Idle courtiers

Chapter 446 Spark of Fire ([-])

"Since customs can be changed, it means that the moral standards of each era are different. Things that seem immoral to us now may be normal in the Western Zhou Dynasty. For example, women in the Spring and Autumn Period can choose their own Husband-in-law, for example, Guan Zi opened a brothel in the name of the country, which was also a normal thing at the time."

"For another example, in ancient times, the ancients lived together in a family, and the mother was the leader of the family. This is the so-called matriarchal clan. "Gongyang Biography" says: All saints have no father, and they are born with a sense of heaven. "Historical Records Yin Benji" says : Three people were walking, and saw a black bird drop its eggs, and Jiandi took it and swallowed it, because of the birth contract. It is the ancestor of the Yin and Shang. "Historical Records Zhou Benji" said that the ancestor of the Zhou Dynasty, Hou Ji, was named abandoned, and his mother came out of the wild, and saw a giant If you practice it and move your body like a pregnant woman, you will give birth to a child during the period. "Historical Records Qin Benji" also said: "The black bird damages the egg, and the female cultivator swallows it. The great cause of giving birth to a child is the ancestor of the Qin Dynasty." .The so-called fatherlessness is actually a reflection of the matrilineal marriage form. A woman can have countless husbands and open a harem. Is this moral or immoral, but it was in line with etiquette at the time."

Zhou Nan spoke happily, citing scriptures, and briefly talked about the social form of primitive society, closely focusing on the theme of productivity and production relations.

When did the students listen to such a class, it was simply an eye-opener.Each of them clicked their tongues and took a deep breath.

After talking for a long time, Zhou Nan said again: "Another example is Guanzi's emphasis on business, and later generations have criticized it, saying that all wealth in the world has a fixed amount, and merchants are useless to the country. This is a big mistake in my teacher's opinion. wrong."

"In the eyes of the world, merchants are just selling goods from one place to another. During this process, the total amount of materials has not changed, nor has it increased or decreased. Therefore, it is concluded that merchants are of no benefit to the country. But , Everyone has forgotten that business can stimulate production, stimulate people's creativity and productivity."

"For example, in ancient times women weaved. They planted a few mulberry trees and a field of jute in the fields of their homes, and used one loom to weave clothes for the whole family. A piece of clothing could be woven in a month. It takes a lot of time and energy to raise silkworms and cut hemp.”

"Since there are merchants, there have been shrewd businessmen who have broken down these tasks into several items. Some people grow mulberry and hemp, some feed silkworms and spin silk, and some are responsible for weaving. In addition, the loom has been improved for thousands of years. The speed of weaving has been greatly improved. It is not difficult for weavers in Suzhou and Nanjing to weave two bolts of cloth a day. In Shang and Zhou Dynasties, it took a month."

"Stimulated by huge profits, the people's enthusiasm for planting mulberry and sericulture has been greatly enhanced, and the scale of production has continued to expand. In this way, social wealth has grown so rapidly in commercial activities."

"I'm just using textiles as an example, and the same is true for other industries."

The truth is simple to say, but Zhou Nan explained it thoroughly today.

The students listened fascinated one by one.

Zhou Nan finally said: "Guan Zhong established the country with business, which is based on this principle. Stimulated by business, the total wealth of the society is increasing rapidly. The country draws a large amount of taxes from business, and it is difficult to think that it will not be strong."

He changed the subject: "I've been thinking about not paying more taxes on business. In many places, merchants are only asked to pay a little customs clearance fee. For the national finance, this tax is negligible. It's not that I don't want to, but I don't want to. I know how big the benefits are. As far as I know, if two shipments of tung oil from Hunan are sent to Nanjing, or even Huai'an, the merchants will get as much as 50 taels of profit. Do you know how much tax the Nanjing Xiaguan Wharf collects?"

He held up two fingers: "Two taels, plus the taxes from the water customs of Jiujiang and Anqing, the total will not exceed six taels. Think about it, everyone, if you plant the land with 50 taels of silver, how many acres will you have to plant?" Land? Let’s put it this way, when I was farming in my hometown, I only saved three taels of silver throughout the year. A boat trip by merchants is enough for me to work for ten years. In the future, you will go to the major yamen to work for Wansui , will inevitably come into contact with practice. There is a common saying in the folks: poor and humble couples are sad for everything. A family is like this, and a country is also like this. Without money, it is absolutely impossible. Merchants build a country, and a gentleman talks about profit and immorality, but the country is poor and weak. Is it moral to kill someone in the wild?”

The eunuchs fell into deep thought.

Some people think: "If I enter the Supervisor of Rituals in another year, I will have to open up a new source of taxation."

Some people think: "No business, no fraud. When I make a sign for the imperial horse supervision, I will ask the local army to set up checkpoints everywhere to collect taxes and kill those profiteers."

Some people think: "Business taxes must be collected, but you can't kill the chicken to get the eggs. When the time is right, you should encourage private commerce, prosper the market, and release water to raise fish."

However, Chen Ju thought to himself: "Other places are fine. The big merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, who are not from aristocratic families, have the privilege of tax exemption. It is so difficult to collect this tax. Then, there is only one word, kill!" Kill until the gentry are scared."

Seeing that the students began to think independently, Zhou Nan felt relieved: the seeds have been sown, and if they can take root and grow vigorously, the Ming Dynasty may still be saved.

Later generations always say that the fall of the Ming Dynasty was due to financial bankruptcy.This is of course due to the Little Ice Age in Chongzhen's Niangjian, the north was hit by disasters every year, and the imperial court was unable to provide relief.But the Jiangnan area at that time was not affected in any way, and it was just as prosperous. Why did the Ming Dynasty go bankrupt?
The reason is simple. The land in the Jiangnan area has been annexed in large quantities, and the gentry have tax-free privileges.Moreover, Chairman Chongzhen was fooled by the senior officials below, and exempted all commercial taxes and mineral taxes with a stroke of a pen.Later, they were so poor that they couldn't even afford the travel expenses for sending a messenger to order, and the emperor and empress even wore patched clothes.

There is nothing wrong with Chongzhen's morals, but ordinary people don't care whether you are a saint or not.As long as you can do a good job in the country, eat well and use well, and sleep with different concubines every day, it doesn't matter.

If the Emperor Chongzhen did not act indiscriminately, the Ming Dynasty with money in his hands and a population of hundreds of millions could consume Jianzhou to death by piling up national power.

Now I only have more than 200 students, but if this idea continues to spread, what will happen in a few decades?

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

Although the Neishutang is small, we have a lot to do.

This is not only for the country and the nation, but also for the descendants of Zhou Nan.

At this moment, an eunuch came in and asked, "Who is in class today?"

Zhou Nan stepped forward: "It's Zhou Nan?"

"Oh, it turned out to be Mr. Zhou, let the students go away, you are already shocked, His Majesty will come over soon."

(End of this chapter)