New Shun 1730

Although Liu Yu thought Dashun was definitely hopeless. But it is undeniable that Dashun is indeed in its prime now.

The standard mid-term prosperous age after the end of the existing feudal dynasty cycle and the recuperation stage.

There were also the many dividends of the application of new technologies, the spread of American crops, and a series of reforms within the feudal dynastic system.

At this time, considering rebellion or revolution is not realistic based on the social foundation at this time.

Just like the legal revolution in history, it finally broke out after a series of back and forth changes.

Just like Tsarist Russia was also Stolypin's reform, it took a lot of tossing, but finally exploded.

Dashun basically has to follow a similar path.

Don't be afraid of Dashun's troubles, but be afraid that Dashun won't make troubles.

Nowadays, external expansion and industrial and commercial development have forced Dashun to make troubles.

This kind of torment may appear in the form of proactive reform at the upper levels.

Liu Yu was convinced that continuing deeper reforms would not be successful.

In fact, we can be sure that continued in-depth reform will be the beginning of complete chaos in Dashun.

And this is the reason why Liu Yu is "making a statement": he hopes that subsequent reforms will be based on his thoughts, continue to change, form a trend of thought in the court, or continue as inertia.

Only by continuing to change along this line of thinking can we create opportunities for great chaos.

Just as Lao Ma commented on Turgot, the finance minister before the French Revolution: Turgot himself was a radical bourgeois minister who led the way to the French Revolution (only in the cloak of feudalism). Although the Physiocrats School had its fake feudal appearance (However, under the feudal dynasty, very radical revolutionary policies were implemented, which can even be said to be a preview of the legal reform policy under the feudal dynasty, such as the single land tax, which essentially destroyed part of the feudal ownership of the land).

The continued reforms in Dashun that Liu Yu expected, or the continued reforms that he believed were possible under the realistic conditions of the feudal dynasty in Dashun, would be similar to Lao Ma's evaluation of Turgot or the Physiocratic School. Progress: Use the words of feudalism to explain capitalism; wear the cloak of feudalism and implement the most radical capitalist policies.

Including what Liu Yu did before, it can be said that it was in this form: wearing the cloak of a loyal dog of feudal royal power to implement radical capitalist policies.

Because under the feudal dynasty, if you want to reform, you can and can only do things under the cloak of feudalism.

Feudalism in different countries and different regimes has different forms of expression.

The budding development of capitalism in different countries and different regimes also goes through different stages.

Just as people do not create under conditions chosen by themselves, but under conditions directly encountered, given, and inherited from the past.

Everything in the past will linger in front of everyone's eyes like a ghost, forming layers of fog.

Just as Lao Ma commented on the confusion surrounding the Physiocrats: [Here, feudalism is expressed and explained from the perspective of bourgeois production, while agriculture is explained as the only production sector that engages in capitalist production, that is, the production of surplus value. In this way, feudalism takes on a bourgeois character, and bourgeois society acquires the appearance of feudalism]

[This appearance is (enough to) confuse believers of the Physiocratic School of Aristocratic Origin].

Many of the things Liu Yu has been struggling with in Dashun over the years are essentially the same: some feudal royal power, monopoly privileges, official Qin and Han systems, etc. are expressed and explained from the perspective of bourgeois production, but they are always shrouded in It has the appearance of the traditional feudal imperial power county system.

And this appearance is enough to confuse many believers in Dashun who are under the rule of feudal imperial power, and may even include the emperor himself.

Lao Ma said that the situation in each country is different, and we should see the essence through the phenomenon and not be fooled by the appearance.

[The Physiocratic system became the expression of a new capitalist society that opened up a path for itself within the framework of feudal society. And this system is compatible with the bourgeois society that was just hatched from feudalism]

[So the starting point is France, a country dominated by agriculture]

[And Britain is a country dominated by industry, commerce and navigation. The eyes naturally focus on the circulation process, and what we see is that only as a manifestation of general social labor and as currency can products gain value and become commodities...]

Because Britain and France have different developments, different proportions of industry and agriculture, different social existence and economic foundations, they have different appearances and different entry points.

The proportion of agriculture in France is too high, so the focus and entry point is on agricultural issues.

And this kind of entry is enough to confuse French aristocratic believers: on the surface, the Physiocrats highly praised agriculture and land ownership, which made the French upper class, which mainly focused on land interests, more accepting of this doctrine. : Look, those of us who have land are the cornerstone of society. Industry and commerce are all rubbish. Land is everything.

But this kind of superficial admiration is actually destroying the land ownership of the old era. The obvious conclusion derived from this set of theories is that the industrial and commercial tax should be abolished and only the land tax should be levied comprehensively.

