Whether a person can make a name in history is often accidental. For example, this Wang Maoyin, who lived in Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi dynasties, used to be the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance, in charge of Qiantang affairs, and was an authentic "provincial and ministerial level". However, there are so many "provincial and ministerial levels" in the past dynasties that there are several that can be recorded in history. Fortunately, Wang Maoyin's name appeared in Marx's works. Marx mentioned more than 680 people in Das Kapital, and the only one from China was Wang Maoyin. Although his name did not appear in the text of Das Kapital, it was only recorded in his notes.
Wang maoyin
Wang Maoyin, a native of Shexian County, Anhui Province. The word spring year, Zi Huai. Twelve years of Daoguang (1832), Jinshi. He was a monetary theorist in the Qing dynasty, in charge of the imperial history, assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, assistant minister of the Ministry of War, officials and the Ministry of Industry.
In the first year of Xianfeng (185 1), the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom revolted and the financial crisis intensified. At that time, there were various ideas, such as casting large amounts of money and issuing non-convertible notes without restrictions. In fact, they all advocate inflation to ease the financial crisis. Wang Maoyin wrote a book entitled "Discount of Paper Money by Law", proposing to issue cashed bank notes, and proposing that "the number of paper money should be limited to10,000,000 and 2,000,000". In order to make the circulation of paper money smooth, we must pay attention to and prevent the inflation abuse caused by the unlimited issuance of paper money, so as to be refuted as "benefiting the country and the people without wasting money".
In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), in view of Su Shun's "when one hundred, when five hundred, when one thousand" coins (the so-called "casting big money" means that the size and weight of coins have increased, and the denomination value of coins has increased even more, which makes the face value of copper coins far exceed the value of their own metal materials. ), on the "big currency discount", made a severe rebuttal, pointing out: "Function determines the value of money, not the value of things. Money is 1000, people dare not think it is 100; Things are worth a hundred dollars, and people can't think that they are thousands. " If a traitor casts two large sums of money with four or two coppers, that is, pays one or two official silver, the country will lose money. "Casting large sums of money will inevitably lead to rising prices. In March of the same year, Xianfeng quasi-increased a large number of "when hundreds, when 500, when thousands" currency, causing great confusion in circulation, and the above-mentioned "treasure notes" made inflation worse.
In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), due to the serious depreciation of official banknotes and rare banknotes issued by the Qing government, the market was extremely chaotic. Thirdly, the publication of Reconsideration of Banknote Discount Law is actually his second plan to reform the currency system and ease the crisis. The plan puts forward four remedial measures, focusing on one point, that is, insisting on changing non-cash official tickets and treasure tickets into cash tickets, opposing the idea of casting hundreds, thousands and other large amounts of money, trying to stop the momentum of cash issuing non-cash tickets, stop inflation and save paper money credit.
As a result, Emperor Xianfeng was offended. "Wang Maoyin of the Ministry of Commerce only knows blasphemy in the words of the patentee, but does not ask about state affairs. This is a great event. It is especially bold to ask for strict discussion and thank the world. You bully me, how can you escape from my cave? " It means that Wang Maoyin only cares about the interests of businessmen and puts aside the interests of the emperor. I really don't care about national affairs. In particular, Wang Maoyin actually proposed any modification scheme, which is simply bold! The most interesting thing is the last sentence. To put it bluntly, you treat me like a fool. I can't see what you are thinking!
These memorials were included by ElBaradei of the then Russian Mission in Beijing in the Collection of Staff of the Russian Mission in Beijing published by 1857. 1858, German Karl Yinling and f·a· mecklenburg translated ElBaradei's Collection of Staff of Russian Missions in China into German and published it, and renamed it Collection of Staff of Russian Embassy in China. It was after reading this book that Marx noticed Wang Maoyin and his view of money and wrote them into Das Kapital. This is the reason why the word "Wang Maoyin" appeared in the No.83 note of the first volume of Marx's Capital.
In this note, Marx wrote: "Wang Maoyin, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Housing, presented a memorial to the emperor and advocated changing official tickets and precious banknotes into convertible banknotes. He was severely reprimanded in the ministerial review report in April 1854. Whether he was flogged for this is unknown ... "Of course, this is the translation we are seeing now, and the translation of the word" Wang Maoyin "is also full of twists and turns.
