Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1056

When Liu Yu heard this, he smiled wryly.

Possibly, this can also be regarded as a traditional characteristic of small farmers.

It is said that similar things often happen in Jingyan, Sichuan.

And when the British enclose land, women are also holding it there.

In history, when Zhang Jian and others reclaimed wasteland, they were forced to do nothing by more than 200 old women.In the end, he had no choice but to choose not to offend but to hide, and bypassed it directly.

When the later generations reclaimed wasteland in northern Jiangsu, it was not that they did not kill people.He even directly labeled the bandit, arrested him and shot him, and organized a guard.

However, when encountering women and old men and women, there is really no way.

At this time, even though the people from the land reclamation company knew that Liu Yu was on their side, they quickly explained: "Grandpa, we really didn't enclose their land, and we temporarily bypassed their grassland."

"These reeds are ownerless and belong to the imperial court. We will pay the imperial court..."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Well, you don't need to explain at all."

"To put it simply, these reed marshes are where they cook private salt. If you can't afford to mess with them, try to force them away."

"You don't dare to move their own grass, and there is no need to move it. But as long as they burn the grass where they cook private salt, they will not be able to cook private salt. They will not be able to survive only by cooking official salt. At that time, I will accept your terms."

"Let's be honest, shall we?"

The people in the company smiled awkwardly, and had to admit that they thought so.

They are all smart people, and they can easily see through the problems.

All the "incompetent people" who can't make private salt - those who are really obedient and law-abiding are called incompetent people here - they are willing to accept the conditions of reclamation.

Because they don't know the hidden trap behind giving them the land to make them bankrupt, and they feel happy that they have the opportunity to jump from small farmers to landlords in this life.

Those who can engage in private salt are the main force against land reclamation companies enclosing unowned grasslands.

Without these grasses outside the catalog, it would be impossible to cook private salt.Because there are no coal mines or mountains in northern Jiangsu, and they cannot dry salt, they can only cook with grass.

Liu Yu could understand the company's tricks, and this was a scaled-down version of the "Huaibei salt forcing Huainan salt households to death" routine.

The difference is that Liu Yu used technological progress to kill Huainan salt, whose cost was 15 times that of large-scale sun-dried salt farms; while these land reclamation companies drew their salaries from the bottom of the pot, and drove these salt farmers to death by enclosing unowned grasslands with the least trouble.

To put it bluntly, Liu Yu didn't blame them at all, but still had a smile on his face.

"Okay, call your people back first, and go to other places to do it first. I'll take care of these women's affairs."

The people from the reclamation company naturally quickly agreed, but Lin Min asked Liu Yu a little nervously, or reminded Liu Yu that this kind of people cannot be provoked, even if you are the Duke of the state, and it is best not to provoke them.

"Duke, these women...you'd better not go. It's hard to handle. If it spreads out, it's bad reputation."

"If there is any contact, and you actually want to hang yourself at that time, this... this spread... I will have trouble."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry, why would I go to them? To put it bluntly, they don't even know how to speak Mandarin, so what's the use of me going there?"

"Then... how does the Duke plan to solve it?" Lin Min was curious.

Liu Yu did not answer directly, but said: "Master Lin, do you know what the consequences will be if this matter is not handled properly?"

Lin Min understood and nodded, expressing that it was too clear.

If this matter is not handled well, then the next wave will learn from others and follow the example of the gourd, then the matter of enclosing land will be completely hopeless.

Liu Yu said again: "Lord Lin thinks, if I do this, is it a competition for profit with the people?"

"Uh……"

Lin Min didn't answer.

Liu Yu's characterization of his crude method was very confident and gave an evaluation of "objectively promoting the emergence of modernization in Jiangsu".

However, under the Confucian view of history, the nature of Liu Yu's method is also very simple. Competing with the people for profit and seizing the property of the people is a heinous crime.

Not every Confucian scholar speaks of "people" as a powerful gentry.

That's pouring dirty water on people.

This time, the people are indeed the lowest-level salt households, competing with the people for profit.

This is obvious.

They used to be able to have some business. When Liu Yu came, a large-scale sun-dried salt farm was directly bankrupted with his left hand, and a Nanyang plantation or Songjiang package package was waiting for him with his right hand.

