New Shun 1730

Passing through the excited merchants, Liu Yu led everyone to the guild hall where salt sales for the second half of the year will be held in the next few days. An event to raise funds and set up a salt company in the salt field will be held here.

Although it will still take a few days, many businessmen have already gathered here.

After entering, he met these businessmen and after hearing their expectations, Liu Yu asked the Lianghuai Salt Envoy: "What do you think, Mr. Lin, about this salt drying field?"

The Lianghuai salt envoys had no objections to this.

"This is a very good thing. In the previous dynasty, Xu Guangqi once talked about this matter, talking about the advantages of drying salt and the disadvantages of boiling salt. However, the matter of drying salt must be coordinated with the voting method. If the law is used to dry salt, illegal salt will be rampant. "

"The salt tax is the second most important national tax, second only to the mu tax. The imperial court needs money for water conservancy, disaster relief, war and military training. If there is no corresponding salt law, it should be exposed. Smuggling will be rampant, which will be detrimental to the country."

"The salt farmers in the Huaidi salt fields suffer from the pain of boiling salt and the exhaustion of collecting brine. If a large salt drying field can be developed, it will indeed benefit the country and the people."

Liu Yu saw that he had no objection, and was feeling happy in his heart, when he caught a glimpse of a man in the distance standing beside several officials in charge of the matter, who was obviously not dressed right.

He is neither a businessman nor someone who works here, nor is he a newly transferred accountant. Instead, he is dressed like a scholar. He really looks a bit like a white dove standing among a bunch of black crows, which is quite conspicuous. .

The young scholar looked around, took a closer look, and asked about this and that. Liu Yu was full of curiosity.

It's not surprising that a businessman would appear here, or even a criminal, but it would be particularly strange for an orthodox scholar to appear here.

Out of curiosity, he walked up to the officials. The officials and the young scholar hurriedly saluted. Liu Yuqi said: "Who is this person? It's strange that there are people here who have read sages and are not officials."

The official next to him hurriedly said: "Hui Guo Gong, this is a disciple of a friend of the lower official. His surname is Meng and his given name is Songlu. His husband, the Duke of Guo must have heard of him, is Mr. Mianzhuang, a sect of ancient Confucian scholars who traveled south to the south."

"Huh? Who?"

The secretary on the side immediately reminded: "Cheng Tingzuo."

"Oh oh oh!"

Meng Songlu was still bowing and saluting at this time. Liu Yu looked at him and felt very curious.

It should be said that the thoughts of their school are the reactionary trends that Liu Yu is most wary of.

As the reactionary trend of thought that he was most wary of, Liu Yu had of course read many of their books. Although he did not have much direct contact with them, for a purpose similar to understanding the enemy, he had a general understanding of these people's thoughts and leading figures. Still know a lot.

He had been wary of similar ideas since before he became famous. Otherwise, when he was making trouble in the capital when he was young, he would not have thought of ways to send orthodox Confucian scholars who had conflicts with him to France.

Since the other party was a local leader of the Utopian Southern tradition under the banner of retro Confucianism, Liu Yu naturally knew who Cheng Tingzuo was and some of the basic theories of their school.

Of course it is limited to economics and politics, and does not involve things like cosmology, Qi, Li, Tai Chi and the like.

He was also curious about why Cheng Tingzuo asked his disciple to come here, so he told Meng Songlu not to be polite and asked: "Why are you here? Is it possible that your husband also has some capital and wants to invest?"

Meng Songlu said hurriedly: "Return to the country, Lord."

"The teacher said that in the past, Zhao Lingran painted paintings that made people immerse themselves in the scene. Because he was the grandson of Song Taizu and the son of King Defang of Qin, he was not allowed to travel far away. Every time he painted a new painting, Su Zi got it and said that he must go there again. Returned from the visit to the imperial mausoleum. Dong Qichang of the previous dynasty said: Painting is like Zhao Lingrang's, and reading is the same. You need to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles before you can succeed."

"Sir, I quite agree. Moreover, our school of learning has always been practical."

"Sir, the economic culture of southern Jiangsu is overbearing, but if the previous dynasty had done so, it might not have brought chaos to the world. However, it is complicated and it is difficult to see the whole picture."

"That's why after hearing about Haizhou affairs, I specifically asked my disciples to see more, hear more, talk less, and discuss less. Wansheng came to visit and listen to businessmen asking for votes and participating in shares."

