Chapter 237 If Zhu Biao is still alive, how will Ming Dynasty develop? First, Zhu Biao’s ability and personality. From various historical records that can be found, the descriptions of Zhu Biao's character are basically positive. Most of the records with black spots are that Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied with the prince, and this was basically due to Zhu Dijing's troubles. At least Zhu Biao is recognized for his conduct in the world. As for Zhu Biao's ability, he began to participate in political affairs in the tenth year of Hongwu. At this time, he was twenty-two years old.
And he started very high. From the beginning, all political affairs were dealt with by the prince.
Zhu Yuanzhang even ordered him to meet with officials every day to listen to and review reports from various yamen. This is basically the rhythm of becoming the deputy emperor as soon as you start participating in politics. Under the personal guidance of Zhu Yuanzhang and the assistance of a group of founding fathers,
Zhu Biao has been working for more than ten years and has basically been unanimously recognized. If his ability was not outstanding, he would not have so many praises. Second, Zhu Biao is neither loyal nor filial. It stands to reason that since Zhu Yuanzhang loves Zhu Biao so much, Zhu Biao should have the image of a good baby who obeys his words.
However, this is not the case in fact. Zhu Biao often looks more like a rebellious son.
Everyone knows that Zhu Yuanzhang was very harsh on officials and used them very strictly. The education Zhu Biao received since childhood made him feel that his father was a bit cruel, but Zhu Biao was very direct and often opposed Zhu Yuanzhang's policies. Although the basic opposition is ineffective, it can always cause difficulties for Lao Zhu. Zhu Biao had his own principles in his thoughts and actions, and was not influenced by Zhu Yuanzhang. For example, when Song Lian was implicated in the Hu Weiyong case, Zhu Biao wanted to protect Song Lian. Later, he also moved Queen Ma to save Song Lian. In short, Zhu Biao in official historical records dared to disobey Zhu Yuanzhang. And even so, his status and power have continued to increase, which at least shows that Zhu Biao's character is not cowardly. As for the unofficial history, there are contradictions, mainly due to two things. First, Zhu Biao said to Zhu Yuanzhang: There are the kings of Yao and Shun above, and the people of Yao and Shun below. That means that Zhu Yuanzhang is no longer a wise king, and he is being chased and beaten by Zhu Yuanzhang. Second, Zhu Biao made Zhu Yuanzhang angry and was scolded by Zhu Yuanzhang. He was frightened and threw himself into the river. He fell ill and died after being rescued. Both of these statements have low credibility, and the reason is very simple. Zhu Biao dared to say to his face that Zhu Yuanzhang was a coward, so how could he be so frightened that he jumped into the river. There is a clear record of the only person who directly confronted Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma. When Zhu Biao opposed Zhu Yuanzhang, he usually dissuaded him as the prince in the previous court.
The worst thing is to go to Queen Ma and complain that it's hard to be the prince and she doesn't want to do it anymore. Zhu Biao couldn't do such a thing to confront Lao Zhu, and he had no reason to do so.
It's not like he can't submit a memorial. If he really wants to confront someone, the likelihood of doing so in a written memorial is higher than in person. Third, Zhu Biao’s political control. Two years after Zhu Biao joined politics, he encountered the Hu Weiyong case, one of the four major cases in the Ming Dynasty. After the Hu Weiyong case was discovered, Zhu Yuanzhang directly asked Zhu Biao to preside over the trial. It can be said that Zhu Biao was a participant in the entire Hu Weiyong case. Although the decision-making power is very low, there is still a lot of room for maneuver. Among them, Zhu Biao saved Song Lian and moved Queen Ma out.
