New Shun 1730

After talking about so many reactionary magic tricks, Li Xi concluded: "Whether it is cutting wood to start an uprising or reforming the law, it is nothing more than four words: get rid of the old and bring in the new."

"And in addition to these four words, you must remember that the affairs of the Celestial Empire must consider the four words 'the world is unified'."

"Understanding the old and bringing in the new, understanding the world is unified, there is more room for maneuver."

"What is getting rid of the old and bringing in the new?

"Did the Duke of Xingguo encourage the planting of cash crops in the reform of Su and Lu in the past? Or did he cultivate the whales and go to the South Sea to scare Korea to get a commercial grain base first?"

"Getting rid of the old is for the sake of getting the new. And you must not get rid of the old for the sake of getting rid of the old. You must first think of the new law and make preparations before you can get rid of the old."

"For example, after the war, Louis XV of France communicated with me and said that he wanted to abolish the Paris High Court. I replied that the Celestial Empire was able to control the aristocratic families because of the imperial examination. This is not impossible, but to get rid of the old, at least I know what the new looks like. If you don't know how to create new things and you destroy the old things first, won't it be chaotic? "

"For example, I want to run schools and promote practical learning. Then, what about the charity schools and clan schools in the past? How to change the academies that used to rely on rent from land and school fields? How to change the private schools that used to rely on donations from gentry? Where will the teachers come from? How will the students and scholars make a living in the future? How to solve these problems without considering how to solve them, and abolish the old subjects without saying a word, how can there not be chaos? "

"This is what is called getting rid of the old and starting the new. "

"Then what is the unification of the world? "

"Now the court's finances and taxes, seven or eight out of ten, do not come from land per mu tax, but from exports, commercial taxes, colonization, salt taxes, etc. "

"First send to the provinces, collect taxes easily, and don't have to deal with the most troublesome landlords, gentry, and small farmers. "

"If it is to save trouble, the court will only rely on commercial taxes, tariffs, exports, salt taxes, etc. in the future, and think that the inland provinces are all troublesome. It just so happens that Confucian scholars talk a lot about restoring feudalism, and gentry power also talks a lot about restoring the power of schools and politics. "

"The court, in order to save trouble, to please the gentry, or simply not to cause trouble, gave in to them, no longer suppressing the power of the gentry, and the per-acre tax remained unchanged. If the tax farming system only requires 20 million taels, the rest can be handled by the local governments themselves, and everyone will be happy."

"The power of the gentry expands, they advise on government affairs, control the local areas, and the taxes and levies of the people are all discussed by the local sages. They will surely shout that the emperor is wise and the kingly way is restored. This is the true governance of the Three Dynasties."

"Is this the unification of the world? Or is it separatism along the coast, just like the Shang Dynasty controlled the world with weapons, gold, copper, and trade? ”

This is also a characteristic problem of Dashun.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, a wave of thought of "re-feudalism under the ancient county system" has emerged in the Confucian community. Needless to say, several great thinkers in the late Ming Dynasty, such as Yan Yuan and Li Xian, radicals of equal land distribution, did not mention the idea of ​​re-feudalization in their books, but were also quite enthusiastic about the idea of ​​local decentralization.

For example, around the ancient school system, with schools as the political center of prefectures and counties, abolishing the imperial examination system to solve the problem of students, and then letting the virtuous elect true gentlemen and true Confucianists to discuss politics. The school is not only a place of education, but also plays the role of a local prefecture and county parliament.

Of course, this idea was just talk in the past, and the court would never listen to it.

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of Shunxing, Dashun suppressed it for a long time. Local gentry power. Because this kind of thing sounds good, but it is hard to say whether it is actually a regression or progress. Although the imperial examination system has many problems, it is better than the local recommendation of talents and the variant of the recommendation system.

However, with Liu Yu's reform, the proportion of fiscal revenue in Dashun is completely different from before.

Tariffs, commercial taxes, export taxes, colonial plunder, etc., these revenues have skyrocketed.

And per mu tax...

As far as the imperial treasury is concerned, the per mu tax was not much before. Whatever the local government wants to do, the imperial court actually turns a blind eye and lets the local government do its own apportionment, additional levy, donations and other means.

