Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

“When discussing how surplus flows among various classes of society, we might as well think about this question.”

“Why do different people have different pockets of money?”

A hint of chill flashed in Jiang Xinghuo's eyes.

The different compositions of social classes and national wealth in different historical periods (agricultural era and industrial era) not only reflect the huge changes in manufacturing power, but are also the most obvious and easily understandable characteristics between agricultural and industrial countries.

Therefore, when analyzing the manufacturing capacity of agricultural countries, using rigorous logic to dismantle the "circulation-surplus" argumentation process seems to be no different from directly applying the "spring planting, summer, long autumn harvesting and winter storage" from "Guiguzi".

But the difference is undoubtedly the huge gap between naive empiricism and scientific derivation and argumentation.

What China lacks most at this time is "naive empiricism" summarized in one sentence, and what it lacks most is bold assumptions and scientific derivation through step-by-step demonstration.

“Why do different people have different pockets of money?”

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment, but he didn't feel that he was powerful, just because he was powerful. Instead, he felt that if his father were not the King of Yan, he would probably be born as a hunter in the mountains and a wealthy person in the world.

After all, the poor are poor in literature and rich in martial arts. If one does not receive training at any cost in his youth, it is almost impossible to become a talented person later on in martial arts. This kind of training at any cost is undoubtedly given by his parents.

So Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard and replied: "Is it because my parents had no money, no ability, and no education when I was born?"

Zheng He, who has always advocated self-strength, although he had been re-educated by Jiang Xinghuo, still stubbornly believed at this time: "The poor will become poor, probably because they don't work hard enough. If he is a healthy man, he is really willing to risk his life." Don't be lazy, whether you are serving as a soldier on the battlefield, farming, or herding sheep, you should always strive for something or save a fortune."

After that, Zheng He also gave Jiang Xinghuo an example.

"When I was a child, I saw with my own eyes a man in the village who got up earlier than others every day and took care of the fields with great care. After several years of bumper harvests, he relied on the grain he sold to earn money. With the money I got, I scraped together some here and there, bought a few more acres of land, and worked hard, and within two years, I became a small landowner."

Zhuo Jing gave another answer. His old face was full of life experiences.

“The poor are poor because they cannot understand wealth and cannot keep it.”

After hearing what Old Man Zhuo said, Zhu Gaoxu did not raise his objections, but nodded and said: "If a poor man wants to be rich, he needs to put in sweat and perseverance, but what happens after he becomes rich? Wealth makes people corrupt, and they lose their enterprising spirit and forget about it. How hard did you work in the first place? But after you suddenly become rich, people who are obsessed with money and have no good intentions often come to flatter you. As long as you fall into a trap, all your wealth will be gone."

After patiently listening to the three people's answers to the question "Why do different people have different pockets of money?" from different angles, Jiang Xinghuo spoke.

"You are all right about what your parents have given you, your own hard work, and your understanding of wealth."

"But neither is right."

"Why?" The three of them were surprised.

"Because you still don't understand the underlying cause of this problem, and the answer is still superficial."

“That’s because the flow of national wealth does not flow in a balanced manner in the ‘circulation-residual’ process.”

As soon as these words came out, Zhuo Jing immediately twirled his beard.

The soft "pop" sound was particularly abrupt in this quiet afternoon.

Zhuo Jing raised his head and stared at Jiang Xinghuo seriously: "You are saying that in fact, in the agricultural production process of every year in the Ming Dynasty, all of this has the invisible process of 'circulation-surplus' just mentioned, and the surplus is not balanced?"

"Yes." Jiang Xinghuo nodded.

"Then why is there an imbalance?" Zhuo Jing asked repeatedly.

This is by no means a simple problem and cannot be attributed to the higher class having temple power or military violence, but a law of how the world operates.

Zhuo Jing vaguely felt that he had grasped a certain law of the world's operation, and this law was destined to be discovered by no one before.

"Before answering your question, I need to ask you a question first. Do you think the total wealth produced by Ming Dynasty is stock or flow?" Jiang Xinghuo also looked at Old Man Zhuo seriously.

