Qin Official

"I believe that there are truly patriotic merchants in this world, such as Xian Gao, who rewarded his master with a few cows to defeat the Qin army in exchange for Zheng Guo Zhouquan, but then refused to reward him..."

Before Hei Fu finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhang Cang.

"12 heads."

"What?"

Zhang Cang cupped his hands and said, "If you dare to sue the regent, to be precise, the price you have to pay is 12 cows and four pieces of cooked leather."

Heifu is unhappy. He is fat, reads a lot, and has an amazing brain. When the leader is speaking, can you interrupt the questioning casually? Look at Xiao He on the side, looking like a secretary, how well-behaved he is!

Zhang Cang ignored Hei Fu's black face and settled the accounts seriously:

"A subordinate asked a question in "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic": Today we have a total of 190 to buy cattle, which is less than 330, and nine families have a total of 270, a surplus of 30. What’s the price of cattle?”

He looked at Hei Fu, waited for a while, and then answered to himself: "A cow is worth 3,750, 12 cows, plus four pieces of fine leather, which is nearly 50,000 yuan, the property of a wealthy family."

"But what did Xian Gao get from this matter? Yes, he said that as a merchant, it is natural to be loyal to the country. If I receive an award, wouldn't I be regarded as an outsider? But it is not without benefits. He protected Zheng Guo. It was the merchants of Zheng who protected their own interests."

"The State of Zheng is different from the princes in that it attaches great importance to merchants. As early as the founding of the country, Zheng Huan Gong made a promise to the merchants of Zheng State: You will not rebel against me, I will not force merchants, and you will not be able to seize them. You will benefit from market treasures and bribes." , I don’t want to know about it.”

"The State of Zheng does not buy or sell by force, nor deprive merchants of their goods without reason, but at the same time, it requires others not to betray the State of Zheng, and if any princes abroad do anything unfavorable to Zheng, they must report it immediately. From Duke Huan of Zheng to Zichan, the State of Zheng This agreement has been adhered to for generations, and merchants also embraced Qiong Yao."

Therefore, the small Zheng State was able to become rich and famous all over the world, and was able to dance well among Jin, Chu, Qin and Qi.

Zhang Cang said: "So when Xian Gao saved Zheng, he also saved himself and the place where Zheng and his merchants lived! How can this be compared with fifty thousand dollars? Only if you know that there is no skin left, how can the hair be attached to the general?" Able to love their country.”

"It's a pity that this kind of situation only exists in the Zheng State. As for other princes, for hundreds of years, I heard that merchants sold their country's interests to the enemy in order to survive, but there has never been a second string height!"

"It's the same today. Instead of providing wealth and goods to restore people's livelihood, what they are thinking about is probably using methods approved by the government to obtain more wealth for themselves!"

Hei Fu nodded: "Are you saying that it's difficult to make a fortune for the country?"

Zhang Cang recognized this word very much: "Yes, it is difficult to make a country rich! This is the best way for wealthy businessmen in Guandong to make money for hundreds of years!"

"Bai Gui follows the method of taking what others abandon and taking what others take, but to put it bluntly, it is hoarding."

"When his family has a good harvest, he buys grain and sells silk and lacquer. When silkworm cocoons are formed, he buys silk and cotton wadding and sells grain. He uses his experience of observing astronomical phenomena to predict the amount of rain and the abundance and drought of the next year. If If there was a bumper harvest that year and a severe drought the next year, we would buy a large amount of grain and hoard the goods. When the disaster comes, we will sell the old grain at a high price! In all the previous severe droughts in the Central Plains, when the price of rice was hundreds of dollars, the Bai family was always there to help."

"I recently heard that there was a merchant named Ren in Xuanqu County, Zhengdi, who became the superintendent of the warehouse. Last year, when Qin was defeated, all the thieves and heroes were fighting for gold and jade, while Ren was the only one to collect grain from the warehouse. Sure enough, it was seen that Aocang was burned, and in this year, the people are not allowed to farm, and there is no harvest of green and yellow. Liang and Zheng have thousands of rice stones, and all the gold and jade of the heroes have returned to the Ren family, and the Ren family has become rich from this."

"This is Bai and Ren's method of amassing money, while Su's is another way to lend money to the people when they are in trouble. Luoyang people call it loan money, the capital is the mother, and the interest is the child. In the next year, the people Even if the money was not paid, Mrs. Su was still kind and allowed her to borrow more money and use the land as a gift. In the third year, when the interest increased and the people had no choice but to do anything, Ms. Su sold the bonds and took over the land from her neighbor. "

"With such repeated annexations, by the time the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Zhou Dynasty, it had occupied a large amount of land in the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties."

