His Majesty Li Er felt that his mind was a little confused and he had to sort it out.
He was a wise emperor, with a clear understanding of the origins of the rise and fall of dynasties. The dynasty's demise due to land annexation is inevitable in social development. If this problem cannot be solved, it is completely in vain to say that it will last for thousands of years.
Even the Tang Dynasty could not escape the fate of collapse...
The establishment of a new dynasty on the ruins represents the beginning of a new round of land distribution, which means that for a long time, every farmer will have his own land, and the main contradictions in society will be eliminated. As long as those in power clean up officials and are diligent in political affairs, there will be peace and prosperity. Can be expected.
Just like now, if the wise king is in power and the virtuous dynasty is in full swing, the prosperous era of Zhenguan will surely be ushered in.
However, His Majesty Li Er listened to Fang Jun's words and said that the establishment of the new dynasty had already heralded the roots of its downfall, and that the demise of the old dynasty actually meant that a new round of land distribution was coming, giving birth to a beautiful future. future……
This made His Majesty Li Er, who was ambitious and proud that he was about to create a prosperous age, somewhat unacceptable.
According to what you say, everything I am doing now is completely useless. No matter how diligent I am in government affairs, no matter how hard I sleep at night, it will not change the outcome that everything will eventually fall apart in the tide of history and be annihilated under the dust. ?
This is simply unreasonable!
Little bastard, aren't you a sycophant?
To be a sycophant, you have to be qualified, and you have to say some flattering words that are pleasing to the ear. Saying these unpleasant words in a good situation has to cause trouble for others. Do you want to imitate that old guy Wei Zheng?
His Majesty Li Er had a gloomy face and evil eyes. He stared at Fang Jun and said, "In your opinion, no matter how prosperous the Tang Dynasty is, it cannot escape the fate of its eventual collapse?"
Fang Jun said in a deep voice: "Loyal words are offensive to the ears, but humble ministers dare not deceive the Holy One."
His Majesty Li Er laughed angrily, and sneered with murderous intent: "So, even if you slander the country and make scaremongering, will I reward you properly?"
Fang Jun was silent for a moment, then stood up, bowed his hands to the ground, and said: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, and naturally he has a holy judgment. If he thinks that Wei Chen is making alarmist remarks, he can be punished for his crime. Wei Chen is willing to be punished without any complaints."
There are things that can be done according to the emperor's will. You will be well to me and everyone will be well. You will be happy to serve the emperor, and you will be promoted and make a fortune. Why not?
But some things must be persisted.
Especially on such important national policies regarding the future direction of the empire, he will not compromise.
His Majesty Li Er looked at Fang Jun with a resolute expression, gritted his teeth, and did not say any words of scolding. He just said calmly: "Am I someone who cannot accept advice? I dare not compare with the ancient sage kings in terms of virtue, but when it comes to discussion, You have a broad mind, but you admit that you are not inferior to anyone! No matter whether you are loyal or unfaithful, you will never be punished for your words. Who do you want to show your style of being a critic? Do you think that if you can Therefore, by provoking a beating from me, you can gain a reputation as a critic and be spread throughout the world?"
Fang Jun sweated profusely: "I don't dare!"
I said to myself, brother, you are so serious, why are you going astray...
His Majesty Li Er snorted coldly: "Don't you dare? I really don't know, what is there in this world that your Fang Erlang doesn't dare to do! Okay, hang your head and make people look annoyed, go back and do it well .”
Fang Jun said: "Wei Chen is guilty and dare not sit down."
His Majesty Li Er's eyes widened: "You sit down when I tell you to, you are so pretentious, who did you learn this from?"
Fang Jun was speechless and had to sit down with a sad face.
We really don’t want to sit down, our butt hurts, so we might as well stand and listen to your scolding...
The sun was setting outside, and the sunlight was shining straight in from the west window, and all the dust flying in the space was clearly visible.
His Majesty Li Er was silent for a while and asked: "Land annexation...is there any way to solve it?"
Fang Jun shook his head and said: "I can't. Since ancient times, starting a family and buying a house has been a custom passed down by the Han people. Whenever you have money, the first thing you do is buy a house or land. Money is something outside the body. Once the situation deteriorates, These yellow and white things cannot fill the stomach. Only land is the permanent product. The poor hope to buy more acres of land so that they can have a mouthful of food in the years of famine. The rich hope to buy more acres of land to pass it on to their children and grandchildren as ancestral property. ...Therefore, the annexation of land is the request of all classes of the Han people, and the amount of land is a reflection of the value of life. Under such circumstances, who can stop the annexation of land? Not even the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty, not even your Majesty."
