A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 591 Arrangement

If Wang Xuanze asked his ancestor, he would probably say, let alone a hundred years, there has been no national fortune in forty years. It is a pity that his ancestor is asleep and has almost never replied to them except for the succession of family heads.

In real history, the number of acres of land on the books of the Sui Dynasty was far more than 1.9 billion acres, but an astonishing 4.35 billion acres.

How high is this number? After the establishment of flower growers, the number of acres of land nationwide was 1.68 billion acres. More than a thousand years later, the number of acres of land owned by flower growers was even less than that of the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign.

Later, after the development of Beidahuang, Frontier and Dongbei provinces, the area reached 1.918 billion acres by the 21st century. It is still not as good as the 1.95 billion in the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang’s reign.

Wang Xuanze calculated the people's real income from acres of land and the taxes that needed to be paid. Calculated in a good year and a good year, the tax amount was about 30% of the total income, and his wife had to work hard at weaving.

If it were a normal year, that would be 40% to 50% profit. But how can there be so many good years in this world? One or two years out of ten years is good, so people usually pay more than 40% of taxes. Such high taxes were only available during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when countries were in conflict.

During the Qian Dynasty, the tax rate was 20%, and the people had more land. After conversion, the final income of a common person was more than double or even triple that of the common people in the Sui Dynasty today.

The Sui State collected such heavy taxes and therefore received a large amount of grain. Yang Jian ordered the construction of granaries at key waterways in the world to store grain.

The people at the bottom live a miserable life, but the wealthy families above live in luxury.

In addition to these wealthy families, Wang Xuanze also discovered a problem, and that was religion. Since the late Liu Song Dynasty, religions have flourished all over the world, not only Taoism, but also Buddhism spread from Tianzhu.

There are so many temples in one city. If it were extended to the whole country, Wang Xuanze estimated that there would be at least 500 temples in the world.

Buddhism was preached in the Western Regions, and was taught a lesson by the Wang family in the Western Regions. It soon changed its style, and King Haotianwen was added to it, calling him the Buddha before it was accepted, and then gradually spread to the Central Plains.

Moreover, the wife of Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty believed in Buddhism more than he did. This can be seen from her name, Dugu Jialuo.

In fact, Wang Xuanze's estimate was conservative. At this time, the number of Buddhist temples in the world had already exceeded 3,000 and was heading towards 4,000.

Even the royal family and clan kings believed in Buddhism. After the Sui Dynasty, Buddhism became even more prosperous because the current emperor, Sui Emperor Yang Jian, was born in a temple.

In the late Liu Song Dynasty, due to the constant wars in the world, many people relied on religion, and the number of people who believed in Buddhism increased explosively.

Although Wang Xuanze had just purchased real estate in Daxing City and lived there for only a month, he discovered more than a dozen temples before he had even visited Daxing City.

He asked people to collect information about the temples. There were more than 20 temples near Daxing City alone. These temples basically had tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. Some of them were rewarded by Emperor Yang Jian and the Empress of the Sui Dynasty, and some were from believers. Donations, and some they purchased.

Of course, since Buddhism no longer pays taxes, Taoism will naturally not pay taxes. Although the number of Taoists is not as large as that of Buddhism, it is still not a minority. There are also at least one million acres of farmland.

Therefore, Emperor Sui had a very friendly attitude toward Buddhism. He funded the construction of Buddhist temples many times. At the same time, as Buddhist temples, Buddhism had land and a large population, but did not need to pay taxes.

In Wang Xuanze's opinion, this was completely nonsense.

But even according to Wang Xuanze's estimate, there are more than 500 temples, plus their land. These temples have an estimated millions of acres of Buddhist land that they don’t pay taxes on.

When I was in Daqian, not to mention these religions, even the nobles and powerful people from all over the country had to pay taxes honestly, but now they are exempted from them.

Wang Xuanze now increasingly understands these operations of the Sui Dynasty.

Originally, the Wang family sent him here because he wanted everyone in the family to serve in the court and obtain titles to increase the family's fortune. Now, after Wang Xuanze got to know the Sui Dynasty court carefully, he felt that the family should wait a little longer. You can return to Zhuxia first, but don't be in a hurry to become an official. The family has been waiting for hundreds of years, and there is no rush for the past few years. If the Sui Emperor can recognize these problems and correct them in time, the Wang family may become an official, help a little, and gain luck.

But if no changes are made, Wang will just sit on the sidelines.

Originally, the Wang family had been consuming the family's wealth over the years. If they stepped in at this time, once something happened in the Sui Dynasty, the family would also be in trouble.

Wang Xuanze compiled his analysis into a book, and then revised it several times. After he felt it was OK, he asked his confidants to personally send it to Guanhai City on Ryukyu Island.

In Guanhai City, the main hall of the ancestral temple.

More than thirty direct descendants of the Wang family are discussing.

The head of the family sitting at the head of the family said, "Everyone, you have read the letter from Aze. What do you think of the Sui Dynasty?"

"Master, this Sui Dynasty statue doesn't look like a long-lasting statue!" The high priest next to him shook his head and said.

"The Sui Emperor governed the world in this way. If the world is peaceful, it can be maintained for a few years, and many places may even be prosperous. However, if this continues for a long time, the country may be destroyed!"

"I read in the information that the Sui Emperor and the Empress were not extravagant and wasteful, and they advocated frugality and set an example. If they can stick to it, they should be pretty good!"

"As for the heavy taxes, but the people have just recovered from the war, I think they can still bear it." The man next to him said.

"It is bearable, but you have ignored the nature of those officials!" Another person shook his head and said: "The Sui Emperor used taxation as the assessment standard. If officials want to be promoted, they must pay more taxes. In this way, those officials will not be able to pay taxes." Are you trying your best to exploit the people?"

"Nineteen million hectares of farmland, haha, after working for four hundred years, there are only four million hectares of farmland in the world. How dare these officials retaliate!"

"Didn't Emperor Sui know the number of acres of land in the previous dynasty?"

"Okay, okay, we'll discuss this later. Now let's discuss whether we should serve as an official in the Sui Dynasty?" the head of the family waved his hand and interrupted.

"Master, my opinion is not to serve as an official."

"Seconded!"

"Second the proposal!" Everyone said one after another.

"In this case, let's not become an official now! But the family's return to Zhuxia cannot be stopped!" said the head of the family, Wang Maode.

"This is natural. The family has been living overseas for more than three hundred years. We must go back!"

"The women and children at home will stay behind first, and some tribesmen and Yulin guards will be sent back first. Although they will not serve in the Sui Dynasty, remember to take care of the relationship."

"Wei!" Everyone responded.

(End of this chapter)