Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 440 Bloody Night (Part )
Chen Zhan looked at the imperial edict in front of him, which was called the "Manifesto", with a complicated and melancholy expression on his face.

He sighed quietly and said, "It's just a pity."

He shook his head, put the imperial edict aside, and then walked into the courtyard and sat down.

When Li Yuan heard Chen Zhan's words, he had a curious look on his face: "Sir, why do you say it's a pity? But what's the problem with this imperial edict?"

He said in great confusion: "I often read books in Zhushen Building. Isn't the problem of land annexation a problem that all the Chen family heads have been worried about? Now that Your Majesty wants to start solving this problem, isn't this a good thing?"

"Why do you say it's a pity, sir?"

Li Yuan couldn't figure out this problem, but he had one good thing, which was that whenever he had a problem he couldn't figure out, he would ask his teacher.

In his heart, the teacher must know the answer to this question.

Chen Zhan waved his hand and asked Li Yuan to sit down. Then his thoughts drifted far away, but his mind was filled with a myriad of emotions.

Li Yuan is right.

Ever since Emperor Taizu established Dayu, successive heads of the Chen family have been considering how to resolve the issue of land annexation - but this problem has never had an answer.

Whether it is the private land ownership system or the state land ownership system, these two systems are essentially, or to some extent, two sides of the same flower, the intersection of similar roads that go in opposite directions.

What is the private ownership of land?

The private land ownership system is to transfer the ownership of land to "private individuals". The most obvious manifestation is that land can be bought and sold - and it is precisely because land can be bought and sold that land mergers will occur.

Because land is always precious and valuable, even in times of war.

Unless the war has engulfed everyone, there will be no place and no one can have a moment of peace, but this is simply impossible, because if it really comes to this, it will be the time of human destruction.

Of course, in times of war, the value of gold may be higher than that of land.

After all, gold can be taken away, but land cannot be taken away;

If someone with powerful military power comes to rob you, you can hide the gold but you cannot hide the land.

Private ownership of land will inevitably lead to the emergence of land annexation, and in the end, land annexation will inevitably result in most of the land being annexed into the hands of certain specific classes.

Officials, businessmen, and royal relatives.

What about nationalization of land?

The land nationalization system is to nationalize the ownership of land, so the people only have the right to use the land - and it needs to be issued by the government.

It seems that land annexation can be curbed - but in fact, it is impossible to shake land annexation from its root.

why?
Because you can't use all of this land for farming, right? Or even if you really use all of it for farming, who can get the right to distribute the land?

emperor?

In the feudal era, only the emperor had full authority to handle the division of land, and he managed all matters, big or small, by himself without relying on anyone else. Only under such extreme circumstances could the non-existence of land annexation be guaranteed.

otherwise
Whenever power is decentralized, the holder of that power will inevitably be corrupted by gold and silver - if half of ten thousand people are steadfast, it is already a God-blessed outcome.

When the gold and silver corrode, who will these lands belong to?

If the land is worth 100,000 taels of silver, and the rich merchant gives 50,000 taels to the official, and then takes out 30,000 taels to buy the land, will the official agree? Of course he will agree, and the ownership of the land will be sold to the rich merchant at a "low price".

So how is this different from land annexation?

Is the only difference that it allows those officials to make more money?

This is the nationalization of land.

This is the special relationship between politics and economy. The process of economic development will inevitably involve political forces, and the process of interaction between political forces will inevitably be mixed with economic interests.

There has never been an exception since the birth of mankind.

After breaking these down bit by bit and telling Li Yuan, Li Yuan's expression suddenly became a little lonely.

"Are you saying that we will never be able to solve the problem of land annexation?"

Chen Zhan sat there in silence, his hand gently patting Li Yuan's head, and he whispered, "Maybe."

“Maybe one day we can solve this problem?”

Although he said this, Chen Zhan was confused and pessimistic about the future, or he could be said to be "desperate".

