Chapter 30 The Importance of Geography
The reason Gao Gong wanted to tell Zhu Zaijing this was actually so that Zhu Zaijing could have a general understanding of the fragile financial reality of the Ming Dynasty. First, Zhu Zaijing A seed was planted in his heart, and he looked forward to the fact that one day Zhu Zaijing could inherit the throne, and he must not spend as much as he did now.
Zhu Zaijing sighed: "It turns out that the capital is in such a crisis. All supplies have to be sent from South Zhili and other places. What if the canal is lost?"
Gao Gong was very excited after hearing Zhu Zaijing's sigh. He originally thought that Zhu Zaijing had little interest in such boring geography courses.
Unexpectedly, after listening to what he said, Zhu Zaijing turned his attention to the canal.
And this is the most important thing Gao Gong wants to talk about today.
Gao Gongdao: "The canal is connected to the north and south. It was a river channel dug by the Sui Dynasty a thousand years ago with all the efforts of the country. It starts from Yuhang in the south and reaches the capital in the north. The places it passes along the way include Zhejiang, South Zhili, Shandong, North Zhili and other places, there are as many as 600,000 water workers on the canal and countless families behind them rely on the river to survive."
"So the canal is as important as the river. Taishan! The imperial court allocates hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year for the dredging and maintenance of the canal, in order to ensure that the canal can flow smoothly, connect the north and the south, and make the capital stable."
Zhu Zaijing heard. Here again I can’t help but say: “However, the canal is narrow and the material resources transported are extremely tight. Moreover, 600,000 water workers and their families must be supported along the way. After all calculations, the students thought it would be better to abandon the canal and switch to sea transportation. From then on. It started from Taicang, Songjiang Prefecture, and passed through Laizhou to Tianjin Wei. In this way, not only the consumption was reduced, but the sea area was vast, and the transportation capacity could be doubled. "
Gao Gong never expected that Zhu Zai would. Gao Gong was surprised that Jing had such an in-depth understanding of the geography of the Ming Dynasty and even knew about Taicang in Songjiang Prefecture.
But this is not the time to explore why Zhu Zaijing knew this geographical knowledge.
Gao Gong followed Zhu Zaijing's words and began to extend his explanation.
Gao Gong said: "Although shipping has its advantages, shipping is extremely risky. In the event of a shipwreck, not only the goods transported will be lost, but even the crew members on the ship will have no chance of survival. And above the canal As many as 600,000 people are involved in the water transport. If we really change the sea transportation, how will the food and drink expenses of these 600,000 people and the families behind them be solved?"
"If it cannot be done? Providing new livelihoods for these 600,000 water workers will be a huge disaster for the court! Therefore, the way to govern a country does not depend on the amount of wealth, but on the world. If we can ensure the stability of the world to the greatest extent, even if some problems always exist, they cannot be solved in one fell swoop." Gao Gong talked about governance and political issues.
After Zhu Zaijing heard these words, he didn't think much and said directly, "Then find ways to open up sources of income and create jobs. Divert those 600,000 laborers into new industries. If If possible, the imperial court and local governments can also organize relevant vocational skills training for some technical types of work, so that these 600,000 laborers have more choices. Wouldn’t this solve the problem? "
Zhu Zaijing's words also made Gao Gong's eyes light up. He did not expect that Zhu Zaijing had such profound insights at such a young age.
However, this kind of thing is easy to say but extremely difficult to do.
Let’s not talk about other issues, let’s just talk about the issue of open source. It has been nearly 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The problems accumulated in these 200 years and the intertwined problems of the great families in these 200 years The development of power invariably restricted the imperial court's efforts to increase revenue.
Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the imperial court to open up new sources of income. Therefore, for the current plan, the imperial court will tighten finances in the only industries monopolized by the imperial court, such as land tax, salt and iron, and tea horses. , and there is no other way. Moreover, based on Gao Gong's observations over the years, Gao Gong also discovered that the land tax received by the imperial court was also decreasing year by year, and the problems in this were naturally self-evident.
There are also trades such as salt, iron, and tea horses. Although these businesses are monopolized by the imperial court, the management of these businesses still needs to rely on the joint efforts of local powerful officials and local officials responsible for tea, horse, and salt.
However, these people have been above the local level for a long time and have long formed an alliance of interests. The taxes on salt, iron, tea and horses that the court can receive are getting less and less.
It can be seen that Daming is really sick now, but although Gao Gong has certain ideas about how to cure this disease, he also knows that his words can't change anything now.
And once he dares to speak out at this time, not to mention whether His Majesty the Emperor will listen, other officials who have objections to him may take the opportunity to attack and frame him.
Therefore, if Gao Gong wants to cure the Ming Dynasty, he can only place his hope on the future king of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the student he is currently teaching - King Yu Zhu Zaijing!
So after thinking about this, in order not to dampen Zhu Zaijing's vision for the future, Gao Gong also praised Zhu Zaijing: "What the prince said is absolutely true. If it can help the imperial court, it will be a great success." Trying to find a way to guide 600,000 water workers to make a living elsewhere may be a good strategy for governing the country."
Zhu Zaijing smiled and said: "I'm just talking casually, the court's affairs still have to be dealt with. Your Majesty decided to discuss it with the cabinet and the six ministers. Mr. Gao Gong went on to say that students love to listen to this all-encompassing course, which allows them to learn about the world without leaving home. Hearing Zhu Zaijing's words, he calmed down. When he just talked about geography, some things were indeed a bit over the top, but Zhu Zaijing's reaction really surprised Gao Gong.
So in the following lectures, Gao Gong no longer stuck to the formality and began to give lectures with open mind.
Gao Gong gave Zhu Zaijing a general introduction to the customs, customs and administrative arrangements of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the basic situation of these places. When Zhu Zaijing listened to the lesson Gao Gong was teaching, he felt like he was back in junior high school.
At that time, Zhu Yuan was about the same age as he is now, but at that time, it was the first time that Zhu Yuan was exposed to the fresh course of geography.
Zhu Zaijing still vaguely remembers that the geography teacher at that time also had a surname of Gao. As for what his name was, Zhu Zaijing could not remember.
But Zhu Zaijing was still very proud to remember that he was one of the few students in the class who passed geography at that time.
Zhu Zaijing couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this. Zhu Zaijing always believed that geography should be a very important course. It can not only educate people to understand themselves and the world, but also allow people to understand other parts of the world. The local customs and customs are very important in shaping a person's world view.
However, geography is not taken seriously by anyone. It can only be regarded as a useless "minor subject" and is not even tested in the entrance examination.
So in the future world where the Internet is developed, Zhu Zaijing often sees a group of people who don’t know what the world is, and they talk nonsense online and think they are the best in the world. Seeing this situation, Zhu Zaijing will feel that this kind of people are people without a complete world view. They will only indulge in the world they know and are arrogant, and will be shaped into the extreme character of a diode by someone with intentions.
(End of this chapter)