Chapter 90 Going around is also part of the official struggle
Chen Shuren's words can stand the test of history, so what he said is very justified.
If he had been facing a lower-level civil servant at this moment, or someone who wanted to make peace with him and not care about right and wrong after taking the money, he might have been completely convinced by now.
However, Zhang Guowei was a loyal minister with some integrity after all. Historically, he was able to commit suicide by throwing himself into a lake after the fall of King Lu's regime. It can be said that he and Jiang Dejing were the only people with integrity in the household system in the last period of the Ming Dynasty. It's time for a test.
Decades of thinking made his expression more complicated as he listened. Although he was already seventy-eight percent convinced, he still insisted on asking the last question:
"Even if what you say makes sense, then the Qin and Han Dynasties focused on agriculture and suppressed commerce to make the country rich and strong, while the Sui and Tang Dynasties relied more or less on agriculture to consolidate the country's foundation. If the pursuit of profits is indulged, and only commerce and taxation are emphasized, what will happen if there is no one to farm?
In the past, Guan Zhong tried to exalt Lu Gu and tricked the people of Lu into abandoning millet and millet and engaging in sericulture. In the end, Lu was cut off by a severe famine. We must take lessons from the past. In our Ming Dynasty, natural disasters continue, the people are hungry, and they focus on commerce and collect more business taxes. This will not get worse. Do you want people to abandon farming?"
After hearing this question, Shen Shuren finally cheered up and admired Zhang Guowei a little more. At least his attitude was quite upright.
Chen Shuren also changed his expression to a very serious one and said solemnly:
"This matter must indeed be prevented, but the imperial court did not emphasize business and did not collect more business taxes. In Susong's land, sericulture and cotton were grown almost 10 times, and there was no ban on it. Therefore, this is not a serious matter. The mercantile issue is whether the imperial court has the ability to establish laws and manage land use.
As for the emphasis on agriculture in the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, the essence was that at that time there were still a lot of uncultivated fields in the world, unclaimed wasteland, a few people, and a lot of wealth. The total number of people in the world was not enough to cultivate all the land suitable for farming, so it was necessary to focus on agriculture and suppress Businessmen, make sure to plant more fields.
But since the Song Dynasty, the situation has changed dramatically. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there may have been undeveloped land in the south. But by the Southern Song Dynasty, in Fujian and Jiangxi, even in the mountains, wherever there was river irrigation, it was cultivated.
As for our Ming Dynasty, even the land of Jiangxi now has a population greater than that of the northern provinces. It is a province in the mountains. It can be seen that the land of the Han Dynasty has been completely cleared.
When the world has a population of 100 million and 50 million strong men, there will be enough people to plant all the fields in Han Dynasty, and they will cultivate them intensively. No matter how many people are put into the land, the yield will not be high. The extra people should naturally be used in industry and commerce. Betting can also allow part of the money originally intended to be used to annex land to be directed towards other industries."
After the productivity factors required for agriculture, whether labor force or other means of production, have reached the value required by the land, if you invest more in it, you will not get more output. This part of the waste is called "involution"——
This word, which became very fashionable in later generations, originally originated from describing "a waste of labor and ineffective accumulation of intensive farming that cannot increase output."
On this issue, the Ming Dynasty's emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce, starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, is obviously problematic. Zhu Yuanzhang did not consider the growth of the population at all, and did not consider that "the total population of the world's farming population is enough, and the eighteen provinces of Han Dynasty will open up wasteland." After "finished", how can we proactively find a way out for those who continue to grow?
Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty also banned the sea, so it was not possible to colonize and settle overseas.
There are cold grasslands and deserts in the north and west of Han Dynasty, and steep mountains in the southwest. New farmland cannot be found in the west and north (except in the northeast. If the technology is advanced and you are not afraid of the cold, you can still grab it for farming after the Qing Dynasty is destroyed. Yes, that can accommodate tens of millions more farmers)
Banning the sea means stopping the pursuit of growth in total cultivated land.
If the extra population didn't backfire on the Ming Dynasty's system, it would be a disaster.
When Zhang Guowei heard this, he was completely stunned and convinced.
Who told Confucians not to study population growth and how to deal with it from ancient times to the present? Chen Shuren's words suddenly opened up a new world for him.
