Fu Yao asked curiously: "Economic crisis? What is an economic crisis?"

Li Shui smiled slightly and said to Fu Yao: "It's still early for these things. It's not too late to talk about it later."

Fu Yao shook his head and said to Li Shui: "Master, I think it's better to prepare for a rainy day. This economic crisis... sounds a bit like some kind of great famine."

Li Shui hummed: "You are right to regard it as a great famine."

He pointed at the people outside the city and said: "Have you noticed that the people of Da Qin have undergone some changes in recent years? Originally, there were scholars, farmers, and merchants, with the largest number being farmers. Now, there are more and more workers and merchants.

"

Fu Yao hummed: "That's true, and I feel that there will be more and more people in the future, even more than the farmer."

Li Shui glanced at Fu Yao approvingly and asked with a smile: "How did you come up with this?"

Fu Yao said: "It's very simple, chemical fertilizers, new farming methods, high-yielding seeds, plus the new agricultural tools being developed by Shangjun Courtyard."

"It is conceivable that one day in the future, only a small population will be needed to produce a large amount of food. Then the remaining people will naturally work and become traders. After all, these two types of people are making more and more money.

Already."

Li Shui hummed: "If this continues, a new type of rich people will appear."

"These rich people are different from the original big landowners and powerful people. They are mainly businessmen. These people either resell goods, or open factories and recruit craftsmen to work."

Li Shui tried his best to explain the matter in an easy-to-understand way, and wanted to describe to Fu Yao what a capitalist was.

As a result, Fu Yao said: "Isn't that the Shangjun Courtyard?"

Li Shui: "..."

It seems that it is true.

He coughed dryly and said to Fu Yao: "Suppose that in the future, there will be many rich people like Shang Jun in Da Qin. What will be the result? These people are getting richer and richer, so they will continue to increase their wealth.

Invest and keep producing more stuff so you can make more money.”

Fu Yao nodded: "Yes, isn't this bad?"

Li Shui said: "Until one day, they produced too much and couldn't sell it. For example, they only needed to make ten steamed buns to feed the people in the world. But now they have made a hundred steamed buns.

indivual."

Fu Yao exclaimed, "The remaining ninety would be a pity, they would be wasted."

Li Shui said: "It's not just a waste. When these people find that they are producing too much, they will immediately fire those craftsmen and reduce production."

Fu Yao said: "That's right."

Li Shui said: "But those craftsmen themselves have no land and have always relied on working for others to make money. Now that they have lost their jobs, they have no income."

Fu Yao said: "Then they are so pitiful."

Li Shui said: "Yes, these people are indeed pitiful. But besides being pitiful, there is another problem. They have no money to buy steamed buns. The rich people's steamed buns can no longer be sold."

"So, they will lay off more workers. Then more workers will be poor. Then the steamed buns will be even less sold. This will form a vicious cycle."

"The originally prosperous Daqin will suddenly become lifeless. The rich can't make money, and the poor can't make money either. The rich have plenty of property and can survive for a while. But the poor are going to starve to death."

Fu Yao was stunned when he heard this.

He couldn't figure it out, even though there were all kinds of magic and new farming methods, how could people still starve to death? Isn't this too strange?

But when he thought about it along Li Shui's train of thought, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

This is simply puzzling.

Li Shui smiled slightly, patted his shoulder, and said: "Master, when you become an emperor, you will have to recruit some people, collect data from various places, and make various predictions. You can't govern a country by imagination, but by science.

.”

Fu Yao nodded slowly.

Suddenly, he said: "Master, that's not right. If the rich gave the extra steamed buns to the poor, wouldn't the poor not starve to death?"

Li Shui smiled: "Your idea sounds good, but those rich people won't do it."

Fu Yao asked in confusion: "Why?"

Li Shui said: "Some poor people are so destitute that they can only wait to starve to death. But there are some poor people who sell their iron pots and scrape together a little money to buy food."

"Suddenly, the rich man announced that you don't have to buy steamed buns anymore, I can give them away for free. Think about it, will anyone buy steamed buns anymore?"

"It is true that the rich people's steamed buns will not be wasted, but the steamed buns that could have been sold are completely unsold. They will not do this."

Fu Yao suddenly realized: "It makes sense. But...isn't this too rich and unkind?"

Li Shui said with emotion: "Master, you have not experienced that era. The rich people at that time are no longer human beings. We have a saying, they are called personified capital. They are just spokespersons for money."

Fu Yao said worriedly: "But what will happen if this happens?"

