New Shun 1730

Liu Yu smiled bitterly when he heard this.

Perhaps, this is also a traditional characteristic of small farmers.

It is said that similar things often happen in Sichuan well salt.

And when the British enclosed land, it was women who took charge.

Historically, when Zhang Jian and others were reclaiming wasteland, they were forced to do nothing by more than 200 women and old ladies. In the end, they could only choose to avoid them and bypass them.

When reclaiming wasteland in northern Jiangsu in later generations, people were killed. They were even directly labeled as bandits, arrested and shot, and organized guards.

However, when encountering women and old men and women, there is really nothing they can do.

At this time, even though the people from the reclamation company knew that Liu Yu was on their side, they hurriedly explained: "Duke, we really didn't enclose their land. We temporarily bypassed their reed marshes."

"These reed marshes are ownerless and belong to the court. We pay money to the court..."

Liu Yu smiled and said: "Well, you don't need to explain at all."

"To put it simply, these reed marshes are where they cook private salt. You can't afford to offend them, so find a way to force them away."

"You dare not touch their own reed marshes, and there is no need to touch them. But as long as the reed marshes where they cook private salt are burned, they can't cook private salt. They can only cook official salt, and they will definitely not survive. At that time, they will accept your conditions."

"Let's be frank, right?"

The people in the company smiled awkwardly, and had to admit that they thought so.

They are all smart people, and it is easy for them to see through the problems here.

All the "incompetents" who can't make private salt - those who are truly obedient and law-abiding are called incompetent here - are willing to accept the conditions of reclamation.

Because they don't know the hidden trap of bankruptcy behind giving them land, and they feel happy that they have the opportunity to leap from small farmers to landlords in this life.

Those who can make private salt are the main force against the reclamation company's occupation of unowned grasslands.

Without these grasslands that are not registered, it is impossible to boil private salt. Because there are no coal mines or mountains in northern Jiangsu, they can't dry salt and can only rely on grass to boil.

Liu Yu can see the company's tricks clearly. This is a smaller version of the routine of "Huaibei salt forces Huainan salt households to death".

The difference is that Liu Yu used technological progress to force Huainan salt, which costs 15 times more than large-scale salt fields, to death; while these reclamation companies are cutting off the firewood from the bottom of the pot, relying on the least troublesome unowned grasslands to force these salt households to death.

Liu Yu did not blame them at all after revealing their intentions, but still smiled.

"Okay, call your people back first and go to other places to work first. I will take care of these women's affairs."

The people of the reclamation company naturally agreed quickly, but Lin Min asked Liu Yu nervously, or reminded Liu Yu that such people cannot be offended, even if you are a duke, you can't afford to offend them, it's best not to offend them.

"Duke, these women... you'd better not go. It's not easy to deal with. If it gets out, your reputation will not be good."

"If there is any contact, then they will jump into the well and hang themselves. This... if it gets out... it will be difficult for me to deal with it."

Liu Yu smiled and said: "Don't worry, why should I go to them? To put it bluntly, they don't even know official language very well, what's the point of me going there?"

"Then... how is the duke going to solve it?" Lin Min was curious.

Liu Yu did not answer directly, but said: "Lord Lin, do you know what the consequences will be if this matter is not handled well?"

Lin Min understood and nodded, indicating that it was too clear.

If this matter is not handled well, the next wave will follow suit and copy the example, and then the enclosure will be hopeless.

Liu Yu said again: "Master Lin, do you think that I am competing with the people for profit?"

"Uh..."

Lin Min did not answer.

Liu Yu confidently characterized his brutal means as "objectively promoting the emergence of modernization in Jiangsu".

But under the Confucian historical view, the characterization of Liu Yu's means is also very simple, competing with the people for profit, seizing the people's property, and committing a heinous crime.

Not every "people" in the mouth of a Confucian scholar are gentry and powerful.

That would be throwing dirty water on people.

The people this time are indeed the lowest-level salt households, competing with the people for profit.

This is obvious.

They used to have some industry, but when Liu Yu came, he made a large-scale salt drying field in his left hand and made them go bankrupt, and a Nanyang plantation or Songjiang contract worker package in his right hand was waiting.

