Chapter 33 Five Ways Out for Private Industrial and Commercial Capital

After the mid-Tang Dynasty, two major periodic problems reappeared in economic governance: The first is that the demand for land is very large, and land mergers are unstoppable, becoming a "transformer" that widens the gap between the rich and the poor; The second is that the central and even local finances are increasingly dependent on resource control, which eventually leads to the suppression and deprivation of private capital, and the gradual decline of economic vitality. Adding the two together, if there is another famine or flood, it will trigger social turmoil under the premise of total financial bankruptcy.

Compared with the dominance of state-owned capital and bureaucratic capital, the flow of private capital has also shown a deteriorating trend.Liu Yufeng specifically stated five outlets for private industrial and commercial capital after the mid-Tang Dynasty in "On the Forms of Industry and Commerce in the Tang Dynasty": First, luxury consumption.Splurging on daily life such as basic necessities of life, food, housing, and transportation, many wealthy businessmen and big businessmen must have literary talents for clothing and meat for food, and they are extravagant, showing the outstanding characteristics of extravagance.In the late Tang Dynasty, many businessmen "ridden their horses freely, carved saddles and silver stirrups, decorated them brilliantly, used children to ride, and hired Kangzhuang".

Second, the traffic dignitaries.Use money to pave the way and make money to become an official.Many wealthy businessmen and great merchants actively seek political interests because they are "higher than the king, and they are lucky to have rare goods".In Yuan Zhen's long poem "Businessmen's Joy", he described the wealthy businessmen who tried their best to manage the officialdom: "After traveling all over the world, they came to Chang'an City. In the east and west of the city, the guests are greeted first. To welcome guests and lobbyists, wealth is the power. Qing. The guest’s heart is clear and shrewd. Hearing the words, the heart is startled. First ask the ten servants, and then ask the hundred princes. , It is commonplace to buy officials with money.

Third, buy land.Comparing with the Han Dynasty, the rich merchants of the Tang Dynasty, who became rich through industry and commerce, used a large amount of funds to purchase land and accumulate land, and still followed the traditional path of "returning wealth at the end and keeping it with the foundation".During the reign of Emperor Daizong, Minister Li Ao said in a policy question that within 30 years, one-third of the land in the world was annexed by wealthy merchants.By the time of Yizong's reign, it was already "the rich have fields connected to each other, and the poor have no land to stand on."Land annexation intensified, making the distribution of social wealth extremely unbalanced.

Fourth, lend usury.After Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty started "public money", the government participated in usury activities, and private usury has also been rampant. Rich businessmen and noble bureaucrats have used this to seek huge profits, and it has become more intense after the late Tang Dynasty.Wu Zong pointed out in an amnesty edict, "For example, if you hear that the court lists the clothes and crowns, or inherits the Huaxuan, or in the Qing Dynasty, privately set up quality warehouse shops to compete with others for profit."Yizong also pointed out in his pardon on enthronement that "the wealthy people in the capital do not abide by public laws, lend money at huge profits, and suffer from hunger and poverty."

Fifth, hoard coins. After the "Anshi Rebellion", the sense of security of the wealth of the rich became worse and worse, so they hoarded a large amount of coin wealth, resulting in a serious shortage of currency circulation in the society.Lu Zhi of Emperor Dezong made an account: In the past, a piece of silk could be exchanged for 3,200 copper coins, but now a piece of silk can only be exchanged for 1,600 coins, and the value of silk has doubled. This is not because of the increase in taxes, but because Because copper coins were hoarded.This phenomenon of "money is more important than material" has hindered the smooth development of the commodity economy.

From the above five outlets listed by Liu Yufeng, it can be seen that industrial and commercial profits have basically not been transformed into industrial capital, and there is no social mechanism for accumulation and amplification. Instead, they have entered the consumer market, land, and usury fields. The impact is of course negative.If we look at the entire economic history, we can even see that these five outlets for private capital in the middle and late Tang Dynasty are almost the common outlet for private capital under high pressure.Therefore, if there is a sharp increase in luxury consumption, cultural relics prices, and land and real estate purchases in a certain period of time, it does not mean economic recovery, but it is more likely to be a bad omen of capital overflow from industries.