"And once these merchants become powerful, even worse, they can be as rich as kings in terms of financial resources, such as Su and Bai. If the Emperor of Zhou is the puppet of the Eastern and Western Dukes of Zhou, the Eastern and Western Dukes of Zhou are the puppets of Su Bai in terms of financial resources! That's why the King of Zhou was forced to stand on the debt bank, his face was disgraced, and he had to agree to make Su Bai his minister, and resisted him in a separate court."

"With the power and wealth, these wealthy businessmen gradually became extravagant, enjoying the pleasures of shooting and hunting in fields and ponds. They bought a large number of slaves and field slaves to acquire salt ponds and iron mountains, and the taxes from the government became less and less. He said It’s no exaggeration to say that I am ‘Su Feng’…”

Obviously, Zhang Cang didn't like these big businessmen.

"Is this the young master's opinion?"

Heifu looked at the other person.

"What do you think of Zhi Su Nei Shi?"

As Heifu's right-hand man in the economic field, Xiao He is older, thinner than Zhang Cang, and lower-profile than Zhang Cang. He has been immersed in farming and repairing ditches and water conservancy that were damaged by the war. When discussing politics in the DPRK, he always listens first and then listens later. He said that he never disagreed with anyone's strong opinions. At this moment, he said unhurriedly:

"There are many peasants and scholars serving as officials under the lower officials. In addition, I collected their comments and the opinions of the rich people in Guandong towards merchants."

"Today, for a family of five farmers, no less than two people are in the service. They can cultivate no more than a hundred acres, and the harvest from a hundred acres is no more than a hundred stones. They cut firewood, build government offices, and do corvee labor. They have no protection from wind and dust in spring, and no protection from heat in summer. There is no shelter from the rain in autumn, no shelter from the cold in winter, and there is no time to rest between the four seasons; there are also private visits, hangings to inquire about illness, and raising orphans and young children. All expenses depend on this hundred stones of corn."

"For every farmer, the land rent is easy to say. When collecting the tax, it can occasionally be replaced by silk, but most of the time, it has to be paid. So I have to take the grain to the market to sell, and the price of the grain will be cheap at that time, so I have to If you sell it for half the price or even if you can't sell it, you can only borrow money at twice the interest rate to meet the oral tax and avoid punishment."

"Though hard work can't guarantee your life, if you suffer from floods and droughts, urgent government and tyranny of taxes, irregular tax collection, wars, and government orders changing day and night, then you will have to rely on selling your land and houses and paying for your descendants to survive."

"But what about the merchants? The big ones hoard and earn double the interest, while the small ones sit in rows and sell. They travel around the city with their accumulated winnings. When they are in need, they will sell twice as much. Therefore, the men do not work, and the women do not Silkworm weaving, clothing must be literary talent, food must be beam meat; without the hardship of farmers, you can gain thousands of dollars."

"Because of his wealth, he was a trafficking prince, and his power exceeded the officials. He traveled thousands of miles, looked at each other with crowns and crowns, rode in fine cars and fat horses, and wore silk and white silk. This is the reason why merchants and farmers have become farmers in the past hundred years. This is the normal state of people’s exile…”

"This is the view of farmers and most small farmers. It is a bit extreme, but most of it is the truth."

In short, the conscience of capitalists cannot be trusted!

That's why the fundamentalist group of farmers strongly advocated killing all merchants and returning the world to the ancient times of self-reliance.

This is of course impossible, but behind the prosperous business of the six Kanto countries, there are many problems. Some people got rich first, the markets became lively, and luxury goods were extremely popular, but many farmers were still struggling on the poverty line. , the country itself has not become rich and strong because of this...

As for the sprout of capitalism that some people think will emerge “as long as business develops”? Not even a shadow can be seen!

As long as wealthy businessmen have savings, in addition to buying luxury goods to show off their wealth, they will focus on annexing land. The more land, the greater the sense of security. In addition, like Lu Buwei, they engage in political investment and turn money into power, thereby truly realizing class status. leap...

To put it bluntly, even though the wealthy businessmen of the Warring States Period were businessmen in name, their thinking was still that of farmers and officials!

What's more, there are still people who collude with foreign races for profit, and copper, iron and other prohibited items are also secretly transported out of the fortress! Heifu already had the evidence that Wushi Na was secretly communicating with the Xiongnu. Unfortunately, this old thief was cunning and refused to come back despite Heifu's warm invitation. This fat sheep was not easy to slaughter.

"Five beetles."

Zhang Cang continued: "My senior brother Han Fei also feels that merchants, especially wealthy businessmen, are one of the five beetles on the body of a country."

