With the VOC signing the surrender document, a war that affected half of Java, Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula finally came to an end.
Zhao Xin has no intention of returning the occupied land of the Banten Sultanate because unifying the entire West Java is his stated goal. You must know that ancient Chinese people have made a profound explanation of this situation long ago, that is, "How can you allow others to snore on the side of the couch"!
In order to achieve the purpose of deterring other sultanates, Zhao Xin divided the entire Banten area into four administrative regions of north, south, central and west according to the administrative divisions of another time and space, and also placed the Cirebon Sultanate under the jurisdiction of the Sultanate of Cirebon. The area was divided into two districts, both of which were brought under the rule of Beihai Town.
He then sent a secret message to He Xiwen, ordering him to lead troops into the Solosowang Palace in Serang, dismiss the palace guards of Sultan Aliyuddin I, force him to abdicate, and sent Zheng Wenxian to exile him and all his family members to West Borneo. Dai Yan was handed over to Wu Yuansheng for guarding.
So the Banten Sultanate, which had replaced the Sunda Kingdom and ruled across Sumatra and West Java for 241 years, ushered in the final blow.
Just destroying the country is not enough. Religious and economic means must also follow. To this end, Zhao Xin asked Huang Zhongtong, who had just returned to Bacheng, to go north again to recruit monks in Guangdong and Fujian. He wanted to open Buddhist monasteries in the Bandan area; and the economy was relatively simple. The main economic lifeline of Bandan was pepper. Just let the Chinese businessmen in Bacheng take responsibility.
The Beihai navy showing its fangs frightened the princes of the princes across Southeast Asia. They finally realized that Beihai Town was a more terrifying existence than the Portuguese and the Dutch. So the Kingdom of Aceh in Sumatra, the Kingdom of Johor in the Malay Peninsula, Temenggong, and the Manggunikalan Kingdom in Central Java all sent their prime ministers to Bacheng with heavy gifts, asking for asylum in Beihai Town, and even Become a vassal.
The arrival of a large number of envoys caused the two hotels in the city to be full of guests. Among the people walking on the street, envoys from the Sultanate wearing headscarves could be seen everywhere, and those beautiful people wearing "sarongs" and shawls and headscarves could be seen everywhere. Javanese women are even more eye-catching to many people.
The end of the war also led to the rapid recovery of Bacheng's maritime trade. By mid-August 1793, more than ten merchant ships had arrived in Bacheng, bringing a large amount of silk, sugar, tea and porcelain; merchants were selling the goods. After that, he frantically purchased cooling oil, essential oil, pepper, clove, nutmeg, ivory, coral, sandalwood and other goods in the market.
Starting from August 1, 1793, the Chinese "Court Hall" in Bacheng was changed to the "Public Affairs Office", which was subordinate to the Military Control Commission, and all its original public management functions were split; civil and criminal adjudication powers were vested in the Bacheng Police Department. and courts, taxation power was transferred to the Bacheng Taxation Administration, and only civil affairs functions such as marriage and birth registration, road and bridge public works, and cemetery allocation were retained. In addition, all personnel are paid by the Military Control Commission, and bonuses are issued based on quarterly work performance. At this point, the "Kapitan" system founded by the Dutch and continued for 174 years came to an end.
In fact, the emergence of the Chinese Kapitan was a buffer zone established by the Western colonists between themselves and the Chinese group, and through it they carried out economic plunder of the colonies. The main responsibility of Kapitan is to directly link with commercial activities and establish a financial foundation for the survival of the colony through the tax farming system.
Zhao Xin abolished the "Kapitan" system and also abolished the "tax package system". At the same time, he also broke the standard in Southeast Asia for selecting and appointing officials based on their economic status. It was also from this time that prominent Chinese businessmen and large-scale landowners lost their monopoly control over urban public affairs, and were replaced by farmers' associations, labor unions, and chambers of commerce.
Let’s talk about the farmers’ association first. After all, agriculture was the main component of the economy in the eighteenth century, whether in Southeast Asia or the interior of the Central Plains.
The establishment of local farmers' associations and the implementation of the "Farmers' Association Law" is a major event that Zhao Xin, Chen Qingsong and others have been planning for many years. Taking into account the many differences in Java Island in terms of land area, number of Chinese, and personnel structure, Bacheng did not completely copy Beihai Town's "Peasant Association Law", but formulated it separately after two years of preliminary investigation. A set of administrative regulations completely different from those in inland areas. Zhao Xin plans to adopt this system throughout Southeast Asia to which Beihai Town belongs in the future.
