Of course, it was a hidden danger that the land was in the hands of the old nobles of the six states who were dissatisfied with Qin.
After the Qin Dynasty unified the world in the later period, although it took action against the rich, it was relatively tolerant of the old nobles of the six kingdoms. In order to appease the old people of the six kingdoms, Qin Shihuang ordered the people to check their own fields, which was to recognize the old nobles' possession of the fields.
Qin Shi Huang still wanted to recuperate at that time, but he did not realize that the "people" he wanted to appease should not be the old nobles of the six kingdoms. The old nobles of the six kingdoms would not give up their former wealth and glory and "hatred of losing their country" just because of Qin Shi Huang's "charity".
This appeasement policy caused the price of grain to soar in Qin State and the people to suffer. It was the last straw that led Qin Shihuang to give up recuperation and re-implement the policy of exhausting the people.
This is not Qin Shihuang's fault, because in this era no one really regarded the common people as "people". Whether it was the Qin monarch and his ministers or the scholars of the world, the recuperation they wanted referred to the old scholars of the six countries, and had nothing to do with the common people who had really suffered heavy losses and were in urgent need of recuperation.
The Qin Shi Huang cub I raised should be able to see this, right? Zhu Xiang's eyes trembled slightly, and he lowered his eyes and smiled, "Of course it is a hidden danger. Mr. Zhang, have you ever heard of 'a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake'?"
Zhang Ruo said: "Although I have never heard of it, I can understand the meaning of this sentence."
He pondered for a while and said, "If the Chu scholars who do not obey Qin grow stronger and occupy most of the cultivated land, I am afraid that Qin will be hindered in collecting taxes and corvée. What's worse, when Qin and Chu go to war, they may cause chaos in the rear."
Zhu Xiang nodded: "Your Majesty and the officials in the court have also thought of this. The reason why the left prime minister came to Southern Qin this time is to try out the new land law."
Zhang Ruo knew that the left prime minister Lin Zhi was Zhu Xiang's best friend and the son of Lin Xiangru, the minister of state whom the first king Qin Zhaoxiang had been thinking about all his life.
The Right Prime Minister of Qin was nominally superior to the Left Prime Minister, and supervised and restrained the Left Prime Minister. Generally speaking, the Right Prime Minister was selected from experienced and prudent people, mostly from the royal family or people of high moral character; the Left Prime Minister was the one who actually did things, and was mostly a guest official. Now it was Xunzi who was in charge of the government, while Lin Zhi was the Left Prime Minister, running around the Qin State to do work.
"Is Prime Minister Lin in Wu County now?" Zhang Ruo asked, "I have heard of his name for a long time and I really want to meet him."
Zhu Xiang wanted to save some face for Lin Zhi, but when he thought about how Lin Zhi would not save face for himself after meeting Zhang Ruo, he said in advance: "Lin Li is very talented and has a generous and unrestrained personality. He is worth making friends with, but he is too unrestrained."
Seeing Zhang Ruo was puzzled, Zhu Xiang added in a low voice: "He studied Laozi and Zhuangzi, and was taught and enlightened by Zhuangzi himself."
Zhang Ruo took a breath, then realized that his reaction was too big, and said hurriedly: "Zhuangzi is a great sage, and Lin Xiang is a disciple of a famous family."
Zhu Xiang nodded: "He is indeed a distinguished disciple from a famous family. If it weren't for Master Lin being so worried about me and insisting on him taking care of me, he would have gone into seclusion in the mountains with his hair untied."
Zhang Ruo was slightly surprised, then smiled: "I roughly know what kind of personality he has. Maybe if I prepare more drinks for him, I can entertain him well."
Zhu Xiang sighed, "Mr. Zhang has already seen through Lin Li before they even met."
Zhang Ruo laughed.
When Zhu Xiang introduced Lin Zhi to Zhang Ruo, Lin Zhi was talking to Ying Xiaozheng about the experiment of the new land law. The Qin State's land distribution policy was very vague and was divided into three types. One was to divide the land according to "households"; one was to obtain part of the reclaimed land after reclamation; and the last one was the main way for the people to obtain land now, that is, to be awarded a title for military merit.
Due to frequent wars, the implementation of the household-based land distribution in Qin was rather vague, and was mostly led by local officials based on actual conditions. Commoners who came to Qin often obtained land by reclaiming wasteland.
"Military merit is not only hard to earn, but unless you die in battle, it can only be earned by one generation." Lin Zhi said, "Now that the world is not settled, this move can improve the morale of the Qin people in battle. But after the world is unified, it will be difficult for ordinary Qin people to gain military merit, and the disadvantages of granting land for military merit will become apparent."
