Li Chenan did not object to Su Yian's words.
Because in this historical era, Su Yi'an's insights can be regarded as true insights.
In the society of feudal dynasty, the land issue was the biggest problem in dynasty change.
It started with private land ownership and ended with large-scale annexation of land.
This seems to be a circle. Anyway, no dynasty has been able to escape from this circle.
But Li Chenan obviously views this issue somewhat differently from Su Yian.
He nodded and first confirmed Su Yian's statement: "Everything you said is correct!"
Su Yian stroked his short beard and sat up straight with great pride. What he said was right.
"but……"
Li Chenan suddenly had a question. Su Yian was slightly startled, thinking, do you have any more novel ideas?
The corner of Liu Xiayin's lips curled up. In his opinion, Su Yian's answer was impeccable.
Can this young regent tell this matter in a new way?
"That's how I look at these issues."
"Let's just talk about the land issue."
"Rich people, why do you try every means to annex farmers' land?"
Su Yian and Liu Xiayin were startled, thinking to themselves, why should they ask?
Of course, it is to occupy those lands as permanent assets and pass them on to future generations!
Li Chenan then said: "What you mentioned is one of the aspects. In my opinion, it is a secondary issue."
"Listen to me and tell me what I think the problem is. Listen to me. If you have any questions, we will discuss it later."
"Let's look at the nature of land annexation. I think it is for food, which is crucial in this era!"
"The rich want to grab the fields from the people, not for the fields themselves, but for the food produced in the fields!"
"Land becomes extremely valuable because of the food it produces."
"Anything with value is just a commodity...don't worry."
"I won't talk about this issue first. Let's discuss this issue from its roots."
"For the ruler of a country, does he think that if the people have land, it means that the tillers have their fields and the residents have their houses, so that they will not rebel?"
There is no way to ask this question correctly.
Because people will not rebel when they have land.
Su Yian and Liu Xiayin both nodded.
"Here's the biggest problem!"
Li Chenan leaned over, tapped his fingers aggressively on the table, looked at the surprised two people, and said:
"This is a false proposition that is not valid!"
"Don't worry, listen to me!"
Liu Xiayin swallowed back the words that came to her lips, and then heard Li Chenan say again:
"There are two huge problems for ordinary people farming!"
"First of all, the extremely low profits result in their extremely low income!"
"I think you all know how much the fields currently produce per mu. Wheat is only 150 jins, and rice is only 200 jins!"
"This is a good year!"
"One hundred and fifty kilograms of wheat is only twelve bushels. The price of one bushel of wheat is about thirty-five cents. One acre of land is equivalent to four hundred cents."
"The price of rice is also similar. Two hundred kilograms of rice, which is sixteen dou, and one acre of land yields five hundred lai yuan."
"Let's calculate the cost again. Take wheat as an example. The wheat seeds required for one acre of land are calculated as thirty kilograms, and eighty cents are deducted."
"Excluding the cost of labor and excluding taxes...we calculate it based on the lower taxes in the early years of Ningguo's founding."
"Two taxes a year, calculated based on 10% of the farm income, requires a deduction of forty cash."
"We have paid one hundred and twenty cash. Let's not calculate the taxes that are allocated by each locality. For one acre of land, the people actually get two hundred and eighty cash."
"Let's assume that a family cultivating fifty acres of land can earn fourteen taels of silver per year...not including the money they need to eat, wear, and buy farm tools!"
"Do the math, after deducting these, how many taels do they have left?"
"I have calculated that if there is no illness and everything is safe, I will have about four taels of silver left!"
“That’s what a family would earn in a year in the best case scenario!”
"The second one is the huge unpredictable risk!"
“Farm the land and rely on the sky for food!”
"No one can guarantee that every year will be a good year with good weather and good weather. Once there is a disaster... the crop yields in the fields will drop sharply or even fail!"
"Even if the officials of the imperial court are wise enough to exempt them from taxes in disaster years, they will have no harvest and they will have to rest on their laurels!"
"How long can I last with just such a small amount of money?"
“If there is no land to plant due to natural disasters, there will be no food to eat, and if there is no food to eat, there will be no land to plant!”
"This is the beginning of a vicious cycle!"
"In a century-old dynasty, such natural disasters will definitely happen every year!"
"What should we do? People can't just starve to death, right?"
"So the common people will sell their fields to the local gentry and wealthy families in exchange for some money to buy grain!"
"Note that the land movement at this time is not necessarily the result of the gentry and wealthy families taking advantage of it, but the people taking the initiative to sell it out of desperation!"
"And they themselves carried hoes and became tenants for those gentry and wealthy families."
"As a result, their status changed, from farmers to tenants of the landlord's family."
"Of course they can't make much money as tenants, but apart from their own physical strength, the costs they originally had to pay are gone."
"They work in the fields for a day, and the landlord gives them a day's wages. During the off-season, if they have skills, they can weave a pair of straw sandals to make a basket or something and sell them in the market to support their family."
"In this way, the risk transfer is completed...all the risks originally borne by oneself are transferred to the gentry and wealthy families."
"The country's tax policy for the gentry and wealthy families is different. They don't have to pay taxes or pay lower taxes. Even the tenants on their land don't need to do corvee!"
"After the gentry and wealthy families obtained the land, they still cultivated it by the farmers. After paying the farmers wages, due to the benefits generated by the scale, they actually earned more than the farmers themselves by farming the land!"
"They are more capable of resisting the risks caused by natural disasters!"
"As a result, more and more land flowed into the hands of the gentry and wealthy families. However, due to cost considerations, the gentry and wealthy families did not need so many tenants. After all, they were better at calculating costs, which led to A group of people no longer have land, nor are they qualified to be tenants!"
"They have nothing, and the little money they got from selling the land will be all gone in a short time. What should they do?"
"You still can't just starve to death!"
"So, there are refugees, bandits, and all kinds of unstable factors!"
"They set their sights on the gentry and wealthy families, thinking that it was because these people had usurped their interests, which led to the conflict between the two classes."
Li Chenan spoke eloquently.
These words completely subverted the views of Su Yian and Liu Xiayin——
They believed that the main reason why farmers lost their land was the plundering of the gentry and wealthy families, but Li Chenan's words meant exactly the opposite!
Li Chenan believed that when farmers lost their land, there was no need for the gentry and wealthy families to take the trouble to snatch it. Instead, the farmers took the initiative to sell it to the rich in order to survive.
Does it make sense?
The two frowned in thought.
Only Xiao Baozi didn't think about this problem at all.
She was looking at the sky.
Calculating in my mind.
A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold... It has been half an hour since I arrived at this small courtyard.
How much gold was wasted?
