Whether they developed from slavery or later freedmen sold their freedom to become manor accessories of the manor owner, serfs can be said to be the product of the feudal manor system in the Middle Ages. It was also the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the transition from slavery to the Eastern Roman Empire.

The result of feudal compromise.

Different countries have different definitions of serfdom. For example, in Poland, serfs are slaves who cultivate farmland. In order to expand agricultural production, Polish manor owners expanded their farmland and at the same time turned a large number of free people into slaves. Russia

Almost the same, but serfs

The scope of work is wider, not only involving farming, but also mining, forestry and road construction. This is the same in Prussia, except that Prussian law stipulates that serfs are different from slaves, and the serf lord only has incomplete personal possession rights.

For example, lords could not execute serfs.

"First of all, you have to understand one thing. Although today's wars are still affected by the military capabilities of a general in terms of battle scale, in terms of strategy, the outcome of a battle is not as decisive as it was in the past few hundred years. Loser

If the country is strong,

There can be one more game, two games, or even three games. As long as a country still has the strength to spare, the outcome is still unknown. So, Hans, think about it, where does the country's strength come from?" I stretched out my hand.

He shook his finger and said, "People! To be precise, it's the population base!"

In the 18th century before the industrial revolution, and even in the past thousand years, population was a reflection of a country’s strength. As the heir to the Roman Empire, especially the third heir, I was often lectured by my cheap dad.

Knowledge about people, and warnings highlighted.

"As long as there are still people, then that country will still have soldiers, and as long as there are still people, then that country will still have taxes. Hans, you know why in the fourth century, Rome expanded the Roman citizenship rights that had been limited to Rome to

The whole empire?”

"I'm not Frederick!" Hans told me in a more tactful way that he didn't read much, although his attitude was a little excited.

"Although you are not Frederick, you have also read a lot about Rome with her?" I was deciding the scope of Hans's knowledge to make sure that I was not playing the harp later.

Seeing Hans nodding, I said: "According to the Record of Merits created by Emperor Augustus in 14 AD, there were less than five million Romans in the Roman Empire at that time." The Romans in my mouth are

Refers to those Romans who truly have Roman ancestry on the Apennine Peninsula or who were finally granted Roman citizenship after strict examination rather than "Romans" living within the territory of the Roman Empire. "There are less than five million people, although later

The population would continue to grow, but after Augustus, Rome's enemies became more numerous

Each one was powerful, and the scale of the war was getting bigger and bigger. Those Romans died very quickly. Therefore, even though they knew that extending citizenship rights to the entire empire would bring chaos, the rulers at that time still announced this policy. And then... from AD

From the third century to the end of the third century,

Rome ushered in an imperial civil war. However, apart from the internal fighting, there was still room for expansion of the empire and the recovery of lost territories. In the era of Diocletian, due to its huge population base, Rome reluctantly ushered in a renaissance.

His years, even if they are short, are enough.”

The golden age of Rome, that is, the final glory of the slave age, was the hundred years between Augustus and the following five good emperors. After that, the economic collapse caused by slavery caused the Roman Empire to truly enter its first decline.

Period. The crisis of the third century caused by the civil war in the empire later on. Although Rome was on the verge of collapse, the empire eventually survived.

What's the reason?

Are the Roman legions good at fighting?

Of course not, not because of the expansion of Roman citizenship. If only the Romans in the Apennine Peninsula had relied on the Romans, the Roman Empire did not have to wait until the Huns two hundred years later. They perished as early as the third century AD. Why would Diocletian still be there?

Play the game of Four Emperors.

I asked back: "Just a decree to expand citizenship allowed Rome to continue from 230 AD to today. Don't you deny the importance of [people] and the resources of this country?"

Hans lowered his head and said nothing, but just looking at him like that, I knew it was time to talk about the reasons why manor serfdom hurt Prussia: "Since you admit the importance of population to a country, then you

We should also understand that Prussia’s serfdom system caused many people to disappear from the kingdom’s population register. 20%? Or 30%? Those disappeared people cannot be conscripted or taxed. Do you think this will do much harm to the Kingdom of Prussia?

big?"

"But.."

I interrupted Hans: "Yes, you Junkers are indeed brave and good at fighting. Your cavalry has contributed countless times to the Kingdom of Prussia's current scale. But you have to know, how many years does it take to train a knight?

