Xinshun 1730

Chapter 786 Conflict of Old and New Interests ([-])
But as a gentry, your own interests are damaged, so you can't just talk about yourself when you talk about it.It is a bit too arrogant to tell the truth as stupidly as the Song Dynasty, and to rule the world with scholar-bureaucrats.

Just talk about yourself, that's a villain talking about profit.

If you talk about the people, it is pleading for the people.

And there is one thing to say, it has indeed had a great impact on the life of the small peasant class.

The essence of industrial and commercial development is to drive small farmers out of business, to force them to work as hired labor or to work hard in Southeast Asia.

In addition to the loss of material interests, there are also spiritual losses.

The last Pantheon incident, from the perspective of high-level officials, was an outpost between conservatives and reformers who support business.

Looking at the bottom layer, it also involves a problem of changing customs.

The previous custom was to look at the person's origin in order to determine whether he was respected.

But now, the Songjiang Mansion is looking at Qian.If you have money, you are the grandfather and boss; if you have no money, even if you have some culture, you are poor.

Although this problem did not appear on the first day, it was not so serious before.

Moreover, as a feudal dynasty, there is a strict hierarchy, and there are regulations on what kind of clothes and what kind of fabrics merchants can wear.

But this rule has been gradually broken since the end of Ming Dynasty.What to wear, although there are laws and regulations, but in fact the control is very loose.Of course, things like the dragon robe, the house of Jiujianting, the bronze beast of the rich family, that is the bottom line, and generally no one dares to touch this.

Now this problem has become more and more serious, and these gentry classes have also been damaged spiritually. In the end, with the support of the conservatives above and the people below, they spontaneously came up with the Xiangxian Temple case.

The essence of these problems is still an economic problem.Etiquette, according to Japanese Confucian scholars, is to use administrative means to counter the economic foundation.

Liu Yu didn't dare to really engage in permanent tenants, rent reduction and interest rate cuts, which meant that it was impossible for Liu Yu to win these gentry's arguments in terms of words.

The essence of the difficult life of small farmers in Songjiang Prefecture is because of the drop in rice prices?Or because of land annexation?
Which is Ben?Which is the end?
This point, in fact, everyone present is well aware of it.

Liu Yu also knew that he could only scare them, but he didn't dare to really do that.

The old gentry said a lot of things that seemed very reasonable. After Liu Yu pretended to think for a while, he decided to use a set of words that could not clearly understand the essence of the contradiction, to test whether these gentry had "kept up with the new era" possible.

The essence of the problem is land annexation and excessive land rent.

Liu Yu avoided this essential question, but said: "What the old man said is also reasonable. The root of the hardship of this small farmer is, after all, too many people and too little land. I think even if the import of foreign grain is stopped, the life of this small farmer will hardly improve. .”

"Even if things get better today, if you give birth to sons and sons and grandchildren in the future, there will be an infinite shortage of children and grandchildren. If the land does not increase, future hardships will be inevitable."

"What I just said about the eternal tenant and the equalization of the land seems to be a bit ill-considered."

Seeing that Liu Yu could take the initiative to say that he didn't think carefully, these gentry were surprised, and hurriedly said: "The marquis of a whale has a lot of things to do every day, and it's normal to not think carefully for a while. Indeed, there are endless shortages for children and grandchildren. Even if the land is equalized today, and even tomorrow, the land will be insufficient in the future. This matter cannot cure the root cause.”

Liu Yu said with a smile: "Everyone has a heart of benevolence, but also thinks about the country for a long time. I have a way, how about you?"

"Now that the imperial court has gone to Nanyang, there are many wastelands in Nanyang. Not to mention Nanyang, even Taiwan, there are also many lands that have been reclaimed by previous generations. In addition to Taiwan, there are places such as the Northeast and Ezo."

"Although you are gentry, you have a lot of land. But you are not Christians, so you must have many wives and concubines, and your descendants will prosper. Although farming and studying have been passed down for a long time, you must consider your future foundation."

