Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 248 Are modern people happier than ancient people?
"Mr. Lin, the later generation you are in also has various problems?" Standing in front of a "Modern Version of Qingming Riverside Picture", Taizu Zhao Kuangyin asked.

Perhaps in Taizu's eyes, after a thousand years, it will be a new era that is changing with each passing day.

At that time, the common people in the world were prosperous to the extreme, and everyone was like a saint. What would be the problem?

Zhao Kuangyin thought too much.

As long as there are people, there will be selfishness, and various conflicts will arise because of interests.

Then there are social problems.

Perhaps some of the disadvantages of modern customs are even worse than those of the Song Dynasty thousands of years ago.

While the light on the scroll was intertwined, Song Renzong pointed to a scene and asked, "Mr. Lin, this thing can gallop on the road with a speed as fast as thunder, but it doesn't need a horse or a horse to carry it in front. What is it?"

Lin Feng replied:

"It's called a car, and it's divided into large trucks, small trucks, small cars, etc. according to size."

"Large and small trucks can carry goods, and cars mainly carry people. They can easily travel thousands of miles in a day."

Hearing this, the emperors of the Song Dynasty all showed surprised expressions.

In their cognition, only the best hard-earned BMWs can travel thousands of miles a day.

Song Renzong frowned, "How can I run without an additional power source?"

Lin Feng said, "Have you heard of the word "petroleum"? The front of the car is equipped with a technological product called an engine that is a thousand years old. It burns oil to obtain a powerful output power."

Song Renzong asked, "Mr. Lin, what do you mean, as long as there is oil, the car can run non-stop?"

The word oil.

What many people don't know is.

It is not a modern vocabulary, nor is it foreign.

The birth of the term oil was in the Song Dynasty, to be precise, the Northern Song Dynasty.

It was also the Song Dynasty established by Zhao Kuangyin.

Shen Kuo was the first to name "petroleum", nearly 500 years earlier than Xu Xiake, the "strange man through the ages" of the Ming Dynasty.

Shen Kuo is from Hangzhou, Zhejiang.A well-known statesman and scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty, Cao Renfu was a conciliator of Yan's economic strategy and also knew Yanzhou.

In 1080 A.D., Shen Kuo served as the appeasement envoy of Fuyan Jinglue and also knew Yanzhou.

When he was tired in the pommel horse, he was still committed to the investigation of the mountains and rivers in northern Shaanxi.

He found a kind of fossil almost bamboo in Yongning Pass in Tingchuan, and he called the thing he found - bamboo shoots.

"Bamboo shoots" have hundreds of stems, "the roots and stems are connected, and they are all fossils."

In the territory of Yanting, Shen Kuo found that where sand and rocks mixed with spring water, black paint-like liquid often appeared, and the local people called this liquid "fat water".

They stained it with pheasant tail feathers, collected it in jars, and used it for lighting.

But the thick smoke from it blackened even the tents.

Relying on scientific intuition, Shen Kuo thought that this kind of smoke could be used, so he tried to sweep some soot to make ink, and named it "Yanchuan Stone Liquid".

Because this "fat water" can make ink, Shen Kuo asserted:

"This thing will be popular in future generations."

And happy to write a "Yanzhou Poem"

"It's snowing heavily on Erdeng Mountain, Xuanzhuo Qionglu learns from the Sai people."

"A man who wears out plain clothes is not old, and the stone smoke is like Luoyang dust."

Later, because of his defeat in the famous "Yongle War" between the Northern Song Dynasty and Xixia, Shen Kuo was offended and punished, and officially withdrew from the political arena.

Shen Kuo lived in seclusion in Mengxi in his later years and went to write his scientific work "Mengxi Bi Tan".

In his "Mengxi Bi Tan", it is written that "there is oil in the territory of Yanyan, and the old saying 'Gaonu County produces fat water', that is."

For the first time he explicitly mentioned the term "oil" and predicted:
"There is a lot of oil, which grows endlessly in the ground, not like pine trees that sometimes dry up. Now Qilu Wen, gradually reaching Taihang, Beijing West, and Jiangnan, most of the Songshan Mountains are young, and the coal miners don't know the benefits of stone smoke."

He realized that the oil reserves in the northern Shaanxi Oilfield were abundant, and believed that oil could replace pine wood, and it was a valuable fuel, and there were endless reserves under the strata, which could be exploited in large quantities, or even inexhaustible.

His evaluation of oil is indeed very high.

Shen Kuo's prediction that "the most oil is born in the ground is infinite" was verified in the early years of the last century after thousands of years.

In the early years of the last century, outside the west gate of Yan'an County, the 81-meter "Yanyi Well" with relatively high oil production was drilled. This is "the first oil well in the Chinese mainland".

Since then, Yan'an's oil has entered a period of modern significance.

Song Taizu Zhao Guangyi couldn't help but said, "Since this is the case, the distance that a car can run in a day may not be 1000 kilometers, right?"

