Xinshun 1730

Chapter 170 The Cry of Despair
If the land is divided into mu and the land is checked, it will be regarded as a thunder on the ground.

The words of "recovering the well field" are simply the sound of the sky falling.

The Northern Confucianism school has always had a retro heart, and everyone was prepared in their hearts, but I really didn't expect that someone would really say this in the Tianyou Temple.

Today, there are six Pingzhangshi in Tianyou Hall, one British Duke, one from the Wude Palace chief, one Northern Confucian, one Southern Confucian, and a heretical Catholic who uses Christianity as a substitute for Confucianism.

It was Li Zhiyuan from the Northern Confucian school who spoke just now.

The Northern Confucianism attaches great importance to practical learning and advocates Fenzhai education, which indeed inherits the Yongjia and Yongkang schools' viewpoint of "use".

I think that what you learn has to be useful, and it is the embodiment of righteousness to use utilitarianism and make practical achievements.Talking about righteousness all day long, but not doing any serious business, that is not righteousness.

Righteousness is done, not spoken, and righteousness can only be realized when it is done for profit, and righteousness must be manifested through profit.

The reason for this faction is, on the one hand, seeing the sourness of the late Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, seeing the reflections of refugees everywhere, land annexation, and the massacre of the Qing Dynasty.

And... the buds of capitalism in Jiangnan have 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 Huaxia.

They believe that "the main purpose is not in the chapters and sentences of poems and books, and learning is not in reciting wisely, but in the period of time, such as Confucian blogs and rituals, learning it by yourself, practicing it by yourself, and never understanding it for life." Advocating personal practice and continuous progress in practice, Study, not read scriptures.

It is advocated to promote the way of six mansions, six virtues, six lines and six arts.

The so-called "Six Houses" refer to water conservancy, military affairs, metallurgy, construction, land, and agriculture; , meeting, and shirt; "six arts", that is, ritual, music, archery, royal, calligraphy, and mathematics.

Sounds good, but times have changed.

Li Zhiyuan was very upright, and through this investigation of Tian Mu, he expressed the thoughts of the Northern Confucianism.

After checking the acres of land, the increased taxes were passed on to the bottom.

The country's taxation has increased, and the burden on the bottom has increased, but the rich have no impact, and it is the people at the bottom that affect the order of the world. Their burdens have increased, and the world will not be stable.

Even if he said such shocking words, Li Gan had to admit that what Li Zhiyuan said had some truth.

It is true that there will be various problems in the inventory of the land. The first two problems of the local officials can be solved by Liu Yu's method; but in the end, there is really no way to solve the transfer of taxes to the bottom.

"Aiqing is not a person who can't understand the past, why did she say the idea of ​​​​recovering the well field? Does Aiqing really think that this well field can be restored?"

Li Zhiyuan shook his head and said: "The retro is not a complete restoration, of course we have to be flexible."

"If the wells can be wells, the wells will be wells. If the wells are not available, the fields will be shared. If the wells are not available, the fields will be limited. I tried to say that if the land is shared among the people and the acres of fields are checked, it is beneficial. Everyone has a field and everyone pays taxes. Is there a connection between rice paddies? Pass the mu tax on from generation to generation, so that the court’s tax revenue can be increased without increasing the burden on the common people.”

"If you can't equalize the land and limit the land, but only check the acres of land, then all the increased taxes will be borne by the bottom. Your Majesty will not think that the landlord himself farms the land, right? The landlord does not farm the land himself, but only collects rent. Then your Majesty will check After the field, the extra tax is paid by the landlord in name, but in fact?"

Li Gan was speechless, knowing that there was really no way to refute this matter, so he smiled wryly, "Since we talked about this, we didn't mention whether it's realistic or not. Ai Qing only said what is the final shape you want to achieve?"

Li Zhiyuan said: "Your Majesty, all the fields in the world are borrowed from the public. The people share the land and share it with the public forever. No buying or selling, no sub-lending. This is also the well field, but it is not the well field method mentioned by Mencius."

