Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 62 The Debate of Agriculture and Commerce in Taiyuan ([-])

"Brother Laifu, why did you stop in front?" Gu Yunniang said to Huang Laifu seeing the flow of people ahead slowly stop.

Huang Laifu glanced at Jiang Dazhong, Jiang Dazhong understood, he rode forward, and soon he came back and said: "Master, there is an inspection department in front."

Huang Laifu nodded, and followed the crowd to a slow stop, and waited until the people from the inspection department checked him out before saying that he had met this kind of inspection department several times when he came out of Kelanzhou City.In the Ming Dynasty, the inspection department was in parallel with the Lijia system and the Lilao system in the local area. It was very common for the inspection department to be set up in various states and counties in the Ming Dynasty. Guide people going out, arrest spies, intercept escaped soldiers and prisoners, crack down on smuggling, and maintain normal business and travel exchanges.

The lijia system and the lijia system are quite effective in controlling the grassroots, but they are not able to control the floating population.The inspection department system just effectively solves this problem, especially in some remote and sparsely populated places, the role of the inspection department is even more important.Moreover, the inspection department is flexible in setting up and withdrawing, and the archers of the inspection department do not need to be supported by the state's finances. They have always been an important supplementary force for the various health stations.

Seeing the slow movement of people ahead, Huang Laifu and the others stopped under a big pagoda tree in front and waited.Huang Laifu wiped off the sweat from the heat while looking at the surrounding road conditions.There are still some people around this week, everyone is picky and picky, most of them are too tired to speak.Under the heat and thirst, it seems that a sour plum stall under the big locust tree is doing very well.

There are quite a lot of sour plum stalls along the way, basically there is a stall under every big locust tree, Huang Laifu and others have already drunk how many stalls, so at this time, they have the urge to drink another bowl.The same was true for Gu Yunniang, who just sat on the horseback a little anxiously.

Anyway, it won't take long for the people inspected by the inspection department, so let's wait.At this time, everyone was at an intersection, because they were fast forwarding to Taiyuan, so there were quite a lot of vehicles and horses on the road.While waiting, Huang Laifu listened to others chatting.

Among the people waiting, there were quite a few ragged refugees, carrying their own simple luggage and dragging their children and children. Huang Laifu had seen many of these people along the way, so he didn't take it seriously.

However, there were a few young men in silk and satin clothes beside them, and everyone beside them had horses. It seemed that they were of good status and wealth. At this moment, these few people were talking about something vigorously.Some of their words caught Huang Laifu's attention. Judging from their tone, these people are all from Gujiao County. Because they made a lot of money opening rice shops and silk and satin shops in Taiyuan City in the same year, they also plan to start a business. , ready to go to Taiyuan, do a big job, and make a career in the mall.

Originally, this was nothing, and it did not attract Huang Laifu's attention. What Huang Laifu noticed was that these people had quite a lot of land in their homes, but these people actually sold most of their land and exchanged it for some silver taels, and they were ready to devote themselves wholeheartedly. When it comes to business, it makes people feel a little weird.

You must know that in ancient China, most people regarded the land as their life, and they would not easily sell their own land unless it was absolutely necessary. It is a strange thing to sell the property.

Huang Laifu listened carefully, and heard that these people were all scholars, and everyone had the reputation of being a scholar, but no one passed the Juren exam, because everyone felt that farming at home was meaningless, and that it was quite beneficial to start a business However, he abandoned the field and threw himself into the embrace of business.

These people expressed their thoughts about the future one by one, but after hearing a few words, Huang Laifu only had one thought in his heart: impetuous, that is impetuous!The impetuousness of money brought about by the commercial society.Just like those young people in the later generations, these people kept talking about the fantasy of getting rich, who opened what stores in the same year, and who made a lot of money, and after they arrived in Taiyuan, the dream of getting rich was right in front of them, and so on. and so on.

Huang Laifu felt that the society was upside down for a while. He didn't expect that the scholars at this time were also rushing to do business. Some refugees abandoned their farms and left their hometowns because of natural disasters, so there was no way. Very strange.

In fact, Huang Laifu didn't know that at that time, due to the prosperity of commerce in Wanli, the concept of Ming people had changed a lot. Because doing business was indeed faster than digging food, some scholars from poor families abandoned Confucianism. In business, especially during the reign of Tianqi and Chongzhen, most of the civil servants were merchants themselves, or representatives of merchants.

Xi Ming, a native of Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi, once said: If a husband can’t make a name for himself in the world, how can he be the spouse of sweat grains, and he can’t establish a foundation for the family!It is obvious that he regards establishing a family business through business as a grand enterprise, but holds an attitude of disdain for farming.If Huang Laifu was here, he would definitely tell this man that if the agriculture is not stable and the business is developed, the world will be in chaos.However, if agriculture is stable and commerce is underdeveloped, ordinary people can still live a stable and peaceful life, and you can tell at a glance who is more important than others.

