New Shun 1730

Looking at the two people kneeling in front of him, the emperor was very satisfied with their pouting posture.

The two people were afraid to look up, but the emperor could understand their inner emotions.

Fear, nervousness, excitement, happiness, worry... all these emotions were caused by him.

Fear was because of meeting the emperor.

Nervousness was because he was afraid of giving a wrong answer and leaving a bad impression on the emperor.

Excitement was because the emperor summoned him and meant promotion...

Everything, including emotions, was given by him as the emperor.

This feeling was also the most common enjoyment of being an emperor. After all, the superiors could give this feeling to the people below.

It was just that when the emperor was the prince, he had such emotions as the kneeling officials, but there was always a day when he had to endure it. After enduring it and finishing the funeral, no one could give him the mixed emotions of fear, nervousness, excitement, and worry.

This was the cheapest enjoyment of power, and it was not worth savoring.

The emperor was slightly satisfied, and then asked Ma Haochuan: "I want to appoint you as the defense envoy of Xuma. Do you know anything about the affairs of western Sichuan?"

Ma Haochuan was transferred back to the capital before, and he only knew that he might be promoted, or go to the Privy Council for training for a period of time before being sent out.

But he didn't expect that after being in the capital for so long, he would get such a big surprise.

Before entering the capital, Ma Haochuan had studied the southwest issue, because he felt that after the court went to Southeast Asia, even if there was another war, it would probably be the navy who would fight in the front, and it might not be his turn.

And even if the navy was good at fighting, they couldn't sail inland on dry land.

So, it was nothing more than the northwest and southwest.

The northwest region is very likely. Normally, the way to get promoted in the past few years is to go to the Privy Council to train for a few years as a staff officer, and then go to the Western Regions to guard for a few years and get promoted.

Or, continue to participate in the reform of the chieftain system in the southwest, fight against the chieftains and those strongholds.

These are two different directions.

And there is a big difference under the specialization of skills.

There were basically no offensive battles in the Western Regions to suppress the rebellion. They were all field battles, and the defense was the main focus. Ma Haochuan heard from his classmates who went to the Western Regions that the earthen walls of the rebels there were so big that a child could pee under the wall and reach the top of the city.

The Southwest Reform and Rebellion was basically a battle to fight fortresses and blockhouses, and the offense was the main focus. Ma Haochuan saw those blockhouses in Western Sichuan, and they were indeed not something that a child could pee on the top of, but fortunately they were not protected from artillery.

After Ma Haochuan had military merit in Western Sichuan, his mind became active and he had higher aspirations - if he had not made merit before, his background would have been destined to end soon, and he would not have had any active mind.

So he really studied the Southwest issue carefully. When he heard that the emperor wanted to appoint him as the Defense Envoy of Xu Ma, he was overjoyed and thought that hard work really paid off, and it was worth it that I had studied many Southwest issues before.

However, although he initially thought that he might be sent to Lhasa in the future, he studied the situation in the snow-capped mountains more, but he also studied the southwest region.

Suppressing his inner excitement, Ma Haochuan carefully replied: "Your Majesty, I have studied the problems in the southwest. Xuzhou, Mahu, and Liangshan are the gateways to the southwest."

"It can control Guizhou and Yunnan; it can connect to Kuizhou and Huguang in the east; it can control Chengdu in the west. This place is extremely important, and I am really afraid."

The emperor hummed, and then said: "Compared to those who are ignorant and don't know where Xuzhou and Mahu are, you don't have to be afraid."

"If you go here, what strategy do you have?"

Ma Haochuan knew that every time he talked to the emperor, he was gambling. If it was in line with the emperor's mind and Jian was in the emperor's heart, it would be smooth sailing in the future; if the gamble was wrong, and what he said was not in line with the emperor's mind, it would probably be over in the future.

However, if he didn't gamble, it wouldn't work, because if he didn't say anything and said that your majesty was wise and self-determined, he would be evaluated as a "mediocre person".

