"For punishment, let's drink tea." Wang Ruohai sat down and Wang Xiaolie poured him a cup of tea himself.
Wang Ruohai hesitated for a moment, then took a sip of tea. Putting down the tea cup, he was silent for a while and said: "Observe, in Zhang Jun's case, he was fined fifty guan. For him, it was a small amount. But in the eyes of the people who complained, they were still dissatisfied."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course he is dissatisfied. His father lost his life because of this matter. How can it be settled with fifty guan of money? There is no way. Zhang Jun keeps the letter to the Yang Army. Many things don't seem to be a big deal on the official side. But for the people, their lives are at stake. A single word from the Zhizhou may lead to the death of many families. But at this time, we can only use people like Zhang Jun to know the state, so what else can we do?"
Wang Ruohai nodded helplessly. Yes, foreign enemies are invading and civil strife continues. What else can be done? We can only use military commanders to defend the place. If the official title contains the word "power", the requirements cannot be so high.
The two drank tea in silence. The tea is loose tea newly made by Xinyang Army. To be honest, it doesn't taste good. Especially Wang Ruohai, who is used to drinking Tuancha in this era, finds it even more difficult to swallow.
After a while, Wang Ruohai put down the tea cup. Said: "Although it is helpless, it cannot always be like this. Military generals are used to know the state. First, they are not familiar with government affairs, so they will inevitably make mistakes. If something goes wrong, if they are punished, it will inevitably affect the leadership of the troops. And if they are not punished, they will not be able to punish them. The people will tell you."
Wang Xiaolie said: "I know it too. But there is no one under me, so what should I do?"
Wang Ruohai said: "As long as the place is stable, how can there be no one there?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "How long did it take for the Xiang and Deng states to be stable? There are Jin soldiers in the north, and they invade from the south every year. There are countless bandits in Huainan to the east, and they may come from the west at any time. Are there Yangs in Dongting Lake in the south? Who knows when we will go north? It is not easy to make the place stable."
Wang Ruohai thought for a while and could only sigh sadly. These are troubled times, what else can we ask for in troubled times? In fact, compared to other places, Wang Xiaolie is considered stable and prosperous. It was precisely this situation that gave Wang Ruohai so many ideas. In another chaotic place, he would never have taken Ge Xiong's case. Raising the army is the top priority. What's wrong with getting some money from the private sector?
Looking at Wang Ruohai's appearance, Wang Xiaolie said: "When it comes to punishment, the world is like this. Many cases can only be turned a blind eye now. Most of the punishments are just to lead the troops to quell the robbers. The Xiang and Deng states are different, and there are natural reasons to quell the robbers. The army, don't bother to mention the punishment. If you are serious about the punishment, you should pay more attention to local affairs."
Wang Ruohai looked at Wang Xiaolie and said with a wry smile: "Are you really willing to hand over local power to me?"
"Why not?" Wang Xiaolie shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to hand over power, but I want to impose punishment and manage the place in my own way. We must agree on how to manage the place. If we have different opinions, there will be no solution."
Wang Ruohai said: "I see that the affairs of Dengzhou are very different from those under the previous imperial rule. How should we manage the place?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's simple. In the past, it was an imperial edict, but now it mostly depends on the local people. Naturally, there are regulations for governance methods. They are all deleted from the previous regulations. There are not many changes. Just supervise the state. Regulations In addition, we need to know what the people think. "Tai Oath" says that God sees me and the people see me, and God listens to me and the people listen. In this way, God's will can also be seen as what the people think. Governing the people according to the will of God, that's all. "
After hearing this, Wang Ruohai couldn't help but frown: "As observed, God's will is what the people think, and the people are governed according to their thoughts. Is there such a principle in the world? Who doesn't want to be rich when governing the people? Not only do they want to be rich, , but also relaxed and unrestrained. Who can do that?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "If you can't do it for a while, it doesn't mean you can't do it all the time. Knowing that the people are like this, don't go against their wishes. What's wrong with everyone wanting to be rich? People work hard every day, not because they want to live well. Days? Officials must fulfill their wishes. Those who work tirelessly every day must gain something. The harvest should not only support their families, but also ensure they have savings. If they keep going, they will one day become Rich people. Those who don’t do their jobs properly will be punished. If they keep going, they will eventually lose everything. Isn’t this what it should be?”
