Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1787 The Gradually Clear Situation ([-])

"Mainland China in the last years of the Ming Dynasty was in an extraordinary period—in the atmosphere of feudalism, the old political system, production methods, and ideology and culture all reached the peak of maturity and reached the abyss of decay at the same time. Along with it, the buds of capitalism—of course, only buds, which should not be overestimated—are slowly developing, and a group of Enlightenment thinkers with a new ethos, like stars, are returning to the old age. Waving farewell. Legendary novels such as "Three Words and Two Beats" have emerged among the people to reflect the new psychology of the emerging citizen class, which can already explain the problem from some angles..." December 1678, 12, under the Madang Fortress Inside the semi-enclosed pier, Guo Puxia smoked a pipe and looked at the report in hand with somewhat surprised eyes.

The report was written by his adjutant in conjunction with many staff members. It has not been submitted in time. It is still the first draft, and it should be brought over to Guo Puxia for review and comments.

To be honest, the beginning of the report is quite amazing, reflecting the academic style of his adjutant who was born in the Corps Fort.At the same time, it can be seen that these people have really had a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture, and even dabbled in market literature during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is not easy.You must know that the knowledge they have learned from childhood on the east coast is quite different from that of the Ming and Qing countries, because they have devoted a lot of energy to learning the knowledge of many subjects such as geography, nature, science, military, law, and hygiene. knowledge, learning of traditional culture is far inferior to Ming and Qing people.

Taking into account the differences in social systems, economic foundations, productivity levels, etc., their three views of the world and the way of thinking about problems are also significantly different from those of Ming and Qing people.In other words, although there is no difference in blood relationship between them and the residents of mainland China, the cultural differences are not small (people on the east bank consider themselves the "evolved version" of Chinese civilization and are authentic, and the rotten Confucians of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have gone away. Therefore, after coming to the Far East, many things need to be relearned, and a new understanding of the Chinese way of thinking is required, which will undoubtedly require a lot of energy.

"...As far as Shunguo is concerned, because of the thirst for goods caused by the heavy pressure of the war, the yearning for a high-efficiency production model, the frequent exchanges with our country, and the monarch's personal preferences, the germination of capitalism has already had a certain impact on social development. For example, the ceramic industry in Jingdezhen, the tobacco industry in Ganzhou (which developed after the introduction of tobacco from the east coast), the coal mining industry in Pingxiang, the iron smelting industry in Xiangtan, and the gun manufacturing industry in Changsha , Lingling’s medicinal material planting industry, etc. These are relatively high-concentration manufacturing industries. In addition, there are such as Xianning Dabu, Changsha Cotton Cloth, Hengyang Flower Cloth, Jiangxi Firecrackers, Bamboo Ware, Gold Leaf, Paper Flowers, Carving, and Hubei Tin Ware , lacquerware, beekeeping and other scattered manufacturing industries dominated by small workshops or even individual handicraftsmen have been sold in Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Southwest, and even Wuyue, Central Plains and other areas under the jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty for many years, and have made a lot of profits. These profits are basically The land was spent and replaced with various materials urgently needed by the Dashun regime, including silk, tea, salt, oil, wine and other daily necessities, as well as weapons, military supplies, ammunition, war horses, machines, etc. Munitions for success or failure.”

"...I have to admit that under the Dashun regime, there are only three provinces with a population of less than 200 million—Hunan has more than [-] million (after adding a lot of immigrants from Hubei), Jiangxi has more than [-] million, and some areas of Hubei and Sichuan have increased. It’s close to [-] million—but in terms of manufacturing and commercial activity, it’s really at the first-tier level, and the per capita productivity level is higher than that of the Qing and Ming countries, there’s no doubt about it.”

"...In the city of Hengyang, which produces flowered cloth, many of the houses are rented by cloth merchants from other provinces, and there are more than a dozen provincial cloth merchants in and out of the city, and the import and export are prosperous. Due to the relocation of a large number of Hankou merchants and craftsmen to settle in those years, the commodity economy developed rapidly, and handmade famous brand products and products such as Luo Mingde Bull Candle, He Yunjin Boots, Hongtaihe Silk Thread, Luo Tianyuan Hat, Niu Tongxing Scissors, Wang Hengfeng Cigarette Bags, and Ma Gongliang Fragrances appeared. Shops. In Changsha, the capital of Dashun and also a center of industrial production, there are professional streets including clothes, footwear, reed mats, straw paper, floral cloth, white cloth, etc., which shows the prosperity of industry and commerce.”