As we all know, Chen Qixiu was the first person to translate the full text of Das Kapital. The reason why it is a full volume is that Cai Erkang mentioned Das Kapital in 1899 before Chen Qi revised it. 1906, Zhu Zhixin also introduced capital; 1920 Fei Tianjiao also partially converted the capital. But none of them noticed the name "Wang Maoyin". It was not until 1930 that Chen Qixiu translated the whole volume of Das Kapital that he encountered the problem of "Wang Maoyin".
Wan-Mao-Zhong in Marx's original text was translated into Wan-Mao-Zhong by Chen Qixiu, and was translated into Wang Mengyin or Wang Mengyin in the Japanese translation of Japanese Gao at that time. Of course, Chen Qixiu was not satisfied with the "Wan Mao Shadow", so he wrote a paragraph below: "I asked a friend to check the original name of this person in the Qing History Museum, and there is no result yet. It is translated into "Wan Maoyin" here, and I will correct it when I find it later. "
1936, Guo Moruo read Das Kapital translated by Chen Qixiu, and found such a record in Donghua Continued Record, a chronicle of the Qing Dynasty: "Wang Maoyin, the right assistant minister of the household department, played: the banknote method is not good, and the four articles of association were drawn up by him at his discretion. And was hated by soldiers and people, demanding strict discussion. Purpose: As the second minister of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Maoyin only cares about businessmen, and attaches rules to those who are inconvenient to the country and beneficial to business. Why doesn't he care about state affairs? And ask for strict discussion to thank the world. "
Therefore, Guo Moruo decided that "Wan Mao Shadow" should be "Wang Maoyin". From then on, Wang Maoyin really appeared in Das Kapital. In the muddy officialdom of the late Qing Dynasty, as a member of the bureaucratic team, Wang Maoyin also showed outstanding honesty and self-discipline. Historical records record him: "light sex, lack of lust." After thirty years in Beijing, he lived alone in the guild hall (namely Shexian Guild Hall, now outside Xuanwu Gate). Wang is from Shexian County, Anhui Province. Since this is simple, coarse cloth is eaten and the banquet is like. " "In my spare time, I amuse myself by rolling my hands. In thirty years in Beijing, I have never brought my family. " As a "provincial and ministerial" bureaucrat in a feudal society, it is really commendable to be able to do this.
Wang Maoyin's family instructions are also his last words, and some words still serve as a warning today. Now I'll extract a few paragraphs:
"The bad behavior of ordinary people is only an economic gain, so being a man must start with choice."
"Look at the moment, although it is regarded as a thing, I don't know that unless it is a disaster, it is necessary to consume, and it is too much. We should eliminate this disaster now and in the future, so this heart can be put down. There is an old saying: leak milk to satisfy hunger, and quench thirst with wine. If you are not full for a while, you will die. When I thought about it, I naturally didn't dare to take it. If you don't drink when you are thirsty, you will steal the spring water, and the heat will never stop. Where there is a will, there is a way. We must try our best to keep it so that we can look forward to a better future. I'm afraid it will be difficult for your generation to have enough food and clothing in the future. Therefore, it is important to remember this. "
Although these words are commonplace to the scholar-bureaucrat, they are well-intentioned, true and credible, and also a portrayal of his own life.
From another story told to his family, we can see that Wang Maoyin is indifferent to fame and fortune. In feudal society, "sitting in a sedan chair, marrying a small room and carving manuscripts", that is, in addition to being an official and marrying concubines, printing manuscripts is the dream of literati. Look at what Wang Maoyin said: "I play thin." Although I didn't write the words, I took great pains, and I really hit the nail on the head on the pros and cons of current politics, so that future generations can see and know that I am a swing, and my favor is beyond flattery and glory. If someone hits the wall one day, they don't have to keep their opinions to themselves. They can try their best to invite Tian Jian to be a good official. But it can be passed down from family to family, not from family to family. It is not suitable for engraving, and engraving is a top priority. " Finally, I added: "Carving books is my evil. No matter who always wants to write a book, there will always be ancestors who will come out and burn it in one fell swoop. "
In the neo-Confucianism atmosphere of "cultivating one's morality, keeping one's family in order, governing the country and leveling the world", few scholars regard making a name for themselves as the highest pursuit of life, while Wang Maoyin can treat life so openly and transparently. However, history is so strange, and it is such a person who does not want to be named. History will always remember him firmly.