Li Shui said: "If this happens, will those workers rebel? At first, the workers just wanted to have enough to eat and get the rich man's buns."

"But as time goes by, the wise ones among them will definitely find the problem. They will feel that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, which is the root cause."

"The poor work for the rich and work hard all day, but they get a few dollars to buy steamed buns. The rich don't have to do anything, but they can earn a lot of wealth."

"They will feel that the wealth of the rich is stolen from the poor."

Fu Yao scratched his head: "It seems...it was indeed stolen from the poor."

Li Shui said: "Yes. So once such a wise man appears, the Great Qin will undergo earth-shaking changes."

Fu Yao suddenly shuddered: "Isn't the Emperor of Qin the richest man in the world? If the ideas of wise men were spread, wouldn't the emperor..."

Li Shui nodded slowly.

Fu Yao's face turned a little pale.

Suddenly, he knelt down and said tremblingly: "Master, please save Da Qin."

Li Shui quickly helped him up and said with a wry smile: "Master, you are already the prince, how can you do this?"

Fu Yao was a little confused and said: "Master, whether I am the prince or the emperor, I am your disciple. Master, you save Da Qin. You are an immortal, you must have a way, right?"

Li Shui was silent for a while, then shook his head: "I have no choice. I can only save the world, not the emperor."

Fu Yao stood there frozen, looking lost.

Li Shui looked at him, feeling a little distressed: "Young master, don't worry, even if this kind of thing happens, it will be thousands of years later. By then, we don't need to worry about it."

Fu Yao slowly shook his head.

Li Shui sighed: "Forget it, I have three strategies: upper, middle and lower. I don't know if these three strategies will work."

Fu Yao was overjoyed and asked quickly: "What are the three strategies?"

Li Shui said: "Let's talk about the next strategy first. When the economic crisis occurs, we must stimulate the economy. In the name of the imperial court, build large projects. Let the craftsmen who have lost their jobs have work, receive money, and buy food."

"After the economic crisis is over, these projects can also benefit the country and the people."

Fu Yao nodded repeatedly: "Good idea, good idea."

Li Shui said: "But this method is just to stop the boil. It can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. The economic crisis will still come. But it is enough for emergency relief."

Fu Yao asked: "What about Zhongce?"

Li Shui said: "The central policy is for the imperial court to establish some mechanisms to manage merchants and factories around the world. According to the needs of the people, it limits the production of certain things, encourages the production of certain things, and makes arrangements."

Fu Yao's eyes lit up: "Yes, isn't this enough? In this way, the things produced will not be too much or too little, and the economic crisis will not happen."

Li Shui snorted: "That sounds like it, but there is a drawback. The imperial court is too involved. There will definitely be collusion between officials and merchants, and even the officials themselves become merchants."

"In addition, as a result, the national economy and people's livelihood will become more and more rigid, turning from a pool of living water into a pool of stagnant water."

"Over time, people's lives will stagnate or even regress. And those who collude with government officials and businessmen will live extremely luxuriously. People will still be dissatisfied."

Fu Yao frowned and asked, "Master, has something like this happened in the immortal world?"

Li Shui snorted: "There are many countries in the fairy world. There is absolutely no problem if the country where I am a master is prosperous. But among other countries, there is a man named Oros, and something like this happened once."

Fu Yao nodded and asked again: "It seems that this middle strategy is indeed a middle strategy. After a long time, there will still be problems."

Li Shui hummed: "Exactly."

Fu Yao asked again: "What is the long-term strategy?"

Li Shui said: "It's a long-term strategy... I don't know it as a teacher."

Fu Yao: "Ah?"

Li Shui smiled and said: "Your long-term plan is too difficult. It requires the world to be stable, the people to have enough food and clothing, and to keep the throne. I couldn't think of it for a while."

"There should be long-term strategies, but we need to work together. In a few days, I will select some far-sighted people in Shangjun Courtyard to study this issue."

Fu Yao nodded vigorously.

Li Shui smiled at Fu Yao: "When you become emperor in the future, you can also choose some people like this and let them analyze the general trend of the world."

"However, don't be like those Confucian scholars. Those Confucian scholars are too fond of talking nonsense. They bleed and drift at every turn, and die as a pillow. They don't save one out of ten."

"You have to choose those that are pragmatic and can produce real data."

"When there is bleeding in the oars, how deep is the blood? How wide is the area of ​​the oars? In the death pillow, how many people have died? One out of ten is not saved, is it exactly one tenth? Is there a list of the dead?
To be continued...