If this is not called competing with the people for profit, then what is it?

Why is Liu Yu so afraid of the French utopians and Confucianists merging? He is afraid of this.

From Lusichang to Guanhekou, from Fangong Dike to the coastline, this is the place with the smallest population density, the most wasteland, and the most unstable economy of small farmers and small producers in the entire Dashun "Ji Nei".

No one else.

Even so, a Jiangsu Jiedushi can't control it, and he, the Duke, has to go out to the town to stand up.

Facing Liu Yu's question, Lin Min really couldn't answer.

And Liu Yu asked again: "What is my reputation for the things I did in Funing?"

Lin Min took a long breath, and his words were clear and cadenced: "Rude, cruel, and tyrannical. He baited the fish and set the trap for the beast. He is a treacherous and evil person."

Liu Yu clapped his hands and laughed: "You can't do these women's things, but I can. The wonderful thing is that I have a reputation for cruelty and evil."

After laughing, Liu Yu said to the people of the reclamation company: "How about this, you guys, make a list of the landowners and those who are difficult to deal with here."

"Well, not tomorrow. Let's do it later."

"Later, send someone to deliver a message to these people."

"Just say that I, the Duke of this country, am not here to inspect the reclamation, but to investigate the problem of private salt."

"Give them three days. I'll wait here."

When this method came out, all the capitalists said it was great.

Only Lin Min, the governor of Jiangsu, could not help but sigh and rub his forehead.

Liu Yu heard him sigh and smiled: "Lord Lin, why are you sighing? Isn't this a good method?"

Lin Min smiled bitterly and thought to himself, what kind of good method is this?

Isn't this a replica of the land reform in Funing?

You dare not touch the land legal rights directly, but you go around in a circle and use the issue of withholding river engineering fees to deal with them.

It's the same here, you dare not touch it, or you find it troublesome.

It's obviously for land, but you said it's for private salt business.

Do you care about private salt? Half of the private salt dealers in Dashun will transform themselves into legal salt dealers under your command.

You are the general backstage of all the private salt dealers in Dashun.

Now you say you are here to deal with the private salt problem?

It's obvious that this is not using the private salt problem to solve the land problem?

Who in northern Jiangsu doesn't know your reputation for brutality? Just now, you killed hundreds of people in Funing, and every village was in mourning. Now you want to deal with "private salt" again. What a legitimate reason, but isn't this forcing those market owners to take the initiative to accept the land purchase contract?

Behind these people, there must be market owners who specialize in private salt. Which market owner or market merchant doesn't deal in private salt?

Do you think that occupying land is competing with the people for profit, and changing to investigating and dealing with private salt is fair law enforcement?

Lin Min shook his head and said, "Duke, this method can solve the problem, but it is probably not the right way."

"Moreover, the Duke is obviously for the land issue, but he wants to use the reason of investigating private salt to force them... I think we should discuss a solution for this matter, or we can talk to those market operators and persuade them to make them understand that this move is also for the country and the people..."

"After all, it is better to have a legitimate reason for this matter."

Liu Yu smiled secretly in his heart, thinking that forget it, this matter can't be solved in a legitimate way. Let alone the administrative capacity of Dashun at this time, with the administrative capacity of the future, who dares to move those illegal buildings in the urban villages?

The right way...the right way is to follow the words of these reclamation companies, some market owners took out the deeds and sea books of the previous dynasty, and with the recognition of folk customary law, they all came up with a "sunrise as the boundary".

However, in the previous dynasty, you can see the sea from the top of Yancheng City. Where is the sea now?

What is the difficulty of this matter? Does Dashun recognize folk customary law contracts? Do you recognize the "illegal" occupation of land by the people?

In the eyes of the Dashun people, there is no concept of public land at all. If their ancestors have defecated here and cut reeds in this reed marsh, then this land is theirs.

The customary law of the people and the sense of exclusive private ownership of land are much stronger than when the British were enclosing land.

"Lord Lin, I want to ask you. You are not someone who does not care about worldly matters. You also know that there are a lot of hidden fields among the people. I calculated that if there were only the lands registered by the court and the lands that pay taxes, with the population of this dynasty and the per-acre yield at that time, I am afraid that most of them would starve to death."

