[Three Kingdoms] Xinghan

With the arrival of the second batch of captured soldiers in Jiujiang, Ling Han believed that it was time for political reform.

Start by lowering taxes.

Before, he had lowered the tax in Yangzhou once.

But it's not enough.

Historically, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, taxes were very heavy.

Cao Cao vigorously developed the farming system, and half of the grain output produced by farmers per mu of land had to be handed over to the government.

If you have rented cattle from the government, you will have to pay an additional [-]%.

As for Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the taxes they stipulated on the surface are not so heavy.

But after being exploited by the aristocratic families, the proportion that farmers can obtain per mu of land is even smaller.

Under heavy taxes, farmers naturally have no enthusiasm for farming.

After setting aside the seeds needed for cultivation in the second year, the food they harvest each year is basically only enough to make ends meet.

If there is a war and another wave of forced conscripts, they will not even be able to make ends meet.

In this case, many farmers would rather flee into the barren hills, and finally be buried in the belly of wild animals.

It stands to reason that when the government reduces taxes, only the government is affected.

As the lord of Yangzhou, if Ling Han wants to do this, he can just do it, there is no need to worry about anything.

Not at all.

When taxes were high, farmers could not pay heavy taxes, so they could only sell their land and sell themselves to aristocratic families.

The taxes that originally needed to be handed over to the government were instead obtained by the aristocratic and powerful families.

This is a process of the decline of the monarchy and the prosperity of the family.

The land annexation of aristocratic families and the fleeing of peasants often happened at the same time.

The population dropped sharply from the end of Han Dynasty to the beginning of Jin Dynasty. In addition to wars and epidemics, on the other hand, many people did not have household registration and did not pay taxes.

In the official record, these are people who do not exist.

Therefore, if Ling Han wants to reduce taxes, he will not only face a short-term reduction in money and food, but also face political pressure.

Previously, he took advantage of his unification of the counties other than Yuzhang in Yangzhou to reduce taxes by [-]%.

No family in Yangzhou has made any moves.

This is because the two victories in the war made him gain great prestige in Yangzhou.

When the fundamental interests of the aristocratic family are not completely touched, the aristocratic family certainly neither wants nor dares to oppose him secretly.

What's more, there are many people in the aristocratic family who are loyal to the Han family and regard him as the hope of the great man.

But this does not mean that Ling Han can issue decrees arbitrarily.

If at this moment he ordered to carve up the family's land and distribute it to the poor people.

Even if the aristocratic family cannot overthrow Ling Han's rule, there is no way to encourage the common people to start a rebellion.

But Yangzhou cannot be stable.

And he will basically lose the opportunity to recruit talents from aristocratic families.

You must know that in the absence of the imperial examination system, almost all the talents that feudal emperors could obtain came from the family.

For example, Zhou Yu, from the rich Zhou family in Lujiang.

These days, Ling Han often travels with Zhou Yu.

Sometimes I listen to him playing the flute, and sometimes I tell him to do things.

Zhou Yu can be regarded as one of Ling Han's confidantes in Yangzhou.

But if Ling Han issued such a decree.

Even if Zhou Yu himself can understand, his family must not allow such a thing to happen.

In their view, this is undoubtedly an act similar to killing a donkey.

Of course, it is impossible for Ling Han to issue such a government order.

Even in modern society, the exploitation similar to the aristocratic family has never stopped.Not to mention the feudal period with backward productivity?

Furthermore, although he is full of sympathy for the common people of this era.

But it is not selfless yet, completely disregarding the interests of its own people.

For example, the Mi family has followed him from the beginning, and the only hope is that one day the Mi family can grow stronger.

If he completely wiped out the family in the future, how cruel would it be to these people?

What he hopes to achieve is to reduce this kind of exploitation as much as possible, at least so that the people under his rule will not go hungry.

So he pinned his hopes on new lands.

Suppose the group of captive soldiers in Lujiang can reclaim a large amount of new farmland, and at the same time, no one is killed in the process of reclaiming wasteland.

He will spread such news to all counties in Yangzhou as soon as possible.

