My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 567 The vicissitudes of life
Later generations always say that all dynasties perished because of weakness, except for the Han Dynasty, which perished because of strength.

In most cases, this statement is understood as: at the end of each dynasty, the national strength and military power of the Chinese dynasty would become extremely weak, ultimately leading to the dynasty's demise.
The Han dynasty perished during a period when its national strength and military power were still formidable.

This statement isn't entirely wrong, but it's certainly somewhat one-sided.

The existence of the three-hundred-year dynastic cycle is not based on the rise and fall of the dynasty's national power and military strength, but on social contradictions and the living standards of the lower classes.

In short, it is the three-hundred-year dynastic cycle law. It does not mean that a feudal dynasty, from its founding to its prosperity and then to its decline, has a cycle of about three hundred years.

It is not to say that the military strength of a feudal dynasty would completely decline three hundred years after its founding.

Rather, it means that the lower classes in feudal times would fall into a living hell about three hundred years after the founding of the country.

More accurately, it refers to the social class contradictions of the feudal era, which would develop to an irreconcilable and unsolvable state around three hundred years after the establishment of the dynasty.

The Han dynasty's demise due to its strength is merely a manifestation of its nature.

—In the late Han Dynasty, especially in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the national strength and military power of the Han Dynasty did not decline significantly.

But beneath this seemingly prosperous and strong nation, the decline that truly impacted the fate of the Han dynasty had already begun quietly.

Compared to other feudal dynasties that perished due to weakness, the most unique and representative national policy of the Han Dynasty was undoubtedly the suppression of landlords and powerful families, and the support for the self-cultivating peasant class at the bottom.

The fact that local powerful clans could never grow strong enough to become aristocratic families, while the self-cultivating peasant class always had a way to survive and make a living, was the key to the Han Dynasty's more than 400-year reign.

The Han dynasty only lasted for four hundred years, not longer, also because the national policies upon which the Han dynasty relied for its continuation—the imperial mausoleum system and the Shanglin Garden, which served as a regulator of the nation's fortunes—failed.

The operational logic of the mausoleum system is self-evident.

Under the pretext of 'guarding the emperor's tomb,' powerful local tyrants were forcibly relocated to Guanzhong, right under the imperial city, and directly suppressed, or rather oppressed, by feudal imperial power.

The role of Shanglin Garden as a "national fortune regulator" was to support bankrupt self-cultivating farmers and help tenant farmers return to the ranks of self-cultivating farmers by renting out royal official land at low prices, for free, or even at a loss.

With these two major national policies in place, the size of the privileged class can always be controlled, and the lower classes can always receive preferential treatment. Social class contradictions are naturally curbed—or at least the rate at which contradictions intensify is greatly slowed down.

With these two national policies in place, class contradictions within the Han people were under control, and the nation's destiny was naturally as stable as Mount Tai.

However, as these two national policies 'deteriorated,' the decline of the Han dynasty became inevitable.

The degeneration of these two national policies, which were crucial to the fate of the Han dynasty, began with Emperor Wu of Han.

In the third year of Emperor Xiaowu of Han's reign (138 BC), Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, issued an imperial edict ordering the Imperial Household Department to rebuild the Shanglin Garden.

Before that, Shanglinyuan was just a broad area, not significantly different from other mountainous areas.

On the map, an area called 'Shanglin Garden' was marked out, but in reality, there were neither walls nor clearly defined boundaries.

Within the Shanglin Garden, apart from the Emperor's temporary palace, hunting grounds, animal enclosures, and the Crown Prince's private garden and other properties of the Imperial Household Department, the rest was mostly forests and fields.

The jungle was open to the people, who could hunt for meat or gather firewood.

The fields were mostly occupied by royal estates.

Besides the royal lands that belonged to the emperor personally, were rented to tenant farmers, or were cultivated by the servants of the Imperial Household Department, a considerable portion of the land belonged to farmers.

—Yes, that's right, Shanglinyuan also has indigenous people.

Some of them are farmers who have lived in this area since the Qin Dynasty;
Some were wounded soldiers who were placed in Shanglin Garden after the founding of the Han Dynasty, or farmers who were fortunate enough to be selected for farmland in this area when Emperor Gaozu granted land titles to the people, thus being able to settle down here.

Before Emperor Wu of Han rebuilt Shanglin Garden, it was more accurate to describe it as an extensive ecological zone surrounding the royal hunting grounds, the emperor's palace, and the crown prince's private garden, rather than a complete royal forest.

But after Emperor Wu of Han rebuilt the Shanglin Garden, everything changed.

The incident began when Emperor Wu of Han, in his early years on the throne and still young, was playing in Shanglin Park. He rode his horse and trampled on the fields of the farmers in Shanglin, which led to him being chased and cursed by three local elders for several miles.

