Chapter 1289 Merchant


    At the beginning of the second year of Yanping, Fei Qian finally felt a little leisurely. However, he still had to deal with some political affairs around Pingyang in the short term. In the rest of the time, he could consider some technological and technological development issues.


    After all, the political index of the prefects in several large counties on hand is at least 80 or above. Many matters are handled directly locally without Fei Qian''s personal intervention, which saves a lot of tedious back-and-forth writing and relieves Fei Qian a lot. Potential administrative pressure.


    ?So Fei Qian also had some time to go out with Huang Yueying, walk around and see the mountains and rivers, which could be regarded as compensation for what he had not been able to do for so many years. Speaking of which, women in the Han Dynasty were quite reasonable. At least they were not like later generations who forgot certain days and felt like the sky fell. Even when they went shopping with them, they needed to appear to be always available and brilliant, otherwise ,hehe…


    To be honest, Fei Qian really feels like time is passing now. If he were to give a report on the work of General Zhengxi, the unshakable words "time is slowly passing by" are really sincere.


    ?Of course, the more direct sensory experience is the popularity of the surrounding area.


    Economic prosperity brings more people, which in turn promotes the demand for goods, and then promotes further economic development. As long as this positive cycle is not restricted and broken, there is a high probability that it can continue for a period of time. For a long time, until one day Pingyang developed to the status of a capital city like Chang''an or Luoyang in the Han Dynasty, it would be restricted by some unique production and living conditions.


    Pingyang is actually not suitable as the capital of a country.


    After all, the surrounding grain-producing area is not very large, and the climate is gradually getting colder. Zhuanghe''s production cycle has also been compressed to one season or one and a half seasons. It is not possible to plant hemp first and then harvest hemp in the summer like our ancestors did before. Plant another crop later...


    In other words, because there is always an upper limit on the weight of grain produced, when the population reaches a certain level, grain and grass will need to be transferred from outside. Under transportation conditions like the Han Dynasty, transportation costs were still a problem. of.


    "Lang Jun! I didn''t expect that this road would be built all the way here!" Huang Yueying jumped up and pulled Fei Qian''s sleeves and said, very excited, like Erha who had finally been let out of the house, almost shaking. Called with his tail wagging.


    Human beings should be born with nature, but in later generations this natural attribute is often castrated.


    Fei Qian smiled slightly, rubbed Lou Huang Yueying''s head lovingly and said, "Do you know who built this road?" This is a road leading to the mountains to the west of Pingyang, passing through the valley, although most areas are It is a loess land, but it has been leveled off and even paved with a layer of **** cement produced by Binh Duong Gongfang. Well, people now call it "graystone".


    Although this kind of **** cement is not as hard and strong as the cement of later generations, it has characteristics that loess soil does not have. It does not change its solid state much due to water absorption. Unlike loess cement, it is naturally hard when dry. But once it rains, the mud is as muddy as a small swamp. You go in with shoes and come out with bare feet...


    "Who? Zao Zhengzheng? If it''s not Du Zhengzheng from before?" Huang Yueying guessed the names of several people, then subconsciously tugged at her fingers and said, "It will cost a lot of money to build such a road, right? The manpower and material resources... Um…"


    "None of them. And speaking of this road, we made money..." Fei Qian laughed and stepped on it to see how solid the road was. "You might not believe it, but they are from Bai Shiqiang. ”


    “Bai Shiqiang?!” Huang Yueying’s eyes widened, “How is this possible?”


    In Huang Yueying''s impression, the Qiang and Huns are basically the same. They wear tattered leather robes, and are covered with fleas. The folds on their faces and necks are covered with layers of gray-black human oil. A mixture of dust…


    Can such a person build roads?


    Huang Yueying looked at Fei Qian in disbelief, then lowered her head and looked at the road.


    Although the road is not completely straight, it is mixed with a mixture of yellow mud, gravel and **** cement, which can generally provide a relatively stable support and driving area for vehicles passing by, although there are also areas in the middle that are crushed by vehicles. There are marks, but it does not collapse like ordinary yellow soil. It is only cracked and slightly shattered. If it is repaired, it will basically not be very different from other roads...


