Chapter 14: The Upper Beam Is Not Straight and the Lower Beam Is Crooked

Qi Xuansu wanted to say that he had the final say, but he felt that it was against the Taoist philosophy of equality, and he did not respect Zhang Yuelu. More importantly, he had no confidence, so he could only say: "They say that it is difficult for an upright official to deal with household affairs. How can there be anything like this?" Whoever has the final say is decided by everyone’s discussion.”

"I know you're a loser." Qiniang looked sideways at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu innocently said: "What does this have to do with having the seed or not?"

Qiniang said plausibly: "Other men, no matter whether they can make the decision in front of others, at least say that they can make the decision. You don't dare to say that you can make the decision in front of me. I don't care what you say in front of the Zhang family girl. I don’t dare to think that you are henpecked, right?”

Qi Xuansu asked back: "Qiniang, if you find a man now, who has the final say?"

Qiniang said matter-of-factly: "Of course I have the final say. This is a detailed analysis of the specific situation."

Qi Xuansu curled his lips: "This is a double standard."

Even when Qiniang was being unreasonable, she seemed to be reasonable: "I have double standards. What, are you not convinced?"

Qi Xuansu whispered: "No wonder you are alone."

"Tianyuan, what are you talking about?" Qiniang looked sideways at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu naturally acted according to the prevailing situation: "I said, Qiniang, you are good at reasoning."

Qiniang did not argue with him and said: "I heard that Li Wugou specially approved you to rest. Looking at this posture, no matter how big the action is, it will not be your turn to go to the battlefield and perform meritorious service, so you don't have to follow the big army. When you come back, you can apply to return to Yujing with the first batch of withdrawal troops. Li Wugou will agree. You have made so many military exploits, and you will not be charged with being timid in battle. You will only be said to be noble and upright. , giving the opportunity to make meritorious deeds to fellow Taoists.”

Qi Xuansu asked: "Why should I return to Yujing early?"

Qiniang said: "Of course it's to look at the house. Don't you take a look at your own house?"

When things came to a close, Qi Xuansu was no longer so eager: "Are you too impatient? Should you stop being so calm?"

Qiniang rarely attacked Qi Xuansu verbally, but said sincerely: "In the West, there is a noun called 'consumption', which means squandering and exhaustion. This word appeared two hundred years ago, along with sea trade. With the great development of China, many middle-class Westerners believe that the wealth in the world is inexhaustible, so the concept of "consumption" that advocates people squandering wealth at will emerged. Many people pursue decent consumption and crave unrestrained material things. Enjoyment and recreation, and regard these as the goals and meaning of life, this trend has gradually affected us. "

"I have always been against the so-called 'consumption'. This concept has grown and spread mainly because Westerners have different ideas from us. In Westerners' view, man's mission is to understand the world with physical strength and wisdom, and then conquer and control the world. , becoming the master of all things in nature and making them serve humans. This is completely different from our Eastern idea of ​​the unity of heaven and man and the pursuit of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Westerners view the relationship between man and nature. Seen as conquering and being conquered, exploiting and being exploited, based on this idea, the emergence and growth of so-called 'consumption' is logical."

"Although I am against 'consumption', and 'consumption' essentially conflicts with Taoism's frugality, in this matter, I hope you will not be too frugal. Speaking from my own experience, when I was young, I wanted to but because of If you don’t buy something if you don’t have money, you may not want to buy it if you have money after you are 40 years old. Even if you buy it, you won’t be able to get the experience you had when you were twenty.”

"Based on your future, you may own tens of thousands of houses in a dozen or several decades, but you will no longer have the joy of getting your first new house at the age of twenty."

"It's like a matter between men and women. When you become famous, you will be favored by men, favored by women, or even eunuchs. As long as you think about it, you will always be surrounded by countless people, but you can still regain the sourness of your first love when you were young. Is it sweet or bitter? It will be boring to buy toys that you could not get when you were a child. "

"I advise you not to cherish your gold-threaded clothes. I advise you to cherish your youth. If you have flowers, you must break them off. Don't wait until there are no flowers and break branches. The ancients have long made this clear."

Qi Xuansu suddenly understood why Qiniang was not very interested in spending money. It was not only because she was stingy, but also because she was older and the same money could no longer bring her the same level of excitement.

When he was young, he could sneak out of the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, stroll around Longmen Mansion, eat a candied haws, and make a candy man. It was considered a good thing and he could stay in a good mood for several days.

Now, if you give him a hundred or a thousand candied haws, he won't be able to regain the carefreeness he had back then.

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but sigh: "I wanted to buy sweet-scented osmanthus and carry wine, but it turned out that it was like a young man traveling."

Qiniang finally said: "This matter has been settled. I will leave Yujing before Li Changgeng takes over as the rotating master."

Qi Xuansu could only accept it. It would be early July before the two deputy head masters would take over the handover. He only had to rush back in June. It was not April yet, and there were two months in between, enough for him to take over Fenglinzhou. The matter is dealt with.

There are a lot of things going on in Fenglinzhou. Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu are nominally resting. In fact, they just no longer go to the battlefield to gain military exploits. It does not mean that they can go sightseeing in Fenglinzhou openly. Normally, they will also participate in some In less important clerical work, Qi Xuansu participated in the reform of Fenglinzhou's aristocratic system.

Zhang Yuelu participated in the reform of the land system.