Ma Haochuan made up his mind and replied: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, one can polish jade with a stone from another mountain. In recent years, I have read a lot of Western books compiled and translated by Duke Xingguo, and I have also read some magic strategies published there about Westerners' foreign rule."

"Especially in Nanyang, Ceylon, India, Luzon and other places, they are different."

"I think that in Xu, Ma, Liang and other places, we should pay equal attention to kindness and power, suppress and appease, and relax, and we can't generalize."

The emperor still asked in a dull voice without emotion: "Pay equal attention to kindness and power, suppress and appease. Everyone says so. If you only say so, I'm afraid you haven't learned the essence of the stone from another mountain."

Ma Haochuan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty. I think that there is another way to suppress and appease in the intersection of Xu, Ma and Liang."

"Duke Xingguo said: The economic base determines the superstructure. I didn't understand it at first, and I will wait until I go to western Sichuan to quell the rebellion. , then you will know the true meaning of this. "

"Farming and reading are good things to pass down from generation to generation. However, how to farm and read in places like western Sichuan? Therefore, it is necessary to adapt to local conditions. The knowledge of sages is only applicable to places where farming and reading are possible."

"The ancients said that there is a difference between the barbarians and the Chinese. In recent years, I have read many articles by Duke Xingguo, and I have wondered why hundreds of states and barbarians in the Spring and Autumn Period were intertwined, and they were all Xia people for hundreds of years; while the Mobei and western Sichuan have been intertwined for more than a thousand years, why have they not been transformed into Xia people? "

"I think this is a manifestation of the so-called economic base determining the superstructure. "

"As for places such as Xu and Ma, since the previous dynasty, the policy has been to use barbarians to control barbarians, or to defend with forts, or to strictly guard against barbarians and Chinese. These are all methods that only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. "

"If you want to treat the symptoms and the root cause, you should transform the barbarians. "

"The subtlety of transforming the barbarians lies in small-scale farming. "

"This dynasty has advantages that the previous dynasty did not have in this regard. "

"Potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, etc. can all be grown in mountainous areas. Although it is different from growing wheat and rice, its essence is still farming."

The emperor didn't think there was anything wrong with Ma Haochuan citing Liu Yu's logic. On the contrary, he felt that Ma Haochuan could think of this, especially after thinking that potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, etc. could be grown in mountainous areas, which was an advantage of Dashun's previous dynasty. He praised it. : "If you can think of this, you obviously don't know how to wield swords and guns. What else do you think about this?"

When Ma Haochuan saw the emperor's praise, he felt even happier and more courageous: "I read the story of Duke Xingguo's voyage to Nanyang, and also read about the Dutch control of Nanyang. I know that the deep meaning of 'disintegrating the old village community system' lies in exchange."

"The huge profits from Nanyang spices have accelerated the disintegration of village communities. And if you can find something suitable for planting in Liangshan and other places, and its profits are high, the old system will disintegrate even faster."

The emperor laughed without thinking and said: "Liangshan is not Nanyang. The climate and soil of this dynasty are not suitable for the spices that can be grown in Nanyang. What can be grown in Liangshan cannot be grown elsewhere in this dynasty?"

"If we talk about huge profits, I'm afraid the only ones are poppy and opium. Do we need to grow these things there to realize what you said about 'exchange accelerating the disintegration of the old system'? Is it necessary to ban opium all over the world, except in Ma, Liang and other places? Planting poppies to heal your heart?”

"Hahahaha, but you can think of this, it shows that you have really worked hard."

"Is this the caress you are talking about? What about the suppression?"

But Ma Haochuan boldly said: "Your Majesty, what I mean by "pacification" is not just to encourage farming. Looking at the southwest system since the Tang Dynasty, I feel that if you rebel today, you will be suppressed. At most, you will kill the leader. But this is not the case. What they fear most."

