Chapter 39 Li Qing: Brother Li, shall we discuss something sensitive?

Chapter 39. Li Qing: Brother Li, Shall We Discuss Something Sensitive?

Having been sold on Li Qing’s vision, the officials of the Tang Dynasty understood the importance of developing technology and collectively pledged their full support. Wei Zheng finally set his last lingering worries to rest; he had initially feared that Li Shimin might be led down the path of immortality by the "beguilement" of an immortal, but he never expected him to embark on a path of strengthening the nation through science and technology.

"This is the true nature of an immortal..." Wei Zheng’s eyes welled up with moisture. By comparison, those charlatans who did nothing but wag their tongues and concoct useless elixirs truly deserved to be held underwater until they drowned.

In the end, Li Qing spent nearly ten thousand "emotional value" points with a heavy heart to purchase textbooks, blueprints, and a series of basic materials suitable for the Tang Dynasty. In short... he wouldn't go so far as to say he regretted it, but it certainly stung. His dream of a big mansion was drifting further and further away. Just thinking about it made his heart ache—it hurt, it really hurt. *No, I need to find a way to make it back. Maybe I should find a way to spike Brother Li’s blood pressure somewhere else?*

After the officials departed, Li Shimin’s emotions remained unsettled. He sat on his dragon bed, staring toward the doorway with a profound gaze.

"What are you thinking about, Brother Li?" Li Qing reached out and waved a hand in front of him.

Li Shimin snapped back to reality and said with a smile, "I was thinking that if our Great Tang possessed such technology, then peace across the four seas and the well-being of all people would no longer be a difficult goal to achieve!"

"Let’s take it one step at a time." Li Qing pulled out two cans of iced cola and handed one to Li Shimin. "Since it’s just the two of us now, shall we discuss something sensitive?"

"Sensitive?" Li Shimin paused for a moment before flashing a grin that every man understands. "Don’t tell me you’re not satisfied with just Shangguan Wan’er? It’s fine, I can pick out a few more beauties for you."

"What are you talking about, Brother Li?" Li Qing blushed and waved his hand. "I just want to talk to you about the reasons for the fall of the Tang Dynasty."

"Please, brother, enlighten me." Li Shimin straightened his posture and assumed a serious expression upon hearing this.

"The root cause of the fall of the Tang Dynasty actually stems from a few fundamental factors," Li Qing said, cutting straight to the point. "These include, but are not limited to, land annexation, population explosions, institutional loopholes, and administrative corruption. These are the primary reasons for the decay of the Equal-Field System. And the collapse of the Equal-Field System, combined with fiscal pressure, ultimately led to the collapse of the Fubing System."

The Fubing system was a military structure born during the Northern and Southern Dynasties that had been in use through the Tang Dynasty. To discuss the Fubing system, one inevitably had to address the Equal-Field system and the Zuyongdiao tax system.

The so-called Equal-Field system, in layman’s terms, meant that the imperial court distributed ownerless land to small farmers based on the number of people in their households, with the state retaining ownership. Small farmers cultivated this state-owned land, paid taxes to the state, and performed certain labor and military services. After the land was cultivated for a certain number of years, or if the farmer died, the state would reclaim the land.

The Zuyongdiao system focused on the collection of grain, cloth, and labor service. It was based on the Equal-Field system and acted as a supplement to the low taxes of ancient times—though "low tax" didn't necessarily mean the taxes were low; rather, the court’s revenue was insufficient, so it was a system of taking from the needy to subsidize the wealthy. Anyone under the Equal-Field system, regardless of how much land they were allocated, had to pay taxes and perform labor service based on the number of people in their household.

Taking the Tang Dynasty as an example, the Fubing system established military garrisons of varying sizes across the country. These garrisons recruited locals; in peacetime, they were farmers who underwent military training during the off-season. In wartime, they became soldiers, but they had to provide their own weapons and equipment.

The cunning aspect of the Fubing system was that the court didn't have to pay to maintain soldiers. It saved on military spending, ensured soldiers were available everywhere, and kept them as productive labor, making it a military system that combined soldiers and farmers. While this system wasn't necessarily superior to others, it was perfectly adapted to the Equal-Field system.

As Emperor of the Tang, Li Shimin naturally understood the relationship between the two. The decay of the Equal-Field system meant the basic guarantee for the Fubing system was destroyed; the soldiers lost their means of survival, and the system was destined to collapse.

"Do you know how miserable the Fubing soldiers became later on? They would go off to war, be gone for years or even decades, and when they finally returned home, they’d find their land gone, their house gone, and their wife remarried... If you force people to fight for the imperial court for free and provide their own equipment, only to receive an exemption from the Zuyongdiao tax in exchange, why on earth would they risk their lives for you?"

"That is why, later on, the common people would rather maim themselves than serve as Fubing soldiers."

Li Qing’s voice was soft, yet it left Li Shimin deep in thought.

"To improve this situation, your great-great-grandson, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, decided to replace the Fubing system with a volunteer military system. But he found it troublesome and was stingy—first, he refused to measure the land properly to collect taxes, and second, he didn't want to pay for the soldiers."

"So he chose what seemed like a clever solution: he wouldn't pay them, but he would give them policy. He handed the military to the regional military governors (Jiedushi), defined their missions, demarcated their territories, and even let them find their own ways to make money, granting them authority over taxes, land reclamation, and salt trade."

"In his view, using local tax revenue to support the garrisons saved the cost of transportation, and the governors only needed to raise the soldiers for him. What do you call this? This is what we call 'solving three problems at once.'"

"This created the famous 'Ten Jiedushi of the Tianbao Era.' And as for the disastrous consequences of creating a monster that held military, political, and financial power, I don't need to tell you—I’m sure you know, Brother Li."

Li Shimin frowned. Wasn't such a monster essentially the same as the warlords who fought during the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty? The only difference was that these governors nominally followed the court’s orders. If the court’s control was strong, it was fine, but if it lost control, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Admittedly, in the early days of the Jiedushi, the volunteer military system was an advanced approach that greatly improved the quality of troops and injected powerful combat strength into the Tang Empire. But the consequences were equally obvious. As the imperial treasury grew tighter and the garrisons spread across the country, by the time Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and the major governors had exhausted all the Shence Army, the Tang Empire finally moved toward destruction."

"And the root cause of all this was the ever-worsening land annexation," Li Qing sighed. "The problem isn't entirely on Emperor Xuanzong. You could say that if it weren't for that 'brilliant' idea he had on a whim, your Tang Dynasty might not have lasted for two hundred years; it might have been buried in the dust of history after some peasant uprising."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin reached out and pressed his hands onto Li Qing’s wrists, his eyes burning with fire.

"Brother! Since you can identify the crux of the matter, you must have a way to teach me! Please, I beg you, do not hold back—save my Great Tang!"