This is also the reason why Chen Zhan changed the previous principle that the head of the Chen family would enter the court and retreated to Guandu, because he could not see any hope in the future, and the road ahead was always bleak.

He wanted to attain enlightenment in the "Zhuoshen Tower" in Guandu.

When he figures out the truth in his heart, he will naturally come out.

Long live thirteen years.

The emperor's edict spread throughout the world. Many people understood the emperor's intention, but they wanted to resist.
As a result, a vigorous rebellion led by the "farmers" began.

Why farmers, why ordinary people?
Because they are the easiest to fool. Just a few simple words, such as saying that the emperor wants to take away your land and leave you with no food to eat and starving to death, can arouse their anger and make them resist, thus serving as "guns" for those who really want to resist.

Civilian resistance is growing.

Yang Mansion
Yang Jian had a calm expression. In front of him and Dugu Xin was a chessboard with black and white pieces crisscrossing on it. Countless black and white pieces were intertwined, as if they were in a fight.

He looked at Dugu Xin in front of him and said, "Father-in-law, now your majesty has been forced to the point where there is no way forward. The next step must be to negotiate peace with us. The time for us to return to our original position is not far away."

Dugu Xin nodded, but there was a confused look on his face.

While playing chess, he asked, "I thought countless people would resist, but I didn't expect that the most and most powerful resistance would come from ordinary people. Why can't these ordinary people see that this is a friendly thing for them?"

Yang Jian placed the chess piece in front of him somewhere and sighed: "This is not the fault of the people, but your Majesty."

He stood up, took a sip of tea, and looked increasingly peaceful, truly like a true "emperor".

"Your Majesty's opponents have never been from aristocratic families, but your Majesty's vision is too narrow. Or maybe he thinks that he has reached the same level as the Chen ancestors just because he has read a few books by them."

Yang Jian sneered.

"In fact, he is nothing."

"The reason why he is so flustered now is because he did not understand clearly before taking action. The opponent he has to face is everyone except those ignorant people."

"Father-in-law, if the people want to know the court's policies, who should they rely on?"

Dugu Xin was stunned for a moment, then said, "Of course it's the government office."

"Like a county magistrate."

Yang Jian looked at Dugu Xin and asked a soul-searching question: "So, who owns the most land in the world: the merchants, the aristocratic families, or the countless officials who rose from poverty to become officials and are only interested in amassing wealth and annexing land?"

Dugu Xin stood there in a daze.

In fact, it was not that Dugu Xin and the emperor were stupid and incompetent and could not see this aspect, but because they stood too high, so to them, the county magistrate and the people were just ants, so they ignored these people. "This is the essence of this matter."

"The emperor wants to nationalize the land, so what should these officials do? What should they do with the land in their hands?"

"To put it bluntly, if the emperor really investigates the source of these lands, then among those who are currently serving in the court and in local government, except for the children of the Chen family and some of Chen's disciples, if all the others are killed one by one, there may be false cases, but if one out of every hundred officials is killed, there will definitely be countless fish that slip through the net."

"Thousands of miles away, one becomes an official just for money."

Yang Jian said with emotion: "This is rotten flesh that is rotten but embedded in the flesh and blood, and cannot be removed. Since the birth of the dynasty and the court, he has grown together with this country, or in other words, he is a part of this country."

"If they want to dig out this part of the rotten flesh, then the final fate of this country can be summed up in one word."

"die."

The east wind was blowing in the distance. On that cold winter day, the flames in the house were also rising, but Dugu Xin suddenly felt a chill in his body.

“So, even if we establish a new country, we cannot change this fact.”

"Is it?"

Yang Jian looked at Dugu Xin strangely: "Of course."

“But why change?”

He said in a very strange way: "Father-in-law, even if these rotten flesh remain on the body, the country can still continue to prosper. We can even remove these rotten flesh bit by bit."

"Just don't think about digging out all the rotten flesh at once - and tolerate the growth of new rotten flesh, and the country will have no problems."

Dugu Xin sighed silently.

Long live fourteen years.

spring.

