Diqin Designer

Chapter 292 Great Magister Liu Xiu
After hearing Li Nian say that Wang Mang was nicknamed "time traveler" in later generations, Qin Shihuang became very interested.

But the first question he asked was: "In the future, are there many time travelers?"

Li Nian shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, 'time travel' is an imaginary element. I have lived in the future for more than 20 years and have not found any evidence of other people traveling through time. Even I never thought that I would travel through time."

"Of course, it may also be that I am not in a high position in the future and cannot have access to them."

After getting this answer, the First Emperor asked again: "If Wang Mang is a time traveler, which era do you think he came from?"

Li Nian said: "If Wang Mang is really a time traveler, based on his style of doing things and his new policies, he should be from that era!"

"But Wang Mang's talk of being a time traveler was just a joke. His new policies were actually the Confucian restoration of Zhou rituals. They were just similar to some policies of later generations, but they were far from being the same."

Who is “that person”?

Listening to the conversation between Qin Shi Huang and Li Nian, Meng Tian was confused and couldn't figure out who "that person" was referring to.

But when His Majesty heard Li Nian mention "that person", he showed an understanding look, and it was obvious that His Majesty knew about it.

Meng Tian guessed in his heart that this was either a secret known only to His Majesty and Li Nian, or his younger brother Meng Yi had not told him about it...

But no matter what the situation was, Meng Tian knew that he couldn't be curious about it.

The First Emperor nodded and became even more curious: "What did Wang Mang do after he usurped the Han Dynasty?"

Li Nian said: "After Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and established the Xin Dynasty, he naturally took over the problems of the Western Han Dynasty. So Wang Mang began to implement his new policies, also known as the 'Wang Mang Reform'."

"Faced with the main problem of the Western Han Dynasty - land annexation, Wang Mang implemented the 'well-field system' of the Shang and Zhou dynasties under the name of 'royal field system', which means that all the land in the world was nationalized. Private individuals no longer had ownership of the land, and it could only be distributed by the court based on the number of male adults and population in the family."

"This is indeed an advanced approach. Once the land is nationalized, individuals will no longer have ownership and will not be able to buy and sell the land. If this can be implemented, it will indeed be possible to solve the problem of land annexation and allow everyone in the world to have land."

The First Emperor said, "But if he does this, he will certainly offend those princes and nobles who own a lot of land. Wang Mang's move is actually taking the land from them and distributing it to the people of the world. How can they be willing to accept this? They will definitely fight to the death to oppose Wang Mang's policy."

"That's why Wang Mang's new policy encountered fierce resistance. From the court to the local areas, everyone was fiercely opposed to Wang Mang's new policy, even the landless refugees he wanted to distribute land to were among them."

Meng Tian was surprised and asked, "It would be beneficial to divide the land among them, why would you oppose it?"

Li Nian said: "Because this benefit is a castle in the air. It's a good idea, but it can't be realized."

"If Wang Mang wants to divide the land, he must have enough people to do it. However, Wang Mang does not have so many people. His decrees are not passed down to the local areas after they leave the court. What's the use of them?"

"Although the problem of landless refugees was accumulated during the Western Han Dynasty, it was not caused by Wang Mang and his Xin Dynasty. Wang Mang was still trying to find a solution, but the refugees didn't care about that. It didn't matter to them who the emperor was, or what court it was. It didn't matter whether it was the Han Dynasty or the Xin Dynasty."

"What's important is that they can have enough food and clothing, and survive. However, Wang Mang and his Xin Dynasty did not solve their food and clothing problems at all, and the land was not distributed. They couldn't survive, so they naturally rose up in rebellion. Wang Mang could only bear it with tears. Who made him usurp the Han Dynasty and take the problem into his own hands?"

It was the Western Han Dynasty that made the mistake, but the blame was put on Wang Mang. The key point is that it was Wang Mang who took the initiative to take the blame.

"In addition to implementing new policies on farmland, Wang Mang also reformed the official system, abolished slavery, and reformed the currency..."

Li Nian briefly explained the content of Wang Mang's new policy to the First Emperor and the other two.

"Many of Wang Mang's new policies were actually good, but unfortunately, the problems left by the Western Han Dynasty could not be solved by these policies. Instead, the new policies made him offend many people."

"It was a good thing that he abolished slavery, but it was difficult to implement under the circumstances at that time. In the late Western Han Dynasty, slavery was a common practice, and wealthy families had many slaves."

"The biggest reason for slavery is still land annexation. Many people lost their land and had nowhere else to go. In order to survive, they could only sell themselves to others as slaves."

