Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 889 The Secret of the Imperial Court

"Do you have any relics?" With Apollonia's words, Shangluo hurriedly asked, "What relics do you have?"

"Our whole family is a relic! I am a big, big relic myself. I am his great, great, great, great grandson. Isn't that enough of a relic?"

[Hey! I almost forgot about this. In Rome, it is almost impossible to find the descendants of Aristotle or Caesar, because we don't know where Aristotle is buried. So when we used the simulated philosopher king framework, we didn't consider this at all. But here, it seems possible. ]

"Even memories can be restored?" Shangluo asked.

[Memory is essentially an event observed by a person. An event must have time, people, and cause and effect. It is not genes that can preserve these, but memes. As the descendants of Zheng Zhilong, their family must have preserved a large number of traceable meme forms. It is not impossible to find the secret of One Piece. But... it is very expensive. ]

"But it's very expensive." Shang Luo directly relayed Apollonia's words, "It's indeed possible to let your ancestor come out. But you have to explain the necessity - the treasure of the Pirate King is indeed very important, but it is your family's private property, isn't it? You won't hand over all the treasure you dig out to the court, right?"

"I think there may be some early records of the court's use of spiritual energy hidden in it. Daozu and the court at that time erased this period of history. There must be some big secret hidden in it!"

[Is this something that can be said???]

“???” Shangluo subconsciously glanced in the direction of Yuxi Palace—there was no movement there.

He glanced at Fu Yuanshan again.

"Don't look at me, I don't know either." Fu Yuanshan replied, "Broadly speaking, Elder Wen and I are of the same age. Although there is a difference in age, we are still of the same generation after all. The story of One Piece is ancient to me, and I certainly wouldn't know it if no one told me."

"Is there anyone in the court right now who has experienced that period?"

"All the generals of the imperial court grew up after that era. Although there are others, if you want me to think of one right away, it can only be that one - Lan Daoxing, the real person Lan."

"How could Master Lan tell me the secret? He and Daozu are from the same group."

"Yeah." Fu Yuanshan also nodded. "But speaking of which, I am also a little curious about that period of history. Because the logic of the court's governance lacks a key link there - hey, what was that? I didn't listen carefully in class at that time, and I guessed on the exam. Mr. Wen, you are very knowledgeable, what is the fundamental principle of the court's governance of the world?"

"Return on investment." Elder Wen gave the answer without thinking. Not only did he memorize it very well when he was in school, he has also been working on it for decades.

"Speaking of which, Shangluo," he said, "since you are sitting in this key position, you have to know this. I personally have no opinion on the national surname, the national surname of all generations, and Zheng Yiguan, the ancestor of the national surname of all generations. So if I can make you clearly realize how critical this issue is, and in order for you to understand the motives of many current actions of the court, I think it is necessary to introduce it to you. After all, Zhongguo has not actually experienced this extreme completely-" He considered his words and asked Shangluo: "Why can the industrial revolution bring about a leap-forward growth in national strength?"

"Uh, because of new technology?"

"Yes, but I can't give you full marks. Let me ask you the first question again. Why can the court profit from controlling the world economy?"

"Because... because of plundering the market? Or gold and silver?"

“That’s only a small part of the answer, and I still can’t give you a perfect score—the answer to both questions is the same: return on investment.”

"what?"

"You didn't realize it, did you? Because it's actually a bit counterintuitive: Are gold and silver wealth? For individuals, yes. But for a country, gold and silver, as currency, are just a medium of exchange, not wealth itself. For example, many shipbuilders don't have much cash on hand, but they are taking on upstream industries and connecting with downstream industries, and their actual value is far greater than the cash on hand - the real wealth is the production relationship established in the circulation of money.

"You can figure this out by doing a simple math problem: If I give you 100 taels to invest, and you can get your money back in one month, then that 100 taels share can be invested 12 times in 12 months of the year. You may still only have 100 taels at the end of the year after paying back the interest, but you have established 12 production relationships and obtained 12 profit streams. Then let me ask you again - if it was in ancient times, before the Industrial Revolution, what would someone do if they picked up 100 taels?"

"I think they would dig a hole and bury it. After all, in ancient times, money houses even charged fees for depositing money. 100 taels is enough to live on for a lifetime, but if you have some ideas, maybe you can buy a farm? But buying a farm is not easy, otherwise why do so many people keep silver at home?"

"That's right. In ancient times, many wealthy people would keep their money at home and build a silver vault in the cellar. This was because the return on investment in agricultural production was not high in ancient times. It might take 4 to 7 years to get your money back on a piece of land - if you can get your money back in one month, even with high interest rates, you can invest 12 times a year. If the interest is not much and you have money to make additional investments, you will soon experience what "exponential explosion" means based on the efficiency of "getting your money back in one month." But before the Industrial Revolution, a 4 to 7-year cycle meant you could only invest less than 10 times in your lifetime. If there was a natural disaster or man-made disaster in the middle, then everything would be gone - all gone, nothing would be left."

He looked at Shangluo: "In the entire ancient times before the Industrial Revolution, although there were a variety of industries, the return on investment was not much different from that of agriculture. It was not until after the Industrial Revolution that high-speed machines entered the market, and 'return on investment in one month' was no longer a joke. Because the prosperity brought about by the Industrial Revolution grew exponentially.

"The imperial court is above all other nations, ensuring that the rate of return on investment in the capital region always remains high, thus enabling us to establish more and more advanced production relations in the capital region."

"So, it's really not for the purpose of plundering silver and markets?" Shangluo asked.

"That was true in the beginning - if you consider robbing money or grabbing the market as an investment, there is indeed a rate of return. You can ask Guoxing about this, their family is quite good at this business, but this business is now outdated; whether the government troops go to grab the land or the big ships go to dump cotton cloth, it is too slow, the market is limited and the rate of return is not high enough. The court sits firmly in the central military camp and coordinates the world's major events, which is more efficient than robbing money."

(End of this chapter)