Chapter 44 Section 8 Power decides everything

There is a Western proverb: "The wind and rain can enter the house of the poor, but the king cannot enter without permission." In contemporary European society, such large-scale forced relocations as Zhu Yuanzhang's, such arbitrary deprivation of private property, and such a whim ordering the rich to pay taxes for the poor are unimaginable. When many people read the history of the world, they will find that the kings in Europe were very poor. They had to borrow money from merchants to fight wars. Formulate policies that are conducive to the development of capitalism, and as a result, capitalism has developed in this way. (This is also the case in Japan. Before the Meiji Restoration, some big merchant families controlled most of the lord's financial revenue. Therefore, there is a folk song that "when the merchants in Osaka are angry, the princes of the world are terrified.")

After reading it, we were puzzled: How could the monarch be controlled by businessmen?After copying the merchant's house, wouldn't everything belonging to the merchant belong to the monarch?Why are Western monarchs so stupid? Most people's thinking is a typical Chinese way of thinking.Although private ownership originated very early in China, the Chinese have never really established the concept of "sacred and inviolable private property". The essential difference between Chinese society and Western society is the difference in organizational methods.Western society is a contract society.The ruler's power arises more or less in contractual relations.Under the monarchy in the feudal era, the king could only enjoy certain rights to the fiefdoms of his immediate vassals on the basis of contractual provisions, so "the vassals of your vassals are not your vassals".In the democracies represented by Greece, however, the generation of power is based on the assumption that every citizen is fundamentally equal, so that citizens coexist in a country, first and foremost, in accordance with public agreements. Through open competition, the government is organized, and power is empowered from the bottom up, so that it can legally serve the people.Therefore, the expression of Western administrative power is a bit like a hired worker, respectful, and a coward who is manipulated by votes.

And when the ancient Chinese gathered together, the first thing to do was to "distinguish superiors from superiors and inferiors". They competed in force and ingenuity, and engaged in a fierce struggle similar to that of gorillas fighting for the leader. In Zhu Yuanzhang's customary language, it is "the land and the people in the world are divided among the heroes."In the end, the only victor wore a blood-stained uniform, stepped on the head of the loser to ascend to the throne, gave orders to everyone, killed them all, and became the "master" of the people in the world, that is, "then wiped out the heroes and made the people rest in the fields." ".And the other surviving losers of the competition and those timid bystanders immediately prostrated themselves on the ground and shouted three times, and became obedient citizens under the king's rule. .Scholars such as Lin Yun studied the origin of the word "Wang" and believed that the character "Wang" was originally in the shape of an axe, which was a symbol of killing.The original meaning of the word "Chen" is a slave, and its shape is a humble person. "Shuowen" said: "A minister is like submitting."

The same is the enfeoffment system, the feudalism in China is not the same as the feudalism in the West.The enfeoffment relationship in the two-week era was not created through games between the big and small nobles, but the king, as the final victor, "granted the people and the territory" to his subjects as the supreme owner of the land and subjects in the country. After the "granting" goes on, the "king" still has the highest ownership; and between the granting and receiving parties, there is only a unilateral obedience relationship between the subordinate and the superior, and there is no contractual mutual restriction relationship.

Because the acquisition of power is stained with blood, the expression of Chinese-style power is condescending and majestic, a domineering aura of supremacy in heaven and earth, and an atmosphere of "the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers".In no country like ancient China, political power determines everything.Every member of society is firmly controlled by political power.What is the relationship between the government and the people it rules?It can be seen clearly from such a word: ancient China called the ruling people "mu", that is, "grazing". "Huainanzi" said bluntly: "A husband and herdsman still breeds animals." In the eyes of the ruler who started with violence, the ruled are the pigs and sheep he hunted with swords and swords, and he has absolute property rights over them. , life and death are seized, let one's own will.

With blood and skulls as the confidence, the supreme rulers of ancient China have always been bold and decisive in doing things, and have no habit of consulting with these pigs and sheep under the whip.In ancient times, it was recorded in the history that King Pangeng of Shang wanted to move his capital to Yin, but many people were still attached to their homeland. Pangeng said sternly: "I will kill those who are disobedient, so as not to let this bad breed spread and grow in Xinyi. " During the large-scale immigration and the construction of the Great Wall during the Qin Shihuang era, it was never heard that the opinions of the people were solicited.Even in the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, Shang Ke issued an order to move to the sea, and all the people within 30 miles of the coast were relocated.

Such a huge administrative mobilization ability has amazed Westerners, saying that it is impossible for any emperor in the West to have such authority. Although it is impossible for Chinese emperors to foresee the consequences of the kings in Western society being finally controlled by wealthy businessmen, their political sensitivity is indeed much higher than that of Western monarchs.During the Warring States period, Chinese rulers were very keenly aware that private industry and commerce not controlled by the authoritarian regime was the enemy that destroyed the natural economy and threatened the "national foundation" of feudal autocracy. The regime's "mercantilism" is diametrically opposed to the theory and policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business" and "emphasizing capital and suppressing waste".They hope to control the people of the world as much as possible in a state of having no money and no energy to spare.The later emperors even knew that if "rich merchants are richer than princes", it means that their political monopoly will be challenged. Therefore, most dynasties in China did not allow independent businessmen to be richer than princes. If they are too rich, they will be "nationalized." ".

Therefore, the West is a society dominated by economics, while China is a society dominated by power, or fundamentally, a society dominated by violence.Power in the West serves economic development, but in China, power goes beyond the economy and directs the economy.This is an extremely important difference between Chinese and Western societies. Economist Yang Xiaokai said that the private property system is the cornerstone of modern society that is more important than democracy.Private property rights in Western society are greater than political power, so we can discover all the secrets of Western society by dissecting economic relations.When the independent economic forces of the new middle class exceed the power of the government, they will be able to rebel and carry out political system innovation, which is a key to the emergence of capitalism.So Marx said that the economic base determines the superstructure.However, this one-size-fits-all theorem of Marx is not valid in this special land of China.There can be no merchant revolts in China, only repeated peasant uprisings.

Because based on violence, China's autocratic power is amazing. It cannot produce a grain of grain or a piece of cloth, but it can control everything.As long as there is power, land, wealth, and everything can come in a steady stream. If a person can grasp the supreme power of the country, he can "born, appointed, rich, poor, noble, and humble" to all people in the world at will.Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang can knead the country like dough based on his own joy and anger.