Chapter 556: Disagreement! Quarrel!
The Empress Dowager arranged a marriage for Luo Qi, which changed the public opinion in Chang'an. One of the bigwigs of the reform faction and a close friend of the Grand Marshal, actually stood with the Empress Dowager.
What does this mean?
It is so obvious that even a fool can know that Luo Qi has stated that he will protect the interests of the royal family during the reform!
Combined with the words Wang Mang said in the hall to express his attitude, the doubts about whether the last reformist would create achievements and then take the opportunity to seize power and usurp the throne disappeared.
The voices of the reform-minded scholars instantly broke through everything, causing an uproar.
The marriage was still in progress, and Zhao Hede was on her way to Chang'an.
Luo Qi and others entered Wang Mang's mansion. Now there were no major obstacles on the road to reform. The few people with the highest power reached a consensus, and the middle-level officials also reached a consensus. The most crucial thing was the surging scholars and the people in the world who urgently needed policies to appease them.
If it drags on, the scholars will become disappointed in them, and the people will no longer wait, but will directly rise up and overthrow this dark world.
This is a reform that matters both life and death. If it fails, the Han people will just have to wait for death, and so will these people.
"Now is the time to realize all the things we have always wanted to do."
"The world is like a chessboard. How can we place the pieces on it to make it orderly and get rid of the current chaos?"
Wang Mang smiled and twirled his beard, saying, "We should learn from the ancient sages how to create a prosperous world and follow their example. Don't the ancient sages know what the world needs better than we do?
During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, ordinary people had land to cultivate. They kept their own food rations and handed over the rest, so the people could eat and the court became prosperous.
However, as the land gradually fell into the hands of the wealthy, the people still had to bear the taxes, but lost their land, so they could only go into exile and become refugees out of the control of the court.
Where is the root of all this?
The reason is that the land is privately owned!
The point is that land can be bought and sold!
The land owned by the people only stays in their hands temporarily and will eventually be sold at a low price to the powerful and illegal officials.
In the past two hundred years, many emperors have tried to suppress annexation, but the results have not been very significant because it was only the emperor who wanted to suppress annexation.
During natural disasters, more than 50% of the relief grain provided by the imperial court was embezzled by officials, and this was even considered a good thing.
The people will have no way to survive, and selling the land they depend on for survival will be the only option.
This was not something the emperor could control. Relocating the powerful was only a temporary measure. The relatives of local officials, such as provincial governors, county governors, and county magistrates, would become new powerful people in a short period of time.
There were even cases where some people used the imperial court to eliminate dissidents and then dominate the counties. The imperial court was often tricked because of its attempts to suppress the powerful.
The imperial court wasted manpower and material resources, but the local tyrants usurped all the interests between the counties, which shows how rampant the local tyrants were.
Therefore, if we want to bring peace to the world, we must abolish this private land system and return to the royal land system of the early Zhou Dynasty.
Without land transactions, there will be no land annexation!"
Wang Mang's voice was firm and decisive. For any reform, the answer should be found in history and then adjusted according to reality. However, Luo Qi felt a headache when he heard it. Why did Wang Mang suddenly become like this?
Without waiting for others to speak, he asked directly: "Lord Jujun, the royal land system of the Bangzhou period you mentioned, do you mean to restore it to that era?
The royal land system was gradually abolished hundreds of years ago. It was not abolished by one person, but by all the countries.”
The Wangtian system of the Bangzhou period sounds beautiful and seems to be a model of a public world, but in fact it is completely different. Otherwise, it would not have gradually disintegrated with the progress of productivity during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and formed an autocratic landlord system.
The formation of an economic system is by no means something that can be thought of by a few people on the spur of the moment. Any political and economic system, that is, the mode of production, that is not compatible with the economic base and level of productivity will eventually collapse and then recover to a compatible level.
Although Luo Qi did not explicitly say that the Wangtian system was not working now, he vaguely revealed this meaning.
Wang Mang shook his head and said, "The Wangtian in the Bangzhou period was indeed good, but it is too difficult to restore it based on just a few words in the history books. This is just an idea.
Although we don't know the specific methods of Wang Tian, but Wenqi, you must be very clear about the land system of Luo State and even the current Zhao State.
During the years I studied in Zhaocheng, the biggest gain was seeing the land system of the Luo clan. If the land distribution system of the Luo clan could be implemented throughout the world, why would we worry about the world not being stable? "
It’s over!
It's all over!
This was Luo Qi's only thought. If he had known earlier that Wang Mang was actually planning to implement the Luo family's land system throughout the world, he would definitely not support Wang Mang's reform.
Before, Wang Mang simply wanted to learn from Duke Zhaozhongyi, survey the land of the powerful, take out those lands that were forcibly bought or occupied, return them to the landless people, reduce the number of refugees, clean up the bureaucracy, and relocate the powerful to the surrounding areas.
Why did he suddenly become so radical?
The system of Rockefeller was the ultimate rule of man, and its realization was completely dependent on Rockefeller's high morals and high abilities.
Two conditions need to be met simultaneously. First, the ruler must always be selfless and show fairness. How could that be possible except for the Luo family, who were blessed by their ancestors?
Second, a large number of highly qualified officials are needed, and these officials must be full-time. The current productivity cannot support so many full-time officials. The Luo family does this because they are rich.
These are just two points. How can they be implemented throughout the country?
Even the Yinghou Kingdom and the Wushuang Hou Kingdom could not achieve the level of Zhaocheng.
Where can we find a large number of honest and capable officials who are selfless and do not seek personal gain? It is not enough to have just one or two people. Every county needs a huge number of officials, and even if we can find them, we cannot afford to support them.
These two points prove that this is simply an impossible thing.
What was even more terrifying was that Luo Qi found that everyone present had an expression of agreement. Luo Qi could no longer hold back and said, "Lord Jujun, everyone, my Luo family's method is absolutely not allowed!
Aren't you guys surprised?
Even King Luo Wen and Duke Zhao Zhongyi have never been like this!"
Luo Qi explained all the reasons why he couldn't do so, but Wang Mang didn't react. Instead, he smiled and said, "Wen Qi, in this world, those who seek the best will get the middle, those who seek the middle will get the worst, and those who seek the worst will get nothing.
If we were to simply restore the reforms of Duke Zhaozhongyi, the scholars of the world would not agree. We are now thinking of doing better, not really trying to reach the level of Zhaocheng.
We are self-aware, and we want to set a benchmark for the world, and give everyone hope in the direction of reform. "
Luo Qi frowned deeply when he heard this. He still felt that it was inappropriate. Don't make political promises that you can't fulfill. It's a huge political danger to make promises but not be able to do them. Moreover, grassroots officials may not understand this. If they really try to do this, it will be a huge humanitarian disaster.
(End of this chapter)
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