Chapter 69 The dragon slayer eventually becomes a dragon!
As the sky curtain tells the story, the emperors of all dynasties seemed to be immersed in a century of humiliation.

And this century-long history of humiliation came to an abrupt end with the words: The Chinese people have stood up.

Afterwards, they saw the victory of the battle on the peninsula and saw that the foreigners, who claimed to be the most powerful country, defeated the expeditionary army with their iron-blooded military spirit when their equipment and supplies were completely backward. A sense of pride rose in their hearts!
I feel proud and shocked for future generations!
Just like the conclusion of the video - they can use technology to simulate the final outcome of a war, but they can never simulate the rise of a nation!

In fact, not only the emperors of all dynasties were shocked, but Chen Yu, who was watching the video in front of the screen, also had tears in his eyes.

After wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes and calming down, Chen Yu turned on his phone again and opened the next video.

At the same time, a new title appeared in the time and space of all dynasties.

……

[Did the Ming Dynasty really fall to the hands of the Zhu family? 】

……

Yingtian City during the Hongwu period.

When Lao Zhu saw the title of the video, he was shocked and asked in confusion: "What does this mean?"

"Didn't the Ming Dynasty fall because of the unfilial descendants of Jiajing and Wanli, and because of the Little Ice Age, which caused famine all over the country, allowing the Li thieves and the Jurchens to take advantage of the situation?"

"How could the descendants of our Zhu family bring the Ming Dynasty down?"

Thinking of the reasons for the Ming Dynasty's decline that Tianmu had mentioned earlier, Zhu Yuanzhang could not combine the Ming Dynasty's decline with the word "bankruptcy".

……

[It has to be said that the high welfare provided by Zhu Yuanzhang for his descendants is indeed a bug. ]

[The Ming Dynasty was a rare dynasty where the royal family inherited the title without interruption. All the princes were given the title of prince, and the eldest son of the prince did not downgrade and continued to inherit the title of prince.]

[What’s even more terrifying is that no matter how many other sons the prince had, even if there were 50 or 100, all of them were granted the title of Prince of a Count, so that Zhu Yuanzhang had several sons whose titles of Prince were passed down from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty.]

……

"What's the problem?"

Lao Zhu expressed his incomprehension.

In fact, in the eyes of many emperors, the so-called country is actually the private property of one family.

In Zhu's view, the empire he had fought so hard to build was the foundation left for his children and grandchildren.

Those children and grandchildren who cannot become emperors must be compensated financially, right?
Thus, the high welfare and high treatment of princes in the Ming Dynasty came into being.

"Ennoble all the princes, and inherit the throne without change..." Unlike Zhu Yuanzhang who was confused by the situation, Zhuge Liang in another time and space read these words, combined with the word "eating bankrupt" mentioned by Tianmu before, he already had the answer in his mind and shook his head.

……

【Old Zhu's idea was correct. The world belonged to his family. These princes were his own sons and grandsons. Since they failed to become emperors, shouldn't he, as a father and grandfather, give them more compensation? The high welfare of the princes in the Ming Dynasty was understandable.】

……

As Tianmu spoke, Lao Zhu couldn't help but nodded in approval. What the man in Tianmu said coincided with his own thoughts.

But what does this have to do with bringing down the Ming Dynasty?
No matter how many royal family members there are, how many can they be? Can they be as many as the common people in the world?
How could such a small number of people bring down the imperial court?
……

[Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang at this time did not understand what geometric multiplication meant. In order to consolidate the central imperial power, Zhu Yuanzhang conferred 25 hereditary princes on his relatives at once. The account of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's finances can be traced back to the power of 25.]

……

"25 to the power of n, what does this mean? Why did Tianmu say that the vassal kings would drag down the finances of the Ming Dynasty..."

Could it be that we have appointed too many princes... Old Zhu frowned. Although he said he didn't believe it, after Tianmu's repeated reminders, Old Zhu, who came from a peasant family, had a bad feeling in his heart.

……

[The 25 princes appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang took root in various places like seeds. ]

[Don’t these princes who have no military power put all their enthusiasm into the matter of childbearing? ]

[So these families branched out and soon produced an astonishing number of descendants with the surname Zhu.]

[In the fifth year of the Hongzhi reign, the governor of Shanxi submitted a memorial to the court, reporting that Zhu Zhongyi, the King of Qingcheng in Shanxi, had given birth to his 94th child.]

[Faced with this good news, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang, laughed in silence. He vaguely felt that the expenses of the royal family would soon become a huge burden for the court.]

[Four years later, Zhu Zhongyi died, and his son Zhu Qizhen inherited the throne, seemingly wanting to compete with his father.]

[In 33 years, Zhu Qizhen gave birth to 100 children. Except for the eldest son who inherited the throne, the other 99 were all named generals guarding the country.]

[So much so that every time the Qingcheng Wang family gathered, brothers would greet each other and need to be introduced to each other before they could know each other's name and surname. This is a strange story that has never happened before.]

……

"These bastards are too fertile, aren't they?"

