Chapter 258: Forging a plow as a sword to fight in all directions

In any era, the income from farming is the lowest. For example, in this era, even if the weather is good, in the harvest year, the output of a mu of land is about 150 yuan, and the income of 100 mu of land is only 15,000 yuan per year. Excluding taxes, seeds and labor costs, the net profit is only 3,000 yuan.

Chen Ying thought for a while and added: "There are more people going to work, and it is difficult to recruit long-term workers and short-term workers. Even if they can be recruited, the commission will definitely be greatly increased. In this way, the income from farming will be much weaker. I believe that many landlords will lose interest in farming and sell the fields to run factories. In this way, will more ordinary people have fields to plant?"

The problem of land annexation is a problem that has plagued all dynasties for thousands of years. Countless people have spent their entire lives but have not found a fundamental solution.

At the same time, the problem of land annexation has become the fate of China. Once the arable land exceeds the highest population that the land can afford, troubled times will come.

After all, it’s a question of the size of the cake. The cake is too small now. Even if you give it to one person, you won’t be enough to stuff your teeth. But if you make it ten times larger or one hundred times larger, you will be full in one bite, so there is no need to grab it so fiercely!”

However, the income from workmanship is not only high, but also unaffected by the weather.

Li Jiancheng stood on the city gate tower, looking at the brightly lit forest and sighed: "I wish every city in the world could do this."

Wei Ting shook his head and said, "No, if half of the cities can do this, it will be a brilliant era of a powerful man far away."

Chen Ying smiled strangely and said, "Present times? Do you really care about it?"

Li Jiancheng sighed and said, "Who doesn't want anyone to live in a prosperous era? Who doesn't want anyone to be able to create a prosperous era?"

"Actually, it's not difficult for you to have a prosperous era!" Chen Ying pointed to the empty night sky around him and said: "The Sui Dynasty had more than 9.8 million households. If the hidden households and fugitive households were included, the population was no less than 60 million. Now after more than ten years of war, people have already been killed. Now the population in Guanzhong is less than one-quarter as before. If you are exempt from taxes for a few years, the prosperity will come soon."

Chen Ying's words were a bit absurd, but they scared Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng and Wei Ting looked at each other, and their temples twitched. Wei Ting shouted: "What are you talking nonsense? I don't know how many people will die in every prosperous era, and how much effort it takes to create it. Looking at thousands of years of history, there are only a handful of times that can be called prosperous era..."

Chen Ying retorted: "Every dynasty has been prosperous for a long time after the founding of the country, and this thing is not rare at all!"

Even if Chen Ying's words broke through a window paper, Li Jiancheng's heart suddenly became clear. He looked at the dark night sky, his eyes as if penetrating time and seeing the depths of history.

Every prosperous age was built on the bones after the collapse of the previous dynasty. There would be no great chaos, and it has been like this since ancient times. However, the sages would tell him that it was a monarch who was a heroic and generous person who had benefited the people, which created this prosperous age...

Li Jiancheng asked: "You said, how did the prosperous era come from?"

Chen Ying asked back: "Before I answer you, please tell me first, how did the previous dynasty collapse?"

Wei Ting rushed to say, "Is this more necessary? Of course, it was because the foolish monarch was extremely debauchery and made great efforts, which made the heavens angry and the people resentful, and the people were in trouble, and finally the people were resentful..."

"Yang Guang is what you call a fool? It's too lewd..." Chen Ying interrupted Wei Ting and said, "Yang Guang's first queen, four concubines, three sons and two daughters, a total of five children. What's the waste, too lewd, this is too false, right? Wei joins the army, if I can't remember anything, you should have thirteen sons and five daughters, right!"

Wei Ting was speechless.

Chen Ying pointed at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Highness, if you say something disrespectful, you have six sons and five daughters..."

Li Jiancheng was silent.

"If Yang Guang is deserted and lustful, how many people in the court are not deserted? " Chen Ying smiled bitterly and said, "What kind of tyrant kings are extremely lustful and lewd, and they are really fake, but one thing is common, that is, people are not living. Yes, people are not living is the prelude to the demise of every dynasty."

Li Jiancheng was shocked! If the people's life was a prelude to the demise of every dynasty, then the Tang Dynasty... During the Hebei Rebellion, almost half of the people in Hebei rebelled with Liu Shishan. Now the same is true for the Jianghuai River. If the people can survive, they will rebel if they are kicked in the head by donkeys!

