At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 436, The Limits of Productivity and the Transmission of Laws
The current situation in the rural areas of the Han Dynasty is very similar to that in later generations. The grain output is getting higher and higher, but the income has not increased. The number of talents in the world is increasing, but few of them stay in the rural areas. Among the few talents that are hard to come by, all of them stay in the cities to develop. The rural areas are suffering from severe blood loss, so naturally there is no talk of good development.

The only thing that was better about the Han Dynasty than later generations was the large amount of resources per capita. In later generations, a farmer's income from grain in one season was equivalent to a month's salary in the city, but in the Han Dynasty, where everyone was a small landlord, even at the floor price, a farmer's income was equivalent to half of a craftsman's salary. In addition, some farmers could do odd jobs in the city, so about 10% of the farmers in the Han Dynasty had an income of about 70% of that of a craftsman.

As for the fact that farmers earn higher incomes than craftsmen, this does happen, but it is an extremely rare case and does not represent universal significance.

Shang Nong said: "Since our family is named after farmers, we should seek benefits for farmers all over the world. Farmers' children should go deep into the countryside to solve the problem of farmers' increased production but not increased income."

Xu Fan smiled bitterly and said, "This is a very difficult proposition. At first, I thought that as long as the land was distributed equally, the people of the world could live a good life, and even all of them could live a life above the middle class. But reality slapped me in the face and made me realize that the road to world peace is long and arduous, and I may not even see it in my lifetime."

When the Han Dynasty was just founded, Xu Fan imagined that after the equal distribution of land, a farming family in the Han Dynasty would produce 200 dan of grain per year, half of which would be paid as taxes and used for the family's food and drink. In a year, they could accumulate wealth of tens of thousands of coins. According to the standards of the Western Han Dynasty, a family with a fortune of 10 coins would be considered a middle-class household. The Han Dynasty was a country of middle-class people.

But the sharp drop in grain prices soon slapped him in the face. After peace came to the world, the grain price of the Han Dynasty dropped from 50 coins per stone to coins. Xu Fan once overestimated his ability and wanted to maintain the grain price, but reality still slapped him in the face. The four major granaries he built and the Changping granaries throughout the Han Dynasty were all overwhelmed with grain within a few years. The Han Dynasty court had to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain this storage system. Now the court can only barely maintain the grain price in Guanzhong, but it is only coins.

In the past two years, farmers in Dahan have not used guano much, because the price of guano is much higher than that of grain, which is not cost-effective. Xu Fan was worried that if farmers all over the world used guano, guano would soon disappear. But reality told him that he was overthinking. Now most of the guano in Dahan is used for high-priced cash crops, and ordinary farmers are reluctant to spend the money.

The current situation in Dahan Township is that it is easy to have enough food, but it is very difficult to make money. There are farmers who want to find other ways. If grain is not profitable, they will plant mulberry, hemp and vegetables, but it is still useless. Mulberry and hemp are also in a situation where the price of grain is low and farmers are hurt.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the prices of mulberry and hemp as raw materials for the textile industry have continued to rise. However, after the desert was conquered by the Han Dynasty, a large amount of wool poured into the Han Dynasty's raw material market, which directly caused the price of mulberry and hemp to drop by 30%. It has never risen since then. The production capacity crisis two years ago caused the price of mulberry and hemp to fall to the floor. Its price is only 20% of its peak period. Although it has risen a little in the past two years, it is only a little more than 30% of its peak period.

This made Xu Fan realize that the reason for all this was that the level of industrialization of the Han Dynasty was too low, and it was difficult to accommodate so many raw materials. This could not be solved by simply changing a few crops. Instead, the agriculture of the Han Dynasty was a bit like the industry of later generations. They planted whatever made money, and whatever was planted had overcapacity and did not make money, thus falling into a spiral vicious circle.

To use the words of later political books, the productivity and resource levels of the Han Dynasty can ensure that the people of the Han Dynasty have enough food to eat, but unfortunately, it is impossible to make the people rich.

In the past two years, farmers in Dahan seem to have resigned themselves to their fate. They have spent so much energy and time on diversified operations, but they may not make as much money as those who only grow grain. So they might as well just grow grain, which will save them the trouble.

Shang Nong comforted Xu Fan, saying, "Your Majesty, you have done something that no emperor in history has ever done. Just by ensuring that the people of the world have enough food to eat, you have already achieved unprecedented benevolence."

