The new chapter of "Zi Zheng"
The new chapter of "Zi Zheng" is the ninth year of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1859) when Hong Rengan came to Tianjing to serve as military advisor and presented a report to the king Hong Xiuquan. The West studied the draft nation-building plan.
The new chapter of Zizheng first proposed the ideas of "assessing the situation" and "legislating", elaborated on the history and current situation of Western countries at that time, and pointed out that the most advanced countries in the world at that time were Britain, the United States, and France. He praised these countries for their "exquisite craftsmanship and profound national laws." Introducing the United Kingdom, he said: "Britain... is now called the strongest country because of its good laws." Introducing the United States, it said: "Citigroup is the United States.... The governor of the country is elected for a term of five years, and is limited to a salary. When the term is over, he will be pampered. , each province will hold an election again. When something happens, the general director of each province will discuss it, and the one who has many people will be considered worthy. "Introducing France, it is said that... the skills of each state began. "Although other countries are excellent, Buddhism is not inferior to them." It also briefly discusses the political conditions, economy, history and geography of Germany, Russia and other countries. Pointing out that Russia was originally a backward and beaten country, it has since learned from the West and has become stronger: "The Russian state... more than a hundred years ago... was repeatedly forced by Britain, Buddhism, Switzerland, Romania, Germany and other countries. His eldest son pretended to be a commoner and went to France to learn state law and fireship skills. After a few years, he returned to France and established political and religious affairs. For more than a hundred years, his prestige has been rising, and he is now the crowning state in the north." He made an accurate prediction of the development situation and said: "The recent trade between Japan and Citigroup requires various skills and rules, and it will also be based on skill in the future."
The new chapter of the Political Bureau analyzes these Western countries Advanced countries and emerging countries not only see the excellence of their craftsmanship, but also emphasize the "good laws" of their political and religious systems. The rise of Russia and Japan was to "learn national laws" and "understand laws" from the West, not just to learn their "fireship skills". It also pointed out that there are some countries in the world that are ignorant of the general trend and remain conservative, so their national power is declining, being beaten and bullied, saying: "The Turkish state...does not know how to change, so the country's power is sluggish, and it has been invaded by Russia for many years." It said sadly: It is precisely because of its inability to adapt that China has become a weak country that is bullied in the world. "It cannot be the crown of the East. It is temporarily eclipsed, which is a shame!" It loudly shouted that China must recognize the general trend of the world. , learn from the examples of Russia and Japan, draw lessons from Turkey, "adapt to the times", learn from the "General Code" of Western countries, and legislate customization, otherwise "it will be too late to regret!" He urged the king of heaven, Hong Xiuquan, "Don't take advantage of this." On a day when there is hope, we should work hard to advocate for the country, and we should stand up to the principles of our heavenly father and our brothers, so that we can unite the country peacefully for thousands of years." This means that to build a new country, we should not follow the traditional Chinese path. Instead, we must learn from the politics, science and technology of the advanced capitalist countries at that time.
Hong Rengan (1822-1864 AD) was a brother of Hong Xiuquan. When Hong Xiuquan founded the "God Worship Religion", he actively participated and accompanied Hong Xiuquan in propaganda work. He did not arrive in Nanjing until the late Taiping Rebellion. Hong Xiuquan named him King Qian and appointed him as military advisor and "prime minister of government affairs". He suddenly became the second most powerful figure in the Taiping Rebellion. After he accepted this task, he submitted an article to Hong Xiuquan called "New Pian Zhizheng". This is one of his policies.
The beginning of this article says: "Things are subject to change, and there are certain reasons. If there are stories that are not feasible now but can be predetermined, it will be a blessing for the future; if there are stories that are feasible now but cannot be determined forever, it will be a blessing for the future. The reason for the calamity in the future lies in judging the situation and the strength and weakness of the beginning and the end. However, the balance of the strength and weakness of the beginning and end depends on the change of the current situation. From now on to the future, from small to big, from self-examination to the country, from the country. Even in all countries, nothing is impossible. The key is to adapt to the circumstances and act accordingly."
