Chen Qingsong later told Kong Shaoan that in addition to the landlords with gentry backgrounds in the Jiaodong area, there was another group of people who needed special attention.
"Common landowner?"
Kong Shaoan had never heard of such a term, but Chen Qingsong explained it briefly and he understood. The so-called common people's landlords are actually businessmen and loan sharks who purchase large amounts of land. However, no one in these families is an official, even if there is one
The reputation of a supervisor was also bought with money, so he was looked down upon by the real gentry.
Some of these people buy land to provide for their children and grandchildren, some buy righteous land to dedicate to their clans, and some buy land to hoard food in order to control food during times of turmoil and famine. The most common method they use is the "zhuang system", which means spending a sum of money
Filial piety means borrowing the name of an official or a juren to purchase land outside the place of residence.
"Don't underestimate these people. Common people's landowners will also rely on wealth to monopolize rural power, which is commonly known as arbitrary rural music. A gentry landlord and a common people's landowner, coupled with the Manchu and Qing Dynasty's public donations and the sale of official titles, will
Let the landlord class control the entire economy."
At this point, Chen Qingsong changed the topic and asked Kong Shaoan another question.
"Xiao Kong, do you also agree with what some people say, that as long as we guide it and complete the primitive accumulation of capital, the germination of capitalism in the feudal era can become a prairie fire?"
Kong Shaoan hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "When I was at the power plant, everyone would talk about this when they were free to chat. I didn't understand it at that time. I just listened to what they said, but I think it makes sense. As long as it can be changed
By adopting a policy that emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce and strives to promote commerce, we can surpass Westerners and complete modernization ahead of schedule. But..."
Chen Qingsong smiled slightly and said, "What?"
"After listening to what you just said, I'm a little confused. You know, I don't really understand many things, but as long as Mr. Zhao and you say it, I will do it."
Chen Qingsong smiled and patted Kong Shaoan's shoulder, very satisfied with his statement, and then explained: "Capitalism has always been about accumulating productive capital through the field of production, not business or other fields. The commodification of labor force
In fact, it is monetization. History textbooks state that there were sprouts of capitalism at the end of the century. This is true, and it still exists now, but the sprouts are always just sprouts and cannot develop at all."
"Ah?! Why?"
"Xiao Kong, the monetary wealth in these years is in the hands of the landlords, gentry and businessmen. If you want to develop from the bud, you must attract this wealth to the bud industry. Even if it is very profitable, it is only because of sea trade.
As the demand grows, if the emperor one day feels that his rule is threatened, it will be over with a decree. As for the rural population, which accounts for 90%, they are self-sufficient."
"Yes, you said it before," Kong Shaoan thoughtfully turned to the first page of the record and said word for word: "One of the characteristics of China's feudal economy is the combination of small agriculture and cottage industry among agricultural producers.
.”
Chen Qingsong nodded approvingly and said: "Speaking of a thousand words, no matter how hard that sprout is, it can only grow in the cracks of the feudal economy. When people have money, the first thing they want to do is to buy land. In the end, it will still strengthen
Landlord economy. Don’t underestimate the trinity economic model. It contains huge power to increase wealth. No matter how much money is made by industry and commerce, it is not as safe as rent collection. As long as you have land, you have a foundation, and then you can invest your wealth accumulation in the most important areas.
Favorable direction.
"Historical Records. Biographies of Huo Shi" says that in seeking wealth from poverty, farmers are inferior to workers, and workers are inferior to merchants. Don't look at the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats who ranked "business" at the bottom of the four peoples, and said that "businessmen value profits but neglect separation." That's just
This is a trick played by people in front of others. By the way, I know you are from Jining, do the Sun family of 'Yutang Sauce Garden' know?"
Of course Kong Shaoan knew that. He used to buy its pickles often. Since he went to Jiaodong, he would have a small plate for breakfast every day.
"Sun Yuting was a Jinshi in the 40th year of Qianlong's reign. He served as a Hanlin scholar and is currently a Salt Master in Guangxi. His pickle garden was opened in partnership with others with a capital of 40,000 yuan. If you want to get rich, sell soy sauce and vinegar. What do you think?
Is he ashamed of doing business? The reason why he dares to do this is because the Sun family owns 30,000 acres of farmland in Jining, and they are absolutely big landowners! And I am sure that his family also runs a pawn shop and lends money at high interest rates."