Naturally, with jealousy, many common people will spontaneously leave the aristocratic family, register with the government, restore their household registration, and apply for reclaiming their own land.

Cultivate for themselves, and the harder they plow, the more will be theirs.

They will naturally work harder and produce more food.

Although these grains do not belong to Ling Han, at least Yangzhou will have a large amount of grain in storage.

This method is essentially taking benefits from the aristocratic family.

It's just toned down a lot, it's not as direct.

It is far from reaching the point of crossing the river and tearing down the bridge.

The aristocratic families in the Yangzhou area are much weaker than those in the north.

Even the aristocratic families in Sichuan and Shu are not as good.

This can be seen from the history that after the three families returned to Jin, the Yangzhou family had the lowest status.

The less power, the less resistance.

Ling Han felt that with his current reputation, taking such a political action should not cause the aristocratic family to retaliate.

Of course, just in case, he decided to take some measures to further eliminate their hostility.

For this reason, Ling Han invited Zhou Yu to his residence.

He did not directly explain, but revealed: "When this batch of captured soldiers has finished reclaiming the paddy fields, the king intends to further reduce the tax, and eventually reduce it to one ten taxes."

Who is Zhou Yu?

Ordinary people might not be able to see anything in a short period of time, but he saw Ling Han's true intentions at a glance.

That is, bite off a large piece of meat from the family and give it to the people.

Or, more appropriately, return it to the people.

In fact, as early as Ling Han decided to let the captured soldiers reclaim the wasteland, Zhou Yu vaguely had such a guess.

However, this guess was dispelled by him at that time.

Because the government and the army can't directly benefit from it, but they have to offend the family.

As long as the people are not squeezed too much, the people will not revolt; on the other hand, every decree that is not conducive to them will arouse their hostility.

In peacetime, there is nothing wrong with light corvee and thin Fu, which is commendable.

But in times of war, even sympathizing with the difficulties of the people is not a wise move.

So, after listening to Ling Han's words, Zhou Yu was silent for a moment.

Then he said, "Yu has something to ask."

Ling Han said: "It's okay for Gong Jin to say."

Zhou Yu asked: "The tax is so low, once the implementation continues, the people will soon have a large amount of food reserves. Does Your Highness plan to take their food reserves for himself?"

Ling Han said with a smile: "Instead of letting their food go moldy at home, of course it's better to use it as food for war. Only when the world is completely pacified can they live a truly peaceful life."

Zhou Yu was silent when he heard this.

If so, the gain outweighs the loss.

Of course Ling Han knew what Zhou Yu was thinking.

He said with a smile: "Don't worry, Gong Jin. At that time, this king will naturally have a way to make them voluntarily hand over the accumulated food, and there will never be any complaints."

I can completely design various entertainment activities to ensure that the people can fully meet their own needs, and then consume food to their heart's content.

I have a bunch of ideas in my heart, but I have always regretted that the people are too poor.

Ling Han continued: "Right now, the aristocratic family may not be aware of this king's intentions. However, although this will be conducive to the successful implementation of the policy, once they realize this, they will definitely resent them even more."

It is better to take the initiative to tell them.

Send a suitable person to show favor to the Yangzhou family on his behalf.

Let them realize that they are not trying to seize benefits from them to strengthen the monarchy, but for the long-term peace and stability of Yangzhou.

Even if they can't convince them, at least they can express their attitude: I don't take them seriously.

Zhou Yu was born in a wealthy family, theoretically he was on the same position as the major families, and his words were naturally persuasive.

He is handsome, talented, and well-known in the local area.

And very good at getting along with people.In history, even Cheng Pu, who hated him at first, later lamented that "making friends with Gong Jin is like drinking alcohol, and you will not feel drunk."

No matter how you look at it, it is the most suitable candidate.

Ling Han didn't say all the words.

So far, Zhou Yu has fully understood why the King of Changsha called him here today.

He didn't feel annoyed, his voice sounded clear and warm: "Your Highness wants Yu to act as His Highness's lobbyist and visit the aristocratic families in Yangzhou one by one?"

