Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 232 The advanced experience of the village community and the backward Serris small-scale peasant society

"In this way, there are indeed some very special things." Tuo Huan gradually understood what she meant: "These circumstances also have an impact on management and conscription."

"That's right." Madam Yi Lianna nodded: "The village community can be said to have affected the overall character of the common people."

"The villagers are often extremely conservative. This kind of conservatism is not only the kind of morality and moral requirements, but also against all changes. Their biggest wish is that no accidents happen, and nothing changes. Just like their parents and grandparents Same, dull but peacefully spend a lifetime."

"Afraid of change, is it because change is not good?" Guo Kang asked.

"Yes." Mrs. Irina said, "Generally speaking, there are only two kinds of external changes."

"The more common one is a bad idea conceived by the lord. It will only be operated blindly, making the situation worse and destroying the original production;"

"The other one, which is relatively rare, is a good idea conceived by the lord. It can improve production efficiency and management level, so that the lord can collect taxes more efficiently."

"So, the villagers are habitually opposed to these new changes. In fact, it is not to blame for their conservativeness. The main reason is that they have suffered too much in the past. But where the nobles are a little more reliable, their attitude will actually be the same. Much softened."

"Uh..." Guo Kang was speechless for a moment.

"It may be because of these reasons that the village community as a whole is also very xenophobic. Their manors can be self-sufficient—or in other words, they can't be self-sufficient." Mrs. Irina continued: "Because in most areas, villages and cities are originally It’s very loose. The traffic is very backward, and it’s also very unsafe, so it’s the only way to live.”

"That's really a big difference." Tuo Huan also nodded.

Guo Kang also followed suit.

The Serisian villages of this period, and even those from the Qin and Han Dynasties, were never self-sufficient.

Non-governmental trade has never stopped, and the production of agriculture and handicrafts is not limited to the family.Spontaneous unions of numerous families in order to improve work efficiency have always been common.A large number of tools, equipment, and materials cannot be produced by the family itself, and need to be continuously purchased from professional workshops.

But in this era, in the next year, the cotton promoted by Huang Daopo should have spread in the south of the Yangtze River.

Historically, since the late Ming Dynasty, the agriculture and cotton textile industries in the south of the Yangtze River will promote and upgrade each other.But now, without the interference of Jing Nan, the agriculture and handicraft industry of the Ming Dynasty are estimated to enter an era that can be called crazy in the eyes of Europeans.

Serris farmers do not reject new technologies, but tirelessly invest money and energy to purchase more efficient tools and use more efficient working methods.The production in the countryside did not appear to be "involved" or stagnant. On the contrary, the degree of specialization was getting higher and higher, the division of labor was getting stricter, and the technical level and efficiency were also constantly improving.

During this period, the Jiangnan area grew from four to five people who could support a population out of farming, to one or two people who could support one.And these extra spare populations are engaged in a large number of handicraft industries, and only then have the terrifying export capabilities of this era.

It is also because of the improvement of efficiency that peasant women in the countryside can no longer participate in the planting of rations, but basically leave the field labor and engage in the textile industry which is more efficient for them: According to the calculations of later scholars, a woman engaged in cotton weaving, every The average income of a working day can reach 80% of the farmer's daily income; but if engaged in agriculture, it can only reach 30%~60%.

Therefore, contrary to the general impression, "men plow and women plow" is the normal state in the period of backward production in Seris, while "men plow and women weave" is a more efficient choice after technological development.

The products produced are far more than "self-sufficient". The proportion of entering the market has not been low, and with the development of production, there is an increasing trend.

In fact, this trend continued until the middle and late Qing Dynasty.In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were at least 300 to 570 million women engaged in weaving in various prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River. They produced 4000 million pieces of cotton cloth every year, of which [-] million were exported locally, entered long-distance trade, and even exported abroad.

The data may not be memorable enough, but some dramatic conclusions are enough to show a lot.

For example, the British launched a war at the end of the Qing Dynasty with the goal of allowing the Qing government to open ports and dump goods in order to recover the huge trade deficit.However, after the opening of the port, the deficit increased.

In the Jiangnan and Lingnan regions, the places where cotton can be grown are limited, and the production of raw materials has been insufficient.After the war, it became more convenient to import British goods, so various places were able to import large quantities of Indian cotton and purchase Western machinery.

This allowed the efficiency of the handicraft industry to continue to increase. During the ten years beginning in 1845, imports of British cotton cloth by the Qing Dynasty decreased by 30%.What's more serious is that a large amount of Qing Dynasty cotton cloth poured into the closer British Indian colony, which made the cotton textile industry around Mumbai worse, and eventually almost completely collapsed.

In 1856, the British Parliament counted economic data and found that since 1850, the deficit with the Qing Dynasty had doubled—this battle was not only in vain, but made the situation worse.

The wisdom of the gentlemen of the MPs seems to be unable to understand this situation, and it is very difficult to understand it.In the end, it can only be forcibly attributed to "the opening of the treaty ports is not enough, and it must be opened again", and the second war was launched for this reason.

Therefore, the definitions of "male farming and female weaving", "self-sufficiency", and "small peasant economy" set by the post-world are not so much describing the Seris countryside as they are based on the situation in European villages. , These concepts are like "Holy", "Roman", and "Empire", they belong to words that cannot co-exist with each other.

Thinking about it this way, a lot of things can make sense.

"By the way, I heard that there is a tradition of admiring suffering in Ross Village, is that true?" Guo Kang happened to think of a question he had been curious about.

"There is such a saying." Mrs. Irina nodded: "The Ross region worships the 'Holy Fool', and one of the most important things the Holy Fool does is 'suffering'."

"The way of acting of holy fools is often very pious and very simple. But in the eyes of the world, they are stupid, even almost crazy. They give up the enjoyment of the flesh and a comfortable life, and exile themselves for the sake of faith."

"In many stories of Sheng Yu, there are plots such as being beaten and humiliated. However, these 'miserable' things are part of the story of Sheng Yu's suffering and the source of their sanctity. It can be said that the more suffering they endure If there are many, the Holy Fool will be more holy and great."

"Hey, it's really hard to understand." Tuo Huan sighed.

"This is also forced by the environment." Mrs. Yi Lianna shook her head and said: "The life of the village community is too hard. If you don't admit the greatness of the suffering and let everyone feel at ease, there is no other way."

"These characteristics are quite obvious." Guo Kang thought for a while.

The pursuit of absolute equality, the willingness to be poor together, the pursuit of collectivism but the isolation of backward villages, the custom of praising suffering... After thinking about it carefully, this has nothing to do with the tradition of Seris, but is a typical Ross village style.Knowing their early history, these seem not difficult to understand.

"So, do you want to refer to our village management method and reform the village community in your hometown?" He asked Mrs. Irina.

Madame Irene looked at him in surprise.

"That's what you said." Theodora said with a smile: "No, why don't you let the Seris-style countryside learn from the Ross village?"

"That's right." Mrs. Irina also said with a strange expression, "Can we still teach the Romans how to farm?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I just talked about it casually." Guo Kang quickly confused the topic.

(End of this chapter)