My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 119 Economics Unique to China

As soon as Zhu Biao arrived near the Ma residence, he saw a carriage parked at the gate from afar, which puzzled him.

Is Ma Yu about to go out, or is a guest coming to visit?
Just as he was hesitating about whether to go over, he saw Ma Yu leading a girl out of the courtyard.

Guanyin slave, good heavens, my cousin is living a very comfortable life.

To his surprise, two little girls also got off the carriage, one of whom he recognized.

Xie Cheng's daughter, Xie Ying.

As for why he would get to know an unmarried young woman.

It's quite simple; Xie Ying was also one of the daughters-in-law chosen by Empress Ma.

However, she wasn't intended for Zhu Biao. Based on her age, she would either marry Zhu Gang or Zhu Shuang.

As her future sister-in-law, Zhu Biao naturally knew and was familiar with her.

As for the fact that Ma Yu and Xie Ying know each other, Zhu Biao is not surprised.

Xie Cheng's third son, Xie Zheng, was also one of Ma Yu's students.

Xie Ying is Xie Zheng's sister, so it's perfectly normal for them to know each other.

Moreover, Zhu Biao had guessed what was going to happen.

They were introducing female companions to Guanyin slaves.

Sure enough, after they chatted for a few minutes, the three girls boarded the carriage and left.

They've obviously gone off to have fun elsewhere.

As Zhu Biao had guessed, Ma Yu was indeed helping Guanyin Nu find a best friend.

As a captured foreign girl, she couldn't fit into Yingtian's inner circle and had no friends.

Ma Yu then selected two women from among her students' sisters who were of good character and temperament, and asked her to try getting to know them.

In the end, Xie Ying and Guo Yueru were chosen.

Yes, Guo Yueru is Guo Ying's eldest daughter.

First, let Guanyin Nu get to know the two of them well, and then they will bring her into the small circle.

Since the Xie and Guo families were willing to let their children become Ma Yu's disciples, they naturally had the intention of befriending him.

Upon learning of Ma Yu's plan, he immediately sent the two of them over.

The two girls were also very curious about Guanyin's slave, and since they were nice-natured, they were quite enthusiastic about it.

At least it's a good start.

As Ma Yu watched the carriage depart, preparing to go home, he heard Zhu Biao's teasing voice:

"Haha, with a beautiful woman by your side, my cousin's life is truly the envy of yours."

Not to be outdone, Ma Yu turned around and said, "Oh? Cousin, are you dissatisfied with Sister Chang's performance?"

"I'll talk to her about it later and ask her to change it."

Zhu Biao said helplessly, "You have such a sharp tongue, you're never willing to suffer even the slightest loss."

The two then sat down in the pavilion in the courtyard and began chatting about the topic they had just discussed.

Before we knew it, the topic had shifted to the imperial court.

Zhu Biao then explained the latest personnel appointments and Zhu Yuanzhang's plans.

When Ma Yu heard that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to be a master of impartiality, he immediately burst out laughing:
"Let's not even mention your father's ability to handle things properly."

Zhu Biao asked with some doubt, "When we were fighting for the country, so many people joined us, but there wasn't much intense factional strife."

"This shows that my father is quite good at mediating relations among his ministers."

Ma Yu shook her head and said, "It's different. Back then, everyone's primary goal was to survive. Any conflict had to give way to survival."

"When faced with life and death, people will suppress their own desires and prioritize the collective interest."

"To be fair, Prime Minister Li did an excellent job of uniting the officials back then."

"Most of the talented people you can count on were recommended for official positions by him."

Zhu Biao nodded in agreement; he did not disagree with this point either. Li Shanchang was indeed the Xiao He of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, he held Li Shanchang in high esteem until the first year of the Hongwu reign.

Until Li Shanchang, without any scruples, humiliated officials with differing political views in front of him, the crown prince.

It's not just once or twice, it happens frequently.

Zhu Biao's opinion of him worsened.

Ma Yu continued, "But look at him now."

"Why is this happening?"

"Because the Ming Dynasty unified the world and the problem of survival was solved, everyone began to consider their own interests."

"Ideological clashes, interest conflicts... all sorts of contradictions are mixed together, and it is inevitable that the struggle will become increasingly fierce."

