I'm really not doing business

Chapter 790: If a person does not marry, his passions will be gone; if a person does not have food and clothing, his ruler and his subjects will cease to exist.

Xu Wei submitted a memorial, elaborating in detail the phenomena he had seen in Japan. The development between towns and countryside in Japan had become completely unbalanced. It was not just imbalanced, but completely unbalanced.

The excessive concentration of the population caused Japan to lose its reservoir, the countryside, and the countryside could no longer provide enough population.

It was a false prosperity because there was not enough labor to enter the towns.

Most of the people pouring into the port towns in Osaka Bay are young people, because the elderly and children are unable to migrate, and Japan is a long and narrow country without any depth, which greatly reduces the difficulty of population migration.

The population gathered rapidly, with more than three million people scattered in the ports along the coast of Osaka Bay, and only more than five million people in the countryside.

After entering the prosperous coastal towns and witnessing the prosperity, these young people immediately began to pursue wealth through hard work or speculation.

Even if they obtain wealth, they will not be satisfied, but will start to pursue fame, then a noble status, and finally glory after death.

But only a few succeed after all. In fact, the vast majority of these young people who come to the city to make a fortune fail at the first step and cannot make any money.

No matter how ambitious you are, you are still poor.

The world is so cruel. The trendsetters standing at the center of the stage are ultimately a minority among the minority. Most people have tried every possible means, good or bad, right or wrong, but have never been able to turn things around. They are always poor and laboring, living in anxiety all day long.

There is no shortage of women in the coastal port towns of Osaka Bay at present, as a large number of young people have gathered here due to population siphoning.

Originally, the life trajectory of the Japanese women in these towns was to marry a poor laborer, live together, have a few children, and live their lives in a muddle. After all, that prosperous world of decadence and dissipation did not belong to them.

But because of the false prosperity, these Japanese women had new choices, such as becoming prostitutes and serving wealthy people, or going out to sea to become Nanyang sisters and earn a better life.

The men in the town also accepted this fact very quickly, at a speed that was astonishing.

Because they soon discovered that there was no need to get married or have children. With just one or two days' labor, they could go to the brothels, where prostitutes gathered, and enjoy themselves. So why bother getting married or having children?
Xu Wei summarized the reasons for this in his memorial as: different lives and same death, seeking pleasure even at the cost of death.

People are born rich or poor, noble or humble, some are gifted or stupid, some are born beautiful, and some are just like everyone else. Everyone is born different, but everyone will die.

People are born to die. They will die after ten years, and they will die after a hundred years. They will die if they become benevolent or saints, and they will also die if they become villains or mediocre people. All the fame, wealth and honor will turn into dust after death.

Since they are all going to die, these poor laborers who are already poor, stupid and ugly, after seeing too much prosperity, can't help but wonder: Why should they give birth to children and let their children continue to be poor, stupid and ugly?

When people discovered that they could become happy simply by throwing away the responsibilities bestowed by education, because the money they earned could be used for their own spending, enjoying life in the moment, even at the risk of death, became the main trend of thought in these towns.

The idea of ​​survival hedonism above all else based on value comparison is spreading, and a de-responsible society is taking shape.

Oda Nobunaga tried hard. He ordered a ban on prostitutes and promenades, hoping that through this method, the poor laborers would work harder in exchange for more labor remuneration, start families, have children, and prevent the overall collapse of Japan.

But Oda Nobunaga failed, and the corridor was indeed closed, but soon private kilns appeared in the streets and alleys. As long as a red lantern was hung in front of the door, everyone would immediately know what was done there.

Oda Nobunaga could only acquiesce to the existence of corridors in these towns.

In the towns of Japan, something happened that had happened more than three generations ago: [If people do not marry or work, their passions will be half gone; if people do not have food and clothing, the relationship between rulers and ministers will cease.]
This sentence was said by Yang Zhu in the pre-Qin period. It is a common saying that has been passed down for more than three generations. It means:

People's desires are disappearing. They are unwilling to get married or hold funerals, and they even stop pursuing fame, wealth and status. All their desires are decreasing. They no longer pursue gorgeous clothes, tall houses, delicious and abundant food, and the relationship between the ruler and his subjects begins to disappear.

