The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 146 The Originator of Economics

When later generations mention Shen Shixing's name, they often think that Shen Shixing was an important figure in the early and middle Wanli Dynasty. Many people will be surprised when they find out that Shen Shixing lived until the end of Wanli Dynasty.

Because Shen Shixing really didn't do much at home after resigning, and in the last twenty years of his life, he almost completely disappeared from the stage of history.

It's not that Shen Shixing doesn't want to do things, in fact, Shen Shixing has been waiting.

There is only one possibility for a figure like Shen Shixing to come out again - that is for the emperor to work hard and appoint old ministers again.Shen Shixing really held such hope at first, but seeing Emperor Wanli becoming increasingly decadent, Shen Shixing finally became disheartened.

After living idle for nine years, Shen Shixing is now in good spirits and has more energy than when he was in his fifties.But it's useless no matter how good his health is. He has been thrown into an old and useless position.

Shen Shixing now calls himself "Xiuxiu Jushi" and names his study "Cixiantang", which all reveals a sense of sadness.

After spending two days reading "The Wealth of Nations", he finally couldn't help but write a letter to his two sons.

Shen Shixing's eldest son Shen Yongjia relied on Shen Shixing's promotion to become an official in his early years. At this time, he was already serving as deputy envoy to Guizhou.

His second son Shen Yongmao was even more powerful. He was awarded Jinshi at the age of 23. At this time, he was already a member of the arsenal department and had discovered famous generals such as Li Chengliang and Li Rusong.

Shen Shixing spread out the manuscript paper and wrote a letter to his second son, writing quickly:

"Recently, I got half of "The Wealth of Nations" written by Wang Jianyang. It contains hundreds of thousands of words, and not a single word can be deleted. If you are an official outside, if you want to benefit the people, you need to understand this economic knowledge, the so-called division of labor, commodity currency, Market circulation... I am sending this book to you in two volumes. Be sure to read it thoroughly and then write down your thoughts after reading it. Send it back to Suzhou within two months, and see the date with a lacquer seal as proof."

Shen Shixing's tutoring was very strict to be able to train a scholar and a Jinshi. Although his two sons were both in their 50s and [-]s, he still taught them the same way as primary school students.

Shen Shixing felt that "The Wealth of Nations" was very useful for economic governance, so he directly asked his two sons who had become high officials to write their thoughts after reading it within a time limit. He also had to check it in person to prove that they read it carefully.

Not only Shen Shixing, but also after the first volume of "The Wealth of Nations" was published, many wealthy people took the initiative to go to Shuzhongtang to buy it.

Except for some arty rich people, many readers who really love reading were shocked by the first half of "The Wealth of Nations".

As the owner of the bookstore, Yuan Wuya himself wrote a review in the anthology of current affairs published next: "This book provides insights into the essence of economic development. It is not only a method of doing business, but also the essence of managing the world and the country."

The large number of economic ideas introduced in this book are refreshing. At the same time, what attracts the attention of many readers is the method of studying social science in "The Wealth of Nations".

"The Wealth of Nations" is completely different from the theoretical books at this time, mixed with a lot of logical deductions and thought experiments.

This is a method that people who wrote argumentative essays at this time had never tried. Many readers were greatly surprised when they read "The Wealth of Nations". There was only one thought in their minds: Can theoretical articles be written like this?

Shuzhongtang went all out to print "The Wealth of Nations". At the printing speed of the bookshop at this time, it would take about two months to rush out a batch of engravings.

The first half of "The Wealth of Nations" was launched as quickly as possible, working day and night just to publish it quickly. It still took more than a month from engraving to printing, and the first edition of [-] copies was quickly sold out. After that, Shu Zhongtang's The booksellers and customers who ordered books had already breached the threshold before repairs could be made.

Such a large book could not be sold at a high price using wax printing. For Yuan Wuya, his income would be greatly reduced. He could only continue to use woodblock printing, so he quickly sent people to Fujian to recruit engravers.

Even so, Shuzhongtang can only rush to finish the first half of "The Wealth of Nations" to satisfy the market first, and then print the second half. The full version of "The Wealth of Nations" will not be released until at least the end of the year.

