Three Kingdoms: From Yinlin to Great Wei Xiongzhu

Chapter 534 I am happy, who cares about the chaos in the world
The oil lamp had burned out, and the gray morning light came in a little.

The emperor Liu Xie and the queen Fushou, together with a group of confidantes Xiao Huangmen, were looking through something in the Jiaofang Hall. After a night of struggle, everyone's spirits were a little sluggish.

The emperor Liu Xie was still sitting upright and concentrating, but the queen Fushou was a woman after all and couldn't stand it any longer.

Leaning her head quietly, her face was full of sleepiness.

Although Leng Shouguang in the small yellow gate was still looking hard with his forehead propped up, he couldn't help but covered his mouth and yawned quietly.

He suppressed his sleepy eyes, and brought another roll of bamboo slips, which were wrapped in Baijuan. As for the content of the bamboo slips, it recorded the taxation of the great man.

This is... the government decrees of taxation in various periods of the Han Dynasty.

Suddenly, Leng Shouguang saw the four big characters "Abolish Commercial Tax" written on the bamboo slips wrapped with layers of white silk, and he cheered up a little.

He untied the ribbon and took a closer look, but his expression changed from disbelief to shock to excitement, and even the hand holding the bamboo slip was only trembling.

The sky was already dimly lit, and he specially moved the lamp closer. The lamp oil burned his hands, so he didn't bother to wipe it off. He just shook his hands and kept his eyes on the bamboo slips.

Leng Shouguang's abnormality and excitement attracted the attention of the other little yellow gates, and they stared at Leng Shouguang.

However, Leng Shouguang didn't have time to explain, so he immediately picked up the bamboo slips and handed them to the emperor Liu Xie.

"Your Majesty, look at this. The commercial tax was indeed abolished during the Han Wu period, and it was only collected for ten short years. Since the commercial tax was abolished, many people sold themselves to be slaves. That is, since then, The aristocratic family is gradually rising."

Emperor Liu Xie was surprised by Leng Shouguang's expression and tone. He took the bamboo slips and looked at them.

Angrily said: "So it is, so it is!"

"What did your Majesty see?" Empress Fushou also woke up, and seeing Liu Xie's expression was a bit wrong, she asked quickly.

"Pass to Lu Ziyu, the imperial historian!" Emperor Liu Xie didn't answer, but ordered immediately.

The tone is extremely urgent...

"Your Majesty, it's not yet Chen's time!"

Empress Fushou hurriedly reminded...

It is very impolite to summon foreign ministers to enter the palace at this time, not only impolite, but also a violation of the rules.

"It turns out that the rise of the clan originated from the taxation of my great man. I can't wait for a moment. After the court today, I want to leave the palace in low clothes and go to the White Horse Marquis Mansion!"

This…

Empress Fushou was taken aback for a moment, but Emperor Liu Xie's tone was exceptionally firm.

There are already small yellow doors to prepare for casual...

Empress Fushou bit her lips with her teeth, and her mood became more complicated subconsciously. She had a faint feeling that something big had happened.

...

...

There is no morning court today, and the Chongde Hall is very empty.

On the contrary, in a side hall of Baimahou Mansion, Emperor Liu Xie, Empress Fushou, Lu Yu and Cai Zhaoji sat kneeling here.

Outside the gate, the soldiers of the Longxiao Battalion and the Imperial Forest Army stood, no one could approach within thirty paces.

Even the serving maid was driven far away.

A pot of tea is boiling in the house...

After Cai Zhaoji personally poured tea for Liu Xie and Lu Yu, she took Queen Fushou to the house of Wannian Princess Liu Xue.

Here, only Lu Yu and Liu Xie were left.

"Your Majesty will come to look for me early today, maybe there is something urgent, right?"

"There is something!"

Liu Xie nodded, and turned his gaze to the copybook.

The Royal Forest Army has already listed all the decrees related to the taxation of the great Han that were included last night...

"Your Majesty? This is?" Lu Yu asked.

"Lu Yushi may wish to take a look..." Liu Xie stretched out his hand to signal, and while Lu Yu unfolded, he continued: "The taxation of the big man is not reasonable. After the commercial tax was abolished in Emperor Wu's reign, the court's taxation was mainly poll tax !"

As Liu Xie said.

Dahan's taxes are mainly divided into three categories: agricultural tax, poll tax, and commercial tax!