"A small farmer, in addition to the taxable land, reclaimed some hidden fields and planted some sweet potatoes to make a living. Let me ask you, if there is a dispute over these hidden fields, will the local officials recognize that these fields have owners?"

"Another example, for example, there is a piece of unowned land here, but some villages tacitly allow people to cut grass and raise cattle in this grassland, will the local officials recognize that these grasslands belong to their villages?"

Lin Min nodded.

"Admit it."

"Folk customs and family testimony are better than tax documents. This is a benevolent policy, and all places tacitly approve it. This includes the previous tacit approval of private salt sales and hidden fields."

Liu Yu asked back: "Land law is the foundation of this dynasty. If you don't let me use crooked ways, can I make a law? As for you, if you want to make this law, how should you make it?"

"Lord Lin knows about the things that happened in the salt administration in southern Sichuan, right?"

"Those landlords and local tyrants who occupied the land, are they right? The wind can come in, the rain can come in, but others can't."

"The land belongs to the landlords. The capital wants to use it to develop well salt. What's wrong with the landlords collecting 50% of the annual profit of the salt field? You can use it if you like, and get out if you think it's too expensive. According to Westerners, they are defenders of the sanctity of private property. That's not wrong, right?"

"Lord Lin might as well think about how to solve this matter legitimately?"

"Or, what is legitimately?"

The question of what is legitimately asked made Lin Min a little at a loss.

To some extent, "justification" can be understood as having a law to follow.

Name means clarity, and clarity means making things clear.

This matter, including the matter of the salt well in southern Sichuan, cannot be made clear.

If we follow the principle of Dashun's right to make laws, the matter in southern Sichuan cannot be resolved.

Although there is a law to follow, the matter here is unjust, it takes away the people's property, and competes with the people for profit.

Whether from the law or from the conscience, it is impossible to solve both.

Liu Yu asked Lin Min, what is justification? Lin Min couldn't answer.

And Liu Yu continued to ask.

"If we don't talk about conscience, but only talk about the law, having a law to follow is justification. What kind of law do you think is needed for this, Lord Lin?"

"In the simplest terms, regarding the land system and who owns the land, what kind of law is needed to solve both the enclosure of land in northern Jiangsu and the digging of wells in southern Sichuan?"

The essence of this question is actually the "famous school" or "famous dispute" that later generations debated.

That is: Can the Ming Dynasty transition to a constitutional monarchy, and can the "glorious revolution" of the scholar-official class clear the way for the development of capitalism?

Liu Yu has always been disdainful of this set of fantasies.

In fact, he is just like those people who talked about their nature at the end of the Ming Dynasty, all of whom are just empty talk.

It is possible or impossible, this is empty talk and abstraction.

Leaving this empty talk, we must understand that what is important is the constitution, not the nominal monarch.

Otherwise, the nominal monarch is very simple, and the Han Xiandi Liu Chan and the dog-footed I are all nominal monarchs.

And the specific constitution...

Even the specific constitution is just a waste of money. If you only pursue the surface, the Polish electoral system is the most nominal monarch.

The purpose of all the assumptions is to develop capitalism and the industrial revolution - it was the industrial revolution and capitalist development in Britain that achieved the constitutional monarchy, not the other way around.

When the Protector dissolved the parliament, enclosure, shipbuilding, the Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch ceded land and paid compensation, and the Anglo-Spanish War confirmed sea power and truly implemented the "Navigation Act", but they all fell into decline.

And the fundamental economic foundation here, the agricultural economy, is land.

If we don't just talk about it, we have to talk about ownership. Specifically, in this area where the small peasant economy is the most stubborn in the world at that time, it is land ownership.

So the more specific law is to have a land law that can promote the development of capitalism.

If the hypothesis can be established, it proves that it is not empty talk.

If the specific cannot be established at all, then it is empty talk.

The problem of carving a boat to seek a sword is that we forget that the early land policy demands of the European bourgeoisie have already existed here, and the situation on both sides is completely different.

