Chapter 63: If I Don't Pull Off Something Earth-Shattering, Wouldn't My Transmigration Be in Vain?

Seeing this, Sun Chuanting knew that the upcoming conversation would be of utmost importance, and he immediately braced himself with absolute focus.

Looking at Sun Chuanting, Zhu Cilang said slowly:

"Lord Sun, this Crown Prince knows that you are a loyal and capable official willing to offer your head and shed your blood for the country. That is why there are some things I wish to share with you."

Hearing this, Sun Chuanting felt a surge of emotion in his heart and hastily replied:

"I thank Your Imperial Highness for your high regard. This is merely my humble duty as a subject."

Zhu Cilang nodded, then gestured for Sun Chuanting to take a seat at the table before continuing:

"Since the Qin and Han dynasties, almost all Chinese dynasties have been unable to escape a fate of roughly three hundred years. For instance, the Qin lasted only fourteen years, the Western and Eastern Han each lasted about two hundred years, the Sui lasted four years, the Tang over two hundred years, not to mention the Song and the Yuan."

"Lord Sun, do you know why this is?"

Sun Chuanting was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Zhu Cilang to bring up such a profound topic with him.

Even so, he forced himself to answer:

"This subject has some knowledge of the matter. It is because towards the end of a dynasty, government officials become corrupt. Compounded by natural disasters and man-made calamities, taxes cannot be collected, which gives rise to countless conflicts and ultimately triggers various peasant rebellions."

"There are also foreign invasions that cause the country to..."

"Wrong."

Before he could finish, Zhu Cilang directly interrupted him.

Hearing this, Sun Chuanting instantly fell silent, looking at Zhu Cilang in bewilderment.

Did he not speak the truth?

With a solemn expression, Zhu Cilang stated:

"Everything you mentioned is indeed correct, but none of it is the primary cause. The fundamental cause is, in fact, land annexation!"

"So many dynasties in history failed to exceed three hundred years. Ultimately, it is because the limit of land annexation is three hundred years."

"From the founding of a dynasty to its twilight, a span of three hundred years pushes the land annexation across the realm to an unprecedented peak."

"Bureaucrats and landlords acquire vast amounts of peasants' land through purchases, mortgages, and forcible seizures. This leaves the peasants landless, reducing them either to tenant farmers or wandering refugees."

"Furthermore, scholars and gentry also aggressively enclose large tracts of land, simply because these scholars enjoy tax exemptions."

"On top of that, commoners who cannot afford to pay taxes register their lands under the names of these scholars. Consequently, land becomes heavily concentrated in the hands of the bureaucratic class."

"In this manner, the common people lose their land and ultimately turn into refugees."

"Yet, all these enclosed lands are exempt from taxes, causing the imperial court's tax revenues to dwindle until nothing can be collected at all."

"As time passes, the dynasty inevitably perishes."

"Take our present Great Ming as an example; the problem of land annexation has already become extremely severe."

"Most of the peasant armies led by Li Zicheng consist precisely of people who lost the land they depended on for survival and could no longer afford a single meal, leaving them with no choice but to follow Li Zicheng in rebellion."

"For if they did not rebel, they would simply starve to death!"

"That being the case, why not fight for a chance at survival?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, our Great Ming will likely fail to cross this three-hundred-year threshold as well."

At this moment, Sun Chuanting was utterly shaken by the Crown Prince before him.

For he discovered with astonishment that everything Zhu Cilang said was entirely accurate.

In the final analysis, the primary cause of a dynasty's collapse was indeed land annexation.

If there were no land annexation, and every commoner had land to till and enough food to eat, why would anyone risk the annihilation of their entire clan to rebel?

Even if foreign invaders were to attack under such circumstances, these commoners would pick up their hoes and drive them out!

Concurrently, Sun Chuanting finally understood what Zhu Cilang intended to do next.

The next second, he asked:

"Your Imperial Highness, do you intend to audit and survey all the cultivated land across the realm?"

Zhu Cilang shook his head.

"Not just surveying the lands of the realm, this Crown Prince also intends to reform the tax system."

"Under the new tax system, everyone must pay taxes. Regardless of whether you are an imperial relative, an official, a landlord, or a peasant, all must pay."

"To put it simply, we shall abolish the tax-exempt privileges of everyone in the realm."

Hearing these words, Sun Chuanting felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

One must know that the rule of gentry tax exemption had circulated in China for over two,000 years. Zhu Cilang's move was tantamount to heaven-shaking and earth-splitting!

To put it bluntly, if their conversation today were to leak out, he, Sun Chuanting, would meet a violent death by tomorrow.

The people and interests involved in this matter were simply too immense!

Naturally, Zhu Cilang was well aware of what Sun Chuanting feared at this moment, but to resolve the land annexation crisis of the late Ming, this was an indispensable step that had to be taken.

Otherwise, even if Zhu Cilang truly defeated Zhang Xianxiang and Li Zicheng, and eradicated the Jiannu, it would merely prolong the Great Ming for a few more decades.

A few decades later, the problem of land annexation would erupt once again, giving birth to new figures like Zhang Xianxiang and Li Zicheng, plunging the Great Ming back into a cyclical hell.

That being the case, why not solve the root of the problem directly?

Of course, this task was extraordinarily difficult—harder than ascending to the blue sky!

Yet, since he had traveled through time, if he did not accomplish something earth-shattering, wouldn't his transmigrated life have been in vain?

Seeing that Sun Chuanting still wore a look of shock, Zhu Cilang pulled a sheet of paper from the imperial desk, walked down, and handed it to him.

Sun Chuanting took it and read the lines written upon it:

"Serve corvée equally, pay grain tax equally, and merge the poll tax into the land tax."

Below were detailed explanations as well.

There was no need for doubt; this was the state policy once implemented by the Manqing Emperor Yongzheng, which had already passed the test of history, proving that this scheme was entirely viable!

Zhu Cilang detested the Jiannu and their emperors, yet toward Yongzheng, he could never harbor any hatred.

After reading the contents above, Sun Chuanting's pupils dilated sharply, and he instantly felt that the piece of xuan paper in his hand weighed ten thousand catties.

He knew all too well that if the contents on this paper were truly achieved, the entire realm would attain lasting peace and stability, sustaining itself for at least three hundred years.

Yet implementing these measures was nearly impossible, for it would offend every single imperial relative, official, and scholar-gentry across the land.

At this thought, Sun Chuanting cast a complex look at Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang patted him on the shoulder and comforted him:

"This Crown Prince knows what you wish to say, and I also know how difficult this matter is. But for the sake of the Great Ming, no matter how hard it is, we must carry it through."

"Surely you do not wish to see, when you are old and frail decades from now, figures like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianxiang emerge in the Great Ming once again?"

"To solve these problems once and for all, certain things simply must be done."

"For the sake of the Great Ming, and for the people of the Great Ming, this undertaking is imperative."

Sun Chuanting fell silent.

At the same time, he realized that the Crown Prince before him regarded him as an absolute confidant.

For except for an absolute confidant, such matters could never be entrusted to anyone else.