The two people, whose relationship became closer, strolled along the river bank and had a deep conversation about specific issues.

"Then tell me, who are our enemies and who are our friends?" Hai Rui asked in a deep voice, with his hands behind his back.

"Duke Hai wants to distribute land and grain equally, distribute labor service according to the acreage, and curb land annexation. Every move is aimed at the big landlords... that is, the gentry who own a lot of land. All problems in this world are ultimately about interests, so our enemies must come from this group."

"Of course." Hai Rui nodded.

"Land is the foundation of life, and almost everyone with a little wealth will buy land, so this group is too big to be defeated. We must cut it up like a pie, piece by piece."

"How about reducing the number of enemies?" Hai Rui asked immediately.

"That's right." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "According to my observation, landowners can be divided into at least four categories. The first is the large landlords who mainly make money from rent and lending; the second is the emerging landlords who make profits from industry and commerce in addition to rent and lending; the third is the big businessmen who mainly run industry and commerce and use land as a means of preserving their property; the fourth is the small and medium-sized landlords who own the least land but have the largest number of people."

"Hmm..." Hai Rui twisted his graying beard and listened very attentively. In the past, he thought that landlords were just landlords, but he never thought that they could be subdivided in this way.

The benefits of such subdivision are self-evident. Divide and conquer, and use one faction to fight another are all tactics that our ancestors have used to death.

"Among the four categories, which ones can be fought for and which ones can only be attacked?" Hai Rui asked.

"This requires Mr. Hai to answer a question first." Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"Excuse me." Hai Rui nodded.

"What is Lord Hai's view on righteousness and profit?" Zhao Hao asked, appearing relaxed but nervous inside.

The so-called righteousness and profit view refers to how to view the relationship between morality and wealth. If Hai Rui adhered to the Neo-Confucian view that "gentlemen are guided by righteousness, while villains are guided by profit", the problem would be difficult to solve.

But Zhao Hao still had some confidence, because Hai Gong always mentioned "Qiu Wenzhuang".

Qiu Jun, who clearly proposed the "labor theory of value", was the most outstanding economist in the Ming Dynasty and even in the entire ancient history. As the saying goes, "the economic base determines the superstructure", it is hard to imagine that Hai Rui would still regard him as his lifelong idol when their views on righteousness and profit were so different.

As expected, Hai Rui said without hesitation:

"I don't hate the rich. I especially admire getting rich through hard work, nor do I oppose getting rich through industry and commerce. What I oppose is just taking advantage of others and making money without working. I especially hate those officials and gentry who collude to exploit the people for ill-gotten gains!"

Zhao Hao's expression brightened up when he heard this, as if he had eaten a ginseng fruit, and he felt relaxed all over. He asked with a smile: "It seems that Lord Hai doesn't discriminate against merchants anymore?"

"Of course. Today, there are five types of people: scholars, farmers, workers, merchants, and soldiers. Scholars enlighten the way, soldiers defend the country, farmers produce nine kinds of grains, workers use sharp tools, and merchants communicate and provide resources for the world. In my eyes, they are all people worthy of respect."

Hai Rui said in a deep voice: "What I despise is those who do not live here, like idle people..."

At this point, he paused obviously, but thinking that he and Zhao Hao were already sworn brothers, he decided to tell them everything.

Still gritting his teeth, he said, "And those who get something for nothing!"

There is nothing wrong with saying this in later generations, but it is very taboo in the Ming Dynasty because there were huge parasitic groups in the Ming Dynasty, such as the royal family and nobles, who attached themselves to the weak body of the country and greedily sucked blood.

That is the tumor of the empire.

But first of all, there were no vassal kings in Jiangnan, only some nobles who were far less harmful than the former.

Secondly, that was not a problem that the two of them could solve at the moment, so Hai Rui only touched on it briefly and then returned to the main topic:

"So I think that valuing profit over righteousness is certainly not desirable, but valuing righteousness over profit is also wrong. We should have both righteousness and profit. As long as it is not unearned, getting rich is worth encouraging. As long as it is not illegal, it should not be taken away at will."

"Haha, okay. Then you can answer Hai Gong's question yourself, right?" Zhao Hao said with a calm smile.

"Not bad." Hai Rui also nodded and smiled, then analyzed seriously:

"The first type, land is their only possession, so they are definitely the most stubborn. They will not give up their hostility unless they are beaten and crippled."

"The second group also has their roots in the land, so they will also be hostile to us. But as long as we can protect their interests in industry and commerce, even if we cannot win them over to join us, we can still keep them neutral and they will not follow the first group and become our enemies."

"The third category, land is not their foundation, as long as we protect industry and commerce, they are entirely likely to become our allies."

"As for the fourth category. Although they are also landlords, they still face exploitation and oppression from the big landlords. Our new policy is beneficial to them. As long as we eliminate their worries, they will naturally become our allies."

~~

After listening to this, Zhao Hao applauded Hai Rui and said, "Mr. Hai is indeed very insightful. I share the same view."

"Then we should, on the basis of relying on the hard-working people, vigorously unite the third and fourth categories of people and try our best to keep the second category neutral. As the two gain strength, we can then focus our forces on dealing with the first category, which will be much easier and will cause less backlash."

"But there is a prerequisite, which is 'encourage industry and commerce'..." Hai Rui finished speaking, then pointed at Zhao Hao and said with a smile: "You are using all these tricks just to wait for me to say these four words, right?"

"This is not about the selfishness of me and Jiangnan Company." Zhao Hao called Zhuang Tianqu and said, "It's that Jiangnan's industry and commerce have become the mainstay, not to mention the citizens in the city. Even in the farmland, 70% are planted with cotton and mulberry, and less than 30% are rice. Therefore, a Yingtian governor who does not discriminate against industry and commerce is what the whole of Jiangnan needs, and it is also what the Ming Dynasty needs!"

"You're really talking too much." Hai Rui scolded with a smile, "If you're worried again, why didn't you ask last time you met? Aren't you afraid you've found the wrong person?"

"I admit that I was gambling." Zhao Hao smiled awkwardly, "But I have been arguing with Lord Hai for a long time. Besides, Lord Hai always put 'encouraging industry and commerce' after 'encouraging agriculture and mulberry planting' when he was governing Chun'an and Xingguo. I think the bet should not be wrong."

Qiu Jun even fundamentally denied the traditional theory of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, insisting that "food and goods are the foundation of people's life."

Although Hai Rui was not as radical as Qiu Jun, he learned from Qiu Jun about supporting industry and commerce and revitalizing the economy. This was the reason why Hai Rui was able to rank first in the country in the Chun'an County exam.

Of course, this question couldn't be asked in advance, otherwise it would become Zhao Hao's choice of governor, and where would Hai Rui stand? Not to mention his strong self-esteem, the political sensitivity of a fourth-rank official would also make him reject Zhao Hao outright.

Now, that is called giving advice, but Hai Rui certainly didn't have any reservations about whether to listen or not.

The two smiled at each other, and their understanding was self-evident.

ps. These chapters have been researched in great detail. Hai Rui's opinions are all his own, and I have all the sources. I have absolutely not glorified Hai Rui, but on the contrary, I found that he was really badly criticized. I beg for monthly votes! There is one more chapter...