I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 400 Indeed Has a Way
"But in fact, the Tao exists."

Ok?
Zhang Lu finally looked at Liu Miao in astonishment, wondering why Liu Miao, who had just said it was all nonsense, was now saying it actually existed.
"Don't lie on the ground, is it comfortable?"

Liu Miao asked Zhang Lu to sit on the folding chair next to him.

"The Dao exists, so we should use the Dao to explain Heaven."

Zhang Lu sat upright and solemnly.

Because he knew that what Liu Miao said next was what Liu Miao wanted him and Taoism to do.

"May you have good fortune."

Liu Miao called out Zhang Lu's courtesy name, which hadn't been used in a long time, making Zhang Lu feel a little awkward.

"Let me ask you, why did your grandfather Zhang Daoling establish the Taoist lineage?"

"..."

"to be frank!"

Liu Miao glanced at Zhang Lu, shutting down any further attempts by Zhang Lu to deceive him.

"You now call yourself 'Master' and a leader of Taoism, yet you don't even know the meaning of Taoism and your own existence?"

When Zhang Lu was cornered by Liu Miao, he knew that Liu Miao wanted to hear the truth from him.

If he continues to try to fool Liu Miao, then it's possible that Liu Miao will also fool him!

"Simply because... I can't bear to see human suffering."

They cannot bear to see human suffering.

Zhang Daoling was the founder of the Five Pecks of Rice sect.

Zhang Jiao, the founder of the Taiping Daoism.

They all had experience studying at the Imperial Academy.

When Zhang Daoling was a student at the Imperial Academy, he was well-versed in the Five Classics, as well as astronomy, geography, and the apocryphal texts of the Yellow River and Luo River. More than a thousand people studied under him, and at the young age of twenty-six, he became the magistrate of Jiangzhou.

Emperor Xiaozhang and Emperor Xiaohe of the Han Dynasty successively summoned him to serve as Grand Tutor and Marquis of Ji County, but he declined both positions. He then went south, built a hermitage, constructed an altar to refine elixirs, and studied Taoism.

Zhang Jiao had connections with the eunuchs, and his followers spanned eight provinces, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. If Zhang Jiao could use these followers as stepping stones, the position of one of the Three Dukes would be easily within his grasp.

But the phrase "unable to bear the suffering of the people" led them to give up wealth and status, either to live a life of leisure or to raise their arms and shout to complete what they had not yet done.

Although Liu Miao often said, "All the world's hustle and bustle is for profit," he also knew that not everyone in this world could be kept by the words "fame and fortune."

"Could it be that you cannot bear to see the suffering of the people, so you came to seek the Way?"

Liu Miao then asked Zhang Lu, "Can the Dao solve the suffering of the people?"

"can!"

This is Zhang Lu's proudest achievement! And it is also the proudest achievement of Taoism!
Zhang Daoling and Zhang Jiao were able to rise to power and gain a large number of followers by traveling around practicing medicine and saving the people.

Zhang Lu was most proud of his "five pecks of rice" system!
Believers only need to pay a mere five pecks of rice to be able to have a full meal in the charity home, and even be able to taste meat!

That's why Zhang Lucai said, "The Dao" can indeed save the world!
Upon hearing Zhang Lu's response, Liu Miao did not rush to refute him, but instead asked, "Where did the rice and meat you provided in the charitable institution come from?"

"Naturally, it came from the cultivation of the land by the believers of Hanning."

How many people live in Hanning now?

"More than 70,000 households."

"If the number of households reaches 100,000 in the future, will your charity home still be able to operate?"

"can."

"What about the 150,000 households?"

“It’s OK…”

"What about the 200,000 households?"

"..."

Zhang Lu frowned: "Where in Hanning can the land support so many people?"

With 200,000 households, how could Hanzhong possibly support them?
At that time, these 200,000 households wouldn't even have enough food for themselves, so how could Zhang Lu possibly build charitable shelters?
"Yeah, how can we afford to feed them?"

Liu Miao sighed.

"But do you know that the Han Dynasty has been like this for the past two hundred years?"

"At the time of Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Jianwu, there were only a little over 21 million people."

"But by the time of Emperor Huan's Yongshou reign, the number of registered people alone was 56.48 million... And that doesn't even include the population hidden by powerful clans. Conservatively speaking, the Han Dynasty at that time already had 70 million people."

"If Hanzhong can't support 200,000 households, how can the Han Dynasty support 70 million people?"

Zhang Lu hadn't expected Liu Miao to escalate the issue to this level, but he could only patiently answer: "With more people, the court's tax revenue actually increases, which naturally allows it to support these people."