How much land and population? What does it take to kill a knight? Well-armed armor and horses cost at least a thousand talers, plus land and slaves, even more

Worth tens of thousands, what next? The cost of killing a knight is a musket worth no more than a dozen thalers and a bullet. Even if your Junkers' cavalry is cheaper than the knights, you have to understand that the current

The era is no longer the past when one knight could ride a hundred. The model of dividing the land and using the manor system to support a small but elite number of knights is no longer applicable."

Why were Poland, Russia and Prussia described as barbaric and backward in the eighteenth century?

Isn’t it because even after France and Italy completed their feudal transformation, these countries still continued to use the ancient manorial system.

Hans sat there in despair, and I looked at him like this. After a while, he said: "Will those serfs let you be released immediately?"

"Release? No, Prussia cannot afford the price of release." I shook my head.

"No release? According to what you just said, if you release the serfs, won't it mean that Prussia will have more soldiers and more taxes!"

"You throw millions of people out onto the streets at once without having to think about providing them with jobs or having to think about more follow-up issues?"

"They have fields to cultivate by themselves and farm tools, so what do they have to be afraid of?" Hans said in a bad temper.

"In addition to those rich farmers, Hans, there are also some middle households in the world between poor farmers and rich farmers. They were previously under the protection and management of the manor owners. It takes time to adapt to the entire society!"

Speaking of serfs, I'm afraid many people will immediately think of the hardworking people who live in poverty but are bullied all day long. However, serfs are not just the hardworking people who live in poverty. There are also more people who can barely live a life with a balanced income and expenditure.

of farmers.

Yes, although serfs lost their freedom in life, they still had property rights. According to the dictionary definition of the Roman Empire, serfs were obliged to work for the lord for free, using their own labor to work on the land of the manor owner in exchange for protection and

justice, as well as additional cultivation and cultivation on the land to ensure their own livelihood, and finally let the manor

Farmers who are enslaved by financial constraints. Moreover, to put it in conflict with the red education I have received in the past ten years, even if they are exploited, there are not a few exploiters in the exploiting class who have conscience and know how to manage. Although those people

It is not possible to free them, but it is still possible to give some small favors and make the serfs grateful.

When serfs are freed for no reason, and they leave their manor where their life was still decent, many problems will break out at once, and if these problems are not dealt with properly or foreseeably, they will only create problems very quickly.

A more acute question. Why did Germany in the 20th century give birth to the great god Marx, who in turn brought out

Lenin, this little brother? Wasn’t it because after the serfdom reform, the serfs who came out of the farmland suddenly went to factories to work as factory slaves. If Bismarck hadn’t had the foresight to introduce the world’s first labor protection law and

Welfare system, I am afraid that Prussia will be the first to submerge Tsarist Russia under the sea of ​​red.

"And, for now, we need them even more to farm food for Prussia."

The current level of productivity is very low, and agricultural production tools are crude. Wooden plows, wooden hoes, and occasionally iron-shared wooden plows are still used in major agricultural areas. The harvest amount is only about 5 times that of seeds. The survival rate of cattle and sheep in animal husbandry is about

50% and 30%. If the serfs are taken away at once, who will produce the goods?

When it comes to serf reform, the red education I learned in the past often associated serf reform with capitalism. But the teachers from China were very irresponsible and just told me in general terms that it was capitalism that promoted serf reform and released manpower.

They didn't tell me exactly how to do it, and if I hadn't traveled through time, I wouldn't have expected to understand the twists and turns in this life.

As I said before, Prussia currently needs serfs to cultivate food more than freeing serfs, because Prussia is not ready yet.

This was not ready not only in terms of ideology, but also in terms of Prussian hardware.

To put it simply, Prussia is not an industrial country yet, and it does not yet have a large amount of industrial infrastructure built in the country. Since there are no industrial facilities, what do we need people to do? Make trouble?

Also, the release of serfs and the process of capitalism and industrialization are mutually reinforcing processes, and capitalization and industrialization require primitive capital accumulation. Where does primitive capital accumulation come from? Prussia is not a colonial country and can rob the indigenous people.

Then it is destined to be one class plundering from another class.

In the parallel world, the redemption money for the status of serfs is a process of redistribution and re-concentration of national wealth. The government passes the amnesty order and hands over the capital for the redemption of the status of the serfs to the owners of the Junker manor, so that these manor owners have funds to carry out the work.

The serfs who invested in industry and then became freedmen had just stepped out of the manor and then entered the factory and became factory slaves. The factory slaves who discovered that they had been cheated continued to cause trouble from the mid-19th century until Bismarck introduced the welfare system. (
Chapter completed!