bayedsolid First Minister Section 621
First Minister Section 621
Gradually, Manuel discovered a remarkable thing, yes, it was the imperial examination!
In this country, although there are nobles, if you want to enter the officialdom and hold power, you need to pass the exam.
And this exam does not distinguish between high and low...Even if it is a farmer who is farming in the field, as long as he passes the exam, his fate can be changed immediately.
The basis for taking the exam is education, and education is a major feature of Ming Dynasty. With extensive education and education, nearly tens of millions of students are enrolled, regardless of rich or poor!
Even the son of the King of Lu, the grandson of the Duke of the State...if he wants to enter a good school, he still has to take the exam.
And there are basically no extra points in this exam.
Only those soldiers who have made meritorious service to the country, their children can be recruited appropriately.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were distinctions between high and low, but high and low were not fixed, and there was a fair flow channel.
In contrast, what kind of things have been accumulated by Eastern Rome for thousands of years?
This country is lifeless, decayed, with no vitality from top to bottom.
The reason why it can survive is nothing more than two points. One is that Constantinople is strong and dangerous, and ordinary people really can't kill it.
Second, it is still the location of Constantinople, which guards the main traffic roads and allows caravans to collect some toll taxes.With this money, Eastern Rome could hire some Caucasian mercenaries and use these people to protect Constantinople.
That's it!
Ordinary people no longer care about the life and death of Eastern Rome. In other words, the millennium empire is coming to an end, which is a relief to everyone.
To linger on, or to die cleanly?
Is there no other choice?
For example, rise again!
Just like the Ming Dynasty in front of us, China has never fallen. Their country was destroyed by the Mongols. For nearly a hundred years, they did not give up or surrender. Finally, the day will come when the Yuan Dynasty will be overthrown!
Perhaps, Rome can also create a miracle!
Only on that day will it be considered a victory for Rome!
After all, there are too many short-lived great empires.
Only the one who repeats and is immortal is the real king!
Five months after Manuel entered school, he finally made up his mind to learn from the Ming Dynasty thoroughly... Then what is the Emperor of Ming Dynasty doing right now?
In front of Zhu Yuanzhang, there is a potato field as large as one thousand mu.
Old Zhu grinned and patted Zhu Xiongying's head, "Our great grandson, after this harvest, we must give you a medal! You have made great achievements in this field!"
Chapter 859 Change the law and strengthen the country
Zhang Ximeng was also called to participate in the harvest. Facing the dense potato fields, he was quite emotional.Potatoes don't need very good land, and the requirements for fertility are not high, but the yield is huge and the taste is good. It's like a treasure from heaven.
If we connect it to the environment in the Americas, we will find even more interesting things.
The American Indians lacked horses and cattle, and in some places even used alpacas to transport them... Native Americans still lacked iron tools and used stone tools all the time.
Lacking these two artifacts, Native Americans could only do slash-and-burn farming. Like nomads, they migrated by water and grass. The soil erosion in this area was serious, and crops could not be grown, so they moved to another place.
Logically speaking, their level of civilization should be very low, but they also have profound attainments in astronomy and calendar, which is amazing.
Generally speaking, compared to Eurasia, Indians are like poor babies who have wrongly ordered the technology tree.
Perhaps God took pity on them, so he gave them potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, so that these high-yielding crops could save the Indians.
But, from another perspective, if the Americas did not have these high-yield crops, perhaps there would be no Indians.Whether the chicken laid the egg or the egg laid the chicken is a philosophical question.
But one thing is certain, that is, God does not kill people, but Westerners will...
Now that Ming was the first to discover America, and then held the prince of Eastern Rome in his hands, it will become very interesting what will happen.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ximeng was even a little excited.
"My lord, let Wang Baobao and the prince of Fulin Kingdom come too!"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, and said with a smile: "That's okay, and I'll call the iron pot along the way. Let's take his pot and stew potatoes!"
Good fellow, in a short while, including Yexian Timur, these people came one after another.
Manuel has gotten used to the strangeness of the Ming Dynasty a little bit, but to be honest, when he looked at the iron pot, he was still terrified and shuddered.
This is the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty?
Emperor of the Mongols?
