Ever since, a heated argument broke out in the hall.
Gongqing officials who came from wealthy families such as the Wei family, Xue family, Pei family, Li family, Wang family, and Du family fiercely opposed it, but those who came from poor families or common people strongly supported it.
There are even radical ones asking wealthy families to donate land for free.
Hundreds of ministers and officials argued for a long time, but no result was achieved.
In the end, Master Lu Tianshi suppressed the quarrel with one sentence: "Shut up, everyone!"
With the Tianshi's words, the main hall of Huacaixianghui Building fell silent for an instant.
Lu Tianshi then said to Li Longji: "Li Longji, do you know why the Han Dynasty died? Why did the Jin Dynasty die? And why did your Tang Dynasty and later dynasties die?"
Before Li Longji could answer, Lu Tianshi continued: "Two reasons. One reason is the complete solidification of class, and the other reason is land annexation."
"Reforms have been made to the imperial examination."
"The ascending path for the humble clan has been opened."
"So now, what Datang needs to solve is the issue of land annexation."
"As long as the land annexation problem is solved, the Tang Dynasty can last at least three hundred years."
"If we can add a few more patches to the imperial examination system and the land system, it is not impossible for the Tang Dynasty to surpass the Zhou Dynasty for 800 years. The key is that the people can also live a good life."
Hearing this, all the ministers and officials from high-ranking families, including the Right Prime Minister Wei Jiansu, had bitter expressions on their faces. How could Master Lu Tianshi support depriving them of the property of high-ranking families?
"Don't feel aggrieved by your noble family." Lu Tianshi said abruptly, "Yes, you did not steal or rob. All farmland was bought and sold legally, but even if it was sold legally, it resulted in a high concentration of land and a loss of national taxes. It’s a fact, because your noble family will definitely try to evade taxes after annexing a large amount of land.”
Speaking of this meal, Master Lu Tianshi asked again: "Do you dare to say that every acre of cultivated land under the name of each noble family has paid full rent?"
Wei Jiansu and other officials from aristocratic families were all silent.
It is of course absolutely impossible to pay full rent for every acre of cultivated land.
They would never admit this to others, even the saints of the Tang Dynasty.
But facing Master Lu Tianshi, it was useless for them to deny it, because Master Lu Tianshi was an immortal.
At this time, Li Longji felt an inexplicable pleasure, because these noble families were intricately intertwined and weaved into an omnipresent and all-encompassing web. Although he was a saint of the Tang Dynasty, he had to be controlled by these noble families. Any policy that touches the interests of high-ranking families cannot be implemented at all.
But today, these high-ranking families have finally suffered.
We want to see if these high-ranking families can defeat Master Lu Tianshi?
And the evolution of the matter was indeed as Li Longji envisioned, and it turned into a quarrel between Gongqing Dafu, who came from a noble family, Lu Tianshi, and Gongqing Dagui, who came from a humble family.
After a long while, Wei Jiansu asked with a dark face: "Master Lu Tianshi, you mean to ask the high-ranking members of our family to donate all the cultivated land under their names for free, right?"
"No," Lu Tianshi said, "This cannot be said to be a donation, but just to return the cultivated land to the country, because your ancestors originally relied on power and obtained it through unfair competition methods including but not limited to forced buying and selling. The land resources that belong to the country should now be returned."
"What if we don't want to?" Another prime minister, Pei Mian, said with a livid face.
"Not willing?" Lu Tianshi said coldly, "Shannan Army will try hard to convince you."
"Master Lu Tianshi, are you threatening us?" Cui Yuan, another prime minister, said angrily.
"Yes, I am threatening you." Lu Tianshi did not deny it at all, and said solemnly, "If you hand over the farmland obediently, then everything will be fine. If you refuse to hand it over, you can only resort to force. However, this Heavenly Master will say ugly things first, but when he uses force, it will not be so honorable."
Pei Mian said to Li Longji again: "Sage, aren't you afraid of forcing the noble families to rebel?"
Cui Yuan also said: "Just one Anlu Mountain rebellion has already changed the color of the Tang Dynasty. If all the noble families in the world join forces to fight against the imperial court, has the saint ever thought about what would happen?"
Before Li Longji could answer, Master Lu Tianshi sneered and said, "Don't put gold on your faces. An Lushan holds the border troops in Fanyang and Lulong Towns in Hedong, and yet he ends up like this. Although your noble family has some land, And wealth, but without soldiers or generals, what can be accomplished? Do you really think that Li Siye’s 200,000 Shannan Army is just a decoration?"