"If not, how about you paying money and tenant farmers to go to Nanyang, Taiwan and other places to cultivate wasteland?"

"To cultivate a hundred acres of land, those who contribute will get half, and you who contribute will also get half. It is also an inheritance for future generations to keep."

"After reclamation, you may return to your hometown to recruit tenant farmers, live in Fujian, Guangdong and other places to recruit villagers to rent. Isn't this good?"

"In this way, you have a lot of property, and you don't have to worry about the prosperity of your children and grandchildren, and the family property will become thinner; it will also make a large number of 'surplus' people have jobs to rely on, and it will also contribute to the longevity of the country."

"In the past, I thought it was too far away to be thousands of miles away. But now, with the prosperity of shipping, going to Taiwan and going to Nanyang is within a month."

"I see, let's take a step back, how about?"

"I am not trying to implement the policy of redemption for 30 years of permanent tenancy, rent reduction and interest rate reduction in Songjiang Prefecture; you should not talk about the price of rice anymore."

Capital itself has no good or evil. If the money in the hands of these gentry can move, it is also capital.As long as it is used in the right place, it will definitely be beneficial to Dashun.

Liu Yu is also giving these gentry some opportunities.

If he can't keep up with the new era, then he can only find a way to get these people eliminated.

If he can keep up with the new era, then he can be more tolerant and give them more ways out.

The businessmen in Songjiang Prefecture, who are doing big business, look down on such things as Taiwan's reclamation and farming.Maybe they might set up some plantations or something, but if they go there to cultivate and continue to collect rent, then they have no motivation.

Reclamation also requires capital, cattle seeds, water conservancy, resistance to natural disasters, and so on.

It is inefficient to rely on the imperial court to organize the landless people, and the imperial court does not have that much money at all.

If these gentry are allowed to organize capital or invest in capital, this can indeed alleviate many contradictions and enrich the population of Nanyang.

If even the gentry in Songjiang Prefecture, which has the most developed industry and commerce, feel uneasy, nervous, fearful or instinctively reject this, then these people will have to be killed in the future.

The gentry did not expect that Liu Yu would give such a "compromise" solution, which was beyond their expectations.

For a moment, everyone didn't know what to say, you looked at me and I looked at you, they were all dumbfounded.

Liu Yu used the method of opening the windows and demolishing the house first.First of all, he said that he would buy it for 30 years with reduced rent and interest rate, and then he took a step back and said such a method.

But these people are instinctively full of fear of things in distant places.

Even if you don't go by yourself, send a housekeeper to manage it, or let your son go, it sounds really far away.

They don't know that in the future that Liu Yu believes is "progressive", there is no place for them, the gentry who sit at home collecting rent and lending money.

Not saying kill them all.

Instead, the money from rent collection and lending should be turned into capital and invested in causes that are beneficial to the future.

Or, they can only be a group of people who were abandoned when faced with a dilemma.

The method he gave was just a suggestion, not a coercion.

And he said it both tactfully and clearly.

Don't take the little people and act like pleading for the people, I know that your interests have been damaged.So give a direction that allows you to earn benefits and open up the outside world.

Although he didn't say it clearly, the people present understood it.

After a long time, the old gentleman said: "The method given by the Marquis Jing is actually to let the common people leave their homes and go to that place full of suffering and misery?"

"I only want to farm and study the family heirloom, and I don't want to make a fortune. What does it matter to me to travel thousands of miles across the Nanyang land? Since I don't have a hot eye, why should the Marquis use this land heirloom as a lure?"

"In the capital of Yao and the land of Yu, does the Marquis of Jing think that there is no one and a half people who sincerely plead for the people?"

"Jing Hou has been in contact with those merchants who value profits over justice, and he treats us as the same as them."

"Does Jinghou really think that we are here for our own rent? We think that the court is going wrong if it continues like this. Putting the cart before the horse, big things will happen in the future."