After all, for such a large country, collecting 20 million taels of silver in taxes a year is actually It is a matter of staring at the eyes - a gentleman stays away from the kitchen and tacitly allows the localities to make money on their own. In name, the official taxes are indeed not much, but the miscellaneous duties, transportation, labor, levies, and fire consumption outside the official taxes are the real oppression that drives people crazy.

Now, it is much easier for Dashun to make money in the first-developed areas than to collect the per-acre tax.

Collecting land tax means solving the problems of landlords and farmers and dealing with local gentry. In fact, it is very difficult to collect, and the key is that not much can be collected.

So some ministers in the court suggested that there are commercial taxes, customs duties, colonial income, etc., and it is difficult and troublesome to collect per-acre taxes and not much can be collected.

Then, can we say that the court should not let the per-acre tax go to the treasury? Can we give the per-acre tax to the local governments?

The missing per-acre tax is actually very easy to recover.

For example, if we set up a bank in the inland areas to collect inland taxes, that is, natural economic protection taxes, or if we regard the inland as a region, it is equivalent to the "export tariffs" collected by the developed areas. This money will definitely belong to the central government rather than the local governments. This will easily make up for the per-acre tax.

In this case, can we only rely on the commercial taxes, tariffs, natural economic protection taxes, etc. of the developed provinces as the central government's finances?

Since the inland areas are all burdens, it is difficult to collect taxes, and the local gentry is still resisting, can we say that the local authority should be appropriately expanded?

On the one hand, this is in line with the Confucian idea that local wise men can participate in politics and solve the student problem.

On the other hand, the previous tax system of the imperial court was self-deceiving. Local governments had no money, and they had to think of some fire consumption, apportionment, and increase in addition to the regular taxes. The upper court generally turned a blind eye. In this case, why not just throw the mu tax to the local governments? It is troublesome to collect taxes, and the amount collected is not much.

In this way, let the local governments play with the mu tax, and the imperial court only needs to collect customs duties and commercial taxes, etc. Everyone is happy, and the imperial court also gets rid of a lot of trouble. The gentry in the world will definitely praise the emperor for his wisdom.

And the mu tax in the inland areas generally collects 13 to 15 million taels. If you want to make up for it, you only need to relax such strict protection and control.

Allow cheap goods from developed areas to enter, but set up a banknote customs, and collect some natural economic protection taxes, isn't it enough?

For example, cotton cloth in Songsu costs one yuan; while cloth under the natural economy in the inland areas costs two yuan.

Then we can collect 70 cents of natural economic protection tax, which will not destroy the economy too much, and the 100,000 taels can be easily recovered from the "internal tariff"?

As for what the nature of this is, whether it is a colony, etc., let's not talk about it for now.

The key is that for the court, money is a big problem, even the biggest thing.

And because of Liu Yu's reform, the money in the treasury is different from before, which makes it possible for the court to accept this idea psychologically and technically.

Fifty or sixty years ago, it would definitely be impossible. The idea of ​​local schools of Confucian scholars to recommend and discuss politics was impossible to accept in terms of money. Because most of the income of the court before was still per mu tax.

But now, from the perspective of money, this is very likely - because the proportion of treasury revenue has changed, and the per-acre tax is almost less than the land tax collected in India. Of course, this is because the colonial policy of Dashun is relatively "radical". After all, it is the colonial thought of industrial capitalism, and it still relies on the colonies to provide raw materials and markets, rather than the colonial thought of reactionary commercial capitalism. Otherwise, as in history, the British East India Company could collect 70 to 80 million taels of silver from per-acre tax in India, which is much more than the per-acre tax plus salt tax before Dashun - and Dashun relies on commodity taxes and tariffs in developed areas, as well as salt taxes after the improvement of transportation, etc., and the land tax in the inland areas is really optional.

And to say, the financial system of Dashun itself is indeed very problematic. Continuing the policies of the previous dynasty, there is not much tax in name, and the local governments have to find ways to make money, otherwise the local governments will not be able to maintain it at all.

So, this problem that was almost unsolvable now seems to have a solution: the central government throws away the per-acre tax, does not collect it, and returns it to the local governments.

This does not mean to cancel the per-acre tax.

Instead, it means that the per-acre tax should be handed over to the local governments, and local gentry, clerks, etc. should collect the per-acre tax themselves.

In this way, the court can not only earn the reputation of "benevolent government", but also get the support of local gentry, and avoid the extremely troublesome problems of landlords and farmers.