In fact, levying land tax comprehensively, equally, and without exemption or exemption is, in essence, partially canceling the land ownership rights of the old era.

As Lao Ma said: [The feudal appearance of this system - exactly like the aristocratic tone of the Enlightenment era - will inevitably cause many feudal lords to become a system that essentially announces the establishment of a bourgeois production system on the ruins of feudalism. a fanatical advocate and disseminator].

In short, the feudal masters were essentially anti-feudal; they even shouted for the establishment of a bourgeois production system, which was what their feudal masters supported.

What Liu Yu has done in Dashun over the years is the same. In fact, he is letting the feudal lords of Dashun weave the nooses to hang them, and his system of "for your majesty and for the country" The appearance made many feudal lords become fanatical supporters and disseminators of this system.

However, just as France takes agriculture as its entry point and Britain takes circulation as its entry point, this is their country's own reality.

On the Dashun side, "production" is the starting point - there has been a strong tradition of emphasizing agriculture and light commerce since ancient times. The essence of this emphasis on agriculture and light commerce is to emphasize production and light on circulation and speculation. This is not to be taken literally. Only focus on farming.

And "production" is connected to what Liu Yu has been saying: "The total national wealth is the total commodities produced."

Be it Dashun or earlier dynasties, they all valued production.

Emphasis on agriculture and neglect of business... This literal meaning is similar to the understanding of "farmers" in the old days. They thought that they were an agricultural department that engaged in planting technology and seed hybridization. In fact, they wanted to engage in "the will of the state to ensure that circulation cannot be profitable." , so that everyone’s full labor can be exchanged for full fruits of labor, instead of the utopian idea that I work very hard and get something worth eighty percent of my labor.”

Similarly, emphasizing agriculture and neglecting commerce actually means emphasizing production. Has anyone in the past dynasties not encouraged weaving? Weaving is not agriculture, but a standard handicraft industry.

Therefore, the overall environment in Dashun has been focusing on production since ancient times.

Light business is not light industry and commerce, but light finance, light speculation, light logistics and light commercial circulation.

Industry and commerce are separate.

Therefore, Liu Yu's reform idea has always been clear: to create an illusion of "stripping off industry and commerce."

The so-called divestiture refers to the old pattern of developing industry but relying on expanding foreign trade without moving the country, minimizing the impact of the "Business Rebellion". Relying on the booming foreign trade, it not only expanded industry and commerce, but also minimized the impact of merchants on traditional society.

Then rely on the concept of "total national wealth" which is closely related to traditional "production".

And Dashun's special court balance system allowed the other half of the court who were not from the imperial examination to make a fortune in industry and commerce, and created the moral sense that "they are important".

Just like the Physiocratic School gained support from a group of feudal lords, Liu Yu's policies also attracted a group of feudal lords from Dashun to become supporters and disseminators.

But in fact, it was under the feudal dynasty of Dashun that extremely radical reforms of the capitalist production system were implemented - such as the cruel Lianghuai Salt Reform and the tyrannical Sichuan South Well Salt Reform. Even if the bourgeoisie had seized power, I am afraid that It was impossible to carry out such a drastic reform. Relying on brutal suppression, the small salt producer model of Huaihe and Huaihe and the landlord renting land model of southern Sichuan were destroyed, and the salt industry "trust" of Dashun was directly established.

Of course, Liu Yu's "cloak" in Dashun was neither physiocrats nor free trade, because Dashun's economic foundation was neither the same as France nor the same as Britain.

If Physiocrats is pushed back to the end, we can only draw one conclusion: only collect agricultural taxes, cancel all remaining taxes, and not collect any industrial and commercial taxes.

Obviously, this is contrary to the starting point of Emperor Dashun's support for the reform: the purpose of the reform is to make money from foreign trade, and the money that goes into the national treasury and internal funds is obtained through taxation, exclusive rights, monopoly rights, and tariffs. Only agricultural taxes are collected and industrial and commercial taxes are abolished. Then why should we develop industry and commerce?

Besides, it only collects agricultural taxes, but must implement physiocratic policies such as land inventory, taxation by acre, exemptions for no one, banning labor, recruitment and employment, etc. If Dashun can achieve this, why bother to do it? What about industry, commerce and overseas trade?

If this can be achieved, why not achieve it in one step, and directly equalize land and benevolent government, and then pay ten taxes on ten of the land and be done with it?

And free trade…

All I can say is, don’t look at how fierce Liu Yu is in Europe.

But Dashun is really shameless in saying that he is a free trader.

There is no need to mention Dashun’s many overseas trade policies, the imposition of feudal obligations on the Japanese franchise, etc.

