I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 113 I can’t interpret the classics, but you can’t govern the country

Chen Yiqin thought for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a definite answer, so he spoke again.

"Your Highness, you said that during the Tianbao period, the former Tang court was facing financial bankruptcy, so it took the worst possible approach and delegated power to the vassal states, which led to a disaster. Do you have any explanation?"

Zhu Yijun spoke eloquently: "Mr. Chen, of course there is an explanation. The former Tang Dynasty was able to prosper for a time because it inherited the system of the former Sui Dynasty, the essence of which was the Fubing system established by the Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties.

"All soldiers can be assigned to prefectures and counties, and their land and accounts can be kept the same as those of civilians. They should be under the command of the military government and follow the old system." Its essence is the integration of soldiers and farmers, which seems similar to the Wei Suo system of our dynasty, but in fact it is completely different.

During the pre-Tang Dynasty, there were 633 military offices at its peak. They were spread all over the country, with 261 in Guannei Road, accounting for more than one-third. They were Hedong, Henan, Hebei, and Longyou. The other roads had no more than ten, and the least were two or three (Jiangnan and Lingnan). This was in line with the pre-Tang Dynasty's national policy of controlling the weak and using the people of Guanzhong to control the four directions.

However, as the farmland was occupied by the powerful and wealthy, the farmland under the name of the soldiers became less and less. In addition, the frontiers were opened up year after year, and the soldiers guarding the borders could not be rotated. Some of them guarded the borders for ten years or even their entire lives.

Since the middle of the Kaiyuan period, the military system had gradually broken down. By the eighth year of the Tianbao period, the military offices had no soldiers left. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had no choice but to issue an edict to abolish the military system, and the border towns had to recruit soldiers and raise food on their own. Thus, the Anshi Rebellion was inevitable.

Chen Yiqin's Adam's apple moved up and down a few times, and he finally deeply understood the feelings of Zhang Juzheng and others.

The students are too smart to grasp the situation!
You ask a question and he gives you an answer you don’t understand, so how do you teach him?
No wonder Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Pan Jixun felt relieved when they left Xi'anmen Academy and even held a banquet in the name of congratulating them on their new positions.

If I continue teaching like this, I will also hold a banquet when I leave Xi'anmen Academy.

"What the Crown Prince is saying is that the cause of the fall of the former Tang Dynasty was due to problems with the court's finances?"

"Yes, the longer a dynasty exists, the lower its efficiency, the higher its waste, and the higher its maintenance cost. If you can't save money, you can only increase revenue.

The taxes required by the court would increase year by year. However, from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the early Song Dynasty, the court's taxes were mainly based on farmland. Self-cultivating farmers and small landlords bore the heaviest taxes from the court.

As the court grew older, the powerful families and wealthy people invaded more and more land. The court's expenditure increased, but the tax source became increasingly scarce.

Zhu Yijun spread his hands.

"Unable to collect enough taxes to maintain the operation of the court, the only option is to increase salaries and taxes, squeeze the people's blood and marrow, and exploit the people's strength. In the end, my opinion is that the fall of a dynasty begins with the collapse of its financial system."

Chen Yiqin swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Unbelievable idea.

But Chen Yiqin, who was well-read in history books, thought carefully and realized that the Qin and Han, Sui and Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties were all prosperous at the beginning of their founding, then reached a certain peak, suddenly declined, and then began a long period of war and chaos until their demise.

The Crown Prince's words seemed to have truly revealed the secret of the rise and fall of a dynasty.

But Chen Yiqin couldn't believe it.

The rise and fall of a dynasty has nothing to do with benevolent governance and moral governance, but with money!

This was difficult for Chen Yiqin, who was well-versed in Buddhist scriptures, to accept.

"Mr. Chen, when the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. Morality is based on having enough food and warm clothing. If a person is facing starvation or freezing to death, do you think it makes sense to talk to him about the teachings of saints?"

Zhu Yijun slashed his right hand downward fiercely, "So, to ensure that the people have enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear is the greatest benevolent policy. On this basis, we can talk about teaching to educate and educate the people.

It's not the other way around. First they keep talking about enlightenment, but don't mention a word about having enough food and clothing. Isn't that tantamount to being a hooligan?"

Chen Yiqin's brain was spinning like smoke.

He was not a pedantic Confucian scholar. He certainly knew that the people were facing the point of starvation and freezing to death. That was "the people do not fear death, so how can they be frightened by it?"

It's useless to threaten someone with knives or guns, so what's the point of talking about the teachings of sages?

But this view is completely different from the Confucian ideas he has held over the years.

In the minds of many great scholars, if the people are to have enough food and warm clothes, all they need is benevolent government and moral governance, and it will happen naturally. Just like if the people have hands and feet, they only need to be given a piece of land and govern by inaction, and they can feed themselves.

Therefore, the imperial court does not need to care too much about people's livelihood. As long as the moral level of the whole country is improved, the country will naturally be governed well.