Owner of the most powerful empire?
How did he die?
After the subjugation of the country, how could he be willing to live in the Ming Dynasty?
How could the Ming Dynasty tolerate the existence of such a person?
Crazy, all crazy!
He is a prince of Eastern Rome, traveled thousands of miles to the east, hoping to get help, maybe he is also a lunatic!
Since they are all lunatics, let's work hard!
Zhu Yuanzhang gave an order, and everyone began to dig the ground to harvest potatoes.
Zhang Ximeng and Wang Baobao got together, and he found that Wang Baobao's health improved a lot, and his deformed joints also recovered a lot, and he was able to work smoothly and more efficiently than himself.
"I said Wang Baobao, do you know that potatoes can be grown in very cold places."
Wang Baobao was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and said, "Then I would like to congratulate the Grand Master."
"It's not congratulations to me, it's congratulations to everyone, especially the Mongolian and Jurchen tribes in the north, and of course everyone else." Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "With this potato, the land production in the north will greatly increase...and I also I figured out a way to eat it, which is to make potatoes into very thin vermicelli, vermicelli... just like noodles and rice noodles. In this way, it can not only prolong the storage time, but also produce countless delicious flavors. So, ah, The progress of mankind, sometimes really depends on food!"
Wang Baobao was stunned for a long time, his whole body seemed to be frozen, and finally he said slowly: "So, can all the Mongolian tribes have enough to eat?"
Zhang Ximeng smiled, nodded and said, "If allowed, I hope everyone can be full."
Wang Baobao nodded forcefully, "Great Master!"
After saying this, Wang Baobao buried his head in his work and worked harder, not even willing to rest.
Every potato has become extremely precious, this thing is simply the life of countless people!
The northern grassland is like a huge beehive, and the people living inside are not ordinary bees, but terrifying killer bees, swarming in groups, tens of thousands.
Once the weather becomes cold, there is a shortage of food, a heavy snow falls, corpses are scattered all over the field, cattle and sheep are all frozen to death... These people will ride horses, pick up machetes, carry ancestral bows and arrows, and swarm south .
Killing, looting, death... Civilization disappears, the country is gone, and the soldiers point out that the people are either turned into slaves or turned into bones.
Coincidentally, the prince of Eastern Rome is also here, so he should be more touched.
But there is also a problem here, why are the nomadic cavalry so strong, why are the farming peoples so large and have such a large population, they can't resist the nomadic cavalry?
There is a very simple logic in this. Nomadic cavalry, all the people are soldiers, can often draw one out of two men, one out of three men, and a tribe of three to four million people has more than 40 people who control strings, who can be drawn out to fight.
On the other hand, on the farming side, how should we deal with the enemy?
In the original history, the agricultural tax in Ming Dynasty was [-] yuan, that is to say, only [-] stone could be handed over to the court after the common people produced [-] shi of grain.
And the imperial court transported this stone of grain to the frontier to recruit soldiers and horses to fight against the nomadic cavalry, so it is unknown how much is left.
Even if it is calculated by one-tenth, the mobilization ability of the farming nation is far inferior to that of the nomadic cavalry.
At the beginning of the country, it was okay. Although my mobilization ability was weak, I had a population of [-] times, and the officials were relatively clean and efficient, and I could also play a crushing game.
In the middle and late stages of the dynasty, corrupt officials were everywhere, and all the national power at this time was on paper and could not be mobilized at all.
If forced mobilization, what will be the consequences?
You can refer to the Qin Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty... These two are typical examples of taking the figures on paper as real, without considering the problem of middlemen making the difference, and directly forcing the common people to have no way out, so they had to take up swords and guns and rise up.
Could it be that there is no other way, must be beaten?
Naturally not.
In fact, there is only one core, and that is to improve efficiency.
Take the original example as an example. For example, if the tax is [-] for [-], the common people will pay [-] shi for [-] shi of grain, and the rest is barely enough for the family to eat and drink to maintain their lives.
If the efficiency of being a commoner is doubled and it becomes sixty shi of grain, can you hand over two shi?
Obviously not!
In extreme cases, the court can take away 31 stone!
With 29 shi left, the common people can still barely live without rebellion.
