New Shun 1730

In fact, the logic of this advocacy is very simple.

That is, people eat because they are hungry.

Instead of loving food, you love it enough to eat as much as you can.

Theoretically, how many people can be fed depends only on the total grain output, the total population, and the per capita grain share.

Of course, per capita, these two words are a bit magical.

But, as for how to ensure that everyone is not hungry to death, well-fed, or that everyone is meaningful, that is another matter.

Theoretically, as long as the average person can have 500 kilograms of grain per year, then it is probably no problem to call them well-off in the "Book of Rites".

In other words.

Dashun is now much smaller, with a population of 300 million.

Theoretically, as long as the annual output of 150 billion kilograms of grain is achieved, on a material basis, we can already achieve the well-off state envisioned in the "Book of Rites" - after all, the "Book of Rites" was made up by the Han Dynasty. According to the productivity level of the Han Dynasty, The basic original meaning of the beautiful future envisioned is that people have enough food and occasionally have meat to eat.

On this basis, what is the cornerstone of Liu Yu’s advocacy?

In other words, as long as Dashun can ensure an agricultural population that can produce 150 billion kilograms of grain annually, then in theory, there will be basically no difference whether the remaining people are engaged in agriculture or industry and commerce.

Calculated based on the limit of agricultural labor at this time, if 150 billion kilograms of grain are guaranteed, theoretically, the non-agricultural population can completely surpass the agricultural population.

Theoretically, if natural disasters and floods and droughts are not taken into account, based on Dashun's yield of 120 kilograms per mu, plus the theoretical average yield per mu of three crops in two years in North China and two crops in one year in Jiangnan, 1.2 billion acres of land can basically guarantee this yield. of.

According to the highest level of intensive labor for families in the iron cattle farming era, which was the level of one cow for 30 acres of land, 40 million agricultural families were actually needed.

It follows that, theoretically, the non-agricultural population can surpass the agricultural population. In other words, the development of industry and commerce has a future.

It can solve the illusion that the Yan-Li school and other retro reformers have been unable to solve - the problem of not having enough land to equalize the land, and what to do with the remaining people.

Of course, this is all theoretical.

Being able to solve it theoretically ensures that the practical school, in its vision of the future, recognizes that the non-agricultural population will surpass the agricultural population in the future.

Of course, theory is theory, mathematics is mathematics, and reality is reality.

Many people in the practical school believed in the future described by Liu Yu when they imagined the future.

But, ultimately, this circles back to the “technical” issue of governance.

That is, assuming an average of 5 people per household, assuming that 40 million agricultural households can guarantee the output - 100 grains, 3 people do it, and 30 people do it, the output may be the same, but the amount that can be used as "commercial grain" is different. Yes, after all, the quantity is different between what 3 people eat by themselves and what 30 people eat by themselves.

To a certain extent, those 27 people were working "ineffectively" from a macro perspective of society.

But the question is, can industry and commerce provide enough jobs so that those 27 people can do some "effective" work?

If you can't provide it, you might as well squat in the ground, at least this way you can maintain stability.

One thing to note is that when the yield per mu is basically the highest in the world, there are deserts to the west, snowy mountains to the southwest, tropical rainforests to the south, Gobi to the north, and the sea to the east, there are 80 million agricultural people and 240 million people. The total food output of the agricultural population may be the same; but the social stability is completely different.

Assume there are 300 million people in total.

The 80 million agricultural population means that these 80 million agricultural population provide food for the 22 million non-agricultural population.

The 240 million agricultural population means that these 240 million agricultural population provide food for the 60 million non-agricultural population.

Suppose further that the food consumed by each person every year is actually about the same - this thing is different from other things. Nobles may use hundreds of kilograms of copper for decoration every year, but ordinary people may not use half a kilogram of copper a year. This is a thousand-fold difference; however, it is impossible to say that the common people eat 400 kilograms of grain every year, while the nobles eat 400 kilograms of grain every year. Eat a thousand times more and eat 400,000 kilograms of grain. Even if the whole wine is made and the dogs are used to eat human food and the meat of the dogs is eaten, there is not such a big difference.

