New Shun 1730

If it is done by spreading the land into acres and checking the land, it can be regarded as a thunder.

The words "restore the well field" are simply like the sky falling.

The Northern Confucian school has always had the intention of restoring ancient times, and everyone was mentally prepared, but they really didn't expect that anyone would actually tell this matter in the Tianyou Hall.

Nowadays, there are six Pingzhangshi in Tianyou Palace, one is a British Duke, one is from the leader of Wude Palace, one is a Northern Confucian, one is a Southern Confucian, and one is a heretic Catholic who uses Christianity to supplement Confucianism, and is dedicated to learning heresy.

The person who just spoke was Li Zhiyuan from the Northern Confucian sect.

The Northern Confucian school emphasized practical learning and advocated separate education, and indeed inherited the "use" view of the Yongjia and Yongkang schools.

I believe that what I learn must be useful, put to practical use and achieve results, which is the embodiment of righteousness. Talking about righteousness all day long but doing nothing serious is not called righteousness.

Righteousness must be done, not spoken. It must be done to produce benefits, in order for righteousness to be realized, and righteousness must be reflected through benefits.

The reason for the emergence of this faction is, on the one hand, the sour nature of talking with nothing at all in the late Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, the reflection of the refugees everywhere, the annexation of land, and the massacre by the Manchus.

And...the sprouting of capitalism in Jiangnan has not affected them, and their minds are still stuck in the past era.

I also want to use the past methods to find a way out for China.

They believe that "the main purpose is not to be understood in poems and books, and to be learned is not to comprehend and recite, but to be like Confucius's blog about etiquette, learn it personally, practice it personally, and those who will not understand it for life." They advocate personal practice and continuous progress in practice. Study, not recite scriptures.

It advocates the development of six mansions, six virtues, six lines, and six arts.

The so-called "six mansions" refer to water conservancy, military, metallurgy, construction, land, and agriculture; the "six virtues" refer to knowledge, benevolence, saintliness, righteousness, loyalty, and harmony; and the "six lines" refer to filial piety, friendship, timing, and marriage. , Hui, Tie; "Six Arts", namely etiquette, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and mathematics.

It sounds good, but times have changed after all.

Li Zhiyuan was very upright, and through this investigation of the land, he expressed the thoughts of the Northern Confucian school.

After counting the acres of land, the increased taxes were still passed on to the bottom class.

The country's tax revenue has increased, and the burden on the bottom has increased, but the wealthy households have no impact. However, it is the people at the bottom who affect the order of chaos in the world. If their burdens increase, the world will not be stable.

Even though he said such shocking words, Li Gan had to admit that what Li Zhiyuan said made sense.

It is true that various problems will arise when counting acres. The first two problems with local officials can be solved by Liu Yu's method; but the last one, the transfer of taxes to the bottom class, cannot be solved.

"Ai Qing is not an immutable person, so how come you actually expressed your idea of ​​restoring the well field? Does Ai Qing really think that this well field can be restored?"

Li Zhiyuan shook his head and said: "Retroversion is not a complete restoration, it must be adapted."

"If you have a well, you will have a well. If you don't have a well, you will equalize the fields. If you don't have a well, the fields will be limited. I would like to say that if the land is divided among the people and the acres of land are counted, it will be beneficial. Everyone has land and everyone pays taxes. Are there any roads connecting them? By passing on the mu tax from generation to generation, the tax revenue of the imperial court can be increased without increasing the burden on the people.”

"If we can't equalize the land and limit the land, but just count the acres, then all the increased taxes will be borne by the bottom class. Your Majesty doesn't think that the landlords farm their own land, right? The landlords don't farm their own land, but only collect rent, so your Majesty will do the inventory After acquiring the land, the extra taxes are nominally paid by the landlord, but in reality?”

Li Gan was speechless, knowing that there was really no way to refute this matter. He smiled bitterly and said: "Now that I have mentioned this, I don't mention whether it is realistic. Aiqing only said what you want to achieve in the end. What is it?"

Li Zhiyuan said: "Your Majesty, all the land in the world will be lent to the public. The common people will divide the land and they will always share it with the public. They are not allowed to buy or sell it, and they are not allowed to lend it. This is also a well field, but it is not the well field method mentioned by Mencius."