"Wildfires never burn out, but the spring breeze blows and rekindles them. Killing one Zhang San, and another Wang Si comes, and the situation can only be stable for a while."

"If you want to really caress, you have to hit hard first."

"Choose a stronghold where people from Sichuan and Guizhou are usually plundered and enslaved, and attack fiercely. After defeating it, kill all the slave owners, leaving no one behind."

"And those slaves will all be released and given the status of common people."

"The imperial court supports some cattle and seeds. Then we will recruit some people from the new school and teach them to plant."

"As time goes by, slaves will flee here, thinking that this is a paradise."

"And this enabled the court to take the initiative."

"Those honest barbarian leaders, the court can return those runaway slaves, at least not take them in."

"And those who are dishonest encourage slaves to flee. They even want to follow the previous story and kill their clan and rescue all the slaves."

"The previous method was to kill Wang San. The system will not change. There will still be Zhang Si in the future."

"Now, it is about changing its economic foundation. If Wang San is killed, there will be no more Zhang Si. This is what they fear most, and it is what can really suppress them."

"The imperial court may not really attack them all. After all, there are high mountains and dense forests. With this money, it is better to move the good people from Henan and Huanghuai to the Whale Sea and Nanyang to survive."

"Just set a few examples and tell the barbarian leaders that the court now has the means to cut off their roots. They will naturally be honest. Because they are afraid of rescuing slaves, not beheading. Behead Wang San, Zhang Si cheered, but Wang San and Zhang Si are both so-called slave owners, and abolishing slave owners is the way to make Wang San and Zhang Si afraid. "

"The ones caressing are the local slaves. The ones suppressing are the local chieftains."

"This is the essence of how the Dutch used low-caste people as officials in Ceylon."

"In this way, all the slaves rescued will be grateful for the great favor of the imperial court. In the future, they will be recruited as soldiers. With their familiarity with the terrain and their hatred of the enemies, they will go into the mountains to clear out the slaves and get twice the result with half the effort."

"And the leaders of other cottages, seeing that the imperial court's methods are so 'ferocious', are afraid that their roots will be dug up by the imperial court, so they will conscientiously restrain their subordinates, for fear that the imperial court will find an excuse to exterminate them and rescue the slaves."

"If the imperial court wants to fight, they can use the rescued slaves in the future to train troops that are most suitable for the southwestern mountainous areas. They will imitate the story of the White-Er Soldiers. With the strength of climbing over mountains and ridges and the advantage of familiarity with the terrain, no one will be left alive."

"If you don't want to fight, just scare them like this. If within a few years, anyone who dares to go down the mountain to 'give birth to a child' or 'catch a slave' again, the other tribesmen in the mountain will have to tie them up and send them down the mountain before the court takes action, for fear of sticking to each other." Slave owners all over the mountain.”

"This is the method I thought of to use both kindness and power, suppression and appeasement at the same time."

"It's not the previous method of beating whoever rebels and rewarding whoever obeys. That's not a combination of kindness and power, that's raising a tiger to create trouble."

"The imperial court now has ironware from the Liaodong Mine, corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes, as well as a large number of students with practical backgrounds. This method can be used!"

"If I serve as the defense envoy of Xu Ma, I can defeat the stronghold with a thousand soldiers without even using artillery."

"If we get more than a hundred practical disciples, tens of thousands of iron tools, and thousands of cattle, we can guarantee that from now on, if there are people who come down from the mountain to plunder slaves, I don't need my ministers to go up the mountain to clear them out. They will tie up the people who come down from the mountain to plunder slaves and send them down. Clear relationship.”

After having the courage to speak out his thoughts, Ma Haochuan certainly did not dare to raise his head to see the emperor's expression.

But after waiting for a long time, the emperor didn't speak.

After a long while, the emperor hummed indifferently, and then asked another Niu Congyun who was kneeling there: "I want you to be the governor of Xuzhou. You must have heard about Sichuan salt entering Guizhou in the past few days. In the court, We just discussed it and read the newspaper."