In other words, Zhu Biao knew very well what could really influence Zhu Yuanzhang's will. The Hu Weiyong case implicated a large number of officials, and Zhu Biao participated in the selection of new officials afterwards. In other words, after abolishing Hu Weiyong and a large number of old ministers, The new officials are all disciples of Zhu Biao. These officials obeyed Zhu Biao's words. The most critical thing is to abolish the power of the prime minister, which is strongly opposed by some courtiers. Zhu Biao's attitude was obviously supportive of Zhu Yuanzhang. After going through so many things, Zhu Yuanzhang was basically characterized as cruel, but Zhu Biao, who participated in the whole process, was still unanimously praised. It can be said that in this kind of case, it takes considerable ability for Zhu Biao to be satisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang and have no complaints against him from his subordinates. In short, in this case with many killings, it is more like the result of Lao Zhu playing the bad role and Xiao Zhu playing the bad side. Fourth, Zhu Biao's ability to control his subordinates. There is an incident worth referring to. Lan Yu once reminded Zhu Biao to be careful about Zhu Di.
Zhu Biao turned around and joked with Zhu Di, "We brothers have such a good relationship, and Lan Yu asked me to be careful about you. It's really a waste of worry." Zhu Di went to complain to Zhu Yuanzhang again, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered Lan Yu to
This kind of thing can be big or small. Zhu Biao interceded and the big thing was reduced to a trivial matter. When this matter came full circle, Zhu Biao was the only one who benefited. In the vassal system established at that time, the vassal king retained considerable rights.
Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang carried out the vassal reform and deprived the vassal of the political control power of the territory. Regardless of whether this incident is true or not, in short, the vassal kings and ministers from various places treated Zhu Biao basically as an emperor. The entire princeling party has six books, and it was basically Zhu Biao who participated in the selection and promotion;
Wu has blue jade, and foreign ministers with heavy troops, such as Yunnan Muying, are die-hard princelings. At the same time, because of his relationship with the prince, Zhu Yuanzhang was very laissez-faire towards people like Mu Ying and Lan Yu. So if Zhu Biao does not die, what will be the direction of the Ming Dynasty?
First, assuming that Zhu Biao did not die of illness, first of all, the move of the Ming Dynasty's capital to Xi'an would not have cut it in half. Zhu Biao died of illness after returning from an inspection. Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang was too sad and completely gave up on moving the capital. If he had not died of illness, Zhu Biao had first submitted a letter about the preparations for the construction of the capital and brought back a map of Shaanxi. The move of the capital to Xi'an would have been basically confirmed. The Qin King Zhu Ping, who was granted the title of Xi'an, had just been released because of Zhu Biao's plea, and he must have supported Zhu Biao. This time was the 24th year of Hongwu. It was seven years before Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness in the 31st year of Hongwu.
Assuming that preparations were made at this time, and it took seven years until Zhu Biao took the throne, Zhu Biao began to move the capital. The Ming Dynasty, which had been cultivated for many years, would be stable within five years. Second, when a new emperor ascends the throne, his civil, political and military skills must be demonstrated. Moving the capital took a little time, no more than five years. Zhu Di took a long time to move the capital mainly because he fought for many years and consumed too much financial and human resources. When Zhu Biao entered politics, the Ming Dynasty had been conserving strength and had no internal friction. There will definitely be a war five years after Zhu Biao takes the throne. After all, the north is restless. The difference between Zhu Biao and Zhu Di is that Zhu Biao has people and money.
