Under the tree with a new crooked neck.

Jiang Xinghuo said: "Before we talk about the answer, we might as well think about it, if the Ming Dynasty only sets up a capital, if it is Beijing, what are the pros and cons?" Only by explaining these things clearly can you understand the essence of the problem and what is the meaning of moving the capital. ”

The answer to this point is so clear that Zhu Gaoxu can answer without hesitation.

"The reason why Beijing is the capital is naturally because we want to consider the temple and win the hearts of the people in the north."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded his head and motioned for him to continue, Zhu Gaoxu has also learned Jiang Xinghuo's skills in a few days in a clear manner, although he stumbled, he also talked about it in an orderly manner.

"If you look at the land of Yanyun where Beijing is located, then since the Later Jin Emperor Shi Jingjiao of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ceded the sixteen states of Yanyun, the land of Yanyun has been separated from the rule of the Han dynasty for more than 500 years."

"Looking south at the land of the two rivers in Hedong (Shanxi) and Hebei, from the shame of Jingkang, it has fallen into the hands of the Hu people for more than 300 years."

"It wasn't until the founding of the Ming Dynasty that General Xu Da made a northern expedition to the Central Plains to expel the Tartars and recover the northern Han land, and now it is only more than 30 years."

"More than 30 years, compared with more than 300 years and more than 500 years, it is too little!"

"If you don't make Beijing the capital, I'm afraid it will be difficult to clean up the hearts of the people in the north."

Hearing this, Zheng He also nodded one after another.

This reason couldn't be simpler, in fact, the most intuitive thing is to look at the composition of the Yan army under Zhu Di.

The pro-Yan Mongol tribes who took the initiative to come to help the war, the conscripted inner Mongolian tribes, the Mongolian Tatar officials who had already entered the Yan army system, and the Duoyan Sanwei. The shadow of the Mongols can be seen everywhere in the Yan army, even if the Han soldiers in the north are strong, there are many of them who have long been seriously Huhua, or Hu-Han mixed blood.

These people are from the north, and it is difficult for them to stay in the south for a long time.

This means that in the early years of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it was actually divided into two countries.

The "North and South List" incident during the Hongwu period is the best example.

The South and the North are in a state of de facto division in terms of culture, living habits, economy, temples, and so on.

Zhu Yuanzhang has tried his best to bridge this north-south contradiction through measures such as immigration and the division of the eight great Sai kings, but in fact the contradiction between the north and the south is still acute.

The civil war of the Ming Empire in the Battle of Jingyan can also be regarded as a contest between the Hebei Youyun forces representing the north and the Jiangnan forces representing the south, and a total outbreak of contradictions, and Zhu Di's basic plate is precisely the military heads, landlords, and heroes in the north.

"And there's another problem."

Zhu added: "If you don't move the capital to Beijing, you can't be in the North. Hoarding a large number of soldiers and horses. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said this vaguely, in fact, it means that Zhu Di cannot rest assured that the main army will be put in the north, out of his control, and he will be in Nanjing.

The army is Zhu Di's lifeblood.

Since Zhu Gaoxu knew about his eavesdropping, he didn't dare to say something too straightforwardly.

And Zheng He had long known that the emperor and the others were probably listening in the secret room next door at this time, and they didn't dare to talk nonsense at all.

"And at this time, the northern land has been broken, and the original soldiers and horses have been transferred to the south in large numbers, and it is definitely necessary to defend the remnants of the Northern Yuan, if the capital is not moved to Beijing, then according to the attitude of the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they will soon frequently harass the border, if this state lasts too long, then I'm afraid."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't dare to say it, but Jiang Xinghuo dared to say it.

"I'm afraid that the land of Yanyun will fall to the Hu people again?"

"That's it." Zhu Gaoxu said.

There is a very straightforward reason for this, that is, Yan Yun's brave and warlike men actually live a better life by joining the nomads than joining the farming people.

Why?

Yanyun Han'er is seriously bearded, all of them are brave and ruthless, and they don't produce, and the farmers in Hebei are not the same, Yanyun Han'er follows the nomads to collect New Year's coins and beat grass grains, isn't it fragrant?

Anyway, the people in the land of Yanyun send men to the battlefield to fight, all looking forward to earning more loot and rewards, and the degree of fierceness of the people's customs is not the same as that of the land with a strong literary style in the south of the Yangtze River.

