And Kouang said to the new Emperor: "Son of Heaven, you are doing wrong."
And the Emperor replied: "Kouang, you are foolish."
But Kouang persisted and said: "My Lord, what is your object?"
"My object," said the Emperor, "is to facilitate the movement of men and things between Tchin and Tchan; to make transportation less expensive, so that the people may have tea and clothes more cheaply."
But Kouang was in readiness. He had received, the evening before, some numbers of the Moniteur Industriel, a Chinese paper. Knowing his lesson by heart, he asked permission to answer, and, having obtained it, after striking his forehead nine times against the floor, he said: "My Lord, you try, by facilitating transportation, to reduce the price of articles of consumption, in order to bring them within the reach of the people; and to do this you begin by making them lose all the labor which was created by the destruction of the canal. Sire, in political economy, absolute cheapness"—
The Emperor. "I believe that you are reciting something."
Kouang. "That is true, and it would be more convenient for me to read."
Having unfolded the Esprit Public, he read: "In political economy the absolute cheapness of articles of consumption is but a secondary question. The problem lies in the equilibrium of the price of labor and that of the articles necessary to existence. The abundance of labor is the wealth of nations, and the best economic system is that which furnishes them the greatest possible amount of labor. Do not ask whether it is better to pay four or eight cents cash for a cup of tea, or five or ten shillings for a shirt. These are puerilities unworthy of a serious mind. No one denies your proposition. The question is, whether it is better to pay more for an article, and to have, through the abundance and price of labor, more means of acquiring it, or whether it is better to impoverish the sources of labor, to diminish the mass of national production, and to transport articles of consumption by canals, more cheaply it is true, but, at the same time, to deprive a portion of our laborers of the power to buy them, even at these reduced prices."
The Emperor not being altogether convinced, Kouang said to him: "My Lord, be pleased to wait. I have the Moniteur Industriel to quote from."
But the Emperor said: "I do not need your Chinese newspapers to tell me that to create obstacles is to turn labor in that direction. Yet that is not my mission. Come, let us clear out the canal, and then we will reform the tariff."