"Shu Zhou Guan": "Sikong is in charge of the state, living in the four people, and the time and place are favorable." ”

"The Legend of Grain Beams: The First Year of Chenggong": "The ancients had four people: scholars, merchants, farmers, and workers. ”

"Guanzi" said: The four people of Shinong, industry and commerce, and the stone people of the country.

"Hanshu Food and Goods Chronicles": "Scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants, the four people have businesses: learning to be a scholar, cultivating grain and farming, making skillful tools and making goods, and making money and goods." ”

According to the structure of the later company, it is understood that the first-class person is a professional manager, responsible for administrative management and organization of production; The second-class people are ordinary blue-collar workers, who are responsible for providing raw materials and production and processing; Third-class people are skilled workers who are responsible for the research and development of new products; The fourth person is the marketing department, which is responsible for raw material procurement and product sales.

Do you feel like there's a problem with the rankings?

Of course, there is a problem, judging by the somewhat distorted values of the commercial society of a country with a serious bureaucratic mentality, it should be the merchants, workers and peasants. That is, the officials control everything, the businessmen cooperate with the "white gloves" to make a fortune, the white-collar workers work hard, and the peasant uncles work hard to eat the soil.

From this, it can probably be seen that the biggest difference between ancient and modern times is that the positions of agriculture and commerce are reversed.

This is not because the feudal emperors had a great conscience and deliberately raised the social status of the peasants because they were grateful for the hard work of the peasants, but because of the backwardness of the productive forces and the abnormal development of industry and commerce, they had to shout the slogan of rectification. Whoever takes it seriously is really Too young, too simple Tucson is broken.

Take the Song Dynasty, where agricultural taxes accounted for only 40% of the country's tax revenue, for example.

The land tax of the Northern Song Dynasty stipulated that landowners were taxed on a per mu basis, once a year in summer and autumn (following the Tang Dynasty's two-tax law). In the north, one stone can be harvested per mu of medium land, and one bucket of official tax must be paid. Due to the high yield in various parts of the Yangtze River, three buckets per mu must be taxed. The Tang Dynasty's two-tax law was based on the amount of wealth, while the Song Dynasty was taxed according to the land area. The autumn tax is to levy grain on a mu basis after the autumn is ripe; The summer tax is mainly to collect money, or to fold silk, silk, cotton, and cloth.

Taxation per mu is the basic standard of taxation, but when it is actually collected, there are also so-called calculations of "transfer" and "conversion", which increases the actual tax amount. "Transfer" means that when the autumn tax is levied, the peasants are required to transport it to the designated place to pay, and if the peasants are unwilling to work with the long-distance transportation, they must pay an extra "branch", that is, "foot money". "Change" means that when the summer tax is levied, money and goods change and change, which also increases the actual amount of tax paid.

The official land recruits tenant farmers to cultivate, and the land rent is collected by **, which is called "the endowment of public land". However, no one paid the autumn and summer taxes on the official fields themselves, and often added the two taxes to the tenant farmers, increasing the amount of land rent, that is, the so-called "double tax".

According to the stature of the Northern Song Dynasty, a man is considered a man at the age of 20 and an old man at the age of 60. All men between the ages of 20 and 60 are required to pay the body tax, money or silk, and pay the two taxes at the same time.

The Northern Song Dynasty inherited the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and merged them into categories, collectively known as "miscellaneous". Among them, there are many names, such as agricultural tool tax, cattle leather tax, silkworm salt tax, shoe money, etc., that is, the so-called "whatever comes out, changes and loses".

There is also a system of harmony and buying. The government forcibly collects private grain and rice; And buy is the government's compulsory purchase of private cloth pumping. At the beginning of the implementation of the peace bargaining and purchase agreement, the amount of compulsory requisition was allocated according to the amount of land, and some advance payments were paid.

Sima Guang once said: Among the four people, only the peasants are the most bitter. The farmer ploughs in the cold and heat, paints his feet with his body, works with the stars, and rests with the stars. Silkworm women raise silkworms to cure cocoons, spin weft with linen, accumulate wisps, inch by inch, and its diligence is extremely good. And the flood, drought, frost, hail, locusts, and snakes are plagued by disasters, but fortunately the harvest, the public and private debts compete with each other, the valley has not left the field, and the silk has not gotten off the machine, and it is no longer their own. The farmer silkworm woman eats the chaff and is insufficient, and the clothes are brown and incomplete, and the world serves the acres of the field, and I don't know if there is a way to live.

