New Shun 1730

The reason why it was jokingly called "a big effort and a small fart" was that there was no grand reform related to ownership and equal land distribution.

Instead, after the funeral of the emperor, who was anxiously waiting for the whole world, the emperor only issued two edicts.

"The Imperial Edict on the Restoration of the Three-generation School System and the Implementation of the School System"

"The Imperially Decreed School System Selection and Management Regulations"

When these two edicts came out, some nervous people breathed a sigh of relief, but also made some people who were excited before feel annoyed and angry.

In the capital, the young people of the Practical School Tongru Society gathered in the Lai Jin Yuxuan Tea House next to the original imperially built Xingguo Mansion and discussed it.

The words "Lai Jin Yu" come from Du Shaoling's self-narration: In autumn, Du Zi was ill in Chang'an. There was a lot of rain and fish, and the moss was on the bed. There were always guests in carriages and horses. The old rain came, but the current rain did not come.

It means that those who come here to gather are all true friends regardless of their status.

This was built before the Duke of Xingguo "traveled with Chisongzi". Over time, the practical school often came here to gather, lecture and discuss.

This Tongru Society is an organization similar to the previous dynasty's academy founded by a group of young people in recent years. When it was named, it was deliberately provocative.

Of course, the practical school and the Yan Li school of ancient Confucianism had many contacts before. The ultimate goal of the Yan Li school is to become a Tongru, but this kind of friendship is not the reason why the radical talents of the practical school named "Tongru".

Instead, Wei Liaozi said in ancient times: Wild animals are not sacrificed, and miscellaneous studies are not Tongru.

They call themselves practical studies, but in the eyes of the imperial examination school, they secretly call them miscellaneous studies.

This group of people named "Tongru" as the name of the society, which is obviously intentional: since wild animals cannot be sacrificed on the platform, you who study miscellaneous studies are also worthy of being called Confucian? However, this group of people chose the name of Tongru and provoked many times.

Since there is such an allusion, the Tongru Society also takes the meaning of "miscellaneous studies, miscellaneous practices, and differences" from the Xianxue chapter of "Han Feizi", indicating that the society is inclusive and can express different opinions freely, and can discuss the great principles despite miscellaneous practices.

In general, this is an elite small circle organization, but it is not a mysterious small circle like the Carbonari or Freemasonry. It is just that it is quite difficult to join the society. One must first take the world as one's responsibility, and then most of them are students of top practical schools such as Sungkyunkwan.

The society often talks about politics and national affairs. Young people are more likely to point out the country and write exciting articles.

But to be honest, there are many different political views within the society. After heated debates, they can't help but fight each other, but they forget after the fight, at least on the surface.

Since there are many different political views, now the emperor has issued an edict, making such a big fart, there will be another quarrel.

"I think the Dashun Kingdom is doomed! There are so many problems and contradictions in the world now. At this time, the coffin of Duke Xingguo was welcomed back with great fanfare. I thought it was going to be a big reform. But I didn't expect it to be a reform of the imperial examination, the school, and the selection method!"

"After ten years, the old imperial examination will be abolished, and practical learning will be added as the examination content. It will be implemented throughout the country, and each province will have a quota for the university."

"This is not bad, but it has misplaced the priorities."

"The trend of annexation in the world is getting more and more intense, just like the gentry and landlords, who make a living by renting and exploiting the people."

"If the land system remains unchanged and the equal distribution of land is not achieved, is there really any difference between the gentry and landlords studying "The Analects" or reading "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"? ”

“He studied the Analects, but he also made a living by collecting rent; he studied the Principles of Mathematics of Natural Philosophy, but he also made a living by collecting rent. It’s just that the school books and the examination papers have changed, but the most basic things have not changed at all.”

“How can the world be better without changing these most basic things? This is the first reason.”

“Secondly, look at the “Regulations for the Selection and Administration of the Imperial School System”, in which the number of schools must be built in the county. At that time, the children of rural landlords will go to the county to study. The children of ordinary people could originally learn a few words in the rural school, and maybe they could become scholars and pass the imperial examinations. Now that education has all gone to the city, the literacy rate of the villagers is likely to drop sharply.”

