Fu Yao asked curiously: "Economic crisis? What is an economic crisis?"
Li Shui smiled slightly and said to Fu Yao: "It's still early for these things. It's not too late to talk about it later."
Fu Yao shook his head and said to Li Shui: "Master, I think it is better to prepare for a rainy day. This economic crisis... sounds a bit like some kind of great famine."
Li Shui hummed: "You are right to regard it as a great famine."
He pointed at the people outside the city and said, "Have you noticed that the people of Great Qin have undergone some changes in recent years? They used to be scholars, farmers, and merchants. Farmers were the largest number. Now, there are more and more workers and merchants. "
Fu Yao hummed: "That's true, and I feel that there will be more and more people in the future, even more than the farmer."
Li Shui glanced at Fu Yao approvingly and asked with a smile: "How did you come up with it?"
Fu Yao said: "It's very simple, chemical fertilizers, new farming methods, high-yielding seeds, plus the new agricultural tools being developed by Shangjun Courtyard."
"It is conceivable that one day in the future, only a small population will be needed to produce a large amount of food. Then the remaining people will naturally work and become traders. After all, these two types of people are making more and more money. ”
Li Shui hummed: "If this continues, a new type of rich people will appear."
"These rich people are different from the original big landowners and powerful people. They are mainly businessmen. These people either resell goods, or open factories and recruit craftsmen to work."
Li Shui tried his best to explain the matter in an easy-to-understand way, and wanted to describe to Fu Yao what a capitalist was.
As a result, Fu Yao said: "Isn't that the Shangjun Courtyard?"
Li Shui: "..."
It seems that it is true.
He coughed dryly and said to Fu Yao: "Suppose, in the future, there will be many rich people like Shang Jun in Da Qin. What will be the result? These people are getting richer and richer, so they will continue to increase their wealth. Invest and keep producing more stuff so you can make more money.”
Fu Yao nodded: "Yes, isn't this bad?"
Li Shui said: "Until one day, they produced too many things and could not sell them. For example, they only needed to make ten steamed buns, and the people in the world would be full. But now they have made a hundred steamed buns. indivual."
Fu Yao exclaimed, "The remaining ninety would be a pity, they would be wasted."
Li Shui said: "It's not just a waste. When these people find that they are producing too much, they will immediately fire those craftsmen and reduce production."
Fu Yao said: "That's right."
Li Shui said: "But those craftsmen themselves have no land and have always relied on working for others to make money. Now that they have lost their jobs, they have no income."
Fu Yao said: "Then they are so pitiful."
Li Shui said: "Yes, these people are indeed pitiful. But besides being pitiful, there is another problem. They have no money to buy steamed buns. The rich people's steamed buns can no longer be sold."
"So, they will lay off more workers. Then more workers will be poor. So the steamed buns will be even less sold. This will form a vicious cycle."
"The originally prosperous Daqin will suddenly become lifeless. The rich can't make money, and the poor can't make money either. The rich have plenty of property and can survive for a while. But the poor are going to starve to death."
Fu Yao was stunned after hearing this.
He couldn't figure it out, even though there were all kinds of magic and new farming methods, how could people still starve to death? Isn't this too strange?
But when he thought about it along Li Shui's train of thought, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
This is simply puzzling.
Li Shui smiled slightly, patted his shoulder, and said: "Master, when you become an emperor, you will have to recruit some people, collect data from various places, and make various predictions. You can't govern a country by imagination, but by science. .”
Fu Yao nodded slowly.
Suddenly, he said: "Master, that's not right. If the rich gave the extra steamed buns to the poor, wouldn't the poor not starve to death?"
Li Shui smiled: "Your idea sounds good, but those rich people won't do it."
Fu Yao asked in confusion: "Why?"
Li Shui said: "Some poor people are so destitute that they can only wait to starve to death. But there are some poor people who sell iron and scrape together a little money to buy food."
