1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

"...The fact that you can ask such a question shows that you have indeed given it serious and careful thought, Brother Chongren. Not bad, not bad, you are growing very fast."

When faced with Wakasugi Sumimi who came to him to ask "how to deal with the troubles posed by insects in the country", Fujiwara no Kanezane nodded with a look of satisfaction.

"Yes, brother."

Chongren's eyes revealed confusion and a slight uneasiness:

"I know that not everyone can have your broad mind and vision, so there will definitely be people who will rise up against you. But you are not the emperor who rules the world, so you can't kill them all. So what should I do?"

Hey bro, I want to correct you on two points.

First, the emperor did not control the country. He could not even control the "Five Regents, Nine Ministers, and Three Ministers" of the Fujiwara clan.

Secondly, even if he really took control of the country, he couldn't kill all his opponents, otherwise Yongren would have died long ago;

Finally, although I am not the emperor, I really don’t have to eat beef.

Fujiwara Kanezane glanced at a man who was watching the show and had severely tricked Wang Yaqiao a few days ago, and said leisurely:

"Then just feed them and make sure they can't oppose me for the time being."

"But you've already made concessions to the people. How else can you feed them?"

Takahito strongly agrees with Fujiwara no Kanezane's theory of "first feed the poor and make them rich, then make money from them";

Even a top royal family member like him, who is seriously out of touch with the masses and the grassroots, knows:

The ones who can really grow food from the land are the farmers who work hard in the fields.

The people who can really produce useful and convenient industrial products are the workers who sweat profusely in the factories;

The ones who can really transport agricultural and industrial products around the world and sell them are merchants, whose status is becoming increasingly important in today's society.

It is these "scholars" who truly rule the country but do not create any actual value and need to be supported by others.

Therefore, only when the "farmers, merchants and industrialists" have food and money can they consume more goods, the country can receive more taxes, and the "scholars" who are supported by them can obtain more wealth.

The problem is, the logic is one thing, understanding is one thing, but whether or not it can be put into practice is another.

Chongren had not only read in history books how greedy and short-sighted those high-ranking nobles and bureaucrats were, but had also seen it too many times in real life.

Now, His Royal Highness Prince Kanezane, with his far-sighted vision, has decided to first enrich the people of Northeast China and cultivate an enormous market, and then make more money steadily and steadily.

This theory, which Chongren deeply believed in, was undoubtedly correct, but all this took time, and a very long time.

Can those people endure such a long "window period"? Can they endure having their "own money" taken away by poor people? Even if it's only temporary?

Chongren didn't think they could accept it at all.

If they had one-tenth of Fujiwara no Kanezane's vision, mind, determination and courage, Japan would not have experienced so many "rice riots".

The distant "1914 rice price crash" incident is not mentioned, nor is the "1927 tax arrears incident";

Take the recent "Great Famine" of 1930, for example. How many Japanese farmers were starving, deeply in debt, and had to sell their children and even their bodies to survive?

Seeing the plummeting rice prices, seeing the frost disasters, typhoons and tsunamis coming one after another, seeing the farmers starting to consume agricultural fertilizers, and mountains of reports piling up on the desks, the group of insects remained indifferent.

(Agricultural fertilizer is not manure, but the product of crushing certain insects or small fish mixed with stones. It is better than Guanyin soil.)

(Also, farmers still go hungry in good years, mainly because of exploitation such as usury. Rice cannot be sold at a high price, so farmers cannot pay back their debts.)

They had the means to rescue the disaster victims, but because they were unwilling to sacrifice themselves, they deliberately ignored the hungry farmers.

Including Takahito's brother Hirohito.

I heard that due to the smooth progress in the Northeast and the Fujiwara family's rent and interest reductions, the Saito Makoto cabinet has finally started discussing whether to provide subsidies to farmers to ensure they don't starve.

I hope this guy who advocates not expanding the war and managing Northeast China well can just barely keep up with the pace of his brother Kanezane!

"...I've heard from Brother Wang that the greed of the big landlords, big capitalists, and big bureaucrats in China is the same as in Japan. I think dealing with them won't be easy."

