To get rich, build roads first
The development of commerce and the prosperity of trade will inevitably lead to the prosperity and development of cities and transportation. After the development of commerce, cities began to gradually evolve into commercial distribution centers, and due to the transportation of goods, the development of transportation became an unstoppable trend.
Cities and metropolises have appeared in our country since the Xia and Shang Dynasties. The cities at that time were very different from those now. At that time, cities were castles where princes extorted tribute and centers of religious activities. Not only were they very small, but residents in the cities also had to engage in some agricultural production. They were not very different from the countryside. Later, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the hierarchical system began to become more strict. During this period, the development of cities was very slow. Due to very strict restrictions on the size of cities, cities could not have many people, and naturally they would not become economic and cultural. center of. During this period, as the famous Warring States general Zhao She said, although the city was large, the walls did not exceed three hundred feet; although there were many people, there were no more than 3,000 families. Later, as the hierarchy collapsed, the city began to change.
During the Warring States Period, with the development of commerce, cities and towns also developed rapidly. During this period, due to the gradual disintegration of the hierarchical system, the size of the average city even exceeded the previous capital. "A city of thousands of feet, with thousands of families facing each other", this was a scene that was simply unimaginable in the past. The rapid development of cities has also created some famous cities, such as Handan in Zhao State, Wen and Zhi in Wei State, Xingyang in South Korea, Linzi in Qi State, Wanqiu in Chu State, etc. Some of these cities are not the capital of the country. , but very prosperous.
There is a passage in "Warring States Policy·Qi Ce" describing Handan, the capital of Qi State: "On the way to Linzi, the hubs of chariots hit each other, people shouldered each other, the folds of folds formed a curtain, the folds of folds formed a curtain, the sweat turned into rain, and the family became prosperous and prosperous. Go high and high." It is said that on the road in Linzi, wheels collide with each other, people's shoulders can even rub against each other, people's clothes can be connected to make curtains, and everyone can form a curtain by raising their sleeves. Under the big curtain, everyone can wipe their sweat and it will rain. Everyone's family is rich and wealthy, and their ambitions are extremely high. This is what Su Qin said when persuading King Xuan of Qi. It is inevitably exaggerated, but it can also be seen from the side of the prosperity of Linzi City. Judging from the current archaeological discoveries, the total area of Linzi City is more than 600,000 square miles. The streets in the city are wide and flat. Although it is not comparable to the current city, it was still very prosperous at that time. Archaeologists also discovered workshops for various handicrafts such as iron smelting, copper smelting, and coinage in Linzi City, which shows that commerce and handicrafts at that time were already very developed. According to literature, during the Warring States Period, the streets of big cities were already lined with shops selling wine, local specialties, and handicrafts... People's lives were very convenient and orderly.
As cities develop as commercial centers, transportation as a link connecting cities has also begun to develop rapidly. Dao coins are the common currency of Qi State. Archaeologists have discovered many Qi Dao coins in Haiyang, Pingdu, Rizhao and other places in present-day Shandong Province in the east of Qi State. It is not difficult to infer from this that this area may have been an important maritime transportation and trade center in the eastern part of Qi State at that time. Many commodities from the Qi State flowed to the Wu and Yue regions in the southeast through here, and many commodities from the Wu and Yue regions also flowed into the Qi State from here. In Qi State, there are many commercial and trade outlets like this. In the west, cities such as Jinan and Licheng in Shandong Province now constitute the distribution points for trade with various countries in the Central Plains. In the north, Muping is the center for trade with the southwestern region of Yan State. Distribution points for trade, etc.
The development of commerce has greatly promoted the economy of many transportation arteries, and transportation hubs are often centers of trade. The Liaoxi County of Yan State was the only way for the vassal states in the Central Plains to lead to the Korean Peninsula, Japanese Islands and other places. The ancient coins unearthed in this area include not only the "Ming Dao" of Yan State, but also cloth coins with the inscriptions "Anyang" and "Pingyang". It can be seen from this that during the Warring States Period, merchants from the Three Jin Dynasties passed through here.
