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

Chapter 639: The Exploration of the Way of Great Harmony by Various Schools of Thought

After listening to the Carthaginians' introduction, Xu Aimin was relieved. Before convening the Global Datong Conference, he heard Zhang Pijiang say that Datong thought had become the mainstream school of thought in Daqinzhou, and scholars from various countries had studied it. However, the reality was that some bandits who used Datong thought as an excuse did not even have the ability to govern a country, let alone develop Datong governance. Carthage finally returned to normal.

Then it was Cornelius' turn, representing the Roman Maison, who spoke of their development in recent years, including opening up the wild land of Gaolou to the north, repairing rivers, building elevated canals, reclaiming fields, distributing the land to Roman citizens, and educated the barbarians to become Roman citizens.

Finally, Cornelius said: "The Holy Emperor's speech is deafening. Datong means liberating people's minds, so our next step will be to reform the political system of Rome and completely abolish slavery. At the same time, we will vigorously develop productivity and increase the wealth of the entire Rome. We will focus on industrial development, steel, machinery, mining, and textile industries. However, our Roman country lacks talents, is small and poor, and lacks funds. The Han Dynasty is the elder brother of global civilization. Our Roman Datong Association asks the Holy Emperor to support the construction of our Rome because we are like-minded partners."

Xu Aimin looked at Cornelius in surprise. Zhang Pijiang had focused on telling him about the situation in Rome. Among the many overseas students in Daqinzhou, these Roman students were the best students. They not only had territory and an army, but Datong would also develop very well, and there was a high chance that they could seize power in a country. Even so, they were able to be very flexible, and could be said to be outstanding people of their generation.

Although Xu Aimin had a certain degree of idealism, he was more pragmatic. He knew that industrialization would enhance a country's military strength and did not want to raise a tiger to cause trouble, so he did not think about supporting the Roman Pax Romana in industry.

Xu Aimin thought for a moment and said, "It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. The Han Dynasty has a strong demand for soybeans. Rome can develop the soybean industry. As long as the price is right, the Han Dynasty can import 50 tons of soybeans from Rome every year."

As the Han Dynasty became increasingly wealthy, the tastes of ordinary people also changed dramatically. The biggest change was the demand for oil. Before the Han Dynasty, oil was called paste, which was generally refined from animal fat. It was a delicacy during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was also a high-end luxury product.

But as the people of Dahan became richer, the demand for various oils became higher and higher. In addition, Xu Fan also cooked, which made it even more indispensable for various oils. Now, the people of Dahan consume dozens of kilograms of various animal and vegetable oils every year. There is also the consumption of some industrial raw materials, such as lubricating oil for machinery, vegetable oil for making soap, etc. Dahan needs more than 10 million tons of vegetable oil every year.

The main source of vegetable oil is soybeans, and soybean cake can be used as feed and fertilizer. For an economic crop, soybeans are the most fully developed. Therefore, the Han Dynasty has been trying to promote soybean planting in the major vassal states of the Han Dynasty in recent years to meet the needs of the Han Dynasty.

As the Han mainland became increasingly prosperous, the people's demand for various materials has become higher and higher, including spices from Nanyang and India, various fertilizers from the New World, and various cash crops. Now, even a large part of cash crops such as sugar and cotton need to be purchased from areas outside the Han mainland.

Cornelius said happily: "Thank you, Holy Emperor."

He originally wanted to try and see if he could get a big order. Unexpectedly, he actually succeeded.

After the countries outside the Han civilization talked about the development of their Datong Association, the appetizer of this global Datong Association was served.

Next came the competition among the various schools of thought in the Han Dynasty. The triple waves of great voyages, industrialization, and globalization brought enormous wealth to the Han Dynasty. The industrial productivity of the Han Dynasty accounted for 7% to 8% of the world's total. It can be said that the world's wealth was unprecedentedly concentrated in the Eastern world.

Since its founding, the Han Dynasty has always attached great importance to education and culture. The annual investment in education has reached 10% of the Han Dynasty's fiscal revenue. This year alone, the investment in education has exceeded tens of billions of money. Such a high investment has brought unprecedented prosperity to the Han Dynasty's various schools of thought.