“Only in this way can the rich and poor be balanced, people have no spare power, and the land has no profit. People come and go as friends, and diseases are supported, and true great governance can be achieved.”

Li Gan was silent, the British Duke was silent, and so were the others.

After a long time, the British Duke laughed and said: "This method is definitely not feasible. If it is done, the world will be in chaos. This is not Wang Mang's old method? Wang Mang built well fields and restored king fields. What will happen?"

Li Zhiyuan also smiled and said: "So it can be said that if a well is available, the field will be welled; if the well is not available, the field will be equalized; if neither well is available, the field will be limited."

"As the saying goes, you need to think clearly about treating the symptoms and the root cause. Only by treating the root cause can the country be consolidated forever. The Northern Confucian sect has its own set of methods for treating the root cause. Please try to report it to your majesty."

"For example, during the time of the late Emperor, the scholar Yan Xi Zhai had a method of 'dividing crops between tenants'. For example, if a wealthy family has ten hectares of land, one hectare is reserved for it, and nine tenant families are ordered to cultivate nine hectares. The tenants must prepare their own crops for farming cattle. Those who have none will receive it from the official, and the harvest will be returned in autumn. Forty acres of grain will be given to the landlord in autumn, and ten acres will be paid to the official on behalf of the landlord. Those who pay the official will receive fifty acres by themselves after thirty years. For one life, the landowner can enjoy the benefits of the land for the rest of his life."

"In this way, within thirty years, the rich households will not be extremely opposed. Thirty years later, the landlords will have enjoyed the land benefits for thirty years, and the tenants will naturally get the hundred acres of land..."

"Another example is Wang Yuan and Wang Kunsheng, who believe that in rural areas, land must be equalized and limited. In cities, land sales are allowed. However, anyone who builds a house in the city will be asked to collect taxes, which is called It's a house tax. If you live in a city, you'll be engaged in industry and commerce, and you'll have a lot of wealth. Collecting city house taxes can also expand the court's financial resources."

"For example, Li Xian and Li Shugu believed that if we want to solve the root cause, those who do not cultivate the land should not have land. But we should not implement equal distribution of land too radically, but we can try it. Now that the country has acquired Mongolia and Liaodong, there are wastelands. People from densely populated areas can be allowed to immigrate and try the well-field system in the wasteland, and they are not allowed to buy and sell."

"Therefore, I am not against the investigation of land, but I hope that this investigation of land will lay the foundation for the future equal distribution of land, land restrictions, and even the gradual return of land to public ownership, so that those who cultivate the land can gradually have their own land."

"I still think that it is ineffective to treat the symptoms without solving the root cause. Even if this matter is difficult, if we want to ensure the prosperity of the world and the stability of the country, we have to consider solving the root cause. Whether it is thirty years or a hundred years, there must be a long-term plan."

"I don't think it should be done now, but I hope Your Majesty will consider things in the future."

The commodity economy in the north is far less developed than that in the south. Li Zhiyuan, or the Northern Confucian School, still thinks that collecting in-kind taxes is the right way.

Li Xian, Wang Yuan and others were taught by Yan Yuan, and Li Zhiyuan was also a member of the Northern Confucian School. Yan Yuan personally experienced the wars in the north and witnessed the Qing Dynasty's enclosure of land, so he was full of fear of land annexation.

Many of their ideas are not to be implemented now, but they hope that the emperor can consider more far-reaching and fundamental solutions. Truly restore the king's rule.

They hope that the court can get out of the vicious circle of order and chaos, and get out of the curse of land annexation leading to the tragedy of the late dynasty.

They also hope that the court can seriously consider some fundamental solutions.

Seeing that no one was talking, Li Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I am not the kind of person who is ignorant of the world. I also know that the ideas of Yan Xizhai, Li Shugu and others are difficult to implement."

"I just hope that this dynasty can get out of the vicious circle of order and chaos and try to cure the root cause. Don't be impatient, take it slowly, one step today, two steps tomorrow. If there is a goal, even if it takes fifty or a hundred years, as long as it is achieved, isn't it a good thing?"

"Investigating the land will not hinder land annexation, and it will increase the burden on the grassroots. If it is just to collect more taxes, I support it as a prime minister. But as a Chinese Confucian, I don't support it very much, because Your Majesty has not considered curing the root cause in the future."

"The court of the Celestial Empire must have an ultimate goal. Isn't the purpose of the court to be a sage inside and a king outside? Isn't it to restore the past three generations?"