Wei Jiansu said with a bitter face: "Master Lu Tian really wants to kill all the high-ranking members of our family?"
"Youxiang Wei is wrong. I am not going to kill you all. I am just asking you to hand over the land." Lu Tianshi said, "Hand over the land in your name. Everything is easy to say. At least the residence and property can still be preserved. If you refuse to hand over the land, If the land is released, everything will be destroyed. Not only the land in the name will not be preserved, but also the residence and property will be wiped out."
"Right Chancellor, and other ministers, you must think clearly."
Li Siye held the horizontal knife in his hand and looked at Wei Jiansu and other ministers and officials with cold eyes.
The political discussion on the calyx floor eventually ended on bad terms. Wei Jiansu, Pei Mian and other officials from high-ranking families returned to their respective mansions angrily, and messengers came out in all directions.
…
The Du family, Liu family, Pei family, Cui family, Xue family and Yang family in Guanzhong began to communicate secretly.
Although Li Siye's 200,000 Shannan Army was stationed in Guanzhong, and despite Lu Tianshi's warning, the six major families in Guanzhong resolutely launched a mutiny.
Instead of handing over the cultivated land in vain, it is better to fight to the death.
The six noble families in Guanzhong launched a mutiny without hesitation.
However, there was no suspense in the outcome. The Shannan Army disintegrated the mutiny of the six major families with just one blow.
Immediately, the six aristocratic families were suppressed, and all the ministers and officials related to the six aristocratic families in the court were purged. Even the right minister Wei Jiansu was dismissed, but at least there was no physical elimination.
Immediately, Cen Shen sent officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and with the assistance of local officials, began to clean up the properties of the six aristocratic families.
You wouldn't know if you didn't make statistics, but you would be shocked once you make statistics. More than 60% of the more than 36 million acres of cultivated land in Guanzhong is concentrated in the hands of six major families.
There are still more than 30% in the hands of the royal family.
Less than 10% of the cultivated land is in the hands of the people.
It's no wonder that the government military system was completely unsustainable in the Xuanzong Dynasty.
The 30,000 arable land in the hands of the royal family could not be saved and was also confiscated.
This move attracted fierce opposition from the royal family, but it was of no use.
Because even Li Longji can't speak now, let alone other royal families?
Who dares to be disobedient and refuse to hand over land? The Shannan Army will come to your door immediately and convince people with their "virtue".
Of course, it must be said that the Shannan Army's violent methods only target high-ranking royal families, and are extremely friendly to ordinary people in Guanzhong. They even often help people near their base with farm work.
A saying that often comes up in Shannanjun's mouth is that Chinese and Tibetan people belong to the same clan and wish to be one family.
After all the cultivated land in Guanzhong was confiscated, land redistribution began.
The more than three million people in Guanzhong were divided according to their heads, and each person was allocated five acres of cultivated land.
Five acres of land per household is indeed a bit too little, so the imperial court gave policies to encourage reclamation of wasteland. The reclaimed wasteland could be cultivated for ten years without compensation, and then it would be returned to the state and distributed uniformly.
The 200,000 Shannan Army and more than 180,000 rebels were each allocated fifty acres of cultivated land.
Among them, the Shannan Army was allocated high-quality fertile land, while the rebels were allocated ordinary farmland.
These 380,000 elite soldiers will become the new government soldiers and will not have to pay any money, food or taxes, but they will need to bring their own weapons, equipment and horses when they go on an expedition, and they will need to return the land to the court after they retire in old age.
Of course, in exchange, the court will give a sufficiently generous retirement reward, and will also redistribute land in the veteran's hometown, turning him back into an ordinary citizen.
The more than 19 million acres of cultivated land owned by the Shannan Army and the rebels will become the land for government soldiers.
The government soldiers will also break the original hereditary system and instead recruit openly from all over the country.
This is also another avenue for advancement besides the imperial examination system reserved for children from poor families.
If you are from a poor family and do not study well, you can still improve your class by being drafted as a soldier.
Of course, you can move up this level, but your son may not be able to maintain it. In the future, when you retire when you are old, you will no longer have a military position, and the rewards given by the court will be spent, your son will most likely fall back to the lower level. Ground floor.
