Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 49 The Disadvantages of Current Politics
After Zhang Yu washed and changed his clothes, he handed over the affairs of the camp to Hao Zhao and Shi Yi, then took Li Song with him and rode on horseback with Guo Tu to visit Xun Yue.

Although Xun Yue was a descendant of the Xun family, he lost his parents at a young age and his family was poor, so he had to borrow books from his clansmen. Fortunately, Xun Yue had a photographic memory and could recite most of the books he read.

After years of studying, and with the eunuchs in power, Xun Yue lost interest in a career in politics and became obsessed with academic research. He had his own theories on the operation of society and social governance.

After some understanding, Zhang Yu thought that it might be quite appropriate to evaluate Xun Yue as a political commentator.

This is also the fundamental reason why Zhang Yu was keen to visit Xun Yue after getting to know Xun Yue.

After all, although Zhang Yu came from later generations and understood the various classes in Eastern Han society, if you say that he has systematic political measures and theoretical programs to transform Eastern Han society, how dare Zhang Yu say that he has them!

If the imperial examination system is implemented, can it really solve the problem of aristocratic families?
It is too superficial to expect that the social class can be changed by simply implementing the system. For example, when the elephants implemented the democracy system, why didn’t they eliminate the caste system?
Since Zhang Yu was determined to rebuild society, he needed a systematic ideological theory, rather than favoring the present over the past, choosing seemingly lofty systems, and ignoring the objective social foundations.

Even if there are capable officials working for you in the future, wouldn't it be ridiculous if you lack the ability to judge the pros and cons of the system?

If Xun Yue was talented and could come up with feasible ideological theories, then Zhang Yu's hard work would not be in vain.

Xun Yue lived in Gaoli Township, Xun's hometown, five or six miles away from Yingyin County.

Zhang Yu, Guo Tu and Li Song rode for about half a day and finally arrived at Xun Yue's residence.

Thanks to the support from the Xun family, the house where Xun Yue lives is not poor, and its simple layout reveals an otherworldly aura.

After handing over the business card, Xun Yue slowly came out to greet him.

"Meet Commander Zhang!"

"Public rule!"

"Xun Jun!"

"Don't dare!"

Zhang Yu quickly refused and said, "Sir, please call me Mr. Zhang or Ji'an!"

Although Xun Yue is Xun Yu's cousin, he is nearly forty years old. He has an elegant and calm appearance, giving people a warm feeling.

"Yue had to go out for something a few days ago, so I'm sorry to trouble Zhang Jun to run around!" Xun Yue said with an apologetic tone.

"I have some free time, and it would be nice to meet Mr. Xun today!" Zhang Yu said.

"You three please!"

At Xun Yue's invitation, the three were welcomed into the outer hall.

The four of them sat down according to their seats, and Xun Yue asked a little boy to pour water for Zhang Yu and the other two.

"I wonder why Mr. Zhang and Gongze came to visit?" Xun Yue asked.

Zhang Yu had no intention of hiding anything, so he asked truthfully, "It has been one hundred and sixty years since Emperor Guangwu restored the country. Now the country is in turmoil, the treasury is empty, the rich have land, the poor have no land, and Zhang Jue led the Yellow Turbans in rebellion, and the Central Plains is in danger of splitting."

"Sir, you have great talent, I wonder if you can enlighten Yu?"

Hearing this, not only Xun Yue was surprised that Zhang Yu would ask this question. Guo Tu was also surprised. He had been in contact with Zhang Yu for a long time, but he had never seen Zhang Yu discuss this topic with him.

Xun Yue sorted out his thoughts and said, "What Mr. Zhang asked about are all important matters of the country. If you want to know the situation, you need to understand the rules of the country."

"The so-called shortage of the treasury is nothing more than insufficient taxes, while the expenditure has exceeded it year after year. If you want to enrich the treasury, you can only increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Since Huo Guang abolished the salt and iron industry, the country's taxes have been based on people and land. ..."

