Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1424 Yan Fangxing

Although Liu Yu believed that Dashun was definitely hopeless.But it is undeniable that the current Dashun is indeed in its prime.

It is a standard mid-term prosperity after the feudal dynasty cycle and the recuperation stage.

There were also many dividends from the application of new technologies, the spread of American crops, and a series of reforms within the feudal dynastic system.

At this time, it is not realistic to consider rebellion, or revolution, in terms of the social foundation at this time.

Just like the legal revolution in history, it finally broke out after tossing and turning reforms.

Just as Tsarist Russia was also Stolypin's reform, after a lot of tossing, it finally exploded.

Dashun basically has to follow a similar path.

I am not afraid of Dashun's tossing, but I am afraid that Dashun will not toss.

But now the external expansion and the development of industry and commerce have forced Dashun to toss.

This kind of tossing may have appeared in the face of active reforms by the upper echelons.

Liu Yu is convinced that it is impossible to succeed in further in-depth reforms.

It is even certain that the continuation of in-depth reforms will lead to the beginning of complete chaos in Dashun.

And this is the reason why Liu Yu is "making a statement": he hopes that the subsequent reforms will be based on his ideas, continue to reform, form a trend of thought in the court, or continue as an inertia.

Only by continuing to change along this line of thought can we create opportunities for great chaos.

Just as Lao Ma commented on Turgot, the Minister of Finance before the French Revolution: Turgot himself was a radical bourgeois minister who led the French Revolution (only in the cloak of feudalism), although the Physiocrats had its fake feudal appearance (However, under the feudal dynasty, a very radical revolutionary policy was implemented, and it can even be said to be a preview of the legal reform policy under the feudal dynasty, such as the single land tax, which is essentially destroying part of the feudal ownership of land).

Liu Yu expects Dashun to continue to toss about reforms, or he believes that the continued reforms that may occur under the realistic conditions of Dashun, a feudal dynasty, will also be in a form similar to Lao Ma's evaluation of Turgot or the Physiocratic School Proceed: Use the discourse of feudalism to explain capitalism; wear the cloak of feudalism to implement the most radical capitalist policies.

Including what Liu Yu himself did before, it can be said to be in this form: to implement radical capitalist policies in the cloak of feudal royal power and loyalty.

Because under the feudal dynasty, if you want to reform, you can and can only do things in the cloak of feudalism.

Feudalism in different countries and regimes has different manifestations.

The embryonic development of capitalism in different countries and regimes also has different stages.

Just as men create not under conditions of their own choosing, but under conditions directly encountered, given, inherited from the past.

Everything in the past will linger in front of everyone's eyes like ghosts, forming layers of fog.

Just as Lao Ma commented on the fog on the Physiocrats: [Here, feudalism is expressed and explained from the perspective of bourgeois production, while agriculture is explained as the only production sector that carries out capitalist production, that is, surplus value production.Thus feudalism takes on a bourgeois character, and bourgeois society acquires a feudal appearance]

[This appearance is (enough) to confuse the followers of the Physiocratic School of noble origin].

Many of the things that Liu Yu has tossed about in Dashun these years are actually the same in essence: some feudal kingship, monopoly privileges, official Qin and Han systems, etc. are expressed and explained from the perspective of bourgeois production, but they are always shrouded. It has the appearance of the traditional feudal imperial power county system.

And this appearance is enough to confuse many believers in Dashun under the rule of the feudal imperial power, and may even include the emperor himself.

Lao Ma said that the situation in each country is different, and we should see the essence through the phenomenon, and not be confused by the appearance.

[The Physiocratic system became the expression of a new capitalist society that made its way within the framework of feudal society.And this system is adapted to the bourgeois society that has just emerged from feudalism]

[So the starting point is in France, a country dominated by agriculture]

[The United Kingdom is a country dominated by industry, commerce and navigation.The eyes naturally focus on the circulation process, and what they see is that only as a manifestation of general social labor, as currency, can products acquire value and become commodities...]

Because the development of Britain and France is different, the proportion of industry and agriculture is different, the social existence and economic foundation are different, so they present different appearances and different entry points.

The proportion of agriculture in France is too high, so the focus and entry point is on agricultural issues.

And this kind of entry is enough to confuse the French aristocratic believers: on the surface, the Physiocratic School highly respects agriculture and land ownership, which makes it easier for the French upper class, which is dominated by land interests, to accept this theory : Look, those of us who have land are the cornerstone of society. Industry and commerce are rubbish, and land is everything.

But this kind of superficial admiration is actually destroying the land ownership in the old era. The obvious conclusion drawn from this set of theories is that the industrial and commercial tax should be abolished, and only land tax should be collected comprehensively.