Finally, let’s assume that industry and commerce essentially use transactions to “redistribute” the most basic necessities of life, such as food.

Then, the future promised by Liu Yu is theoretically achievable.

But in reality, what cannot be avoided is the simple rhetorical question - How do you rely on to provide Dashun with 220 million non-agricultural jobs?

Practicalists firmly believe that this is the future.

As for the future, it is naturally visible but not tangible, but it is achievable through theoretical calculations.

Therefore, the Practical School can regard this as the future, and then use the continuous development of industry and commerce to eventually provide enough jobs as a goal and as a means to achieve it.

Generally speaking, this school of practical learning believes in the future.

But, in reality...

Just as the emperor asked Liu Yu: When you were training troops in Weihai, you began to immigrate to the Jinghai Sea; when you were reforming in Songsu, you engaged in Nanyang development immigration; when you went to Shandong to build rivers, you still wanted to immigrate to Fusang. So, when those people move there, aren’t they still farming?

I co-authored the future you recognized and believed that the industrial and commercial population can surpass the agricultural population, so it is right to develop industry and commerce.

But what you did has caused many people to change their land to farm. People who originally farmed in northwest and southwestern Shandong went to Fusang to farm. Aren't they still an agricultural population?

This is compared to, you say you want to go south, but the horse's head is not facing south, but the horse's butt is facing south?

The emperor asked this question. If you look at the appearance, there is no problem.

But if you look at the essence, it is actually the difference between Liu Yu and Dashun Guru.

The ancient Confucian school supports the equalization of land.

Moreover, it is clearly stated that "equalizing land is the most benevolent government in the world."

Does Liu Yu support Juntian?

support.

Do you agree that "equalizing land is the most benevolent government in the world"?

recognized.

However, does Liu Yu think that the Confucian school is right?

No.

Liu Yu even believed that the Confucian sect was reactionary.

Therefore, Liu Yu and Gu Ru's faction have always had an inseparable relationship. They even thought that this faction was just a fellow traveler, but they were the one who wanted to kill them first when they reached the fork.

The emperor was confused at this time.

It was the same as the disagreement between Liu Yu and the ancient Confucian group.

That is: equalizing land, what is the goal? Or means?

Liu Yu, and the Practical School and the Ancient Confucian School influenced by him, the differences between the two have been entangled from the Lianghuai Salt Reform, to the colonization of Honolulu, to the Fusang reclamation. , and each has his own attitude - does Liu Yu's faction support Juntian?

In fact, supportive, even very supportive.

But what is the reason for support?

The reason is that Liu Yu's group and the Real School group believe that the future lies in industry and commerce. The non-agricultural population can surpass the agricultural population, and it is believed that the large agricultural population at this time is "ineffective labor". In fact, one person can farm the land for three people, and the output remains unchanged.

However, the transformation of the vast agricultural population into a non-agricultural population requires a difficult transition.

This transition may be cruel, unkind, bloody, or it may preserve human survival as much as possible.

Equalizing land is a means of transition.

Through land equalization, the pain of transformation was alleviated, allowing the agricultural population, which accounted for the vast majority at this time, to survive the collapse of the small-scale peasant economy brought about by industrial and commercial development, and at least have something to eat.

Equalizing land is a means, not an end.

The ancient Confucian school, as well as the things that the emperor was thinking about at this time, regarded equalizing land as an end, not a means.

For the ancient Confucian school, equalizing land and restoring the rule of three generations is the ultimate program and goal.

For the emperor, equalizing land was the best way to continue the dynasty's rule, and it could also be regarded as the goal.

For Liu Yu and the Shi School, land equalization, immigration, development of industry and commerce, commercial wars, external expansion, participation in World War I, etc. are actually the same. They are all means, not ends.