Of course, this idea has been very popular in the court in recent years, not only because of the pure proportion of treasury revenue, but also because many people have fueled it.

To a certain extent, Li Li's insistence on reforming the imperial examination system is also related to this matter.

When Li Li faced this idea that day, he was rarely furious and cursed in the court, saying that this was "a pattern of partial peace and separatism, without the spirit of unification"; he also said that "this is the theory of the destruction of the world"; he also said that this matter was "the poison of the tax system of the Mongolian and Yuan barbarians, and Mencius said that the court did not collect the full amount of per-acre tax, which was actually the policy of the barbarians. This statement is derived from this."

The reason for his anger, or at least the reason why he showed or acted extremely angry in the court, was really the factors he mentioned, such as "pattern" and "spirit", but the situation was more complicated than this.

In Li Li's view, there were many problems left by the previous Dashun reform. At least until now, some of the past policies have now caused deep cracks in Dashun.

If the central government of the court really retains the tariffs, commercial taxes, and natural economic protection taxes that are easier to collect in coastal areas, and throws the per-acre tax to the local areas, then in fact Dashun will be completely divided.

Once the court's finances are only tied to the commercial taxes, tariffs, and natural economic protection taxes of the developed areas, then the court will really be controlled by others.

At that time, the court, the central government, can only follow the pace of industry and commerce in the developed areas, as well as the large number of compradors that have appeared in the interior.

The finances are all from this, so will the imperial power dare to make any changes that affect their interests?

And in the end, what is the most likely situation?

The only things the court could really manage were the developed regions; and the people in the developed regions did not want to bear the various problems in the inland regions, and they wanted to let the inland provinces be semi-autonomous and become dumping colonies without any cost management and relief.

The emperor who nominally had the world in his hands actually managed the developed provinces. The developed provinces did not want to solve the poverty, relief, disaster relief, flood control, and landlord and peasant issues in the inland regions at all, as long as the compradors in the inland regions could be supported to buy goods here.

As for those poverty, relief, disaster relief, flood control, and landlord and peasant issues, let the inland provinces manage them themselves.

So, although some radical ideas of the Xianxue School, in Li Li's view, were intended to be "the status of the Guanlong Group, the Huaixi nobles, and even the ancient text classics during the Wang Mang New Deal".

But at least, Li Li believed that the radical ideas of the Xianxue School were still "the pattern of unification of the world" rather than "the twilight of separatism and partial peace".

Even if these people want to replace the old with the new and take the opportunity to replace the old bureaucracy, they are ultimately from the perspective of the world, not the perspective of two or three provinces.

However, Li Hao could not accept the idea that the imperial court should rely on customs duties and commercial taxes to expand the authority of local governments and leave the mu tax to the local governments. He would rather accept the Xianxue approach and really support an uncontrolled group of "Confucian scholars of ancient Chinese classics" or a "new Huaixi noble group" than accept this plan that completely splits Dashun and destroys the world. Thoughts of shredding.

In fact, the reason is very simple, just like what he said to the prince: to remove the old and establish the new, the world will be unified, and nothing will work without it.

Son of Heaven, Son of Heaven, the world is torn apart, what is the Son of Heaven?

The ideas of the Xian school are too radical and difficult to control. Once something is accomplished, it is easy to form a group, and the big tail cannot be lost. Therefore, it is impossible for Li Han to accept the Xianxue school's idea of ​​"radical reform, using intellectuals and literate people with different class attributes from the mainland landlords to carry out land equalization reform" - once it is accomplished , up and down, the whole world looks up, they are all "compatriots", "classmates", and "classmates" from the fields of practical learning. Maybe he, the emperor, can still suppress it. If he dies, won't his children and grandchildren be directly killed by others?

As for the hands-off faction, that is, they intended to turn the mainland into a colony. The imperial court only retained commercial taxes and customs duties and handed over the troubles in the mainland to the semi-autonomous mainland. Li Wei was even less likely to accept it.

Therefore, this prompted him to reform the imperial examination and set up schools to try to solve this problem and fundamentally eliminate the possibility of turning a good unified dynasty into a peaceful colonial mother country.

The unification of the world actually has nine characters in total.

[Books with the same text, cars with the same track, and actions with the same theme].

No matter what content is tested in the imperial examination, which school of Confucianism, or which school of hundreds of schools of thought, the world must have the same knowledge, otherwise the world will sooner or later have trouble.

