Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 144 Father, when was this Yongle era?
"There are many reasons for the ironclad rule that dynasties last for three hundred years."

In our view, the other aspects can be called superficial factors or secondary factors.

There is only one root cause.

The root cause is land consolidation.

Inside the Wuying Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his third son, Zhu Gang, and expressed his considerations on this matter.

Land consolidation?

Zhu Gang was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

This was a reason he hadn't considered before.

Or rather, it was something I noticed during the consideration process, but I overlooked it.

In his view, land annexation has occurred in every dynasty.

Compared to powerful ministers, emperors, corrupt officials, and bureaucratic corruption, this reason is insignificant and negligible.

Who would have thought that my own father would bring this up?

It attributes this to a fundamental cause, surpassing all other reasons.

"What? You find it a bit unbelievable, don't you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang took in his third son's reaction and looked at him, asking questions.

Zhu Gang was very honest about this and did not hide anything.

He nodded and said, "Yes, I really didn't expect Father to attribute this to the root cause."

"As we told you before, China is a major agricultural country, and everything is built on agriculture."

How did agriculture develop?
Nature develops from the land.

Without land, there is no agriculture.

There were also not many people who relied on the land for their livelihood.

There were no dynasties that existed solely based on land.

In this way, the land issue will become a fundamental problem.

On the surface, no matter how many mergers are made, the land remains the same land.

It will not decrease due to mergers.

Land ownership is constantly changing, with land holding its owners for centuries.

It will not decrease due to mergers.

However, the significance is entirely different depending on who owns the land.

Why is it that in the early years of a nation's founding, generally speaking, as long as the monarch is not too incompetent and is willing to allow the people to recuperate and thrive?

This country is generally not too bad, right?

As long as the dynasty can continue smoothly during this process and no particularly bad monarchs emerge.

They often manage to create a prosperous era.
Aside from the founding period, when everything was in ruins and the founding monarch was capable, as you and I mentioned, the most important factor was actually the land.

Zhu Gang listened quietly as his father, the emperor, spoke.

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

A vague sense of enlightenment seemed to emerge in my mind.

"In the early days of the founding of the country, we experienced many wars and turmoil."

Countless people died in the war.

The population has decreased, but the land remains the same.

In this way, each person will have a lot of land on average.

At the beginning of each dynasty, there are a large amount of unclaimed land that can be distributed.

In a situation where there is more land than people, the conflict between people and land is not prominent at all.

Even some nobles and others would seize opportunities to encroach on land and engage in land annexation.

However, compared to the overall trend, these are not serious; they are just a drop in the ocean and will not affect the big picture.

The more land each person owns, the greater the harvest for the people.

They are easily satisfied with their lives.

There isn't that much pressure to survive.

With fewer people to eat, the land produces more, resulting in a greater grain surplus.

At this time, if the emperor doesn't act recklessly and instead provides some policies to help the people develop steadily, that would be ideal.

It would be very easy to make the country prosperous.

This is partly because many people own land, which increases their income.

On the other hand, it is also because the state can collect taxes from these people.

When the government can collect taxes and has money in its hands, many things become easier to handle.

After two or three generations, the population will grow rapidly and basically reach a balance between people and land.

At this point, the development and utilization of the vast amount of land can be said to have reached its limit.

In such circumstances, prosperous times usually occur.

For example, the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, the Kaiyuan era, and the Yongle era…

Listening to his father's explanation, Zhu Gang nodded to himself, feeling that his father's explanation was indeed quite reasonable.

This was an angle he had never considered.

At this moment, after hearing what his father, the emperor, said, he felt that it made more and more sense.

The reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, and the prosperous Kaiyuan era, were indeed magnificent periods that inspire awe.

Zhu Gang, who agreed with his father's words, suddenly paused in surprise.

The Yongle Emperor... a golden age?
What kind of prosperous era was the Yongle era?
Why have I never heard of the Yongle Prosperity?
It seems that the most famous one was the rebel Fang La, who used the reign title Yongle.

