Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 108 Confused
Wang Xiaolie sat on the seat and closed his eyes slightly.On the case are the documents sorted out by the officials in the past few days, piled up like a mountain.

The documents include the previous state and county regulations, the actual system implemented, the package of each city, town, ferry, etc., and so on.There are also carefully sorted out tax amounts including various levies and miscellaneous taxes, the actual amount collected, and the actual burden of the city walls and rural people in various places.In addition, how many main households, how many customers, how many status households, and how many fifth-class households are there in Ruzhou?What are the actual burdens of different households?

The place is not big, but these contents are varied and have many names.Sorting it out is really a big project.More complex things are yet to come.Excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes must be reduced, and many items must be cancelled.But how much tax to reduce, which item to reduce, and how to reduce the amount must be carefully considered.Various titles of officials, officials, servants, and all kinds of leaders, supervisors, and experts, as well as those who are fighting, weighing, picking, and treasury, etc., which ones should be saved and which ones should not be saved. All must be considered.

It must be understood that the government must need manpower to manage places.These manpower should be supported by the local people, which cannot be questioned.What Wang Xiaolie has to do is to minimize manpower and minimize the burden on the people.At the same time, we must also attack local tyrants.While the income of the common people increased, the income of the government also increased.These things are innumerable.

What has always troubled Wang Xiaolie is actually a theoretical problem.

From previous lives, human society is developing forward.Primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, all the way to socialist society and communist society.After that?After that I don't know.

Frankly speaking, this method of dividing human society into stages is based on the historical analysis of Europe, especially Western Europe.In other parts of the world, it is difficult to be trapped.Whether capitalist society is stronger than feudal society or whether Western Europe is stronger just because Western Europe is classified as capitalist is hard to tell.A higher social stage is better than a lower stage?Song, who has been defeated again and again, and Jin, who has just stepped out of the primitive society for a long time, obviously disagree.Liberating productivity and developing productivity cannot be so simple.

Things in China still depend on China's history and facts.The process of establishing New China taught Wang Xiaolie not those social stages, but several important theories.

Historical materialism, to put it another way, is that the people are the masters of history.Similarly, the people of New China are also the masters of the country.Regardless of history or reality, standing on the side of the people is also on the side of victory.It's just that most of the time in China, the people were actively or passively absent.When the people stand up and unite as one, they truly influence history.

This theory is not unusual in Chinese culture.From Mencius, the people are the most important, the monarch is the least, and the community is second.Paying attention to the people and discovering the power of the people are important ideas in Chinese culture.

This thought is very important.The literary revolution and ideological enlightenment in Europe also started with the recognition of the importance of the people.Whether it is natural human rights, freedom, equality, fraternity, or parliamentary and ballot politics, it is a step-by-step realization that ordinary people are the masters of the regime.

If we say that before this, human political power was theoretically a chain, but after the people stepped onto the political stage, the political chain began to slowly close into a circle.

In terms of political chain, Europe has the power of kings granted by God, and China has orders from heaven.Emperors and monarchs get the right to rule from heaven or gods, and then have appointed officials, or enfeoffed lords, to rule the entire country.From the gods or the destiny to the people at the bottom, it is passed down layer by layer, like a chain.The emperor or emperor, officials at all levels and feudal lords are in various positions in this chain of governance.The uppermost heaven or god has nothing to do with ordinary people.

Such an open political chain determines the political system.No matter how it is packaged and what theories are used to explain this political system, it will not change this system of layer upon layer of suppression and layer upon layer of enfeoffment.It’s just that in different systems, the destiny or the status of gods is different, and the status of emperors, officials, and lords in facing the destiny or gods is different.The people at the bottom have basically no political power.

When the people at the bottom are integrated into politics step by step, the destiny or gods are slowly removed from politics.And the people replaced the original destiny or the position of God.Theoretically, parliamentary and ballot politics in the West is to let the people become the masters of the country.Similarly, the later Soviet Union and China adopted the system of congresses, and also replaced the original destiny or God with the people.

