New Shun 1730

With the last bit of vigilance towards Liu Yu, Abe Masafuku still asked the key question.

Your idea, Liu Yu, is so "correct", so far-sighted, and so in line with the way of heaven, then why is it said that Dashun often opens warehouses to help the people?

After asking this very sharp question, Liu Yu had to tell Abe Masafuku the story of waiting for the rabbit by the tree and carving the boat to find the sword again.

"So, how can the Celestial Empire and Japan be the same?"

"To the north of Dashun there are Mongolia and Hetao, which can be cultivated; to the west there are the Western Regions and oases, which can also be used for farming. The people have not yet reached the point where there is no land to cultivate."

"It is the same with Japan. It is a different time. If Japan only has 100,000 households at this time, my statement would be unwise and ignorant. Instead, the people should be encouraged to have children, such as the story of Gou Jian: The strong men are not allowed to marry old women, and the old men are not allowed to marry strong wives; if a girl does not marry at the age of 17, her parents are guilty; if a man does not marry at the age of 20, his parents are guilty. Those who are about to be pardoned will be reported to the king, and the king will order the doctor to watch over them. If a boy is born, two pots of wine and a dog will be given; if a girl is born, two pots of wine and a pig will be given; if three people are born, the king will give them a mother; if two sons are born, the king will give them food. If the head of the family dies, he will be released from power for three years; if a branch son dies, he will be released from power for three months; he must cry and bury him like his own son. Orphans, widows, people with rashes, and the poor and sick will be given their sons as eunuchs."

"But Japan now has a population of more than 230 million. The land is fragmented, and there are more and more wealthy farmers and merchants. The land is annexed, and small farmers are poor and helpless, and it is difficult to resist natural disasters. How can we still use the story of Goujian at this time?"

"Some people think that we should use Japan's sword as Japan's plow to seize land. But looking around, even if Japan has a sword, where can it cut to seize the ownerless land?"

"Besides, you can't beat it."

"Even if you sleep on straw and taste gall, it will take 30 or 40 years. After 30 or 40 years, I am afraid that with the rapid population growth, the harm of the 'four evils' will accumulate. If there is a cold summer, volcano, tsunami, etc., the harm of the four evils will erupt all at once and sweep across Japan."

"Besides, the country was closed before, and the people were ignorant, so there was no need to worry. Now my dynasty has visited Tosa, Choshu and other places, and the Japanese people all know that 'equal land and free grain, only talents, and equality of the four people'. Once it erupts, it will not just be the previous only seeking "Ikki" and asked the feudal lord to reduce taxes. "

"Tens of thousands of miles east of this ocean, there is a wild land called America. The land is tens of millions and is much more fertile than Mino."

"However, the rich are unwilling to go, and the poor cannot go. If the shogunate and the feudal lords consider Japan's long-term, they can organize immigration. However, tens of thousands of miles away, they will definitely declare themselves kings, which is just making wedding clothes for others. But I don't know if the shogunate is willing to spend the shogunate's money and benefit the future of the Japanese people. If they are willing to do it, I will send the sea charts in a few days, and the shogunate will pay for shipbuilding and immigration. I can also help. "

"But the key is that this also requires money."

"Look, let me do the math for you. According to the Genroku survey, the total land area of ​​Japan is actually only 10 million people. But now it has nearly 10 million more. It will increase by 200,000 or 300,000 every year. . "

"These 200,000 or 300,000 "surplus population" every year have to be transported to America. If everyone wants to survive the first year, they must invest at least 30 taels of silver. If it is less, it is better to ship them directly to the sea and throw them into the sea, which is more economical and troublesome."

"In this case, an additional 10 million taels of silver will be spent every year."

"Can the shogunate come up with 10 million taels of silver every year?"

"Even if we learn from the former Ming Dynasty and increase the Liao tribute, Japan can also be the future of the Japanese people and Japan's eternal plan. The people will suffer for a while, and the "immigrant tribute" will be added, evenly distributed to each household, which is about less than one tael of silver per household. This... can you afford it?"