This is the truest thought in the hearts of businessmen and farmers. It is already a miracle to achieve equal distribution of land in the entire Han Dynasty. The prestige of the First Emperor was so high that he did not dare to clean up the powerful nobles in the world and distribute land to ordinary people. If it were so easy to achieve "land belongs to the tiller", the sages of the Hundred Schools of Thought would not have called for hundreds of years. In the past three thousand years, only the Han Dynasty has achieved this.

Shang Nong smiled and said, "The ancient sages envisioned that those who till the land own the land, and our Han Dynasty has achieved it. Now our Han Dynasty is on an unprecedented path. Even the ancient sages have never envisioned this path.

They don’t think that after people have enough food, they will face problems with education, medical care and development, but these are the problems that our generation must face and solve.”

Xu Fan sighed, "This problem is more than ten times more difficult than Qin Bo's. The Han Dynasty has only more than 300 million craftsmen. Even if we include the craftsmen who work part-time, it will not exceed 700 million. It is already very difficult to double the income of these 4000 million people. And to double the income of million farmers is even more difficult than rebuilding the Han Dynasty."

As the saying goes, there is gain and loss. At this point in time, the Han Dynasty was a famous beacon throughout the world. There were no powerful enemies outside. Except for the World Island, the civilizations of other continents were still in their infancy. These lands were no different from unowned lands to the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty could develop them however it wanted and establish vassal states if it wanted.

But without other civilizations and countries, it also means that there is no external market for the development of industry. The rapid development of foreign trade-oriented economy in later generations has no soil in the Han Dynasty. In addition, the industrial revolution in the Han Dynasty has just begun, and the number of jobs that the industry can accommodate is extremely limited.

This resulted in most farmers being restricted to the land. If the Han Dynasty wanted to develop its industry, it could only rely on opening up new territories and reasonably distributing wealth among all classes.

Shang Nong said: "No matter how difficult it is, as long as you start taking action, it is a good start, but if you don't do it, the difficulties will always remain there."

Xu Fan naturally would not stop an idealist from practicing his own ideas.

He said: "Since you want to lead the farmers to prosperity, I will not stop you. I can only give you some advice. The problems you encounter may be more powerful than those of the Mohists. Only a strict organization can achieve this. At the same time, don't forget that the people are your source."

Shang Nong bowed and said, "Thank you for your teaching, Your Majesty."

November 5, the fourteenth year of the Han calendar.

The Han pretended to be a merchant and farmer and retired, and then led the farmer's son to Yulin Township in Guanzhong, causing a sensation in the entire Han officialdom. This was the second school of thought in the world after Mohism that began to penetrate into the people.

Xu Fan also published the reason why Shang Nong retired in the Han Monthly, saying that he gave up the position of prime minister because he wanted to seek benefits for the farmers of the Han Dynasty. Xu Fan highly praised Shang Nong's willingness to sacrifice and enrich the people, and called on students all over the world to learn from Shang Nong and bring knowledge to the countryside.

The Han scholars praised the virtues of Shang Nong, who was their perfect idol. He was in a high position but cared about the people at the bottom, and was willing to give up his high position for his ideals. He was the most admired behavior. For a time, the hot topics in the Han newspapers were Shang Nong's retirement and wanting to lead farmers to get rich. Many idealistic students in the Han joined the farmers and followed Shang Nong to the countryside, wanting to transform the countryside with their knowledge. A vigorous movement of knowledge going to the countryside caused a boom in the Han Dynasty.

Although the Han officials admired Shang Nong's character, they were more concerned about the position Shang Nong left behind. A position of prime minister would save them five or six years of struggle. But this time Xu Fan acted very quickly. After Shang Nong retired, he immediately appointed Cao Shen, the director of the Tongzheng Department, as the fake prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and Wang Dao, the former governor of Kuaiji County, as the new director of the Tongzheng Department. Wang Ling, the former governor of Donghai County, was appointed as the governor of Kuaiji County, thus forming the top leadership of the Great Han Xing.

After the meeting of sages, Xiao He, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, officially promulgated the "Equalizing Wealth and Honor Decree", which explicitly required all counties to formulate a plan to double the salaries based on their local minimum salary standards. The plan was to double the salaries of Han craftsmen within five years, with a minimum annual salary increase of more than 20%. Those who failed to meet this standard would have their salaries downgraded by one level in the assessment of their superiors.

