"Buddhism?"
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were stunned.
How does this have anything to do with Buddhism again?
Aren’t these great monks detached from the secular world and not in charge of any mortal matters?
Well.
In the impression of outsiders, Buddhist people are like this.
They live in the mountains, eat fast and chant Buddha's name. They are detached from the world and only interact with the legendary Buddha and Bodhisattva.
It is not easy for the world to see them.
As a monk, how can I have any bad intentions?
All kinds of things.
Under such packaging, Buddhism has become an unquestionably decent figure.
but!
"Did you know that Buddhists don't need to pay taxes?"
Xu Yi said.
"ah?"
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked confused.
They really don't know this.
"But, is there anything that Buddhism needs to pay taxes on?"
Xu Ziling replied weakly. For some reason, he seemed to have a good impression of Buddhism, so he instinctively defended Buddhism.
Xu Yi glanced at him and said.
"Normally speaking, there really isn't. These Buddhist people are not involved in production, and it seems to have nothing to do with paying taxes, but..."
"I'll give you an example and you'll know."
"Outside of Chang'an City, there is a temple called Jingnian Chanyuan. In this temple, there is a main hall made of pure brass."
"You heard it right, it's pure brass! It's not even pure copper coins!"
"This brass palace is conservatively estimated to weigh millions of kilograms, which is almost equivalent to a million taels of silver!"
"The imperial court's annual tax revenue is only 10 million taels of silver. A large hall in the Jing Nian Zen Monastery is equivalent to one million taels of silver. Where do you think their wealth comes from?"
A house worth one million taels of silver!
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were both dumbfounded.
They had never imagined that a house could be so luxurious!
"Even the legendary imperial palace can't compare to this house in Jing Nian Temple, right?"
Kou Zhong smacked his lips. Even if he didn't understand, he still knew that the court with an annual tax revenue of only ten million taels of silver could not spend one million taels to build a palace.
It's hard to say whether all the palaces in the entire palace are worth one million taels when put together.
And this Jing Nian Zen Monastery, which they had never heard of, had a house worth one million taels of silver.
How rich do you have to be to do this?
Even Xu Ziling, who didn't know why but had an inexplicable fondness for Buddhism, fell silent after hearing this number.
In the face of hard facts, any fancy explanation is useless.
While you were telling me that the four great things were all in vain, you turned around and built a palace costing millions. Is this your four great things in vain?
What these four things are all empty means is that in your eyes, money cannot be considered money, right?
"Boss Xu, how on earth did this Buddhist sect make so much money?"
Kou Zhong asked curiously.
Compared to other aristocratic families, it was really hard for him to imagine how the Buddhist sect earned so much money.
Xu Yi didn't hide it and explained directly.
"Two reasons, one is that their believers either voluntarily or are voluntarily 'donated', and the other is... Let's put it this way, there are thousands of hectares of fertile land at the foot of the Jing Nian Temple, and they all belong to them. .”
"And the number of peasant laborers belonging to Buddhism in the entire world definitely exceeds one million!"
"In this way, can you understand?"
"I understand."
Both nodded.
In the previous explanation, they have perfectly understood what labor force is equal to the production of wealth.
Buddhism's control of millions of laborers is undoubtedly equivalent to control of the wealth produced by these millions of laborers.
Plus they don’t have to pay taxes...
"This is the same blood-sucking insect as a noble family!"
Kou Zhong said with disdain.
After Xu Yi's training, he now has no good impression at all of these blood-sucking people who make the people of the world live in such misery.
Xu Yi glanced at him lightly.
Speaking of blood-sucking insects, you, Kou Zhong, and Xu Ziling are also among them.
The definition of a blood-sucking worm is actually very simple. It means that an individual does not produce any economic value, or the economic value produced is far less than the wealth captured. This is a blood-sucking worm.
The heads of all major aristocratic families are blood-sucking insects.
The corrupt officials in the world are blood-sucking insects.
Buddhism, which claims to be empty of all four elements, is a vampire.
A little bastard with no value at all is naturally a blood-sucking insect!
For now, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling have not produced any economic value to the world.
They rely on deceit and deceit to steal other people's wealth to support themselves.
Of course, this is not the result they want.
They are orphans themselves, and they are also controlled by the gang leader, Boss Yan, who forces them to cheat, steal, and rob!
If he failed to accomplish his goal, he would be beaten severely at every turn.
It's not that they don't want to contribute to the world, it's mainly that this damn world doesn't give them a chance to choose!
Xu Ziling asked with a complicated expression.
"Boss Xu, do you mean that Buddhism shouldn't exist?"
"of course not."
Xu Yi shook his head.
"Buddhism, including aristocratic families, although they are all blood-sucking insects, I have never said that I want to completely eliminate them."
After two lives and two emperors, although he decentralized power in most cases, he also gained a lot of understanding about governing the country.
Governing a country is not simply about fighting and killing.
Beating and killing can only cure the symptoms, but cannot cure the root cause.
Just like the development of history, the aristocratic families disappear and the gentry appears; the gentry disappears and the plutocrats appear again...
Such large-scale forces that are superior to ordinary people cannot be completely extinct. They will only continue to exist in another form.
Even in the last world, Xu Yi single-handedly suppressed the entire world, but there were still various forces underneath.
What he needs to do is not to kill them completely, but how to manage them so that they can be used by him or contribute to the country and the world!
"To the world, because they are blood-sucking insects, they are harmful."
"But we just need to make them harmless, or even beneficial, and that's it."
"They are also part of the world, and excessive suppression is also harmful to the world."
Xu Yi said with an upright face.
Xu Ziling's eyes lit up. Xu Yi's statement won his heart. He was kind-hearted and didn't want to cause too much killing.