It is not difficult to see from many historical materials that during the Warring States Period, the people in the Central Plains region already had a certain understanding of the geographical and cultural environment of the northwest region. The books at that time already had descriptions of Kunlun Mountain, Flame Mountain, Lobu Nur, Kongque River and other places. The Book of Mountains and Seas, written during the Warring States Period, even has a record of the Turpan Flame Mountain, "There is a mountain of burning fire, and objects are thrown into flames." At that time, silk, gold, silverware, lacquerware, etc. from the Central Plains region were transported westward to Xinjiang and Central Asia. Many commodities from the Northwest also continued to flow into the Central Plains region. These trade exchanges are of course inseparable from the development of transportation. From this exchange process, we can see that the transportation and trade from the Central Plains to Central Asia via the Northwest were very active at that time. In the process of this trade exchange, there was also a certain amount of cultural exchange. Since Qin is located in the west, it has closer ties with the northwest and Central Asia than other countries. This should also be the case in ancient times. People in the northwest often The reason why people from the mainland are called "Qin people".
The Qin people exchanged goods and services with the people of northwest and Central Asia in the north, while the Chu people carried out trade exchanges with the people of South Asia in the south. Chu State was the largest vassal state in the south at that time. It had close trade relations with some regions in South Asia.
Due to its geographical advantages, South Korea is the only way to travel between the north and the south. South Korea's commerce and transportation are very developed, and there are many very important trade outlets. Some places have experienced very rapid economic development because they are located at transportation hubs. For example, Yiyang at that time was a transportation thoroughfare that could communicate with Zhao and Chu and conduct commercial trade. Yiyang was very prosperous at that time.
From the analysis of transportation in various countries, we can see that transportation was actually relatively developed during the Warring States Period, and a transportation and trade network extending in all directions has been formed between countries. Due to trade exchanges, people have successfully broken through the previously closed and rigid situation. Products have been exchanged, and people have also been communicated, achieving a new exchange situation where "the four seas are like one family". This has played an important role in economic development and the improvement of people's living standards that cannot be ignored.
The wars between the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period seemed to be about fighting for land and wealth, but in essence, they were a struggle for power between the aristocratic lords and the emerging landlord class. There is no doubt that in the end, The victors were the landlord class, which ruled China for more than 2,000 years. Among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period, the country that took the lead in completing the transformation of the landlord class replacing the rule of the lords and aristocrats was the Qin State in the west where the old forces were relatively weak. Of course, during the Warring States Period, the landlord class did not completely replace the lords and nobles, and in many countries it still had great power.
But there is no doubt that the political power of the lords and nobles was greatly damaged and weakened. The mode of exploitation has changed, especially the lower class represented by serfs, who have emerged from the shackles of the clan system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and their productivity has been greatly liberated. It was under this huge change that the Warring States society showed unprecedented prosperity, which was reflected in the massive growth of population, the widespread use of iron tools, the vigorous construction of water conservancy projects, the use of cattle farming, and the great development of agricultural technology. In terms of progress, the advancement of handicrafts, and the development of commodity circulation centered in towns, these changes ultimately promoted the development of commerce. In particular, the relatively free transportation between societies in various countries and the huge consumption of war have promoted the further prosperity of commerce.
At that time, there were two forms of business in society, one was government-run and the other was private. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, there were famous businessmen such as Fan Li and Duanmu Ci. During the Warring States Period, there were even Yidun and others. They were all extremely wealthy and famous all over the world. It can be seen that private business has developed to a certain height during this period. There are even people who offer courses to recruit apprentices and teach how to get rich. It is recorded in "Historical Records: Biography of Huo Shi" that when Bai Gui, a Zhou man at that time, was teaching the way to get rich, he mentioned grasping the opportunity and accurately applying the principle of "I take when others abandon, and I take when others take" and other primitive business ideas. Bai Gui was therefore revered as the ancestor of merchants.
