Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 524 "Friend" Ming Dynasty! The Emperor's Arrival!

This injected ample funds into the development of the Turan Empire, allowing its economy to be revitalized.

The envoys of the Ming Empire officially arrived in Barihei, the Ming Bank opened a branch there, and the Ming Daily began publishing its newspapers and books there.

After the alliance was signed, Zhu Yuanzhang led the Ming army on a long western expedition.

From the eastern border of the Turan Empire to the western border on the other side, it was a distance of four or five thousand miles, a long and arduous journey.

The Ming army did not waste time during their march; instead, they laid cables in an orderly manner as they marched.

At the same time, the Ming Dynasty's official banknotes were fully utilized to employ local people to participate in the road construction work.

This not only accelerated the project's progress but also brought tangible income and employment opportunities to the local people, fostering their loyalty to Da Mingbai.

Just a few months later, Zhu led his vast army to the western border of the Turan Empire and completed his march within Turan territory.

It must be said that Timur's control over the Turan Empire was indeed quite good, and the Turan people's attitude towards the Ming Dynasty quickly became quite friendly.

Of course, the more crucial factor was that the Da Ming Daily entered the Turan Empire and launched its own propaganda offensive.

The importance of public opinion and propaganda was immediately apparent.

Through the tireless efforts and ingenious operations of the Ming Dynasty's propaganda personnel, they used newspapers, books, and various carefully crafted, easy-to-understand stories and dramas to provide in-depth yet accessible explanations to the people of the Turan Empire.

Gradually, the people of the Turan Empire came to believe that the Ming Dynasty was their most sincere friend.

They firmly believed that the arrival of the Ming army would bring long-awaited stability and peace to the Turan Empire.

The Ming Dynasty's investment, the convenient trade between the two sides, and the development of the Turan Empire's mineral resources will enable the people of the Turan Empire to live an increasingly prosperous and better life.

In addition, the first batch of state-owned companies from the Ming Dynasty that came to invest were indeed generous and not stingy at all.

They scattered large amounts of Ming Dynasty banknotes like a light rain, which naturally won them the hearts of the people quickly.

Therefore, the officials and people of the Turan Empire showed an extremely friendly attitude towards the Ming merchants and army!

They practically brought food and drink to welcome the king's army!
Their enthusiasm was truly moving.

Along the way, the Ming army encountered no resistance or obstruction.

If it weren't for the need to lay cables, precisely demarcate the management boundaries of the leased roads, conduct some "cultural exchange programs" to enhance the understanding of the Ming army among the people of the Turan Empire, promote friendship between the two sides, and transport a large amount of supplies along the way, Zhu Yuanzhang's western tour would have been much, much faster.

In any case, by the time Zhu led his army to the border on the other side of the Turan Empire, he had already completed a comprehensive and in-depth propaganda and education campaign for the Turan Empire's officials, people, and soldiers!
Today, the Ming Dynasty is not only a "good friend" in the eyes of the Turan Empire's officials, but also a "good friend" recognized by the people of the Turan Empire!
This was precisely one of Zhu Yunwen's crucial strategic plans.

It is also a profound lesson he learned from summarizing the history of Western colonialism!

Historically, Western colonizers have generally been overly arrogant.

They completely disregarded the feelings and wishes of the local people in the colony and only cared about their own interests.

Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, every time it signed an unequal treaty with a foreign country, it would stir up a huge wave of opposition within the country.

The public generally believed that it was a shameful act that ceded national sovereignty and humiliated the country.

This also instilled deep-seated hatred and resistance among ordinary people towards so-called "foreigners."

Later, when a wave of independence movements swept across various countries, the Western colonizers were no longer able to effectively control their colonies.

As the colonies gained independence, the mother country also declined.

Its international influence is now vastly different from what it used to be.

The Ming Dynasty should learn a profound lesson from this.

One cannot merely consider one's own interests, or be satisfied with simply reaching an official agreement with the local rulers.

Equally important is to focus on building friendly and deep relationships with ordinary people.

Only in this way can the core interests of the Ming Dynasty be firmly protected and unaffected by changes in external regimes, even if these countries undergo dynastic changes in the future.

Moreover, many business activities cannot be carried out smoothly simply by relying on good relations with the government.

The perceptions and attitudes of ordinary people will largely determine their consumption preferences.