At the same time, the Prime Minister's Office issued an order to the chief officials of all counties and prefectures to increase the investment in rural highways in various places. An investment plan was formulated every year, which was supervised by the Office of the Imperial Censor and the Sages. The Han Dynasty strived to achieve the goal of connecting all villages with highways within five years.
On January 5, the fifteenth year of the Han calendar, Yanmen County, Taishou Mansion.

All the workshop owners in Yanmen County who employed more than 50 craftsmen gathered here. Among them were the new richest man of the Han Dynasty, Kuai Che, as well as medium-sized workshop owners like Guo Wen, a local tyrant. Even more were small workshop owners who brought their entire family with them and hired a few relatives.

These people all surrounded Kuai Che. Compared with their small workshop, Kuai Che was a real behemoth. Even if there was a little gap, it would be enough for them to eat and drink. Not to mention that these people really wanted to ask Kuai Che for help.

"President, I am Xiao Lu from Mayi County. I ordered three steam engines from your steam equipment factory. Do you remember?" Lu Shu said flatteringly.

The economic crisis two years ago was not only beneficial to large workshop owners like Kuai Che, but also to outsiders who wanted to join the industry. After the economic crisis, most of the workshops in Dahan closed down, leaving them with half of the market. The profits of the textile industry rose rapidly and became prosperous again. Many people saw the benefits and joined the textile industry again.

Although these new entrants know nothing, they have an advantage in that they have no past burdens. For example, the steam engine is now unstoppable, but the workshops that originally spent huge sums of money to buy water-powered spinning wheels and textile machines will certainly not abandon the machines they bought at high prices and buy steam spinning wheels and steam textile machines at a higher price.

As long as there is profit, they will not replace the machines. Instead, they want the craftsmen to speed up and make up for the lack of production efficiency with their abilities. After all, these people were landlords before entering the industry. Rather than constantly replacing advanced machinery, they are more accustomed to using oxen and horses.

However, it is different for new textile owners. They naturally know that steam textile machines are three times more efficient than water-powered textile machines, so they naturally buy new machines to enter the industry. As a result, a strange phenomenon has appeared in the textile industry in the Han Dynasty. The efficiency of textile owners who have just entered the industry in producing cloth is actually higher than that of old textile factories.

Of course, these new textile owners also have a difficulty, that is, the production of steam engines is limited all year round, and talent and machines are obstacles to expanding production capacity. Now in the entire Yanmen County, only Kuai Che has the steam machinery factory. Whether these new textile owners can make money depends entirely on Kuai Che's mood.

Kuai Che nodded indifferently, but did not express much. These so-called workshop owners were too different from him. Kuai Che did not even regard them as the same kind of people.

Kuai Che's nod excited Lu Shu and he said, "President, you can let me get the steam loom two months earlier. I have been waiting for these three machines for three months. If I wait any longer, this business will fail."

Kuai Che said calmly: "The Steam Machinery Factory has its own rules. They say when they will give you the machine, and if you get it early, then whoever gets it later will get it!"

When Lu Shu heard this, his expression became gloomy. He also realized that Kuai Che didn't want to communicate, so he could only sit aside awkwardly.

Seeing Lu Shu's embarrassment, other small workshop owners naturally did not dare to get too close to Kuai Che.

"The governor has arrived!"

Everyone present stood up.

Yanmen County Governor Chai Wu walked into the hall in a hurry and said with a smile: "Sorry to bother you elders, but because the order conveyed by the court this time is related to you, I can only invite them to the Governor's Mansion."

"Don't disturb us, don't disturb us!" all the workshop owners said flatteringly.

Chai Wu is their father and mother official. If you offend Chai Wu, don’t even think about staying in Yanmen County.

Chai Wu took out a document from the Prime Minister's Office and said, "This is a document issued by the Prime Minister's Office to distribute wealth. The court requires us to strictly implement the four-hour work system. I won't talk about the past. But if you work overtime without overtime pay again and are reported by the people below, I will handle it impartially. According to the current court decree, if you find out about this, you will not only be fined ten times, but those with particularly serious circumstances will even be subject to criminal punishment for six months to three years. This governor will give you three months to clean up your past. If you do this again after three months, don't blame me for severe punishment."

Everyone present had a bitter look on their faces, but they still said, "We are all kind-hearted people, so we naturally would not do such a mean thing as demanding a high salary."

This matter has been publicized in major Han newspapers for several months, so they naturally know about it. Although they feel that the court is too involved, they dare not break the law because the court really dares to arrest people.

(End of this chapter)