Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1111 Shangguo Mentality ([-])
Of course, pursuing orthodoxy and insinuating learning, these must be understood by Confucian scholars who have experienced the founding of Dashun and the subsequent reforms.

Quan Zhe still can't hear this kind of thing nested with more than a hundred years of history.

I quite appreciate Meng Songlu's promotion of water conservancy.

It's just that the situation on both sides is different.

At least in the Huainan area, the main force of water conservancy construction in Dashun is already "idle people"; and the land system of North Korea is there, it is doomed to rely on slaves and labor for the construction of water conservancy.

And "idle people" means that this itself is the nightmare of the Xinghu School-the idlers are all bankrupt farmers in the countryside and tenants who have quit their rent and fled famine.After the Xinghu school divided the left and right, what the Xinghu leftists have been trying to solve is the issue of land annexation, and their thinking is still obviously retreating.

In fact, even on Dashun's side, during the ideological debates at the beginning of the founding of the country and at the end of the Ming Dynasty, going back to the state of fixed status in the early Ming Dynasty once became the mainstream.

But in the end, unable to withstand the swarming silver and the commodity economy that had developed in the Jiangnan region, this idea of ​​returning to the strict status system in the early Ming Dynasty did not stand up in the end.

At least from the immediate point of view, it seems that Dashun has solved the problem of "idle people" brought about by the land merger.

Those who hold backward and retro ideas are all radical reformers.It's just that the direction of reform is forward or backward, but it is definitely not conservative.Those who squat in place and sway slightly back and forth are conservatives.

Quan Zhe, a radical like himself, may not really want to go back to the old, but because he can't find a way to go forward, and he is extremely dissatisfied with social injustice, he naturally thinks of going back, learning from the knowledge of ancient Confucianism. Find a solution.

They are different from the people in Dashun.

As secondary members of the cultural circle, they don't have to bear the burden of orthodoxy.

Therefore, their ideas are often not very "formal".The clues can be seen from the Christianity issue in the original history-it is very strange that Pyongyang became the source of the Vatican in the East.Quan Zheshen, the scholar-officials who came into contact with Christian books, did not "join" Catholicism, but created a Korean parish of their own.Whether it is a priest or a bishop of the diocese, they have no involvement of the Catholic Church at all. They are created by themselves based on books that are basically translated into Chinese, and they are self-proclaimed throughout the process.

This can also be regarded as a historical source of the proliferation of cults in later generations.

Now that Quan Zheshen has seen the results of Jiangsu's reforms, his heart has actually been shaken, and he wonders if he can go this way?

Out of this idea, Quan Zhe asked Meng Songlu himself.

"Brother Meng, what do you think of the idlers? Duke Xingguo's reforms have created a large number of idlers here. But now, it seems that the idlers are not very harmful? Confucianism believed that the idlers were the biggest problem in the world. , What do you think about the differences, Brother Meng?"

Meng Songlu actually had a hard time answering this question.

Because, the fundamental question here is whether the Jiangsu model can be promoted in the world?
Or, Jiangsu's reforms are only applicable to Jiangsu?
If it is the former, what else is the school struggling with?Whether it is to enrich the people, or the system, or even practical learning, they don't need to control them, so the only value of their existence is moral education?
If it is the latter, then the problem is big, and we need to analyze and figure out why this kind of reform works in Jiangsu but not in other places?
Now that Quan Zhe asked this question, Meng Songlu still used the "standard answer" of the school, and replied: "If you only talk about Jiangsu, the idle people may not be a bad thing."

"Knowing that in Jiangsu, the government suppresses the idle people, which is not right. The so-called idle people are the fallacies of Confucianism, and the idle people are indispensable."

"There are idlers, and you can get it by renting; there are idlers, and you can get it by walking."

"Idlers, or help the farm; or help Yu Heng; or help business; or help the harvest."

"Its muscles and strength are more toil than ordinary people."

"The ancient Confucianists thought that idlers have no job title, rest on their pillows during the day, and sleep idle all the year round, so they are called idlers. This is really absurd!"

"The former Confucianists vainly illed this generation, and every time they wanted to punish them cruelly, wouldn't they be resentful?"

In fact, this can be regarded as Meng Songlu's school, which is outputting towards the void.

The idlers mentioned by the ancient Confucians are essentially the same as the idlers today, but the changes in the social foundation have made the difference.

What is an idler?

It refers to those in the feudal society, including scholars, farmers, businessmen, etc., including those who do not have "regular" positions other than those of humble origin.

According to this definition, those who work in factories and carry jobs on the docks are actually "idlers".

It is said that it is a farmer. Do you have land?
Said to be a businessman, do you have a property?
It is said that workers...workers and craftsmen and small producers are not the same thing at all.

There is no industry, nor any traditional occupation in feudal society.

If you get a job, you will live, and if you are unemployed, you will die. This is called an idler.

When there was still a lot of land, for the Confucians, the idlers should of course go to reclaim wasteland and cultivate land.If you're not wandering around the city and don't have a permanent job, isn't it "without a job title, resting on a pillow during the day and sleeping idle all year round"?
And now... Actually, since the late Ming Dynasty, this definition of "pre-Confucianism" has begun to be somewhat "out of touch with reality".

Farming, business, and harvesting are all easy to understand.Yu Heng, a subordinate official of Tianguan Dazai, is in charge of mountains, rivers and forests, and his official name refers to forestry and forestry-affiliated hunting, gathering, medicinal materials and other industries.

This school's "rectification" of idlers is not only because of the consistent thinking of the school, but also because of the social reality of Jiangsu's reform.

When Li Wei was thinking about the land equalization strategy, he thought about it.The land is actually not enough, so what are the extra people doing?