“If you want to do it, then most of the villages and communities will set up schools, The imperial court needs money to educate and teach, but this requires money. Where does the money come from? "

"After a few decades, the selection of talents will be the same as before, except that the eight-legged essay will be replaced by mathematics, and poetry will be replaced by economics. However, in terms of social class, they are still the original gentry and landlords."

"By then, it will be a pipe dream to implement equal land distribution."

"Now is the last chance."

"First, there are many students of practical studies, numbering millions, who can serve as officials and clerks to achieve equal land distribution."

"Second, most of the students of practical studies are not landlords or gentry, and have no conflicts of interest."

"Third, from the perspective of people's hearts, the students of practical studies will inevitably feel that if equal land distribution and reform are implemented, the bureaucrats will all come from practical studies and replace the old people in the imperial examination, and there will be many vacancies. Even if we have to fight, we are not afraid of him. After the fight, everyone will have an official position. How can we not support the equal distribution of land and industry? "

"But after such a change, what else will be changed after more than ten years? What else will be changed? Most of the officials in the court are landlords. What is the equal distribution?"

"Only now, there are almost no landlords in the practical learning school. Their livelihoods may be business, industry, military, colonization, navigation, or trade. This is the best benevolent policy in the world."

"After it is done, we can set up schools and change the imperial examination system, which will achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"If we do it this way now, I think the government is not prepared to implement this great benevolent policy at all!"

In the academy, the bold and radical students came up with a speech of "disrespect for the emperor and father, and great treason".

He even bluntly stated that this great success is about to be completed, indicating that the current situation, contradictions, disputes between new learning and old learning, and different class attributes on both sides are the opportunities to finally complete the land equalization reform.

Once this opportunity is missed, the landlord will simply change from reading the Analects of Confucius to reading mathematics, but the economic attributes will not change. Landlord Mr. Huang talks so much about US knife music, does he become an industrial factory owner? What is the difference between a landowner who just knows geometry and still lives on rent, and someone who just talks about it?

As soon as he opened his mouth, someone in the academy immediately objected: "That's not what he said. Equalizing land may not be the only way, let alone a panacea."

"Brother, don't be anxious. You might as well think about a question first."

“Nowadays, business in the county and state capitals is quite prosperous.”

"Xingguo Gong said that industry and commerce are just a means of food distribution."

"And where does the industry and commerce in county and state capitals distribute food now? In other words, what does the industry and commerce in the mainland rely on now?"

"Actually, it should be clear when you think about it."

"Today's industry and commerce in the mainland rely on rented food."

"The landlord collects rent, but cannot eat so much grain, so he must sell it. Based on the grain he sells, the industry and commerce of the inland state capitals can develop. The industry and commerce of the inland state capitals must distribute the grain , precisely because of the existence of landlord rent collection.”

"If there is really equal land..."

"You might as well think about it. Originally, I had to pay 50% to 60% of the rent, but I could only eat what was left. I had to live on vegetables and fruits. This would lead to a lot of food flowing into the city's industry and commerce."

"But if the land is really equalized, he doesn't have to pay rent, so he wants to change from sweet potatoes to wowo, and from wowo to steamed buns."

“After the land is equalized, the people must eat enough before they are willing to trade the grain. Only then can the remaining grain become commodities.”

"So, I think that if land is truly equalized, industry and commerce in the inland state capitals may not develop. On the contrary, it is very likely that industry and commerce will collapse, there will be no food, and the cities will be in chaos!"

"Nowadays, the state capitals in the mainland are actually supported by rent. The landlord collects rent, and he can't eat so much. Only in this way can a large amount of food flow into the market, industry and commerce can flourish, and cities can be formed. But we must really equalize Tianxia, ​​a city that originally relied on landowners’ rent for commercial food, will inevitably collapse and run out of food.”

"So, I think this matter still needs to be considered carefully."

"The Celestial Empire is vast and stretches thousands of miles across, and is no bigger than a small country like Europe. No matter what Physiocrats and free trade are, transportation and logistics are limited, and industry and commerce will ultimately have to go to the center of the state capital and be dotted all over the country."

"To develop industry and commerce, it is absolutely impossible without food. And after the land is equalized, there will be less food in the city..."