The exclusive private ownership of land, the disintegration of village communities and the differentiation of landlords and tenants, the respect for land deeds in land transactions, and the separation of ownership and use rights of field skins and field bones are all in place, and the court also recognizes and maintains this law.

So, on the land issue, what kind of land law are the so-called reforms under constitutional monarchy going to reform, which is specific, not empty talk, clarifies the land system, is capitalist, and can stand and will not be overthrown by small farmers?

Liu Yu asked Lin Min, what is justified?

Then he went deeper, assuming that conscience is not mentioned, only the law is mentioned, and everything is done in accordance with the law.

So, under the premise of not talking about conscience and only talking about the law, that is, under the fantasy of constitutional monarchy, what kind of land law can simultaneously solve the dilemma of salt wells in southern Sichuan? And the dilemma of enclosure in northern Jiangsu? Solve the dilemma of excessive rent and interest that troubled Liu Yu?

The economic base determines the superstructure. When the British developed the "plow cart", learned ridge cultivation, crop rotation, and learned the Chinese plow, it was already the 36th year of Wanli, and the first generation of steam engines came out a few decades later.

When these agricultural technologies appeared here, Zhuge Liang was not born yet.

Private ownership of land has been popularized here for many years.

Now it has become an obstacle to the development of productivity.

If Dashun wants to develop capitalism now, its land law can only be the pure and most capitalist land law of "nationalizing all land, collecting only differential rent, and abolishing absolute rent" as Lenin commented, "using the most capitalist land law to prevent the development of capitalism like a girl's naivety".

Nationalization of land is the ultimate demand of the bourgeois revolution.

Nationalization of land is the only capitalist land law that can solve these difficulties and is not empty talk.

Because [this is just an open expression of the hatred of landowners by industrial capitalists, because in their eyes, landowners are just a useless burden in the entire bourgeois production process].

This is what Liu Yu, the chief leader of the emerging class of Dashun, thinks.

Landowners, such as the owners of well salt in southern Sichuan, are a group of completely useless burdens for production.

What's the point?

So, whether it's the Ming Dynasty or the Dashun, do the gentry bureaucrats have the motivation, ability, and willingness to establish such a law that fully nationalizes land and is truly conducive to the development of capitalist industry and commerce?

Lin Min hopes that Liu Yu will be justified.

Liu Yu asked back. It's not that Lin Min didn't know the answer. This is nothing new.

Reactionary, progressive, utopian, and nonsense, many schools of thought in Dashun all have the idea of ​​nationalizing land.

Some are to restore the well-field system, some are to equalize the land, some are to emphasize both industry and commerce, and some hope to nationalize land to "ban merchants from owning land"...

This is not a new thing in Dashun at all. Lin Min is not unaware that this thing can solve the problem of "justification" mentioned by Liu Yu.

But can it be done?

Since it can't be justified, then the most disgusting and unjustified means can only be used.

Including Liu Yu's enclosure of land here, including the Xuzhou prefecture governor's use of the army to force the signing of the contract in the well salt in southern Sichuan, all are dirty means, even under the laws and morals of the feudal dynasty of Dashun, they are absolutely dirty means.

Dashun is now in northern Jiangsu. What it needs is not the petty bourgeois Jacobins who "pursue the eternal kingdom of justice", but a Cromwell who bloodily suppresses the Diggers and Equalists.

Around 1750, or in just a few years, Britain had completely eliminated self-employed farmers.

Liu Yu dared not move in other places of Dashun, but he had to eliminate the self-cultivating farmers and small producers in the 40,000 square miles of land east of Fangong Dike during this period.

Liu Yu did not dare to do it in other places because he knew that he and the emerging bourgeoisie behind him would definitely be hanged and could not win.

And here is the weakest link in the chain of the entire Dashun small peasant economy. He and the emerging bourgeoisie behind him can win, so they can drive others to work as hired workers instead of being hanged on street lights by others.

However, this is not the first time that the bourgeoisie of Dashun has stepped onto the political stage and legitimately legislated land nationalization, thereby legitimately enclosing land.

In essence, this is still a feudal bureaucrat using feudal imperial power to shamelessly occupy land.