Chapter 1083: Arguments About the Future

Liu Zheng had also been considering this problem all along.

Because if the Feudatory Kings were to undergo a redistribution of their territories, this would be the primary problem they would have to face.

This was likewise the greatest problem that Longyan would face after its systemic reform.

In this era, Liu Zheng never positioned himself as a ruler. He wanted to be a guide, an all-encompassing guide. Whether in economy, military, politics, or society, he hoped the role he played would be that of such a person. Therefore, aside from the beginning when he liked to handle many things personally, he slowly transitioned to only being responsible for providing direction, allowing the development of Liangzhou to enter an advanced track.

At this moment, he had the same thought regarding Longyan.

Governing such a large country is not easy. Policies from every field must keep up.

Society, economy, legal construction, moral construction, institutional construction, military construction, and so on and so forth—there were simply too many.

The most pressing of these was the severe contradiction between social relations of production and the forces of production.

At least for the current Longyan, this was the case.

Why had he previously emphasized the redistribution of territories to Xie Tianyao? Because the current Feudal System in Longyan was already too backward compared to its current economic development. It was so backward that Liu Zheng almost considered it a system that should only appear in a primitive society.

Britain was also currently in the midst of an Industrial Revolution, but their Cavalry system had already begun to change; the emergence of the Gentry was the entire British society's compromise with capital.

And what about Longyan?

Under such intense contradictions, some compromises also had to be made.

This was the compromise he needed the Old Aristocrats to make.

The way of balance.

The New Aristocracy had to make compromises, Zhu Zhen had to make compromises, he himself had to make compromises, and likewise, the Old Aristocrats should as well.

Furthermore.

The compromise of the Old Aristocrats was even more crucial. Because this was a reform of the entire society's relations of production.

Of course.

Regarding Public Ownership or Private Ownership, Liu Zheng also had his own considerations.

The history of many countries in his past life had also proven that these two systems should complement each other. Blindly and extremely pursuing one of them was undesirable. In his personal opinion, Public Ownership had its progressiveness for a period of time. Because the means of production under Public Ownership were shared, it could minimize exploitation to a great extent, and the equal distribution of production tools would allow everyone to work together with one heart, exerting effort together.

However.

With the emergence of new production tools, the development of productive forces was promoted, making individual labor possible, thereby causing this primitive Public Ownership to give way to Private Ownership.

Then, looking back at Private Ownership, Private Ownership was one of the basic hallmarks of a high-efficiency economic society.

The development of productive forces was the reason for the emergence of Private Ownership.

If analyzed carefully, Public Ownership was essentially one with the state; this was the greatest advantage of Public Ownership, but also where its greatest problem lay. Stable security and profit were not the primary goals, so it was naturally conservative and lacked vitality. The benefit of Private Ownership lay in being responsible for one's own profits and losses, so there was always motivation, but the attribute of seeking advantages and avoiding harm made them use every Method to evade social responsibilities when they had to bear them; situations where "behind the vermilion gates meat and wine go to waste, while on the road lie the bones of the frozen" were everywhere.

Therefore.

At this time, the theory was no longer a matter for one person, or a few people, one Noble, or a group of Nobles.

Even, taking a single country as an example was no longer enough.

This was a social problem. This was a problem of social axioms. Society was an ordered structure, and this orderliness relied on the exchange of matter and energy; society tended toward an increasingly ordered state, which meant that the extraction of matter and energy would inevitably become greater and greater. And this accumulation and circulation of wealth and energy constituted the positive and negative feedback of society.

This was what Liu Zheng believed.

First, if positive feedback was higher than negative feedback, that is, the speed of wealth accumulation was greater than the speed of circulation, this would lead to a widening gap in social wealth polarization, with a small minority possessing a large amount of capital, while the majority possessed no capital.

Second, if positive feedback equaled negative feedback, only then would society tend toward a stable state.

Third, if positive feedback was less than negative feedback, society would tend toward a state of high equality, and at this time, society would be closer to a state of stagnation.

What Liu Zheng wanted was a state where positive feedback equaled negative feedback!

Therefore.

Regarding this, he proposed several directions for reform.

One, Public Ownership as the main body, utilizing the concept of the Longyan populace revering the Emperor: "Under the vast heaven, all is the King's land; within the borders of the land, all are the King's subjects!" In other words, everything you Feudatory Kings have was given to you by the Imperial family, given to you by the country; even if it were taken back, what could you do? With this argument, the resistance of the Feudatory Kings would not be particularly intense.

Two, the proposal of Private Ownership: although the entire Longyan belonged to the Imperial family, because of various historical reasons, enfeoffment, rewards, and the management and degree of control the various Feudatory Kings had over their former territories, the council would allow the retention of shares in some social industries by the Feudatory Kings! In other words, even if you left your former territory, this portion of shares would still be in your hands, but you could only receive the income! And the Feudatory Kings who were redistributed could also receive some shares...