"Only in this way can the rich and the poor be balanced, people have no spare power, land has no spare benefits, people come and go to make friends, and diseases support each other, so as to achieve true great governance."

Li Gan was silent, so was the Duke of England, 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 revives the mine field and restores Wang's field. What will happen?"

Li Zhiyuan also laughed and said: "That is to say, if the wells are available, the wells will be wells, if the wells are not available, the fields will be shared, and if the wells are not available, the fields will be limited."

"As the saying goes, to treat the symptoms and the root cause, one must think clearly. Only by treating the root cause can the country last forever. The Northern Confucianism has its own set of methods to cure the root cause. Please try to report to His Majesty."

"For example, Yan Xizhai, a great Confucian in the time of the first emperor, once had the method of 'dividing the tenants into the crops'. If a rich family had ten hectares of land, he would reserve one hectare for it, and let nine families farm nine hectares. The tenants should prepare their own for farming cattle. Those who don’t receive official titles will return the harvest in autumn. 30 mu of crops will be handed over to the landlord in autumn, and [-] mu will be paid to the landlord on behalf of the landlord. Those who accept the official are the levy of ancient tithes. Tenants will reap [-] mu by themselves, and after [-] years One life. Landlords can enjoy geographical advantages for the rest of their lives."

"In this way, within 30 years, the wealthy households will not be extremely opposed. After 30 years, the landlord will also enjoy the land benefits for 30 years, and the tenants will naturally get the [-] acres of land..."

"Another example is Wang Yuan and Wang Kunsheng, who believed that in rural areas, land should 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 by the imperial court. It is housing tax. Living in the city, there are many businesses and wealth, and collecting urban housing tax can also expand the imperial court’s financial resources.”

"Another example is Li Shu and Li Shugu, who think that if you want to cure the root cause, those who do not cultivate should not have land. But you should not implement too radical an equalization of land, but you can try it. Now that the Kingdom has acquired Mongolia and Liaodong, there are wastelands, but Let people from densely populated areas immigrate, try the well field system in the wilderness, and do not buy or sell."

"The former minister is not opposed to checking the acres of land, but hopes that through this check of the acres of land, it will be possible for the future to equalize, limit, and even gradually return the land to the public, so that the tillers can have their land slowly."

"I still think that it is useless to treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Even though this matter is difficult to handle, if you want to maintain the prosperity of the world and the stability of the country, you have to consider the root cause. Whether it is 30 years or a hundred years, there must be a long-term That's the plan."

"I don't think it should be done now, but I just hope that His Majesty will consider more future things."

The commodity economy in the north is far less developed than that in the south. Li Zhiyuan, or the Northern Confucianism school, is still stuck in the direction of collecting taxes in kind, thinking that this is the right way.

Li Zhi, Wang Yuan and others studied under Yan Yuan, and Li Zhiyuan also belonged to the Northern Confucian school.Yan Yuan had personally experienced the wars in the north, and also witnessed the Manchu and Qing enclosures, so he was full of fear of land annexation.

Many of their ideas do not mean that they will be implemented now, but they hope that the emperor can consider more far-reaching and permanent solutions.Really achieve the restoration of the royal government.

It is hoped that the court can get out of the vicious circle of chaos and chaos, and get out of the curse of land annexation that led to the tragedy in the last years of the dynasty.

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

Seeing that everyone was silent, Li Zhiyuan smiled to himself: "I'm not the kind who doesn't know the world, and I also know the ideas of Yan Xizhai, Li Shugu, etc., and it's difficult to implement."

"I just hope that this dynasty can get out of the vicious circle of chaos and chaos, and try to cure the root cause. Don't be impatient, take it slowly, take one step today and two steps tomorrow. If there is a goal, it will take 50 or 100 years. As long as it is achieved, Isn't that a good thing?"

