Chapter 147 Land Issues
Seeing Zhu Biao fall into the trap, Zhu Chong smiled inwardly and began to seduce Zhu Biao step by step. "Actually, I have a half-baked idea that I've been wanting to tell you. Since it just happened to come up today, I might as well tell you about it. Please help me think about it."
Zhu Biao was fooled and thought he had guessed Zhu Chong's thoughts correctly, so he proudly made a gesture of invitation, indicating that Zhu Chong should continue.
"Brother, you are well-read and must have read many history books. You should understand that throughout the thousands of years of history of the previous dynasty, during certain special years, the people were still able to have enough food and clothing."
Hearing Zhu Chong's words, Zhu Biao's eyes suddenly became strange. "Wait a minute, do you have any basis for what you said? I have indeed read a lot of history books, but why have I never seen anything like what you said?"
Zhu Biao had indeed never seen it. It should be said that even if he had seen it, he did not care about the relevant records in history books at that time. But here, Zhu Chong could attract all his attention.
"Brother, you have read so many books, how could you remember every word in it? I just happened to see it, and then I consulted many books and asked many people before I confirmed this." Zhu Chong began to talk nonsense.
He was sure that Zhu Biao had been fooled by him. Zhu Biao had not experienced the same thing as Zhu Chong in his previous life, where he had to listen to the lectures on TV every day and analyze history by magnifying it countless times. It was impossible for him to know so much.
Seeing Zhu Biao's sudden realization, Zhu Chong continued, "Actually, if you think about it carefully, you'll definitely find that during the first few decades of the Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, the people's lives were relatively good."
"Especially during the Han and Tang dynasties, during the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, and Emperor Zhenguan, the people at that time were not necessarily wealthy, but they still had enough food and clothing."
Hearing what Zhu Chong said, Zhu Biao could not help but nod repeatedly without even having to think about it, because anyone with a little historical knowledge would know that this was indeed the case.
As Zhu Chong said about the Han and Tang dynasties, the people lived a pretty comfortable life during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing and Emperor Zhenguan.
The same applies to the Ming Dynasty. If the people of the Ming Dynasty today did not have a good life, it would have fallen into chaos long ago. After all, the territory during the Han and Tang Dynasties was not as large as the Ming Dynasty today!
It had only been ten years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and during these ten years, signs of prosperity had already appeared. This also confirmed in some ways that what Zhu Chong said was correct. Therefore, Zhu Biao became even more curious about Zhu Chong's next words.
"It's a shame. Whether it's the Han and Tang dynasties or the Qin and Song dynasties, they all, without exception, went downhill in their later years."
Zhu Chong suddenly sighed deeply and said, "Actually, big brother, you should have realized that at the end of every dynasty, due to various reasons, the country has become a country of incompetent rulers and corrupt officials, which has led to the people's miserable lives and people rising up in rebellion."
"It is precisely because of this that our father knows the harm that corrupt officials can do to the country. Therefore, he has enacted very strict laws and established the Jinyiwei to supervise all officials. His purpose is to intimidate all officials and make the people feel that the country will not have corrupt officials."
"Yes, that's true." Zhu Biao nodded again. "My father has always taught me that this is the way of an emperor. He hopes that I and future generations of Zhu family will remember the mistakes of our predecessors and not repeat them."
"Tsk!" Zhu Chong scoffed upon hearing this. "I'm afraid only you, big brother, believe that. With all due respect, do you really believe that the rise and fall of the empire is solely related to the emperor, his laws, and his governance?"
"Second Brother, what are you talking about?" Zhu Biao was immediately displeased when he heard this. "Isn't the rise and fall of any dynasty due to how the emperor governs the country? Could it be due to other reasons?"
"Of course!" Zhu Chong nodded heavily and said, "Of course there are other reasons, and this reason can be said to be related to people, or it can be said to have nothing to do with people!"
"Ah?" Zhu Biao was stunned. Zhu Chong's mysterious words always made him feel at a loss. "What does it have to do with? Tell me."
"It's related to land!" Zhu Chong once again made a shocking statement, which shocked Zhu Biao again.
"What's your logic? What does it have to do with land?" Zhu Biao's curiosity was completely aroused by Zhu Chong.
At this moment, the little devil in Zhu Chong's heart had already revealed a hideous smile. He believed that Zhu Biao would be scared after hearing his next words, and that was exactly the result Zhu Chong wanted.
"I mentioned this to you before," Zhu Chong said eloquently. "The foundation of a strong country is a vast territory! And the territory here is land, the land of the country!"
"I wonder if you've noticed in your history readings that whenever an old dynasty falls and is replaced by a new one, wars often rage, lasting for years, decades, or even decades."
"During this process, most people in the world were landless. Even for those who did have land, the land they owned was extremely limited, so limited that it was not enough to support a family."
"Therefore, during wars, the world's population will decrease dramatically. For example, during the Five Barbarians' invasion of China, the Han people were almost wiped out."
"With a drastic decrease in population, the world's demand for food will naturally decrease. Once the new court officially replaces the old one, the land will naturally undergo a redistribution process."
"After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, my father issued an imperial decree encouraging the common people to reclaim wasteland. All reclaimed land would become the property of the reclaimers after being reported to the government for verification."
"Yes, that's true." Zhu Biao nodded. He remembered this decree. At that time, Zhu Biao was praised by many people and won the hearts of the people because of this imperial decree, but he didn't know why Zhu Chong brought up this matter at this time.
"Actually, big brother, you should also understand that in the early days of every dynasty, there would probably be land distribution measures like our father's."
Zhu Chong took a pen and paper from Zhu Biao's desk and began to write down some data for Zhu Biao. "Take our Ming Dynasty as an example. The maximum amount of land a farmer can reclaim is about 20 to 30 mu. If it's a family of five, that's an average of 5 mu per person."
"Five mu of land is definitely more than enough to support one person. This has been the case throughout the dynasties. But why is it that at the end of each dynasty, the people who owned so much land all disappeared, and the promise of having enough food and clothing became empty talk?"
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