The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Chenhao asked in a deep voice, "In your opinion, as long as the people engage in craftsmanship work other than farming, they can cope with a major disaster?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yangzheng realized that Prince Ning was doubting his son's words.

He quickly chimed in, "If the people don't farm and instead engage in other forms of production, will they be able to cope with the exorbitant taxes and levies? Will the idle land be cultivated? It doesn't make sense."

Tang Yin listened from the side, feeling increasingly impatient.

You really have the mind to sit down and discuss philosophy with a clueless kid who talks nonsense?

Even if we talk about something that hasn't happened yet, how can you prove whether it's valid?

I think it's better to visit the peach blossoms in Suzhou. If I walk fast, I might be able to get back before the blossoms fall, and enjoy them with my friends...

"In my view, engaging in industries other than agriculture and sericulture increases society's ability to withstand risks," Zhu Yi stated.

"What does that mean?"

Previously, Zhu Chenhao only asked about major events and spoke of confirmed facts. Now is the time to truly sit down with his son and discuss the nation's destiny and national policies.

So he is very patient now.

You want to discern the truth of what my son says, but I want to observe his ability to govern the country so that he can help me achieve great things.

One discerns truth from falsehood, the other seeks direction.

Zhu Yidao said, "Even at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the people of northern China were starving and there were countless refugees, the wealthy south, though also suffering from heavy taxes, did not experience major disasters or upheavals. Do you all know why?"

Liu Yangzheng said, "The South has always been a major grain-producing area, from Huguang to Jiangnan... and Jiangxi."

"Then why didn't the grain from Jiangnan reach the famine-stricken areas of the Central Plains, leading to such drastically different circumstances for the people in the North and South?" Zhu Yi asked.

For a moment, Liu Yangzheng seemed unable to answer the question.

After a long silence, Gongsun Jin interjected, "I think the imperial court is capable of doing things. When disaster strikes, how could they not provide relief? It's just that they might not be able to arrive in time."

"It's understandable if disaster relief is ineffective for one or two years, but what about if it's the same for ten or eight years? What's the reason for that?" Zhu Yi continued to ask rhetorically.

Liu Yang, his face flushed with anger, asked, "Young Master Zhu, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I want to say is that no matter what kind of disaster occurs, in terms of grain production in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, as long as it is distributed properly, there will never be a situation of barren lands and widespread famine. The key is that the Ming Dynasty's economic model in the past relied infinitely on the imperial court as a vehicle to allocate resources such as grain. The imperial court itself is governed by people, and when human nature is greedy, this vehicle is very inefficient."

Zhu Yidao said, "Under a great disaster, officials seek not to make mistakes but to achieve merit. How can they care about the lives of the people? In the end, the people affected by the disaster can only find their own way out."

Liu Yangzheng was speechless for a moment.

Gongsun Jin then said, "Young Master Zhu, what you're saying is probably somewhat biased. Even if the imperial court ignores it, the traveling merchants won't just sit idly by, will they? Merchants are driven by profit, and when grain prices soar in famine-stricken areas, of course some merchants will transport grain there. That way... we won't have to rely on the imperial court for allocation, right?"

Zhu Yi smiled and countered, "Tell me, in a society that only farms, when the fields yield almost nothing in years of famine, how do the people afford to buy those expensive grains? Sell their children?"

"This..." Gongsun Jin was speechless.

"In an agricultural society, almost all of the people's income comes from the land. If the weather is good, that's fine, but once a major disaster occurs, how can the people withstand the risk?" Zhu Yi said.

Liu Yangzheng said, "Don't the common people know to store grain to prepare for famine?"

"Mr. Wen, the families you mentioned are wealthy households. For ordinary families, being able to store up food for a few months is already considered a comfortable life. How can you expect them to accumulate enough food to cope with a major famine?" Zhu Yi said somewhat indignantly.

This is probably where the gentry class of scholars is at odds with the common people at the bottom.

But Zhu Yi clearly realized that it was too difficult to change the mindset of this group of people.

Because what I said is different from the position of this group of people. Positions lead to viewpoints. Since the positions are different, how can they put themselves in my shoes?

……

……

The situation became somewhat tense for a moment.

The three were pondering Zhu Yi's words, while Tang Yin, seemingly an outsider, was lost in thought, contemplating the peach blossoms of Suzhou.

What you're arguing about has nothing to do with me.

Zhu Yi felt he needed to say something more, so he said, "Several hundred years later, market exchanges and merchant trade will no longer be limited to places, but to countries."

"All land under heaven belongs to the king, what are you talking about?" Liu Yangzheng continued to retort.