Translated, it means country moth…

"This is also the reason why the merchant kings focused on agriculture and suppressed business. The government of King Fuming made the people who were merchants, workers, tourists and food less and less famous, so that there would be fewer people engaged in their own business and more people dedicated to the business of merchants. "

The life of farmers in Qin is harder than that of ordinary citizens in Guandong. There is no way, the government has strong control. If they were to find out that merchants could buy the titles they had worked so hard to get by beheading people, and that they had worked hard for a year, merchants could earn them in half a year.

Then who the hell is willing to fight for the country? There are already 100,000 people and 90,000 merchants!

Peasants are bound to the land and have a fixed output every year. Their large population and stable residences make them the most convenient targets for state taxation. Food and cloth are both urgent needs.

Merchants, on the other hand, are running around without actual production, always reselling what they buy with their left hand and with their right hand. Their speculative profit-seeking behavior can even cause price fluctuations, which is very detrimental to stability.

Therefore, in Shang Yang's blueprint for Qin Xiaogong, merchants are street rats that everyone shouts and beats, and their political role is similar to that of the German Jews during World War II...

In the Qin State, merchants were heavily taxed and had to share the corvee according to the number of people (including servants in the family). Whenever a war broke out, city residents and sons-in-law were the first to be expropriated and dragged to the front line to be used as cannon fodder.

Demarcate city registration and special residential areas for merchants, let them wear white clothes as a sign, are not allowed to go out without permission, are strictly prohibited from wearing silk clothes to ride in cars, descendants are not allowed to be officials, and their status is only slightly higher than that of prisoners and slaves.

The farmers and military landlords who were the foundation of the Qin Dynasty immediately felt comfortable.

The farmers pointed at those humble merchants and said to their children, "Don't be merchants. Compared with other people, what can we not be satisfied with?" Their only way out is to fight and farm.

Landlords with military merit enjoy political and economic benefits, and there are no upstarts with huge achievements but hundreds of millions of money hanging around in front of them to make them upset.

Only businessmen, their political status has been trampled into the mud, and their economic status cannot be reflected at all.

So the question is, why do you still want to be a merchant? Therefore, unless the people of Qin really can't survive, they would rather be assigned by the government to work as farm laborers than to be officials!

Shang Yang had an insight into human nature, he succeeded, and he has made a profit since then.

Except for Wushi Nu and Widow Qing, who were favored by the First Emperor of Qin and received political immunity, there were no big businessmen in the Qin State, and the traffickers and traffickers were even more humble.

At the national level, the most outstanding thing Shang Yang did was to strictly implement government monopoly. Grain, wine, salt, iron, copper, as long as every aspect imaginable was handled by the government. In the Guandong countries, the benefits intercepted by the feudal lords and wealthy businessmen continued to flow into the government of Qin.

After eating up the agricultural taxes and continuing to eat the franchise dividends, the government of the six countries had empty land but it was still overrun by moths. When it was hungry, the Qin State became stronger and stronger, and finally defeated the six countries.

This is the victory of the system, the victory of Legalism, and the victory of Physiocrats!

But having said that, the emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business has always been criticized by later generations, as if this destroyed Chinese civilization and caused China to miss out on "capitalism", but few people have really thought about why this is the case.

Emphasizing agriculture is always right, and suppressing business is definitely not wrong, but measures that must be implemented in special times.

Now, after sitting in the position of "Zhiyi is the shepherd of the world", Heifu sees more clearly that for the government, there are three problems that must be solved.

1. The operation of the government requires huge financial expenditures. Agricultural taxes alone are simply not enough. If the state-owned monopoly system is not implemented, where will the money come from?

2. What should we do if we encounter an urgent need for money such as war or famine, but the treasury is empty?

3. If the central government does not control important financial resources and form an overwhelming force, what will happen if local forces expand and rebel?

This is the "Sang Hongyang Trap" that has stumped China for two thousand years. It is also the consensus reached by the Shaofu and Zhisu Neishi. It is also a national policy that Heifu must inherit to firmly control the country's economic lifeline...

"But can this kind of big-government monopoly really bring about all the benefits and no harm? Can it really be strictly enforced in this era of backward traffic information?"

The Qin Dynasty became rich, powerful and unified, but the people's lives did not get better at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Problems that were previously covered up in Guanzhong also emerged one by one as Qin officials parachuted to various places in Guandong:

Guandong did not adapt to Qin's economic policies and was not acclimated to the climate. It was difficult for the government to implement it. After the large industrial and commercial owners in various places became unprofitable, the mining efficiency of salt and iron gradually became low, and the things produced by the government workshops were expensive because of supervision. The quality was not very good. In the past ten years, the salt and iron industry in the Kanto region had declined.

