Xinshun 1730

Chapter 789 Conflict of Old and New Interests ([-])
The whaling industry, as well as the initial development of kerosene, have a lot to do with the needs of the textile industry.

Of course, factories hope to work 14 hours a day.

Even under the subcontracting system of Songjiang Prefecture, rural women still have to work during the day when the farming season is busy.To spin yarn at night, you need lights.

It must be expensive for a family to light lamps, and lamp oil is also a big expense, so there is a situation like today's Zhang's family and tomorrow's Li's family.

The lamps are lit once for each house and rotated every day.

This is probably the real life of the middle peasants at this time. The miser in some novels still sticks out two fingers to save lamp oil and candles before death, because these things are really expensive.

Ordinary people, holding steamed buns in their hands and not a drop of oil in the dishes, this is considered a good life.

Just like in rural kitchens at this time, there is generally a copper coin.

On top of this copper coin, a wooden stick will be tied.If there are guests, the copper coin will be inserted into the sesame oil bottle while the soup is being cooked.Everyone knows that brother Kong Fang is empty and exposed.It is also because of the hollowness that I use this thing to hook the sesame oil, and make sure to add a little bit every time.And at this time, Dashun villages generally have a "good faith pseudo-common sense of life", that is: if you add too much sesame oil, it will not smell fragrant at all, and the less sesame oil, the more fragrant.

Even if it is so oily, how can you be willing to light a lamp?
Even though the family's tenant status is false, they are actually middle-class tenant farmers, but they are also reluctant to light the lamps at night.

However, even so, it is much better than the life of tenants in the northern countryside that Liu Yu saw in Wendeng Prefecture.

Listening to the farmer talking about growing cotton in the future, and worrying that cotton and mulberry will make too much profit in the future so that the landlord will raise the low price, Liu Yu thought that this is probably also possible, and your worry is not unreasonable.

However, this also made Liu Yu think of one thing, that is the special situation in Dashun. Small landlords may be able to operate independently, but big landlords are unlikely to operate independently.

It's not impossible to do this.A large number of skilled middle peasants have become the main force in renting and contracting land.Squeeze out the real peasants, poor peasants, and tenant farmers who went bankrupt, or went to work, or went to Nanyang with a 50% death rate.

And this is contrary to some of the plans he had imagined before.

Originally, he wondered if the loan interest rate in Europe was so low and the private loan interest rate in Dashun was so high, could he use the difference in interest rate to make some agricultural loans.

It is inevitable that Wang Anshi's young crop method will fail to be widely promoted, because the repayment ability of small farmers is the lowest.But Liu Yu thinks that it might be possible to try it in some economically developed regions. With low-interest loans in Europe, as long as 15% interest can be guaranteed, and 10% return rate is given to European financial capital, both sides can accept it.

He still has a lot of respect for Wang Jinggong, although he knows that it is really difficult to practice what he has done, and even the banks of later generations know that it is best not to lend loans to small farmers who are insolvent.But sometimes when I think about it and look at the miserable life of small farmers, I still want to try to do something after all.

However, I am afraid that after it is done, the money will not go to the land, but will flow to places with higher profit margins.The deposit required for the rent-holding system has risen rapidly.

This means that you can't have your cake and eat it too.

If it is to engage in redemption, land reclamation, equalization of land, permanent tenancy, or even the emancipation of serfs similar to Russia, this kind of rural-oriented bank that helps farmers should be feasible.

But it seems useless if you engage in rent deposits, pawns, and land transfer management rights: fake tenants who have obtained management rights will not blindly take out loans, and basically do not need them; I can't afford to repay the loan at all, even if the interest rate is as low as 15%, I'm afraid it will be difficult.

Liu Yu also knew in her heart that the 30-year redemption system was just a mouthful.

If the upper-level system cannot be moved, then this kind of bank is meaningless.If you really want to engage in 30-year redemption, it is very useful to engage in the young crop method.

Dashun continued the call for "eternal tenancy" in the last years of the previous dynasty. If it wants to implement it, it can only rely on the force of government bureaucrats to promote it.

But the government bureaucrats are all opposed to permanent tenancy, because they are the class that collects land rent.

In this way, it seems that the rent-holding system that appeared in Songjiang Prefecture does not require government coercion, but the landlord's active choice, which seems to be more feasible.

Liu Yu did not rebel, but was within the system, which caused him to dance in shackles, and had to consider the interests of the ruling class and whether they could accept it or not in some policies.

Is there a way to promote this rent-deposit system more quickly?Is it possible to borrow Western European financial capital to undertake a bank for the middle peasants, lend money to the middle peasants, and mortgage the rent to the landlords, so that a large amount of funds can be transferred to the landlords, and then transferred from the landlords to industrial and commercial investment, and by the way, complete the rent-deposit system? Promote, accelerate the bankruptcy of poor tenant farmers, go to work or go to Nanyang?
If we talk about purely commercial considerations, we only need to make the bank's interest rate higher than the expected return on investment of European financial capital.It's quite simple.

But in theory, there are no problems in consideration, but in reality, there are often serious problems.

Who is in charge of selecting who is eligible for the loan?Who will guarantee that landowners will not get these low-interest loans for investment, so that land operators who really need loans cannot get the money?
The government grants loans, and how to make the loans flow in the direction the government wants is a headache for future generations.

With Dashun's grassroots organization ability at this time, I am afraid that the real world can be turned into a magical world.

Thinking of this, Liu Yu tentatively asked the farmer: "If the imperial court runs a bank, it will lend you money at an interest rate of 15 per year. Would you like to borrow money to rent more land?"

