Ying Fusu

After Zhang Han finished speaking, the hall fell into a long silence.

Standing before the map, Zhang Han clasped his hands in front of his abdomen, bowed slightly, and looked solemn.

Fusu stood tall with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the huge map before him, his expression complex.

If what Zhang Han said is true, then the situation is probably much, much worse than Fusu had anticipated.

—What was the root cause of the Qin Dynasty's demise after only two generations in history?

The heavy taxes and corvée labor caused unbearable suffering to the people, to the point that "the officials forced the people to rebel."

Having a clear understanding of this, Fusu naturally focused his governance after ascending the throne on reducing taxes and corvée labor to alleviate the burden on the people.

In particular, Fusu has reduced or exempted corvée labor to the greatest extent possible by halting various major projects.

Then, depending on necessity, an edict can be issued prohibiting local counties from unnecessarily conscripting labor from the people in the coming years, and the matter can be resolved.

In the past, Fusu had always thought the same way.

Fusu thought: During the Qin Dynasty, the suffering of the people of the world stemmed from the Great Wall, the Straight Road, and the disastrous wonders that led to the downfall of the country, such as the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum at Mount Li and the Epang Palace in Weinan.

As long as these projects are halted and the people are prevented from being conscripted for labor across thousands of miles, the fate of the Qin Dynasty, which ended after only two generations, can be largely avoided.

However, judging from the current situation—as described by Zhang Han—the heavy corvée labor is not even the primary factor causing the people's unbearable suffering.

What truly plunged the people into suffering and hardship, to the point that they were willing to risk their lives to overthrow the "tyrannical Qin," was what seemed to be a relatively light burden: taxes.

The "Tai Ban Fu" is what historians consider irrefutable evidence of the Qin Dynasty's "tyranny and inhumanity."

How complicated is this problem?

for example.

In the past, assuming that the Qin court needed to collect one million shi of grain from all over the country every year, the tax revenue was used to pay the salaries of officials, provide food and supplies for the army, and promote the construction of major projects.

Therefore, after Fusu halted the major projects, the annual fiscal revenue required by the Qin court was reduced to about 70% of the original amount, namely 70 shi (a unit of dry measure).

Fusu originally thought that if the taxes required by the imperial treasury were reduced by 30%, the people's taxes could be reduced by 30% accordingly.

Unexpectedly, when the imperial court collected one million shi of taxes annually, the people of the land paid hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of shi each year.

Most of it was consumed in the transportation of taxes.

This means that if Fusu wants to truly reduce the burden on the people and make the lower classes feel the benefits of tax relief in the future, he should not simply lower the theoretical tax rate.

The agricultural tax was reduced from one-twelfth to one-fifteenth, the poll tax was reduced from one unit per person to one unit per three people, and the household tax was completely abolished—but these are not the key points.

The real key is to correct the mistakes of the past years—to take over the costs of tax collection and transportation from the people to the central government.

This is how it should be, and this is how it should be.

So, what would be the result if this enormous cost were to be borne by the central government?

Let's take the example of the Qin court needing 700,000 shi of tax revenue annually;

Even if Fusu did not reduce taxes—maintaining the tax standards of the past ten years or so, he only reduced the additional expenditures required for large-scale projects such as the Great Wall and the Straight Road;

The only change was that the central government's required revenue was reduced from one million shi to seventy shi.

However, after adding the transportation costs, which are several times the amount of taxes themselves, the actual fiscal revenue received by the central government will shrink by more than half!

That is, of the 700,000 shi collected, only about 200,000 shi were left after the food and supplies for the people and horses along the way were delivered to the Xianyang State Treasury or Xingyang Ao Granary.

"Phew~"

...

"Guanzhong is alright."

"And there are places like Bashu and Hanzhong—even before they were unified, they were already accustomed to Qin taxes and levies."

"The losses during the transport route are not high, and the counties and prefectures have long been accustomed to it."

"But it's really not worthwhile to forcibly transport the taxes and revenues from the Guandong region—especially the remote coastal areas—to Aocang or even Xianyang..."

Looking at the map before him—and then at the area on the right side of the map that bordered the East China Sea—Fusu remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a sigh.

Meanwhile, Zhang Han, the Chief of the Imperial Household Department, who was standing nearby, also sighed deeply upon hearing Fusu's lament.

"When the First Emperor swept across the six kingdoms and unified China, the discussion about whether to abolish the feudal system and implement the prefecture-county system lasted for several months in the court."

"If it weren't for the First Emperor's absolute decision-making, it wouldn't be surprising if the debate continued for several more years."

"At that time, the key points of the debate among the court officials were actually just two."

"—Firstly, Qin unified the world, and many generals and ministers in the army and the court made great contributions."

"To secure the realm by enfeoffing relatives and to reward meritorious officials by granting them land and titles is the way to ensure long-term stability."

...

