Chapter 75 Future Directions
Being summoned by He Mansion was a huge opportunity for Zhang Youzhi.
Zhang You got up early in the morning and tidied his clothes. Carrying several thousand-tael banknotes in my arms, I felt extremely anxious. However, when he arrived at He Mansion, he was placed at the concierge, where he saw dozens of people already waiting.
They are all officials.
Zhang Youzhi was the only one who was naked. Zhang Youzhi was in the middle of it, feeling excited and feeling inferior at the same time.
What is exciting is that he, Zhang Youzhi, can now be in the same room with so many officials. This already represents an improvement in his status. What makes him feel inferior is that everyone else is an official, but he himself is a white person. He dares not sit down, and dare not stand up. I am so cautious about my status that I don’t know where to place myself.
But even so, he listened to these officials talk about some things that he didn't know, such as the progress of Beijing's urban construction, the problems that had been encountered, and the poor geology there. There are also how many steam engines have been built and how many have to be allocated.
Although these things have nothing to do with Zhang Youzhi, just listening to them makes him tremble with excitement all over.
However, Zhang Youzhi waited until the afternoon, after having dinner at He's house, before he was heard.
He Xi had also just had dinner. She held a cup of strong tea in her hand, blew it gently and said, "I remember I asked you to come in the evening. Why did you come so early?"
Zhang Youzhi said: "How can the ordinary people not be grateful for your summons, and dare not show any slights?"
He Xi looked at Zhang Youzhi and saw that although he was sitting, he felt more uncomfortable than standing. His buttocks were slightly touching the bench and he didn't dare to move. He Xi had also seen it, the way some officials met Zhu Yuanzhang.
The flattery is beyond words.
Instead, He Xi missed the Zhang Youzhi from half a year ago.
At that time, Zhang Youzhi was living in a foreign land, penniless, and working as a domestic servant. It seems that the jar has been broken. On the contrary, he has a bit of bachelor aura. But now that I have unprecedented money and my status has improved, I feel worried, and my original bachelor temper is gone. But today he is groveling.
He Xi sighed slightly and said, "What are your plans for the future?"
Zhang Youzhi was stunned. He originally thought that He Xi summoned him for business reasons. After all, Puzhou Shedu’s net profit exceeded 10,000 taels. In Zhang Youzhi's case, ten thousand taels is simply an astronomical figure. But the problem is that the money He Xi handles is in the millions. What does this ten thousand taels count for?
He Xi didn't care at all.
Zhang You had always thought that He Xi would ask a lot of questions, but he never expected that He Xi would ask about his future plans as soon as he came up. what is this? Talk about life and ideals.
Zhang Youzhi turned around a few times in his heart and said, "Sir, what do you want me to do? That's what I plan to do."
He Xi looked at Zhang Youzhi, and seemed to see through Zhang Youzhi's face that there was a shadow of a person behind Zhang Youzhi, that is, Ge Tiangong, and other craftsmen. He Xi didn't dare to say that he had seen through Zhang Youzhi, but he generally understood it.
He is a person who wants to be an official but cannot get it.
He Xi understood this kind of plot very well. This kind of plot has always existed in China and has even been passed down to later generations. This sentiment still exists in later generations. It's just that this situation is deeply rooted and unshakable in Ming Dynasty.
What is making money? Desperately trying to get into the power field is everyone's expectation and idea.
He Xi actually doesn't like the combination of power and capital. There are too many problems in it. He Xi hopes that the business class can develop independent power. Not that He Xi likes capitalists, but from the perspective of developing productivity and ensuring people's livelihood, it is very necessary for capital to have a certain degree of independence.
It seems that the merchant class of Ming Dynasty is simply not good enough.
The reason is very simple. After so many years of self-domestication, businessmen have understood one thing, or in other words, have long been accustomed to one thing. Without a backend, you can't do business. Once you have money, you will take the initiative to flatter power. Use power in exchange for more non-commercial benefits.
Sometimes, it’s too much to say anything without making sense.