Old Zhu was shocked. A guess in his mind became clearer and he felt a little scared.

at the same time.

Some ministers looked at the scene of beautiful girls in the Qingcheng Palace on the sky curtain and felt very envious. With beauties as their companions every day, they didn't have to worry about their livelihood and only had to hide in the house to make monkeys. This life was simply like a god's life!

Thinking of this, many people couldn't help but feel angry.

Some people spend all day making monkeys, while others spend all day busy with official duties.

It’s so irritating that people are so different from each other!

……

"When brothers meet, they don't know each other's names."

Liu Bei burst out laughing. When it comes to having children, Zhu Qizhen is comparable to his ancestor.

During the Yongle reign, Zhu Di's face changed slightly. If this continued, it would not be surprising that these princes would bring the Ming Dynasty to its knees.

We need to come up with a solution quickly!
……

[Although the human-shaped seed drill, Prince Qingcheng, is only an extreme microcosm of the princes of the Ming Dynasty, it is undeniable that the fertility of this line of Zhu is indeed very strong. ]

[Starting from the Jiajing period, the number of princes and their children began to grow explosively. ]

[In the 40th year of the Wanli reign, the number of people recorded in the genealogy of the royal family alone reached hundreds of thousands. The imperial court provided the princes with a salary of 9 million shi of grain every year. One third of the imperial court's tax revenue was used to support the royal family, and the phenomenon of empty salaries was very serious.]

[By the end of the Ming Dynasty, according to statistics, the descendants of the Zhu family had reached more than 100 million people. In addition to their daily salaries, these royal relatives also received various subsidies such as weddings, funerals, and palace construction.]

[This huge expenditure gradually increased from accounting for one-third of the court's expenditure during the Wanli period to the point where the government was unable to make ends meet by the end of the Ming Dynasty.]

……

"One begets two, two begets three, and so on and so forth."

Recalling an ancestor who was particularly fertile and whom he held in high esteem, Liu Bei slowly savored the memory.

"The throne is hereditary and the salary is not reduced. No wonder Tianmu said that the Zhu family will bankrupt the Ming Dynasty."

Liu Bei shook his head, not understanding why Zhu Yuanzhang, who was so wise, would fall into this trap.

The experience of the previous dynasty is already there, but they don’t even want to copy it…

Take the old man of the Liu family for example, it's not that outrageous. He is the descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan. With so many decrees of enfeoffment coming down, doesn't he have to rely on weaving mats and selling shoes for a living?
Speaking of...

Liu Bei looked up at the sky with envy. If his Liu family had such good treatment, why would he, Liu Bei, be reduced to weaving mats and selling shoes? He would have hidden away and given birth to monkeys every day.

……

the other side.

Hongwu period.

Lao Zhu's expression became extremely ugly as he listened to the video.

One third of the court's tax revenue was used to support the royal family, and the financial revenue of the late Ming Dynasty was in deficit... Looking at these words, at this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang had to admit that he had thought things were too simple.

"These bastards, even if the policy we set in the first place was problematic, wouldn't these bastards set things right when they knew that the royal family had become a burden to the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was also a human being, and everyone makes mistakes. Even a wise man like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang failed to judge people in his old age and was nailed to the pillar of shame, didn't he?
But what made Zhu Yuanzhang angry was that these bastards knew that the ancestral system was problematic, but they did not reform it and just watched the royal family bring the Ming Dynasty down!
Zhu Biao glanced at his old father who was angry and sighed silently.

This kind of thing is easier said than done.

They are all royal relatives. If you make a move, those uncles will make a fuss. If you can't treat them equally, it will be another disaster. It will be annoying enough to make people die. Even the emperor is like this, not to mention the ministers under him.

If someone is not a member of the royal family and discusses the ancestral system without permission, this alone is enough to convict and imprison him.

Even Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, did not have the ability to touch the royal family, let alone those who came after him.

Besides, what kind of people were the emperors who came after him?

Just considering that the two emperors Jiajing and Wanli did not attend court for decades, how could they have such foresight and courage to take drastic measures to achieve their goals?

So Zhu Yuanzhang really has to take the blame for this matter, and he has left a big hole for future generations.

Now we can only formulate policies as soon as possible to resolve this hidden danger before it becomes a serious problem.

Before Zhu Biao could speak, Tianmu had already explained the relevant reasons to him.

……

[In fact, every official in the Ming Dynasty was well aware of these problems.]

[But the key is that we are all part of a group of interests, so who would want to target themselves? . ]

【Besides, as long as someone points out this problem, they are going against this huge interest group, so in the end, the ruling party basically cannot solve the problem, so they just solve the person who raised the problem.】

[In addition, from the root cause, Zhu Yuanzhang is indeed to blame for the formation of this cancer. ]

[Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was as cruel to his officials as he was to his own children.]

[He explicitly stipulated in the "Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions" that the system of vassal states would never be changed, and that the seats of vassal states would be hereditary.]

[And a special note: All my descendants must obey my orders and not change a single word.]