This is the reason why Li Han believes that the ideas of the Xianxue school have merit but are not applicable: the Xianxue school also talks about "Shang Tong" and "Six Harmony Styles". This is at least a "doctrine with world-wide magnanimity." ——The Xianxue school considers the problem from the perspective of the world, and is firmly opposed to the model in which the Yin and Shang Dynasties use the economy and the army as the common masters of the world. ——Only from the perspective of imperial power, they believe that the methods of Xianxue are too radical. , although the world is saved, the imperial power may be gone.

To put it simply, Li Huan's so-called "removing the old, establishing the new, and unifying the world" means wanting both the world and imperial power.

Because now is the prosperous age. This does not mean that Emperor Li Han has a high level of consciousness, but it is that in the prosperous age, I have never heard of anyone taking the initiative to choose between the world and the imperial power. After all, he still thinks about having both. If it were to be a situation of imminent decline, Li Han might not only want the imperial power, only want to be the emperor without caring about the world, and even do some things like borrowing troops, acting as the emperor, and serving as a local official for others.

At least, he felt that if he tried his best to seize that glimmer of life, he could still "want it all."

Of course, it has really come to a time when it is no longer enough to “remove the old and install the new”.

If he did not continue the reform, Li Han was worried that after his death, he would really become a country that relied on the first provinces to carry out internal colonization, allowing the mainland to be autonomous, regardless of the poverty and disasters in the mainland, and just use it as a dumping ground for goods.

This is not because he cares about the world and the common people, but because he knows how to do it. He insists on forcing people in the Xianxue sect who have such great feelings as "the world" and "the common people" to become rebels. In the end, it is really easy to dig up his family's ancestral graves. Well, I even want to have a reputation that will last forever.

He now wants to be the "Emperor of Progress" and wants to talk about the world and the common people, just so that the heroes of the era who care about the world can still follow him and at least still have the illusion of reform. He really forced this group of people to be completely disappointed, and something big was going to happen, especially since he had gone through almost the entire process of Liu Yu's reforms, and he seemed to have brought about the great changes in the world in the past few decades, which made him feel lingering fear. ——What if a few such characters appear and become completely disappointed, giving up reform and becoming rebels?

With the rise of practical learning, the vision for the future is no longer the vague three-generation rule, but has more specific expectations.

So, it is impossible that the capital of Yao, the soil of Shun, and the seal of Yu were all people seeking fame and wealth, and people who could cut off their eggs at will as officials. Once these people had mastered advanced knowledge and had the ability to People with great ambitions in the world found that the imperial court was getting further and further away from their ideals. After this group of people were completely disappointed, it would be a big deal if they really went to the poor areas in the interior to launch an uprising.

Li Han knew very well that this group of people was very different from the past. Because they have programs and clear visions for the future, and what’s even more frightening is that in these programs, land equalization is just a means rather than the ultimate goal.

This is very different from the past.

Therefore, it is not necessary to use the radical reforms of the Xianxue school, but at least changes must be made, which means that it is not that we are not making progress or that we are not thinking about the future, but that the methods and methods can be re-examined.

However, if the model of abandoning the governance of the mainland and only turning the mainland into a dumping ground for goods is really implemented, then a large group of people who could have "followed Duke Xing to build the Yellow River" will probably find that the imperial court has no intention of building the Yellow River at all, then what the hell There's no point in repairing it. Let's bury this decadent dynasty first and then repair it.

In view of this, Li Han was afraid that the prince still could not grasp the essence, so he asked again:

"Let me ask you, if the imperial examination reform is carried out and schools are established. Do you think the money for building schools and distributing to teachers should be increased by the local government's own student donations as in the past? Or should it be funded by the imperial treasury?"

"Let me ask you again, if you want to promote practical learning, should you directly abandon the imperial examination selection and only use the practical talents from various places? Or should you abolish the old academic system of the imperial examination and retain the imperial examination selection, the imperial court's recruitment of talents, and the suppression of fellow villagers who avoid serving as officials? The old law of gentry power?”

The prince naturally avoided the first question about where the money came from and answered the second question first.

