Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

On October 1894, 10, Lin Yuan accompanied Shangtai to participate in the tug-of-war meeting as a special guest. After the meeting, Shangtai called a meeting of ministers and specially invited Lin Yuan to attend.

The political system of the Ryukyu Kingdom followed the example of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The military and political power was in the hands of the king alone. The six departments of military, criminal, public, and household rituals were the administrative agencies, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple were the supervisory and judicial agencies. The heads of each agency were former An old minister of Ryukyu.

The ritual of kneeling was cancelled, and Shang Tai sat around a table with all the old officials, who were still not used to it.At the beginning of the meeting, Shang Tai said: "Our national treasury is empty now, do you have any good ideas?"

An old official said: "Xunzi said: The Lord of the Ming Dynasty must be careful to maintain its peace, reduce its flow, and open up its source. Therefore, our primary goal is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure to enrich the national treasury."

Shangtai said: "It is easy to reduce expenditure, but it is more difficult to increase revenue. Our country's population is only 38. With such a small population, the market must be small, and it is even more difficult to open up foreign markets."

The old official said: "Our country originally gained a lot of benefits from trade in various places. Due to the sea ban of the Ming and Qing dynasties, merchants used our place as a trade transfer station. They bought goods from China and sold them to Southeast Asia. It’s time to bring back goods from Southeast Asia to China, but after the Japanese came, these merchants didn’t dare to trade anymore, and now I don’t know how to call them back.”

Everyone was silent. These people who read the Four Books and Five Classics are indeed not very good at economics.

Lin Yuan said, "I do have some opinions."

Everyone looked at him one after another, and he said: "We have few people, which is a disadvantage, but in a sense, it is also an advantage. When our government has more income, our welfare will also be very good. good."

As soon as the word "welfare" came out, everyone frowned slightly. They had never heard of this word in the 19th century. Lin Yuan smiled slightly and said, "You may not understand this word very well. I will explain it later. .”

"The senior also said just now that due to our geographical location, we have great advantages in the trade between China and Southeast Asia. I think there is a way to get them back. We allow them to trade freely. We don't collect taxes."

Everyone was stunned when they heard that, no tax is collected, how can they make money!

Lin Yuan continued: "We opened up the port for free to attract them to use our port as a transit point for trade. We are surrounded by the sea on all sides of Ryukyu, and there are many places suitable for ports. Of course, due to different innate geographical conditions, the throughput of these ports is inevitable. It is different, some ports are suitable for big ships, and some ports are suitable for small ships, so they can attract many businessmen."

"Although our port does not collect taxes, after those merchants come, can they not eat? Can they not stop for a rest? Can they find ways to spend money on entertainment? Some merchants who come for the first time still need to buy some souvenirs to go back .Where do they eat, rest, and buy things, and they are not in our port, so the money is earned?"

Shang Tai thought for a while and said, "You mean, we want to build some restaurants, hotels, and leisure places on the port?"

Lin Yuan said: "Building is to be built, but we only build houses. What these houses are used for should be handed over to the local people. They come to rent our houses for business. If the state comes to open these restaurants, hotels and so on, Then there's no competition, and the people who run these places don't want to do a good job."

Shang Tai thought for a while and said: "This is certainly good, but in this way, all the money earned will belong to the common people, and the national finances are still not big. If I tax the common people under a clever name, wouldn't I become a gangster? tyrant?"

Lin Yuan said: "What do our merchants need for trade with Southeast Asian countries? All countries need gold, silver, and copper coins as currency for trade. These things are heavy in themselves. If you are a merchant, would you like to have more commodities on your ship? , less gold and silver?"

The displacement of a ship is certain. In order to obtain greater benefits, the businessman naturally hopes to put more goods. After thinking about this truth, everyone nodded.

Lin Yuan went on to say: "Our solution is: Construction Bank! Let merchants put gold, silver and copper coins in our bank, and we will issue notes for them. They can freely exchange gold and silver with this note, and we can collect a certain amount from it. The amount of management fees is only a small part of making money. They deposit gold and silver in our bank, and it is impossible for everyone to exchange all the gold and silver at the same time. In this way, we have a part of the gold and silver for lending, and the interest earned That’s where we make the most of our money.”

Shang Tai thought for a while and said, "What you said is very reasonable, but there is one question, how can we let them put gold and silver with us with confidence?"

Lin Yuan said: "Well, the modern economy is a credit economy in the final analysis, you have to give them confidence! Let them believe that the political situation in Ryukyu is stable, the government will not collapse overnight, and their gold and silver are safe in our bank .”

Shang Tai thought for a while and said, "Then what should we do?"

Lin Yuan said: "First of all, we drove away the Japanese. This point will undoubtedly win the favor of many overseas Chinese in Nanyang. Secondly, we declared independence. What does independence mean? It means that we are no longer a vassal state of the Qing court. Overseas Chinese are all Han Chinese. They regard the Manchu nobles as aliens. Therefore, we will also gain the favor of these overseas Chinese. In this way, some people will come to us for trade. What we have to do is to hold various Activities, to capture their hearts, and let them see that this country has a bright future."

Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, Lin Yuan said, "Banking is one way, and there is another way. Think about it, there is an old saying in China: You should not bully the water when you bully the mountains. Navigation in this sea is extremely dangerous. If you are not careful The ship will capsize and people will perish. The cargo of a ship is often bought by a merchant with all his belongings. They are most afraid of risks during the voyage. If we say: You give me a certain amount of money, if something happens to your ship , we will give you a large amount of compensation, you say, is he willing to pay this money?"

"The reality is: there are always a small number of ships at risk, so most of the money goes to us."

Shang Tai asked again: "These methods of yours are certainly very good, but these methods only make the people near the port rich. There is a saying in "The Analects of Confucius": 'Don't worry about scarcity, but worry about inequality'. Maybe there will be civil strife."

Lin Yuan said: "The people in the port have become rich. After they get rich, they have to buy things. They can eat things that they couldn't afford before, and they can buy clothes that they couldn't afford before. In this way, it drives people away from the port. People, we can provide the common people with advanced production technology, in this way, the grain output will increase, and then the breeding industry and textile industry will naturally increase.”

"In doing so, it seems that the farmers have been harmed. Therefore, the issue of 'welfare' has been raised. We have fewer people, and the country can distribute more money to the people. When the port is built, there must be some people who want to provide services. Some people are unwilling to leave the countryside and continue to engage in agriculture. We need to subsidize those engaged in agriculture to make them feel that growing food is also a very profitable job. Moreover, our country has fewer people and more land per capita. We can provide agricultural automation technology, and one person can cultivate a lot of land, so that everyone in the service industry or agriculture can make money, and the gap between rich and poor will not be too large."

In this remark, many people present here have never heard of it. They were confused and admired Lin Yuan very much.

Shang Tai also said: "The Japanese will definitely not let it go, and when they recover, they will definitely come to trouble us, so we must build a strong army!"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about this, we are here."