The Anqing School of Political Science and Management was established at the initiative of Dr. Goodnow to train future civil servants. Chai Dongliang was invited to give a lecture that attracted many students. Liang Qichao and Cai Yi were both dressed in green cloth robes, looking quite like school teachers, and did not attract the attention of the students, Chai Dongliang talked eloquently on the podium, but unexpectedly, he did not have sensational remarks, no demagogic political language, but like a businessman.

"Suppose that an uneducated farmer earns ten silver dollars a year, and he needs nine silver dollars to support his family, then the tax that can be levied by the political axe can only be one dollar. What happens if this standard is exceeded? When the political axe collects more than five yuan, the outcome of the peasants is nothing more than two kinds, one is that the whole family dies in hunger and cold, and the other is to take risks and rise up.

So, how much manpower and material resources does the political axe need to invest in suppressing a peasant rebellion? At least a thousand bucks, right? I have a statistic here, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the provincial highway exterminated a few thieves, the expenditure was often more than one million, the Qing court exterminated the White Lotus Sect uprising, invested 200 million taels of silver, equivalent to the entire Qing court in the Jiaqing period for four years of all the financial revenue, the cost of exterminating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, is even more amazing, according to incomplete statistics, more than 420 million taels of silver, close to the amount of Gengzi indemnity. In addition, the destruction of the regional economy after the military disaster and the cost of rebuilding the economy after the war are astronomical.

However, the silver spent on repairing the river works every year is no more than 5 million taels, that is to say, if the White Lotus Sect and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising did not break out during the Qing Dynasty, only the military expenditure saved could maintain the financial expenditure of the Qing court for eight to ten years, and could be used to repair the Yellow River for 100 to 200 years.

So, what will happen if this money is used for people's livelihood and education? If the whole of China were to fully realize the six-year free education, it would need to invest 60 million to 80 million taels of silver every year, equivalent to between 100 million taels and 130 million taels of silver dollars. When a farmer has six years of education, he can work as a factory worker, and the value he creates annually will be five to ten times higher than that of farming, let's take the minimum value five times, and the reward he receives will be tripled, to thirty silver dollars. He could take out fifteen silver dollars to ensure a relatively stable life for his family, and at the same time invest five dollars in the education of his children. Then, the balance in his hand is ten yuan, and even if the political axe levies five yuan, it will not have much impact on his life.

The Qing Dynasty fell, and many people believed that the Qing court's tax rate was too low and the resources controlled by the political axe were insufficient. In fact, the reason was that the people's ability to create wealth was too low for the Qing court to collect more taxes, otherwise it would never have been possible for the Qing court to rule for more than 200 years.

If the political axe brings the peasants into the cities through educational investment, then the tax revenue taken from a worker is five times higher than that of the average peasant, and at the same time, a large part of the value created by the factory owners also goes to the political axe, which invests some of it in social security and labor insurance, as well as vocational education for adults. In this way, the value created by each ordinary person will be greatly improved. At the same time, the existence of social security and labor insurance, and the introduction of patent law, have made those with brilliant ideas dare to innovate, because even if they fail, they will not die of starvation, and they will not be reduced to the miserable situation of selling their children.

The wealth created by an inventor is far greater than that of 10,000 ordinary people, and great inventions come from free-thinking minds???"

Chai Dongliang's words echoed in the auditorium, and the students had heard too many sensational words, and they had never heard of the education of loving the country and the people, and the cold-blooded analysis of the relationship between the political axe and the people like Chai Dongliang, and how to scavenge more money from the people.

But when I think about it, I feel that every sentence makes sense. The state invests funds in education and social security, and the ability of the people to create wealth has been enhanced, and the state's fiscal revenue has naturally increased. If wealth is only one bowl of water, it is only one bowl if you drink it all, and if wealth is one bucket, even ten bowls will not affect much.

Cai Ye didn't expect that as Chai Dongliang, he would talk about money naked like a businessman, as if the country was a company, and he was the general manager who gave a speech at the shareholders' meeting.