"However, Wang Mang abolished slavery, blocking the way for these people to sell themselves into slavery to survive. This turned a good thing into a bad thing, and made the people hate him and the Xin Dynasty instead."

This was originally a policy that was beneficial to the people, but it was met with hatred and opposition from the people. It is really sad.

"The abolition of slavery is opposed not only by the people but also by those extravagant families. If there are no slaves, how can they maintain their extravagant lives?"

"Wang Mang abolished slavery not for the sake of the people, but mainly to restrict the powerful families."

"In the late Western Han Dynasty, there were many powerful people, and it was they who caused the serious land problem. They used various means to obtain land from the people, turning the people who originally had land into landless refugees. When the refugees could no longer survive, they kept them as slaves."

"After a set of procedures, the powerful people had both land and people, just like a country within a country. Wang Mang wanted to implement a new policy and solve the problems left over from the Western Han Dynasty, so he had to take action against the powerful people and take back the land and people in their hands."

Hearing this, the First Emperor asked, "How did these powerful people develop?"

Li Nian said: "In the early and middle periods of the Western Han Dynasty, the problem of powerful people was not serious. Emperors such as Emperor Wu of Han realized the harm of powerful people and deliberately restricted them. For example, if a family in a certain place obtained a certain amount of land or earned a certain amount of money, they would be moved to another place, and their land would be required to be distributed to others."

"After being relocated to a different place, the family naturally lost their original power and influence, and the harm they caused was greatly reduced."

"This method was indeed useful in the beginning, but people also found ways to crack it: for example, people were relocated, but the land was distributed to the tribesmen who were still in their hometown."

"Over time, as generations left their land and wealth behind, this family with the same surname became a giant in the area."

"This is just one way for powerful people to emerge. There are also powerful officials and local officials who become powerful people. It is even easier for these people to become powerful people."

"Especially in the late Western Han Dynasty, due to lax administration and frequent natural disasters, the powerful developed faster and within a few decades, they became a huge force."

"Powerful people have existed for a long time in history, but their names have been slightly different in different dynasties."

"During the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, they were called aristocratic families and local tyrants; during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, they were called aristocratic families; during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, they were called aristocratic families; during the Song Dynasty, they were called gentry..."

"The top aristocratic families have the power to influence the world's situation, and sometimes they don't even give the emperor face, such as the 'Wang Xie' in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the 'Five Surnames and Seven Famous Names' in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Even if the royal family wants to marry into their family, they may not be allowed."

Meng Tian was dumbfounded when he heard this. The powerful people had grown so powerful that it was so terrifying. In fact, the powerful people were still afraid of the imperial power, but if the imperial power weakened, they would not be afraid.

The First Emperor raised his eyebrows and asked, "Will there be any powerful people in the Great Qin? How should we deal with it?"

Li Nian said: "Sooner or later, powerful people will appear, and it is difficult to really solve them. Even in the future, there are still chaebols and wealthy families. They are actually powerful people in the future. Compared with the powerful people in history, they may just have fewer family members."

"Therefore, we can only try to delay the expansion of powerful families, split up large clans into smaller clans and migrate them, strictly prohibit clans from implementing family rules and clan regulations within them, and strictly control land transactions and slavery..."

"But these can only hinder the emergence of powerful people. They may prevent them from appearing for a certain period of time, but it is difficult to eliminate the trouble forever. Over time, or when the administration is lax and the management is not strict, powerful people will still appear."

The First Emperor looked at Li Nian and said, "I understand. In fact, the imperial family is the most powerful force in the world. You told me before that you could let the imperial family of Qin and China rest together. In fact, you are turning the imperial family of Qin into a powerful force."

"Dynasties can change, emperors can be replaced, but aristocratic families can be passed down for thousands of years!"

Meng Tian was completely numb. How could he listen to such words?

But he caught a glimpse of his younger brother Meng Yi out of the corner of his eye, and saw that his expression remained unchanged. He knew that this kind of scene must have happened before, so he felt relieved.

With the intelligence of the First Emperor, if he could not think of these, Li Nian would find it strange. He said, "As your majesty said, many aristocratic families have survived several dynasties. For example, the Longxi Li family in the 'Five Surnames and Seven Families' may be related to General Li Xin, and the Zhaojun Li family is related to General Li Mu."

From his Great Qin to that Great Tang?

The First Emperor estimated in his mind according to the rhyme of historical periods, and the result shocked him. It might be a thousand years!

The First Emperor did not show his shock. He said, "No wonder Wang Mang's new policy is to deal with the powerful. It's a pity that he has identified the problem but it is difficult to solve it."

The problems in Wang Mang's era were almost a dead end, and every path out of the situation was paved with thorns.

Even if Wang Mang was really a time traveler, he would not be able to break the impasse if he did not have a magical golden finger.

The best way to break the impasse is to kill the powerful and the princes and nobles who own vast tracts of land, but this will lead to encountering the great magician Liu Xiu, who will cause a sudden change in the world and directly send away hundreds of thousands of troops.

Taking other milder approaches and carrying out new policy reforms would be even less feasible. The powerful, the princes and the nobles would simply ignore it, and the people would not support it. In the end, they would have to resort to killing to break the deadlock.

But this cycle repeats itself again, and one has to meet the great magician Liu Xiu again.

Saying that Liu Xiu was the son of the plane was to correct Wang Mang's historical fallacy that should not have existed, and it actually makes sense.

Because no matter which path Wang Mang took, the final boss guarding the pass would be Liu Xiu.

Li Nian said: "If Wang Mang's new policy is to succeed, I think it should not be implemented at the end of the dynasty, but at the beginning of the dynasty. At that time, the turmoil in the world has just ended, and the forces of various parties have not yet been consolidated. Everything can be overturned and started over again, and there will be little resistance to the implementation of the new policy."

"He chose to implement the New Deal at the end of the dynasty, when all kinds of problems were emerging. It would be strange if it didn't fail. But Wang Mang didn't have more choices. If he didn't change, the Xin Dynasty would still fall."

"After he usurped the Han Dynasty, he was caught in a dilemma: if he didn't change, he would perish; if he changed, he would also perish!"

"I think his best option is not to usurp the Han Dynasty and take over the problems of the Western Han Dynasty. He should turn the Wang family into a top family and stay out of the affairs. He should train the younger generation and wait for the demise of the Western Han Dynasty. His descendants will then take advantage of the situation and seize the world."

"Although Wang Mang was unable to become emperor in his lifetime, his descendants had the opportunity to seize the world and establish a dynasty."

But these words were just hindsight. Wang Mang was already in that position and some things might not be entirely up to him.

He doesn't want to make progress, but his subordinates do!

"The reason why Wang Mang's new policy failed was that there were many natural disasters and plagues in the late Western Han Dynasty. It was a plague that was said to have killed nearly 30 million people."

How many people, thirty million?

There are not so many people in the whole of Daqin now, which means that if the plague occurs in Daqin, no one will be left alive.

"The origin of the plague should also be related to the land issue. Many people became refugees because they lost their land. They had no place to live, wandered around, had no food to eat, and had no medical care or medicine when they were sick. When one person got the plague, it quickly spread to others, and these people spread it to more people."

"Add to that improper epidemic prevention work. When the plague spreads on a large scale in a certain place, people will flee in panic, and their fleeing will spread the virus to people in other places, and finally it will become a 'major epidemic, killing half of the people.'"

"The plague made it even more difficult for the people to survive, so they started to rise up in rebellion, which led to the demise of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty."

"As for natural disasters, Wang Mang actually benefited from them. For example, Confucian scholars linked natural disasters to the virtue of the monarch. As natural disasters occurred frequently, many people believed that it was because the Liu royal family had lost their virtue that the heavens sent down disasters, and the Han emperor should abdicate to a virtuous person."

"This gave Wang Mang the reason and opportunity to usurp the Han Dynasty!"

"It's just that the natural disaster brought more harm to Wang Mang. The natural disaster caused a surge in the number of refugees in the world, and the number of people who rose up in rebellion also increased. But if we talk about the biggest harm that the natural disaster brought to Wang Mang, it has to be the successful exodus of his hundreds of thousands of troops."

Meng Tian asked curiously, "What kind of natural disaster could destroy an army of hundreds of thousands?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "This matter is related to Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. People in later generations jokingly called Wang Mang a time traveler, and Liu Xiu also had a nickname - the Great Magician!"

The First Emperor asked, "What is a great magician?"

Li Nian explained: "The so-called 'great magician' has some connection with the West. In Chinese legends, immortals and gods often have magical powers, while Western wizards and ghosts use magic."

"Magic can freeze water, make meteorites fall from the sky, and create thick fog. People who are proficient in magic are called 'great magicians'. Liu Xiu was nicknamed 'great magician' by later generations, which means that his magic is powerful."

"Liu Xiu certainly didn't know magic, but when he led his troops to fight against Wang Mang's army of hundreds of thousands, he seemed to have turned into a great magician."

"With the military force Liu Xiu had at the time, he could not contend with Wang Mang's army. However, during the battle, three miraculous changes in the celestial phenomena occurred, allowing Liu Xiu's army of 20,000 to defeat Wang Mang's army of hundreds of thousands."

(End of this chapter)