When capitalism was just beginning to emerge in Britain, there was a "sheep-eating-people" enclosure movement.
Most of the land in Britain is also in the hands of the nobility.
When Britain owned a large number of colonies and plundered a large amount of gold and silver, local purchasing power increased. Merchants made a lot of wealth by purchasing cheap raw materials and weaving them into cloth with higher added value, or simply making them into ready-made clothes. They gradually caught up with the old aristocrats who relied on the land.
In order to gain more wealth, the old nobles conspired with the emerging bourgeoisie to accelerate land annexation in order to provide more raw materials and join in this feast.
To create this phenomenon, three things are needed: first, sufficient productivity to absorb raw materials; second, a vast market to absorb goods; and third, the power of the nobles (i.e. the landlord class) is large enough and the state’s control is insufficient to suppress land annexation.
At the current stage of development of social productivity, this situation should not have occurred.
But Zhu Xiang brought cotton, Xue Ji invented the cotton spinning machine, and together with the economic concepts Zhu Xiang brought from later generations and the Qin State's strong organizational capabilities, they forcibly created this phenomenon.
In terms of the level of development of productivity and market level, the Chu State was far inferior to the British State when capitalism was emerging.
However, the Qin State created a false prosperity in the market in a short period of time by allocating resources; cotton cloth had the dual functions of "commodity" and "currency". All this made the situation that Zhu Xiang had expected come true - the nobles of the Chu State greedily intensified the annexation of land and replaced grain with cotton.
Although the current situation in the State of Chu is similar to the "sheep eating people" movement in the UK on the surface, it is essentially very different.
Britain's "sheep eating people" movement was sustainable. Following the level of productivity at the time, production relations gradually changed, which was a reflection of social change. Chu's change from cotton to grain was just a ploy of Qin. Whether Qin stopped supplying affordable goods to Chu, or Chu's knowledgeable people discovered the proliferation of cotton cloth and issued an edict prohibiting cotton cloth from becoming currency, this chaos could have been stopped immediately.
The "sheep eating people" movement in Britain was very tragic for the lower class people, but in the long run it promoted a change in the relationship between productive forces and was "progress at a price"; the chaos in the State of Chu would not cause a change in the relationship between productive forces, at most it would allow knowledgeable people to learn some experience and advance monetary reforms, it was just an economic war for the Qin State to unify the world.
“The King of Chu has very poor control over his feudal lords, and is unable to stop the nobles from plundering the farmers’ land. Now the seven kingdoms are fighting for hegemony, all based on farming and warfare. The disappearance of a large number of self-cultivating farmers means the disappearance of the country’s military strength.” When everything had settled and the Qin State was about to close in, Zhu Xiang gave a lecture to the students who had already seen the chaos.
Most of these students were Confucian scholars from Lu, who had been paying close attention to the situation in Chu after Lu was destroyed by Chu.
Being forced to "go down to the grassroots" made them full of complaints. Complaints were like a file, slowly grinding away their naivety and prejudice. Some people gave up following Zhu Xiang when they were being ground, and went to other countries to seek other opportunities; those who stayed behind began to reflect on themselves, shifting their gaze from the bamboo slips and wooden tablets to reality.
There are only a few educated people in this era, and those who can understand the truth from limited texts are not bad in talent.
After Zhu Xiang calmed down the students he brought with him, he began to give lectures to them in his spare time. He would also take them with him on business trips in turn and teach them the principles of taking root in the land.
He also used the events of the State of Chu as teaching content.
Ying Xiaozheng sat in the classroom, looking up with the other students as Zhu Xiang held a charcoal pencil and wrote on a white wooden board brushed with lime.
"The Chu State implemented the most traditional feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty. From the current chaos in the Chu State, you can see the reason for the decline of the Zhou Dynasty."
"Now the wise men around the King of Chu have discovered the problem, and the King of Chu has issued an edict strictly prohibiting farmers from growing cotton. But the King of Chu did not and dared not touch the root cause, which is to prohibit the nobles from plundering the land of self-cultivating farmers. So this edict is useless. You can think about why the King of Chu saw the problem but did not dare to solve it."
"The nobles of Chu who could become feudal lords could not be stupid. They could not fail to see how much harm their actions of plundering farmers' land would cause to Chu. Why did they still do it after seeing it? What is the conflict between the interests pursued by the feudal lords of Chu and the interests of Chu itself? This cannot be summed up in one word: 'they have low morals and are short-sighted'. What is the essence behind it? This is a question you need to explore."