"Secondly, there is finance and taxation."

"It's not that nobody is aware of this problem."

"—It wasn't that no one reminded the First Emperor: for every seven shi of tax grain collected from Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Jing, and Wu, only one shi could be sent to Xianyang."

"Just like when the Qin Dynasty conquered the six states, it took five or six shi of military rations to deliver one shi to the front line."

"But the First Emperor did not accept this advice."

"The First Emperor said: Before the unification, the court in Xianyang was willing to provide six shi of military rations, just so that the soldiers on the front line could eat one shi of it, so that they would have enough strength to conquer the six states."

"After the six states were conquered, why couldn't six shi of tax grain be sent from Guandong, so that the Xianyang court could receive one shi for the national treasury to be used for governing the country?"

As he spoke, Zhang Han shook his head and sighed again, his brows furrowed with helplessness and twitching.

"The First Emperor also said: In order to destroy the six states, my Great Qin is willing to pay the price that only one out of every six shi of military rations can be eaten by the soldiers."

"The purpose is definitely not to destroy the old six kingdoms and then establish 'new six kingdoms'."

"With the six states still unconquered, our Great Qin can provide six shi of rations for its troops, while the soldiers at the front only receive one shi."

"Even if the six states are destroyed, our Great Qin can still collect six shi of tax grain, while the Xianyang treasury only has one shi available..."

"Our Great Qin can bear this price—we could bear it before, and we can bear it again..."

...

"The First Emperor had grand ambitions and possessed unprecedented achievements. Even if the court officials wanted to persuade him again, it would be in vain."

"But I know in my heart that this is not as simple as whether or not to establish the 'New Six Kingdoms' and make the First Emperor's unification of the world futile."

"—If we extend the jurisdiction of all counties and prefectures throughout the land and extract all the taxes and revenues of the land from Xingyang Ao Granary and Xingyang State Treasury, it will only lead to two consequences."

"Either the imperial court bears the losses during the transportation of tax grain, resulting in a deficit—the treasury is empty, and it is difficult to do anything."

"Or, let the common people bear this loss, making their lives worse than death, and causing them unbearable suffering."

At this point, Zhang Han finally took a deep breath, turned slightly to the side, and slowly cupped his hands to Fusu.

"To further enfeoff—at least in the form of prefectures and counties, and enfeoffment in the Guandong region—is what I, along with most of the insightful people in the court, hope for in the Second Emperor."

"—Even a fantasy."

"We, your subjects, believe that the Second Emperor of our Great Qin did not have such lofty ambitions as the First Emperor, nor such a strong and stubborn temperament."

"He fantasizes that the Second Emperor will have the courage to defy ancestral rules and go against the will of the First Emperor, and admit that the Qin Dynasty is simply incapable of implementing the prefecture-county system throughout the land."

"It can be realized that it is not worthwhile to extract all the wealth and taxes of the nation from Xingyang Aocang and Xingyang State Treasury."

"Compared to the imperial court bearing the costs of tax revenue transfer, thus weakening itself, or the common people bearing the costs, thus suffering—granting fiefdoms to relatives and allowing them to collect and use taxes locally is the 'most cost-effective' approach..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Han bowed deeply to the ground, standing tall and bowing respectfully.

Before the map, Fusu still looked up at the "Map of the Great Qin Territory" and turned to the side towards Zhang Han, his face full of melancholy.

Zhang Han's words were actually quite tactful.

—His ambitions were not as lofty as those of the First Emperor, nor was his temperament as strong and stubborn.

To put it bluntly, he was neither as capable of causing trouble as the First Emperor nor as autocratic.

The views of the court officials—"wise men"—on the enfeoffment system, as mentioned by Zhang Han, undoubtedly hit the nail on the head.

Why is the feudal system considered the lowest-cost and most effortless way to govern?

That's the root of the problem.

—The same one million shi of tax revenue, if distributed throughout the country as prefectures and counties, and a centralized system is established, then there are only two options.

Alternatively, an additional several hundred to tens of millions of shi (a unit of dry measure) of tax revenue would be collected from the people to cover the transportation costs of this million shi of tax revenue.

Either 700,000 to 800,000 shi of the 1 million shi of tax revenue should be taken out as losses, leaving the court with only 200,000 to 300,000 shi.

The consequence of the former was the Qin Dynasty, which perished after only two generations in history.

As for the latter, the subsequent two thousand years of Chinese feudal history provided a clear answer.

—If you can afford it, then this is the optimal solution.

Of the one million shi of tax revenue, seventy to eighty percent was lost during transport, leaving only a little over twenty percent to reach the central government.

As long as the remaining 20-30% is enough to support the operation of the court, then this is the optimal solution.

Conversely, only by relying on the remaining 20-30% of tax revenue can the central government, which is "acting as the shepherd of the people on behalf of Heaven and governing the world," be able to control the entire world.