"Suddenly, the rich man announced that you don't have to buy steamed buns anymore, I can give them away for free. Think about it, will anyone buy steamed buns anymore?"
"It is true that the rich people's steamed buns will not be wasted, but the steamed buns that could have been sold are completely unsold. They will not do this."
Fu Yao suddenly realized: "It makes sense. But...is this too unkind for the sake of wealth?"
Li Shui said with emotion: "Master, you have not experienced that era. The rich people at that time are no longer human beings. We have a saying, they are called personified capital. They are just spokespersons for money."
Fu Yao said worriedly: "But what will happen if this happens?"
Li Shui said: "If this happens, will those workers rebel? At first, the workers just wanted to have enough to eat and get the rich man's steamed buns."
"But as time goes by, the wise ones among them will definitely find the problem. They will feel that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, which is the root cause."
"The poor work for the rich. They work hard all day, but only get a few dollars to buy steamed buns. The rich don't have to do anything, but they can earn a lot of wealth."
"They will feel that the wealth of the rich is stolen from the poor."
Fu Yao scratched his head: "It seems...it was indeed stolen from the poor."
Li Shui said: "Yes. So once such a wise man appears, Great Qin will undergo earth-shaking changes."
Fu Yao suddenly shuddered: "Isn't the Emperor of Qin the richest man in the world? If the ideas of wise men were spread, wouldn't the emperor..."
Li Shui nodded slowly.
Fu Yao's face turned a little pale.
Suddenly, he knelt down and said tremblingly: "Master, please save Da Qin."
Li Shui quickly helped him up and said with a wry smile: "Master, you are already the prince, how can you do this?"
Fu Yao said with some confusion: "Master, whether I am the prince or the emperor, I am your disciple. Master, save Da Qin. You are an immortal, you must have a way, right?"
Li Shui was silent for a while, then shook his head: "I have no choice. I can only save the world, not the emperor."
Fu Yao stood there frozen, looking lost.
Li Shui looked at him, feeling a little distressed: "Don't worry, sir, even if this happens, it will be thousands of years later. By then, we don't need to worry about it."
Fu Yao shook his head slowly.
Li Shui sighed: "Forget it, I have three strategies: upper, middle and lower. I don't know if these three strategies will work."
Fu Yao was overjoyed and asked quickly: "What are the three strategies?"
Li Shui said: "Let's talk about the next step first. When the economic crisis occurs, we must stimulate the economy. In the name of the court, build large projects. Let the craftsmen who have lost their jobs have work, receive money, and buy food."
"After the economic crisis is over, these projects can also benefit the country and people."
Fu Yao nodded repeatedly: "Good idea, good idea."
Li Shui said: "But this method is just to stop the boil. It can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. The economic crisis will still come. But it is enough for emergency relief."
Fu Yao asked: "What about Zhongce?"
Li Shui said: "The central strategy is for the court to establish some mechanisms to manage merchants and factories around the world. According to the needs of the people, it restricts the production of certain things, encourages the production of certain things, and makes arrangements."
Fu Yao's eyes lit up: "Yes, isn't this enough? In this way, the things produced will not be too much or too little, and the economic crisis will not happen."
Li Shui snorted: "That sounds like it, but there is a drawback. The imperial court is too involved. Officials and merchants will definitely collude, and even the officials themselves become merchants."
"In addition, as a result, the national economy and people's livelihood will become more and more rigid, turning from a pool of living water into a pool of stagnant water."
"Over time, people's lives will stagnate or even go backwards. And those who collude with government officials and businessmen will live extremely luxuriously. People will still be dissatisfied."
Fu Yao frowned and asked, "Master, has something like this happened in the immortal world?"
Li Shui snorted: "There are many countries in the fairy world. There is absolutely no problem if the country where the master is located is prosperous. But among other countries, there is a man named Oros, and something like this happened once."
Fu Yao nodded and asked again: "It seems that this middle strategy is indeed a middle strategy. After a long time, there will still be problems."
Li Shui hummed: "Exactly."
