The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 370 The Self-Regulating Capacity of a Market Economy

Fu Songqing was stunned.

As a traditional scholar, he disliked businessmen, but he was not the kind of wicked traditional scholar; rather, he was a reasonable scholar.

When a reasonable person hears a statement they don't understand, they won't rush to object. Instead, they'll first consider the other person's statement in their mind, compare it with their own views where they contradict them, and then consider whether they are wrong.

This is a very valuable quality, but unfortunately most people do not possess it.

As they walked and talked, the government office of Chuzhou City came into view.

Strictly speaking, this should be Yan Chengping's office, but since Gong Erniangzi and Yue Wenxuan are temporarily staying here, it has essentially become the true "imperial palace" of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chuzhou City was replanned, so a large number of "government departments" were all planned together and built with the prefectural government office as the core.

Fu Songqing spotted "Chuzhou Ministry of Works" at a glance.

In his view, the Ministry of Works was one of the six ministries, a very high-end place. However, Fu Songqing saw that the gate of the Chuzhou Ministry of Works was filled with people dressed like commoners going in and out.

Fu Songqing was greatly surprised: "Your Ministry of Works allows ordinary people to come and go as they please?"

Yue Wenxuan said, "Of course it is allowed. The Ministry of Works is going to teach outside the ministry. How can we teach if we don't allow ordinary people to come and go?"

“Teaching?” Fu Songqing heard a strange word: “The Ministry of Works is in charge of this? Isn’t that the responsibility of the Education Commissioner?”

Yue Wenxuan laughed and said, "An instructor can only teach reading and writing, but he can't teach carpentry, blacksmithing, or pottery!"

Fu Songqing was taken aback: "What? Your Ministry of Works... teaches the common people these things?"

Yue Wenxuan: "How about we go in and take a look?"

Fu Songqing, of course, wanted to go in and see; he was incredibly eager to see it.

He was an official of the Southern Song Dynasty, while the person who led him, a woman who resembled Yue Wenxuan (a character from the novel "Jing Ke"), was a man. Surprisingly, this combination was not stopped by anyone when they entered the "Chuzhou Ministry of Works." The guards at the gate merely glanced at them with curious eyes and did not stop them at all.

Fu Songqing found it unbelievable; it was impossible to enter the Ministry of Works of the Southern Song Dynasty so easily.

However, he soon discovered that the "Chuzhou Ministry of Works" was a completely different department from the Ministry of Works he remembered.

The Ministry of Works in the Southern Song Dynasty was a government office.

The Chuzhou Ministry of Works was actually a school.

There is a large courtyard here with many classrooms, each teaching a different technique.

Fu Songqing casually walked to a window and looked inside. He saw a craftsman with a somewhat dazed expression singing as he forged iron, "Forging iron in the morning, forging iron in the evening, forging a kitchen knife to give to my sister..." Behind him, a large group of people were earnestly imitating the craftsman's movements, and some were even humming along.

Yue Wenxuan: "This is a blacksmith's classroom! A blacksmith teaches a room full of students at a time. Anyone can come in and watch, learn as they please, without tuition fees or any restrictions."

Fu Songqing was astonished: "Isn't this blacksmith afraid that he'll starve to death after teaching his apprentices? And he's teaching so many apprentices at once..." Yue Wenxuan smiled: "Teaching apprentices and starving the master is something that only happens when productivity is insufficient. If productivity is high enough and goods circulate quickly, then the whole society will be severely lacking in craftsmen. In that case, how could the master starve to death? On the contrary, the master will be even more sought after."

Fu Songqing thought about it carefully and realized, "Isn't that right?"

The traditional saying "teaching an apprentice can starve the master" usually applies to small towns where two blacksmith shops can't coexist. Once the apprentice graduates and starts his own business, he'll take away the master's business. But if productivity is high enough that there's more work than can be done, the master and apprentice together will have more work than they can handle, so naturally neither of them will starve.

Fu Songqing felt that he had learned something new...

Walking into the next classroom, you'll find the carpenter, who is teaching his apprentices how to build a large wooden bed for fluffing cotton.

When Fu Songqing peered through the window, he saw his master demonstrating how to use a new type of cotton gin.

Once he saw it, Fu Songqing couldn't take his eyes off it.

Who doesn't love watching cotton carding?

You'll be hooked at first sight!

Fu Songqing couldn't take his eyes off the cotton as it flew around under the large bow, and he couldn't help but marvel: "This way of fluffing cotton looks amazing."

Yue Wenxuan: "Lord Fu, focus on the key point! What you should be concerned about is what happens after this group of carpenters have all learned how to make this kind of trampoline."

Fu Songqing suddenly realized, "That's right! I almost missed the point."

All the new carpenters in this room have learned how to make these large trampolines from their master. How many large trampolines will they be able to make?

Yue Wenxuan said, "These carpenters will be invited by various textile workshops in the city to make large trampolines for them. But soon, the workshops in the city will no longer lack trampolines. Once the trampoline market in the city is saturated, these carpenters will disperse to other cities and make large trampolines for other merchants in other places. This technology will soon be widely promoted."

Fu Songqing: "Other places don't grow cotton on a large scale, so they don't need cotton quilts."

Yue Wenxuan chuckled: "Since Chuzhou is suitable for planting, then places with similar climate and soil to Chuzhou are also suitable for planting... Think about it carefully, sir. Once textile technology improves and the demand for cotton increases significantly, will farmers in nearby prefectures and counties grow cotton? Currently, the price of cotton is much higher than that of grain, and many farmers who originally grew grain will switch to growing cotton."

Fu Songqing suddenly realized: "The price of cotton-padded coats is going down!"

Yue Wenxuan: "That's right! In fact, cotton-padded clothes in Chuzhou have already dropped in price. Think about it carefully, sir. How many of the pedestrians on the street were wearing cotton clothes on the way here?"

Fu Songqing had long sensed the different spirit of the people of Chuzhou. Now, upon careful reflection, he suddenly realized that at least half of the people he had seen after entering the city were wearing new cotton-padded clothes. This was completely different from the people he had seen elsewhere, who mostly wore tattered hemp cloth, thus presenting a different kind of spirit.

"Planting so much cotton," Fu Songqing said, "will mean we can only grow less grain. Will we have enough to eat?"

Yue Wenxuan laughed again: "If there's not enough grain to eat, the price of grain will rise. When farmers see that the price of grain has risen again, they will naturally abandon cotton and plant grain. Anyway, the new crops in our Northern Song Dynasty will mature in about a hundred days, so we're not afraid of adjustments. Such adjustments will cause the prices of agricultural products to rise and fall continuously, until they finally stabilize. This is called the 'self-regulating ability of the market economy.' Of course, we can't leave it entirely to the market to regulate itself. Our government also has 'state-run farms' that specialize in growing crops that farmers don't want to grow, for 'counter-cyclical adjustment.'"

Fu Songqing exclaimed "Ah!" Although he didn't quite understand this new term, he was greatly shocked. The government actually planted crops that farmers didn't like to grow? To adjust crop prices?
He began to realize that the officials of the Northern Song Dynasty were clearly more knowledgeable about domestic affairs than those of the Southern Song Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)