The Empress came ashore and beheaded the meritorious officials, forcing me to wear the yellow robe

Chapter 171 Li Jize’s extortionate expropriation

This……

This question is a bit difficult for Ruan Daying!

Is he going to launch another coup to help the empress return to this position?

Then wasn't the previous act of supporting Zheng Wu Sabi?

Even if Ruan Da Ying had such thoughts, would others have the same thoughts? Would others also recognize this "female emperor"?

"This……"

Ruan Daying frowned and fell silent.

The Empress was a little anxious. "The people of the north are suffering, and the south is in constant conflict. If we hesitate any longer, what will become of the empire? When will peace be achieved?"

I'm not doing this for myself! I'm doing this to stabilize the country and to free the people from the suffering of war.

If they are allowed to continue like this, the entire Chinese land will probably enter the Warring States Period again.

Upon hearing this, Ruan Daying gritted his teeth and made the decision: "If you want to restore your position, you still need Gao Pan!"

If you want to become emperor again, you must get the support of General Gao Pan! Political power comes from the barrel of a gun.

The current southern court is entirely supported by this general.

As long as he is willing to lead troops to help the empress restore her throne, the matter will be settled. No matter whether other ministers are willing or not, the sword will definitely make them surrender.

Empress: "..."

This is a difficult situation! How can she convince this General Gao?

Especially since this guy was a bandit before!

……

Qingzhou.

In the Langya area, the troops of both sides were still facing each other, but in the rear...

Li Jize has already started a vigorous campaign to "fight the local tyrants"!

The battle was going on in the front, and he was doing this in the back? Isn't he afraid of repeating Li Zhenbei's mistakes?

What if there is internal chaos and the barbarians attack from both sides, won’t we be killed without a burial place?

There was really no need to worry. On the one hand, the gentry and local tyrants here had been robbed once since Li Zhenbei came. On the other hand, after the barbarians came, these guys surrendered again.

So these two points are enough for Li Jize to deal with them once, one is aiding the enemy and the other is surrendering.

Secondly, and most importantly...

Are there more gentry or more common people?

If the gentry could accomplish something, how could the empress be defeated by Li Zhenbei's chaotic army and directly enter the royal capital?

If the farmers could accomplish something, why couldn't Li Zhenbei hold on?

This is also a fundamental difference!

What is the difference?

Since ancient times, rebellions in every dynasty, no matter how vigorous the popular uprisings were, would eventually change in nature.

They rebelled not because they really wanted to, nor because the "peasant" class was oppressed. They rebelled because they could not afford to eat. They were going to die anyway, so why not rebel?

Secondly, even if the rebellion is finally successful, will anyone really feel sorry for their predecessors and work for the welfare of the people?

It's nothing more than people with the surname Li rebelling against the landlord class with the surname Yang, and then becoming the new landlord class themselves, and then letting people with the surname Zhu rebel later, and so on and so forth!

Ordinary people are still people, and those who should be exploited will still be exploited.

The reason why the country was stable in the early period of its founding but could not escape the crisis of empire collapse three hundred years later was due to population factors.

Three hundred years was a period of population explosion and serious land annexation in the dynasty. The common people could not survive and were bound to fall into war.

What is the nature of war?

It's about plundering survival resources!

Whether the war is internal or external, he can temporarily solve the problems of land annexation and population explosion.

Because war means death! When more people die, the population naturally decreases, and the problem of land annexation disappears.

This cycle repeats itself over and over again, with dynasties changing.

Li Jize, coming from a later era, naturally understood the power of the masses and the vast ocean of people's war.

You must first treat the people as human beings, then they will be willing to love you. If you treat them as objects of oppression, then what does it matter to them whether someone with the surname Zheng, the surname Li, or a barbarian becomes emperor?

But it’s different now!

Li Jize told them clearly that supporting me, Li Jize, and supporting the Qin army has something to do with you!

I divided the land and recruited the soldiers!

You poor kids from ordinary farming families, just tell me about your family’s life in the past. Have you been allocated land now?

You got your share, didn't you? But now the barbarians and those nobles are coming back to take your land! Are you going to stop them?

I guess these people would risk their lives even without Li Jize giving any orders!

They just got the land, and they've only had a few days of good life? These guys want to come back?

There are no doors!

Okay, after giving them benefits, these “poor kids” will have to educate them and give them ideological lessons.

How did Li Jize teach them back then?

The upward path has been blocked. This time, I, Li Jize, will do three things...

Fair! Fair! It's damn fair!

The land is shared by everyone, the credit is there, everyone can take it, it just depends on whether you can get it.

Li Jize's fairness is the real "Great Harmony of the World"! It is not something that only exists in Li Zhenbei's propaganda.

and so……

What Li Jize did in Qingzhou set a precedent unprecedented in the world!

How should history books record him?

Originally the King of Qin, the most noble of the Qi Dynasty, he turned his butcher knife against his own kind! Yet he sympathized with the suffering common people.

You must know that in ancient times, the so-called "people" referred to the gentry class, not the poor common people.

But if you say he is the same as a bandit like Li Zhenbei, then he is different!

Because Li Jize wants to "collect taxes"!

Yes, he still wanted to do the same thing as the gentry class, the only difference was that the amount of tax was determined by Li Jize alone! It was fixed, and there could be no over-taxation or omission, and land could not be bought or sold.

The biggest landlord was Li Jize. The land cultivated by the people under his rule was rented out by him.

Moreover, Li Jize is more ruthless than any other dynasty!

The rules he made...

You may be able to escape punishment for breaking the law, but tax evasion is a dead end!

Li Jize formed a new "armed force" called the "Tax Army"!

Under his rule, not only did the people have to pay agricultural taxes, but the "commercial taxes" that the Great Qi did not levy were also strictly collected by Li Jize.

Moreover, it is a very harsh "one in ten" tax! The agricultural tax is "one in thirty"!

Damn, by doing this, the people got land and reduced taxes, so naturally everyone applauded.

But the businessmen won’t accept it!

Li Jize! I'm Tian Wenjing!

Who do you think you are?

Back then, the Great Qi Dynasty didn't even levy commercial taxes, and you, the King of Qin, dared to collect them? Why should I pay taxes to you? Who do you think you are?

As a result, Li Jize didn't waste any words. The existence of the tax army is to "collect taxes by force!"