New Shun 1730

Therefore, the question in Dashun now is whether in the near future - after Liu Yu runs away and the old emperor dies - there will be such a person who is the most cunning, capable and able to stand on the wave of the times. The feudal rulers who had both sides standing up.

Play the role of "paternal benefactor to all classes".

Put on the cloak of "He is the Li Zicheng that small farmers are looking forward to", and under the banner of being "the emperor of small farmers" and "the emperor of the people".

In the context of this pioneering area [the bourgeois system has turned into a vampire, sucking the blood and brains of small landownership and throwing it into the alchemy furnace of capital], can this person use powerful force to The powerful and violent tools of the state, under the banner of "Emperor of Small Farmers", come to defend this system of [vampires sucking blood and brains].

This was Liu Yu's only purpose in returning to the capital before he decided to run away.

Neither is it for the course of the Yellow River.

The course of the Yellow River is not a technical issue. During the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, a group of people knew that the Yellow River must go through the Daqing River in order to reach the north, and even proposed a plan to divert it to the Daqing River. When the Yellow River channel was just a technical problem, it was already accessible to anyone.

Nor is it to arrange technical prophetic reminders after the Academy of Sciences.

In this marine clock competition, the old carpenter single-handedly defeated the era of top scientists from Galileo to Newton to Euler. It should be said that at this time, the basic theory has not yet limited the development of science and technology or let science and technology stuck in a stagnant stage.

He still hopes to talk to Dashun's possible official heirs, or the ambitious princes.

Now, with the situation like Dashun, we have once again reached the crossroads of whether we can move forward or reincarnation is repeated.

Lao Ma has talked about the problems under the small-scale peasant economy, and whether the trend is to move forward or reincarnate.

[Small land ownership has created a surplus population without employment, leaving them unable to find a place to live in either rural or urban areas. Therefore, they seek official positions...]

This was manifested in Dashun and before that, it was nothing more than redundant officials and redundant personnel, and the bribery of students starting from the Ming Dynasty.

Taxes should be levied but not levied, which itself can be regarded as a kind of "salary" for officials.

Studying for the imperial examination is a preparation for official positions under the conditions of Dashun. Including being an official, it is also a similar situation.

[Small land ownership, by its very nature, is the base for countless bureaucracies. It creates a uniform level of all relationships and individuals across the country. Therefore, it also makes it possible to have an equal effect on all parts of this unified whole from a supreme center]

[It eliminates the aristocratic intermediate ladder between the masses of the people and state power]

Theoretically, Dashun no longer has that kind of feudal aristocracy after all.

And this situation, based on Dashun's comparison at this time, how far has it gone?

[Take one, with the help of the new market he opened with his bayonet, and with the help of the plunder of the mainland, he repaid the taxes he imposed with interest]

[Getting a tax was once a means to stimulate farmers to develop side businesses]

[But now, taxes have caused these side businesses to lose their last resources and the last possibility to resist impoverishment]

To put it simply, put it on Dashun's side.

At the beginning of the founding of Dashun, land in North China was redistributed, the monetary tax system of the previous dynasty was continued and physical taxes were basically abolished.

This stimulated the development of "men farming and women weaving" in Dashun. Because small farmers must develop side businesses in order to support their families and obtain enough currency to bear taxes. It is definitely not possible to just sell food for money.

Nowadays, due to tax and oppression, in some places, side businesses have been completely reduced to "self-sufficiency", and the ability of small farmers to resist risks has been extremely reduced.

As for using bayonets to open up new markets, plundering colonies, and repaying taxes with interest...

For this kind of thing, we can only say that the situation in Dashun is different.

And Dashun is not a conscription system, but a recruitment system.

These plundered and opened markets, including the return of capital with profits, actually involved only a few million people.

Including those who grew mulberries, raised silkworms, made tea, and weaved cloth, etc., who benefited from the new market opened up by the bayonet.

It also includes those who finally obtained overseas land use rights because of joining the army, especially some long-term recruits. They can get at least more than a hundred acres of land - which means that the taxes previously levied on them will be returned with interest. , is not an exaggeration.

But, that's all.

France only has a population of over 20 million, and millions of families were involved during the war. Its plunder on the mainland was returned to the farmers with profits.

With a population of more than 300 million in Dashun, it is impossible for so many families to participate in the war, nor to find such a large market, so that the sideline business of small farmers can become their means of getting rich - hard-working hands weaving, but overseas markets Can it be guaranteed that nearly 70 million households in Dashun will be able to earn profits from their production?

In other words, how can it be possible for more than one-third of the world's population to benefit from overseas markets? How big is the overseas market? How much plunder?

