Greece to roman road

The two people who were talking met Prime Minister Venizelos who also left the conference room. Read 520 official website

When he heard what the two were talking about, he immediately stopped paying attention and stopped.

"How could Prince Andreas think of such a question?" Venizelos asked curiously.

"After serving as a director of the Royal Bank during this period, I dealt with people in the business community almost every day. In the office, I borrowed money from businessmen who came to handle business, and participated in various social occasions. I also needed to meet and talk with many businessmen. Even today Come to participate in the meeting organized by the government, and the business elites are also full of seats," Andreas said helplessly.

In addition to government officials, there are also a large number of representatives from large and small enterprises in the Greek business community who are attending the meeting today.

“When I contact them, the core of the issues we discuss are always about money.”

"After participating in the meeting today, I suddenly became curious about the changes in the status of the merchant group." Andreas explained the same to Venizelos.

Constantine and Venizelos looked at each other. Although Andreas might have just tried to think of something on a whim, this question successfully attracted their attention.

Before the industrial revolution, the status of merchants was suppressed in both the East and the West.

In the East, scholars, farmers, and merchants belong to the lowest level of society and the lowest stream.

The imperial examination system even explicitly stipulates that the children of businessmen are prohibited from participating in the imperial examination.

The suppression and discrimination against businessmen is obvious.

Some people may object that scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants do not truly reflect the real social class divisions in ancient society. At least, the status of "farmers" is overestimated, which is inconsistent with the generally low status of farmers in the feudal era in the public impression. contradictory impression.

There may be some misunderstandings here. If you want to be a "farmer" among scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, the minimum standard is to be a self-cultivator and own your own land.

Although tenants, a group that rents other people's land, belong to the majority of the general public, they do not belong to the "peasant" group.

In short, the "farmers" among scholars, farmers, industry and commerce should be considered as the landlord group, which is more appropriate.

In the West, the status of businessmen is also not high.

Among Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the impressive miser Shylock has been a long-lasting presence in literary history. Mentioning the merchant Shylock will make people think of words such as "greedy", "penny-earning" and "vampire".

Shakespeare extracted the disgusting concept of businessmen in the real society at that time, and created the literary image of Shylock through artistic processing.

Although people hate Shylock, his Jewish identity is an important factor, but the Jewish group is rejected by Europeans, and their identity as merchants is the main reason.

To this day, greedy, penniless, and vampire are still words that are often heard scolding businessmen.

Christianity, which has a strong secular influence in Western countries, also has teachings that are full of contempt for businessmen.

In the Middle Ages, Christian culture was also against business, and rich people could not go to heaven.

The famous Medici family in Florence, Italy, who made their fortune by lending money, could not stop the secular people from judging them even though they were extremely wealthy. The Medici family was expelled from Florence three times in the beginning.

The legendary American figure Benjamin Franklin once wrote a pamphlet that was popular in North America. In the book, Franklin specifically enlightened businessmen who felt guilty because of making money.

Even during the Eastern Roman Empire, which was at the center of exchanges between the East and the West, merchants were a suppressed group. The rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire only regarded merchants who came and went as business travelers who collected tolls.

In the feudal era, whether in the East or the West, the status of merchants was not high, and they were a class that was spurned and scolded by secular morality.

If everyone has a negative attitude towards business people, there must be a profound logic behind this phenomenon to support everyone's behavior. This cannot be explained by coincidence.

The reason is also very simple: businessmen are not engaged in production.

In the feudal era before the industrial revolution, merchants themselves did not create wealth; they were just the carriers of wealth.

Merchants buy and sell, just acting as an intermediary.

There really isn't much to praise about them.

In ancient times, land cultivation was almost the only way to produce wealth, and those who controlled the political power were large and small landowners, which of course excluded the merchant class.

From emperors or kings to small landowners at the lowest level, in essence, they are landowners of all sizes. Their power comes from their control of the land.

They were the powerful class in the feudal era.

The merchant class and the landlord class are in a competitive relationship. The target of competition is the limited wealth produced in the land. How can the powerful landlord class look good on its competitors?

Land is "eternal wealth" that can be inherited to future generations and continuously produces wealth-food.

No matter how much money you have, until it is converted into land, it is just floating wealth!

This is not land worship, but an ancient reality. Apart from land, you can’t find other investment channels, let alone maintaining and increasing value.

There are no stock markets, banks, national bonds, or factories. Apart from land, you have no other way to invest money.

After officials or businessmen in ancient times made a fortune, they would soon return to their hometowns to purchase land and transform themselves into new landowners.

Why was lending money reviled in ancient times?

In Dream of Red Mansions, Wang Xifeng was scolded for lending loan money and was scolded for damaging her morality. Later, after Jia's house was ransacked, the loan note was found, and Wang Xifeng's husband Jia Lian was convicted.

In the West, Christianity directly denounces moneylenders as vampires.

According to the moral concepts of the 21st century, it is natural to repay debts. Although the high interest rates of loan sharks are controversial, you should indeed repay reasonable interest if you borrow money.

So why was lending money a shady profession in ancient times, both in the East and in the West?

First of all, money in the 21st century is different from money in ancient times.

In the 21st century, it is paper money, but in ancient times, it was precious metal currency.

The cost of issuing a banknote is negligible relative to its face value, and it will gradually depreciate over time.

If the same number of banknotes is lent and withdrawn, the borrower does suffer a loss due to the depreciation of the currency, and it is reasonable to demand interest as compensation.

In ancient times, money was generally precious metal currency, gold, silver or copper. As long as the quality of the currency remained unchanged, there was no such thing as currency depreciation.