"In other words, moving the capital to Beijing is beneficial in terms of gathering the hearts of the people in the north, defending against the remnants of the Northern Yuan, and consolidating the political power, right?" Jiang Xinghuo concluded.

Zhu Gaoxu and Zheng He bowed one after another.

"What about the disadvantages of moving the capital to Beijing?" Jiang Xinghuo asked again.

Zheng He dared to say this.

"In my humble opinion, I am a northerner." Zheng He continued: "There is a shortage of food and people in the north, and it takes a large number of long-term immigrants to the north to enrich the population of the north. At the same time, the grain output of the north is more than a cut lower than that of the south, and even if the wasteland is reclaimed after immigration, the grain produced is not enough to feed the army and officials, and it is necessary to continue to transport grain from the south, which will lead to the increasingly acute contradiction between the north and the south. ”

"At the same time, it will also make the tail of the southern gentry who lack imperial power to fall away." Zhu added.

Regarding the pros and cons of moving the capital to Beijing, the analysis of the two was basically comprehensive, and Jiang Xinghuo asked again: "What about Nanjing?" ”

——————

The secret room next door.

Zhu Di looked at Li Zhigang with a smile: "Li Shangshu, let's talk about it briefly, what are the pros and cons of Dingdu Nanjing?" ”

Li Zhigang glanced at Xia Yuanji, who had been pretending to be deaf and dumb sitting behind him, and said helplessly.

"Back to Your Majesty's words, the capital of Nanjing, the advantage is that Jiangnan is not short of food and can beat Jiangnan at any time, the disadvantage is that the balance between the north and the south is not easy to maintain, and at the same time, referring to the experience of the Nanjing regime in the past dynasties, the north can easily become a big hole in finance, once the north is invaded, the court dominated by southerners will definitely choose to give up the north to reduce the financial burden. If the North is abandoned, it will be almost impossible to recapture the Northern Expedition. ”

As a native of Songjiang, Li Zhigang was really loyal to the emperor.

I have betrayed my land and class, what do you want from me?

Zhu Di is still chasing after him, and today he seems to be staring at him alone and asking, "Why is it impossible?" Li Shangshu might as well talk about it, I really want to hear it. ”

Li Zhigang looked at this cramped secret room, his heart trembled, and he was even more shocked and frightened by the person who kept talking on the other side of the wall, and he was also deeply curious.

He could hear the voices of the second prince Zhu Gaoxu and the third eunuch Zheng He, but he had never heard the voice of this prisoner.

Even the identity of the prisoner was inferred from the sound of conversation coming from across the wall.

Who can make Zhu Di, who has always had a bad temper, so tolerant?

It's incredible.

And Li Zhigang's shock and fear were because of the problems on the other side, almost all of them were forcing him to the Shura field.

These questions, the emperor asked him, did he dare not answer them truthfully?

But there are some things that answer truthfully, and they will make the emperor angry.

What if he is sent to prison for the third time?

As the minutes passed, the sweat on Li Zhigang's forehead became more and more, and he saw that he was going to wet two more handkerchiefs.

Xia Yuanji is a kind person, and finally he couldn't stand it anymore, and said after saluting.

"The minister has the courage to answer for Li Shangshu, and I hope Your Majesty will allow it."

Zhu Di nodded.

Xia Yuanji said: "If the capital is really Nanjing, and there are changes in the north in the future, the imperial court will give up the north, then when it comes to the Northern Expedition, the court must be occupied by civil officials from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, in order to protect their own interests, to prevent the Northern Expedition from cultivating new military meritorious nobles, and after the success of the Northern Expedition, the northern scholars flocked into the court to occupy their positions, and they would definitely obstruct themselves from the temple and oppose the Northern Expedition. ”

"This is why Li Shangshu said that once the north is abandoned, it will be almost impossible to recapture it in the northern expedition."

Hearing this, Dao Yan glanced at Xia Yuanji approvingly.

And Zhu Di also said to Xia Yuanji: "This is where my concerns lie. ”

"If the capital is Beijing, food depends on the south and is subject to the south; If the capital is Nanjing, the division between the north and the south is inevitable. ”

"What can I do? What to do! ”

Zhu Di slapped the chair a few times and sighed.

This question is also something that plagues the minds of several high-ranking members of the Ming Empire who are indoors.

It's a real dead end, and there are great drawbacks to choosing whichever one, and it seems that you can only choose the lesser of two evils.

However, is there really no way to break the game?

