I Became The Legendary Emperor Throughout the Ages After I Started Giving Away My Territory - Chapter 129.1

Chapter 129: I Owe You Too Much, Let’s Settle It with Love and Body!

“The farmers take sixty percent, with enough food they have the strength to work! The landlords take thirty percent, they don’t work, and half of that is enough for them! The state takes ten percent, which can be allocated flexibly! If the farmers need it, give it to the farmers; if the landlords need it, give it to the landlords; it can also be used to maintain the army and protect the territory! In this way, all three parties benefit, and the country can be sustained!”

Song Yufei nodded thoughtfully.

Lin Beifan cleared his throat and said, “Let’s promote this matter! In reality, we can actually divide the citizens of the entire country into two classes, one is the farmer class, and the other is the landlord class!”

“Farmers are many but have little land, landlords are few but have much land, so the working farmers take sixty percent, and the non-working landlords take thirty percent. With such a distribution, not only can the farmers support themselves, but they can also support their families! Although the landlords receive less, they are fewer in number, and without working, they can still have thirty percent of the income, which is also enough to support their families!”

“So, this method of distribution is very reasonable and also a guarantee for the long-term stability and peace of the nation! As long as the country gets this right, then the nation can operate normally!”

“What if it can’t be done?” Song Yufei retorted.

“If it can’t be done, then it will bring disaster!”

Lin Beifan said, “For example, if the landlords take an extra twenty percent of the profits, the farmers get twenty percent less! It might seem like the landlords are earning more, but in fact, that’s not the case; in the end, everyone loses!”

“Because if the farmers only have forty percent of the profits, they won’t have enough to eat and naturally won’t be able to do much work. As a result, there will naturally be less grain! With less grain, whether it’s landlords or farmers, the amount of grain distributed becomes less! If this continues over time, there will be less and less grain, and eventually, the farmers won’t even have enough to eat and will definitely put down their burdens and stop working, leaving everyone without grain!”

“Have you noticed that throughout history, many common people often rise up in rebellion because they don’t have enough to eat, leading to the overthrow of dynasties! If they had enough food, who would do those risky things, right?”

“What if the farmers got an extra twenty percent?” Song Yufei asked.

“Didn’t we just discuss this? If the farmers take an extra twenty percent, then the landlords will get twenty percent less! With less to take, landlords won’t offer their land for use; they will cultivate it themselves, and all the grain they produce will be their own! The farmers will still have no grain to eat and will inevitably rise up in rebellion!”

Lin Beifan sighed, “That’s why managing a country well is all about proper distribution of interests. It’s crucial to ensure that every class, every individual has a way to survive, allowing everyone to live on!”

“Let’s extend this issue further! In a country, there aren’t just farmers and landlords; there are also merchants, workers, martial artists, noble families, etc., each with different interests!”

“Only by balancing the interests of all parties, ensuring that farmers have food to eat, workers have jobs to do, merchants have money to make, and landlords along with those noble families have profits to gain, can a country develop steadily!”

Song Yufei couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Lin Beifan’s explanation was incisive; aren’t all national problems essentially issues of interest at their core?

Only when the interests of all parties are protected can the nation continue to develop.

If the interests of any party are not protected, then they will flip the table and refuse to cooperate!

“Your Majesty, how do you then balance the interests of all parties and manage a country?” Song Yufei asked once again.

Lin Beifan smiled slightly: “It’s quite simple, since there are many stakeholders, just reduce the number of rent-seekers!”

“Ah? Reduce the rent-seekers? How can this be done?” Song Yufei was baffled.

“Let’s start with the landlords!”

Lin Beifan asked mysteriously, “Do you know how many landlords there are in my Great Xia, and how much land they control?”

“I have no idea, but there must be at least a few of them!”

“Indeed, there are quite a few landlords, but the total land they control is less than 50,000 square miles!”

Song Yufei was shocked: “That little?”

You see, the territory of Great Xia has already reached 1.5 million square miles.

Yet the land owned by the landlords doesn’t even make up a fraction of it.

“This is because, ever since I took power, the territory has expanded more than fivefold, but I have never granted a single piece of land! While I do recognize the private lands of other countries, much of the land has been reclaimed from the wilderness, and all of this reclaimed land belongs to me! As a result, those landlords have absolutely no say; I have the final word!”