Later, Emperor Wu of Han was completely sidelined by Empress Dowager Dou due to the failure of the Jianyuan New Policies. He was extremely depressed and could only play with mud in Shanglin Garden.

At that time, Emperor Wu of Han, who had no real power, felt that Shanglin Garden was a small world that imprisoned him.

Unfortunately, this small world didn't entirely belong to Emperor Wu of Han—when he went out to play, he had to be careful of the old farmer's crops!
Therefore, after gaining real power, Emperor Wu of Han immediately decided to turn the entire Shanglin Garden into his own private garden for eating, drinking and having fun.

After that, the Shanglin Garden of the Han Dynasty was no longer the regulator of the nation's fate.

—The royal lands rented to tenant farmers all became imperial lands cultivated by government slaves;
The forests that were once used by the people of Shanglin for hunting and obtaining resources were all enclosed and turned into royal hunting grounds.

Even the local natives living in Shanglin Garden were forcibly relocated out of Shanglin Garden by the Shaofu.

From then on, the Han dynasty lost the Shanglin Garden, which served as a regulator of the nation's fate, and also lost the buffer zone between the landlord class and the lower-level self-cultivating peasant class, used to alleviate land annexation.

As for Emperor Wu of Han, the Shanglin Garden was clearly not enough for him to enjoy.

Because he hadn't had enough fun in Shanglin Garden when he was young, and his enjoyment had been spoiled by a local old farmer, Emperor Wu of Han whimsically transformed Shanglin Garden into a true royal garden.
Because he felt suffocated in Weiyang Palace and Chang'an City when he was young, Emperor Wu of Han built Jianzhang Palace, a residence for himself, in the western suburbs of Chang'an City—between Chang'an City and Shanglin Garden—after he came to power.

And so on, and so forth.

It can only be said that Emperor Wu of Han was exceptionally good at recognizing talent and incredibly lucky, but he did not inherit any of the virtues of diligence, thrift, and simplicity from his ancestors.

Not only did he not emulate his father and grandfather, but he also seemed to be indulging in retaliatory spending on behalf of his father and grandfather.

In short, regardless of the circumstances, one of the two major policies of the Han Dynasty to suppress the fate of the nation—the Shanglin Garden, the regulator of the nation's destiny—was thus destroyed by Emperor Wu of Han.

However, the harm caused by this action was not entirely left to his descendants and future emperors.

—In the early part of his reign, Emperor Wu of Han ruined the Shanglin Garden, and in his later years, he began to taste the bitter fruit of this action.

Peasant uprising.

At the end of the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, numerous peasant uprisings, though not large in scale, broke out across China.

The reason for this can be attributed to Emperor Wu of Han's aggressive military campaigns, which placed the burden of foreign wars on the people, causing them immense suffering. As for the war funds left by his father and grandfather, Emperor Wu of Han used them for pleasure—to build the Jianzhang Palace, rebuild the Shanglin Garden, or to tour the country and perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai.

Of course, there is another reason that cannot be ignored: after the Shanglin Garden was lost as a regulator, the social class contradictions and land annexation problems of the Han Dynasty intensified to the point of frequent peasant uprisings in the short few decades before and after Emperor Wu of Han's reign!

According to what Liu Rong learned in later generations, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty, Han peasant households were basically composed of three to four people – a husband and wife, plus one or two children.

During the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, every farming family owned hundreds of acres of farmland.

Several decades later, during the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the number of people in a peasant household began to increase to six or seven, while the average amount of farmland owned by the household dropped to less than ninety mu.

This is also normal.

After all, the primogeniture system does not mean that the eldest son inherits everything, while the illegitimate sons and younger sons are simply killed.

—In the royal family, the eldest son of the principal wife becomes the crown prince, while sons of concubines and youngest sons can also become princes.
In common households, although the family property is mostly inherited by the eldest son, the youngest son does not necessarily get nothing.

Over generations, the original 100 mu of land has been reduced to 80 or 90 mu in the hands of the main branch, and several dozen mu in the hands of the side branches. This is perfectly normal.

This figure—'less than 90 mu of land per household'—did not change much during the more than 40 years between the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing.

When Emperor Jing of Han died and Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, the average land yield per household of farmers in the Han Dynasty was still maintained at a level of just over 80 mu.

But just a few decades later, in the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, this number dropped to an alarming level: 30 mu per household!
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, no one in the Han people dared to enjoy owning hundreds of acres of fertile land!
Everyone generally agrees that 30 mu of land is the amount of land a normal farming family should own!
The number of self-cultivating farmers in the Han Dynasty shrank dramatically, with more than half becoming semi-self-cultivating farmers or semi-tenant farmers. This meant that their own land was insufficient to support their families, so they had to rent additional land as a supplement.