Some people may wonder how the land system reform is related to Tiangang Hall. In fact, the reason is very simple. The reason why Taoism wants to reform the aristocratic system is to separate the aristocratic title from the land and prepare for the next land reform. For example, it is to change the feudal lords with fiefs into princes without fiefs.

Because of this, the title is important, but not so important. If the title is linked to the territory, it would not be so easy for Qi Xuansu to get Huan Ji a position of earl.

The land system reform that is promoted simultaneously with the aristocratic system reform involves real interests. If the fundamental interests of some people are affected, these people will fight desperately. It is basically impossible not to use force, so Tiangang Hall must cooperate naturally.

The reason why Taoism wants to reform the land system is mainly due to two considerations.

The first aspect is to crack down on local tyrants. This time, the situation in Fenglinzhou is completely out of control, forcing Taoism to personally intervene. In addition to the rise of the Zunyang faction, the key is the rebellion of the feudal lords in various places. Each of them wants to be a grass-roots king and return to the "Warring States" situation of the year.

Among these local tyrants, Fenglinzhou Buddhism is naturally included. The Taoist sect has already fallen out with Buddhism, and Fenglinzhou Buddhism has chosen to stand on the side of the Zunrong faction. Naturally, there will be no good results this time. Buddhist temples in various places own a large amount of land. If the Taoist sect takes back these lands, it will weaken Fenglinzhou Buddhism. Without the support of land, what can Fenglinzhou Buddhism use to support the monks and soldiers. People from the Confucian sect once said that there are only people who set up pots to cook white rice, but not to set up pots to cook truth. Similarly, setting up pots to cook Buddhist scriptures cannot feed millions of monks.

In short, Taoism must solve the problem of local tyrants from the root.

The second aspect is to consolidate the ruling foundation and win the hearts of the people. In the past, the "people" mentioned by emperors and generals actually referred to local tyrants. As long as they can reach a consensus with the gentry and aristocracy, they can get the world. Taoism does not deny this, but with the development and changes of the world, the civilian class is becoming more and more important. After Taoism takes back the land, it will naturally not cultivate it by itself, but still redistribute the land.

All dynasties have regarded land annexation as a great enemy. Even if it cannot be completely curbed, ways should be found to slow it down.

First, the people with land are the main source of taxes, and good family sons are the best source of soldiers. Second, suppressing annexation can effectively prevent the emergence of landless refugees. The Jin Dynasty did not suppress annexation, which caused a large number of people to become refugees in the early days of the dynasty. In order to prevent refugees from rebellion, the court formed a wing army, which was not trained and only served as labor, resulting in redundant soldiers with no combat power. In order to prevent the aristocratic families from dominating the court, the imperial examination had to be relaxed, and a large number of children from poor families were absorbed to seek balance, resulting in redundant officials. This has always been the case. The aristocratic families did not pay taxes, and the people became tenants. The court had no taxes, and increased taxes, causing more people to become tenants. In addition, it had to use troops, so it could only delegate power to the local areas, resulting in the rise of local tyrants.

Based on these considerations, the Taoist sect decided to redistribute the land and distribute the land to the people. And it should be publicized so that the people know that it was the Taoist sect that saved them, and let the people know who is on their side and who is exploiting and persecuting them.

Although it cannot be said that the Taoist sect will not pay taxes, it is true that the tax reduction and distribution of land are true.

As long as the civilian class recognizes the Taoist sect from the bottom of their hearts, the rule of the Taoist sect will be solid, and the nobles and powerful people will not be able to make big waves.

At this point, the Taoist sect knows that it cannot be achieved in one step, but must proceed step by step. Therefore, the land of the royal family, Tianmen and Fenglinzhou Buddhism was first distributed. As the defeated party, it was right for these three families to be completely liquidated. They could not win on the battlefield, and there was no room for resistance at this time, and they would not arouse opposition from other feudal lords. In the eyes of local feudal lords, it was a great mercy for the Taoist sect not to slaughter the Sonnang faction. It was reasonable and legal to collect land and would not affect others.

This is divide and rule.

First, win over one faction, stabilize one faction, kill one faction, and only two factions are left.

Then pull one faction, kill one faction, and only one faction is left.

Finally, kill the remaining faction, that faction is no longer able to resist and can only wait for death.

At this time, the three major factions are the Sonnong Faction, the neutral faction of local tyrants, and the Toyotomi Xiangfu.

First, win over the Toyotomi Xiangfu, kill the Sonnong Faction, and stabilize the neutral faction. The neutral faction believes that it is reasonable to liquidate the Sonnong Faction and will not take any radical actions.

After only the Toyotomi Xiangfu and the local neutral faction are left. Then use the Toyotomi Xiangfu to clean up the local tyrants. At this time, will the Toyotomi Xiangfu feel sad because of the death of the local tyrants? They will not, they just think that only by solving these local tyrants can they consolidate their rule.

After the demise of the local tyrants, only the Toyotomi Xiangfu is left. They rose to power in the Taoist sect, relying entirely on the support of the Taoist sect, and the remnants of the Sonnong Faction and the local tyrant faction will also counterattack crazily with the tacit consent of the Taoist sect, and instead become the Taoist sect's vanguard in dealing with the Toyotomi Xiangfu, that is, the king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die. Through these three steps, the main opposition figures were eliminated, the well-defended factional strongholds were broken up, centralization was completed, the new policy was successfully implemented, and land redistribution was carried out.