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Chapter 21 Land Annexation
  Liu Bang: My Han Dynasty has just been established, so there is no need to worry. The land annexation can only be solved by future generations.

Wang Mang: It seems that future generations recognize my New Deal very much, but it is true that the resistance to land reform is too great, so is it the failure of the New Deal that led to the demise of my new dynasty?

Li Shimin: Land annexation will indeed endanger the stability of the country, but it is difficult to solve the land annexation problem. Once the land issue is touched, there will inevitably be strong resistance, and my Datang will also fall into chaos.

Chongzhen: Land annexation indeed accounts for a large part of the reason why the Ming Dynasty has reached its present state, but it is extremely difficult to change the land issue. I am afraid that all the ministers will block it if I mention this issue.

[So why can land annexation never be eliminated in ancient Chinese history? In what way does it exist? 】

[In layman’s terms, land annexation means landlords use various means to annex farmers’ land, turning farmers into landless proletarians. After these homeless people lost their land, they either relied on the landlords as tenant farmers and worked for the landlords, or they became homeless and became a destabilizing factor for the dynasty. 】

[Although there are many ways to annex land, the most important way is to use economic means to annex. Some people may ask, how could farmers be so stupid as to sell all their land to landlords? After all, money is dead but land is alive? 】

[Land can continuously generate wealth. Landlords purchase land at market prices. How much does it cost? Yes, in good times, land annexation tends not to happen on a large scale. 】

[But it will be different once a natural disaster occurs. Once a natural disaster strikes, because the landlord has a large family and a large business, although the food he produces is reduced, there is no problem in feeding his family. Even if it's not enough, you can still buy food from unaffected areas. As ordinary farmers have less land and less money, they will quickly fall into starvation once their harvest is not good. 】

[Then farmers facing difficulties have only two choices to survive. One is to become refugees and go to other provinces to beg for a living. The second is to borrow money and grain from landlords. Any farmer with normal thinking would choose the latter. 】

[But borrowing money is never without cost, and the interest rates for private lending in China have been quite high throughout the ages. According to Wang Anshi's records, the loan interest rate during the Song Dynasty reached 70%. According to today's national regulations, an annual interest rate exceeding 36% is considered usury, which shows how terrible usury was in ancient times. 】

[Although interest rates are frighteningly high, farmers often have to swallow this bitter pill in order to alleviate their urgent needs. After borrowing grain and money, farmers may be able to survive the disaster years without starving to death. 】

[But soon the landlord's debt collectors will come to collect debts, and the farmers who have just survived the disaster years are often penniless and impoverished. At this time, farmers had no other choice but to mortgage their land to landlords. If the situation were worse, the farmers themselves would sell themselves out and become tenant farmers and wage earners of the landlords. 】

[Landlords can make a fortune after the disaster by making a little investment during the disaster years, while the subsistence farmers who own their own fields are completely reduced to proletarians dependent on the landlords. 】

[But why has such a bad policy not been improved for so long? According to common sense, rulers should also restrain themselves in order to protect themselves. But the fact is that in the past dynasties, far-sighted people have carried out relevant reforms to address the issue of land annexation. However, due to the obstruction of the government, gentry and landlord class, these reforms have failed and failed. 】

"In fact, it has nothing to do with land. The gentry class at that time was too conservative and only knew about land. They would monopolize all means of production and accumulate wealth in their own hands. Look, they have been doing this."

"Tax system issues, so property taxes and direct taxes must be levied"

"Direct taxes directly intensify conflicts and are impossible to implement. When they are actually implemented, it is already the end of the dynasty, and being forced to use them will only accelerate its demise."

"The problem of land annexation is precisely caused by the premature disintegration of the feudal system. In true feudalism, there is no problem of land annexation."

"Many politicians in history wanted to change the phenomenon of land annexation and introduced a series of policies, but unfortunately they all failed."

"Land annexation is just an appearance, the truth is the unchecked expansion of interests of the gentry class"

"Although it is called land annexation, it is only because land is the most important means of production in ancient times. To be precise, it should be called annexation of means of production." 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　∣　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　int It is because land was the most important means of production in ancient times. many"

"Ancient rulers must rely on the gentry group if they want to maintain their rule, and for this they need to provide benefits. However, human desires are endless, and more and more social wealth is plundered, until the society cannot be maintained and completely collapses."

Many landless people feel the same way, and the posterity people on the sky screen fully express their feelings.

When the weather was good, the grain they grew after paying taxes was just enough to feed the family.

But once the weather is bad and the grain harvest fails, they have no choice but to borrow grain and money from the landlords in the village.

If you can't repay the debt, you can only give your family's land to the landlord to pay off the debt.

Many landowners are very dissatisfied with the denigration of them by later generations, and feel that they are deliberately tarnishing their image.

Their land was bought with real money, not stolen.

Obviously the farmers sold them to them voluntarily, how can they say they were forced?

Besides, if they hadn't helped out during the disaster years and lent farmers food and money, those farmers would have died of hunger long ago.

Speaking of which, they are still the saviors of those victims.

Li Shimin: The problem of land annexation is indeed difficult to solve. At least for now, Datang does not need to worry about it, but we must make plans in advance. Later generations praised Yongzheng's policy of dividing land into acres, but I don't know if I can explain it in detail. Learn from it.

Wang Anshi: Private lending interest rates are ridiculously high and do not give people a way to survive. Policies should be formulated to restrict them.

Yongzheng: Yes, even future generations know that my policy of sharing the land with the family is good, which means that my policy is no problem and can be firmly implemented.

Speaking of which, Yongzheng was still a little troubled. As soon as his policy of dividing children into acres was launched, he was opposed by many civil and military ministers, and even the royal family members were strongly opposed.

He was still a little hesitant at first, whether to continue to implement the idea of ​​dividing people into acres in order to calm down the disputes in the court.

But now it seems that it is no longer necessary.

Even later generations recognize his idea of ​​sharing the land with the family, which means that there is no problem with his policy.

Presumably those ministers also saw what later generations said, and knew that it was completely feasible to spread the land from one person to another, so the resistance would be much smaller, and they would no longer firmly oppose it.

(End of this chapter)