“To resolve these contradictions and reduce the intensity of partisan strife, we need a great deal of patience.”

"Your father is a domineering person and doesn't have the patience to deal with these things."

"His greatest strength lies in decisive action."

Zhu Biao nodded first, then asked another question:
How can we resolve this matter quickly and decisively?

Ma Yu stretched out her hand and gestured across her neck.

Zhu Biao's eyelids twitched several times, and he questioned:

"This...should not happen."

Ma Yu laughed and said, "See, you only dare to say 'should,' which clearly shows you understand your father's character."

Zhu Biao sighed deeply; he knew it all too well.

Now his father is sharpening his knives, ready to unleash a massacre.

When the power struggle at the top gets out of control, they will most likely resort to killing to solve the problem.

“They are all meritorious officials of the court, how can they be killed so easily?”

"No, I'll talk to my dad about this when I get back."

Ma Yu shook his head and said, "It's no use. It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature."

"From a small workshop to a large country, a set of methods is needed for management."

"This is management science."

"Your father's management books only have one word: kill."

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Management? There's such a subject?"

Ma Yu laughed and said, "Of course I do, but unfortunately I haven't studied it and only know a little bit about it."

Zhu Biao said happily, "Even fur is fine, tell me about it quickly."

Ma Yu thought for a moment and said, "I don't know how to explain it to you right now, so let me give you an example to show you what management is."

"You are driving a runaway carriage. Ahead is a fork in the road. You can choose either one to continue."

"There are five people lying at one fork in the road, and one person lying at another fork in the road. Which fork would you choose to go?"

Zhu Biao said without hesitation, "Choose the fork in the road where there is only one person."

Ma Yu asked, "Are the lives of five people more important than the life of one person?"

"Why would you choose to sacrifice one person for the sake of those five?"

Zhu Biao explained, "Those were five lives. For the sake of the majority, I could only sacrifice one."

Ma Yu said, "See, this is what management thinking is all about."

"From a purely rational academic perspective, life is priceless and cannot be compared in terms of quantity."

"You cannot use any pretext to sacrifice the interests of any one person."

"But humans cannot be purely rational. As managers of society, they naturally put a price tag on every item."

"When faced with a choice, we will definitely prioritize protecting the one with greater value and sacrifice the one with less value."

"From a management perspective, the lives of five people are more valuable than the life of one person."

"This applies to everything from managing a small workshop to managing a country."

"The same applies to change: sacrificing the interests of a few to benefit the interests of the majority."

"As long as the interests of the majority can be guaranteed, the social structure will not collapse."

Zhu Biao nodded thoughtfully: "I understand. Just like the way of Heaven, it takes from the surplus to make up for the deficiency."

"Make the wealthy pay more to compensate the majority."

Ma Yu shook his head and said, "The principles are similar, but not exactly the same. Management is far more complex than you imagine."

"Let's go back to the same question: if five poor people are lying on one side of the road, and a powerful person is lying on the other side."

Which side would you choose to bet on?

Zhu Biao immediately fell silent, because he realized that he didn't know how to choose.

His emotions told him that five lives were more valuable than one.

But reason told him that crushing the powerful and wealthy might have serious consequences, while crushing ordinary people would just be a matter of paying some money and that would be the end of it.

This answer made him feel ashamed, and he dared not say it for a moment.

Ma Yu didn't expect him to give an answer and said directly:
"This is called political management, and there are many more things to measure."

"You are the Crown Prince, the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and you must possess political and management thinking."

"Otherwise, you won't be able to keep things fair."

Zhu Biao nodded slowly and said, "I understand a little. My father definitely doesn't have this kind of thinking. What should we do?"

Ma Yu said, "Don't worry about your father, he's different."

Zhu Biao asked curiously, "How is it different?"

Ma Yu replied, "Your father has a firm grip on the knife handle and can overturn the table at any time."

"Too many political parties, too much partisan strife?"

"We can just tear it down and rebuild a new one."

This time, Zhu Biao did not oppose killing again, since from the perspective of political management, it was indeed a more convenient method.

But he also had new concerns: "If everyone is killed, who will govern the country? How will reform be implemented?"

Ma Yu said, "The world has no shortage of people who want to be officials. The Ming Dynasty has millions of scholars. As long as the selection system is established, there will be as many officials as needed."

