Chapter 522 The Fate of the Han
Luo Qing never expected that he had just returned to the family and had not even had a sip of hot tea when he encountered such a difficult problem.
Then Luo Ling brought him the hot tea.
Luo Qing held the teacup and rubbed it. He always felt that there was a good saying among doctors.
What can be cured is called disease, what cannot be cured is called fate!
This is not just true for the human body, the same applies to a dynasty. What can be changed is called a disease, and what cannot be changed is the fate of the dynasty.
The Luo family all knew that there was a saying about destiny in this world, and nothing in the world could escape the constraints of destiny.
However, our ancestors also said that only when human power is strong enough can we overcome fate.
For example, the thousand-year-old Zhou Dynasty was a typical example of going against the will of heaven.
For example, the Huns originally had the Mandate of Heaven. In real history, the Huns lived longer than the Han Dynasty, and even went south until the Jin Dynasty, taking the Jin Dynasty with them, leading to the migration of the Han people to the south.
But the final outcome was that after decades of accumulation, countless generations of outstanding people with outstanding luck continued to invest their weight, especially the Luo family who invested a lot of family foundation in it. In the end, Luo Wuji, who also had a destiny, broke through it with one blow, and then it was Liu Xun, the emperor who was born to meet the needs of the times, who finally put an end to the Huns.
How many years did God grant the Han Dynasty?
Nobody knows.
But Luo had previously speculated that it was at least four hundred years, because the Xia Dynasty, of which the Shang Dynasty lasted at least four hundred years, and such an unprecedentedly large dynasty could not have perished in just one or two hundred years.
But after the incident with Emperor Li Liu Dan, the Luo family was no longer sure.
During the Zhou Dynasty, although encountering a tyrant would be a disaster, it would not actually lead to the destruction of the country, because it was the princes who could destroy the Zhou Dynasty, and the princes would give the Zhou emperor some dignity even if they had to hold their noses.
However, since the end of the Qin Dynasty, the reason for the demise of the dynasty has become a peasant uprising. A foolish ruler could actually bring down a huge dynasty!
The foundation built up by the Liu family through generations of wise and benevolent rulers collapsed to the point of destruction when they encountered a mediocre emperor and a tyrannical emperor.
Now that the Han Dynasty has reached its 150th year, Luo Qing believes that almost every problem it has encountered is difficult for the court to solve, and this cannot even be changed by changing people.
Unless the emperor could kill off his clan members, foreign relatives, officials, powerful people, and nobles with one stroke, he could take charge of the matter and rule this vast empire alone.
Luo Qing thought a lot in his mind, and then slowly said: "There are two main reasons why the court cannot give up the salt and iron state-run business. The first is taxation, which is the source of tax revenue for the court. The second is control, to ensure that the counties and states cannot be out of the control of the court.
Almost every one of these two points is necessary for the court. If these two points cannot be solved for the court, abolishing the state-run salt and iron industries would be a joke.
Abolishing the state-run salt and iron industries would allow the powerful local tyrants to grow stronger, which would eventually lead to the same disaster as that of Zhou. Not abolishing the state-run salt and iron industries would mean that the court itself would corrode its foundations, and the resentment of the people of the world would be directed towards the court.
It’s difficult.”
Hearing Luo Qing's slight sigh, Luo Bai pondered and said, "If that's the case, then it's easier to deal with. The salt and iron government always puts these together, causing people all over the world to think that salt and iron are one.
In fact, the profit from ironware is not that great.
Among the Salt and Iron Bureaus set up by the court, salt and wine are the most profitable, and with the help of the Price Stabilization Bureau, there are too many things to make money, and iron is nothing at all. The court can completely let go of iron casting and only control iron and stone. "
The Luo family traded with all nine provinces in the world and understood the complete monopoly of the Han court too well.
Bureaucrats have an ability, which is to direct a policy in the opposite direction. The Stabilization Bureau was originally established to stabilize prices in various places, but in the end it became a tool for raising prices and became a tool for officials of the Stabilization Bureau to manipulate prices.
The court did not get more, ordinary merchants were driven bankrupt, and only the officials and the powerful people who depended on them made a fortune.
Official administration!
Everything ultimately comes down to the administration of officials. Even in the three eras of Wen, Wu and Xuan, which were generally recognized as periods of clean administration, there were always many cases of petty corruption.
Those who came from wealthy families worked tirelessly to make profits for their families, while those who came from humble backgrounds worked tirelessly to make profits for themselves. The upward channel was opened, and it seemed as if only a new group of people were coming to seek benefits.
Shaking off his random thoughts, Luo Qing pondered, "Remove the iron monopoly? We can write a letter to Huo Zimeng and let the court discuss it. He attaches great importance to farming. If the state-run iron monopoly will lead to poor harvests throughout the country, it may still be passed."
The two brothers looked at each other and saw what the other was thinking. Is there actually any solution now?
It’s true!
