Daming: Old Zhu, we agreed not to rush!

Chapter 163 The Poverty Trap
Su Jing's words directly stopped Zhu Biao's body movements.

The three of them just watched helplessly as the two new beggars snatched away the copper coins that Su Jing had donated to the beggars, one old and one young.

"Niu Su, buy a few steamed buns and send them over. Remember, put down the steamed buns and leave immediately, don't linger."

Su Jing took out a few copper coins and handed them to Zhu Wei, and ordered.

"understood."

Zhu Xi took the copper plate, and then ran towards the steamed bun shop on the other side of the street.

"Master Su, why don't you let the students come forward?"

Zhu Biao asked Su Jing, he really couldn't figure it out.

The two beggars, one old and one young, were obviously more pitiful.

And those two beggars who robbed other people's bowls were simply robbers.

Su Jing looked at Zhu Biao, and said lightly, "Niu Yi, do you think it's easy to get rid of the two beggars?"

"Is not it?"

Zhu Biao frowned, but his doubts did not ease.

Su Jing sighed slightly, but didn't blame Zhu Biao, after all, he was a child of a rich family, and he didn't know the rules of life for the low-level people.

"There are many beggars in Lishui County. If I give copper coins to the old and the young, I will only be robbed."

Su Jing said to Zhu Biao: "But if it's a piece of silver, it will only attract the jealousy of more people. It's not even just beggars."

"Similarly, if you really came forward just now, unless you killed those two guys, otherwise you feel that they have resentment, who will you seek revenge on?"

This is the status quo at the bottom. Even if they are all beggars, they will be divided into different classes.

Zhu Biao showed surprise on his face, looked at Su Jing and said, "Master Su, there are only a few beggars in total, why is there such a thing between them?"

He can't understand, they are all beggars, why they still fight each other like this.

Su Jing said lightly: "Why? Because of human nature, this has been happening for many years."

Zhu Biao was silent for a while, and said to Su Jing: "Master Su, then let's help these beggars, shall we?"

"Anyway, there are only a few. With Master Su's ability, it shouldn't be difficult."

To say that he is kind-hearted or Zhu Biao is kind-hearted.

"It's not impossible, but what if I see other beggars again? Do you want to help?"

Su Jing said with a smile.

Helping two beggars was not too difficult for him, and he didn't mind.

But Su Jing understood Zhu Biao, his thoughts should not only be helping two beggars.

Zhu Biao took it for granted: "Of course, you can help when you see it. There are only a few beggars in a county. It's a trivial matter."

"How many?"

Su Jing frowned slightly, and asked Zhu Biao, "Then how many beggars do you think there are in Lishui County?"

Zhu Biao thought for a while, and recalled how many beggars he saw during his life in Lishui County.

"Maybe there are dozens of them?"

Zhu Biao said uncertainly, he didn't dare to say more.

After all, it is impossible for Zhu Biao to pay attention to the statistics one by one.

"Okay, then let's do one thing tomorrow and count the number of beggars in Lishui County."

Su Jing didn't talk about statistics to Zhu Biao empty-handed, without actual investigation, everything was false.

"Yes, Master Su."

Zhu Biao nodded without any objection.

At this time, Zhu Huan had already walked towards the two beggars with steamed buns.

It's not white flour steamed buns, but some yellow steamed buns.

Steamed buns with pure white flour are refined grains.

The two beggars, one old and one young, immediately thanked Zhu Wei, but Zhu Wei didn't stay too long, and ran away quickly.

He still remembered Su Jing's warning.

After all, Zhu Wei is only a six-year-old child, and this kind of thing should be done quickly.

The next morning.

Su Jing took Zhu Biao to go out. It was cold in late autumn, and it was very cold in the morning because of the high humidity.

But the beggars on the street had already appeared early.

Most of them are concentrated not far from the breakfast vendors, because here is the most likely to get stutterers.

Su Jing and Zhu Biao acted separately, one person was in charge of several streets, and recorded the data of the appearance of beggars.

Just eat some pancakes at noon, and continue to keep records.

It wasn't until evening that Su Jing and Zhu Biao came together.

