Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 44: Crisis under Power

Not long after we started walking, we saw a heartbreaking scene: a group of refugees were lying in disorder on both sides of the road. All of them looked haggard, pale and thin, and some had even died.

"Your Highness, be careful!"

Wang Xun nervously asked someone to immediately protect Li Chengqian behind him.

"It doesn't matter. These people are not infected with the disease, but are starving."

After Zhen Liyan finished speaking, he glanced around and had made up his mind.

hunger?

A hint of coldness flashed across Li Chengqian's eyes. Either the relief was not timely, or no one came to help at all.

Half a day ago, what he saw upstream was a prosperous scene with commercial ships coming and going; but now, stepping into this land, it was as if he had entered another world.

"My dear, please give me some food. My grandfather is almost dying..."

On the side of the road, a little girl in tattered clothes staggered over, her steps unsteady, as if she would fall at any moment. Her head looked unusually large, and her eyes sunken. Obviously, this was caused by severe malnutrition.

There was a slight choke in the voice.

"Little sister, don't be afraid, we will give you something to eat!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand, and a guard took out a few meat buns and handed them to the little girl.

"Thank you!" The little girl lowered her head timidly.

People on both sides also gathered around, each with a burning gaze.

"Wang Xun, give it all to them!" Li Chengqian said with reluctance, these are all citizens of the Tang Dynasty.

"Is your grandfather sick?" Li Chengqian smiled kindly.

"Yeah! It seems so. My Aung is right there!"

The little girl pointed her finger at a dead tree, which was also devoid of bark and leaves.

An old man with disheveled hair and dirty face was looking over here and nodding continuously.

"Let's go and see your grandfather!" Li Chengqian said. He also wanted to know some inside information. The court also provided disaster relief last year.

"Your Highness, please be careful, even if it is..." Wang Xun hesitated to speak.

"If it is really an epidemic, it is not safe for us to stand here, it is the same for everyone."

Many epidemics are transmitted through the air. The distance here is only ten meters, and we are surrounded by this group of refugees, so it is hard not to be infected.

"Old man, here, this brother gave it to me." The little girl quickened her pace and put the meat bun into the old man's hands.

"Qing'er, eat. Grandpa is not hungry!" The old man continued to shake his head.

"Your Highness, this old man has reached the end of his life. He has used up all the vitality in his body. He cannot be saved."

Zhen Liyan whispered, he realized that this was not an epidemic, but he had been hungry for too long and had consumed all his physical energy.

The old man smiled as he looked at the little girl eating the meat bun, then he turned his head with difficulty and looked at Li Chengqian.

"In this world, there are not many kindhearted people like you. You see, my granddaughter is very well behaved. Why don't you keep her as a maid and serve tea and water in the future to repay your kindness today?"

The old man's voice was intermittent, and the only thing he was worried about was his little granddaughter.

He talked about repaying a favor, but in fact he knew in his heart that if his granddaughter could be taken away by these noble people, she would still have a chance to survive. Otherwise, if she stayed here, she would only die.

"Old man, why has it come to this? Didn't the court send you any grain?"

This was the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. Even if there was a disaster, it would not cause such widespread famine for a long time.

"Yes, we have distributed them all. Otherwise, we wouldn't be alive today. But how long can the imperial government distribute grain? Some of us have no land, and some of us have land but no one is farming it. Even if someone is farming and paying taxes, they still have no food, and they are no different from beggars like us."

Beggar? This word once again refreshed Li Chengqian's cognition.

This was during the Zhenguan period. Even in a wealthy place like Xuzhou, there were beggars.

"What exactly is going on?"

Li Chengqian carried the memories of the original owner and knew that the Zhenguan period was an era with the lightest taxes and levies in ancient times, and it was for the benefit of the people.

The equal-field system was implemented, with land distributed according to the number of people. Every male over 18 years old could get one hectare, or 100 acres.

However, the tax is only two or three stones.

Such a policy is enough for a family to live a comfortable life.

"Like my family, both of my sons went to the army, but they only brought back two pieces of bloody cloth. No one cultivated the land. In order to survive, my family could only rent the land or sell it privately to wealthy families."

"If we don't plant much, we won't be able to pay the tax. So why not plant at all?"

The old man shook his head.

"How much is the tax grain?" Li Chengqian frowned even deeper.

"It's not much, only ten stones. The most important thing is that no one is farming."

Although the equal-field system was a good system, for some people, they simply could not cultivate all the land and lacked sufficient labor to pay taxes.

Li Chengqian indeed realized that those big clans had already taken action.

The implementation of the equal-field system itself was a challenge to the big clans, because before that, the land had always been in their hands.

These clans owned a lot of land and gained endless profits from it. However, with the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan and Li Shimin took measures to crack down on landlords and nationalized the land.

This move touched the fundamental interests of the nobles. Not long after, the equal-field system collapsed completely, bringing a serious crisis to the Li Tang Dynasty.

The An-Shi Rebellion was the evolution of the collapse of the equal-field system, and various major clans came onto the scene one after another.

In fact, in the early Tang Dynasty, when the equal-field system was just being implemented, large clans had already begun to gradually encroach on the land.

Since they had their own power within the larger framework of the country, they were able to gradually annex the land of the common people.

Just like now, they will buy the land of those who have no labor force at a low price.

If the people don't sell, they still have to pay taxes, and they can't grow any food, so they might as well sell it.

Although the country has also issued a clear ban on land transactions, there are always countermeasures for every policy.

Under such silent erosion, the equal-field system collapsed and the Tang Dynasty came to an end.

"Take this girl and let's go!"

Li Chengqian was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.

It’s not that monarchs are bad, but that exploiters have always been there.

Li Chengqian was unable to rescue these disaster victims and refugees because if the fundamental problem was not solved, these people would still die.

The scholar (clans) and big families are the root of all this.

"Ung, I won't leave! I'm not going anywhere!" Xiaoqing cried and made a scene, having realized something.

"Child, go, and listen to your master's words from now on!"

The old man raised his hand weakly, and after watching the girl being carried away by the Dragon Warriors, he lowered his head and could no longer raise it.

Li Chengqian left with a heavy heart. The biggest worry for the Tang Dynasty still lies within.

(End of this chapter)