"Emperor Guangwu revived the Han Dynasty, but did not change the old system of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, even today, when the four barbarians are in chaos in the border counties, the taxes are not enough to cover the expenses, and the treasury is naturally scarce. Your Majesty has sold titles and official positions and collected land taxes to enrich the treasury. However, although the treasury is rich, eunuchs are in power, corrupt officials are rampant, and they exploit the people. ..."

The financial crisis that occurred in the Eastern Han Dynasty was essentially due to the fact that Liu Xiu did not reform the tax law but instead continued to use the tax policy of the Western Han Dynasty.

During the Western Han Dynasty, taxes were mainly based on head taxes, followed by land taxes. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, in order to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, salt and iron taxes were added.

When Huo Guang came to power, in order to recuperate the country, he abolished the bad policies of Emperor Wu of Han. At the same time, in order to appease the scholars and people, he abolished the liquor monopoly and the iron officials in the Guanzhong area.

When Liu Xiu founded the Eastern Han Dynasty, he continued to use the tax system of the Western Han Dynasty. He no longer monopolized salt and iron, but decentralized the benefits of salt and iron to the local areas in exchange for the court's control over the land data and reduced commercial taxes.

As a result, the tax sources of the Eastern Han Dynasty were restricted. In addition to personal tax and land tax, salt and iron taxes were still levied but faced the impact of private enterprises.

When agricultural taxes reach their upper limit, and local clans become wealthy by relying on mineral resources from the mountains and seas, and occupy extensive farmland, it will instead affect the basic foundation of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

At the same time, when turmoil occurred in the border areas, and the Eastern Han Dynasty could not quickly pacify it, a bottomless pit was formed, and a financial crisis ensued. The Eastern Han emperors were not unaware of this problem, but the subsequent Eastern Han emperors were unable to solve it. Take Emperor Zhang of Han as an example. He wanted to systematically restore the salt and iron state-run system of the Western Han Dynasty, but due to many obstacles, he had to give up the salt and iron state-run system.

When Xun Yue explained the sources of financial taxes of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Yu had already understood a lot.

The Eastern Han Dynasty opened up the salt and iron industries, which undoubtedly meant transferring the salt tax, which was second only to the head tax, to the local governments. The powerful gentry then profited from it and invested their money in Confucian classics. Their families were able to develop quickly and form a regional monopoly.

Zhang Yuwei sighed and said, "Your Majesty is selling titles and official positions and collecting more land taxes. This is only treating the symptoms but not the root cause."

Emperor Lingdi's series of operations seemed clever, but they did not actually change the financial problems of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Instead, the support of eunuchs led to factional struggles, and because of the proliferation of official titles, officials would exploit the people in order to get back the money they paid after taking office.

If Emperor Ling of Han really had great ambitions to save the Eastern Han Dynasty and revive the salt and iron industry, he might have had a chance. But if he imposed taxes on salt and iron, he would have faced a lot of resistance.

"If we want to revive the Han Dynasty, we must have a sage ruler and wise ministers!" Xun Yue said with a dejected look, "We can revive the Han Dynasty by cleaning up the bureaucracy, making great plans, and reforming the tax system."

Zhang Yu remained silent. It was obvious that Xun Yue's ideal was to hope that the Eastern Han Dynasty would have a sage ruler and wise ministers, thus prospering the world. He and Xun Yu both belonged to the idealist faction that believed in prospering the Han Dynasty.

The difficulty of the current reform in the Eastern Han Dynasty is probably more difficult than that of Zhang Juzheng. At that time, Zhang Juzheng benefited from the influx of American silver, while the Eastern Han Dynasty had to dig out a piece of fat from the rentier class.

If his memory serves him well, in history, only the Tang Dynasty restored the state-run salt and iron industry after the An-Shi Rebellion and used tax reform to save half of its life.
Xun Yue sighed for a moment, regained his composure, and continued, "Ji An said that the rich have land, while the poor have no land. From what I see, since ancient times, the distinction between the rich and the poor has been like destiny, and it cannot be reversed!"

