Chapter 43 Section 7 The largest immigration operation in human history

Only for farmers, Zhu Yuanzhang is caring.Because the interests of the farmer highly overlap with his interests.While attacking the interests of the landlord class, Zhu Yuanzhang spared no effort to improve the social status of the people at the bottom. Slavery was revived in the Yuan Dynasty, and a large number of poor people sold themselves into slavery because they had no livelihood.Soon after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he ordered the liberation of slaves.He issued an edict and said: "Because there was no great chaos in the Yuan Dynasty, the people where they lived either returned to their hometowns or took refuge. They were isolated and weak, or poor and unable to survive on their own. If they were slaves in the common people's homes, they would be released as good people when the edict came. Detain them and force them to be slaves." And it was decided that the imperial court would fund the redemption of those who had been sold into slavery due to the famine.

Under his policies, the vast majority of slaves were emancipated. During the Yuan Dynasty, the distinction between landlords and tenants was very strict. Yuan law stipulated that landlords and tenants should behave like masters and servants. Wait for it to pass and go back." The landlord beat the tenant to death, and only charged him with "one hundred and seventeen sticks, and fifty taels of silver for burning and burying", and he sued the incident. In the fifth year of Hongwu (1372 A.D.), Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to change this seriously unreasonable regulation: "When the tenant meets the landlord, regardless of the order of the teeth, it is the same as the ceremony of the young. If it is a relative, regardless of the owner's tenant, it will be done as a relative." The relationship between farmers and landlords is promoted from father and son to young and long, and their status and status are different. significantly improved.

Zhu Yuanzhang started his career in the uprising, and it was during the uprising that he personally felt the power hidden in ordinary people.He believes that the reason for the demise of the Yuan Dynasty was that "the king's wanton extravagance made the people sleepy", "arrogant and extravagant, eating sorghum meat on dogs and hogs, and causing resentment and anger on gods and men".He grew up in abject poverty and was still very frugal after becoming emperor.Zhu Yuanzhang also treated the common people very kindly.Zhu Yuanzhang established a very low tax level.In most parts of the country, the land tax of the common people is generally three liters and three in five per mu. In terms of yield per mu, it is only 30 per cent. That is to say, the agricultural tax formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang has a tax rate of 3% to 100%. One is even lower.Compared with the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it is really nothing like heaven.

In order to let officials across the country understand his approach, Zhu Yuanzhang explained the truth in a crude and thorough manner in this vernacular edict "Da Gao Wu Chen": And if someone raises chickens, dogs, pigs and sheep, they will wait until they are mature and then use them.How do you say that you don't feed or let go of a baby that hasn't grown up yet?It is necessary to feed and keep them in an orderly manner, so that such animals and animals can be used.Nowadays, the whole family of officers, young and old, eat and wear clothes, and the duties they see and receive all come from the army.This army is like the cooking pot of his family, like the rice in the warehouse, and like the fields planted by the farmer... He is so harmful to the army, but it is like breaking the pot and begging for food?But it seems that there is rice in the open air, if you eat a meal in front of you, everything else will be rotten, and if you ask for rice tomorrow, is there any?But it’s like a farmer’s farming, originally one hundred acres, enough for the family’s food, and sold fourteen or five acres, leaving a few acres unused, even if they want to have enough to eat, they can’t get much... The army is very miserable, and it will benefit in the long run. Can tick?

In order to protect the interests of vulnerable groups, Zhu Yuanzhang also vigorously built a civil welfare system. Whenever there is a famine, he is disturbed.The memory of the famine was firmly etched in his mind.He said: "I often think of my humble days, when I was constantly suffering from wars and famines, and often lived on wild vegetables. Now that you are the emperor and rich in the world, I will never forget it for a day." He opened up warehouses to help the people, and he was not stingy.He stipulated: "Where local officials do not report floods and droughts, if the common people come to complain, I will punish the officials with capital punishment." He killed many officials because of concealing the disaster and failing to provide disaster relief.

The characteristic of his administration is that he is extremely worried about his subordinates and requires him to consult him for everything before doing anything. However, it is stipulated that the relief of victims can be reported first after action.In April of the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (AD 1393), he ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to issue an order to the counties and counties across the country: "From now on, whenever there is a hunger in the year, we will first send out warehouses to lend money to the people, and then hear about it and write it as an order."

Flood and drought disasters have occurred in various places, and the investigation is true, and all tax-free grains.In years without disasters, some poor areas will be selected to reduce or exempt agricultural taxes.Throughout the Hongwu period, millions of cloth and banknotes were donated for disaster relief, more than one million rice, and countless rents and taxes were paid. In addition to these emergency measures, he also established institutionalized welfare relief facilities.Recalling the tragic scene of his father being sick and having no money for medical treatment, he issued an order to set up "benefiting medicine bureaus" in various places, and all soldiers and civilians who were sick but had no money for medical treatment would be given medical treatment.Because he had been a homeless person himself, he had a deep understanding of the suffering of the homeless. He ordered "nursing homes" to be set up in various places, and the poor who could not live were admitted to the hospital for support.Three buckets of rice are given a month, twenty catties of salary are given, and a bolt of winter and summer cloth is given, and children are given two-thirds of the above amount.These welfare facilities helped the people solve the difficulties of life, old age, sickness and death that could not be solved by individual strength in the old dynasty, and ensured the survival of the most vulnerable groups in society. The true colors of peasant emperors.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the best mode of governance for his empire was based on a scattered small peasant society.In his calculation, the more owner farmers, the better.Because the self-cultivating people happened to be in the situation that the rulers of all dynasties dreamed of without "surplus grain", "surplus wisdom" and "surplus energy". As long as they can eat and have no channels to organize themselves, they will not pose the slightest threat to the empire. .On the contrary, tame small farmers are the most solid foundation of the autocratic regime, and the fruits of their labor are also the main financial source of the royal family.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to create an equalized society and make as many people as possible farmers.In this way, every member of the grassroots society is about the same size and will not invade or integrate with each other.In front of the imperial power, they are all atomized individuals, without the slightest resistance to the control of the imperial power. Now, he has basically crushed large clods of soil into fine sand, but the distribution of this plate of sand in the whole of China is not even. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, due to successive years of wars, people in many places fled. The land was barren, the population was sparsely populated, and there were no officials to rule.Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, is a typical example. After the war, the population of Fengyang was as low as five people per square kilometer on average.

