Ciqi and Langya can still take a break from their busy schedule for a few days, but in Jinhe City, the imperial emperor Hong Tao was busy. On the one hand, he had to supervise and guide several young men and a group of old craftsmen to complete the parts of the first hydroelectric generator with the help of simple machinery. On the other hand, he had to visit each factory and workshop, from technicians, managers to ordinary workers, and even slave workers were not spared.

He has read the investigation report that Weng Xiaoyi had taken before. There are personal reasons for Weng Xiaoyi to commit such a serious crime, and there are also institutional problems. We cannot blame him all. This thing is very cheap, and it is born evil. No matter how others think, no matter how the ancients say it, the original nature of the people who came and went, Hong Tao has determined that human nature itself has an ugly side, which is innate and no one can avoid the vulgarity.

In this life, whether a person is good or evil, loyal or treacherous, good or bad, only a small part depends on his own efforts, and most of it is caused by the surrounding environment. Among them, systems, laws and social morality are the environmental factors that have the greatest impact on people.

If a person wants to do bad things and finds that doing bad things is more difficult than not doing bad things, then he will probably dispel this idea. In layman's terms, this is called the cost of crime. Hong Tao does not think that crime can be completely eliminated, because this is human nature. Eliminating human nature is equivalent to eliminating human nature. However, he believes that this behavior can be reduced through more perfect and self-healing rules, and the most effective way is to increase the cost of crime.

Take corruption as an example. In later countries, corruption among officials is very common. It is no longer a question of the crime rate, but has become a social phenomenon, a popular trend, and an unspoken rule in the officialdom. Once things develop to this level, it is difficult to change because this is not a problem of a certain leader, but a defect in the rules.

This flaw mobilizes the evil side of human nature, but suppresses the good side. It is unrealistic to rely on someone or a few people to change this status quo. If the rules are so easy to change, then they are not rules. Whether they are good or bad rules, unless they are newly established, they are always particularly stubborn. Large changes are more difficult than overthrowing and reconstruction. It is also difficult to overthrow it. It requires various coincidences and is not fully controlled by human power.

Why are corrupt officials so rampant? It is because the rules allow them to do this. In other words, the cost of crime is too low, or there is no cost of crime at all. Another sentence that the ancients say is very philosophical and effective! The reason why officials dare to do this is because there is a backdoor when formulating rules, which is used by the top leaders of the country to destroy the rules in the future.

Once a rule has such serious defects, it is born with fatal injuries and loses the ability to heal and evolve itself. In simple terms, this rule is a disposable product, temporarily used, throwing things after use, without long vitality. How long can it last? The factors of people here, the factors of the surrounding environment, etc. But one thing is certain that after it collapses, the rules that come out are still this set of things. In addition to the higher makeup technology and greater confusion, there will be no difference in essence.

This answer does not require time to prove it. You only need to read the history books to understand. The ancients have proved it for thousands of years and countless times. Why waste time and search for a known answer?

How to reduce the phenomenon of corruption? Note that it is to reduce, not eliminate, because this is the evil side of human nature and it cannot be completely eliminated unless it can fundamentally change human nature. This task is too arduous and cannot be achieved at present.

If you want to reduce corruption and prevent it from becoming a social phenomenon, the only way is to improve the rules, remove the backdoors of the rules, and increase the cost of crime. When anyone wants to embezzle collective property, he will face a very serious consequence, such as being disgraced, losing his fortune, and leaving behind his descendants, etc., then he will not easily reach out, at least he must come up with a perfect solution before reaching out.

How many people can come up with such a complete solution? In fact, the proportion of smart people with IQ is enough to challenge collective wisdom is very, very small. In this way, a large number of people will be forced to suppress the evil side of their hearts. It is not that they don’t want to, but that they dare not. Seeking profit and avoiding harm is also an important element in human nature. Using human nature to restrict human nature is the fundamental solution to the problem.

Whether it is rules or laws, it is not about suppressing human nature. On the contrary, only when human nature is fully reflected and people are restricted by human nature and thus reach a certain balance, this rule is more perfect. Of course, it is tendency, not achievement. There is no perfect thing in the world. Perfection is itself unbalanced. If it loses constraints, it should not exist in the rules.

