The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

No, why should I?!

Li Tai felt extremely resentful, but when he turned his head, he saw his younger sister with her big, bright eyes, looking incredibly cute. The complaints that were on the tip of his tongue instantly died down, and he became completely dejected.

Fine, why bother arguing with her?

"Oh~" Li Lizhi seemed to understand something. Actually, she didn't understand much, but there was one sentence she understood.

Continuing to reclaim land is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental cure.

However, she had another question: "Sir, I've been listening to your discussions, and I've noticed something. You've addressed issues such as bureaucratic corruption, the decline of central authority, and the limits of land carrying capacity."

"But you keep emphasizing land annexation, yet you never seem to try to solve it. Why is that? And what exactly is land annexation?"

"What are the other questions?"

Chen Huai'an raised an eyebrow, while Li Shimin shook his head, his tone somewhat self-deprecating: "The problem of land annexation is not so easy to solve."

"The so-called land annexation is actually very simple. It is that landlords, gentry, powerful families and nobles use various methods to seize the land in the hands of the common people."

"Putting aside the fact that this problem has remained unresolved for so many years, even if it could be resolved now, Huai'an and I cannot take action."

"Yes," Chen Huai'an echoed, "This is the biggest and most difficult problem."

"As long as land is privately owned and can be bought and sold, it will inevitably lead to mergers and acquisitions; this is the most fundamental economic law."

Li Shimin was extremely frustrated.

Solving land consolidation is difficult, but they still have ways to curb it in the short term.

But they dared not move.

The iron forging method, refined salt, and papermaking technology that Chen Huai'an developed were still controllable; he only offended the prominent families of Shandong and the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families.

However, once the issue of land annexation is addressed, it will offend not only the five noble families and seven powerful clans, but all privileged classes in the country.

At that time, the Tang Dynasty will instantly become a second Sui Dynasty.

Especially during such a year of frequent natural disasters, Li Shimin himself was forced to issue an edict of self-reproach, and even prepared to issue an edict of self-reproach for the following year.

He and Chen Huai'an are now only seeking stability and hoping to get through these two years as quickly as possible.

Only then can we think of ways to solve these problems.

Li Lizhi realized she had asked the wrong question, and her little mind started working as she quickly changed the subject: "Then, Father, sir, are there any other solutions to the problem of the land having a carrying capacity limit?"

Li Shimin didn't speak, but Chen Huai'an smiled and tugged at Li Lizhi's hair: "Actually, there is some."

"I gave an analogy before: ten acres of land can feed one person, because ten acres of land can only produce enough food to feed one person."

"If we can produce enough food to feed one person with eight, five, or even three acres of land, the carrying capacity of the land will naturally be greatly improved, allowing us to feed a larger population."

"If we could make the same acre of land produce one or even two times more grain than it does now, the problem would naturally be greatly alleviated."

Li Shimin was speechless: "The idea is good, but how can we make three acres of land produce enough food to feed one person?"

"That's simply unrealistic."

Chen Huai'an smiled without saying anything. He had some thoughts on this, but there was no need to say them now.

To be honest, Chen Huai'an wouldn't have planned to talk about the dynastic cycle if Li Shimin hadn't asked him today.

Even though the Tang Dynasty was aware of these problems, it didn't have any good solutions.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore." Li Shimin rubbed his temples, his head throbbing with pain. He looked up and asked, "You really don't want to be prime minister?"

"With your vision and knowledge, there is no one more suitable than you."

"No." Chen Huai'an shook his head. "I'm good enough as Minister of Works and Minister of Revenue. These are the two positions that suit me best."

"The prime minister may seem to have great power, but once I sit in this position, it is difficult for me to continue to concentrate on my current work."

"So Your Majesty, there's no need for a prime minister; I'm really not suitable."

"Besides..." Chen Huai'an said helplessly, "I really didn't want to be such a high-ranking official."

"Alright." Li Shimin was somewhat disappointed, but he didn't insist.

He understood that Chen Huai'an was right. Now, Chen Huai'an held the positions of Minister of Works and Minister of Revenue, making it easy for him to handle many things and receive information immediately.

Even if those above wanted to control him, they couldn't.

Therefore, it was indeed unnecessary for him to become prime minister.

Li Shimin took Li Lizhi's hand, glanced back at the former slum, and sighed, "Today's harvest is greater than I imagined."

"Although many problems give me a headache, at least it's much better than before when I didn't even know what the problems were."

"Moreover..." Li Shimin smiled at Chen Huai'an, "Just because there's no way now doesn't mean there won't be a way in the future, right?"

"..."

Back at the Eastern Palace, Li Shimin leaned wearily against his seat, his eyes closed, lost in thought.

The hall was very quiet; apart from the occasional sound of wind and snow outside, there were no other sounds.

After an unknown amount of time, light footsteps echoed in the hall. Empress Zhangsun slowly walked over, and seeing the weariness between Li Shimin's brows, she felt a pang of heartache. She gently came behind Li Shimin and began to rub his head.

"Guanyinbi, I... have come to understand a lot of things today," Li Shimin said softly without opening his eyes.

Empress Zhangsun smiled and said, "Lizhi told me some things. Although Lizhi is young and can't explain many things clearly, I understand the general idea."

"Is Erlang troubled by what Mr. Chen said?"

"Yes," Li Shimin sighed, "I never imagined that the fall of a dynasty would involve so many problems."

"The more I think about it, the more powerless I feel. Do you understand this feeling of powerlessness?"

"I have clearly discovered the problem, and Huai'an has also discovered the problem, but neither of us can do anything about it."

"Your Highness, I think it's completely pointless to think about these things now," Empress Zhangsun said gently. "Whether it's land annexation, the land's carrying capacity limit, or other issues, none of them can be resolved right now."

"What we should be concerned about now is whether the people can get through this heavy snow safely, whether Liang Shidu can be successfully pacified, and whether the Tang Dynasty can truly achieve unification."

"Secondly, there's the locust plague next year. How can we minimize the losses?"

The more you think, the more worries you have.

"If we can't even get out of our current predicament, how can we expect to face an even bigger one?"

"..."