In the economy of the Han Empire, the agricultural tax was used to pay the salaries of officials at all levels, the poll tax was used to pay for national defense expenditures, and the commercial tax was used to pay for the nobles and emperors at all levels...

precisely…

During Emperor Wu's reign, commercial tax was abolished for unknown reasons;
As for the agricultural tax, it was in the tenth year of Yanxi, that is, the first year of Yongkang, the year when Emperor Hanling succeeded to the throne, the wealthy family headed by the foreign relative Dou family and the powerful minister Chen Fan jointly abolished the agricultural tax!

In other words, from then on, the entire empire, whether it was the salaries of officials, defense expenditures, or noble emperors' expenditures, had to be collected from the poll tax.

This also makes the tax amount of head tax increase year by year!

Make military spending increasingly tense!

The Han Ling Emperor was forced to be helpless in the face of drought, locust plagues, ice disasters, and floods. The foreign race invaded the border for two years, but the military expenditure was delayed!
Can be…

On the other hand, the money in the hands of the people was also exploited.

Then...

An interesting question arises?
Whose hands did the money of the Han Empire go to?
Liu Xie thought of this, so he couldn't wait to find Lu Yu to explore the solution.

"In addition to taxes, the military service system also has obvious loopholes!" Liu Xie continued. "While paying the poll tax, the people also need to participate in heavy 'military service' and 'forced service'! And these burdens? They shouldn't all be imposed on the people!"

As mentioned before...

In the Han Dynasty, men's military service was a mandatory national obligation, and no one could escape...

And military service is divided into three types, the first is two years, and it is to serve in the South and North armies of Hanting!

The second is to defend the border areas;

The third is military service in a distant place!

In addition to military service, the common people also need to perform "forced service", that is, to spare one month every year to do labor for the empire unconditionally, and even the intercourse and intermediary expenses must be borne by the common people themselves!
To put it simply...

A man from the age of 23 to the age of 56 needs to go to military service and forced service for half a year every year!
And the consumption during the service, the cost of carriage and horses also need to be borne by yourself!

then…

Every year, an increasingly onerous poll tax is paid.

Just ask?Do they have time to farm?
Can be…

Those aristocrats and wealthy families who have thousands of hectares of fertile land and use their rights to earn a lot of money in commercial activities can avoid paying agricultural and commercial taxes.

As a result, their wealth is increasing, and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening!
Even, the wealthy and nobles married each other, and the relationship became more and more intertwined. They recommended each other to be filial and honest...and even monopolized the officialdom and manipulated the court!
After all...

The money that should be paid and the labor that should be paid are all paid by the common people!
On the contrary, these wealthy nobles pat their butts, don't need to hand in anything, get richer and richer, and have more and more tenant farmers and slaves, and even form manors, self-sufficient, and can become the emperor of one side.

——As long as I'm happy, it doesn't matter that the world is in chaos!

Although it is an exaggeration to say so, it is the truth.

Because of Cai Zhaoji’s reminder some time ago, Liu Xie and Fu Shou went to understand the clan in detail and in-depth, and it’s okay if they don’t understand it. Just from the taxes and military service... it’s enough to see the tip of the iceberg of how terrifying the wealthy clan is.

Because of the heavy poll tax and military service!
The small peasant economy hardly exists in Dahan.

Peasant households under heavy military service cannot afford poll tax. If they want to live, there are only two ways, or they are used as official slaves and work as coolies in all levels of government!
Of course, this is even worse. Not only is the treatment poor, but you also have to pay poll tax when you become a slave, and you have to pay it super double!
In contrast, many people would rather sell themselves as slaves to wealthy clans!

This is because, if you sell yourself to the clan as a slave, not only do you not have to pay the poll tax yourself, but also the life of private slaves is considerably superior to that of ordinary households.

so so...

It is reasonable for a manor to raise thousands of people in captivity, and even to revolt in troubled times and become a warlord!
"Your Majesty can think of this level, Lu Yu is very surprised!"

Lu Yu looked at Liu Xie with a little surprise in his tone.

"I finally understand why my father would rather bear this eternal infamy than sell his official title..."

Liu Xie's words were very light, but there was a lot of sadness in his tone, as if he could already feel the helplessness of the Han Ling Emperor period. "In a huge empire, there are countless fertile fields, but in the end, the court can't make ends meet. How sad and lamentable!"