While the population explosion and dramatic changes in the distribution of social resources after the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing were partly responsible for this, the pace was clearly abnormal.

—In just a few decades, in less than three generations, the average farmland per household dropped from eighty mu to thirty mu!

Not even half was left!
To say that this has nothing to do with Emperor Wu of Han ruining the Shanglin Garden, causing the Han dynasty to lose its national fortune regulator, and exacerbating land annexation is to be mindlessly praising Emperor Wu of Han.

Regarding Emperor Wu of Han in history, who was Liu Che, his younger brother in this timeline, Liu Rong always adhered to the principle of recognizing merits as merits and demerits as demerits.

Liu Rong did not deny Emperor Wu of Han's military prowess, his victories in foreign wars, and his military achievements.

No one can deny Emperor Wu of Han's outstanding contributions to Chinese civilization on the military front.

In terms of military achievements, Liu Rong is comparable to Emperor Wu of Han in history.

However, this does not mean that Emperor Wu of Han's mistakes should be ignored simply because of his outstanding military achievements.

— To view a problem dialectically, one should judge its merits and demerits separately.

Those who have made contributions should be praised and respected by all people;
If there have been mistakes, then criticism, even condemnation, is warranted.

Historically, Emperor Wu of Han's achievements were mainly concentrated in the military sphere, that is, in the category of "military".

As for 'excess', it encompasses almost all aspects except military matters, namely the category of 'literature'.

Civil and military achievements, civil and military achievements.

It is an undeniable objective fact that Emperor Wu of Han lacked civil administration, or even had a "negative civil administration."

The most representative measure was undoubtedly to deprive Shanglin Garden of its function as a regulator of the nation's destiny, and to disregard ancestral temples and the state in pursuit of pleasure.

As for the mausoleum system, it practically signaled that the Western Han Dynasty was officially stepping into its final resting place.

When Emperor Wu of Han died, he passed the throne to his young son, Emperor Zhao of Han, Liu Fuling.

Liu Fuling died young without an heir, and Huo Guang installed the deposed emperor, the Prince of Changyi.

Then came the commoner emperor: Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Bingyi, also known as Liu Xun, was enthroned.

This period is historically known as the Zhaoxuan Restoration.

After Emperor Xuan, who was deeply attached to his old friend, Emperor Yuan, Liu Shi, who was described by Emperor Xuan as "the one who will bring chaos to my Han dynasty," ascended the throne.

The imperial mausoleum system of the Han dynasty was abolished under the rule of Liu Shi, the "Confucian emperor".

The reason is also quite outrageous.

—During Liu Shi's reign, Confucian scholars proposed that the imperial mausoleum system was wasteful of resources and manpower, and that it was a disgrace to the country and its people. They argued that it was necessary to abolish it in order to bring peace to the world.
Then, Liu Shi, who considered himself to be concerned about the country and its people and believed that doing so would lighten the burden on the people, actually abolished the mausoleum system.

What happened next was, of course, predictable.

With the abolition of the mausoleum system, local powerful clans rose to prominence.

Moreover, after more than a hundred years of suppression, it rose up rapidly and forcefully, like a spring plate that had been compressed to its limit!
Furthermore, Emperor Wu of Han dismissed all other schools of thought and exclusively promoted Confucianism, making the Han dynasty a Confucian-dominated society.

The landlord and powerful class was the solid foundation that Confucianism firmly protected—even the abolition of the mausoleum system was a small move by Confucianism to remove the shackles on the landlord class.

Unfortunately, Emperor Yuan, Liu Shi, had no idea of ​​the implications.

After abolishing the mausoleum city system, Liu Shi was quite complacent, believing that by abolishing the system, he had become a benevolent and sage ruler comparable to Emperor Taizong Wen.

Little did they know that it was precisely this seemingly beneficial but actually disastrous action that tolled the death knell for the Western Han Dynasty.

Just fifty years after Emperor Yuan of Han abolished the system of mausoleum cities, Wang Mang usurped the throne, and the Western Han Dynasty was completely swept into the dustbin of history.

If it weren't for the emergence of a great maestro who succeeded the Liu Han dynasty: Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, without the Eastern Han dynasty established by Liu Xiu, the Han dynasty would no longer be the powerful Han that "enjoyed the country for more than four hundred years," but rather the Liu Han dynasty that existed for only two hundred years before its dramatic demise.

As a time traveler, Liu Rong was naturally aware of the mausoleum system and the importance of Shanglin Garden.

They know better which path is wrong and which pitfalls to avoid.

Therefore, under Liu Rong's control, the Shanglin Garden of the Han Dynasty naturally did not follow the strange path of being 'purely for the enjoyment of the royal family' as it had in history.

(End of this chapter)