Since Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, although most of the emperors were not diligent in political affairs, the ministers informed each other of their shortcomings, and sometimes eunuchs showed the lower limit of their INTELLIGENCE like death, but it is undeniable that the production technology of the Ming Dynasty was indeed superb. Whether it is growing grain in the field or weaving fabrics with spinning thread, various industries use "high technology" for production activities.
Among them, the application of high technology in agriculture is the most extensive, not only to promote and popularize sinking and waterwheel irrigation nationwide, to update farming methods such as crop rotation, but also to invent many new types of green fertilizers and technologies to increase land fertility. In addition, high-tech in agricultural tools is emerging in an endless stream: the tools made of pig iron sprinkler technology are strong and durable; the human plough "wooden cow" greatly liberates the labor force; the equipment "rice bed" that threshs rice greatly improves productivity; and the hand-cranked small water wheel "pulling" improves the use of water resources by humans.
It can be said that long before the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, these agricultural tools have reached the top state of traditional mechanical power.
The presence of the southern base pond not only planted mulberry fish, but also eliminated the alarming malaria through fish farming, which stunned the Western missionaries at that time. What is even more amazing is a rice seed revolution: during the Northern Song Dynasty, the imported rice seeds with extremely high yields and three ripening a year spread in the south, which suddenly greatly improved the economic development level of agriculture in the south.
Some even commented: "Its significance is no different from the green agricultural revolution that broke out in the twentieth century." In this regard, Western missionaries can be said to have greatly praised China's evaluation of this period, for example, Matteo Ricci wrote in his letters: "Spain's level of agricultural production is far inferior to that of China. Kinnigg said bluntly in the book: "The crops that can be grown in Europe are all over China, and the yield is several times that of Europe, and the prices of rice, wheat, fish and meat are very cheap." Zeng Dezhao said: "In China, there are not only hard-working farmers, but also all kinds of advanced agricultural tools beyond imagination. No matter how barren the land is, Chinese farmers can grow grain on it. ”
From 1522 AD, the first year of Emperor Ming's Jiajing, to 1573 AD, the more than one hundred years after Emperor Mingshenzong came to power, it was an important period in the history of China's economic development, and this period exceeded that of any previous dynasty. According to the records of Zhang Luxiang, a theorist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, at that time, the average yield per mu in the Jiangnan area was already as high as more than 1,200 catties. According to the records in the "Shen's Agricultural Book" during the Jiajing period, the highest output value of the Pearl River Basin has exceeded ten stones. The individual labor productivity of agricultural workers in Jiaxing can reach up to 56 stones of rice, which is equivalent to more than 8,500 catties of rice we have now.
What is the concept of this data?
Not only was the output of the fields not so much during the heyday of Kangqian, but even during the ten-year construction of the Republic of China, which was touted by modern historians, this figure was not reached. According to the statistics of modern agricultural scientists, before the promotion of early rice, the average yield in the north and south of China was close to 350 catties. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the eve of the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China's highest output was only 290 catties.
Under the highly developed agriculture of the Ming Dynasty, the handicraft industry has risen violently, and the textile industry, which has always had a strong vitality, has also suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds. The continuous innovation of production technology, the mushrooming of new equipment, the new yarn machine and the power of the machine are far more than the previous dynasty... The finished products woven by these equipment are not only fine, but also very rich in variety, in the words of the Ming people: "It is difficult to find enemies within the four seas."
The emerging cotton spinning industry is even more irresistible, using advanced five-spike spinning wheel manufactured goods, its production cost is low, the operation is simple, the output efficiency is high, and the output is large. What is even more shocking is that the water transfer large anti-vehicle used in the Jiangnan region can be said to be the most advanced automation equipment in the world at that time, and a peasant woman operated the equipment to produce, the effect can top three strong men, and it can easily break through the output of hundreds of pounds in one day.
Militarily, the level of productivity of the Ming Dynasty was also very high, and the Western arms technology introduced at the end of the Qing Dynasty was only a microcosm of the military level of the Ming Dynasty. After the military achievements of Europe were introduced into China, the military industry of the Ming Dynasty transformed them and greatly enhanced their combat effectiveness. For example, after the introduction of the Hongyi artillery, after the introduction of the Ming Dynasty, it was cast with steel pipe cooling technology, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness and use time of the artillery.
The West mastered cooling technology at the time of the American Civil War.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty Shenji Battalion 3600 infantry 1000 cavalry 400 artillery. It uses 4600 thunderbolt cannons (multi-barrel rifles for infantry), 9000 pounds of combined medicine, 900,000 pounds of heavy eight-dollar lead, 200 dalian bead cannons (zimu rush cannon, zi chong equivalent to cannonballs), 675 pounds of combined medicine, 400 gun guns (self-defense pistols for artillery), 160 generals (heavy artillery)... In addition to the Shenji battalion, the Ming Dynasty also had several artillery battalions.
This is just like the martial arts novels often say: a powerful internal power, can enhance their own lethality. The Ming Dynasty relied on its "internal strength" in production and stood tall in the forest of the world.
In the end, under the impetus of all aspects of society, the commerce of the Ming Dynasty also developed vigorously, especially the private industry, and the development was even more vigorous. The policy of sea ban implemented in the early Ming Dynasty led to a certain suppression of commerce, but after the abolition of the sea ban in the first year of Ming Muzong Longqing (1567), overseas trade became active again, and the tonnage of ocean-going ships at its peak was as high as 18,000 tons, accounting for 18% of the world total at that time.
Among them, such as the porcelain industry, just a small Jingdezhen, there are already thousands of private workshops, not to mention the whole country. Moreover, after the government officially established silver as a circulating currency in the fourth year of Jiajing, the commodity economy has developed unprecedentedly. At this time, a large number of commercial towns and merchant gangs emerged, and traditional capitals such as Liangjing were even more prosperous than ever.
In addition, in terms of foreign trade, the coastal economy is highly prosperous, and one-third of the world's silver flows into China. The development of the national economy directly brought fiscal revenue, which once caused the phenomenon of surplus grain in warehouses throughout the Ming Dynasty. During this period, the state's welfare policy also gradually matured: the imperial court built several warehouses throughout the country for disaster relief, created the earliest publicly-funded medical treatment, not only sent land and cattle to the disaster victims, but also allocated special funds to help the victims redeem their wives and children...
In the history books, there are many descriptions of this prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, and we will not give examples here. When many people read this, they can't help but marvel: Is this still the Ming Dynasty that can't even deal with the drought in the northwest?
However, what the remnants of the Ming Dynasty in the early Qing Dynasty miss most is the good times in the late Ming Dynasty. According to some scholars, during the Wanli period, the people not only had rich food and clothing, but also their daily lives were very colorful, and people could often drink and watch plays. Moreover, the price of goods at that time was also very cheap, a bucket of rice sold for twenty dollars, a pound of pork only needed six or seven yuan, people no matter how poor, they could occasionally eat these things.
In addition, even if the level of economic development lags far behind the north of the Jiangnan region, the life of the people is quite good, and it is no wonder that some remnants will shout: "How to live without mourning".
Resources:
[Records of the Ming Dynasty", "The Complete History of China: History of Science and Technology in the Ming Dynasty", "The Ming Dynasty: The Rise of the Commodity Economy", "Socio-Economic and Social Volumes"]