Zhu Yi said, "Does the Ming Dynasty not know that there are other countries outside? There are Portuguese and Southeast Asian countries. The Ming Dynasty has traded with them before, hasn't it? Doesn't it have a Maritime Trade Office?"

Zhu Chenhao said, "Continue."

"Several hundred years later, many countries will have a large population, but very little land and even less farmland. However, because their industry and commerce are developed, they can create something called foreign exchange. With this, even if their people do not farm, they can buy food from other countries and make their people very wealthy. For them, they don't even need to worry about natural disasters or man-made calamities," Zhu Yi recounted about the future.

Gongsun Jin laughed and said, "Actually, this principle applies to any era. In years of great disasters and famines, if you have money, you won't starve. If you don't have money, then..."

He was originally going to agree with Zhu Yi's words, because that would be considered flattery, but when he noticed that Liu Yangzheng was glaring at him with hostility, he immediately stopped talking.

Zhu Yi was very satisfied with Gongsun Jin's awareness. He said, "What Mr. Gong said is exactly what I wanted to express. In a few hundred years, some countries will be weak and can only rely on agriculture to ensure the food and clothing of their people. Although they will not starve to death when the weather is good, once war or famine occurs, their people will be displaced because they have no foreign exchange, which is equivalent to having no silver."

Later, every nation devoted all its resources to developing industry and commerce, abandoning its fundamental agricultural foundation. Only in this way could people's livelihoods be improved, and the people finally escaped the predicament of thousands of years, no longer relying solely on farming for sustenance, and truly embarking on the path of having enough to eat and wear. Those countries that clung to agriculture ultimately became typical examples of poverty and weakness, with their people suffering unspeakable misery.

By this point, Liu Yangzheng had basically understood what was being said.

But he was still very unwilling, and looked at Zhu Chenhao, saying, "Establishing the country on agriculture was a national policy established by the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. How come everything has changed here? This is a violation of the fundamental principles! This is the talk of a brat!"

Zhu Chenhao pondered for a long time, then nodded silently and said, "Child, what you said makes a lot of sense. Although engaging in the industry and commerce you mentioned may not produce grain, it can earn money to pay off the court's exorbitant taxes. This would allow the people to have more energy to farm without worrying about... not being able to support their wives, children, and elderly parents."

Although Zhu Chenhao couldn't yet understand the changes that industrial civilization had brought to the social ecology, he clearly took his son's words to heart.

Liu Yangzheng was very puzzled when he heard this.

How did Prince Ning also fall for this kid's schemes?

Gongsun Jin, standing to the side, glanced at Liu Yangzheng with a sneer, thinking to himself, "They are father and son, both single-mindedly plotting to seize the world. Who do you think you are?"

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Wei."

Zhu Yi said calmly, "Actually, there is an even better way to change the predicament of the late Ming Dynasty."

Liu Yangzheng glared at him, his anger rising. "You little brat, you had a better way, but you didn't say so first? You deliberately suggested a less desirable way to provoke an argument and create conflict for Prince Ning to see, didn't you?"

Zhu Chenhao opened up at this moment and said with a smile, "Please speak freely."

Zhu Yidao said, "Actually, far to the east of the Ming Dynasty, after crossing the ocean, there is a large landmass called America. This place will be discovered by Westerners in the mid-Ming Dynasty, probably between the Chenghua and Hongzhi periods... There, there are several crops with very high yields, such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Once these crops are introduced to China, the yield per acre will increase dramatically. This is also the main reason why China's population exploded two hundred years later."

"Such a thing is true?" Zhu Chenhao was also somewhat shocked.

Liu Yangzheng seemed even more anxious.

He wondered, how foolish was this Prince Ning? He believed everything his son said?

The crops that the Ming Dynasty has cultivated for thousands of years, this kid says he can change them?

"Yes," Zhu Yi said with certainty. "In addition to providing food for people, these crops can also be used as livestock feed, allowing livestock to grow fatter faster. Of course, besides these new crops, there is another place in the Americas where there is a large amount of guano minerals. After grinding and processing them, spreading them on the ground will make the land fertile and further increase grain yields."

Hearing this, Zhu Chenhao felt comforted and stroked his beard, saying, "Such a miraculous thing exists in the world? Do you know... how to get there?"

Zhu Yi also said with some anticipation: "Then we need to build ships, very large ships that can withstand wind and waves. A trip there can take a year or two. In the early stages, there is no need to transport fertilizer. We only need to bring back the roots and seeds of the crops, which can be promoted in the Ming Dynasty. If everything is planned properly, the population of the Ming Dynasty will develop greatly two hundred years earlier, or we may skip the crisis more than a hundred years later."