Chapter 1024: Yao Guangqi's Method: Distributing Houses

The most basic social unit in the Great Ming is the household, one family after another; the common problems faced by these households are societal issues.

The Great Ming is a commandery-county imperial system, and it must also consider these problems; some appear new but are actually old, and very old at that.

For example, Yang Zhu once said, 'If people do not marry and serve in office, desires are lost; if they lack food and clothing, ruler and minister grow distant.' Even in ancient times, population growth had to be considered, for population is ultimately the foundation of all things.

Bai Juyi mentioned in a poem to a friend the story of children not yet grown while elders have already aged; as scale expands from family to society, this becomes a widespread phenomenon and grows very troublesome.

Yao Guangqi bluntly pointed out that the simplest and most effective way to make people have children is ignorance—ignorance, not religion.

He and Yan Shixuan, while overseeing the Trans-Pacific Shang Alliance in Ryukyu, observed within their worldview that ignorance and fertility are perfectly positively correlated.

Luzon, the Mariana Islands, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Jin Shan, Wa Guo—across the entire Pacific, the less developed and more ignorant the place, the higher the fertility.

This pattern likewise applies to the West and the Atlantic; the West also exhibits this commonality.

Taixi likewise displays such characteristics.

In the Roman Empire, Romans did not have children, while barbarians filled every pit and valley with offspring.

Advanced Roman civilization, barbarian backwardness and ignorance—even today, Taixi still builds its new worldview on Roman culture at its core, yet advanced, civilized Rome ultimately vanished in the long river of history.

Moreover, there is no figure like Zhu Yuanzhang who appeared out of nowhere to make Rome return in a flash.

Reducing the enforcement of the Dinghai education system, leaving most people in a state of ignorance, then utilizing maritime opening and productivity increases to as fully as possible meet people's food needs, can raise fertility to address current and future population shortages.

Liaodong land reclamation lacks people, Western Region development lacks people; due to more artisans, farmland lacks farming households, and artisan numbers cannot meet workshop needs; even in Nanyang, those who crack whips as ruffians are lacking.

However, Yao Guangqi also mentioned the hidden worry of this seemingly simple and effective method: bad money driving out good, namely the Jia Yi of the Western Han who said, 'Vile money multiplies daily, sound money perishes daily.'

When Jia Yi of the Western Han spoke these words, he was not only talking about money; he spoke of people, of the court—corrupt ministers in power grow ever more numerous, seizing high offices, while upright ministers diminish, and the court becomes muddled.

So it is with money, so it is with people.

The cost of producing bad money is far lower than that of good money; the essence of money is also a commodity, and when vast quantities of low-value goods flood the world, high-value goods are forced out of circulation.

Survival of the fittest, the strong grow stronger, the weak perish—this is a positive elimination mechanism; whereas bad money driving out good is a reverse elimination mechanism.

Applied to people, this means the proportion of those who are educated, understand principles, have aspirations, and possess ability will keep decreasing, and within the Great Ming, everywhere will be filled with rabble.

Thus, talent is easily eliminated in large numbers by this reverse elimination mechanism.

The result of talent being unable to be effectively selected is that the Great Ming gradually becomes barbarized.

Once this reverse elimination mechanism is established, the society's developmental trend will no longer be a spiral ascent through double negation, but will instead continually decline.

For example, those who dare to sacrifice die on the battlefield, and the fruits of victory are then seized by the cowardly scum who refuse to sacrifice.

For example, honest officials always fail, so corruption will run rampant; those who waver in the middle will naturally join the corrupt camp.

Similar events occur not only in the court but in every collective.

Reducing the enforcement of the Dinghai education system, reducing the push for universal education, is entirely a case of drinking poison to quench thirst.

By this point, Yao Guangqi's words have become truly dangerous; if a generally educated person who has accepted the Hua-Yi distinction reads them, they will easily discern the hidden meaning behind his words.

Under equal conditions, the reproduction rate of inferior ethnic groups exceeds that of civilized, progressive, advanced, excellent groups; therefore, the overall scale of inferior ethnic groups must be reduced.