"wrong."

Liu Miao shook his head.

"There are indeed more people, but there is only so much land, and there will always be only so much food."

"When there are many people and little land, some people will want to fight for it. Once they have it, they don't want others to fight for it, so they unite to prevent others from fighting for it. In this way, those people will have no land, and without land, there will be no food, and they will not be able to survive."

Liu Miao closed his eyes: "If we don't let them live, they will kill!" "Now tell me, can the Dao you are studying now relieve human suffering?"

Zhang Lu also closed his eyes.

Unlike his grandfather Zhang Daoling and his father Zhang Heng, who were purely theoretical scholars.

Zhang Lu had already entered the secular world; he was the true governor of Hanzhong, and he truly acquired a testing ground for Taoism, establishing the Five Pecks of Rice sect and creating a theocratic system.

Therefore, Zhang Lu did not rush to refute Liu Miao's question.

He is thinking.

Of course, he could argue that the entire Han Dynasty had nothing to do with him, a mere resident of Hanzhong…

But if he had truly fled in this way, Zhang Lu would not have come to Chengdu to meet Liu Miao.

What Liu Miao wanted was a ruler that could measure the sky, not a hoe that couldn't bear weight and could only be used to dig aimlessly in the ground.

What Zhang Lu wanted was not to close the country off and confine Taoism to Hanzhong, turning it into a frog in a well with a limited view of the sky.

If you want to wear his crown, you must bear its weight!
If Taoism lacks the ability to receive the mandate of Heaven and the courage to embrace the world, then how can it become a prominent school of thought and a rule of law?

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Lu gave his answer: "Could it be a small country with a small population?"

"Pfft!"

Liu Miao sneered again.

"You really treat Lao Tzu's teachings as gospel, don't you?"

What to do if there are too many people?
Then let the country remain small and sparsely populated, preventing the influx or outflow of people. In this way, the population will not grow, and there will never be a shortage of land...

But Liu Miao asked—

"During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was a small country with a small population."

"But what were the circumstances at the time?"

"The Chinese states like Yan and Xing were almost wiped out by the barbarians!"

"If, back then, when the Xiongnu were powerful, the Han territory was still comprised of small, sparsely populated states, what would have become of the Han Dynasty? What would have become of the Han people?"

Liu Miao admitted that a small country with a small population was indeed a good thing.

But it was destined to remain just a fantasy.

Since you yourself are a small country with a small population, you should also pray that other countries are small countries with small populations.

Otherwise, you'll just become someone else's nourishment, chewed up until there's nothing left but bones!

Let alone in the past.

Right now.

Who in the world doesn't know that Zhang Lu's Hanzhong was rich?
Once Liu Miao pacifies Hebei, or Yuan Shao pacifies Jiangdong, would they allow Hanzhong under Zhang Lu's rule to continue to exist?
That's why Liu Miao scoffed at Zhang Lu's proposed solution!
At this moment, many methods came to Zhang Lu's mind.

But there is no doubt about it.

Lao Tzu's theory is based on the premise that everyone is law-abiding and morally upright. This is also where Taoism and Confucianism converge: to persuade people to do good and educate them on morality.

But there are always restless people in this world.

The Di and Yi tribes during the Spring and Autumn Period.

The Donghu people during the Warring States period.

The Xiongnu during the pre-Han period.

The Qiang, Xianbei, Wuhuan, etc. during the Later Han Dynasty...

These alien races are a real threat!
Without centralized power, without a vast system, and without sufficient resources, how could China resist these foreign tribes?

Thinking about this, Zhang Lu couldn't help but feel somewhat dejected.

He wasn't naive enough to think that he could reform these foreign tribes through education.

Therefore, he couldn't help but have some doubts—

"Is it really true that the theories of Taoism cannot support the entire world?"

Seeing that Zhang Lu was beginning to have doubts, Liu Miao told him another piece of data—

"In fact, at the end of the Han Dynasty, the population was only about 60 million."

Ok?
Zhang Lu raised his head.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the population was no more than 60 million?

However, on the eve of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the population was as high as 70 million!
Where did this ten million come from?

Were the people of the Later Han Dynasty more capable of enduring hunger than those of the Former Han Dynasty?

Or was it that the Later Han Dynasty had more land than the Former Han Dynasty?
……

While Zhang Lu was lost in thought, Liu Miao had already given him the answer—

"Because after more than two hundred years, farming techniques have improved a lot, so we can produce more food and feed more people."

"So... you should understand what the Dao I'm talking about really is now, right?"

(End of this chapter)