I watched Er Chuang’s short video, and everything went numb!

【Adam Smith said that capital is neither good nor evil. 】

【It is only an element that enables an economic organization, a country or a factory to operate normally and improve efficiency. 】

【Capital is a parallel production factor like land and human labor. This is Adam Smith's first important theory. 】

【Before the birth of "The Wealth of Nations", almost the whole world has been resisting or even suppressing the development of capital. 】

【Whether it is our Chinese emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce or foreign ZJ theology and royal control, it is essentially a struggle between agricultural civilization and capital culture. 】

【The emergence of "The Wealth of Nations" not only unified the people's thoughts on capital at that time, but also many economists developed more knowledge about economic capital based on the classic theories in the book, laying a solid ideological foundation for the development of capitalism. 】

【Therefore, it is with "The Wealth of Nations" that we have what we now call modern economics. 】

……

The plane of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Che's eyes were full of thought.

He didn't have a good impression of the merchant group.

It would take a lot of money to attack the Xiongnu.

In order to solve this problem, he asked the court to summon many big merchants, hoping that these people could contribute to the country.

Unexpectedly, these big merchants all cried poor and refused to contribute to the country.

This made him very unhappy.

He felt that it was the various tax reduction policies issued by the court in the early years of the Han Dynasty that made these merchants who had been suppressed as early as the Qin Dynasty rich again.

Unexpectedly, these people got the benefits of the court, and their money was getting more and more, but they opposed the court and did not cooperate with the court's major policies.

That he naturally could not tolerate.

So, he launched the Calculation of Silk Order and the Report of Silk Order, which severely hit the merchant group and even caused many merchants to go bankrupt.

Originally, Liu Che didn't care about this.

For the ancient Chinese dynasties, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce was the basic national policy.

This is actually understandable.

The profit of commerce is indeed higher than that of agriculture, but the ancient Chinese dynasties were agricultural societies.

If everyone becomes a businessman, then agriculture will be abandoned, which will affect the foundation of the country.

And after merchants become rich, they sometimes collude with officials and annex land, causing the people to live in poverty.

Therefore, most of the ancient Chinese dynasties will attach importance to agriculture and crack down on commerce.

As a result, the group of merchants will also be cracked down.

However.

As more knowledge of later generations is obtained from the giant screen, the concepts of many ancient people have begun to change.

For example, Liu Che, after seeing the discussion of this paragraph of the giant screen, can think calmly and objectively.

“Capital is one of the three basic elements of economic operation, which means it is indispensable. Therefore, the court does not care about business and merchants.We can suppress it blindly, but we must also support its development. ”

“However, capital is neither good nor evil, but businessmen are, so we cannot let it go and need to control it.”

Liu Che kept thinking in his heart.

……

[The second important theory: "Invisible Hand".]

[This is a word invented by Adam Smith.]

[What is the "invisible hand"?]

[Let's look at a few questions first: What does the factory produce, and at what price is it sold to people in which country or region? What kind of transaction behavior and transaction structure should this sales process have?]

[Behind all these commodity circulations, it is not a certain person who has the final say, or a certain ]

[Who has the final say? ]

[There is an "invisible hand" behind it. ]

[Is grain rising or falling today? What is the price of this train? And so on and so forth...]

[There is an "invisible hand" behind these questions. ]

[Today we already know that it is called "market power", and it is this "invisible hand" that is driving the development of the entire business behavior. ]

...

The plane of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin was very He focused on the giant screen in the sky and thought seriously.

In fact, he had heard of the so-called "invisible hand" several times in many previous videos.

He even knew that there was a "visible hand" of the government corresponding to it.

What Li Shimin wanted to know now was how to balance the power of the two?

If we rely solely on the "invisible hand", that would be an example of the Great Depression in the United States.

And it would not work to completely suppress the "invisible hand" with the "visible hand". Big Brother's final economic failure Defeat is the proof.

Based on the experience gained from the previous videos, Li Shimin felt that the key to the problem lies in balance.

It is necessary to let the "invisible hand" play a role, and to use the "visible hand" for appropriate intervention.

But the problem is that he understands the general principles, but he has no idea how to do it.

And this problem may not be very important for the current Tang Dynasty.

But it is very important for the Tang Dynasty to start the industrial revolution and become an industrial society in the future.

