When we open the most glorious chapter of the Ming Empire, it is not difficult to find that the turning point of the empire began with the second emperor of the Ming Empire.

The emperor led this traditional small peasant economy country and claimed to be the dynasty of the Celestial Empire to become a greedy monster.

Various new policies in the country forced the power officials and gentry to make concessions to farmers, workers, even handicraftsmen and freelancers, and allowed the new business class to begin to have a say in this country.

The implementation of annexation to the outside world has expanded the traditional Chinese territory to cognition, and has also turned the country and nation's greed and desire for land into exploration of the sea.

War, new policy, war, opening up the sea, war...

It is not difficult to find that during the transformation of the Ming Empire, every key node was always accompanied by various wars.

We don't know why the emperor loved war so much.

Many people say that war brought huge dividends to the Ming Empire and had a larger market. But we need to see another point, that is, the Ming Empire established a series of indestructible island chains outside the core of the empire through a series of foreign wars.

Conquering these places by force and making them indestructible is the Ming Empire, to be precisely the Chinese nation, its daunting assimilation ability and the cultural identity of neighboring countries for China.

But whenever I read this historical material, some scholars always have some puzzles that are puzzled.

At that time, the Ming Empire was the strongest country in the world. According to normal logic, it would be like the Han and Tang dynasties, proclaiming itself with its virtues and standing in the East.

But the reason why the emperor made a series of reforms that led the empire to a completely different path from history was because the words left by the emperor always had an inexplicable sense of crisis between the lines!

In this regard, Chinese scholars say that this is the danger of danger in Chinese traditional culture.

But the West does not think so, because the emperor's consciousness was too advanced, hundreds of years ahead.

It took more than two hundred years before Western countries realized the importance of the ocean and began to explore. Through a series of cruel wars, they also found ways to find a way to relieve population pressure by dumping goods.

However, just when they were complacent about this, they suddenly discovered that the Ming Empire in the East had used this method for more than two hundred years and was perfect.

Why did the Emperor of Ming Dynasty feel a sense of crisis?

Why did he have such a forward-looking consciousness?

We may never know such an answer, but we may find some different answers in the diary left by that emperor.

——"The Ming Empire" 1984, Cambridge revised volume.

"The rise of any country... nation... nation is based on the pain of other countries and nations!"

"The so-called jungle law, no one can survive the strong!"

"In our land of China, the Wannian Empire of Yadong, demonstrates all directions with kindness and virtue and influences all people. However, if one virtue is one way, one can be strong before one can be virtuous. Just as the ancients said, only when one can one knows etiquette after one's fullness."

"Only a strong country can you have virtue, and only then can your virtue be invincible."

"What is a strong country? It is not a way of military service! Since ancient times, there has been no country with ever-prosperous martial arts. A strong country is not a vast territory and a vast territory. If the land is large, a arrogant country will be lazy, and you will not be enterprising!"

"Only by pioneering can the country be strong!"

"If you immerse yourself in the dream of the Heavenly Dynasty, you will be like a frog in the well."

"If you don't open your eyes to see the world, you won't know the changes in the world!"

"If we cannot be pioneering and enterprising from me, our descendants will be arrogant."

"And China, China, is even more unable to cope with the major changes that have not been seen in three thousand years..."

"And the pain of changes is more than a hundred years. The pain of pain is more than a loss of mountains and rivers? It is because the arrogance of our nation has been lost. The faith of our country is shaken!"

"I am also afraid that my descendants will wander around in the supreme glory of our ancestors and the pain of reality..."

——The Palace Museum's "Yongchang Secret Scroll"

~~

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the snow drifted slightly.

More than a dozen casual cavalrymen, guarding a blue curtained carriage, slowly stopped in front of Xiaoling Mausoleum.

The old eunuch guarding the tomb was already dizzy. With the help of the guards of the tomb, he knelt tremblingly in front of the carriage.

"Slave..."

"I'm going to see the emperor!"

Park Wuyou lifted the curtain of the carriage and came out of the carriage in ordinary casual clothes.

"Get up!" Zhu Yunxiu said, looking at the extremely magnificent but particularly empty Xiaoling.

"Emperor..." The old eunuch who guarded the tomb was speechless, but his eyes were full of concern and said intermittently, "I don't know that the emperor has arrived, and I am not prepared..."

"No need to prepare!" Zhu Yunxiu still looked at Xiaoling and smiled, "I have also made up my mind for a moment, thinking that tomorrow is the Spring Festival, come and have a look!"

As he said, he sighed, "In folk families, every festival, descendants must be filial to their parents and elders. And I...ah!"

"Your Majesty, please slow down!" Park Wuyong led the way forward and bent down, "Just swept the snow, the steps slipped!"

Zhu Yunxiu looked at the scene in the mausoleum, and everything was in order.

The trees, flowers and plants have been carefully pruned, and the gates and steps of the palace and the interior of the palace are spotless...

"The errand guardians do a good job!" Zhu Yunxi nodded slightly and continued to move forward.

The layout of Xiaoling Mausoleum is imitated by the Forbidden City...

It looks familiar, but also very strange.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma are buried here, and on the other side of Xiaoling Mausoleum is Emperor Xiaokangxing Zhu Biao.

If you look down from the sky, this is completely in line with the definition of traditional Chinese houses.

Parents are in the middle, and the eldest son is in the wing...

After walking for a long time, Zhu Yunyu entered the temple where the old man's tablet was enshrined.

The huge hall is very empty. Even if you wear soft cloth shoes, you can hear the echo of your footsteps.

"Emperor!" Park Wuyong brought a chair and placed it behind Zhu Yunxiu.

Then he bent and retreated, and walked silently outside the hall and stood there.

~

"Grandpa Emperor!"

A stick of incense was placed in the incense burner.

Zhu Yunxiu clasped his hands together, "It's the New Year, grandson will come to see you!"

As he said, he smiled bitterly, "It's so fast. The Chinese New Year is coming in a blink of an eye, and you have been away for more than half a year! Last year, my grandson accompanied you to worship your ancestors, as if it was just now!"

"Don't worry, before you see you, Emperor Xizu, Emperor Renzu, King Xuyi, King Linhuai, King Nanchang, and grandson all worshipped you devoutly!"

"I also specially went to the ancestral tomb of Sizhou, the imperial tomb of Fengyang, and presented tribute to me!"

As he said that, Zhu Yunxiu sat down on the chair.

"This year, my grandson has done quite well! This year, the income of my Ming Dynasty treasury has been 25% more than in previous years. The population found in the Ming Dynasty has 14 million households, totaling more than 80 million people."

"Old man, it's not my grandson's boast. This number is 16 million more than your 26th Hongwu census!"

"But then again, it's better for you to always give your grandson a foundation. Only when the country is prosperous can the population grow!"

"Your old Hongshao has been grown all over the country and the people have more food rations. You are grateful to others. Some people in Jiangxi use Hongshao to make wine, and the people call it Hongwu wine..."

"The local prefect said that the people do not know the ranks and inferiors, and they are not allowed to call them that! My grandson told him that the people call them that because they miss you and your kindness!"

"Let them call... Let everyone in the world know that there is Hongwu wine in the world!"

As he spoke, Zhu Yunxi's eyes gradually became wet and he was slightly moved.

"I know you always like to drink a few cups, and my grandson brought some for you. In fact, my grandson has tasted it first. The wine is not delicious, it is just spicy..."
Chapter completed!