It’s not that I don’t want to pursue it, but that I can’t get it even if I try.

"All things are born and die together, different beings die together; ten years die, a hundred years die; the wise die, the wicked die; fame and fortune are not real, the hope of beauty and fame is like a mirage; the wise and the foolish are all rotten bones, and glory and splendor are just dreams at midnight;"

"Respect yourself and value yourself, respect life and value life. If a person does not marry or work as an official, he will lose his passion for pleasure. If a person does not have food and clothing, he will rely on the ruler and his subjects for support." Zhu Yijun finished reading Xu Wei's memorial.

This is Xu Wei's summary of Japan. Xu Wei connected these things together, observed and thought about them, and finally came to this conclusion.

The most interesting thing is that Xu Wei prescribed a good solution for Japan. In fact, the solution to the problem was very simple: closing the country to the outside world and being extremely xenophobic.

As long as the country is closed and extremely xenophobic, these problems will gradually disappear and return to the previous chaotic version.

However, Japan was too close to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty did not allow Japan to close its doors to the outside world. Instead, it dumped large quantities of goods into Japan in exchange for silver. At the same time, it destroyed weak handicraft workshops and did not allow Japan to revert to its version.

"Xu Wei's memorial is good, very good." Zhu Yijun said while holding the memorial: "Urban and rural development must not be unbalanced. We cannot stop eating because of choking. Towns must develop, and so must the countryside. Only in this way can there be enough population."

Feng Bao frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is not Japan. Japan is long and narrow, so it doesn't take much effort for people to migrate to the coast."

The Ming Dynasty has depth, which is what Feng Bao believes is the advantage of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is really too big, and the countryside is really too big. The cost of people's migration is really too high. There is no need to worry about what happened in Japan.

"The Ming Dynasty is building highways." Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "Feng Daban, look at the big cities that these highways pass through. Don't they look like pumps with countless tentacles, constantly pumping people and wealth from the countryside into the cities?"

"Yes, the Ming Dynasty is big enough, and the population is large enough. If we allow the big cities to drain the countryside, the Ming Dynasty will fall into the same predicament as Japan in less than 30 to 50 years."

Xu Wei's memorials repeatedly reminded people that Japan's problem was the imbalance in the countryside. Even if there were five million people in the countryside, these five million people were elderly, children, and bachelors.

In this era, men were the labor force and began to create labor value at the age of five or six, so the phenomenon of drowning baby girls was very common in Japan. In addition, due to war and unstable life, there were fewer women than men in Japan. Women were drawn into the cities, and the countryside was full of bachelors.

The biggest victims of war are not men or women, but civilians. The poor and hardworking people have little ability to resist risks.

"Do you still remember the rat paradise I created in Guanghan Palace?" Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao and asked, "Do you think it will never happen in Ming Dynasty?"

"Your Majesty is wise." Feng Bao thought for a moment and shuddered.

Everything that happened in Japan and everything that happened in Guanghan Palace's Rat Paradise came to pass perfectly.

The bachelors in the countryside are the lowest level of the mouse paradise, and they have no desire to reproduce.

The daimyo and wealthy businessmen in the city are the strong rats. They attack other rats without any motive at all.

And reproduction spreads from the top level. It has been fulfilled in Korea and Japan. Everything that happened in Korea and Japan will also happen in Ming Dynasty.

Xu Wei also mentioned in his memorial that these coastal towns were forming a group of rentiers, who were compradors who relied on the Ming Dynasty's open sea policy to transport all kinds of goods to the port.

At the beginning, these compradors were just errand boys hired by the Ming Dynasty. They usually maintained very good relations with the Ming Dynasty merchants who came to the Nagasaki Governor's Office. They understood Chinese, served as a bridge for Sino-Japanese trade, and actively carried out trade activities.

