Wentang

Chapter 734 Dynasty Change (2)

"Why did the Han Dynasty perish?" Li Shimin asked.

Compared with the replacement of Xia, Shang and Zhou, he is more interested in the affairs of the Han Dynasty.First, the Han Dynasty is the closest to the Tang Dynasty, and second, the systems of the two dynasties are also very similar.

Yue Shan took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and said, "The demise of the Han Dynasty was due to the destruction of production relations, but the failure to improve productivity."

Li Shimin showed a thoughtful expression, and said: "The previous dynasties were changed because of the increase in productivity and changes in production relations, but the social structure did not change in time. Right?"

Yue Shan nodded, indicating that was the case.

Li Shimin added: "The Han Dynasty is reversed. The social structure has not changed, the production relationship has been destroyed, and the productivity cannot keep up. That is to say, the productivity and the production relationship can influence each other, right?"

Yue Shan didn't expect that he would ask such a question. After thinking about the change of dynasties in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, he nodded again: "That's true."

Li Shimin said: "I understand, you continue to talk about how the production relationship was destroyed."

Yue Shan continued: "The Han followed the Qin law... to distribute the land to the people. The people paid taxes to the court, and the leftover grain was used to feed themselves."

"Although the society has experienced several major divisions of labor, by the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were already different occupations that were separated from the land to engage in commerce, planting hemp, picking mulberry and weaving cloth, carpentry, blacksmithing, etc."

"But land is still the most important part of the production relationship. Most people depend on land to survive, and the country exists because of land."

"But the common people are too weak, and they will lose their land and become tenants or even sell themselves into slavery after a slight setback. The rich and powerful will use various means to plunder the common people's land and increase their wealth."

"Slowly, more and more land is concentrated in the hands of the rich and powerful, and the land in the hands of the common people is less and less. It has formed a situation where the rich have thousands of mansions and the poor have no place to stand."

"A few people own most of the land and wealth, while the majority of the common people have nothing."

"When the general public has no money in their hands, the goods in the hands of the merchants cannot be sold, leading to bankruptcy. The mulberry in the hands of the people who plant hemp and pick mulberry cannot be sold, so they can only guard the mulberry and starve to death... Blacksmiths and carpenters lose job……"

"This is the destruction of production relations, which eventually leads to the withering of all industries and the chaos of the country."

"There is another biggest problem, that is, although the rich and powerful families occupy most of the wealth, they don't have to pay taxes, and the country has no way to receive a penny from them."

"The court collects taxes from ordinary people, but at this time the people have lost their land, and they are almost starving to death without food. Where can they get the money to pay taxes?"

"But the court cannot survive without tax collection, and it must collect taxes from poor people."

"An even bigger contradiction was born. Those who have money don't have to pay taxes, and those who don't have money can't pay anyone. The court needs taxes to maintain its operations. What does the saint think should be done at this time?"

"Hiss!" Li Shimin gasped.He already knew the answer, and was afraid because he knew it.What scares him even more is that he seems to see the future of Datang.

The land and wealth were concentrated in the hands of a few dignitaries, the common people had nothing, and the imperial court forcibly collected taxes, which led to the change of the people and the change of the dynasty.

As for the Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty, he didn't bother to ask. What the Jin Dynasty did was not worthy of being called a dynasty. The Southern and Northern Dynasties were purely foreign powers.

As for the reason for the demise of the Sui Dynasty, it is written in the history books that Emperor Sui Yang was very happy, cruel and fatuous, but there is too much water in it.

The real reason Li Shimin knows best is that Emperor Yang of Sui was overjoyed and eager for success, which led to the collapse. In Yue Shan's words, the productivity could not keep up with the emperor's ambitions, which was similar to that of Shang Zhou and Qin Shihuang.

He took a deep breath, calmed down his excitement, and asked, "Is there any solution?"

Yue Shan shook his head and said, "I've thought of three ways, but I don't know if it's feasible."

Li Shimin said impatiently: "Say."

Yue Shan replied: "First, legislate to prohibit land transfers and solve the problem of land mergers."

Li Shimin pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "It's very difficult, very difficult, the second way."

is it hard?Yue Shan said in his heart, after you listen to my method, you will know that this may be the simplest and easiest one to achieve.

"Secondly, officials and gentry work together on errands, and pay food together. It is even stipulated that more taxes should be paid when the land owned exceeds a certain amount, so that even if the people lose their land and cannot pay taxes, the court will not collapse because of lack of money."