Round and round, it ultimately returns to Yin Zhengmao's affairs in Luzon Qian; all his policies, benevolent rule or tyrannical rule, in fact ultimately point to, are all about reducing population.

Ling Yunyi, Yin Zhengmao, Ceng Shengwu, Yao Guangqi—these people, and Xiao Huzi, certainly share much common ground.

Yet choosing another approach seems, again, too troublesome.

Yao Guangqi's memorial clearly is not about persuading His Majesty to reduce promotion of the Dinghai education system; what he truly wants to say is that the method is troublesome and dangerous.

"Tsk tsk, Yao Guangqi's map of Yan State is rather long." Zhu Yijun laughed and said to Feng Bao.

When the map is exhausted, the dagger appears; Yao Guangqi gave a seemingly easy-to-implement solution, but this method cannot be carried out at all—the Great Ming's enthusiasm for learning cannot be dismissed in a few words.

Fan Yuanshan can give up the national cellar for his father-in-law, but he will absolutely not give up his children's education.

If the court does not promote the Dinghai education system, yet even with the slightest method, parents will spare no effort to have their children study.

Zhang Juzheng is a hereditary thousand-household commander, Xiong Tingbi is a cowherd boy, Xu Chengchu has a big neck disease, Fan Yuanshan is even a live-in son-in-law, yet they all passed the jinshi examination.

This is not Zhu Yijun simply using an example to overgeneralize; the Great Ming indeed is this way—the case previously handled by Songjiang Prefecture, that Tianma Academy devoted to swindling money, could still fill its seats with students.

The Great Ming's enthusiasm for education is endless, especially when material conditions are slightly sufficient, the enthusiasm for education becomes even more evident.

If the court does not promote the Dinghai education system, naturally private schools will arise, more expensive, to replace it.

Power will never have a vacuum; when the court does not act, someone will naturally step in and seize control of power.

Yao Guangqi's first method is fundamentally not a method at all.

From emperor to myriad subjects, the Great Ming has long been stamped by prolonged history with the ideological seal of political performance; the Heavenly-Qt Great Elder must have ability and responsibility, to underwrite everything and bear responsibility for everything; if unable, he must step down, making way for someone who can.

The court choosing to halt promotion of the Dinghai education system, reduce the push for universal education, Zhu Yijun as this Heavenly-Qt Great Elder, under the mighty tide of the Wanli Reforms, will be pushed down—even if the Wanli Reforms are court-led, Zhu Yijun is the cornerstone of the Wanli Reforms.

The ideological seal of political performance is thus: once the Mandate of Heaven is lost, do not blame the rise of heroes in unison.

"What Yao Yidao said is still quite reasonable." Feng Bao felt Yao Guangqi spoke without fault; to carry out population reduction on the barbarians, prevent them from growing strong and threatening the Great Ming.

Zhu Yijun gave a somewhat lost smile, laughing as he asked: "Yao Yidao?"

"Yao Guangqi's nickname; everyone calls him that." Feng Bao answered the origin of this appellation.

Yao Yidao refers not only to the scar on his face but also indicates Yao Guangqi's style of doing things—liking to cut through tangled mess with a swift blade, as in the Soul-Calling Case, where he directly wagered himself; if soul-calling arts truly existed, they would be used on him, ultimately earning him praise as a Great Virtuous Scholar.

All economic problems ultimately reduce to population problems.

Then, the universal panacea for solving economic problems is fertility, naturally prompting a thought: on the subject of fertility, namely women, would universal beneficence increase fertility?

Yao Guangqi believes yes and no; it is simple—he mentioned earlier that greater ignorance leads to higher fertility; if only fertility is considered, this method truly does not work.

Yao Guangqi cited multiple Tang princesses who remained unmarried for life, dissected the matter, explained it clearly, hoping the court would not follow the Tang path of 'lost propriety in the inner chambers.'

In the Tang, marrying a princess was equivalent to taking a living ancestor.

This has been the case since the early Tang.