A market without competition will eventually be lifeless and it will be difficult to innovate.

The forced purchase of grain warehouses in various places, which was originally used to regulate grain prices, in turn caused competition with the people for profits.

What's more, the monopoly system has fostered a powerful economy and formed a privileged group that grabs private profits in the name of monopoly.

Another trouble is that setting up a specialized salt and iron mine requires officials, right? All aspects of mining, transportation, and sales are handled by the government's supply and marketing cooperatives, so they also need clerks, right? It's okay in Guanzhong, but in the Guandong region, it's unavoidable to have other people in the middle, and the human losses and administrative expenses will be huge.

These are the many problems that the Shaofu encountered after the unification of Qin Shihuang.

Zhang Cang and Xiao He had just criticized the wealthy businessmen of Guandong, and now they were criticizing the shortcomings of franchises, hitting the nail on the head and showing no mercy!

And with an administrative order, did the merchants in Kanto really restrain themselves? No!

Although there is a government monopoly on salt and iron, there are also many people who are willing to take the risk of breaking the law and being severely punished to smuggle it in an attempt to defy the state's monopoly.

"Despite the difficulties of Guan Liang and the danger of thieves, merchants always shuttled between Lingnan and Saibei, Wuyue and Jingxiang, wearing stars to go in and out. They relied on bribery, forgery and other means to obtain the talismans to authenticate and pass on, traveling hundreds of miles a day without suffering. Although wealthy businessmen such as Luoyang Su, Bai, and Hedong were suppressed for a while, they still retained their heritage and worked desperately to regain their lost ground in the government offices in Guandong!"

Although Zhang Cang didn't like merchants, he had to admire these people's ability to do business.

"That's right."

The same goes for Heifu, who sighed with emotion: "In the Western Regions, Lingnan, and Haidong, the ones who have traveled the furthest are not the army, nor the officials, nor the envoys, but the merchants. In order to chase the legendary pearls and jade, they have traveled through the north to the north. , crossed Dianchi Lake, and went to explore the South China Sea and Shendu Road..."

"Every bustle in the world is for profit; the bustling world is for profit."

"He who travels day and night and travels a thousand miles without going far has the advantage ahead."

Zhang Cang and Xiao He said at the same time, coincidentally.

Why can this be achieved? To put it bluntly, it is still due to interests.

Therefore, no matter how the government suppresses business, commodity exchange is a necessary means for economic development under current conditions. Getting rich is human nature, so suppressing business cannot be suppressed. Once a crop is cut, another crop will grow.

Not only can the tail of capitalism not be completely cut off, but once the time comes, businessmen can grow back like a gecko's tail and grow rapidly, becoming as rich as the country...

For example, in the lands of Guandong, including Jiaodong, perhaps politically it is those anti-king heroes, Cao Shen and Chen Ping who have the final say.

But economically, it is the wealthy businessmen from all over the country who call the shots...

Heifu secretly said: "This is why I must make a good start in Luoyang and decide on the national policy of industry and commerce in the future..."

If we can get financial and human support from the wealthy businessmen in Kanto, it will make Heifu's reunification much smoother.

Now, two routes lie ahead.

On one side is the extremely laissez-faire merchant trade in Kanto, which has a vibrant economy, but there are wealthy businessmen who are powerful and wealthy.

On one side is the Qinland of Kansai, where the monopoly economy is single-handedly managed by the big government. Although it is stable and makes it easy to enrich the country with military force, private business is sluggish and lacks competition.

How to choose?

Fortunately, Heifu is safe and looks to the future.

He first looked at it for two thousand years... Unfortunately, the iron frame has been cast. From an economic policy perspective, for the next two thousand years, as long as China is still an agricultural society, there will be little new things under the sun.

Sang Hongyang and Wang Anshi, over and over again, are still the same old tricks as Guan Guan and Shang Wan in the Warring States Period. It is difficult to break away from the stereotype...

Looking back, with the spread of Western learning to the East, it seems that there are many more choices. However, after one trial and error, many falls, the fog becomes thicker and thicker, making people confused.

Fortunately, history finally gave him the perfect answer!

"Both extremes are undesirable."

Heifu smiled and said something that sounded like heavenly scripture to Zhang Cang and Xiao He, but was regarded as a guideline and the words of a saint by later generations:

"Productivity determines production relations, and production relations must adapt to the development of productivity!"

"Public ownership is the main body, and multiple ownership economies develop together. This is the basic economic system of Great Qin!"

…

ps: There is only one big chapter today.