I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 361 Discussing politics with Zhuge: The choice between agriculture and commerce in the Han Dynasty
There is a strong theory of destiny in ancient politics.

For example, when the King of Chuzhuang aspired to the throne in the past, the envoy sent from Luoyang said this: Although Zhou's virtue has declined, the destiny of Heaven has not changed the importance of the tripod, so there is no question.

When a dynasty changes, many parties will agree that the destiny of the old dynasty has ended.

The Mandate of Heaven is told by those in power to the world, but those in power may not believe it.

Take Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who was most afraid of the prophecies. He killed many people because of the prophecies. He was afraid of the prophecies, but he did not necessarily believe in the destiny. Instead, he was afraid that people in the world would be encouraged to rebel if they believed in the destiny.

Li Heng did not directly answer Zhuge Liang's question, but asked: "Suppose that the Zhou Dynasty uses counties to govern the world, what will happen?"

Zhuge Liang thought silently.

Fei Yi said: "That might cause chaos in the world."

"Why?"

"Because the power of the princes is threatened, they will not agree."

Fei Yi laughed and said: "Of course the princes will not pay the emperor a salary, and the princes must pay homage to him regularly."

"Yes, the power of the princes is threatened, and they will object." Li Heng nodded, "Then why is the power of the princes threatened?"

"In this case, why did the Emperor of Zhou want to enfeoff the princes in the first place?"

Fei Yi thought for a while and replied: "First, the Emperor Zhou didn't know how many fertile fields there were in the world, and the officials he sent couldn't measure it, because the world is so big, with different languages ​​spoken and written in different characters; Second, the local forces were very powerful, and they did not allow Emperor Zhou to bypass them and collect taxes directly from the people. "

Li Heng continued: "When all the wasteland in the world was reclaimed, agricultural tools became more and more convenient, food production increased, and the vassal states whose strength increased greatly began to annex the weak vassal states."

"Yes."

"Because county officials reported government affairs to the Emperor of Zhou, and county officials managed local civil affairs and justice. These were originally the powers of the princes."

"Without these officials, the Emperor of Zhou could just set them up, just like setting up princes."

"In the past, Zhao Zi allocated land to the slaves and asked the slaves to farm the land, increased the food supply, and expanded the military resources, making the Zhao State that had just been separated from Jin quickly become stronger."

Fei Yi replied: "The Emperor Zhou does not have so much money and food to support so many officials."

Li Heng asked again: "So, the princes hindered the emperor of Zhou from managing the people?"

"Then the Emperor of Zhou could be like the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, collecting fertile fields from all over the world and collecting taxes from small households to support officials. Why didn't he do that?"

Fei Yi said: "Because there are no state shepherds, governors, prefects and county magistrates in the world."

"Grain production is the basis of the economy. Changes in grain production are due to the reclamation of acres of land and the growth of the population."

"Why not?"

Zhuge Liang seemed to understand what Li Heng meant.

He said: "So you think that the production of grain determines the enfeoffments and counties?"

Li Heng nodded and added: "Even if the first two points are achieved, the taxes collected by Emperor Zhou will not be able to feed the officials of the world, because the grain yield per acre of land in the Zhou Dynasty was much less than it is now. At that time, In the old days, the routes remained the same, but the river transportation was different. There were few ships, and the grain production itself was small. There was not much left to transport it to Haojing or to the government offices of various states. "

"No way."

"Don't the princes need a salary from the Emperor of Zhou?" Li Heng asked.

"So, I think the reason why the Zhou Dynasty was unable to implement prefectures and counties was that food could not support the Zhou emperor to maintain a huge empire of prefectures and counties."

"Yes." Li Heng said, "There is insufficient food and the court cannot support officials. When the food is sufficient in the world, the vassal states begin to have the strength to annex other countries. After the annexation, they have the confidence to arrange officials to govern the annexed areas."

Zhuge Liang nodded, isn't this talking about the past events of the Qin Dynasty?

Just think about it, when Qin Shihuang annexed the six countries, the food output was still very low, and Qin could not support a complete set of bureaucrats.

In that case, when Qin Shihuang was thinking about national affairs, he had no choice but to choose enfeoffment. "The Zhou Dynasty can only enfeoff, so why maintain the stability of the world? The Emperor of Zhou established Zhou De and asked the world to abide by it. All the princes and ministers in the world will act according to Zhou De. If anyone violates Zhou De, the Emperor of Zhou will command other princes. Go crusade."

"But one day, a powerful prince who disobeyed Zhou De defeated the emperor Zhou's army because he had enough food and men. He no longer acted according to Zhou De, and cracks appeared in Zhou De."

Hearing this, Fei Yi was shocked: "So during the Spring and Autumn Period, rituals and music collapsed?"

"Yes."

"Then during this process, the increase in grain was determined by the land system. Did the land system affect the economic foundation?"

"That's right." Li Heng said.

Zhuge Liang asked: "But isn't the land system a superstructure?"

"The land system is the superstructure, but it explains more about production relations."

"Then production relations determine the economic foundation?"

"Production relations affect the economic foundation. When the well-field system is abolished, farmers are more willing to farm, and food production will increase. However, when farm tools become better, food production will also increase. Therefore, there is another point that is crucial to the economic foundation important."

Zhuge Liang immediately looked through Li Heng's documents and said in surprise: "Productivity?"

"Yes."

"So, productivity and production relations affect the economic base, the economic base determines the superstructure, and the superstructure reacts on the economic base?"

"Yes."

Zhuge Liang quickly reviewed all the history books he had read in his mind, and he seemed to have figured it all out in an instant.

He looked at Li Heng in shock, and then returned to the previous question: "So you think that the current economic foundation has reached a point where we must seek the consent of the people for legislation?"

"If we want to quickly revitalize Guanzhong and Jingzhou, we must not only increase grain production, but also further develop commerce, which is also one of the foundations of the economy."

"During the period when trading companies were prosperous, some people had to leave the farmland and enter factories and workshops and enter the city. These people had a monthly salary in the workshops. The number of goods on the market increased and they needed to be purchased by them. And they had the right to make independent choices when buying goods. ”

"If the court wants to collect commercial taxes at this time, if the commercial taxes are set too high, the price of goods will be too high, people will not buy them, business will be depressed, businessmen will go bankrupt, and people's livelihood will be ruined. The formulation of this commercial tax must take into account the vast majority of "

"When we need to consider the vast majority of people, we have to ask them. When we ask them, it is equivalent to asking for their opinions."

Fei Yi looked confused. He obviously couldn't keep up with the conversation here.

Zhuge Liang knew better. He said: "In the past, as long as the people were hungry, some people in power could keep raising taxes without asking the people?"

"Yes, but this cannot be the case in business."

"Because the people have the right to purchase goods independently?" Zhuge Liang asked.

"Yes, land tax continues to increase, and the people can only endure it. As long as they have a bite to eat, they can only farm. But business is different. It is more sensitive and difficult to control. It requires compromise with the people."

Consumption rights belong to the private sector, and they must be given over to the private sector to a certain extent.

Zhuge Liang fell into deep thought.

Fei Yi stood up, his face suddenly changed: "This will cause chaos and the court's prestige will be completely lost!"

"It doesn't mean that all prestige is lost. It's just that the court and local officials will have to compromise with the people on some things in the future."

Li Heng was not angry. For ancient people, it was normal to have such thoughts.

"Of course, it's okay if we don't do this." Li Heng continued, "We will take it slower. We only need to restore agriculture and curb business to a certain extent. We should still focus on farming as before, and use the energy of one generation to Time to restore Guanzhong.”

(End of this chapter)