In the Han Dynasty, Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, and Agriculture competed with each other. Smaller schools such as the Eclectic School, the Novelist School, the Famous School, and the School of Civilization were also very prosperous. There were many schools with more than ten thousand disciples. It can be said that the scene was full of vitality and all things were progressing.

The Han Dynasty court adhered to a pragmatic philosophy. If your school of thought is suitable for the development of the Han Dynasty and can bring benefits to the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty will support the development of your school. Therefore, the Legalists, who had strong execution capabilities, were able to quickly get rid of the blame and once again become the mainstream school of thought in the Han Dynasty. This was because the Legalists had been reforming the law for hundreds of years, and they had very strong advantages in industrial planning and execution. The industrial development of the Han Dynasty needed the support of the Legalists.

The Han Dynasty did not dominate among hundreds of schools of thought as in history, with Confucianism being the only one respected. Instead, the Han Dynasty had its own system and a mixture of hegemony and kingly ways.

Therefore, the competition among the major schools was very fierce. After Xu Fan proposed the idea of ​​Datong, Datong became the highest political idea among all schools of thought.

If you want to become the mainstream school of thought in the Han Dynasty, you must create a set of ideas and systems that can lead the Han society into a harmonious society, and you must also have practical examples. After all, the Han Dynasty values ​​effectiveness, not empty talk.

The first to appear was the Taoist Sima Hui.

He used the development of major vassal states in the New World as an example to illustrate the Taoist philosophy of governing by inaction.

"First, follow the natural course and do not act rashly. We Taoists govern the Tang State in accordance with the laws of nature and do not violate or change these laws. Reduce the state's interference in the people and let them live and work in their own way. The people can then give full play to their subjective initiative to achieve the prosperity and development of the country."

"Second, the people will transform themselves and correct themselves. The people will live and improve themselves, thus achieving social stability. The state should respect the will and creativity of the people and should not try to force them to change through various means or laws."

Sima Hui spoke to the audience, and from time to time he used several vassal states in the New World as examples.

Taoism once flourished in the Han Dynasty. The founding prime minister Zhou Zhang was a disciple of Taoism. The Taoist philosophy of governing by inaction and reducing court interference in the people was supported by the Han emperor Xu Fan at the time. In the first 20 years of the founding of the Han Dynasty, the philosophy of governing the country was to govern by inaction. Xu Fan even repeatedly warned local governors not to interfere in local development.

Because Xu Fan had learned from his own historical experience, he was worried that these governors of the Han Dynasty would also make mistakes and govern the country like flipping a pancake, causing chaos.

After all, he had seen this kind of thing before, and although each of these Han governors had fought their way out of a sea of ​​blood and corpses and had been taught by him, in terms of organizational ability, they were definitely superior to those bureaucrats.

However, governing the country is not only about organizational ability, but also about managing the Han officials under your command, being able to understand the people's sentiments, distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and handling local emergencies. When it comes to how to handle the complicated local government affairs, these Han governors are all rookies in the officialdom, and if they do nothing, the effect is even better than if they do something randomly.

This was the main reason why Xu Fan used the policy of inaction to govern the Han Dynasty. Anyway, the Han Dynasty had just been founded and there were few internal conflicts. It had also done a good job of equalizing land distribution. In addition, the pre-Qin period was too aggressive, which had made people from top to bottom a little worried. Now that it had gone too far, it might be better to use inaction to relax a bit.

In addition, the Han Dynasty was peaceful at that time, and Xu Fan used strong means to purge the nobles and tyrants of the Qin Dynasty and the six kingdoms. At that time, the Han Dynasty had more resources per capita, and this alone could solve most of the conflicts in society. Therefore, the Taoist philosophy was suitable for the Han Dynasty at that time.

However, this system only operated for 20 years. With the increase in the population of the Han Dynasty, the increase in industrial capacity, the wealth brought by the great voyages, the increasing land area and the increasing number of vassal states.

The world has become larger, wealth has increased, and new things are increasing. The original concept of governing by doing nothing is obviously no longer suitable for the current Han Dynasty. At the same time, the Han Dynasty's governors have accumulated more than 20 years of experience in governing. From the initial passionate young people, they have become middle-aged politicians. Legalists have begun to rise, and the Han Dynasty has begun to strengthen various systems, regulate the development of industry, and balance the wealth gap brought by the sea.

