He didn't wait for the emperor to speak, and said to himself: "It is said that under the whole world, it is not the king's land, the shore of the land, and the king's ministers, but the emperor only has the right to rule, but not ownership!" To put it simply, the emperor is rich all over the world, but he can't forcibly occupy the land of small people, and he can't rob merchants of their property! Therefore, this sentence should be changed to, under the whole world, it is not the king's land, Si is the king's land, and the king cannot have it! ”

In ancient China, it was not that there were no people who were proficient in economic principles, but most of them were good at financial calculations or operational research organizations, and occasionally officials who were good at stabilizing prices also acted on their feelings, at most they wrote a few words, at most they were capable officials rather than famous ministers, and failed to leave systematic economic treatises, so from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, there has been no treatise like "The Wealth of Nations". Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Although The Wealth of Nations is by no means entirely correct, it at least illustrates the efforts of Western European scholars to explore the laws of economic operation, which is almost impossible in China, which is heavy on agriculture and suppresses commerce.

It is precisely for this reason that Liu Xu's words, which are not subtle in the eyes of modern people, are deafening to Chongzhen, and Liu Xu saw the emperor sitting on the throne and applauded again and again: "Good, good, good!" Mr. is not only loyal to the country, but also has a deep study of this economic way and the policy of governing the country! If it weren't for Mr.'s lack of qualifications, I'm afraid that this cabinet chief assistant would be Mr. immediately! But he still had doubts:

"Sir's remark is indeed refreshing to me, but what does this have to do with the rich country just now?"

"Of course there is a connection! Since the emperor can't directly rob the people of their money, and wants to build palaces and support officials, he must have a way to get money, and this method is to collect taxes! Therefore, in fact, the rich countries are how to collect taxes, how to collect the most taxes without harming social production, and how not to affect the expansion of reproduction! ”

Emperor Chongzhen finally understood, and he asked again: "Why did the gentleman speak so sharply just now, saying that if I am rich, it will be difficult to be safe?" ”

Liu Xu knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, what the student wants to say is rebellious in the eyes of ordinary people, if the emperor does not forgive the student's sin, the student will not dare to say it!" ”

"Sir, it doesn't hurt to say, I never sin people with my words!"

"That being the case, the students have the courage to say that the wealth of this world is no longer the emperor's!"

This sentence is really rebellious, not only Chongzhen was startled, Wang Chengen was even more trembling on his knees, he said a lot of good things about Liu Xu in front of the emperor, if the emperor heard this and was furious, he probably wouldn't be able to please him! And the other little eunuchs are even more unbearable, ants like them have everything in the Forbidden City, and they are the most life-threatening. In case the emperor wanted to kill someone, he didn't dare to risk the world's condemnation to kill Liu Xu, most likely because he wanted to vent his anger.

"What do you mean by that?" The emperor was unexpectedly not angry, but asked with great interest: "Sir must have a reason for saying this, say it quickly!" ”

"Your Majesty, this Jiangnan scholar, the ordinary family is beautifully dressed, with gold and silverware, Gao Xuan when you enter, and a horse when you go out, there are beautiful wives and concubines in the house, and there are thousands of acres of fertile land outside the house - and these are just ordinary people, if it is the Jiangnan family, I am afraid that there are hundreds of thousands, millions of silver in the underground silver cellar! If you think that the Jiangnan clan will have a fraction of the imperial court income, you can imagine the wealth of the entire Jiangnan! The minister studied this economic way day and night, and guessed that there would be no two or three hundred million silver in this land south of the Yangtze River (Note 1)! ”

"Two or three hundred million taels!" Even a wealthy figure like the emperor couldn't help but be taken aback by this huge number at this moment. Not to mention two or three hundred million silver, even if he is given 100 million silver, many problems will not be a problem immediately. He gasped heavily, as if he was forcibly suppressing his feelings, but still said in a slightly trembling voice: "Mr. Liu, can you take this seriously? ”

"It's true!" Liu Xu had no statistics at hand, so he couldn't calculate the speed of currency circulation and the total amount of currency transactions, but the emperor definitely didn't understand these things, so he just said: "The emperor only needs to send someone to count the total amount of Japanese and Franc machine silver ships imported into China over the years, and then you can calculate it!" ”

Naturally, the emperor would not send someone to calculate, and it would not and could not be calculated with the mathematical and administrative level of the late Ming Dynasty, so the emperor just increased the amount with his hand: "Mr. Liu is so talented, it is really a godsend!" But he immediately reacted again: "It's just that although Jiangnan is rich in the world, what does this have to do with my safety?" ”

"Hehe" Liu Xu squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "The saint wants money to raise soldiers, he wants money to build slaves in the Northern Expedition, he wants money to do this and that, the scholar and gentleman occupy so much money, they must be unwilling to hand over the money obediently, the saint asks for money, they don't give it, there has always been a conflict of interest on both sides must be endless, the saint thinks he can fight the Jiangnan doctor?" ”

The emperor frowned fiercely, and Liu Xu found that this young emperor had a characteristic, whenever he encountered a problem or felt that his position was being challenged, he would furrow his brows fiercely, as if this could show his firm determination to be far-sighted.

However, this conflict of interests is a struggle related to the life of the family and the rise and fall of the family.

He remained silent, quietly waiting for the emperor to speak.

They faced another awkward silence, but this time the initiative was with Liu Xu, who had already pointed out the problem and named the hostile targets, and whether he dared to do it was the emperor's own business.