Li Shimin frowned even tighter: "This is the law of subjugation, the third one."

Yue Shan knew why he said that, the official and gentry paying the grain together could be seen as a sign that the imperial power had completely defeated the aristocratic family, and it was the economic reward after a complete political victory.

Now the powerful families of the Tang Dynasty are still very powerful, and they have been competing with the imperial court for the right to rule the people.

At this time, if some officials and gentry are integrated into the errands and pay the food, it will really force everyone to rebel.Even if it is Li Shimin's confidant and important minister, there will not be many who are willing to support him.

If he really wants to do this, the possibility of betrayal is even greater.

Of course, it doesn't mean that there is no possibility of success, but Zhenguan Dynasty definitely can't do this.

However, Yue Shan still brought it up, the purpose is to lay the foundation for the future.

If Datang wants to continue for a few more years, it must take this step.It is impossible for Li Shimin not to understand this truth, and it is impossible for him to ignore such a good method.

But it is too difficult to get to this step. It is necessary to start laying the foundation and prepare in advance, and implement it when the time is right.

This time may have to wait until Li Chengqian succeeds to the throne, or it may be when Li Chengqian's son or even grandson succeeds to the throne.

But no matter how long you have to wait, you must start making preparations and planning in advance, otherwise the time will never be ripe.

As for how to prepare, Yue Shan didn't know.But he believes that with Li Shimin's intelligence, he can definitely think of this and find a feasible solution.

So he didn't refute Li Shimin's statement that this method is the method of subjugation, as long as he understands what's going on in his heart.

He said the third way: "Increase productivity and re-establish a set of production relations. Let the people who lost their land survive, and let the court collect enough taxes."

"But what I want to remind the sage is that the nobles of the family don't need to pay taxes and only get in and out of wealth. Even if the imperial court really finds a way to increase productivity and establish new production relations, they will soon be destroyed by them."

Li Shimin said angrily: "You don't need to remind me, I know it in my heart. This is the method you came up with? None of them are feasible."

Yue Shan was not angry, and said with a smile: "That's no way, I can only think of these things because of my limited ability. The sage is smart and resourceful, so he should be able to think of a better way."

Li Shimin said angrily: "Bastard, believe it or not, I will beat you if you are so angry."

Yue Shan smiled and said: "That's about all I know, I'll tell you everything. Is it right? You can figure out whether it is useful or not."

Li Shimin nodded and said: "It's really a clever idea to say something that no one has done before. Although it is not comprehensive, it can also be used as a reference."

Yue Shan didn't feel that he was belittling himself on purpose. In his previous life, people had been summarizing the experience of ancient times, trying to break the vicious cycle of dynastic change, and proposed many seemingly feasible methods.

But none of them have been verified, and no one knows whether it is feasible.

Some of what Yue Shan said just now were heard from others, and some were summed up by himself, so there must be some bias.

He is not so arrogant that he thinks that he can break the vicious cycle of dynasty change by himself, he just tells Li Shimin what he thinks, and no one knows how much help he can bring to him.

If Li Shimin took his words as a guideline as soon as he heard them, and followed the methods he gave, he would be afraid instead.

Li Shimin said again: "What you said just now is the problem of the previous dynasty, and you also talked about what is wrong with my Tang Dynasty and what needs to be corrected."

Yue Shan pondered for a while before saying: "The Great Tang is somewhat similar to the Han and Sui Dynasties. The problems that existed in those two dynasties also exist in our Great Tang. Let me talk about a problem that the two dynasties did not have. If this problem is not solved in time, it will be a big problem. .”

Li Shimin cheered up and said, "What's the problem?"

Yue Shan said: "It's about the military system."

"The fubing system is based on the land equalization system. If you become a fubing, the court will allocate hundreds of acres of land to him."

"These lands can not only support the wives and children, but also provide weapons, equipment and rations for the government soldiers. Once there is a problem with the land, the government military system will collapse."

"Let's not talk about the loss of land due to natural disasters and man-made disasters, but the natural increase of population."

"Now each fubing family has hundreds of acres of land or more, which can support the whole family. But if people want to reproduce, it is calculated that each fubing has three sons. After 20 years, the land will be divided into Three."

"These three children get married and have children, and if each of them has three sons, the original land will be divided into nine parts... By analogy, it will not take 50 years for the land to support this big family. .”