"...a large number of peasant population and immigrants from other places poured into many big cities including Changsha, Hengyang, Nanchang, Wuchang, Baling, and Ganxian, and became hired handicraft workers who sold their own labor. A large amount of wealth has been continuously produced. The handicraft industry that combines production and sales, the market life with money as the axis, the cheap and sufficient labor force reserve army, the opportunity to make a fortune and the tragic ending of being reduced to the streets, and the capital relationship and market system that are far from mature , Behind the bustling appearance lurks many hidden and undiscovered crises, all of which indicate the friction, collision and transformation between the old and new production relations. In the above-mentioned areas, there is indeed a large value scale that is different from the traditional feudal society. And a new force with incompatible behavior patterns, it undoubtedly points to the future."

"...Traditional and old-fashioned thinking is the biggest obstacle to the development of these budding capitalisms. As a traditional gentry in Changsha said: 'Businessmen and merchants are abundant, department stores are piled up, and trade is huge. If there are more husbands and wives, the sword will change. Gather together; if there are many people who are free, the wind will be fast and easy. The rich and big businessmen, who own huge sums of money and enjoy huge profits, do not know how to depose exaggeration and frugality as the world cherishes material resources, respects the local good, and plans for the future for future generations; proud and boastful, only the sun Insufficient. The civilians in the middle household are influenced by their ears and eyes. They are envious at the beginning, and then they follow suit. They regard simplicity as humble and luxury as beauty. The hostile attitude toward the economy is quite obvious. If it weren’t for the fact that the Li Shun regime was born at the bottom and the military pressure was great, they might not be willing to reform so vigorously. Of course, this is also the main reason why the local gentry have never forgotten the former Ming regime after they ruled the three provinces for decades. , although they have now largely acted as the spokesmen of the landlord class."

Seeing this, Guo Puxia put down the manuscript and took a sip of strong tea.These words really came to his heart!For many years, because of the "original sin of birth", since the era of Li Zicheng and Li Guo, the gentry in Huguang, Jiangxi and other places have always been aloof from Li Shun's regime, and even held a hostile attitude. Only a few can see it.Therefore, while the Li Shun regime continued to liaise with the local gentry, it placed a large number of laid-off sergeants (due to the characteristics of the peasant army, a large number of troops, including men, women, and children, with complicated grades) to the three provinces of Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi. Prefectures and counties, while reclaiming wasteland and enriching places, can also strengthen the Dashun court's control over the grassroots.

Later, as the people from the east bank decisively intervened in the situation in China, the Qing army's large-scale southern expedition was blocked, and the Li Shun regime turned from danger to safety. After decades of hard work, the superficial hostility between the gentry of the three provinces and the Dashun regime became less strong, and cooperation began. Gradually, there was some harmony.However, considering the previous situation, the upper echelon of the Li Shun regime has always lacked sufficient trust in these people, especially many veterans, old coaches and even the emperor (Li Guo, Li Laiheng and his son) who have experienced those years are still alive, so they naturally do not want to It may be that he has a good impression of the gentry's set.

On the contrary, those who were born at the bottom, with a low level of education, and whose thinking is not bound by rotten rules and regulations, are very interested in how to make money quickly, produce food, and manufacture military supplies, that is, they are more satisfied with the set from the east coast.In addition, at that time, the east bank side also intended to support them, and transferred some technology and equipment to them. At the same time, they helped train a group of cadres in Yantai College (formerly Anti-Qing Military and Political University). It took a full 20 years for the combination of capitalist sparks to finally develop these small sparks into small flames, which is quite difficult.

Objectively speaking, these capitalist workshops produced a lot of goods for the Li Shun regime, and made a lot of profits through marketing in various provinces. That is to say, the Li Shun regime was using the commodity economy to suck blood from the surrounding provinces, and then support itself.Otherwise, do you think that Li Guo, Li Laiheng and his son can maintain such a large army with the aid of the people on the east bank alone, although the treatment of those soldiers does not seem high.

