The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Chapter 20 The reasons for the demise of the dynasty

【What is the reason for this? 】

[To be honest, although what Hegel said is too extreme, there is a vague pattern in the history of ancient China. 】

[The decline of Chinese dynasties cannot escape four phenomena: land annexation leads to inequality between rich and poor, climate change leads to reduced agricultural production, foreign invasion leads to the collapse of rule, and corruption of the privileged class leads to administrative inefficiency. 】

[These four phenomena complement each other, just like the lingering nightmare of the dynasty. No matter how many reformers worked hard, they could not escape death caused by the same cause. 】

"The core reason for the demise of a dynasty is land annexation"

"The emperor's ability is not as good as the previous generation, and decline is inevitable"

"If wealth is excessively concentrated, it will eventually be overthrown and rebuilt. Wealth is not necessarily money, it can also be land, which is necessary for survival."

"Climate change is only the trigger, the irreconcilable contradiction between the landlord class and the peasant class is the fundamental cause"

"Agriculture is the foundation and lifeblood of a country"

"Isn't Confucian Culture the Fundamental Cause? 》

"The most important thing should be that land is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. In a farming society, land is the most important resource."

"Determined by Confucian Culture"

"Understanding history, analyzing history, and avoiding incorrect things from happening again through experience is the meaning of learning history."

Ying Zheng: These four phenomena have not yet appeared in my Great Qin. However, we can formulate some policies in advance to prevent them, so as not to fall into the same trap.

Liu Che: Are future generations so malicious toward Confucianism? But Confucianism is really useful! It can be used to stabilize the situation and people's hearts.

Li Shimin: I don’t know if my demise of the Tang Dynasty was caused by these four reasons.

Zhao Gou: The Northern Song Dynasty was indeed wiped out by foreigners, and it seems that my Southern Song Dynasty was eventually replaced by the Yuan Dynasty. But this matter is not easy to solve, and I can't defeat those golden men. What can I do? Anyway, there is still a long time before the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, so there is no need to worry about it. Even if you worry about it, it is a matter for future generations to worry about.

Confucian scholar: What's going on in the future generations? How much do they dislike us Confucians? How many times have we scolded them? Isn't it thanks to us Confucians that each dynasty can last for one or two hundred years? Without the help of us Confucians, how could the world be stable?

Chongzhen: Hey! My Ming Dynasty has all four phenomena of the demise of a dynasty. I don’t know what to do about this, and I don’t know if future generations will have any solutions.

The landlord class of each dynasty: What does the demise of the dynasty have to do with us? It is not our fault. It is obviously the emperor who lost his country because of his stupidity, and it has nothing to do with us.

[Among these four major cyclical rates, the most core is land annexation. 】

【Land annexation has led to the desolation of the rich's fields, leaving the poor with no place to stay, and the peasants have no choice but to rebel if they have no food to eat. The Yellow Turban Uprising in the late Han Dynasty, the Huangchao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty, the Fangla Uprising in the late Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang in the late Yuan Dynasty, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Taiping Rebellion in the late Qing Dynasty. 】

Cao Cao: Without the Yellow Turban Uprising, where would I have the power I have today?

Common people in the late Eastern Han Dynasty: Later generations are right. We don’t want to rebel, but there is no food. If we don’t rebel, we can only wait for death. We have no choice.

Li Shimin: Was it Huang Chao who overthrew the Tang Dynasty? I thought that I overthrew the Sui Dynasty and established the Tang Dynasty. I never thought that one day my Tang Dynasty would be overthrown.

Huang Chao, who had not yet begun to rebel, suddenly fell into deep thought when he saw that he was the gravedigger of the Tang Dynasty. Although he had long been dissatisfied with the court, he had no thoughts of rebellion.

Now it seems that we can start preparing for action.

Since everyone in the later generations knows his name, it must be that the peasant uprising he led was successful and successfully overthrew the Tang Dynasty.

Song Huizong Zhao Ji: Fang La? The name feels a bit familiar.

Cai Jing: Your Majesty, he is the leader of the rebellion reported some time ago.

Fang La: I didn’t expect that I would also leave my name in history. It’s really good. I remember that the Northern Song Dynasty was followed by the Southern Song Dynasty. The uprising should have failed, so it was still a matter of rebellion. Forget it, let’s not think about these things for now. It is more important to escape quickly. The emperor is probably going to arrest me now.

Kublai Khan: The Great Yuan that I established was overthrown by Zhu Yuanzhang!

Zhu Yuanzhang: The analysis of later generations is very reasonable. If it were not for the land annexation, our family would not be able to survive, and we would not think of rebellion.

Chongzhen: Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong. Since their names can be known to future generations, I think these two people must have made a lot of noise. If they were found and executed now, I wonder if the current situation would be better.

Li Zicheng: The good news is that I am famous. The bad news is that the emperor will definitely not let me go. It should be too late to escape now.

Zhang Xianzhong: I never thought that one day I would be able to leave my name in history books. Even if I die, it will be worth it, and my life will not be in vain.

Qianlong: What is this Tianping Heavenly Kingdom? Why does it sound like a foreign thing?

[Every dynasty will face land annexation in the later stages, which cannot solve the problem of farmers having no land to farm. Because the government's finances depend on farmers' taxes, if the central government loses its tax sources, there will be financial problems, which will lead to a decline in governance, and the phenomenon of warlord separatism and foreign invasions will also appear one after another. 】

[Both the Tang and Ming dynasties were destroyed by the triple blow of peasant uprisings, warlord separatism, and foreign invasions. After the peasants gathered together to overthrow the rule and establish a new dynasty, they entered a new cycle of reincarnation, with land annexation, peasant uprisings, and the establishment of a new dynasty. 】

[Because the war wiped out a large number of people and left a lot of wasteland, the new dynasty encouraged farmers and workers to cultivate themselves and make the economy prosperous. Finally, there was land annexation, and peasant uprisings continued in cycles. Although the founders of each dynasty were able to combat land annexation and maintain the rights and interests of farmers in the early stages, over time, with the decline of political power and the formation of a new generation of official and business class, the previous reincarnations It will happen again. 】

"Some farmers are forced to go bankrupt and sell their land, rather than voluntarily going bankrupt in order to work"

"The essence of land annexation is wealth annexation. This problem seems to never be solved."

"Land annexation is the deadlock of the feudal dynasty and can never be untied"

"Many knowledgeable people are also aware of the land issue, but they want to reform but are unable to start, and in the end they can only end in failure."

"It was the Ming Dynasty that was miserable. It encountered all kinds of natural and man-made disasters, but in the end the Qing Dynasty took over."

"Balance is the foundation of the existence of all things. If the balance is broken, it must be rebuilt."

"The land is divided equally, and the land is leased. Private sales are not allowed, effectively preventing mergers. Only by preventing abject poverty from happening and preventing wealth from lasting forever can society develop harmoniously."

"Wang Mang abolished private ownership of land and implemented state ownership of land. Private individuals were not allowed to buy or sell the land. Although this policy was good, the resistance to reform was too great and it ultimately failed."

(End of this chapter)