"So there's no need to worry about a lack of officials."

"What we should really be thinking about is how to ensure that the general direction of change remains unchanged after killing people."

Zhu Biao pressed further, "That's exactly what I'm worried about. Do you have any ideas?"

Ma Yu thought for a moment and said, "There are roughly two directions. One is that as a monarch, one must be firm in one's beliefs."

"Secondly, we should compile ideas for change into books to cultivate more talent who understand and support change."

"At the same time, it will help more people understand why change is necessary and make it a consensus among everyone."

Zhu Biao frowned slightly and said, "The first point is simple: my father and I are both very determined to bring about change."

"Secondly... we really don't know how to compile these books, so we can only rely on you."

Ma Yu shook her head and said, "It's not as complicated as you think... Never mind, let me think about it first, and I'll tell you when I've sorted things out."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Okay, take your time thinking about it. I'm not in a hurry."

Ma Yu rolled her eyes. You have the nerve to say that.

If I didn't want China to experience humiliation again, I wouldn't bother with this.

"You came to see me, I'm sure it wasn't just about this."

"If there's anything else, say it quickly."

"Go back if you're alright, I still need to recover."

Zhu Biao wasn't angry and smiled, "There is indeed something else."

He then discussed the issue of rebuilding the fiscal and tax system:
"Neither my dad nor I know anything about this, so we wanted to ask if you have any ideas."

Financial and tax accounting?

Ma Yu shook her head and said, "I really don't know much about this, so I don't have any particularly good suggestions."

This isn't him being modest; he didn't study this in his past life either.

After starting work, the things I dealt with most in finance and taxation were paying salaries and processing tax refunds.

but……

“The fiscal system is of particular importance, and I do not wish for you to make overly radical changes.”

"First, adopt the mature systems from the previous dynasty and then adjust them as needed in practice."

Zhu Biao was somewhat disappointed. In the past, no matter what he talked about, Ma Yu could always explain things clearly.

This is the first time I've said I don't understand.

However, he didn't think there was anything wrong with Ma Yu's suggestion.

In the absence of a better alternative system, we should stick to the most mature approach and then make minor adjustments as needed.

It is the safest way.

At this moment, Ma Yu spoke up again: "However, no matter how the fiscal system is established, the most important thing is still people."

"I think the most important thing right now is to train enough accountants."

“Once your father overthrows the existing system, there will be enough talented people to take over.”

"Otherwise, blindly overthrowing it will only bring greater chaos."

Zhu Biao said with a headache, "I understand the reasoning. The court is already doing its best to cultivate him."

"But as you know, it's very difficult to train a clerk, and it's hard to count on that in the short term."

Ma Yu couldn't help but shake his head and say, "The imperial court trains officials? Just those few dozen students at the Imperial Academy?"

"Even if they all mastered their studies and successfully became accountants, how many of them could actually succeed?"

"And how many accounting officials does the imperial court need?"

"Relying on the current Imperial Academy to train students, even a thousand years wouldn't be enough."

"If we really want to solve the problem of the shortage of accounting officials, we need to think of other ways."

Zhu Biao laughed and said, "I knew you had a way. Tell me quickly."

Ma Yu said, "First of all, the Imperial College's mathematics program is expanding its enrollment..."

Zhu Biao immediately rejected the idea, saying, "No, the Confucian scholars will not agree."

"If we want to change the Imperial Academy, we must first reform Confucianism."

Ma Yu said, "Be flexible, you have to learn to be flexible."

"The Tang Dynasty had six schools: the Imperial Academy, the Imperial College, the Four Gates Academy, the Law Academy, the Calligraphy Academy, and the Mathematics Academy."

"The Ming Dynasty is following the Tang Dynasty's example and restoring the Six Schools of the Imperial Academy. What can Confucian scholars do even if they oppose it?"

The Imperial College was essentially a school, and 80-90% of its teachers and students were Confucian scholars.

They opposed expanding enrollment in mathematics, and the imperial court really didn't have a good solution.

Unless we turn against Confucianism now.

But the Six Schools of the Imperial Academy were different; they were equivalent to six independently operated schools.

Even if the imperial court grants a thousand places to mathematics scholars, Confucian scholars will only be able to watch helplessly.