Therefore, a good rule should not pursue perfection, but should try to be mediocre, satisfy the interests of most people in mediocrity, and give up the rights of a small number of people. Under such rules, everyone will naturally seek profit and avoid harm, try to be the majority of people, and avoid being the small number of people. Then again, this is human nature.

Hong Tao has discovered that there is a big loophole in the imperial law, which ignores the rules that protect the interests of most people. If Weng Xiaoyi and others deprive slave rights, these slaves can use the rights granted by the law to resist, Weng Xiaoyi and others may stop because the cost of crime is too high, or some Weng Xiaoyi and others will stop, which has achieved the purpose of balance. The remaining Weng Xiaoyi and others who are too evil in human nature are a small number of people in this society, that is, they can be abandoned. Eliminate them ruthlessly, most people will not object, and they may have to applaud.

To extend this question, what if Weng Xiaoyi and others did not deprive the rights of slaves, but deprive the rights of the people of the empire? In fact, one thing is that as long as the people of the empire are given legal right to resist and try to increase the cost of crime, Weng Xiaoyi and others would still have only a small part that can be abandoned.

So how do you give this right to the people? Is there such a way in the world? Can Hong Tao come up with a suitable way to make up for the shortcomings of the rules?

The answer is yes. However, this method was not thought of by Hong Tao. He did not have the ability, and he was not a big deal about sociology and law. However, he had a head that could plagiarize the essence of human wisdom for thousands of years, and he didn't have to think about most of the problems himself. He just had to compare history before and after, and he could draw a relatively effective conclusion. Specifically for this matter, the method he learned from was the trade union!

The non-governmental organization of trade unions flourished in European and American societies, but its birthplace was probably in China. Hong Tao did not have any knowledge reserves in this area, but he had already traveled almost all over the world. Except for the prototype of trade unions discovered in the Southern Song Dynasty, he had never seen this thing in any other country, and he had never even heard of it. The only thing that was a bit similar was the kind of merchant alliance that the Venetians formed, but that thing was more like a government and was not used to protect ordinary people.

In comparison, the various industry associations in the Southern Song Dynasty were more like trade union organizations in later European and American countries. These associations not only wanted to protect the interests of investors, but many of them also represented the interests of ordinary people. For example, the associations organized by coolies on the docks in Guangzhou and Quanzhou were largely intended to bargain with employers and thus obtain the benefits they should have. Between employers and coolies, coolies are obviously the weaker side, but they already know how to unite and negotiate with forces that are stronger than themselves. From this point of view, they do have important elements of European and American trade unions in later generations.

Of course, it's just a prototype. The ancient Chinese trade union organizations were found in every dynasty and every generation, but their later development direction changed and became a gang organization, which could also be called a gang organization. Why is this? Hong Tao thinks it is still a matter of rules.

In history, dynasties have not regarded such organizations as an effective tool that can help them manage their country, but rather as stumbling blocks that threaten their rule. Even if they are sometimes forced to cooperate, it is very short-lived. After using it, they are thrown away like throwing rags, and even have to cross the river to destroy bridges. The prototypes of these trade unions have to transform towards another more violent and cruel organization, thus losing the effects they should have, and really become stumbling blocks to the country.

In this regard, it has to be said that the rules of European and American countries are smarter. They make full use of the tools of trade unions and give ordinary people the right to bring strength closer to employers and governments, so that the rules will be closer to balance. However, don’t regard trade unions as the savior of the people. They are also a management tool in themselves and always serve the ruling class.

However, this kind of tool is relatively more balanced and more in line with human nature, so Hong Tao thinks it is a good tool, at least for now. Especially after the empire has moved towards private ownership, this tool becomes more indispensable. With it, it can effectively alleviate the dissatisfaction of the lower class and give everyone an opportunity to talk and vent. In fact, many things are rooted in, and it is an emotional problem if they are reserved. In addition, trade union organizations can also relatively restrict the power of capital, and at least increase the cost of capital doing evil. Isn’t this a balance?
Chapter completed!