If the people generally believe that the Ming Dynasty is a friendly nation, a close partner, and represents the trend of progress and civilization, then they will be more inclined to buy Ming Dynasty goods and even actively support Ming Dynasty commercial activities.

Conversely, if negative emotions permeate the public, many people will spontaneously boycott Ming Dynasty goods, making commercial activities extremely difficult.

Similarly, the same principle applies to Ming Dynasty merchants traveling to foreign lands to conduct trade.

If there is widespread opposition from the general public, it will be difficult to promote trade even with official privileges.

Even the personal safety of businessmen is difficult to guarantee.

Although it is possible to force the Turan Empire government to provide protection, if the people all regard the Ming Dynasty as an enemy, then business will not be possible.

Forcing it won't last.

Zhu Yunwen was keenly aware of this and attached great importance to it.

During his time stationed in Beshbali, Lao Zhu also carefully observed and learned, and thus grasped the secrets within.

As for Timur, the reason he cooperated so actively with the Ming Dynasty was not only because he was shocked by the Ming Dynasty's strength and dared not be its enemy, but also because of another crucial reason.

That is, as a newly established empire, the Turan Empire is not yet highly cohesive, and the cohesion of its people still needs to be strengthened.

While the Ming Dynasty was glorifying and promoting itself, it also conveniently promoted the wisdom and might of its Great Khan.

This inadvertently promoted ideological unity within the Turan Empire and further consolidated Timur's rule.

Faced with this advantageous and harmless situation, he was naturally happy to see it happen and fully cooperated.

However, Timur failed to notice that, despite the Ming Dynasty's propaganda and embellishment of him, the Ming Dynasty had always maintained a clear distinction between himself and the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, even if Timur's status in the hearts of the people is no longer as lofty as it is now, or even if his reputation gradually declines, it will never affect the overall perception of the Ming Dynasty among the Turan people.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Ming Dynasty's propaganda apparatus, the Ming Dynasty's image in the hearts of the people of the Turan Empire has gradually surpassed that of any individual!

The Ming Dynasty was an "ideal land" on earth, a "paradise on earth"!
This widespread public sentiment would not easily change even if the Turan Empire underwent a change of dynasty.

After Zhu Yuanzhang led his army to the western border, he immediately sent envoys to the Mamluk Empire and the Ottoman Empire, also known as the Ottoman Empire!

……

Ming dynasty.

The journey from Nanjing to the Yellow River floodplains is only a little over a thousand miles.

Since the cement road was completed, the journey has become extremely fast.

In just a few days, Zhu Yunwen and his party were already close to their destination.

That afternoon, as Zhu Yunwen's carriage traveled smoothly along the wide imperial road, several figures suddenly leaped out from among the kneeling people on the other side of the road. They cried out loudly, "Injustice! Your Majesty, please do justice for us! Injustice!"

The sound was extremely loud and penetrating; even Zhu Yunwen, inside the carriage through the thick glass windows, could hear it clearly. "You audacious commoner! Silence! Disturbing the Emperor's presence—what is your punishment?!"

Upon hearing the commotion, the soldiers responsible for maintaining order rushed forward, quickly pinned the people who were pleading for justice to the ground, and gagged them with wads of cloth.

Since Zhu Yunwen only ordered the closure of half the road, and the people were on the other side of the road, Zhu Yunwen's carriage was not disturbed and continued to move forward smoothly.

Zhu Yunwen did not intend to pay much attention to this unexpected situation.

In the past, it was by no means easy for ordinary people to seek redress at the government office.

Normally, they can only file a complaint at the county government office; appealing to a higher level is strictly prohibited.

If the officials in the county government happen to have been bribed and obstruct the process, then it will be extremely difficult for ordinary people to file a complaint with a higher-level government.

On the one hand, the journey is long and transportation is inconvenient.

On the other hand, according to the law, it is not allowed to file a complaint with a higher authority.

If you insist on suing, you'll have to get a beating first.

The purpose of doing this is to clearly tell the people that even if you have some grievances, you have to honestly endure them!

Only in cases involving matters of life and death, or other major injustices, where people are willing to endure punishment to file a complaint, can they appeal to higher authorities.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang once encouraged the people to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor, in reality, those who had the ability to go to the capital to file a complaint were necessarily people with great power and wealth in their localities.

In an era without high-speed rail, airplanes, trains, and cars, how could ordinary people from the lower classes possibly travel thousands of miles on foot to the capital to appeal to the emperor?