Chai Dongliang talked eloquently: "Then, let's talk about national defense." How many standing armies does a large country like China need to raise to ensure national security? My view is that no amount of military support can guarantee the security of the country???? The reason is simple, because you can't guarantee that the army will not flee or even become a tool in the hands of the enemy. Wu Sangui and Guan Ning Tieqi in the last years of the Ming Dynasty are the best examples.

The army in Wu Sangui's hands is an authentic Han army, and it is of the same culture as all of us, all of whom are of Yanhuang blood, but why would they help the Manchus fight their compatriots?

The reason is also very simple, they have no feelings for Daming and their compatriots.

Then, at the time of the Gengzi National Revolution, among the coalition forces that attacked the Qing army, the hardest working was not foreigners, but the Huayong battalion from Weihaiwei, and the composition of the Huayong battalion was the peasants of Shandong. Why is it that the Qing army, which is also Chinese, is vulnerable, and the combat effectiveness of the Huayong battalion is even shocking to foreigners?

Because they were not only paid in full by the British, but at the same time were respected in a way that they could not get from their compatriots. These Weihaiwei peasants were often cornered by the Qing court's land protection and government servants, but when they joined the Huayong Battalion, they were treated and respected on the same level as the British army, and no one would deduct their military salaries or deprive them of their military exploits. Therefore, the Huayong battalion, which is also Chinese, is more motivated to kill the Qing army than any foreign soldier. ”

So, was the Qing court's defense spending really small? In 1911, the year of the Xinhai Revolution, the Qing government's military expenditure as a proportion of the government's finances reached a staggering 45 percent, that is, half of the government's revenue was spent on military spending.

However, with such a huge proportion of financial investment, the new army, which had been trained so hard, became the urging ghost of the Qing court! I think that at the beginning, the huge Wuhu, thousands of new troops and patrol battalions guarded the country, and the annual consumption of hundreds of thousands of taels of Qing court taxes was taken by my two salted duck eggs! Yangzhou is even more unbearable, Sun Tiansheng Governor doesn't even have duck eggs, and he snatches the world's wealth with empty hands! ”

Chai Dongliang's two duck eggs snatched Wuhu, which is almost a well-known thing, and the students let out a burst of laughter, and the applause sounded like thunder, and it lasted for a long time.

Cai Ye looked at Liang Qichao sitting next to him, and saw that the teacher always had a knowing smile on his face, and he seemed to have some understanding.

After the applause stopped, Chai Dongliang continued: "When the prestige of the political axe is lost, when the common people and the political axe are separated from morality, the army is useless waste, and the Qing court just can't understand this, thinking that with hundreds of thousands of new-style trained troops, it can maintain its rule, which is ridiculous and sad!" They always forget that the army is made up of the children of the people, and the soldiers have a simple feeling for the people, and the soldiers will also empathize with the suffering of the people. ”

Cai Ye nodded frequently, the anti-Qing sentiment in the new army at the end of the Qing Dynasty was very high, and he knew very well that bundles of dry firewood could be ignited by just a spark. The Wuchang Uprising, which was misfired, developed into a prairie fire that overthrew the Qing court, wasn't it the first to be burned by the new armies of the provinces!

"My China, since ancient times, has been a great unification, and there is a Confucian distinction between Huayi, why is it that the Han Dynasty is frequently annihilated? Could this be the inferior root of my Chinese civilization? My opinion is still very simple! The system dictates it! Everyone has seen the rapid rise of Germany. Germany is located in Central Europe, the land of four wars, surrounded by many powerful enemies, divided and civil war for 700 years, and the unification of the country has only been a few decades. However, under the leadership of Wilhelm I and Bismarck, Prussia defeated Denmark, then Austria-Hungary, and France three times, becoming the hegemon of the European continent!

Why is that? Could it be that the Germans were born like this? No, if they were really born so good, how could they be bullied by their neighbors after 700 years of endless wars?

The rise of Germany is also a victory for the system! Among the European and American powers, Germany was the first to introduce free education. When Germany was not yet unified and the country's finances were on the verge of bankruptcy, Prussia promoted a comprehensive free education, so that every Germanic child could receive an education. The educated child became a powerful driving force for the development of Germany, becoming qualified workers and soldiers.