However, Fang La was quickly defeated, and the era in which he lived was far from being the Yongle Prosperity.

"Father, when... was the Yongle Era of Prosperity?"

Upon hearing Zhu Gang's question, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized that he had blurted out something he shouldn't have!

They actually described the Yongle era, which hadn't even happened yet.

"This is your fourth brother. He will rise to power and become emperor, creating a prosperous era for you."

Yongle was his reign title.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang would never say this to Zhu Gang.

On the one hand, it involves too many people.

Zhu Yuanzhang would not tell anyone about this except to his sister when the time was right.

But some other thoughts still arose in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.

That is, given how much his third and fourth sons don't get along, if the third son knew that the fourth son, who was always arguing with him and even trying to outdo him in peeing, would become emperor in the future.

And he did it so well, ushering in the Yongle era of prosperity.

The fourth prince was particularly famous and was known as the Yongle Emperor.

What would be the reaction?
It's sure to be incredibly exciting.

Just thinking about it makes me excited!
The old father's gossipy nature was starting to get the better of him.

However, he could only keep these thoughts to himself and think about them.

It's impossible to actually say it.

"We misspoke; we didn't notice for a moment."

Zhu Yuanzhang's explanation was quite blunt, and he didn't elaborate further on the matter.

That's normal; some things don't need much explanation.

The more you explain, the more likely it is to arouse suspicion.

A brief explanation would make things make sense, and that would be enough.

As expected, Zhu Gang did not delve too deeply into this matter.

Although he felt that his father, the emperor, spoke with such certainty and naturalness about the Yongle era.

It's like talking about something that has already completely happened.

It's probably not as simple as just saying something wrong.

It's as if a prosperous Yongle era always existed.

However, he was also a well-read man and had never heard of the Yongle Prosperity, nor did such a prosperous era exist in history.

In that situation, the only option is to believe that your father, the emperor, is wrong.

Otherwise, where would my own father, the Emperor, conjure up a prosperous Yongle era?

Zhu Yuanzhang did not give his third son much time to think.

He immediately continued speaking, going on from where he left off.

As the saying goes, extreme joy begets sorrow, and extreme adversity begets prosperity.

When a country reaches its golden age, it is difficult to maintain this state of prosperity for too long.

It will soon start to decline.

Moreover, once this downward trend begins, it becomes unstoppable.

It's an inevitable trend, and there's no way to shake it.

During the process of decline, there will be some rulers who can restore the dynasty, or famous ministers who can revive it.

We will do everything in our power to resolve this issue.

They were desperately trying to make the empire better and stop its decline.

Historically, there have been many well-known ZTE companies.

However, these ZTEs usually don't last very long.

Before long, it will fall into a slump again, and then continue to decline.

However, the revival initiated by these leaders was far from a golden age.

After a period of revival, the dynasty will continue to decline.

This trend will not change.

Eventually, large-scale peasant uprisings will occur.

Many people, unable to survive, began to rebel, wave after wave, until they overthrew the country and established a new dynasty.

Throughout the rise and fall of this dynasty, the most fundamental factor was land.

Why do dynasties decline after reaching their peak?

The most fundamental reason is that while the population has increased, the land area has not.

The amount of land per person will be greatly reduced.

This was already a very serious matter.

However, during this process, many nobles, landlords, and gentry also gained power and influence as the dynasty developed.

They used various methods to acquire land.

They competed with the self-sufficient farmers for land.

With the population increasing, the land owned by individual farmers has decreased, making it difficult for them to make a living.

The ability to withstand natural disasters and man-made calamities will also decline rapidly.

Meanwhile, the taxes they need to pay will not decrease, and may even increase.

Why is that?
It's because those powerful and wealthy people mostly have special privileges.

There are various ways to reduce or avoid paying taxes.

Those responsible for collecting taxes mostly dared not levy their taxes.