Opening "History of the Ming Dynasty", desolate scenes abound in this period of the late Yuan and early Ming: Yangzhou, known for its prosperity, had "only eighteen households left in the city" by the third year of Longfeng (AD 1357).In the first year of Hongwu (1368 A.D.), Xu Da led his army to the Northern Expedition, passing through Hebei, and found that "the roads are all blocked and the people are cut off."At the beginning of Hongwu period, Chen Xiu, the magistrate of Jinan, played "Northern counties and counties, the land near the city is barren".When Huojia County of Weihui Mansion was in Hongwu for three years, "there were no more than a hundred natives, and the wells and villages were desolate."

Until the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Shi Guiyanliang, the governor of the Jin government, published "Twelve Points of Taiping Governance", and said: "The Central Plains is the heart of the world, and it is called a fertile land. Because of the lack of manpower, it has been barren for a long time." Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang said in the imperial decree: "After the chaos, the Central Plains were grassy and sparsely populated. The so-called land development and household registration increase are the urgent tasks of the Central Plains." Faced with this situation, Zhu Yuanzhang used administrative power to organize the largest government-organized immigration operation in human history.Zhu Yuanzhang organized a total of 13.4 million immigrants, accounting for one-fifth of the country's total population.This is unprecedented and unique in Chinese history and human history. "Ask where my ancestors are, the big pagoda tree in Hongdong, Shanxi." In most parts of the North China Plain, there are legends about the big pagoda tree.This somewhat bizarre-sounding legend highlights the strength of Zhu Yuanzhang's immigration, and the strict and even harsh measures. The thoughtful Zhu Yuanzhang was very successful in organizing immigrants.He is condescending, and according to the population density of each place, he determines where to move out and where to move in. Officials from various places organize escorts, and distribute a certain amount of seeds, food, and agricultural tools to the relocated population, so that they can quickly take root when they arrive in the new area. , live and work in peace and contentment.It should be said that this is a good thing that facilitates the world, with careful planning, orderly organization, and effective measures, which are remarkable. However, the records and legends we read about immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty are all full of sorrow and bitterness.According to folklore, at that time, in order to prevent people from escaping halfway, a small cut was made on the little toe of each registered person, so Shanxi immigrants all had heavy armor on the little toe; they were bound with long ropes and escorted on the road.As a result, people have developed the habit of carrying their hands behind their backs.Even urinating has to be reported to the officer, and the soldiers can release their hands before they can act. Therefore, all over North China, going to the toilet is called "releasing hands". It turns out that whether Zhu Yuanzhang is doing good things for the people or suppressing the people, his style is the same, that is, he is strong and domineering.The mass immigration in the early Ming Dynasty was mandatory. Whoever moved would not move, how far to move, and where to move, all were determined by government officials. Those who understood should be implemented, and those who did not understand should be implemented. The common people had a little right to speak and know. nor.Even though in the long run, immigration benefits the people, but the Chinese people have always been resettled and resettled, and it is not easy to persuade them to leave their homes. Taking Shanxi people as an example, no matter whether they moved to Anhui or Shandong, the distance would be four to five thousand miles or more than a thousand miles. The places they went were sparsely populated and overgrown with thorns. ", the hardships and hardships can be imagined.Shanxi has always been richer and has less military chaos, so the people are not willing to relocate.Zhu Yuanzhang's only means of mobilization is the spear and knife on the back of his heart, and sometimes even deception.The article "Tracing the Origin of the Hua Family" in Yanshuai County said: "It is said that Shanxi moved people, but Hongdong was not moved, so people fled to Hongdong one after another. Unexpectedly, the above suddenly wrote and moved to Hongdong alone..." Usually, when the relocation order is issued, officials from all over the country will go to the countryside one after another, organize the people from all over the country into teams of one hundred and ten families, and gather in a certain place, roll their names, issue identity certificates, and then guard them by officers and soldiers. A team set off and rushed to the north and south.Hongdong Dahuaishu, Suzhou Lumen, Jiangxi Nanchang Chopsticks Lane and Zhushi Lane are all the places where these immigrants gathered for roll call before departure, and where the immigrants waited for the officials to give orders. After a long time, the descendants of immigrants The legend has become his hometown. Immigrants dragged their families with them, supported the old and the young, and took the pots and pans at home and shed tears to bid farewell to the elders and folks who saw them off.Whether it is the bitter winter or the scorching heat of summer, amidst the scolding of the escort, they walk on the road with an uncertain future, abandoning their companions who have fallen due to illness or hunger and cold along the way. No matter what the process is, the result is that China's population layout has been greatly changed, and the phenomenon of uneven population distribution has been greatly changed.Many landless people have obtained their own "three acres of land and one cow", on which they can build a happy small-scale peasant life of "children and wives on the kang".Therefore, according to the standards of historians, Zhu Yuanzhang's great emigration will last forever.

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