"How to do it? ”

Li Shimin couldn’t figure it out.

This is normal.

Although he was a first-class elite in ancient times, these are the research contents of modern economics. He has no relevant knowledge background, so it is not surprising that he can’t figure it out.

Besides, how to balance liberal economics and government intervention is also an extremely complicated issue.

Even many economists in later generations have their own opinions and there is no standard answer.

……

[So, in this “invisible hand”What is the motivation of each person behind the scenes? 】

[What kind of motivation makes people participate in these commercial behaviors when driven by market behavior? 】

[There is a big difference between the East and the West on this issue. 】

[For example, in our East, the first book many ancient people read was called "Three Character Classic", and the first sentence was "When a person is born, his nature is good." 】

[Everyone is kind when they are born, and everyone's nature is very similar, so why do they become different people later? 】

[It is because of different customs and different living environments that make you become another person. 】

[So to go back to the basics, people are kind, which is our Oriental view of human nature. 】

……

Spring and Autumn and Warring States plane.

Mencius nodded slightly.

That's right.

"The goodness of human nature is like water flowing downwards. There is no one who is not good, and there is no water that does not flow downwards."

There is no such thing as a born bad person. Human nature is good, just like water naturally flows downwards.

There is no one who is not good, just like there is no water that does not flow downwards.

On the other side.

Xunzi shook his head.

He did not agree with the saying "When people are born, their nature is good", but believed that human nature is evil, and goodness is only what people do after birth.

However, this passage from later generations clearly shows that his doctrine did not become the mainstream of Chinese culture.

Instead, the "theory of good nature" became the mainstream of Chinese thought.

"When people are born, their nature is evil, and those who are good are fake."

Xunzi shook his head, feeling a little regretful.

...

[However, the West does not think so, it believes that "When people are born, their nature is evil". 】

【Because everyone is a sinner of God, we have been sinning since we ate the apple in the Garden of Eden. 】

【Why do we eat apples? Because we are greedy, because we are selfish, so greed and selfishness are the basic color of human beings. 】

【How can we eliminate greed and selfishness? 】

【We need to entrust our souls to God, we need to constantly atone for our sins, and we need to constantly repent. 】

【Therefore, the East and the West have completely different understandings of human nature. 】

……

In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States plane, Xunzi frowned.

Although he also believed that human nature is evil, it has nothing to do with whether there are gods or not.

He did not agree with this set of Western sayings.

In fact, he did not like such thoughts.

……

【Now the problem comes. 】

[In the market behavior driven by the "invisible hand", if people are evil, if everyone is selfish and greedy, how can you have a normal business behavior? 】

……

The plane of Taizu of the Great Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.

Most businessmen are profit-drivenIf there is no supervision and management by the court, commodity trading will inevitably be in chaos.

……

[Adam Smith gave the answer to this question in theory. ] (To read the novel, go to Faloo Novel Network!)

[He believes that everyone is selfish and greedy. ]

[Whether you are writing a book, producing cotton, or making a car, it is all for profit, which is selfish in itself. ]

[And because you are selfish, you will work hard and generate altruistic behavior for your own benefit. ]

[Therefore, behind the "invisible hand" are selfish people one after another, and the various economic behaviors of selfish people one by one have produced an altruistic result. ]

[And when these altruistic results converge into a public behavior, this society is changed. ][]

[This is the second theoretical creation in The Wealth of Nations. 】

……

Daqin plane.

Qin Shihuang's eyes were full of thought.

He did not quite agree with Adam Smith's statement.

He felt that this was just a simple inference of an ideal state.

And people in real social life are much more complicated.

Although he did not understand the principles of modern economics, as the head of a country, he understood human nature.

A prerequisite for Adam Smith's theory to be established is that everyone must be smart enough and have a long-term vision to achieve a state where everyone is for themselves and for others at the same time.

But in real human social life, this is not always the case.

Everyone is selfish, which often does not produce altruistic results.

And.

This is not just his inference.

In many previous videos, many countries, including the Eagle Sauce Country, have caused economic crises because of relying solely on the "invisible hand".

This shows that this theory is not feasible in practice.

Like Li Shimin, Qin Shihuang also came to the conclusion that the "invisible hand" and the "visible hand" must be balanced.

And his doubts were the same, that is, how to balance?