But taxes still need to be collected, so what can be done?
This would shift the taxes that should have been paid by these powerful and wealthy individuals onto the shoulders of self-sufficient farmers who had not gone bankrupt.

The number of farmers who originally cultivated the land was constantly decreasing due to the consolidation of land by the powerful and wealthy.

Life became increasingly difficult.

Now even more taxes are being passed on to them. This will further exacerbate the plight and increase the pressure on independent farmers.

When faced with natural disasters or man-made calamities, more self-sufficient farmers will go bankrupt.

What should you do after bankruptcy?
Naturally, they lost the land they depended on for survival.

To become someone else's tenant.

Or they could donate directly to large households.

Or it could be a hidden account.

Some simply fled directly to the deep mountains, becoming refugees and bandits.

More land was taken over by others, and more self-sufficient farmers disappeared.

This led to a rapid reduction in the imperial court's tax base once again.

The imperial court needs to collect taxes; without taxes, it cannot function.

How to do?
The only option is to continue raising taxes.

These powerful and wealthy individuals still have ways to evade taxes.

More independent farmers will go bankrupt as a result.

This created a vicious cycle.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities, coupled with government pressure, have resulted in even higher taxes being levied on an even smaller number of self-sufficient farmers.

Their pressure is mounting; what will happen then?

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gang and asked him a question.

At this moment, Zhu Gang had no mind to think about the Yongle Prosperity that his father had just mentioned.

All his attention was focused on what his father, the emperor, was saying.

His face was a little pale, and his mouth tasted bitter.

He was clearly astonished by what his father, the emperor, had said.

"Naturally, more and more people are finding it difficult to survive."

The imperial court had no money; the taxes were all intercepted by the numerous powerful and wealthy individuals.

The imperial court was short of funds, so it further increased taxes.

Yet they still manage to pass the burden onto the vast majority of ordinary people.

These people would also take advantage of the government's tax increases to exploit and ruthlessly oppress the people.

They exploited the self-sufficient farmers to the bone.

With this tax increase, it's likely that 80% of the taxes collected from independent farmers will end up in their own pockets.

And then...and then came the countless people who could no longer survive. They rose up in rebellion.
Rebellious people were everywhere, and there were starving corpses everywhere.

The dynasty was plunged into a huge crisis.

The imperial court sent troops to suppress the people's rebellion, but it was like trying to hold down a gourd only to have another float up; they were powerless to do so.

Ultimately... it collapsed with a roar, and the dynasty perished..."

After saying this, Prince Zhu Gang of Jin turned pale and his voice became hoarse.

Following the line of thought given by his father, the emperor, examining the rise and fall of a dynasty from the perspective of land annexation, he surprisingly saw everything so clearly.

Indeed, just as my own father had said.

The rise and fall of dynasties was fundamentally caused by land annexation.

In this process, there will inevitably be corrupt officials taking advantage of the situation, as well as incompetent rulers and other factors.

However, the most fundamental reason was land annexation.

If there had been no land annexation, many people could have survived, and the imperial court could have collected taxes.

Then many things will change.

After a dynasty falls, a new dynasty is established.

This period was marked by chaos and the death of many people.

Many old orders were broken, and a large amount of land was left unclaimed.

The conflict between people and land no longer exists.

The founding monarch was quite capable; if he had implemented some good policies to allow the country to recover and thrive, a recovery would have been easy...

This this……

Zhu Gang suddenly found himself speechless.

It matches up!

Everything is right!
So that's why the three-hundred-year dynasty law exists!

Ultimately, all of this boils down to land annexation!

It turns out this matter is actually quite simple!
Yet it is precisely this amazing!

As expected, his father was right.

Everything revolves around land consolidation.

Under his father's guidance, he was able to see so far ahead and directly see through the root cause of the rise and fall of the dynasty!
Some dynasties that did a good job would use certain methods to curb land annexation.

Some of these dynasties could last for more than two hundred years.

But some dynasties just messed things up.

For example, the Yuan Dynasty only knew how to conquer the world, but not how to govern it.