"I think that if we want to promote practical learning, we should naturally only change the content of the imperial examination and leave the form of the imperial examination. The subjects are divided into imperial examinations, the eight-legged examination is the imperial examination, and the three sections are also the imperial examination. It is nothing more than 'diligence and love of learning, and excellence in learning will lead to officialdom' ”

"If the imperial examination and the school are consistent, practical learning will not be encouraged to flourish; and if the imperial examination and practical learning are separated, the school will be in name only."

"What is it? The road to wealth and wealth is what people tend to do; the road to heavy work is what people are afraid of."

"If practical learning can lead to profit and wealth, then practical learning will flourish. Even if the government established practical learning in the past, it was because the navy, colonization, commerce, factories, etc. came out of nothing and created many ways to make money and profit that did not exist in the past, so practical learning only emerged."

"If it is only to promote practical learning, the method of examination and selection must not be abolished."

"As for the imperial court's old laws of recruiting talents, avoiding fellow villagers, and suppressing the power of the gentry with officials... I think it is in line with the original intention of my father's question, 'Where does the money come from?'"

"If you set up a school, if the local government collects student donations, it will be like the old thing of the previous three dynasties; and the power of the gentry will increase day by day. If there is no local support, you can't set up a school; and the teachers of the school, etc. And they all rely on local gentry for survival. In the future, I am afraid that it will not be like the old-fashioned Confucian idea of ​​'local politics being discussed in schools', and it will really become feudal."

Li Han nodded in approval and said with a smile: "My son is not a pedantic talker after all."

"What I say is to remove the old and establish the new, and to unify the world, this is the essence of the emperor."

“Abolition of the old and establishment of the new is to prevent revolution.”

"The unification of the world is to prevent feudalism."

"If one of the two is missing, the emperor will not be emperor, and the emperor will not be emperor."

"A sect of outstanding scholars who are too radical and have no king or father."

"The country squire talked about the past three generations, but he really wanted to be feudal."

"However."

"The Xianxue school is limited by the old inscriptions of Duke Xingguo. If they want to accomplish anything, they need a strong state machine. Therefore, unless they have no last resort and are completely desperate, they will probably end up building the Yellow River channel like Duke Xingguo."

"Therefore, they can be used. But they must always look like a 'progressive emperor' on the surface."

"Like setting up a school."

"This is progress in terms of righteousness."

"For a small profit, recruit more teachers and pay them from the national treasury. If we raised hundreds of thousands of wasted students in the past, they will also support us more."

"This matter can change the debate between 'conservatism and progress' into a debate about 'should progress take the left leg or the right leg first?'"

"Did you start with practical learning?"

“Or should we first equalize the land, move the people, and colonize the land to the east?”

"Although, in essence, there is no contradiction between the two. Equalizing land, taxing, cultivating and moving eastward can also establish schools."

"But, this is called making something out of nothing. Forcing two things that are obviously not contradictory to each other to oppose each other can divide the various schools of Buddhism."

"Han Feiyan: The most prominent learning in the world is Confucianism and Mohism. Where Confucianism comes, it's Confucianism. Where Mohism goes, it's Mo Zhai. Since the death of Confucius, there have been Confucians like Zi Zhang, Confucians like Zi Si, and Yan Shi. Confucianism includes the Confucianism of the Meng family, the Confucianism of the Qidiao family, the Confucianism of the Zhongliang family, the Confucianism of the Sun family, and the Confucianism of the Sun family. The Confucianism of the Yue Zheng family. Since the death of Mozi, there has been the Mohism of the Xiangli family, the Mohism of the Xiangfu family, and the Mohism of the Deng Ling family. Therefore, after Confucius and Mo, the Confucianism was divided into eight, and Mo Li was divided into three. The choice is opposite and different, but they all claim to be true Confucius and Mo. If Confucius and Mo are not resurrected, who will make the learning of the world?"

"This is called dividing and showing learning."

"Excellent scholars are the study of change."

“All knowledge of change is infinitely divisible.”

"As a ruler, you must not feel frightened by words such as 'reform and progress'. Instead, you should make the best use of the situation and show that learning is like Confucianism and Mohism, which are separated into eight and three, and support one branch as the true learning."

"In the past, Confucianism was divided into eight schools. But in the end, hundreds of schools of thought were deposed and only Confucianism was respected. Which branch was respected? Which branch is the true Confucianism? Which branch is the true Confucianism? If Confucius is resurrected, will you recognize it?"