"Xiao Kong, what I'm telling you so much is actually telling you that even though those landlords appear to be knowledgeable and moral, in fact they exploit the bottom farmers very harshly. Commercial profit margins and usury interest rates are both based on
The land rent rate is the minimum limit, otherwise businessmen and loan sharks would rather collect rent taxes from local landlords than take the risk of losing money!"
Kong Shaoan nodded, he actually knew all this. According to the survey data of the rural work team, currently in the four counties of Jiaodong, in addition to physical fixed land rents, there are also rent deposits similar to security deposits, and there are even situations where rent money is collected in advance.
People in the future may see in history books that a certain celebrity led his servants to create masterpieces in the countryside, plowing and reading, singing pastoral songs, reading and reciting poems, and felt very comfortable. But in fact, their comfort and leisure were built on
On top of the blood and sweat of poor farmers.
Since the Han Dynasty, the general land rent rate in China has been above 50%. Due to the popularity of the "permanent tenancy system", the burden on lower-class farmers has become heavier. The separation of land ownership and farming rights is called Tiangu Tianpi in the south.
In the north, it is called Tiandi Tianpi. In later generations, land transactions generally talked about the sale and purchase of use rights, but in these years, they had to be discussed separately. The tens of thousands of acres of land owned by many big landowners were probably just farm skins, not
ownership.
For the above-mentioned good irrigated fields, the skin will be more expensive than the bones; so as long as you obtain the right to farm, you can rent it out and make a lot of profits. For the farmers at the bottom, after getting the harvest,
, first of all, a rent is given to the land owner, and then a leather rent is given to the owner of the farming rights. Although the level of the two varies according to the fertility of the land, it also makes the poor poorer.
Why have Fujianese people been going to Southeast Asia since the Ming Dynasty? For no other reason, it is because the rent for leather is too high. There is not enough arable land to begin with, and the land rent is divided into eight mountains, one water, and one farmland. In some areas, the rent for leather is even several times higher than the rent.
, leading to the poorer the more land is cultivated.
If Beihai Town wants to nationalize the land within the customs, it is useless to just get the farm bones. It doesn't even matter if you can't get them temporarily. The skins are the most critical. On the contrary, there is no such problem outside the customs. All the means of production are
He provided it himself; to put it bluntly, when Zhao Xin started to recruit refugees, he wanted to set the land rent at "37%", and there were people competing to do it.
How novel it is. There is no need to provide any means of production, and the working efficiency of the tractor is so high. The refugees only have to pay half or even one-third of the hard work, and they can obtain higher farming profits than those in Guanhai, and they can also get paid.
When it comes to the permanent tenancy of fifty acres of land, no fool would refuse to join!
Chen Qingsong said so much in one breath, and Kong Shaoan also had some ideas.
"Teacher Chen, I will start with rent reduction when I get back. What do you think?"
"Well... I'm afraid just reducing rents won't work. We must get 50% of the landowners' control over the rural economy. We must not let them control both commercial capital and loan shark capital!"
"I understand! You can't let them convert land rent, commercial profits and usury into each other."
When talking about the issue of loan sharking by landlords, we have to mention one person - Gu Yanwu's nephew Xu Qianxue. This man was a famous scholar during the Kangxi period and served as the censor of Zuodu and the minister of the Ministry of Punishment. It is said that the Xu family engaged in loan sharking in Kunshan.
His name has gone down in history. When he was impeached and returned home, Mingzhu's nephew collected evidence of the Xu family's crimes in order to take revenge, including the usury loan of five cents. Xu Qianxue was so frightened that he vomited blood and died.
But in the Qianlong period, a five-cent profit was nothing! A ten-cent profit was available.
The Qing government once restricted private lending interest rates, requiring a maximum monthly interest rate of three cents. However, the landlords and gentry who controlled the usury market from cities to rural areas made it a blank slate. In some places, 100% annual interest rates have become a common phenomenon.
.As for the "Beijing Debt" used by officials in the capital to pay bribes to buy positions, it is a very profitable business. In these days, as long as scholars start to go to Beijing to take exams, they will definitely deal with money shops and accounting bureaus.
The reason why Beihai Town provides a subsidy to all students who come to take the exam is because they may borrow usury, which will eventually lead to the monetization of power.
After this conversation, Kong Shaoan finally realized that what he wanted to do was not simply to reduce rents and interest rates, but a revolution that would affect people from all walks of life.
So when he returned to his base camp, Wendeng, he once again convened work team members from the four counties to hold a mobilization meeting.