Lin Beifan declared with commanding authority: “I can organize millions of peasants to reclaim and farm the land, and the profits gained will be split, with sixty percent going to the peasants and forty percent to me! In this way, without middlemen making a profit, the peasants earn more, and so do I! Without landlords competing for profits, wouldn’t society be much more harmonious?”

“This…” Song Yufei was stunned.

But upon further thought, it seemed to make a lot of sense.

“Let’s talk about the noble family again!”

Lin Beifan spoke again with an air of mystery: “Do you know how many noble families there are in my Great Xia?”

Song Yufei furrowed his brow in thought: “It seems like there are none…”

Lin Beifan exclaimed loudly: “Exactly, not a single one! They are insatiably greedy, trying to use various means to infiltrate Great Xia, to occupy high positions, and to snatch away my wealth. But I won’t allow it, I’ve cut off their path! You see, they can’t get in, and just like that, there’s one less contender, isn’t there?”

“And as for the martial arts sects, although none have been discovered yet, I will not give them the opportunity either!”

“With this, having eliminated the three major profiteers, my kingdom is left with only farmers, workers, and some traders!”

Lin Beifan smiled proudly: “All I need to do is ensure that farmers have land to till and food to eat, that workers have jobs and money to earn, and that traders have profits to make. Wouldn’t the country then be easy to manage? Isn’t it quite simple?”

Song Yufei looked deeply at Lin Beifan.

It sounds simple, but it’s not that simple!

To prevent landlords from competing for profits, one must have enough land in their own hands.

To have enough land, one must expand the territory.

The other party did indeed do so and, within the short span of a year, expanded the Territorial Area by more than fivefold, which in itself is a miracle, an unreplicable miracle!

To prevent noble families from competing for profit is even more difficult than ascending to the heavens.

You must understand that the economy of this world is almost entirely controlled by noble families; your country’s development cannot proceed without their support.

Even dynasties and empires dare not openly offend the noble families!

Yet, this person has managed to offend all the noble families during the imperial examination!

Such audacity and courage are truly breathtaking!

And to also forbid the martial arts sects from entering the fray for profit…

Good heavens, he’s managed to offend every power there is!

Song Yufei sighed, “Your Majesty, you are treading a path of defiance against the heavens that no one has ever taken before!”

Lin Beifan laughed heartily, “Defy the heavens then! To fight against the heavens is a boundless joy! To fight against the earth is a boundless joy! To fight against people is even more so! Haha…”

Song Yufei could only muster a bitter smile in her heart.

Originally, she had made up her mind to choose Lin Beifan.

But after hearing his words, she hesitated again.

Because the path he chose was an extremely difficult one of emperorship, offending not just nations but noble families as well, and even sparing no sects from the rivers and lakes, making enemies of everyone possible along the way!

She couldn’t be sure if such a country could develop properly.

If she chose the wrong person, her investment would go down the drain, and the powers behind her would suffer as well.

So really, she couldn’t easily take this risk.

In the end, Song Yufei left somewhat disheartened, continuing her search for a more suitable candidate.

……

But then, Yaoyao arrived.

She was extremely excited: “Little foolish emperor, I heard you’ve obtained a divine sword, apparently called the Xuanxiao Sword, capable of unleashing flames, slaying Innates as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs. It’s so amazing, can I take a look at it?”

“Of course you can!” Lin Beifan’s hand waved lightly, and with a ringing sound, the divine sword flew out of its scabbard and into Lin Beifan’s hand.

Yaoyao took the divine sword, excitedly waving it a few times, and flames gathered in the air, as if setting the sky ablaze.

“This sword is really too powerful! Not only is it indestructible, but it can also release strong flames! With this sword, I, Yaoyao, can suppress that woman, haha! I’m going to chop down that woman right now…”

Just then, Lin Beifan suddenly embraced Yaoyao.

Yaoyao panicked, her face flushing red: “Little foolish emperor, what are you doing? Let go of me!”

Lin Beifan let go: “Don’t mind me, I was just saving you!”

Yaoyao was bewildered: “Saving me?”

“Yes!”

Lin Beifan said earnestly, “This divine sword has a demonic nature; holding the sword can lead one to fall into the demonic path, lose their humanity, and think only of slaughter! Just now, you exhibited such symptoms, which is why I embraced you, to transform you with love! Do you feel any better now? Do you want to continue further…”

“Continue my foot!”

Yaoyao said irritably, “I wasn’t affected just now! You were just taking advantage of the situation with me, you’re utterly despicable, I’m going to strangle you!”

Lin Beifan: “Ow, ow, ow…”