"Since the rejuvenation of the country is public and industry and commerce are the future, then, in my opinion, land equalization will not promote the development of industry and commerce, but will hinder the development of industry and commerce, and even cause the city to collapse."

Since the miscellaneous scholars have similar practices but different opinions, it is normal to have different opinions internally.

Although what they said were all things Liu Yu said, as the saying goes, Liu Yu said a lot, from the most progressive to the most reactionary, from equalizing land to supporting annexation, it seems that they can all find corresponding words.

Both sides regard industry as the future, but in the end, there is even a dispute over whether there are advantages or disadvantages to equalizing land.

Can you say that the latter statement makes no sense at all?

That's not it either.

It is true that some cities in the mainland with inconvenient transportation exist based on the forced possession of agricultural products such as "renting".

It is true that after the land is equalized, farmers will definitely choose to eat until they are full first, and then trade the remaining grain as commercial grain for the city.

Under the old system, Dashun was not without cities. On the contrary, there are many cities in Dashun. It can be said that these cities all exist on the basis of commercial food such as "renting".

Once the basic things are changed, I am afraid that the city will immediately fall into chaos, and the industry and commerce will be severely depressed.

However, those who supported Juntian's faction sneered: "These words were resolved decades ago when Duke Xingguo and Yan Li's faction had a dispute."

"Equalizing land is a means, not an end."

"After equalizing land, taxes were increased, but the original 60% of the rent became a 20% tax. With this 51 tax, one billion acres of land in the world were borrowed, with an annual income of hundreds of millions, and shipbuilding and relocation of people eventually made five people Home, a hundred acres of land.”

"Nowadays, the average person has only three or four acres of land, so there is naturally no commercial food. What you said is not unreasonable. If you can feed yourself with three or four acres of land, you won't have much left. It's far worse than when the landlord took 60% of the rent. Exchange money in the city and become the cornerstone of the city’s industry and commerce.”

"However, if people can move to Fusang and other parts of the Southern Ocean, and a family of five can own a hundred acres of land, is it possible that one person can eat the output of twenty acres of land?"

"When the time comes, he won't be able to eat anymore, so he will naturally sell it."

"During this period, the city may collapse, or it may suffer depression."

"However, if it is not destroyed, it cannot be established. Thirty years later, the Great Eastward Movement will be completed, and the city will naturally develop by then. Moreover, there will be sufficient food."

"So in the past, Duke Xingguo and Yan Li's disciples quarreled and had a big quarrel over the issue of 'equalizing land is the most benevolent government in the world'."

"Today, it is a time of great strife. The world and the earth have been decided, and there is only so much land."

"Equalizing land, heavy taxes, relocating people, and marching eastward are the first truly benevolent policies. If it is just equalizing land, it cannot be considered a truly benevolent government."

"At present, the mainland industry has not yet developed significantly, so break it first and build it later."

"The big deal is that we will destroy the cities in the interior and build them again after equalizing the land and relocating the people. Yangzhou's thousands of years of weathering can still be used as Qiu ruins, but shouldn't it be at the expense of other places?"

"Coastal areas are the first to develop industries. Inland industry and commerce will be rewashed and depressed. It is not unacceptable."

"Therefore, reforming the imperial examination at this time is actually meaningless and even extremely reactionary."

"At this time, when reforming the imperial examinations, the imperial court's intention is probably to keep it as it is and let the city's industry and commerce gradually develop. But in this way, the congenital deficiencies and diseases in the womb will make it more painful to overturn and overthrow the imperial examination in the future."

"Xingguo Gong said that industry and commerce are a means of distribution of food. Although you think so, you don't know the deeper meaning."

"What Duke Xingguo means is that industry and commerce must initially be exchanged for grain. And the grain exchanged is based on land rent forcibly deprived of by land annexation? Or is it grain that the farmers themselves cannot eat after producing it?"

"If it's the former, then there's an upper limit. Especially the upper limit of the market. If someone holds land rent and grain in exchange for industrial products, how many feet of cloth can he wear?"

"In the end, if industry and commerce continues to develop, it will be nothing more than industry and commerce targeting these landlords and gentry."

"Whether it's silk fabrics, fine wines and delicacies, kabuki music, or inoga and other harmful things, this kind of industry and commerce is not the industry and commerce that promotes the prosperity of the country."