    "Bai Shiqiang came to see me before and mentioned this trade route when chatting. He said that when it rains or snows, even if the traffic is cut off, sometimes some goods cannot withstand the rain. The president had some losses..." Fei Qian walked and said to Huang Yueying, "Then I gave Bai Shiqiang an idea... Every time after their caravan came, when they returned from Pingyang, five people came out of Pingyang workshop. Load the cart with gray stone and follow them, paving a section at a time. Bai Shiqiang only needs to pay for some materials and construction costs. Over time, it has been extended to this point..."


    “Oh…” Huang Yueying nodded, “I didn’t expect…”


    “What didn’t you expect?” Fei Qian said with a smile, “I didn’t expect that barbarians could be of some use, or that merchants could build roads?”


    Huang Yueying tilted her head slightly, thought for a moment, and then said: "Well... there should be all of them... I didn''t tell Lang Jun about it, I really didn''t know that there was such a thing... But, Lang Jun, isn''t it said in the book that merchants seek profits? , East, West, South, each use their wisdom and skill, good clothes and good food, there will be profit at the age of twelve, and there will be no rental tax..."


    "What did Young Master Gong say?" Fei Qian looked into the distance and said, "Young Master Gong also wrote a letter saying that officials who collect pearls, jade, gold, silver and make money should be dismissed, and all taxes, salaries and gifts should be changed to grain and cloth... Anyone who believes in the letter should have no book. also…"


    Fei Qian did not finish speaking, but looked left and right, pointed to the grassy **** on the side, and said: "Let''s set up camp there, and then let Zichu go hunt some animals..."


    "Okay!" Huang Yueying didn''t mean to ask further. Anyway, no topic of businessmen was more important to her than the picnic. She excitedly took Mo Dou and a few nuns to the grass slope, and then said hello The men took down some utensils and other things from the baggage cart and began to prepare.


    Fei Qian, in this position, he doesn’t need to do it himself. He can just wait and eat. However, if you don’t do it, you need to use your brain. Huang Yueying’s words touched Fei Qian invisibly.


    The status of merchants seems to have declined somewhat at the end of the Han Dynasty, which is at this point in time. This is completely different from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period...


    Fei Qian slowly walked to the hillside and sat down on a stone.


    ?This can be regarded as an overcorrection, or in other words, China has always overcorrected again and again in its history...


    Taking Shang Yang''s Reform as the dividing line, the legal status of merchants in ancient China can be divided into two stages. From the period when China entered the inheritance of civilization until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the legal status of merchants was not low, and the peak of merchants even appeared during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. period, but since Shang Yang''s reform, especially after the Qin and Han Dynasties, the legal status of merchants has been seriously belittled, and even suppressed at all costs.


    Merchants were a special class in ancient Chinese society, but what is interesting is that in ancient times, most of the words used for merchants were positive or neutral, and they only became worse and worse later on.


    The Shang Dynasty originally refers to the group of people doing business in the Central Plains region, so it is called Shang. There is a saying in the "Book of Changes": "When the Pao Xi family died, the Shen Nong family built it, listed it in the country, and made the middle of the day a market, bringing the people of the world together, gathering the goods of the world, trading and retreating, and everyone got his own place."


    Even in the Book of Shang Shun, there is a statement that before Shun accepted Yao''s abdication, he once "traveled to Dunqiu and lost the summer". In the Western Zhou Dynasty, due to the implementation of the system of "industrial and commercial food officials", the rulers did not have to implement policies that suppressed and devalued business. By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the feudal landlord class had not yet fully established its dominance. At this time, there was even a golden age for ancient Chinese merchants. For example, Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong, a merchant, as his prime minister to rectify the state affairs.


    Also like Fan Li, Zigong, Yidun, Bai Gui, etc.


    ?There is also Lu Buwei.


    Although not many of the formal legal provisions of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods have been handed down due to the war, judging from the status of these big businessmen, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the status of merchants was not humble and they enjoyed a wide range of rights.


    Confucius''s Zigong was also a big businessman. It can be said that Confucius was able to establish Confucianism because of his great efforts. "We **** our horses and rode together, **** our silk coins, and hired them to favor the princes. Wherever they came, the kings of the country all divided their courts to resist him. The one who made Confucius famous throughout the world was Zigong."


    But later on, the status of merchants gradually declined.


    ??Tian and Lu Buwei’s pot?


    Maybe.


    How low were merchants in the Han Dynasty?