"Yes!" Lu Yu nodded in agreement, "Although the wealthy clans that raise a large number of slaves need to pay double the poll tax for these slaves, they save a lot of money for hiring labor. To reclaim the wasteland."

"Many dignitaries also use these slaves to carry out activities such as burning charcoal in the mountains, logging and mining. The benefits brought by these economic activities to the landlords are far greater than the poll tax they pay, and part of the extra money can be used to improve slaves. Live and attract more people to serve them!"

Speaking of this, Lu Yu paused. "If there were no disasters and no wars in a peaceful and prosperous world, then maybe the people would still be able to survive, but with the continuous natural disasters and the foreign tribes' invasion of the border year after year, those desperate people have no choice at all. Compared with being slaves, they should consider What matters is how to survive!"

"Because of this, these wealthy clans are holding more and more land and more and more slaves in their hands. How can they become a prominent family in the end... dare to challenge the imperial court!"

This…

Lu Yu's words fell into Liu Xie's heart like sharp knives. It didn't mean that it hurt, but it was suffocating.

Of course, he didn't know why it was Wei, Shu, and Wu who fought for hegemony in the Three Kingdoms, but it was Jin who won in the end!
Jin is a clan dynasty headed by "Sima"!

In fact, in the final analysis, in this era, wealthy clans are "white, rich and beautiful". No matter how powerful Wei, Shu, and Wu are, in the eyes of the clan, they are also "poor, short, and humble!"

As long as the land, taxes, money and food are still in the hands of these wealthy clans, then...it is too easy to influence the fate and ownership of a dynasty.

Numerous vivid examples in history can prove this point.

No one would think that a sudden change in Gaoping Mausoleum would allow Sima Yi to take power, right?
"such a pity…"

Lu Yu suddenly sighed.

"What a pity?" Liu Xie asked quickly.

"It's a pity for the first emperor!" Lu Yu narrowed his eyes. "Your Majesty's father is by no means the licentious and foolish emperor that the world calls. He was supported by his relatives and wealthy families to become the puppet emperor, but he used the eunuchs to pay off Dou Wu, Chen Fan and a series of others in the name of 'the disaster of the party'. Power minister, take the power back into your pocket!"

"He knows the clan too well. It is for this reason that he abolished the famous Empress Song and established Empress He who has no background. He completely cut off the way for his relatives to take power! He reused eunuchs just to suppress the clan... Gradually reform the original The taxation and military service system, the money and food in the pockets of the clan were robbed, just..."

Speaking of this, Lu Yu's mouth was somewhat sad!
certainly…

The Han Lingdi in history was an emperor who had been hacked for thousands of years. When he was mentioned, people often thought of opening a commercial street, setting up a nude swimming pool, letting court ladies wear open crotch pants, and wearing official hats for dogs. operate.

Can…

In addition, he engraved the Xiping stone tablet and opened the Hongdu school, all in order to break the solidification of class!
He set up the eight captains of Xiyuan to hold the southern and northern armies tightly. This is to strengthen the military!
He sells officials and nobles, this is to find a way to find money from the gentry, so as to solve the urgent need of military expenditure...

From him, Lu Yu actually saw a lot of resistance!
It's just that this struggle is intended to kill the enemy, but it is powerless to recover!
"only…"

Lu Yu's words continued. "If it weren't for the damned natural and man-made disasters, the first emperor would not have been able to compromise, and would not have been able to forcefully prop up the sky of the big man by himself, he might have been able to do more! He could have changed even more!"

"Unfortunately, history is often written by the victors. In the eyes of the so-called 'victors', the late emperor violated the rights of these clans, so he is destined to bear this innocent infamy!"

Speaking of here…

What Lu Yu thought of was this Little Ice Age!
Throughout history, the unavoidable reason for the change of dynasty is often the reason of the climate, because of the climate...the natural disasters are constant, and also because of the climate, the foreign races with constant natural disasters have run out of food, so they can only choose to go south to invade the border.

All activities are actually for survival!

Hanling Emperor Liu Hong was a man who dared to fight, but his only failure was that he was born in the wrong era, which is a bit like Chongzhen!

However, Chongzhen was more patient than him.

Emperor Lingdi of the Han Dynasty was different. He gave up on himself... After realizing that he was powerless, he could only use wine, women, and gardens to numb himself and relieve the huge pressure on his shoulders!

