Chapter 598: The Bond of Nations
Manpower has always been an important resource, both in the agricultural era and in the industrial era.
The key to freeing the serfs from the land is to make it profitable for the landowners.
The "sheep eating people" that Frederick was well-known for was not as simple as enclosing the fields and driving the farmers on the original land into the city.
Prior to this, the British Agricultural Revolution greatly increased crop yields and provided food security for the subsequent social changes.
At this time, the landowners no longer manage the land as in the past, what they planted in the past will be planted next year. Instead, they are guided by the market and trade, and they plant what makes money.
It was precisely because of changes in agricultural thinking and the surge in demand for wool that the land enclosure movement of "converting grain to sheep" emerged.
Nowadays, the Principality of Mainz and the Principality of Bain have benefited from the fine seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery of the Principality of Wesson, and their food production has increased significantly.
And because the Principality of Wesson is a bottomless pit of agricultural products, the landowners of the two principalities will naturally not miss the opportunity to make money, and in addition to food, they begin to plant cash crops on a large scale.
In Frederick's opinion, there were some things that could be tried.
"Serfs can no longer keep up with the times." Frederick continued to teach the two allies, "Now farming requires fewer and fewer people, and more people means lower efficiency."
"At the same time, build new The established factories require a large number of workers, which requires people to leave the farmland and enter the factory."
Duke Bain asked thoughtfully: "You mean, drive them out of the farm and send them into the factory?"
Frederick nodded and replied: "It is essentially like this, but there are many ways to operate it."
"For example, now that workers have high incomes and some serfs want to go to factories, they can let They redeemed their feudal obligations and left the farm.”
Archduke Byrne frowned.
The Archduke of Mainz pinched his chin and said: "Redeem it? The scale is so large and unprecedented."
The Archduke Byrne said to Frederick seriously: "Feudal obligations are social If the cornerstone of the society is destroyed, our society will collapse."
The Grand Duke of Mainz also thought of this and nodded.
Today’s countries are all tied together by feudal obligations.
Feudal obligations existed not only between serfs and landlords, but also between small landowners and large landowners, but they changed from labor to force.
If feudal obligations disappear, how should the relationship between the small nobles and the big nobles, and the big nobles and the royal family be handled?
This is a problem that has to be faced. If it is not solved, then as Frederick said, there will be a war.
Frederick said: "I have been looking for a link to replace feudal obligations, such as taxation."
The two old landowners were startled and looked at each other.
Frederick had been emphasizing for many years the contract between taxpayers and tax collectors, and they did not realize that this was intended to replace feudal obligations.
Duke Bain murmured: "Replace land with money?"
The foundation of feudal obligations is land. The vassal is loyal to the lord, and the lord gives land to the vassal.
"Land is also a part of wealth." The Grand Duke of Mainz said to him, "Just giving land once and for all, giving gold coins will be troublesome, in case the vassal runs away without money."
Archduke Bain nodded.
He has many vassals under him, and they all come to serve him for no other reason than that the world is full of turmoil, all for their own benefit.
Only a very small number of people were loyal to the feudal lord for reasons such as repaying a favor.
Frederick also nodded and continued: "Wealth is a material bond. In addition, spiritual bonds are also needed."
The Grand Duke of Mainz said immediately : "That's a good point."
He understood what Frederick meant, which was to engage in nationalism, and Frederick was not yet born when he had that idea.
Grand Duke Byrne thought of another question: "What about power?" The feudal relationship based on land comes with power on the land, and the landlord is the emperor.
If money is used instead of land, it means losing this part of political power.
Frederick said: "I haven't thought about this yet."
This is the biggest problem in reform. It is absolutely impossible for some people to give up their power. They have too much money. We also need power.
Unless we go through a huge war and wipe out all the landowners who are blocking the way, we can only compromise with each other.
Furthermore, Frederick was not the king now and was not qualified to draw a big picture in this regard, so he chose to avoid talking about it.
And he also wanted to wait and see how the interests were exchanged between the royal family and the local nobles in the Kingdom of Sardinia, so that he could have a reference.
Superstructure design takes a long time because the cost of trial and error is too high. Once the interior is messed up, the surrounding neighbors will come to take a bite.
In the end, the Archduke of Mainz and the Archduke of Bain decided to try to conditionally let the serfs buy their freedom through installment payment and other methods.
In this way, the landowners could get a sum of money to invest in the construction of factories, and then let the free people who left the land to work in the factories.
For serfs, they were just moving from one place to another to be exploited.
However, the factory's personal attachment relationship is not that strong, and it can be regarded as enjoying some of the benefits of the progress of the times.
Frederick chatted with the old men here for two days, and then returned to La City.
After he returned to his residence, he thought quietly for a few days, going through everything he had done over the years from beginning to end, and evaluating the corresponding results and impacts.
Many things cannot be rushed. Even if he has knowledge from his past life and can see a few steps further than others, it does not prove that all decisions are correct.
The key is that the world's top extraordinary power plays a political role similar to nuclear weapons, changing political logic.
So Frederick did not dare to carry out reforms in a drastic way. He needed to win over and cultivate allies to increase his own strength.
This kind of progressive reform from top to bottom is bound to be incomplete, but Frederick only has so much ability. He knows very well that he cannot be so powerful that he can disperse everyone with his tiger body and domineering aura. Everyone listens to themselves.
Everyone has their own thoughts. Unless they are in dire straits, few people can make the determination to make reforms like a strong man cutting off his wrist.
What he can do now is set a good example, let others see his success, and then imitate himself.
Even if this road fails, it can still provide inspiration to future generations.
Perhaps it was the distance, but this was the first time in so many years that Frederick re-examined himself so deeply.
When he finished the work, he found that he had unknowingly written a thick stack of manuscript paper.
He listed all his decisions in chronological order. Each decision was summarized in five parts: significance and necessity, expected goals, implementation plan, completed results and subsequent impacts, forming a long form.
After he stuffed the form into the confidential document bag, Maria brought a glass of juice, put it on the desk, and asked: "When will you leave?"
Frederick said: " A few days later than you.”
Maria also has a job as the Minister of Culture of the Principality of Weisen, and will return to Weisenburg City in two days.
Susan is going to stay for a while to help set up a bacteria laboratory.
Frederick is going to visit the Kingdom of Tarago. The 3rd Division has been deployed to see if there is anything that needs to be coordinated with the top management. He also wants to visit one of his students along the way.
He suddenly remembered something. After drinking the juice, he asked Maria: "Have the Venetians come to see me recently?"
Maria thought for a while and said: "No, even with me." We don’t have anyone to talk about business with.”
Frederick shook his head and said, “Ignore them, now we have more important things to do.”
After that, He stood up and picked Maria up.
(End of this chapter)