When Zhu Biao ascends the throne, Lan Yu will definitely not die. As a die-hard princeling, in fact, as long as Lan Yu firmly stands by Zhu Yunwen after Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yuanzhang will not kill him. After all, Lao Zhu couldn't bear him for a day or two, it was all for his son. Zhu Biao is immortal and Sapphire will not die either. Coupled with Zhu Di in the north and Ning Wang Zhu Quan, the most adept at fighting among the vassal kings, at most two Northern Expeditions can basically establish the situation in the north. Third, for the development of southwest China. With Zhu Biao taking the throne and Mu Ying being a die-hard princeling, the Yunnan Mu family will not be marginalized like it was during Zhu Di's period. You must know that Muying has already reached Myanmar and Vietnam. The main reason for its lack of expansion is that it lacks strong support. Zhu Biao's two Northern Expeditions would take less than five years to complete the northern issue. In addition, there is no internal friction caused by the crisis, and Zhu Biao himself is a good hand in governing the country, no worse than Zhu Gaochi. There is no problem in supporting the Muying family's southward expansion. During this period of time to recuperate and recuperate, and with the capital being in Xi'an, it is essential to expand westward. In other words, the north, south, and west sides can be expanded and advanced in an orderly manner. The premise is that Zhu Biao will be in office for no less than twenty years. Fourth, other forms of changes. First of all, Zhu Biao will not cut down the feudal clan. Zhu Biao was educated as a standard emperor from a young age, and he had been the deputy emperor for many years. What you can control will not change the status quo. Most of the powerful vassal kings have received favors from Zhu Biao, and their personal relationships are basically OK. There is no need to cut down the vassal. The Ming Dynasty would not have a cabinet, but there would be institutions similar in form to the cabinet. Because Zhu Yuanzhang had abolished Jin Yiwei in the later period, most of Zhu Yuanzhang's policies were affirmed by Zhu Biao and generally would not be overturned. Even if the Jinyiwei were to be restored, there would be no eunuch-controlled organization like Dongchang. Zhu Biao was educated by the emperor, and Zhu Yuanzhang must have been more slippery when eunuchs and relatives were in power, which Zhu Yuanzhang focused on. Fifth, when Zhu Biao ascends the throne, the entire political landscape of the Ming Dynasty will be completely different. In addition to going north, the Ming Dynasty also had to go south and west. There may not have been Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean, but only the southwest could break through Myanmar and reach the coast of the Indian Ocean. The development of navigation was an inevitable trend. The most important thing is that Zhu Biao's successor Zhu Yunwen has more time to grow.
Even if he cannot go further, there is no problem in maintaining the status quo. With Zhu Biao as a back-up, even if Zhu Yunwen cuts the vassal, he will only cut his peers. The biggest opponent was Ning Wang Zhu Quan, but Zhu Quan was good at fighting but not politically savvy. At least Zhu Biao's descendants will not have civil fortress changes, because Zhu Biao himself will not be able to lead a personal expedition. It is completely unnecessary for Zhu Biao, he has a lot of capable generals at his disposal.
Zhu Yunwen is even less likely. For a purely scholarly heir, the probability of being a military commander in person in the future is also low. The direction of the Ming Dynasty will be completely different, because there will be no internal friction caused by the Jingnan War, and with the talents to use it, the Northern Expedition will not consume too much national power. It would be too expensive to conscript Zhu Di's imperial chariot in person, so Zhu Biao would have used half of it. Compared with Zhu Di's era, Ming Dynasty's territory will expand to Southeast Asia and the Western Regions. Because if the capital is in Chang'an, this is inevitable. By the time of Zhu Yunwen, as long as he recuperated and developed steadily, it was basically inevitable to enter the field of navigation. Without the cabinet and the East Factory, the country will be poor and the people will be rich. In short, Zhu Biao has successfully ascended the throne for 20 years, and the Ming Dynasty will reach its strongest form during Zhu Yunwen's era, which is somewhat stronger than Zhu Di's era in reality. After all, if Zhu Biao had been in power for 20 years, he would have supported Zhu Di to do what Zhu Di had done faster.
