Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1461 The Last Farce ([-])

After talking about going back to Kyushu, Li Yan became silent.

The silence was not because it was difficult or inconvenient to say, but because he needed to figure out what Liu Yu meant first.

It is said that the internal stability must be first, and the foundation must be consolidated, and then the operation will be successful.

So, do you mean to be a bottomless imperial conservative?

Or, do you have any thoughts on the matter of "solidifying the capital" and are not so conservative?
Among them, of course there is a difference.

The former means that everything is business as usual, don't change, don't toss, and don't think about ambitions such as coup d'état, that's the foundation.

The meaning of the latter... inevitably has the meaning of continuing to reform, innovate, and even solve many internal problems, rather than staying put.

Since Liu Yu said that he wanted to talk about "free trade", then this issue is even more complicated.

Li Yan thought about it carefully for a while, and then said: "The Duke talks about free trade. I may not know too much in the country, but I have been in Europe for a long time, and I know that the 'righteousness' of the union of France and Britain is 'free trade'." .”

"When it comes to free trade, we have to mention the so-called 'invisible hand'. In other words: the circulation of money, wealth and commodities is 'the right way, the very way'."

"In the past, Chao wrongly said: Merchants take advantage of their odds, travel to the city every day, take advantage of the urgent situation, and sell for twice as much... Because the merchants are very rich, they annexed the land."

"So, is this the invisible hand?"

"There are also scholar-officials in this dynasty who say: All industries are inferior to land. When the dynasty changes, the land of the Zhang family will still belong to the Zhang family, and the land of the Li family will still belong to the Li family. As for business, they often lose their capital. But if you buy land, the land will last forever. So all goods flow to the land."

"So, is this the invisible hand?"

"What's more, if there is wealth, in addition to buying land, it is either lending money to collect rent, or usurping profit. The profit is several times that of industry."

"So, is this the invisible hand?"

Land mergers are not unique to Dashun.

Europe didn't have it before for many reasons.In addition to the issue of land ownership, there are also reasons such as the lack of yield per mu and the lack of residual value of the merged land.

Historically, after the Legal Revolution, the wind of land annexation rapidly blew.Only then did there be room for action to take three. As the old horse said, the aristocrats were originally riding on the peasants’ heads, and after the land was divided, the peasants were riding on usury, mortgage debt, and a series of new things that did not exist before. thing.

Upper decision decided by the economic background.

Ridge farming, single-ox plows, and blast furnace iron are the foundations of land annexation and small-scale peasant ownership.

Without these few things, "merger" itself is a "luxury" that is separated from the economic foundation and productivity.

Li Yan asked, are land mergers, usury, and rent collection considered "invisible hands"?
This question is right on point.

Since Li Yan didn't understand what Liu Yu meant before, he didn't read the two poems.

But now, Liu Yu asked about free trade and the invisible hand, and also talked about Dashun's "consolidation" and the "land annexation" issue that cannot be avoided when talking about Dashun's consolidation.

Li Yan finally read a poem.

Three generations of people, public and private have no difference in wealth.

The owner is good at manipulating things, just like the sky holds the head of the fight.

Giving is self, merger is evil.

There is punishment for treachery, but there is no power.

Later generations began to hold back, and it was difficult to cut the head of Guizhou.

King Qin didn't know this, so he built Huaiqing Terrace.

Rites and righteousness have been stolen, and the Bible has been buried for a long time.

If the Dharma still exists, it will be revealed when you want to speak.

The vulgar officials don't know the formula, so they can use it to overcome it.

Vulgar Confucianism does not know change, and mergers are invincible.

There are hundreds of sharp holes, and the villains are closed.

There is a dispute between the company and the people, and the people are more pitiful.

After reading it, Li Yan smiled bitterly and said, "King Shu wrote this poem to talk about the harm of mergers."

"Su Ziyou said: Wang Jiefu is also a little husband. He can't bear the poor, but he wants to enrich the poor and benefit the poor. I don't know what to do. Fang Qi didn't get his ambition, and wrote the poem "Merger" and his ambition. thing……"

"The catastrophe of reform after the event all comes from this poem."

"Gai Xi's poetic disease is not as cool as this"

When it comes to this very famous poem in history, it is even regarded as the political inclination that Wang Anshi showed before he failed to succeed. It is inevitable that conservatives will say that the root of the reform is reflected in this poem.

"However, what Su Ziyou said actually has another half."

"If the rich can be made to be safe without being rich, and the poor be safe; if the poor are not lacking, and the rich and the poor can live together for a long time, then the world will be settled..."

"Father is wise and martial, and he uses the method of dividing the inside and outside, which is the intention of Wang Jinggong and Su Ziyou. Each takes half."

"To start the provinces first is to take half of Su Ziyou's words. It is said that if the rich can be made safe, they will not be rich and the poor will be safe; if they are poor but not deficient, the rich and the poor will last for a long time, and the world will be settled... ..."

"Outside provinces, those who can take this meaning are also because the situation allows."

"First, facing the sea, you can go to the Guandong, go to Nanyang, and even go to Fusang."

"Secondly, expanding the military, preparing for war, and robbing the market can also allow the rich to contribute and the poor to contribute, so that there will be a long-term stalemate between the rich and the poor."

"As for introspection, you can't take Su Ziyou, you can only take Wang Jinggong's reason. There are mainly two reasons."

