Well, this isn't called useless. It's called stupid—and vile, too!
Wang Xuan directly defined the conduct of these aristocratic clans.
"The collapse of the Han has nothing to do with us aristocratic clans. Clearly, after natural disasters, rebels rose everywhere, and then the warlord Dong Zhuo threw the government into chaos!" Chen Qun argued firmly. No matter what, the aristocratic clans could not be saddled with the blame for the Han's disintegration.
"Tsk!" Wang Xuan sneered. He glanced sideways at Chen Qun disdainfully and said, "How many mu of land does your Chen family own?"
"What does that have to do with anything? My Chen family's land was passed down from generation to generation by our ancestors. What does it have to do with the Han's survival or demise?" Chen Qun eyed Wang Xuan warily. His instincts told him there was a trap here.
"Fine, I won't ask how much land your family owns. But even if a natural disaster occurred, was there really no food left? Had things truly reached the point where people were forced to rise in rebellion?" Wang Xuan raised one finger and gently shook it. "That's simply impossible!"
"The Han stipulated that the agricultural land tax could not exceed one fifteenth at its highest, and was one thirtieth at its lowest. Even during the peak of Emperor Ling's reign, it was no more than one twentieth. With taxes this low, why would the common people rise in rebellion just because a single natural disaster left them without food?"
"The greatest cause was land annexation! And how was land annexed? Through disasters. Whenever calamity struck, these aristocratic clans and wealthy families would rather let their grain rot than distribute it to aid the victims. Instead, they would take advantage of the disaster to raise grain prices,