Zhang Annian pressed his forehead, the memorials he had submitted showed the rebellions and turmoil in various places.

Ying'an, who was beside him, poured him a cup of strong tea.

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

Zhang Annian picked up the strong tea and took a sip.

In fact, when this matter just started, he found that all his guesses and preparations before the start were wrong. The rotten flesh could not be dug out, and trying to remove it would mean the collapse of the country.

The principle that the law does not punish everyone is still useful.

He said softly, "Go and pass on the imperial decree, summoning Yang Jian to the palace for an audience."

Yang Jian?

Ying An was startled, then lowered his head and said, "Yes."

Wansui Year 14, Spring and Summer.

The Wansui Emperor appointed Yang Jian as the supreme general and concurrently as an internal clerk in the Prime Minister's Office; he appointed Dugu Xin as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and Su Wei as the Grand Marshal.

Several people who had been demoted and suppressed by Prime Minister Chen Zhi were all reinstated.

As a result, there was a constant stream of people coming and going in front of the Yang Mansion, the Dugu Family’s Mansion, and even the Su Mansion, and people kept coming to light the stove.

In the fourteenth year of Wansui, it was the summer and autumn.

When the autumn wind was blowing, Yang Jian and others had suppressed the so-called "peasant uprising", and Dayu became peaceful again.

But as time went by and changes occurred, the positions occupied by Yang Jian and others in the court became more and more important. In the end, except for Zhang Chun who was promoted to the position of Menxialing and Wang Wen who temporarily served as the prime minister, all the others in the court became vassals of Yang Jian and others.

Day after day, Emperor Wansui's control over the court became weaker and weaker.

But at this time, Zhang Chun, Wang Wen and others still controlled most of the power in the sect and the Prime Minister's Office, and they were still able to fight against Yang Jian and others.

It just looks a little lonely and fading.

September, the fourteenth year of Wansui.

heavy rain.

Endless heavy rain fell on the ground, countless raindrops were surging on the bluestone slabs, the black night sky above the sky covered everything, countless thunders sounded, and people took shelter.

Outside the imperial city of Kyoto, several teams of soldiers arrived at the palace gate under the cover of night and directly surrounded the palace.

Countless pitch-black lightning struck, illuminating the faces of these people.

These people had ferocious and ugly looks on their faces, their eyes had lost their loyalty to Dayu and the emperor, their hearts had been corrupted by power and interests, their superiors had promised them countless benefits, these benefits were enough to make them abandon everything - even if some of them had been able to escape from their poor backgrounds in the past because of Emperor Wansui.

Chang Yumin, Ji Haidong, Ge Ruitao, Zhongsun Xie, Lu Weihong and so on.

In a history book that almost no one could see, someone wrote down the names of those participating tonight one by one in a firm tone, and no one could escape.

They are destined to remain in the annals of history and be infamous for eternity.

Even if they could temporarily change history so that everyone would think they were heroes.

History is a little girl who can be dressed up by anyone, but this little girl has a stubborn temper and character, like a stubborn donkey. Some people may be able to dress her up temporarily, but when the dust of history becomes dust again, the truth of history will always be revealed to people.

The leader of this team is called "Xu Shi".

He had once received great favor from Emperor Wansui.

But because of Yang Jian's promise, from then on the "Xu family" could choose a county in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces as their place of settlement. From then on, the Xu family was the "Suzhou and Hangzhou Xu family", and could use this to become a famous family in the world.

So he agreed.

Standing here with his subordinates.

Another group that surrounded the imperial palace was "Su Wei". He had never received great favors from Emperor Wansui, but he had received great favors from Prime Minister "Chen Zhi", which he had forgotten now.

Because what he wanted was Lingnan and Jiaozhou which were occupied by the Ye clan in the past.

in the dark.

The palace lies here quietly, like a huge piece of fat meat.

To be slaughtered.

Rumbling--

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating Zhang Annian's face.

"Your Majesty, General Yang requests an audience."

(End of this chapter)