At this moment, Xu Yi's entire body seemed to be glowing in his eyes!
"So Boss Xu, how should we turn them into useful ones?"
"It's very simple, why do they become blood suckers?"
"Because... you don't pay taxes?"
"That's right!"
Xu Yi looked at Xu Ziling approvingly.
"Because they don't pay taxes, they haven't made any contribution to the world, so they are blood suckers!"
"But as long as they pay taxes and contribute to the world, then they will no longer be vampires!"
What is the biggest problem of the family family?
Raising private soldiers? Land annexation? Forced buying and selling?
No!
None of these.
The biggest problem of the family is not paying taxes!
All of the above are illegal and there are other ways to deal with them.
Only this one does not pay taxes. This is given by the court and is legal!
This is equivalent to the imperial court directly distributing a large part of the wealth to them. Of course, in the eyes of emperors of all dynasties, it may only be a small part of the wealth.
After all, most of the land in this world is in the hands of the state or farmers. Even if they don't have to pay taxes, they won't lose much money.
But what they don't know is that because of this "non-taxable" legal benefit, major aristocratic families have taken advantage of it to the extreme through various illegal means!
The wealth they draw from it every year can even be several times the tax revenue of the imperial court, completely exceeding the imagination of the first dynasties when they formulated this policy.
It is estimated that these founding emperors could never have imagined that the policies and laws they formulated in order to win over the gentry class would eventually have such serious consequences.
"Yes! As long as they pay taxes, isn't it okay?"
Xu Ziling looked happy, feeling that he had found a bright direction.
Kou Zhong curled his lips and said.
"Xiao Ling, you are so naive! How can they pay taxes obediently?"
"Um?"
Xu Ziling was stunned for a moment, frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at Xu Yi again.
"Boss Xu, is Xiao Zhong right...?"
"Xiao Zhong is right."
Xu Yi nodded and gave him this cruel answer without any pause.
Will major aristocratic families pay taxes obediently?
Of course that's impossible!
This is the most fundamental reason why they can become a noble family!
Many people say that it is because they have knowledge that has been passed down for thousands of years. This sentence has a certain truth, but it is not absolute.
At least in this era, the knowledge they possess is not enough to make them stand out from others and become a family member that even the emperor is afraid of.
The fundamental reason why they are feared by the emperor, called a noble family, and may even replace the emperor at any time is that they control the labor force!
Whether a country is strong or not depends on its gross national product.
In later generations, the reason why the United States was so powerful and the only superpower in the world was because their GDP ranked first in the world!
Although the population of the United States is far less than that of China, at that time, due to industrialization and technological revolution, the average personal GDP of the United States was extremely high.
If Chinese people can produce an average economic value of two hundred yuan per day, then Americans who have mastered high technology can produce an average economic value of at least one thousand or even two thousand yuan per day!
In this era, the value of individual labor is relatively not that great. With the blessing of technology and knowledge, reversal can be achieved.
But during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, this agricultural society was far from entering the industrial era, and the gross national product was basically equal to the labor force population.
Whoever controls a larger labor force will have stronger national power.
(PS: The national power here does not entirely represent military power. It also involves more complex issues such as wealth distribution rate, wealth utilization rate, etc., which I will not go into here.)
Why is it that when the world is in chaos, all the great families can often ride on the wind and move forward to sit on the throne of the only emperor?
Just because you don’t have to pay taxes!
By relying on the law of not having to pay taxes, they quietly controlled the labor force of millions.
To some extent, it is no exaggeration to call them a country within a country!
Just like the vassal states, although these aristocratic families do not have substantial territory, they control a substantial population!
Is population or territory more important?
The history of Li Tang's family tells us that they secretly selected soldiers from their own private farmers, rebelled against the flag, and easily captured the entire Taiyuan.
Because these farmers have always paid taxes to Li Tang and recognized Li Tang as their master, this is equivalent to recruiting soldiers in their own country.
Of course, no problems were encountered.
The same is true for other aristocratic families. They recruit peasants from their own land as soldiers, and they are completely their own guards!
In summary.
The 'no tax' policy seems to be just an ordinary means for the family members to make money, but in fact it is their biggest foundation!
Once this foundation is missing, it will not be so easy for them to rebel or recruit soldiers in the future.
Because people in this land pay taxes to the court, they naturally have a sense of identity in their hearts.
I paid all the money!
This country has my share!
Don't underestimate this little difference, it is the biggest difference between yourself and others.
For example, the Li Tang royal family, although they later recruited many soldiers, the ones they trusted the most and worked the hardest on the battlefield were always Taiyuan veterans!
The 'no tax' policy is so important that it is conceivable that the major aristocratic families would never agree to abolish it.
Just like the abolition of feudalism.
You are trying to deprive me of my throne!
Then I won’t fight with you?
"So, if we want to turn these blood-sucking insects into beneficial insects, we first have to kill them all."
"Beat them until they are crippled! Beat them until they kneel down and beg for mercy! They will naturally agree with our new policy!"
Xu Yi said calmly.
In the first two worlds, he did it like this, but he did it a little more cruelly, wiping out all the noble families.
In this world, Xu Yi, who has clearly understood the nature of governing a country, decided to improve it a little and be less ruthless.
Just cripple these aristocratic families!
"Crippled?"
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling shuddered.
They thought of the Zhuhua Gang. This battle had just ended not long ago.
Their noses could still breathe the smell of blood in the air. The strong smell of blood reminded them how tragic that battle was!
The Zhuhua Gang, which originally had thousands of people, now has less than 300 people left, and more than 70% of the people died in that battle.
Boss Xu...won't he plan to deal with the family members in the same way, right?
(End of chapter)
