"Comrade Emperor, you said that you want to create a money shortage in the north. Although the Manchu Qing is weak, after more than a hundred years of accumulation, I'm afraid they are not short of money." Zuo Zongtang looked at Vézé with deep suspicion. As a person who was active by nature, Zuo Zongtang finally decided to go to Nanjing to meet Vézé. Another important reason was that Zuo Zongtang's subordinates did not want to fight anymore and were ready to go home to farm. Zuo Zongtang was not too worried that the Liberation Army would kill the prisoners, but Zuo Zongtang also wanted to take responsibility and see his subordinates return home safely.
A large number of the Liberation Army's ships took Chu Jun back to the Yangtze River basin along the canal. This was actually a big favor. In the past, it would cost a lot to transport tens of thousands of people from the north of the Huai River to the south of the Yangtze River. The Liberation Army was willing to provide transportation for the prisoners. This was not ordinary kindness.
After meeting with Vézé, Zuo Zongtang, of course, sincerely expressed his gratitude. Vézé also knew how to get down the slope. He asked Zuo Zongtang to be his secretary for two years to repay this favor. When Zuo Zongtang first came out, he worked as an aide under Zhang Liangji. Now that he was working as Vézé's secretary, in Zuo Zongtang's view, it was the same as an aide. But after a few days, Zuo Zongtang found that he had to consult Vézé from time to time. For example, Zuo Zongtang could not understand the money shortage at all.
Seeing that Vézé was listening carefully, Zuo Zongtang continued to ask, "Even if the Liberation Army sells food to the Manchu Qing, it can't put the whole country in a crisis, right?"
Vézé said indifferently, "That depends on how you view the state as an organization. People say that a country has luck, but I don't agree with this illusory thing. So I use confidence as a noun for this explanation. I'm not the one who dug up all the money from the money shortage. It's just to reduce the amount of money circulating in the market. "
Zuo Zongtang had heard Vézé say that "money is an equivalent exchange." Just by listening to Vézé's explanation and reading the internal curriculum of the Restoration Party, Zuo Zongtang was sincerely convinced by Vézé. Zuo Zongtang knew that finance was a huge field of study. He had done business in Hunan before, and he felt that it was an extremely difficult task. On the side of the Restoration Party, the theoretical construction of the economy was only profound, beyond the limits of Zuo Zongtang's imagination. He had no choice but to accept it.
"The problem with the Manchu Qing is that they don't pay attention to the construction of transportation, and they don't have the concept in this area. Therefore, their money is hoarded in a few key points, which is what traditional dynasties like to talk about. The so-called strong foundation and weak end refers to a large amount of money and resources concentrated in a few key points, such as Beijing. Once these key points go wrong, the whole economy will go wrong, and people will lose confidence. This kind of confidence is probably the so-called luck. " Vézé admired the smart Zuo Zongtang. Regardless of whether there was a problem with Zuo Zongtang's three views, Zuo Zongtang's intelligence and eagerness to learn was a real ability.
"If the capital is short of money, the Manchu Qing will transfer money from all over the country?" Zuo Zongtang understood a little.
"That's right, the Manchu Qing will transfer money from all over the country, which will give the impression that they are short of money. Under the feeling of being short of money, how do you think the various places will deal with it? "Vézé continued to infer from Zuo Zongtang's point of view.
"This …" Zuo Zongtang frowned, "If everyone feels that they are short of money, naturally they won't spend money."
Vézé smiled indifferently, "That's right. If everyone holds onto their money tightly, the money circulating in the market will only decrease. The less money circulating, the more people dare not spend money, and the more they dare not spend money, it will continue to deflate. Oh, it means that the money in the market will decrease. In addition to forcibly robbing money from everyone's pockets, the Manchu Qing's financial income will decrease. But the Manchu Qing still has such a big burden as the Banners. They feel that the Banners are the root of the Manchu Qing, and as the root of the Manchu Qing, the Banners also have to eat and drink. They don't farm, don't make a living, and have no money, they will all starve to death. "
Zuo Zongtang furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn't too difficult to understand this logical chain. But out of the instinct of the remaining Manchu Qing officials, Zuo Zongtang's first thought was to think of a way to solve this economic problem. But after thinking about it, he found that unless the Manchu Qing could maintain the means to be self-sufficient, there was no way to solve this problem. But the burden of the Banners would only make the Manchu Qing more and more difficult. They did not have the ability to not suck the blood of the whole country, and could only rely on themselves to support themselves.
"What a vicious plan!" Zuo Zongtang said half-consciously, half-intentionally.
Vézé did not care about this kind of evaluation, he smiled and said, "I have a lot of disgust towards the Manchu Qing, but putting aside the emotional point of view, I think the biggest political crime of the Manchu Qing is incompetence. If such a simple method can make the Manchu Qing collapse, then there is no reason for the Manchu Qing to continue to exist. Mr. Zuo, building the country is not the government's benevolent policy, but the government's responsibility. "
Seeing how tolerant Vézé was, Zuo Zongtang felt embarrassed, he smiled and said, "If there is no money in the market, all industries will be in a slump, and the country will not be able to survive."
"Now that the whole north is in chaos, after the flow of goods is completely cut off, no one can survive. Not only the Manchu Qing family, but in times of war, everyone's bottom line is very low. However, in times of war, everyone's bottom line was especially low. They had to eat their fill first and survive. This result will continue to lead to fewer goods entering the market. The efficiency of the entire economic operation is very low … "Vézé continued to explain.