But as time passed, the comprador group gradually grew stronger and began to do business in partnership with the Ming Dynasty.

For example, the Akita Copper Mine in Japan was run by the Japanese, and the Ming Dynasty was mainly responsible for its management and export.

Xu Wei also expressed his feelings in his memorials, saying that these compradors spent huge amounts of silver to purchase various goods from the Ming Dynasty, transferred most of the profits out of Japan, and madly exploited the local market and poor laborers.

These compradors and lackeys even cooperated closely with the Ming army. They struck hard at the native daimyos of Japan who wanted to break their monopoly. They sold all kinds of intelligence, provided hydrological and geographical maps, stirred up public opinion about wind power, and other means to firmly cooperate with the actions of the Ming army to consolidate their own position.

These compradors and lackeys relied on their economic status to continuously gain higher political positions, and even learned from the Ming Dynasty officials and started publishing miscellaneous newspapers to win over Japanese scholars.

Eventually, the basic political correctness of "opposing the Ming Dynasty is opposing the royal rule, rejecting advancement, and rejecting civilization" was established, and various opinions that were not suitable for Japan were shaped.

This was a situation that Xu Wei had never expected. Xu Wei, Sun Keyi and others thought that they hated Japan so much that they went to Nagasaki to deal a heavy blow to Japan. However, the performance of these Japanese compradors showed that they hated Japan even more than Xu Wei and others!

In addition to military invasion, Japan was also invaded economically, culturally, and politically, and the latter three were completely initiated by the Japanese people.

"Japan is killing Japan." Zhu Yijun said with emotion.

Ming Dynasty opposes Ming Dynasty, which describes the rift in Ming Dynasty caused by the different positions of various classes. However, this rift is only the degree of opposition. To reconcile the contradictions between classes is to bridge the contradictions.

Borrowing the heads of local celebrities and gentry can effectively alleviate the resentment in the hearts of the people.

But the Japanese have gone further. Japan is killing Japan. Japan is heading towards self-destruction, and there is no sign of stopping.

"Submit Xu Wei's memorial to the cabinet and let the ministers take a careful look at it." Zhu Yijun handed the memorial to Feng Bao.

"Oda Nobunaga's sister, Oda Ichi, presented a letter from Japan, saying that Japan had formulated some wrong national policies and hoped to readjust the relationship with the Ming Dynasty and jointly end the war in Korea." Feng Bao presented a memorial.

Due to the intensification of internal conflicts, Japan had to shift the conflicts to the outside and brazenly launched the Korean War, gaining a huge advantage and almost swallowing up the entire Korea.

After the Ming Dynasty sent troops to intervene, Japan suffered successive defeats in Pyongyang, Kaesong and Seoul. With the balance of victory completely tilting towards the Ming Dynasty and the battlefield in a completely unfavorable situation for Japan, Japan proposed peace talks.

Wa Kingdom recognized China as the source of civilization. The Wa people learned writing, administration and religion from China, so Wa Kingdom was born.

The national policy was wrong. Oda Nobunaga admitted defeat and was willing to withdraw from the Korean battlefield in exchange for peace. At the same time, in his letter, Oda Nobunaga emphasized the long-standing relationship between Ming and Japan and promised that past wrong decisions would not be repeated.

Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial and said, "In his letter to the emperor, Oda Nobunaga mentioned that the origin of the Wa people came from the story of a Qin Dynasty alchemist who brought young boys and girls to the East China Sea to search for the immortal mountain."

"I am very disgusted by this statement. The Japanese will also think this is a very ridiculous thing."

"Of course, I cannot agree with this matter, because I cannot accept the so-called Han descendants forgetting their ancestors."

"I cannot agree to any of his requests."

Zhu Yijun made a reply, saying that Oda Nobunaga was indeed quite shameless, as he directly attributed the origin of Wakoku to Xu Fu's eastward voyage and started a narrative of friendly neighborliness between the two countries.