Zhang Guowei was a well-read and knowledgeable person. After being stunned for a while, he sighed:
"In ancient times, the people were few but had plenty of wealth, so they did not fight. Nowadays, people have five sons, which is not too many, and there are five sons. The eldest father has not yet died but has twenty-five grandchildren. The people have few goods and wealth, work hard, and have little support. The old people fight——
Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are what Han Feizi said, "Rewards and punishments are repeated to avoid chaos." It is impossible for Emperor Taizu to see clearly the consequences of human reproduction hundreds of years later. This Ming Dynasty really cannot survive without changing.
Even if Lijin's method leads to the decentralization of local financial power, the harm will be far less than that of Li and Zhang. We have more vassal towns in the Ming Dynasty than in the Tang Dynasty, and each province is divided into three divisions. I hope that the advantages can be achieved and the disadvantages can be eliminated."
The two sides discussed some details of the Lijin method, and Zhang Guowei wholeheartedly supported and pushed for this reform.
Seeing that Chen Shuren's attitude had been finalized, he revealed the follow-up rhythm:
"In this case, my nephew is not polite anymore. Let's put it this way. In Huguang and Fujian, my nephew has his own way to find allies to promote Lijin. As for Nanzhili, it is thanks to Shibo asking for help for the country.
The rest of Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang can be sandwiched between Huguang, Nanzhili, and Fujian, with one province promoted every other province. In provinces that have not implemented it, if business travelers do not leave the province, they will not be taxed. , which can reduce the resistance to the minimum.
This matter will definitely be impeached by Yan Guan, but my father will take full responsibility for the fault of the initiative. Shibo is just the executor of Nanzhili. When the execution is successful, His Majesty will be very happy. If my father loses power and calms down Yan Guan I am so angry that in the future, I will rely on Shibo to support the sky and the sea with this method of gold."
Shen Shuren was very measured and expressed the meaning of "If something happens, my dad will be demoted to Nanjing for retirement, and you go to Beijing" in euphemistic terms.
A more explicit statement is not suitable now. After all, there are four foreign singers singing songs to persuade people to drink. The two implicit words just now are not afraid of women being able to understand them.
As expected, after Shen Shuren finished speaking, Zhang Guowei's face changed slightly, his expression changed several times, and finally he sighed:
"Six years ago, when I was building a seawall in Suzhou, I met Brother Shen Xian for the first time. I knew that he was a man who was eager for justice and devoted himself to wealth. I didn't expect that six years later, both generations of the Shen family would be so loyal. Ashamed. ”
The four girls who were accompanying him while drinking were also in awe after hearing this.
Although Magistrate Shen and Minister Zhang did not write anything today, they were all talking about national finance, and some of the words they could not understand. But when they singled out those words that they could understand, they all sounded so convincing.
The key is that his spirit of caring about the country and the people is at least as good as that of Fan Zhongyan.
Among the four girls, only Liu Rushi, the oldest and most experienced, frowned slightly, feeling that things seemed not that simple.
She has met countless civil servants and was once a "concubine of a prime minister", but she has never heard of a person in the Ming Dynasty who was so loyal to the country and devoted himself to the country. I hope she is just suspicious and judges gentlemen with a woman's heart. It's in my belly.
However, no one cares about what they think. After hearing Zhang Guowei's self-effacement, Shen Shuren just ended in a pragmatic and understatement:
"Then there is Robert Lao Shibo. My father has recently organized a sea transport ship and is preparing to personally escort this year's first batch of grain to the north. When he arrives in the capital, he will report it to His Majesty. The specific details will be announced to my nephew after the imperial court takes action. Let’s talk to Shibo in detail and adapt accordingly.”
Zhang Guowei nodded and drank almost all the wine, so he stood up to say goodbye. Chen Shuren naturally stood up to see him off, and with a wink, Liu Rushi and Gu Mei stood beside him to help him get off the boat.
Liu Rushi and Gu Mei didn't think it was inappropriate. They were here to welcome Zhang Guowei. Zhang Guowei was already forty-six years old. He was not young anymore. He had drunk some wine. He didn't often ride on the boat. What if he slipped on the pedal? That's not good.
…
While Shen Shuren, Liu and Gu Ernv got off the boat to see off their guests, Li Xiangjun and Bian Yujing, who stayed on the boat, also changed their previous restraints and relaxed a bit in their appearance and demeanor.