The purpose of Qin's military merit land grant was to make Qin people voluntarily become consumables on the battlefield, so the land granted to soldiers of lower ranks could only be passed on to the next generation when they died in battle. If they died of natural causes, the land would be taken back.
Ying Xiaozheng said: "When the world is settled, we can count the land and make the land that the Qin people have occupied hereditary. The low-level military merit titles that the Qin people have obtained can also be reduced to hereditary."
This is what the Great Ying Zheng in the dream did. However, the Great Ying Zheng allowed the old people of the six countries to check their own land, while the Little Ying Zheng was limited to the Qin people and added a lowered hereditary title.
Lin Zhi said: "This is a good way to appease the Qin people."
Ying Xiaozheng asked: "Besides that, do we need to think about granting land for non-military merits now?"
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "When you take one step, you should consider at least ten steps, so as to avoid detours as much as possible. Zheng'er, let me test you, what do you need most after unifying the world?"
Ying Xiaozheng said with a straight face: "Rest and recuperate."
Lin Zhi said, "Yes, it is just four words, rest, recuperation, growth, and rest. In short, it means increasing the number of common people who can pay taxes and undertake corvée labor for the Qin State. At the age of fifteen, they become adults. This rest and recuperation must last at least fifteen years, so that the new generation of common people can replace the old common people of the six countries."
Lin Zhi spread out the Xintian Law he had written on the table, and Ying Xiaozheng put his furry head over it.
In order to keep his hair, Ying Xiaozheng shaved it off first. Now a layer of green stubble has just appeared on his round head.
Lin Zhi immediately rubbed it. It felt really good, just like rubbing a puppy.
Unfortunately, Ying Xiaozheng was not a puppy, but a wolf cub, and immediately showed his teeth and claws to Lin Zhi. Lin Zhi immediately withdrew his hand to avoid being scratched and bitten.
"When I become the King of Qin, if you dare to touch my head, Uncle Lin, I will punish you and send you to guard the border!" Ying Xiaozheng threatened.
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "When you became the King of Qin, your hair would have been tied up long ago. I won't touch it because it doesn't feel good."
Ying Xiaozheng now wants to send Lin Zhi to guard the border.
Lin Zhi always knew when to stop teasing people and would seamlessly switch to serious business mode.
"In order to increase the population, the Qin State ordered that if a family has more than one child, they must divide the family, otherwise they will be punished." Lin Zhi smiled and said, "It is better to drive them with benefits than to punish them. Now there are many wastelands in the world and few people. Why not divide the land according to the number of people?"
The new land law that Lin Zhi came up with was similar to the equal-field system from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the population of the country dropped sharply, and there were endless wastelands with no one to cultivate them. In order to cope with the situation of few people and much wasteland, the rulers implemented the equal-field system, which divided the land among women, slaves and even oxen, and divided the labor service according to the land.
Although this move gave the common people land, the corvee labor was also very heavy.
Lin Zhi's new land law did not divide land between slaves and oxen, but only between men and women. Women were given half the land of men, and their annual corvée service was also half the time of men.
In order to encourage women to have children, in addition to the feudal system in which pregnant women were exempted from corvee labor, women of both sexes were exempted from corvee labor for five years if they gave birth to another child, provided that they had one surviving son.
Lin Zhi originally wanted to give some rewards, but after calculating the rate of population growth after the empire was settled, he became stingy.
The corvée labor in Qin was heavy, and the labor service was often long-distance. The travel expenses alone could crush several common people. Exempting women from corvée labor for five years after giving birth was enough to encourage common people to have children.
The essence of the new field law is still to cut leeks, but let the leeks grow first. If the cost of raising leeks is too much, exceeding the value of the growth of leeks, this field law is a failure.
Lin Zhi’s calculations were very accurate.
"What about the old nobles of the six countries?" Ying Xiaozheng asked, "I don't want them to control the place."
Lin Zhi said: "If they obey Qin, we should verify their current land, move them to uncultivated areas, and give them enough wasteland. This is what Wu Qi did when he reformed the state of Chu. He can do this to the old nobles of Chu who have never made any mistakes. I think the non-Qin nobles who surrender to Qin will not have any objections."
Regardless of the grade of the land, all of them would be converted into wasteland, and they would be allowed to reclaim the wasteland with their slaves and retainers? Ying Xiaozheng's brows twitched.