"For one thing, the four places are densely populated. It is impossible to go to the Guandong, go to the South Seas, and even go to the Western Regions without the imperial government's finances. If there is an annexation, the land and the people will be lost. It may be the end of the previous dynasty."

"Secondly, there is no overseas market, how can the internal market accommodate so many people? The per capita land is only two or three acres, and the grain produced by each person is only three to five hundred catties. It is not enough to eat by oneself, so how can we get food in exchange? ? If there is no exchange, it is the development of industry and commerce, who will sell the goods to?”

Li Yan has followed Liu Yu for a long time, and he inevitably heard many "strange words" from Liu Yu's mouth, and some truths that sounded a little confusing.

It's probably because I was in the place of abalone, and I didn't ask about its smell for a long time.

This "methodology" is gradually getting closer to Liu Yu.

But after all, he is not as low-end as Liu Yu. He has received a complete traditional education in the palace, so he said: "Zhuangzi said: When you are sick, you will hide it, and the ugly people in it will be beautiful when you see it. He holds his heart and frowns in it. The rich man sees it, but he closes his door and does not come out; the poor sees it, and he drags his wife away. He knows the beauty of frowning, but he does not know the beauty of frowning."

"Actually, it's the same reason. The Duke has said this before."

"Dong Shi, you can imitate Xi Shi and frown. But, can Dong Shi transfer Xi Shi's beauty to himself?"

"same."

"The inland provinces can follow the policies of the coastal provinces. However, can the inland provinces transfer the shipping conditions, foreign markets, immigration convenience and other conditions of the coastal provinces to themselves?"

"Zhuangzi's words are talking about the Fusang immigrant story told by the Duke of the State in the past: rich households can transfer assets, tools, cattle and horses, etc. to Fusang. However, he can transfer per capita cultivated land, social relations, subordinate status, etc. Everything, panning to Fusang?"

"He knows the beauty of frowns, but he doesn't know why frowns are beautiful."

"Dongshi imitates, carves a boat to seek a sword, Handan learns to walk... In my opinion, they are all similar."

"Of course the inland provinces can imitate the policies of the coastal provinces, just as Dong Shi can frown. However, Dong Shi cannot transfer the beauty of Xi Shi to himself, and similarly, the inland provinces cannot transfer various conditions to themselves .”

"That's why... I don't think that the reforms that the Duke has made in Songsu, Northeast China, Nanyang, and Shandong in recent years can be translated to Henan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan and other places."

"So, for free trade, the invisible hand, etc... I really don't know what to say."

"In the past, Confucius asked Lao Dan about rites, and he thought hard for several months. Lao Dan said: "The Six Classics of the Husband, the old traces of the previous kings, are they so traces! What the son said today, are still traces. The husband's traces, follow them." What comes out, but the traces will not be followed!"

"The scriptures are footprints. But they are not feet."

"That's why, Lao Dan said that nature cannot be changed, destiny cannot be changed, time will not stand still, and the avenue will not be blocked. If you truly attain the Tao, you will not be hindered no matter where you go; It’s all wrong.”

"I think I'm far from the real economic way, and I haven't realized it yet. And those who think that the reform methods of the state are the real way, and most of them are just knowing the beauty of the frown, but they don't know the reason for the beauty of the frown."

"In the past, Wang Jinggong knew Yinzhou, and the young crops were good for the people of Italy."

"Then popularizing it all over the country will cause great harm to refugees."

"This is why the policy can be extended to the whole country, but the actual conditions in Yinzhou cannot be translated to the whole country. It is also said that the so-called Dongshi can frown, but can't translate the beauty of Xishi to himself."

"If you want to talk about knowing what it is and why it is so; knowing its beauty and why it is beautiful; knowing its wealth and why it is rich...it's hard to say."

Speaking of this, Li Yan didn't hide anything anymore, and said: "Although our dynasty won the previous battle, it was difficult to win. Since the day when the Duke went to Nanyang and Keng Luocha, he has already started to arrange alliances."

"Nearly 30 years."

"In the end, with the size and population of this dynasty, it can beat Britain, which has a population of only a few million."

"What's more, Britain's land is narrow and its population is small, and its annual income is not much lower than that of this dynasty. If the Duke of the country did not insist on conquering India and killed Clive and others, if it collects land tax in India, it will only I am afraid that the annual income of the British will be twice that of this dynasty."

"Know its beauty, and know why it is beautiful; know its wealth, and know why it is rich."

"With such a small land and such a small population, the dynasty joined hands with France and dared not land or fight decisively in the strait. It is hard to say that this British policy is wrong."

"But if you're right..."

"Cotton Cloth Order, Shroud Order, Enumeration of Goods Act, Monopoly Order, Commodity Subsidy Act, Cotton Cloth Exemption Act, Tea Monopoly Act, Sugar Tax Act, Navigation Act, Religious Order, Irish Wool Act, Fuso Iron Order, Merchant Shipping Registration Act, Militia The law of rotation... of all these, is there any one related to 'free trade'?"

"Although it was defeated, it was defeated because its population was only a few million and its land was only one province. The enemies it encountered were the two great powers in the east and the west, and even the Spanish navy in the end, but it was not because it could not trade freely."

"Yes, even though I won this battle, I have a lot of reflection."

"Chu didn't pay tribute to Baomao, so he attacked it. Chu didn't pay tribute to 'Baomao', but Britain couldn't "free trade", so he attacked it. Using this 'righteousness', it is possible; but believing in this righteousness...not necessarily."

(End of this chapter)