Simply put, the main goal of the Bacheng Farmers Association at this stage is to promote new crops and livestock, handle agricultural and breeding technology promotion, supply and marketing of agricultural and livestock products, and force farmers to save and other agricultural matters. The Farmers' Association adopts a three-level organizational structure to correspond to the three-level administrative system of Beihai Town's governorship, administrative offices, and villages in Southeast Asia. At the same time, the legal person of the Farmers' Association is concurrently served by the corresponding chief administrative officer of Beihai Town. This makes Beihai The town's government management reached deep into the plantations and countryside.
In the election of representatives of the farmers' association, each plantation first holds a separate meeting of members of the agricultural group, elects a group leader, deputy leader, and member representatives present at the farmers' association, and recommends candidates for directors and supervisors; then a member representative meeting is held. Elect directors and supervisors; finally establish a board of directors and supervisors, with the approval of more than two-thirds of the board of directors, and elect the director-general from member representatives.
According to official regulations, only those directly engaged in agricultural and animal husbandry production can become members of farmers' associations. All members must pay an entrance fee of 10 Beihai dollars, and 5 dollars per year thereafter. Those who cannot afford the money can have the Military Control Commission advance the payment and then deduct it after the harvest is obtained. Of course the Chinese farmers don't want to pay, but the problem is that they can't join the farmers' association if they don't pay. If they don't join the farmers' association, they can't get seeds for new crops. The farmers' association is not responsible for purchasing and selling after the harvest.
In order to solve the problem of insufficient funds in the early days of the Farmers' Association, Zhao Xin allocated 500,000 North Sea dollars at a time through the Military Control Commission to establish a credit department in Bacheng specifically to serve members of the Farmers' Association, that is, a financial department that specifically serves farmers. . In addition to providing loans to farmers to purchase seeds, tools, and fertilizers, it also provides services such as deposits and tax collection.
He planned to leave clan management, farmers' cultural education, welfare and health protection to the farmers' association after the profits of the farmers' association expanded in the future. The officialdom of Beihai Town would only exist at the level of the supervisory board at the governor-general level to control the entire region. Provide guidance on the planting direction of agricultural crops.
Zhao Xin now wants to waste every busy minute he has every day. He no longer has time to go to the beach and be a straw hat boy. While carrying out drastic economic, political and economic reforms in Javanese society, he also had frequent contact with Kong Shaoan, who guarded Jiaodong, and kept an eye on the land reform movement in Jiaodong.
The work teams sent to the countryside organized by the four counties of Jiaodong last year were actually very effective. The local military control commissions obtained a large amount of first-hand data, basically grasping the land situation of each county and township, and also classified the wealth and poverty of each farmer. . However, it is not that simple later.
After Kong Shaoan obtained the data, he initially thought about launching a land reform storm in China in the 18th century, but he soon fell into a dilemma. Although the Jiaodong area was barren, due to developed maritime trade and prosperous culture and education, most of the Some landowners are not tycoons and bullies, and many of them left the work team feeling overwhelmed after being contacted.
Secondly, because they have not suffered the impact of foreign civilization, the people's mentality cannot be said to be loose. The people of Jiaodong in these days were quite simple and simple, and there was not much suffering and hatred. Although the countryside is very poor, the Confucian "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness" are still the mainstream of people's thinking. In addition, the Northern Navy always fought with fierce offensives. The Qing army collapsed at the first touch, and the countryside was not devastated by the war. Therefore, for them, a change of political power in the world means a change of emperor, but they are still farming the land and paying for food.
Well, with its advanced military equipment and technology, Beihai Town did not need to mobilize a mighty million-strong army to defeat the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Therefore, it did not need to use the land reform storm to obtain a large number of soldiers to win the military struggle.
Because of this essential difference, it would not be feasible to subvert the old ruling class through the struggle against the rural landlords and gentry. Therefore, the landlord class would not be able to become a symbol of evil in opposition to the new regime. If Kong Shaoan really wanted to start a land reform movement similar to that in another time and space, it would probably have unexpected serious consequences.
His claws are numb now. The actual situation is different from what he thought. What should he do next? So in early July of this year, which was the middle of May in the lunar calendar, Kong Shaoan followed the ship that transported scholars to participate in the scientific expedition back to Beihai Town, and made a special trip to Fuldan City to seek advice from his old superior Chen Qingsong.
Chen Qingsong has devoted most of his energy to agriculture in recent years, so he has a very deep understanding of traditional Chinese rural economy. You must know that whether you are a bankrupt lower-class farmer or a gentry class, there are people in Beihai Town who can ask for advice. He has known for a long time the difficulties that Kong Shaoan will face, and these will also be common problems that Beihai Town will face after entering the customs. So he took an afternoon and had a good talk with the other party.