Let’s just say that Dashun has the freest land ownership system in the world at this time, with land deed sales, official recognition, hereditary inheritance, and complete exclusive ownership of land. At this time, Dashun is almost the only country in the world that does not have public land or village-owned land... But In fact, in many places, increasingly strict policies are being implemented to prohibit businessmen from buying land and hoarding it.

In Dashun, Liu Yu condensed the reform into "an increase in the total national wealth."

This is the purpose.

The rest are all means, whether they are physiocratic, invisible hand, or government-run economy, etc., they are all reasonable means for this purpose.

A strong military, a powerful fleet, etc. can be regarded as the result of "the increase in the total national wealth", rather than some ultimate goal equivalent to its status.

Therefore, this concentration has made many practices that were considered wrong in the past reasonable in the emerging areas and emerging strata.

For example, if a landlord forcibly requisitions land, demands the surrender of tenants, and hires people to grow mulberry and raise silkworms, it can be said that this is to increase the total national wealth.

For example, when officials in some regions open coal mines and start mining industries, it can also be said that this is to increase the total national wealth.

Wait, wait.

Around this "correct" purpose, various forms of industry have developed. Some are like the Juncker transformation, some are feudal government-run, some are private capital, some are forced labor, and some are even monopolized under administrative power...

And all of this is rapidly creating a material foundation for Dashun's new era.

At the same time, this set of theories also paved the way for some of Dashun’s advanced ideas in the future.

Just like the French Physiocratic School, it was based on the economic foundation of France at this time and took agriculture as the entry point.

Some schools of thought in the UK were based on the economic foundation of the UK at this time and took circulation as the entry point.

And as Lao Ma said: [How is surplus value generated? It does not arise from circulation, but it is realized in circulation].

[When examining surplus value, one must pass from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production, that is, not simply from the exchange of commodities for commodities, but from the exchange between the owner of the labor conditions and the worker within the scope of production. , leading to residual value...]

The Physiocratic School takes agriculture as its entry point, and agriculture itself is also a kind of "production".

Therefore, the Physiocrats School was aware of the concept of “surplus value” very early on.

That is to say, it is easier to discover the essence of the problem by starting from "production". After all, agriculture is also a kind of production. When examining surplus value, we must shift from the field of circulation to the field of production.

It should be said that the economic foundation of Dashun's entire empire at this time was still centered on agriculture.

However, Dashun’s policy of “dividing internal and external sectors” in recent years has limited the source of new ideas within a certain range. And if we only examine this scope, it is not centered on agriculture, but on industrial production.

Therefore, Liu Yu can approach it from the perspective of "production".

Of course he couldn't talk about surplus value, but from the very beginning when he led the bourgeois doctrine, he avoided approaching it from the field of circulation and instead approached it from the perspective of production. This also made the bourgeois economy in Dashun If you continue to learn and develop, you can easily capture the secret of capital appreciation.

Therefore, in this era, Liu Yu only talked about production and the increase of the total national wealth.

As Lao Ma sarcastically said:

The Physiocratic School believed that all value originated from the land. Industry and commerce, in fact, do not add any new value to this value, but only return the value provided to it in another form as equivalent.

It is easy to come to the conclusion that since industry and commerce have not added any new value and are equivalent to doing nothing, then why should industry and commerce be involved? Just let them develop freely, compete freely, and let capitalist production take its own course?

As long as agriculture, "the only thing that generates value" and "the mother of all values", is properly managed, as long as only agricultural taxes are collected, the rest of industry and commerce can develop at will.

Therefore, capitalists are so noble that they have become capitalists who work only for the interests of landowners and landlords. Because according to the point of view of the Physiocrats, industry and commerce do not add any new value, they are all busy for the landowners. Industrial capitalists and commercial capitalists are not for themselves, but only for the landlords. Isn’t this noble?

Just like the further development of political economy, capitalists have become noble capitalists who only serve the interests of the working class.

This irony is the same in Dashun.

Since it is said that the increase of the total national wealth is correct, righteous, beneficial to the country, the country is rich, the people are strong, and the martial arts is outstanding...

Then, capitalists can be so noble. They have become capitalists who only want to increase the total national wealth, for the country, for the country, for the thousands of people, and for the prosperity of the country and the people. I work hard not for myself. I work hard for His Majesty’s country, for the thousands of people, for the prosperity of the country and the people, and make money with tears in my eyes.

I hire workers not to make money, but to produce, to increase the total national wealth, and to help His Majesty solve problems and settle the refugees... Of course I make money, but this is just a by-product, just like the gentry collecting rent is just a by-product. A by-product of stabilizing tenant farmers…

In this way, doesn't the style suddenly become higher?

This also enables the emerging class to gain "great righteousness".