Chen Ying continued: "Why do people live in poverty? The historians will point the finger at the emperor without exception, believing that the emperor has lost virtue, which makes the people live in poverty. How to lose morality? Wei Zongjun just listed it, it is extremely debauchery, building a large number of buildings, using cruel officials, nepotism, and being a virtuous person, and being far away from wise ministers... so many are too numerous to count."

Li Jiancheng asked in surprise: "Isn't that right?"

"Only one of them knows whether it is true or not. Can those who read history still wake up the dead emperor from the coffin and question it one by one? But there is one thing they didn't write it on, that is, the government exploitation, land annexation... Yes, land annexation, this is the real reason why people live in miserable life." Chen Ying walked into the city gate building from the city gate building.

Li Jiancheng and Wei Ting also followed Chen Ying in.

Chen Ying took the pen and ink on the table and drew a circle on the paper, saying, "This big cake represents land."

Then the pen turned and cut in half. "At the beginning, only two households divided this land. It can be seen that they could not farm at all. It was okay to divide the three-year ring and it would be easier to pay taxes."

After another painting, the big cake became four portions, "But they will eventually have children, and their children will eventually get married and start a family. Since they have started a family and start a business, they must have a field. I will divide it according to their two children in one person. The big cake was divided into four portions, which was a little smaller, but there is still surplus for them."

After painting a few more times, the big cake turned into more than a dozen pieces. "In another twenty years, the children of these four families will grow up and have to divide the land. They divide the land left by their ancestors again... Look, the land is just enough now, and each person has a piece of it, and there will be no waste. After paying the tax, the output of the land is enough to allow them to live a life of food and clothing. Therefore, this era is called a prosperous era. Yes, a country that has come from a troubled world, as long as there is no big chaos, even if the king is incompetent, after the efforts of three or four generations, it can usher in a prosperous era."

Li Jiancheng calculated silently in his heart, as Chen Ying said. The Western Han Dynasty was built on the ruins of the Qin Dynasty. During the founding period, Liu Bang could not even find five white horses to pull a cart. However, after three generations, it was precisely the "Wenjing Governance" in history. This was the case with the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was the prosperous era for fifty or sixty years. Even during the Three Kingdoms period, the princes competed for hegemony and the world was divided into three parts, the Wei Kingdom, Shu Han, Eastern Wu, and the three kingdoms all entered a prosperous era.

Chen Ying continued: "A major disadvantage in prosperous times is that they have abundant resources, a peaceful country and a safe country, and the people can reproduce with confidence, so the population grows rapidly. However, the population needs land as support, and a country's land is limited, and the limited population supports an infinitely growing population. Everyone knows what will happen. So, when the population exceeds the limit that the land can accommodate, the prosperous times will turn into passing clouds and mists, and what follows is a chaotic era. More and more people are fighting openly and secretly for less and less land, and they can't do it. If there are a few more large-scale natural disasters or wars at this time, it can be said that the country is dead."

Listening to this, Li Jiancheng's face became a little unnatural. The aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty were now crazy about annexation of land. He finally understood why Chen Ying wanted to promote industry and commerce and open a factory. Because, this is the only way to completely eliminate the harm caused by land annexation.

The key is that the aristocratic families cannot be eliminated.

Chen Ying continued: "This is still the most ideal state. In fact, this state is impossible to happen. The land cannot be divided infinitely until it cannot be supported by so many people. The rich will buy real estate on a large scale. Those who lose the land will either become serfs or be displaced. The more land annexation will become more powerful as the future. For example, if Wei joined the army, the land under the name of Wei, Jingzhao, will be as much as tens of thousands of yuan."

Wei Ting's cold sweat suddenly flowed down. He stammered: "Your Highness, I have become the lord of Wei!"

Li Jiancheng patted Wei Ting on the shoulder and said, "Yizhi, don't be nervous, I understand..."

Chen Ying was still there and said: "The land in Guanzhong is only more than 300,000 yuan, but now the Wei family has occupied tens of thousands of yuan. Even the Houmo Chen family owns nearly 3,000 yuan of good land. The land that could support dozens of people and tens of thousands of people is now used to support your family. The most terrible thing is that these aristocratic families and these privileged classes do not have to pay taxes. The country cannot operate without taxes, and officials cannot ignore food. The minor officials in the yamen and the three yamen runners also have to eat, hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Tang Dynasty also have to eat, and the imperial court has no money. What should I do?"