"Xiaokong, it's been almost a year since you went to Jiaodong. Can you tell me what are the characteristics of China's economic structure in the feudal era?"
"(⊙o⊙)..." Kong Shaoan thought for a moment, and then said without thinking: "Self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy?"
"anything else?"
"It's closed, it's family-based, and the land is controlled by landlords and bureaucrats."
"Well, what you said is all in the book."
"Teacher Chen, I didn't study much history back then. I was in a technical secondary school."
Chen Qingsong nodded. He was now in charge of the food supply for millions of people in Beihai Town. How could he remember these things.
"What you just said is a generalized answer. Let me give you my own opinion. The economic structure under the Manchu Qing Dynasty has three important characteristics. The combination of small agriculture and cottage industry among agricultural producers. The owners of the means of production. The trinity of landowners, merchants and loan sharks, as well as the combination of feudal power and industry and commerce. Specifically in rural areas, it is land ownership, commercial capital and loan shark capital."
Kong Shaoan felt like he was back in the classroom again, writing furiously on a small book with a pen in hand, listening to Chen Qingsong's talk with rapt attention.
"Our feudal system is fundamentally different from that of Europe. You see, the nobles' territories cannot be transferred, so they sit in rural manors and exploit the cities through agricultural products in the form of feudal privileges, rents and taxes; the people in the cities Merchants and loan sharks have mastered monetary power and exploited rural areas economically through commercial activities and loan sharking. This is called the independent development of land rights and monetary rights. The bourgeois revolution in Europe is essentially the separation of urban monetary rights and rural land rights. struggle.
As for us, since the Northern Wei Dynasty began to implement the land equalization system, land has been freely bought and sold. That, Yongye Field in the Tang Dynasty could be bought and sold. As a result, landlords, businessmen and loan sharks became a trinity, controlling both land rights and currency rights, completing the unification from production to circulation. Therefore, the landlord class is the main ruling class whether in cities or rural areas. . "
"Teacher Chen, I checked some data from the civil affairs. In the past few years, food prices in the customs have risen sharply, with an increase of up to five times. This is due to the war between the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. Is it also related to the rise in land prices?"
"Yeah. You're right." Chen Qingsong continued: "If you can see this, it means you are using your brain. Yes, food prices are rising and land prices are rising. What does this mean? It means who owns more land. , whoever has more food can also occupy more social wealth. This is the same as hoarding houses over there. The competition for land and land annexation will become more and more intense. In this way, the landlord economy will become more consolidated and consolidated. grow."
When Kong Shaoan heard this, he suddenly thought of He Shen. It is said that He Zhongtang has a fortune of hundreds of millions. He has 800,000 acres of land to his name. Now one acre of good land is worth at least 10 taels of silver. This alone costs 8 to 9 million taels. What if we add annual land rent and output? It’s chilling to think about.
"Xiaokong, remember what I said below. The fact that land can be bought and sold gives the landowners a unique growth function."
"Growth function?" Kong Shao Anxin said that people who have been leaders are different, and they all use the same words and sentences.
"Yes, although there will always be periodic land crises and social unrest in history, which have dealt a heavy blow to the landlord class, as long as the world is stable, they can clone themselves again according to the same model.
If you have been in Jiaodong for so long, you should know that nowadays land transactions can be divided into farm bones and farm skins, that is, the use rights, management rights, and permanent tenant rights are subdivided, and then through the "Trinity" economic model, the landlord economy It will only get stronger. I just said that Europeans use monetary rights as a weapon to destroy land rights and feudal privileges. In our land, it has become a weapon to consolidate land rights and feudal privileges.
When I was a child, books often said that old China was called "three big mountains". At first I didn't understand why there were three mountains instead of four. I always felt that warlords should also be counted as one. The ancients said that what you see on paper will eventually make you realize it is shallow, but you will definitely know that you have to do it in detail. It’s only in the past few years that I’ve figured out what’s going on. "
"How to say?"
"As I said before, during the late Qing Dynasty, the landlord economy and the landlord class have always maintained a strong dominance. After the invasion of Western imperialism, the landlord class, which occupied the largest part of the country's wealth, naturally became the target of their cooperation; and When the imperial rule was in danger, in order to preserve their wealth, the landlord class would definitely join forces with the colonists. As a result, some businessmen, landlords and bureaucrats later became the predecessors of the national bourgeoisie, and this class was closely related to land rent exploitation in the countryside. , with weakness from the mother's womb. This is completely inseparable from the trinity of rural economic development."
(End of chapter)
