The contradiction between the growth rate of population and land, resulting in a long period of development, the per capita food supply decreased, and eventually led to a decrease in population, which is known to most people in later generations, that is, the Malthusian trap. Of course, after Malthus came up with this theory, it didn't really happen in the world. First, the pace of development of productive forces has greatly exceeded expectations, and the second is the slowdown in population growth.

But in this era, the contradiction between man and land is real. From a national perspective, the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty were constantly in turmoil, and the population could not grow. But in places that have been peaceful for a long time, such as Fujian Road, the contradiction between man and land has become very prominent. On the one hand, the humanities are flourishing, and on the other hand, the people have no land to plant, either go out to make a living, and even form the custom of drowning babies.

Once there are more people and less land, it is difficult to change the situation without going through war, or deliberately controlling the population. There was no solution before, but now there is, industrialization, urbanization. The specimen of all this is Ye County.

Wang Anshi was thinking about this while drinking with Du Zhongxiao. After a while, he said: "I want to think about it, but I still can't figure it out, how to open a factory, so that I am not afraid of more people and less land?" There is still so much land, and the population will eventually rise day by day, isn't it different? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Of course it's different. The population is in the factories, the housing is limited, the materials are limited, and the people themselves will control the population. This kind of thing is not clear for a while, but when you go to Yexian County and get to know the people working in the factory, you will understand it a little. ”

Wang Anshi nodded and didn't ask any more. He was really unfamiliar with Ye County, and he was suspicious of what Du Zhongxiao said. Now it seems that there is no problem in making more money in the factory, which can attract the population. However, when the population lives in the town, the growth rate will decrease, but there is some reason why it is not possible.

Seeing that the night was dark, Du Zhongxiao said: "That place in Yexian County was developed after I built the iron prison, and when I first built the iron prison, I didn't expect that there would be such a place, which is an unexpected joy." Now that it has developed, I am really overjoyed. It's just that the scale is still small, and the imperial court doesn't pay attention to it. Unlike the previous shops, most of the factories there could not collect taxes, and they did not know how much grain they could collect. When you get there, you have to study the factories, how they produce, how they make money, how they should collect taxes, and make a rule. ”

Wang Anshi said: "Zhongcheng, it is difficult to say whether the Holy Lord will send me to Ye County. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I will be a saint and do my best to recommend you to go." This time, it will be of great benefit to the imperial court to understand the factory and establish the rules. According to my estimate, with the good work of Ye County, in another four or five years, other iron prisons in the world should be able to do it. At that time, your experience in Ye County will be of great use. ”

Wang Anshi nodded, although he didn't know why Du Zhongxiao attached so much importance to Ye County, he still agreed. The two were in the same year, and more than ten years later, Du Zhongxiao had countless military exploits, and he was ranked in the middle of the imperial history, obviously with his own reasons.

Du Zhongxiao said: "In addition to figuring out the factory, we must also sort out a set of methods for governing the local area. ”

Wang Anshi said: "I heard that Zhongcheng proposed that local officials, officials, and errands should be separated, and each should perform its own duties. Rulers are in charge of officials, and officials are sent to clear places. I just don't know what to do. Although the officials are very powerful in the local area, as long as the officials are old enough to do things, they can't do anything. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Like you say this, it's still the old method from before, and it's a little out of place." At present, in the locality, most of the things are done by the officials, but they have very little money. Why did they do it? ”

Wang Anshi wanted to answer, but it was inappropriate to think about it, and closed his mouth again. After thinking for a while, he said: "One is that the officials are forced to force each other, and the other is naturally the officials who are beneficial." They manage the affairs of the local area, and they do not lose their own families. In addition, there are many benefits from accepting bribes. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, court personnel, should you accept bribes?" But if they don't take bribes, many officials can't even support themselves, let alone their families? In the past, the imperial court had no money, and with the help of large local households, it had to be like this. In fact, the benefits of the officials come from the people, and they are not made out of nothing. Therefore, officials should be hired and servants should be poor, and the two are different, of course, there are different practices. ”

Wang Anshi said: "If there is money, the government will naturally issue it to public officials, that is, the employment law proposed by officials——"

Du Zhongxiao shook his head when he heard this: "No, this is not a mercenary law. The law of mercenary service is to use money to replace the service, which is one of the ways in which officials are promoted to officials, and they are also raised by the servants. Officials are liuguan, sent to the local area by the imperial court, and hold the power of the place. Officials are local officials, and they only have to be promoted and changed their positions, and they do not have to be avoided according to the number of years. Of course, if they do well in the future, the officials can also use the method of recruitment to employ people, without having to stick to the local people. The auxiliary personnel who really do the work are rotated by the households. If a clerk is corrupt, the person on duty can report the clerk to the official. ”

