Chapter 10 The second lecture is Shang Yang's reform: the originator of command-type planned economy

The first stage of Shang Yang's reform took three years to transform Qin into a 100% agricultural country. The first reform decree promulgated by Shang Yang was called "Reclamation Order", which had only one theme: to turn all the people of the whole country into farmers.Shang Yang believes that the key to governing the country is to let the people "return their hearts to farming". If everyone goes to cultivate the land, the people's customs will be simple and pure, and the national power will be strong. A lazy, lustful people".In the "Reclamation Order", there are twenty specific ways to encourage and subsidize farming.

In terms of agricultural policy, the land reform with the theme of "abandoning well fields and opening rice fields" has the greatest impact on future generations. The well field system is a state-owned system of land, which has been recorded in writing since the Shang Dynasty and prevailed in the Western Zhou Dynasty.Later historians have different explanations for it. According to the records in "Mencius Teng Wengong 1", the country divides the land into squares with 900 mu as a calculation unit. The shape is like the word "well". For the public land, each family gets 100 mu of private land and raises the public land together.When farming, the farm work on the public land must be done first, and then each person can manage his private affairs.As a result, spring sows and autumn harvests, watch and help each other.This system is quite similar to the primitive people's commune system.

By the middle of the Warring States period, with the increase of population, the well field system had been corrupted, and the privatization of public land became a common fact.The intellectual circles at that time were very divided on this. Both Taoism and Confucianism regarded it as the root cause of "the collapse of rites and the destruction of music", and emphasized the need to restore the well field system.Shang Yang did the opposite, announcing the abolition of the well field system and allowing the people to open up wasteland and cultivate and buy and sell land. This naturally greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the people for production and made the "agricultural thinking" of the reform even more prosperous.Obviously, in the pre-Qin period, food was the most important strategic material, and all Shang Yang's reforms were based on this. This can be said to be a typical "productivity theory".

"Abandoning well fields and opening fields" is a major change in China's land history.Since then, land privatization has become the most important land ownership system in Chinese history.Various dynasties also had various forms of public land, but the amount was far less than that of private land. In all reforms or revolutions in ancient and modern China and abroad, land has always been the most important bargaining chip in the exchange between political power and the people.As far as modern times are concerned, Lenin’s promise of launching the Soviet revolution was “peace, bread, and land,” Sun Yat-sen’s economic promise of overthrowing the imperial system was “equal land rights,” and Mao Zedong went to Jinggangshan to promote “strike the local tyrants and divide the land.” Even the recent reforms Opening up also took the lead in stabilizing farmers with the policy of "household production contract".Shang Yang was the first politician to taste the sweetness of land reform.

If we want all the people to farm, we must block other outlets.Shang Yang said: "If there is no profit, the business will be timid, and if the business is timid, it will be eager to farm." If industry and commerce do not have excessive profits, then people who engage in business will have no interest, and if they do not do business, then they can only go to farming.Among the rulers of the past dynasties, Shang Yang may be the one who hated merchants and commercial circulation the most. He regarded them as "national harm" and issued many laws and regulations restricting commerce, some of which were extreme.List four below.

First, the control of grain trading and the nationalization of mines.In Shang Yang's view, as long as grain transactions are not allowed, merchants will have no way of profiting, and every family must farm the land. As a result, grain production will inevitably increase, and the state will control the pricing power and trading power of the largest commodity.He collected all the "benefits from mountains and rivers" to the state, which can not only increase the revenue of the treasury, but also block a non-agricultural way to get rich.According to him, if the mines are nationalized, those who are unwilling to farm, lazy and tricky, and seek huge profits will lose their jobs and have to return to the fields to farm.

Second, adhere to the heavy tax policy for industry and commerce.Chinese thinkers of all dynasties, no matter what school of thought, generally advocate light taxation, but Shang Yang is unique.In his opinion, only "the endowment of the city"-increasing the circulation tax on commodities can make businessmen feel "suspicious and lazy".There is no complete record of the taxation of the Qin State, but Shang Yang once proposed that the price of wine and meat should be greatly increased, and taxes should be levied ten times the original price. By analogy, the high industrial and commercial tax rate can be imagined.

Third, implement household registration and restrict population movement.The key to commercial prosperity lies in circulation, and Shang Yang is well versed in its mysteries, so he issued several extremely strict laws and regulations.He ordered household registration throughout the country and ordered people not to move without authorization. This is the beginning of China's household registration system; in addition, he also issued a decree prohibiting private operation of hotels, the purpose of which is to strictly limit the flow of population.Modern society says that people have "four freedoms", one of which is the freedom of migration. However, this right of the Chinese people has been restricted since Shang Yang's reform.

Fourth, ban currency and implement barter.Shang Yang held a hostile attitude towards currency—this is the "tradition" of all proponents of planned economy in ancient and modern China and abroad.He has a very peculiar view on money and food. In his opinion, the two are mutually exclusive. "When money is active, food will shrink; when food is abundant, money will be useless." And the millet dies, the millet is born and the metal dies."During the more than 20 years of his reform, Qin State has been bartering with things. It was not until three years after his death that Qin State began to mint coins. It can be seen that Qin State's commercial circulation is very backward among countries.

From the perspective of commodity economy, the whole set of economic reforms promoted by Shang Yang is undoubtedly a big step backward compared with Guan Zhong three hundred years ago.However, these policies can gather national power in a short period of time, make the national economy full of discipline, and produce high efficiency due to autocracy. "Historical Records" records: "Using martingale law, the people suffer, and the people live for three years." That is to say, after the implementation of the reform, the people complained, and three years later, it has achieved great results.After all, this is the power of tyranny.