异类之不一样的成功启示录 第163期:欧洲与中国农民的差异

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　　重要的是，大多数的农民是有自主权的，

　　The peasants of Europe worked essentially² as low-paid slaves of an aristocratic landlord, with little control over their own destinies.

　　在欧洲的农民只能从他们所属的贵族那里得到一点微薄的报酬，而且他们几乎无法主宰自己的命运。

　　But China and Japan never developed that kind of oppressive feudal³ system, because feudalism simply can't work in a rice economy.

　　但是中国和日本的体制有所不同。西欧的体制不适合稻田农业文化，

　　Growing rice is too complicated and intricate for a system that requires farmers to be coerced⁴ and bullied⁵ into going out into the fields each morning.

　　种地是件很复杂的事，体制无法强迫或威逼农民每日很早起床去田里干活。

　　By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, landlords in central and Southern China had an almost completely hands-off relationship with their tenants⁶:

　　在14世纪到15世纪，中国中部和南部地区的地主同租户的关系已不具有所属关系。

　　they would collect a fixed⁷ rent and let farmers go about their business.

　　地主只收取固定的土地出租费用，其他的事情全部都由农民自主决定。

　　"The thing about wet-rice farming is, not only that you need phenomenal amounts of labor⁸, but it's very exacting," says the historian Kenneth Pomerantz.

　　“对于种植水稻来说，不仅仅是需要很多的人力，而且还是件很吃力的工作，细微的差别就会造成产量上很大的差异。”历史学家肯尼思·波马雷兹说道，

　　"You have to care. It really matters that the field is perfectly⁹ leveled before you flood it.Getting it close to level but not quite right makes a big difference in terms of your yield.

　　“浇水的时间也非常关键。

　　It really matters the water is in the fields for just the right amount of time.There is a big difference between lining¹⁰ up the seedlings¹¹ at exactly the right distance and doing it sloppily¹².

　　插秧时，秧苗的距离和力度对产量也会产生很大的影响。

　　It's not like you put the corn in the ground in mid-March and as long as the rain comes by the end of the month, you're ok.

　　这不是你想象的那么简单——只要在3月中旬，把种子洒在地里，然后在月底的时候下场雨就可以等待收成了，

　　You're controlling all the inputs¹³ in a very direct way.

　　你必须按部就班地点进行每项作业。

　　And when you have something that requires that much care, the overlord has to have a system that gives the actual labor some set of incentives¹⁴,

　　对于需要特别关注的田地，地主就会通过一定的奖赏制度来激励农民。

　　where if the harvest comes out well, the farmer gets a bigger share.

　　如果收成很好，那么农民也会得到更多的分成。

　　That's why you get fixed rents, where the landlord says, I get twenty bushels, regardless of the harvest, and if it's really good, you can get the extra.

　　这就是为什么地租是固定的。地主会说，不管收成如何，我都要收20担粮食，因此如果收成超出地租需要交纳的粮食，你就会有收获很多余粮。

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