"In the future, when people all over the world become wealthy, Qin may gradually face this situation. The simplest solution is to forcibly stop business, but this behavior is not advisable. I will tell you the conclusion first, and then you can find the reason based on this conclusion. Once you find the reason, you can find the right way to solve this problem."…
While explaining the current situation of the State of Chu to them, Zhu Xiang also assigned them thesis topics.
Zhu Xiang learned about the situations of all the students who studied with him, and mentally divided them into three categories: upper, middle and lower. He then divided them into groups by drawing lots, and asked them to complete their papers in small groups. Each group had students from all three categories.
He would not tell anyone about the "grades" and "levels", not even Ying Xiaozheng, and did not leave any records. This would allow excellent people to lead mediocre people, and would not create a gap between students.
Ying Xiaozheng was also divided into groups.
However, Ying Xiaozheng's grouping was different from that of other students. He was only in a group with Meng Tian, Li Si, and Han Fei.
But if you think about it carefully, it seems that this includes all three levels: upper, middle and lower.
In Zhu Xiang's heart, Ying Xiaozheng is of course the best, Li Si and Han Fei are in the middle, and Meng Tian is just a drag and does chores with "Who am I and where am I?"
Although Meng Tian is considered "superior" among other students, he can only do odd jobs in this group.
Ying Xiaozheng pouted, clamped the pen between his nose and lips, and muttered, "Uncle, is the knowledge you taught them really something they can learn?"
Zhu Xiang looked at Ying Xiaozheng's playful actions and regretted not having a camera again: "Zheng'er, why do you ask this?"
Ying Xiaozheng said: "This is the knowledge of being a king or a prime minister."
Zhu Xiang laughed: "Every student has the dream of becoming a prime minister. Besides, if they become county governors or magistrates in the future, they will be almost the same as the prime minister."
Ying Xiaozheng asked: "Is it the same as the prime minister of a county lord or the prime minister of a county lord?"
Zhu Xiang nodded: "Even if they never use the knowledge I teach them, it is a good thing to learn to think. Isn't it interesting to meet a few friends in the mountains and rivers to discuss the world? Learning does not necessarily need to be used, learning itself is a pleasure."
Ying Xiaozheng kept holding the brush between his lips and nose, and leaned over the table and said, "My uncle is going to say that I'm too utilitarian again."
Zhu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I didn't say anything."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "You said it in your heart."
Zhu Xiang took the brush from under Ying Xiaozheng's nose and tapped Ying Xiaozheng's head with it: "Don't guess, I don't think so."
Is Zheng'er entering his rebellious phase? He has paranoia every day.
Ying Xiaozheng snorted coldly: "Why hasn't Uncle Lin come back yet? As the Prime Minister of Qin, he has been out of touch for so long. Be careful that others will impeach him for defecting."
Zhu Xiang asked, "Didn't he just send someone to write a letter back? How can he say that he has lost contact?"
Lin Zhi did not lobby the nobles to plunder the farmers' land. Instead, he pretended to be a knowledgeable man and lobbied the King of Chu to quickly control the chaos and use harsh measures to prohibit the nobles from harming the people. It would be best if he could carry out another reform.
Lin Zhi even gave speeches on the streets, saying that the State of Chu now needed to take back the power of the feudal lords and allow the King of Chu to monopolize power, just like Wu Qi did back then.
Not surprisingly, Lin Zhi was driven away by the guards.
It stands to reason that Lin Zhi would be beaten for doing this, and he might even be thrown into prison. However, some "chivalrous men" protected Lin Zhi and helped him escape, and some ministers in the court spoke well of him in front of the King of Chu, so Lin Zhi was only expelled by the King of Chu.
When Lin Zhi was expelled by the King of Chu, he wrapped a white cloth on his head, leaned on a cane, and visited village after village, telling the village elders how to keep their land and prevent it from being taken away by the nobles.
It was unknown what kind of disguise Lin Zhi had put on his face. The King of Chu and the nobles of Chu who had seen him were unable to recognize him. They all called him "the white-headed old man", as if he were an old man.
What puzzled Zhu Xiang even more was that someone spread the rumor that the "white-headed old man" was him in disguise.