"With this money, it is better to buy guns and cannons, refuse to provide relief, refuse to reduce tribute, and let the "surplus" population starve to death spontaneously, or impose taxes according to the number of people, and increase taxes for families with many people, so as to force the people to naturally not want to have children. This is exactly in line with the way of heaven. Right? ”

After hearing “taxation of population to curb population”, Abe Masafuku nodded repeatedly, thinking that this man really had some means.

As for immigrating to the distant America, only a fool would do that.

This America is tens of thousands of miles away. In the past, Date Masamune had sent people there. It took three to five years to travel back and forth, and there were many storms, so only three out of ten survived.

The shogunate spent money, but let others go there to establish themselves as kings? It is so far away, and it is impossible to pay tribute to the shogunate. Only a fool as a general would do this.

It is self-evident what the result of the Liao expedition would be. Moreover, according to Liu Yu's calculation, each household would have to pay more than one tael of silver a year. How could they afford it?

Based on the standards of the Genroku land inspection more than 30 years ago, there is such a record.

A wealthy farmer in Wakayama named Ota Saizo. The land registered by this wealthy farmer , with two cho and five taels, one cho is about ten mu, about 15 mu. According to the Dashun standard, his family has a total of about 40 mu of land.

His younger brother did not marry, and as a family member, he lived with his elder brother, which was actually similar to a slave. But the brothers were friendly and respectful. Since they were brothers, they still had to buy clothes for him to wear, and they could not be naked.

There was a wife, two children, and five servants who lived with him, who were considered his long-term workers.

This person attached great importance to water conservancy, knew how to buy fertilizers to fertilize the fields, and cultivated carefully. The yield of paddy fields per mu was about 450 jin, and that of dry fields was about 250 jin.

The registered land, calculated by stone height, was 45 shi, in other words, he had to pay about 22 shi of taxes when he harvested.

But this person was smart and capable, and he planted some wheat and buckwheat twice a year.

The total annual income from rice, wheat, buckwheat, etc. is 90 dan. After deducting 22 dan of tribute, there is actually about 65 dan left.

According to the price of the year, if all these incomes are converted into money, it is about 1500 jin.

1 jin is about 3.75 grams of silver, which means that the family earns 5600 grams of silver a year. With the silver content of 50% of Baoyong Ding silver, it is equivalent to 75 taels of Kuping silver.

The family eats, drinks, defecates, and repairs tools, and makes a set of clothes for the family every year.

Every day, the hired long-term workers have to pay about 0.3 jin of silver per person per day, which is an average of 1.2 grams of silver per person per day.

The price of wheat is cheaper than rice, about 50 grams of Kuping silver per dan, and the Japanese shi is about 260 jin to 300 jin.

The monthly salary was about 30 grams of Ho-Yong Ding silver. Excluding the silver content and food and drink, the labor cost was about one-half of that of Dashun and one-eighth to one-twelfth of that of the Netherlands.

The grain price in Japan thirty years ago was indeed frighteningly low. If it were still so low now, the Dashun merchants would be able to make a fortune in grain trade.

However, after Tokugawa Yoshimune came to power, the biggest reform direction was to stabilize the rice price to prevent low rice prices from hurting farmers and soldiers. Now the rice price is not so cheap.

In the end, the actual surplus was about 50 grams a year, which means that the five people in the family, plus five servants, worked hard for a year and finally had 20 grams of silver left.

His family ate better. Because the price of rice was relatively expensive, he could still ensure that the whole family was well fed by selling rice and buying millet, sorghum, barley, etc.

Even if the rice price has risen after Tokugawa Yoshimune's reform, it is estimated that only one or two taels of silver can be left a year.

This is still a wealthy farmer who can be recorded in history and at least leave his name in the chronicles. As a wealthy farmer, the net income of a year is less than one penny of silver. Of course, there are accounts here, and there may be some land that is not accounted for and does not pay taxes, and the actual income may be higher.

But Liu Yu started with "one tael of silver per household per year for immigration tax", and Abe Masafuku naturally thought it was nonsense. If it really was collected like this, the people would have to rise up: Why collect our taxes to relocate other people? Besides, if you collect so much, you can't pay it even if you don't eat or drink.

Since immigration is a joke, then using the Dingkou tax to control the population is a good way.