"You can guess that I want you to go to Xuzhou. The affairs in the south are mostly military affairs, so you don't need to worry about it. If I want you to go to Xuzhou at this time, you should know that it has something to do with salt."

"Gong Xingguo recommended you, saying that you have outstanding abilities, especially your ability to understand policies, know what they are and why they are so."

"Gong Xingguo rarely recommends people, and even if he recommends people, he never makes such comments."

"I know what it is, and I know why. I have never heard Duke Xingguo say this."

"In this case, I am also curious, so I will teach you something first."

"You were in southern Jiangsu, experiencing tax reform and other matters, and assisting the governor in setting up industry and commerce."

"About land, people, industry and commerce, small farmers, etc., there is a word that Duke Xingguo often says. I guess you also know it, right?"

Niu Congyun thought for a while and replied: "Your Majesty, it's land rent."

"Well, rent."

The emperor laughed involuntarily when he heard the word rent.

Niu Congyun vaguely heard the emperor's chuckle. He didn't know whether it was a chuckle or a knowing smile, but he had to continue talking at this time.

"Your Majesty, I have read "On Taxation" by the Westerner William Petty in Songjiang, which talks about the relationship between land rent and interest."

"According to its theory, the so-called interest is just an extension of land rent."

"Interest is linked to land rent. Because with the same money, if you buy land, you will receive land rent; if you lend money, you will receive interest."

"If the interest rate is too low, then they would rather buy land to collect rent, because the land rent is guaranteed to be collected during droughts and floods. And there is a certain risk in interest, so the interest rate is always higher than the land rent."

"In this dynasty, tenants often only received 50% of the land rent, or even 40% of the land rent."

"So, the interest rate this dynasty is quite high."

"This Western statement seems to make no sense at first glance. What is the relationship between land rent and interest? But if you think about it carefully, it actually makes sense. It is land rent that leads to interest."

The emperor hummed and said, "I have heard of this man. He was a knight who was knighted after the restoration of the British Royal Party. When Cromwell was in power, he used his position as a land equalizer to scheming for his own benefit. After the British royalist party was restored, this person surrendered to the royal party in order to preserve his real estate... It reminds me of some people during the founding of this dynasty. However, although this man's morals are very bad in this dynasty, he still has a lot of land. There is some truth in his opinion. It seems that there are many people in all countries who are talented but not moral.”

"I never imagined that there is such a connection between land rent and interest."

"Since you know such things, let me ask you again, do you know about the British encirclement?"

Niu Congyun said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, I know a thing or two."

"Gong Xingguo also talked about this and made an analogy. He said that if this land enclosure movement were to be carried out in this dynasty, it would need two conditions."

"First, the price of food has dropped from one tael of silver to one stone of rice, to one tael of silver for one stone of rice, and one tael of silver for ten stones of rice."

"Secondly, ordinary people cannot grow indigo grass, which is not available to small farmers; and indigo grass is expensive, and one acre of land can earn ten taels of silver."

"Therefore, the squires no longer rent land to tenants and charge three to five dou as rent. Because if the price of grain is that low, let alone 60% of the rent, even if it is 90% of the rent, it will not be sold for a few money."

"The merchants and big businessmen rented the land from the squire and planted indigo, and paid the squire two taels of silver per acre of land."

"In that case, the squire will naturally take back all the land from the tenants and let the tenants fend for themselves. They may go to the Nanyang plantation or work in the Songjiang Prefecture factory. When renting the land to the tenants, they will grow indigo and pay two taels of silver. Merchant of the Year.”

"This is the only land enclosure movement that this dynasty can understand. As for the enclosure of public lands, everything that can stand now has been private, and all barriers have been broken. It is difficult for this dynasty to understand what enclosure of public lands means."