Britain The Duke laughed when he heard this and said, "That's wrong. The purpose of the court is to keep the world in order, to ensure that there is famine relief, to ensure that border troubles can be quelled, and to ensure that taxes can be collected to do these things. Lord Li is also a practical person on weekdays, why are you talking about these things today?"

Li Zhiyuan sighed and said, "Looking at the disasters in Shandong and Jiaodong, I felt something in my heart. So I wonder if it is possible to cure the root cause? The rich families in Zhaoyuan and other places took advantage of the disaster years to hoard food and exchange it for land; the poor people had to sell land because they could not survive in the disaster years. If the court has money, even if it can provide relief, it is only a temporary solution. Perhaps, there is a way to cure the root cause."

Li Gan snorted and shook his head and said, "I didn't see your words to cure the root cause. I only saw that if we do this, it will really be Wang Mang's reform. It is absolutely not feasible. Or as you said, if we want to cure it fundamentally, we must get equal distribution of land. . But if I can achieve equal distribution of land and limit the land, will I still worry about these millions of taels of silver? "

"Even when Emperor Taizong was fighting for the world, he gave up the policy of equal distribution of land and exemption of grain after the battle of Jingxiang. Otherwise, if our Dashun equalized land and exempted grain, and the Later Jin Donglu supported the gentry to occupy land, how could our dynasty be established? "

"Then Yan Xizhai thought simply, thinking that the landlords took four out of ten and the court took one out of ten, which was considered to leave more for the rich. But now the rich can easily take six out of ten, seven out of ten, and now they are asked to take four out of ten, how can they agree? "

"Besides, the land will be returned to the tenants in thirty years. The rich are not fools. Do they have to wait for thirty years to know that this policy is harmful to them? "

"Yan Xizhai said that the corrupt scholars in the late Ming Dynasty: when there is nothing to do, they sit back and talk about the nature, and die in danger to serve the king. When it came to him, he did not He sits back and talks about his character, but the idea of ​​equal land and well-field system is totally unfeasible. Since it is unfeasible, he still says so. What is the difference between him and those who shout that the world can be governed by cultivating virtue? "

"Let's not talk about others, let's talk about Liu Yu, and then the governor of Wendeng Prefecture, Bai Yunhang. What they think can at least be done. What they say is meaningful. You can know whether it is feasible or not by listening to their words and seeing their arguments. "

"Yan Xizhai said this well-field equal land system, then I want to ask, how much land is there in the world? Not to mention a country, how to implement it in a province, a prefecture, a state, and a county? What if the rich oppose it? He didn't say these things, but just said that this is a good way. In my opinion, he is no different from those corrupt scholars. It's nothing more than the righteousness that the corrupt scholars talk about, which he doesn't like; he is not corrupt, but this idea is simply unfeasible, so it is just empty talk. "

Li Zhiyuan sighed when he heard this, knowing that he was just excited for a moment, and the idea of ​​curing the root cause was really empty talk.

Li Gan couldn't help laughing when thinking about these things, and shook his head to himself.

Liu Yu had written a letter before, and Li Gan used it as a bargaining chip. He pretended to lift the roof when he clearly wanted to open a small window.

Now, it sounds like Li Zhiyuan's idea of ​​checking the land is that it can be used to scare the gentry officials.

However, if he thought that this was used to scare people, it would not be pretending to lift the roof when he wanted to open a small window, but it would be filling the house with explosives to turn it into dust when he wanted to open a small window.

Now, Bai Yunhang's memorial requesting a trial does not need to be submitted to the court for discussion, and the emperor or Tianyou Palace can directly approve it.

What needs to be discussed by the court is whether to promote it in one province after the trial is successful? Will it be promoted nationwide?

This matter cannot be concealed, and it is hard to say whether it will be successful. Tianyou Palace is easy to solve, but what is really difficult to solve is future promotion.

"Why……"

A long sigh came from Li Zhiyuan's mouth, and Li Gan smiled and said: "You sigh again, is it to cure the root cause?"

Li Zhiyuan suddenly knelt down. Normally, there was no need to kneel down in the Tianyou Hall for ordinary matters. When he knelt down, Li Gan was also stunned.

"Your Majesty! I have some bold words, and I won't be happy to say them out."