Zhu Yijun directly denied this connection. Although he didn't say any swear words, his meaning was very clear: Don't try to take advantage of the relationship! Disgusting!

"Interesting, the battle report that Oda Nobunaga received was probably not a true report." Zhu Yijun finished his annotations and said with a smile: "The frontline concealed many facts, making Oda Nobunaga think that the Korean battlefield was still in a stalemate and that it was still a bargaining chip to exchange for something."

"But the Korean battlefield was not a bargaining chip. It was deliberately left there by the imperial court to train new tactics and continue bleeding the wounds of the Japanese pirates."

"Besides, how can he interfere with free trade!"

In Oda Nobunaga's eyes, the Korean battlefield should be a stalemate, so he thought it was a bargaining chip, which was shaped by the battle reports given to him by the front line. The front line was also somewhat confused, thinking that this tug-of-war and back and forth was because the Ming army had no way to deal with the Japanese castles;

But Hashiba Hideyoshi knew very well from the beginning that the Ming army was using the Japanese pirates to sharpen their swords and was not using their full strength at all;
If you stand at a different angle, you will look at the problem from a completely different perspective.

Oda Nobunaga hoped to withdraw his troops in exchange for Ming support for his policies, and hoped that the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office would establish a ship pull system to limit the number of Japanese ships arriving in Nagasaki.

Oda Nobunaga formulated the one-country-one-city policy, which meant that a country could only have one city. So, under this decree, all the port towns in Japan's inland sea would be abolished, and each place would only have one large port town. This would help ease the internal conflicts in Japan.

In Oda Nobunaga's view, this was a good proposal that was in the interests of both the Ming Dynasty and Japan.

When the Ming Dynasty gained Korea, the internal conflicts in Japan were completely alleviated. If they work together, both sides will benefit, but if they fight, both sides will suffer.

But Oda Nobunaga's order interfered with free trade, which was something the Ming Dynasty would never allow to happen.

Zhu Yijun and the Ming court officials did not want to change the situation in the Korean War in a short period of time, so Oda Nobunaga's letter requesting peace received a clear response.

The four assistant ministers also posted floating votes, believing that more opinions from the front line should be heard. Since Ling Yunyi and Qi Jiguang did not call for a stop, there was no need for the court to do so.

Especially since the Ming Dynasty no longer had to transport too much food and supplies to the front line, this battle was indeed the most cost-effective one for the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, Wang Qian is here." A eunuch walked in and said with his head bowed.

"Xuan."

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live Your Majesty." Wang Qian greeted you respectfully. The reason he requested an audience with you was because the emperor wanted to hold the Yanxinglou trading house accountable.

Zhu Yijun said solemnly, "Please excuse me. I have heard some bad rumors recently, saying that you, Wang Qian, the Imperial Censor, are very arrogant and tell people that you want to eat bloody chips. Please repeat your words in front of me."

"I obey your order." Wang Qian stood up straight. The humility on his face disappeared, and he became a little arrogant, with a look of disdain.

"This Yanxinglou Trading Company is eating people. What does it mean to eat people? It means that you come in with your hard-earned money, but you can't take a penny away. It's impossible to make money. If I let you make money, then what will I earn?"

"In Yanxing Building, I am the biggest dealer!"

"I only need to give an order, and everyone will start to smash down with all their might. If you smash down 10%, you'll feel pain. If you smash down 20%, you'll feel panic. If you smash down 30%, you'll tremble and hand over the remaining chips in your hand."

"You think you're not afraid? If you refuse to hand it over, I'll keep smashing it until you're willing to hand it over!"

"When you see the valuable notes in your hands depreciating every day, you will naturally be afraid. You will be afraid of losing everything and being called by the bank for debt. In the end, you can only reluctantly sell at a loss or simply jump from Yanxing Tower into Tonghui River and die."

"You don't deserve to fight me, you only have a few bucks!"

"Do you know who I am? Wang Qian, the son of Wang Ci Fu!"

