Liu Bang had never imagined that land consolidation could do so much harm to a dynasty. In fact, he had not even known about land consolidation before.
After all, Great Han had been founded only two years earlier. Before that, the realm had endured centuries of warfare among seven states, followed by Qin's conquest of the other six, the turmoil at the end of Qin, and the Chu-Han struggle. Little of the population remained.
According to the household census Xiao He had compiled recently, Great Han now had only a little over ten million people.
Who knew how much land lay desolate across the realm, with no one to till it?
Land consolidation? Where would that even come from?
Although Liu Bang could not understand it just yet, he knew the Rebel Army Group must have had a reason for giving that answer.
If I establish laws now to curb land consolidation, could I prolong the life of Great Han?
The thought naturally surfaced in his mind.
Elsewhere, Zhang Jiao also sank into thought.
During his travels across the realm, he had noticed the harm caused by land consolidation, but he had believed Great Han's decline stemmed chiefly from muddleheaded emperors, along with imperial in-laws and eunuchs monopolizing power and bringing calamity upon the country.
Now that he had learned land consolidation was the chief cause behind the rise and fall of dynasties, he could not help recalling what he had seen and heard in the past. He vaguely felt that it was indeed true.
If land consolidation weren't so severe in Great Han, how could the poor lack even a patch of ground to plant an awl? If the common people all had enough fields, then even with natural disasters and plagues, they wouldn't become refugees and starve to death, unable to survive at all.
If I can survive this and break the siege of Guangzong, perhaps I should start dividing up the lands of those powerful clans and aristocratic families, so every commoner who joins my Way of Great Peace has fields to till!
The more Zhang Jiao thought, the clearer his understanding became, until his eyes lit up.
Previously, after the Yellow Turban Army captured commanderies and counties, aside from burning government offices, they had simply opened the granaries and distributed grain. Those methods were crude and direct. Although the uprising's hasty launch was partly to blame, it was also true that he had never proposed redistributing land.
In fact, he had previously thought only of overthrowing Great Han's rotten court and establishing a new one. He had never even considered redistributing fields to the common people.
At that thought, and then at the reality that he was currently trapped in Guangzong, Zhang Jiao could not help sighing inwardly again.
If only I'd been invited into this Rebel Army Group a year earlier...
Compared with Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had actually chosen that answer, did not think nearly as much about it in that brief span.
Still, he committed one fact to memory: land consolidation was the chief cause behind the rise and fall of dynasties.
[Question three: Which of the following terms were NOT used by people of later generations to describe emperors of Great Ming?]
Seeing the third question appear, and that it concerned Great Ming's later emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately gathered his thoughts and studied it closely.
[A: Beggar emperor. B: Missing person. C: Oirat exchange student. D: Zoo director. E: Six-flavor emperor pills. F: Prison emperor. G: Founding father of giving up. H: Carpenter emperor. I: Gaoliang River racing god. J: Hardworking emperor of a fallen dynasty.]
The options left Zhu Yuanzhang utterly numb.
Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao also stared wide-eyed, completely frozen.
When Liu Bang recovered, disbelief covered his face.
"Mother of mercy! If all these describe later emperors, then weren't there far too many bizarre emperors in later generations?"
"I wonder whether any emperors from my Liu family are among them."
When Zhang Jiao recovered, his expression was complicated.
He had thought Liu Hong's character and way of governing were already incomprehensible enough, but these options clearly suggested that later generations had even more incomprehensible emperors.
Although there were several terms he did not understand at all, that very fact made them seem even more abnormal.
Then he wondered how many of them described Great Ming's emperors. If there were many, wouldn't Zhu Yuanzhang be furious enough to die?
In fact, as Zhu Yuanzhang guessed and reasoned through those ten terms, his anger was already mounting explosively.
Beggar emperor? That most likely refers to me. Back then, although I begged for alms as a wandering monk, I was practically no different from a beggar. There's nothing unreasonable about later generations calling me that.
Missing person? Does that mean some emperor disappeared, his fate unknown? There doesn't seem to have been an emperor who disappeared before Great Ming. In that case, this is probably one of my Great Ming's emperors-but why did he disappear?
Oirat exchange student? Japan once sent envoys to study in Great Tang. Those who stayed there to study for long periods seem to have been called exchange students.
Oirat sounds like the name of a steppe tribe. Could it mean some emperor was sent to a steppe tribe to study for an extended period, or as a hostage?