"The First Emperor burned books and harassed Confucians. In the end, Confucianism did not dominate? But is the Confucianism that dominates the world the same as the Confucianism of the pre-Qin Dynasty?"

"Yu the Great once said that in controlling water, it is better to dredge it up than to block it. But this does not mean that it is better to flood the water than to block it. It means to follow the trend and let the river water follow the course that Yu wants it to take. This is called blocking rather than dredging it up."

"It's not like his father Gun, who fought to protect the original river course and eventually died."

"It's not like we just let the flood flood us. After thirty to fifty years, there will naturally be new river channels."

"In today's world, we must do this in order to find a glimmer of hope."

"It's difficult, it's difficult. Encourage it, encourage it."

"If Yu the Great controls water, what is his method? The method seems to be very simple, but the water flows to a lower place. Only by using the method of Taoism can it be accomplished. If you don't know this method, everything will stop."

"Therefore, I still ask you to read more books, especially those books that talk about class, production, and capital in the name of rejuvenating the country."

In fact, I have read a lot of books like The Prince.

After reading it, the prince said: "My father's teachings, my sons and ministers will keep them in mind. However, if you read these books, the policies of the Xian School seem to make a lot of sense."

"In the past, Xu Guangqi talked about "Elements of Geometry" and said: There are four things that are not necessary: ​​there is no need to doubt, there is no need to speculate, there is no need to try, and there is no need to correct. There are four things that are not available: you can't get it if you want to get rid of it, you can't get it if you want to refute it, and you can't get it if you want to reduce it. , there are three or three abilities that cannot be changed before and after: the most obscure thing in appearance, the most clear truth in reality, so it can make other things clear and obscure; the most complicated thing in appearance, the most simple truth in fact, so it can simplify other things. It is extremely complex; it seems extremely difficult, but it is actually extremely easy, so it is easy to make other things difficult. Easy comes from simplicity, simplicity comes from clarity, and the beauty lies in clarity."

"The logic similar to "Geometry" requires two conditions."

"First, the hypothesis must be based on basic axioms; second, the reasoning and calculation based on this premise must be strict and logical."

"From this point of view, the Xianxue school's policies such as land equalization, resettlement, reclamation, and industry are not based on what the saints said, but are strictly consistent conclusions reached through reasoning and calculations."

"From this point of view, this trend is inevitable. As practical learning is flourishing, strategies to show learning will also flourish..."

Li Han still smiled when he heard this and said: "That's right. But I ask you, the system of this dynasty is no better than that of Japan and Korea. Land sales are all determined by land deeds. The change of dynasty is just a change of Shuo Yi. Even before, the land was equalized, so it was just Can the land ownership be changed if the land is equalized? It is possible to equalize the land, but it cannot be changed. Do you know the difference? "

Of course the prince could tell the difference. Because the issues that were debated by the Confucian restoration school and a series of historical operations such as Wang Mang's restructuring were not as simple as equalizing land, but were about changing ownership. This problem is very easy to distinguish in Dashun.

Seeing the prince nodding, Li Han added: "Then, if you continue to deduce, you will find the problem."

"According to their reasoning and the so-called difference between new production and old production, according to them, the new production system must constantly erode the old production system in order to be continuously maintained; and if it is a completely new production system, it cannot be maintained. , is about to collapse, because in the final analysis, the deduced result is that the products produced will definitely not be sold, so we must either expand externally or create a group of producers outside the new system.”

"However, with the annexation after equalizing land and the disintegration of the old system in places such as Southeast Asia and India, the old system gradually disappeared. Doesn't it mean that this is also a dead end in the end?"

"But the Xianxue school only pushed it as far as large-scale industry and stopped abruptly. Why do you think so?"

"Because it ends abruptly here, and only then can we maintain an outstanding academic unity. If we continue to push it down, we will need eight points and three points."

"But even so, even if it is only pushed to the stage of large industry, there is still debate within it."

"Equal land? Unequal? ​​Even if we move to cultivate land in the future, is it okay to annex it?"

"Should banknotes and internal taxes be opened or closed?"

"Rely on the natural order? Or rely on the art of salt and iron?"

"Railways, canals, etc., government-owned or private?"

"Is it to continue Xingguogong's eastward marching Fusang, which is driven by capital's pursuit of profit? Or is it the eastward marching Fusang that government-owned capital invests in colonization and relocation for profit?"