Seeing that Chongren had begun to think about the problem vaguely from a class standpoint rather than a national standpoint, Fujiwara Kanezane couldn't help but look at a certain guy and muttered to himself.

It's only been a few days...

The title of "Northeast's No. 1 Socialite" should really be changed to "Northeast's No. 1 Succubus";

Next time, help him spread the word around the world!

"That's a good question. Let me answer your first question first. Why can't we help farmers in Northeast China by directly providing them with supplies or money?"

"Please give me some advice, brother."

"First, the peasants of Manchukuo are basically all poor. The number is at least 2000 million. If we give money and food to each of them, we are not the United States. How much money and food can we give?"

Chongren nodded.

He also thought of this point.

After all, Japan is a small country and not very rich. There are still a large number of poor people in the country who are starving, and it cannot afford to subsidize them.

Moreover, if the subsidies are too obvious and excessive, they will certainly cause considerable dissatisfaction among some people in China.

Even if he is an older brother, he may not be able to withstand that kind of pressure, and he may even be targeted by extremists and be punished by heaven for being a traitor to the country.

"Secondly, even if we have enough money and supplies, if we put them directly into the market, the first problem that will arise is the disruption of the financial order in Northeast China..."

Chongren thought for a few seconds and nodded.

Too much money is given, and there is not enough material to support it. Money is cheap and goods are expensive, and prices are soaring;

Giving too much supplies... uh... don't even think about it, how can supplies be more than money? Hahaha...

This kind of basic economic knowledge, not to mention that Chongren had already learned it in school, would be basically understood even if one carefully reads the history of Japanese people's livelihood over the years.

"Third, helping others by directly giving them money or supplies is an extremely foolish act. It will not only not make them richer, but will make them even poorer..."

"Wait! Brother! I don't understand this. How can giving money make people poor?"

"What do you think those poor farmers will do with the money or supplies we give them?"

"of course..."

When Chongren said this, he was suddenly speechless.

He suddenly realized that, on the surface, he had followed Fujiwara Kanezane to contact the "untouchables" in Japan, but in fact, he still did not understand the farmers and the poor at all.

What would the farmers do with the money? What would they do with the supplies? He simply couldn't imagine.

Finally, Suo Ren could only hesitate and say:

"Uh...buy farm tools? Repair houses? Buy land? Invest in education?" "Haha, maybe there are some farmers with such vision, but most are not like that."

Fujiwara Kanezane shook his head and said:

"Let me tell you, if we give farmers money, many will hide it and not use it, or use it to gamble, visit prostitutes, or just enjoy themselves. If we give farmers chicks, ducklings, or piglets, they will even eat them."

"Why?? ! !"

Chongren was shocked.

"The long-term harsh living environment has affected their thinking and perspective. They just want to grab whatever they can get. They're simply lazy and don't want to work. They don't know how to raise children and can't afford to raise them... In short, there are many reasons."

Fujiwara Kanezane patted Takahito's shoulder:

"If you still don't understand, take some time to go with the caravan and see for yourself. Learn Chinese well, talk to the farmers in person, and then go back and talk to the Japanese farmers. Perhaps you will gain some enlightenment."

"Yes, brother... Then, what do you think we can do to help them escape poverty? How can we help them become truly prosperous?"

Unconsciously, Chongren seemed to have forgotten "making money", which should have been the fundamental purpose.

"Well, let me tell you three principles. Remember them."

Chen Geng, who was standing by, took out paper and pen even faster than Chongren.

"1. Help the poor in times of emergency, not the lazy. Make a clear distinction between the truly lazy, the hardworking but unsuccessful, and those who have become impoverished due to force majeure such as accidents and illness;"

"We should establish the first type as negative examples and target them, forcing them to starve to death if they don't participate in labor. We should invest as much resources as possible in the second type, and ensure that the third type receives humanitarian assistance..."

The two nodded.

No one wants their investment to go to waste on lazy people.

Although Chen Geng felt that the statement "forcing them to not work or starve to death" was a bit extreme, he also admitted that this was what had to be done at the current stage;

With so little resources, instead of giving them to the hardworking to make a fortune and helping the sick to overcome difficulties, are we going to give them to the lazy to waste?

