, he could only see a few steps in front of him, and even if he ran desperately, even if he tried his best to imagine, he couldn't know what was outside the fog.

Maybe it's the Netherworld, or maybe it's the Cave Heaven.

And Jiang Xinghuo is the one who can stand high in the sky and tell him what will happen in the future from the perspective of overlooking everything.

On the other side of the wall, Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a long time, and finally asked: "Since the gentry and civil officials can replace the noble and military ministers sooner or later, is there any way to avoid it?" ”

"There's a way." Jiang Xinghuo nodded.

"All the questions have to go back to our original topic."

"The second solution to the problem of clan offerings."

"With such huge profits from overseas trade, relying on the emperor alone is doomed to ruin the government. And even if all the clans are bundled, that is, the power of the Ming royal family, it seems to be a little insufficient. ”

"The only solution is for the emperor, the clan, and the nobles to contribute money together to carry out large-scale and well-paid overseas trade."

"This is also the solution to the problem of the trend of 'involution' of agricultural civilization...... I will also talk about this issue in "The Fortune of the Country". ”

It's "The Theory of National Fortune" again!

Zhu Di memorized the name deeply.

"Figuratively, the emperor as the supreme ruler, and his clan composed of kinship, and the honorable and military ministers composed of meritorious relations, are two concentric circles composed of the inside and the outside, and the emperor is the central point."

"At this time, the Ming Dynasty, only when they have the same interests and the same direction, can they exert their strength against the traditional scholars, that is, today's gentry class."

"Otherwise, once the Ming Dynasty loses its heroic and enterprising emperor, the feudal domains begin to raise pigs, and the nobles begin to play martial arts, the Ming Dynasty will completely lose its resistance to the conservative gentry class based on agricultural civilization and destined to resist overseas trade, and will return to the dynastic cycle law of the "Theory of National Fortunes"!"