Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1204

In this era of change, many things are unprecedented.

But the emperor felt that he could see through these superficial differences to some extent, and reading history was still useful, as long as he didn't ask for a sword, but considered the reality of the time.

It's like reading "Ping Zhun Shu" before reading "On Salt and Iron".

And before reading the "Ping Zhun Shu", you must read the "ledger book" when Dashun conquered the Western Regions before, and understand what it means to "feed food for a thousand miles, and pay more than ten minutes to a stone".

Let’s take a look at the accounts of Dashun’s journey to Nanyang. Why is the cost of going to Nanyang much cheaper than going to the Western Regions for the same expedition.

In the eyes of the emperor, what Dashun lacked the most was "wooden cows and horses", an efficient means of transportation.

Because with the development of Nanyang and Kanto, as well as Liu Yu's strategy of "reservoirs such as winemaking, foreign trade, and Japanese rice sales", in fact, the grain production that Dashun can control has basically been able to provide relief in case of disasters. To the point of starvation.

The difficulty always lies in how to transport the grain from Tianjin Port and Songsu Port.

What troubled Dashun was the logistics problem.

This is what Liu Yu said at the time of the reform of the salt administration. If the salt administration issue is to be finally resolved, either every province in the country is close to the sea or has wells and mines; Transportation.

Whether it is "Pinghuai Shu" or "Salt and Iron Theory", from the perspective of the emperor at this time, they are all solutions based on the realistic premise of "feeding food for a thousand miles, and paying more than ten minutes for a stone".

Because of the huge loss of sending food across thousands of miles, the central government must have money, a lot of money and wealth.

From the perspective of Dashun at this time, many policies exist around the reality of this logistics.

As for the profits of the franchise... The emperor envied the British navigation regulations all day long, as well as the super high income from the franchise of tea and sugar, and the income from the franchise of East India and Eastern trade products worth millions a year.A small country the size of a palm can earn 2000 million taels a year, so it is simply something to study hard.

That's why the emperor supported Liu Yu's salt policy reform plan, and directly set up two large semi-industrialized salt farms in southern Sichuan and Huaibei. The UK does not produce tea, but it is still taxed at the production end, because tea can be regarded as "East India". For those produced by the company, after the tax is collected on the production side, the rest will not be collected; and Liu Yu’s salt policy reform plan is essentially to collect taxes on the production side. It is like handicraft industry and private salt, and the bigger the factory, the better, which is convenient for taxation on the production side, and it is also convenient for the imperial court to directly run it if something happens.

For Dashun now, the monopoly is beneficial, and there is no shortage of food and cloth. Even if comprehensive reforms are not carried out, it seems that they can continue their lives almost indefinitely if they can provide relief in times of famine.

Because, if you only look at the books on the surface, you will not be able to understand everything.

For example, the agricultural tax in the previous dynasty did not collect much, so why are there so many wars everywhere?

For example, the 600 million shi of Caomi does not seem to be a big burden, but why do the people suffer?

Because... 600 million shi Caomi, only the amount of the account is written in the account book, and the logistics cost will not be calculated.Counting logistics costs, loss, corruption, etc., there is no problem at all if 600 becomes 6000. Before Dashun, it acquiesced in water transport corruption, because ensuring water grain was the top priority, and the rest was easy to talk about.It's like tacitly agreeing that the Yellow River bursts to the south and not to the north.

In the last few years of Songsu reform, Liu Yu has been busy with large-scale infrastructure construction.Dig canals, build canals, open canals, and connect canals everywhere.

The emperor understood why Liu Yu valued infrastructure so much, so the emperor understood what Liu Yu's "Grand Canal without water" and the steam version of "Wooden Niu Liuma" meant to the court of Dashun.

Among the most powerful countries in the world today, Britain chose canals and built them everywhere; France chose roads and built them everywhere; Dashun can only choose railways and build them everywhere.

Historically, if the British were not too laissez-faire when building canals, there was a unified standard similar to railways, and an overall plan, at least in the UK, it may take many, many years for railways to go through canals.

Dashun has no choice.

As far as the north is concerned, there is a mother river with a bad temper, so don’t even think about building canals; as for the clay in the loess area and the North China Plain, when it rains, three taels of shoes can be glued into thirty pounds of yellow clay. Highways are also crap.

In the eyes of the emperor, the "Grand Canal without water" and the "wooden cows and horses" that are not punished or chewed are simply a godsend.

If the railway that runs through the Central Plains from the north to the south is completed, even if 400% of the freight is consumed for 100 million shi of grain, and 1 million shi can reach Henan, then there is no need to consider the sky-high price of 2 taels of silver per mile. , Even if you add another [-] taels, it's worth it.

The emperor is not afraid of death, but afraid of the prince's pursuit.I don't have any clear understanding in my heart at all, and I don't know how to adapt.

Only when there is a way, can all laws be mastered.

The father said that the road should be built, so he continued to build it.