[In fact, from this moment on, the tragedy of the Ming Dynasty being overwhelmed was already doomed. ]

……

When Lao Zhu saw Tianmu pointing out his mistake bluntly, his face turned pale and blue.

Obviously, he had realized his mistake, but he felt quite embarrassed to have it made public by Tianmu.

Even the great Emperor Hongwu has to save face!
"Father, you don't have to worry too much. The disaster has not yet happened. With the warning from the sky, if we make preparations early, we will be able to avoid such disasters." Zhu Biao consoled.

"Biao'er, you're right. Tianmu has made us a little crazy."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

……

The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei was also shocked. One third of the court's tax revenue was used to support the royal family, and in the later period it was even more scarce than its income. In the future, if there were natural disasters, man-made disasters, or invasions by barbarians, the court would have no money to provide disaster relief. What would happen?

……

"No wonder the Ming Dynasty was unable to recover from the tragedy."

During the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin shook his head and sighed.

Perhaps because of the contrast with the Qing Dynasty, or perhaps because he felt a sense of sympathy for the Yongle Emperor, whom he had never met, he had a good impression of the Ming Dynasty in later generations that did not cede territory or pay compensation and was attended by all nations.

It is a pity to see the Ming Dynasty now stuck in the quagmire and unable to extricate itself.

"Tianmu is right. The root of this disaster is indeed Emperor Hongwu."

Zhu Yuanzhang not only established such an unwise clan system, he also set ancestral precepts that could not be changed. Even Li Er felt a headache and found it difficult to deal with.

Not to mention the young Wanli without Zhang Juzheng.

Judging from this unreasonable clan system alone, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor, cannot escape blame for the fall of the Ming Dynasty... Fang Xuanling looked at the sky silently.

Knew it……

The lesson mankind has learned from history is that it has never learned any lesson from history.

Even the emperor is the same.

……

[In 1628, Chongzhen ascended the throne. At this time, the Ming Dynasty was in a state of decline and in turmoil.]

[The salaries and subsidies of some vassal kings have been in arrears for a long time, but these vassal kings cry poor but don't care in their hearts. ]

[Because they have already found a way to make more money than receiving subsidies - that is to engage in large-scale land mergers.]

[The act of swallowing up thousands of fertile fields at will has made local people and local officials dare not speak out. ]

[In the same city, the Zhu clan and their vassal states were enjoying the pleasures of life, singing and dancing.]

[Ordinary people could not get enough food and had to sell their children.]

【With the peasant uprising and the Eight Banners cavalry attacking from both inside and outside, these wealthy princes should have shared the same hatred with the impoverished Emperor Chongzhen. 】

【However, the irony is that these princes chose to sit on the sidelines and remain indifferent. 】

……

The Zhu clan's vassal states indulge in sensual pleasures and love, with singing and dancing!
Ordinary people could not even get enough food and had to sell their children!

See the comparison between the two sides.

Old Zhu could no longer control his emotions, his mouth trembled and his body was shaking. The scene before him was like a sharp sword, piercing his heart!

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind -

The dragon slayer finally becomes the evil dragon!
……

"Old monk, tell me, is history really a cycle?"

Yongle period.

Jiming Temple.

Zhu Di looked at the old monk beside him, who seemed to have aged a little.

His father, Zhu Yuanzhang, could not stand the exploitation of corrupt officials and chose to rebel because he could not survive.

It stands to reason that with such a precedent, our descendants should remember the lesson.

As a result, in just two hundred years, the once miserable scene reappeared, except that the perpetrators changed from the Mongols to people with the surname Zhu.

"Life is only a few decades long. How many people can be as concerned about the country and the people as Your Majesty is?"

The black-robed monk sighed.

We are all human beings, and as human beings we have seven emotions and six desires.

These princes only inherited the bloodline of the Zhu family, but did not inherit the spirit of their ancestors.

When these mediocre people are in high positions and have the power to control and harm others without receiving corresponding punishment, then these people are likely to become synonymous with evil.

This is human nature.

It is also the unchanging bad habit of human beings.

……

【The reasons for this phenomenon are actually the following two points. 】

[First of all, Emperor Chongzhen himself bears a great deal of responsibility. When the Qing army was approaching, it was extremely urgent. Zhu Youjian, the Prince of Tang stationed in Nanyang, was eager to rescue him, so he privately recruited soldiers to surround the Prince of Qin to protect him.]

[As a result, Chongzhen, without any investigation, used the clan precept that vassal princes were not allowed to command the army, and deposed the Prince of Tang as a commoner and imprisoned him.]

[From then on, the already insensitive and cold-blooded princes took this as a warning and naturally watched the fire from the other side of the river. ]

[Secondly, these princes were very smart. They knew that as long as they donated money, they would undoubtedly announce to the court that they did not rely on salaries and could still live a very comfortable life. So once Chongzhen came to settle accounts, they would be asking for trouble. ]

[It is precisely these two reasons that caused the feudal lords to take a wait-and-see attitude. ]

(End of this chapter)