Did Uncle Lin really study Laozi and Zhuangzi? Was he really not a descendant of the Legalists? Did Uncle Lin also have to tell him that he had obtained the scrolls of Wu Qi and Shang Yang, so he was a self-taught Legalist and a descendant of the Legalists
"Not bad." Ying Xiaozheng nodded, "Very good."
Lin Zhi said, "You need to find a good excuse, you can't just move directly. Leave this matter to the Confucian disciples."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "Mr. Xun will be angry."
Lin Zhi said helplessly: "Who told you to look for Xunzi? Aren't Li Si and Han Fei disciples of Confucianism?"
Ying Xiaozheng: “…”
Oh, the Confucian disciples that Uncle Lin mentioned are disciples of Confucianism.
"Okay." Ying Xiaozheng said, "What if the old nobles of the six countries do not obey Qin's rule?"
Lin Zhi gave Ying Xiaozheng a look that said "are you stupid?" and said, "Zheng'er, if you don't obey Qin, you are Qin's enemy and a criminal. You should do what you should do. Even if you want to grant amnesty to the whole world, you have to punish them first."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "Confiscate the family property and send them directly to the border?"
Lin Zhi said, "Look, the Great Walls of Qin, Zhao, and Yan are all on the same line. Shouldn't they be connected to prevent the Hu people from advancing southward?"
Ying Xiaozheng: “…” Although the Great Ying Zheng in the dream really built the Great Wall, it was strange to hear these words coming from Uncle Lin.
Lin Zhi said: "If you can't bear it, you can see that the land of Baiyue is so good, but it is full of weeds and wild trees. You can let them migrate to the land of Baiyue and help Baiyue return to the Central Plains."
Ying Xiaozheng: “… Yeah.”
Uncle Lin, aren't you afraid of being assassinated in the future for coming up with such an idea
Well, even if he didn't come up with this idea, it was estimated that the people around him would be inevitably assassinated.
"I'll find a good excuse." Ying Xiaozheng said, "Li Si and Han Fei have been neglecting to read the Confucian classics recently. They should review their lessons more."
Lin Zhi said: "Young people are fond of new things and dislike the old. They don't like to follow the teachings of their elders. They always think they are smarter and prefer to go against the norm. Little do they know that the sages are sages after all. Only after thoroughly studying the principles in the books of sages can they walk their own path."
Lin Zhi shook his head and sighed, looking heartbroken.
Ying Xiaozheng hesitated to speak.
He believed that if the sages mentioned by Uncle Lin heard these words, they might not be moved.
Ying Xiaozheng continued to read the Tian Law written by Lin Zhi, especially the parts that were not in the Tian Law now or in his dream.
For example, when a woman gets married, if she lives in the same village, her land will belong to her husband's family; if she marries someone from another place, her land can be rented out and will not belong to her husband's family. In either case, when a woman gets divorced, she can ask the government to take her land back.
Ying Xiaozheng said: "In order to avoid trouble, I am afraid that men and women will prefer to marry in their own village or neighboring villages."
Lin Zhi said: "It is to make them tend to their own village and reduce the trouble of officials in counting the population."
Ying Xiaozheng nodded and asked, "Will the now almost customary practice of widows inheriting land from military households be implemented? Even if they have no children, they can still inherit? I'm afraid this will cause some people to be disgusted."
Lin Zhi said: "The dead have no value, only the living can pay taxes and perform corvée labor for the Qin State. Military widows farm and serve, and they can also give birth to children, so they should be comforted. However, in order to make the soldiers feel at ease on the battlefield, it is only necessary to stipulate that if military widows have no children and want to inherit the land, they can only marry a son-in-law, and cannot leave the household registration of their ex-husband."
Ying Xiaozheng asked: "If I marry a son-in-law, can the children I give birth to inherit my ex-husband's land?"
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "Of course not. The land granted by a low-level military title can only be passed down to one generation at most, even if she dies in battle. If she has children with her ex-husband, then the children will inherit, so as to avoid having a new lover to abuse the children of her ex-husband; if not, after her death, this part of the land will be returned to the government. However, even if her children with her son-in-law cannot inherit the land, the income from the land while they are alive will be enough to make them popular."
Ying Xiaozheng asked: "Will this naturally lead to widows remarrying?"
Lin Zhi nodded.
Ying Xiaozheng was not as resistant to the idea of a widow remarrying and marrying a son-in-law as he was in his dream.
Ying Xiaozheng, who has completely given up on his biological mother, can look at this matter from the perspective of pure benefit.