"And the Fubing is inherited from father to son. When it comes to grandchildren, their family may no longer be able to afford the consumption of a soldier."

"The Fubing, which everyone envies now, will become a fierce tiger that everyone fears. If the land annexation causes the Fubing family to lose their land, this situation will only become more serious."

"By that time, how much combat power Datang's army will have is very worrying."

"And the Fubing system is the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. If we don't take measures in advance and wait until the problem breaks out in decades to solve it, I'm afraid it will become very troublesome."

Li Shimin's head started to hurt again.Although he knew that following the current trend, Datang would follow the old path of the Han Dynasty.

But in his opinion, this time will be at least two or three hundred years later, and there is no big problem with Datang right now.

Who knew that Yue Shan pointed out a big problem just by saying it casually, and it also involved the Tang Dynasty's root military system, which was too big a problem.He couldn't even imagine what it would be like when the government military system collapsed.

"What is your solution to this problem?"

Yue Shan shook his head and said: "There is only a way to alleviate it, but there is no complete solution. The land is limited, and the government military system will inevitably collapse."

Li Shimin looked a lot better, and said: "It's okay if there is a way to relieve it."

Yue Shan said: "Change the hereditary system to a two-generation inheritance system, or change it to a three-generation inheritance system. The fourth generation must not be allowed to inherit."

"After the round of Fubing is over, if there is any extra land in the hands of the imperial court, they will be recruited again, and enough land will be allocated to them until the day when the land in the imperial court's hands is allotted."

Li Shimin rubbed his temples and said, "For the time being, that's all we can do. But the world is so big, if we can keep expanding the territory, we should be able to make the military system run for hundreds of years."

Yue Shan said: "This is just an ideal state. A saint must not forget that the land far away from the Tang Dynasty cannot be effectively ruled even if we conquer it."

"Take Nanzhan Buzhou and Dongsheng Shenzhou as examples. It is impossible for the imperial court to use the land there to recruit government soldiers."

Li Shimin said: "It's a day if it lasts for a day. Right now, the government military system can last for decades, so let's not talk about it. Is there anything else to say?"

Yue Shan tactfully did not continue to ask, Li Shimin is not the kind of person who procrastinates, he will definitely solve the problem of the military system before he dies.

The reason why I am impatient now is because I have heard too many things and my heart is disturbed.When he sorts out everything and finds a breakthrough, he will start to arrange it one by one.So no need to rush too much.

"There is another small problem. The Great Tang Dynasty has been established for more than [-] years, and it has been fighting for years. Many soldiers have not returned home since the day they joined the army, and some of them have even turned gray."

"In the past two years, the Tang Dynasty has swept away the surrounding barbarians. There is no need to maintain such a large army. It is better to let those soldiers who have served for a long time go home and reunite with their families."

"After returning home, these people can also participate in farming to produce food for the country, and they can also marry wives and have children to increase the population of Datang."

"On the other hand, the people who moved from the barbarians to the Tang Dynasty in the past few years entered the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Although it was beneficial to educate them, it also caused certain security risks."

"Let these warriors return to the local area and form a local guard to protect the country and the people..."

"This move can not only reflect the benevolence of the saint, but also make the whole army grateful, and it can also..."

Li Shimin's face twitched when he heard this, and he interrupted: "That's all, all right, stop flattering me, I'm already thinking about what you said."

Yue Shan said: "The sage is wise."

Li Shimin said: "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Yue Shan thought for a while and said, "It's gone for now."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "I don't know how long it will take for me to fully understand these things. It's useless to say more."

Yue Shan: "..."

Li Shimin said again: "That's it for today."

Yue Shan got up and said, "Then I won't bother the sage, and I will leave."

Li Shimin waved his hand and he knew it. After Yue Shan left, he quickly took out a pen and recorded everything Yue Shan said, and wrote down his own understanding on the side.

In the future, he will look through the history books and compare them one by one to see if he can find more things.

……

Yue Shan found Changsun Wugou and others, said hello and left the palace, Li Lizhi rarely entered the palace, and would bring the child to stay here for a few days.

It just so happened that Yue Shan would be busy with oracle bone inscriptions for a while, so he might not have time to take care of them, so it would be better to let them stay in the palace for a few days.

After leaving the palace, he rushed back to the academy without stopping. It was time to call historians and experts in writing.

(End of this chapter)