There is no argument that borrowers require interest compensation because they have suffered currency depreciation losses.

Secondly, in later generations, money is one of the factors of production and can be invested in production activities to generate income.

People can often hear how much GDP has increased compared to the previous year and how much it has increased month-on-month. Therefore, it is reasonable for borrowers to require interest as income.

But before the industrial revolution, the situation was completely different. Society was static.

, the annual harvest depends entirely on the quality and quantity of the land.

If you invest twice as much money into a piece of land, can you reap twice as much or more in return?

Before the Industrial Revolution, there was no such thing as borrowing money to invest in production to generate profits!

Wealthy people will definitely not borrow things like usury, and those who borrow are almost always poor.

What should I do if I can’t repay the loan shark?

Those who can engage in loan sharking are powerful people, and there is no possibility of default. If you sell your house, land, or even sell yourself into slavery, you have to pay back.

When people talk about lending money, they will associate it with bankruptcy and death. Who would have a good impression of moneylenders?

It is appropriate to scold Wang Xifeng for loan sharking.

Therefore, lending money in ancient times was indeed a way to earn bloody wealth, and there is nothing wrong with social morality’s accusation and contempt for lending money.

After careful consideration, Venizelos agreed with Constantine's explanation for the low status of merchants in the feudal era and thought it was reasonable.

"Then after the industrial revolution, the status of businessmen has undergone a more fundamental change," Andreas said thoughtfully.

Venizelos explained: "After the industrial revolution, everything changed."

Businessmen after the industrial revolution are no longer mere businessmen, but rather businessmen, and this is a key factor in the transformation of businessmen's status.

After the Industrial Revolution, businessmen themselves were the main producers of social wealth, and factories replaced land and became the main tool for wealth production.

Industrial output has become a data concern for governments around the world.

In fact, merchants took over the social status that the landlord class once held and held power in society.

Just like in the feudal era, the landlord class who controlled the land controlled the political power.

After the Industrial Revolution, businessmen became the most dynamic and creative group. Theoretical science was transformed by businessmen and then commercialized into technologies that could be practically applied.

"Whoever creates wealth controls wealth. Because of this, capitalist revolutions have occurred in the most advanced industrialized countries. Its essence is that the business class replaces the previous landlord class and controls the state power," Constantine added. road.

Although it is only a few simple words, it can explain the wave of reforms that swept the world at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century.

"So, Andreas's feeling is absolutely correct. The current merchant class does have extensive influence in society," Constantine said to Andreas.

"The Royal Bank is an important layout of the royal family in the economic field. It is the link between the royal family and the business class. You should now be able to better understand the meaning of this sentence. Your work is very important to the royal family." He solemnly warned An After Dreas, Constantine bid farewell to both men.

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Varves was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and blue denim suspenders that had been washed and faded, but very clean. He was carrying a schoolbag made of worn linen by his mother. Even though he was twelve years old, due to a recent family Affected by the war, his body became a little short and thin. Together with his younger brother Loves, he rushed home from school.

Varvis came to the intersection as usual and suddenly noticed a crowd gathered together, seemingly watching something.

The young man's curiosity was aroused. Varves took advantage of his short age and squeezed into the crowd, and finally noticed the scene in the crowd: several workers took off the old notices on the notice boards and painted them Apply the paste and carefully post a few new notices on the notice row.

Varves, who was already studying in elementary school, noticed the words on the notice, "The government encourages landless people to reclaim 50 acres of wasteland," and screamed "Yeah". His little face turned red with excitement, as if he wanted to jump like a loach. After squeezing out of the crowd, he dragged his younger brother Loves, who had no time to react, and rushed towards the alley.

"Mom, Mom, come and see," Varvis shouted loudly when he was still far away from him.

In the low stone hut, Kalia was sewing some old clothes given by her neighbor today. Because they were too wide, they needed to be trimmed before they could be worn by the two Viervas brothers.

Hearing his son's cry, a man had an accident and hurriedly opened the door: "What's wrong, Wilvas, please be nice and stop causing trouble."

Although she is only 29 years old, Kalia's face is full of fatigue and her eyes are dark due to the difficulty of life in recent times.

"Mom, the government notice is related to the reclamation of wasteland," Viervas said breathlessly.

Kalia's family originally lived in the East Rumelia region of Bulgaria. After the war between Greece and Bulgaria broke out, the situation of the Greeks living in East Rumelia suddenly deteriorated.

After Eastern Rumelia came under Bulgarian control in 1885, due to its small population and most of the local population being Bulgarians, the Greeks living there began to be discriminated against and suppressed by the Bulgarians.

After the war between Greece and Bulgaria broke out, the conflicts between the two sides further intensified. The Greeks living in Eastern Rumelia were looted by the Bulgarians, their land was confiscated, and their properties were plundered.

Many Greeks were attacked and killed while fleeing into Greece, and Kalia's husband was one of them.

Because her husband died while fleeing, Karia became a widow at a young age with her two young sons. She relied on begging or help from the Orthodox Church along the way. In the past month, she moved to Kavala. Small town.

With no income and being a widow, life in Kavala has been very difficult. Fortunately, the two brothers benefit from compulsory education in Greece, can go to school for free, and can try free lunches at school, which greatly relieves Kalia. Otherwise, Kalia alone would not be able to support two children.

Since the end of the war, there have been rumors that in order to encourage people to reclaim wasteland, the Greek government will introduce measures to grant uncultivated wasteland to the people for free. This has become the only opportunity for Kalia's family, who has no source of income.

"Really?" Kalia exclaimed, and without stopping, she pulled the two brothers and ran towards the intersection.