When Fu Xiaoguan returned to the Fu Mansion, he did not start writing "The Wealth of Nations" immediately, because December Ye Wusheng from Xiyu Tower was waiting there.
"Master, this is the information from Shuiyue Temple."
Yesterday, Master Bunian from Shuiyue Temple did not come out of Prince Hui's mansion. Fu Xiaoguan really wanted to know what she was doing.
After taking the note and opening it, Fu Xiaoguan frowned.
"Unforgettable Master committed suicide at noon today!"
Dead?
Why did she commit suicide?
Just because of the exposure of Shuiyue Temple?
Or maybe it was because more than a dozen people were arrested at Yuhuatai?
Fu Xiaoguan thought for a moment and said, "Send more people to search Shuiyue Temple carefully for me, especially to see if there are any secret letters or correspondence inside."
"I obey your orders!"
Ye Wusheng left the Fu Mansion, and Fu Xiaoguan thought for a few breaths. According to Ji Linchun, this Nun Bunian had a high status in Yuhuatai, and her Shuiyue Temple served as a transmission point for intelligence or orders. For example, the assassination attempt on Fu Xiaoguan last year was conveyed to Yanzhi Tower through Shuiyue Temple, and then handed over to Lin Hong to find Yang Qi and Zhao Si in Qingfengxiyu Tower.
According to the plan, after the two kidnapped Fu Xiaoguan, they were to take him to a boat on a lake north of Langshan Mountain at the beginning of the morning hour. However, because the plan failed, the boat north of Langshan Mountain was set on fire. As for where Fu Xiaoguan was ultimately sent to, and who was kidnapping Fu Xiaoguan, the clues were cut off. Ji Linchun only knew this place; she and Lin Hong had no idea who took over the boat.
In short, Yuhuatai was definitely involved in the incident, so he asked Su Jue to monitor Yuhuatai.
But today in Dieyi Palace, he asked Concubine Shang for her opinion and decided not to interfere in the matter of Yuhuatai because he could not bear the consequences, but Yu Wendao asked for his opinion.
The Qingfengxiyu Tower versus Yuhuatai, this can be regarded as a battle between the two largest underground gangs in Shangjing City. Of course, the fifth prince Yu Wendao and the fourth prince Yu Wenshu will not face each other directly.
Fu Xiaoguan threw the note into the fire and asked Chunxiu to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and then he began to write "The Wealth of Nations".
"Humans are born and always will be selfish creatures!"
This was the first sentence he wrote on the paper. After thinking for a moment, he threw the paper into the fire.
This viewpoint is too sharp, and I think neither Yan Beixi nor His Majesty can adapt to it.
"What is a good economic strategy? A good economic strategy is to encourage everyone to create wealth, and then form laws to protect the wealth that everyone has!"
"When everyone unleashes their drive to pursue wealth and takes action with the support of the state, their wealth will grow. In this process, the national economy will become more active and bring in more tax revenue. This is the liberation of productivity!"
"Part I: On the Factors Which Increase the Productivity of Labour."
"Chapter 1: The Division of Labor in Society."
"People are equal, only the social division of labor differs. Farmers cultivate the land to produce food, workers improve tools to increase production, merchants sell goods to ensure their circulation, and officials manage the country, ensuring social stability and the orderly development of all industries. Everyone does what they are supposed to do in their own position. This is the current form of society, but it is far from enough, because the current social structure restricts people's pursuit of wealth and imprisons their desire to move forward. Therefore, if we want economic prosperity, given the current situation, we must have top-down reforms to stimulate people's passion for creating wealth and allow them to pursue wealth without worries."
“…”
"The greatest effect of the refinement of the social division of labor is a significant increase in labor productivity. By utilizing labor proficiency, skills, and judgment to increase the output of goods per unit time, this is the increase in value."
“…”
Fu Xiaoguan was writing with great enthusiasm and was so engrossed in it that he didn't notice that Dong Shulan was standing behind him.
Dong Shulan tilted her head and looked at it. The more she looked, the more frightened she became. Her beautiful eyebrows frowned and there was a lot of doubt in her eyes.
"For example, if we break down the clothing production process, it becomes design, material selection, preparation, cutting, sewing, and packaging. Today, design is not emphasized, so the clothing sold on the market is largely the same. All subsequent steps are completed by one person, which means there is no division of labor. Imagine if there were dedicated people to select and prepare materials, cut, sew, and pack. They each performed a specific process in their respective positions, naturally becoming proficient. This is refinement. The result is that instead of ten people producing only ten pieces of clothing per day, they could produce fifty or even hundreds of pieces. This represents an increase in product output per unit time, and these extra clothes represent an increase in value."
Dong Shulan suddenly realized something and thought about her small clothing workshop. If she separated the female workers according to the work process, could the daily output really be increased exponentially?