Before my Great Ming, it seems only Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong of Song were abducted by the Jin to Five Kingdoms City. But the Jin had neither a common name nor a tribe called Oirat, did they? Could this also be one of my Great Ming's emperors?!
At the thought that some Great Ming emperor might have been abducted by a steppe tribe and reduced to a prisoner, Zhu Yuanzhang's face nearly turned green with rage.
Zoo director doesn't sound like anything good. Please don't let that be one of my descendants.
Six-flavor emperor pills? Could that mean an emperor who liked taking elixirs?
Prison emperor-before Great Ming, there was one and only one: Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Bingyi. I definitely have to choose that.
Founding father of giving up? What does that mean?
Carpenter emperor? Losing all ambition by indulging in amusements! Surely that can't be one of my descendants too?
Gaoliang River racing god... Gaoliang River? Could that refer to Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi?
Hardworking emperor of a fallen dynasty? What does that mean?
Zhu Yuanzhang racked his brains for quite some time, but could only settle on F and I and rule out A. He could not be certain about any of the others.
About a quarter of an hour after the third question began.
[Administrator: As no one has answered for an extended period, a countdown will now begin. If it ends, everyone's answer will be counted as incorrect! Thirty, twenty-nine...]
Liu Bang could more or less appreciate how Zhu Yuanzhang felt just then. These terms actually described emperors? Anyone would be stunned.
But he did not want another negative status for no reason.
After all, he was already due to receive one. Another would make two.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, stop hesitating. Getting it wrong will only cancel out your earlier reward. It won't kill anyone. Hurry up and choose!] [Zhu Yuanzhang: C, F, I, J!]
After making his choices, Zhu Yuanzhang slumped into his grand armchair as though all his strength had drained away.
His reasons for choosing F and I needed no further explanation. As for C and J, he had chosen them purely because he did not want Great Ming to ever have an emperor abducted by a minority tribe, nor did he want Great Ming to ever fall-unrealistic though that was.
And this also showed how little confidence he had in answering correctly...
After Zhu Yuanzhang gave his choices, Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao stared intently at the group, waiting for the answer.
They wanted to know which of those ten bizarre terms actually described Great Ming's emperors.
[Correct answer: E, F, I.]
Sure enough, he had answered incorrectly.
Neither Liu Bang nor Zhang Jiao was surprised by the result.
Unless Zhu Yuanzhang knew the history of the Ming Dynasty, his chances of answering correctly were slim.
Still, only three of those ten bizarre terms did not describe Great Ming's emperors? Great Ming had far too many strange emperors, didn't it?
"Tsk, tsk. Old Zhu must be going mad with anger right now."
"Beggar emperor, missing person, zoo director, carpenter emperor... To have so many bizarre descendants, and for them all to succeed to Great Ming's throne. Hah! This Great Ming dynasty Old Zhu founded really is something!"
At first, Liu Bang shook his head and sighed on Zhu Yuanzhang's behalf, but as he thought it over, he began to see things differently.
In his view, just one or two emperors whose descriptions made them sound nothing like normal people-someone like Huhai, for instance-could bring down an empire as mighty at its peak as Great Qin.
Yet Great Ming could produce seven, and at least seven at that!
Didn't that mean Great Ming's institutions were exceptionally good at ensuring Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants inherited the throne, and even held it firmly?
Looks like I was right to shamelessly pester Old Zhu into an alliance. Later, I must ask him how to make a realm so secure.
Elsewhere, Zhang Jiao was equally shocked.
But his limited knowledge prevented him from seeing the "strength" of the Ming Dynasty's institutions in the result, as Liu Bang had.
Beyond his shock, he was also wondering: under an emperor like Liu Hong, Great Han's common people already lived in such hardship. With so many seemingly abnormal emperors in Great Ming, how did its common people survive?
The Western Warm Chamber, Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his forehead, feeling the veins there throb fiercely.
"Six! There were actually six!" Unable to restrain himself, he slammed the table again and muttered furiously.
He had not expected to answer correctly, but he had originally thought that, at the absolute most, three or four of those ten terms would describe Great Ming's emperors.
Who would have imagined there were six!
That meant Great Ming had at least six abnormal emperors!
How could he not be furious?!
Then something else occurred to Zhu Yuanzhang, and he could not help slamming the table again.
"Fourth Son? Fourth Son!"
"That unfilial wretch!!"