After all, this book is still too complicated. Even if Wang Wenlong tried his best to simplify it when writing, so that Ming Dynasty readers can understand it, the final work still has more than 40 words.

Some small workshops obtained reprints of the original works, but found that the slight deletion of Wang Wenlong's original work made it difficult for readers to read. If they wanted to reprint it, they could only follow the original text.But this means that the number of words is too much, and the profit from reprinting will be very small. Therefore, except for some works that cheat money, the pirated version of "The Wealth of Nations" has not been released for a long time. The bookstores that reprinted it are scratching their heads and thinking about how to streamline it.

The reputation of "The Wealth of Nations" is getting more and more popular in Sanwu market, but many people have never been able to get the book to read it.

It was not until Yuan Wuya rushed out the [-] copies of the second edition of "The Wealth of Nations" that many anxious readers who had been waiting had the chance to read this book.

They had heard about the reputation of this book and thought it was a high treatise on Confucianism, but when they opened it, almost all of them were surprised - an economic world analyzed by rigorous logical thinking was clearly displayed in front of the readers.

This shock was so strong that when the [-]th copy of Shuzhongtang's "The Wealth of Nations" was printed, a literary society dedicated to discussing the book had already appeared in Suzhou.

Just because "The Wealth of Nations" came out in Suzhou at the right time.

Wage labor was already very popular in Sanwu at this time.

Before the end of the Ming Dynasty, employment was often a side job. Farmers only went to the city to work during the slack season. By this time, during the Wanli period, a professional hired labor class had emerged in Sanwu.

At the same time, the loom households in Sanwu had more than a dozen looms and dozens of workers.

When the workshop reaches this level, the owners no longer need to engage in manual labor or personally supervise the workers. Large machine owners still have to take care of their own business, but the method has become that of recruiting foremen to look at the machines, while they themselves are responsible for formulating reinvestment plans. plan.

Similar kiln households and stove households have become capitalists of operating capital, rather than small factory owners who do hands-on work.

Just this year, the tax eunuch Sun Long collected taxes in Suzhou and stipulated that the machine owners should have "one piece of tax money for each machine and three yuan of tax silver", which directly prompted the popular uprising, and the way of the popular uprising was "the machine owners went on strike" - the factory owner discovered If you don't produce, you can fight against the imperial court.

When the weavers stopped weaving, a big problem immediately appeared in the commercial taxation of the entire Suzhou, and the eunuchs were all afraid.

A corresponding pattern of confrontation also emerged between factory owners and workers. If the factory owners lowered wages, the machinists would join forces to "call for a break" to resist.

Even at this time, a talent market for weavers had emerged in Lianxifang, Suzhou. The loom operators who had learned their skills through a master-apprentice relationship - turners would gather in Lianxifang, dozens or hundreds of people, after they came to the city. Stand or sit, waiting to be hired.

This is a scene that has never happened before in history.

So much so that the court officials thought they were refugees at first. When they sent people to give out soup and repatriate them, they found out that these people were looking for jobs and would not leave even if they were given food. Later, they hired several computer owners to recruit workers. The crowd followed.

People often gathered at Lianxifang, which made Yan Guan think that there was some serious disaster in Suzhou.

Later, Jiangsu Governor Cao Shipin was ordered to investigate and report to the court to explain the matter:
"The people of Wu have the largest population and very few permanent products. Their families work together as a family. Machine households contribute capital and machine workers contribute their efforts. They have been dependent on each other for a long time."

Moreover, he also discovered that all these people depended on the textile industry for their livelihood, and realized that if the imperial court suppressed the textile industry, it would definitely cause refugees just like harassing farmers and mulberry trees: "Thousands of dyers will be dispersed if the dyeing workshop goes on strike, and thousands of weavers will be dispersed if the machine room goes on strike." There are thousands of people, all of whom are good people who support themselves."

The emerging bourgeoisie in Sanwu needed theories to guide their investments, and government offices that had never managed an industrial and commercial society also needed corresponding theories to guide their work.

And "The Wealth of Nations" came out at this time.

This book quickly attracted many people in Jiangnan.

(End of this chapter)