Speaking of "white-haired old man", we think of Duke Zhu Xiang, who had white hair at an early age, right? Duke Zhu Xiang was also known to love his people, so if he loved his people and had white hair, then it could only be Duke Zhu Xiang.
The evidence is true, and there is absolutely no problem with the argumentation process. It is proven to be true. What a head! I am still in Wujun, how did I end up in Chu
Ying Xiaozheng said: "Uncle Lin is still the Prime Minister of Qin. He also became a poor scholar who lobbied the King of Chu to be driven out of the capital of Chu. So what's wrong with you becoming a white-headed old man? Wu County is much closer to the capital of Chu than Xianyang is."
Zhu Xiang held Ying Xiaozheng's head in his arms and rubbed it hard.
My rebellious nephew, get out of here! How come my formerly well-behaved and sensible nephew has become so weird and loves to argue with me? !
Zhu Xiang held his forehead and said, "I really don't know what he is doing? Is he trying to start a civil strife in Chu? This is too dangerous! What if the Chu nobles really want to kill him?"
Ying Xiaozheng said, "You and your father went to the places where the civil unrest occurred and relocated the local tyrants. Uncle Cai went to Yan State alone to lobby and brought the Yan army to assist the teacher in fighting against the Hu people. So what's wrong with Uncle Lin going to Chu State to create civil unrest? You are all the same... Ouch!"
Zhu Xiang once again pressed Ying Xiaozheng, who was arguing, into his arms and rubbed his head. If you say Lin Li, then say Lin Li. You are so capable, watch out!
Ying Xiaozheng was very angry because he was "suppressed by force" by Zhu Xiang, so he went to debate with Li Si, Han Fei and Meng Tian.
Han Fei stiffened his neck and started arguing with Ying Xiaozheng; Li Si tried to smooth things over, but Han Fei and Ying Xiaozheng turned around and concentrated their fire on him, so he also got angry and rolled up his sleeves to leave; Meng Tian continued to ask "Who am I and where am I?" and served tea and water to the three people.
Meng Tian’s biggest hope now is to be selected by Li Mu to become a general.
The physical pain didn't matter, he just hoped not to suffer through the "I'm so stupid" torture anymore.
Obviously, he was once the smartest among his peers, and had made many suggestions for the country. Even when he entered the Xianyang Academy, the teachers said that he had the talent to become a general or a prime minister.
Why is he always the worst one here
So when will you come, brother? I don't want to be the worst one, at least we two brothers are the worst two.
Seeing that Meng Tian was in a low mood, Zhu Xiang asked Meng Tian if he needed any guidance.
Meng Tian shook his head.
"The young master has never disdained me, and Li Si and Han Fei have never looked down on me. How can I leave on my own?" Meng Tian said, "I may not be as good as them, but being accepted by them also shows that I am better than others."
Zhu Xiang sighed, saying that Meng Tian was indeed the son of Meng Wu and had inherited Meng Wu's big heart.
However, Meng Tian's talent is indeed higher than Meng Wu's, and his talent of being a general and a prime minister is not a compliment from others. It's just that Meng Tian's talent of being a prime minister is slightly worse, and now the content he discusses with Ying Xiaozheng, Li Si, and Han Fei are all things that the king and the prime minister need to consider, so he is slightly inferior.
If it was a discussion about military strength, Ying Xiaozheng could still talk about it on paper, but Li Si and Han Fei could only play dumb.
When Li Mu was about to send troops again, Zhu Xiang considered letting Meng Tian follow Li Mu to hone his military talents.
But going to the battlefield will be dangerous, I wonder if Meng Wu is willing to leave.
Zhu Xiang was thinking about this matter, but he didn't expect that Meng Tian's opportunity would come soon.
The State of Chu finally fell into chaos.
The chaos in the State of Chu began after Zichu returned to Xianyang.
The King of Qin has been investigating the assassination of Crown Prince Zichu for a long time, and now finally announced, "It was done by the people of Chu!".
The King of Qin sent Wang Jian to station troops on the west side of the Chu State, on the banks of the Han River, and decided to attack the Chu State with all his might.
The Kingdom of Han was being attacked slowly, and only half of it had been swallowed up. Lian Po, who had just bordered the Kingdom of Chu, also received orders to station at the border between Han and Chu, preparing to attack Chu together with Wang Jian.