That's utterly delusional!

Those who had the ability to travel to the capital to file a complaint often wielded considerable social influence.

Their actions can significantly influence local social stability.

It could even be said that, if it weren't for the fear of the imperial court sending troops to suppress them, such a person would be fully capable of gathering forces and directly overthrowing the local grassroots government offices!

Therefore, granting them the right to appeal to the capital was actually a way to maintain the stability of the country's rule and to give them a legitimate channel to vent their grievances.

As for ordinary appeals to higher authorities, they are still subject to numerous restrictions and face great difficulties.

Of course, there are exceptions.

That was when the imperial court dispatched special censors and imperial envoys to inspect the local areas.

Officials on inspection tours would post notices everywhere, spreading the word and encouraging people to seek redress for grievances. Those dissatisfied with the court's judgment could file another appeal.

Anyone who knows about officials who have embezzled or accepted bribes can report them.

At this time, you can file a complaint without any restrictions, and you will not be punished!
This is why folk operas are often filled with stories of people who have suffered injustice, desperately seeking the help of an imperial envoy, and finally getting their grievances redressed.

This is not a fictional play, but a reflection of real social phenomena.

Normally, even if one were to file a complaint at the prefectural government office, one would usually have to be beaten with a stick before being allowed to submit the complaint.

However, when the imperial envoy arrived on inspection tour, although the envoy's power was far greater than that of the prefect, there were no restrictions on complaining to them, and no need to suffer physical punishment!

Often, imperial envoys would even be happy if someone came to complain.

That's how they can complete their patrol mission!

They can't just go out on an inspection tour, not find a single case, and then hastily return to the capital to report back, can they?
That would be impossible to explain to the imperial court!

Based on this, those people who have suffered injustice always earnestly hope that the imperial court can send an imperial censor to inspect the area as soon as possible and uphold justice for them.

However, the effectiveness of such "upright officials" who appear from time to time is ultimately limited.

Many injustices still go unaddressed.

However, Zhu Yunwen, with his bold and decisive reforms, directly changed this outdated and flawed situation.

First, he established special "law offices" in each county government office to handle civil litigation cases.

If the people are dissatisfied with the court's judgment, they can directly complain to the county magistrate, or choose to appeal to the "legal department" of the prefectural government.

Both of these appeal channels are completely legal and compliant.

Ordinary people no longer need to endure a beating before submitting their petitions.

More importantly, the establishment and continuous improvement of the email system opened up a brand-new and extremely convenient appeal channel for the people of the Ming Dynasty.

They can now directly report illegal activities or appeal their grievances to various levels of government offices through letters.

This is a million times more convenient and faster than going to the yamen to file a complaint in person!
Moreover, letters could travel across mountains and rivers to reach the Censorate directly.

The Censorate also established a special agency to handle these letters from the public.

The Censorate has always been strict and lenient towards any reports or grievances that have been verified.

In addition, the Da Ming Daily and its subordinate newspapers at all levels also became important channels for public opinion feedback.

If ordinary people do not trust government agencies, they can choose to send letters to newspapers to expose them.

The newspaper would also send reporters to investigate and understand the situation, and publish the truth to the public.

There are countless appeal channels like these.

In conclusion, the people of the Ming Dynasty now have very comprehensive and diverse channels for appeal, so there is absolutely no need for them to come to the emperor to file a complaint.

If there were truly grievances so serious that he had to personally intervene to resolve them, then the officials' memorials, the intelligence from the intelligence bureau, and the entire censorate system should have already reported the facts to him through all levels of government.

Many people always hoped to reach the emperor directly and report their grievances to him.

But most of the time, this is not actually necessary.

Zhu Yunwen originally did not intend to pay attention to these things.

Since those people were loudly protesting their grievances as the imperial carriage passed by, court officials would naturally go to handle the matter, and their authority was sufficient to deal with such situations.

If that person truly has been wronged, I believe they will be exonerated.

As an emperor, one should not do everything personally or directly concern oneself with these trivial matters, as doing so would disrupt the established administrative order.

More importantly, he was extremely anxious at the moment, rushing to the Yellow River flood area to deal with the disaster, and every moment was precious.

With this in mind, Zhu Yunwen sat firmly in the carriage, not moving an inch, letting the carriage continue to move forward.

However, Xu Miaojin, who was sitting next to him, could no longer sit still.

……

(End of this chapter)