Wang Anshi said: "Zhongcheng, with all due respect, this is just trouble, what good is it?" If it is said that officials are prevented from accepting money, if the officials are unscrupulous, they will still collude with each other. At present, the local officials are not acquiescing to the troubles. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It is a matter of the imperial court to not be able to choose a suitable official. At least in terms of the system, it is necessary to assume that the right officials are selected first, and there are no constraints when they arrive at the local level. If this is not the case, in most places, officials only collect taxes from the imperial court, but do nothing else. ”

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao took a sip of wine, felt slightly drunk, and said: "In fact, in the final analysis, there are always good and bad things in the governance of local officials. What is good? What is bad? Can there be a uniform standard? Actually, no. Because officials represent the imperial court, the interests of the imperial court do not completely coincide with the interests of the locality. Accomplishing the tasks set by the imperial court and making the people's lives happy is sometimes conflicting. Which is heavier? Which is lighter? It also depends on the specific time, the specific place, and the specific situation we are facing. Spread it out, and the knowledge in it will be great. But there must always be a standard for the imperial court to evaluate officials. This is what it means to divide officials, officials, and errands in the locality. Officials have the roles of both the imperial court and the local fathers, and the officials are those who simply follow the instructions of the officials, and only obey the will of the above, regardless of what the people think. The officers are ordinary people, and if they are damaged, they can report it to the officials. The officials are sent by the official court to complete the public officials. It is the local elders who are wrong, and they must not damage the interests of the locality. The reason why these three are separated, in the final analysis, is actually because the officials themselves play two roles at the local level. ”

Wang Anshi shook his head, drank a glass of wine, and did not speak. Obviously, he didn't agree with Du Zhongxiao's words.

Du Zhongxiao said: "We were born in the world, and many things are so contradictory. Put the contradictions on the officials, because they are the most treated, have the most power, and of course bear the greatest responsibility. The official and the errand are just two extensions of the role. ”

Wang Anshi thought for a while and said, "Zhongcheng's words are reasonable. Many things in the world cannot be simply divided into right and wrong, and the same is true for officials in charge of government. Sometimes the imperial court has to do so, knowing that it is not good for the place. Sometimes it's harmful in the short term, but it's even better in the long run. It is not an easy task to balance the situation. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I say this, in fact, I want to make it clear that it is difficult for the imperial court to govern the world and for officials to govern. In a decade or two, we can have an impression of an official, how this official is, how that official is. However, when officials do things, sometimes they can distinguish between right and wrong, and sometimes they can't understand it. Because the officials themselves have two roles of the court and the locality, they have different proportions and responsibilities for everyone, and many practices cannot be distinguished for a while. The division of officials, officials, and poor officials at the local level is originally a separation of the identities of officials in the system. ”

Seeing that Wang Anshi was a little unimpressed, Du Zhongxiao said: "Jiefu is an official and has not many official positions, so it is still difficult to understand. It's better to say that there is chaos in the world, what is governance? What is chaos? It makes sense to look at the victory or defeat of foreign wars, the world's money and food, and the people's well-being, but there is always something wrong with taking it out alone? Why? Because it's all partial. If you really want to see the chaos in order, I think about it, it is better to unify the world and see it as one person, similar to the appearance of one person. If the person grows up healthy, it is cured. If it is tired, sick and weak, it is chaos. ”

Wang Anshi said with a smile: "Zhongcheng said this, but I have never heard it before. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The benevolent and philosopherical people in the world always hope to sum up a truth. According to reason, it is right, and if it violates reason, it is wrong. Even turning this principle into rules is like the three outlines and five constants, but not knowing that the reason itself is sometimes wrong. Just like a human being, it is necessary to exhaustively investigate what human nature is, so as to give birth to the rules of governing the country and the rules of ordinary life. Actually, is it clear? I can't tell. Governing the country is also like this, in fact, how can there be so many rules! The sage said that Datong, what is Datong? It's just a matter of arguing. It would be inappropriate to go on and on. What really makes sense is that one person is one thing, and many people are the same when they get together. The most important person in governance is to grasp what kind of person is when many people get together. ”

When Wang Anshi heard this, he was stunned for a while. He didn't expect that Du Zhongxiao would say this in the end, which was beyond his expectations.

After saying these words, Du Zhongxiao drank a glass of wine and didn't speak again. He didn't know if Wang Anshi could understand it, what he would understand, anyway, what he wanted to say had already been said.

Since he ascended to Jinshidi, he has been disturbed for more than ten years, and Du Zhongxiao has been thinking about what he wants to do in this era. In the end, I found that the big theory could not be done by myself. In fact, the various isms and theories of the previous life study correspond to social reality. When you learn, tell you that it is a truth that is not easy for eternity, but is it really the truth?