"Xingguo Gongyan's industry and commerce is mainly based on industry, including cotton cloth, ironware, production tools, machinery, etc."

"And these must be sold to producers, not pure rentiers."

"Therefore, we must first liberate food producers before we can develop industry and then commerce. This talent has unlimited potential."

"Otherwise, the industry and commerce in the mainland will all revolve around the surplus of land rent and take rentiers as the market. It is not serious industry and commerce, at least it is definitely not the kind of future industry and commerce that Xing Guogong said, and the upper limit is extremely low!"

“If you want to have a high ceiling, you must put agriculture first.”

"And now, aren't the people of the Celestial Empire industrious? No, they are very industrious."

"Is the yield per mu low in China? No, it's very high."

"However, if there is no cultivated land, no matter how talented and diligent you are, it will be difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice."

"So, the key is to relocate and colonize. This is the top priority in the world."

"In order to relocate and colonize, a large amount of money, resources, and food are needed to force the development of shipbuilding, shipping, steel, coal and other industries to support the needs of the relocated people."

"Where does the money come from? Equalization of land, taxation."

“Why do we have to equalize land to tax?”

"If the land is not equalized and taxes are imposed, 60% to 70% of the rent, plus heavy taxes, plus exemptions, plus subordinate staff, etc., the world will rebel!"

"If we can equalize the land and increase the May Day tax, we can still survive. The people are stable and at least they will not rebel. If we support this for twenty or thirty years, we will complete the great cause of relocation and cultivate billions of acres of arable land. If a family owns a hundred acres of land, and then industry and commerce develops, and the descendants will either farm the fields or enter the city to engage in industry and commerce, the world will benefit greatly. "

"During this period, or as you say, most of the state capitals and counties will decline and become depressed."

"However, those with money will either move to the provincial capital or go east to Sulu to invest in industry. As for the decline of the county town, I think it is worthwhile to exchange the decline of the county town for twenty years for the prosperity of industry and commerce in the future. Besides, during this period, the coastal areas will Industry is also developing, and the country’s total wealth is increasing.”

"And now, the court has lost its head!"

"It's child's play to actually carry out reform of the imperial examination and establish schools!"

"With this approach, towns, states and counties will absorb the sons of landlords, and industry and commerce will revolve around them. They will develop solely on the forced surplus of land rent. They have no future and the upper limit has been locked."

"Rural areas are declining, wealth is flowing to counties, land annexation is accelerating, wealth will not flow back to rural areas, and improved land will all be consumed in counties."

"False prosperity, if we continue to equalize land, this kind of false prosperity that relies on the forced surplus of land rent will return to its original shape in an instant, and it will become even more chaotic."

"Therefore, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. Take advantage of the fact that the prefectures, counties and cities have not gathered a large population like the industrial and commercial cities of Sulu, and get things done."

"Besides, what we just said here is correct. To be realistic, now that the Realistic School looks down on the Imperial Examination School and has little to do with the land, it is the time to destroy them in one fell swoop and implement land equalization reforms. It is impossible for people to Everyone has the world at heart, and even if the people of the Practical School have the mentality of eliminating the landlords and gentry and letting us become officials, it is not impossible to accomplish things. "

"Nowadays, what Duke Xing Guo left behind, the Practical School seems to be a school, but in fact it is a class. It is a class under the cover of the school, a group of literate people in a different class from the landlords and gentry. This is the key."

"And if the court continues to carry out this, the class flavor of the Practical School will fade away after more than ten years, and all landlords and gentry will join it, and the struggle between classes covered by the school will disappear. By then, the land will be equalized, and the land will be equalized. What the hell?"

"The most difficult thing in the world is to have me among you and you among me."

"Xingguo Gong spent decades, using practical knowledge as a cover, and finally solved the problem of me among you and you among me. When this opportunity comes, the loss will never come back."

However, when the people on the opposite side heard the word "class", they immediately cursed: "Class, class, how can there be any class?"

"That's just a fake book written by someone in the name of the Duke! But you use the fake book as a treasure, talking about class while keeping silent about struggle. It's simply ridiculous!"