If the land can be equalized, that would naturally be the best.

If we can seize the market - for example, the problem of the Yellow River channel, through the Shandong women's textile industry, the conflict over the land acquisition issue of the Yellow River channel can be alleviated, and the Shandong women's textile industry has killed hundreds of thousands of people in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Based on the textile industry in Surat, Bombay and Manchester, they occupied the textile share of the original West African triangular trade of Manchester and Indian cotton cloth - so they tried their best to seize the market.

If there can be immigration - such as Fusang and Southern Ocean immigration based on "hidden coolie slavery" of precious metals, the Pragmatic School will not object, but will promote it, because they know that Dashun cannot accommodate so many non-agricultural people. It cannot provide so many non-agricultural jobs. From the perspective of the "productivity only" theory advocated by Liu Yu, immigrating to Fusang to reclaim wasteland is also a way to develop productivity, release everyone's labor potential, and enable Dashun's agricultural population to reach its own level. The limit of labor - then immigrate as hard as you can.

If war is needed, expansion is needed, and indentured servitude is needed, these people will not refuse anyone who comes.

They are all means.

Its purpose is to expand the scale of industry and commerce.

Expanding the scale of industry and commerce means turning more agricultural people into non-agricultural people; turning more "ineffective labor" in the productivity-only argument into "effective labor" that can increase the total productivity of all mankind.

To put it simply, in the western Shandong area, if three families farm 30 acres of land, and one family farms 30 acres of land, the total human production will be the same.

Now, one family cultivates 30 acres of land, while the other two families go to Fusang to cultivate another 60 acres of land. This has obviously increased the total productivity of all mankind at this time.

Originally, three families cultivating 30 acres of land could only support three non-agricultural people. After all, they had to eat.

Now, each family can support fifteen non-agricultural people by cultivating thirty acres of land. This is not a simple multiplication relationship.

At the same time, each family cultivates thirty acres of land and exchanges more food, which means that each family’s consumption power increases, creating a larger market and selling more goods, which means that more goods can be sold. The non-agricultural population has something to do.

At this time, the Practical School supports the equalization of land, and they have roughly the same idea.

It’s just that when the pragmatic school is divided vertically, it can be divided into conservatives and radicals; when it is divided horizontally, it can be divided into nationalists and nationalists.

Vertically divided.

What conservatives mean is that with the help of land equalization, the pain of transformation can be endured. Step by step, continuing to develop industry and commerce is the top priority.

The radicals mean that we should first implement equal distribution of land and strengthen centralization, and then rely on the control, organization and taxation capabilities after equal distribution of land to attract millions of immigrants every year. When the number of immigrants is almost enough, we can transform.

Divide horizontally.

The nationalists mean that since it is so far away and tied to the Atlantic trade, those people will sooner or later follow the example of Zhao Tuo. China's affairs are China's affairs, and the world will explode sooner or later. Whatever those people do, let them do whatever they want and try to solve domestic affairs. They are just a means of relieving pressure. In the end, the people on this land will still live on this ancestral land. Even if Zhao Tuo and we have the same ancestor, we will not be of the same mind in the future. We were born and raised here, and we still seek a future for the people on this land. They are just a supplement and a pressure relief valve, and they can do whatever they want.

The nationalists mean that even if they follow the example of Zhao Tuo, what does it matter? In terms of blood relationship, aren't we all one family? So, where will "China" be in the future, isn't it just a geographical issue? Can those who have been separated still oppose us? Therefore, the significance of immigration is not just a pressure relief valve, but to believe that even if they are thousands of miles away, even if their trade is integrated into the Atlantic trade circle, even if some of them may convert to Christianity, even if they may be thinking about the mines in the Southern Ocean, I will get on the car first and don’t come later... maybe, maybe, probably, blood is thicker than water.

There are naturally differences within.

But beyond the differences, it is still recognized that many things are "means" rather than "ends".