From an open political chain to a closed political circle is the biggest difference between the modern political system and the previous political system.As for the specific system to be implemented, it is not that important.Differences in ideology and political system are more of differences between allies and hostile forces.

The more different the political system is from the open political chain, and the closer it is to the closed political circle, the more advanced the political system is.The impact of class solidification and the polarization of the rich and the poor on the country should be analyzed from this perspective.

In Wang Xiaolie's previous life, most of the countries, most of the politicians and theorists did not have a clear understanding of this.Most people conduct various analyzes in terms of ideology, political system, and economic management.In fact, these analyzes have no theoretical basis. They can only be analyzed in terms of productivity, people's living standards, the country's military strength, and so on.

The people are the masters of history, the people are the masters of the country, the people are the masters of the country, and the government should serve the people.These words sound very simple and familiar.But in real analysis, they are all very knowledgeable.There are very few people who can really understand clearly.

In his previous life, Wang Xiaolie actually only learned a few pieces of political knowledge.The first is that in a country and society, the people are the masters.Mandate of Heaven or God is gone forever, and the people, as masters, have closed the political chain into a political circle.The second society is developing, and to adapt to the constantly developing society, politics should be continuously reformed.Other than that, not too important.

What bothers Wang Xiaolie is that the people are the masters, but who are the people?Peasants, workers, intellectuals?Are you a capitalist?Is it an official?Are you a soldier?Even the inmates in prison, right?A beggar on the street, isn't he?
The people are masters.But how does the state know the opinion of the people?How to let the people be the masters of the country?Even if it is clear who the people are, do what they say and what they do really represent the opinions in their hearts?Even if it represents the opinions in your heart, are these opinions correct?What if you think you are right now, but a year later, ten years later, or even longer, you find out that you are wrong?
If you ask people, on these issues, many people can speak at length, express countless opinions, and put forward countless opinions.But to be honest, most of them are basically useless.These simple questions involve all aspects of society, and are actually university questions.

During the development of Confucianism in China, two people under Confucius were very important.One is Mencius and the other is Xunzi.The thoughts of the two of them, a very famous difference, one thinks that human nature is good, and the other thinks that human nature is evil.

Before the Song Dynasty, Xunzi had a higher status than Mencius.After the Song Dynasty, the status of Mencius was higher than that of Xunzi.

Why?Some scholars lost their heads, and the court followed suit?Or is there a deep social reason?Wang Xiaolie couldn't tell clearly, because he had never seen any research on this aspect in his previous life.

Whether human nature is good or evil is directly related to the political system and social governance.Whether it is a country or a society, it is made up of people.The understanding of people determines the political system and social governance.

In economics, people who participate in economic activities are often regarded as rational people, who are self-interested and rational.This assumption is also an understanding of people, which leads to various theories.

Understanding of people, such as thinking that people are free, self-interested, and endowed with human rights.This kind of understanding has directly produced corresponding theories, corresponding political systems, and corresponding social governance methods.In other words, the understanding of people is the basis for the study of the entire country and society.People have different political thoughts on what kind of person they are and what kind of person they should be.

From another point of view, come out from what kind of person is, and re-understand the country and society.

The core of Confucius thought is "benevolence".He also said, "My way is consistent, and it's nothing more than loyalty and forgiveness."It can be seen from this that Confucius' thought is actually quite clear.It is how to deal with the relationship between "I" as an existence and others, the country, society, etc. as an existence.The core is loyalty and forgiveness.Loyalty to others, country, society, clan, family, etc.But for myself, the request is forgiveness.

Mencius' thinking is more complex and somewhat chaotic.He proposed "righteousness".But what righteousness is, in fact, is not quite clear.People in later generations are even more confused, often mentioning benevolence and righteousness together, losing its specific meaning.

There are monism and dualism in the understanding of human beings.Dualism is very simple. It holds that man is a natural man with natural nature, and at the same time man is also a social man with social disposition.The national system and social governance are based on the social nature of human beings, but also consider the nature of nature.Monism believes that human beings are socially unitary, and that nature itself is part of sociality.The governance of people does not need to consider the nature of nature.