"Jing Hou has been in a high position for a long time, why don't you go to the countryside? Why don't you look around? Go and see what the people expect, and see the real hardships of the people in Songjiang Prefecture? Go and ask them what the industrial and commercial development of Songjiang Prefecture has brought them. pain?"

Hearing this, Liu Yu laughed and said, "I used to go to Wendeng Prefecture and saw it. What the little people are asking for, I think it is to reduce rent and interest, and to buy permanent tenants. I just saw it. The first one I gave The solution is to reduce rents and interest rates. If you disagree, don’t I have to give the second solution?”

"That's all, you guys think about this matter again, and I will think about it again. What will happen in the future, how about you come back in a few days?"

"So-called oranges grown in Huainan are tangerines, and oranges grown in Huaibei are oranges. Perhaps, this Songjiang Prefecture is very different from Wendeng Prefecture. I also happened to go and see and meet, so I know the suffering of the people."

After speaking, serve tea and see off the guests.

Although these gentry have heard some of Liu Yu's behavior style, they have never lived in Wendeng Prefecture after all.He thought that since he left the home of Zhongming Dingshi, how would he know what the folks were like?

Seeing that Liu Yu said he would come back in a few days, thinking about Liu Yu's idea of ​​reducing rent and interest and redeeming permanent tenants, everyone felt uneasy.

But after all, Liu Yu's official position is too high, even though they all have fame, but they really see off guests, they have no choice but to withdraw one by one.

As soon as they left, Songjiang Fu Yin said with a smile: "Marquis Jing has already thought about immigrating and reclaiming? No change. Many troubles for the hungry people have been reduced.”

"It's just that they may not be willing to pay for cultivation. It would be a good thing if they can pay for cultivation. Then it will be like the story of the old lady's two sons: the older one sells umbrellas, but worries about sunny days; the younger one dries salt, but worries about rainy days. Or, if the older one sells umbrellas, he will enjoy it on rainy days; if the younger one sells salt, he will enjoy it on sunny days.”

"At that time, Nanyang rice continued to be tax-free, and they were happy with Nanyang's industry; if Nanyang rice was taxed, they were happy with Songjiang's industry."

Liu Yu shook his head and smiled and said: "How can it be so easy? My attitude is to protect the industry and commerce of Songjiang Mansion, but not the small farmers and gentry of Songjiang Mansion. Since the two can't have both, choose one. Of course, this is also His Majesty's attitude. How much is the agricultural tax in Songjiang Prefecture now? How much is the stamp tax for other industrial, commercial, shipping and trade? You know it well."

"Let me say this, if we really want to do it in the future, we still have to rely on you. Whether it's persuasion, or using tricks, it's a good thing if we can get them to fund the cultivation."

Governor of Songjiang Government nodded and said yes, since His Majesty Xindao asked him to be Governor of Songjiang Prefecture, what he did was of course money and taxes.

Now that the poll tax is also included in the land tax, I, the governor of Songjiang Prefecture, wish that all the "excess" population of Songjiang Prefecture would go to Nanyang.Small peasants are the most likely to cause trouble, and they are also the easiest to cause trouble. Before, they had to consider the poll tax. Now it would be the best if they could be driven away.

But to say that these squires should pay for the cultivation of Nanyang, the Marquis of Whale's thinking is too ideal.It is not something that can be changed within three to five years.

Just thinking about it, Liu Yu said again: "Since the gentry said he was going to see the sufferings of the people, it's just right to walk with me. I also know about the things of the people, and you don't have to worry about seeing what you shouldn't see. I I'd like to see which people are benefited and which people are disadvantaged by the industrial and commercial development of Songjiang Mansion. How much is the benefit and how much is the disadvantage. You don't have to worry. From Zhejiang."

The governor of Songjiang laughed and said: "Jing Hou can see it if he wants to. There are many disadvantages, and I am going to ask Jing Hou for advice. Why should I hide my illness?"

But I thought in my heart, this is true, you can think of a way to force the small peasants to go to Nanyang, and I am not afraid of you seeing the bad things in the eyes of others.

(End of this chapter)