"We often laugh at Confucian scholars, saying that they turned a bunch of apocryphal scriptures into true scriptures, never forgetting the Zhou rites and officials, and the most ridiculous thing is that the sixteen-character mantra turned out to be an explanation of the scriptures when facing the apocryphal books. In the end, aren't you the same? What difference does it make if a fake book written by some madman is a real book, talking about classes and struggles?”

The group that supported Juntian also snorted: "So what if it wasn't done by Xingguo Gong? The truth behind it is so enlightening that it makes sense."

"Today, there is still the possibility of the success of the reform, and it all lies in the new school and the old school. Although it is called an academic dispute, the class attributes of the two are actually very different. Therefore, there is a possibility of the success of the reform."

"Today's new learning and old learning are nothing compared to the old struggle between the old and the new in the Song Dynasty."

"The new and old learning of the Song Dynasty were all made by landlords and gentry. How could they succeed?"

"Nowadays, although it is called New Learning and Old Learning, the classes are actually different."

"It does not mean that if you and I learn geometric arithmetic, we will support the equalization of land. If the imperial court reforms the imperial examination and the gentry and landlords also learn geometric arithmetic, they will support the equalization of land just like us."

"This is like an ox plowing the land more, not because it is yellow, but because it is a cow. And when a person sees a ox plowing the land, he thinks that because it is yellow, the land can be cultivated, so he goes back and dyes his black dog yellow , Isn’t it ridiculous to think that we can cultivate the land this way?”

"We support equalizing land, not because we study arithmetic, geometry, physics and chemistry, but because we do not live on land rent. Now the court wants to reform the imperial examination, but the squires study geometry, physics, chemistry and arithmetic, and they still rely on land rent. What difference does it make if you are alive?”

"Everything in the world cannot be done without equalizing land. Equalizing land is not to equalize the rich and the poor. If it is just to equalize the rich and the poor, this is really a petty opinion. Equalizing the land is to collect taxes, organize forces, concentrate resources, and then create a great empire. The relocation of civil society will create a market for industry and provide hundreds of millions of people with a good life of hundreds of acres of land.”

"So it can be said that reforming the imperial examinations at this time cannot help the world, solve the dilemma of the world, and solve the bleak future. On the contrary, it will cause a lot of troubles in the future. When the time comes, there will be me among you, and you among me, and the classes will be mixed. It’s difficult.”

"If we change it now, it will be much easier. We need money, people, and soldiers. There are also hundreds of thousands of practical students who are envious of the benefits of the imperial examination and want to replace them. Candidate officials or equal land are measured. Even if there is a shortage of one hundred thousand people, it can still be filled. As long as five taels of silver a month are enough, how many practical students are queuing up to get a job for five taels of silver a month."

"And the imperial court is planning to reform schools through imperial examinations. In the future, the children who will study in the real world will all be the children of gentry, merchants, merchants and wealthy people. How can ordinary children have the money and leisure to go to school in the county? In the future, what if someone is given five taels of silver a year to measure and equalize his family's land? Are you willing?"

"In the past, the King of Chu asked Tian Jiu: Mozi is a famous scholar. He is very strong in personal practice. However, his words are vulgar, not pleasant to listen to, and his literary talent is not good. Why?"

"Tian Jiu used the metaphor of the story of buying a casket and returning a pearl, saying that the essence of Mozi is the pearl, not the box. It is precisely because he is worried that his literary talent is so good that people only see the beautiful box and ignore the pearls inside. That’s why when you speak, you should not listen to literary talent, but focus on practicality.”

"This is the story of the day."

"Now, this story of buying a casket for a pearl has happened again."

"Is the pearl left by Duke Xingguo in the past the practical knowledge itself? Or is it that there are so many students from practical studies that they cannot take the imperial examination and become officials? Hundreds of thousands of disciples from practical studies can be qualified for many grassroots official jobs with only three to five taels of silver. And there are only a few disciples from practical studies. In this situation of the rent-collecting class of the landless gentry, which one is the box? "

"In my opinion, the students of the Practical School are not in the rent-collecting class of the landlords and gentry, and cannot be elected to the imperial examination, but they still want to get a job that pays 350 taels of silver a month on the royal rations. This is the pearl. However, the Practical School is too gorgeous and too beautiful. It’s so amazing that many people regard the box as the essence instead of the pearls, and even buy the casket for the pearl!”