If not—if the fiscal situation does not allow it—then the only option is to implement necessary strategic retrenchment.

For example, during the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, he voluntarily ceded the Western Regions, which he had managed for many years, as well as parts of the Hexi Corridor and the Munan Grassland.

For example, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Zhu Zhanji, the Ming Dynasty's financial situation was on the verge of collapse due to Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di's several northern expeditions, which also prompted a strategic contraction in foreign affairs that lasted throughout Xuanzong's reign.

Strategic retrenchment sounds sophisticated, but it's actually a very simple principle.

—I initially opened one store, which was very profitable, so I opened several more chain stores.

The initial investment in the new store exceeded the returns, resulting in a pure loss. So I used the profits from the old store to make up for the losses of the new store.

Gradually, the new store's losses grew larger and larger, and the profits from the old store could no longer cover them.

The pressure on cash flow was too great to support such a large operation, so I had no choice but to "strategically shrink"—abandoning several new stores that were losing money badly, leaving only one or two that were barely breaking even.

Even worse, some simply shut down all of them and focused solely on their original businesses.

We'll consider expanding to new stores once the old ones have recovered.

...

The Qin Dynasty, after unification, followed a similar situation to the one described above.

—Originally, I opened an old store called "Da Qin", which was very profitable and became popular all over the country;

The boss, Ying Zheng, was ambitious and merged with the other six stores in the same industry in one go, directly unifying the market!

In the end, it turned out that the other six companies were all located in small, remote counties.

If the locals run it, they can barely break even and support themselves.

However, after being acquired by the old "Da Qin" store, its operating costs skyrocketed due to the increased complexity of its organizational structure.

Should we just bite the bullet and drive?

You will lose money.

They're still losing a lot of money.

Should we not open it anymore?

After much effort and hard work, the six stores were finally acquired – and the owner, Ying Zheng, was unwilling to sell them again or hand them over to relatives to manage.

And so it dragged on and on, until the death of its founder, Ying Zheng, and this commercial empire called "Great Qin" soon came to its collapse...

...

"In your opinion, if we were to implement a system of enfeoffment, which regions should our Great Qin enfeoff?"

The long and arduous thoughts eventually culminated in this question, which, unbeknownst to the world, opened a new chapter for the Qin Dynasty.

Zhang Han was taken aback upon hearing this. Even though he was mentally prepared, he was still shocked.

After a long silence, I finally managed to calm my emotions and steady my mind.

He then looked up at the map in front of the emperor and his minister, and pondered for a long time.

Then, he bowed to Fusu, picked up the long stick in front of the map, and pointed it directly at the bottom of the map.

"The three prefectures of Lingnan are the first to be affected."

...

"After Ren Xiao and Zhao Tuo pacified Lingnan, the First Emperor established the three commanderies of Lingnan. The amount of supplies that our Great Qin transported to these three commanderies was enormous."

"Although it was a necessary measure, it also inadvertently increased the burden on the people of the world."

"And it's a burden that's many times, even ten times, greater."

"—In order to send one shi of grain to Lingnan, the imperial court would need to collect far more than ten shi of taxes from Guandong."

"The amount of money and grain needed by the three prefectures of Lingnan in a year is far more than a million shi or tens of millions of coins."

...

"With the administration of prefectures and counties in Lingnan, the imperial court naturally cannot ignore the three prefectures in Lingnan."

"But if we implement the enfeoffment system, the court can get rid of this burden."

"The only concern is that Lingnan's unique terrain may lead to the potential for regional separatism."

While mentioning the "hidden dangers," Zhang Han only touched on it briefly.

Then he quickly turned the long stick in his hand to the right side of the map and tapped it several times.

"Of the three regions north of the wall—Yan, Dai, and Zhao—at least one should be granted as a fief."

"Especially the Yan state—it's too remote, and the tax burden is too great."

"At the same time, it does not occupy a strategic location on the north wall, and it is far enough away from Guanzhong and Xianyang."

"They were also sandwiched between the Dai and Zhao in Liaodong, which served as a check on them."

"Therefore, if a fiefdom is to be established in the northern border region, it would be best to enfeoff a king in the Yan region."

...

"A king should be appointed from the states of Qi and Chu along the coast of the East China Sea."

"The same logic applies: it is too far from Guanzhong and Xianyang, resulting in excessive tax and financial losses; moreover, it is not located in a strategically important military location, and it is far enough from Guanzhong and Xianyang that it will not threaten the central government."

"In my opinion, it would be best to enfeoff the King of Qi."

...

"If the lands of Jing, Wu, Huainan and other places are to be enfeoffed in Lingnan, it would be best to enfeoff two or three kings in the Huainan and Changsha area."

"It serves both to guard the southern wall and warn against the Lingnan region, and is remote enough not to threaten the central government of Xianyang."

"This will also allow them to keep each other in check, preventing unrest in the southeast..."