"On the other hand, the people in Jinghai and other places understand the meaning of enclosing public land to some extent, because they tend to raise large livestock. And large livestock need to cut the grass for winter use, so there are still large tracts of grassland that are public land. Everyone went there to cut the grass, neither belonging to A nor B, and they worked together to cut the grass and bushes every autumn to prevent the sky fire. I stayed in Jinghai for two years, and then went to southern Jiangsu. Otherwise, it would be difficult to understand what a circle is. land."

"Nowadays, the land rent that the people can pay has reached its limit. I think this is actually a good thing..."

"For the British, the rent was too low before. Now the rent in this dynasty can no longer be higher. The rent for both big and small is as much as 60%, which is stable. Unless one acre of land gives two Small farmers cannot afford the rent of two taels, so their land is likely to be enclosed.”

"But from what I can see, there is really nothing that can be paid for an acre of land with a rent of two taels and still make a profit."

"The current interest rate according to the "Da Shun Law" is 36%."

"This acre of land is rented for one year, and then it is equivalent to two denarii per acre to hire people. Adding seeds and the like, there are three taels. And plus 36% of the interest, one acre of land must be able to make a profit. 4 Only two and a half pieces of silver can merchants be willing to enclose land and hire workers to drive out small farmers, otherwise it would be far worse to lend money.”

"I feel that this dynasty does not need to worry at this time, because there is no such thing as one acre of land in this world that can earn four taels of silver."

"The rents charged by the landowners and gentry of this dynasty are extremely high. At best, this dynasty does not have to worry about enclosure. This is truly a blessing in this prosperous age."

It sounds like this sentence is sarcastic.

To Liu Yu's ears, proper sarcasm sounded like a sinister and eccentric way of seeking death.

But just like there is a deviation in the understanding of "the rightness of the country", just like the aesthetic difference that binding feet is beautiful.

At this time, neither he nor the emperor felt that Niu Congyun's words were ironic.

On the contrary, I sincerely believe that it is a blessing.

It’s definitely not yin and yang.

According to William Petty's theory, which the Emperor believed had some truth, interest was an extension of land rent.

Then, the highland rents of the Dashun gentry drove up the loan interest rates in Dashun. The extremely high loan interest rates make merchants consider interest rates when investing.

And the extremely high land rent is even more ruthless than Japan's five public and five citizens. If the rent is reduced from 37 to 50, there will be high land rent that will kill the improvement of rural construction. It also makes it more difficult for businessmen to obtain high profits from enclosure planting.

As Niu Congyun said, with the current rental situation, only when one acre of land can guarantee a yield of four or five taels of silver will merchants consider enclosing land and driving out small farmers.

And what can you grow for four to five taels per acre of land? Planting gold? Cotton doesn’t work anyway, at least not now.

For the emperor and ministers, maintaining small farmers was the first goal, because the stability of small farmers was fundamental to the existence of the imperial court.

As for the various developments of Westerners, before the storm of 1993, what frightened the emperor the most was precisely the land enclosure movement.

Even if it's Cromwell or something, isn't this normal in the eyes of the emperor? What's all the fuss about?

The one with strong soldiers and horses is the emperor, and the princes, generals, and ministers have the right to be peaceful. How big of a deal is that? Your Stuart family is the king, and I, Cromwell, can take your place. How big a deal does this seem to Dashun? Behead the king? Thirty-six regicides and fifty-two national subjugations. Let alone beheadings, isn’t it normal for people to be stabbed to death in the street without trial? What’s more, I, I, I am a dog-legged person.

There are also some parliaments and the like coming from the West at this time, and the emperor is even more indifferent. After distortion of translation, in the emperor's opinion, what is the difference between this and the fantasy of the Three Generations? The Mo family even shouted that they wanted to choose the emperor, and they had seen a lot.

On the contrary, I am quite worried about things like land enclosure movements.

The emperor's concern about the enclosure movement had nothing to do with the compassion of sheep for cannibalism.

But I was worried that someone would raise their arms and shout that there should be land for the tiller, and then dig a hole and bury the Li family.

