Li Mi was very curious, where did King Jianning recruit talents from, and there were actually practitioners of Mohist theory.
Li Mi was well-read and also dabbled in Mohist theory.
The demise of Mohist scholarship was due not only to the rulers' dislike of Mohist doctrine, but also to the failure of Mohism in social practice.
Although these theories of "universal love and non-aggression" and "clear ghosts and heavenly will" are good, they cannot systematically establish a long-lasting political power like Confucianism.
Confucianism is not only a philosophy, but also a set of effective governance techniques.
Confucianism established a top-down ruling machine through the hierarchical system of heaven and earth, kings, relatives, and masters.
Confucian theory can also mediate various civil disputes at low cost in daily life.
The Confucian operating system has been used in China for hundreds of years. This set of theories has been very complete and has established a hierarchical Confucian system.
After the Five Husties revolted in China, all foreign regimes that were able to rule for a long time were foreigners who took the initiative to sinicize and embrace Confucianism.
Those foreign regimes that used force and cruelty to rule the people often suffered backlash after the first-generation rulers became old and weak, and eventually died and the clan was exterminated.
But Li Mi saw another form of rule in Jiuquan City.
Through clearly divided industry associations, all people are connected.
These associations then decide the municipal administration of Jiuquan, use industry rules to restrain the people, and use this industry self-discipline method to govern the people.
Li Mi asked Zhang Tianlun: "Zhang Tianshi, how can the heads of these industry associations influence the decision-making of the yamen?"
Zhang Tianlun said: "The heads of one hundred and twenty guilds in Jiuquan, plus the Fang Zheng of the twenty-four squares in the city, and the Li Chang of one hundred and eighty miles outside the city, these 324 people form the municipal council.
, any resolution on the development of Jiuquan City requires the approval of half of these 324 people before it can be implemented."
Li Mi opened his mouth in surprise. How could this mere district leader have so much power?
You must know that these leaders from all walks of life are just businessmen in the market.
Even if it is Li Changfangzheng, he is not even an official. It is ridiculous that they should decide the major events of Jiuquan and even Ganzhou.
Zhang Tianlun also said: "Don't you think it's ridiculous? Actually, I think it's quite ridiculous too. Everyone said Zeng Mu was taking too many steps."
Li Mi was stunned for a moment, and then chuckled at Zhang Tianlun's subtle remark.
This metaphor is too vivid, and I don’t know why Zeng Zhizhou would implement such a policy in Jiuquan.
Li Mi said: "Wouldn't it be chaotic every time the municipal council meets?"
Zhang Tianlun looked at Li Mi and asked, "Does Mr. Mi know about the fun of Jiuquan Municipal Council?"
Li Mi shook his head and said: "I have just arrived in Jiuquan, but I just surmised what you said."
Li Mi once served as a censor, and he knew the scene of every debate among the censors in the censorship platform.
The censor is already the most noble among the Qingpao officials, and they are often the noble official positions that can only be held by those who were born in Jinshi.
But these elites who are full of poems and books and can pass the imperial examination often take action when quarreling at the Yushitai.
And these municipal councilors in Jiuquan all come from mixed backgrounds, so the municipal council meetings must be very "lively".
Zhang Tianlun said with a smile: "Migong, you don't know that every time the Jiuquan Municipal Council meets, everyone is watching and having fun. This is the most exciting show in Jiuquan."
Zeng Mu is also a fun-loving person. Every time the Jiuquan Municipal Council meets, he will have people broadcast it live on the forum.
The municipal meeting held every ten days is a large-scale joy show.
Municipal councilors who disagree with each other greet each other's family on the spot, and even two groups of council members fight each other. These are all common occurrences.
Currently, three municipal council meetings have been broadcast live. Except for the development plans for the pharmaceutical and dye industries, which were approved by the council, all other discussions have been shelved.
Even Zeng Mu's plan to issue railway bonds in the name of Jiuquan a few days ago was rejected by the city council.
Zhang Tianlun told Li Bi about the fun that happened at the Jiuquan Municipal Council:
“The leader of the last shoe industry association proposed that shoe sizes should be unified and shoes of various sizes should be manufactured and sold according to different foot sizes.”
"It stands to reason that this proposal is quite good. Today's shoemakers have confusing sizes. Customized shoes are not affordable for everyone. Cheap off-the-shelf shoes often don't fit. Uniform size is a quite good proposal."
Li Mi nodded. The boots on his feet were also finished shoes purchased in Zhangye.
Although finished shoes are not as high-end and comfortable as customized shoes, the cost does not require waiting for production. You can buy them as long as you like them and they fit your feet.
The cost is also much lower than customization. According to Zhang Tianlun, assembly line production of shoes improves efficiency and saves costs, making it much cheaper than hand-made shoes one by one.
Li Mi wore them from Zhangye to Jiuquan. The shoes fit perfectly and there were no problems.
There is already a classification of shoe sizes in Zhangye, and the sales assistants can quickly find shoes of the right size based on the size of the old shoes.