The Mohist School expanded rapidly with the development of the Han Dynasty's industry, and once again occupied the center position among the various schools of thought. Although there are not many Mohists in the Han Dynasty, including the apprentice Mohists, there are only tens of thousands of them in total, but the Mohist School has tens of millions of craftsmen in the Han Dynasty as its foundation, and has become a school that can influence the world. The Agricultural School has always been in a small transparent state among the various schools of thought, but the founding of the Han Dynasty brought the Agricultural School an opportunity to rise. The two generations of emperors in the Han Dynasty attached great importance to the development of agriculture.

Two generations of heads of the Nong family became high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty. In particular, the current head of the Nong family is also the teacher of the current emperor. Under his persistent promotion, the entire Han Dynasty built agricultural communities on a large scale. Tens of millions of farmers in the Han Dynasty became the basic base of the Nong family. This made the Nong family, a small and transparent school of thought in the Warring States Period, become one of the mainstream schools of thought in the Han Dynasty.

The Legalists, Mohists, and Agriculturalists formed an alliance and became the political force that dominated the court of the Han Dynasty.

The prosperity of the Legalists, Mohists and Agriculturalists corresponded to the decline of Taoism. During the transformation of the Han Dynasty from an agricultural society to an industrial society, the concept of governing by inaction became increasingly difficult to adapt, and Taoism gradually withdrew from the political stage of the Han Dynasty.

But Taoism has a strong foundation. Among the more than 500 princes in the Han Dynasty, hundreds of them have connections with Taoism. After the development of the New World, Prime Minister Zhou Zhang went to the New World and brought the Taoist concept of governing by inaction to the New World. At that time, the Taoist concept had begun to be unsuitable for the Han Dynasty, but after arriving in the New World, it was extremely suitable.

This continent is too wild and has too few people. Even if the vassal states in the New World want to manage everything like the Han Dynasty, they don't have the conditions. They don't have such a large population and so many management talents. Doing nothing and ruling by doing nothing has become the best choice for the vassal states in the New World.

In the New World, there is usually a village. The local people manage themselves, and then a road is built to connect to the capital of the vassal state. Everyone discusses together to build canals, city walls and other infrastructure. When the village becomes prosperous, it is upgraded to a city. The people elect a governor and then report to the vassal kings of various countries. Only at the county level do they officially become officials, and they will also be equipped with a decent official office.

Therefore, the management system of the New World is completely different from that of the Han Dynasty. They are promoted from the bottom up step by step. The idea that Xu Fan failed to achieve in the Han Dynasty was realized in the New World. Of course, this is not all good. What has risen from these villages is a potential powerful aristocratic family. Naturally, they do not want a prince to manage them. What they need is to rule by inaction.

It was because in the New World, the right time, right place and right people all suited Taoism, so Taoism flourished again in the New World. Their philosophy of governing by inaction became the political philosophy of hundreds of vassal states in the New World.

But the success of the New World gave Taoism an illusion. Taoist scholars did not think that Taoist knowledge was backward, but instead made them complacent for decades.

Zhang De of the Agricultural School, Jia Yi of the Legalist, Chen Lei of the Mohist School, and Zhang Mu of the Confucianist shook their heads after hearing this. Taoism has not made much progress over the years, and Sima Hui's ideas have not been innovative. Although Taoism has risen in the New World, the New World cannot always be so barbaric. When the construction of various vassal states is similar to that of the Han Dynasty, Taoism will definitely be neglected again.

Even the leaders of small schools such as novelists, famous writers, and eclecticists shook their heads in their hearts, saying that Taoism has declined.

The Han Confucians did not send a representative, but instead sent Zhang Mu, a Confucian from the Xiongnu Kingdom, as a representative.

Zhang Mu said: "The environment of the Xiongnu Kingdom is not as good as that of the Han Dynasty. In the central part of Shenzhou, the system has not been established and the laws have not been established. It is like the ancient barbaric era. What my Confucianism has done in the central part of Shenzhou for decades is to clarify the laws and ethics, so that the Xiongnu tribes can understand ethics, know the laws, and become civilized people."

