New Shun 1730

When the most difficult part of a thing has been completed, and the rest can basically succeed as long as you follow the steps, in most cases you don’t have to worry about whether it can be completed. You just need to worry about whether someone will do it more radically or impatiently.

This is the situation of the Yellow River now.

Liu Yu doesn’t care whether it is radical or not. Even if it is as radical as Zhao Yi’s idea of ​​exchanging the north and the south in 50 years, in Liu Yu’s view… after 50 years, industry has developed and irrigation agriculture has developed. What you need to worry about may not be the Yellow River bursting, but whether the Yellow River will stop flowing.

Shandong probably hates him now, because at this time the Yellow River is a disaster star, a source of disaster, and will increase local labor several times. But in the future, it is possible that they will be glad that there is water because the Yellow River flows through Shandong.

The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoyed the shade. Probably the descendants are not qualified to despise the people who planted trees and are dissatisfied.

As for how many more trees can be planted at this time, in fact, if you really count, you will never finish planting.

For example, with the development of transportation and overseas trade, Hunan and Hubei have switched to tea planting; for example, the relocation of people from Dongting Lake; for example, the popularization of mountain crops such as corn and potatoes in the southwestern mountainous areas; for example, the foreign trade and industrial development of Guangdong and Guangxi...

Even if we don't consider major events such as equal distribution of land, there are still many things to do. Things are never finished, nor are they once and for all, and they can't be ascended to heaven in one step just by reading the scriptures of the nation or capital.

If you want to do something, there will always be something.

But Liu Yu felt that he couldn't do it.

From the capture of the Bering expedition team by the northern expedition to Luosha, the series of changes so far are still insignificant to the old power of the entire Dashun. The area that has changed the economic foundation and created space for the survival of the new superstructure is only so large, and the total number of provinces in Northeast and Southeast Asia is only three or five.

What will happen in the future, he can roughly predict.

As he slightly modified his favorite words: We are not fortune tellers, and the future development and changes should and can only give a general direction, and should not and cannot mechanically stipulate the time. But the great changes we are talking about are coming, and they are definitely not something that is completely meaningless and out of reach, as some people say that they are "likely to come". It is like a ship standing on the coast looking into the sea, where the tip of the mast can already be seen; it is like a rising sun standing on the top of a mountain looking into the east, where the sun is already shining and about to burst out; it is a baby that is about to mature and is restless in the mother's womb.

When the noose he left for Dashun was tightened, if the emperor of Dashun could really break the noose and stand firm... then, it can only be said that this is the most powerful person among the feudal rulers, and he is really capable, nothing else to say.

But no matter what, even if there is still an emperor, the old foundation will eventually be overturned, at least it is impossible for the ruling class to rule as before.

As for the real power of the future big change, who is it, he cannot predict.

But it is certain that it is definitely not the people on the embankment of the Daqing River who are digging the soil with bare arms and looking magnificent in order to save the Central Plains from the disaster of the breach that affected tens of millions of people and lasted for a hundred years.

Because these people will eventually leave and go to Fusang.

Since Dashun has been given the same name as Xinyizhou, when the real big change comes... After all, China's affairs must be solved by the people living in China, and the people who live on the land under their feet can decide the future of this land.

So Liu Yu no longer paid attention to the people on the embankment, nor did he ask those serving people how long their service period would last, as every official would do.

Instead, after looking around for a while, he chose to return to Jinan City and went to Baotu Spring.

The accompanying officials were even more surprised, although they knew that Liu Yu liked to collect some flowers, plants, bamboos and stones, strange things from all over the world, and might have the quirk of "liking" coal smoke or the roar of steam engines, and of course he also liked to travel to famous mountains and rivers.

But now, it is the day when the second outer river embankment of Daqing River, which will be the first embankment of Yellow River in the future, begins construction and inspection.

In the past few days, not only have they appreciated some poems about romantic spirits, but they have also come to Baotu Spring to play on such a day, which really puzzled the accompanying officials.

After walking around for a few times, Liu Yu said, "I remember that Jinan Prefecture became the capital of Shandong Province from the previous dynasty, right?"

The accompanying official hurriedly said, "That's right. Jinan Prefecture has been the capital of Shandong Province since the Hongwu period. Because of this, although Jiao and Liao were separated due to many reasons before, the provincial government has not changed."

Liu Yu said again, "If we talk about the economy, Jinan was not ranked among the prefectures in Shandong in terms of business prosperity before, right?"

"What the Duke said is very true. If we only talk about the development of industry and commerce and the rows of shops, Jinan is really not prosperous. For example, Linqing and Jining in the west; even if we don't talk about the canal, it is not as good as Zhoucun, Weixian, and Yantai. According to the Duke's previous city division method, Jinan is somewhat similar to the capital, or like Weihai, where the Duke trained troops before. It is just a political or military center. If we talk about business, it is just to meet the needs of the provincial officials and the stationing of the army in the city."

This official has been following Liu Yu for a long time and knows some of Liu Yu's understanding of cities. For example, Weihaiwei was a consumer city that relied on the army; for example, the capital city could also be considered a consumer city at that time.

In Jinan, the situation is similar. Because it is a provincial government with troops stationed and provincial officials, the city's handicraft industry basically revolves around the city's own needs.

There is a canal to the west.

There is the sea to the east.

Caught in the middle, it is obviously impossible for industry and commerce to develop greatly.

