Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 157 The Terrifying Failed Student (2)

Song Yan was somewhat surprised, but had to admit that Liu Yisheng's analysis made a lot of sense.

Song Yan could see these things, Luo Yuheng could see them, and Emperor Ninghe could see them. But many others could not see them; they remained immersed in their dreams, knowing only how to plunder land, wealth, and beauties, living a life of debauchery.

Especially those scholars. Scholars should be the most farsighted people, but in Ningguo, the vast majority of scholars only know classical Chinese, poetry and literature, and enjoy the privileges of being scholars. They can only stand on the moral high ground and talk big, completely unable to see the dangers hidden behind the false prosperity of Ningguo today.

Just like Linghu Rui, if you told him that Ningguo was in danger of national subjugation, he would probably only be looked at as if he were a fool.

Liu Yisheng was clearly different from other scholars, but that alone was not enough to move him. Song Yan's expression was solemn: "Just now, sir, you mentioned that Ningguo has many signs of national ruin. May I ask, sir, what is the root cause of the country's downfall?"

Liu Yisheng's expression grew increasingly confident, and after only a moment's thought, he gave his answer:
"land!"

Song Yan suddenly raised an eyelid: "Please continue."

Liu Yisheng smiled wryly and spoke again: "The land is the foundation of all things."

"Humans need food to sustain life."

"And land can produce food, so land has become the most important resource."

“I have studied the history of the Great Chu Dynasty, the Great Han Dynasty, and the Great Wu Dynasty. Through the rise and fall of these three dynasties, I discovered a pattern. Simply put, extreme injustice leads to extreme wealth disparity, which in turn leads to the collapse of the entire social order.”

"The establishment of every dynasty is accompanied by war, which brings a lot of death. At the same time, the establishment of a dynasty also represents the destruction of the old forces. Therefore, in the early days of a dynasty, the country has a lot of idle wasteland. In addition, the population has decreased sharply, so the land that the people can control will increase."

"Moreover, emperors who can establish a dynasty are mostly talented and ambitious, so in the early stages of a dynasty, there are usually ten or even several decades of prosperity. During this period, food and population increase significantly, and the country's strength grows day by day."

"However, this prosperity has its limits."

"When a dynasty enters its middle period, its culture and economy reach their peak, but what follows is the hidden dangers beneath the prosperity. As the population increases, the per capita land ownership will decline rapidly."

"The increase in royal family members will occupy a large amount of land, leading to a further decrease in the number of self-sufficient farmers."

"Nobles would also seize land, and the land owned by farmers would decrease again."

"Powerful families would also seize land, and the farmland owned by farmers would be squeezed to an extremely small extent."

"The ruling class firmly controls all social resources, which leads to class solidification. In order to acquire more wealth, princes, nobles, scholars, gentry and wealthy merchants will use even crueler means to exploit the people."

"By the end of the dynasty, land ownership had developed to a terrifying degree. The scholar-officials, nobles and gentry, who made up a very small minority of the total population, would own 70% or even more of the land in the country. The common people were reduced from self-cultivating farmers to tenant farmers or even peasants."

"Class stratification has made it impossible for people in the lower classes to see any channels for upward mobility."

"When such extreme injustice reaches the point where ordinary people can't even afford the most basic necessities of life, then they will rise up in rebellion; that is when the heavens are dead and the yellow heavens shall rise."

"Then, a new dynasty is established, and the cycle begins again."

"What's laughable is that, whether it was the Great Chu, the Great Han, or the Great Wu, on the eve of their demise, due to the progress in the study of things and the high concentration of wealth, there was even a brief and distorted period of elite prosperity."

"This false prosperity numbs every member of the upper class; no one believes their country will perish, just like Da Ning is now."

After speaking so much in one breath, Liu Yisheng's mouth was dry. It was a pity that this wasn't a teahouse, otherwise he would have had a cup of tea to soothe his throat.

Song Yan's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was filled with astonishment. Although he had never underestimated the wisdom of the ancients, Liu Yisheng's vision and level of understanding still left him speechless.

This even summarizes the dynastic cycle.

They even saw that the root cause lay in the land and in injustice.

For a moment, Song Yan even had the urge to exchange secret signals with Liu Yisheng.

"A genius, an absolute genius." Calming himself, Liu Yisheng looked at Song Yan. Though his expression was calm, he was inwardly uneasy. He knew very well how unorthodox these words were. Eight years ago, it was precisely because of this essay that he became a laughingstock in the eyes of all the students, examiners, and even the great Confucian scholars of Ningguo, seen as a show-off… and he failed the imperial examination because of it.

He believed that Song Yan was different from those people, but he didn't know if Song Yan could accept such radical views.

A few breaths later, Song Yan suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "Good, good, good, sir, your words are brilliant."

"Just from the three dynasties of Chu, Han, and Wu, one can analyze the dynastic cycle law. Your talent and learning should be the best in the world."

Liu Yisheng breathed a sigh of relief, his heart finally at ease, but his expression quickly changed: the dynastic cycle.
Then, he gave a bitter smile.

At some point, Liu Yisheng perceived the patterns and root causes of dynastic collapses, which fueled his arrogance and even a slight disdain for other scholars. In his eyes, the world was full of mediocre people, a feeling of loneliness and superiority born from the belief that he was the only one sober in a world of fools.

It was only at this moment that Liu Yisheng realized there were many people in this country who were smarter than him, but they were not as high-profile and flamboyant as he was.

Just like Song Yan.

Lord Song had clearly already discovered the patterns and roots of dynastic changes, and had even come up with a name for it.

The dynastic cycle.

What a perfect match, what a perfect name!

Liu Yisheng's eyes gradually became burning as he stared intently at Song Yan. He was truly worthy of being the person he had chosen to follow and rely on; Song Yan's talent far surpassed his own.

Song Yan took a deep breath and looked at Liu Yisheng again: "Since you can see the root cause of the country's downfall, do you know how to remedy the situation and avoid the country's demise?"

Liu Yisheng pursed his lips: "There is only one plan that may allow a dynasty to last for ten thousand generations."

"please say."

"From the Spring and Autumn Period to the present day, whether it is a vassal state or a dynasty that has unified the Central Plains, the main source of funds for maintaining the operation of the court is the population tax."

Song Yan nodded. The so-called population tax was levied based on the number of people, and had nothing to do with each person's income. One person paid one tax, and two people paid two taxes...

Why did Liu Yisheng suddenly bring up the poll tax?
Could it be...

"In my opinion, this is the greatest injustice."

"A commoner's family of five, with twenty mu of land, has to pay taxes for all five people; a landlord's family of five, with a thousand mu of fertile land, also only has to pay taxes for all five people? Is this fair?"

"Landlords own more land, so they can harvest more grain each year, earn more money, and thus buy more land."

"For ordinary families, the grain they earn throughout the year, after paying taxes, is barely enough to feed themselves. Occasionally, natural disasters or man-made calamities, or even just a cold or cough, can bankrupt a farming family. In order to get through the crisis, they have no choice but to sell their land."

"This is a vicious cycle: landlords, gentry, officials, and the powerful own more and more land, while farmers own less and less land..."

"Therefore, the only solution is tax reform."

"Abolish the poll tax and integrate it into the land tax."

"Simply put, taxes are levied based on the amount of land owned; those with more land pay more taxes, those with less land pay less taxes, and those with no land pay no taxes..."

"In this way, the land acquired by landlords and gentry would have a high cost, which might be able to curb the trend of land acquisition."

Song Yan breathed a sigh of relief; it was indeed the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax.

His lips were trembling slightly. Are all those who fail the exam this fierce?

(End of this chapter)