Disaster…

How difficult is it to be the emperor at the end of the Han Dynasty?

Suddenly, Emperor Liu Xie got up suddenly, "I plan to abolish the poll tax and re-collect the 'commercial tax' and 'agricultural tax' to shake the foundations of these wealthy clans. Lu Yushi has always been good at spying on people's hearts, may he help me?"

Huo…

Repeal the poll tax, reintroduce the commercial tax, the agricultural tax!
Liu Xie's words blurted out, Lu Yu was shocked...

He never expected that this "puppet" emperor would be so courageous...

You should know that the so-called poll tax includes "oral tax" and "calculated tax". Oral tax is a poll tax levied on minors, also known as children's tax, and calculated tax is a poll tax levied on adults.

There is a cloud in "Hanyi Notes", "From the age of seven to fourteen in the Republic of China, export money, people are 23, twenty money is used to eat the emperor, and those who have three money, Emperor Wu will add money to make up for riding a horse!"

To put it simply, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a child had to pay a child tax of 23 yuan. However, as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used more and more troops abroad, the treasury was stretched, so in desperation it was changed to start from the age of three.

The so-called "people who give birth to a child at the age of three will export money"!
This situation lasted until the period of Emperor Han Yuan, but in the period of Emperors Huan and Ling, because the agricultural tax was abolished, the national treasury was even more empty, the court lowered the age of oral tax collection to one year old, and the tax amount increased tenfold!
Because of this, the people of the world have reached the point where "there are too many people to raise children"!

As for... a gift!
——From the 56th and above of the Republic of China to the [-]th of the People's Republic of China, the money is paid for the purchase of soldiers and horses!

Ordinary people need to pay 120 qian per year, which was more than doubled in the late Han Dynasty. What is even more exaggerated is that if a woman is over 15 years old and unmarried, she needs to pay five times the poll tax every year!
It can be said that this "poll tax" decree has continued from the Emperor Wu Dynasty to the present, and has far-reaching influence... It does not mean that it can be abolished if it is abolished.

What's more, if this is to be abolished, it will not offend the interests of a certain gentry, but the interests of all gentry... A slight move will affect the whole body.

This…

Lu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, and persuaded: "Your Majesty, this matter cannot be rushed!"

"Urgent? Hehe..." Liu Xie smiled wryly, "These gentry with a thousand hectares of fertile land seem to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but they are the ones who shake the foundation of the great man, hehe..."

There was another sneer, and Liu Xie's tone became extremely firm.

"Lu Yushi, I understand what you are worried about!"

"But, if you want to change the status quo, you will have to sacrifice something. I am a 'puppet'. Why not let me bear the hatred of all the gentry?"

Speaking of this, Liu Xie paused, and his tone became a bit more serious.

"Brother-in-law, many times... I also want to do something for the world, for my father, I can't let those aristocratic families who have harmed me and the big man come out safely, right?"

"This...brother-in-law, you have to help me!"

At the end, the emperor Liu Xie paused every word, every word sonorous and forceful...

It's hard to imagine how desperate he had to go through before he came to such a realization!
Don't hesitate to let yourself bear all the hatred!

call…

Lu Yu's eyes were also condensed, and he exhaled.

After pondering for a moment, he just opened his eyes.

"Your Majesty really intends to take this step?"

"If you take this step, Your Majesty will no longer be the Son of Heaven supported by those gentry... They will use the most severe means to deal with Your Majesty."

"Haha..." Liu Xie smiled, he walked slowly to the window, raised his head and looked at the sky. "I was hijacked first by Dong Zhuo, then by Li Jue and Guo Si in my life, and now I am still just a puppet under Cao Cao's hands!"

"For a puppet, even if it is the most powerful means to attack? Why should I be afraid? What else can I lose? Similarly, Lu Yushi, do you know what is the only vision of a puppet?"

Uh…

Hearing this, Lu Yu paused.

"What is it?"

"Hope!" Liu Xie's eyes narrowed. "If I can't see hope, then leave this hope to the kings of future generations! Let the people all over the world see some light before dawn!"

Speaking of here…

Liu Xie turned around, and he patted Lu Yu's shoulder heavily.

"Brother-in-law!"

"Brother-in-law!"

These two consecutive calls of brother-in-law are very meaningful!

...

...

(End of this chapter)