After the official said this, he went on to follow the words: "In the past, Tai Shigong wrote "The Biography of Huo Shi", which talked about production, consumption, and even talked about the hustle and bustle in the world for profit. The customs and habits of the people.”

“Only on the issue of ‘traffic’, very little is written.”

"In the past, I didn't realize it and took it for granted. It has always been this way. Now that the canal has been abandoned and Jiaoji has been opened to traffic, in the past many years, the form of industry and commerce has been completely different."

"In the past, Jining was known as Little Suzhou, but now it has fallen to this point."

"As for the city of Jinan, everyone in the Lu people knew that in the past, Jinan was a provincial capital and a place where troops were stationed. But now, because Jiaoji is open to traffic, products from all over the West and Central China are gathered here, leading to Jiaozhou and out to the sea. This Jinan It is getting richer day by day, and the towns around Jiaoji Road are also developing. "

That's often the case. If everything remains unchanged, many problems will not be exposed. Even if someone gives the correct truth, it cannot be verified, especially when it comes to millions of people.

Some of what Liu Yu said at the beginning has now been verified one by one. Many people in Dashun have an obvious and suitable object of observation to study what is needed for the development of industry and commerce.

In recent years, changes in transportation, logistics, and transportation methods can be said to have had the greatest impact on Songsu and Shandong.

It's so big that several major uprisings broke out in Shandong, and the industry and commerce in the western region were significantly depressed... Even some of the canal-rich counties in the western depression have not had gentry and merchants contribute money to repair county records for several years, and the county records there before the canal was not abolished But it is repaired every year.

The entire economic structure of Shandong has been rewritten.

This also made many people in Dashun start to think about something: Without considering some fundamentals such as ownership, what exactly has a huge impact on the development of industry and commerce?

Is it the temperament and habits of the people in various states and counties?

Is it the ability and ability of officials in various states and counties?

Or maybe these things together are not even as simple as the word "traffic"?

Once you start to consider such issues, there are more issues waiting to be considered and discussed, especially in the face of the rewriting of Shandong's economic pattern in the past twenty years...and it is a particularly drastic rewriting that is visible to the naked eye. It will inevitably make many people think.

Sometimes, one might say, economics is like shooting an arrow first and then drawing the target.

But sometimes, it's not.

And economics and politics are inseparable.

When Liu Yu heard these officials talking about their opinions on economic and industrial and commercial development, he smiled, shook his head and said: "I didn't mean to say this today, or... I don't need to talk about this at all. After the canal was abandoned, Many issues have already been explained clearly.”

"You also know that I talk less about righteousness and more about benefits."

"The sages of the pre-Qin Dynasty, some people said: Friendship is beneficial to each other. They also talk about benefits, and they want to benefit the world through friendship."

"Tai Shigong also talks about profit. The so-called good ones are the ones who follow them, the next is benefiting them, the next is teaching them, the next is ordering them, and the lowest ones compete with them."

"But since we are talking about benefit, or in other words, benefit to the world..."

"So, how should we calculate this world?"

"There is no reform in the world that can benefit everyone, at least not yet. Even if it is technically, if you make something better, it may make some people who were originally engaged in this matter unemployed."

"Take Shandong as an example. The changes in these years have completely destroyed western Shandong, northern Shandong and the canal coast. But at the same time, they have enriched Jiaodong and the coastal areas."

"There are millions of people involved on both sides."

"Since it is said that reform has advantages and disadvantages, it is impossible to satisfy everyone and it is impossible to benefit everyone."

"Then there really has to be a standard."

"Under this standard, some reforms will benefit the world but harm some people; some reforms will harm the world but benefit some people."

"So, how should this standard be calculated?"

"I don't learn Zhou Rites very much, so these things are different from Zhou Rites. If you follow Zhou Rites to make changes, those who are close will be good, and those who are far away will be bad."

"We can carry out reforms according to benefits. Some people will benefit and some people will suffer losses. Then it is considered to be 'benefiting the world'. Then, how to evaluate those that benefit the world and those that are fame and fortune but actually harm the world?"

"In other words, you think that the reforms in recent years have harmed the interests of the people. From the canal to Guangdong and Guangxi, the number of people who have suffered losses is no less than five million. Do you think these reforms are beneficial to the world?"

Although it talks about profits, Dashun is still a traditional dynasty after all. Even when Wang Anshi carried out the reform, at least in theory, it could not be directly said that it was for the purpose of enriching the treasury, but that it was in line with the benefits of the world or close to Zhou Rites.

In fact, Dashun may have no chance to take the path of "restructuring through ancient times". In other words, it is no longer possible to revise Confucian classics and mess up the Zhou ritual system so that the "reform" can gain the legitimacy of being "closer to the saints."

Therefore, it seems that Liu Yu is talking about "profit".

In fact, after he felt that he had basically done what he should do, he asked these Dashun officials who were not deeply influenced by him about some things - whether they had a vaguely progressive or liberating three-view evaluation system to evaluate some things?

Because, at least for what Liu Yu did in recent years, if he wanted to get "correct", he could only rely on the evaluation standard of productivity to get the word "right".

It does not conform to the retro Confucianism, the Zhou Li system, the natural correctness under the private ownership of "land to the tiller", and the previous Confucian system. So, how can we say that the changes in recent years are "right" rather than "wrong"?