Shang Yang did the opposite, forcing the separation of families through taxation; if Japan can use it well, it can also control the population through taxation.

Abe Masafuku nodded secretly, thinking that people from a big country really have some means. In this way, after 30 years, Japan's population will drop to a stable level.

That is the "natural" population that Liu Yu said "Four evils of population theory" will not make trouble.

If he said this in Dashun, he would be beaten to death; but in Japan, where there is a tradition of throwing the elderly to starve to death, it is still easily accepted.

The shogunate's taxes are based on land, not people, so the tax revenue will not be reduced at all.

The samurai themselves are also a class of food, and the military strength of the shogunate will not be reduced.

The number of people is small, the land is not fragmented, and after inheritance, if you work hard to cultivate, you can still have a few dozen grams of silver left. If you encounter a year of famine, you can still get by without mortgaging the land to wealthy merchants and wealthy people, thus ensuring the stability of small farmers.

In addition, after Dashun forced Japan to open ports, the surplus people can engage in transportation, handicrafts and other industries, which all require buying rice to eat; and if the rice price is too low, Dashun sea merchants will definitely operate and resell it to Dashun, which can ensure that the rice price will not be too low and will not hurt the interests of the samurai.

It seems... it is indeed a perfect policy.

Abe Masafuku thought about it vigilantly for a long time, but he couldn't think of any disadvantages behind this policy.

The only thing is that from Liu Yu's conversation, he felt that Liu Yu was too focused on magic, too domineering and lacked the kingly way. As an enemy, such a person is really difficult to deal with.

He also asked Liu Yu for his opinion on the collection of Ding tax. Liu Yu had experience in the pilot program of distributing Ding according to the land in Wendeng. He only needed to take the experience of Wendeng and use it in the opposite way.

"This Ding tax can be called turning stones into Ding. It should be based on the tribute of the Japanese land of small farmers, and based on two sons in a family. Reduce a certain amount of tribute and replace the reduced tribute with Ding tax."

"In this way, a family with one son will pay less tribute; a family with two sons will pay the same as before; a family with three, four or five sons will pay more taxes than before."

"The less tribute paid by a family with one son will pay back within 20 years. On the one hand, the land will not be fragmented, and the small farmers will not be extremely poor. This is It is beneficial to the rule of the shogunate; secondly, the grain production remains unchanged, and there are fewer people eating, so there will be fewer uprisings and more food at home, which also saves the cost of relief. ”

Abe Masafuku said happily: "Wonderful! It is indeed a good policy. But Mr. Liu came up with this idea, I am afraid there is also a selfish motive, right?"

"I am afraid that Mr. Liu is thinking that in 20 or 30 years, when the people have extra money, they can also buy more Chinese goods, or think about the opening of the port."

At this moment, Abe Masafuku thought that he was simply the reincarnation of Yang Xiu, and he saw through Liu Yu's hidden thoughts at a glance.

But he is not Yang Xiu, and Liu Yu is not Cao Cao. Even if he said it out, he would not die. It is time to say it now, so that Liu Yu knows that Japan is not without good people.

Liu Yu was stunned, and then pretended to smile awkwardly, thinking that you are really a genius, and you have guessed things that I haven't thought of myself.

"Hehehehe... That's true. But this is a win-win situation. In the end, the one who benefits is Japan, isn't it? The Celestial Empire does not want Japan to be in chaos. If the four evils appear and Japan is in chaos, the Celestial Empire will have to send troops to protect the shogunate. It's just... shouldn't it cost money to send troops to help? Therefore, the Chinese government still hopes that Japan will be stable and stable for a long time. Since it is a vassal and no longer an enemy country, its plans cannot be considered from the perspective of an enemy country.

Abe Masafuku also nodded in agreement, thinking that although you have your own purpose, Japan will benefit after all if you do this. This is probably Zheng Guoqu's strategy to weaken Qin. It did weaken Qin, but it also benefited Qin. It was truly a win-win policy.

Sorry: I was dim-sighted and miscalculated the decimal point. However, taking into account the silver content issue and the weights and measures conversion on both sides, it does not affect the conclusion.