Fu Yao asked again: "What is the long-term strategy?"
Li Shui said: "Chang Ce... I don't know about it as a teacher."
Fu Yao: "Ah?"
Li Shui smiled: "This long-term plan of yours is too difficult. You want the world to be stable, the people have enough food and clothing, and you also have to keep the throne. I couldn't think of it for a while."
"There should be long-term strategies, but we need to work together. In a few days, I will select some far-sighted people in Shangjun Courtyard to study this issue."
Fu Yao nodded vigorously.
Li Shui smiled at Fu Yao: "When you become emperor in the future, you can also choose some people like this and let them analyze the general trend of the world."
"However, don't be like those Confucian scholars. Those Confucian scholars are too fond of talking nonsense. They bleed and drift in the oars at every turn, and die as a pillow. They don't save one out of ten."
"You have to choose those that are pragmatic and can produce real data."
"The blood is bleeding, how deep is the blood? How large is the area? Death pillow, how many people have died? One out of ten does not exist, is it exactly one tenth? Is there a list of the dead? ?”
Fu Yao nodded in agreement.
After a while, Fu Yao asked Li Shui again: "Master, do you have any suggestions for the candidates for the future emperor?"
Li Shui smiled: "What? You haven't become emperor yet, and you are already thinking about choosing a prince in the future?"
Fu Yao said: "I just thought that in ancient dynasties, there were often foolish kings, which led to the collapse of the country. Is there any way to elect a sage emperor?"
Li Shui said: "If you talk too much about this matter, you will be beheaded."
Fu Yao laughed dryly.
However, Li Shui still reminded Fu Yao: "When you have princes in the future, you can give them some experience. Just like you, you can manage a county and a county."
"You can even promote and demote them based on their merits. When you want to establish a prince, just look at who has the highest official position and who has the best political performance, and then choose who."
"The eldest son inheritance system and ruling the world with benevolence and filial piety are all nonsense. Those illusory standards will never be as clear as practice."
Fu Yao nodded in agreement.
Li Shui patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, let's go back. There's not much my teacher can teach you about governing the country. The rest depends on the wisdom of you mortals."
Fu Yao looked at Li Shui with admiration: "What the master said today is definitely the real immortal voice. Who else but the immortal can have such foresight?"
Li Shui smiled.
The two masters and apprentices walked down the city wall together and went to Shang Jun's courtyard.
From this day on, Fu Yao really began to think like a prince.
But the way he thinks about the world is different from any emperor in the past and present.
He employed many think tanks and made decisions based on their advice.
On this day, the conversation between Fu Yao and Li Shui was also called the city gate political discussion and went down in history as the most critical political discussion in the Qin Dynasty.
Of course, these are all things for later.
After Li Shui returned to Shangjun Courtyard, he assigned several people to Fu Yao and asked him to study the major events of the world.
Li Shui himself arrived at Weiyang's room with a smile on his face.
Weiyang is making a pair of shoes.
Li Shui asked in confusion: "Is our family so poor?"
Weiyang said while threading the needle: "Yes, our family is so poor that all we have left is money."
Li Shui smiled and said, "Why do you bother yourself? Wouldn't it be better to listen to a play and read a book?"
Weiyang touched her belly and said quietly: "You men really don't know what it feels like to be pregnant."
Li Shui: "..."
Why does this sound familiar? Is this a warning to have a baby?
Fortunately, things went in the other direction.
Weiyang touched her belly and said happily: "I can feel that the child is growing up day by day. He is connected by blood with me. I often laugh out loud in my sleep, and then think about it all night long."
"What will he look like? Will he be naughty? What does he like to eat? What does he like to play with? How do I teach him to talk?"
Weiyang said: "I can't wait to see him, but I can't rush for this kind of thing. I have no choice but to help him make clothes and shoes."
"While doing this, it was as if he had already come to earth."
She looked at Li Shui with some sympathy: "It's a pity that you can't experience such a wonderful feeling."