Lin Feng was very patient, and answered the emperors' doubts and said:
"Yes, theoretically speaking, a day is 12 o'clock. On a flat highway, a car can run 240 kilometers in an hour, and the limit is nearly 3000 kilometers a day."

Zhao Kuangyin was shocked and said, "Travel three thousand miles a day? Even the purest king of sweat and blood can't do it."

Lin Feng pointed to the picture scroll in front of him, pointed to the modern city scene and said:

"Taizu, the speed of the car is mainly due to the roads built by later generations."

For a moment, the eighteen emperors of the Great Song Dynasty looked at the criss-crossing roads and expressways in unison.

Zhao Kuangyin asked, "How much does this kind of road to future generations cost?"

Lin Feng said, "If it is a highway, the cost of one kilometer will be about 3000 million for future generations."

Song Shenzong, who presided over Wang Anshi's reform, said thoughtfully, "Mr. Lin, what is the ratio of the money of later generations to the economy of the Song Dynasty?"

The money of the Song Dynasty is calculated with consistent money.

The consistent money in the Song Dynasty was equivalent to 3000-4000 yuan today, and that in the Qing Dynasty was equivalent to 400-500 yuan. Of course, this was converted from the purchasing power of the society at that time, not simply based on today's silver price.

Besides.

The Song Dynasty was a copper standard system, copper coins were the main currency, and gold and silver were not used as currency.

An assumption is often used when discussing ancient currencies:
One tael of gold = 10 taels of silver = 10 copper coins = 1000 Wen copper coins.

"Yue Fei's New Biography" once mentioned that the imperial court sent Yue Fei's provincial letter: "Pay * ten thousand stone rice, 40 taels of money for military supplies. The 40 taels of money was converted into 10 taels of silver and 5000 taels of gold. At that time Gold and silver are still used as independent currencies."

It can be seen that the 40 copper coins in the Southern Song Dynasty are equivalent to 10 taels of silver and 5000 taels of gold.
After listening to Lin Feng's explanation, the quick-witted Song Shenzong quickly calculated the cost. At this moment, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and said with a dumbfounded expression:
"According to Mr. Lin, the construction cost of a kilometer of expressway in later generations will cost at least [-] yuan."

Song Zhenzong, who shamelessly ran to Taishan to enshrine Zen, continued, "That is, the Chinese court 1000 years later, the money for building a few miles of highways is enough for the Song Dynasty to launch a small war!"

As soon as this remark came out, the audience who watched the show were also dumbfounded.

"This conversion sounds unreliable!"

"1000 years apart, the environments of the two time and space are different, and the purchasing power is also different, so such a simple probability conversion cannot be done."

"There are errors, but according to the mainstream, Da Song's consistent money is indeed equivalent to about 3000 of our current money."

"The inflation of our time should be considered."

"The algorithm is very problematic. People used copper at that time, we used paper, and the currencies were different."

"This is a variety show, don't take it too seriously!"

In the lens.

The eyes of the eighteen emperors of the Song Dynasty shifted to the buildings and buildings in the modern city.

The [-]-meter-high majestic buildings soar straight into the sky, like giant pillars.

Such a majestic and huge house is comparable to the legendary oriental dragon, with the tendency to swallow the world, like the backbone of China, it is daunting, far beyond the expectations of the emperor of Song Dynasty.

Regarding this, Lin Feng just said, "Seniors, the times are different, so it's not worth being too shocked."

As thousands of years ago, where did our ancestors live?
caves, tree nests...

Later, there were simple thatched houses. With the development of the times, wooden houses and stone houses began to appear, and then there were ancient city walls, palaces and so on.

Song Weizong said with a yearning expression, "Being able to live in such a sky-reaching building, living among the clouds, will definitely make people feel refreshed, and feel the profound meaning of the vastness of the world..."

Lin Feng said with shame, "If you ask the people of future generations, would you say that people of future generations would like to live in skyscrapers? Or is it the imperial palace controlled by your emperor?"

modern people.

Willing to live in a high-rise?Or a palace?

It's simply a question of giving points.

The results of it?
The emperors of the Great Song Dynasty became entangled, and Lin Feng had no choice but to say, "The people of later generations will 100% choose the palace."

Song Qinzong was puzzled, "Why?"

Lin Feng said, "A 1000-meter-high building is good, but there are many hidden dangers. What if there is a fire? It's not easy to escape. What if the elevator breaks down? You need to climb more than [-] steps on foot. If you don't get tired, you will fall off the floor." Skin, and water and electricity problems."

"The most important thing is that many people need to borrow money from banks similar to ancient banks to buy a one-hundred-meter house."

"The monthly repayment will take up to 30 years."

"Being burdened with loans and not eating or drinking every day, you also need to pay back the money on time every month. Be a house slave under great pressure."

Song Renzong nodded and said, "Living with loans has existed since ancient times. For the common people, it is indeed a heavy burden."

Yes.

The loan business had already developed to a very high level in the Song Dynasty.

Lin Feng asked, "What is the annual interest rate of your Da Song loan?"