Because Zhu Biao wants to use Zhu Di and Zhu Quan to check Lan Yu, they will be used in a great way. And what Zhu Di can't do, Zhu Biao can do, Because Zhu Biao has people who can and dare to use him. Many talents will not be killed because of Jingnan, and will naturally shine. The key is that Zhu Biao not only has money to use, but is also good at making money. Although Chen Han doesn't know whether to move the capital to Chang'an, because as Chen Han said, it will become colder in the north now. If the capital is really moved to Chang'an, it may have to face the test of severe cold. But there are many advantages to moving to Chang'an. Chang'an is located in the middle of the Guanzhong Plain. It is known as the "Golden City Thousand Miles" and the "Land of Abundance" and is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. But now that Chang'an City has not been a capital for five or six hundred years, does it really still have the foundation to become a capital city? Of course, there are many benefits to moving the capital to Chang'an. At least it can ensure that the capital of Ming Dynasty can radiate to the whole world. It is especially needed to open up the Western Region. So Chen Han is also very confused now. But these are not worries on this good day. Prince Zhu Biao's birthday was originally very grand. Not to mention that under Lao Zhu's special care, it even showed the momentum of "the gates of the nine heavens open the palace, and the clothes of all nations worship the crown". Especially now that after the reform, the momentum of the entire Ming Dynasty has reached a higher level. Hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world wore this color and worshiped the Emperor and the Crown Prince in the main square of Fengtian Hall. These hundreds of small state-owned Chen Han have never been seen even in history books. They dress strangely and their skin color is very different from the Han people. But after these envoys who traveled thousands of miles to the capital of the Ming Dynasty entered the city, they were not only amazed at the changes in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
The biggest emotion should be the cement pavement in Beijing. There had been an unusually heavy rain a few days ago, so I thought that today's pilgrimage would be a disaster. But what they didn't expect was that when they went out, they saw that although the ground was wet, it didn't look muddy at all. Even some of the scenes these envoys saw along the way were different from those in the countries where they were located. People's lifestyles have completely changed. As they occasionally walked around on the street, they could see that the lifestyle of the people in the Ming Dynasty had changed drastically from a year ago. Before, the people of Ming Dynasty lived in similar living conditions to the people of their country. It was just that the people of Ming Dynasty had more material resources. But it's different now. Walking on the streets, they sell a large number of cloth shops, and the flawless white cotton they sell is more than ten times cheaper than the cotton in their country. After asking, I found out that it was Chen Han, the Marquis of Pinglu, who invented the flying shuttle loom and the spinning jenny.
The cost of cotton cloth has been greatly reduced, so it can be sold so cheaply now. Then every household is preparing to raise some money, go to the red brick factory, cement factory, and steel factory affiliated to the Daming Chamber of Commerce to purchase red bricks and cement, and then go to a Yashi store that specializes in introducing craftsmen to book skilled craftsmen to build houses. Foreign envoys are curious now. The current craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are very popular. Not only do they earn a lot of money, but those craftsmen with good skills are even more valuable. They heard that even the most famous Shuntong Yahang in the capital had more than a thousand craftsmen registered with them.
But even this seems not enough. Nowadays, not only the common people are looking for craftsmen everywhere, but even the imperial court is looking for craftsmen among the people to build roads and major projects. For a time, the craftsman trade became very popular, and the social status improved a lot. Even though they were dirty after their work. But after people finish their work, they immediately go to the bathhouse to take a bath, which means they are clean. Moreover, masons are now high-income earners, with many jobs waiting for them every month. This is a sustainable job. Therefore, many foreign envoys are surprised why craftsmen are so popular now. The rich people have been whispering that they want to go to the glass factory to buy glass to replace the paper windows. Even during the night market, ordinary people in Ming Dynasty can go to the night market to eat and drink. Together with some of the three ethical principles that once imprisoned the people of the Ming Dynasty, they seem to have been loosened a lot. When I inquired about it, I found out that they had even attacked sage families like the Kong family.
So there are a lot less rigid rules. The lives of ordinary people are becoming more open and prosperous. The Bingma Siyamen, which manages public security, thought this would be extremely chaotic.
But unexpectedly, nothing like this happened. According to the information they inquired about, the people in the capital spontaneously went to maintain order. I guess I know that good days nowadays are really rare. If I don’t cherish them, who will I be worthy of?
Just as Guanzi said, people with practical skills know etiquette.
As long as people's lives are better, they will spontaneously become moral people. If they can't even solve the common people's basic survival problems of eating and drinking, how can we expect them to have such noble sentiments... (End of this chapter)