Fang Xuanling of the Fang-Lu-Duan break, his son Fang Yiai married the Gaoyang Princess; the Gaoyang Princess had an illicit affair with Bianji, disciple of Xuanzang; this scandal spread throughout the world; Fang Yiai wore this hat, and was laughed at for a thousand years.

After that, Tang princesses found it very difficult to marry.

Tang Xuanzong, in selecting a consort for his daughter Qiyang Princess, received the response 'all declined due to illness'; when Tang Xuanzong sought a husband for the Guangde Princess, it developed into 'officials and nobles avoid her'; the four daughters of Tang Wen Sect all failed to marry, became Daoist nuns.

The emperor wishes to marry into noble families, while under heaven, marriage emphasizes matching doors and households; in this matter, the imperial house, noble clans, and commoners are the same.

The Tang called this phenomenon "improper conduct in the women's quarters": once inside the family gate, they became arrogant, domineering, unreasonable, and lax in their personal habits, yet considered it natural—something the emperors and aristocratic clans could not accept, but commoners' households could?

If the Great Ming descends into chaos, it will have to retrace this detour of improper conduct in the women's quarters.

There's no need to retrace this detour; when productive forces are insufficient, meddling in such things will only ruin the Great Ming.

Yao Guangqi wrote extensively on this, such as the ownership of means of production and changes in production relations—these are the scriptures the Wanli Reforms have always been reciting.

Wanting more children is fine: redistribute the means of production, make production relations fairer, improve the distribution system, and give people hope for the future—this can be achieved, but it requires a long time, gradually building institutions, far less direct and swift than fooling the populace.

It is troublesome and dangerous, and vested interests are hard to deal with; if it were that easy to manipulate, reforms throughout history would not have mostly failed.

Reciting scriptures cannot solve the problem, and many scriptures, when recited, are even personally hazardous—for example, the scripture on class struggle in Volume Three of the Theory of Classes, Yao Guangqi's identity temporarily forbids him from reciting it.

Besides reciting scriptures, Yao Guangqi's concrete proposals are quite interesting: his method is to give houses.

Yao Guangqi, Wang Qian, Li Le, and Shen Shixing—these officials originating from the Songjiang Prefecture—share a common trait: they tend to consider problems more from a material standpoint, namely food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

Shen Shixing and Wang Qian intend to use food, clothing, shelter, and transportation to counter the alienation of officials by power and money, employing the Songjiang Cotton Weaving Official Workshop to oppose the monopolistic capital in the cotton weaving industry, this colossal entity.

Starting from a material perspective to solve problems, rather than from morality, character, or similar aspects.

Give houses—first pilot it in the official workshops, which are inherently meant to distribute housing, though the current allocation lacks decent regulations.

No marriage, newlyweds get no house; two children, get one house, but the relation is lease; three children, lease fully waived; four children, then the property deed is handed over to the artisan couple.

"Give houses." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial before him, raised his eyebrows—Yao Guangqi's proposal was clearly a wicked scheme.

The Great Ming's official workshops distributing official residences have caused no small amount of chaos; Wang Chonggu, Wang Home Screen, and others of the Labor Party in various official workshops have built many Wanhu Gardens, specifically for housing distribution, but how to allocate them has always lacked clear regulations.

Now, Yao Guangqi has provided a regulation: artisan households with two children get priority for housing; with four children, they receive the property deed.

The reason for implementing this in official workshops is actually to ensure the policy lands more smoothly.

Official workshops providing official residences mainly aim to reward production; for the workshops, housing is primarily a construction cost, which nowadays is not particularly expensive—a small courtyard costs less than three taels of silver to build.

Yao Guangqi's proposal is simple: give welfare to those willing to bear social responsibility, not to that group that avoids production and only seeks to embezzle public benefits.

Parents willing to have multiple children are a manifestation of those willing to bear social responsibility.

Zhu Yijun suddenly thought of Wei State Duke Xu Bangrui, proposing monthly rations for the wives and children of the capital garrison and naval troops.

This monthly ration is divided into four grades: one grade for those with a wife, one each for those with two, three, or four children; a wife gets one tael of silver per month, four children get four taels of silver per month.