In fact, a comprehensive, equal, and non-exempt land tax collection is essentially a partial cancellation of land ownership in the old era.

As Lao Ma said: [The feudal appearance of this system - exactly like the aristocratic tone of the Enlightenment Age - will inevitably make many feudal lords into this system that essentially declares the establishment of a bourgeois production system on the ruins of feudalism Fanatical supporters and disseminator].

In short, the feudal lords are essentially anti-feudal; even shouting that this system of establishing a bourgeois production system is what their feudal lords support.

And what Liu Yu has done in Dashun these years is the same. In fact, he is letting the feudal lords in Dashun weave the noose to hang them, and his system of "for your majesty, for the country" is the same. The appearance makes many feudal lords become enthusiastic supporters and disseminators of this system.

It's just that, just as France takes agriculture as the entry point and Britain takes circulation as the entry point, this is the reality of their own countries.

On Dashun’s side, “production” is the starting point—the tradition of emphasizing agriculture over commerce has been strong since ancient times. The essence of this emphasis on agriculture over commerce is to emphasize production over circulation and speculation. Only focus on farming.

And "production" is connected with what Liu Yu has been saying that "the sum of national wealth is the total commodity produced".

Whether Dashun or earlier dynasties, they all valued production.

Emphasis on agriculture over business... This kind of literal meaning is similar to the understanding of the old "farm family", thinking that they are agronomy departments engaged in planting technology and seed hybridization, but in fact they want to engage in "the will of the country to ensure that circulation cannot be profitable." , so that everyone’s full labor can be exchanged for the fruits of full labor, instead of the utopian fantasy that I have worked very hard and exchanged eighty percent of the labor.”

Similarly, emphasizing agriculture and despising commerce is actually emphasizing production.In the past dynasties, has there been anyone who discouraged weaving?Weaving is not agriculture, but a standard handicraft.

Therefore, the overall environment of Dashun has been focusing on production since ancient times.

Light business, not light industry and commerce, but light financial industry, light speculation, light logistics transshipment, light commercial circulation.

Industry and commerce are separate.

Therefore, Liu Yu's idea of ​​reform has always been clear: to create an illusion of "separation of industry and commerce".

The so-called stripping refers to the development of industry, but relying on the expansion of foreign trade does not affect the old pattern of the local, so that the impact of the "business chaos" is minimized.Relying on the vigorous development of foreign trade, it not only expands industry and business, but also minimizes the impact of businessmen on traditional society.

Then rely on the concept of "total national wealth", which is closely related to the traditional "production".

And Dashun's special court balance system allows those who are not from the imperial examination to make a fortune in industry and commerce, and create "they are important" morality.

Just like the Physiocratic School was supported by a group of feudal lords; Liu Yu's policy also made a group of feudal lords in Dashun become fans and disseminators.

But in fact, under the feudal dynasty of Dashun, extremely radical reforms of the capitalist production system were carried out—such as the brutal Lianghuai salt reform and the brutal southern Sichuan well salt reform. Even if the bourgeoisie has seized power, I am afraid Such drastic reforms were impossible. Relying on brutal repression, the model of small salt producers in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River and the landlord renting land payment model in southern Sichuan were destroyed, and the salt industry "trust" in Dashun was directly established.

Of course, Liu Yu's "cloak" in Dashun is neither Physiocratism nor free trade, because Dashun's economic base is neither the same as that of France, nor the same as that of Britain.

Physiocratism, pushed to the end, can only draw one conclusion: only the agricultural tax is collected, all other taxes are abolished, and the industrial and commercial tax is not collected at all.

Obviously, this is contrary to the starting point of Emperor Dashun's support for the reform: the purpose of the reform is to make money from foreign trade, and the money into the treasury and domestic funds is obtained through taxation, franchise rights, monopoly rights, and tariffs.Only agricultural tax is collected and industrial and commercial tax is abolished, so why develop industry and commerce?

Besides, only agricultural tax is collected, but land inspection, tax per mu, preferential exemption for no one, banning labor, recruitment and employment and other physiocratic policies are required. If Dashun can do this, why bother with it? What about business and overseas trade?
If this can be achieved, why not do it in one step, directly equalize the land and be the first benevolent government, ten of the land and one of the taxes?
And free trade...

All I can say is, don't look at how fierce Liu Yu is in Europe.

But Dashun is really ashamed to say that he is free trade.

Not to mention Dashun's many overseas trade policies, the imposition of feudal obligations to Japanese franchises, etc.

