"Even though Narimatsu is brave enough to say it, reform in Kansai is imperative. If it continues to be delayed, it will inevitably affect my next big plan." Wu Feng nodded solemnly, with a solemn look on his face.
"Your Highness, in fact, the crux of the Kansai reform lies in how to change the concepts of the landed aristocrats so that they can not only support His Highness but also follow His Highness's ideas to get out of the current dead end and become a member of the emerging class." Fang Chengsong said. It can be described as a blockbuster, "In fact, the Kansai nobles are also eager to obtain wealth. They are not unaware of the growing power of the industrial and commercial class in the past few decades, and the wealth accumulated by the businessmen is even more enviable to them. The wisest among them Scholars are also thinking about how to reverse the current situation that is increasingly unfavorable to their entire class, but they first deal with their own identity and face, and there are no other ways to change this, so they can only pressure the government to impose restrictions. The rights and status of industrial and commercial forces ensure that their dominant position will not be replaced, but smart people know that this is only for a short period of time. When the time comes, this change will be irreversible. So in fact, they are still feeling the same panic in their hearts now, especially After His Highness took charge of Kansai, they also saw changes in the situation in neighboring counties. Although the rise of the northwest industrial and commercial forces was related to the reason why the land aristocracy was wiped out by the Luobei people at that time, it was also related to His Highness's strong support, and now His Highness He took over Kansai again, but there has been no movement. I am afraid that they are also worried that His Highness will make a big move of thunder and clearing holes, completely changing the current situation in Kansai."
"But this is what I don't want to see and cannot act like this. The Kansai nobles have always been known for their conservatism. Most of the six prefectures in Kansai have fertile land and are mostly controlled by the big nobles. They rely on land harvest as their main income. , land is their only support, and hostility to the industrial and commercial class is inevitable. If the king takes too big action because he wants to change the situation in Kansai, it will inevitably arouse their hostility and opposition, causing the situation in Kansai to be turbulent. If he is defeated again If someone takes advantage of it, it will be self-defeating." Wu Feng also touched his palms and sighed.
"But the Kansai nobles are still human beings, and they also have the same thoughts as normal people. The desire for wealth is everyone's unchanging nature. Seeing the businessmen's pockets constantly swelling, Cheng Song is thinking that they are also suffering in their hearts, right?" Fang Cheng Song A confident smile appeared on his face, "If we can mobilize their desire for wealth and use their desire to cooperate with some of our measures, Cheng Song is thinking that maybe we can find some ways to change them."
"Oh, be more specific, Cheng Song." Wu Feng felt more and more that the Governor of Kansai he had chosen was not an easy one.
"For example, most of the nobles in Kansai rely on the land tax passed down from their ancestors to make a living. Although the income from the land tax is stable, it is much smaller than the profits obtained from industry and commerce. It is also easily affected by the weather, such as floods, droughts, and locust plagues. It makes it difficult for tenants and farmhands to pay enough rent and taxes, and landlords need to consider the lives of tenants and farmhands in the next season and have to make adjustments. However, after all, these landlords and nobles have accumulated through several generations, and they have some foundation. They are generally used to The method is to wait for funds to accumulate to a certain extent and then use it when floods and droughts occur. When some homesteaders cannot support themselves, they will come forward to purchase other land and expand the scale of their own land. However, such a result will easily arouse those who have transformed into tenant farmers and farm laborers. The land output obtained by the same amount of capital is often far less than the profits obtained by the industrial and commercial owners. This is their current contradictory mentality."
"Yes, these are an important means for the landlords and nobles to expand their wealth, but their wealth is concentrated on the land, which makes the conflict with the farmers more and more prominent. Once a natural disaster occurs, they will If these burdens are passed on to farmers, it will easily trigger peasant riots." Wu Feng nodded in agreement with the other party's analysis, "But how to make them change?"
"There is only one way, and that is to let them change their investment methods. When their funds are transferred, their identities and even their thoughts and concepts will gradually change. As a person, this is a gradual process, but Chengsong believes that once this head is Once it's done, everything else will fall into place." Fang Chengsong's thin face was full of confidence.