Wang Ruohai was stunned for a moment. Yes, it should be like this, but it can’t be done. It’s easier said than done.
In the minds of people in this era, the development of productive forces is still unclear. People think that a good society is one where harvests are stable, the government is light on corvees and taxes are light, and people are peaceful and indifferent. In later generations, the productivity has advanced rapidly and the society is so bizarre that people at this time can't even think about it.
A major leap forward in the development of human society is the emergence of industrialization. Ever since humans entered industrialized society, everything has been different from before. The advancement of productivity has greatly liberated people themselves, and all aspects of knowledge have developed. Another great progress of mankind is the emergence of Marxist-Leninist thought and the emergence of the Soviet Union. Marxism-Leninism and the Soviet Union guided China and enabled China to finally complete its liberation.
Industrialization is Europe's great contribution to mankind. Along with this contribution, however, their crimes are also countless. No matter how mankind develops, the sins of Europeans cannot be forgotten, nor can their contributions.
Why did industrialization originate in Europe? Not in Asia, especially China, which has been leading the world for a long time? This question is called the Needham Question. Not only the British man Joseph Needham asked, but many Chinese people also asked. Actually, what's the use of asking? In other words, this is not a problem at all. Industrialization originated in Europe, and things just happened. There are so many reasons for things in the world. Many people are looking for answers to this question from the institutional, ideological, cultural and other aspects. Do these answers make sense? A lot of it makes sense. But are these answers the answer to the fact that industrialization did not originate in China? of course not.
As humanity continues to move forward, it is not surprising that sometimes people here make contributions, and sometimes people there make contributions. The most important thing is not why these contributions were not made by our people, but why we did not learn. Knowing that we are falling behind but not learning, and losing this ability to learn during development, is the core of the problem. When did China lose its ability to learn? Future generations need to be alert.
As long as you are good at learning, what if you are one step behind others?
Wang Xiaolie knows that human productivity is moving forward, and temporary poverty and backwardness does not mean eternal poverty and backwardness. People live in this world not just to eat and sleep. Human development requires more than eating and sleeping.
Wang Ruohai thought about it again and again, shook his head and said: "Observe, as long as the people are happy and peaceful, it is good for local officials. As you said, how to govern? To be honest, you can think like this, but you can't do it. of."
"Can't you do it?" Wang Xiaolie shook his head. "I think it can be done. People need to live, eat, wear clothes, and sleep. If they want to eat well, wear new clothes, and sleep well, most people used to farm. As people farm more and more land, The more there are, the easier it is to spin clothes, and the more people who don’t farm. If these people don’t farm, they can do other things——”
Wang Ruohai waved his hands repeatedly: "In the pre-Qin period, one man had fifty acres, and now it's still one man and fifty acres. In the past, how many pieces of yarn did a woman spin and weave in a day? It's still the same number now. What's the difference?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "You don't have to talk about that long ago, let's talk about Xiangyang and Dengzhou. From one acre of rice, you can get more than two stones, or even four stones. From wheat, you can get more than one stone, or even three stones. From millet, you can only get. One stone is harder than two stones. How to grow rice on wheat land? There is only water. Now there is enough water here, just open canals. Use the slack time to let the people build ponds and open canals. In the same way, one person can harvest more food. The things that people use to live are not only given by God, but also made by human hands. With proper planning and effective management by officials, the same land can produce more food. With more food, many things will be different. ”
What Wang Ruohai said is true. Since the pre-Qin period, one man has cultivated fifty acres of land. But throughout the dynasties, the area of one acre is different, and the yield of the same area is also different. Although the development was slow, productivity still developed greatly in the one thousand years from the pre-Qin to the Song Dynasty.
What do officials want to do? What is different from before is to develop productivity. Wang Xiaolie abolished a large number of laws and regulations under his rule in order to develop productivity. As productivity develops, many things will change.