As soon as this preferential policy of four grades was announced, the capital garrison and naval troops immediately sparked a marriage wave; after years of implementation, it remains vibrant to this day.

Yao Guangqi's proposal is similar: give mothers more benefits.

"Let's first try it in the capital and Songjiang Prefecture; if it works, roll it out to the official workshops; if the workshops execute it without issue, then promote it widely." Zhu Yijun vermilion-penned the memorial, submitted it to the Cabinet, and asked for ministers' opinions.

Distributing this is hard to make absolutely fair and just; since distribution must have a standard, Yao Guangqi's stated distribution standard is clearly a non-solution posing as a solution.

This is killing two birds with one stone.

The Great Ming encourages childbearing from the military, expanding toward this collective of official workshops; incidentally, it solves the difficulty of distributing official residences in the workshops.

The Songjiang Shipyard employs thirty-six thousand shipwrights, but its official residences number only twenty-one thousand; the allocation of a newly built Wanhu Garden has not yet begun.

The Shipyard Chief Superintendent Zhao Shizhen also finds this very difficult; the yard has held several artisan assemblies, yet no solution has been discussed.

If divided by seniority and work tenure, the official workshops also have idlers, those who occupy positions without merit—appearing fair, but this is unfair to diligent workers;

If divided by shares, some new entrants to the yard do not know how long they must wait, affecting the production enthusiasm of new artisans and apprentices;

If divided by age, ranking by seniority, it is even more detrimental to production enthusiasm and technical improvement—everyone just passes the days, and by the time they reach the appropriate age, they already have what they should;

How to divide it? The Shipyard is also in a dilemma.

But dividing by number of children is quite subtle.

Essentially, the housing distribution policy expands the artisans' overall scale—more people mean greater strength, and what is maintained is indeed the collective interest of the artisan group.

After Zhao Shizhen received the Emperor's downward submission, he immediately convened an artisan assembly at the shipyard and announced the latest distribution method.

If due to production accidents or congenital causes, an artisan cannot bear children, has no offspring, or only one child—would they be deprived of official workshop housing for life? Of course not, because adoption also counts.

This is the same principle as Wei State Duke giving monthly stipends and money to military wives: soldiers willing to adopt four children can directly receive four taels of silver monthly.

Whether it is Wei State Duke giving monthly silver to wives, or official workshops distributing official residences, the fundamental purpose of these two policies is to expand collective numbers, and adoption also expands collective numbers.

The artisan assembly ultimately passed this distribution method; approximately two-thirds or more of the artisans approved it, while approximately less than one-third abstained or opposed.

The Great Ming's artisan assembly vote is truly interesting: abstentions were counted as opposition, because in practice, some people are unwilling to voice opposition, and abstention is a form of silent opposition.

Artisans who abstain or oppose do so for a simple reason: some artisans feel four children are simply too many; given the artisans' wages in the official workshops, four children can only be raised loosely; good private schools in Songjiang Prefecture, with enrollment fees and tuition, are not cheap.

But since the artisan assembly has already passed it, this matter can only be implemented as such.

Zhu Yijun carefully observed the official residence allocation process and discovered that Zhao Shizhen and these superintendents and deputy superintendents, while so supportive of this policy, also have their own ulterior motives.

Zhao Shizhen's purpose is to give artisans a soft spot—family, wife, and children are artisans' soft spots; the more soft spots, the more shackles, the easier they are to manipulate, and the more obedient they become.

The share system, Labor Alliance, and artisan assembly—these three systems have elevated the artisans' status in the official workshops; for superintendents, deputy superintendents, and agents, this makes management less favorable.

But having said that.

Now that the official workshops have distributed housing and also have their own three-level schools, Zhao Shizhen's ulterior motives, however viewed, amount to nothing.

Artisans are not living in isolated places; residing among craftsmen, they understand the outside world of the official workshops very well; those guild leaders who established those harsh terms—truly eye-popping: wages are loans, leaving requires repaying debt, working demands compensation—utterly shocking!