"I'll say it again. If you don't have tens of thousands of silver coins, don't come in. This is not the place for you."

Wang Qian put away his arrogant expression after he finished speaking, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have finished my performance."

"Why do you say that?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown on his face. "In the past few days, the memorials from the censors scolding you have filled up the Wenyuan Pavilion. There are also memorials scolding your father."

"You deserve the scolding. I said these words just to be scolded." Wang Qian took a deep breath and said, "I recently discovered that some people went to money houses to borrow money to trade in Yanxinglou, hoping to get great wealth."

"That can't be the case. The Grand Tutor once said something that I agree with. If you borrow money, you must pay it back, no matter what method you use."

"They borrowed money to enter Yanxinglou, so I cannot let them earn a penny. If they earn money without working, it will be a virtual thing. Yanxinglou Trading House is for everyone to become a shipowner and to accumulate gold, not for speculators to speculate."

"People who have borrowed money have a lower ability to withstand pressure and tend to panic. When the market falls sharply, they can only cut their losses and leave the market."

"Investment is investment, and speculation is speculation. These are completely contradictory concepts."

Wang Qian chose to crash the market because he noticed that a large number of people had entered the market with debts. When some people could no longer bear it and questioned him, he uttered those shocking words.

These words made the market even more panicked, and the market fell rapidly again.

"Your Majesty, Yanxing Tower is a game among crocodiles, to see who is more ruthless. I have 10 million silver coins and 700,000 taels of gold in my hand, and I want to make money for the court." Wang Qian said again.

He told His Majesty that he was first responsible to the Emperor. Those silver and gold were given by the Emperor's order. His power came from the Emperor. People are only responsible to the source of their power. Being responsible for the people is His Majesty's business, not Wang Qian's.

"I only asked you to collect gold at a fair price." Zhu Yijun said helplessly: "You are so good, in three months, 1130 million silver turned into 130 million silver, earning million silver, taels of gold, you turned into taels."

Wang Qian took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, 1.3 million silver and 93,600 taels of gold have already been delivered to the treasury. If you just want to save them at a fair price, you will definitely lose money. You can only make money to save them. If you don't make money, you will lose money."

Finance is different from other industries. It is a zero-sum game rather than a win-win situation. There are only survivors and losers here. If you don’t want to be a loser, you can only be a survivor and put aside all conscience to make money, otherwise you will definitely lose.

They are all silver, which one is righteous? Which one is evil?
Zhu Yijun's fingers kept tapping on the table. After a long time, he spoke: "Okay, you have a point. Some things become more and more chaotic the more I intervene. I can only respect the fate of personal choice and respect objective laws."

Wang Qian wanted to take the path of a loyal minister, a cruel official, and a corrupt official. If he did not take this path, he would not be able to gain the emperor's trust.

The Ming Emperor decided not to interfere too much. Power is never omnipotent, and too many administrative orders would easily undermine market stability.

The essence of establishing Yanxinglou Trading House was, first and foremost, to allow the gentry in the north to have a share of the maritime trade. The annual dividends were the only increase outside of the zero-sum game, and were intended to bridge the economic gap and contradictions between the north and the south.

The second purpose was to supply enough silver to various manufacturing industries. The earliest ship tickets were to give shipyards enough orders and become one of the shipowners of the five major ocean-going trading companies. Later, they were used to absorb silver for entities.

Only by understanding these two essences can we understand Wang Qian's approach. On the one hand, he needs to report to the emperor, and on the other hand, he needs to continue to provide blood transfusions to the manufacturing industry.

"Wang Qian, you must take care of your own safety." Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "I will send you some imperial guards to protect yourself."

What Wang Qian did was equivalent to taking out all the dividends from the big ships arriving at the port, exchanging them for gold, and storing them in the treasury. This was a damned job, and it would be strange if he didn't get hated by others.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Qian chose to accept it. He knew very well what he was doing. He needed to protect his family after his father's death. Only Your Majesty could protect him, so he had to do it to the end.