Of course, obtaining this "great meaning" requires a complete set of arguments.

The first sentence of the opening line of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations": The annual labor of a country's citizens is the source of all the necessities and conveniences of life that they consume every year. These necessities and conveniences consist either of the direct products of domestic labor, or of articles purchased from foreign countries with the products of this kind.

The subsequent development was determined by the economic foundation of Britain at that time: the power of the emerging class had developed; the feudal aristocracy still controlled politics; Britain's own mercantilist policies, monopoly system, etc. were seriously Restricting the next development of the emerging class.

So, the subsequent development was actually firing at Britain's trade policy at that time, in order to overthrow Britain's mercantilist policy at that time, and to prove that free trade was correct, mercantilism was wrong, and Britain's policy was problematic.

And Liu Yu used the first sentence of The Wealth of Nations.

But the subsequent development was also determined by Dashun's economic foundation at that time: the power of the emerging class was not strong enough; Dashun still had doubts about the development of industry and commerce; Dashun won the First World War and became a beneficiary of Europe's mercantilist and colonial trade system in recent years; reforms are still continuing, and development will continue for some time.

So, the subsequent development was actually defending the changes of the previous decades, in order to prove that the development of industry and commerce was correct, and to prove that the development of industry and commerce was correct, not to talk about mercantilism or free trade, but to prove that the development of industry and commerce was correct, and to continue the reform route to develop production and increase production was correct.

Dashun... has not yet reached the stage where it is necessary to discuss free trade or mercantilism. It can even be said that mercantilism has not yet reached the stage where it begins to restrict the development of Dashun's productivity. Instead, relying on foreign trade has greatly promoted the development of Dashun's productivity.

Just as Marx satirized: further developed political economics makes capitalists become noble capitalists who only work for the interests of the working class.

Political economics is originally to defend the interests of the class.

Malthus's political economics proved how important "the rentier class that only consumes but does not produce is, and is the foundation of social stability. Without them, it will collapse."

Quesnay's political economics proved how important agriculture is, and it is the only source of value. Industrial and commercial taxes are meaningless. It is important to directly abolish industrial and commercial taxes and only collect industrial taxes, let Colbert go, and let industry and commerce develop freely without any restrictions."

And the set of things on the Dashun side at this time is also similar, proving how important "the emerging class is, how correct the reform is, and the country needs the continuous development of industry to be stable."

But in fact, Liu Yu did not have any expectations for subsequent reforms.

Because he felt that what he could change was almost the same, and the remaining problems that could be changed were all minor problems, and the major problems could not be changed at all.

And he believed that he could hold on for a few more years without tossing. If he really tossed, it would definitely cause a big thing, and Dashun would basically explode.

Of course, if there is no turmoil, then the great changes will not come, or there will be no huge chaos, so that those big things can be completely changed.

As long as Dashun is in chaos and collapses first, the changes will anger the heaven and the people, and the old class will be disunited and the new class will be dissatisfied. Only by relying on the heritage accumulated over the years can it be reborn from the ashes and get rid of those deep-rooted feudal routines.

If there is no chaos, it will be difficult to start an uprising or a rebellion. To be the pioneer of the king, you must have those conditions. As for the current situation, the soldiers are well-trained and the food is sufficient, the treasury is abundant, the internal affairs are stable, and the court is not in chaos. It is extremely difficult to be the pioneer of the king.

Therefore, part of the words made at this time are to defend the development of the emerging class and industry and commerce.

The other part is to use the checks and balances system at the beginning of the founding of Dashun to set up a "rule" for those who check and balance the imperial examination system.

In the past, Dashun's checks and balances system existed.

However, the group of people who check and balance the imperial examination gentry were powerful but without rules.

Even the two groups of people who check and balance each other use the same scripture.

This is normal. People who use the same scripture can still fight each other.

Just like a few years ago, the disciples of the Japanese Confucian scholars asked the Confucian scholars: If Confucius and Mencius were resurrected, Confucius would be the main general and Mencius would be the deputy general to attack Japan, what would we Confucian scholars do? The answer of the Japanese Confucian scholars was very clear: Even if Confucius and Mencius were resurrected, we would do it.

Therefore, even the "sages" who wrote the scriptures can be "opposed" for political reasons, let alone the checks and balances between the military nobles and the imperial examination officials who use the same scripture within Dashun?

Now, Liu Yu is trying to rely on Dashun's checks and balances system to prepare scriptures for these people.

A scripture that is completely different from the past, as well as righteousness, profit, scale, evaluation system, etc.

The purpose is to make this group of people continue to reform and blow up Dashun one day in the future.

If you don't toss, you can live a few more years. If you toss, it will explode quickly.