This is not called competing for profit with the people, what is it called competing for profit with the people?

Why is Liu Yu so afraid of the merger of French utopians and Confucianism?I am afraid that I am afraid here.

From Lvsichang to Guanhekou, Fangongdi to the coastline, this is the place with the lowest population density, the most wasteland, and the least stable economy of small farmers and small producers in Dashun.

none of them.

And even so, even a Jiangsu Jiedu envoy couldn't hold it down, so he, the Duke, had to go out of the town to stand on the platform.

Facing Liu Yu's question, Lin Min was really difficult to answer.

And Liu Yu asked again: "What is my reputation for the things I did in Funing?"

Lin Min took a long breath, uttered the words clearly, with cadences: "Rough, brutal, tyrannical. Knowing that it is a fish, baiting it, knowing that it is a beast, setting a trap, treacherous."

Liu Yu clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "You can't handle these women's affairs, but I can. The beauty is that I have a reputation for brutality and treachery."

After laughing, Liu Yu said to the people from the wasteland reclamation company: "How about this, how about you, draw up a list of those who occupy land here and those who are difficult to deal with."

"Uh, don't do it tomorrow either. Just for a while."

"In a moment, you send someone to deliver a message to these people."

"Let's just say, I, my country's lord, are not here to inspect the land reclamation, but to investigate the problem of illegal salt."

"Give them three days. I'll wait here."

As soon as this method came out, all the capitalists repeatedly claimed that it was wonderful.

Only Lin Min, the Jiedu Envoy of Jiangsu, couldn't help but sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Liu Yu heard him sigh, and said with a smile: "Master Lin, why are you sighing? Isn't this a good way?"

Lin Min smiled wryly, thinking what a good way this is?

Isn't this a replica of Funing Land Reform?
You dare not directly touch the land legal rights, but go around in circles and deal with them with the issue of withholding river construction funds.

It's the same here, you don't dare to move, or you find it troublesome.

Obviously it is for land, but it is said that it is for private salt.

Do you care about private salt?Half of the private salt dealers in Dashun will transform themselves into legal salt dealers with you.

You are the total backstage of Quan Dashun's private salt dealers.

Now it's time to talk about private salt?

To be clear, isn't this just using private salt to solve the land problem?
Who in northern Jiangsu doesn't know your brutal reputation?Hundreds of people were killed in Funing just now, no village does not wear filial piety, and now they want to do "private salt", which is justified, but isn't this forcing those market owners to take the initiative to accept the land purchase contract?
Behind these people, there must be market merchants who specialize in private salt.Which field main business does not engage in private salt?
Do you think that enclosing land is to compete with the people for profit, and investigating illegal salt is to enforce the law impartially?

Lin Min shook his head and said, "Duke, although this method can solve the problem, it may not be the right way."

"Besides, the Duke of the State is clearly doing it for the land issue, but he wants to use the reason of investigating illegal salt to force them... In my opinion, we should discuss this matter to find a way, or let's talk to those merchants and persuade them. Make them understand that this move is also for the country and the people..."

"At the end of the day, it's best to justify the matter."

Liu Yu secretly smiled inwardly, and said, let's get down, this matter cannot be resolved in a proper way.Not to mention Dashun's administrative ability at this time, the administrative ability of future generations, who would dare to move those illegal buildings in the villages in the city?

The right way... The right way is that according to these land reclamation companies, some farm owners took out the deeds and sea books of the previous dynasty, and with the approval of folk customary law, they all created a "sunrise as the boundary".

However, in the previous dynasty, you could see the sea from the head of Yancheng City. Where is the sea now?
What is so difficult about this matter?Does Dashun recognize civil customary law contracts?Is the private "illegal" possession of land recognized?
In the eyes of the common people in Dashun, there is no concept of public land at all.The ancestors shit here and cut reeds in this reed marsh, so this land belongs to them.

The customary law of the people and the sense of exclusive private ownership of land are much more important than that of the British enclosure.

"Lord Lin, let me ask you. You are not the kind of person who can't eat the fireworks of the world. You also know that there are a lot of hidden fields in the private sector. I counted and calculated. If there are only these lands registered by the imperial court and these lands that are taxed, the land will be paid by the government. The population of the dynasty, with the yield per mu at this time, is likely to starve to death."

