The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 337 has an allocation problem.
Should businessmen help the country support its people?

Yan Chengping was suddenly moved by these words.

Throughout history, rulers have relied on the people to sustain the nation. This was especially true of Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, who was on the throne just a few years ago. He truly treated the people as an inexhaustible source of resources, mining and mining without ever caring about their lives or deaths.

In his eyes, the common people should work hard to pay taxes to support the country! And the country is the royal family!
But in Young Master Yue's words, it seems to be the other way around. His philosophy seems to be that the country should support its people. If there are areas where the country's resources are insufficient, then merchants should step in to help... which is why he said the things mentioned earlier.

"I really am..." Yan Chengping bowed deeply.

"That's right!" Yue Wenxuan had already thought of something further ahead: "While we should focus on commerce, we should also pay attention to cultivating consumer spending power."

Yan Chengping: "???"

Purchasing power? That's a new term; I don't quite understand it.

Yue Wenxuan: "It's about getting ordinary people to spend money."

Yan Chengping: "???"

Yue Wenxuan: "In fact, there has been a bad trend in our country since ancient times. We like to praise producers and despise consumers. Various cultural and artistic works try their best to praise producers and highlight diligence and thrift. But those who are willing to spend money are used as negative examples and are relentlessly criticized. If someone spends a little more money, they are criticized for being extravagant, wasteful, luxurious, decadent, and wasteful... This is wrong."

Yan Chengping: "Huh? This...this...this..."

Yue Wenxuan's statement was indeed quite novel, and Yan Chengping was taken aback and couldn't quite process it.

Yue Wenxuan grinned: "There's nothing wrong with letting the rich spend more money, as long as it's their own money. Let them spend it to their heart's content. Conversely, if they don't spend it, they'll just dig a hole and bury all their gold and silver in their backyard. That's not good for the country, nor for the people. The extravagance, waste, luxury, decadence, and squandering of the rich can create jobs for the poor! I really hope that every rich person in the Northern Song Dynasty will spend money like crazy, spend money lavishly, wear all kinds of fine silks and satins, and eat all kinds of delicacies..."

Yan Chengping: "Then... is the saying 'Those who live in luxury while the rich freeze to death on the streets' still true?"

Yue Wenxuan sighed deeply: "Of course that's wrong, but it's caused by the unfair distribution of social resources, not by the rich spending money recklessly. When the rich are feasting on meat and wine, at least the brewers and cooks have jobs... If the rich distribute a lot of wealth but don't even eat meat and wine, then the brewers and cooks will freeze to death."

Yan Chengping: "Huh?"

Don't say it, you really don't say it.

Yan Chengping thought about it carefully and realized that this made sense.
Anyone who is even slightly above the rest knows that the Song Dynasty has always been short of money.

Because people like to hoard money, from wealthy landowners to middle-class families, they all keep large amounts of money at home and don't spend it, resulting in less and less money circulating in society. Only the poor don't hoard money, because they have no money to hoard.

The imperial court desperately minted coins, but no matter how many coins it minted, it could not keep up with the "treasury" of these people.

This is really not a good thing.

When money doesn't circulate, commerce naturally declines.

If businesses decline, even more people will starve to death.

Yan Chengping asked cautiously, "Young Master Yue, do you mean that to solve the problem of everyone digging holes in their homes to hide money, we need to... praise consumption?" Yue Wenxuan replied, "Praise isn't the right word. Don't criticize. Just elevate consumers to the same status as producers. Frugality is indeed a virtue, but spending your own money however you want isn't something to be criticized. We need to reverse the unfavorable situation for consumers in public opinion, making them dare to spend money with confidence and justification. We need to make those who aren't very bright understand that the problem with the way the rich have so much money is the problem with the social distribution system, and what needs to be changed is the distribution, not criticizing their consumption. Their extravagant spending is creating job opportunities for you, and it's an important link in the flow and redistribution of wealth. If you criticize them to the point that they dare not spend money, it will do you nothing but harm."

Yan Chengping finally understood what Young Master Yue meant.

No one had ever thought of this before, but now, upon closer reflection, I realize how right Young Master Yue was. Excessively praising producers while belittling consumers is indeed a distorted phenomenon and extremely detrimental to national development.

What really needs to change is the distribution!
When Wang Anshi implemented his reforms, what he wanted to change was the distribution of wealth!
But he failed! Young Master Yue has already proposed a method to change the distribution, and it is now proceeding according to plan.

Yan Chengping increasingly realized that what he had learned was insufficient. This young master Yue was truly remarkable, and he still had a lot to learn from him.

He wanted to ask more questions...

Suddenly, a courier rushed in and reported, "Young Master Yue, the Dafeng Naval Academy in Yancheng has been built according to your requirements."

"Oh? Is it done?" Yue Wenxuan smiled.

It turned out that not long ago, Gong Erniangzi led her army to conquer the various counties under the jurisdiction of Chuzhou. Yue Wenxuan chose a small fishing village in Yancheng, a county town near the sea, called Dafeng Village, where dozens of families lived.

Yue Wenxuan had his soldiers build a large fortified village next to Dafeng Village, which resembled a military camp and became a naval academy.

"Very good!" Yue Wenxuan: "Go and inform Li Bao to take his most capable leaders and report to the Naval Academy immediately."

After saying that, he called Gong Erniangzi and went to the back of the house, where a handsome young man was standing. He was Zheng Chenggong figurine.

Yue Wenxuan said to Gong Erniangzi, "This is the naval marshal I invited down from heaven."

Gong Erniangzi quickly bowed deeply: "Greetings, Marshal Tianpeng."

Yue Wenxuan: “???”

what?
I almost forgot, in the Heavenly Court, there is only one famous marshal in charge of the navy, Marshal Tianpeng.

Poor Zheng Chenggong, how did he end up sharing the same title as Zhu Bajie (Pigsy)?

Fortunately, the plastic man doesn't care!

Zheng Chenggong said: "If we want our country to be prosperous and strong, we cannot ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the sea, and so do dangers."

Gong Erniangzi remained calm, already accustomed to the heavenly general's strange way of speaking. She turned to Yue Wenxuan and said, "True Lord, this heavenly general is coming..."

Yue Wenxuan: "Send a team to accompany Marshal Tianpeng to the Dafeng Naval Academy. He said he needs to prepare some things, so have your people help prepare them. From now on, he will be in charge of training the Northern Song Navy. Li Bao and his men will be the first batch of students."

Gong Er Niangzi understood that, just as Qi Jiguang had taught her how to fight, Zhenjun wanted Li Bao to learn how to fight water battles from Tianpeng Wushuai.

(End of this chapter)