Emperor Liu did not look murderous, but the meaning revealed in his words still made Kou Zhun awe-inspiring. After organizing his speech for a while, Kou Zhun said calmly: "Your Majesty, the imperial court's real-border immigration policy has always faced resistance from three aspects. First, the local government is unwilling to control the loss of Dingkou and the reduction of finances and taxes; second, The people have a deep love for the soil. As long as they can cultivate a few acres of thin farmland to support their families, they are reluctant to leave their hometowns and go to the frontiers to cultivate land. Thirdly, the local tyrants in the countryside use their power to restrain and control the people..."
After listening to Kou Zhun's words, Emperor Liu's face showed no change, and he said: "I can understand the concerns of local officials and the people. But the former is controlled by the authority of the imperial court, not to mention that since the imperial court abolished the use of population as the assessment for official promotion, people from local areas The resistance from the government has been reduced a lot. I don’t believe it. They still dare to blatantly violate the government’s policies!
As for the people, I have always upheld the principle of luring them with benefits, letting them see the benefits, giving money, land, farm tools and seeds, tax incentives, and policy protection. In recent years, both Anton and Anxi have achieved little success. Obviously, this set of methods is still useful even if it is slow to take effect.
In contrast, how did the rich people you mentioned obstruct this matter? And why? "
When the word "rich" was mentioned, Emperor Liu's tone was already a bit off. For a long time, because of the five words "imperial power does not go to the countryside", there has been a lot of disgust towards the powerful local clan forces, believing that they are seizing imperial power, eroding the foundation of the empire, and shaking the rule of the Han Dynasty.
In the past few decades, efforts have been made to carry out rectification and suppression, including forcibly relocating powerful landlords from various places to consolidate borders. However, what was the result? The lessons of the Yulin Rebellion were profound enough. The policy of relocating the powerful was advisable, and there was no big problem with the methods. But the biggest problem was that after the relocation, they were not brought under control. . Moving to the border area was the next best choice. The reason why that traitor Yuan Ke succeeded was not just his ambition.
As for how much change there has been in cleaning up the powerful places, the answer is that apart from making some space for ordinary Guizhou leaders and adding some means of production that can be allocated to the government, there has been no change at all.
Decades later, a new group of powerful landlords emerged, and their actions still had an inherent class character. However, the heavy burden on the people of Guizhou was still the aristocrats, bureaucrats, and landlords. However, under the relatively clear political environment and relatively stable social security of the Han Dynasty, their behavior was somewhat restrained. And these three mountains are precisely the foundation of the current rule of the Han Empire.
After breaking away from his inherent thinking, Emperor Liu gradually came to his senses. Any attempt to bring imperial power to the countryside was nonsense, completely disregarding objective laws, and was unrealistic.
Even the management of bureaucrats is so difficult, and it is always difficult to clarify the management of officials, let alone the lower levels. And if it weren't for those powerful clans to help govern and maintain stability, the empire would be in chaos.
In view of these reasons, as well as getting older, Emperor Liu gradually formed an "appeasement" mentality towards the local area. As long as the overall peace and health were ensured, he was unwilling to make any more troubles and kept out of sight.
However, when Kou Zhun mentioned that there were local powerful people making trouble, controlling the people, and opposing the imperial government's policies, he felt as if his skin had been touched, and at the same time he felt a sense of embarrassment.
Just a vague expression of anger made Kou Zhun feel trembling, so when he responded, he organized his words more carefully. Without directly mentioning those powerful men and what they had committed, Kou Zhun spoke slowly in a eloquent manner:
"Your Majesty, I have little knowledge and can only express my feelings to Your Majesty about what I saw and heard in Huazhou. In the early years, thanks to the favor of the imperial court and the efforts of the government, every household in Huazhou had land to cultivate and live in. They had a house and food and clothing. Even if the court offered them benefits, there were very few people who were willing to go to the frontiers to cultivate land, unless the court used force. Even some people who were not willing to be trapped in the fields and went out to work in the cities and towns to make money.
However, this situation finally changed after more than ten years. Farmers manage their fields, and if the weather goes well, they can live without worries after paying taxes and serving in the army. Once a natural disaster occurs, the livelihood of the land will be destroyed.
Local powerful people take advantage of this opportunity to annex land. In addition, there are always those who do not manage well and sell the land when they are exhausted. Therefore, in Huazhou, there are more and more landless people. Because they are registered, in order to pay the two taxes, they have to live with the powerful landlords and become tenants.
Under such circumstances, the imperial court's immigration policy was a good place for these people. As far as I know, in Huazhou alone, there are no less than a thousand people in Huazhou who accept the solicitation from the border areas to cultivate land due to their difficult livelihood.
However, it couldn't last long because someone was stopping them. Those tycoons who annex and purchase land not only need the land, but also need someone to cultivate and produce the land. Otherwise, after the land is purchased, it will be abandoned because no one is cultivating it, and the transaction will be a loss..."
At this point, Emperor Liu couldn't react. He interrupted Kou Zhun, pondered for a long time, and asked seriously: "Kou Zhun, tell me honestly, the local land annexation is really as serious as you said! "
Facing Emperor Liu's concerned gaze, Kou Zhun responded solemnly: "I dare not deceive Your Majesty. At least in my hometown, about 20% of the farmers have lost their land. In the remaining Daozhou, I have not seen the specific situation. unknown!"
After hearing this, Emperor Liu finally put away his lazy posture, sat up, and murmured: "The Han Dynasty has only founded the country a few years ago, is it really unstoppable?"
“Those who have land are unwilling to move, and those who have no land are trapped in the control of rural powerful people. Therefore, even if the court offers incentives, it is difficult to achieve results simply by relying on the people to apply for immigration voluntarily.
In the past, the only thing that was effective and could break the restrictions of local power was that His Highness the King of Qin recruited people for Andong, and the officials from the Governor's Mansion went there in person, so the villagers did not dare to stop him! "Kou Zhun continued.
"Yes!" Emperor Liu sighed: "Since ancient times, when land was annexed, it wasn't just the peasants who were annexed. They also swallowed up all the people and turned my people into their slaves!
Absolutely abominable! Is it possible if the imperial power does not go to the countryside? If the Han Dynasty relies on local tyrants and gentry to maintain its stability, can it last? Less than forty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, this was already the case, but a hundred years later, it's even better! "
After venting his anger, Emperor Liu said again: "I set high taxes on land transactions just to restrict land transactions. Now it seems that my thinking is really simple..."
Kou Zhun said: “Although the land transaction taxes and fees set by the imperial court are high, they are borne by both buyers and sellers. In the specific implementation process, the seller is often on the weaker side. Due to the dilemma and urgency, he often bears the entire transaction tax, while In order to save convenience, government tax collectors often only look at the tax amount, regardless of who pays the tax.
In addition, for land buyers, although the transaction tax is high, it is only once. As long as the land is continuously cultivated and produced, it can be as short as three to five years, as long as eight or nine years, and the investment can be repaid.
Land can be passed down to family members, and with the rise in food prices in the past two years, more people are willing to invest in land management.
In addition, it is difficult for the government to manage local areas in an all-round way, and it is impossible to fully supervise land transactions. Therefore, private transactions are inevitable, and local tycoons help hide the land and conceal their household registration.
There’s even…”
At this point, Kou Zhun stopped, but seeing his expression, Emperor Liu said angrily: "What's more, there are collusions between officials and gentry to take advantage of others. Is this what you want to say?"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Kou Zhun bowed his body and said solemnly.
"I really don't want to use my wisdom on these situations!" Emperor Liu said coldly.