She decided to give it a try, but she didn't leave now. She wanted to see what Fu Xiaoguan wanted to write.
"…Agriculture has its own unique characteristics and cannot be subdivided like industry. However, agricultural production efficiency is closely related to agricultural tools. Currently, agricultural productivity is extremely low, resulting in a large labor force, while ultimately creating minimal value. If we want to free up agricultural labor, we must improve tools to increase efficiency. For example, one person is required to cultivate one acre of land. With better tools, one person can cultivate two acres or more in the same amount of time. This liberates productivity, allowing surplus farmers to go ashore and engage in industrial production. This is the transfer of labor, and one of the initial conditions for economic vitality..."
The setting sun cast a red glow on Xuanwu Lake.
The heater in Taoranting had been replaced. The flames flickered in the evening breeze, illuminating Fu Xiaoguan's face and Dong Shulan's.
Fu Xiaoguan was still writing furiously, and Dong Shulan was still watching attentively.
Su Su was swinging on the swing with a candied haws in her hand, wondering what was so interesting about that article?
She had also leaned over to take a look just now. Apart from thinking that the characters were really ugly, she had no other feelings. They were very boring and not as good as poetry.
Su Jue took the several pages of paper written by Fu Xiaoguan and walked around Taoranting, reading them. He felt that what was written seemed to make some sense, but then he felt that something seemed wrong.
After thinking about it, it suddenly dawned on him that the whole article was encouraging people to pursue profit!
This is not right. If everyone pursues wealth, wouldn’t it be a mess?
This is against the teachings of theology!
The teachings of the sages encourage goodness, understanding benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, and advocate governing the world through culture. However, the meaning of Fu Xiaoguan's article is centered on economics, unleashing people's desire for profit.
Su Jue took a deep breath. If this article were to be released... I'm afraid this guy would be criticized to death by scholars all over the world!
Because in the eyes of scholars all over the world, reading is always the highest level of existence in this society. All other things are inferior except reading. This is not an empty saying, but the words of a sage.
If the merchants were allowed to turn the tide, wouldn't that be a slap in the face of the scholars all over the world?
Of course, he also saw the value of this article and agreed with the division of labor therein. It was like practicing swordsmanship. Only when you know every sword move by heart can you perform a complete set of sword techniques smoothly.
It would be better if he could delete those statements that are contrary to theology.
This is Su Jue’s opinion.
As a businessman, Dong Shulan thought this article was excellent.
Nowadays, the status of merchants is extremely low. Unless they have a strong background like the six major families in Beijing, those small merchants would never dare to expand their scale in a big way, or even dare to cross the border to do business.
There is no other reason. If the government interferes, there will be huge losses, and you may even die without a burial place.
The sun set and the sky darkened. Chunxiu lit the lamp in Taoranting, looked at the young master's back, and thought... Should I call the young master to dinner?
Not long after, Fu Xiaoguan stopped writing. The first chapter was completed. It was certainly not the same as the Wealth of Nations. It was mixed with many of his own opinions. The whole article was written quite smoothly and he was quite satisfied with it.
Then he smelled a faint scent of jasmine coming from behind him. A smile appeared on his face. He turned around and saw that it was Dong Shulan.
"Done?"
"It's still early... Hey, at the grand court meeting today, Prime Minister Yan gave me such a difficult problem."
"Is this what I'm writing?"
"I guess so..." Fu Xiaoguan stretched his aching wrist and continued, "Your Majesty proposed a twenty-word policy: everyone has access to education, everyone has income, everyone has access to medical care, everyone has support in old age, and everyone has housing. But the treasury is short of money, so His Majesty specifically appointed Minister Yan to take charge of this matter, and then Minister Yan put it on me. The purpose of writing this is to let His Majesty and Minister Yan know what to do, but whether they adopt it is not up to me to decide."
Dong Shulan and Su Jue sat down in front of Fu Xiaoguan. Dong Shulan stared at Fu Xiaoguan with her beautiful eyes, her face already smiling, revealing two charming dimples. "I heard from father... that you got a promotion?"
"Don't mention it. The trap they set for me is to become the Counselor of the Secretariat. Doesn't that make me the legitimate target for Yan Zai to order around?" Fu Xiaoguan showed great dissatisfaction, but Dong Shulan just chuckled.
This was a position at the heart of the government, something others couldn't even hope for, yet he was still grumbling about it! Could it be that he really wanted to be that small landlord by the river?
Su Jue straightened his hat and spoke, "Your article does make some sense, but some of the ideas in it conflict with the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Wouldn't it be better to delete some of them?"
Fu Xiaoguan understood what Su Jue meant. He had thought about it before, but he didn't do it.
"It can't be cut. This is a transformation, a conflict from the depths of the soul. There's no way to balance it, only to choose. This is a matter between Your Majesty and Yan Zai. As for me... I'm just showing them these contradictions."
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