    There is a code in the Qin Slips called "Wei Ben Ming Code": "...tell the general verbally: false gates, rebels, son-in-laws, stepfathers, or people who do not do well, do not manage the house, and the widow has no desire. And kill them, you can''t bear them. Don’t use rats in your clan. If you don’t use it enough to attack a city, the general will use it to annihilate the powerful..."


    This law is to banish merchants, travelers, sons-in-law, and step-fathers into the army who do not farm or manage their homes. According to this law, merchants, travelers, sons-in-law, and step-fathers become persons without full personal rights. This kind of law that discriminated against merchants continued into the Qin and Han Dynasties, affecting the entire Chinese feudal society.


    The First Emperor of Qin regarded merchants as criminals and sent them to border counties to serve as garrison soldiers.


    In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the law of "seven disciplines and banishments" was enacted. The state can deprive seven types of people of some of their personal rights and send them into the army at any time. Among these seven types of people, businessmen rank fourth.


    Is it possible that there were no smart people in the dynasties of the past dynasties, and they couldn’t clearly see the role of merchants?


    Fei Qian shook his head. After he arrived in the Han Dynasty, he discovered that the wisdom of the ancients was not bad, and even surpassed the people of later generations in some areas. Therefore, the policy of suppressing businessmen was not a temporary confusion, but should be something more. A deeper reason.


    Fei Qian feels that apart from Lu Buwei’s factors, the biggest reason is probably the feudal system of small-scale peasant economy adopted by Central Plains China and the superstructure formed by the large landlord class, and the natural opposition between the free economic system among merchants.


    If you are not in your position, you will not pursue your political affairs.


    Now Fei Qian is the leader of the entire Zhengxi Group, and the whole of China seems to be reproducing the situation of the feudal feudal lords in various places during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, so the status of merchants who can exchange what they have has been raised again, because of the geography of the lords in various places The scope is always limited, and some materials cannot be produced locally and must be traded by merchants.


    These caravans under Fei Qian''s jurisdiction can get the tacit approval of the princes from all over the world to trade in their territories. Of course, this is due to Fei Qian''s reputation as the general who conquered the west, but more importantly, these princes also hope to trade through trade. The team gets the supplies they want.


    So at this point in time, no one has proposed any policies to inhibit businessmen.


    But once division returns to unity, the ruling class of big landowners will inevitably hope that everyone in the world will be bound to the land, and their descendants will pay for the land. Then they will restrict the flow of the population by using registration, and obtain various taxes paid by generation after generation. …


    ?So it is not surprising that all dynasties and generations continued to promote agriculture and suppress business.


    The purpose of placing restrictions of one kind or another on businessmen, especially small and medium-sized businessmen who were formerly farmers, and devaluing their social status is precisely to "drive the people back to their fields" and at the same time to prevent businessmen from competing for profits with the state, so as to increase the state''s financial revenue.


    After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted Dong Zhongshu''s suggestion of "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism", Han Confucianism integrated the Legalist thinking of the Warring States Period to emphasize the roots and suppress the weak. He also believed that only agriculture can produce wealth. This kind of thinking continued until Pian''an Yiyu It was only relaxed in the Song Dynasty, but the geographical environment of the Song Dynasty can also be regarded as a four-nation or multi-nation version of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods...


    Merchants drove the flow of goods and promoted regional communication. At the same time, like the Baishi Qiang, they would indirectly develop road networks and even promote the advancement of science and technology to a certain extent, because novel things would definitely be more profitable.


    But how can we ensure that the status of businessmen is neither high nor low, so that they will not fall into overcorrection again after unification?


    ?Fei Qian suddenly felt that this issue was stuck in an endless loop.


    In the feudal dynasty, as long as there is great unification, the landlord class will inevitably rise. Then the rising landlord class will naturally suppress all enemies that destroy the small peasant system of self-sufficient natural economy. Then society will gradually enter a state of stagnant water, with contradictions accumulating in silence, waiting for The next round of explosions comes out...


    Are there any methods that can be used to change this situation?


    Decentralization?


    No, Chinese people, strictly speaking, are human beings. However, any decentralization must involve ever-present internal consumption. Although there are some centralized ones, they are relatively rare.


    ?Fei Qian closed his eyes and tried his best to recall what he had seen or heard, searching for the memories remaining in his mind, and found that there seemed to be a way to try...


    (End of this chapter)