Regarding Xun Yu's ending, Chen Zhou was quite disappointed.
The end of life lies in an empty food box. Being loyal to the Han Dynasty and being loyal to Cao Cao is destined to be a tragedy.
Chen Zhou wanted to change Xun Yu's fate. He first instilled in him the idea that the Han Dynasty was exhausted and weakened his loyalty to the Han Dynasty, hoping to avoid that tragedy.
"Is the Yellow Turban incident related to the fact that the great man has run out of energy?" Xun Yu asked.
"Relevant!" Chen Zhou said, "I have mentioned on that topic that the Yellow Turban rebellion is actually related to the economy, and most of these economic problems occur on the land. Mr. Xun should be aware of that, right?"
Xun Yu was also a nobleman.
Although he was unwilling to admit it, the emergence of the Yellow Turban rebels was indeed inseparable from their noble clan.
Most of the land in the world was controlled by the nobles.
Peasants had no land and could only rent land from nobles and become tenant farmers.
It would be fine if the weather had been normal and there were no major disasters. Once a disaster occurred, the farmland would be harvested, and the nobles would have to charge rent for the farmland. The tenant farmers would not be able to pay the rent, and they would even lose their land.
The tenant farmers who had been oppressed by the gentry now had no food to eat and were forced to pay rent. Their anger reached a critical point. Once Zhang Jiao preached and preached, the Yellow Turbans appeared.
Most of the Yellow Turbans are farmers.
If farmers had enough to eat and their own land, who would be willing to rebel?
After thinking so much, Xun Yu sighed and said, "That's true."
"When a dynasty is first established, everything is prosperous."
"For example, in the Han Dynasty, when Emperor Gaozu founded the country, the world was at peace, and the people's yearning for the future was also beautiful."
"After experiencing the wars at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Han population at that time was not very large, and there were more unclaimed wastelands. Emperor Gaozu re-established the land system. People who survived the troubled times could get considerable amounts of land, and could easily open up wasteland for farming. The world was very prosperous. A prosperous age will soon come.”
"Excuse me, Mr. Xun, am I right?"
Chen Zhou said again.
Xun Yu nodded slightly, saying everything was true.
"But according to the Han system and the economic laws, land property rights will eventually be concentrated and transferred to a few people."
"In the early days of the Han Dynasty, the population was small, the land was sufficient, and everyone lived a prosperous life."
"With the development of a dynasty, the growth of population will naturally not stagnate. If there are more people and the amount of land is fixed, then the per capita cultivated land will be less, and land conflicts will gradually break out."
"According to the law, a large amount of land is transferred to a few people."
"This is land annexation."
"A large number of farmers have no land and can only rely on a small number of people as tenants."
"As a result, the court's control over local areas will also be weakened."
Chen Zhou continued his analysis.
Xun Yu's face turned pale before he finished listening.
Because what Chen Zhou said all happened in reality. For example, now, as a member of the noble clan, he knows the relationship very well.
"Why has the imperial court's control over local areas been weakened as a result?"
Cao Ang asked without understanding.
Chen Zhou said: "Because these farmers have become tenant farmers and have no land under their control, the court cannot collect taxes from them. But for the few powerful nobles who control a large amount of land, the court can collect taxes from them? In order to maximize the benefits, The gentry would even hide their land and population, and while expanding their own interests, the imperial court's control was thus weakened by them."
Cao Ang finally understood, and his expression, like Xun Yu's, quickly became unsightly.
It seems that the bane of the world is their noble family.
"The imperial court cannot collect taxes and its control over local areas has weakened, so it will be very powerless to defend against foreign enemies or provide disaster relief."
Xun Yu echoed: "For example, before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han Dynasty spent a lot of money on the Western Qiang war. There were also natural disasters and droughts in many places. The court was unable to provide disaster relief. Zhang Jiao took this opportunity to raise troops to rebel."
As expected of Xun Yu.
After Chen Zhou's reminder, he gradually figured out the reason.
Chen Zhou added: "The people today have actually lost trust in the Han Dynasty court. If the court has no popular support, isn't it that its strength has been exhausted?"
The big man has reached his end and cannot be saved.
"What if the imperial court adopts a tough attitude and re-measures and divides the land, conducts population census, and regains control of the local area?"
Cao Ang put forward his own ideas.
Hearing this, Chen Zhou and Xun Yu both laughed.
The idea is simple, not so easy to implement.
"Wang Mang did this too, but what was the result?"
"He destroyed the long-developed land relations, prevented the sale of land and serfs, and harmed the interests of the nobles and nobles."
"It has even harmed the interests of some homesteaders."
"Young Master knows Wang Mang's fate very well, right?"
"This is how Guangwu Zhongxing came about."
"Wang Mang was originally a traitor who usurped the throne, and he did so many things that were not conducive to the gentry, which accelerated his demise. Otherwise, Wang Mang would not have collapsed so quickly."
Chen Zhou explained to Cao Ang.
However, Wang Mang's collapse had a lot to do with Liu Xiu, the son of the plane. If the meteorite hadn't fallen, Liu Xiu's success would not have been so easy.
After hearing this explanation, Cao Ang didn't know what to say.
It turns out that the nobles, who are respected and admired by others, are the root cause of troubled times.
The strength of the great man was ruined in the hands of the nobles.
"Why do you say three hundred years?"
Xun Yu asked after thinking about it.
Chen Zhou explained: "Because from the first land annexation to the demise of a dynasty, the time for all conflicts to accumulate is around three hundred years. More or less, this is the period for all dynasties since Qin and after Han. It can’t change the problems I mentioned, it’s almost always the same, and you can’t get out of this pattern.”
Xun Yu frowned and thought hard, agreeing with Chen Zhou's analysis.
Throughout the history of the Han Dynasty, it is just as analyzed by Chen Zhou.
Of course, in addition to economic and political reasons, there are also climate reasons.
Chen Zhou can't explain these, because it's hard to give an example of the Little Ice Age, and it's only the end of the Han Dynasty.
But the shock to Xun Yu and Cao Ang was already huge.
"The general trend of the world is that if it stays together for a long time, it will break up, and if it stays divided for a long time, it will unite."
"This is a historical pattern."
"The strength of the Han Dynasty is now exhausted. Even if there is a minister who wants to be a minister of the Zhongxing Dynasty and wants to implement reforms and help the Han Dynasty, can the current emperor handle it?"
Chen Zhou raised this question to Xun Yu.
Liu Xie, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, was still worried in Guanzhong.
Even if the Yuan family is willing to support the Han Dynasty and Yuan Shao is willing to become a minister of the Xing Dynasty, he is afraid that he will not be able to save the Han Dynasty.
Xun Yu shook his head.
"Mr. Xun's eyes should not only be on the Han Dynasty."
"The big man makes the people unable to eat, so starvation is death, and rebellion is death."
"Sir, your focus should be on how to pacify the world. If the Han Dynasty can still support it, then do it. If not, just change the owner."
"If purely for the sake of the Han Dynasty, the world will continue to fight, and the people will be in dire straits. Is this what Mr. Xun wants to see?"
Chen Zhou asked Xun Yu again.
Xun Yu's faith seemed to be shattered. He was silent for a long time before saying, "No one wants to see the world in such chaos."
After hearing these words, Chen Zhou understood that he had shaken Xun Yu's heart.
It probably won't happen in the future. It would be a pity to die like that.