The four words "According to the circumstances" are the general spirit of "Zi Zheng Xin Pian". The theoretical premise of this article. Starting from the general spirit, this article also discussed the situation and economic progress of various countries in general, and believed that Western powers have "exquisite skills and profound national laws, so they should be allowed to trade first." In other words, the West has advanced industrial civilization, so backward countries should give priority to interacting with it and learning from it.
The article also mentioned some specific examples as proof, for example: "The Russian state... was repeatedly forced by the British, Buddhist (French), Swiss, Roman, Germanic and other countries, so it sent its eldest son to pretend to be a commoner and go to the Buddhist (French). ) Lansi learned state law and fireship skills, and returned to the state a few years ago. No one knew that he was the eldest son of Russia. On the day he returned to the state, he established a great political and religious power, and became famous in Siam for more than a hundred years. In trade, we can also imitate fire ships and large ships to purchase goods from various countries, and now we have become a country rich in wisdom." He also predicted: "Japan has recently traded with Citigroup (the United States), and has to have various skills as a rule, and it will also do so in the future. Out of coincidence." Under the conditions at the time, it was rare to realize this level. When Hong Rengan discussed the situation of various countries, he focused on the word "time" of "adapting measures to the times" to see the "time" the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in. The main content of this "time" was to learn advanced Western technology and achieve industrialization. . This is the theoretical premise of this article.
In this kind of "time", what should be the "appropriate"? Based on the major and minor premises mentioned above, we should take the road of industrialization and implement some industrialization measures. This is the theoretical conclusion of this article. This article appears to be a syllogism throughout. This is a large article in the official documents of the Taiping Rebellion.
The "New Chapter of the Government" also talks about many specific measures to learn from the West and promote industrialization. One is: "The best way to make chariots and horses is to make them faster and faster. If there is someone who can build a foreign steamer chariot that can travel seven or eight thousand miles in a day and night, he is allowed to take advantage of it, and if the limit is reached, others are allowed to imitate it." One is "The advantage of building a boat is to be strong, light and convenient. You can use fire, air, force or wind. It is up to the wise to create their own. Those who are the first to create the most ingenious ones will be rewarded for their own benefit, and others are allowed to imitate them if the conditions are met." . . . If the kingdom of heaven develops this skill, . . . the country will be safe and the foreign countries will be at peace." One is "to develop the art of utensils. Those who can make exquisite and convenient utensils are allowed to sell them themselves. If others imitate them, they will be punished." One is "to develop a bank,... or three or four wealthy people may ask for it, or one person may ask for it, it's all right." The other one is to "establish a town company, set up a strict official, and handle industry, commerce, land and water customs duties". Other specific measures include mining and developing postal services. Its basic spirit is that specific industrialization should be left to private businessmen and skilled craftsmen. The state can promote and encourage it, use political power to protect the economic rights and technology patents of private enterprises, and use taxation to regulate it, but it does not need to intervene. . This is the characteristic of Hong Rengan’s discussion of industry.
After the First Opium War in 1840, learning from the West and implementing industrialization has become a mainstream in China’s modern history. Some problems arise during the implementation of industrialization, the most important of which is who should drive industrialization. Industrialization is not an empty talk, it requires a new social force to drive it. There are two paths you can take: the bottom-up path and the top-down path. The two paths seem to be not far apart at the beginning, but the further they go the greater the differences become. What Hong Rengan advocated was a bottom-up approach, which can be called business leading industry. The path that Zeng Guofan followed under the Qing regime was a top-down path, which can be called leading work with government.
Hong Xiuquan expressed his agreement and appreciation for "The New Chapter of Zizheng", but after the internal strife between Hong and Yang, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was already torn apart and could not do anything, so the suggestions put forward in "The New Chapter of Zizheng" were not included. Once implemented, a great article becomes empty talk. The road of using business to lead industry has not been implemented in practice, and its practical effect is unknown.