If the regency of the Han Dynasty was handed over to the Luo family for fifty years and the entire Luo family was mobilized, perhaps the ills of the Han Dynasty could be wiped out and the situation could be restored to the time when the country was founded.
But Luo didn't dare!
The Luo family is probably the most cautious family in the world.
The destiny in the dark is always balancing the Luo family in an uncertain way. The operating principles of destiny are so complicated that no one can understand it.
But our ancestors passed down something.
The Luo family can change the development of the entire Xia civilization bit by bit, they can ensure that they can live forever and keep their family prominent, and they can even change the fate of a dynasty through the Jingnan Campaign. They don't care too much about destiny.
Even if someone devotes his life to the cause alone, like Luo Xin, the King of Luo Wen, it is not a big problem and the world may even applaud him.
But if the Luo family dares to rely solely on their own power beyond the secular world to forcibly prolong the life of a certain dynasty, then they should be prepared to face the blow of the rules and be prepared to use their own luck to fill the gap for the dynasty.
When the Han Dynasty was founded, the Luo family acted recklessly, because the Han Dynasty was on the rise at that time, and even if they exerted great efforts during this period, they would never touch the bottom line of destiny.
By the time of Emperor Li Liu Dan, the Luo family had some concerns, but they were still able to launch the Jingnan Campaign, and so far there has been no backlash.
But after Emperor Xuan of Han, the Luo family really began to worry. The Han Dynasty had experienced the heyday of the Wenwu era, but fell into a trough during the Dingli era. Then it was revived by Emperor Xiaoxuan, and now with Huo Guang in power, this revival could continue.
But the more this happened, the more Luo thought about it, because after the peak, things always start to fall.
Is the Han Dynasty's fortune really that strong?
How could there be so many generations of holy and wise rulers in succession?
Emperor Wen, Emperor Wu, and Emperor Xuan, any one of them is enough to compete with the ancient sage kings. The Zhou Dynasty was only like this for a thousand years, but the Han Dynasty produced such sage rulers for a hundred years, pushing the Han Dynasty to an unprecedented peak in a short period of time.
This prosperous situation makes people feel an unreal feeling of boiling oil on a raging fire.
Even if they were spread out over several decades or hundreds of years, it would not be so difficult to accept.
It’s really terrifying when you think about it!
Luo really has a lot of concerns.
The Luo family has paid enough for the Han Dynasty. To put it bluntly, the entire Han Dynasty's output of luck was not as much as Luo Ling's investment in the Xiongnu. At least in the Han Dynasty, the Luo family suffered a huge loss.
It is impossible for Luo's to invest more. Given Luo's sacrifices, no one can ask for more.
Thinking about this, since Luo Qing was going to explain this matter to the court, Luo Bai put it aside for the time being and said, "Ah Qing, Taishigong has basically completed the compilation of the history books on the emperors of the Han Dynasty. Do you want to take a look?"
Luo Qing, who was a little worried at first, brightened up when he heard this, and said excitedly: "It's so fast?"
Luo Bai smiled and said, "Taishigong started compiling from the Han Dynasty emperors, mainly because his family had relatively few records of the Han Dynasty emperors. Taishigong's family was the historian of the Han Dynasty, and he had a lot of historical materials from the Han Dynasty, so he started compiling from the Han Dynasty.
He wrote nine chapters, including "The Records of Xiang Yu", "The Records of Emperor Gaozu", "The Records of Empress Dowager Lü", "The Records of Emperor Xiaowen", "The Records of Emperor Xiaowu", "The Records of Emperor Xiaoding", "The Records of Emperor Li", "The Records of Emperor Xiaoxuan" and "The Records of the Current Emperor".
The words are so beautiful that they don’t seem like history books at all, but more like poetry.”
Luo Qing was stunned when he heard this, and then he said, "You are indeed worthy of being called Taishigong, you really have a heroic spirit."
Luo Bai understood what Luo Qing was talking about and laughed loudly, "Taishigong said that King Xiang was the common ruler of the Xia Dynasty who was crowned by King Zhaosheng himself. He was the emperor recognized by all the princes in the world. Although his reign was short, he must be recorded in the Annals. He also said that although Empress Gao was a woman, she was a real emperor and she must also be recorded in the Annals. However, because these two were not official emperors of the Han Dynasty, they did not use posthumous titles, but were distinguished as Xiang Yu and Empress Dowager Lu.
If it weren’t for the family’s previous instructions, Taishigong would have written a chronicle for King Luo Wen.”
Luo Qing said with some emotion: "Emperor Xiaohui has no biography. An emperor with a temple name has no biography. Is this a bit strange?"
Luo Bai shook his head and said, "No, Taishigong is a bit stubborn. He said that it was wrong not to compile a chronicle for King Luo Wen. Moreover, Empress Dowager Lu already has a chronicle. If he compiles a chronicle for Emperor Xiaohui, doesn't that mean that the country has two rulers?
Therefore, the Chronicle of Emperor Xiaohui was cancelled."
Sima Qian really has the style of an ancient historian, he says what is true.
(End of this chapter)
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