But in this era of change, the emperor has seen many things that he has never seen before in the past 30 to [-] years. If he encounters any new situation in the future, he, as a father, has never seen it before, so it is impossible to give clear instructions. What to do?
I don't know what to do, I can only go back and read ancient books, many things in ancient books, just look at their shape, so don't they have to come up with Wang Mang's reformation?
In the current situation, from the emperor's point of view, it is really not possible to retreat if you want to take a step back. Dashun has been kidnapped by the reform.

Dashun's conquest of Japan taught Dashun a lesson, that is, the navy can quickly maneuver its corps, and always ensure an advantageous situation of fighting more with fewer.

If you want to solve it, abolish the navy, and theoretically build a tens of thousands of miles of railway along the coastline, then you still have to move forward.

Dashun occupied Ceylon, and taught Dashun a lesson, that is, India is the bridgehead to enter Nanyang.Both Britain and France are preparing soldiers in India. At that time, a territory with a population of hundreds of millions will be full of cannon fodder, and the Nanban will invade.

However, it should be said that until now, including the emperor, they have not been vigilant about trade and commodities.This can't be said to be wrong, it can only be said that being vigilant now is really a bit unfounded.

It is impossible to understand the competition between countries from the perspective of capitalist industrial competition—this is an advanced course, and Dashun really has no chance to feel this kind of competition now.

Then, Dashun can only understand the competition between countries from the traditional angle of conquest and rule.

From the perspective of conquest and rule, since Dashun can go to India to collect taxes, can Europeans collect taxes in China?

Is it possible for Yan Shenggong to hang portraits of King George of England and King Louis of France?Can the landlord be like Chamindar in India, as long as I guarantee that I will continue to rule, I will pay taxes on time, and the rest will be fine?

After all, Dashun had experienced the mess in the late Ming Dynasty, so he always felt unreliable about it.Especially the betrayal in the Bengal incident this time gave Emperor Dashun a warning that it was very possible.

Yes, there is no way to return.

If you don't retreat, you have to keep the navy.

To keep the navy, you have to have money.

If you have money, you have to trade.

To trade, you have to attack.

To attack, you must have a minister of merit.

A minister of meritorious deeds must learn from practice.

To learn practical learning, you have to distinguish between inside and outside.

To engage in internal and external divisions, the emperor must be very clear-headed, maintain a balance, be able to play tricks, and understand the direction.

If you don't know the direction, the party struggle will be out of control, and the emperor may become the younger brother of the party struggle, and the line issue will override the imperial power.This includes not only kingly, domineering, ancient, etiquette, but also progress, radical, business, reform, and also includes people-based, monarch-based, feudal, unification, monopoly, decentralization, etc.

The emperor can have a route, and even the emperor can represent a route, but the emperor cannot let the route override the emperor.

The emperor doubted whether the prince could understand the difference.

This cannot be solved by changing the prince, because the emperor's inclination in the reform made it impossible for the emperor to determine whether the princes recognized the route or the imperial power.

The change of the prince itself seems to mean that this is the emperor's attitude towards the choice of route. In fact, changing at this time is itself a weakening of the sanctity of the imperial power, which seems to have fallen below the route.

The emperor himself was also uncomfortable, or he made it himself.

When the reform was first started, the emperor himself didn't know whether it was right, whether it was good or not, and whether he could cope with the future situation.

He grew up in the reform and pondered in practice.In the process of reform, it was accomplished by Liu Yu, the "favored minister". Not to mention that it is easy to cause great misunderstandings for the prince to learn from him, but let the prince and Liu Yu have a close relationship. , the emperor himself was not at ease.

Waiting for the initial results of the reform, the prince can't keep up with the times at all.

It’s not that the prince doesn’t understand anything. In fact, the prince learned mathematics from missionaries when he was a child, and he also learned new knowledge when he grew up. He is not ignorant of trains and railways. few.

It's just that the prince has learned too much, and his brain is very different from each other.

It is true that the emperor wanted to separate the internal and external, but this kind of internal and external division was to be made into a mess, with me in you and you in me, rather than a clear distinction.

When you ask about railways, follow the new way of thinking; when you ask about government affairs, follow the old way of thinking.This kind of clear and indistinct state is not acceptable.

The emperor really wanted the crown prince to understand that the railway is just a new thing, so there is no way to learn from history by looking through history books.

But damn it, when you read the book, there is no railway, is there no straight road, water transport, sea transport, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal?
Looks new, not sure what the hell this thing is.

But damn it, there wasn't much time between Dashun's invasion of the Western Regions and Japan's expedition to Southeast Asia.There are 2 or 3000 people who decide the outcome of the war, and they are all deployed thousands of miles away from the capital. The Western Regions used more than [-] troops, and the troops who went to Nanyang to attack Japan were only a few million taels of silver. What is the difference in logistics and military expenses? Out of business?
If you change the skin, you don't know what this thing is?

(End of this chapter)