Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 375 Advanced Business-style Social Support System
As an authentic old Roman nobleman, what Guo Kang has to do, of course, is to resolutely fight against this kind of behavior and defend the patriarchal system.

This is also unavoidable for Rome.

By making a comparison, you can see the reason.

In the Central Plains, the establishment of the social system is based on some basic principles, or basic consensus, and then organized.This type of social order originated from the time of the Duke of Zhou, and was called "ritual system" by later generations.

By the Han Dynasty, the core of the ritual system was summarized by Confucian scholars as concepts such as the "Three Cardinal Guidelines" and "Five Ethics".The three cardinal principles are the three relationships of monarch and subject, father and son, and husband and wife; the five ethics are based on this, adding brothers and friends.Confucianism believes that this is the most basic interpersonal relationship. Both parties bear mutual responsibilities for each other, and based on this, a complex social network is constructed.

If this kind of two-way responsibility no longer exists, then stable interpersonal relationships will no longer exist—just as the monarchs of all dynasties have tried their best to emphasize the responsibility of their subjects, but everyone still attaches great importance to the responsibility of the monarch.If the monarch really can't perform his duties, no matter how he teaches, he will definitely be abandoned.

It is quite normal for different theories to have disputes about specific items and the content of responsibilities.For example, Mozi believed that the ritual system of Confucius was too elevating for women.

In "Not Confucianism", Mozi criticized the Confucian wedding etiquette: According to the Confucian system, when a wife is married, the husband must greet her in person, wear black clothes, and drive for her like a servant; holding the reins in his hand, Handing the lead rope to the bride is like honoring parents; the wedding ceremony is majestic and grand, like a great gift to undertake a sacrifice.This obviously reversed the relationship between the upper and lower levels, violated the etiquette to parents, and violated the requirements of filial piety.

Early Confucianism regarded the relationship between husband and wife as the first of the "six virtues". According to the bamboo slips of the Warring States Period discovered by later generations, Confucius' "junjun, minister, father, father and son" should actually be "husband, wife, father, son, king Lord, Minister, I don’t know who changed the order and deleted two...

Of course, this theory has been constantly questioned both inside and outside.Mozi believed that Confucianism was seriously excessive in terms of husband and wife etiquette, and he did not blame it out of thin air. Later generations of Confucianism began to adjust themselves.

But no matter how the specific content changes or how the importance is adjusted, this order itself must exist.Because the maintenance of social relations is to rely on mutual responsibilities.Responsibility is gone, and the relationship itself disintegrates.

In Guo Kang's time, people actually couldn't figure out whether the relationship between husband and wife and family should be maintained or should be dismantled.The result of this kind of confusion of thinking is that I want the benefits of the family, but also want to dismantle the family to make myself more progressive.

The final result is to advocate the use of simple property relations instead of the previous complex power and responsibility mechanism to measure and maintain the family.

But the problem is that property ties are too weak to actually sustain a family.In other words, an organization like a family is not a good choice for investment: if you really want to invest, why not organize a serious business enterprise?

The efficiency of getting married by yourself is definitely not as good as buying a spouse; the efficiency of buying is definitely not as good as renting one.Therefore, in order to maximize the efficiency of the property, short-term leases should be used to generate offspring and meet various related needs.Isn't this contradictory to the family itself?

What is the meaning of family?

Directly comparing the situation in Rome, Guo Kang gradually discovered that this thing is actually mobilizing men.

Like the legitimacy of a country, any organization has to face the problem of how to persuade others to contribute.A woman can determine whether an offspring is her own, but a man cannot directly determine.Therefore, a stable spouse and identifiable offspring can persuade men to work hard for the "future".

After this kind of relationship disintegrates, you will face a problem: use your own production to support the woman and children, it is better to enjoy it yourself.People are going to die anyway, if it's not for future generations, then why not do whatever you want and let yourself down after having fun?

In Guo Kang's era, the disintegration of the family and the advocacy of the supremacy of personal pleasure, the abandonment of family responsibilities, and even the responsibilities to the ethnic group, the country, and history, did appear simultaneously.

In this case, there is no way to use "good" and "bad" to evaluate.Philosophers may be able to characterize it and say whether it is "advanced" or "backward", but from the perspective of human history, this kind of advanced and backward judgment has very limited meaning.

In prehistoric times, the various civilizations in the Central Plains began to fight each other desperately.In the end, the reason why everyone chose this patrilineal small family-based organization has nothing to do with whether it is advanced or backward, and whether it is more fair to men and women. From a cultural point of view, the Central Plains area was even in a backward state at that time. Even ritual vessels and gods had to be copied from others every day.It can win simply because it has the strongest organizational ability and the best ability to fight...

The imperial courts of later generations all know that adult men with family business are the most disciplined and the most combative.The army formed by these people is also the basis for the regimes of the past dynasties to fight all over the world and reach the geographical limit.

Therefore, if you want to dismantle the family, of course you can.It is also a way to separate the men and women in small families and let all men enter the big army camp like the businessmen and Spartans did.

In that era, due to various conditions, this system could not be maintained for too long.But if it can be done in future generations, all men can be gathered together for military training, and all children can be raised and cared for in a large military camp, that is indeed very good, and it is possible to obtain higher organizational and mobilization capabilities than small families. A good family can fight better.

But if you can't do this, you have to face the most embarrassing problem: what if you can't beat others?
Many dilemmas in philosophy stem from this:

The reality is not only a game of debate and rules, so the "advanced" side often has to face the situation of "I am very advanced, but I just can't win", and even the reverse will cause "you can't win, how dare you say Self-advanced" question.

After all, the family, as well as the relationship between father and son and husband and wife within the family, is not only a property relationship, but also a system of organization and mobilization.

Considering only economic issues, it may be okay in peaceful times, but it is still the same old question-can human beings really maintain peace for a long time, and never break the existing order?Will these seemingly rich but poorly organized groups become cash machines?
When theory and reality conflict, it may be possible to deny reality.But history is cruel and merciless.After all, even people in the Ming Dynasty were already deeply impressed by this.

(End of this chapter)