warring states careerist

Chapter 525 Zhao Weizhi Zhao

Zhao Hou smiled wryly and said: "You also know some theories of the Mohists. When it comes to defending the city, it is true that since Mo Di, the Mohist's art of defending the city is unparalleled in the world. This is beyond reproach."

"However, some of Mo Di's remarks about how to defend the city are actually too 'loving the people' and not having a king."

"According to what he said, it is exactly: the people donated corn, cloth, money, cattle and horses, and livestock products, all of which were sent to Pingjia and written to the master."

This is not considered to be some technical means of the Mohist defense of the city, but it is what the Mohist monarchs must do to defend the city from the time of Mo Di.Only by doing this, the Mohists might help defend the city, otherwise it would be impossible to help defend the city.

The people donated corn, cloth, money, cattle and horses, and livestock products, all of which were placed in Pingjia and written to the master.

That is, among the three major items and the eight items: not taking needles and threads from the masses and returning things borrowed.All the collections for the defense of the city must be marked with an IOU at a par price, and the person who has the master coupon writes the IOU and returns it after the defense of the city.

This is not unacceptable to princes and nobles. Sometimes as long as they can defend the city, they can accept many demands.

However, the ownership issue reflected in this is difficult for princes and nobles to accept once they think about it.

The people donated corn, cloth, money, cattle and horses, and livestock products, all of which were placed in Pingjia and written to the master.

In other words, the people's things are their private property, so in order to defend the city, the people's things must be repaid.This is against the principle of the feudal system, especially in the eyes of some nobles, people's things can be taken away directly for the reason of defending the city.
Since there is a master certificate, then this is borrowing. Behind the meaning of borrowing is the issue of the ownership of the people. To expand it: property is an inviolable and sacred right, unless the legally recognized public needs clearly demand it , and based on the conditions of justice and prior compensation, no one can be deprived of property.

Nowadays, the theory of Mohism has always been practiced around some ideas put forward by Shi. Originally, Mozi might just think that it would be convenient for defending the city.

But now that Mozi has passed away, it is appropriate to make use of some of Mozi's speeches to develop them around "righteousness" and "will of heaven", making the meaning behind these practices more profound.

As stated in "Miscellaneous Shou"-the people donate corn, cloth, money, cattle, horses, and livestock products, all of which are set up for Jiaping, and written with the master's voucher-expanded to why this is in line with the will of heaven, and because what can be done.

After the expansion, it is "unless people determine public needs, and at the same time based on the conditions of fairness and pre-compensation", they can borrow, or even forcefully borrow some of the people's property.

The public need here is to defend the city, and the Mohist's defense of the city is "defending the city for righteousness".

The content of this may be benevolent government for some people who are still chaotic, but for those who can perceive the waves of the world, they pay more attention to the "will of heaven" hidden behind it.

Gong Zhonglian has heard about this, and also knows some details of the Mohist's art of defending the city, but he knows that if it is only "the people donate corn, cloth, money, cattle, horses, and livestock, they are all for Jia Pingjia, and they are the same as the master's coupon book." ", I'm afraid Zhao Hou can't be so angry that he can say something like people's hearts are not in the past.

When he saw what Zhaohou said, he tentatively said: "Your Majesty, the people seek profit. According to the morality of the Mohists, if you say that they are all for the purpose of setting up Pingjia and writing to the master, as long as you can keep Handan, it is not impossible. promise."

Zhao Hou laughed and said, "Zhi Ping Jia? If it is Zhi Ping Jia, how can I say that the people are greedy?"

"The people of Handan actually took advantage of the country's danger to lend me usurious loans!"

After finishing speaking, he sent the letter in his hand to Gong Zhonglian, and said, "Look, what do these people want?"

Gong Zhong hastily skipped through the linked letters, and finally understood the reason for Zhao Hou's anger.

These letters are a letter to Marquis Zhao in the name of the people's "public will" after the concubine Zhong Shu visited Hu Feizi five times and asked Hu Feizi to help defend Handan when Zhaohou was the son.

Zhao Hou said just now that if Jia Pingjia was set up, it would not be said that the people are greedy.

The so-called Zhipingjia is a kind of interest-free loan, that is, when defending the city, all the corn, horses, firewood, houses, etc. collected from the people are recorded at market prices and repaid at par in the future.

Looking at the world, this is already shocking. The nobles would find it incredible: I used common people's things to defend the city, but I still need compensation?
Why should the aristocrats pay for things that belonged to the common people?
This is a very deep question.

It is so profound that it needs various books of the Mohist school that can add up to a foot thick to explain the rationality of compensation.

This is also a very shallow question.

It is so superficial that people don’t need to read the arguments of Mohism’s books that add up to a foot thick. Just saying this point of view will get countless fans.