It is said that Dashun has the most free land ownership system in the world at this time, land deed trading, official recognition, hereditary inheritance from descendants, complete exclusive ownership of land, and almost the only country in the world that does not have public land or land owned by villages at this time... But In fact, in many places, a stricter policy prohibiting businessmen from buying and hoarding land is being implemented.

In Dashun, Liu Yu condensed the reform into "the increase of the total national wealth".

This is the purpose.

The rest are all means, whether it is heavy agriculture, invisible hand, or government-run economy, they are all reasonable means for this purpose.

However, military strength, fleet vertical and horizontal, etc., can all be regarded as the result of "increase in the sum of national wealth", rather than some ultimate goal of equal status.

Therefore, this kind of enrichment makes many practices that were considered wrong in the past reasonable in the emerging areas.

For example, if landlords forcefully requisition land, ask for the withdrawal of tenants, and hire people to plant mulberry and silkworms, it can be said that this is for the increase of the total national wealth.

For example, officials in some areas set up coal mines and mines, and it can also be said that this is for the increase of the total national wealth.

Etc., etc.

Around this "correct" purpose, various industries have developed.Some are of Junkers transformation, some are feudal government-run, some are private capital, some are forced labor, and some are even monopolized under the administrative power...

And all of these are rapidly creating a material foundation for the new era of Dashun.

At the same time, this set of theories also laid the groundwork for some advanced ideas of Dashun in the future.

Just like the Physiocrats in France, it is based on the premise of France's economic foundation at this time, and takes agriculture as the starting point.

However, some schools of thought in the UK presuppose the economic foundation of the UK at this time, and take circulation as the starting point.

And as Lao Ma said: [How is the surplus value generated?It does not arise from circulation, but it is realized in circulation].

[In considering surplus value, it is necessary to pass from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production, that is, not simply from the exchange of commodities for commodities, but from the exchange between the owner of the conditions of labor and the worker within the sphere of production , leading to surplus value...]

The Physiocratic School takes agriculture as its starting point, and agriculture itself is also a kind of "production".

Therefore, the Physiocrats were aware of the "surplus value" very early on.

That is to say, it is easier to find the essence of the problem by starting from "production". After all, agriculture is also a kind of production. When examining surplus value, it must be transferred from the field of circulation to the field of production.

It should be said that the economic foundation of Dashun's entire empire at this time is still based on agriculture.

However, Dashun's policy of "dividing internal and external fields" in recent years has limited the source of new ideas to a certain extent.And only looking at this scope does not take agriculture as the core, but industrial production as the core.

Because of this, Liu Yu can cut in from the perspective of "production".

Of course he couldn't talk about surplus value, but when he led the bourgeois theory from the very beginning, he avoided entering from the field of circulation, but from the perspective of production, which also made the bourgeois economy in Dashun Learning and continuing to develop, it is easy to capture the secret of capital appreciation.

Therefore, in this era, Liu Yu only talked about production and the increase of the total national wealth.

As the old horse sarcastically said:
The Physiocratic view holds that all value originates in the land.However, industry and commerce, in fact, did not do anything, and did not add any new value to this value, but only returned the value provided to it in another form as an equivalent.

It is easy to draw a conclusion. Since industry and commerce have not added any new value, which is equivalent to not doing anything, then why bother with industry and commerce?Let him develop freely, compete freely, and let capitalist production do its own thing?
As long as agriculture, the "only value-generating" and "mother of all values", is well managed, as long as only agricultural taxes are collected, the rest of industry and commerce can develop freely.

So the capitalists are so noble, they become capitalists who work only for the benefit of the landowner, for the benefit of the landowner.Because according to the view of the Physiocrats, industry and commerce, without adding any new value, are all working for the landowners. Industrial capitalists and commercial capitalists are not for themselves, but exclusively for the landlords. Is this not noble?

Just as political economy, further developed, makes capitalists noble capitalists only for the benefit of the working class.

This irony applies to Dashun as well.

Since it is said that the increase of the total national wealth is correct, righteous, beneficial to the country, rich in the country, strong in the people, and excellent in martial arts...

Then, capitalists can also be so noble, they become capitalists only for the increase of the total national wealth, for the country, for thousands of people, for the prosperity of the country and the strength of the people.I work hard, not for myself, but for Your Majesty, for the sake of thousands of people, for the prosperity of the country and the strength of the people, making money with tears in my eyes.

I hired hired workers not for making money, but for production, to increase the total national wealth, to relieve His Majesty's worries and settle refugees...Of course I made money, but this is just a by-product, just like the gentry collecting rent A by-product of a stable tenant...

In this way, won't the style be raised all of a sudden?

This also enables the emerging class to gain "righteousness".