Ling Han stared fixedly at the other party: "Would Gong Jin help me?"

Zhou Yu lost his mind for a moment.

One side is his own family, and the other side is the people of the world.

This should have been a dilemma.

But at this moment, Zhou Yu didn't hesitate at all. He cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness has an order, and Yu will do his best."

After hearing this, Ling Han felt a lot more relaxed.

Before Zhou Yu left, he said again: "I have a box of colored glaze beads with me. Gong Jin can use the colored glaze beads to express my king's goodwill to the aristocratic family."

Soon, Yang Zhen sent someone to deliver the box containing the glazed beads to Zhou Yu's house.

This box of glazed beads was brought from Changshan, originally intended to be used to make friends with Xuzhou scholars, but it turned out to be useless.

Now it is used on the Yangzhou family.

After finishing his work, Yang Zhen returned to Ling Han's side.

Because he is a rough person and knows almost nothing about political affairs, when Ling Han talked to Zhou Yu earlier, he didn't say a word.

Right now, Zhou Yu has left.

Yang Zhen had a lot of doubts in his heart when the two discussed it earlier.

Because His Highness does not object to his asking about such things, on the contrary, he is very advocating, so he asked without any psychological burden: "In His Highness's opinion, what kind of monarch is a wise monarch?"

According to the words of the sage, a wise monarch should have a heart of benevolence and righteousness.

But the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in this dynasty is also a wise emperor in anyone's eyes, but the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty seems...not benevolent and righteous, right?

Yang Zhen has always felt that His Highness has a heart of benevolence and righteousness, which is quite natural and correct.It is conducive to conquering the hearts of the people, which in turn is conducive to the restoration of the Han Dynasty.

But when he heard what Mr. Zhou Yu said today, even though he didn't fully understand it, he had a vague feeling that His Highness's benevolence and righteousness towards the people seemed to be detrimental to the rule of Yangzhou and the restoration of the great cause of the Han Dynasty.

Ling Han did not answer Yang Zhen directly, but asked: "What kind of king can be regarded as a wise king? Is the wise king in the eyes of the people the same as the wise king in the eyes of future generations?"

After a pause, he said again: "Why do the people yearn for a wise king?"

Yang Zhen thought about it seriously.

He felt that the answer to this question seemed easy to say, but he felt that his answer was not accurate enough.

So he said: "This subordinate is stupid."

Ling Han said: "There is a saying that the emperor breaks the law and commits the same crime as the common people."

When Yang Zhen heard this sentence, he immediately opened his mouth to refute.

Ling Han didn't give him a chance to refute, and continued: "This is an idealized situation, and it is actually impossible to achieve."

Yang Zhen nodded hesitantly.

"But—" Ling Han changed the subject: "The reason why the common people yearn for Mingjun is because when Mingjun was in power, under the Son of Heaven, it was barely possible to say that everyone was equal."

"No matter how high and powerful an official is, he dare not wantonly oppress the people. Because once he gets to the heaven, no matter how big the official position is, he will have to pay the price."

"If this Mingjun can restrain himself well enough. He is neither extravagant nor has the ambition to expand abroad, then the people's life will be very easy."

Ling Han picked up the teacup, took a sip, and continued: "If you meet a Hunjun, the situation is exactly the opposite."

"The emperor is high above, and he doesn't understand the principle that the people are water. Under the emperor, they will be divided into countless levels, and they will be exploited layer by layer."

"Ordinary people at the bottom are naturally miserable."

"When the people can't survive and have nothing to lose, they will take up arms and rebel."

"Then the old dynasty collapsed, the new dynasty rose, and re-entered a new cycle."

The author has something to say: Note: The relationship between taxes and land, imperial power and aristocratic families is much more complicated than that described in this chapter. It would take a long and lengthy discussion to explain it clearly, so it is simplified here. Those who are interested can refer to the information by themselves.

In addition, the views of the protagonist do not represent the views of the author, nor are they guaranteed to be reasonable, but ideal results will be achieved under the specific conditions of this article.