"A small farmer, in addition to the tax-paying land, has reclaimed some hidden fields and planted sweet potatoes and the like to make ends meet. Let me ask you, if there is a dispute in these hidden fields, will the local officials recognize the owners of these fields?"

"Another one, for example, there is an unowned land here, but some villages tacitly agree to mow grass and raise cattle in this grassland. Do the local officials recognize that these grasslands belong to their village?"

Lin Min nodded.

"recognize."

"Folk customs and testimonies from various families are better than tax documents. This kind of benevolent government is also acquiesced in various places. This includes the tacit approval of private salt sales and hidden land before."

Liu Yu asked back: "Land law is the foundation of this dynasty. If you don't let me use crooked ways, how can I establish a law? As far as you are concerned, if you want to establish such a law, how should you establish it?"

"Master Lin, do you know what happened to the Southern Sichuan Salt Administration?"

"Those landlords and local tyrants who occupy the land, are they right? The wind can enter, the rain can enter, and others cannot enter."

"The land belongs to other landlords. If the capital wants to be used to develop well salt, what's wrong with the landlords charging 50% of the annual salt farm profits? If you like it and don't use it, if you think it's too expensive, just leave. According to Westerners, they are defenders of the sanctity of private property." , so that’s right, right?”

"Master Lin might as well think about it, how should this matter be resolved in a legitimate way?"

"Or, what does it mean to be justified?"

Lin Min was at a loss for what to say when he asked the question.

The name is justifiable, and to some extent, it can be understood that there are laws to follow.

Name, Ming also, Ming fact makes it clear.

This matter, including the matter of the salt well in southern Sichuan, cannot be clarified.

If Dashun's right to make laws is taken as the principle, the matter in southern Sichuan cannot be resolved.

As for the matter here, although there are laws to follow, it is also unrighteous, seizing the property of the people, and competing with the people for their interests.

No matter from the perspective of law or conscience, it is impossible to solve both problems.

Liu Yu asked Lin Min, what does a name mean?Lin Min couldn't answer.

And Liu Yu continued to ask.

"If you don't talk about conscience, but only talk about the law, there is a law to follow, which is justified. What kind of law does Master Lin think this needs?"

"To put it simply, regarding the land system and who owns the land, what kind of law is needed that can solve both the enclosure of land in northern Jiangsu and the opening of wells in southern Sichuan?"

The essence of this issue is actually the "extraordinary learning" or "extraordinary contention" that later generations debated.

Namely: Can the Ming Dynasty transition to a constitutional monarchy, and can it rely on the "Glorious Revolution" of the scholar-official class to clear the way for the development of capitalism?

Liu Yu has always disdained this kind of fantasy.

In fact, it is the same as those people who talked about their hearts with their hands in the late Ming Dynasty, they were all empty talk.

It is possible, or it is not possible, that is abstraction.

Leaving this empty talk, you must understand that what is important is Xian, not Xu Jun.

Otherwise, Lord Xu would be so simple, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty Liu Chan's dog feet are all Lord Xu.

And the specific constitution...

Even the specific constitution is all about paying for the pearl, and if you only pursue the surface, the Polish monarchy system is the most vain.

The purpose of all assumptions is to develop capitalism and the industrial revolution—it is the industrial revolution and the development of capitalism in Britain that have achieved a constitutional monarchy, not the other way around.

When the Lord Protector dissolved the National Assembly, land enclosures, shipbuilding, and the Dutch cession of land for compensation in the Anglo-Dutch War, the establishment of sea power in the Anglo-Spanish War, and the real implementation of the "Navigation Regulations" all fell into decline.

And the fundamental economic foundation here, the agricultural economy, is land.

If we don’t just talk about it, we have to talk about ownership. Specifically, in this area where the small-scale peasant economy is the most stubborn in the world at this time, it is land ownership.

Therefore, a more specific law is a land law that can promote the development of capitalism.

If the hypothesis can be established, it will prove that it is not empty talk.

If nothing concrete can be established at all, then it is empty talk.