Of course, the acquisition of this "righteousness" requires a whole set of arguments.

The first sentence of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations": The annual labor of the people of a country is originally the source of all the necessities and conveniences of life that they consume every year.These necessaries and conveniencies consist either of the direct produce of the labor of this country, or of foreign purchases of such produce.

The subsequent development was determined by the economic foundation of Britain at that time: the power of the emerging class had already developed; the power of the feudal aristocracy still controlled politics; Restricted the next step of the development of the emerging class.

Therefore, the subsequent developments were actually firing at the British trade policy at that time, in order to overthrow the British mercantilism policy at that time, and demonstrate layer by layer to prove that free trade is correct and mercantilism is wrong. policy is problematic.

Liu Yu, on the other hand, followed the first sentence of The Wealth of Nations.

But the subsequent development is also determined by Dashun's economic foundation at this time: the power of the emerging class is not strong enough; Dashun still has doubts about the development of industry and commerce; A beneficiary of the mercantilist and colonial trading system in these years; reforms are still going on and development will continue for some time.

Therefore, the subsequent development is actually to defend the reforms of the previous decades, to prove that the development of industry and commerce is correct, and to argue layer by layer, not to talk about mercantilism or free trade, but to prove that the development of industry and commerce is correct. It is correct to continue the line of reform, develop production and increase production.

Dashun...hasn't reached the stage where we need to discuss free trade or mercantilism.It can even be said that mercantilism has not yet reached the stage of restricting the development of Dashun's productivity. Instead, relying on foreign trade has greatly promoted the development of Dashun's productivity.

Just as Lao Ma satirized: The further development of political economy makes capitalists become noble capitalists only for the interests of the working class.

Political economy is originally a defense of class interests.

Malthus's political economy proved "how important is the rentier class that only consumes but does not produce, it is the foundation of social stability, without them it will collapse".

Quesnay’s political economy proves that “agriculture is so important and the only source of value. Industrial and commercial taxes are meaningless. Directly abolish industrial and commercial taxes and only collect industrial taxes, let Colbert get out, let industry and commerce be free and not How important it is to develop without any restrictions".

The set of things in Dashun at this time is also similar, proving "how important the emerging class is, how correct the reform is, and the country needs the continuous development of the industry to be stable."

But in fact, Liu Yu did not report any expectations for subsequent reforms.

Because he feels that almost all of the things that can be corrected are small problems, and the big problems cannot be changed at all.

And I think that I can last for a few more years without tossing. If it is really tossing, it will definitely cause a big event, and basically Dashun will explode.

Of course, if there is no tossing, then the big changes will not come, or there will be no huge chaos, so that those big things can be completely changed.

As long as Dashun is chaotic and collapsed first, the reformers are angry and the people complain, and the reformed old class is dissatisfied with the new class. Only by relying on the inheritance accumulated over the years can they be reborn from the ashes and get rid of those deep-rooted feudal routines.

If there is no chaos, it will be difficult to start an uprising, and it will be difficult to create a rebellion.To be a king's pioneer, there must be certain conditions. As far as the current situation is concerned, there are enough soldiers and food, the treasury is abundant, the internal affairs are stable, and the court is not chaotic. It is extremely difficult to be a king's pioneer.

Therefore, part of what I said at this time was to defend the emerging classes and the development of industry and commerce.

The other part still hoped that with the help of the checks and balances system at the beginning of the founding of Dashun, the group of people who were checked and balanced by the imperial examination system would set up a "book" for them.

In the past, Dashun's system of checks and balances existed.

However, the group of people who checked and balanced the imperial examination gentry was powerful and without experience.

What's more, the two groups of people who check and balance each other use the same sutra.

This is normal.People who use the same sutra can still fight against each other.

Just like a few years ago, the disciples of the great Confucians in Japan asked the great Confucianists: If Confucius and Mencius were revived, and Confucius was the main general, with Meng Ke as his deputy, to attack Japan, what would happen to us Confucian scholars?The answer of the great Japanese Confucianism is very clear: Even if Confucius and Mencius are resurrected, they will do it.

Therefore, even the "sages" who wrote scriptures could be "opposed" because of political factors, not to mention the mutual checks and balances between military nobles and imperial examination officials who used the same scriptures in Dashun?

Now, Liu Yu is trying to rely on Dashun's system of checks and balances to prepare scriptures for these people.

A scripture that is completely different from the past, as well as righteousness and benefit, rulers, evaluation systems, etc.

The purpose is that one day in the future, this group of people will continue to reform and blow up Dashun.

Without tossing, you can live a few more years.Toss and fry quickly.

(End of this chapter)