Idle courtiers

Chapter 372 Maybe it can change the world

"Labour... is it money?" Wang Fu was stunned.

Zhou Nan: "Student Wang Fu, you should sit down." He said eloquently: "In ancient times, because there was no such thing as money, we could only barter. If you are a hunting hunter and eat meat every day, If you want to eat sorghum rice, what should you do, you can exchange your prey with the farmer. You are a fisherman, it’s cold, and you want to buy a new clothes, you can only exchange your catch with the Weaver Girl. Then, Here comes the question, how much rice should be exchanged for a catty of meat, and how many feet of cloth should be exchanged for a catty of salted fish, here must come up with a standard. Otherwise, whoever loses, this transaction will not go on.”

"What is this standard?" Zhou Nan dragged his voice, and said, "Simple, take fishing as an example. Fishermen can get about thirty catties of fish from fishing for a whole day. And weavers need to spin a foot of cloth. One hour. In this way, the gains produced by everyone in one hour should be equal. This is to calculate the value of currency by labor force. This calculation method is the most fair and recognized by everyone, which makes things equivalent Exchanges can be made."

Hearing Zhou Nan's explanation, the eyes of the students lit up, as if they saw a new world.

"Teacher, I have one more thing to ask." At this time, a young eunuch stood up and bowed his hands.

Zhou Nan looked at it, my god, this eunuch is at least 26 or seven years old, and he still looks old. He looks older than me, and now he is still studying in the inner school, which is really strange.

Most of the students in Neishutang are sixteen or seventeen years old. This guy is so old, he probably won't be able to graduate because of his poor grades, and he won't be expelled from the school, so he just hangs around here all the time.

Zhou Nan: "What's your name?"

The man said respectfully: "Return to the teacher's words, student Chen Ju."

This person's name is so familiar, Zhou Nan thought for a while, and vaguely remembered that there seemed to be a eunuch in charge of the East Factory in the Wanli Dynasty with this name, could it be him?

"Okay, Chen Ju, you ask."

Chen Ju: "Mr. just said that everything in the world can be used as money, and the value of money can be used as labor. Then I ask sir, in ancient times, the ancestors used shells as money. The shells on the beach are like the sands of the Ganges River. It can be obtained. In this way, wouldn’t everyone on the seaside be rich as a country?”

"Yes!" The eunuchs below were all a little commotion.

Chen Ju thought he was asking a tricky question, and Zhou Nan was stumped when he thought about it, with a smug sneer at the corner of his mouth.

Zhou Nan didn't expect Chen Ju to ask such a question, and he praised in his heart: Sure enough, he is the man who will be the governor of the East Factory in the future, and his head is really smart.

He nodded: "Student Chen Ju asked this question well. It is true that in ancient times, shells could be used as money. Otherwise, why did the characters for money and goods in the text use shell as the radical? I want to come to the palace. Do you have physical collections too?"

Chen Ju: "Teacher, yes, not only ancient shells, but also bronze and tin shells from the Shang and Zhou dynasties."

"Okay, then let me ask you, can you find anything special about these shells?"

Chen Ju: "Why did you find anything unusual?"

Zhou Nan laughed: "Have you noticed that there is a round hole drilled in all shells?"

The eunuchs whispered: "It seems to be there."

"Indeed, I remembered."

"I really ignored it."

Zhou Nan looked at Chen Ju with a smile: "Chen Ju, in ancient times there was no gold and iron, and stone tools were used to drill holes. It is not easy to drill a round hole in a hard shell, and it takes a lot of time. The effort required to drill a hole determines the value of the shell when used as money. Therefore, shells with holes are money. Shells without holes are only shells. This is why the people living by the sea cannot change The reason for becoming a rich man. Because a person's labor is limited."

Speaking of this, he said loudly: "All things are given to people, and they can be used for their own use, but we need to pay for our labor. The so-called, more work, more rewards, and those who don't work don't get food. Down to the common people who are running around for three meals a day , Up to the Son of Heaven, everyone needs to work, and they all have to shoulder their responsibilities. People who are common people, support their families; those who are emperors and ministers, govern the world and create peace for all generations.

"Ah, that's so true." Chen Ju took a breath, feeling as if he had opened a door of knowledge, and the treasures inside were so touching.

That's right, he has an extreme personality, he has never been liked by the palace people, and his grades are also sloppy. He has studied here for ten years, but he can't finish his degree. There is a bit of hostility in his heart, and he wants to fight when he sees people.Today, seeing that Zhou Nan is not much older than himself, and a small scholar is also worthy of being a teacher in the inner school, he intends to bury Zhou Nan.

Now he is completely convinced, Master Zhou is erudite and knowledgeable, and the knowledge he imparts is hard to come by, so why is it not admirable.

Immediately, he bowed down and said respectfully: "The student is shameless, arrogant and arrogant, contradicting Mr., and please master to punish him."

Zhou Nan laughed: "No need, Chen Ju, you should sit down. I have to buy oranges for the teacher later. Let's hurry up and start class."

Chen Ju looked bewildered: "Oranges, they are only available in winter. Where can I buy them in this hot summer?"The teacher actually likes to eat oranges, which is not easy!