……

[The second important theory: division of labor. ]

[In a factory, how can its efficiency be greatly improved? ]

[Adam Smith talked about a concept called division of labor in the first chapter of "The Wealth of Nations". ]

[He believed that division of labor was the most fundamental reason why an enterprise organization could greatly improve efficiency, increase production capacity and become an excellent organization. ]

……

"Division of labor?"

In the Ming Chengzu plane, Zhu Di's eyes became more focused.

He had a hunch that this would be a very critical thing.

……

[For example, a needle, it sounds simple, but for an individual, making and selling this needle is a huge and difficult task.things. 】

【First, this person has to go mining, find an iron mine, and get the iron ore out. 】

【Then the iron ore has to be refined into a steel ingot or an iron lump, and then it has to be ground and ground into a needle. 】

【After the needle is made, it has to be sold. 】

【If a person does it by himself, even if he lives to be 120 years old, how many needles can he make? Not many. 】

……

Many ancient people in the past dynasties thought about it in their hearts.

It was found that it was indeed the case.

If all these things were done by one person independently, it would be too slow.

Not only is it slow, but it is also extremely troublesome.

……

【What is the highest efficiency? 】

【Someone goes to mine iron ore, and someone else puts the mined iron ore into a steel company to refine it. 】

【After a piece of iron or steel is forged, another company processes it into a needle. 】

【Then this needle is sold to the world through some sales companies. 】

【Each of us only undertakes one aspect of the work in the production process of this needle, so it is simple and specialized. 】

……

See here.

Many ancient merchants in all dynasties began to ponder in their hearts.

It sounds true.

However.

They soon thought of a problem. After dividing so many processes, what if one of the processes goes wrong?

Who will control and how to control the entire process?

……

【However, in human history, Adam Smith was not the first person to propose the theory of division of labor. 】

【Do you know who it was? 】

【The first person was our ancestor. 】

[In the 6th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a country called Qi, and Qi had a prime minister called Guan Zhong. 】

[Guan Zhong proposed "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans". He believed that there were four types of people engaged in economic and life activities in Qi: the first was scholars, soldiers; the second was farmers; the third was artisans; and the fourth was merchants. 】

[People from each profession gathered in a village, and then passed down from generation to generation, and then worked together in an industry. 】

……

"The theory of the four classes of people settling down in different occupations?"

In the dimension of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di quickly responded in his mind.

He was not unfamiliar with the saying of "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans".

But after a brief thought in his mind, he felt that Guan Zhong's theory of the four classes of people settling down in different occupations was different from the division of labor in "The Wealth of Nations".

Or, although they both seem to be talking about division of labor, the meaning behind them is very different.

……

[So, for a long time, among all the countries in the agricultural civilization period, China's handicraft industry was the most advanced in the world,]

【Many experts believe that the specialized division of labor in the field of Chinese handicrafts was 1,000 years earlier than that in Europe. This is the ancient Chinese civilization. 】

【However, this specialized division of labor in China did not eventually evolve into the industrial civilization period. 】

【On the contrary, when the Industrial Revolution occurred, Adam Smith and other British people implanted the theory of specialized division of labor into the management and operation of factories and enterprises, and gradually formed a theoretical system. 】

……

The plane of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin pondered the three important theories of "The Wealth of Nations" in his mind.

He drew a rough conclusion from it:

The prosperity of a country depends on improving social productivity and increasing the country's entire labor output, and the division of labor is an important way to help improve social productivity.

With this conclusion, the future development of the Tang Dynasty after the start of the industrial revolution also has a general direction.

It is about balancing the "invisible hand" and the "visible hand", and he still has no idea.

……

[The above are the three important theories of "The Wealth of Nations". ]

[As a classic work of economics, "The Wealth of Nations" contains a lot of content. ]

[For example, in the entire national economic structure, what role does the national government need to play? ]

……

Hearing this question.

Many emperors of all dynasties were shocked, and their eyes looking at the giant screen in the sky became more focused.

This is exactly what they are very concerned about.

……

[Adam Smith's answer to this question is:

1. The national government needs to control foreign trade with restraint.

2. Maintain national defense security and domestic security.

3. Take on infrastructure construction.

4. The responsibility of popularizing basic education. ]

……

Looking at these four points, many emperors of all dynasties began to ponder them one by one in their hearts. .