Many of the large cities during the Warring States Period were famous commercial centers, such as Handan, the capital of Zhao, Linzi, the capital of Qi, and Daliang and Luoyang, the capitals of Wei. Medium-sized cities also began to have cities, which were called "towns with cities." For example, in Sangdang County in South Korea, 70 cities had cities. "Markets are made in Japan and China, gathering people from all over the world, gathering goods from all over the world, trading and withdrawing, and everyone has his own place." ("Book of Changes·Xici") reflects the scene of trading in small and medium-sized markets in Xiaoyi.
With the development of the times, private commerce gradually took a dominant position, and its importance gradually exceeded that of government-run commerce. "Han Feizi: Chapter of the Expedition" once said: "The money of merchants stored abroad can lead to the destruction of the country."
For example, "To seek wealth from poverty, agriculture is not as good as workers, and workers are not as good as merchants" ("Historical Records: Biography of Huo Shi"); another example is "The benefits of farming are ten times, and the benefits of pearls and jade (business) are a hundred times" ("Warring States Policy, Qin Policy") ) and other ideas all reflected the emphasis on business at that time, and many people were willing to make profits from business. Of course, this phenomenon has its deep social roots. At that time, various countries had successively established a system of free sale and purchase of land. This private ownership of land concentrated a large amount of land in the hands of the landlord class. However, the farmers who relied on the land for survival were displaced due to the annexation of the land. They had nothing to rely on and could only sell their labor power to make money. Merchants work or have financial ability to operate independently.
At that time, these big cities concentrated goods and money from all over the world, and everyone exchanged what they had. At the Central Plains market at that time, one could buy feathers, ivory, rhinoceros skins, and pigments from the south, walking horses and big dogs from the north, leather, woolen fabrics, and yak tails from the west, and sea fish and sea salt from the east. It can be said that there are complete categories. Through commercial exchange, even people in barren lands can obtain wood. People living in mountains can obtain abundant aquatic products. Farmers farm all year round and can buy equipment without using tools or axes. Industry and commerce are not You can buy food without farming. It has truly realized the great prosperity of "one family within the four seas".
With the development of commerce and the prosperity of towns, the requirements for general equivalents are becoming higher and higher. During this period, general equivalents were gradually standardized and fixed. According to historical records, Gengzhu, a disciple of Mozi, once arrived in Chu State to serve as an official and received ten gold coins as a gift to Mozi. However, gold can be divided into three categories, namely gold, silver and copper. There are also records saying that when Zhang Yi arrived in Chu State and asked about the wealth of Chu State, the King of Chu said that Chu State produced gold, pearls, and rhinoceros elephants, which shows that these can be included in the category of wealth. The first country to use gold and silver as valuable currency was the Chu State in the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty. By the Warring States Period, gold became the currency commonly used in various countries.
Historical records show that Zhou people had a custom that they particularly liked to engage in industry and commerce but despised being an official. By engaging in industry and commerce, they can obtain huge profits of 20%. With the development of the times, even the State of Lu, which was deeply influenced by Confucius's Confucianism, began to engage in business for profit, and business became extremely prosperous. Other countries followed suit, and even the Qin State in the west developed commerce. It was not until the emergence of Shang Yang and the implementation of the policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce that commerce was curbed. However, his policy was not adopted by the six eastern countries at that time. Qin also restored and developed commerce after Shang Yang's death. This led to changes in social class.
It is recorded in "Book of Rites: Yue Ling": "Open the closed market to attract merchants, so that what is available is easy to be lost, and everyone gets what they need. People from all over the world come to gather, and people from far away villages are present. There is sufficient natural wealth for the state and the people, so they don't feel lacking. Pepsi goes well." It shows the prosperity of Qin's business. In order to communicate well with other countries, commercial exchanges became more frequent. So that by the end of the Warring States Period, the great businessman Lu Buwei participated in the politics of Qin. He became the prime minister of Qin and controlled the government of Qin for decades.