Zhou Nan took a sip of tea: "Okay, I said just now, what is money. Money itself has no value, especially after the emergence of money and the abolition of things by things, money is just a medium of exchange Because, with the emergence of casting techniques such as copper and iron, it doesn't take much effort to cast a copper coin. As far as the current copper coins are concerned, one lead, six coppers and four coppers are worth less than one penny. In this way, money itself has nothing to do with the surplus value of labor, but is used as a conversion method for surplus value, which is equivalent to a guarantor.”

"So, what is the guarantee of the copper coins discovered by the country? Credit, national credit..."

Zhou Nan used to study liberal arts in college, and had studied a little bit of political economics, so he just had to read it out to the students according to the scriptures.

From morning to night in one class, Zhou Nan probably explained the basic principles of economics clearly.

This is practical knowledge. As soon as the eunuchs in the Neishutang entered the school, they rushed to be the steward and go to be the nephew.No matter in the future, he will be a supervisor of ceremonies, or a supervisor of imperial horses, supervisor of Shangbao, or supervisor of Shangyi, he will inevitably have to deal with money and food.To put it bluntly, the inner palace is a small imperial court, and it is their unshirkable responsibility to govern the country and the world.

Whether it is governing the country, or pacifying the world, and creating a prosperous age, it needs a whole set of economic theory support.

Zhou Nan actually explained the truth of this thoroughly, it really awakened the dreamer, and he looked at things differently.

The eunuchs all knew that they had met a good teacher, they all held their breath and pricked up their ears, for fear of missing a word.And pick up a pen to quickly record on paper, so that you can think about it carefully after you come down.

Among them, Chen Ju, Eunuch Chen, was the one who listened most seriously. At this moment, in his mind, Zhou Nan is a great academic god, and every word penetrates into the heart, pointing directly at people's hearts.For example, "The economic base determines the superstructure, and the superstructure reacts to the economic base." For example, the "class division method" and the "dual social structure of scholars and civilians"... this is already a dragon-slaying technique... Thinking of this, Eunuch Chen broke out in cold sweat .If this kind of knowledge is really mastered, it will be farewell. In troubled times, you will be a hero, and in prosperous times, you will be a good minister... If our family fares away according to this, it will not be a problem to enter the supervisor of ceremonies.

Later, when the students of Neishutang took up leadership positions one after another, they flexed their muscles in the political arena.The notes they made in class were sorted out and synthesized into a collection and published in the world. The economic theories in it deeply influenced later generations and became famous.

A hundred years later, "Zhou Zi" has become a must-read for every official close to the people.

However, by that time, the grass on Zhouzi's grave was three feet high.If he knows, he will definitely wonder, my old Zhou lived a life of eating and drinking, and was a big bureaucrat. How did he become a scholar when he died?

What's the point of writing a book and talking about it, and I don't get a penny more in salary, and the country doesn't give me a bonus.

At this moment, in this ordinary day at the end of May in the 41st year of Jiajing, Mr. Zhou just wanted to teach something casually in the inner school to muddle through the day.

So, what to teach?

"Four Books" and "Five Classics"?What a joke, just grab a student here, maybe they can write stereotyped essays better than me, and their understanding of the scriptures can crush my old Zhou.

Poetry, relying on one-handed plagiarism, can indeed completely suppress them.The problem is that this thing is for literati to relax and cultivate their sentiments, so it is a bit too much to talk about in class.

Forget about mathematics, physics and chemistry, in ancient times, this thing was the skill of craftsmen, and it was not considered elegant.Besides, I am a liberal arts student. After graduating from high school, this knowledge has long been returned to the teacher.Up to now, I can barely remember Newton's three laws, even if I want to teach them, I don't know how to teach them.

Only politics and economics are still impressive, but you can bluff the ancients.

After leaving the imperial city, it was still dark, and the blue sky was already covered with stars.

Zhou Nan thought in his heart: That's right, the fall of the Ming Dynasty was due to the collapse of the country's finances.In fact, the ancients did not even have basic economic concepts, let alone digital management.The students in Neishutang will all be in the Outer Imperial Academy in the future, and they will all be in power.If the principles of modern economics can be used to manage this country, perhaps the Ming Dynasty will not collapse so quickly, right?By the way, we need to talk about the principles of politics and economics, and we can also instill a little knowledge of Western economics in them.

Maybe a thought of whipping can also be explained to them in advance, so that the future reform of Longwan can go smoothly.

Zhang Juzheng reformed the law and continued his life for the Ming Dynasty for 80 years.

If we apply the principles of modern economics, it may last even longer.

Moreover, if the principles of economics are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, it will inevitably lead to further prosperity of industry and commerce, and enter the mainstream of society and the political arena.Today, capitalism has sprouted in the south. If a pot of water is poured on it to make it take root and grow, it will combine with East Asian authoritarian politics to become state capitalism in the future. Chinese democracy may stand on top of the world nations hundreds of years in advance.

History may be changed by me!

Zhou Nan suddenly felt awe-inspiring, maybe this is the value of me, a time traveler, traveling to this world?

That's what happened in my generation, but what about my descendants? Let them face Man Qing's gleaming sword.

Just imagine, if in the 40s, my Ming Dynasty had inexhaustible financial and material resources, why would I be afraid of the Jianzhou Jurchen with only a million people?

Then, let's start from the inner school, from the eunuchs!

Zhou Nan looked up at the sky again, the sky was getting dark and the stars were getting brighter.

There is no one else around, and it is chaotic and ignorant, as if you are in the void.And at this moment, the stars in the sky are twinkling for him.

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(End of this chapter)