"Everyone treasures goods, shouldn't it be the high efficiency of the operation?" Zuo Zongtang interrupted.
Vézé explained patiently, "This needs to include labor. The price of labor becomes almost worthless as the scale of operation decreases. This is a huge waste of the operation. Yes, for the sake of a few catties of rice, a few catties of noodles, everyone racked their brains to squeeze out the greatest benefit. But if the effort is used in other areas, it can produce a much higher economic benefit. Look at the liberated areas, people no longer worry about a few catties of rice and noodles, but run to the factories, construction, and transportation. They can earn money by doing anything, isn't this more efficient than painstakingly living? "
As one of the statesmen, Zuo Zongtang also sincerely wanted to save the country. Thinking about Vézé's words carefully, in the final analysis, he was still talking about the pursuit of peace and prosperity for thousands of years. In this aspect, there was nothing special at all, but Vézé's method was really shocking, the logic was clear, and the process was straightforward. This was not a person from the remote mountains of Baise, this was a star descending to the world, this was the destiny of the Emperor!
"Your Majesty … Your Majesty!" Zuo Zongtang originally followed Vézé unwillingly, and even became a secretary's aide, he was actually not convinced. At first, Zuo Zongtang was convinced that Vézé dared to use a person like Zuo Zongtang, but he did not care about the possibility of Zuo Zongtang assassinating Vézé. Of course, Zuo Zongtang still felt that he was proud, Vézé spared his life, and he was very kind to the Chu army, so Zuo Zongtang would never assassinate Vézé no matter what. But the grudge in his heart made him find a psychological balance in the way he addressed Vézé, and now Zuo Zongtang had to change the way he addressed Vézé. Zuo Zongtang also felt that he could not justify himself if he did not show enough respect to Vézé.
"Your Majesty, if that Manchu Qing doesn't buy food and only plunder, won't they be able to hold on?" Wouldn't it be able to hold on? "Zuo Zongtang asked.
"They can, but how long can this method of quenching thirst with poison? Also, the capital has been a colorful world for hundreds of years, do you really expect the Bannermen to endure hardships and run back to the northeast? This kind of plundering will only strengthen the opposition between the people and Manchu Qing. The more the people oppose Manchu Qing, the more Manchu Qing will emphasize his identity as a Bannerman. Therefore, the situation will continue to worsen, and in the end, Manchu Qing will become a traitor. There are too many examples in history of what happens to traitors. Discussing this is just a waste of time. "Vézé said with a sneer on his face.
Looking at Vézé's sneer, Zuo Zongtang felt a chill in his heart. As an emperor of a political power, to be able to have such a high level of strategic judgment, such a person must have a clear view of his subordinates. Zuo Zongtang couldn't understand if following such a master was a good thing or a bad thing. Moreover, he also couldn't understand why Vézé's subordinates worshipped Vézé so much. Compared to Vézé, Zuo Zongtang's impression of Kurosawa Tsuyoshi was that he was a righteous person. How could a righteous person respect a vicious person like Vézé so much? Before coming into contact with Vézé, just by looking at Kurosawa Tsuyoshi's worship, Zuo Zongtang always thought that Vézé was a person of high moral integrity.
Therefore, Zuo Zongtang asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, to tell everyone about this, is it …"
Vézé smiled and said, "We are all comrades, and we must be honest with our comrades. When I do something, I always put gold on my own face. Do I take my comrades for fools? Another ridiculous or shameful thing about Manchu Qing is that Manchu Qing doesn't tell the truth. Manchu Qing's system forces people to lie. "
These words were sharp and unkind, and Zuo Zongtang had a sharp and unkind personality. After listening to this, he couldn't help but laugh. Zuo Zongtang suddenly realized something. Why was his mood so good after being Vézé's secretary for a few days? The reason was that the higher-ups of the Restoration Party weren't the kind of people who liked to lie. Everyone spoke straightforwardly and worked hard to get things done. Since they had to get things done, the accumulated feelings of frustration, failure, pressure, anger, and all these negative emotions combined with physical fatigue. It was already amazing that they could still work.
Therefore, the higher-ups of the Restoration Party were not at all like the adults of Manchu Qing. The adults of Manchu Qing had to walk in a square manner, talk about demeanor, and talk about style. The words of the higher-ups of the Restoration Party might not be pleasant, and their attitudes were often unruly. But this kind of attitude had an indescribable charm.
And Vézé, who led this group of people, from a traditional point of view, did indeed look a little like a ruler. But Vézé made Zuo Zongtang feel that he had the temperament of a real leader.
Thinking back to when he was in Manchu Qing, Zuo Zongtang always felt that his superiors were incompetent and his subordinates were good-for-nothings. Zuo Zongtang had to bear the heavy burden, but he was powerless. Zuo Zongtang suddenly understood why people like Kurosawa Tsuyoshi worshiped Vézé. Vézé wasn't perfect at all, but Vézé didn't need to use weapons. He only needed to make some seemingly simple decisions to achieve better results than using weapons. And in every war, the Liberation Army won every battle, from one victory to another. There would be results if he followed Vézé. This was the strong impression that Vézé had left on Zuo Zongtang. As for Vézé's "comrades," it was enough to know that he would definitely have results if he followed Vézé.
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