I reposted a book review that the drunkard likes and wrote it very well. If there are more such book reviews, the drunkard will definitely improve his writing skills. Thanks again, a lesbian brother Che for providing such a good book review.

Talk about the nihilistic YYism in Ming Dynasty

If the name is not correct, the words are not smooth. Let me first correct the title of this article.

During the process of reading "Ming", I tried to gradually understand the author's creative intention and his worldview according to the plot. When I finished reading the first volume, I had noticed some conflicts that may explode violently in the future, leading to serious social turmoil. Although I was not sure whether this "breeding" was a foreshadowing intentionally laid by the author or an omission caused by inadequate consideration. In any case, these germs or the wombs grew in the direction of YY. However, this kind of YY is very different from the usual fantasy method used in the usual YY novels. So at that time I thought of a word: abstract YY main Meaning. Later, after reading the public part of the second volume, I noticed that the germination of contradictions showed the sprouts of sparks in the fictional historical branch of "Ming". From this, it seems that the YYist idea expounded in "Ming" is by no means abstract, and it is likely to be a topic that the author intends to throw at readers. If this four-dimensional society allows it to develop according to the track it has laid for itself, it is likely to lead to a disillusionment ending. So I changed the abstraction to nothingness and tried to interpret the fate of "Ming" with "nihilistic YYism". This article does not involve historical and literary issues.

Economics is the first topic that the author discusses in the book.

(I) Agriculture, rural areas, farmers

Wu'anguo tried to challenge the agricultural-based economic model that has been inherited in China for thousands of years with practical technology. Agriculture (referring to large-scale agriculture including agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline fishing) - whether it is an agricultural society or an industrial society - is always an unshakable basic industry. The reason is simple, and people who don't eat can't survive. Almost every major social unrest in Chinese history is the direct or indirect result of national or regional agricultural bankruptcy. The most harmful to society was the three-year "natural disaster" in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although that major bankruptcy caused the death of tens of millions of people due to famine, it has reached an unprecedented level because of the urbanization and industrialization of the country, so it did not cause the entire society to fall into an uncontrollable upheaval.

Wu Anguo clearly realized this. After coming to this time and space, the first thing he had to solve was the survival problems of himself and the people around him. He adopted the methods of improving agricultural tools and developing water conservancy construction to promote agricultural production. Of course, it was wise to do so, but his measures did not reflect the wisdom beyond the predecessors. In the later text, the author also consciously wanted to further discuss this issue, such as reforming the agricultural tax system, reforming the distribution and circulation system of arable land, improving crop varieties and adjusting industrial structures to promote the development of animal husbandry, etc. Unfortunately, these ideas still failed to break out of the thinking frame of the predecessors.

If we look back at history, we can find that the reason why the Qing Dynasty was able to make a record-breaking reliance on limited land to support over 100 million people for the first time was that it benefited from the national policy of dividing acres, but more importantly, it benefited from the promotion of high-yield crops introduced from overseas. In the historical context of the Ming Dynasty, the most feasible and effective method was not to wait for the historical leap of biology and agronomy, but to make a fuss about crop varieties as much as possible. Unfortunately, Wu'anguo (or the author) did not think of this. In addition, the food problem in the early Ming Dynasty was not prominent because the contradiction between population and arable land did not intensify. At that time, agricultural construction was not completely out of the damage caused by the war. Recovery was originally a godsend opportunity to promote change through big efforts in agriculture. The reason why Wu'anguo missed this opportunity was not because he did not know the importance of agriculture but because he was more eager to promote the development of industry and commerce in order to change the economic structure of society as soon as possible. Without the problem of food and clothing, he was eager to carry out the great leap forward of industry and commerce in an instant. This could be done in some areas in a short period of time, which is similar to the current model of special economic zones and coastal open cities in my country. However, the overall development of society will lag more and more behind the rapid progress of individual regions. Such a development model is obviously a deformed development model, and the consequences will be unimaginable in the long run.

It can also be seen from the issue of agriculture that the problems raised by the author in the book for readers to think about are not limited to the "historical problems" we have solved, but also include the problems we are facing in real society.

The problems of rural and farmers are even more serious. The writing has been covered up. Overheating of industrial and commercial development in Huairou and Peking may cause agricultural shortages. Because the demand for labor in the early stage of industry is very high, industry and commerce will inevitably compete with agriculture for labor. Driven by generous interests, cities will inevitably compete with rural areas for population. Peking Mansion - according to the author's statement, its population was not dense enough - but the author cleverly used immigration and prisoners of war to ease the contradiction, but the contradiction was not fundamentally resolved. As the further development of industry and commerce, the contradiction will sooner or later intensify to an irreconcilable level. (The population in the country was very small in the early Ming Dynasty, and the population crisis could not be alleviated in one or two years. It would take at least 20 years to double the population of the country.)