Zhu Di's gaze fell on the wall.

Li Zhigang also followed curiously.

He seemed to want to see through the wall to see the mysterious man on the other side.

——————

Inside the wall, the two of them gave almost the same answer as in the secret room.

Jiang Xinghuo concluded: "So, in fact, the tangled place lies in three points. ”

"The first point is that we need to take care of the division between the north and the south, and we need to take care of the north."

"The second point is that the current situation of food supply is that there is more in the south and less in the north, and the economic center is in the south."

"The third point is to prepare for the border, but the army is not at ease to stay away from the ruling core."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "That's roughly the case." ”

Jiang Xinghuo wrote these words briefly on the sun-dried sand.

"Think point by point, take your time, don't rush."

Jiang Xinghuo said: "First of all, let's talk about the first point, in order to prevent the north-south contradiction of the Ming Dynasty from further aggravating, it is definitely necessary to set the capital in the north, which is the most obvious temple signal. It means that the imperial court did not abandon the north, and the imperial court intended to bridge the long-standing division between the north and the south. ”

Zhu Gaoxu was a little confused.

However, Mr. Jiang did not say before that population, money, and grain are all distributed along with economic activities, and the core of economic activities is the time and quantity of grain transportation. It means that Daming is not suitable for moving the capital to Beijing. ”

"Setting the capital and moving the capital are two different things."

Jiang Xinghuo gave an example: "Fengyang is still the central capital, isn't Fengyang the capital?" What are the implications of this? From the Northern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, it was the 'Four Beijing System', the Northern Song Dynasty Four Capitals were Kaifeng Mansion, Henan Mansion, Yingtian Mansion, and Daimyo's Mansion, and the Yuan Dynasty had four capitals of Hara and Lin, Dadu, Shangdu, and Zhongdu. ”

"Therefore, the Ming Dynasty can have three or four capitals, counting the existing central capital Fengyang and Nanjing Yingtianfu, and two more capitals, such as Beijing Beiping Mansion (Jiang Xinghuo knows that Beiping Mansion has been renamed Shuntianfu, but he can't say it), and then get any Xijing and Tokyo, which is a very normal thing."

Zhu Gaoxu said tentatively: "Then what Mr. Jiang means is that the Ming Dynasty can set the capital in Beijing, but not necessarily move the capital?" But if the capital is not moved, won't Beijing be the same as Fengyang, the central capital? ”

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head: "It's different, let's go on and you'll know." ”

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "The second point is that there is more grain in the south and less in the north, and due to the border threat in the north, coupled with factors such as soil, precipitation, and crops, the military rations of hundreds of thousands of guards and vassal kings in the north are basically unable to be self-sufficient. If the capital is moved to Beijing, the ensuing huge bureaucracy and their families and related service personnel will dramatically exacerbate the problem of food shortages in the north. ”

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to talk about the increase in fertilizer production, but then he woke up and realized that Mr. Jiang didn't know all this and had to hide it from him for the time being.

After all, after this class, there are still three classes left, and Mr. Jiang will be released from prison, and the secrecy of the last short prison period must be done well.

"Can't we dredge the Grand Canal and reopen it?" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but ask.

"Cao Yun is a bad idea."

Jiang Xinghuo ruthlessly revealed the truth: "The loss of Cao Yun is ten times that of sea transportation, and it is very easy to increase the burden of the people, forming an interest group that depends on Cao Yun, and over time, the cost of Cao Yun itself will even exceed the cost of transporting grain!" In other words, if you transport one stone of grain to the north, the imperial court will lose two stones! ”

Zheng He, who returned from transporting dozens of boatloads of guano from Wanli Shitang, has a say in this.

"It's true, it's very easy and fast to ship by sea."

Zhu Gaoxu, a landlubber, naturally does not know the difference, only knows that the inland river is calm and calm, and there are often strong winds and waves on the sea.

Zheng He explained: "Transporting grain along the coastline will basically not encounter any wind and waves, and if last year's autumn grain is transported in spring and summer, and then return in autumn and winter, it is completely smooth, fast and costly." Caoyun is not, Caoyun does not have a smooth sailing, all rely on Caogong to pull fiber, and the labor cost is huge. ”

Zhu Gaoxu was puzzled: "Then why do all dynasties seem to be dominated by Cao Yun? ”

Jiang Xinghuo said bluntly: "Shipping saves money, how can officials at all levels make money?" What's more, once the habit of Cao Yun is formed, will the imperial court dare to change it easily? Aren't you afraid that the workers will be incited to rebel? ”

Zhu Gaoxu was silent for a while.