After all, the current big tomorrow is still nominally his old Zhu family.

The young emperor thought for a long time, and when Liu Xu counted how many beards he had grown for the third time, the last emperor, who was only seventeen years old and had a heavy burden, spoke: "If I want to change this situation, does Mr. Liu have a good plan to teach me?" ”

All eyes are cast on Liu Xu, the emperor's, Wang Chengen's, and the little eunuchs, the difference is that the emperor hopes that he will come up with a solution, Wang Chengen hopes that he will accept it when he sees it, stop playing with heartbeats, and the little eunuchs hope that they can get out of this platform alive.

"Your Majesty, to solve this problem, it is simple, and it is not simple."

"How so? I know Mr. Liu's talent in Mr. 's book, but hearing is not as good as seeing, and now I know that Mr. Liu's talent is not inferior to the tube, bright! The emperor showed great sincerity: "If it is feasible, I will work together with Mr. to be a Liu Xianzhu and Zhuge Kongming, I believe that you are not suspicious, support to the end, and we will definitely let our monarchs and ministers have a good end!" ”

This is great sincerity, throughout the ages it is impossible for reformers to do without the support of the supreme ruler, such as Shang Yang to Qin Xiaogong, Wang Anshi to Song Shenzong, Zhang Juzheng to Wanli Emperor, all with the full support of the latter, in order to carry out reforms in a big way. And Chongzhen also said that he wanted to let the monarch and ministers have a good end, which is to let Liu Xu rest assured to do it, and don't worry about ending up. If it were an ordinary courtier, I am afraid that I would have fallen to my knees and wept bitterly.

It's a pity that today's Ming Dynasty is not the Western Qin, Northern Song Dynasty, Wanli Dynasty of the year, and today's Liu Xu is not the Shang Dynasty Wang Anshi of the year, he knows the virtues of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen and Ming Dynasty scholars, and he has no hope for these people, so he just said lightly: "The emperor doesn't have to speak in a hurry, wait until the students finish talking about the countermeasures." ”

This was almost rude, but Emperor Chongzhen was excited when he thought that Liu Xu was going to learn from Zhuge Kongming to play the thatched house, and he liked fame, so he nodded: "Okay!" I'll just hear from my husband about this method! ”

"First, cultivate cronies and officials and enforce organizational discipline. Your Majesty, to put it mildly, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are not your officials, but the officials of themselves and their families. Take the gentleman of Donglin as an example, loyal or not? Disloyal! But saints still have selfish desires, let alone ordinary scholars! They themselves are representatives of merchants and landlords in the southeast, and the first thing they should consider is not to benefit the Ming Dynasty, but to benefit their own families! The gentlemen of Donglin are the people with the highest morality in the Ming Dynasty, and they are still like this, and other officials can imagine it. I am afraid that if I give them a hundred taels of silver for disaster relief, they will be able to swallow ninety-nine taels with their hands! Therefore, if you want to do great things, you must start from scratch and cultivate your own cronies! And it's better for this cronie not to go through the imperial examination, otherwise he will be influenced by the same year and the master, and he will never take the emperor's order as the highest instruction! ”

Liu Xu's words are earth-shattering, the Ming Dynasty began to set up four major selection systems from Zhu Yuanzhang, called schools, subjects, recommendations, and selections, which were originally a better system to ensure the diversification of talent sources. It's just that this system has gradually become unified over time, and only the imperial examination is the right way, and the others have almost no effect. He meant not only to restore the original selection system, but also to the emperor to cultivate cronies, which was to create the reverse of the imperial examination system.

Wang Chengen didn't expect Liu Xu's first article to be so vigorous, and he couldn't help but open his mouth, not knowing what to do. Liu Xu took advantage of the emperor's contemplation to look left and right, and when he saw Wang Chengen doing this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: This Wang Chengen is loyal and loyal, but he is not a brain and courage, and there is no essential difference between those literati and doctors who "usually talk about their hearts and minds, and report the king when they die".

The emperor sighed: "Sir, this, I'm afraid this method will not pass in the court." Even if he is a godless king who sits on the world and follows his word, he has to take into account the psychological feelings of ordinary courtiers, which is why it took two or three years to decide on the reversal case in history, and then the case was repeatedly overturned. If all the courtiers go on strike, how should his authority be enforced, and who will rule the world for him?

It is not too simple for middle and lower-level officials to deal with the emperor, as long as they put the decree on the shelf and turn a blind eye, there are not a few who disobey the yang and the yin and talk to themselves, if the emperor comes to investigate, there is no danger at all under the protection of the officials. If the emperor is angry, can he still cut down all the officials? It's a big deal to kill a few scapegoats. It is precisely because of this original sin of the Chinese bureaucracy that countless peerless emperors have lost to them despite their efforts, even if it is a monarch like the Qing Dynasty in later generations, and diligent emperors such as Yongzheng have to lament the irregularity of official corruption.

If Liu Xu's words are really implemented, I am afraid that many problems in the late Ming Dynasty can be solved, but if Chongzhen dares to do this, I am afraid that he will have to be abolished the next day, and the courtiers will work together to overthrow him and replace him with a king who will not infringe on their interests - Jiang Bin held the military power back then, and the power was unmatched, and Ming Wuzong would not give the ministers a seizure together when he died, and a thousand knives would be cut!