On that day, what measures will the government take to deal with this issue? Will it be like the British enclosure movement? The situation in China and Britain is very different. We cannot hope to obtain enough food from overseas (Japanese, North Korea and the coastal areas of Southeast Asia). Because the agriculture in the surrounding areas of Ming Dynasty was not developed to have enough surplus for exports at that time, Ming Dynasty must achieve self-sufficiency in grain while industrializing.

Today, China has seen a surge in the population of rural migrant workers, and grain production has seen negative growth for several consecutive years. The question of whether food can be self-sufficiency is very serious. For the Ming Dynasty, if this situation occurs, it will mean a catastrophe.

(II) Heavy industry, light industry, handicrafts and transportation, and communications.

Wu'anguo knew that heavy industry was the lifeblood of the country's industry, so he first started with mining, smelting and mechanical manufacturing in the development of industry. Not to mention whether the start of heavy industry could be as fast as described in the book, let's talk about the benefits of heavy industry. Heavy industry requires a lot of time, money and manpower, and cannot be as immediate as light industry and handicrafts, and it can't be transformed into wealth quickly. Wu'anguo's countermeasure is to climb to the backing of military industry. Yes, this is indeed a shortcut, just like the practice of establishing heavy industry bases in the Northeast and major cities in the early days of the founding of modern China. It takes military products as the core and military products to drive civilian products. But everyone has seen what consequences will this cause. The Zhu Ming regime cannot place light industry with extraordinary skills and handicrafts as the same important position as heavy industry as heavy industry as military pillars.

Light industry and manual (hereinafter collectively referred to as light industry) also have its inherent defect, that is, its dependence on the market. When the entire country is not rich enough, limited purchasing power cannot meet the sharp expansion of light industry. In this case, the most effective way to transfer the supply and demand crisis is to quickly open up overseas markets. In the early days of the Age of Discovery, overseas markets can indeed be regarded as infinite. But can a country as big as Ming rely on an extroverted economy to support the people of the whole country? Is Ming a profitable country like Britain? I think this is unlikely. In order to expand the market, the first thing to solve is the space problem. If transportation and communications are

Development is significantly lagging behind the development of light industry, so the prospects of light industry are not optimistic. Unfortunately, transportation and communications are obviously the weaknesses of Wu'anguo. He only thought of paving roads with cement, but did not make any achievements in civil communications. Think about it, how could an introverted economy related to light industry develop rapidly in a country without railways, highways and civil posts? Wu'anguo is not an omnipotent god. He can only use his expertise to make individual fields directly from ancient times to modern times. But according to the laws of historical development, social progress requires the cooperation of various industrial departments. An unbalanced industrial structure is dangerous and there is a possibility of death at any time.

(III) Businessmen, finance, insurance, speculation and foreign finance

I am a little overwhelmed by writing this because the social problems touched on "Ming" are too many and too complicated. It is not difficult for other readers to think that Wu'anguo's ability is too limited, "Even if there are tens of millions of people, I will go" - it is not enough to have enthusiasm alone, how many nails can be crushed with iron?

Back to the point, can the financial industry have a bright future in a bureaucratic society? In fact, Shanxi merchants have set a model for us in history. Merchants - including industrialists - cannot but rely on the rights network in centralized countries. It is not that they are willing to fall into the trap, but because there is an irreconcilable contradiction between fair competition and privilege. Before merchants have no ability to limit privileges, they must surrender to privileges if they want to survive. Will the wise and powerful people watch the merchants share their wealth equally with them? Impossible. Then, it is a matter of time before the financial and insurance are the same. Finance and insurance are like business. The state (especially the poor and weak powers) may have to nationalize and monopolize them for their own stability, and then limit commercial capital with finance. Profitable industries are all fat coveted by the powerful people. How can Wu'anguo protect the spark of freedom and struggle?

Let’s talk about foreign wealth. This foreign wealth refers to wealth such as war compensation requested after conquering Goryeo. Just like Japan’s Xinchou reparations after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, people have no foreign wealth but no foreign wealth. A country can become a "explosion household" if it gets foreign wealth. Ming will undoubtedly plunder the wealth of other countries more and more greedily in the future process of foreign expansion. Although this can temporarily avoid domestic contradictions, militarist thought will spread to the entire nation, Mongolia, Germany, and Japan like a plague. Will Ming repeat the same mistakes? God knows!

Let’s talk about this first about the economy.

You may already understand what I mean by "nihilistic YYism".

Simply put: if we are given the opportunity to rewrite history, we want this country to avoid all the wrong paths and detours. But history is difficult to move smoothly into a smooth journey. It has finally avoided this detour but has sloppily slipped into another detour.

(Because my talent is not enough, I write it very chaotic. I believe that readers will read it more thoroughly than me. The purpose of this article is to hope to attract more in-depth thinking by book friends of "Ming". To be continued)
Chapter completed!