"Checking the acres of land will not hinder land mergers, but it will increase the burden on the bottom. If it is just to collect more taxes, the minister will support it for the sake of peace. But for Huaxia Confucianism, he does not support it very much, because His Majesty has no consideration It will be cured in the future."

"The court of heaven must always have an ultimate goal. Isn't the purpose of the court the inner sage and the outer king? Isn't it the three generations of the ancients?"

Hearing the words, the British Duke smiled and said: "This statement is wrong. The purpose of the imperial court is to keep the world in order, to ensure that famine can be relieved, that border troubles can be quelled, and that taxes can be collected to do these things. Lord Li is also doing these things on weekdays. A practical person, 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 was thinking, whether it can cure the root cause? The wealthy households in Zhaoyuan and other places took advantage of the disaster year to hoard grain in exchange for land; If the court has money, even if it can provide relief, it is only a temporary solution. Perhaps there is a cure for the root cause.”

Li Gan snorted, shook his head and said, "I didn't see what Qing said, but I didn't see the root cause. I only saw that if this was done, Wang Mang would really have to reform the system. It's absolutely impossible. Or as Qing said, if you want to cure it, you must Even the land. But even the land, limit the land, if I can do it, can I still worry about these millions of taels of silver?"

"Even when Emperor Taizong was vying for the world, Jingxiang also gave up the policy of equalizing land and exempting grain after the First World War. Otherwise, if I Dashun equalized land and exempted grain, and Jin Donglu supported the gentry to occupy land, how could our dynasty be established? "

"Then Yan Xizhai's thinking was also simple. He thought that the landlord received ten and received four, and the court received ten and received one, which can be considered as a little extra for the rich. But now the rich can easily receive six when ten is ten, and seven when ten is ten. Now let them ten How can you agree to receive four?"

"Besides, after 30 years, the land will be owned by the tenants, and the rich are not fools. Do we have to wait 30 years before we know that this policy is harmful to them?"

"Yan Xizhai explained to Mo Ruru that he would sit down and talk about his heart and mind, and he would die to repay the king when he was in danger. When it was his turn, he didn't have nothing to do with his mind, but this idea of ​​Juntian and Jingtian was completely impossible to implement. Neither could it be implemented. What's the difference between him saying that and those people who claim to rule the world by cultivating virtue?"

"Don't talk about others, let's talk about Liu Yu, and let's talk about Bai Yunhang, the governor of Wendeng Prefecture. At least what they think can be done. There is something in their words. Listen to their words and see their arguments, and then you can know whether they can do it or not."

"Yan Xizhai said this method of equalizing well fields, so 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 wealthy households object? He didn’t say anything, just said it’s good to do so, in my opinion, it’s no different from those rotten scholars. It’s nothing more than the righteousness of rotten scholars, and he doesn’t like it; he’s not corrupt, but this idea can’t be implemented at all. It's empty talk."

Li Zhiyuan sighed when he heard the words, knowing that he was also excited for a while, thinking about the idea of ​​curing the root cause was really empty talk.

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

Before Liu Yu made a letter, Li Gan was used as a bargaining chip. He obviously wanted to open a small window, but pretended to lift the roof.

Now that the matter of checking the acres of land sounds like Li Zhiyuan's idea, it also looks like it can be used as an excuse to scare the gentry officials.

However, I thought that if I used this to scare, I would pretend to lift the roof instead of opening a small window, and I would turn the house full of explosives into powder if I clearly wanted to open a small window.

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

What needs to be handed over to the court is whether to promote it in a province after the trial is successful?Is it promoted nationwide?
This matter must not be hidden, and it is hard to say whether it will be successful there.It is easy to solve in Tianyou Temple, but the real difficulty is to promote it in the future.

"Hey……"

A long sigh came from Li Zhiyuan's mouth, Li Gan said with a smile: "Qing sighed again, or is it for a permanent cure?"

Li Zhiyuan suddenly fell to his knees, it is not necessary to kneel under normal circumstances in Tianyou Palace.This kneeling stunned Li Gan.

