Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Then, Li You said solemnly, "However, this matter must be done. As the saying goes, it is not scarcity that is a concern, but inequality. When most of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, and the court is powerless to balance it, chaos will be imminent."

"My intention in raising an army and establishing the Huang Chao Army was to make wealth more equitable, the world more just, the people free from exploitation, and the monopoly privileges of powerful families no longer continue."

"If everything we do makes the world worse, even if we succeed in rebellion, it will be short-lived. The angry people will rise up again, tear us to pieces, and nail us to the pillar of historical shame forever."

"What you say, my lord, is truly enlightening. I will write to my younger brother right away and ask him to distribute the land under my name equally among the landless peasants."

Li You was quite surprised to hear this.

I never expected Chao Yang to change so quickly, which shows how kind-hearted he is.

"I'm afraid your younger brother Chao Gang will feel sorry for the land and won't want to do this."

"Please rest assured, my lord, he will still listen to what I say. Besides, it's all my land that's being divided, not his. Why would he feel bad about it?"

……

On the Lantern Festival, Li You's bodyguard, Wang Sanwa, arrived at the manor with his relatives.

After spending so much time on the road, Li Youyi learned that Wang Sanwa had gone through a lot of trouble to rescue his older sister from the landlord's house, but he finally succeeded.

Li You also met Wang Sanwa's parents and chatted with them.

When they first raised an army in Qi, their family was allocated land, and their lives improved significantly.

Upon hearing that the young man before them was the King of Qi, the elderly couple were moved to tears.

"No, no, to be honest, you two are my benefactors."

King Qi told the two old men the truth about Wang Erwa acting as his double.

When the family learned that Erwa was dead, they all cried.

Li You saw this and felt very uncomfortable.

Finally, Wang Sanwa's father, Wang Bingsheng, said, "Stop crying, everyone! What kind of behavior is this? It's Erwa's good fortune to be able to work for the King. Aren't our Sanwa and Siwa still here? And Juanzi, wasn't she rescued thanks to the King? Alright, stop crying. If you cry any more, go outside!"

The crying stopped only after the head of the household spoke.

Li You didn't know what to say, so he changed the subject: "I heard that everyone in your village was allocated land. Were any of those landlords and rich households asked to take it back later?"

"Alas, some people can't even protect their own land; they're cheated out of it, what can they complain about? It's all fate!"

"Sanwa, is what your father said true?"

"My lord, I have asked some of the neighbors, and it is indeed true, and quite a few of them have been allocated land. Some of them were allocated riverine land, such good land, which is coveted by everyone, so it is not surprising that it has attracted attention."

The "river land" that Wang Sanwa mentioned refers to the relatively flat land on both sides of the river, which is convenient for irrigation and yields good harvests.

"Good! This is our opportunity this year! Brother Wang, your third son will be working for me. Don't worry, I will take good care of him. This estate also has a lot of land, so you can stay here and farm in peace. There are soldiers to protect you."

"That's for the best! This old man thanks Your Majesty!"

"Sigh, this is all I should do. Third Brother, show your family around and let them get acquainted with the place."

"promise!"

……

Chao Yang is quite an interesting fellow.

He not only wrote to his younger brother Chao Gang, dividing up the fields in their hometown, but also instilled the idea of ​​"equal land distribution" in his newlywed wife, Liu.

In the end, Liu was also persuaded.

She ran up to Li You, hoping to share her two thousand acres of land in Huangzhou with the people for cultivation.

Seeing the couple like this, Li You was both delighted and touched.

"Lady Chao is a woman of great virtue and a model in my army. Therefore, I will reward you and your husband with 20,000 strings of copper coins as compensation."

Madam Liu waved her hands repeatedly: "No need, no need. My family also has several wineries that can make money, which is enough for our needs. Twenty thousand strings of cash is a bit too much..."

Li Youdao said, "The winery is the winery, and my reward is the reward; they are not the same thing. If you think it's too much, then I'll give you eight thousand strings of cash. I will reward you eventually. Rewards and punishments are clearly defined in the army; that's the rule."

Seeing that the King of Qi was resolute, Lady Liu dared not refuse and accepted the reward of eight thousand strings of cash.

Lady Liu then said, "My lord, since I joined Huang Chao's army, I've been idle and have nothing to do. I would like to ask for your favor: could you move my brewing assistants and shop from Huangzhou here to brew and sell wine on this estate? Is that feasible?"

"Why not? This is a fantastic opportunity. You can manage the brewing, and Yin Shaokang and the others can handle the sales. What do you say?"

"Alright, I thank you, my lord."

"Yin Shaokang mentioned Gaochang wine to me a few days ago. I heard that the wine is very potent and has a lot of character. I'll have him write down the brewing recipe another day, and you can all try it out."

"Grapes can be used to make wine?"

"Sure, any fruit that can ferment can be used to make wine. Give it a try!"

"Alright, if the people of Gaochang in the Western Regions can brew it, then my master craftsman certainly can't stump it!"

Liu left in high spirits, but Li You felt something in his heart.

He then summoned his key leaders again and gave them instructions in person.

"Mr. and Mrs. Chao's actions are worth learning from. Uncle, do you have any land in Luoyang? Distribute it as well. Dou Jun, I don't care about your family's land, but your own land must also be distributed. From now on, everyone in Huang Chao's army must keep the word 'equal distribution' in mind, understand?"

Yin Hongzhi and Dou Jun exchanged a glance, and finally both bowed and agreed.

Li You nodded, a smile appearing on his face: "Very good. A few days ago, I was talking to Mr. Chao about a saying: 'It is not scarcity that I worry about, but inequality.' Later, I specifically looked it up, and it turns out that this saying comes from the Analects of Confucius, and was said by Confucius himself."

"What is the Analects? It is a classic of Confucianism, a famous text on governing the world."

"Those powerful and influential families all claim to be followers of Confucius and Mencius, and act in accordance with Confucian classics. Clearly, they are lying!"

"All talk of 'benevolence and righteousness,' and 'taking the well-being of all people as one's own responsibility,' is false. The actions of aristocratic families are all for the sake of their own family and clan."

"They understand the principle that it is not scarcity but inequality that is a cause for concern, but in practice they make the people suffer from scarcity while enriching their own families."

"This shows that what Confucius said was just a set of scriptures recited by the sons of noble families, and no one ever really put it into practice."

"Mr. Chao, you can use this example when you write articles refuting aristocratic families in the future."

"promise!"

"Our most important task this year is to make a breakthrough in Shandong. The key to breaking through is this: 'It's not scarcity that's worrisome, but inequality.'"

"Since these are the words of a sage, then they are the Way of Heaven, and even noble families must abide by them!"

"If any powerful families dare to block our path, then we'll give them four words: 'Acting on behalf of Heaven!'"

"Acting on behalf of Heaven?"

"Acting on behalf of Heaven!"

"well!"

"These four words are full of spirit!"

Wang Fangde, Yin Hongzhi, Yin Shaokang, Chao Yang, Dou Jun, and others all praised these four characters highly.

Li You chuckled inwardly: The Four Great Classical Novels are indeed impressive.

Mr. Shi Nai'an was truly a talented man.

"Excellent! With the entire Huang Chao army united as one, we are confident that we will defeat the enemy on our journey to Shandong!"