"Cheng Song's idea is to select some investment projects to raise shares in the form of a joint-stock system. This is a common method in the Western Continent. Here, we can consider our actual situation and let landlords with aristocratic status have certain priority. Maybe The initial effect will not be very good, but we can first select some advantageous projects as pilot projects, such as mining, and then gradually promote them to other industries. As far as Narumatsu knows, after the Lord took over Kansai, some businessmen who had an ambiguous relationship with the original Taiping Army They have all been punished, and their assets have been frozen and confiscated. This is a good opportunity to select some advantageous projects as the first batch of pilot projects, such as mines, cigarette factories, dye factories, and breweries. These are still under the exclusive control of the government. The profits are quite generous, and I believe it will definitely attract many landowners to invest in the purchase. If there is a first batch, there will be a second batch. When the noble landowners find that the profits brought by these workshops are far greater than the output of the land, , they will gradually lose interest in purchasing land, and may even sell their land to transfer funds to these industrial and commercial industries."
"Now His Highness's pace of expansion is in the ascendant. I believe that the nobles of Kansai also have long-term vision. With the continuous expansion of His Highness's territory, such as gum tree, cocoa, sugar cane plantations and finished product processing industries, Northern Luzon's tobacco , coffee, sugar cane planting and processing industries, wool processing and textile industries in the Tengger Grassland. The profits brought by these industries will stimulate these noble landowners to invest their funds in emerging industries in these border areas, and with the large flow of funds , landowners will even find that sometimes it is more cost-effective to invest money in banks than to purchase land. When all this becomes normal, I think the status of the nobles will gradually evolve into members of the emerging class, and their Concepts will also undergo fundamental changes, and they may even be more eager to expand and take risks than the original business class."
While nodding thoughtfully, Wu Feng also analyzed the basis of the other party's remarks. This guy seems to have based the transformation of these aristocratic status on his continuous outward expansion. Only by constantly expanding outward and seizing wealth and markets can he satisfy the emerging classes with growing wealth and wealth, and only by relying on Only they can truly overcome all the stumbling blocks on their own path. This seems to be seen more clearly by the other party than themselves.
"Very good, very innovative, Chengsong. Although your idea seems to come from the government-supported colonial exploration organizations in the Western Continent, it is combined with the reality here. At least I personally think it should be feasible in our Eastern Continent. Of course, this is a gradual process, and we also need to be richer in measures and means. We cannot expect to see big results in a year and a half, but as you said, as long as we have a good start, this will No one can stop this torrent, because it conforms to human nature of seeking profit." Wu Feng laughed and clapped in approval.
"What His Highness said is true. According to Chengsong's knowledge, the Western Continent is now increasing its efforts to develop commerce, and the preliminary preparations for the development of commerce are foreign adventures and colonization. It turns out that the southwest region of the Central Continent and the ocean in the south of the continent where we are located Many islands and landmasses have become a paradise for many explorers from the Western Continent to rush to adventure. Although Narumatsu doesn’t know what the situation has been like in the Western Continent in recent years, we can roughly know the Western Continent from the increasing number of caravans from the Western Continent to our Eastern Continent. In the past two years, Cheng Song even heard a businessman from the Western Continent say that someone had discovered a large area of land in the southern ocean, and he didn't know whether the situation was true or not."
Although Fang Chengsong's words were light and simple, they aroused Wu Feng's endless interest, "Oh? When did you hear about it? Where is the source of the news?"
Seeing that Wu Feng attached so much importance to this situation, Fang Chengsong was also a little surprised, and quickly replied: "I heard this before Chengsong was imprisoned when he received a group of caravans from the Kingdom of Sardinia, a small country on the southern coast of the Western Continent, but it seems that even The businessman who told me the news didn’t seem to believe it, but Narumatsu never heard anything about it again.”
"Oh," he gave up the question with some disappointment. Wu Feng did not think that the news was false. As early as when he was studying at Heidelberg University, he had heard that seafarers from the south talked about many islands in the southern ocean. , and there is a legend that has been circulated among the indigenous people who live on the islands since ancient times. There is a large piece of land further south of the island where they live, but no one has ever been there. Maybe this is a legend, but it is more likely to be a story brought back by people who have been to that land. It is just that it is more difficult to set foot on that land, more difficult for people to do, and too few people know about it.
Seeing that Wufeng gave up asking, Fang Chengsong changed the subject again: "Chengsong believes that in order to completely change the concepts of these nobles and stimulate the great development of the industrial and commercial industry, a group of people with backgrounds in industry and commerce can also be appropriately appointed in the selection of officials. This can stimulate the ambition of the industrial and commercial class, and also show the world that the industrial and commercial class in Western Xinjiang has gradually become an important part of the upper class society. Of course, this needs to consider the acceptance of the nobles, but Cheng Song personally I think the risk is worth taking."
Tirelessly asking for votes, ^_^