Cheng Tingzuo was already quite famous, and his reputation was even further enhanced by his Daoyi poem.

The Lianghuai salt envoy on the side said: "Since it is Mr. Mianzhuang's knowledge, it is indeed beneficial to do more and read more. In this case, you should read more. This salt reform can also be regarded as part of your study of Fenzhai. The university asked."

Liu Yu still admires the style of their school, but has some theoretical objections to their school. However, this school has a great reputation but a small influence. There are not many people who are interested in it, so it is not very popular for the time being.

For one thing, this is originally a northern school, because the small-scale peasant economy in North China has a very solid economic foundation. But the cultural center of the world is in the south, and the economic foundation of the south means that this school of thought cannot stand at all in the south. Am I against myself? Am I myself?

Secondly, in this school, there are too many rules for the disciples, and it is also difficult to learn. Not only do you have to study literature, but you also have to practice martial arts. It is very difficult. The problem is, who is willing to learn these crappy things if they are not tested in the imperial examination? If you have the time to practice martial arts, wouldn’t it be nice to do a few more sets of eight-part essay exercises?

If it continues to develop according to the original situation, this school of thought will have a fate similar to that of the pre-Qin scholars. When they were bullied, they would be remembered by future generations, assuming what they would have done if it were the case.

However, with the Dashun reforms, especially the series of policies to develop industry and commerce in southern Jiangsu, Liu Yu knew very well that this kind of utopianism in the name of retrospection would soon flourish and spread again.

After thinking for a while, Liu Yu asked: "What does your teacher think about the affairs of Southern Jiangsu and the reform of the salt administration?"

He didn't ask about the land in Funing at all, because he didn't want to argue about it.

Meng Songlu quickly took out a letter from his arms and said: "When I came here, the teacher had a letter. He just said that if I have the opportunity to meet the Duke, I will hand over this letter to him."

He took the letter, read it roughly, and handed it to the Lianghuai Salt Administration Envoy next to him, and said with a smile: "Lord Lin is well-read. Where did the saying that Qin Bo married his daughter come from?"

The Lianghuai Salt Administration Envoy took the letter and replied without thinking: "It comes from Han Feizi. Qin Bo married his daughter, but dressed up the concubines who came with the dowry beautifully, and the people of Jin liked concubines but looked down on Qin Bo's daughter. Han Feizi thought , this is good at marrying maids, not good at marrying daughters. If the purpose is to marry maids, then this is very good; but if the purpose is to marry daughters, then this is not good. The means should be guided by the purpose. "

While speaking, he read Cheng Tingzuo's letter and returned it to Liu Yu, praising him: "Cheng Mianzhuang is famous, but I didn't expect his insight to be so. I think the words in the letter can also be used as a reference."

In the letter, Cheng Tingzuo used the allusion of Qin Bo's marriage of his daughter to illustrate some of Liu Yu's ideas and doubts about the development of southern Jiangsu.

The letter naturally took the salt policy reform as an example.

It is said that according to the current production level, it is impossible for the people of the whole country to not eat salt.

This is different from silk. If the people of the whole country want to wear silk, the current productivity level must be insufficient.

This is also different from grain. Even if grain can guarantee fullness, then there is always a desire to eat meat and fish, or I want to eat rice instead of steamed buns, and I want to eat wo wo instead of pancakes.

Salt is salt, no matter how you eat it, you can't eat it. This thing is not a chicken. You can only eat the chicken tongue, cockscomb, etc., but no matter how much you eat, it is not enough.

In this case, with the current level of productivity, is it a productivity issue for the people of the whole country to eat salt, just like letting the people wear silk?

If not, why is it that there is enough salt to guarantee everyone's use, and even enough for every family to pickle pickles, why can't the people afford salt?

In his letter, Cheng Tingzuo generally expressed support for many changes, but also raised doubts about some things from his own perspective.

Salt is for people to eat. But now, salt has become something to make money.

So much so that in Hankou and other places, big salt merchants often deliberately set fire to salt warehouses and salt ships when transportation is inconvenient during the dry season, raising prices and creating scarcity.

If silk, porcelain, ironware, etc. are not enough for the people, then supporting capital development will not consider such a far-reaching thing for the time being.