"Qing Dan said."

Looking at Li Zhiyuan kneeling on the ground, Li Gan felt that these words might not be so easy.

Li Zhiyuan knelt on the ground. After sighing just now, he burst into tears.

"What I was thinking and feeling just now, I suddenly felt despair. The teachings of the saints, which have been passed down to this day, seem to be heading towards a dead end."

"It is obviously impossible to restore the rule of the three generations; the inner sage and the outer king have not succeeded in training the mind for thousands of years. There is a cycle of curing chaos, and the only solution that can be thought of today is to restore ancient times. But this ancient, but There’s no way it’s going to happen again.”

"Northern Confucianism cannot think of a method that can both cure the root cause and be feasible; Southern Confucianism has not found it yet. The cultivation of mind and inner sage are not feasible. Governing a country does not use virtuous government, but it is not necessary to return to a world of perfect virtue. fantasy?"

“In the end, it’s all tinkering, treating the symptoms but not the root cause.”

""Liyun" says: In the conduct of the great road, the world is for the common good, selecting the worthy and capable, advocating trust and cultivating harmony, so that the old people will not only kiss their relatives, nor will they only give birth to their children, so that the old will have their end, the strong will be useful, and the young will have their own. Elderly, widowed, widowed, lonely and disabled people are all supported; men have a share, women have a home, if goods are abandoned on the ground, there is no need to hide them; if power is not from the body, there is no need to do it for oneself, so it is not prosperous to seek closure. "Thieves and thieves do not commit crimes, so the outside of the house is not closed. This is called Datong."

"This is the ultimate ideal of Confucianism in the world, and all schools of thought are striving for this. But until now, no school of thought can tell how to achieve such a world."

"It's either a fantasy or an illusion. This is true for the Northern School, and so is the Southern School. This is true for the philosophy of mind, and it is also true for Neo-Confucianism. When it comes to making a country rich and powerful, it may not even be as good as Western learning; when it comes to measuring wealth, it is not as good as the Legalists; In a world of great strife, it is better to be vertical and horizontal..."

"How do people like Liu Yu and others who came from the Wude Palace know anything about Confucianism? They can govern a country and train an army, and they can do it. If the purpose of the imperial court is not to establish a world of great harmony, but just to maintain stability and stability as the British Lord said, To stabilize the border, then...how can Confucians convince people?"

"If no one can think of a Confucian school that can achieve great unity, it is practical, not utopian, and not vain. I am afraid that in a few hundred years, Confucianism will have little place to stand, and it will only be able to cultivate one's character and cultivate one's nature."

"Thinking about this, I am extremely sad. I...can't cure the root cause, let alone Datong? I'm in tears. I don't know what to say. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

The old man shed tears, and the other people also sighed. This thing should not have been mentioned in the Tianyou Hall. No one really thought that the purpose of the court was to achieve the rule of Datong. But today, when Li Zhiyuan said it, he was still touched after all. Having lost some of these people’s ideals when they were young, we can’t help but feel the same sadness.

The group of people in Wude Palace who were not very Confucian scholars put too much pressure on these people, and also brought too much thought to the world's thoughts.

Li Gan sighed and personally stood up and pulled up Li Zhiyuan who was kneeling there, not knowing what to say.

After a long while, he said: "Since there is no way to cure the root cause, let me first ask you to work hard to treat the symptoms. It is better than not treating it. Maybe someone in the future can think of how to achieve the rule of great unity, and I don't know. However, if the land of China sinks and the world overturns, it will only I’m afraid I won’t even have the chance to wait for those who come after me.”

"I also know that Bai Yunhang's sparse treatment only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. But since there is no permanent solution, it can only be tried. As for what you said, the increased land tax will eventually be passed on to the poor, I can only say, When there is money in the national treasury, if there is a famine in the future, more relief will be provided.”

According to its actual content, it is either an attempt to restore the old means of production and means of exchange, thereby restoring the old ownership relations and the old society, or it is an attempt to re-incorporate modern means of production and means of exchange into a state that has been broken through by them and It must be broken through the framework of the old ownership relations. In both cases it is reactionary and utopian. Guildism in industry, patriarchal economy in agriculture—this is its final conclusion. This trend of thought became a timid lament in its later development. . . . Whether He Xinyin or Yan Yuan, they actually walked this kind of road, but they walked in a daze.