"Your Majesty! I have a few bold words, and I can't utter them quickly."

"Qing Dan said."

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

Li Zhiyuan knelt on the ground, after the sigh just now, tears flowed down his face.

"What I thought and felt just now, I suddenly felt hopeless. The study of saints, which has been passed down to this day, seems to be heading for a dead end."

"It is obviously impossible to restore the rule of the three generations. The internal sage and the external king have not succeeded in training their minds for thousands of years. The cycle of chaos, the cycle of chaos, the solution that can be thought of until now is to restore the old. But this ancient, but There is absolutely no way to recover."

"Northern Confucianism can't think of a method that can cure the root cause and is feasible; Southern Confucianism has not yet found it. The cultivation of the mind and the inner sage of Neo-Confucianism do not work. Governing the country is not based on virtue, but it wants to return to the world of the most virtuous. fantasy?"

"In the end, it's all about tinkering, not the root cause."

""Li Yun" said: The way of the great way is also, the world is the public, select the virtuous and capable, trustworthy and cultivate harmony, the old man should not only kiss his relatives, not only his sons and sons, so that the old will die, the strong will be useful, and the young will be happy The elders, the widowed, the widowed, the lonely, the disabled, and the sick all have something to support; men have a share, women have a home, and if the evil is abandoned on the ground, there is no need to hide it in oneself; , Stealing and messing around without committing crimes, so outside houses are not closed, this is called Great Harmony.”

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

"It's not fantasy, it's vain. The northern school is the same, the southern school is the same, the mind is the same, and the Neo Confucianism is the same. When it comes to enriching the country and strengthening the army, it may not even match Western learning; when talking about wealth, it is not as good as Legalism; In a world of great strife, it is better to be sideways..."

"If Liu Yu and other people from the Wude Palace know anything about Confucianism? You can govern one side and train an army. If the purpose of the imperial court is not to establish a world of great harmony, it is just to maintain stability, as the British Duke said. To stabilize the frontier, then...how can Confucians convince people?"

"If no one can think of a school of Confucianism that achieves great unity, it is practical, not fantasy, and not vain. I am afraid that after hundreds of years, Confucianism will have little place to stand, only the ability to cultivate one's morality."

"Thinking of this, I feel so sad. I... can't cure the root cause, let alone Datong? Tears and tears, I don't know what to say, please don't blame your majesty."

The old man wept, and the rest of the people also sighed. This thing should not have been mentioned in the Tianyou Palace. No one really thought that the purpose of the court was to achieve the rule of great harmony, but today Li Zhiyuan said it. Some of the ideals of these people when they were young, I can't help feeling sorry for them.

The group of people in Wude Palace who don't study Confucianism very much put too much pressure on these people, and also brought too much thinking to the thoughts of the world.

Li Gan sighed, got 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 cure for the root cause, please first ask your lords to work hard to treat the symptoms, which is better than no cure. Perhaps someone in future generations will be able to think of how to achieve the rule of great harmony, but it is unknown. I'm afraid I won't even have the chance to wait for someone who will come later."

"I also know that Bai Yunhang's negligence treats the symptoms but not the root cause. But there is no cure for the root cause, so it can only be tried. As for the increase in mu tax that you said will eventually be passed on to the poor, I can only say, When there is money in the treasury, if there is a famine in the future, more relief will be needed.”

　As far as its actual content is concerned, it is either an attempt to restore the old means of production and exchange, thereby restoring the old ownership relations and the old society, or it is an attempt to force the modern means of production and exchange back to where they have broken through and Go within the framework of the old ownership relations that must be broken through.In both cases it is reactionary and at the same time utopian.Guild system in industry, patriarchal economy in agriculture—such was its final conclusion.This trend of thought became a cowardly lament in its later development. . . .Whether it's He Xinyin or Yan Yuan, they are all walking this way, but in a daze.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)