My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 45: Hidden Lines of History 3 (asking for monthly tickets)

Zhu Yuanzhang said with dismay:

"Stupid, the well-field system is just a name. It doesn't mean that the fields must be divided according to the character 'well'."

"The core of the well-field system was to divide the land into nine plots."

"If you divide it up a little here and a little there, wouldn't it be nine pieces?"

"Eight plots of land will be divided among the people for cultivation, and the other eight households can cultivate together?"

Zhu Biao suddenly realized, and then said with shame:
"I'm too rigid. Thank you for your teachings, Dad."

"Cough..." Ma Yu coughed dryly, then straightened up and pretended to be serious.

Zhu Biao laughed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, cousin."

Zhu Yuanzhang's anger, which had finally subsided, suddenly rose again and he glared at Ma Yu fiercely.

The look on his face made it seem as if he couldn't wait to beat him up.

Ma Yu was very proud in his heart. Even if you offend me, you will be angry to death.

Empress Ma shook her head and said, "Alright, alright, let's continue with the discussion of the well-field system."

Ma Yu said attentively, "Okay, I'll tell you right away."

"The essence of the well-field system is the dispersion of labor."

"In the past, everyone worked in a centralized manner, and everything belonged to the state. People's enthusiasm for work was low, and gradually, laziness developed."

“Moreover, centralized labor and centralized distribution also ignore individual differences.”

“No matter how hard you work or how talented you are, the end result is the same for everyone.”

"This also leads to some talented people choosing to lie low."

“No one is researching technology, and productivity has been stagnant for a long time.”

“When the state realizes that occupying all the working time of the people no longer has any meaning.”

"It will also cause management costs to skyrocket, and ultimately the income will not cover the expenses."

"So they changed their management style. Instead of taking all the people's working time, they took part of the fruits of their labor."

“That’s how the well-field system came about.”

"The land is divided among individuals for cultivation. No matter how much the land produces, it belongs to them."

"If I don't grow crops well, I'll go hungry and no one will cover my food shortage."

"So everyone's enthusiasm has increased, and they will work hard without supervision."

"The country doesn't need to assign so many officials to supervise the people."

"We only need to send a small number of people to check on the crops in the 'public fields' from time to time, and that's all."

"If the growth is not good, call those eight families over and impose a certain degree of punishment."

“This way, management costs are greatly reduced.”

"It can be said that the well-field system was a great advancement, benefiting both the people and the country."

"The people have gained a certain degree of freedom, and the country has gained the products of its labor."

Empress Ma and Zhu Biao could not help but nod repeatedly, it was indeed so.

The well-field system benefits everyone.

Zhu Yuanzhang had to admit that this was the most thorough interpretation of the well-field system he had ever heard.

However, he was more concerned about another point, which was occupying the people's working time and occupying the fruits of their labor.

Isn’t this the essence of corvee labor and taxes?

Corvée labor takes up part of the people's working time, and taxes take up part of the fruits of their labor.

It turns out that this is how these two systems came into being and evolved.

Now he wanted to understand more urgently why the well-field system collapsed and why various subsequent systems emerged.

I would also like to know why the corvee and tax system has evolved into what it is today.

He felt that after listening to this class, he would understand how to design Ming Dynasty's own land, population and taxation system.

Ma Yu did not deliberately keep people in suspense and continued:

"But one thing to note is that population is still the most important means of production at this time, and land is secondary."

"Although the imperial court has granted the people a certain degree of freedom, its control over personal safety is still very strict."

"People must live in concentrated areas and are not allowed to move around freely."

"But generally speaking, the well-field system did allow the people to gain a certain degree of autonomy."

"In this process, individual differences gradually emerge." "Some people are more talented, have a strong learning ability, and are good at thinking. As a result, they grow better crops and produce more food."

"These people are naturally willing to study technology."

"Furthermore, after the implementation of the well-field system, labor tools also changed from public ownership to private ownership."

"Some people started thinking about improving farm tools."

"If there are people dedicated to researching technology, productivity will improve faster."

"Until one day, someone discovered iron, which completely changed the era."

In the past, only expensive copper farm tools could be used, which were not only scarce but also easily damaged.

The emergence of iron tools made agricultural tools more popular and brought about a qualitative improvement in production efficiency.

"It took the Xia Dynasty more than a thousand years to move beyond the stage of centralized labor."

"The Western Zhou Dynasty took only four hundred years to raise productivity to a level that could break the well-field system."

"This is the advantage of giving full play to people's subjective initiative."

Zhu Biao again raised the question: "If productivity increases and more food can be produced, why would the well-field system be broken?"

Ma Yu said with a look of teachable youth:

“As productivity increases, food production will increase.”

"With more food, we can feed more people."

"With a larger population, we can reclaim more wasteland."

"More land can produce more food, and more food can feed more people..."

“It’s a virtuous cycle…”

"However, as the population and land increase, the court must send more people to manage them."

"Also, the well-field system faces a problem: which one takes priority, public land or private land?"

"As common people, we will definitely prioritize cultivating our own private land before managing public land."

"People are very careful in managing private land, but they are sloppy in managing public land."

"Under normal circumstances, it's not a big deal. But if a disaster strikes, people will prioritize saving their own private land, and public land will be left alone."

"In order to solve this problem, the state must send more officials to manage it."

"Officials cause corruption. To curb corruption, we must send people to supervise officials..."

"This chain of problems led to rising management costs, eventually exceeding the output of the public land."

"When management costs exceed output, the well-field system will naturally collapse."

"This..." Zhu Biao didn't know what to say for a moment.

Centralized labor collapsed because of high management costs, and the well-field system also collapsed for this reason.

How come after going around and around, I'm back to the starting point.

How could Ma Yu not see his thoughts? He said, "There is nothing new under the sun."

"China has a long and profound history, and we can find similar examples for anything in history."

"Many problems appear to be two separate issues on the surface, but upon closer analysis, you'll find that their essence is always the same."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "I appreciate your advice."

At this point, Ma Yu added: "Of course, the collapse of the well-field system was the result of a combination of factors, of which productivity and management costs were only part."

"In fact, its collapse is directly related to the Secondary Feudalism."

Zhu Biao pondered for a moment and said, "Second feudalism? Was it the second feudalization after Duke Zhou suppressed the rebellion of the Three Guards?"

Ma Yu shook his head and said, "No, Duke Zhou enfeoffed the vassal states. My elders call it the second enfeoffment."

"The second feudalism occurred within the feudal states. The two are different."

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up and he asked, "Oh? I wonder what the second feudalism is?"

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma also pricked up their ears.

Eleven thousand words, another ten thousand words will be updated tomorrow during the day.

Posting over 20,000 updates is already a real grind for me.

I finally mustered up the courage to ask everyone for monthly tickets.

Kneel down in front of everyone.

Please throw your monthly tickets at me as much as you can.



(End of this chapter)