"There are some traditions in the village community of Ross that you might find strange." Lady Elena continued: "Although there is a habit of communal living and cooperative labor, as on the Legion Farm here, it is very different in many respects. ”

"The most typical thing is that they have a lot of festivals." "Every year, there are dozens of fixed festivals," she said. Some festivals are more than one day. Therefore, the various rest days can be added up to more than 200 days. In other words, most of the days of the year are theoretically holidays. ”

"Is it because it's too cold over there to not take a vacation?" Tuohuan imagined.

"It's not." Madame Elena shook her head: "The place south of Moscow can be cultivated for two hundred days a year. But the area around Kiev, where the land is the most fertile and the climate is the best, is the most festive. They have more than one hundred and fifty festivals every year. In the Novgorod region, on the contrary, there are not so many festivals. ”

"It's just that you don't want to work." Tuohuan smiled: "In a fertile place, it doesn't take much effort to grow something that can feed itself." So you quit working for a while? ”

"That's how it turned out." Lady Elena nodded: "The atmosphere of the village community can be said to be anti-industrious. In fact, if you want to work more during the holidays, others will not be happy - these people who work more will be warned by the village community. ”

"Why is that?" I really can't understand it.

"Because the tradition of the village community is to demand absolute equality. This equality is not only for the equal distribution of the land in the village community, but also for the contribution during the work and the harvest after the work. Lady Elena explains: "They seek this equality to the point of bordering on paranoia. ”

"How do you describe it......" she thought for a moment, and said metaphorically, "Let's put it that way." Here in the capital, I have also heard Mr. Seris lecture. The ancient philosopher Confucius, there is a saying, "Do not suffer from widowhood but suffer from inequality, do not suffer from poverty but suffer from anxiety", right? ”

She sandwiched a sentence in Chinese and looked at everyone.

Tuhuan and Guo Kang all nodded.

I asked my husband at the time, did I mean that it was better to live in poverty than to be poor? It sounds similar to the situation in the village of Ross. Lady Elena continued: "But he told me that he had misunderstood. ”

"Before this sentence, there is a sentence that says, 'Those who have a country and a family do not suffer from widowhood but from inequality'. Because this is a requirement for the aristocratic rulers. The 'widow' here does not mean that ordinary people lack money, but that the rulers have few lands and people; equalization is not equal in property, but equal in politics, and each gets its own share. ”

The meaning of the whole sentence is that the rulers should not worry about the territory being too small and the people too few, but should pay attention to letting everyone get what he deserves. In implementing policies, it is necessary to maintain fairness as much as possible. ”

"For example, some rich people pay less in taxes, and the country's taxes fall on the poor. This kind of thing seems to happen a lot in Seris, and it's called 'unevenness'. They believe that this is a phenomenon like this that needs to be overcome. ”

"That's true." Guo Kang nodded: "For your side, it also makes sense." ”

"Uh, we're over there...... In many places, you have to understand the tax first. Madame Elena was a little embarrassed: "In many administrative districts, the rich are basically nobles, and they don't have to pay taxes in the first place; Beggar...... The tax system doesn't mean much to them either. ”

Guo Kang remembered their "tax" status and reacted.

"The situation there is very different from that of Seris, and even Rome now. That's why I say that each place feels very different. Lady Elena continued.

"For example, the latter sentence 'not suffering from poverty but suffering from anxiety' also means that those in power should not worry about their own poverty, but should worry about the peace between the upper and lower levels."

After these two sentences, there is another sentence that summarizes: 'There is no poverty, no widow, no peace'. It means that if you are fair in government, you will not worry about poverty; If the upper and lower classes are in harmony with each other, there is no need to worry about the small population of the people; If we achieve social stability, we will not have to worry about the overthrow of the rule. ”

"Therefore, Seris's political wisdom pursues the ideal of a prosperous country and a strong people, rather than a demand for poverty."

"Because it was the opposite of what I had first understood, and it was also in stark contrast to the situation in my hometown, I was very impressed by it." She finally said, "Well, these are probably two completely different worlds. ”

"Is the Ross Village really pursuing equal poverty?" Tuohuan asked.

"In most places, that's true." Lady Irina nodded: "The tradition of the village community is anti-industrious. Instead of getting more, people who work more efficiently will be excluded and sanctioned. ”

"My husband later told me that the Seris also like to work in groups and work in groups. Between the villages, there have been various associations since ancient times. By the Yuan Dynasty, there were 'hoe societies' in the north and 'polders' in the south, both of which were organizations organized by villagers and cooperated in farming in order to improve efficiency. Successive government administrations such as the Han and Tang dynasties also encouraged this kind of behavior, and even went so far as to take the lead in guaranteeing farming associations, so that they could become semi-official organizations and be more easily promoted. ”

"But look." She shook her head: "Although it seems that the model is similar, both emphasize teamwork and the pursuit of equality, but Ross Farm and Seris Farm are actually very different. ”

"Then why is that?" Tuohuan asked.

"Because there's no point in being industrious." Lady Elena said: "The vast majority of the villagers cannot accumulate wealth. Because if the harvest increases, then the nobles will harvest more. Diligence and savings will not improve one's situation, let alone gain room to improve one's status. ”

"Even if the nobles are very reasonable, hard work will not be rewarded, and taking it away will hurt the people around you." For example, she said: "For example, this piece of land could produce 20 poods of grain, but 10 poods were taken away during the tax process. ”

"If someone had worked hard and improved his technology and increased his output to 30 poods, the nobles who knew of the situation would try to raise the tax to 20 poods, leaving him with only a barely subsistence share."

Moreover, because of the poor management, the nobles did not have the ability to make detailed distinctions, and the taxes were generally paid by the entire village community. In other words, other villagers also have to bear the tax increase together with this hard-working person. This is a pure disaster for the neighbors, so of course they will oppose it, and even regard this person as a traitor, and be hostile to him. ”

"There are a few other factors." For example, she says: "For example, people who are able to work will tend to leave the village community in order to get rid of the constraints after gaining more wealth. But the problem is that in the Rus region, the depopulation is fatal for the village community. The strong and smart people have run away, and the next time they encounter tax collection, the village community may be finished. That's why they've put in place all sorts of religious and moral constraints to prevent this from happening. ”

"For these people, leaving the village community will certainly give them more opportunities, but the risks are also very high. Without the protection of the village community, it will be very vulnerable to the nobility. Therefore, unless the natural conditions are good and the management is relatively enlightened, other people often choose to accept their fate and live with the villagers in the village community. ”

"At the end of the day, it's the local environment that forces it."

(End of chapter)