"How about it, Niu Yi, how many have you recorded?"

Su Jing asked Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao replied: "73."

In fact, he himself couldn't believe it, why there were so many beggars.

Su Jing said: "I counted 84."

In other words, the two counted more than 150 beggars in one day.

"It's a bit too much, isn't it? The two of us must not have collected all the statistics. Lishui County is so big, and there are still many places that we haven't visited."

Su Jing said to Zhu Biao.

"Indeed, Master Su."

Zhu Biao nodded.

He really didn't expect that there would be so many beggars in such a prosperous Lishui County under the rule of Ming Dynasty.

Su Jing said indifferently: "Actually, this is quite a small number. You know the beggar household system in Ming Dynasty."

"Of course I know, Master Su."

Zhu Biao replied: "Whether they are Mongolians or Semu people, they are all untouchables, even worse than beggars."

According to Zhu Biao, this kind of racial hierarchy is extremely natural and completely taken for granted.

Su Jing didn't think there was anything wrong, because even in her previous life, racial discrimination was a worldwide problem.

Moreover, the situation in the Ming Dynasty was very special. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian rulers divided the people under their rule into four classes.

The first class is Mongols, the second class is Semu people, the third class is Han Chinese from the north, and the fourth class is Han Chinese from the south.

Such unfair treatment will naturally arouse the resistance of the Han people in the south, but due to the excessive strength of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Han people dare not speak out.

Until the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang and other uprising princes overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang unified China, and the Ming Dynasty was officially established.

Lao Zhu naturally also implemented a racial hierarchy policy, but the hierarchy was just the opposite of that of the Yuan Dynasty.

The status of the Han people is the highest, and the Semu people and the Mongol people are all untouchables, and they are officially designated as "beggars", which means people who are not even as good as beggars.

Needless to say, the status of beggar households is not much different from that of slaves, and they have no human rights at all.

"Our Lishui County is not far from Yingtian Mansion, and there are not many beggar households, so the beggars here are basically ordinary people living in poverty."

Su Jing said: "If you go to other distant places, there are still many Mengren and Semu people, and there will be more beggar households."

"Moreover, there are not many counties in Daming that can compare with Lishui County."

"That is to say, in fact, there are still many people in Daming who can't afford to eat, and the life of the people is still difficult."

Most of the common people under the feudal dynasty lived in poverty most of the time.

Zhu Biao's expression darkened when he heard this.

Thinking about what Su Jing said.

The living standards of the people in Lishui County are already very high, which can be considered quite good in Daming.

But there are still many beggars, and many people who cannot even guarantee their survival.

This Ming Dynasty is far from what Zhu Biao imagined.

The common people should live and work in peace and contentment.

"Master Su, why is this happening?"

Zhu Biao looked at Su Jing and said, "Obviously the amount of land in Daming is enough to support these people, so there shouldn't be any conflicts between people and land."

"Furthermore, Daming today also encourages land reclamation and farming. As long as you are willing to work, it shouldn't be like this."

Needless to say, Zhu Biao has thought deeply about the topic of the contradiction between man and earth.

In the current Ming Dynasty, because of the many wars that have just gone through, the population of the entire land is actually in a state of sharp decline.

After all, it has only been two years since Daming was officially established, and it takes at least ten years for a child to be able to survive on his own.

That is to say, at least ten years later, under the policy of recuperation, Daming's population will increase significantly.

This is why Zhu Yuanzhang set the age at which men can marry at 16.

Only by getting married and having children as soon as possible can the number of people in Ming Dynasty increase even more. Population is labor force, and labor force is national strength.

Very realistic, but that's how it is.

Therefore, in Zhu Biao's view, there is no such problem as the contradiction between man and earth in the current Ming Dynasty.

Because the population is too small and there is a lot of land, it can be divided.

"This is not a problem of human-land conflict, but a poverty trap."

Su Jing said lightly.

A low-income trap?

Zhu Biao looked at Su Jing with some surprise and said, "The students don't understand, please ask Master Su to teach."

Su Jing said: "In fact, the reason is very simple, because they are poor and have nothing, not even the most basic productivity tools."

