All Heavens: Get the Nine Swords at the start

Chapter 259 Discovery
Naturally, this was not what Ying Zheng meant. Ever since Li Ming and Ying Zheng talked about the education of future generations, Ying Zheng put the education of the princes on top of national affairs.

According to Ying Zheng's idea, he originally wanted to invite Confucian masters, Taoist priests, etc., to teach the princes, but after some thinking, this idea was decisively given up by Ying Zheng.

The heirs of the country do not need to be proficient in the so-called Hundred Schools of Thought. The foundation of the empire has never been in literati and aristocratic families, but in the lowest level and the largest number of people.

Originally, Yingzheng didn't have much sympathy for this, but after discussing with Li Ming several times, after returning to Qin, Yingzheng made many private visits, went to the fields to inspect, and kept reading history books to learn lessons from other dynasties.

Although there were only three dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou before the Warring States period, countless countries, large and small, were destroyed and born throughout the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The reason for the demise of these countries is what he needs to be vigilant about.

As time went by, Yingzheng also gradually discovered the problem. Although the reasons for the country's destruction ranged from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the small ones in Zheng and Shu, there were reasons for their own demise. Some were due to the incompetence of the monarch, some were due to the invasion of foreign enemies, and some were caused by internal strife. There is one thing in common.

That is, the people below do not have a sense of identity with their king, and how the masters above rotate has nothing to do with them. They will go with whoever can make them full.

It was this discovery that woke Ying Zheng up instantly, and it wasn't until this moment that he really understood how important what Li Ming said: "Food is the paramount necessity of the people".

The establishment and prosperity of the empire is the result of the continuous efforts of the people at the bottom. The reason why the Qin State evolved from the "Little Shou" of the Warring States period to the two emperors of the East and the West, and now it is even more dominant in Guanzhong and watching the world. These are all built on the "corpses" of countless old Qin people .

These talents are the foundation of Qin's prosperity. Civil officials can be re-elected if they are gone, and military commanders can be trained again if they are gone. But once the hearts of the people at the bottom are gone, they will really be gone.

People's hearts have been difficult to gather since ancient times, but they are easy to disperse. When people's hearts are scattered, the army will be the first to be affected. The combat effectiveness of the army will plummet, and then a series of problems will follow.

The treasury is empty, officials are corrupt, government orders are not implemented, people die of hunger everywhere, etc...

In the end, like the late Shang Dynasty, the princes fought together, and the empire was destroyed since then.

This situation is not bad. If it is placed after the Han Dynasty, the people who cannot survive will make the ruler understand what it means to be "princes, generals, and relatives!"

Although there are only two emperors who really started from the humble beginnings in history, basically the first people who set off a frenzy were the people at the bottom.

This is true of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, Zhang Jiao of the Yellow Turban Army, the same is true of the Huangchao Uprising, and Li Zicheng, the King of Chuang, and Hong Xiuyi of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

These people may not be able to become the final victors because of their own problems, but they are the ones who started the troubled times.

This is also the shortcoming of the people at the bottom. If they don't have enough vision and concentration, they will often become addicted to wine and sex after achieving some results.

Liu Bang has Queen Lu, and Zhu Yuanzhang has Queen Ma. It may be because of the support of two queens with extraordinary abilities behind them that these two can stand out from the crowd, and finally ascend the throne and proclaim themselves emperor...

As for Liu Xiu, although he can be counted as starting at the end of the century, his ancestors were also rich.

A poor family is not a commoner, so don't confuse the two.

A poor family, a poor family, the family is at least a "door", which means that their ancestors were once glorious, but they are now in decline.

This kind of decline is only relative to the rich and powerful families. These people are still unattainable in front of the people. At least they still have the ability to let their children read and read. Although they are poor in literature and rich in martial arts, even if they are poor in literature, they are still poor. It is not something that ordinary people can do easily.

In the homes of the people at the bottom, any labor force is precious. It usually takes four or five generations of hard work to support a child to study out of production. Only an upright official who is not exploited by landlords and bullies can support a child to study completely out of production.

One can imagine how difficult it is...

These are only the most basic conditions. Before the imperial examination system, there was only one way to become an official, and that was recommendation. Recommendations were often in the hands of local wealthy families, and ordinary people had no chance of being recommended.

Even with the imperial examination system, if you want to become an official, you still need to obtain fame. Xiucai is just an entry point.

Some people may say, if you fail to study literature, can you still enlist in the army?
Joining the army is never too difficult.

Leaving aside the conditions for enlisting in the army, even if they can enlist, generally no one will let their children enlist in the army.

Taking the Han Dynasty as an example, the most important requirement for conscription during the Northern Expedition to the Xiongnu during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was "good family son".

What is a good family?
Simply put, they are the children of small landlords, and the children of the middle class are the children of good families.

The conditions of these people's families are not bad, plus Qin people are martial arts, as long as conditions permit in the Three Qin lands, they will support their children to learn martial arts and practice riding and archery from an early age.

Especially after Shang Yang's reform, the system of military honors and lands prevailed, which further stimulated the Qin people's admiration for martial arts.

Fortunately, the Qin Dynasty said that ordinary people still had the opportunity to join the army and earn titles, but after the Han Dynasty, only the middle class were eligible to join the army, and joining the army had basically nothing to do with ordinary people.

First of all, ordinary people are far from being able to compare with Liangjiazi in terms of physical fitness. Even if there is not much difference in physical fitness, people who have practiced martial arts since childhood and learned riding and archery skills are not comparable to you.

Second, the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system at any time, but since Liu Bang, it has deliberately weakened the military meritorious land system left by the Qin State. The influence of War Machine has been weakened to the extreme.

Of course, this was also the decision made by Liu Bang and other high-level officials in the Han Dynasty after seeing the flaws in the military merit system and after careful consideration.

Liu Bang's method of weakening is also very simple, basically, I am happy today, rewarding the world with a first-level title, etc...

With the loss of military merit and fame, the enthusiasm of the people at the bottom to join the army will be even lower, because they know that even if their own children join the army, there is a high probability that they will never return, and it is difficult to get promoted in the army without someone to support them.

Most of the people who can join the army and make some achievements are soldiers who joined the army with the children of local landlords and powerful men. Once they enter the barracks, there is no closer relationship than fellow villagers.

Most of the powerful troops in the ancient army were also composed of junior soldiers.

Among them, the most famous one is Danyang Bing...

(End of this chapter)