In Li Mi's opinion, this is a very efficient approach.
As long as the shoes on the market can be made in uniform sizes, you won't need to try on pairs of shoes next time you buy other shoes, which can save a lot of time.
Zhang Tianlun said: "But the leader of the Shoemakers Association stood up and objected, saying that making shoes that fit according to the size of the foot is the craftsmanship of shoemakers in making shoes, and unified standard sizes will destroy this craftsmanship."
Li Mi was confused now, and he quickly said: "Wait a minute, the Shoe Factory Association and the Shoemakers Association are two different associations?"
Zhang Tianlun said: "Yes, the Shoe Industry Workshop Association is an association established by workshop owners who build workshops to mass-produce shoes."
"The Shoemakers Association is an association established by shoemakers in the city who customize shoes for people."
"Zeng Zhizhou originally wanted to merge and establish a shoe industry association, but their internal quarrels were too fierce. For a long time, they could not choose a leader that was satisfactory to more than half of the members, so they were split into two associations."
Li Mi nodded and said, "I understand, continue."
Zhang Tianlun said: "Later, the two leaders had a big fight at the municipal council, beating each other with shoes. In the end, the shoes of the president of the Shoe Factory Association were smashed, and then they were dragged out by the police who were maintaining order."
"Both men were banned from the council for a month, but the uniform shoe size law was never mentioned again."
From Zhang Tianlun's vivid description, Li Mi could already imagine the two "hui heads" fighting.
Isn't this nonsense? Let the people elected by these traffickers and the people who don't even know the words participate in the decision-making of the entire city and even the entire state.
This is indeed a step that is too big.
Li Mi asked: "Zeng Zhizhou is doing such nonsense in Ganzhou, does your Highness not care?"
Zhang Tianlun said with a smile: "Of course your Highness doesn't care. As long as there is no rebellion in Zhangye and no famine occurs, Your Highness will not manage the city beyond these feudal officials."
"Even the civil affairs of Shazhou, where the Longyou Governor's Office is located, His Highness does not interfere."
Li Mi couldn't help but said: "This is too childish. No wonder Jiuquan's development is not as good as Zhangye's. I think this Zeng Mu is simply an incompetent person. I don't know how he could steal the position of Zhou Mu."
Zhang Tianlun said: "What Mi Gong said is not correct. Last month, Jiuquan ranked among the top five in the development index rankings of major cities. Last month, Jiuquan did not even rank among the top ten.
of."
Li Mi asked: "What is this development index ranking?"
"It is a ranking list created by His Royal Highness King Jianning. The indicators of urban development, urban construction, workshop industrial output value, and population growth are quantified and scored separately. It is a ranking list used to measure the development level of a city."
Li Bi was surprised and said: "How could Jiuquan's development be so good?"
Zhang Tianlun said: "How should I put it, Mi Gong, do you know the seesaw?"
Li Mi nodded and said, "Is it the seesaw that children play on?"
Zhang Tianlun nodded and said, "That's the seesaw."
Li Mi was confused, Zhang Tianlun explained:
“In fact, in the development of a city, ‘efficiency’ and ‘equity’ are often a seesaw.”
Li Mi was stunned.
Zhang Tianlun said: "In pursuit of efficiency, Zhangye's development model is naturally the best. With orders and prohibitions, the yamen can freely set the direction of development without any constraints. It can concentrate the power of the whole state to build big projects like the Wei-Zhang Railway
."
"Now Zhangye's animal husbandry, woolen textile industry, oil extraction, and garment industries are all developing rapidly. Some industries are even better than those in several states in Longyou."
Li Mi nodded. He naturally knew how prosperous Zhangye was. The whole Zhangye was filled with the pursuit of money and efficiency.
Although Li Mi, who was influenced by Confucianism and Taoism, does not like this utilitarian atmosphere, it must be said that Zhangye's development is changing with each passing day.
Zhang Tianlun said: "There are two ends of the seesaw, one is efficiency and the other is fairness. If you pursue efficiency too much, you will lose fairness."
"There is a lot of overtime in Zhangye. Workshop workers often have to work for more than ten hours. Child labor is employed. Workshop owners who exploit workers often appear in newspapers."
"Although Cui Tao is also suppressing big workshop owners in Zhangye, the differentiation of wealth is still getting faster and faster."
"Ordinary workers who sell their physical strength work hard and earn more than farming, but they can only maintain food and clothing."
"As long as the workshop owner keeps opening workshops, he only needs to invest and earn a lot of dividends."
"Cui Tao has repeatedly requested to increase the minimum wage in Zhangye and split up the large monopoly workshop industry, but the unfairness in Zhangye is still getting worse."
Zhang Tianlun sighed and said: "Isn't this inevitable? Without a hierarchical system with a huge gap in salary, how can people work hard? The newspapers in Zhangye are talking about the 'Zhangye Miracle', but there is no
People talk about the things behind Zhangye’s miracle.”