I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 567: The North-South Rift

"Start?" Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong looked at each other.

"Your Highness, do you mean that there will be a rebellion in Jiangnan?" Jiang Jiangong said in great surprise.

Zhu Houxuan nodded silently.

"But how dare they?" Jiang Jiangong still found it hard to believe.

"Why not? Before this, could you imagine that the gentry in Jiangnan would dare to launch such a coup?" Zhu Houxuan said in a deep voice.

Jiang Jiangong was speechless for a moment, but he quickly continued, "What did they rely on to start a rebellion? I know very well how many soldiers there are in Jiangnan. The garrisons in Jiangnan have been at peace for a long time and have little combat power."

"As long as they dare to rebel, I will lead the Guards south to quell the rebellion. As soon as the Guards go south, the rebellion will be quelled immediately!" Jiang Jiangong said confidently.

"You have underestimated the scale of this war! Moreover, the times are advancing, and technology is improving. It may be possible for Jiangnan to pull out a combat-ready army," Zhu Houxuan continued.

Jiang Jiangong was still a little unconvinced, and was about to say something, but was stopped by Chen Hong.
"Your Highness, you are so sure that an incident will happen in Jiangnan, and on a large scale. How do you make such a judgment?" Chen Hong asked. He is an internal affairs talent and is not as interested in military affairs as Jiang Jiangong.

"That's a good question!" Zhu Houxuan nodded in appreciation.

"What do you think are the differences between the north and south of the Ming Dynasty now?" Zhu Houxuan asked.

"People in the north are bold and people in the south are gentle and reserved? People in the north eat noodles and people in the south eat rice?" Jiang Jiangong said casually.

"You're not wrong to say that, but that's not the point. The point is the economic models in the north and south," Zhu Houxuan suggested.

"Economic model?" Chen Hong murmured. He was the chief secretary beside Zhu Houxuan. After being influenced by him for a long time, he had a deep understanding of the Ming Dynasty as a whole.

He pondered for a while and said, "More than a decade ago, the economic model of the north was mainly based on agriculture, but after more than a decade of development, under the leadership of the Royal Group, industry has achieved rapid growth, gradually surpassing agriculture and occupying a dominant position."

"More than a decade ago, the economic model of the South was mainly based on agriculture and handicrafts. However, with the rise of industry in the North, the scale of handicrafts in the South has shrunk a lot. Over the past decade or so, it has gradually become dominated by agriculture." "Clap! Clap! Clap!" Zhu Houxuan clapped slowly.

"The summary is very wonderful!" Zhu Houxuan said with appreciation.

"It's all thanks to your daily teaching, Your Highness." Chen Hong said quickly.

"It is the difference in economic models between the north and the south that has led to the division and contradiction between the north and the south. In fact, even if the economic models are different, the north and the south should not be divided so quickly. It was only recently that I suddenly realized that the division and contradiction between the north and the south have reached an irreconcilable point."

"The reason why the north and south split so quickly is because the capital of this country is in the north, and the country's political affairs are under my control." Zhu Houxuan sighed deeply.
Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong listened attentively, fearing that they would miss something important.
"After I came to power, the biggest problem I faced was how to improve the financial problems of the Ming Dynasty and support the series of wars launched by Your Majesty. The productivity of the traditional agricultural economic model was too low, and most of the benefits had been divided up. I could only find another way to develop industry and use the benefits generated by the industry to support all of this." Zhu Houxuan said slowly.

"In order to better develop industry, the court's policies must have some inclinations. From the first day the Royal Group was established, I have been working hard to push the court to implement policies that are conducive to industrial development."

"Don't think that the Royal Group doesn't need the country's policies just because it has the name of the Royal Group. Many policies are at the macro level. These policies are not written down. During the 14 years that I have been the regent, I have approved tens of thousands of memorials, and those policies are included in those tens of thousands of approvals. I will reject policies that are not conducive to industrial development."

"For example, I hope that the Ming Dynasty can maintain a relatively low grain price, because the factories cannot produce grain. The lower grain price will help reduce the living costs of the workers and enable us to recruit more workers. This policy has been successful so far, but it has made the gentry, royal family, nobles, and old military officers who occupy a large amount of land very dissatisfied, because this has harmed their interests, and they hope that the grain price will be higher. In fact, the grain price in the Ming Dynasty has not been suppressed too low. This grain price is not too low for the farmers, but it is too low for them. They can make more profit by hoarding."

"For example, I hope that Jiangnan can reduce the planting area of ​​cash crops and increase the planting area of ​​staple food, so as to lower grain prices and increase food security in Ming Dynasty. This obviously caused their dissatisfaction, because growing staple food is not as profitable as growing cash crops."

"For example, I hope to reduce the burden on ordinary people, and reduce the number of hidden households and domestic slaves, because industrial products in the north need a consumer market, and ordinary people will have consumption capacity only after their burdens are reduced. But the burdens that ordinary people have reduced have been passed on to them, which makes them very dissatisfied."

"The same is true for hidden households and domestic slaves. Because agriculture is now a labor-intensive industry, they use various means to control a large number of hidden households and domestic slaves, exploit them, and maintain their agricultural income. The burden on these hidden households is not light, and they have little consumption capacity. This runs counter to our need to develop industry."

"Population is also a kind of wealth. The development of industry also requires more population. Overseas territories also need population to open up. So we need more population. So I have been working hard to reduce the number of hidden households and domestic slaves in the Ming Dynasty through various means. This obviously harms their interests."

"I have been carrying out this kind of action for more than ten years. After more than ten years, no matter how slow they are, they can figure out where the problem lies. They have not shared much of the benefits brought by industrialization, but have continued to suffer losses in the process. In addition, my series of policies in the past three years have openly targeted them, further intensifying the contradictions. All of this has led to the current situation."

Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong opened their mouths wide. It was the first time for them to observe the country's problems from this perspective. They were shocked.
"At this point, they will definitely launch a rebellion, because the capital of the Ming Dynasty is in the north, and because the Ming Dynasty can no longer do without the series of benefits brought by industry, so these policies will continue. There is no possibility of compromise between the two sides, and they will soon find a high-sounding reason to launch a rebellion."

(End of this chapter)