The problem of seeking a sword is to forget that the early land policy demands of the European bourgeoisie have already existed here, and the situation on the two sides is fundamentally different.

The exclusive private ownership of land, the disintegration of village communities, the division of landlords and tenants, the respect of title deeds in land sales, and the separation of ownership and use of fields and bones, all exist, and the imperial court recognizes and upholds this law.

Then, on the issue of land, what kind of reforms under the so-called constitutional monarchy are the germs planning to come up with, concrete, not empty talk, clear land system, capitalism, still standing and will not be overthrown by small farmers land law?

Liu Yu asked Lin Min, what does a name mean?
Then he continued to go deeper, assuming that he did not talk about conscience, but only talked about the law, and acted in full accordance with the law.

So, on the premise of not talking about conscience, but only talking about the law, that is, under the fantasy of a constitutional monarchy, what kind of land law can solve the plight of salt wells in southern Sichuan at the same time?And the dilemma of enclosing land in northern Jiangsu?Solve the dilemma of high land rent and interest that plagued Liu Yu?

The economic base determines the superstructure. When the British invented the "columbine cart", learned ridge farming, crop rotation, and learned the Chinese plow, it had been 36 years since Wanli, and the first generation of steam engines came out decades later.

When agricultural technology, these things appeared, Zhuge Liang hadn't been born yet.

Private ownership of land has been popular here for many years.

Now it has become an obstacle restricting the development of productive forces.

Now, if Dashun wants to develop capitalism, its land law can only be "Nationalization of all land, only differential land rent, and absolute land rent" "The purest and most capitalist form of agrarian law.

The nationalization of land is the ultimate appeal of the bourgeois revolution.

Nationalization of land is the only capitalist land law that can solve these difficulties.

Because [this is nothing more than a public expression of the industrial capitalists' hatred of the landowner, because in their eyes the landowner is just a useless drag on the entire bourgeois production process].

This is what Liu Yu, the leader of the emerging class in Dashun, sees it like this.

Landowners, such as the landowners of Jingyan in southern Sichuan, are a group of completely useless burdens for production.

What is the use of it?
So, whether it is the Great Ming or the Great Shun, do the gentry bureaucrats have the motivation, ability, and will to enact such a law that fully nationalizes land and is truly conducive to the development of capitalist industry and commerce?
Lin Min hoped that Liu Yu's name would be justified.

Liu Yu asked back, it's not that Lin Min doesn't know the answer, this is nothing new.

Reactionary, progressive, utopian, nonsense, many schools of thought in Dashun all have the idea of ​​nationalizing land.

Some are rehabilitating well fields, some are equal-field systems, some are emphasizing the integration of the four peoples with industry and commerce, and some hope to nationalize land and "prohibit business and land"...

This is nothing new in Dashun, and it's not that Lin Min doesn't know that this gadget can solve Liu Yu's "right and proper" problem.

But can it be done?
Since it can't be justified, then the most disgusting means of not being justified can only be used.

Including Liu Yu's enclosure of land here, including the forced signing of the contract by the governor of Jingyan in southern Sichuan, all of which are dirty methods, even under the laws and morals of the feudal dynasty of Dashun, they are absolutely dirty methods .

Dashun is now in northern Jiangsu, what he needs is not the petty bourgeois Jacobins who "pursue the eternal kingdom of justice", but a Cromwell who bloodily suppresses the equalizers of the Earth Diggers.

Around 1750, in the past few years, Britain had completely wiped out the yeoman.

Liu Yu didn't dare to touch other places in Dashun, but he had to eliminate the owner farmers and small producers in the 4 square miles of land east of Fangong Dike during this time period.

Liu Yu didn't dare to do it elsewhere, because he knew that he and the emerging bourgeoisie behind him would definitely be hanged and couldn't win.

Here, it is the weakest link in the chain of Dashun's small-scale peasant economy. He and the emerging bourgeoisie behind him can win, so they can drive others to work as hired labor instead of being hanged by others on the street lamp.

However, this is not the first time that Dashun's bourgeoisie has stepped onto the political stage, legally legislating land nationalization, and thus legitimately enclosing land.

In essence, this is still a feudal bureaucrat using feudal imperial power to shamelessly occupy the land.

(End of this chapter)