He Xi clearly recognized Zhang Youzhi's true nature and had no need to say anything more to him. Working for Duke Shen's government, in He Xi's opinion, was like being treated like a dog. But in this person's opinion, it may be a good business that he can only dream of.
Everyone has his own ambitions.
He Xi said calmly: "Yesterday, Duke Shen came to see me. He took a fancy to you and thought you were doing a good job. You can go to Duke Shen's mansion tomorrow."
The expression on Zhang Youzhi's face was indescribable for a moment, whether it was joy or worry. Don't even understand what's going on behind this. But He Xi didn't give Zhang Youzhi more time and directly served tea to see off the guests.
Before Zhang Youzhi left the mansion, Yang Zhen came forward and asked to get a famous assassination card from Zhang Youzhi. From then on, Zhang Youzhi no longer needed this thing, because he was from Shen Guogong's palace. Maybe not as good as He's family, but he was also a figure among the top dignitaries of the Ming Dynasty.
He Xi looked at the famous assassin in his hand and threw it into the wastebasket. Asked: "Yang Zhen, do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing that all the noble people end up doing business?"
Yang Zhen said: "It's neither good nor bad. Without them, there would be no business of this scale. But it's hard to describe what they do."
He Xi said: "It's hard to put it into words."
He Xi has seen what he has done. If the situation does not change, He Xi's efforts in the future will be like the situation of the four major families in the Republic of China. The combination of power and capital formed a huge bureaucracy. The only thing that made He Xi feel that it was better than the Republic of China was that in this era, the Ming Dynasty was the most powerful country, and these big families would not have the chance to become compradors.
However, He Xi was not satisfied in her heart.
The period of the Republic of China, whether it was the period of the Beiyang warlords or the period of the Republic of China government, was actually an era of constant change. Conservatism and innovation, conservatism and advancement, were carried out in contradictions. The extremely conservative approach of empty one grid and empty one grid rule is essentially a variant of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang's approach. This is why Kong Yige admires Zeng Guofan and Wang Yangming. But within our party, it is actually quite fashionable to be in line with the world, and ideologically there is not much difference from the mainstream thinking in the world.
Even within the Kuomintang, there are many progressive reform forces, and the foundations of many systems were laid during the Republic of China. And New China inherited and developed.
To be honest, even the Republic of China government was actually much better than the Ming Dynasty. No matter how dark the Republic of China government was, it at least had a very bad business system that could accommodate the development of industry and commerce. Nowadays, in the Ming Dynasty, there is no possibility of private development without relying on the powerful.
What should the future look like?
He Xi was a little confused in her heart.
Even He Xi didn't know whether what he did was right or wrong? From now on, promoting nobles to intervene in business and thus gaining the support of a very powerful political force is the key to the success or failure of the new law. But the question is what to do in the future?
The combination of huge dignitaries and advanced productive forces will create even greater power. It is even foreseeable that if things go wrong, the Ming Dynasty will return to the power of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
These huge forces will also suppress the development of productive forces.
This allows advanced productive forces to burst out from elsewhere.
At this time, He Xi had some understanding of why the first industrial revolution occurred in Britain, but during the electrical revolution, Britain did not have the advantage. On the contrary, Germany caught up from behind. In many cases, it is not a matter of technology and science, but a political issue.
If this is the case, the Industrial Revolution first occurred in China, but because of China's elite capital, it was transferred to other countries. Even hundreds of years later, emerging countries surpassed China. Just like China will defeat the United States at some point in the future.
From a larger historical perspective, is this right or wrong?
This question can even be extended to: For a huge country like China, on the road of development, is it more important to be first or to be late?
That is to say, the Industrial Revolution happened in ancient China. Is it a good thing? Or is it a bad thing?
You must know that Britain today still retains a large number of feudal remnants, and the weakening of Britain's international power is not just a relatively small problem in Britain.
There are many obvious questions, but after careful consideration, I don’t know whether they are right or wrong?
The biggest problem with history is that it is not a science. It must be more accidental, even if it were to be done over again.
