Chapter 259: From Reality to Virtuality
Wei Xiaokuan said:
"Fubing is the best system at present, but the prerequisite is that there is land to be granted."
"If you have constant property, you will have constant heart. However, the land in the world is constant, but the population is growing."
"I looked at the account books of the General's Mansion. In Dunhuang, they can grant 60 mu of land, but in Hezhou, they can only grant 40 mu, and in Liangzhou, they can only grant 30 mu of land."
"If we take into account the population growth, it would be great if we could give away half of their land in 20 years."
"In addition to the hereditary land obtained by officials and the hereditary land awarded for military merit, the newly granted land is becoming less and less, and the Fubing system will be difficult to sustain."
Su Ze sighed. Any system is like this.
Today, the land properties in the north and south are completely different.
Since the reforms of Empress Dowager Feng and Emperor Xiaowen in the Northern Wei Dynasty, land ownership has been nationalized, and the state has given you land to cultivate.
In the South, there was a manor system of private land.
Just as Wei Xiaokuan said, if there were no wars, as long as the population grew naturally for two or three generations, there would not be enough land to go around.
It doesn't even take two or three generations.
Strictly speaking, the equal-field system and the fubing system of the Tang Dynasty lasted from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the period of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. By then, the equal-field system had become a mere formality, and the fubing system was on the verge of bankruptcy.
This is only two generations.
Moreover, the equal-field and military system of the Tang Dynasty only lasted for two generations despite the chaos and natural disasters such as the war between the Western Wei and Northern Qi and the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, which led to a drastic decrease in the population of the entire Central Plains.
Emperor Xiaowen's decree on granting land could not be implemented in the wealthy Hedong region in less than twenty years.
However, Su Ze must insist on implementing the system of granting land and military service. As for future matters, let's talk about it after the world is unified.
At the moment, the fubing system is the best system.
It’s the same old saying - if you have constant property, you will have constant perseverance.
Throughout history, both in China and abroad, the best soldiers are those from good families who have land and families.
These people are the most loyal to the country and also the soldiers with the highest quality.
For this reason alone, Su Ze could not give up the military system.
However, Wei Xiaokuan can see so far, and Su Ze pays even more attention to him. He is indeed a talented person.
Su Ze said:
"The Fubing system is currently good, and we must persist in it. This year I plan to set up ten Zhechongfu in Liangzhou, and I will leave this matter to you, Xiaokuan, to prepare."
Wei Xiaokuan was shocked. He didn't expect Su Ze to give him such an important task all of a sudden.
Zhechoufu is the foundation of the Fubing system, and the importance of this work is beyond doubt.
One of the two Su brothers under Su Ze, Su Liang, the elder brother of Su Changshi, had an important assignment as the military advisor and it was he who created the Zhechongfu system of the entire Longxi County.
Wei Xiaokuan waited for Su Ze's important task, but he did not show any sign of retreat, but accepted it excitedly.
Su Ze could only sigh that this was the difference between talented people and ordinary people.
When there is an opportunity, talented people will rush to take it.
At this time Su Liang said:
"General, there is actually another way to solve the problem of money and food."
Su Ze looked at Su Liang, only to hear Su Liang say:
"Issuing Buddhist money."
Hearing this answer, Su Ze fell silent.
When Luoyang issued Buddhist coins, Su Ze made a fortune with Princess Chenliu. Su Ze actually had a lot of experience both in technology and operation.
But he was instinctively opposed to this method of exhausting all resources.
But in fact, the current monetary system is fundamentally different from the monetary system of later generations.
It can even be said that both the Buddhist coins of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the iron coins made by Xiao Yan actually had a great deal of rationality in their time.
To put it bluntly, printing money is a good way to adjust the gap between the rich and the poor.
The reason is very simple. Ordinary people have no money.
Not to mention ordinary people, the only areas that used currency in the entire Southern Dynasty at that time were several economically developed areas such as Jiankang, Jiangling, and Yizhou.
The situation in the north was similar. Except for a few economically developed areas such as Luoyang, Guanzhong, and Hedong, money was rarely used in other places, and the people basically bartered.
Since there is no money, the inflation caused by excessive money printing has nothing to do with most ordinary people.
Those who are being robbed by excessive currency printing are actually the wealthy and powerful people and businessmen who have the currency in their hands.
This is just like India in later generations, which once ordered the abolition of large-denomination banknotes.
The poor don't have large-denomination banknotes at all. These large-denomination banknotes are used for bribery or tax evasion. Abolishing banknotes is actually a competition between the government and the rich for wealth.
The iron coins issued by the Southern Liang Dynasty were actually also a competition for wealth with the officials and landlords of the Southern Liang Dynasty.
The deformed land policy of the Southern Liang Dynasty, coupled with Xiao Yan's abolition of the human wealth tax (property tax levied according to the proportion of property) and the replacement of it with rent and tax based on the number of people and fields, actually meant giving up the property tax on wealthy merchants and replacing it with a general tax on the population.