With this guy's character and the era in which he lived, the credibility of these words can probably be guaranteed.

In a word, the peasant profession has been the lowest level of society in the worst state of survival from ancient times to the present. You're all at the bottom, everyone oppresses you and makes your burden a little heavier, there's no problem, right?

Of course, in terms of the character of the Chinese peasants who endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens and endure hardships and stand hard work, "a little" and "a little" are mostly tolerable.

If even the last bite of food in the farmer's bowl has to be snatched, and the last piece of clothing to cover the body has to be taken away, even if the peasant has a good character, he is afraid that he will "turn against his mother", and he will definitely not be able to honestly wait for death. Therefore, the changes of Chinese dynasties were often dominated by peasants.

There were the broad masses of peasants involved, called the "uprising"; Without the participation of the peasants, it was called a "rebellion" and was to be eliminated very quickly.

From this point of view, in addition to showing that agriculture is the economic foundation of the traditional agricultural society, there are also considerations in the sense of justice.

As for the tragic status of the businessman being ranked at the "end of the four people", Fang Zhongyong only wants to say one word: he did it all by himself.

It is said that when reflecting on the lessons of the fall of the Shang Dynasty, the founders of the Zhou Dynasty believed that the death of the Yin Shang Dynasty was due to the people's enthusiasm for industry and commerce and the barren agriculture, which caused the people to be impetuous, and the national foundation was unstable. As a result, they turned to a policy of pro-agriculture that despised industry and commerce. In the Zhou system, the status of industrialists and merchants became very low, and the "hundred workers" were often placed alongside the concubines (male and female slaves) who were in the status of slaves. Thus the social division of labor among the peasants and industrialists was basically determined, although the peasants at that time referred to small and medium-sized landlords.

What's even more infuriating is that Lu Buwei's stupid defect came up with a strange allusion.

"Warring States Policy: Qin Ce V" contains: Lu Buweijia, a native of Puyang, was in Handan, and when he saw Qin Proton, he said: "This strange commodity can be lived." Instead, the father said: "How many times the profit of plowing the field?" He said, "Ten times." "How many times does Jewel win?" He said, "A hundredfold." He said: "Today, Litian is sick, and there is no room for warm clothes and food; Now that the country is built and the monarch is established, Ze can be left behind, and I wish the past. ”

What's even more infuriating is that Lü Buwei, a stupid man, yelled everywhere after the success of selling the emperor (not ruling out the possibility of smearing by political enemies), and was finally killed by the son of the "goods".

Later, the emperor looked at it, okay, this is a Diao people who want to harm me, and they all pulled it out. On second thought, wouldn't it be nice to save these fat pigs for when they need money, such as when they need money, such as disasters, wars, palaces, etc.?

But since he is going to be a fat pig after all, it is not a big problem to have a lower social status. Whoever will dress the pig in silk and satin, and who will give the pig the opportunity to become a scholar (enter the office), so various discriminatory regulations emerge one after another. Some are stricter, and directly designate businessmen as "lowly status".

Pigs, it doesn't matter! If you dare to hum blindly, I will slaughter you before the New Year.

In addition, the evil deeds of the businessmen who "do not produce, hoard and live strangely, buy low and sell high, and shoddy" are also widely publicized, although they are somewhat exaggerated, but from the perspective of Fang Zhongyong's later generations, countless derogatory terms can be added to prove the "black heart" and "bad heart" of the businessmen.

In this regard, the "worker" said that he was lying down.

If commerce was defined in ancient times as mere trafficking and selling of products, the industry should have been a production enterprise – albeit only a handicraft industry.

I don't know what's going on, but the feelings of the ancient Chinese about handicrafts were very complicated. On the one hand, the aristocracy was greedy for corruption for all kinds of "tricks and tricks" that could improve their own living standards (enjoyment), and on the other hand, they were disdainful of inventions and creations that could improve the living standards of the common people.

For example, in the Song Dynasty, there was a general supervisor: in charge of the palace building, the production of gold, jade, pearl, emerald rhino elephant treasure vessels, the embroidery of lesatin, and the official office made of various strange utensils. The two supervisors said that they would be master craftsmen, high-ranking officials from the third grade; Two young eunuchs, from the fourth grade.