Chen Yiqin knew clearly that it was all nonsense said by the great scholars who only cared about theoretical matters during their "pure conversation".

As a person who has been involved in government affairs, he knows very well that in fact, the national economy and people's livelihood are the most troublesome things.

Zhu Yijun seemed to see what Chen Yiqin was thinking, and said with a faint smile: "People in the world love leisure and hate work, and prefer simplicity to complexity. The national economy and people's livelihood, the national economy is fundamentally based on taxation and expenditure, and people's livelihood is based on creating opportunities to obtain wealth. This kind of thing is laborious and tiring, how can it be easier than promoting benevolent governance and moral governance."

Chen Yiqin understood what Zhu Yijun meant.

It is nothing more than that many Confucian scholars are good at empty talk but neglect practical execution, and the essence of this is to avoid the important and focus on the trivial.

Chen Yiqin didn't want to dwell too much on this aspect.

Because he found that when it came to policy-making, the Crown Prince always had arguments that he found incredible, but always made some sense.

When he felt a little overwhelmed at the end of the story, Chen Yiqin hurriedly thought of a topic and quickly changed it.

"Your Highness, you said that the former Tang Dynasty's system of military personnel and our dynasty's system of military households seem similar, but in fact they are poles apart. Do you have any explanation?"

Zhu Yijun glanced at Chen Yiqin. This old scholar was not pedantic and they could chat for a while.

He replied cheerfully: "It is said that the household system of the military guards of our dynasty was presented by Mr. Bo Wen to Emperor Taizu. It was learned from the pre-Tang military system, and they even boasted that they took the good points and discarded the bad points. In my opinion, it is completely taking the bad and discarding the good points.

The former Tang Dynasty soldiers were "military soldiers serving as civilians". They had abundant land and wealth, so they did not need to farm themselves, but only needed to practice martial arts. All farming and chores were left to domestic slaves and tenants, so it could be said that the whole family was supporting a soldier.

Moreover, the government soldiers are quite prestigious in the local area and are highly respected, just like the gentry families in our dynasty.

In my opinion, this is called raising elite troops, and food and equipment are not a problem, which is enough to complete the tasks of going to the capital, rotating to guard the border, and gathering for battle. It is precisely because of this that in the early period of the Former Tang Dynasty, during the reigns of Taizong, Gaozong, and even Xuanzong, they were able to destroy the Turks, break off the Goguryeo, and drive the Western Regions to Persia, and became powerful for a time.

What about the military households in our dynasty? Most of the military households were surrendered soldiers from forces such as Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, and some were issued to border people and forced to become naturalized citizens.

The land was not entirely their own, but belonged to the guards. Their household registration was a low-class household, and they suffered discrimination and hardship. They were also treated as slaves by the local nobles and powerful people. After planting the public land, they had to plant private land for free.

Farming and guarding the border, the two most difficult jobs in the world, were done by them. If we really want to make an analogy, we certainly cannot compare them with the former Tang Dynasty soldiers, but can only be similar to the former Song Dynasty's wing troops.

Can such a military household system of guards achieve the same brilliant military exploits as the former Tang Dynasty soldiers? It is wishful thinking. "

Zhu Yijun felt that the only system that could be compared with the pre-Tang military system was perhaps the Eight Banners system of the Qing Dynasty in history.

However, like the former Tang Dynasty's military system, it is wishful thinking to maintain a large professional military group for a long time.

Chen Yiqin was silent for a while, then asked suddenly, "Is it useless for the military household guards to make this?"

“In my opinion, the only benefit of the military household guard system is that it provides the Ming Dynasty with qualified military officers, and then the elite among these military officers gradually grow into generals.

Their families are wealthy, so they can study literature and martial arts with peace of mind, and their military skills are passed down from generation to generation. This will ensure that when the Ming Dynasty is in danger, we will not be without generals to use.”

Chen Yiqin immediately figured out Zhu Yijun's idea about the military household system in the garrisons.

"What the Crown Prince meant is that the system of the Ming Dynasty's guards should be greatly changed to focus on training military officers from aristocratic families, and soldiers from each town and camp can be recruited."

Zhu Yijun did not give a direct answer, but just smiled and replied: "Nowadays, most of the soldiers who can fight in the nine frontier troops are recruited soldiers."

Chen Yiqin looked at the sky outside the window. Today's class time was over.

He felt a little melancholy. A student like Taisun was really difficult to teach.

The ideas in his mind are too righteous, and his determination is too strong to be shaken.

In this class, Chen Yiqin originally wanted to teach the crown prince a good lesson through history, but ended up being taught a lesson by him instead.

Zhu Yijun bowed to Chen Yiqin and said with a proud smile: "Sir, I am not as good as you in the study of classics and literature; you are not as good as me in governing the country. Let's just stay in our own place."

Chen Yiqin looked at his departing back and was speechless for a moment!

(End of this chapter)