Fang Yun sat in the study of the Zuo Xiangge, dismissed everyone, and asked Dong Yueqian to guard the door and not allow anyone to enter.
Fang Yun held the official seal and waited slowly.
Three days ago, Fang Yun obtained information on Jing State's land resources from officials from the Ministry of Land and Water. Although there were still omissions and it was not comprehensive enough, it had already revealed the serious phenomenon of land annexation in Jing State.
In fact, not long after Shihong Hengtian returned, Fang Yun checked the documents of the Ministry of Households and not only discovered the problem of land annexation, but also found that Jingguo’s finances had also had problems since the last war against the barbarians.
If there were not monsters outside and the Holy Academy inside, and if the resources of Shengyuan Continent were not relatively abundant, the people would basically not starve to death. After that war, Jing Kingdom might have experienced a great famine or even an uprising due to the increase in taxes.
After Fang Yun sorted out the data and information, he convened a secret cabinet meeting, using conclusive evidence and rigorous reasoning to prove that Jing State's finances and land had reached a precarious level. If there was any major turmoil within five years, Jing State would inevitably encounter problems.
The Queen Mother was also present at that meeting.
Therefore, Fang Yun demanded reforms to the Ministry of Revenue, starting with reforms in the financial and land areas.
All the senior officials present knew the seriousness of the situation, so they fully supported Fang Yun, and even the Queen Mother did not object.
After that recollection, Cao De'an stated that the reform should start from the Ministry of Revenue, which led to the smooth formation of the Ministry of Soil and Water.
What convinced all the senior officials the most was that although Fang Yun appointed Cai He as the Minister of Water Resources and Soil, he still gave the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Water Resources and Soil to Cao De'an. He only carried out reforms from a macro perspective and did not encroach on the power of the Right Prime Minister's Cabinet. He let Cai He go only to ensure that the Ministry of Water Resources and Soil thoroughly implemented his plan.
However, at that meeting, Fang Yun did not reveal his overall plan.
Fang Yun was going to reveal the truth in the grand meeting of the three halls which was about to begin.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Fang Yun's official seal glowed slightly, and then the holy temple in the capital city emitted an invisible force that reached Fang Yun's study.
Afterwards, the ground under Fang Yun's feet began to churn and spread outward like waves. After it rolled over, the ground became the floor of the workshop.
The surrounding buildings collapsed, the ground changed, and finally the area around Fang Yun became the main hall of the Gong Temple.
The elders of the three halls, namely the Hall of Works, the Hall of Law and the Hall of Agriculture, were all seated in it.
Everyone was sitting on chairs, with Sandian and Fang Yun sitting on each side.
The new head of the Mozi family and the old man of the Gongdian, Mo Shang, said: "Since this is a major meeting of the three halls, let's forget the politeness and ask Fang Xusheng to speak frankly about the reason."
Fang Yun nodded, looked around the room, and said, "Three days ago, I sent the financial and land situation of Jing State to the Third Palace, along with my judgment. Do you think it makes sense?"
“Very insightful.”
“A fresh angle.”
“Although the deduction may not come true, the possibility is very high.”
Many great scholars expressed their opinions on behalf of their own palaces, and all of them had a positive attitude.
Fang Yun said: "The crisis of Jingguo is the crisis of the human race. The Holy Academy was established long ago. Why was there chaos during the Warring States Period, why did the Qin and Han dynasties change, and why did the two Han dynasties become corrupt? There are many internal factors, among which finance and land are two of the most important factors."
"Does Fang Xusheng have a plan to completely eradicate the financial and land risks?" asked Xu Shi, the elder of the Agriculture Palace.
Fang Yun smiled bitterly and said, "Not really."
Fang Yun read all the strange books in the world and used the power of great scholars to deduce, but still could not come up with any perfect solution.
Throughout history, every country has produced many talented people, but no one has ever been able to completely solve these two problems. For example, during the ancient Chinese period, there was an opposing and more powerful country, which was the only superpower in the world. It seemed to be excellent in all aspects and attracted talents from all over the world, but economic crises and financial problems still occurred.
The most outstanding economists, politicians and experts have been unable to find a real solution.
In other words, economic crisis is an inevitable product of human society evolving to a very high stage, and the solution can only be found in the future.
Everyone in later generations knows the causes and consequences of market failure, but no country has ever been able to truly solve it.
"Sage Fang Xu, do you have any temporary relief?" Xu Shi asked.
“Development, Progress and Expansion.”
After careful consideration, Fang Yun could only choose the only solution that was suitable for the Shengyuan Continent.
Only by continuous technological innovation and development can the human race cover up all contradictions, and only by continuous expansion can internal conflicts be reduced.
In a sense, every population explosion and every major change in human history is driven by technological progress.
For example, the transition from primitive hunting to planting, from mastering stone tools to mastering bronze tools, from mastering bronze tools to mastering iron tools, including subsequent changes in social forms, were all triggered by technological innovation.
Those ethnic groups that disappeared in the long river of history can be said to be the product of evolutionary failure, or they can be said to be the eliminated ones who did not master the most advanced technology or productivity.
"I am old and ignorant, please let Fang Xusheng explain in detail." Xu Shi said.
Fang Yun thought about it and organized his words in his mind.
"I have a question for you all. If the human race only plants on the ground, and plants all over the Shengyuan Continent and all the worlds, can they resist the demon world?"
The great scholars shook their heads slightly, and even the great scholar from the farming family did not speak out in opposition.
"Then this means that farming and producing food are relatively backward when facing the monsters. Note that it is not absolutely backward, because we need food to maintain the basic survival of the human race."
"Then let me ask again, if we can increase the output of food, will it help us fight against the monsters?"
The great scholars nodded slightly.
Fang Yun continued, "Growing food itself poses no threat to the monsters, but if there is an external force that increases food production, it will indirectly enhance the fight against the monsters. Then, we need to find this external force and let this force act on the battlefield. I won't beat around the bush. Currently, there are three aspects that can increase food production. One is more powerful scholars, the second is powerful institutions, and the third is farmers' new planting methods. In other words, it can be divided into two categories, the human race and new technologies."
"By analogy, we will find that if we want to defeat the monsters, we also need these two points, a stronger human race and new technology. If we must add a third point, it is abundant resources, including divine objects, ores, metals, and so on. After I came back from the Burial Valley, the divine objects used for war can almost meet the needs of the next few years, not to mention the endless resources in various ancient lands. So, we have to consider strengthening the first two points, a stronger human race and new technology."
"The more powerful human race can be further divided into scholars and ordinary people. It is difficult for us to control the growth of scholars, or the Holy Academy has been working hard to increase the number of scholars. I don't need to consider this, and it is not the topic of today, so I don't need to say more. So, how to make ordinary people stronger? I mean those scholars who cannot obtain literary positions."
None of the great scholars present answered. They could understand Fang Yun’s words, but they could not truly comprehend them at the moment.