So, salt is obviously enough, and the existing production can definitely guarantee enough to eat, why is there a situation where the people have no salt to eat?

In Songjiang Prefecture, the widely publicized plan was to build a large salt field. Because Songjiang Prefecture had capital, the merchants there, like the general contractor of salt permits, had no sales channels, so they could not go to a group of bald men to sell combs.

Therefore, the focus of the salt administration reform in Songjiang Prefecture sounded like the focus was on production, not distribution.

Therefore, Cheng Tingzuo implicitly reminded Liu Yu that this was Qin Bo marrying his daughter, and he had missed the point.

This was not new, and the dreamers in Europe had similar thoughts at this time.

However, the thinking of Dashun came from salt.

To be precise, it came from the salt merchants who deliberately burned salt warehouses and burned salt ships during the dry season to increase the price of salt.

In Europe, the thinking of dreamers came from spices.

To be precise, it came from the Dutch East India Company burning and pouring shiploads of spices into the sea in order to ensure the price of spices, and even destroying spice trees on a large scale.

However, their thinking on both sides only stopped here, and they were not thinking about "the purpose of product production, is it for use, or for making money", "is the production of salt to meet the demand for eating salt, or to meet the tax collection and profit".

At this time, similar utopian enlightenment on both sides was carried out almost at the same time, and finally ended up in the same way, which can be regarded as a manifestation of the development of Dashun commerce.

It can't be said that the Dutch cut down clove trees and burned spices as a profit-seeking choice of commercial capital; the Dashun salt merchants burned salt warehouses, sank salt ships, hyped up the shortage of salt, and raised the price of salt, which is simply moral corruption, right?

Liu Yu felt quite happy.

I am happy with this kind of speculation, hype, and price increase caused by scarcity. On the bright side, the business atmosphere is strong and vibrant. If you want to take the capitalist road, you don't deserve it if you don't even have this.

I am also happy with the fantasy of Cheng Tingzuo and others. Finally, I fantasized about something that is a little meaningful. It is no longer just entangled in the equal distribution of fields and wells, but considering the problems brought about by the development of industry and commerce.

But the doubts in the letter made him feel a great danger.

The correct ideas did not fall from the sky, but they needed social foundations, as for the current conditions...

At the beginning, he had a good relationship with France, and everything else was fine. The one thing he was most worried about was that the French utopians would merge with the Dashun utopians.

France has many peasants. The degree of centralization in France is known as the Little China in Europe. Although there are actually quite a lot of differences, in comparison, it is definitely more similar to Britain and the Netherlands.

The French utopianist ideology has a great appeal to the Dashun utopians.

Of course, the Dashun utopians also have the same great appeal to the French.

Both sides are like turtles looking at green beans, and they are very pleasing to the eye.

That's why he sent people to France in the past, and the East spread to the West, and the West spread to the East, and they influenced each other. It's a pity that we met too late. You can have fun in Paris.

Reactionary things don't necessarily sound morally bad. Sometimes, especially in the case of China and France, reactionary things are more tender and affectionate, warming people's hearts, and sound warmer, gentler, and more elegant.

Based on the economic foundation at that time and the foundation of the small peasant economy, similar to that of France, it must be running towards abstinence, fantasy, universal love, equality, morality, support for monarchy and patriarchy, and the direction of idealized village workshops like idyllic countryside, and turning the whole country into a large rural area.

The spread of this kind of thought is very strange.

If Dashun is a stagnant pool and stops moving forward, it will soon disappear, just a temporary statement.

If Dashun is not a stagnant pool, but moves forward step by step, it will quickly expand its influence and become a prominent school.

Moreover, the faster Dashun becomes a prominent school, the faster it becomes.

Just like the early Utopians in Europe, who may be canonized by the Catholic Church a long time later; the Utopians on Dashun's side will basically become the standard-bearers of true Confucianism during the period of change.

It is the only one that can fight among all the schools now, and none of the rest can fight.

Liu Yu took the letter back, gave it to someone to keep, and asked Meng Songlu: "Do you know what the letter says?"

Meng Songlu shook his head and said: "I have never read it. The teacher said that there are some things that I am not ready to figure out. Although we can analyze doubts, I am young and have never experienced it, so it is useless to analyze it, and it will be confusing. Therefore, the things discussed in the teacher's letter must be profound, and the disciple does not know."