"Just pushing it to the level of big industry has already caused a lot of internal disagreements."

"You talk about the ideas of a certain school of thought, but in fact you recognize its 'technique'."

"What is a technique?"

"The radicals in Xianxue are simply saying that most people in Xinxue today are both educated and knowledgeable, and the key is that they have nothing to do with the landlords and gentry in the mainland. If the reforms of the previous dynasty failed, then Only when Taizu revolted could he equalize the land."

"So they feel that now is the right time. They can rely on these hundreds of thousands of new scholars who have nothing to do with the landlords and gentry, rely on the army and state machinery in the hands of the court, and rely on the court to be able to support the army even if they do not collect land tax now. They acted radically to solve the problem of land equalization, taxation, eastward expansion, and cultivation, creating an agricultural environment for the purpose of currency exchange and developing industry.”

"What is Tao?"

“Equalizing land, advancing eastward, cultivating people, creating an agricultural environment for the purpose of exchanging currency and developing industry, this is the Tao.”

"Don't you agree with this? If you agree, then there will be no differences in the ultimate goal, only how to proceed."

"For example, when it comes to repairing the Yellow River, everyone agrees to divert it to the north. But the difference lies in whether to seize the Daqing River or Xiaoqing River, or continue to go north along the ancient river channel of the capital."

The prince pondered for a moment and said in a low voice: "My son thinks that the idea of ​​​​showing one school of learning is still reasonable. If in the future after the reform of the imperial examination, most of the practical scholars will be landlords and squires, and their families will also live on land rent. This will require the reform of land equalization. , It’s really difficult.”

It is actually normal for emperors and even princes to talk about equalizing land and limiting land.

This is the political correctness of the traditional unified dynasty. You may not do things, but you must say things.

In a normal traditional dynasty, not only can you say this without being shot, but you can even report it directly to the emperor.

The most the emperor could do was not do anything, or he might murmur a few words about petty husbands and how rich people should be blamed, but he would never arrest and shoot people because of these words - including saying that those scumbags from the Manchu Qing Dynasty were in restricted fields. All we can say about the problem is "Although this is true, but..." No matter how great Dashun is, it will not be inferior to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

As for some regimes that are worse than the Manchus and Qing Dynasties in terms of land equalization, they are actually not even a basic unified dynasty. They are the disdain of regimes. Wang Anshi was most likely shot on the charge of "collaborating with bandits" because of his "Annexation" poem.

The prince's meaning was quite clear.

To carry out reforms, we need talents and officials, and this requires scholars.

And if the literate scholars are all landlords and squires, living on land rent, then why not change it?

Therefore, he felt that the ideas of the Xian School were advisable. Now it is indeed true that the legacy of previous changes has left behind a large group of scholars who do not rely on land rent, and are in an awkward position. They also have the idea of ​​​​being "righted", and there is no shortage of basic talents.

And the imperial court now controls the fiscal revenue other than the mu tax, and it doesn't even collect the tens of millions of silver from the mainland, so it has almost no impact.

Seeing that the prince thought so, Li Han was not anxious or annoyed, but asked: "Then my son's opinion is to force the land to be equalized? Or is it to be redeemed by Yan Li?"

The prince was confused and asked: "Didn't my father carry out similar reforms before? Using forced industrial savings to build railways, the landlords in the first provinces were transformed..."

Hearing this, Li Han laughed loudly, shook his head and said: "You know it but don't know why. Do you think the transformation depends on building railways?"

"That's skin."

"The real bone is the land north of Songliao. It's the railway bonds that give priority to land purchase. I exchanged the land north of Songliao for their transformation, not just relying on the railway. Otherwise, do you think it is so easy?"

"In other words, you have to have something in your hands before you can make them transform. How can you transform if you don't have anything in your hands?"

"Creating something out of nothing? If industry is as simple as making something out of nothing, and you can make a profit by building an industry, why is the problem so troublesome?"

"If you have industry in your hands, you can exchange industrial shares for their land; if you have state-owned land in your hands, you can also exchange these state-owned lands for their existing land."

"You only look at the skin, not the bones, and think that the previous redemption reform was based on nothing? It was based on industrial profits to replace land rent? You are totally wrong. It was based on the state-owned land in your hands. Because the profits from industry alone are not enough, but the railway makes the originally worthless state-owned land valuable and then exchanges it.”