They all pay taxes, the rich are just human beings, and ordinary people are just human beings. This system seems fair, but it actually abandons the regulatory function of taxation.
If the rich and ordinary people bear the same taxes, the rich will only make more and more money and annex the land of ordinary people. Then the ordinary people will be burdened with heavier taxes and will begin to evade taxes in various ways. Finally, the tax base will be eroded and the government finances will be tight.
Before Su Ze traveled through time, calling for a property tax on the rich was also a social call for tax fairness.
Xiao Yan also realized this problem. For example, his good brother Hong was falsely accused of hoarding armor and plotting rebellion. Xiao Yan went to Xiao Hong's house as a guest and opened the treasury of Xiao Hong's house. He saw more than 30 warehouses full of copper coins.
Xiao Yan asked someone to count and found that there were actually over 100 million copper coins in Xiao Hong's house.
Although Xiao Yan did not blame his brother Xiao Hong, he was happy that he had no intention of rebelling.
But in fact, after this incident, Xiao Yan began to issue women's money of lower quality, using inferior currency to snatch money from these rich people.
In the end, Xiao Yan even abolished copper coins and issued iron coins instead, causing a large amount of Xiao Hong's property to evaporate. After hearing about this, Yuzhang King Xiao Zong wrote "The Fool's Theory of Money" to satirize Xiao Hong's efforts.
However, Su Ze also knew that given the character of the Bodhisattva Xiao next door, he would probably just take one step at a time and would not use the issuance of currency as a whole to crack down on powerful businessmen.
The excessive reliance on excessive money issuance to solve financial problems also led to a transitional economic prosperity in the Southern Liang Dynasty. Although the royal family members like Xiao Hong were temporarily wiped out, they soon accumulated greater wealth by privately casting iron coins. Su Ze thought about it and gave up this tempting idea.
He said to Su Liang:
"Invesco's idea is good, but no matter how much money is printed, it cannot be eaten as food. Excessive money issuance will disrupt people's production. Let's not talk about this anymore."
This is also the experience of Southern Liang.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Xiao Yan's excessive issuance of iron coins led to the over-prosperity of the entire Southern Liang economy.
A large number of people gave up farming and chose to engage in various non-productive service industries.
This is very similar to a country on the other side of the ocean in the previous life. If production is not profitable, then they will engage in more profitable service and financial industries, which eventually leads to industrial hollowing out.
The hollowing out in the industrial age can be compensated by global trade, but the hollowing out in the agricultural society will really lead to starvation to death.
In this era, land and food are the most important things.
Su Ze resisted the temptation to take two shortcuts and said to everyone:
"Farming is the foundation of everything. Techniques can only solve temporary problems, but they cannot create food out of thin air."
"Su Cho, the military office chief, the military office must strengthen the assessment of the chief officers of each state, county, and prefecture. Those who work hard on mulberry trees will be rewarded, and those who delay farming will be severely punished!"
"Su Liang, the chief priest of Zhechong, dispatch officials from Zhechong Prefecture to inspect the local areas and investigate the reasons for the abandoned land. If the land cannot be cultivated, the land should be reclaimed and given back."
"only!"
The two brothers took the order and left. Naturally, they had a team to carry out Su Ze's orders.
No matter what, the land under their control is too small.
There are too few powerful families like the Yang family in Hanzhong who are willing to jump out and die. If Su Ze wants to carry out land reform, he can only start with the newly acquired land.
Constantly seize land from powerful families, establish more Zhechoufu, implement the land grant order and the Fubing system, and wait until the day when the power changes, implement comprehensive land reform.
Su Ze is well aware that one cannot rush into politics, so he is prepared to take the most difficult path and slowly lay a solid foundation.
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In the Southern Liang Dynasty, in Zhenjiang, the capital of Southern Xuzhou, Xiao Yan's son, Prince of Yuzhang Xiao Zong, received a secret order from his father, ordering him to secretly reorganize the army and prepare to march north to take over Northern Xuzhou from the Northern Wei Dynasty.
After receiving this order, Xiao Zong did not feel the slightest joy, but instead fell into fear.
Since last year, after he "confirmed" that he was the posthumous son of Xiao Baojuan, the last emperor of Former Qi, he began to secretly contact his "uncle" Xiao Baoyin who had fled to Northern Wei to discuss fleeing to Northern Wei.
However, his "uncle" Xiao Baoyin wrote back many times, persuading him to keep his troops in place, saying that if he fled to the Northern Wei alone, he would not be taken seriously by the court.
So Xiao Baoyin gave Xiao Zong some advice, asking him to find a way to surrender the city to the Northern Wei.
Zhenjiang is an important river defense town and the last barrier across the river from Jiankang. Xiao Yan was not so foolish as to completely leave the defense of the town to his son.