The official workshop is an important tool for the court to regulate labor-capital contradictions; the official workshop's role in altering the Great Ming's production relations has played a leading and crucial part.

In June, the great sailing ships of Taixi arrived at port again; this time, the great sailing ships that docked were no longer merely Portuguese fleets, but fleets from Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and England.

The Dutch and English fleets passed through the Strait of Malacca, coming from the west; the Portuguese and Spanish fleets came from the east.

The English fleet was blocked at Ryukyu; the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish fleets were permitted to enter the new port of Songjiang Prefecture.

The English envoy issued a sharp explosive sound! They had finally opened the route, crossed the ocean, but due to lagging navigation technology, it took a full year to reach the Great Ming, only to be turned away at the door.

This let the English envoy, after careful communication with the Great Ming, finally understand the reason.

It is still the issue of privateering licenses; before the privateering license is revoked, the Great Ming will not engage in trade with England.

According to reason, England's three three-masted galleons should have been blocked at the Strait of Malacca, but since this was their first voyage, they were permitted to reach Ryukyu, where they used shipboard supplies to purchase a batch of goods—spices, iron pots, porcelain, tea leaves, etc. —for the return voyage.

When the English fleet set sail, it had six ships; by the time it reached the Cape of Good Hope, only four remained; by the time it reached the Strait of Malacca, only three remained—one ship went missing, its whereabouts unknown.

Purchasing in Ryukyu costs thirty percent more than in Songjiang Prefecture, and even more for some goods; for example, the English hope to buy a batch of old brine and gold rooster frost, which the merchants of Ryukyu's Naha Port cannot provide.

The Great Ming indeed opened its doors for trade, but not everyone's business was welcome.

Moreover, the next time the English fleet comes, they will only be able to turn back at the Strait of Malacca, and the goods available for purchase in Malacca City will be fewer, mainly spices.

"Portugal and Spain are both losing the sea," Zhu Yijun said on June 17 after reviewing all the Western letters, summoning Gao Qiyu to inquire about diplomatic affairs.

"Your Majesty, Fort Duurstede has already fallen into the hands of the Dutch," Gao Qiyu said, standing before the geographical map, pointing to the location of Duurstede Harbor.

The Duurstede Governor's Office is located in the westernmost part of the Mughal Empire, in Gujarat Province.

In the fourth year of Zhengde, the Portuguese seized Duurstede from the Gujaratis and began constructing Duurstede Fort, which was very small, with walls enclosing less than four li; Zhu Yijun could circle the place ten times during his morning exercise, and his heart rate would not even exceed 160.

But Duurstede Fort was very strong, easy to defend and hard to attack, a typical irregular star fort; after the two gates were closed, only one water gate allowed entry and exit. Even Akbar's personal campaign suffered a major defeat there.

In the sixty years following the construction of Duurstede Fort, the Portuguese built castles from Duurstede to Kochi, scattered everywhere, totaling sixteen forts and harbors that constituted the Duurstede Governor's Office.

But today, reports from all sides confirm that the impregnable Duurstede Fort has been captured.

It was not the Gujaratis who retook the fortress, but the Dutch who stormed Duurstede and seized control of Duurstede Harbor, signifying that the Dutch now possess the capability to sail from the East to the Great Ming.

The Spanish are losing the sea, and the Portuguese are also losing the colonies they once pioneered.

The man who captured Duurstede Fort is named Cornelis de Houtman; as a special envoy of the Netherlands, he likewise came to the Great Ming to discuss with the Ming the matter of trading spices in Malacca City.

This Houtman is also the founder of the Dutch East India Company.

Zhu Yijun gazed at the geographical map before him, pondering how to respond to this new change, as Western colonists were now using a more efficient method to expand overseas colonies and plunder wealth.

The maritime policies of the Wanli and Yongle eras differed in direction: Wanli's maritime opening mainly faced the Pacific, while during the Yongle era, the focus was primarily on governing the South Seas and the Western Oceans.

Currently, the Great Ming has not substantially operated in the Western Oceans (Indian Ocean), merely watching as the Dutch East India Company expands its territory there, or should it shift its focus and increase efforts in the Western Oceans?

