What is it that makes Li Zhen so highly regarded?

First of all, let's talk about Li Zhen and the Taizhou school he was born in, the Taizhou school as a branch of the mind, the person who created the school is Wang Gen, this person is from a stove household, that is, boiling salt, since he was a child, he was a bitter child, only studied for four years, and later with his father in business, gradually became rich, after having money, Wang Gen did not pursue pleasure, but studied hard, reading, debate, lecturing, and gradually became famous, and later some people said that what he talked about was somewhat similar to a guy named Wang Yangming.

Wang Gen immediately went to visit, and after talking, he was greatly inspired, and immediately bowed to the door and became a personal disciple of Yang Minggong. Benefiting from the accumulation of business, Wang Gen was very wealthy, assisting Yang Minggong in lecturing and entertaining colleagues from all over the world, and his status increased day by day.

Wang Gen is different from other masters of psychology, he has not studied Bagu, nor has he participated in the imperial examination, and he has a humble background, he has greatly developed the side of psychology and pro-people. He put forward the view that "the people's daily use is the way", advocating that industry and commerce are all the foundation, and that men and women are equal, which is welcomed by the peddlers and pawns.

Li Zhen, as well as He Xinyin, who was exiled to Dongfan Island by Tang Yi, they are all figures of the Taizhou School, and they have gone further than Wang Gen, for example, Li Zhen called himself a heretic, and he didn't look at the Four Books and Five Classics, thinking that it was not the words of a saint at all, but just a chisel of later generations.

Witnessing the development of industry and commerce in the southeast, he even proposed that "the private person is also the heart of the people, and the people must have the private and then their hearts are the eyes", and "the world is the way to make friends", believing that the exchange relationship and commercial transactions between people are in line with the principles of heaven.

You must know that in the eyes of traditional Confucian scholars, these views are not only deviant, but simply rebellious. The gentleman is in righteousness, and the villain is in profit. Li Zhen is a complete traitorous villain.

Although Li Zhen is unparalleled in his eloquence, no matter how powerful the opponent is, he can be refuted, but Li Zhen also has his own troubles, and being able to refute the opponent does not mean that he can convince the other party.

His doctrine is still not accepted by the mainstream, and even he himself can only call himself a heretic.

It's just that after reading Tang Yi's book, Li Zhen suddenly became enlightened, and his views have found a basis in the book, and it is a basis that no one can refute!

Tang Yi's writings, at the beginning of the article, explain the source of wealth, Tang Yi believes that it is labor to create wealth, from grain, cloth, to salt, porcelain, tea, furniture, houses, cities, are all created through labor, if you want to enrich the country and the people, the key is to let labor create more wealth, the secret is - division of labor!

Tang Yi described several large-scale divisions of labor that have occurred since antiquity, first the separation of animal husbandry from agriculture, then the separation of agriculture from handicrafts, and then the emergence of merchants specializing in exchange...... Tang Yi believes that the separation of different industries can improve efficiency and make social production and exchange smoother. Within the same industry, the division of labor can greatly improve production efficiency and create more social wealth.

He took the reed mat weaving he personally participated in as an example, the production of a family by household, before and after the winter, within a month, at most 150 mats, when the whole village participated in the division of labor, the same time, on average, each household produced nearly 3,000 mats, and the efficiency increased by 25 times.

As output increases, more goods are sold, and people's incomes increase, and they naturally become richer......

Including Li Zhen, scholars like to rely on speculation and rely on patting their brains to solve problems, even if they can refute the other party speechless, people may not agree.

Tang Yi is different, his theory is based on facts, such as the division of labor he mentioned, using personal experience as an example, citing detailed data, which no one can refute.

If you are not convinced, you can take a look, real gold is not afraid of fire.

The Taizhou school talks about "the people's daily use is the way", which is very good, but how to develop downward, put it into practice, and let the people sincerely accept it, no one has an idea. But seeing Tang Yi's writings, Li Zhen suddenly brightened, as if he had seen the sun through the clouds.

The secret lies in the division of labor and the improvement of labor efficiency!

Tang Yi believes that innovative tools and improving labor standards can increase labor efficiency. In particular, the complex process is divided into simple and easy to learn, practice makes perfect, even if it is a Chinese person's posture, after training, you can also operate proficiently.

In this way, more people can participate in social production, and everyone can choose their favorite jobs according to their comparative advantages and interests.

As Tang Yi said, the efficiency has been improved by a hundredfold, and more and more goods have been produced, so isn't the people's daily use sufficient? Moreover, the result of the division of labor is that there is a great increase in job opportunities, and idle laborers can find jobs and support their families, isn't it the peace and contentment that the sages have been pursuing for generations!

The first time Li Zhen read this book, he was pleasantly surprised, hearty, and the things he was looking for finally came to an end, and that wonderful feeling was like floating on the clouds, from the inside to the outside, it was so comfortable and wonderful.

Morning news can die!

It turns out that it's not a lie, even if you die at the moment, it's worth it!

After Li Zhen read it once, he couldn't wait to read it a second time, and he thought more than the previous one.