Li Jiancheng sighed inwardly.

When the court had no money, it had to collect taxes on the farmers. Their land was getting smaller and smaller, but the taxes became heavier. In the end, they also lost the land. The land was either abandoned or annexed by aristocratic families. In either case, the country lost the tax forever.

With the land annexation, the country's tax sources are increasingly withering, and the finances are not enough to make ends meet, but there is nothing to do. In the long run, the country will surely be done. What accompanied the collapse of the empire is always a bloody war, and the war will surely devour the lives of thousands of people. Everyone is crazy and killing, killing, killing, killing, killing, killing, killing, killing, and killing, and killing, until the population is reduced to the point where this land can bear, and there is even a lot of wasteland. The war is over.

At this time, Li Jiancheng finally realized it suddenly.

Everything is understood.

The so-called prosperous era is just a period when the population and land affordability are balanced, and has nothing to do with whether the king is wise or not. As long as the population growth rate does not exceed the limit of land affordability, even a pig can create a prosperous dynasty.

On the other hand, once the population exceeds the limit of land affordability and limited land can no longer support so many people, it has to have an artificial extinction, forcibly reduce the population to a relatively low level, which is equivalent to a system clearance and start over again. For thousands of years, the whole world has been repeating this process. The difference is that we can always be severely governed after the chaos, while in some places, there will be endless chaos after the chaos, which will last for thousands of years.

Li Jiancheng carefully recalled the history books he had read, or took a pen to list the increase in household registration and tax revenue of each dynasty one by one according to the different periods of founding the country, becoming stronger and destruction. After carefully comparing, the more he compared the comparison, the more he became, the more shocked he became. His hands were trembling and he couldn't write it. Finally, he even trembled: "What a curse!"

Chen Ying sighed and said, "This is the curse of our Chinese nation. Our Chinese nation has been wandering around in this circle.

The prosperous era is that simple. Kill 80% of the population, leaving 20% ​​to reproduce and survive. After three or four generations, it will be another prosperous era!”

Li Jiancheng said in disrespectfully: "No, this curse can be broken! The root of the problem lies in the land! If we can increase the yield of crops and feed more people with less land; if we can make the rich pay taxes like the poor, or even let the rich pay more taxes; or... "

Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth and shouted in a stern manner: "If we can keep opening up the territory, let the land grow with the population growth, ensure that the farmer has his own land, every household has surplus food and meat to eat, then this curse will be invalid, and the damn end of the world will never come!"

For a moment, Chen Ying's eyes felt a little relieved.

In fact, Chen Ying was very worried that after Li Jiancheng took office, the generous and generous Li Jiancheng would be self-confidant and satisfied with the territory of the Tang Dynasty, rather than expanding as in history.

Chen Ying said: "To break this curse, as His Highness the Crown Prince said, it can be divided into three steps. First, we should encourage the construction of workshops and the development of industry and commerce. At the same time, we should strive to improve scientific planting, increase the yield per unit per mu, so that the smallest land can feed the most people. Finally, we should never put horses on the south mountain and swords and weapons into the warehouse. We should hold up the plows as swords and fight in all directions!"

Li Jiancheng also wanted Chen Ying to give him advice.

Chen Ying smiled and said, "Why don't your highness let these aristocratic clans and clans take the people to Andong or the Western Regions to cultivate land?"

Aristocratic and family talents, human capital, and strength. If this model can be promoted, it will be the COFCO Group of later generations, enclosing land all over the world. Part of the grain produced is sold locally and part of it is transported back to China. Especially the Andong Protectorate, it can flow down the river and go directly into the sea, and transport it from water to Guanzhong. In this way, it will not only save costs, but also alleviate the food crisis in Guanzhong.

Li Jiancheng pondered: "Is this feasible?"

Chen Ying smiled and said, "I am willing to set an example. This way, the Anton Protectorate has a large amount of wasteland. Your Highness can sell the newly acquired land of Anton to me. I am not greedy. I am willing to give out a million tuitions. I am willing to go to Anton to meddle in the farm!"

Li Jiancheng was immediately moved.

Most of Anton is wasteland, and there is no one to see in a hundred miles. If sold to Chen Ying, it will not be paid!
Chapter completed!