Then look at the results again this time. When the efficiency of ordinary people doubles, how much does the mobilization of the court increase?
A full thirty times!
Going to fight against the nomads at this time is completely crushing the game. There is no doubt that even a fool can achieve the same results as Wei Qinghuo Qubing.
This is just the result of doubling productivity... If it is fully industrialized, productivity will increase a hundred times, a thousand times... The mobilization efficiency is simply indescribable.
For example, during World War I, the maximum mobilization capacity of many industrialized countries was one-tenth. In other words, with a population of 1000 million, 100 million troops could be mobilized, and no one would starve to death in the country.
If it is placed in the Song and Ming Dynasties, it will be calculated as 6000 million people. There is no need to mobilize 600 million people. I am afraid that 60 people with full staff and no vacancy will be enough to collapse the Ministry of Households.
No matter how many people there are, it is estimated that they will go to Luo with their swords, and directly report to the emperor Laozi. For example, Emperor Sui Yang conscripted millions of people to attack Korea, and this is the end!
Efficiency is everything, and improving efficiency is so difficult.
So only by understanding these can we understand the value of potatoes.
Watching the potatoes being dug out one by one, gradually, some people's breathing became short of breath.
For example, Wang Baobao, for example, Yexian Timur, and a few others... After counting, only Manuel is a complete iron fool, he doesn't know shit, he just feels exhausted, his hands are worn out, Blisters were born and it hurt like hell.
He really couldn't figure it out, this Emperor of Ming, don't be a fake, right?
He is a majestic emperor, more noble than his father, how can he do such a lowly job?
It makes no sense!
After working for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang was still unsatisfied. He took Zhang Ximeng, measured the harvest together, and weighed the potatoes... They harvested a total of 600 mu, and got almost [-] catties of potatoes. The average yield of one mu of land was more than [-] catties. !
Seeing this result, both Zhang Ximeng and Lao Zhu had meaningful smiles on their faces.
An average of six to seven hundred catties per mu is incomparable to the later generations who often weigh several thousand or tens of thousands of catties.
But in the Ming Dynasty, it is already very impressive.
In particular, they chose a hillside land. If they planted rice, they might only have a yield of tens of catties, or even no harvest, but if they planted potatoes, they could get a harvest of several hundred catties.
Although a catty of potatoes is not the same as a catty of grain, grass roots and tree bark can also satisfy your hunger when you are extremely hungry!
"Sir, it's only now that we dare to really open up to the outside world!"
Zhang Ximeng nodded again and again, "Your Majesty is wise!"
At this time, Zhang Chengtian had moved to Manuel's side.
"Do you understand this time? If you want to save the country, you rely on these potatoes!"
Manuel was stunned for a while, how could this strange and broken thing save his country?
"What a fool, so stupid! Think about it, if you take the potatoes back, you can grow five or seven hundred catties per mu of land, and your farmers are several times the output of the enemy, and you will get several times the grain tax, and form more Soldiers and horses, fight the enemy! Is that Osman still your opponent?"
Manuel seemed to understand, and he trembled violently, but soon he calmed down again, looked at the potatoes everywhere, and shook his head.
"No, no, those farmers will give the potatoes to the enemy! Also, let them join the army. These people will not kill the enemy, and most of them will go to Constantinople first!"
This time it's Zhang Chengtian's turn to be dumbfounded, what the hell is your bastard Fulin Guo?
The mud can't support the wall!
At this time Zhang Ximeng also came over, he pondered for a while, and said in a deep voice: "So you must change the law, let the people recognize the country and be willing to fight for the country! It's not that they don't care whoever rules Constantinople!"
Chapter 8 Sixty We Should Reflect
It is ironic to say that the common people are the same no matter who rules Constantinople, but it is true, and even a little ironic.
Although the newly-emerging Ottoman Empire seems very crazy in terms of succession to the throne, they treat the conquered places fairly generously. The tax rate is very low, only [-]%, and they encourage business development and respect the habits of the local people... as long as If you recognize me as your eldest brother, I will let you live a stable and prosperous life.
In contrast, in East Rome, it is really inferior to Ottoman.
If there is no thorough reform, Eastern Rome will be a dead end.