Liu Yu sighed: "Actually, if you think about it, when we joined the army to serve the country, or when you exposed your belly in the street, it was just for the opportunity to enter Marshal Xuan's military mansion and serve as his civil and military assistants. Why did we not do it even though we obviously have the ability? Can't we take the normal road to get ahead? Isn't it because we have no titles and are inherently inferior to the children of those aristocratic families? Huanxuan is just a young man without any merit. He was able to succeed in our early years just by inheriting his father's title. Is it fair to be the governor of a county when I meet you? If the feudal system eventually evolves into such a way that it will forever rest on the heads of truly capable heroes who only rely on the merits of their fathers and ancestors, the world will be in chaos. It must be right in front of you!”
Liu Muzhi nodded: "Yes, the title system is to recognize a person's meritorious service, and it can partially take care of the welfare of his descendants, but if it becomes a matter of being superior to others for generations, allowing others to no longer If there is no chance to stand out, then it will go to the opposite side. The sage said that a gentleman will be killed for five generations, but in fact, even for three or even two generations, relying on the title to suppress people will inevitably destroy the order of the country. This is what we were back then. They are all victims, so you cannot harm others like this after you gain power."
Liu Yu said sternly: "So, this title must be transferred on behalf of others. The distinction between the founding title and the fifth-level title I am talking about is not the current system. The founding title can be granted the title of Maobaotu, open a government, transfer officials, or possess The actual tax revenue of a certain place refers to this inheritance.”
Liu Muzhi frowned: "Do you want the founding title to be passed down forever, but the ordinary title has to be reduced by one level every generation? Or do you want the civilian title to be reclaimed after death?"
Liu Yu's eyes were shining with a resolute look: "Yes, the rank of civilian nobility is the twentieth-level nobility system of Qin and Han Dynasties. The advantage of this is that it can give titles to ordinary people. As long as they serve in the army, they can have it. Jue can be obtained. Like in the Qin Dynasty, if you kill the enemy at the first level, you can be awarded the first-level civil nobility to the public servant. But if you are promoted to the public service, you have to kill hundreds of enemies, which is not so easy. We don't need to be like the violent Qin Dynasty. The only theory is to be beheaded, but if you serve in the army and have achieved military merit, you can also be awarded civilian titles at all levels based on a comprehensive evaluation based on merit and service time."
Liu Muzhi smiled and said: "For example, all the soldiers in the Northern Expedition, whether they have gained something or not, are you prepared to give them to the people, right?"
Liu Yu curled his lips: "This regulation has not been formulated yet, so we cannot distribute it casually. Let's give money first this time. This is something we have discussed with Miaoyin, but in the future, we can refer to this for implementation, and then According to the different levels of civil nobility, different tax exemptions can be reduced, and more fields can be allocated. However, attention should be paid to setting an upper limit, and to avoid the situation of occupying more titles by relying on many sons and nephews, resulting in the embezzlement and annexation of the fields of fellow villagers. When he was in Jingkou, Zhuge Changmin often did this kind of thing, which caused many brothers to have no land to farm. This kind of situation must never happen again in the future."
Liu Muzhi nodded: "This is very important. I have written it down. The title level of this civilian is related to the future tax-free service and the upper limit of land distribution. However, the relationship between the civilian and the knight is How are you going to tell the difference?"
Liu Yu was silent for a while and said: "I haven't fully thought about this yet, but the fifth-level nobility needs to be demoted, and if it is not the fifth-level nobleman who was demoted to the ninth level like the Qin and Han Dynasties, he will not be demoted. If he is demoted to The lowest rank of knight, that is, the county baron, if the next generation has no merit, then it will be reduced to the rank of civilian."
Liu Muzhi frowned: "That is tantamount to demotion from the gentry and sending slaves. This is a radical move that has never been done in previous generations. I am afraid it will cause a strong backlash from the entire gentry class, not only the high-ranking members of the aristocratic families. , even the current Jingba brothers, after they have a title, they definitely don’t want to fall out and become common people. Do you want to think about it again, for example, only allow one legitimate son to inherit the title, and retain the lowest title of a scholar, and the other sons will I don’t enjoy this treatment anymore.”
Liu Yu said with enthusiasm: "This is a principle and must be followed. There is no need to discuss it. If droughts and floods guarantee the harvest after being promoted to a knight, it will always be guaranteed that at least one legitimate son will succeed the knight. That means that the number of knights will never be reduced. There will always be such a number of knights." A group of people is at the top of the entire world and has become a rentier class that has no worries about food and clothing for generations. Fatty, don’t you think this is terrible? In this way, within a few decades, there will be tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people. People occupy the lowest baron position, but they can still enjoy hundreds of acres of tax-free land, and can eat and wait until they die. Correspondingly, the country's land is getting less and less, and a large number of common people have no land to divide and no land to divide. The land can be cultivated, but in the end we can only run away or sell ourselves into slavery and become tenants of these parasites. Then what is the meaning of everything we strive for?"
Liu Muzhi was silent for a long time, and then sighed: "You are right. As time goes by, if you cannot be demoted to the rank and file, there will be more and more rentiers in the country. So now it has become a scourge to the country, and that’s how it came about. Although the truth is true, it is something that has never happened in previous generations. How to operate it will probably take a lot of thinking."
Liu Yu said in a deep voice: "Is it fair to deprive all the people after their death? The land for the survival of the people of the Jin Dynasty has always been distributed by the state. If these lands cannot be taken back, how can they be distributed to new people? Common people? They only want to take over the common people's land, but the nobles have more and more land. That will leave more and more common people without land to farm, and allow evil organizations like Tiandao Alliance and Tianshidao to have more and more power at the bottom. The greater the influence, the country will have neither food nor soldiers to fight, so if you let these scholars go to the battlefield, will they do it?"
Liu Muzhi nodded: "Yes, it is true. Taking advantage of the people to fatten the nobles will make the country weak in the long run. However, if you reduce the rank to the people, the backlash will indeed be huge. I'm afraid, you still We have to reach a consensus with the senior family members and the Beijing Eighth Party at the same time. Otherwise, no matter how good the policy is, it will be a problem if it cannot be implemented or even cause a large-scale backlash."
Liu Yu nodded: "I will discuss this with my wife and the Jingba brothers. As long as we establish the principle of no reward for no merit, wealth and honor on the battlefield, everything will be easy to talk about, and we can do something else." Concession, but there is no discussion about exchanging titles for tax exemptions and land occupation privileges. I can give a one-time sum of money as compensation to the nobles who have been demoted to civilian status, but I will never let them continue to retain their titles. Suck the blood of the country and its people forever!"
