Although these were merely technical positions, the prospect of being officially registered and holding an official post was still an irresistible temptation for ordinary people. Within a single month, four people successfully obtained official positions. They each contributed important secret techniques in textiles, forging, and medicine.
This caused a huge sensation among the people. After all, in that era, craftsmen did not have a high social status. The sudden rise from the lowest rungs of society to high-ranking officials certainly stirred the ambitions of the masses. As a result, the process of collecting various secret formulas and techniques was greatly accelerated.
Scientific research is a lengthy and extremely demanding undertaking. Lu Xuan has only just begun. Only after a completely new education system is established will it truly get on the right track.
Another major task of Lu Xuan was to reorganize the tax system. The complexity of the Ming Dynasty's tax system was something Lu Xuan still couldn't fully comprehend. In fact, very few people in the entire Ming Dynasty truly understood it. This was because beneath the central tax system, there were numerous local taxes. For example, if a region produced raw silk, a raw silk tax might be levied.
The price of a good fluctuates with market changes. This means that even a small local tax would require a significant amount of effort to make various ad-hoc adjustments. But in reality, how could anyone possibly dedicate the time and energy to such a task? Consequently, taxation only becomes increasingly chaotic.
Tax system reform is not something that can be accomplished in a day or two. Furthermore, these tax reforms are essentially an attack on land annexation. Meanwhile, Wei Zhongxian had already been wreaking havoc in the Jiangnan region for quite some time.
The Donglin Party was originally a school of thought supported by salt merchants in Jiangnan. They funded the education of scholars and helped them enter the imperial court. These scholars then formed their own factions, which eventually evolved into the famous Donglin Party.
A key characteristic of the Donglin Party's rule was its policy of rampant corruption, while demanding absolute integrity from its members. Indeed, the vast majority of Donglin Party members were, in effect, hidden super-landlords. However, their most common tactic for attacking political opponents was to accuse them of corruption…
There's a case from the Ming Dynasty where an imperial envoy investigated a corrupt official and confiscated 200,000 mu of land under his name. Isn't that outrageous? One person owning 200,000 mu of land. But this imperial envoy himself owned 300,000 mu...
The reason this dynasty is considered utterly rotten and beyond saving is because all those in power are the same kind of scoundrels. Expect them to save the Ming Dynasty? Lu Xuan thought, "I'll do it myself."
Wei Zhongxian was known for his ruthlessness. This time, he was acting on the orders of the new emperor, with troops and men at his disposal. Naturally, he acted without restraint. He knew his job: to do the emperor's dirty work. Doing this kind of work well didn't guarantee a good ending, but doing it poorly meant instant death. Therefore, Wei Zhongxian did his job very carefully.
The call for a thorough investigation into land issues kept countless people awake at night. Crucially, the one who uttered these words wasn't the Ming emperor, but the new emperor, Lu Xuan. The wealthy merchants of Jiangnan were still reeling from the news of the dynastic change when Wei Zhongxian's forces arrived with their army.
Another crucial factor was that Lu Xuan allowed Zhu Youjian to wreak havoc in the capital, resulting in heavy losses for the Donglin Party members. They were almost entirely wiped out, with only a very few of relatively well-regarded individuals spared. This caused their backers to lose access to information about the capital. Consequently, they were caught off guard when Wei Zhongxian arrived.
Regardless, getting them to hand over money or land was out of the question. The plan had barely begun when a large number of people, at the behest of their master, came to cause trouble. Believing that the law wouldn't punish everyone, the masses even dared to brandish hoes at the imperial army. However, Wei Zhongxian knew he had the right to act flexibly. He also knew that Lu Xuan was an emperor who would never compromise easily. He immediately issued a death order. And so the killing officially began.
Lu Xuan knew very well that most of the civilians who participated in the riot had been incited. But that didn't mean they were innocent. From their own perspective, they were just trying to make a living, which wasn't wrong. But from Lu Xuan's point of view, they were rioters. Therefore, it was impossible to determine who was right and who was wrong.
If we really want to find the root cause, the fault lies with the previous Ming Dynasty. It was the Ming Dynasty's decadence that led to their inability to control their own destiny. And Lu Xuan is completely changing all of that.
Reserve funds and grain, reclaim and redistribute land. Once these preparations are nearly complete, begin comprehensive reforms: ideological, political, economic, and military reforms. Afterward, Lu Xuan will make the name of China resound throughout this era.
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Chapter 178 The World Is Within Reach (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
The road to revival is long and arduous. Even Lu Xuan, a transmigrator with extraordinary abilities, found it challenging. This was far more difficult than when he led a group of people to conquer the world in his previous life.
With countless details and a lack of qualified personnel, almost everything required Lu Xuan's personal approval.
Even with his amazing physical abilities, he was starting to feel the strain.
Fortunately, they eventually made it through all of this.
It took Lu Xuan a full ten years to get everything on track. Those experienced young people had begun to enter the decision-making level of the court. They were trained by Lu Xuan according to his own ideas, and were the people in the world most capable of perpetuating his will. At this time, Lu Xuan began to gradually delegate power to these young people.