Moreover, even with a thousand registered students, auditors can be admitted; they can come to learn arithmetic knowledge without being registered.

Even those who have achieved academic success can still participate in the imperial examinations.

Zhu Biao was initially pleased, but quickly frowned and asked, "What if the Confucian scholars object?"

Ma Yu shook his head and said, "The possibility of them objecting is also very small."

Zhu Biao asked in confusion, "Why?"

Ma Yu said, "The Imperial Academy, the National Academy, the Four Gates Academy, and the Academy of Calligraphy mainly taught the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics."

"This is tantamount to expanding the influence of Confucianism, so how could they possibly oppose it?"

Zhu Biao suddenly realized and said, "So that's how it is."

Then he added, "Giving such a huge benefit to the Confucianists, you must have ulterior motives."

"Tell me quickly, what kind of hole did you dig?"

Ma Yu smiled and said, "It's very simple, the Six Schools of the Imperial Academy are newly established."

"What courses to learn and who to teach are all decided by the imperial court."

"We could easily select more people without a science background to serve as teachers."

"We can also include some books from Taoism and Legalism in the compulsory subjects."

“As long as your father can withstand the backlash from the followers of Neo-Confucianism, the Six Schools of the Imperial Academy can become the vanguard of the anti-Neo-Confucianism movement.”

Zhu Biao laughed loudly, "I knew you were up to no good, but I like it."

Ma Yu said smugly, "You think that's all? Wait a few years, and the new framework of ideas will be ready."

“Giving lectures directly within the Six Schools of the Imperial Academy will save us a lot of time.”

Zhu Biao said happily, "Okay, okay, let's do it that way... Is there anything else?"

Ma Yu nodded and said, "After the academy is established, we'll still need teaching materials."

"I can't offer much help in this regard, but I can provide you with a general direction."

Zhu Biao laughed and said, "This is exactly the direction I want. Tell me quickly."

Ma Yu said, "The Legal Canon from the Warring States period contains content about accounting."

"The Tang Dynasty compiled the Yuanhe National Account Book and the Taihe National Account Book, and the Song Dynasty had the Accounting Record."

"These are the most important accounting documents in ancient times, and they are things that accounting officials must master."

“You can organize people to sort out and summarize these documents and compile a more professional accounting textbook.”

Ma Yu indeed didn't understand economics and accounting; he only learned about these books from Xi Juncai, Deng Botong, and others.

But as a time traveler, he possesses a perspective that they lack.

I know very well how important these things are.

These four documents are the most important accounting documents in ancient China, detailing the basic professional requirements for accountants.

It also records the development history of accounting in various dynasties.

By combining economic materials such as the "Treatise on Food and Commodities," one can gain a systematic understanding of the development of China's economy and finance in ancient times.

With a little editing, it can be transformed into ready-made textbooks for economics and accounting.

Crucially, this is an authentic Chinese economics work, integrated with Chinese thought.

Looking back, Chinese economics works were basically copied from Western systems.

It's not that Western economic systems are bad, but rather that they don't adapt well to the Chinese context and cause many problems.

The most fatal problem is that if you copy other people's work, the power of discourse will be in their hands.

No matter how well you develop, others can use economic theories to negate your achievements.

On the international stage, the words of economists can truly influence the thoughts of many people.

Then, this influence can be used to undermine confidence in the Chinese economy, thereby in turn affecting China's economic development.

There have always been rumors in my past life that a group of people are writing an economics book that is unique to China.

But until he traveled through time, the matter remained just a rumor, with no concrete information available.

Now that she had traveled through time, Ma Yu naturally wouldn't completely follow the Western ways anymore.

He wanted to encourage Zhu Biao to compile economics and accounting textbooks that were unique to China.

Of course, he will definitely introduce some Western economic ideas later.

Why not learn something useful?

However, these introduced ideas can only serve as a supplement to Chinese economics treatises, not the main body.

He didn't know if the plan would work, but since he had already traveled through time, why not give it a try?

Zhu Biao was clearly very interested in this matter and immediately said that he would go back and gather people to start writing.

That wasn't all; Ma Yu continued:
"In addition, there should be a textbook specifically for teaching students how to keep accounts."

"These two textbooks are enough to support the Ming Dynasty's system for training accounting officials."

"It is also crucial for subsequent economic development."

(End of this chapter)