Tang Yi believed that merchants were the result of the social division of labor, and appeared later than farmers and craftsmen, which is completely different from the Confucian belief that the scholars and farmers are born with four people, the scholars are the first, the agriculture is the foundation, and the industry and commerce are the last. There is even a sense of elevating the status of businessmen, Li Zhen dared to say that the people in the southeast saw this book, and they were absolutely moved to tears, and they took it as a guide.

Tang Yi not only taught them how to produce more goods and make a lot of profits, but also gave them a theoretical basis to improve their political status.

Merchants are not sinful, nor low-level, but just take it for granted, as if the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, birth, old age, sickness and death, and they are not profiteers, they are just engaged in the profession of exchange. Compared with the statement that agriculture and commerce are all fundamental, Tang Yi's view is more intimate and convincing.

Li Zhen prides himself on heretical, but on the road of rebellion, he can't even see Tang Yi's back.

However, Tang Yi's things are based on detailed arguments, he cites a large number of ancient books as evidence, and the truth he tells is based on examples, which is more deafening and shocking than Li Zhen's simple shouts. But the more insightful you are, the more cautious you must be.

"Lord Tang, isn't it—it's over?"

Li Zhen didn't dare to ask a question until he read it for the third time, for fear that he didn't understand the true meaning and made a joke.

Tang Yi was much more relaxed, he referred to the views of "The Wealth of Nations", and integrated many of his own things before writing it.

It's just that in this life, except for the early years, when he wrote dramas and eight shares, Tang Yi didn't have much to write, and he didn't know people's tastes very well.

He originally planned to ask Xu Wei and Wang Shizhen to help revise it after it was written, but he didn't expect Li Zhen to take the initiative to send it to the door.

This guy's mental attainments are higher than Xu Wei's, and he is even more deviant, he is simply an assistant given to him by God.

Tang Yi sighed: "Even Li Mad thinks it's over, that's over, I want to ask Brother Zhuo Wu to help and polish it together, how can it be more in line with the appetite of everyone in the world and more acceptable." ”

"Dare not obey!"

Li Zhen bowed deeply, he felt that it was a great happiness to be able to participate in the writing of this book, even if he used a single word. Li Zhen is an excellent reader, has an amazing memory, and is also good at piercing and chiseling, misinterpreting the meaning of the ancients, just to help Tang Yi and put a beautiful coat on this book.

It took half a month before and after, and finally got the Ming version of "The Wealth of Nations" out.

Tang Yi was still a little hesitant when deciding on the name, because the two major concepts in the book, the labor theory of value, and the division of labor and specialization are the sources of efficiency, both plagiarized Adam Smith's views. But Li Zhen didn't have any scruples, "My lord, this is the right way to enrich the country and enrich the people, and "The Wealth of Nations" is appropriate!" ”

Tang Yi pondered, Adam Smith was born for almost two hundred years, and he used it. When I stole poetry, I didn't hesitate, why did I get older, but my face became thinner.

In this way, the title of the book was officially set as The Wealth of Nations.

It's just that according to Li Zhen's suggestion, Tang Yi adjusted the order of the book, and the beginning was in the form of a story, telling how Tang Yi guided the people to divide the labor and weave reed mats, and through detailed data comparison, it showed the strength of the division of labor and cooperation.

With practical examples, it is easier to talk about the following, and the book proposes the idea of making production more efficient, making the best use of materials, making the best use of talents, producing more goods, and achieving the goal of enriching the country and enriching the people.

In the last part of the book, we sort out the historical context and use ancient books to prove several social division of labor, and then prove that Shinong, industry and commerce are all naturally developed, and are the result of social development and division of labor selection, so there is naturally no distinction between high and low.

After the finalization, Li Zhen sighed from the bottom of his heart: "With the completion of this book by an adult, Li Zhen will die without regrets!" ”

"Don't." Tang Yi smiled, "This is the beginning, throw it out to test the water temperature, and then there are more important ones." ”

"Really?" Li Zhen couldn't believe it.

"Naturally!" Tang Yi said with a smile: "Brother Zhuo Wu, for generations, scholars have put their efforts on studying ethereal things, and what is really related to the national economy and people's livelihood is not cared for, Tang is not talented, and he is willing to make a start, as long as these real knowledge can be passed on to the world, even if it is worth paying more!" ”

Tang Yi was martyred, and Li Zhen was so moved that he didn't say anything, followed Tang Yi, and became a secretary and staff member with all his heart.

Tang Yi also said it well, in fact, his heart was in his throat, if he couldn't even accept "The Wealth of Nations", don't count on other things, it's better not to mention it!

Don't be dumb at the first shot!

Tang Yi prayed with all his heart, and the first batch of 3,000 copies quietly appeared in major bookstores, one day, two days, and five days, no one asked, and only a few copies were sold.

Everyone was not interested in this strange title, they preferred the Bagu Imperial Examination, popular novels.

It wasn't until the sixth day that a merchant came to the bookstore by chance, flipped through it, and was so fascinated that he was reluctant to move, and watched it for an afternoon. Before leaving, I bought all the dozens of books in the store.

Ten days passed, 3,000 copies were sold out, and even more businessmen who heard the news blocked the door of the bookstore, waving silver, and saying a thousand words: We want to read "The Wealth of Nations"! (To be continued.) )