I

Pan Wei, who stayed in Gujarat, learned more about the Mughals from the crown prince every day.

In his work notes he wrote:

"The Mughal state of India has completed the establishment and decentralization of power, but this system is full of loopholes."

"The local provinces set up provincial governors, just like the governors of the previous Ming Dynasty. Under the provincial governors, there are Subadar and Diwan. Subadar can be regarded as the chief envoy. Diwan is in charge of the finance of a province."

"The princes of the Mughal kingdom are all appointed as governors. One person manages one province, or one person manages several provinces. There are also clans or nobles who are named provincial governors by the Mughal monarch. These nobles must live in Delhi or Ala. Ge, whose family is like a hostage in the hands of the king."

"However, the Mughal emperor is old and faint. The provincial governors of each province have more power. They can mint their own coins and appoint officials at will. The promotion and replacement of the provincial governors will continue to extend. If things go on like this, within a hundred years, the provincial governors may be State herdsmen, in the situation of separatism at the end of the Han Dynasty..."

If the provincial governors are separated and independent, they will become Tubang, and they will appear one after another in about fifty years.

Of course, there are other forms of statehood.

One is the Rajputs, that is, foreign peoples who have arrived in India one after another for thousands of years. They have their own territory, have their own army, and remain relatively independent in the Mughal Empire.

One is the combination of capital landlords and military groups. With the commercial development of the Mughals, the landlords continued to erode power, and even obtained the right to collect commercial taxes, and gradually became merchants and bankers. Long-term wars and chaos have led to the decline of the traditional military system, and local powerful factions have begun to train Western-style mercenaries. This model is very expensive, and you have to borrow money from merchants. Gradually, military groups and merchant landlords form a community.

When the British colonized India, India was full of land states, which were formed due to the above three reasons.

At this time, the Mughals were still at the peak of the emperor's centralization of power, but there were already signs of the collapse of the rule.

The fundamental reason is that Shah Jahan's militarism has emptied the entire empire's finances, and there is an urgent need to stop and recuperate. In order to ease the financial pressure of the central government, the provincial governor has been continuously given more power, and the provincial governor has been allowed to make money and raise soldiers in the local area.

The next emperor, the first thing to do is to take power and disarm.

However, the actual situation is that the emperor is not dead, but seriously ill, and the four princes started fighting. The number of troops is increasing, the power of the provincial governor is increasing, and the new emperor who raises Gu is facing the uprising army one after another. Not only can we not disarm, but we must continue to expand the army. After the expansion, we cannot cut the army. We can only use foreign troops to transfer internal conflicts.

Thus, the unfilial son born to Taj expanded the territory of the Mughal Empire to its peak. As soon as this person died, the local government lost control, and the governors of the provinces were divided into states, and the central government could no longer control the military and political power of the provinces.

The British East India Company, taking the opportunity to collude with the native states, crazily grabbed huge profits.

Today's Mughals, magistrates are still very obedient.

Emperor Shah Jahan warmly received the Chinese mission, and the nobles in the capital responded immediately, rushing to visit the members of the mission, and hosting banquets every now and then. On the way back to the mission, the local officials also received them attentively, for fear of neglecting the emperor's distinguished guests.

In such a situation, there is no danger, and no one dares to move when the emperor covers the mission.

Returning to the ship without any surprises, Pan Wei submitted his work report, and the others also summarized and handed in what they saw along the way.

Next stop, Persia.

Like the Mughal Empire, Safi Persia is also in its heyday, and the centralized monarchy system has reached its peak.

Abbas II, King of Persia, combines political, military, judicial and religious powers in one body. Even most of the land in the country was declared to be owned by the royal family, and part of the land was allocated to officials in the form of lutian. Peasants, on the other hand, have no right to own land.

Abbas II made great efforts to govern, not only continued to recover lost land, but also built water conservancy, improved farming, reduced taxes, encouraged industry and commerce, built post roads, and encouraged literature and art... On the whole, the national power has far surpassed the Mughals. Kandahar

Pan Wei gave Persia a very high evaluation, and wrote in his work notes: "The ancient country of Persia is not a vain name. This country is prosperous in culture, rich in people, full of merchants, and prosperous in all industries. The people are clean and self-loving, and the streets and markets are free from filth. Compared with the Mughal Kingdom, there is a world of difference..."

In a word, Safi Persia belongs to a civilized country, which can throw the Mughals out of eight streets.

Even the Ottoman Empire was beaten by Persia at this time. From the Ottomans, Persia successively recovered Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Sumer, Baghdad and other places. The Portuguese colonists were completely driven out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Zheng Dayong, the leader of the personal guards, also wrote in his notes: "Persian soldiers, the military appearance is pruned, and the city garrison is the same. Moreover, it has a vast territory and an inexhaustible supply of troops. Unless there is civil strife, it cannot be attacked by force."

Cai Yuncheng from Qintianyuan wrote a completely different evaluation:

"All the land in Persia belongs to the royal family. Officials in this country have no salary, and the king rewards them with lutian. Isn't this pre-Qin? In the whole world, is it the land of the king, and the emperor of Zhou divided the feudal princes. How can officials be willing to return the lutian they get? The king? In this way, the officials will be hereditary, and eventually they will control the place and form princes, big and small. The more princes there are, the more alienated they will be from the king.”

"The small people in this country have no right to own the land. Those who have no permanent property have no perseverance. The people's heart must not be with the king. In the countryside, there are many hungry people, and there are many people who sell their sons and daughters. Naturally, the people are struggling to survive. No more than fifty In this year, Persia will be in chaos, and the day of disintegration is approaching."

