"Hasty? Misleading?" Meton suddenly raised his head and stared at Yu Zhining. "The Get Rich Sutra is the summary of the successful experience of Village Mo. It's a practical strategy to enrich the people. How can it be misleading in the censor's words?"
Yu Zhining sneered. "Since ancient times, all the dynasties have emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce. How can it be that in Merton's words, there's no way to live without commerce? Moreover, he took the lead in doing business in Yazhou. The price of the mandarin oranges, which were cheap in Yazhou, increased several times through the hands of the Mo Family. If everyone in the world does business, pursues profits and forgets righteousness, it will be a corruption of etiquette.
Meton sneered and retorted. "Since Mr. Yu thinks that merchants are useless, why don't you submit a memorial to His Majesty and ban the people from doing business?"
"Uh!" Yu Zhining was suddenly choked. Although he agreed with emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, if he submitted a memorial to ban the people from doing business, he would definitely be laughed at.
"Since ancient times, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is based on the fact that there is not enough food and clothing in the world. Emphasizing agriculture is the foundation of a country. Only when there is enough food can the society be stable. At the end of the dynasties, the people had no way to make a living. It was because of the lack of food that caused social unrest. This is exactly what I mean by instability without agriculture." Merton said.
The officials could not help but nod. They had experienced the turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty and naturally knew that the reason for the turmoil was that the people could not make a living.
"As for the reason why the price of the mandarin oranges increased several times, do you know how much manpower and resources it takes to transport the oranges from Yazhou to Chang 'an? Plus, the Mo Family's secret technique of keeping the oranges as fresh as before? The price of the mandarin oranges increased by several times. Do you know how much manpower and resources it takes to transport the oranges from Yazhou to Chang' an? Plus, the Mo Family's secret technique of keeping the oranges as fresh as before? The price of the mandarin oranges increased by several times. This is the reason why the people of Chang 'an bought the oranges. Do you know how much manpower and resources it takes to transport the oranges from Yazhou to Chang' an? Plus, the Mo Family's secret technique of keeping the oranges fresh. This is the proof that the people of Chang 'an bought the oranges. The so-called labor is the doubling of the value of the agricultural products through Yazhou. This is the reason why the Mo Family's rich." Meton said proudly.
"What about the so-called 'no trade, no life'?" Yu Zhining asked. The Tang dynasty also emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, while Mo Jiazi's Get Rich Sutra openly supported merchants. He wanted to see how Meton could justify himself.
Unafraid, Meton said, "Businessmen don't work in production, but they travel between two places to achieve mutual exchange. Today, the Tang dynasty is flourishing. After the advancement of the Tang dynasty's ink technology, the curved plough and pesticide can increase the yield of grain for years. Artificial hatching technology allows chickens, ducks, and geese to be everywhere. Grafting technology allows melons and fruits to be spread all over the mountains and plains. At this time, the people who grew grain wanted to eat meat, the people who raised chickens and ducks wanted to eat fruits, and the people who planted fruit trees wanted to eat grain. All of these required merchants to transport the goods and trade with each other. The commoners would exchange their excess harvests for money. This way, everyone would be able to obtain what they wanted. This is called 'no trade, no life'. Yazhou doesn't produce grain, but it is rich in tribute oranges. If no merchants bring grain and buy tribute oranges, I'm afraid that the tribute oranges will rot on the trees all over the mountains and plains. How can the commoners in Chang 'an taste such delicious food? "
The officials nodded. Although they all said that agriculture was emphasized and commerce was suppressed, in private, which family didn't do business in secret? Otherwise, how could they maintain a decent life in Chang 'an?
"All the people in the world are indispensable. Merchants are also an indispensable part of the world. Of course, there are also many illegal merchants who hoard and profit by selling shoddy goods. This needs the supervision of the imperial court." Meton added.
Yu Zhining laughed and said, "Merton's argument can't cover up the fact that the world's wealth is just a bowl of water. If one person takes more, another person will take less. The so-called Mo Family Village and Yazhou are just taking the world's wealth to enrich the two places."
Hearing Yu Zhining's words, many officials immediately nodded. Since ancient times, the theory that the world's wealth was just a bowl of water had been recognized by the world. As soon as Yu Zhining's theory came out, it immediately attracted widespread support.
Meton angrily rebuked, "It's ridiculous. It's a big fallacy to say that the world's wealth is just a bowl of water. Wealth is not fixed, but created by thousands of people of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, where did the extra money come from when the taxes of the Tang Dynasty increased year after year? Did the imperial court extort from the people again? "
"Mo Jiazi, don't talk nonsense." Yu Zhining said with a grimace. In the past, Yu Zhining's words would have been extremely accurate if the taxes were roughly the same every year, but ever since the Mo School's Mo Arts had been widely used, the Great Tang's taxes had been explosively increased year after year. Now, this statement was full of holes, and Mo Dun had struck a fatal blow.
"This humble official is not talking nonsense. The world's wealth is just a bowl of water. It may be so in a short period of time, but in the long run, the world's wealth is constantly increasing. Take the taxes of the Tang Dynasty for example. The 10% tax increase every year is the wealth that the people of the Tang Dynasty worked hard to create in the past year.
"This is only the data of recent years. If you compare it with the previous dynasties, you will find that the wealth of the current Tang Dynasty is far greater than that of the previous dynasties. Where did this wealth come from?" Meton asked.
Yan Shigu nodded and stepped forward. "That's right. Take the most powerful Hanwu Dynasty as an example. One year's taxes were not even 50% of the current Tang Dynasty's."
"In the distant Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties, the land of Huaxia was even more barren. The people of the world built cities and developed farmland. This is the wealth created by the people. It is because of the hard work of the people of Huaxia generation after generation that we have today's wealth. Not to mention that one mu of farmland could only produce three loads of grain. Now, the average farmland in the world can produce four loads. The original two-wheeled carriage can only carry a thousand pounds of grain, while the average four-wheeled carriage can carry three to five thousand pounds of grain. The amount of grass consumed is almost the same. Originally, fruits were scarce. With the grafting technology, fruits can be grown all over the mountains and fields. Sir Yu, can you explain where the increased output comes from? "Meton asked, staring at him intently.
Yu Zhining's face immediately flushed red. He mumbled and could not speak. The effect of the Mo Family's ink technique on increasing production was very significant. These naked data directly slapped him in the face, making him unable to refute.
Meton said boldly, "What a fallacy it is to say that the wealth of the world is like a bowl of water. Wealth is created by the hands of the people of the world and accumulated through generation after generation. According to the current trend, the taxes of the Tang Dynasty are increasing at a rate of 10% every year. You can calculate. After ten years, the taxes of the Tang Dynasty will double on the current basis. After twenty years, it will double again. After every ten years, it will double again. If it is a hundred years later, the annual taxes of the Tang Dynasty will reach an enormous figure."
"Phew!"
The people in the court could not help but be agitated. Many ministers who were proficient in mathematics had even calculated the astronomical figure that they dared not imagine.
"If the current wealth of the Tang Dynasty is said to be a bowl of water, with the passage of time, it will accumulate into a bucket of water, a tank of water, or even a lake of water until it accumulates into an endless sea," Meton said firmly.
At this point, the first wealth debate of the Tang Dynasty officially ended. Under the support of ironclad data, Yu Zhining was completely defeated. Meton's theory of wealth creation was first presented in the Tang Dynasty.
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