So even though Xiao Zong was the governor of Southern Xuzhou, when a prince like him was away from home, the military and civil power was in the hands of the ministers in the royal palace. In fact, he had no control over Southern Xuzhou at all.
More importantly, Zhenjiang is too close to Jiankang. Even if Xiao Zong rebelled, without the support of the Northern Wei, Jiankang's army would quickly put him out.
Things just got awkward.
The order to let Xiao Zong lead his troops to attack North Xuzhou made Xiao Zong think that Xiao Yan had begun to doubt him and this was a test for him!
The reason why Xiao Zong has so many thoughts is that his symptoms have worsened in the past six months.
He didn't know where he got the portrait of Xiao Baojuan, and then he found that he really looked very similar to Xiao Baojuan.
From then on, Xiao Zong covered his face with a black cloth every day during the day and sat behind a curtain when meeting with his subordinates.
Then he became a man who hid during the day and came out at night, wearing black clothes every night, making friends with strange people in Zhenjiang, and even learning the art of suppressing curses and cursing Xiao Yan in the mansion.
Upon learning that Yuan Faseng, the governor of Beixuzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, was going to defect to the Southern Liang Dynasty, Xiao Zong became extremely anxious.
If Northern Xuzhou was also taken over by Southern Liang, then Southern Xuzhou would no longer be a border, and his plan to take the city and defect to Northern Wei would be completely hopeless.
Xiao Zong wanted to write a letter to discuss with his "uncle" Xiao Baoyin, but now his "uncle" was far away in Guanzhong suppressing a rebellion, and the military situation was urgent. It would take too long to go back and forth, and by then it would be too late.
Xiao Zong walked barefoot on the gravel road. His feet were covered with calluses, but he felt as if he was walking on flat ground when he walked barefoot.
After thinking it over and over again, Xiao Zong came up with an idea.
Since this old man Xiao Yan asked me to lead my troops to Northern Xuzhou, wouldn't it be better for me to take over Northern Xuzhou and then surrender to Northern Wei with Northern Xuzhou?
Pengcheng, the capital of northern Xuzhou, is also an important town on the southern front of the Northern Wei Dynasty. If I can recover it, the Northern Wei court will definitely treat me with courtesy!
And he is the posthumous son of Qi Lord Xiao Baojuan, and the legal heir to the Southern Dynasty. He can ask Wei to lend him troops to conquer the south and restore his country!
All we can say is that Xiao Zong's symptoms have become increasingly serious, to the point where he has developed such unrealistic fantasies.
Yuan Faseng, the governor of Beixuzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Xiao Zong were also a pair of "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick".
This guy originally served as the governor of Yizhou. He was driven away after causing public outrage. The Southern Liang invaded Yizhou and Liangzhou. If it weren't for Fu Shuyan who cleaned up his mess, even Liangzhou would have been lost.
In this way, he was transferred back to Luoyang to recuperate.
After the young emperor came to power, Yuan Faseng bribed his way into being appointed governor of Xuzhou, an important town in the south.
This guy did not change his nature even after he arrived in Xuzhou. He levied heavy taxes on the local people. His sons, Yuan Jinglong and Yuan Jinghe, were also ambitious but incompetent people who were very cruel to their subordinates. They were also given important military positions and followed Yuan Faseng to garrison Xuzhou.
Yuan Faseng didn't know what was wrong with him, but he wrote a letter to Xiao Yan asking him to lead Xuzhou to surrender.
Of course, Xiao Yan was also afraid that it was a conspiracy of the Northern Wei Dynasty, so he only let his son Xiao Zong serve as the commander-in-chief to lead the troops of South Xuzhou to take over North Xuzhou, and let Chen Qianzhi take 3,000 people to support.
Xiao Yan’s idea was to send some people to try it out.
If Yuan Faseng really surrendered, getting Xuzhou for free would be a huge profit.
If Yuan Faseng was pretending to surrender, the troops of Xiao Zong and Chen Qianzhi would be lost, but it would not be a serious loss.
The second year of Zhengguang, the second year of ordinary times, April 15th.
Xiao Zong, the governor of Southern Xuzhou in the Southern Liang Dynasty and the Prince of Yuzhang, raised an army in Zhenjiang.
Beixuzhou governed seven counties and twenty-four districts, but all of them received instructions from the governor Yuan Faseng to surrender to Xiao Zong.
There were many cities that were unwilling to surrender, but Xiao Zong's sudden attack on the army and Yuan Faseng's control of Pengcheng's army allowed Xiao Zong to advance all the way to the Huai River.
One third of the seven prefectures and twenty-four counties have fallen into the hands of Southern Liang.
Faced with such a result, Nanliang's chief Xiao Zong was worried. You, Yuan Faseng, are you really surrendering? I'm not ready to surrender yet. What if all of you surrender? !
On the other side, Chen Qianzhi had just reorganized his army, crossed the Yangtze River and began to chase Xiao Zong's army.
(End of this chapter)