Chapter 116 The Problem
Li Jinglong knew very well that even if there were no problems with the new banknotes, Yao Guangxiao's hidden hand alone would be enough to give the Nanjing court a hard drink.
Not to mention, there are problems within the new banknote system.
Once Yao Guangxiao takes action, Nanjing's finances will inevitably have problems.
Yao Guangxiao continued: "The people in the south can't support it for long. Look at these big projects."
Then Yao Guangxiao took out a piece of paper, which contained statistics on major projects in Nanjing during this period.
Xuzhou Iron Works Project.
Qingjiangpu Shipyard Project.
Lam Tin Railway Project.
Huainan coal mine project.
etc.
Needless to say, Xuzhou Iron Works. Qingjiangpu Shipyard Project. Qingjiangpu originally had a large shipyard that built water transport vessels. This time it is just an expansion, and there seems to be no problem. But the question is where does the wood for the ship come from?
Just build ordinary ships. To build a large ship that can compete with Beijing on the sea, ordinary wood cannot be used.
It must be a big tree.
The Lantian Railway had increased priority due to the defeat in the Northwest War.
Huainan Coal Mine is also because Taiping Iron Works has been expanding recently, and iron ore should be able to supply it. However, there are some shortcomings in coal mines. There are not many coal mines in Anqing, and mining is also difficult. You can only find it elsewhere.
In addition to these, how many other piecemeal projects are there?
After Li Jinglong saw this, he was a little confused and said, "Is there anything wrong with this?"
Yao Guangxiao knew that Li Jinglong came from a wealthy family, and many things were not clear to him. I can only explain: "Do you know how to transport military rations here in Nanjing?"
Li Jinglong knew this very well and said: "If it is a war, special troops will recruit civilians to escort it. If it is too urgent, you can only transport it yourself."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Standing here for such a long time?"
Li Jinglong said: "It is usually sent by the imperial court under the supervision of the local government. The specific details are not clear."
Yao Guangxiao said: "It's corvee. The people are required to do corvee."
Li Jinglong said: "It seems like this."
Yao Guangxiao said: "With such a long front, how much transportation of military rations and how many corvees are needed? Do you know?"
Li Jinglong shook his head blankly. He had no idea about this, but he also knew that there must be many.
Yao Guangxiao said: "Do you know how these projects are built?"
Li Jinglong is a smart man who is obedient and obedient. How could he not hear the implication of Li Jinglong's words?
Li Jinglong said: "Is it also a corvee?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "Exactly. I have sent people to investigate, and the most common ones are corvees in southern Shandong. In some places, strong men have been serving for more than a year."
No matter how ignorant Li Jinglong is about world affairs, he also knows that among the lower class people, men are the backbone of the family. What will happen to a family without a man for a year?
Li Jinglong said with some confusion: "I don't think the major projects in the north have stopped. Why is this?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "In Taizu's reform, the corvee system was actually abolished. But in the end, the matter had to be obscured. After all, the impact was too great. But after His Majesty ascended the throne, the corvee system was completely abolished. Even when the city of Beijing was built back then, , just to pay workers. Nowadays, in the entire north, no matter there are no local officials to serve the people, as long as large-scale projects are carried out, they are hired. Even because many engineering teams are supported, how many people are professionally engaged in such things. You should also have heard that Passed."
The employment system and the corvee system are two different systems, bringing different results.
In Beijing, employment brings great financial pressure, which is why the 100 million national debt was quickly spent. You know, Beijing’s income is not just national debt. There is also a lot of other income from various aspects, plus the income from excessive currency issuance.
Expenses of several hundred million a year are normal.
It’s just that many of them are not included in military expenditures.
Among them, such as railway funding.
But such massive investment has also driven economic growth in other areas. Don't say anything else. What will a large number of people do and consume when they have money in their hands? All kinds of consumption stimulate economic growth.
As for Beijing’s sound commercial tax system, we dare not say that no one evades taxes. But at least a large part of the dividends from economic development were taken by the court and turned into fiscal revenue. Supported the war again.
Are there any bubbles in it?
Even regarding the over-issuance of currency, Beijing is much more serious than Nanjing. But there aren’t many feelings on the market.
Of course there is. Even quite a bit. But at least it is much better than Nanjing. It can be said that Beijing transformed the pressure of war on everyone into inflation. Many people lost money. A lot of pressure from Nanjing was placed directly on the people in the form of corvee labor.
This is deadly.
Li Jinglong was a little confused. He seemed to understand a lot, but he didn't seem to understand.
Yao Guangxiao had no intention of telling Li Jinglong more. After all, for Li Jinglong to understand so many things, a lot of preliminary homework needs to be taught. Yao Guangxiao has no intention of giving lectures to Li Jinglong.
Yao Guangxiao said: "One more thing, have you made any money at Jiangning Weaving Factory recently?"
Li Jinglong said: "Of course I made a profit."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Do you make a lot of money?"
Li Jinglong said: "Not much, not much." Li Jinglong said not much. But the smile on his face had betrayed him. That's a lot of wealth.
Yao Guangxiao said: "I don't know, have you noticed one thing, that is, many social schools in Jiangnan have closed down."
Li Jinglong was even more confused. He didn't know what Yao Guangxiao was talking about. What did it have to do with him?
He felt that Yao Guangxiao was in the same world as him, but not from the same world.
Yao Guangxiao was originally very smart. He had been with He Xi the longest and understood He Xi's thinking better. Today's Yao Guangxiao is more like an ancient sociologist than the historical Yao Guangxiao.
The entry point Yao Guangxiao chose was sociology.
What is sociology?
It was Zhu Yuanzhang who asked the villages to establish their own private schools for enlightenment education. It can be said to be a private elementary school. And who are the people who go to such a school?
He is the son of a yeoman farmer.
Really rich people hire tutors themselves. Or have homeschooling. The private ladies organized by the imperial court were actually not very good.
But the rich among the yeoman farmers. After all, the real middle and lower class people have no need to study.
Sociology was promoted on a large scale in the early Ming Dynasty, but disappeared in the middle Ming Dynasty. This is also related to the thought of the demise of the homesteaders in the Ming Dynasty. It also proves that Yao Guangxiao's choice point cannot be wrong.
As for what the yeoman farmers relied on to make money and educate their children, it was naturally weaving.
Analyzed from this perspective, the impact of the textile industry on the small farmer economy is very intuitive.
This has only been a short period of one year.
There has been a large-scale sociological massacre.
After all, the essence of these social studies is that parents jointly ask one teacher to hand in the book. Education these days does not require so many heavy assets. Just one room and one teacher is enough.
The Chinese have always paid the most attention to their children’s education. Parents are the same no matter what era they are in.
Children will not be allowed to stop studying unless absolutely necessary.
Not to mention, He Xi also brought a change to this era, especially industrialization, which brought a lot of literacy needs. If the only way to study was the imperial examination, the employment prospects in other directions were not very good. But things are different now.
It can be said that this is a window period. As long as you can read and write, you will have a good future in this era. After this period of time, it will be hard to say.
Even as an investment, reading has the highest return rate.
The people are the most cunning and the most ignorant. This situation has inspired many people's desire to read and become literate. There are even many private groups in Beijing that have formed spontaneously. .
Now, in the most fertile Jiangnan region, such a situation has occurred.
What does this mean?
Li Jinglong may not know. But Yao Guangxiao understood it very well. That is because he expected that the impact of industry on the small peasant economy was already coming. Without the additional income of the family from weaving, many children of the common people could no longer study.
This is still just the beginning. You can stop studying now to save money. But what about the future? People's lives are very difficult, and they cannot bear the slightest fluctuation in income.