"Husband, how wise is the Holy Son of Heaven of our country! His Majesty came from a commoner, deeply understands the hearts of ordinary people, and realizes that the heart of heaven is the ultimate truth of the hearts of the people. So he wrote "Three Principles", expounding the way of the monarch and the people, so that the great harmony of the country can be achieved. Eternal stability. The Persian monarchs and ministers don’t know this way, and they treat farmers like nothing. How can there be no reason not to subjugate the country?”

Pan Wei's focus is on Persian cities and the citizen class.

Cai Yuncheng's focus is on the peasants in the Persian countryside.

Historically, the decline of Safi Persia was due to the peasant uprising, and the Ottoman Empire took the opportunity to invade.

At night, the two drank and chatted.

Cai Yuncheng said with a smile: "Today's Persia is just like the middle Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. How prosperous the city is, how prosperous the business is, how prosperous the culture is, and how miserable the peasants are! You come from a rich family, so naturally you only see the splendor of Persian cities. But I come from a farming family in the countryside, and I know that farmers have no way to survive, so they really have to rise up."

"Brother Cai is exaggerating." Pan Wei didn't take it seriously. "I think this Persia, although not taught by sages, is already very rare. I asked the merchants in the city, and they all said that the king of this country is a benevolent and wise monarch." .Even the common people in the city praised the Persian emperor. You and I went to sea this time, and experienced countries big and small along the way. Is there anyone comparable to Persia?"

Cai Yuncheng said disdainfully: "I see, your elementary and middle school studies are in vain, and you don't seriously understand the "Three Principles". Peasants are the cornerstone of a country, and Persian peasants don't even have the right to own land. The Persian emperor or Benevolent, what about the next one? What about the next one? Meeting the benevolent emperor, the Persian peasants have become so impoverished. You see, in the harbor city, there is a street dedicated to people, all because of the peasants selling their sons and daughters. Replaced by a tyrant, the peasants will not be able to survive, so they can only seek death. Fight to the death, raise up the rebellion, kill the emperor and recreate the universe!"

Pan Wei couldn't argue, so he could only say: "Scaremongering, scaremongering!"

Cai Yuncheng sneered and said, "I'm alarmist? Persia, which is full of flowers, is actually not as good as Ming Dynasty. No matter how corrupt Ming Dynasty is, at least the children of peasants study hard and have the opportunity to become officials through imperial examinations. But what about Persia? Officials are all hereditary, farmers There is no future!"

Pan Wei obviously drank a few more glasses, and blurted out drunken words: "As a farmer, I just need to farm with peace of mind, what else do I need to get ahead?"

"Fuck you, try saying it again!" Cai Yuncheng was furious.

Pan Wei knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, and apologized with an embarrassing smile: "It was my fault, and I punished myself with three cups. Haha, I punished myself with three cups."

Cai Yuncheng left in a flick of his sleeves, already hating Pan Wei to the extreme.

Drunk words are the words from the heart!

Back in his room, Cai Yuncheng wrote vigorously: "Your Majesty's commoner clothes originated in Jiangxi, gathering the hearts of the people to cleanse the filth, and re-opening the bright and bright world. The government of dividing the land is hated by the gentry and wealthy households. The fields are connected with rice paddies, and the servants are in groups. , this person's desire. Nowadays, there are many princes in the imperial court who come from poor and humble backgrounds, but how many people can "preserve the principles of nature and destroy human desires"? One day, they may turn into wolves and feast on the fat and anointing of the people of the world. Scholars in my life, you should remember Your Majesty's teachings are for the benefit of all people in the world. Even if thousands of people criticize you, you should stick to your heart!"

Although a little drunk, Cai Yuncheng's thoughts became clearer and clearer. He continued to write:

"Sages and sages have a saying, to preserve the principles of nature, but to destroy human desires. Eat the king's salary, divide the king's worries, eat the people's salary, and work hard for the people, this is the law of heaven. It is the law of heaven for scholars, farmers, businessmen, and each to perform their duties. Once you gain power, you will be an official. To be an official, greedy and demanding, is human desire. To be rich for the people, to annex land, to keep slaves, is human desire!"

"Those who preserve the principles of heaven and destroy human desires are following the theory of the three originals. The public opinion of the three originals is that the land government is the leader. Those who destroy the land government are those who harm the country and the people, and they will be punished when everyone gets it! Yehaoyou, there are quite a few wolves with ambitions, and at that time, we were always on guard against them bringing disaster to the world."

"When I was studying at Jinling University, I checked the records of the former Ming Dynasty. The reform of a whip method originated from the abolition of the official land of the Ming Dynasty. The abolition of the official land of the Ming Dynasty was due to the invasion of official land by Gongqing Haoyou. This kind of encroachment, occupying his land Don’t pay for it. The Land Administration of Datong New Dynasty does not allow land trading, which is no different from the official land of the Ming Dynasty. Beware of public officials who embezzle people’s land and do not buy it, and they are not guilty of destroying land administration!”

What is embezzling people's fields without buying them?

That is, the people are bankrupt and can only sell their fields to survive. But the big family did not dare to destroy the land administration, so they did not trade the land ownership, leased the land to the big family permanently, and became the tenant farmers of the big family in disguise—this is how the official land of the Ming Dynasty was invaded.

Cai Yuncheng has already decided that when he returns to Nanjing, he will go to the Shu and ask His Majesty to make up for the loopholes in Tianzheng.

At least, from a legal perspective.

In the future, even if the Tian government is corrupted, there will be full legal grounds to take action against Hao You when he encounters daring officials.

During the following travel, Cai Yuncheng continued to enrich his theory. He intends to create an academic school, which may be called the "School of Heavenly Principles". To implement Zhao Han's system is to preserve the principles of heaven, and to destroy Zhao Han's system is to violate the principles of heaven, and he is a hypocrite who is dominated by human desires!