But obviously, the words of these scholars at this time made the people around them feel the same. After hearing what they said, many people showed approval on their faces, and everyone spoke out to discuss it.For a while, it seemed to be a business discussion meeting under the big locust tree, and everyone was talking freely-after arriving in Taiyuan, what kind of business can be done to make money and make a fortune.

Huang Laifu couldn't help but sneered as he listened, and said loudly: "This merchant has gone into business, and this scholar has also gone into business! It's just strange, no one here is farming, who will farm by then? Could it be that the grain Will it fall from the sky?"

Hearing what Huang Laifu said, many people under the big locust tree turned their heads to look at him. Gu Yunniang was bored at first, but when she saw this posture, she suddenly regained her spirits. As soon as the young master drank it, his spirits were revived, and the two of them immediately prepared to protect the young master.

Everyone was having a lively discussion. Hearing that Huang Laifu interrupted their grand dreams, they wanted to scold him, but seeing Huang Laifu's tall and burly man, with some strong servants around him, and everyone had a horse, With a weapon beside him, it was obvious that he was an extraordinary family, so no one spoke for a while.

The few scholars were startled, seeing Huang Laifu's mocking eyes and the strong servants beside him, they flinched slightly, of course, this also made them feel weak, one of them finally stepped forward, It is necessary to refute it.

The other stopped him, and said coldly: "Brother Yang, why do you have to be as knowledgeable as a rough man? It's getting late, and we should hurry up?"

Jiang Dazhong was furious, and shouted: "You pickled bastard, what are you talking about? Be careful that Grandpa will beat you into a meat paste!"

Those people backed away in fright, hurriedly led the horse away, and didn't even dare to look this way.And everyone under the big locust tree next to him, seeing that Huang Laifu seemed not to be trifled with, closed their mouths even tighter.

Seeing that these people are so useless, Jiang Dazhong and Gu Yunniang both laughed, and Gu Yunniang said coquettishly: "These useless scholars, they were so high-spirited just now, but they were scared in the blink of an eye."

Huang Laifu also smiled slightly, just now he was going to have a debate with these people, but it was a pity that these people were scared away.

At this time, only one person said: "This brother invites you." Then I saw a young man standing up from the seat of the sour plum stall.

Huang Laifu saw that the young man was about 22 or [-] years old, with lively eyes, a slight beard on his mouth, a Han towel on his head, arhat shoes on his feet, and a cloth shirt, but he was holding a folding fan, and he seemed to be a scholar.Because among the scholars at that time, they all liked to carry a fan when they went out, and on formal occasions, if they did not bring a fan, they would be considered as lacking in grace, even though sometimes the weather had reached the season when the fan could not be used at all.

Huang Laifu also cupped his hands: "Please."

I saw the man first say something to a dilapidated pony carriage next to him, then the window of the car was lifted, and a young woman's figure was peeped out, the two said a few words, and the young man came over.

The young man made a bow to Huang Laifu and said, "You are a late born Zhou Wendong, did you ask for your brother's name?"

Huang Laifu said: "Huang Laifu is in the Wuzhai Fort!" When we met for the first time, Huang Laifu did not intend to reveal his identity to Zhou Wendong.

Zhou Wendong's eyes flickered slightly. The man in front of him was tough. Although he was young, he was bold and shrewd. Wuzhai Fort is said to be a military fort with thousands of households... He said: "So it's Brother Huang, I've admired him for a long time I have long admired you. I heard what Brother Huang said just now, and it seems that he thinks that a scholar should not be in business like a merchant, but I don’t know what your intention is, Brother Huang?"

Huang Laifu didn't answer, but said: "I don't know what Brother Zhou thinks about this matter?"

Zhou Wendong pondered for a while, and said: "Mr. Zhang once said that the agricultural power is based on whether the business is available or not. If the business is not available to benefit the farmers, the farming will be sick. Business is sick. Therefore, the power of merchants and farmers is always a balance. Therefore, it is understandable for Wansheng to think that scholars go into business." The Mr. Zhang he mentioned just now was Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng did say such things in order to collect taxes.

Huang Laifu said: "I'm not opposed to scholars going into business, but I'm opposed to the opportunistic move of abandoning the basics and chasing after the waste. In today's world, the small people are chasing after the waste, and they don't care about farming. Everywhere competes with traders and neglects agriculture and mulberry. If this continues, the situation is worrying. You know, farmers Sang is the foundation of the world. If everyone is peddling goods, who will grow food?"

(End of this chapter)