"How much of today's industry belongs to you? How can you exchange other people's things with others when you don't have anything at all?"

"For example, a large textile factory. Now if it belongs to the imperial court, the imperial court can use a quarter of it to redeem its land."

"The problem is, this big textile factory doesn't belong to you now. Why do you use other people's things to redeem the land?"

"It's not impossible to create something out of nothing."

"For example, when the railway was built before, the land north of Songliao was originally wasteland and not worthy of capital investment. But after the railway was built, beans can be grown, transported and sold for money. This is called making something out of nothing, and it is the land that is growing."

"Now, tell me, create something out of nothing and force the industry to save the landowner's redemption fee. What can you build to ensure profitability?"

"Think again, what I just said, if it lasts for ten years or as long as twenty years, this industry and commerce will be seriously ill. If you build a lot of things now, just in time for the crisis in the future, won't the world be in chaos? ?”

"Besides, since Xingguo Gong left, the gold and silver from Fusang and the profits from Europe and India have been pouring in every year. If there is really a hugely profitable industry, will it be your turn to run it? Merchants are not short of money. If there is really big profits, wouldn't they? Do you know how to vote?”

"Furthermore, my reforms back then were really something I had in hand. We exchanged state-owned land for mineral development industries. We exchanged them for things that were sure to be profitable. Do you really think that I Is it a white wolf with empty hands, and he easily completed the attempt to redeem the land? "

"The Xianxue school knows this very well, so what they want to equalize land is not to redeem it at all, but to divide it by force."

“Because, either, transform into industry and use the redemption fee as a forced industrial savings, but the question is what profitable industry can you think of?”

"Either the redemption fee is still paid to the landlord, which is meaningless. Because the Xian School means to rely on the mu tax after land equalization to force the development of industries such as shipbuilding and steel, and to use the mu tax after land equalization to complete the project in a government-run manner. What’s the use of immigrating and giving rent to landlords and gentry?”

"The reason why the world was waiting and watching before was because of my previous reforms through the redemption transformation. They may be able to accept the redemption transformation, so they just wait and see without fully opposing it. However, if we want to force a division, how can they be willing? You You know, if Donglu can protect their land, they will even shave their heads. "

"If you really want to have a falling out and resolve it with a bayonet... you also need to know that the flourishing flowers and raging fire in the developed areas will not last long. Once there is a change in Europa, the market will be blocked, and there will be a lot of blood. If the disease breaks out, something big will happen.”

"At that time, under the internal and external troubles, how can the situation of the world still be under our control? At that time, I am afraid it will be beyond our control. Once we cannot control it... then it will be done, and the world will be better. But the foundation of our ancestors and the three nobles are all gone."

"That's what I said: The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and the Human Dao is one. If there is a slight mistake, this glimmer of hope will not be grasped."

"And this glimmer of hope is in the future crisis of polyemia. During the crisis, if you do well, you can take advantage of the crisis to buy at low prices and use the imperial treasury and the central bank to buy its assets and turn them into Official property.”

"Before this, don't fight, don't open borders, save more money, and prepare more grain and rice."

"When the crisis passes and prosperity returns, the imperial court has industries in its hands and catches up with a new economic boom, it will use industrial bonds to redeem them for transformation."

"This way, we kill six birds with one stone."

"First, the new big merchants are seriously injured. The assets that the court can control have doubled."

"Second, in the crisis, we use Fuso fields to help unemployed workers, gain their support and disintegrate their ambitions."

"Third, taking advantage of the urgent need for markets during the crisis, Zheng Bo conquered Duan in Yan, opened up Henan and Anhui, the old economy collapsed, commercial exploitation, and the "radicalism" left over from the time of Xingguogong receded."

"Fourth, the disintegration of the practical school is possible for people from one or two provinces to form a group, and the practical school is used Select talents, but don't make sure they are the only ones who can be used. "

"Fifth, the flag of reform is firmly in the hands of the court."

"Sixth... is... hey... is that the world still belongs to the Li family."

"This is the ray of hope. If it can be done, the crown may not fall."

"I also know that it is very difficult. If there is a slight mistake, there will be no recovery. But this itself is a matter of defying fate and changing destiny. Fortunately, I have learned a lot of principles. Otherwise, once the blood disease breaks out, it will be unprecedented and I will be at a loss. All contradictions will explode and there will be no way to save the situation."