After hearing what Wang Xijue said, Zhu Yijun didn't feel that what he said was wrong.
Because Ming Dynasty did have too many people.
In particular, income can only be obtained by paying the most basic labor force, and there are too many ordinary people with low levels of education.
Even the highly educated elites are mostly talented people with Confucianism and classics.
Compared with the huge population base of the entire country, the proportion of technical talents and creative talents is still too small.
Therefore, this results in a very slow motivation for the private sector to improve technology.
"What Wang Qing said is, from this point of view, if the steam engine improves the spinning wheel and can really benefit the country and the people, the court still needs to actively intervene. We cannot expect that the major private workshops will have special needs for steam engines."
Zhu Yijun said this at this time.
A philosophy of governance often advocated by rotten Confucianists is to rest with the people, that is, they hope that the court will try not to mess around as much as possible. This is equivalent to the so-called free economy in later generations, advocating leaving everything to the market and letting the market decide everything.
The corrupt Confucians believe that if this is done, the country will naturally become rich and powerful.
But the actual situation is that for the unified Chinese dynasties, this method was effective in the early stage. However, in the middle and later stages of the population explosion, the production technology of the entire empire will easily progress at a slow pace or even slow down due to the population explosion. The stage where progress ceases.
As a result, there will be situations where existing technologies have to be eliminated because there are too many people.
As a result, when it comes to carrying out some major projects or major technical difficulties, the court still needs to use its power to forcibly organize forces to implement and tackle the difficulties.
Historically, China's industrialization was led by the state rather than spontaneously occurring among the people.
Now, Zhu Yijun's Ming Dynasty is also in the same situation.
That is to say, even if the steam engine is very improved, if he wants to start the industrial revolution of the entire China, he still needs the emperor to use his imperial power to enforce it. We cannot follow the free economic model of the old Confucianism. We hope that the people will emerge in urgent need of new technologies. When there is new technology in the machine.
"What His Majesty said is that what should be considered now is how to intervene and how to make the steam engine benefit the country and the people."
Qi Jiguang then said something.
Luo Wanhua, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said: "Your Majesty, since the people don't need it, can we not forcefully promote steam engines?"
“In today’s world, there are already a lot of idlers. Once steam engines replace manpower and there are a large number of people who don’t need to work, I’m afraid there will be even more idlers!”
"And once people are too idle, they will easily have wild imaginations, which will lead to more disputes about right and wrong;"
"In addition, because the steam engine is controlled by the imperial court, its related technology and talents must be with the officials rather than the people. Once promoted, the officials will surely seize the people's benefits, and the official benefits have always been easily divided among the powerful. Therefore, in this way, the wealthy families may become richer than the poor ones. , and as the saying goes, you don't worry about scarcity but inequality. Once this happens, the people in the world will probably feel more inadequate and their resentment will be deeper."
"But benefiting the people is the key to governing the country. The court needs to make the people more and more wealthy and idle."
Qi Jiguang replied at this time.
Luo Wanhua retorted: "But the purpose of benefiting the people has been achieved! The small people no longer have the burden of corvee work, the burden of miscellaneous taxes has been greatly reduced, and there are no roads to guide the people. If the small people in the hometown are really because of The local bureaucracy is too exploitative by right-wingers, so they can move out to reclaim wasteland and have enough food and clothing."
"Therefore, no matter how much the imperial court benefits the people, it no longer just establishes a destiny for the people, but over-indulges the people, cultivates their coquettishness, and cultivates their inertia."
"Your Majesty, I think what Otsuka Zai said is absolutely true!"
"Three generations of governance can only achieve the people's peace, and this is also what the saints advocate."
"Today, if the imperial court wants to benefit the people again, it will really go beyond the way of treating the people advocated by the saints!"
"Especially once this steam engine can really replace human and animal power, I really can't imagine what will happen to the working people in the world. Will they be idle or arrogant and willful?"
"If this continues, will no one be willing to exercise restraint, self-discipline, and have great ambitions for the country and the people? Will the future of the country be affected by this?"
"Everything is unpredictable, so your Majesty, please think twice!"
Academician Yu Shenxing also put forward his views at this time.
"I second the proposal!"
"I also second the proposal!"
For a while, many ministers in power expressed their opinions.
Zhu Yijun found that these ruling ministers, especially those who were from scholar-bureaucrats, were still very wary of new things like steam engines.
It cannot be said that their worries are selfish, let alone unreasonable. They are obviously based on personal reason and a fear that a new thing in the future will be forcibly implemented by the court without the spontaneous emergence of the people. feel.
As Chinese culture has developed to this day, there has been a trend of combining Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Even Confucian scholars have some thoughts that Taoism follows nature and believe that it does not occur naturally and is prone to side effects.
What's more, the experience of ancient history also proves that once the country forcibly implements a certain project or technology, the side effects will indeed be huge.