Whether it's stock or flow, it's all literal. Zhuo Jing understood it almost instantly.

Zhuo Jing replied: "When we look at it as a whole, it is naturally stock, but if we look at it in a certain year, it is flow."

"Why?" Zhu Gaoxu was a little confused.

Zheng He explained to him: "There is a total number of fields in the Ming Dynasty, and there are also a total number of agricultural products produced, so the total wealth is a stock, but it changes every year, and the surplus of agricultural products is also flowing, so it is a flow."

"Oh." Zhu Gaoxu also turned around.

"You are actually very close to the final answer."

A smile appeared on Jiang Xinghuo's lips.

How does surplus flow among the various classes of society?

Why are the lowest classes destined to receive the least allocations?

The answers to these two questions are readily apparent.

"In the society of agricultural countries, from the perspective of surplus distribution, there are three main social classes."

Jiang Xinghuo finally began to reveal the answer to the mystery that had been laid out for so long.

As he spoke, he held a branch and wrote on the ground.

Agricultural class: responsible for producing "surplus agricultural products", the main wealth of agricultural society

Landlord class: Provide fields for the agricultural class to cultivate and obtain surplus agricultural products.

Artisan class: artisans and handicraftsmen, exchanging handicrafts for surplus agricultural products

“For the agricultural class, surplus agricultural products are remuneration for their farming labor; for the landlord class, surplus agricultural products are remuneration for their fields; for the handicraft class, surplus agricultural products are actually remuneration for their labor. , it’s just through the form of exchange.”

"so."

Jiang Xinghuo wrote a written formula on the ground.

The total national wealth of an agricultural country = the surplus agricultural products of the agricultural class + the surplus agricultural products of the landlord class + the surplus agricultural products of the artisanal class

"You just realized that the total wealth produced by the Ming Dynasty, that is, the national wealth, is actually a stock when viewed as a whole, because the total amount of surplus agricultural products is limited by the total field size and is fixed."

"However, although in a given year, surplus agricultural products have flowed among the three main classes and become flows, the total amount remains unchanged or the change has little impact."

"Therefore we can draw a conclusion that if the total amount remains unchanged and the strata remain unchanged, then the change from one distribution state to another cannot be completed - on the premise that the situation in which one class enjoys the surplus does not deteriorate. down, making at least one class better.”

In fact, this is the famous Pareto optimal state in the history of economics. This Italian economist first used this concept in his research on economic efficiency and income distribution.

If Old Man Zhuo had some enlightenment: "In other words, what you gain must be what I lose."

Zhu Gaoxu also pointed to the formula on the ground and said: "So why do different people have different money bags? As Mr. Jiang said, it is because when national wealth is in a state of stock, the agricultural surplus enjoyed by different classes is in conflict."

The few people under the tree were silent for a moment, which made Zheng He himself think of something in a daze.

"Master Daoyan once said that you were all blood-sucking insects when he was going crazy!"

Zheng He recalled that Brother Huikong, who practiced closed-mouth meditation, once told him this with pen and paper when he returned to Nanjing.

At that time, Zheng He did not understand the meaning of this sentence, but simply thought that Master Daoyan was hysterical.

But thinking about it now, I am afraid that Master Daoyan, an unparalleled top strategist in the world, has already vaguely understood all the operating rules of this world.

What is missing is just a hint to clear the air.

correct? Where have Master Daoyan and Brother Huikong been these two days?

Zheng He frowned slightly, why didn't Master Dao Yan come to listen to the most important last lesson?

However, Old Man Zhuo's next words soon left Zheng He with no time to think about this issue.

"Then why does Jiang Xiaoyou say that changing from an agricultural country to an industrial country can fundamentally solve the contradiction between man and land? There are three main social classes in agricultural countries, and how many main social classes are there in industrial countries? What is the difference between the manufacturing capacity of industrial countries and agricultural countries? "Zhuo Jing quickly asked a series of questions buried in his heart.