Then Li Wei was from the beginning of the founding of Dashun. At that time, there was a lot of waste to be done, and the commodity economy was far from as developed as Jiangsu after more than 20 years of tossing.

It's not that he didn't think about the surplus population who couldn't be granted land, so he considered "changing jobs", becoming scholars, businessmen, and workers.

But at that time, he thought, or not only he thought, but everyone must think, how many people can be accommodated by scholars, merchants, and workers?
It's impossible.

It is precisely because of this unresolvable deadlock that Li Zhi finally came up with a land equalization plan that he may think is a bit nonsense, that is, [-] acres of good fields and [-] acres of bad fields. Divide fifty acres evenly...

In fact, this problem, even in Jiangsu at this time, has not been solved at all.

Not all of the approximately 150 million people in Yanghuai and other places have become "proletarian" idlers at all.

But the vast majority were either thrown to the Northeast, or to Southeast Asia, plus the Yandang area of ​​about [-] square miles, and relying on a large amount of infrastructure to maintain these "idle people" with things to do.

The reform does not only involve the Yanghuai area, several prefectures in Jiangsu have different problems.

The number is definitely more than 150 million, but actually more.It's just because the reforms in the Yanghuai area were too radical, the two pillar industries of water transportation and salt industry were abolished by Liu Yu, and they were completed within a few years. One can imagine the seriousness of the problem.

The problems in other prefectures and counties are relatively less intense.

This is the reality of the world at this time. A hundred years ago, a small area of ​​the Netherlands wanted to have enough to eat, and it directly detonated several wars in Europe to compete for the market. Britain, France and Spain ended in turn.

With such a large population in Jiangsu, if more than half of them are "idlemen" and there is temporary work to survive from starvation, and the idlers do not become rebels, then half the world will probably be eaten.

Liu Yu insisted on joint printing because of this - social change requires death.Either the great famine in Bangladesh killed 500 million people, disintegrated the original cotton textile industry economy, and let the idlers in Dashun have something to do instead of choosing to revolt; or Dashun himself died, the civil war broke out, and the peasants revolted and died seven times 8000 million people.

It's not about killing others, it's about killing yourself.

Anyway, it is already like this now, the canal is abolished, no mention of other places, no mention of other industries, only 30 to [-] salt transport workers in Yangzhou Prefecture, and their family members are about [-] to [-] people... Anyway, they have disappeared now, no This group exists.

Not necessarily being killed, but for a fragile family, suddenly changing careers and leaving their homeland is a huge pain in itself.

For the imperial court, this is the "price".

Another reason why the emperor was able to support the radical reforms in Jiangsu was the "Yellow River" issue that was discussed when the canal was abolished.

To control the river, the water must be abolished.

This is the consensus.

So, can the waste water be used to control the river?
Obviously, no, the Yellow River is also governed by Dashun at this time?The Yellow River can go where it wants to run, and at most it is tinkering.

So, what is another subtext of Waste Cao?
Another subtext of the waste water is that the Yellow River cannot be cured. The Huaihe River has been taken into the sea for nearly a thousand years, and the siltation has been too high.

It is only a matter of time before the breach goes north, like the sword of Damocles in Western stories, it may fall at any time.

Taking this reality as a premise, the emperor must consider, if the water transport is not abolished, what will happen once the Yellow River bursts and the water transport is blocked and collapsed?
Water transport cut off.

The central government lost grain and silver from Jiangnan.

Millions of waterworkers were unemployed and revolted.

Coupled with the survival of the people caused by the flood, the northern uprising broke out.

The economic center and the political center were divided, centralization collapsed, and local forces rose.

Dashun is about to end.

Therefore, one of the subtext of abolishing water transport and sea transport is to acquiesce that the Yellow River will definitely burst, and then ensure the connection between the economic center of Jiangnan and the political center of Beijing.

If there are too many problems and they are piled up together, it will be difficult to solve, and it will become a dilemma in the late Ming Dynasty. No matter how you go, you will die.

Therefore, first solve the problem of water workers.

Then, waiting for the Yellow River to burst, relying on the financial resources and food in the south of the Yangtze River to complete the suppression.

Millions of water workers, plus tens of millions of people in Shandong and Henan, this is the "price of water transport reform" that the emperor had envisioned in his heart.

From the perspective of the emperor's rule, look at the waste of water transportation, from a dark perspective, just three words:
[kill in batches]

Abolish the water transport first, and kill a group of water workers who are the most rebellious and naturally organized.

Wait for the sword hanging above the head to fall and kill the victims.

Kill the rest, recruit young and strong soldiers, and the rest will either starve to death, slaughter, or throw them to the northeast and Southeast Asia.

Don't wait until the problem erupts all at once to solve it. At that time, you will not be able to kill it all.

After brewing and imagining the situation of dealing with the resistance of tens of millions of people in the heart.

With this psychological basis, the emperor was not at all shocked by Liu Yu's drastic reforms in Jiangsu and the snow-like impeachment.

And the most difficult transition period has passed, at least when the reform hurt the people the most, the emperor supported it.

Looking at such "idlers" now, this group of people from the Yan Li School naturally had a different opinion.

At least in Jiangsu, this seems to be a feasible way to solve the nightmare in the mind of the Yan-Li School—more people, less land, and it is impossible to have [-] mu per capita.If it can be widely implemented, it will finally solve the dilemma that Li Cheng has been pondering since the beginning of the farm, but the land is not enough, and he has changed jobs but the scholars and businessmen can't afford it.

Therefore, their school's views on "idle people" turned to justify the name of idlers, and believed that idlers were the foundation of industrial and commercial development.

(End of this chapter)