But Zhu Yijun is naturally not that afraid of new things like steam engines. After all, as a person from later generations, he knows what changes the steam industrial revolution can bring.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun said at this time: "If Huimin only seeks to provide food and clothing for the people, then we have already achieved it. Does this mean that I and the ministers should also be content with enjoying themselves and no longer need to make progress?"
"We can be content with enjoying ourselves, but as the number of descendants of nobles increases, more and more people enjoy dignity and honor. Will the world be able to provide more sources of comfort for new dignitaries and bureaucrats?"
"Although we can achieve the happiness of new powerful bureaucrats by developing external and internal benefits, the arable land and mines in the world are ultimately limited, not endless wealth!"
"So we have to find ways to let future generations live as well as we do, and we have to work hard to improve our production capabilities! We can't be lazy. This is the responsibility of us hard-working people!"
"The sage did not mention what should be done after the people are safe, which shows that what the sage said is not entirely correct."
"We can't just think that we can rule for three generations. As long as we are still being supported by the people of the world, we have the responsibility to increase the wealth of the people of the world and make them live a better life, not just food and clothing."
After Zhu Yijun finished expressing his views, Luo Wanhua, Yu Shenxing and others remained silent.
"You guys only know that after Huimin, many people became lazy, but you don't know that you also have a lazy heart, so that you don't want to promote machines like steam engines that can replace human and animal power."
Zhu Yijun also criticized Luo Wanhua and others at this time.
Luo Wanhua was stunned for a moment, as if he had been hit hard.
Yu Shenxing did the same. He lowered his head, stood up and said, "What your Majesty said is true. If I think about it carefully, I do have a lazy heart, and it seems that I really don't want anything new to appear, especially After seeing the current situation of Haiyan Heqing in the world, I prefer to stay the same and feel that it is enough to observe etiquette. Why pursue the innovation of utensils? After all, once new things appear, people like Chen who are familiar with old things will naturally feel uneasy. feel."
"Why don't I want to be lazy! I don't want the world to remain the same forever, without having to go through all the hard work?"
"But if the running water does not rot or the door hinges don't get beetroots, only if it is constantly moving can it not decline. And the national conditions of this dynasty dictate that we cannot hope that the people will take action on their own. We can only work hard on our own initiative! What's more, we people don't know how to do it. If you are not willing to put in the hard work to increase the well-being of the world when it comes to production, then you are not a good person."
Zhu Yijun said with a smile.
Luo Wanhua, Yu Shenxing and others all lowered their heads, feeling ashamed for a moment.
At this time, Wang Xijue, a great scholar, said: "What your Majesty said is that benefiting the people does not mean reaching the three generations of rule advocated by the saints, but that we must set new goals of benefiting the people in the new stage so that the world's prosperity will continue." In progress, it is like sailing against the current; if you don’t advance, you will retreat;”
"This is also the original meaning of the innovation of etiquette! It is because the old etiquette and sages only knew that the great rule of the world was the most prosperous in the three generations. Therefore, no matter how wise the kings and ministers in the world are, they can only stop at the three generations and cannot be improved. You have to go backwards, so I’m introducing a new gift!”
"In this way, after the world reaches the level of governance of the Three Generations, there will be etiquette and laws suitable for the governance of the world to follow."
"Although I am worried that once the steam engine is implemented, a large number of people will lose their jobs, but that does not mean that I disagree with the implementation of the steam engine. Once the new technology is not utilized and dusted, it is easy to be despised or even forgotten. Such an ability to prevent many disasters and changes It will weaken. If it is stolen by foreign barbarians, and the foreign barbarians have fewer people and vast land, they will further improve their various skills, but we are unwilling to give up manpower because of the large number of people, and despise or even forget it. The one who is afraid of firearms is not the Ming Dynasty, it is not the Hulu, but the Chinese!"
After Wang Xijue said this, he said: "After learning about the war between the Ming Dynasty and the barbarians in recent years, I am even more worried about this. I also ask your Majesty and all the princes in the court to think deeply about my worries."
No matter what other ministers thought, Zhu Yijun felt the same way and admired Wang Xijue's strategic acumen and insight, so he said:
"As Wang Qing said, now that the steam engine has appeared, we should not not use it to benefit the people because we are afraid that it will cause new problems. Instead, we should find ways to use it to increase the world's wealth in a more reasonable way to benefit the country and the people."
After Zhu Yijun said this, all the officials in power raised their hands and said yes.
…
"Your Majesty has great ambitions!"
After the conversation in front of the emperor ended, Yu Shenxing sighed to Wang Xijue, Luo Wanhua and other colleagues at the official residence.
Luo Wanhua also nodded and said: "Yes, it's not that steam engines can't benefit the country and the people, but it will mean that the court will continue to expand its territory. After all, the population replaced by machines will not be trained as soldiers and will not be used in wars. , where else can it be used? Is it really necessary to use the state’s taxes to support it in vain?”
"Your Majesty has great plans, and we should act in accordance with the Holy Will."
Wang Xijue also followed suit.
After Yu Shenxing heard what Wang Xijue said, he only asked: "But we must consider the opinions of the people in the world." (End of this chapter)