So, going around in circles, it seems that we have come back to the old emperor's idea of ​​"dividing internal and external governance".

Cheap industrial products are the cannonballs that broke some ancient Great Walls.

The emperor's intention was to build a new Great Wall through internal and external divisions to isolate the Kaixian area.

Prohibit the industrial products of the developed regions and the large amount of money obtained from overseas by the developed regions from flowing into the underdeveloped regions, so as to maintain the stability of the more than 200 million small farmers in the underdeveloped regions.

The shells that broke the Great Wall were of course cheap industrial products.

Because if they were not cheap, for example, even if Britain smashed all the customs of Dashun and controlled the tariffs, it would still be useless.

Because, at this time, British goods were not only not cheap enough, but even more expensive. Adding the freight, let alone breaking the ancient Great Wall, now even the ancient gods of India cannot be broken.

In other words, cheap industrial products are a necessary condition for breaking the ancient traditional society. Without cheap goods, it is definitely impossible to break the traditional society.

However, does cheap industrial products necessarily break the traditional society?

There is a process here, of course.

For example, the Opium War, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, and so on.

With cheap industrial products, cheap industrial products themselves will not grow legs.

Similarly, the ideal "free trade" does not actually exist.

The customs are guarded and the court is not collapsed, which is the so-called "closing the country to the outside world".

Then, obviously, at least it can slow down the time when the traditional society is crushed by cheap industrial products.

Then, the emperor's meaning is very clear.

Since the court has not collapsed.

Since the court is still very powerful.

Since the prince's radical industrial and commercial reforms in Hubei have created the fun of "rice ban".

Then, can we build a new Great Wall, use internal tariffs and administrative means to isolate cheap industrial products, capital, currency, etc., and move inward?

Historically, Britain has cheap industrial products.

But the destruction of traditional society still requires some strong means.

For example, the evil Opium War, such as inland river passage rights, such as the abolition of sub-port taxes, such as tariffs subject to colonists, and attempts to split China and divide and rule.

Now, Dashun is actually going the other way.

It is to use cheap goods from developed regions to break down traditional societies elsewhere in the world.

But they also tried to protect the traditional small peasant society in the interior with the logic of closing the country to the outside world.

For the developed regions, as Liu Yu said, the Fusang immigrants were the easternmost preview of the great migration to the east. People from the inland areas can be allowed to migrate to the developed regions, thus ensuring a steady supply of cheap labor in the developed regions.

For the underdeveloped regions, it is like a variant and simplified version of Wang Yuan's theory of only farmers owning land, prohibiting the population of the developed regions from moving inward through household registration control.

In fact, for the lower-class people, this kind of flow is one-way in itself.

It is definitely better to go to the eastern region from the inland to work as cheap labor than to farm the two acres of land at home.

Even for the lower class in the east, they can continue to move eastward instead of westward.

But, for the middle class and above, in fact, this kind of flow is not one-way.

In short.

Capital needs to rely on people's legs to run.

In fact, the internal and external division envisioned by the old emperor of Dashun is essentially to restrict the flow of capital to the inland. That is, through the control of household registration, people with capital are restricted from going to the interior.

The collapse of traditional society under the impact of a large amount of overseas monetary funds and cheap industrial products is very terrible.

It is so terrible that not only the small farmers will collapse completely.

But even some gentry and landlords may not be able to survive. After all, in rural areas, landlords often run handicrafts, such as brewing, weaving, etc. This kind of manic impact will lead to the sudden collapse of the internal traditional society, and there will be a degree that even small landlords can feel the impending bankruptcy.

The old emperor has vaguely sensed this crisis.

Therefore, he hopes to use this crude, clumsy, but seemingly feasible method within the administrative capacity of Dashun.

To use the dumbest method, that is, to rebuild the "Great Wall of Administrative Orders" internally, with administrative means similar to the British "Cotton Prohibition Order", to solve the problem of large amounts of precious metals that may flow to the interior for speculation on cultivated land after currency reform, and to solve the problem of the impact of industrial products on the traditional small peasant society caused by the continued development of industry and commerce.

Previously, Liu Yu used methods similar to forced settlement of exchange, forced issuance of exchange vouchers, and prohibition of "foreign exchange" from directly entering the interior in Songsu, controlling the massive amount of silver that has flowed in over the years, forcing these massive amounts of silver to run to the Northeast, Southeast Asia, and Ezo, or to invest in industry and commerce.

Now, the old emperor does not think that this method can be controlled by future generations. Or, this itself has huge loopholes.

Moreover, it involves the currency reform of Dashun.