At the end of the day, it seems to be a matter of interest.

"So how to solve the problem of transporting grain? Is there no solution? ”

"How can there be no solution?" Jiang Xinghuo said with a smile, "Of course there is a solution, the bell must be tied to the bell, and the solution to the problem is actually in the problem itself." ”

"The problem with shipping is that everyone doesn't make money, so if you make shipping money, won't it?"

Zheng He was stunned for a moment: "The imperial court transports grain from the south to the north, how can everyone make money by sea?" If there is no nominal 'loss' and 'labor' in the middle of transporting grain, there is no way to make money, and the accounts of shipping are clear, and there is little loss and food, and there is no labor of a slender man, at best it is just a meal for sailors on the road. ”

"Who said you make money to transport food?"

Jiang Xinghuo wrote on the ground from top to bottom.

The center of the temple.

Economic center.

"Setting the capital in Beijing does not mean moving the capital, nor does it mean not moving the capital, this is a bit awkward, and I will talk about it later."

"Just talking about the contradiction between the temple center and the economic center, in the final analysis, isn't it that the transportation of grain from the south to the north harms the interests of the economic center in the south?"

The two nodded, the road is simple, the root of the problem is profit, or money.

Jiang Xinghuo drew two symbols.

↑↓

"In fact, the solution to this contradiction could not be simpler, as long as the sea grain starts, everyone realizes the convenience and speed of sea transportation, then sea transportation can not only transport grain, but also goods!"

Zheng He interjected again at this time: "Even grain in the north needs to be transported from the south, silk, porcelain, and tea are also in the south. ”

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head.

"No, although the North does not have money, it has very important resources to buy goods from the South."

"What?" Zhu Gaoxu became more and more confused.

"Coal and iron."

"Shanxi has coal, Liaodong has iron, and Beijing is the hub of both." Jiang Xinghuo said simply: "You may not know the role of coal and iron in the future, I tell you this, if the Ming Dynasty wants to undergo earth-shaking changes, it has to combine the two, coal and iron can not only make steel, coal also has other functions, that is, like the firewood of the stove, it can make a new power object continue to work hard, and do a lot of things that human and animal power can't do." ”

"What do you mean, Mr. Jiang?"

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't imagine what this new power object Jiang Xinghuo was talking about.

"You can understand it as - Iron Horse!"

The so-called iron horse is naturally the steam engine, which is also the science and technology tree that the Ming Dynasty must point out when it enters the era of industrial transformation, of course, Jiang Xinghuo is just saying this now, to demonstrate the feasibility of his plan to move the capital, it does not mean that the steam engine must be pointed out now, which is contrary to his original intention.

Jiang Xinghuo hopes that under his guidance, Daming can cultivate a sound scientific research and production system, and independently join the torrent of history to move forward.

Boiling water can put the lid up, is it possible that he can find out, I Jiang Xinghuo will guide it, and there will be few smart people in Daming to find out?

Impossible things.

The key to the birth of the steam engine is not the steam engine itself, but the environment that gave birth to the steam engine.

Chase profits with near-crazy innovation.

Therefore, what Jiang Xinghuo needs is to make profits according to the situation and create a high degree of "competition, innovation, and profit-seeking" environment that can give birth to steam engines and looms, which is far more important than the point of pointing out steam engines across basic technologies on the science and technology tree.

Jiang Xinghuo continued to explain: "A horse made of iron is not necessarily the shape of a horse, but the role it plays is that dozens of horses can't catch up, and horses still need to breed, take care of, eat grass and eat beans, this iron horse is not used at all, only need to use steel made of coal and iron to make an iron horse, and then constantly throw coal into it to drive the iron horse." ”

"The iron horse can pull the truck or even carry people to gallop day and night on the road with two steel rails, without any rest, the north and south of the Ming Dynasty can be greatly unimpeded from now on, and the control of the imperial court will extend with the steel track road; The iron horse can also be placed on the boat to drive the propeller and propel the boat forward in the water, regardless of whether the conditions are smooth or not, so as to do things that could not be done before; Iron horse can also produce a lot of goods such as cotton cloth, gauze, etc., which originally need to be made manually, and in the production process, iron horse not only does not need to rest, but the efficiency of production is far better than that of human hands. ”

(End of chapter)