His Majesty Li Er was silent.
He was not angry because Fang Jun said he couldn't do it, because this was a fact. Even if he really held the life and death of all the people in the world, he could not stop the buying and selling of land, and he could not stop the countless land from being increasingly concentrated in the hands of some people. .
When land becomes more and more concentrated, and more and more people lose their land and thus their source of livelihood, conflicts will break out sooner or later, which means that a new round of land distribution is coming. No matter how powerful the empire is, what will happen to this situation? In the pursuit of the land, it will also melt and disintegrate like icebergs in summer...
Such bad consequences repeat themselves in a cycle.
Therefore, there can never be a unified empire that can last for thousands of years...
His Majesty Li Er understands this truth, but his heart is like a stone, and he feels uncomfortable.
I claim to be the son of God, but I am just one of many emperors. In essence, there is not much difference. Even if you can sweep away the eight wastelands and dominate the world, even if you can rule the world under one emperor for eternity, you cannot solve the problem of land annexation. In the end, your achievements will disappear in the blink of an eye, your empire will fall, it will end in prosperity, it will wither in its splendor, and it will return to dust... …
Suddenly, His Majesty Li Er felt a little discouraged.
Even if you do well, what's the use?
The cycle of heaven begins again and again. This empire will eventually be lost in the dust of history, and another empire is destined to rise on the ruins of the Tang Dynasty.
Everything becomes meaningless in front of the way of heaven...
Just when His Majesty Li Er was secretly feeling sad and confused about the irreversible way of heaven, he suddenly heard Fang Jun say: "The solution is impossible. This is determined by the foundation of Chinese culture. Even the ancient sage king has We are helpless, but containment and mitigation are not impossible..."
"Um?!"
His Majesty Li Er's eyes suddenly widened, his beard curled up, he threw the lid of the tea bowl on the table, and cursed: "Asshole! Who did you learn from this problem of breathing heavily? Do you want to amuse me? "
Fang Jun hurriedly caught the lid of the tea bowl, preventing it from falling to the ground and breaking into pieces. He quickly said: "Isn't Wei Chen just organizing words? How dare you entertain your majesty..."
His Majesty Li Er waved his hand: "Stop talking nonsense, tell me quickly, how to curb and ease land annexation?"
"Here!"
Fang Jun took the opportunity to stand up, put the lid of the tea bowl on the desk in front of the emperor, took two steps back, stood and replied: "It's very simple, let people move their eyes away from the land, don't always stare at that acre. Just three points of land will do.”
"..."
His Majesty Li Er wants to hit someone again.
Aren't you farting?
Land is the most cherished thing of the Han people for generations. If you have money to buy land, if you get promoted, you can buy land. Land is the lifeblood of the Han people. Who can make them look away from the land?
Seeing the emperor pick up the tea bowl lid again, Fang Jun was startled and said quickly: "Your Majesty, it is clear that it is not difficult. We only need to vigorously develop and encourage commerce so that the income from commerce far exceeds the output of the land." , people naturally won’t just focus on the land beneath their feet.”
It is human nature to pursue profit.
When commerce develops to a certain extent, it can indeed greatly alleviate the demand for land. Of course, it is absolutely impossible for the Han people to disdain land and become accustomed to the lifestyle of merchants seeking profits amid risks.
But if it is just mitigation and containment, it is by no means impossible.
Without waiting for His Majesty Li Er to ask, Fang Jun continued: "The imperial court's vigorous development of commerce, especially handicrafts, will definitely create a large number of rich people and concentrate wealth. The concentration of wealth will create monopolies in various industries, which will be very helpful in curbing land mergers." This is not a bad thing. A large number of monopoly classes will make business flourish. Correspondingly, the demand for labor will expand, and more and more people who have lost their land will be attracted to business. , become a hired worker, and get a chance to live. When the monopoly economy develops to a certain extent, the income of ordinary people when renting land will be far less than the income of hired workers, and a large number of people will flow into the business field, but The number of common people is fixed. If there are more hired workers, there will be fewer people cultivating the land. However, the land in the hands of aristocratic family members cannot be abandoned. Should we let them, the children of aristocratic families who cannot carry their shoulders and use their hands, to cultivate the land themselves? So? , the benefits of tenants and bankers will be greatly increased, and the benefits of landowners from land will gradually decrease. The enthusiasm for land will naturally turn to business, and the situation of land annexation should be curbed and alleviated. …”
In fact, Fang Jun only said half of what he said.
The other half is that when the monopoly economy develops to a certain scale, the country becomes saturated and will inevitably begin to expand outward. At this time, imperialism will appear...
