Chapter 30 The Importance of Geography

The reason why Gao Gong told Zhu Zaigui all this was actually to give Zhu Zaigui a general understanding of the current fragile financial reality of the Ming Dynasty, to plant a seed in Zhu Zaigui's heart, and to hope that if one day Zhu Zaigui could inherit the throne, he would never be as extravagant as the current emperor.

Zhu Zaigui sighed and said, "The capital is in such a critical situation that all supplies have to be sent from southern Zhili and other places. What if the canal is lost? What will happen?"

Gao Gong was very excited when he heard Zhu Zaigui's sigh. He thought Zhu Zaigui had little interest in this boring geography course.

Unexpectedly, after listening to what he said, Zhu Zaigui actually focused his attention on the canal.

And this is exactly the most important point that Gao Gong wants to talk about today.

Gao Gong said: "The Grand Canal connects the north and the south. It was dug by the Sui Dynasty a thousand years ago with the whole country's efforts. It starts from Yuhang in the south and ends in the capital in the north. It passes through Zhejiang, South Zhili, Shandong, North Zhili and other places along the way. In addition, there are as many as 600,000 canal workers and countless families behind them who depend on this river for their survival."

"So the importance of the canal is comparable to Mount Tai! The imperial court allocates hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year for dredging and maintenance of the canal, in order to ensure that the canal can be unobstructed, connecting the north and the south, and ensuring the stability of the capital."

Zhu Zaigui could not help but say, "But the canal is narrow, and the material resources it transports are extremely limited. In addition, we have to support 600,000 canal workers and their families along the way. After doing the math, I think it would be better to give up the canal and switch to sea transportation. Start shipping from Taicang, Songjiang Prefecture, pass Laizhou along the coast, and reach Tianjin. In this way, not only will the consumption be reduced, but the sea surface will be wider, and the transportation capacity can be multiplied several times."

Gao Gong never expected that Zhu Zaigui had such a deep understanding of the geography of the Ming Dynasty that he even knew Taicang in Songjiang Prefecture. This surprised Gao Gong very much.

However, this is not the time to explore why Zhu Zaigui knew this geographical knowledge.

Gao Gong also began to expand on Zhu Zaigui's words.

Gao Gong said: "Maritime transport certainly has its advantages, but it is also extremely risky. Once a shipwreck occurs, not only will all the goods be lost, but even the crew members will have no chance of survival. In addition, there are as many as 600,000 canal workers on the canal. If we really switch to sea transport, how will we solve the problem of food and drink for these 600,000 people and their families?"

"If we cannot provide these 600,000 canal workers with a new livelihood, it will be a huge problem for the court! Therefore, the way to govern a country does not lie in the amount of tax revenue, but in the stability of the world. If we can guarantee the stability of the world to the greatest extent, some problems, even if they always exist, cannot be solved in a one-size-fits-all manner."

Gao Gong's talk on geography turned to issues of governing the country and politics.

After hearing this, Zhu Zaigui didn't think much and said directly, "Then we should find a way to increase revenue and create jobs. Divert the 600,000 canal workers to new industries. If possible, the court and local governments can also organize relevant vocational skills training for some technical jobs, so that the 600,000 canal workers have more choices. Wouldn't this solve the problem?"

Zhu Zaigui's words also made Gao Gong's eyes light up. He didn't expect that Zhu Zaigui 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 for now, just talk about the issue of opening up new sources of income. The Ming Dynasty has been established for nearly two hundred years. The problems accumulated during these two hundred years and the development of the complex power of the aristocratic families during these two hundred years have all restricted the court's efforts to open up new sources of income.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the court to increase revenue, so for now, the court has no other choice but to tighten the fiscal revenue in the industries that the court monopolizes, such as land tax, salt and iron, tea and horse. And according to Gao Gong's observations over the years, Gao Gong also found that the land tax that the court could receive in recent years was also decreasing year by year, and the problem was naturally self-evident.

There are also trades such as salt, iron, tea and horse. Although these businesses are monopolized by the imperial court, the management of these businesses still requires the joint efforts of local tyrants and officials in charge of tea, horse, salt and iron.

However, these people had been in the local area for a long time and had formed an alliance of interests. The salt, iron, tea and horse taxes that the court could collect were getting less and less.

This shows that the current Ming Dynasty is truly sick, but although Gao Gong has certain ideas about how to cure this disease, he also knows that he is powerless and cannot change anything.

Moreover, if he dared to speak out at this time, regardless of whether the Emperor would listen, other officials who had opinions about him might take the opportunity to attack and frame him.

Therefore, if Gao Gong wanted to cure the Ming Dynasty, he could only place his hopes on the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the student he was currently teaching - Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui!

So after thinking about it, in order not to dampen Zhu Zaigui's vision for the future, Gao Gong praised Zhu Zaigui: "Your Majesty is right. If we can increase revenue for the court and find a way to guide 600,000 canal workers to make a living elsewhere, it may really be a good policy for governing the country."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "I was just talking casually. The affairs of the court still have to be decided by your majesty and discussed with the cabinet and the six ministries. The teacher continued, saying that students love to listen to this course that covers all corners of the world. It allows students to learn about the world without leaving home."

After hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, Gao Gong calmed down. Some of the things he had just said about geography were indeed beyond the scope of the syllabus, but Zhu Zaigui's reaction also really surprised Gao Gong.

So in the following lectures, Gao Gong no longer stuck to the formalities and began to lecture freely.

Gao Gong gave Zhu Zaigui a general account of the customs and administrative settings of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the basic conditions of these places. Zhu Zaigui listened to Gao Gong's lecture and felt as if he was back in junior high school.

Zhu Yuan at that time was about the same age as he is now, but it was the first time that Zhu Yuan came into contact with the new subject of geography.

Zhu Zaigui vaguely remembered that his geography teacher at that time also had the surname Gao, but as for what his name was, Zhu Zaigui could not remember.

But Zhu Zaigui still proudly remembers that he was one of the few students in the class who passed the geography exam at that time.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but sigh. Zhu Zaigui always believed that geography should be a very important course. It can not only educate people to understand themselves and the world, but also let them understand the customs and habits of various parts of the world. This is very important for shaping a person's world view.

However, geography is not taken seriously by anyone. It is despised as a useless "minor subject" and is not even tested in entrance examinations.

Therefore, in the later world with developed Internet, Zhu Zaigui often saw a group of people who did not know what the world was, and they were boasting on the Internet and thought they were the best in the world. When he saw this, Zhu Zaigui felt that these people did not have a complete worldview. They were only intoxicated in the world of their own cognition and arrogant, and were molded into extreme personalities by people with ulterior motives.

(End of this chapter)

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