The only thing Wang Qian was not worried about was that he would be dragged out and beheaded by His Majesty if he worked for him, so he used other people's heads to stabilize people's hearts.

Your Majesty is really good to his own people. Of course, you must be truly one of his own, willing to contribute to the Ming Dynasty's renewed greatness rather than hollowing out its foundation.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is in danger now." Wang Qian said solemnly: "Most of the officials in the court were educated in the Four Books and Five Classics. The officials do not know mathematics or accounting."

"In the past, most people didn't understand these things, and many employers were deceived by the shopkeepers and accountants. But now, there are accountants from the Royal Institute of Technology in the private sector."

Wang Qian saw the danger. No one was professional, but the people would become more and more professional in accounting. The court could not recruit professional talents and would become less and less professional.

Now the tax collectors can bully the common people, but who knows who will bully whom in the future.

Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "I am also worried. Even if there is this Dongjiaominxiang Prison, those who are arrested are mostly stupid and unskilled. Those who are smart and clever may go unpunished."

"And it's not just auditing and mathematics, but also iron horses, highways, minerals, astronomy, etc. It's all like this. The people are booming, while the court is rigid and conservative. In the end, I'm afraid the court will be left far behind by the people."

“When the imperial court becomes an obstacle to the advancement of productivity and the change of production relations, how long can the imperial court last?”

"Wang Qian, do you have any good suggestions?"

Wang Qian tried to answer, "There are actually two reasons why the court cannot compete with the people: low salaries and no hope of promotion. You can only be a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue for your whole life."

"People are arrogant because of their talent. Talent brings arrogance. Being a clerk for a lifetime is definitely not something one would be happy with."

"Your Majesty, I have an immature idea. In fact, when you are an official, salary is not important. Power is the most important thing. With power, you don't have to worry about money. It all depends on your appetite."

"Can we give the students who are willing to serve the court and perform well a special status of Jinshi, and then go to Yilun Hall to listen to the emperor's teachings and observe government for two years before becoming an official?"

"Huh?" Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said, "Tell me in detail."

Wang Qian was able to pass the imperial examination and manipulate so many smart people in Yanxing Tower. There was no problem with his ability, but his moral character was a little lacking. What he meant was to open up a promotion channel for the students of the Royal Institute of Technology.

The court’s advantage has never been money, but power.

Wang Qian said solemnly, "My father took it for granted. He said he wanted to cancel the preferential treatment for local sages. No wonder the prime minister opposed him. He was too impatient. Even if this decree was made, it would be impossible to enforce it."

"Your Majesty is wise and benevolent, and can handle all affairs of the world. You are sincere and kind, and can understand the feelings of the world. However, Your Majesty's power does not allow you to rule all people in the world. Therefore, you have the Hundred Ministers and the Four Mountains at home, and the Governors and the Dukes outside to rule the world."

"The source of the preferential treatment for local sages and nobles is that all senior officials are born into local sages and nobles, which is itself part of the preferential treatment."

No matter how powerful or wise the emperor is, he is still a human being, so he has to govern the world together with other officials.

If Wang Chonggu wanted to directly reduce the treatment of local nobles and gentry, the first to oppose it would certainly be the officials across the country. If the government decree was widely opposed, it would be impossible to implement it.

To completely eliminate the preferential treatment of local gentry and local wise men, it is necessary to eliminate the source. To put it more bluntly: if the imperial examination system cannot be abolished, the preferential treatment cannot be abolished.

Wang Qian whispered, "Graduates of Kowloon University who are willing to serve the court can obtain the special imperial examination through the examination system, go to Yilun Hall, listen to the emperor's teachings and observe government for two years, and then they can become officials."

What Wang Qian meant was to open up new channels for talent promotion.

Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said, "Don't tell others that this was your suggestion. I pushed it forward and you couldn't handle it."

What Wang Qian wanted to do was basically to open the gate of heaven with one order and shake the universe.

(End of this chapter)