In addition to these shocking words, the people of Handan can be regarded as "increasing their capital" and benefiting from the interest.

At this time, there were a lot of usury lenders, and many nobles also switched from relying solely on land rent income to the business of moneylenders. The later Meng Changjun was one of the best.

This time, the people in Handan have many requests, and the first one is also the request of a large number of Handan people who live on the land, which is very interesting.

According to the letter, after the collective discussion of the people in Handan, in the name of public opinion, the following requests were made to the original Gongzi Zhang and now Zhao Hou:

Gong Zizhang has carried out some reforms in granting land in Handan. Just like the suggestion given by the Mohists, the land will be granted to the people, and only the people's tax will be collected, and the land will become the private property of the common people by paying for the redemption within 20 years.

This change has been going on for many years now, but most people still haven't paid off all their "loans".

Some of the people do not trust the nobles, and are worried about whether these lands can really belong to them in the future, so they only repay the minimum amount every year.

In this regard, Handan was about to be besieged this time, and it was when Handan City was in urgent need of food. Through the organization of the Mohists, the people formally proposed to Marquis Zhao that it is okay to collect food, but as the private property of the people, food needs to be loaned to Zhao in the form of a loan. Hou.

According to the two-tenths of the interest that nobles lend today, the food, money, and even the money that Zhao Hou needed to defend Handan this time, and even the money that Zhao Hou used to compete for the throne with the son dynasty, the peasants, craftsmen, and merchants in Handan would Use Mohism as a guarantee to concentrate food and money.

Among them, the grain was lent at the current market price, with two-tenths of the interest, and it was repaid in five years, and Zhao Hou needed to use land as a method of repayment.

That is to say, if you lend Zhao Hou one shi of grain now, Zhao Hou will need to repay two shi in five years, and the principal and interest of these grains will be able to directly pay the cost of buying the land.

In other words, the Mohists acted as an intermediary and issued war bonds in Handan. The interest on the war bonds was 20.00%. Zhao Hou did not need to repay the money, but only asked the people to use the money as a ransom for buying the land.

Because the 20.00% interest is paid in five years, it means that the people in Handan can only spend half of the grain in exchange for their own land.

This is also the reason why Zhao Hou was angry in his heart, and it was also the reason why he lamented that people's hearts are not ancient and the world is declining.

In today's world, the recruitment system has only just emerged, and the system of half-recruitment and half-granting of field soldiers is just showing signs, and then it is impacted by gunpowder, firearms and stirrups. Apart from light cavalry and irregular soldiers, the government soldier system really has no advantage at all. , It can be said that just born is about to die.

The original system of the world is that the people need to obey feudal obligations, and they need to carry part of their own food when they go out with the army.

As for the nobles guarding the city, they are guarding their own economic foundation and power base. In addition, farmers are attached to the land and can be divided or transferred together with the land. It is normal, but it can be regarded as a benevolent and righteous government if it can achieve what Mozi said, "the people donate corn, cloth, silk, money, cattle, horses, and livestock, all for the purchase of Ping Jia, and the master's certificate."

At this time, the people in Handan actually asked Marquis Zhao to pay interest when requisitioning their grain.

Now, Marquis Zhao feels that he has implemented a benevolent government in Handan, and he has treated the people far better than in Jinyang back then, but the people are not grateful, and they are still trying to get more benefits. How can they not be angry?
After reading the first few articles, Gong Zhonglian said: "I can understand your anger now!"

Zhao Hou was overjoyed, since he entered Gong Zhonglian's dormitory, he has been enduring Gong Zhonglian's preaching, at this time Gong Zhonglian actually said that he could understand his anger, and his heart was infinitely happy.

However, Gong Zhonglian then said: "If you are a businessman, I can really understand your anger now. But if you are the king of Zhao and the lord of Handan, then I can't understand your anger."

"Now you have good horses in your stables that can run eight hundred a day, although they are not as good as the eight steeds of Emperor Mu, but they are almost the same; you cook oil in your cauldron and have meat; you have beautiful concubines in your palace; you Even though there is no Suihou Zhu and Shibi in your mansion, there are all kinds of jewels and treasures... What you lack is the heart of Zhao people."

"As the king of Zhao and the feudal lord of Handan, you are angry because the people paid less than half of the land for redemption. If you are a businessman who only seeks profit, there is nothing wrong with that."

"But you are not. You need the people of Handan to support the army, you need the food in Handan to guarantee the expedition, you need the money in Handan to guarantee the cannon, gunpowder and stirrups you can buy... At this time, someone can lend you money, you You should feel grateful, even if the annual interest rate is [-] years, you who can lend you money should feel angry, isn't it ridiculous?"

(End of this chapter)