At the same time, among the great powers, only German enterprises were run by factory owners and workers. Bismarck, the iron-blooded prime minister, created a system of management committees, which allowed workers to manage factories together with factory owners, and the management committees were responsible for coordinating the relationship between workers and capitalists. The workers and factory owners are no longer mortal enemies, but have become a community of interests, and domestic contradictions have been greatly alleviated. ”

Cai Gong and the students listened with relish, the Chinese know that the German industry and army are strong, but as for how to become strong, they are all blind people, and the Manchurian nobles of the Qing court even regarded the imperial family in charge of the army as the key to Germany's rise, so that they created an imperial cabinet that made the world cold.

Chai Dongliang saw that everyone was thoughtful, and smiled faintly: "Is this set fresh?" It's not new at all, everyone knows about Jin Shang, right? That's right, it's those Shanxi old picks, they are famous for breaking a penny in half and spending it! has hundreds of millions of dollars, but he refuses to serve two meat dishes at one meal. ”

Everyone laughed.

"However, the proprietor of the Jin merchants is very generous to the shopkeeper, the street, and even the guys at the bottom! Even if a guy has a body stock, in a good year, a guy's body stock dividends can exceed the county master's salary! There is a tradition among Jin merchants that almost no buddies and shopkeepers take the initiative to change jobs, unless they are dismissed by the owner, otherwise they will never withdraw because of the more money from other shops.

Jin Shang has not fallen for hundreds of years, and this stock system is the key! Whether the enterprise can develop and whether the employees can work with the owner is the key to the key.

Bismarck, the iron-blooded prime minister, has been using this set by China's Jin merchants hundreds of years ago??? It's not that the Chinese are not smart, it's that the system restricts the thinking and creativity of the Chinese people.

In the final analysis, there is only one right path for the development of the country, and that is to let everyone give full play to their talents as much as possible, and every citizen can develop, and the country will naturally be strong. Otherwise, the people will be the enemies of the political axe, and either the people will overthrow the political axe by force, or the political axe will turn the people into uncreative fools.

If the modern state is regarded as a company, then the people are the shareholders, and the political axe is the manager. Jinshang provides us with an example of the best manager, that is, Lei Yongtai, the founder of the century-old glory of 'Shengchang'. Present, I wish all the students here can become Lei Yongtai in the eyes of the shareholders of the 40,000,000 people of the Great China Joint Stock Company! ”

Lei Yongtai as the "Shengchang" shopkeeper, when he wanted to resign, the owner knelt down and begged to stay, voluntarily gave him shares, Lei Yongtai became the most successful manager in the Jin business, the "Shengchang" on the verge of bankruptcy to the fast lane of development, became the leading business in the Jin business.

Chai Dongliang compared the students to Lei Yongtai, undoubtedly placing high hopes on them, and pushed them to a very high status.

At the end of the speech, the students began to ask questions.

"May I ask the governor of Chaidu, why is the composition of the management committee one-third of the workers, one-third of the managers, and one-third of the factory owners, and is this comparable to the separation of powers in the Western system?"

"May I ask the governor, why don't the trade unions abolish the movement of workers to go on strike and march, which not only hinders production, but also blocks traffic, which is extremely detrimental to economic development?"

"I would like to ask, is it appropriate for the military industrial complex to be handled by the people? If a private military enterprise sells new weapons to an enemy country, will it not become a threat to the country? Is it a very threatening thing for businessmen to hand over the military industry and other heavy industries that have a bearing on national security to the private sector for the sake of profit?"

The students didn't care about Chai Dongliang's identity, and the problem became more and more tricky, and some girls even suggested that polygamy be abolished, so that Chai Dongliang, who already had two wives at home, was not embarrassed.

Cai Ye was drenched in cold sweat, he could be regarded as having seen the power of these students, he couldn't help but secretly sympathize with Chai Dongliang, if he changed himself, would he still be able to answer the students' questions with a smile on his face.

It seems that he is only suitable for being a soldier, and a politician is not easy to be, if his face is not as thick as the city wall of Anqing, I am afraid that he will be angry.

When Cai Ye was in Yanjing, he often listened to members of Congress talk about the methods of enriching the country and strengthening the army, and many times he felt quite reasonable, and he was thrilled by the prospects they outlined.