Or those who are depressed and have failed to pass the imperial examination, seize the opportunity, recite the sentence "The sparrow knows the ambition of the swan," and go to the Dabie Mountains, Yunxiao Mountains, and Shangluo Mountains nearby.

Therefore, if Liu Yu heard these words that were full of yin and yang sarcasm, to the emperor's ears, he nodded frequently, and mentally evaluated Niu Congyun, who wanted to order Fu Yin at the age of thirty, as "very useful".

Niu Congyun said again: "Ministers often hear Duke Xingguo sighing about land rent. What he laments in this dynasty is nothing more than lamenting that land rent is too high, industry and commerce are sluggish, and domestic demand is insufficient. Cloth and other items cannot be sold, so they have to The soldiers went out to attack."

"So what Duke Xingguo has always wanted is to reduce the rent by 25% and implement permanent tenancy. This is because Duke Xingguo has calculated that if the rent is calculated at 25%, it will not only ensure that the people have spare money to buy one more foot of cloth; but also To ensure that the land rent is high, land enclosures will not occur. At the same time, if the price of rice is lowered, the interest derived from the land rent will be reduced, and the court will also absorb money to develop Nanyang and accommodate the population. "

"But there are many types of land rent. Based on the knowledge I received from Duke Xingguo, land rent can be divided into absolute rent, differential rent, and monopoly rent."

"For example, the acreage tax can be regarded as absolute land rent."

"And the land rent in Songjiang Prefecture is definitely more expensive than the land rent in the Western Region and Jinghai. This is considered a differential land rent."

"And if it's a salt well, it can be counted as a monopoly rent."

Niu Congyun knew what the emperor asked him to go to Xuzhou Mansion to deal with, because just now the court newspaper was talking about the introduction of Sichuan salt into Guizhou, and then he, a small governor, was summoned by the emperor to Xuzhou Mansion, why not Do you know it must have something to do with salt?

The emperor asked about land rent again, and he took advantage of the situation to tell him the fact that Yanjing land rent was monopoly land rent.

The emperor remained calm and asked in a very objective and neutral manner: "In your opinion, is this monopoly of land rent good or bad?"

"Back to Your Majesty. Monopolizing land rent is not good. The ones who benefit are the landlords, not the businessmen who actually do the work. If there is a monopoly on land rent like a salt well, then seventy percent of the profit from salt comes from land rent." Niu Congyun directly talked about it Salt well, no secret.

"If 70% of the benefits of salt are land rent, then the salt will be expensive. If salt is expensive, the official salt will be more difficult to sell, and the people will be less satisfied."

"If there is no salt tax in this dynasty, we can follow the story of the previous dynasty and use mine supervision to collect the benefits of monopoly land rent."

"As there is already a salt tax in this dynasty, any form of monopoly land rent should be abolished, the land should be returned to the government, and the salt profits should be derived from the salt tax, and there should be no repeated taxation."

"There are only two types of mining in this dynasty."

"It's like a salt well. The land in the salt well is privately owned, and the dynasty collects salt taxes. So the salt is expensive, which is disadvantageous for the people and officials."

"The second is like gold and silver. The land belongs to the government, and 30% of the gold and silver income needs to be returned to the court. The court directly collected the monopoly land rent."

"The third one is like a coal mine. The land is owned by the government, and a fixed tax is paid, but not the coal. It seems different from the second one, but it is actually the same, except that the currency is gold and silver. There is no need to sell the coal and then pay the gold and silver. Just a ring.”

"Wei Chen believes that all the land rent from the well salt land should be collected by the imperial court. This is the old law of Shanhaiguan. However, because there is a salt tax, the land rent can be hidden in the salt tax, and there is no need to collect it twice."

"In this way, the people will benefit from it, business will get its convenience, and the country will get its taxes."

The emperor hummed and said calmly: "Well... after you go back, you can read more of Zhou Shu's "The Biography of Xin Ang" to encourage you."