"A gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness, and a villain is a metaphor for profit." This is the criterion for judging gentlemen and villains proposed by Confucius. According to this standard, businessmen value profit, so they are naturally villains.

For Chen Zizhuang, who had been immersed in Confucianism for a long time, the court should cultivate more gentlemen and suppress villains. He could not accept the emperor's proposal to improve the status of merchants.

"The saint's intention is just to put forward the criteria for judging gentlemen and villains, and did not completely exclude villains. Of course, 'more than gentlemen' is the ultimate goal pursued by the court, and it is definitely not 'all gentlemen, no villains don't want a villain'. In fact, not to mention that this goal cannot be achieved, even if it is achieved, the world will never be harmonious. Just imagine, if the world is full of gentlemen, it will imprison human nature and lose its vitality. 'Lonely yin will not grow, and lonely yang will not grow'. Only when yin and yang are harmonious can all things be lush. Go back to the issue of rural commerce, I just said that no business can live, if there is no businessman, there will be no exchange of wealth in the north and south of the Yangtze River? Isn't it a stagnant river? Therefore, we must see both the negative side of merchants who value profit and the positive side of their active economy. Medicine emphasizes dialectics, and I think that government should also pay attention to problems dialectically, so that we can see comprehensively."

Zhu Youlang's words used the theory of "yin and yang" and dialectics, which made Chen Zi convinced: "The sage is profound and profound, and I am ashamed of being better than me, and I have received the teachings."

"Your Majesty, I think that the children of merchants can choose one person to participate in the academic examination and become an official, or are they too anxious? Can it be changed to 'In the contemporary era, one person can choose one person to participate in the academic examination and become an official in the third generation'?" Zhang Jiayu said.

"Well, Yuanzi's words are very good, which not only increases the enthusiasm of industry and commerce, but also does not cause a huge rebound among scholars, military and civilians. It is the old saying of the country." Zhu Youlang praised.

He knew that any reform would inevitably be opposed by vested interests. How to make changes and transition smoothly without major chaos? This is a science.

Zhang Jiayu's statement is very consistent with the principle of gradual progress.

Although he felt that Zhang Jiayu’s statement was reasonable, Zhu Youlang was still a little unwilling to accept it. After thinking about it, he said: “Would you add another one, if you pay more than 100,000 ounces of tax, you can allow one of his son to take the scientific examination?”

A scholar in later generations has studied that in the middle of the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the ratio of silver to rice was the standard, and about one tael of silver was equivalent to about RMB 660. However, it was a prosperous era, with silver being expensive and grain being cheap, and one tael of silver being able to buy two stones of rice. Now in a chaotic era, the rice price in Guangzhou was considered low, and one stone of rice was sold for two taels of silver. In this way, one tael of silver was equivalent to 160 yuan in later generations.

One hundred thousand taels of silver are equivalent to 16 million yuan, which is very good. It is just a qualification to take the scientific examination, and it is not a direct fame.

Zhu Youlang thought it was very cost-effective, but Chen Zizhuang, Zhang Jiayu and Chen Bangyan did not agree. In their eyes, the identity of a scholar was extremely noble, so how could it be measured by how much money?

"Emperor, the scientific examination is a great ceremony for the country to strive for talent. How can we make a judgment? I dare not obey the order." Chen Zizhuang opposed.

Zhu Youlang was so angry. It’s so cost-effective to change the qualification for a scientific exam of 16 million yuan. Why is your Chen Zizhuang so unintentional?

However, I have to find a way to convince him that it is not good to force the head if I don’t drink water.

"Jisheng, how long has it been for you to raise a thousand rural soldiers? How much has it been spent?" Zhu Youlang thought for a while and felt that if he had a big argument with him and was not a good person, he might as well start from reality and convince him with facts.

"Return to the emperor, I have been recruiting my country soldiers for more than three months and have spent about 50,000 taels of silver." Chen Zizhuang replied: "However, the emperor has started to spend more, because weapons, food, horses and other military supplies are newly purchased. It should be less in the future, and about 2,000 taels per month is enough."

"Okay, 100,000 taels of silver can pay about 1,000 troops for five years. Do you think it is not worth it? Besides, if the imperial court wants to recover lost territory, how many troops do you need at least?"

"I think 200,000 elite soldiers are enough."

"Twenty-hundred thousand is a little short, which is probably not enough to defeat the Qing army. Well, just count it as 200,000. The army alone needs 2.4 million taels per year. If we count the large amount of military supplies, it is probably impossible to cover up if there is no five million taels per year, let alone bounties and pensions for casualties. The national treasury silver is only 6.5 million taels, and the inner treasury is only 200,000 taels. The national treasury in Zhaoqing is less than 1 million taels. These are not enough to recruit soldiers and maintain military forces, not to mention that the expenses in civil affairs are not counted. Therefore, to strengthen the country and the army must be open source. Giving merchants the qualification to become a child encourages their enthusiasm for paying taxes, which is a very cost-effective transaction." Zhu Youlang said.

Chen Zizhuang was still dissatisfied: "Your Majesty, I think there are many ways to open source, and I may not have to trade with the qualification of a scientific examination. If it really doesn't work, I'm still happy to lose."

"Happy lose? Happy lose is called happy lose, but in fact it is a forced donation. I don't want to force people to make things difficult. Gathering life, matter determines consciousness, destroys the Qing army, and the country is strong, and only by sitting on the truth can we be qualified." Zhu Youlang said.

"Materials determine consciousness? Forgive me to be stupid. What is this saying from? Please tell me," Chen Zizhuang asked.

He has read a lot of books, but why hasn't he ever heard of such a saying?

"Oh, this, matter determines consciousness. It is my original creation, which comes from my thoughts on what Guanzi said, "If you have enough warehouses, you will know honor and disgrace, and if you have enough food and clothing, you will know etiquette."

Zhu Youlang asked Chen Zizhuang and realized that he was snoring.

Since I said I was snoring, let me explain it. But in this way, I became the founder of materialism. It is a bit shameless to secretly grasp the achievements of later sages.

"Your Majesty, I have an opinion on Guan Zi and I dare not agree with this sentence." Chen Zizhuang said.

"Why is this guy so decisive? Can you not be so mean?" Zhu Youlang felt helpless.

"Your Majesty, I agree with this adaptation method. The current urgent task is military affairs. If you don't have money, you can't do it. If you ask for money from the merchant, you have to be willing to pay for it. You have to ask him to pay it out and make him grateful. This method is very wonderful. However, I think you should raise this threshold higher? How about 300,000 taels?" Zhang Jiayu saw that Chen Zizhuang was unable to get out of Taiwan, so he quickly handed a ladder.

"Three hundred thousand? Too high, two hundred thousand."

"It's not high, just 300,000. Your Majesty, don't underestimate the merchants' covetousness for scientific research qualifications. They don't lack money, but what they lack is status." Chen Zizhuang said quickly for fear that the emperor would regret it.

"Okay, it's only 300,000." Zhu Youlang agreed helplessly.

"Prince, is the commercial taxation entered the national treasury or the internal treasury?"

Just as he gave up the pick, Chen Bangyan asked suddenly.

Hum? What does it mean?
Chapter completed!