New Shun 1730

The place to be supervised is really not big, but when it comes to asking merchants to invest in road construction, it is a bit of a dagger.

Dashun is still wary of merchants after all.

Even if we don’t talk about class and rule, just talk about the lessons left by the previous dynasty: when there was no money in the later period, the salt franchise was directly sold, and it was sold as a hereditary right, creating a huge pit like the big salt contractor that was finally solved a few years ago.

To be honest, this side is not conservative at all, but quite radical. Since the pre-Qin period, there have been a group of radical political and economic ideas, and they really dare to try all kinds of roads. From Wang Mang’s reform, to Huang Tiandang, to the abolition of state ownership of land and full private ownership of land, the decomposition of aristocratic imperial examinations, to Wang Anshi’s reforms, and the earliest paper money...

Including the later generations in history, when the crown was still shining in the world and no one dared to pick it up, this side smashed the crown; when the new trend of thought just showed a little dawn, many people here tried the most romantic and advanced ideas at the time.

The attitude towards merchants was indeed politically repressive.

But in terms of policy, we can only say that the one-time sale of the salt concession franchise and the inheritance of the franchise was really... "advanced" to the level of shock privatization.

With these stories from the previous dynasties and enough historical lessons, when Liu Yu spoke to the end, the emperor's worries actually stemmed from one problem.

The logistics brought by the railway were smooth, and Dashun had no ability to stabilize the price and distribute the goods equally during the Han Dynasty. In this case, how did Liu Yu view the price difference problem?

The absolute imbalance of development, the absolute unfairness of silver as a currency, the policy of market-based exchange of copper coins and silver, and the strong capital of the developed regions crushing the industry and commerce of the underdeveloped regions...

Should we collect tariffs from various provinces?

Should we continue to establish customs, regulate prices, ensure the continued development of handicrafts in various provinces, complete primitive accumulation, and start budding on our own?

If the goods from Songsu arrive in Jiaodong and go straight to Jining, Heze and other places along the railway, should we collect additional tariffs on these goods?

What the bourgeoisie wants is a unified national market and a real world market.

What the emperor wants is a stable rule, which reflects on people's livelihood. When the goods from Songsu and other places impact the inland areas, causing unemployment in handicrafts and widespread bankruptcy of small farmers, should they be controlled?

After the canal was abolished and the sea transportation was carried out, Shandong was like a mirror, showing many magical things.

The original economic center and the most developed industrial and commercial areas were completely impoverished in just over a decade; the economic center quickly shifted to the originally barren coastal areas.

In some dyeing games, the Caozhou area is the richest place, and this is true in the canal era. The business circle centered on Linqing and Jining radiates five provinces. At this time, there were not many cities in the world with a population of more than 200,000. The customs that ranked among the top eight in the world in the canal era were even more famous.

After the end of the canal era and the diversion of the Yellow River, the 42 national-level poverty-stricken counties in Shandong in later generations, Caozhou accounted for half of the country.

Many things are not so mysterious. Conservative thoughts, ways of thinking, backward thoughts, etc., can't even explain the world, but just describe the world like a blind man touching an elephant.

The economic base determines the superstructure. Caozhou Jining is the richest and most oppressive capital of Shandong, and Jinan has no sense of existence and can only be the political center of the province for hundreds of years. According to this kind of bullshit spiritual determinism, can we say that the closer to the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, the more prosperous and the more developed the industry and commerce?

Is it the economic base that determines the way of thinking? Or is it the spirit that determines the economic base?

At least, from the point of view of the abolition of the canal and the sea transportation, it is probably the material that determines the thought, not the will that determines the material.

The thousand-year glory of Yangzhou was directly abolished by Liu Yu's series of salt reform policies and changes in transportation and logistics routes?

The emperor may not understand the deep things in this. But the real examples have been placed in front of the emperor, and they are bloody examples.

The army of Dashun was Liu Yu's biggest reliance in the Songsu reform, and it was cleaning up Liu Yu's ass throughout the process. From the Lingnan trade route and Xijiang shipping, to Yangzhou Huai'an, and then to the Jingji Canal,

After the killing, fiscal revenue did surge, but Dashun was also kidnapped by the existing economic foundation, and had to try to change the strategic focus and carry out a reform around the new economic center to cope with the new situation that was completely different from the past.

This is what Liu Yu said, "The government will not cease even if the person dies."

It's not that you can't go back, but it costs money to go back. Does Dashun have the money to go back? Rebuilding the canal, cutting mulberry trees and planting rice, etc., any of these, the reactionaries can't afford it, because they don't have money-the canal has been completely ruined by Liu Yu. Once the sea transportation is opened, the canal section is silted up. Desilting is much more laborious than Emperor Yang of Sui digging the canal. The reactionaries also need money to be reactionary. It's useless to talk nonsense.

The emperor's bottom line at the beginning was Songsu, Guandong, and Nanyang as "outside". Don't do anything else.

Lack of raw materials, look outside.

Lack of market, fight outside.

These "external" regions provide silver, currency, commodity grain, steel, cotton, coal, etc.

Let's keep the internal situation stable for now.

However, after all, it was the emperor who chose to break his own rules. He considered the benefits of building railways to his rule and wanted to build railways in the Central Plains. In the end, when the prince wanted to train his team, he had to take a step back and let Hankou go.

Now, who can solve the Shandong problem?

How many important ministers in the DPRK can solve the Shandong problem and the threat of the Yellow River breach?

The remaining imperial examination ministers in the DPRK could not solve the problem of Shandong and the Yellow River breach, they could only make tinkering.