"Da Ming is indeed encouraging land reclamation now, but land reclamation requires farm tools, and they don't have them."

"Creating wasteland also requires physical labor. They didn't have enough food, clothing, warmth and no place to live before. How could they have the extra energy to work?"

"Whether it is agricultural tools or physical strength, these are all initial investments, and the food grown is the return."

"The so-called poverty trap is that because of poverty, the return on investment cannot be paid. If there is no return, it will naturally only become poorer, and thus fall into the trap of the poor getting poorer."

Hearing Su Jing's words, Zhu Biao immediately said: "Then they can borrow it."

"As long as we get through the difficulties at the beginning and wait until the grain harvest, everything will be fine."

Su Jing shook her head and said: "Who would lend their property to beggars? Beggars don't have any assets, and the poverty of life makes them weak."

"If you use assets to describe it, a beggar itself is a high-debt non-performing asset, and any smart investor would not choose such a non-performing asset for investment."

After hearing this, Zhu Biao was silent.

He understood that these beggars had already fallen into a vicious circle.

If there is no money for initial investment, then there will be no return, and without return, there will only be more money.

If this continues, being a beggar will only last for a while, and there is no possibility of turning over at all.

Really is a "trap".

"Master Su, can you help them?"

Zhu Biao looked at Su Jing with hopeful eyes.

Su Jing's business intelligence is the most powerful that Zhu Biao has ever seen. When he described it just now, he also used assets to describe it.

So, in Su Jing's place, is there already a solution?
Zhu Biao is looking forward to it.

"Do you mean helping one, or helping all?"

Su Jing asked lightly.

Zhu Biao was taken aback, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Students naturally want to help everyone."

He is the crown prince, the future emperor of Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Biao's wish must be that there will be no beggars in the entire Ming Dynasty, and the lives of the people will be extremely beautiful.

"Then I can't do it."

Su Jing shook his head and said: "With my ability, at most I can help them, and the scope of coverage is only the beggars I can see. I'm afraid that even all the beggars in Lishui County can't do all the relief."

Su Jing is indeed quite rich, but he is not a welfare institution.

Relief for beggars is not as simple as imagined.

Zhu Biao's wish is beautiful, but Su Jing's ability is limited.

Zhu Biao was silent, he had expected this answer, but he still had some expectations in his heart.

"Master Su, is there really no other way?"

Zhu Biao looked at Su Jing and begged again.

Su Jing looked at Zhu Biao's sincere eyes, thought for a while, and said: "There is no way, I can only say that this is a long-term task, at least it cannot be completed overnight."

"Master Su, please tell me."

Zhu Biao immediately said seriously.

Su Jing paused, and said: "The problem of beggars is actually a problem of poverty in essence. How to get these beggars out of trouble, that is, to get them out of poverty, Niu Yi, you can understand this."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Students can understand."

Su Jing continued: "The first thing to be sure is that poverty is an inevitable problem in a large country, and it is unavoidable."

"The distribution of social wealth must have its unfairness. The larger the country, the more obvious the gap caused by such unfairness."

"So, if you want to eliminate poverty, you must have a secondary distribution function of social wealth."

"For example, disaster relief. In fact, this is the secondary distribution of social wealth. The wealth confiscated from society is used to subsidize and relieve those people who have been hit by disasters and fell into poverty."

"Therefore, how to correctly redistribute social wealth is of great significance to eradicating poverty."

Hearing this, Zhu Biao suddenly said: "Su Jing, do you mean to directly rescue these poor people like disaster relief?"

The most simple and direct method of disaster relief is to distribute food.

"No no no!"

Su Jing immediately shook her head and said, "This method is not acceptable."

The beautiful country in Su Jing's previous life was such a way to get rid of poverty, sending money directly to the poor.

But the actual effect of poverty alleviation is not good.

The method of directly sending money will eventually create a large number of lazy people.

Besides, Daming didn't have that much food.

Natural disasters and man-made disasters, internal and external troubles, food is too precious.

Disaster relief is largely due to the need to maintain the stability of the disaster-stricken area, otherwise a large number of people will have no food to eat, and they will riot.

(End of this chapter)