Song Shenzong, who presided over Wang Anshi's reform, replied, "The annual interest on farmers' loans is only 40%."

Lin Feng, "..."

Audiences,"……"

40% annual interest?Emperor Shenzong, are you kidding me?
Noticing Lin Feng's weird expression, Song Shenzong said again, "Mr. Lin, is the annual interest rate too low? It surprised you? How much is the interest on your future loans?"

Hearing this, the corners of the mouths of many viewers who watched the show twitched.

You call 40% annual interest rate very low?

You are more blood-sucking than vampires, no, it should be called a "super loan" among loan sharks.

Lin Feng scratched his head and said, "Personal loans for people in later generations are about 4%...7%."

Song Shenzong didn't dare to believe it, "The lowest can be 4%? In this way, wouldn't your later generations call the banking department a big loss and be on the verge of bankruptcy?"

Bank failure?

Lin Feng said that this probability is lower than your probability of winning the tens of millions of dollars.

Regarding the loan business of the Great Song Dynasty, Lin Feng had consulted various materials.

In modern society, the phenomenon of "eating more than enough food for what you need" is very serious, and the prevalence of advanced consumerism has made the loan business flourish.

Nowadays, personal loans are generally between 4% and 7%. Such a high interest rate is unacceptable to many people, let alone those campus loans and usury loans with an annual interest rate of three to five cents.

During the Song Dynasty, commercial trade was very frequent, which gave birth to the loan business.

At that time, Wang Anshi introduced a green crop law, and the annual interest on farmers' loans was only 40%, which was indeed a very low loan at the time, but it was subjected to various distortions in the implementation, so that it developed into a usury that exploited the people.

First of all, there were a lot of usury among the folks in the Song Dynasty. Everyone must have read "Water Margin". Ximen Qing in it was dedicated to usury, and gained a lot of wealth through usury.

Originally, the imperial court ignored these things. After all, one was willing to fight and the other was willing to suffer.

However, because of the increasing financial pressure caused by the "three redundant" crisis, the emperor of the Song Dynasty had to ask Wang Anshi to increase fiscal revenue.

One of the viewpoints put forward by Wang Anshi is: the people do not add taxes, but the country uses them.

The translation of this content is very simple. He said that he can not add taxes to the people but can also make the court rich.The emperor of the Song Dynasty was of course very happy, so Wang Anshi was used to start the reform.

At that time, Wang Anshi introduced a green crop law, which means that in February and May every year when the agricultural harvest is not good, the people have no income, and the government will issue some loans to the people to help them tide over the difficulties.Then wait until the people have a good harvest, and then return the loan.The form of loan at that time was to borrow money or grain, and the half-year interest was two cents, and the annual interest was four cents.Regarding this interest rate, some people will definitely think that the interest rate is a bit high, but at that time, usury loans generally had an annual interest rate of 300%, which was already considered very low under the young crop method.

However, Sima Guang strongly opposed this policy since its inception. Sima Guang was familiar with classics and history, and he believed that Wang Anshi was following the path of Sang Hongyang.Exploiting the common people and competing for profit with the people under the banner of "the people don't add taxes, but the state uses them" has more serious drawbacks than adding taxes.In fact, Sima Guang's guess was correct, and the young crop method was quickly distorted after it was born.Due to the corruption of official administration, the Qingmiao Law carried out forced apportionment and taxation at various levels, and the common people suffered greatly from it.However, Wang Anshi presented the good side to the emperor, saying that the annual interest rate of the green crop method is 40%, and the farmers are very fond of it; Sima Guang presented the bad side to the emperor, saying that the annual interest rate of the green crop method is 160%, and the farmers are deeply affected by it .

anyway.

This ancient loan business, with such a high annual interest rate, definitely refreshes the understanding of modern people.

The old saying that in the old society, people eat people is not an exaggeration at all.

Taizu Zhao Kuangyin said, "It seems that compared to the [-]-meter-high building, the Palace of the Son of Heaven is better!"

There is no doubt that the life of the people after a thousand years will not be comparable to that of the ancient royal family and nobles.

There are three wives and four concubines in a family, a wealth of tens of thousands, a luxurious manor, and delicacies from mountains and seas every day. Who can compare?

And us?

Monogamy, a living area of ​​more than a hundred square meters, a few taels of savings, hard work, and mostly unhealthy food.

of course.

Most people are still unwilling to change you back to the ancient life.

why?
There were no mobile phones and computers in ancient times!
No WIFI!
There are no various technological products!
After chatting about houses, Lin Feng led the emperors to experience modern social commerce.

Mainly to observe various wholesale markets, buying and selling markets, as well as squares, shopping malls, supermarkets...

After reading all kinds of commodities in the modern city.

Many emperors of the Song Dynasty expressed emotion, saying that the common people of later generations lived a much happier life than the people of their generations.

Lin Feng was in a daze, and said leisurely, "Are modern people after 1000 years really happier than your ancient people?"

(End of this chapter)