Without tinkering, there are actually only two options.

The emperor's solution was to wait for the Yellow River to burst, not to block the opening, and to let the Yellow River rush out of the river on its own. After the great disaster and chaos, he could use the power of natural disasters to solve Shandong's man-land problems and the Yellow River problem.

Liu Yu's solution is to do everything in his power and obey fate. Man can conquer nature. Before the breach, he can dig out a new river channel and solve Shandong's man-land problem and the Yellow River problem through migration, industrial and commercial development, etc.

But there is a price for doing things.

It is impossible to want a horse to run and not eat grass at the same time.

The court had to pay for it, but it couldn't afford it.

Let Liu Yu do it. The emperor believed in Liu Yu's ability to make money. The emperor also knew the cruelty of Liu Yu's methods - he said that it might be solved with 40 to 50 million taels. Behind this sentence was that he was going to use cruel methods. Otherwise, it would not count as building river embankments, but the imperial court would pay for relocation. One hundred taels per person, and 400 to 50 million would mean the relocation of 400,000 to 500,000 people. What would that be enough for?

And this is why the emperor thinks that Liu Yu is sometimes not very smart. With the same cruelty, rescuing people and relocating them after the Yellow River burst is actually much more brutal than relocating people in advance. But the difference is that one will be famous and become a good story, while the other is destined to be infamy.

In the past, Liu Yubei's reputation was mostly ridiculed as "taking credit for being easy to cure but not sick".

But after doing this, it is not as simple as taking credit for not being cured.

It should be said that if he chose to let the Yellow River burst and then control it, then Li Gan would be a qualified and high-scoring feudal emperor.

On the contrary, if Liu Yu's idea is to solve it in advance, then Li Gan is actually an unqualified and low-scoring feudal emperor.

Because doing it after the break has boosted the ruling ability of the feudal imperial power and strengthened the foundation of its rule.

In turn, it is weakening the basis of its own rule.

At least follow Songsu's method, yes.

The previous reforms, in the emperor's view, Liu Yu was on the same road as him, actually improving his ruling power and giving him unprecedented power. He held tens of millions of silver in one hand every year and could buy it at a reasonable price. The emperor who obtained grain, cloth, and silver was unprecedented.

And now...

The emperor was silent for a long, long time.

Looking at Liu Yu kneeling on the ground, he recalled many past events.

From the young man full of vigor when he was punished to kneel in the capital, to step by step assisting him to reach the pinnacle of power and resources controlled by emperors of the past dynasties.

Even the emperor understood that Liu Yu did not choose to report illness and retire at this time, which was actually equivalent to choosing to seek death.

In the past, it could be said that he was still worried about the Indo-Europe war, but now he has said it himself, the temple has won and cannot lose.

But at this time, he still didn't retire. On the contrary, he still had to do a big thing, something that there was no way out.

The emperor still remembered Liu Yu's innocence, the sorrow of the universe, and the sigh of reincarnation.

But now, when it is clear that it is time to retreat completely and imitate Zhang Zifang's swimming from red pine nuts, but instead he stands up to do something.

That can only mean that in the emperor's view, Liu Yu felt that he seemed to have found a solution to the sigh of reincarnation, and tried to do it to prove that some things may not only be used in Songsu, or that there are similar Songsu in all provinces. solution?

Finally, after a long silence, the emperor asked a very inappropriate question.

"Xun Qing said: Follow the Tao but not the king; follow righteousness but not the father."

"On your trip, do you follow the road? Do you follow the king?"

Liu Yu didn't even think about it and replied categorically: "I obey the king and the Tao. If King Wen and King Wu were kings, Tao is the king and the king is the Tao. How can there be a distinction between Tao and king? There are no assumptions in political affairs, ministers I don’t want to assume.”

This statement, without adding the following sentence, actually means "obey the Tao but not the king." But after adding the following sentence, it seems to be able to go around. It seems to be saying that you, the emperor, are the Tao now. Without assumptions, how can I answer?

In response to this reaction, which seemed to be a conditioned reflex, the emperor hesitated and asked again: "Imitate Songsu's story?"

Liu Yu also immediately denied it: "It's different from Songsu. So I have to do it. If it's the same as Songsu, why do I have to do it?"

Then Liu Yu said again: "Your Majesty, there are unforeseen circumstances. This dynasty should keep this matter in mind. If Emperor Taizu had not unexpectedly died at the hands of the villagers during Jiugong Mountain, what would happen to the founding of the country later? Do you know?"

"Destiny is unpredictable. Your Majesty is wise and powerful, and your ministers are brave. None of the princes can compare with your Majesty's sage. In this way, you should make preparations while you can. Otherwise, what your Majesty's magic can accomplish may not be possible in the future. ”

"Externally, I urge you to conquer India first and fight in the West. Then the vassal affairs will be done by future generations. This will be difficult first and easy later. There is no need to mention the descendants of heroes; there is no need to worry about descendants who are weak."

"Inside, the Yellow River incident is God's will, just like the earthquake in Lisbon. Many Westerners say that there are astrologers in this dynasty. Otherwise, why would there be a big earthquake over there just after talking about earthquakes and floods? In fact, it is nothing more than God's will. Just a coincidence."

"It is hard to predict the will of heaven. It is hard to know the will of heaven. No one can predict birth, aging, sickness and death. I just think that your majesty is wise and powerful, the court is full of talents, and the treasury is full of gold and silver. It is time to do something."

"Therefore, I am loyal to the king, and heaven and earth can bear witness to it."