Although the Qin army did not attack, the crown prince Zichu issued an order prohibiting all exchanges between the Qin and Chu people. If Qin merchants did business with Chu people, it would be regarded as treason.
After this order was issued, people from Qin State doing business in Chu State seemed to have heard the news a long time ago and immediately withdrew. The prosperous market of Chu State instantly became very desolate.
Before the people of Chu could react, so many merchants from Qin suddenly left the country, even abandoning the houses and shops they rented.
They still had a lot of cotton and a lot of cotton cloth in stock, but all of it had become waste and they couldn't buy anything else.
They tried to go to the other five countries to buy things with cotton cloth, but two years later, other countries had begun to be wary of the flood of cotton cloth. Even if someone was willing to exchange things for cotton cloth, the value of cotton cloth had plummeted.
The Chu nobles were lucky because they had accumulated a lot of wealth and grain during this period, so it didn't matter that cotton and cloth became worthless.
Cotton cloth is also cloth and an asset, so they don’t think they’ve lost much.
But the State of Chu was in a miserable state.
During the enclosure movement, the number of self-cultivating farmers decreased significantly, and the taxes of the Chu State also decreased significantly, and there was not much grain stored in the granaries.
Originally they could use cotton cloth to buy food, but now no country is willing to accept cotton cloth in exchange for food, so the State of Chu is short of food.
On one hand, the granaries of the feudal lords of Chu were so full that they were about to overflow; on the other hand, everyone around the King of Chu was crying out for food shortage; and then, in places that those who could speak out could not see, the civilians of Chu were suffering from famine.
This famine should not have happened.
Although the weather in Chu was good, there were no major natural disasters. If they cultivated the land normally, they would not starve to death.
However, the Chu nobles had occupied too much land, so they could only engage in the industrial chain of cotton planting, textile manufacturing and sales, either as tenant farmers for the nobles or as laborers for merchants.
Because they were paid generously with cotton cloth, they could get by. But when the cotton cloth of Qin lost its purchasing power, their lives became miserable.
In the past, they would store some of the cotton cloth they received and exchange the rest for food. There was enough food to eat, but it was impossible to store it for several months. Ten days was considered good.
Now there were no jobs, cotton cloth had no value, and they could not buy food.
"The grain output of Chu State has not actually decreased much. The nobles of Chu State have enough food to eat, and their retainers and servants have stored even more grain. Why is it that the grain price in Chu State has soared more than tenfold even though the grain output has not decreased much?" After Zhu Xiang took out the statistical data, he assigned papers to Ying Xiaozheng and the students.
Ying Xiaozheng looked at the paper assigned by Zhu Xiang and recalled the memory of another self he saw in his dream.
Another person has experienced the same thing.
At that time, after unifying the world, another self had thought about resting and recuperating.
But the world had been settled, and logically, with more people farming, grain production should have been higher. However, the price of grain in the private sector skyrocketed several times compared to the wartime level, causing public outrage and public resentment.
why is that
The other one I couldn’t figure out, and I still can’t figure it out now.
Ying Xiaozheng originally wanted to ask his uncle.
Uncle must know the answer, Ying Xiaozheng was sure of it.
But he didn't ask his uncle in the end.
It wasn't that Ying Xiaozheng didn't trust Zhu Xiang and was worried that Zhu Xiang would see his secret. It was that he wanted to win and figure it out on his own.
Can't I rely on my uncle for everything? He is so old now, he should have thought for himself a long time ago.
The homework assigned by Zhu Xiang now is exactly the same as the problem that has been bothering him. Ying Xiaozheng put all his efforts into pulling the team members together to solve the problem independently and come out on top.
Seeing that Ying Xiaozheng was full of fighting spirit, Zhu Xiang had no choice but to pick up the government affairs that Ying Xiaozheng had abandoned because of his fighting spirit.
Ying Xiaozheng has to study hard now, so Zhu Xiang can only be a county magistrate and cannot run around anymore.
Li Mu heard Zhu Xiang complaining and said helplessly: "This is what you should have done. Zheng'er has helped you so much, why do you still treat it as Zheng'er's business?"
Zhu Xiang said, "What are you talking about? Look at the emperor's decree. This is Zheng'er's job."
Li Mu rolled his eyes.
