I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 33 Return tenfold

The Western Han Empire after Emperor Wu of Han and the Eastern Han Empire before Emperor He of Han had always implemented the salt and iron monopoly in all or most areas, with only a few revisions, developing a situation in which state-owned and private businesses coexisted.

During the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han, the salt and iron monopoly was restored to solve the government's financial difficulties. However, when Emperor He of Han came to power, local forces rose, so the salt and iron monopoly policy was abolished and the dual-track system of state-owned and private enterprises coexisted was restored.

Since then, the salt and iron policy of the Eastern Han Empire has continued to this day, with a dual-track system running in parallel.

On the one hand, salt officials and iron officials were set up in local areas to collect taxes from private salt and iron businesses. On the other hand, state-run salt and iron sites that were specifically produced to serve the official sector were still preserved.

In fact, according to the latest archaeological discoveries, the Central Plains region already had the ability to produce steel weapons during the Warring States Period. Both the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty had the ability to produce high-strength steel weapons, but they were unable to popularize and mass-produce them.

The empire had a large number of iron and steel workshops of considerable scale and a large number of iron furnaces.

There are six extra-large workshops that can produce one ton of steel per day when running at full capacity, and eighty-two other medium-sized iron-making workshops.

It is estimated that during its heyday, the empire's annual steel production could reach 17,885 tons, a figure that was more than enough for the population of more than 50 million during the Han Dynasty's heyday.

However, throughout the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties, there are numerous records of farmers lacking agricultural tools, and it even developed to the point where they needed to use wood, stone, or even their own hands to cultivate the land.

This, of course, is the reason for practical operation.

Theoretical production figures are theoretical production figures. Actual operations are different. Regardless of whether the pure production link can run at full capacity and full speed, and what the defective rate of products is, the taxation operations at the national level alone make the popularization of high-quality agricultural tools a fantasy.

Before the implementation of the state-run salt and iron policy, that is, in the early Western Han Dynasty, local merchants who mined iron ore, made iron tools and sold them locally were required to pay a 20% tax to the imperial government.

If the products are not only sold locally but also to other counties and kingdoms, customs duties will need to be paid at various checkpoints, and taxes will be collected repeatedly every time they leave a checkpoint, with tax rates ranging from 10% to 50%.

This means that for farmers at the end of the consumption chain, if they buy local iron farm tools, they will have to bear a premium of at least 40 percent, and if they buy iron farm tools produced outside the region, they will have to bear a premium of at least 50 percent.

How much does this cost?

But even with such heavy taxes, it can be regarded as the rule of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, because it at least allowed steel production to serve the market, had certain market attributes, and there was room for free competition. The farm tools that farmers could buy were at least acceptable.

After Emperor Wu of Han, the sometimes strict and sometimes relaxed state-run salt and iron dual-track policy greatly undermined the nature of this market, forcing farmers not only to bear high prices but also to accept poor quality.

Cast iron farm tools that have not been fully forged can hardly withstand high-intensity physical collisions and can easily break and collapse.

The farmer saved up money for a long time and finally bought new farm tools, but they broke down after just a few uses...

Who can I talk to to explain this?

Under the dual-track system, although private merchants had a certain degree of production autonomy, the bureaucratic nature of the state-run salt and iron units often made it difficult for them to operate. Corruption among officials at all levels often made it difficult for production units to meet the court's targets. Therefore, private merchants had to be instructed to take over production and meet the court's needs.

Under the mandatory order, private steel merchants had to serve the needs of the court, otherwise they would be blocked by the government if they just had to pay taxes.

To this day, although the dual-track system has been in operation for a long time, private steel merchants are still occasionally subject to official mandatory task assignments.

The main task was to produce the iron tools needed by the court and the army, and the time and resources available to produce farm tools for farmers were quite limited.

The producers who own the resources do not have the time, willingness or resources to provide farmers with sufficient agricultural tools. It is no wonder that when Yuan Shu visited various places, the most common issue raised was the shortage of agricultural tools.

This is not an isolated phenomenon, but a universal phenomenon.

So Yuan Shu was particularly angry.

Everyone knows that if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. You bunch of insects don't even provide people with farm tools, and you really expect them to complete agricultural production by digging the soil with their bare hands?
With your character, you still have the nerve to ask farmers to collect taxes?

Not even worthy of eating!

Shit on you guys!
I bother!

Bah, bah. Yuan Shu doesn't have the ability to change anything, so he can only seek ways to improve it within his ability.

So Ma Rong suffered again.

The Ma family owns a vast amount of land and naturally has the ability to independently produce iron farm tools. They not only provide them internally, but also sell them externally. They have good sales locally and make a lot of money.

Yuan Shu set his sights on the productivity in this area and approached Ma Rong, hoping that Ma Rong could mobilize the production capacity of the Ma family to provide them with a batch of sturdy and durable iron farm tools so that self-cultivating farmers in the surrounding areas could go out to turn the soil during severe cold weather and increase grain production in the coming year.

"It is a common phenomenon that farmers lack farm tools. Without enough and durable farm tools, not only is the efficiency low during spring ploughing, but also the inability to turn the soil and freeze pests to death in winter. The overall production is very sluggish and the output has been declining year after year. If there are enough farm tools, this phenomenon will definitely be improved."

Yuan Shu pleaded with Ma Rong: "Teacher, please help me with farm tools. I can use the money I have raised to buy them, and I won't let Ma Rong suffer any loss."