However, in the early stages of development of any new thing, it will naturally face the heavy suppression of traditional culture, ideology, and system, which will seriously hinder or even eliminate its development, unless you can find a white place like the East Coast Republic of China, and do it from the very beginning. Establish the rules, then slowly fill them with people, and carefully maintain the original order without changing, so that it can develop smoothly.But there is no such condition in Shun country, so it easily leads to the collision between the new forces and the traditional society, which is so serious that it splits the whole society and causes countless problems.You must know that in Hengyang, Nanchang, Ganzhou and other places, incidents of workshops being beaten, smashed, burned, and robbed often occurred, and workers who went to work in the city were also taken back by the village chiefs. Officials in many prefectures and counties are of gentry origin, and they even favor the so-called sages and patriarchs when dealing with such incidents, denouncing the manufacturing workshops for "pursuing profit all day long and corrupting the atmosphere".

In order to keep Li Shun’s regime, people from Dong’an used Guo Puxia to summarize a set of ideas for Li Laiheng to divide the ideological field and disintegrate the hostile forces of the gentry, that is, to redefine the traditional Confucianism, and brought out some thinkers in recent decades such as Gu Yanwu , Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi, Xu Guangqi, Fang Yizhi, Mei Wending, Yan Yuan and others' works-here, I would like to insert a sentence here. Few people read the works of the above-mentioned people in the Li Shun regime, and even more people read them thoroughly. Not many, but people from the east bank collected them one by one, and invited people to study them in the local capital—from which some brand-new theories were derived, focusing on criticizing the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties that dominated the ideological circle at this time.

For example, they took out Li Zhi's "Children's Innocence Theory" of the former Ming Dynasty, and criticized the ideas advocated by Neo Confucianists, such as "being honest with one's friendship does not seek one's own gain, and one's understanding of one's way does not count for one's merit", just as "a husband is born with a person, and he has his own person." The use of it should not be given to Confucius before it can be used. If it must be taken from Confucius before it can be used, then there will be no Confucius before the ages, and you will never be able to be a human being?"

Li Zhi believes that people cannot be bound by traditional ethics, advocates breaking through all traditional barriers, pursuing a life of unique personality, advocating the awakening of the soul, and praising real life. wonderful.

This method of disintegrating hostile forces from the ideological field is also the first time for people on the east coast to implement it.Led by the National Intelligence Agency, they took the Li Shun regime as a large-scale social experiment to observe the effect of this ideological weapon.Of course, they are also fully prepared to fail. The reason is that Chinese traditional conservative thinking is too deep-rooted. At this time, it has gradually become the mainstream, but since its birth in China, it has always been a minority alien, and has not been recognized by many people. It can be used to attract believers and unite comrades, but if you want to use this to break through the shackles of the old society in one fell swoop, It is still far away, and it may take decades or even hundreds of years of uninterrupted baptism in the field of thought to make more people recognize it.

Fortunately, the Li Shun regime also had more trust in the people on the east bank, and it carried out this so-called "New Deal" vigorously and vigorously. It also saw the benefits and tasted a certain amount of sweetness. Verbal criticism, they have always firmly maintained the emerging workshop manufacturing and business class.And these merchant classes are also relatively clever. Through gathering with the Dashun warlords, they gained political backing, and then began to financially support the so-called "New Confucian scholars" who believed in the enlightenment thoughts of Li Zhi, Gu Yanwu and others, so that they could find ways to support themselves. Speaking in groups and speaking out in the public opinion circle, although the effect seems to be far from ideal at present, it is much stronger than the low social status of the previous Ming Dynasty.At least, under the Li Shun regime, they are no longer the kind of "profit seekers" who are at the mercy of others, have no social status, and have original sin. This is enough.

Guo Puxia's adjutant also made a key description of the social changes in the field of Shunguo's ideology, pointing out that the social practice created by the State Intelligence Agency seems to have had a positive impact on the Li Shun regime.And in the long run, if the successors of the Li Shun regime can ensure the continuity of the policy (that is, the successors should not be assimilated by the traditional gentry), the future will definitely have a profound impact on productivity and production relations, and this is what they can The main reliance for defeating the Qing Dynasty, which appeared to be much stronger than them on the surface-of course, the support of the people on the east coast is also indispensable, otherwise everything would be out of the question.

(End of this chapter)