Therefore, in the name of rewarding the soldiers' families, military widows were allowed to enjoy more land while they were alive. Even if they were not encouraged, it would become easier for them to find a husband and they would be inclined to remarry.
If they don't find a son-in-law, there won't be enough men in the family and they won't be able to keep so many fields.
"If a soldier dies in battle and still has parents, the parents also have a share of the land. To maintain human relations, the share that the parents should get can be given to the parents, so that the dead soldier can take care of the parents instead. If a woman does not marry again or finds a son-in-law, and is willing to take care of her parents, even if her parents have other children, the military widow should also get the share that she should have. Similarly, the land used to support the parents cannot be inherited by others. It will go directly to the government after the parents die."
Behind all of Lin Zhi's new land laws are naked interests, not pity for anyone.
His regulations would certainly not be accepted by the parents of soldiers who died in battle and had other children. But again, young and strong widows could pay more taxes, undertake more corvee labor, and give birth to more people.
However, all these laws must be packaged with tender warmth so as not to lower the morale of the soldiers fighting desperately on the battlefield.
All this can be said to be for the purpose of protecting the bloodline of the soldiers left at home.
If this is not done, women without children will be driven out of their homes, and the land will be given from their parents to their brothers. Then when soldiers go to the battlefield, in order to seize the property, their young children left at home may very likely meet with unexpected disasters.
You see, when you put it this way, doesn’t it sound very affectionate
After Lin Zhi gave Ying Xiaozheng some advice, Ying Xiaozheng's expression became a little numb.
He thought that Uncle Lin was still very suitable to be the prime minister, perhaps even more suitable than Li Si.
Li Si would only come directly. Seeing how powerful Uncle Lin's move was, it was really impossible to think of how to crack it.
"Let's try it in Wujun first." Ying Xiaozheng made the final decision, "Leave it to me."
Lin Zhi asked, "Really not in my name?"
Ying Xiaozheng said: "If I use Uncle Lin's name now, I am afraid that Uncle Lin will be assassinated before I succeed to the throne of Qin."
Lin Zhi laughed: "It doesn't matter, Xia Tong will protect me."
Ying Xiaozheng thought to himself, I only trust myself.
Even if it was his father, who was already close to him, Ying Xiaozheng would not trust him completely. People change, and his father's ability might not be enough to protect Uncle Lin.
He has only these elders around him. When he becomes the King of Qin, the people around him who love and care for him will also enjoy wealth and glory forever like himself.
"I have made up my mind." Ying Xiaozheng said, "I am the governor of Wu County, so it is natural for me to promote the Tian Law in Wu County."
"Since you said so, just go ahead and do it. If you have any trouble, I will come to help you." Lin Zhi also half-handedly let Ying Xiaozheng go, believing that this young boy who was about to grow his hair could do things that many adults could not do.
"I'll go to Chu to have a look." Lin Zhi said, "I look like a businessman, right?"
Ying Xiaozheng was helpless: "Uncle, you always say that my uncle runs around and likes to go into dangerous places. Aren't you the same? You are the prime minister of Qin. It is enough to have Lu Buwei to do business. Why do you have to go there in person?"
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "Some things can only be decided after seeing them with your own eyes. Don't worry, my martial arts are much stronger than Zhu Xiang's. Besides, there is also Lu Buwei."
Ying Xiaozheng sighed deeply and said, "Even if I don't want to, can I stop you? Alas, I can't issue an edict to order you not to go."
Lin Zhi joked, "So I want to do everything I want to do while you are still unable to issue an edict. Your uncle must think the same way."
Ying Xiaozheng touched his head and felt a little depressed.
Why am I growing so slowly
"Isn't my father coming? When he comes, I will tell him not to indulge you like my father did when he is the King of Qin. The imperial edicts must be issued." Ying Xiaozheng complained, "You guys should pay attention to your safety."
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "Okay, don't worry."
Why didn't Xia Tong move? Was he too weak, seasick, or carsick and collapsed on the road
"Xia Tong...what happened?" Zhu Xiang was the first to learn about Zichu in Qianzhong County.
He asked Li Erlang, who came to deliver the letter, in disbelief: "Xia Tong was seriously injured?!"
Li Erlang blinked and said, "Your Majesty said that the prince was seriously injured."
Zhu Xiang paused and said, "What does your Majesty say?"
Li Erlang nodded.
Zhu Xiang calmed down and asked, "Will Your Majesty allow me to take Zheng'er back to Xianyang immediately?"
Li Erlang said: "Your Majesty, let Changping Jun and Gongzi Zheng stay in Nanqin and do what they need to do."