Ma Rong, who was lying on the cushion, was not in a good mood, but he managed to sit up and looked at Yuan Shu. "You want me to help you, that's fine, but Shu, you have to understand one thing, if something obviously unreasonable happens, everyone knows that there is a problem, but no one tries to improve it, or the improvement fails, then it means that the matter itself is not simple."

Yuan Shu's heart sank.

"Teacher, what you mean is that someone is deliberately maintaining this situation so that the self-employed farmers can go bankrupt faster and then buy their land at a low price?"

"Yes, that's right. I think you are so smart that you can definitely observe this problem."

Ma Rong sighed and said slowly: "In fact, let alone others, I also know that some members of the Ma clan have done such things. I want to stop them, but I am powerless. People's hearts are hard to predict and their desires are hard to satisfy. Some things cannot be done by one or two people.

You are providing them with help now, acting under the name of justice, and your father is the Jingzhao Yin, which is not far from Maoling. No one dares to openly oppose you for the time being. But once your father leaves office and the power of the Yuan family weakens, do you think that everything you have done can be maintained?

You are not a local. In Maoling, the Ma family still has some influence. Outside Maoling, there are local nobles in other places. Once they take action, it will be difficult to deal with them. Shu, have you ever thought about where so many bandits and strongmen come from in such severe cold?"

Yuan Shu was silent for a while, then raised his head.

His previous guess turned out to be correct. Some people were dissatisfied with his behavior, but they did not dare to offend Yuan Shu openly, so they could only play edge balls on the periphery and cause trouble for Yuan Shu.

If you can’t afford to offend Yuan Shu, then you can’t afford to offend those peasants?
Perhaps they thought that by skirting the rules like this, Yuan Shu would give up.

Then Yuan Shu would have to tell them - you guys look down on me too much.

"Teacher, I am young, and there are some things I cannot figure out, nor can I solve, but my conscience tells me that I should do this, and I must do this. I also tell others the same thing. When you encounter a problem, do it according to your conscience first, and don't think too much. If you encounter difficulties, then find a solution."

Ma Rong thought for a moment and shook his head.

"It's too dangerous to do this. If someone plots against you, you will suffer a great setback and loss. You may be safe, but others may not be. Don't you consider them?"

“People don’t know the past or the future, but they know the present.”

Yuan Shu shook his head and said, "I don't know who I will offend, who will hate me, or what kind of revenge I will receive. I only know that if I don't help those farmers, they will die soon, lose their families, lose their land, or become starving or become bandits.

Obviously, all this can be changed by just lending a helping hand. Even if it is just to delay the occurrence, it can be regarded as doing one's part, which can live up to one's conscience and have a clear conscience. Therefore, the disciple only wants to do it. As for other things, the disciple has his own considerations. "

Ma Rong looked at Yuan Shu for a long time and suddenly laughed.

"It's great to be young. You can be reckless, dare to fight and rush, don't consider the worries, and do everything with a clear conscience. It's not the same for an old man like me. I look ahead and behind, have too many concerns, think too much, and ultimately achieve nothing.

Now think about it, if I had the same courage as you, and if I hadn’t had so many concerns like you, perhaps the results of many things would be completely different. Unfortunately, I met you too late, and it was too late for me to wake up..."

“Good thoughts are in your heart, and good deeds are before your eyes.”

Yuan Shu smiled and said, "If the teacher is willing to help, isn't that also acting according to one's conscience? Isn't that also the unity of knowledge and action? Even if it's just for a moment, even if it's only for a moment, the teacher is still a saint who is worthy of heaven and earth in the eyes of his disciples!"

Ma Rong's expression hesitated for a few seconds, and then he revealed a bright and warm smile as if ice and snow were melting.

"You only know how to say nice things to an old man like your master. You just say it without caring about anything else or the consequences. You are really reckless!"

“Better to be reckless than to do nothing.”

Yuan Shu shook his head and said seriously, "Too many things in the world fail because of not being reckless enough. Maybe those treacherous people are most afraid of this kind of reckless recklessness. If they really dare to hurt people, I will repay them tenfold! I will make them have no way to go to heaven or to hell!"

"…………"

This time, Ma Rong was silent for a long time. When the incense stick was almost burned out, he slowly spoke.

"Shu, go ahead. I will ask your family to provide you with some help. Just go ahead and do it. As you said, as long as you have a clear conscience, that's enough."

"Thank you teacher."

Yuan Shu didn't know what Lao Ma was thinking during this period of silence, nor did he know how Lao Ma felt at the moment. He only knew that once he started on this road, he had to crawl to the end.

After Yuan Shu left, Ma Rong looked at his departing back, and his thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to more than 20 years ago, to the time when he was played around by the Deng and Liang relatives one after another.

If I had been more reckless like Yuan and less thoughtful like Ma at that time, would the result be different?

Will it be possible to avoid the difficult years of being laughed at by the world?
When that bastard Liang Ji forced me to write an ode for him, if I had been brave enough to give him a big slap and then start making money, abandoning my glory and wealth and fleeing to the rivers and seas, would the final outcome have been different?
After thinking for a long time, Lao Ma could only sigh that flowers may bloom again but people will never be young again. Since he couldn't do it, he could only hope that young people could do it.

I just don't know if I can live till then...

(End of this chapter)