They were completely oblivious to the issue of curbing land annexation.

Not only did they not suppress it, they also implemented a tax-farming system.

It was a complete disaster.

Therefore, there is no such thing as a nation's destiny lasting a hundred years.

While dynasties like the Han and Tang were experiencing their golden age, it swiftly completed its entire cycle of rise and fall, collapsing completely...

Seeing his third son's reaction, Zhu Yuanzhang knew without asking that his son had already thought of many things.

This made him very satisfied.

At the same time, I remembered my son Biao'er's reaction half a year ago after he learned about this pattern from me.

How similar he was to the third brother at this time!

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent, sitting there reading the memorials.

Give your youngest son enough time to think and process things.

After a while, Prince Zhu Gang of Jin gradually came to his senses.

It's clear that the shock he felt from the land annexation hasn't completely disappeared.

My mind is still very unsettled.

"Father, you are right!"
Land annexation was indeed the fundamental reason for the ironclad rule of dynasties lasting three hundred years.

Many things, on the surface, have various causes.

However, at its core, all forms of development are inseparable from land consolidation.

Many of these reforms, in essence, are centered around how to increase national revenue.

This also shows that Wang Anshi's reforms during the Song Dynasty were destined to fail.

Because Wang Anshi's reforms did not address the root causes.

There was no suppression of land consolidation.

Without addressing this fundamental issue, many things are merely superficial and only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

Coupled with the various counterattacks and sabotages from conservative forces, the failure of the reform was inevitable.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction after hearing Zhu Gang's words.

"It's really great that you can see these."

Now do you understand why we promoted agricultural books and offered courses on animal husbandry in the Imperial Academy?

Zhu Gang nodded: "I understand. Our Great Ming is a major agricultural country."

Farming and animal husbandry are related to feeding countless people.

The hunger of countless people is in turn related to the rise and fall of the nation.

A country can survive as long as its people don't starve.

That country is good.

It will not be overthrown.

Prioritizing agriculture cannot remain merely a superficial commitment or just empty words; it must be put into action.

The Emperor has set up such courses at the Imperial Academy, the highest institution of learning in the land.

That is precisely the best wind direction.

This clearly tells the world that the imperial court values ​​agriculture and the people.

The prevailing attitude among scholars now is that all other professions are inferior, and only studying is superior.

The social hierarchy is scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant, with farmer ranking after scholar.

In many people's minds, agriculture is even less desirable than commerce.

Many people say that agriculture is important, but in reality they underestimate its importance.

Many people don't even know anything about farming.

He held the farmers in even higher esteem…

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this.

"You're right, that's exactly what we think."

Many students at the Imperial Academy will become officials in the future.

How can someone who is an official in a large agricultural country but knows nothing about farming be a good official?

Therefore, we plan to add these courses.

Moreover, the development of agriculture and animal husbandry also involves a great deal of knowledge.

How can we grow more and better food so that the same land can feed more people?
How can we raise better pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep in the same amount of time?

There's a lot to learn about all of that.

It doesn't mean you can just raise them casually or plant them randomly.

These are all worth studying in depth.

The purpose of offering these courses at the Imperial Academy is to make agriculture and animal husbandry knowledge accessible and relevant to daily life.

Give them a place.

Elevate their status.

Only in this way can we raise awareness throughout society.

To guide the whole society to value agriculture and animal husbandry.

Therefore, it would be logical to establish an agricultural research institute, as well as corresponding agricultural and animal husbandry schools.

This will also reduce a lot of resistance.

At the same time, it can also encourage more people to get involved in these industries and make contributions.

Agriculture and animal husbandry are fundamental matters.

Stomach problems are always the top priority.

Do you think we would give up on doing something so important just because of the opposition of some ignorant people?

Let those who oppose it oppose it.

Let's see how strong their opposition can be.

"If the opposition is mild, fine; but if it's strong, don't blame us for taking drastic measures!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice carried a hint of murderous intent...

(End of this chapter)