sovbooks Chapter 54 A Dynasty Destined to Perish
Chapter 54 A Dynasty Destined to Perish
Li Zili was stunned.
He didn't answer immediately; his brow furrowed slightly, as if he were thinking.
After a moment, he said in a low voice.
"Public fields... I've heard that each county has official lands, nominally belonging to the government, but in reality... they should also be in the hands of the imperial court, right?"
His voice lowered as he said this.
"Yes, you're right, the official land is indeed in the hands of the imperial court."
Li Sheng gave him an affirmative answer, and then added.
"The imperial court sets the rent at 40% for government-owned land, but the local authorities often collect 50%. If a commoner cultivates one mu (unit of land area), half of the harvest is taken by the government, leaving hardly enough to eat. Moreover, public land is limited, and while many want to rent it, few can actually do so. Most landless people either become tenants of powerful families or... are forced to wander to other places."
He paused, picked up a bowl of water from the table, and slowly took a sip.
"There's another layer, which you might not understand."
Li Zili raised his head.
Li Sheng put down his bowl, his voice not loud, but deliberate and clear.
"The bulk of the imperial court's taxes is not land rent, but per capita. The poll tax, the household tax, and the annual tax are all collected per capita. As for land rent, it is one-thirtieth of the total tax, which has not changed for decades. If an acre of land yields three shi of grain, only one dou is handed over to the court. But a single person has to pay over a hundred coins a year."
He looked into Li Zili's eyes.
"Think about it, who benefits from this rule? Who harms it?"
Li Zili frowned, thought for a moment, and his expression gradually changed.
Li Sheng's insightful guidance, which transcended the limitations of a single city or region, allowed him to glimpse the underlying structure of the entire Han Dynasty.
"It is advantageous to...to those who own land. Those with more land pay less rent; those with less land pay the same poll tax. If there is little land and many people..."
"Then we won't be able to survive."
Li Sheng took over the conversation, speaking calmly.
"A family of five cultivates several dozen acres of land. In years with favorable weather, the harvest is decent; after deducting land tax and the corresponding poll tax, the remainder is barely enough to feed them. But in recent years, natural disasters have been relentless—locust plagues, floods, and epidemics, one after another. The harvest has halved, but the taxes haven't decreased. What can we do?"
He didn't wait for Li Zili's reply and continued speaking on his own.
"There are two paths. Either sell the land or seek refuge with a powerful family. If you sell the land, you become a vagrant. If you seek refuge with a powerful family, you register the land under their name, become a tenant farmer, and pay them 50% or 60% rent. In the end, it's more profitable than farming the land yourself and paying taxes."
Li Zili's fingers trembled slightly.
He understood.
The imperial court couldn't collect taxes from the powerful clans because they had influence and could underreport population. The court could only collect more from ordinary people. Unable to bear the burden, the people had no choice but to surrender their land to the powerful clans, becoming tenant farmers themselves. The less land there was, the heavier the taxes; the heavier the taxes, the more people had to rely on the powerful clans.
This is a dead end.
The more taxes are levied, the harder it becomes for the people to survive. The harder it becomes for the people to survive, the more powerful the wealthy become. The more powerful the wealthy become, the less tax the court can collect. So taxes are increased again, further inciting rebellions among the people, and further enriching the wealthy...
"So... even if it's fake public land, it's useless?"
Li Zili's voice was somewhat hoarse.
Li Sheng glanced at him and sighed.
"Giving land to the public would be useful; at least it could save some people. But these past few years, the weather has been uncooperative, and the imperial tax collectors are relentlessly pressuring us, pushing us to the brink of despair!"
He stood up and walked to the window.
Outside the window, the sun was blazing.
This year... is not a good time either. Once the severe drought hits in June or July, the Yellow Turban Rebellion will likely intensify!
However... the Han Dynasty was so "powerful" that those rebellious people could only end up benefiting those warlords and warlords!
"The Eastern Han Dynasty was destined to perish!"
Li Sheng made the following conclusion in his mind.
Of course, Li Sheng knew that some people might ask, "Don't the imperial court and the emperor try to save themselves?"
The answer is: I tried, and I failed.
In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu once tried to implement a land tax of "one-tenth" (10%), but it was strongly resisted by powerful clans and was quickly restored to one-thirtieth.
During the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han, an attempt was made to levy taxes in three categories based on the fertility of the land (essentially a disguised form of taxation), but this was still thwarted.
In the eighth year of the Yanxi reign of Emperor Huan of Han, an attempt was made to levy a monetary tax of ten coins per mu (which, when converted, amounted to an additional burden of about 3-5%), but this still proved difficult to implement.
This shows that these emperors were not foolish; they knew who to target.
But these are just minor skirmishes.
The fundamental reason lies in the fact that the central court of the Eastern Han Dynasty was itself a political alliance of powerful landowners. The families of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers in the court, as well as the local officials of prefectures and counties, all owned vast amounts of land.
Raising land taxes is tantamount to increasing taxes on one's own family. Therefore, they would rather let the poll tax crush small farmers than touch their own land.
After all, how could one possibly cut themselves?
Li Zili took a deep breath, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed.
"Self-reliance...I've learned a lot."
His voice trembled slightly, as if he saw the end of the Han Dynasty and also glimpsed a trace of Li Sheng's ambition.
According to the rumors he had heard these past few days, Li Sheng possessed supernatural abilities...
At this moment, Li Sheng walked back and patted him on the shoulder.
"Get up. These matters are for the officials in the court to handle. Our most important task now is to unite all the villages and towns together."
Li Zili straightened up and nodded vigorously.
"I will deliver that list to the county constable at a later time, don't worry."
Li Sheng turned around and sat back down in his seat.
"By the way, please plan the routes for each village according to their distance; I'll find them useful later."
"promise!"
After explaining everything, Li Sheng led Wang Fu and the six brothers to familiarize themselves with Tingyi. That night, Li Sheng stayed at Tingyi.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Li Sheng led Li Zili, Wang Fu, and six others out of Tingyi and headed south.
Li Sheng did not ride in the oxcart, but walked with the others.
After walking for most of an hour, the outline of Dongpingli came into view.
You can hear voices from afar.
It wasn't the usual crowing of roosters and barking of dogs, but rather a series of orderly shouts, accompanied by the dull thud of footsteps, one after another, like the beating of drums.
Li Zili paused slightly and listened for a moment.
Wang Fu also heard this and looked at Li Sheng with a puzzled expression.
"Chief, this is...?"
You'll know when you get there.
Li Sheng didn't say much and quickened his pace to walk forward.
After entering Dongpingli and passing a few earthen houses, the view suddenly opened up before us.
It was a vacant lot that had been converted from a threshing ground, and it was about two or three acres in size.
At this moment, more than a hundred young men are lined up in a square formation and are practicing under the sunlight.
Sweat streamed down his dark face.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the scarecrow in front of them, and they followed the commands to make synchronized movements.
"Hey, ha!"
He thrust with his spear and then withdrew it.
"Hey, ha!"
Repeat the thrusting motion, then withdraw.
Seeing that Li Zili and Wang Fu were stunned, Li Sheng smiled slightly.
This is also part of his plan.
Today is the day for selecting soldiers in Dongping Village.