Meanwhile, these emerging schools also began to produce some truly elite students. Like their predecessors, they started to gain experience at the grassroots level. Later, they would create new schools to cultivate even more new talent, thus forming a complete talent training chain in a cyclical process.
In two more generations, these scholars who have embraced new ideas will completely overwhelm the scholars of the previous dynasty and become the mainstream of Chinese civilization.
Over the past decade, Lu Xuan has successfully expanded the islands of Southeast Asia and the grasslands of the north, increasing China's territory by nearly half. The abundant pastures provided a sufficient number of warhorses, which in turn exerted even greater pressure on other distant nations.
The islands of Southeast Asia have been completely transformed into China's grain production base. And this area is expanding westward, with its sights set on India.
In fact, after conquering Southeast Asia and cultivating the land for several years, China had completely rid itself of its food shortages. However, Lu Xuan was not satisfied. He knew there was an even better food-producing region: India. Only by conquering India could China fully unleash its population potential. At that time, China would, to a certain extent, break free from the shackles of agrarian civilization and begin to move towards a new era.
However, India's territory was too vast to be conquered in a short time. It wasn't that they couldn't be defeated. With Lu Xuan's tireless military expansion, China's firearms-equipped army had reached over 400,000. A mere tens of thousands of troops could easily crush all forces in India at that time.
However, the Ming Dynasty doesn't have enough people to develop that area right now.
Lu Xuan did not intend to follow the colonial path of Britain. His demand was a complete transformation of that land, with at least a million Han Chinese relocated there, developed and built with the nation's resources. His goal was to make all of India a complete part of China within twenty years. However, Southeast Asia had only recently been developed, and large-scale immigration had just been implemented. It would be difficult to recruit that many immigrants in the short term. As for refugees and criminals, that was not Lu Xuan's style. Besides, in recent years, every household had food; there were practically no refugees.
Lu Xuan put that goal aside for the time being and continued to carry out domestic reforms and development.
Another decade has passed.
Everything Lu Xuan could think of had taken root and flourished in China. Most importantly, a research team led by Lu Xuan's first disciple had officially perfected a groundbreaking invention: the steam engine.
Upon learning this news, Lu Xuan immediately decided to fully develop India. He never considered the potential conflict with those chaotic colonial powers like Britain and the Netherlands. Over the years, China had long since broken free from importing technology from Europe and had established its own comprehensive research and development system.
When it comes to the spirit of invention and creation, the Chinese nation has never been inferior to any other. Moreover, they have Lu Xuan's unwavering support. It's no exaggeration to say that with Lu Xuan now, they have the confidence to face the whole of Europe. If they were to mobilize the entire war potential of China, Lu Xuan would likely terrify the Western world of this era.
Of course, the Western world cannot truly unite. At least in Europe today, countless nobles and merchants maintain their respectable lives by doing business with China. They will not agree to a full-scale war.
In fact, when Lu Xuan mobilized an army of 100,000 to launch a campaign against India, it already terrified the European countries. In that era, the mere thought of assembling an army of 100,000 and embarking on a massive expedition across thousands of miles was truly alarming to European nations. This wasn't fighting a war on their own soil; it was a super expedition spanning thousands of miles.
China's move directly shattered the plans of European nations. They were taken aback by the war potential China had demonstrated.
Lu Xuan's sudden launch of this war actually caught many domestic leaders off guard.
Unbeknownst to them, Lu Xuan had a standard in mind: the steam engine. This thing was more than just a power source; its role in the industrialization process was immense—enough to be considered the foundation of an industrial revolution. After all, it's still in use today.
Yes, Lu Xuan foresaw that an industrial revolution was about to sweep across China. The new generation of intellectuals educated under his guidance would think more acutely and advancedly than anyone else in this era. They would soon discover endless applications for the steam engine. At that time, China would dedicate the entire nation's resources to supporting this movement. But that would require some compensation for agriculture. India was Lu Xuan's chosen agricultural compensation. It would take over some of the agricultural projects that were replaced domestically, ensuring the smooth operation of the country.
War has broken out in full force. The resistance wasn't limited to local Indians; it was largely driven by European colonists. They realized they couldn't allow China to continue its expansion unchecked. But as the saying goes, they could never truly unite. Some wanted to fight, others opposed it. In the end, they could only muster a few tens of thousands of men to fight Lu Xuan.
As expected, the Chinese army swept away all resistance forces and forcibly pacified the entire India.
To the relief of the terrified European nations, Lu Xuan ultimately stopped his expedition and did not continue.
Fighting is still an option, but it's pointless. Like I said, there aren't enough people to develop these places. Simply treating them as primitive colonies is meaningless.
More importantly, China now needs to start consuming the spoils of this expedition. At the same time, the domestic industrial revolution has officially begun.
Various steam-powered machines were constantly being designed by the research institute. New ideas emerged almost daily. Lu Xuan strongly supported this effort, investing massive amounts of money to transform these ideas into tangible productive forces in the shortest possible time.