However, people like Chai Dongliang who treat governing the country as a business are still unheard of and unseen. Chai Dongliang explained complex issues very simply and thoroughly, even ordinary people could understand them.

Moreover, the examples he gave were all live, especially the rise of Germany, which is the most typical case. China began to learn from Germany at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the military system of the new army basically copied from Germany, and a large number of instructors were hired from Germany, and most of the weapons were made of German goods.

However, the quality of the army is very different from that of Germany, and even if German instructors are trained in a completely Prussian style, the army is still a mess.

Chai Dongliang pointed out that the foundation of Germany's rapid growth is that it has high-quality citizens. The high-quality nationals come from Germany's pioneering state system. The most important of these are two things: universal compulsory education and a social welfare insurance system.

Cai Yi's reverence for Bismarck has increased a little bit, in comparison, China's "Oriental Bismarck" Li Hongzhang is really not qualified to carry shoes for others.

The system pioneered by Wilhelm I and Bismarck laid an unshakable foundation for Germany, and the high-quality citizens were the fruit of this system. With high-quality citizens, it is difficult for the country to fall behind.

What Prussia, whose country has not yet been united, can do when the economy is extremely backward, there is no reason why the Chinese can't do it!

Only Ben in the east and Russia in the north are the main troubles in China, and the geopolitical environment is far better than that of Germany, which is located in Central Europe. Far from the center of the world, Europe, which is far from the war, is relatively rich in natural resources, and its population resources are beyond the reach of any other country. Once the quality of the Chinese people is raised, what power can be used to stop China's rise?

If China is not strong and does not seek hegemony, it is really intolerable!

The interaction between the stage and the audience continued, and one student asked, "Chai Dudu, what do you think of Confucianism, and whether Confucianism should be responsible for China's backwardness today?" In the future, should China abolish Confucianism and follow the example of the saying that it will break away from Asia and join Europe? ”

This question aroused Liang Qichao's interest, and he looked at the stage with a smile.

Chai Dongliang said calmly: "I don't agree with this view. In an absolute [***] environment, any kind of thought will be castrated, for example, Legalism advocates the rule of law, but when Zhao Gao refers to the deer as a horse, don't those ministers who advocate the rule of law all echo it? In fact, except for the short reign of Huang Lao in the early Han Dynasty, since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, China should have been a foreign Confucian and an internal law, dressed in the skin of Confucian ethics and morality, and practiced the Legalist policy of 'weak people' and 'foolish people'. Since the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, there has been almost no progress in Chinese civilization, and there has never been an era like the pre-Qin Dynasty with a splendid culture and a brilliant flower of thought, but the pre-Qin is a hell for ordinary people, and the perennial mutual conquest has made the lives of the common people miserable???? However, this was determined by the form and economic conditions of the time, and there was no right or wrong. No matter what wrong things our ancestors did, after all, they kept the fire of our nation through the bloodiest wars and the most humiliating means of harmony, and even kneeling surrender. At the same time, by handing over all the land suitable for survival in the world they know to us, the descendants of future generations, we can no longer ask our ancestors to do more??? It is a cowardly idea to overthrow the backwardness of China 2,000 years ago from the body of the ancients??? Chinese, there is a habit of patting their children on the head, saying that hope is in them, and putting hope on children and grandchildren, is also a cowardly and irresponsible way of thinking.

The middle stream hits the water, who else can I be! Chai Dongliang looked around the audience and said word by word.

Seeing this, Cai Ye sighed and said: "Teacher, I finally understand what you said before, the competition between countries today is the truth of competition between people!" Chai Dongliang gathered the strength of tens of millions of people in Jianghuai to fight against Yuan Shikai alone, can Yuan Shikai be undefeated? If the Anqing Military Advisory Office is 'Shengchang', then Chai Dongliang is Lei Yongtai! ”

Liang Qichao smiled faintly: "What Lei Yongtai wants is the shares of 'Shengchang', what does Chai Dongliang want?" He's not a good guy???? I'm afraid that the president's false name can't satisfy his appetite! ”

(To be continued)