"What does Senior Minister Gao think should be done?" Zhu Yijun asked, his hand sliding across the geographical map.

If the Great Ming now shifts the focus of its maritime opening and increases efforts in the Western Oceans, the first thing to do is to attack Annan, re-establish it as a commandery and county, so that westward-bound merchant ships can proceed without obstruction.

If the focus is not shifted and development proceeds step by step, by the time the Great Ming has pacified the entire South Seas, the doorstep may well be overrun with hostile forces.

"The paramount concern remains the South Seas," Gao Qiyu said, gazing solemnly at the geographical map before him: "The Kingdom of Jinshan and the Jinshan Governor's Office are, for the Great Ming, a gain that brings me fortune and a loss that brings me doom, yet the South Seas must not be lost."

Gao Qiyu reminded His Majesty that the most important benefit of the Wanli maritime opening is the South Seas, and before this core interest, all else can be conceded.

The formulation of the Great Ming's state policy must revolve around this core interest.

"Does Senior Minister Gao mean that I am eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot, becoming insatiably greedy?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

Gao Qiyu pondered for a moment, then said solemnly: "That is appropriate."

A ruler who does not wish to expand territory still wants to be a tyrant?

Every tyrant's actions are those of expansion; as emperor, one will inevitably receive both praise and blame, and it is absolutely impossible to please everyone.

Since the Wanli Reforms, the Great Ming's national strength has steadily grown, and His Majesty's gaze is no longer confined to the South Seas but also extends to the East Pacific and the Western Oceans—this is quite reasonable.

Otherwise, why spend vast sums to maintain a hundred thousand capital garrison troops and a hundred and sixty thousand naval forces, if not for some purpose?

To want it all is not greed, but because His Majesty possesses the strength to have it all.

"In that case, let us reject the request of the Dutch envoy Houtman and forbid Dutch merchant ships from purchasing spices in Malacca City," Zhu Yijun declared, having made a decision.

This decision cannot completely prevent the Dutch from obtaining spices, for the Great Ming's control over the Strait of Malacca is not yet strong enough to forbid all from setting sail.

The fundamental purpose of this decision is to raise the cost for the Dutch to obtain spices, reduce the profits of long-distance navigation, slow the speed at which the Dutch East India Company appropriates benefits, and grant the Great Ming more time to adjust its policies.

"I obey the edict," Gao Qiyu said, bowing to receive the command.

The Great Ming's demand for spices is equally great; for example, five-spice powder requires large quantities of Sichuan pepper, cassia, star anise, cloves, and fennel seed, with some also adding dried ginger, cardamom, pepper, and tangerine peel.

The Great Ming possesses a highly mature spice-processing industry, and competition is fierce, with each household's spice formula and proportion differing, resulting in varied flavors.

The vast quantities of spices produced in the South Seas are insufficient for the Great Ming's own consumption, and even necessitate the Governor's Office establishing plantations to cultivate them.

His Majesty personally sympathizes with the Dutch's plight and acknowledges their courage in resisting tyranny, but this does not mean he will make further concessions on national interests out of such sympathy and recognition.

His Majesty's greatest asset totals 150,000 qing of farmland, still located in the South Seas.

"Your Majesty, the Guangming Sect founded by Marion has made new progress," Gao Qiyu said, his expression strange, reporting an unexpected piece of news.

The Ministry of Rites believed that Marion and her Guangming Sect, having had no news for two years, might have become an insignificant footnote in history following the end of the War of the Three Henrys.

But the Ministry of Rites was clearly mistaken, for the Guangming Sect has erupted with unprecedented vitality.

The Guangming Sect no longer seeks to enter Paris, but instead preaches in the vast, uncared-for countryside, achieving excellent progress.

Regarding the War of the Three Henrys over the succession to the throne, which mainly took place near Paris, the vast countryside, where no one paid attention, gave the Guangming Sect the opportunity to grow unchecked.

The Guangming Sect spreads its teachings in an exceptionally violent manner, which the Ministry of Rites has termed the "Huang Chao-style preaching method."