The head of the household quickly shook his head.

"My lord, our small family pays attention to the size of the bowl and the size of the rice. I work diligently. If the food price is high, if I save some money, I can rent more land. My wife does some more weaving and saves money on weekdays, and if I have a good age, I can save a few pennies."

"But if you take out a loan, you won't feel at ease. The price of food is cheap, so I don't dare to take out a loan."

"Nowadays, people are afraid of both a good year and a bad year. Food is cheap in a good year, and there is no harvest in a bad year..."

"As for planting cotton and mulberry, it's better to plant less cotton. If you plant too much, how can you be busy? Once it rains when the cotton is harvested, you can't be busy, and you can throw it away after a year of busy work. Planting mulberry, and Where is the income in two or three years? If it is a loan, the interest will be doubled in three to five years, who knows what the market will be in three to five years?"

"That's why, if you have money to spare, you can mortgage the rent; if you don't have money to spare, you don't want to borrow money to get rich."

"Besides, any loan must be mortgaged. We are all tenants, not even the skin and bones of the field. We don't have half of the land in our hands, and the land belongs to others. How can we get a loan? "

It seems that the middle peasants who are a little bit capable don't want loans either.It may also be the usury tradition of the Chinese Dynasty since ancient times, which makes people generally afraid of loans.

The term "nine out and thirteen returns" can only appear after the Ming Dynasty, because the official legal annual interest rate in the Song Dynasty is 72%, so there is no need for nine out and thirteen returns.The interest that has been able to destroy people since ancient times, it is inevitable for farmers to worry about this new thing, and it is not so easy to reverse social consciousness.

Liu Yu knew that if he continued to chat, he was afraid that he would talk about the food price issue that farmers were most concerned about, so he had to change the topic.

It is true that although cotton is good, there are no slaves in Dashun, and there are not too many people who work full-time. Unless the transformation of agricultural capital operators hires long-term workers, small farmers really cannot grow much cotton.

Plant too much, once the bolls split and it rains, it will be all over.

Sericulture is more troublesome than cotton.

Small farmers cannot afford the costs involved.

So in the end, the main income is food.Food imports ensure low costs for industry and commerce, and if the small farmers are not dissatisfied, then hell.

Although Songjiang Prefecture has developed industry and commerce, the urban population that is truly detached from the land is still smaller than that of small farmers.Although in terms of pure economic aggregate, industry and commerce are already higher than agriculture, but when it comes to counting people, the power of small farmers cannot be ignored.It is still necessary to boil the frogs in warm water, and gradually force small farmers to either become land managers or go bankrupt, otherwise the problem of food prices will never satisfy the majority of people.

After chatting a few more words, the entourage who went to buy food and drinks came back.

Before eating, Liu Yu looked at the abandoned baby adopted by the tenant farmer. The little girl was pink and had no problems with cleft lip or any disability, but the family couldn't afford it.

Maybe it's the woman's milk feet, and the little girl looks healthy, not so miserable.It's just that this fate is already doomed, if there are no accidents, she will be raised by her daughter-in-law since she was a child, and she will inevitably be angry in the future.Not to mention that there is no support from parents, brothers and uncles, even if there is, how good is the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law?

After eating, Liu Yu originally thought about throwing some money.But after thinking about it, there was nothing left in the end.

After leaving the tenant farmer's house and leaving the village, the Governor of Songjiang heard that Liu Yu never asked about the price of the grain from the beginning to the end, and he didn't open any pots.

In the next few days, Liu Yu visited several nearby villages.I went to the homes of the landlords, the homeowners, and the real tenants.

After turning around, a navy officer accompanying him who was going back to Beijing to return to his command suddenly said: "Marquis Jing, I have figured out a way. Although the imperial court's tax is low, the private tax is heavy. In this case, why not the imperial court Direct collection of eleven taxes? The original amount will still be handed over to the national treasury, and most of the rest will be kept in the local government. Above this amount, no arbitrary collection is allowed. In this way, the expenses of local service, reception, carriages and horses, etc. From the intercepted part, isn’t that enough?”

"The ancients said that it is admirable to seek a false name but deal with real disasters. Why does the court insist on the name of a benevolent government with a tax of [-] per cent? I think that if it is possible to achieve [-] per cent, [-] per cent, and [-] per cent, it will be beneficial to the common people. It’s all about reducing the burden.”

"Before we attacked the Wa country, there were five lords and five people at every turn in this country, but even so, as long as the real five lords and five people can be guaranteed, I don't think their life may be worse than that of the real tenant farmers in this dynasty."

"Nowadays, the imperial court pays 0.03 taels of tax, and one billion acres of land. It is said that one mu of land receives 3000 taels of silver. This is [-] million taels of agricultural tax. But in fact, how can the imperial court collect so much?"

"The imperial government's annual agricultural tax is only 2000 million yuan, but the burden of the people is no less than that of the five princes and five people of the Japanese country. If this is the case, it may be a serious disaster for the community."

"Since it is said that local officials and squires are all corrupt, increase their distribution, and increase taxes in the name of national taxes, then the direct [-]th tax and the [-]st tax are still the original escort to the national treasury. The rest is only for them to be corrupt and spend In the future, I think it will be better than the current reputation of benevolence and righteousness with a tax of [-] per cent, making the people miserable."

Liu Yu couldn't help laughing and said: "Bullshit way! Come on, you should still do your old job, draw sea charts, study the formation of warships. Such things, your ideas are the same as those of the northern Confucians. Tian Fa, there is not much difference. It sounds beautiful, but it is a mess when it is done."

(End of this chapter)