It is impossible to issue two sets of currencies, one for the inland and one for the coastal advanced regions... What would happen then?

Even if there was a period of time in the future when the thoughts were the most chaotic and the advanced regions and the central government were the most powerful, Guangdong issued its own currency, and it was immediately stopped.

And Dashun wanted to carry out currency reform, maintain system unity, maintain centralization, or in other words, maintain the country itself, it would absolutely not be possible to issue two sets of currencies.

Once the currency is unified - before this, the currency of Dashun was not unified, so that the exchange rates of the same copper coins and silver might vary greatly within a province - then how to control the flow of money to the farmland in the interior is a problem that every emperor, whether he is an old emperor or a new emperor, must face.

The fact that they could think of this step at least shows that the development of industry, commerce and overseas trade in recent years has changed some social existences and finally made the Dashun court's understanding of currency rise a step further.

Everyone knows that if administrative measures are not used, currency will definitely go to land, pawnshops, and usury.

Shaanxi merchants, Anhui merchants, Shanxi merchants... have proved this point again and again in practice.

The development of foreign trade has led to the planting of tea, cotton, and sesame in Hubei, which has been directly caused by the prince's radical industrial and commercial policies.

It also made the emperor full of uneasiness about the negative factors of the development of industry and commerce.

It's not that the things that the prince did in Hubei can't be solved. But this requires vision, skills, and advance preparation.

The old emperor's uneasiness stems from the Hubei incident. It can be seen that the prince is a man of one kind.

The old emperor believes that if Liu Yu goes to Hubei to engage in industry and commerce, he will definitely not cause a famine, and he will definitely be prepared in advance.

But the problem is that the means of the successor have been revealed in detail after this incident. With the status of an average person, I am afraid that he cannot control those complicated means.

This is the direct reason why the old emperor is full of anxiety about the negative factors of the continued development of industry and commerce.

Since the complicated means are afraid that the successor cannot control them.

Then, it is better to build a new Great Wall of administrative orders to separate the inside and the outside.

This is at least not a retreat.

One reason for not retreating is that the current financial situation of Dashun is already seriously tied to the industry and commerce of the developed regions. It is not so easy to retreat, and even if you retreat, you need a long-term layout.

Another reason...

is the prince's radical reform in Hubei.

Even the industrial and commercial reforms in Hubei have become like this. Do you think it is so simple to retreat?

In the current situation, retreating requires great skills. Even the development of industry and commerce with such good conditions has become like this. How can there be a way to retreat?

Rather than letting the prince face new contradictions, new problems, or even the sequelae of a "simple" currency reform in the future, he will be at a loss and at a loss. In the end, he will either be radical or be scared to be extremely conservative or even reactionary after being radical, and move around like Wang Mang's reform.

It is better to plan ahead, at least according to the current set, and follow the rules of Xiao Cao.

And this is exactly what Liu Yu believes, this may be the premise for creating opportunities for ambitious people.

Because in this way, a large amount of currency is equivalent to not being dispersed across the country, but all staying in two provinces; it is impossible to avoid the impact of cheap industrial products within the developed regions; and it is even more impossible to suppress land annexation.

It will accelerate the contradictions in the developed regions, and the bankruptcy of small farmers and small producers will be extremely accelerated.

At that time, the bourgeoisie may have to choose an emperor who can "protect capitalism".

In other words, choose a new emperor who can protect their interests in external expansion, protect their rights to annex land in the developed regions, protect their rights to hire extremely cheap labor, and can control the army and organize a set of political systems and violent tools...

Given the special circumstances of Dashun, this can only be a new emperor, not a Protector of the Country. And he must be surnamed Li, and it is best to directly bombard the capital in the way of "clearing the court" to maintain stability as much as possible.

This new emperor must be traditional, in line with tradition, and at least have the tradition of Dashun's inheritance law. Otherwise, the bourgeoisie in the developed areas will have to face the small farmers in the traditional areas and find an emperor who embodies traditional ideals and bureaucrats and gentry who use traditional power to fight against them.

At the same time, this new emperor must be radical, revolutionary, and at least protect the interests of the bourgeoisie in the developed areas. At least, maintain everything that exists, and ensure a stable greenhouse for them to continue to grow, and be able to guarantee overseas interests, and even have the ability to command external expansion and wars to win more markets.

In short, this new emperor must wear the cloak of tradition, or even the bones of his ancestors, to maintain the new order.

A Protector of the Country with a different surname? First ask the gentry, bureaucrats, and scholars in many provinces in the interior if they recognize him.

The power of tradition is still very strong, so strong that no one would think that those who represent the power of tradition are so weak and can be bullied.