Then, he focused on clarifying laws and establishing ethics, and talked about what Confucianism had done in the Xiongnu Kingdom over the past few decades, such as destroying temples and cutting down mountains, formulating a system of gods that could accommodate all rivers and seas, and building a new civilized country with the Xiongnu as the core.

Zhang Mu's institutional Confucianism's exploration of the Great Harmony in the past few decades was far inferior to that of the three schools of Legalism, Mohism, and Agriculture in the interior of the Han Dynasty, so he simply gave up the comparison.

Instead, he directly admitted: "The industry and civilization of the Xiongnu Kingdom are far inferior to those of the Han Dynasty. They are not as good as the Han Dynasty in exploring the Great Harmony. But looking around the world, most regions are not as good as the Han Dynasty, not to mention the tyrannical Qin Dynasty decades ago. Some regions don't even have a country. I, Confucianism, believe that in addition to being a beacon of civilization, the Han Dynasty should also use the light of civilization to illuminate the wild lands and lead them into civilization. What I, Confucianism, do is the light of civilization. Under the teachings of my Confucianism, the entire Xiongnu Kingdom has completely abolished slavery, and the wild tribal system has begun to be replaced by the county system."

After listening to Zhang Mu's words, even Xu Aimin admired what Confucianism did. Although Confucianism made great contributions to the exploration of the Great Harmony, they did raise the bottom line of the world. Confucian teachings have made great contributions to the world.

Zhang De from the Farming Family stepped out and said, "My Farming Family has further explored the Great Harmony Governance, but it cannot be expressed in a few words. Seeing is believing, and you can have a deeper understanding. My Farming Family has established an advanced farming community in Jiujiang County, and you can come and see it."

Then everyone looked at Emperor Xu Aimin.

Xu Aimin said with a smile: "What we are saying here is not as good as seeing it with our own eyes. Since it has been demonstrated, why not go and see it?"

So the representatives present boarded a steamship and traveled along the Yangtze River to Jiujiang County, Liyang County, and Yuxi Village.

When the representatives of the Global Datong Association arrived in Yuxi Village, they were all in disbelief.

Because they saw hundreds of neatly arranged three-story concrete buildings in this so-called "village". For the sake of beauty, these buildings were covered with tiles on the outside, making them look more dazzling than the nobles' manors. For the representatives of Daqinzhou, they believed that this was a group of noble manors.

Zhang De proudly said: "The villagers in Yuxi have pooled all their land together, with a total of 1.2 mu of paddy fields and 2 mu of mountain land. However, unlike ordinary agricultural cooperatives, they are more like agricultural craftsmen than farmers. All villagers here have their own salaries, and they do not farm independently, but follow the arrangements of the agricultural cooperative. They decide which crops to plant and when to apply fertilizers. The farming tools and machinery are also provided by the agricultural cooperative. These villagers work just like craftsmen in the city, from nine to five, with weekends off, and the agricultural cooperative pays pensions for all villagers."

Zhang Mu was surprised and said, "Looking at how wealthy Yuxi Village is, their salaries shouldn't be low, right?"

Zhang De said: "4000 coins per person per month. Most families in Yuxi Village have two or even three incomes. The annual income of a farmer's household is roughly between 10 and 15 coins. If the population is large, there are also some that can earn 20 to 30 coins, but such families are relatively rare."

Liu Heng was shocked and said, "This is not higher than the income of craftsmen in Kuaiji County."

In Kuaiji County, there were at most two-income families. There were no three-income or four-income families. A craftsman's family could earn 10 coins, but it was very difficult to exceed 20 to 30. This income was considered a high salary even in Kuaiji County, and only a very small number of families could achieve it.

Liu Heng looked at Yuxi Village and said, "There are hundreds of farmers here. Even if one family earns 10 yuan a year, it would be tens of millions of yuan a year. Can a small Yuxi village really earn so much money?"

Even in the current Han Dynasty, the overall income of farmers is still not as good as that of craftsmen. After all, the income from agriculture is so limited. It is extremely difficult for most farmers to earn 100 coins per acre of land. According to the average acreage of land in the Han Dynasty, an annual income of coins for a farmer household is the norm.

(End of this chapter)