"2. Never mention poverty alleviation. Never say we are doing poverty alleviation. We are just doing business with the people. Whether they can make money depends on themselves.

"We're not there to help them. We're just providing them with a possible path out of poverty. As for whether or not they want to work hard to get out of poverty and become rich, that's up to them to decide and find their own way."

"Why...why is this?"

Of course, it is to avoid touching some people’s sensitive nerves!

At least it’s best not to touch it for the time being, otherwise you will be making it more difficult for yourself.

"Those short-sighted people in China certainly don't want us to invest resources in Chinese farmers, even if the end result is to make ourselves rich, so we need some cover... But this is not the most important reason;"

"The most important reason is that people are dependent. If we use the banner of 'help' from the beginning, Chinese farmers will take it for granted.

"Once we stop, they might turn against us and even refuse to get out of poverty or resort to fraud or fabrication to justify our help..."

"this.."

"A little bit of rice is a favor, a peck of rice is a grudge. Humans are profit-driven creatures. It's not surprising that they will do anything for profit. In addition, humans will not cherish wealth that they didn't create with their own hands."

“You have to realize that poverty alleviation is our business as well as the business of the poor themselves.

But in the final analysis, it is the poor’s own business;”

"If we want to lift the people out of poverty, we can only truly lift them out of poverty by inspiring them to take the initiative to get out of poverty and actively participate in labor."

"Ming...understood."

"3. Always remember that poverty alleviation is a massive, complex, and difficult systematic project. Trying to lift people out of poverty without education, employment or entrepreneurship, market opportunities, technical support, or service support...will not last long."

There was a clear look of stupidity in Chongren's eyes.

He admired Fujiwara no Kanezane very much, but he could not understand many of the new terms that the other party uttered.

When will I be able to reach the same level as my brother Kanezane?

No, that's too delusional. I would be satisfied if I could get one tenth or one twentieth of it.

Thinking of this, Chongren put on the posture of asking a master for advice: "Please teach me, brother! I really don't understand!"

The same goes for Chen Geng:

"Your Highness, please give me some guidance."

Seeing that Chen Geng, a Marxist, also came to ask, Fujiwara Kanezane was subconsciously confused for a moment, and then he understood.

Although what he said was "common sense" that was easily understood by later generations, the theory of poverty alleviation work was slowly summarized through practical experience and lessons learned by hundreds of thousands of poverty alleviation cadres and experts at home and abroad.

These days, poverty alleviation is still at the level of "philanthropists giving a few steamed buns to beggars out of kindness", and no one has considered anything more.

We are all poor, why should we help the poor?

Someone help me!

"Let me give you an example, and you can draw inferences about the rest, such as service support and technical support."

Fujiwara Kanezane snapped his fingers:

"If we ask farmers to raise large numbers of chickens, ducks and pigs, but don't provide them with high-quality ducklings, chicks and piglets, what will they use to feed themselves?"

"If we don't provide them with farming technology and tell them how to raise the most healthy meat with the least amount of feed, how can we maximize profits?"

"If we don't provide them with cheap, safe, low-interest or even interest-free loans, where will they get the start-up capital to buy chicks and ducklings?"

"So, do you understand?"

“I…I understand!”

Chongren was indeed very clever. He figured it out quickly, his eyes lighting up: "If we don't provide education to the poor and teach them basic literacy, they won't even understand what we say or the most basic principles, let alone what they should do!"

"If we don't provide sales channels for our products, even if they raise chickens and ducks, they won't know who to sell them to or how much to sell them for, and they can only trade on a small scale!"

"if..."

Chongren said many "ifs" in one breath, explaining from all aspects the significance of the "key point" that Fujiwara Kanezane had just mentioned, and it was quite accurate. Even Chen Kang couldn't help but look sideways with surprise in his eyes.

"Yes, Not Bad."

Fujiwara Kanezane clapped his hands:

“Although the current…although the actual poverty alleviation work may not be that complicated, the general outline is similar…”