Three, clarify the power and responsibility of the Feudatory Kings over public industries, but also clarify the respect and division of private industries by the various Feudatory Kings...

Four, supplement the cooperation between public and private, as well as the Joint-stock system, to build Longyan into a society where public and private coexist harmoniously and complement each other!

"This..."

"I..."

"How can this be, how can this be!"

Liu Zheng's suggestion naturally caused an uproar.

A group of Old Aristocrats were about to go crazy.

What was meant by Private Ownership!

Everything in one's own territory should be one's own! That was what the Emperor had bestowed upon them, hereditary and perpetual! At this time, you say that I only hold some shares? Is this not a joke!

"Absolutely not!"

"Vice Minister Liu, you are forgetting your roots!"

"This, this, this, this does not conform to the laws of Longyan!"

A group of people jumped up.

And the Prince of Qin and Zhu Zhen were looking at each other in horror at this moment.

They had originally thought that today would only be a political game, and that Vice Minister Liu seemed to have already taken the initiative; they had not expected that what Liu Zheng wanted was not just this—step by step, he wanted to completely reform Longyan society! He wanted to do more, more than they could imagine!

Public Ownership...

Private Ownership...

Zhu Zhen was the representative of the Scholar-officials, and he represented the sprouts of capitalism in this society. He naturally knew how much temptation these things would have for those wealthy merchants once they were put out... Suddenly, his whole body shook; he seemed to have already foreseen that this reform seemed to be irreversible. This young lad had reached his hand into his own lair! Yet, he himself seemed to be someone who should welcome this systemic reform!

One must know.

In the past, the status of merchants in Longyan was at the lowest level among the Scholar-Farmer-Artisan-Merchant.

If a Chamber of Commerce could obtain the title of "Imperial Merchant," that was truly an existence that brought honor to one's ancestors! How many people even exhausted their family fortunes just to donate for the title of a wealthy commoner—wasn't Liu Zheng's father like that?

However...

With the rapid development of social productive forces...

It seems that the place of merchants has begun to become prominent. But their status has not undergone a fundamental change. This is one of the greatest contradictions of Longyan. But Zhu Zhen naturally knows the power of this capital in his heart! He is an old hand in the bureaucracy, and he once thought about giving some necessary support to these merchants who are in urgent need of social status. However, he also understands that the energy of these people is absolutely not ordinary. For example, the wealth created by these merchant groups of the Scholar-officials is equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of the Longyan Imperial

House... Consequently, if they were given power, it would trigger a social economic storm at any moment.

Therefore, he dared not.

But Liu Zheng today...

Truly frightened Zhu Zhen.

Public ownership as the mainstay, Private Ownership as Assistance!

In this way, in the distribution of power, the distribution of guarantees, and the distribution of profits, they can still very well trample those merchants who are eager to emerge under their feet!

A genius!

Amazing!

The look in Zhu Zhen's eyes as he watched Liu Zheng at this moment was both fearful and gratified.

What he feared was that such a young man could be so heaven-defying.

And what he was gratified by was...

He himself is already seventy or eighty years old... Xie Tianyao has already passed away, so what about himself?

When he, this Chief Minister of Longyan, truly passes away, there will be someone as incredibly talented and incredibly sharp as Liu Zheng to take over his position!

Longyan, the revival is in sight!

The revival is in sight!

The sky is changing!

The sky of Longyan is truly going to change!

"I agree!"

Zhu Zhen was the first to voice his opinion.

"What?"

"Lord Zhu, you!"

"This..."

"Old Minister!"

At this time, the Prince of Qin was still struggling, and when he heard Zhu Zhen rushing to express his opinion, he also looked over in shock.

Because he is also a Noble.

Although he is of the New Aristocracy, his status as a Noble remains unchanged.

He also has his own fief, but there is a Prefect administering it, and he just sits in the Capital and collects money. He knows how much of an impact this Private Ownership will have on him if it is introduced. How much of an impact it will have on the entire Noble class...

But he cannot understand why Zhu Zhen would agree.

Zhu Zhen also controls many industries, even if not directly, he has indirect control, such as through his children, his family, and his clansmen...

Could it be that they have no ambition to monopolize these interests?

Nobles.

It seems they are unable to consider or understand deeper things.

He had originally thought that this reform, which was too advanced for them, would be unable to stand alone because of Liu Zheng.

He did not expect.

Zhu Zhen would actually be the first to agree.

This caused the scales to begin to balance again.

This caused the contradictions to begin to gain strength again. Pop-ups have been frequent lately, you can click to download to avoid pop-ups.