On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

As the Minister of War, Wang Tienan was well-versed in history and naturally had in-depth knowledge of the rise and fall of dynasties.

He had pondered the true reasons for the dynasty's downfall countless nights.

He frowned, pondered for a long time, and then slowly said, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, the root cause of the dynasty's downfall lies in the annexation of land."

This is a classic answer, and it is recognized by the vast majority of readers.

Lin Yi remained silent, listening as he continued, "When a dynasty is first established, everything needs to be rebuilt. The court will distribute land to the people to allow them to recuperate. At this time, everyone has land to cultivate and food to eat, and society will naturally be stable. But as time goes on, some powerful and wealthy people will use their power and wealth to begin to seize land on a large scale. They use trickery and force to plunder, causing countless self-cultivating farmers to lose their land and become tenants or even vagrants."

"The people who lost their land had no means of support and could only be exploited by the landlords. Meanwhile, those large landowners, who possessed vast wealth and fertile land, often tried every means to evade taxes. As a result, the country's tax revenue decreased, while the number of displaced people in need of relief increased. Over time, the gap between the rich and the poor widened, and social conflicts intensified. When the people could no longer survive, they would naturally rise up in rebellion. At this time, if a natural disaster or man-made calamity occurred, a single spark could ignite a prairie fire. Ultimately, a massive peasant uprising would completely destroy a dynasty."

Wang Tienan sighed, a trace of sorrow appearing on his face.

"Ultimately, it's a vicious cycle. Throughout history, almost no dynasty has been able to escape this circle. Our Great Zhou... now the trend of land annexation is getting worse and worse, alas..."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Lin Yi with some anticipation, hoping that his insights would be recognized.

However, Lin Yi shook his head. "That's not right."

Those two simple words made Wang Tienan's heart sink.

wrong?

I've cited numerous sources and summarized for a long time, and you're telling me I'm wrong?

A hint of resentment flashed across Wang Tienan's face.

He acknowledged that Lin Yi had a sharp eye for issues, but he believed that his historical insights were second to none.

"This old minister would like to hear the details." He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, his tone tinged with skepticism.

Lin Yi didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Uncle Wang, let me ask you, who are those powerful and wealthy businessmen who are acquiring land?"

"Naturally, they are imperial relatives, high-ranking officials in the court, and some wealthy merchants who collude with the government."

"That's right." Lin Yi nodded. "So, besides satisfying their own desires, where did all that money ultimately go after they acquired land and amassed wealth? Was it used to develop production? Or was it used to expand their territory?"

"This..." Wang Tienan was stumped by the question.

Yes, those people make so much money, but besides building mansions, keeping concubines, and buying luxury goods, it seems... they haven't done anything worthwhile.

They are like a giant mythical creature, only taking in and never giving out, sucking all the wealth circulating in society into their bellies, and then turning it into lumps of useless fat.

"Land annexation is merely a facade. It's just a tool, a process," Lin Yi's voice rang out again. "However, what truly led to the downfall of dynasties was not land, nor peasant uprisings, but the existence of a class. I call them—the rentier class!"

"Renters' class?" Wang Tienan had never heard of this term before, and it seemed somewhat unfamiliar to him. "Your Highness, forgive my ignorance, but what does this mean?"

The fat man, who had been holding back for a while, couldn't help but interject again, "Brother, that sounds pretty cool, what does it mean? Is it just those bastards who only eat and don't poop?"

"Your analogy, though crude, is quite vivid," Lin Yi said approvingly, glancing at the fat man.

Sometimes, this simple and straightforward way of understanding is actually closest to the truth.

"The so-called rentier class are those I just mentioned who only enjoy rights but don't fulfill obligations. Uncle Wang, think about it, who created the wealth of our Great Zhou?"

Without hesitation, Wang Tienan replied, "Naturally, it's all the people under heaven. Farmers cultivate the land, workers labor, and merchants trade, and that's how this prosperous age came about."

"Well said. So, who is spending all this wealth?"

"This..." Wang Tienan hesitated.

Lin Yi said it for him: "It's being consumed by those who don't produce anything but occupy the vast majority of society's resources!"

"That is, the royal relatives, officials, and wealthy merchants we just mentioned. Take the royal relatives for example. They are born with royal blood, and they can be enfeoffed as kings and marquises without doing anything, possessing fiefdoms and enjoying the court's salary. Their only value is to consume the country's wealth and breed a bunch of more parasites."

"As for officials like Luo Hongtu and Liu Wentao, they studied diligently for years to pass the imperial examinations and should have been pillars of the country and the people. But once they held power, their minds became restless, and they began to use their power to embezzle, break the law, form cliques, and plunder the people's wealth, trying their best to turn the country's money into their own."

"And then there are those wealthy merchants who monopolize essential industries like salt, iron, tea, and silk. They collude with officials, hoard goods, manipulate prices, and make a fortune. But how much tax do they pay? How much of their profits are given back to society? No! They just hide their money in cellars, letting the silver rot, or they use it to buy more land, causing more people to be displaced."

Lin Yi picked up his teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then continued, "Royal relatives, officials, and wealthy merchants—these three constitute a massive rentier class. They are like vines clinging to the great tree of the Great Zhou, frantically absorbing nutrients without ever contributing anything to the tree's growth. Their numbers may be small, but they control seventy percent, or even eighty percent, of the nation's wealth!"

"And the result? All the wealth that the people worked so hard to create was sucked away by them. The people became poorer and poorer, while they became richer and richer. When the country wanted to do something, like disaster relief or fighting a war, it found that there was no money in the national treasury at all, because all the money was in their hands! The people had no money, the country had no money, all the money was concentrated in the hands of a few people, and it didn't even circulate, it became dead money. How could such a country not be doomed?"

"So, Uncle Wang, do you understand now? Land annexation and peasant uprisings are just complications caused by this class sucking the lifeblood of its host to death. The real root of the problem is them!"

Wang Tienan was stunned. He had never thought about the problem this way before, and at this moment, it was like a sudden enlightenment.

I see……

He had always thought it was a problem with the land, a problem with human greed. Now he realized it was a structural problem!

It is the ruthless exploitation of one class by another!

"Damn it, big brother..." Fatty Wang interrupted after hearing the gist of it.

Lin Yi frowned. "What are you going to do to me?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant. I meant, 'So these bastards really deserve to die?' Brother, give me two thousand soldiers, and I'll go slaughter them right now!"

Wang Tienan ignored his son's shouts, still immersed in the shock he had just experienced.

He finally understood why Lin Yi dared to say that money was not a problem.

Because in Lin Yi's eyes, the imperial relatives, civil and military officials, wealthy merchants and tycoons in the capital city were not people, but walking money bags!

What Lin Yi had to do was open these bags and take back the money that rightfully belonged to the country!

"Your Highness..." Wang Tienan's voice trembled, "You mean, we should rob all their money?"

He used the word "rob".

Because he simply couldn't think of a milder word to describe this behavior.

Lin Yi chuckled: "Hehehe, Uncle Wang, you need to be more precise with your words. This isn't called robbery, it's called acting on behalf of Heaven!"