"...I have told you so much and drawn it on the blackboard. I believe everyone understands how the landlords and gentry engage in the trinity of exploiting the people. And our task is to break their two legs first.
, cut off their wealth cycle. Haha, the discount I am talking about does not mean to rush into the other party's house and break the legs of the old man, but to use the spear of the son and the shield of the trap!
What you are going to do this time is to investigate the loan sharking and land rent situation in each township and village, and compile the data. Only with this can you compete with the landlords. Tell the farmers who dares to force them to sell their sons, daughters, and houses.
The Bei Navy will arrest anyone!"
With the end of the mobilization meeting, more than 100 rural work teams composed of Beihai navy, civil affairs officers, and agricultural technicians set out again. From July 5, 1793, Beihai Town began to promote peasant associations in the four counties of Jiaodong.
And announced the relevant bill. It clearly requires the establishment of three-level farmers' associations in counties, townships, and villages under the leadership of the work team. Indirect agricultural operators-such as those who rent out farm bones and skins and only collect rent but do not cultivate the land.
No one is allowed to join. The farmers' association has a tenancy department to mediate tenancy disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
Like the farmers' association organized by Zhao Xin in Java, all farmers' association members will receive a set of production tools and high-quality, high-yield seeds for free. Farmers at the township level will provide their villages with horse-drawn seeders and harvesters.
A full set of agricultural machinery services; the construction and improvement of farmland water conservancy facilities in each township will be carried out around farmers' association member households.
Immediately afterwards, the Jiaodong Administrative Office announced relevant cases on land management and private lending. Taking into account the habit of using the lunar calendar in inland areas, the specific implementation time was set on the first day of the seventh lunar month. The main contents include the following:
1. Landowners in the four counties, regardless of their size, can retain 50 acres of paddy fields or 100 acres of dry land. The remaining land will be expropriated by the Military Control Commission in the form of currency. Landowners who do not participate in expropriation compensation are not allowed to join the farmers' association and will not enjoy the benefits.
Seeds, farm tools, and many other benefits. The expropriated land will be publicly owned by the Military Control Commission, and will then be leased and cultivated by farmers in need. It will not be transferred to tenants, and the share of the share of tenant rent is 30%.
Second, in terms of expropriation compensation, the landowner can receive 50% of the cash compensation, and the remaining 50% will be paid with bonds issued by the Beihai Town Civil Affairs Bureau, with equal payments over ten years, and an additional annual interest of 8%.
3. When farmers’ association members rent from landlords, the maximum rent for farm bones and skins shall not exceed 40% of the output of the year, and fixed land rents shall not be implemented. If the existing land rent is higher than 40%, it must be reduced to this standard, and if it is lower than this,
The standard shall not be raised, otherwise the tenant farmer has the right to give up the farming, and all economic losses will be borne by the tenant farmer.
4. Landlords are not allowed to collect land rent in advance in the form of rent pledges. If there is a bad harvest, the land rent should be reduced. The lease period should not be less than 6 years. After the lease expires, unless the landowner takes back the land, it should still be rented to the original tenant farmers; if the landowner wants
When selling land, the farm bones and skins are not allowed to be separated and traded. At the same time, the Beihai Town Military Control Commission has the first right to purchase the land.
5. As for self-cultivators, all taxes are exempted for self-cultivators with less than 2 acres of land, and only a fixed tax of 5% is levied during the sales process. In addition, if they are members of a farmers' association, they can be exempted from tax by 1%.
Sixth, the Civil Affairs Bureau will allocate 500,000 yuan to establish a rural credit department in Jiaodong area to provide a series of services such as lending and deposits to farmers' association members.
7. As for the private lending of loan money, once the Military Control Commission detects it, the borrower only needs to repay the principal without paying interest; those who cannot afford to repay can be repaid in up to ten installments. At the same time, the Military Control Commission will impose a five-year penalty on the principal of the lender.
times of heavy fines and criminal liability.
The issuance of the relevant decree immediately caused an uproar in the four counties of Jiaodong. The gentry landlords who originally smiled at the work team met the members of the work team again, and either earnestly persuaded them by saying "not to compete with the people for profit", or they were in panic all day long.
Without exception, these people sent their personal entourage to the homes of the poorest tenants in their own villages and townships, delivering food and asking for help. For a time, all the gentry in each township and village became benevolent people.
However, what they didn't expect was that the farmers were not fools. They knew who was really good to them. They no longer had to be exploited by loan sharks and could have their own land. This was something they had never dared to think about.