A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 547 History keeps repeating itself

Wang Cheng knows what the situation is like for the noble, powerful, and official families below. Maybe there are some noble, powerful, and official families who can stay on their own terms, but what about after two, three, or even five generations? Basically, they are all in cahoots.

There may be individuals who betray the class, but there will never be a class that betrays the class.

Maybe only in real history, in the very distant future, there would be some changes and differences in a few decades, but they would soon disappear and end.

Under this situation, the Daqian court continued to move forward steadily, and the pioneering nobles continued to grow and develop, swallowing up the barbarians who were close to Daqian little by little, and then reorganized the people into households.

With this safety valve within Daqian, more and more rangers who were unwilling to settle and wanted to be granted a title immediately began to seek help from the pioneering nobles. Through this guidance, a large number of people migrated out every year.

Exploring the wilderness consumed a lot of materials. The imperial court set up workshops to produce materials, and then sold these materials to the pioneering nobles. They collected slaves or various local specialties, such as copper mines, herbs, furs, etc. . Through this trade chain, a simple trade cycle is maintained.

After reading Chao Cuo's policy materials, Wang Cheng realized how difficult it would be to implement the reform this time. In fact, every reform is like walking a tightrope. If you are not careful, you will be doomed.

At that time, the Huai Kingdom's reform seemed peaceful. That was because the Huai Kingdom was not that big yet, and the Wang family could extend their power everywhere. Those noble and powerful families could not play tricks on the Wang family, and they were also suppressed on the surface. Only by suppressing it can the reform be carried out smoothly.

What is the situation in Daqian now? It is more than ten times larger than the Huai Kingdom back then. Daqian is simply unable to penetrate the power of the royal family into every corner. The royal family only has a small number of people, even if they include the official office.

This kind of thing, let alone now, has not been solved even more than a thousand years later in real history, with advanced technology and convenient transportation.

Wang Cheng was diligent and studious and supported Chao Cuo's reforms, which made Chao Cuo very happy. Continue to implement reforms, but Chao Cuo is also seventy years old this year. His energy is far less than before, but the reforms he implemented have not yet been completed, and there are still many things in the court that need him to control.

It's not that he is unwilling to delegate power and let others handle it, but he knows that there are still many people in the court who are unwilling to change the law. It's just that because of his majesty and the emperor's support, he dare not do anything.

If he dares to delegate power and let those people do it on their own, even if these people do what he says, they will definitely go wrong in the final implementation of the decree. It is difficult to maintain a system and rules, but it is very easy to break a rule and system.

Throughout the ages, these people have done this not once or twice, but always, it is a simple 'doubling'. What you say at the top is supported by the bottom, and then when doing things, you directly add more weight, add some to each layer, and add some to each layer. What will it look like in the end?

In real history, the imperial court collected taxes. If the imperial court dared to add a penny of tax, it would charge ten penny or even a hundred penny of tax later. And they will not only use this method to increase taxes, but also other decrees.

If the court calls for some labor, the people below will call twice as much. After they send double the labor, do you think the officials in charge of the construction will refuse? No, they will just think that the officials below are good people.

Sending more manpower will allow them to complete the construction in advance. Not only will they receive rewards, but they will also be promoted and make a fortune. What do you think they will choose?

In addition to these, it can be said that this is the case in all aspects, with increasing levels of taxation. This is why in the middle and late stages of the dynasty, every time the court wanted to increase taxes, the people below would be ruined and displaced, and they could only devote themselves to being the head of a wealthy family. Slave, domestic slave from generation to generation.

No one is born to be a slave, and no one wants to be a slave for generations. This is what people have to do if they want to survive.

Now Daqian is encountering the same situation. As the prime minister, Chao Cuo, with him watching, those below do not dare to move. Without him watching, those below will definitely do the same, and there is no need for the people above. say what. With just one look, those people knew what to do.

Don't think they don't understand. You must know that the people who can become officials now can be said to be the smartest people among tens of millions of people in this era. All of them are human beings.

It is impossible for ordinary people to fight with these people and suppress them. Only those who are smarter, crueler, and stronger than them can suppress them.

While Wang Cheng was studying those cases and the art of governing the country, Chao Cuo had just issued a decree and headed to the palace to see the emperor.

Chao Cuo had an unobstructed journey. Although Chao Cuo was not given the title of Crown Prince, Taibao Taifu or other official positions, he was still the emperor's teacher to a certain extent.

All the palace attendants bowed their heads respectfully to show respect.

"May your Majesty be safe!"

"Prime Minister Wan'an, sit down quickly!"

Wang Cheng said happily and asked Chao Cuo to sit opposite him.

"What do you think of your studies these days, Your Majesty?"

Chao Cuo didn't talk about any reform matters. He had compiled them into a book, and the emperor could just read them slowly. What he actually wanted to ask was the emperor's views on the world and how he planned to govern in the future.

After all, he is already old and cannot be prime minister for a few more years.

Wang Cheng understood this, and after pondering for a moment, he said: "In these days, after reading various documents about the Prime Minister's governance, I realized that the world will be so difficult."

"Those noble, powerful, and official families are like insects lying on Daqian's body sucking blood. They can't be killed without stopping. Moreover, Daqian's court also needs these people to maintain. Even if these people are replaced, It won't take a few years for another group of people to come and they will become what they are now. There are too few who can maintain their original aspirations."

"Your Majesty, it's good that you understand that although there are officials who are corrupt and commit crimes, you can't drive them all away. You can only send inspection censors constantly to supervise them, then cut off the rotten flesh and blood, and then inject new blood. As long as the new blood If we can continue to excise carrion and blood, the world will be able to survive."

"Is there a way to restore the world to how it was before?" Wang Cheng looked at the Prime Minister expectantly.

Chao Cuo sighed and said, "I am incompetent. I hope your majesty will forgive me."

"Prime Minister, you have done a great job. What all the emperors and ministers in the past could not do, how can we do it?" Wang Cheng shook his head.

The only lesson humanity can learn from history is that humanity never learns any lessons from history.

(End of this chapter)