"However, if it is changed, the old policy of Shi Dan in the early Han Dynasty may be able to give the poor a place to live."

"Master Dan's strategy?"

Zhang Yu perked up a little and asked, "Master Dan, what is your plan?"

"The law of limiting the land!"

Xun Yue stood up from his seat and said, "During the reign of Emperor Xiaoai, the wealthy had hundreds of houses connected together, fertile fields spread out over the fields, and thousands of slaves and maids. The poor were homeless, without shelter from the cold, and their fields were left uncultivated, so they sold themselves into slavery. The Han Dynasty declined, and government orders were not carried out."

"Shi Dan, who assisted the Han Dynasty, made a report to Emperor Ai. He said that the land of princes, marquises, officials and civilians should not exceed 30 hectares. The princes should have 200 slaves, the marquises and princesses should have 100, and the senior ministers and civilians should have 30."

"However, due to numerous obstacles, the government's orders were difficult to implement, and Shi Dan's plan was abandoned!"

Xun Yue put his hands behind his waist and said in his imagination: "If Emperor Guangwu founded the country, he would measure the land of the great families and support the old policies of Shi Dan. In today's world, the poor may have a place to live. Moreover, relocating people from narrow villages to wide villages can also ease the conflict between the rich and the poor."

Guo Tu frowned and thought deeply, then said, "The policy of limiting land ownership seems feasible. However, if the administration is lax and the superiors and subordinates fail to perform their duties, it will become an empty talk."

As a senior accountant, Guo Tu was able to see through the operation of the political mechanism better than an idealist like Xun Yue.

"so what?"

Xun Yue was not angry, but asked: "Apart from this strategy, is there any other way to enable the poor to survive? Therefore, if you want to rule the world, you must have a sage king and wise ministers!"

Facing Xun Yue's question, Zhang Yu remained silent. It was not that he could not refute Xun Yue, but that he did not know how to communicate with Xun Yue.

Through the conversation, Zhang Yu could feel that Xun Yue was a typical idealist and worthy of admiration, but there were too few sage kings and wise ministers in the world, let alone sage kings and wise ministers who could reform the shortcomings of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

"As for the Yellow Turban Rebellion, it was the counties that failed to fulfill their duties and did not educate the people well enough, allowing the evil Zhang Jue to take advantage of them. Now we want to rectify the chaos, but the officials are too lax, and we need to re-evaluate their performance. We should put mediocre and corrupt officials at the bottom, and talented and virtuous people at the top."

Xun Yue said: "We should also enforce strict laws, severely punish lawbreakers, and restore corporal punishment to punish villains. We must not let them go with lenient laws. Zhang Jue rebelled because he was pardoned before, so he rebelled again because he knew he had no fear."

"Zhang Jiao has rebelled before?" Zhang Yu asked in shock.

"Of course!"

Xun Yue stroked his beard and said, "During the Xiping period, Zhang Jiao's rebellion failed and he was imprisoned and about to die, but fortunately he was pardoned by the court. However, Zhang Jiao knew it but did not change, and has been dormant until now, leading more than 100,000 people to rebel."

Zhang Yu shook his head and smiled bitterly. He really didn't expect that Zhang Jue had actually rebelled, but he was caught and nothing happened. Since the laws of the Eastern Han Dynasty were so relaxed, even the rebels were pardoned.

No wonder both Xun Yu and Zhuge Liang in history emphasized governing the country with strict laws rather than lenient laws.

Seeing that Xun Yue was so knowledgeable, Zhang Yu ignored his identity as an idealist and patiently asked him questions that puzzled him.

Xun Yue was very happy to answer Zhang Yu's questions and help him sort out the social ills that existed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, especially the complaints about the recommendation system.

"Jiangzuo Yice": "Xun Yue... had the talent of a great scholar. When Emperor Shenwu heard of him, he visited him several times and asked him to advise on the current political problems in the name of supporting the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Shenwu wanted to replace him, Yue regretted his decision and stabbed his tongue with a needle, expressing his regret for his wrong words."

(End of this chapter)