They are all still 15 or 16-year-old housekeepers with little experience in serving guests. They are not comparable to Liu, Gu and other familiar seniors. They have never taken over the job of waiting on other people's boats alone, so they are nervous and afraid of making mistakes. It's inevitable.
The girls were somewhat curious about their new acquaintances of the same age. At this moment, while Shen Shuren was away, they plucked up the courage to talk to Chen Yuanyuan.
The youngest Bian Yujing asked casually: "Sister, where are you from? You are so beautiful, we have never heard of you."
Li Xiangjun is a year older than Bian Yujing, has more experience, and naturally has a more accurate vision. After hearing this, she secretly screamed and quickly stopped her:
"Sai Sai, don't be rude! Miss Chen may not be in our group."
Bian Yujing was stunned for a moment, and then realized that his careless first sentence might have been wrong.
She saw that Shen Shuren was the one who invited her to drink and sing with her today, so she thought that all the women were traveling together, so she didn't think much about it at all.
Sure enough, Chen Yuanyuan's face looked slightly unhappy for a moment, but she recovered in an instant. She took a deep breath and said calmly:
"Miss Li doesn't need to be harsh, and Miss Bian got it right. My name is Chen Yuan, and my stage name is Yuanyuan. I have been singing in Kunshan for two years. If it weren't for the young master, I don't know how long it would take to escape from the pit of fire.
Therefore, I was originally the same as you. I was just lucky enough to be able to serve the young master with my perfect body. The young master spent six to seven thousand taels of silver on me. Even if I lose my status for the time being, I am content."
When Chen Yuanyuan said these words, she mentioned the words "perfect body" at the end with a bit of unconscious pride, as if this could emphasize that she was once the same as the other person, but different.
Bian Yujing knew that her words made the other party sensitive and aroused the unpleasant memories of the other party. She quickly admitted her mistake: "Sister is so beautiful and treats others so well. This is what she deserves. I just said the wrong thing, sister. Don't take it personally."
On the other side, Li Xiangjun, who had nothing to do with himself, felt a little sad after listening to Chen Yuanyuan's simple self-narration, as if he was touched by something, and shed tears involuntarily.
She quickly took a round fan and brushed her face casually, wiped away the tears naturally, smiled lightly and said:
"Congratulations to my sister. After joining our profession, you can finally serve your loved one with your perfect body and achieve good results. It is really rare."
Chen Yuanyuan is also a careful person. She immediately sensed that Li Xiangjun was in trouble. After a moment of speculation, she asked casually: "Did my sister encounter something unlucky and unlucky, and she became sad because of it?"
Li Xiangjun smiled helplessly: "It can't be said that I am unlucky. Even if I meet someone who is willing to pay a lot of money to redeem my life, they just want to give me as a gift to build official friendship. This is the original intention of our industry. Such an example as my sister is unique."
The two of them were whispering, and Chen Shuren on the other side had also finished seeing off the guests and had just returned to the cabin.
He didn't pay much attention to Chen Yuanyuan's conversation with Li Xiangjun, but he happened to hear Li Xiangjun complain that he was about to be sold and given away, which aroused his curiosity and political alertness.
"This seems to be inconsistent with history, right? Shouldn't Li Xiangjun be redeemed by Hou Fangyu? How could anyone plan to buy her as a gift for officialdom? Or is it that Kong Shangren's "The Peach Blossom Fan" was written blindly and completely inconsistent with the historical prototype?"
Chen Shuren's brain started to work involuntarily.
When thinking about Hou Xun, Hou Fangyu and his son were in the same party as Zuo Liangyu, and he had a small grudge with the Hou family and Gong Dingzi the year before last. Chen Shuren thought it would be better to inquire about it, maybe he could get some clues about his political opponents. Or a weakness.
Yu Wen, Yu Wu, and Shen Shuren all have to deal with the Hou Zuo Alliance.
The Hou family represents the conservative force in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and there may be some old disciples who will oppose the reform of the Lijin tax system. Zuo Liangyu, on the other hand, did not deal with the Shenshu people in the military aspect of the Huguang battlefield.
No matter who you catch, you can grab the grass and shoot the rabbit.
——
PS: It will be released after 12 o'clock in the middle of the night. I will update it as soon as possible. Considering the system delay, it will be finished before 12:30. But don't stay up late. Get up and watch it tomorrow.
There will be two more updates during the day tomorrow.
Please remember the first domain name of this book:. Mobile version reading URL: