My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 46: Problems with the Distribution End (asking for monthly tickets)

At the beginning, Ma Yu spoke very haltingly.

After all, it is just temporary thinking and temporary organization of language, so it is normal that many parts are not well expressed.

But the more he spoke, the more excited he became, and inspiration kept bursting out.

Many knowledge points that had not been thought of before came up naturally, and his lectures became more and more fluent.

"Governing the world requires a complete system of institutions, such as the county system implemented after the Qin Dynasty."

"In the pre-Qin period, because productivity was so backward, there were no conditions for implementing the county system."

"People at that time established a patriarchal system based on actual conditions and blood ties."

"At that time, the patriarchal system was not only used to determine the relationship between people, but also a system for governing the country."

"After the Zhou royal family conquered the world, they granted fiefs to relatives and military nobles throughout the country to help the Zhou emperor govern the land."

"This is what history books call the establishment of states through enfeoffment, also known as the feudal system."

“This is a feudalism.”

"Once these vassal states are established, how will the princes govern their own fiefdoms?"

"The answer is actually very simple. Imitate the Zhou royal family, the suzerain state."

"Within the vassal states, the land far from the capital was divided into small grids, which were called fiefs at the time."

"According to the degree of blood relationship, the clan members will be assigned to serve in these fiefs."

“This is secondary feudalism.”

Zhu Yuanzhang interjected, "The Book of Rites says: 'The emperor has fields to house his descendants, the princes have kingdoms to house their descendants, and the officials have mining to house their descendants. This is called the system."

Ma Yu did not get angry anymore and nodded, "Yes, this is the management system of the Western Zhou Dynasty."

"A whole set of management systems built around bloodline."

Zhu Biao suddenly understood and said, "So this is what the second feudalism means. What happened later?"

Ma Yu said: "The fiefs established within the various states originally belonged to the state, and the monarchs of the various states could replace the managers at any time."

"If the original administrator dies, the fief will be taken back and the monarch will appoint someone new to manage it."

"But everyone has selfish motives. A clan member has served in the fiefdom for decades, and everyone in the clan is his subordinate. Would he be willing to give it up?"

"Gradually, the fiefdom became hereditary and became a true kingdom within a kingdom."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became unnatural for a moment, but he quickly concealed it.

Even Queen Ma didn't notice it.

Ma Yu didn't see it at all, and he continued:
"We've said before that during the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou dynasties, the land was vast and the population was sparse, so the various states didn't directly border each other."

"There's a vast wilderness between us all."

"These wildernesses are unowned lands, and nations can expand their territories by reclaiming them."

"When the feudal states were re-enfeoffed, they often placed their capitals in the richest parts of the country and their fiefs on the borders."

"In the early days, the royal families of various nations that owned the richest regions were far more powerful than fiefs."

"But there are wastelands everywhere around the fiefdom. They can become stronger by reclaiming the wasteland."

"After generations of cultivation, the fiefdom controlled more and more land, and gradually its power surpassed that of the royal families of other countries."

"During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family was weak, and the various states were becoming increasingly powerful, which led to the collapse of rituals and music."

"In fact, this situation is also common within countries."

"Typical representatives of this are the Three Huans of Lu and the Six Lords of Jin."

The Rebellion of the Three Huans broke out in the State of Lu, and the king was expelled from his country and died in a foreign land.

The six nobles of Jin controlled the government. Later, the six nobles fought among themselves and only Han, Zhao and Wei were left, and the drama of the three families dividing Jin took place.

but……

Zhu Biao scratched his head and said puzzledly, "I still don't understand. What is the relationship between the Second Feudalism and the collapse of the Well-Field System?"

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were also confused, but they didn't ask.

Ma Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll get to the point soon."

"Before we say that, we have to make one thing clear: up to now, everything has been publicly owned."

"Land, population, and everything else are nominally public."

"Even those fiefs that have been divided in fact are nominally public."

"The royal families of each nation hold full ownership, and theoretically, the monarch can distribute the land to others at will."

"So now the problem arises. The fiefdom on the border has acquired new land through reclamation."

"Who owns this new land, then? Who owns the people who live on it?"

Zhu Biao subconsciously said: "All land under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects. All of this naturally belongs to the king."

Ma Yu shook his head and asked, "If you report these lands to the monarch, then theoretically the monarch has full authority to dispose of them."

"He can appoint someone else to manage this land."

"Are you willing to give the land you have worked so hard to cultivate to the king?"

"And then the king assigns it to someone you don't know?"

"This..." Zhu Biao was speechless. He definitely didn't want to do that.

Ma Yu continued to ask: "If you are a small noble at the grassroots level."

"After decades of hard work, I led the people in my area to work hard day and night, and finally reclaimed a piece of fertile land."

"Will you give this land to your superior fiefdom?"

"Or will you keep this piece of land secret and keep it as the private property of your small group, so that everyone can share the profits from this land?"

Zhu Biao finally understood the problem. Naturally, he was unwilling to hand over the land he had cultivated with great difficulty to others.

This means that the newly reclaimed land has become "no man's land".

To be more precise, it has become hidden private property.

The public ownership of land has in fact been broken.

The well-field system was impacted.

Ma Yu paused for a moment, and when he figured it out, he continued:

"But these hidden lands are illegal and cannot be seen in public."

"Someone must have given them a push to make them public. Who was that person?"

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and said, "Duke Hui of Jin, you want to build a field, right?"

Zhu Biao looked confused, he didn't know about this matter.

Empress Ma thought for a moment and said, "In the seventh year of King Xiang of Zhou, Duke Hui of Jin was captured by Duke Mu of Qin in the Battle of Hanyuan."

"Later, through mediation by various states, Duke Hui of Jin was able to return home."

"But because of his defeat and capture, he lost the support of the people."

"To win back the people's hearts, he allowed the families of the soldiers who died in the Battle of Hanyuan to inherit the land."

"This policy is called sakuandan."

Zhu Biao suddenly realized again and said, "Thank you, mother, for clearing up my confusion."

Ma Yu followed her words and said, "Originally, the soldiers died in battle, and the land was to be redistributed to others for cultivation."

"By allowing their families to inherit now, we can alleviate the hatred of the families of the fallen soldiers towards the monarch and win over the people."

"But there is a consequence to this behavior."

"The land, originally distributed uniformly by the state, began to be passed down within small families."

"This also marks the beginning of privatization."

"And the land that was previously hidden has naturally become public."

"The creation of 'yuantian' stimulated more people to open up wasteland, further undermining the well-field system."

"Then Duke Hui of Jin gave it another push at a critical juncture."

"In order to win over the nobility and attract more talent, he further expanded the scope of the sakuandan."

“Give public land as a reward to the powerful and talented.”

"You know, in the past, only those who had made great contributions could be granted land."

"Now there's no need for merit; the king can give land to whomever he wants."

"This is equivalent to severing the connection between military merit and land."

"From now on, you can own land without any merit."

"This also means that land can be freely leased, traded and exchanged privately, which leads to mergers and acquisitions."

"At this point, the well-field system in Jin was already dead in name only."

"The most powerful nobles in Jin were the fief lords, and most of the land after privatization fell into their hands."

"The fief lords formed after the Second Feudalism completely overwhelmed the monarch in terms of power."

"But in the short term, Duke Hui of Jin's reforms were successful."

"Privatization has stimulated individual labor enthusiasm, resulting in more food production and more land being reclaimed."

“Because they could obtain land in advance without any merit, talented people flocked to join them.”

"First get the land, then go and make merit."

"As a result, the state of Jin prospered for over two hundred years."

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly said, "So, what is the price?"

Zhu Biao also realized that such radical reforms in Jin State would inevitably lead to serious consequences if not handled properly.

So what price did Jin pay?

In fact, he already had the answer in his heart: the three families divided Jin.

Ma Yu did not answer directly, but continued at his own pace:
"By doing this, the Jin State effectively abolished the well-field system, but this also brought about another problem."

"That is, if the public land is gone, where will the government get money and food?"

Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said, "Ask those who own land to collect taxes."

Ma Yu said approvingly: "Yes, the monarch has distributed public land to the powerful and wealthy, so the powerful and wealthy have the obligation to support the monarch."

"Where does the rich and powerful get their money? Naturally, they collect it from the people who own the land."

“That’s why taxes are generated.”

"The problem is that the tax collector is not the state, but the wealthy and powerful who own the land."

"This also means that the Jin royal family will be financially controlled by the powerful from now on."

"This laid the seeds for the subsequent chaos among the six nobles and the division of Jin among the three families."

Having guessed it, Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel happy, and then asked:
"Jin openly recognized private ownership of land, and other countries followed suit, right?"

Ma Yu nodded and said, "Even if the rulers of other countries don't want to follow suit, they have no choice."

"There's the precedent of the State of Jin."

"The already powerful fief lords and the smaller nobles who controlled large amounts of land but were in name only began to seek corresponding political status."

"If the rulers of other countries do not agree, their fate will most likely be the same as Duke Zhao of Lu, who was expelled from his country and died in a foreign land."

"And in this great transformation, it was indeed the State of Lu that took the most crucial step."

"Although the state of Jin recognized the privatization of land in practice, in theory the land still belonged to the monarch, and the people only obtained the right to use it."

"To put it in modern terms, the title deed still bears the monarch's name, and the people cultivating the land are merely tenants."

“But this creates a huge inconvenience for tax collection.”

"The title deed is in the name of the monarch, so there's no way to determine who is actually cultivating the land."

"If we can't find these data, we won't be able to collect taxes."

"In response to this, the state of Lu took the lead in making changes, registering land in the name of individuals for the first time."

"What is your name? How many acres of land do you own? Where is the land located? Is it an upper field or a lower field?"

"All this information is registered and becomes the basis for tax collection."

"From now on, the owner of the land is no longer the king, but the individual."

"This event is known in history as the beginning of the tax collection process."

"If we say that the creation of Yuantian in Jin State sounded the clarion call for private ownership."

"Then Lu's initial land tax was equivalent to officially opening the door to privatization."

"This also marks the complete collapse of the well-field system."

"It can be said that the collapse of the well-field system was the result of the combined effects of productivity progress and secondary feudalism."

"Of course, it's essentially due to improvements in productivity."

"It was only the feudal lords who fueled the secondary feudal system."

Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma and Zhu Biao all fell into deep thought.

Before, although they knew that it was impossible to restore the well-field system, they could not explain why it was impossible.

After listening to Ma Yu's analysis today, I finally understood the underlying laws of this matter.

The collapse of the well-field system was not due to any one person or any one thing, but was the inevitable result of the progress of productivity.

Even if the Zhou royal family had not lost power, the well-field system would not have been able to be maintained. At most, it could only have lasted a few more years.

It is no wonder that several reforms to restore Zhou rituals in history ended in failure.

For Zhu Yuanzhang personally, he also unexpectedly gained another piece of information.

That is the second feudalism. It is a pity that Ma Yu only touched on it briefly and did not explain it in depth.

But there is no need to rush about this matter. We just need to make sure that he has the knowledge in this area.

It won’t be too late to ask him again in a few years when the princes have grown up.

For now, we should first understand the most basic land system.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again:

"What happened next? What happened after the Well-Field System collapsed?"

Ma Yu had almost finished his rest, so he continued:

"With the collapse of the well-field system, private ownership became widespread."

"The people have truly acquired land, and their enthusiasm for work has reached an unprecedented high."

“More land was cultivated, more advanced tools were invented, more food was produced, and more people were fed.”

"As the wilderness between nations was transformed into fertile fields, the territories of the nations began to directly border each other."

"This further intensified the war between the nations."

“Times of chaos often lead to a sharp decline in population.”

"But during the four hundred years of wars during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the total population not only did not decrease, but actually increased exponentially."

"According to historical records, the population of the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty was approximately seven to eight million."

"But by the time Qin Shi Huang unified China, the total population had exceeded 20 million."

"The reason why the population has been able to grow despite the environment is due to the great progress in productivity brought about by private ownership."

"However, after the collapse of the well-field system, not all countries privatized land, such as the Qin Dynasty."

"The Qin State was established very late, the aristocracy was at its weakest, and the people were relatively united due to the threat of foreign enemies."

"They have been able to remain unscathed in this round of major changes."

"But the Qin State also understands that it must reform and strengthen itself, so that it can take the initiative in this great struggle."

“So there was Shang Yang’s reform.”

"Specifically speaking, the Qin State adopted the land grant system."

“Distribute the land directly to the common people to cultivate, rather than to the nobles.”

"Then the monarch would collect taxes directly from the common people who owned the land."

"This ensures that the monarch's power always exceeds that of the nobles."

"Moreover, the land grant system nominally retained the state's ownership of the land."

"What the people have is only the right to use it, but this right can be passed down to their descendants."

"Shang Yang also established the system of military merit and nobility based on the land grant system,"

"He built the Qin State into a chariot of war, and ultimately accomplished the great feat of destroying the six kingdoms and unifying the world."

"After the First Emperor unified the six kingdoms, he established the county system."

"In terms of land and population systems, he also adopted the land grant system."

"The land grant system required the court to have accurate data on population and land."

“This is the only way to accurately distribute land and better collect taxes.”

"So the household registration and land registration systems were perfected by the Qin Dynasty, and later generations made modifications based on the Qin system."

"It's just that the Qin Dynasty was too short, and many of its systems didn't have time to become widespread."

"So relatively speaking, the Han Dynasty, which inherited the Qin Dynasty's system, is more meaningful for us to learn from."

Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao could not help but nod their heads. This principle was very simple and they naturally understood it.

However, at this moment, Ma Yu suddenly said:

"In fact, if we only look at it from the perspective of population and land."

"From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it can be seen as a major period."

"The situations they face are similar, so their land systems are pretty much the same."

From the land grant system of the Qin and Han dynasties to the equal-field system of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the core was to distribute land to the people for cultivation.

"During this period, while the population also exploded, more land was also developed."

"The ratio of population to land is generally in a relatively healthy state."

"To give an inappropriate example, there is exactly one person for every acre of land."

"Unless there's a war and a sharp drop in population, this ratio will become unbalanced."

"So during this period, people were still the most important means of production, and the imperial court had very strict control over the population."

"According to the records in the Book of the Later Han and the Book of Jin, the imperial court at that time had its tentacles extending into the countryside."

"From the township to the village, there are as many as 30 or 40 officials in charge of management."

"Every village has high walls, and there are strict rules about when villagers can go out to work and when they can return home."

"The regulations were so detailed that you had to bring a bundle of firewood home after work, otherwise you would be criticized."

"During the slack season, the village would gather all the young and strong people to dig public canals and build public roads."

The Dunhuang documents record this information in great detail.

However, the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang had not been discovered at that time, so Ma Yu naturally could not use its data.

We can only find evidence from the Book of the Later Han and the Book of Jin.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma had been convinced by the previous lessons and had no doubts.

But they also have doubts:

“How did your elders determine whether this ratio was healthy?”

Ma Yu replied, "Look at the per capita grain output."

"During the Han Dynasty, the average person could produce 1,350 kilograms of grain per year (Ming Dynasty units)."

"During the Tang Dynasty, each person could produce an average of 1,500 kilograms of grain per year."

"We calculated previously that one person needs to consume 350 kilograms of food per year."

"This means that if distributed evenly, the total annual grain output would be enough to feed the entire world for three to five years."

"My elders used this data to infer whether the population-to-land ratio was healthy."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were shocked again that even such data could be counted.

The power of the family behind Ma Yu is far greater than imagined, and the information they possess is certainly far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Such a powerful family disappeared quietly like this.

The key point is that so much knowledge has been lost, which is really regrettable.

Fortunately, there is still a single child in their family.

Although he failed to learn all the family knowledge, at least he left some traces of it.

But now, they have to rely on these shadows to govern the country.

When they thought of this, the couple felt so sad that they wanted to cry.

Ma Yu didn't know what the two were thinking, so he said to himself:
"When famine occurs despite high food production, it's often not a problem on the production side, but a problem on the distribution side."

Distribution? Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao all looked puzzled.

This time Ma Yu did not explain it to them individually. They continued to listen and naturally understood:
"Who is responsible for redistributing wealth? The imperial court."

"The imperial court collected some of the wealth through taxation to maintain the operation of the country."

"At the same time, some of the food can be distributed to the poor who can't survive through relief and other means."

Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two suddenly understood what the distribution end meant.

Zhu Yuanzhang interjected, "Land annexation has allowed aristocratic families to grow larger, making it difficult for the court to collect taxes. Consequently, distribution has failed."

"Once the distribution side fails, the country is not far from destruction, isn't that the truth?"

Ma Yu nodded and said, "Yes, because of privatization, the consolidation of wealth is inevitable."

"During the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, what was annexed was not only land, but also population."

"The aristocratic families not only control the land, but also a large population."

"When Mi Zhu married his sister, he brought 3,000 slaves as a dowry, and he was just a lowly merchant."

"Those aristocratic families control hundreds of thousands of people."

"With a single call, you can raise an army of tens of thousands of people."

"Zu Ti, alert at the sound of cock-crows, wanted to launch a northern expedition, but he was unable to obtain a single soldier from the Eastern Jin court."

"He selected thousands of young and strong men from the population controlled by his family to form an army before launching the Northern Expedition."

"During the late Han Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the aristocratic families were able to influence the national situation precisely by relying on the population they controlled."

"Emperor Wu of the Southern Song Dynasty, Liu Yu, was well aware of the dangers of aristocratic families. After taking power, he began to suppress the aristocratic families and promote the lower-class gentry."

"The influence of aristocratic families on politics is beginning to decline."

"Subsequent separatist regimes will also target the aristocratic families."

"Until the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui completely deprived the aristocratic families of their control over the population, leaving them with only cultural influence."

“But problems also arise.”

"In the past, the grassroots population was jointly managed by the imperial court and the aristocratic families, and the management costs were shared equally by both."

"Now that all populations are under the management of the imperial court, all management costs will be borne by the imperial court."

"Managing such a large population requires a large number of officials..."

"If this continues, the costs of management will inevitably exceed the benefits, and the system will collapse."

"Emperor Taizong of Tang noticed this problem in advance and made adjustments."

"He abolished all official posts below the county level, such as the village headman, the envoy, and the village elder, retaining only the conventional posts such as the village head."

"It has greatly reduced management costs and prevented the system from collapsing."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned unconsciously: "If we abolish so many local officials, how can the court govern the people?"

Ma Yu said: "Emperor Taizong of Tang abolished officials below the county level in order to coordinate with the equal-field system."

"The equal-field system was a system where the imperial court distributed land to the people for cultivation."

“As long as the land is there, the people will not wander around.”

"Besides, the land has been distributed to the people, so how they cultivate it is up to them."

"Tang Taizong believed that the court should not interfere in everything. The people knew more about farming than the court did."

"Furthermore, once the people have land, they will work harder than anyone else and won't need supervision from the imperial court at all."

"Just appoint one or two officials to maintain basic administrative operations and collect taxes on time."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know how to comment for a moment.

Empress Ma praised him, saying, "Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Emperor Taizong's methods have reduced interference with the people. He is truly a benevolent ruler."

Ma Yu nodded and said, "Yes, before the equal-field system was destroyed, Emperor Taizong's policies were very successful."

"But unfortunately, with the destruction of the equal-field system, the people completely lost all their wealth."

"In the past, the rural official system was complete, and people could seek help from them when they lost their land or encountered disasters."

"The local officials will try to ask the imperial court for relief."

"Now that all the township officials are gone, the people don't even have a place to cry when they encounter difficulties."

"In the past, aristocratic families would more or less provide aid to the people under their control. After all, that was their property, and if they starved to death, they would be the ones who suffered the loss."

"But now, the aristocratic families only annex land."

"As for the people who lost their land? Let them starve to death. It has nothing to do with me."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was filled with rage: "Big rat, woodworm."

Ma Yu shrugged and continued, "After the collapse of the equal-field system, the rent-and-labor system that was originally implemented is no longer applicable."

"The court has almost lost its ability to redistribute wealth."

“So there was the Two Tax Law.”

"Only collecting head taxes and land taxes greatly simplified the collection process and difficulty, and made the court's purse fatter."

"It also allowed the imperial court to regain the ability to distribute wealth."

"The Two-Tax System can be said to be a groundbreaking system. It not only extended the life of the Tang Dynasty for a hundred years, but also influenced the tax systems of subsequent dynasties."

Having said this, Ma Yu suddenly stopped.

Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two knew that he was going to talk about the Song Dynasty next.

Moreover, Ma Yu had said before that the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties can be regarded as one period, and the Song Dynasty is another completely new period.

What does this new era look like, and how should it be analyzed?
They were full of anticipation.

Under the expectant gazes of the three, Ma Yu said in a serious tone:

"Now let's talk about the Song and Yuan dynasties. From the perspective of population and land, they are also a period."

"Even the current Ming Dynasty is within this period."

Zhu Yuanzhang's body trembled slightly. He guessed that the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties should be in the same period.

But when he got Ma Yu's confirmation, he was still shocked.

"Tell us in detail how this period came about, what are its characteristics, and what problems it faces."

"Speak clearly and don't leave anything out."

(End of this chapter)