In Wang Xiaolie's view, people are people, and there is no such thing as monism and dualism.The difference between one yuan and two yuan is just that people have different understandings of society and nature.To study human beings with the eyes of a knower.No matter how it is divided, the people are still there, and the people are still the same.

In other words, what is human nature and what a person looks like is actually not that important.

People are like this or that, and how to know them is up to the person who knows them.But one person, unlike two people, is not the simple addition of two people.Because two people are together, there is mutual relationship, interest entanglement, and their common characteristics.This common feature is newly born, and it is related to two people, but also has its own independence.

All studies and theories on human beings, family relations, clan management, and state systems must take this common characteristic into account.And we must distinguish this common characteristic from others, have a clear understanding, and carefully manage it.

To put it simply, the study of human beings, and all theories about human beings, must clearly understand the difference between groups and individuals.This is not just emphasizing the difference between individualism and collectivism, and the differences between individual interests and collective interests, but to list collectives separately and manage them separately.

This question is a bit of a mouthful to say, and many people will think it is nonsense and think they understand it.Actually do not understand.

In the words of Taoism, one is two, two begets three, and what is that three.Three is not divided into one from two.It is the two individuals of the two, with connection and contact, their totality is the three.In set theory, it is a collection. There may be intersections and others in this collection, but they have their own properties.

Once you realize this point, you also understand that the people are the masters of the country, but you cannot simply think that the people have the final say on matters.Even including all the people in the country, these individuals cannot make decisions, let alone the method of the minority obeying the majority and simply voting.The governor has to face not only the individual individuals, but also the whole composed of individuals.

Who are the people?The people are not only made up of people from the country, not just workers, farmers, businessmen, capitalists, intellectuals, officials, soldiers, students, etc., but also the whole.

Many times, people think that the whole is nothingness, just a kind of understanding, a kind of means.Actually not.That whole is real and has its own interests, its own understanding, and its own needs.

Recognizing this point, one can escape from the analysis of what is a human being and what is human nature.For the understanding of politics and society, there is a new perspective.The analysis of politics, society, and economy is no longer vague, but can have a clear understanding.

If you traveled 1000 years and came to ancient China, what should you do to prevent China from falling behind in history and make China stand on the top of human civilization?Without a clear theoretical understanding, it is far from enough to change certain historical nodes based on historical memory alone.Now that the Jin people have been defeated, there will be even worse Mongols behind.As for simply copying Western European systems and some practices, it is also not acceptable.Don't say that a person doesn't know enough about Western Europe. What does Russia look like that has been copied throughout history?

It should be admitted that all civilizations on the earth and the cultures of different groups of people have their own characteristics.It's no accident that they are that way.It should also be admitted that with this difference, the pace of human progress should be different.It is not correct to think that people are the same, and human society should be the same.The development of human beings is inherently colorful.

It is a prejudice to think that oneself is civilized and others are barbaric and backward.It is arrogance to think that others should be what you are.West Asia and Europe have their own special circumstances, and there is a missionary complex, which is inherently incorrect.

Human civilization has assimilated.Assimilation is conditional and takes time.Forced assimilation is inherently incorrect.

What puzzled Wang Xiaolie was that the China he lived in in his previous life had too many external factors to come out of humiliation and backwardness.As for China's own civilization and culture, there is insufficient research.When he came to this world, Wang Xiaolie actually didn't know what China would become.What he wants to do and the system he designs must be explored by himself.

That's how people are.For one thing, as long as there is a reference, I think I understand it.Many people think that foreigners are richer and more powerful than us, so of course we have to do what they do.Foreigners have strong ships and strong guns, and the country is rich and the people are strong. They have such a political system, and we should also do the same.Even food and clothing must be the same.

How can you copy others without your own thinking?Where in the world are there any countries that are exactly the same?Likewise, no family is the same.Human society has commonalities, but also has its own particularity.Emphasize your own uniqueness, and don't forget the commonality of human beings.

People are simple, society is complex, and countries are even more complex.It is difficult for very simple people to understand clearly. How can a more complex society and country be explained clearly.Only by recognizing the complexity can we really find a good way.

(End of this chapter)