The King of Qin and Zhu Xiang both had problems, so how could they let the young Zheng'er be so busy? Even if Zheng'er became the King of Qin at this age, there would be ministers to assist in the administration and the Queen Mother to listen to the government. How could Zheng'er make the decisions alone
In Zhu Xiang, Zheng'er was already the head of the family when he was five or six years old.
Li Mu didn't know whether other people would be envious or speechless after knowing this. He was speechless anyway. Thinking from their perspective, he didn't want to take on such a big responsibility when he was only five or six years old.
While Zhu Xiang was arranging homework, Zichu was serving Qin Wangzhu medicine in the Xianyang Palace.
Qin Wangzhu survived a serious illness.
He survived the serious illness when he called Bai Qi and Fan Ju back to Xianyang and lived for nearly another year.
But after that, he became much weaker again.
At this time he was seriously ill again. Although he woke up immediately and seemed to be getting better, he still called Zichu back.
The disease was gradually cured, and this time he was bedridden, with little energy, so most of the things were left to Zichu.
However, it was he who personally commanded the Qin State's "declaration of war" on the Chu State, and Zichu was only the executor.
Whether to send out troops or to keep them on hold for the time being was what King Qin Zhu thought about himself while lying on his sickbed.
The reason why Qin State did not move its troops was not because King Zhu of Qin was ill, but because it was his original plan. King Zhu of Qin did not plan to launch a large-scale attack on Chu State this time.
He knew that Chu was still very powerful and had a vast territory. If he attacked rashly now, it would only give the other five countries an opportunity.
Although Qin Wangzhu was anxious, he had been patient for so many years and handled things very carefully.
When he succeeded to the throne, he knew that he would not be the King of Qin for many years. He could not be impatient and rush into building achievements, leaving a mess for Zichu and slowing down the progress of Qin's unification of the world.
"Zichu, I'm so jealous of you. Why are you so young?" After listening to Zichu's report that everything was going well and the State of Chu was in chaos, King Zhu of Qin was not happy, but sighed.
Zichu, who was kneeling beside the bed, lowered his head and did not answer.
Qin Wangzhu said to himself: "Chu is in chaos now. In five years at most, Chu will fall into the hands of Qin. Once Chu is destroyed, it will only be a matter of time before the other five countries are crushed. I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. The road is right under my feet. I just need to move forward. But I don't have time to move forward. I don't have time."
Qin Wangzhu sighed for a long time, then waved his hand and said, "Go out, let me be quiet for a while."
Before Zichu stood up, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Should we ask Zhu Xiang and Zheng'er to come back?"
Qin Wangzhu said: "The affairs of Chu depend on Zhu Xiang."
Zichu said: "The Chu State's affairs have already begun. With Lin Li and Li Mu here, Zhu Xiang can leave Southern Qin."
He paused, hiding what he was about to say, and replaced it with what was in his heart: "Father, if Zhu Xiang can't see you for the last time, he will definitely be very sad, and so will your father. Compared to your descendants like me, Zhu Xiang is the only one who treats you wholeheartedly, without any interests in his feelings."
Qin Wangzhu's gaze turned cold.
Zichu's words violated two taboos.
First, although Qin Wangzhu fell ill, the imperial physician had not said that he would die, and Qin Wangzhu did not want to hear that he would die; first, Zichu bluntly said that Qin Wangzhu's descendants did not treat their monarch and father purely, including himself.
King Qin Zhu stared at Zichu coldly for a while, but did not scold him. His icy gaze gradually softened.
"How could you say such words at the most critical moment when you are about to become the King of Qin?" Qin Wangzhu said calmly, "I thought you would be a filial son before I die."
Zichu said, "My Lord and Father, I have always been a filial son."
"If you say so, then so be it." Qin Wangzhu said calmly, "Let Zhu Xiang come back. I really miss him."
Zichu bowed his head and stepped back: "Yes."
Qin Wangzhu watched Zichu leave. After Zichu's back disappeared for a long time, he sighed.
"He and I are now truly father and son."
Qin Wangzhu said self-deprecatingly, and then sighed again.
He looked up at the bed curtains, his dry hands falling on his eyelids, and muttered to himself.
"I'm jealous. I'm really jealous."
The road is right under your feet, the destination is in front of you, and everything that the Qin kings of all dynasties have pursued is now within reach.
He was just this close, but he couldn't make it.
I am really jealous of future generations.
(End of this chapter)