Li Erlang delivered the order orally, so it was not very formal.
Precisely because it was not very formal, Zhu Xiang believed that what Li Erlang conveyed were the words spoken by Qin Wangzhu himself.
He breathed a sigh of relief, his legs a little weak, he held the back of the chair and sat down slowly: "Where are you from?"
Li Erlang said, "I came from Chengdu. Your Majesty's edict arrived in Chengdu first, and then I was asked to deliver it."
Zhu Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.
King Qin Zhu asked himself and Zheng'er to stay in Nanqin without any worries, and emphasized that "the king said that the prince was seriously injured", which means that Xia Tong is still alive and well.
However, the King of Qin would not joke about such a thing. Although Xia Tong was not injured, the assassination incident was definitely true.
even…
Zhu Xiang glanced at Zhang Ruo, and Zhang Ruo left with understanding.
Although he was the governor of Qianzhong County and a close and trusted minister of the King of Qin, there were some things he should avoid listening to.
"Xia Tong is injured? How seriously? Did he commit suicide?" Zhu Xiang said unhappily, "Xia Tong must be with Li Bing. What is he thinking? Why hasn't he come yet? Does he want to go to Ba County to help Wang Jian train his troops in advance? He can't train any soldiers!"
Li Erlang was so frightened by Zhu Xiang's series of scoldings that he dared not speak.
Zhu Xiang asked, "What did Xia Tong leave for me? Even if Xia Tong didn't dare to tell me, Li Bing must have something for you to tell me?"
Li Erlang said, "Father said, let the prince speak."
Zhu Xiang: “Ah?”
Li Erlang smiled bitterly: "Father really said that."
Because this matter was very important, Li Bing asked Li Erlang to make the trip in person and had Li Erlang memorize all the words without leaving any trace.
Zhu Xiang held his forehead and gritted his teeth, "Where is Prince Chu?! What did he say?"
Li Erlang smiled bitterly, "Prince, the prince didn't let me pass on anything."
Zhu Xiang was so angry that he laughed: "Good, very good."
Zhu Xiang slammed the table hard and asked, "Where is Xia Tong now?"
Li Erlang said: "The prince is seriously injured and is recovering in Chengdu."
Zhu Xiang asked, "When will he come to Nanqin?"
Li Erlang asked, "We have to keep it for another month or two?"
Zhu Xiang laughed a few more times, and Li Erlang's hair almost stood up.
"If he doesn't come to Nanqin, I will go to Chengdu to see him." Zhu Xiang gritted his teeth, "Let's see how badly he is injured. Do I need Zheng'er to wear mourning clothes and mourn for him now?"
"A-choo!" Zichu was wearing loose clothes and when he sneezed, the powder on his face fell down.
Li Bing asked, "You can pretend to be sick, but can you pretend to be really sick?"
Zichu rolled his eyes at Li Bing and said, "You are becoming more and more rude to me."
Li Bing said: "If Zhu Xiang were here, he would definitely say, 'Don't you reflect on yourself for causing this absurd situation?'"
Zichu looked at the sky.
Li Bing asked, "How long are you going to stay in Chengdu? Isn't it time to go to Nanqin? Zhu Xiang must be very worried. And you didn't even leave a message for Zhu Xiang. Aren't you afraid that Zhu Xiang will misunderstand you? He must be very worried about you!"
Li Bing really wanted to pack up Prince Zichu and send him to Zhu Xiang immediately, so that Zhu Xiang could watch this man who liked to commit suicide.
After Crown Prince Zichu arrived in Chengdu, he pretended to be seriously injured while he was gathering information in Shu County, but no one knew what he was gathering information for.
Li Bing didn't dare to ask at all.
When the King of Qin issued an edict saying that the prince was seriously injured, the cold sweat on Li Bing's back almost wet his clothes.
He knew that he was caught up in a terrible vortex of power struggle in the Qin State, and the prince in the middle of the vortex secretly left a letter and ran to Ba County, and did not return until more than a month later.
Li Bing fully understood how Zhu Xiang and Crown Prince Zichu became close friends.
You two can come together to hurt each other! Don't scare an honest man like me!
"I don't think I need to go." Zichu said, "The chill I felt just now must be Zhu Xiang's anger."
Li Bing: “Ah?”
Zichu said, "I mean, Zhu Xiang will probably be so angry with me that he will come to Chengdu to find me. So I will stay here so as not to miss him."
Li Bing: “Ah?!”
You look quite pleased with yourself, right?!
(End of this chapter)