The Song dynasty increased the rewards for various inventions compared to other dynasties. History: Someone formulated the "Twenty Volumes of the New Calendar", and worshiped the "Si Tian Jian Official"; The formulation of the "Qianyuan calendar" is quite precise, and all of them are "preferentially given to bundle silk"; Some people offered the **, fireballs, and thistles, and Xiang Juan "offered the sea warship style, and each gave money". We don't know exactly how much money was awarded, but it shouldn't be too much. Otherwise, according to the habit of the ancients to remember history, there will definitely be a "million, ten million" of money.

As for Fang Zhongyong's proposal of "no army, no strength", it is actually a bit reckless. Fortunately, Wang Yi realized that Fang Zhongyong was "his own person" and did not have any thoughts of harming him. If it was that suspicious person, just this sentence would kick Fang Zhongyong out of the ranks of scholars.

Guy Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of this dynasty, is actually not very right.

That Zhao Kuangyin was originally a general under Chai Rong of Later Zhou Shizong. In the sixth year of Zhou Xiande (959), Chai Rong fell ill during the northern expedition to Youzhou, and died shortly after returning to Beijing at the age of 39. Before his death, Chai Rong appointed Zhao Kuangyin as the envoy of the palace capital and the German army. On the first day of the first month of the following year (960), it was rumored that the Khitan soldiers would go south to attack Zhou, and the prime minister Fan Zhen and others did not distinguish the authenticity, so he hurriedly sent Zhao Kuangyin to lead the troops north to resist the enemy. The Zhou army marched to Chenqiaoyi, Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Pu conspired to launch a mutiny, and the people would put a yellow robe on Zhao Kuangyin and support him as the emperor, which was known as the "Chenqiao Mutiny" in history. Subsequently, Zhao Kuangyin led the army back to Kaifeng, and the guards of the capital, Shi Shouxin and Wang Xianqi, opened the city to welcome Zhao Kuangyin into the city and coerced Emperor Zhou Gong to take the throne. After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, he changed the name of the country to "Song", and still set the capital of Kaifeng. Shi Shouxin, Gao Huaide, Zhang Lingduo, Wang Xianqi, Zhang Guanghan, Zhao Yanhui, etc. were all awarded the title of envoy of the festival.

Although many literati have whitewashed Zhao Kuangyin's portrayal of innocence and passivity, the whole process of Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe is full of strong conspiracy. Good brother's bones are not cold, and you coerce other people's orphans and widows to "cede" the throne to you, is it appropriate?

After Zhao Kuangyin was "forced" to become the emperor, he felt that the dragon chair was very comfortable. I was afraid that other generals such as Shi Shouxin and Gao Huaide who held military power were also "forced", so they came to a "glass of wine to release military power", which was very perfect and bloodless to relieve the military power of several commanders.

After "releasing military power with a glass of wine", Zhao Kuangyin carried out a series of military reforms.

The new Privy Council and the three yamen have their own divisions, and although the three yas control the forbidden army, they have no power to transfer and send troops. The Privy Council has the power to send and transfer troops, but cannot directly control the army; Carrying out the policy of "strong cadres and weak branches", the elite officers and soldiers from all over the country were transferred to form a forbidden army, and half of them were left in the capital to defend the imperial city. In addition, the "law of changing the war" was practiced, and both the forbidden army stationed in the capital city and the forbidden army stationed in other places must be regularly mobilized. The garrison of the capital had to take turns to guard in other places or on the border, and some had to go to the places where grain was produced to get food.

After such an operation, the throne of the old Zhao family is stable, but the consequences are also serious: the soldiers do not know the generals, the generals do not know the soldiers, and the combat effectiveness of the army has decreased significantly; Civilian officials who do not understand military affairs control the armed forces, resulting in a significant decline in the combat effectiveness of the armed forces. After such a repeated drop, it is doubtful how much combat power the army still has, and the hat of "Song Snot" will not be able to take off.

Fang Zhongyong did not want the prosperous Great Song Dynasty to be invaded by barbaric and backward nomads, and the step of strengthening the army was a must.

Later military theories held that when there was no generation gap in weapons, wars were fought with logistics and resources. To strengthen the army, first enrich the country.