"That's probably ...... I think too much," Guo Kang scratched his head.

"I think you're in too few contacts." Theodora said bluntly: "You have been dealing with that merchant recently, and you are a man with bad intentions, of course you can't see their usual routines. ”

"The minds of these people are not much better than those of the barbarian nobles." She shook her head and said, "Sometimes, nobles also need to care about fame, show their generosity and generosity, in order to gain the support of others. And the big businessmen often don't even have that. ”

"I think it's because businessmen don't have a high status, so they have to make more compromises and follow the existing rules...... Guo Kang explained.

"You have to see what kind of businessman it is." Theodora shook her head and said, "The small vendors who set up stalls on the streets are not much different from ordinary citizens. As for the big businessmen who operate across borders, ordinary local nobles sometimes have to look at their faces. ”

"The status of the great merchant is not high, that is relative to the king and the great lord. Those who have such funds are either already in power or supported by those in power. Isn't it very simple for people to bully ordinary people? ”

"Take that new friend's Florence, for example, there is no king in that place now, but do you know how they are governed?"

"Why are you just staring at this......" Guo Kang began to wonder if she was so hostile to a certain businessman that she took all her peers hostile to her.

"Whoever made her is an example to be sent to the eye." Theodora straightened up and told him, "Florence is a city ruled by great merchants, and the local 'nobility' and 'merchants' have been combined with each other. In this case, there was no difference between a merchant and a nobleman. What the aristocracy would do, these big businessmen in power would do. ”

"Nominally, it was a city-state democracy, but in reality only a few guilds had a say, and the opinions of ordinary people had no value. Even small guilds will be suppressed by large guilds and can only exist as vassals. ”

"In order to protect the interests of the great guilds, the city-state made many regulations, such as restricting the treatment of apprentices and ordinary craftsmen, as a way to maintain the profits of high-priced textiles. It also actively suppressed the development of cheap textiles to prevent technological progress and production increases from lowering the price of luxury textiles. ”

"The structure of those commercial city-states is different from ours. The largest population is not the landed farmers and the artisans with workshops – these people are in their area, and their numbers are very limited. The mainstream of the city is the super-rich merchants and the poor craftsmen who have almost nothing. ”

"It's clearly deliberate." She explained: "When the average craftsman is poor enough, he has no bargaining confidence and can only rely on the big merchants. Therefore, the kind of reward theory you are talking about only exists in the imagination. Think about it and know what it would actually be like. ”

"Well, that's true." Guo Kang thought for a while: "You still know more." ”

"I have to keep an eye on the state of the barbarians, it's our duty." Theodora disagreed: "The current war is no longer the time when the country was first founded, and a few princes took the lead in the charge to defeat those local nobles. We need to think about a lot of things, especially to understand the enemy, in order to discover their weaknesses and contradictions with each other, so that we can have a better chance of winning. ”

"Since I can't go to war, of course I have to pay more attention to these things. Otherwise, it would cost money to deal with barbarians every day. ”

"Okay......" Guo Kang had to admit: "Then what do you think, what should we do?" ”

"We certainly can't learn from them." Theodora said without hesitation: "It is not feasible to abandon morality." Barbarians can drive poor people into the workshops, but if we do this, the citizens will mutiny. Only people who don't think about the consequences think so. ”

"I think it's okay to just put the Slavic slaves in the workshop. Haven't you tried it before? She suggested, "According to your description, the barbarian craftsmen who entered the workshop were not very skilled. They can do it, and the Slavic slaves can do it too. Anyway, the cost of slaves is also very low, and we are not afraid of barbarians competing with us. ”

Guo Kang thought about it for a while, and realized that he hadn't thought it through before.

The theories he studied all said that slavery was not suitable for the development of productive forces in the new era. But on the other hand, historical facts continue to prove that slavery in disguise, even the direct "original" slavery, has existed for a long time, and there is no conflict between them and the new era.

The theories he understands generally binds capitalism and industrialization. Capitalism, on the other hand, obviously does not reject slavery very much, and its emphasis on "free trade" has nothing to do with whether slaves are used or how much slaves account for the total production.

In the early days of industrialization, in order to reduce costs, the treatment and living conditions of laborers were extremely bad, and the life expectancy was even lower than in the Middle Ages. In the face of this lifeless environment, the uncles of the Purple Horde will definitely have to rebel with a knife. Therefore, Theodora's suggestion is the most suitable for the current environment. In their case, it is indeed better to fill the factories with Slavic slaves.

"That's fine." Guo Kang thought for a while and nodded: "Anyway, we are at an important node in trade, and we can continue to promote free trade in the future, and if the profits are enough, it will not be difficult to persuade more people to firmly invest in industry." ”

"Why free trade?" Theodora asked, puzzled.

"Uh...... Because it's more advantageous. Guo Kang gave her popular science: "According to the theory I understand, capitalism is more suitable for industrial development." This 'capitalism' is a social system in which all factories and machinery are privately owned, and free trade is carried out. This system is the most suitable for industrial development. ”

"I don't think so." Theodora shook his head: "How can a society that pursues private profit be the most suitable for industry?" The workshop is obviously not the most profitable way. In such a society, wouldn't people quickly turn to usury and debt speculation? Your 'new friend' is the one who opened a bank, don't you know that this is the most profitable business in Italy now? ”

"Uh...... So what do you think? Guo Kang asked.

"War, of course." Theodora said: "War is not a matter of these nonsense concepts, but of who has more and stronger soldiers, sharper and stronger ordnance, and more abundant food and grass logistics." These are the best examples of the advantages of industry. ”

"And how can the drive for profit be as good as the drive to preserve life? How can the profits from trading commodities compare with the gains from winning a war? "Obviously," she asked, "it is clear that war is the one that best convinces people to commit to industry, not freedom and profit." ”

"You don't care about that, just prove that your invention is useful for war." She told Guo Kang: "No matter how much the merchants invest, is it comparable to the investment of the whole of Rome?" You should first figure out how to build a war workshop that produces ordnance. As long as it shows its strengths, the whole country will support you. ”

(End of chapter)