Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 104 What's Happening in the Southern Dynasty?

"Brother Lu, you believe that the Qin Dynasty gained the world through its military merit system, but lost it in just fourteen years. The Qin army's combat strength changed drastically before and after. What is the fundamental reason for this?"

Everyone looked at Lu Beigu.

History books only say that the Qin Dynasty lost its rule due to tyranny, but they don't explain why the invincible Qin army, which swept across the six states, collapsed at an astonishing speed when faced with rebel armies.

"Then I'll ask you a question."

Lu Bei, the advisor, asked, "Do you think there is any essential difference between the Qin people and the Zhao and Chu people? Are the Qin people born to be good at fighting? Or are the Qin people born stronger and more robust than the people of the other six states?"

“Of course not.” They all shook their heads.

"That's it. The reason why the Qin people could appear so brave and invincible, even though they were all human, was not due to their armor or morale, but to their system."

"The Qin Dynasty's military merit system was like an avalanche, which meant that the scale of war could only grow larger and faster, and could not be stopped. Once it stopped, the avalanche would just turn back into a snowstorm, and it would lose its unparalleled power. What difference would there be between the Qin people, the Zhao people, and the Chu people?"

This idea struck Su Zhe as novel, and he asked again, "Brother Lu, could you elaborate?"

Lu Beigu pondered for a moment and explained in detail: "The military merit system established by Shang Yang's reforms was based on the complementary relationship between the reward of 'beheading and granting of titles' and the punishment of 'severe laws and harsh punishments.' Although this system could break the old aristocratic system of Qin, allowing commoners to obtain land, titles and property through military merits, it also fostered a culture of 'being brave in public battles but cowardly in private fights.'"

"But in the end, Shang Yang did not create land and wealth out of thin air. These things were acquired through continuous external wars, and only through victory could they be obtained."

"After Qin unified the six states, all the land in the world belonged to it, but there was no longer any external war to acquire new land on a large scale. Whether it was the Xiongnu or the Baiyue, the places they lived in were barren lands that were difficult to cultivate at that time. Therefore, this system could not continue, and the channels for promotion based on military merit were completely blocked."

"In this way, the veterans with fighting strength can retire and return to their fields, feeling that the world is at peace. They gradually grow old on the land they have fought so hard to win, while the new soldiers have neither major battles to fight nor titles to obtain. Over the years, their fighting strength naturally declines rapidly."

“But even so, the Qin Dynasty collapsed far too quickly,” Zhu Nanxing said.

"Because the Qin Dynasty clung to the old system."

Lu Beigu said, "In this old system, the reward of 'beheading and granting of titles' and the punishment of 'severe laws and harsh punishments' were indispensable. However, after the Qin Dynasty unified the country, the system lost its rewards and only had punishments. It also treated the people like dirt and consumed a lot of manpower. In the end, even the old Qin people could not bear it. Naturally, when Qin Shi Huang died, 'the garrison soldiers cried out for the fall of Hangu Pass,' and then it collapsed with a bang."

Su Zhe pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, it is a different direction from the Fubing system."

"Yes, although there are differences between the military merit system and the military system, they are essentially the same for a country. In the end, they both reward with land, both inside and outside the country."

"So, if that's the case, relying on war to sustain war will eventually become unsustainable, but can it be sustained without relying on war to sustain war?"

"It can't be sustained either."

Lu Beigu bluntly stated, "The Northern and Southern Dynasties are the best example."

"From the Western Wei to the Northern Zhou, the Northern Dynasties implemented the Fubing system (a military system based on the government and military). Finally, the Sui Dynasty unified the country. The Tang Dynasty, like a bubble, continued to expand, reaching its limit before contracting. The An Lushan Rebellion shattered this bubble, leading to the tragic end of 'In peacetime, the vast Anxi region is now defended only in Fengxiang.'" "The Southern Dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen, with twenty-four emperors and lasting one hundred and sixty-nine years, were all controlled by powerful clans and aristocratic families. Their social classes were divided into powerful clans, commoners, dependent households, and slaves. They did not expand outwards, focusing instead on internal development. It seems they transformed the originally economically underdeveloped Jiangnan region into a land of plenty, and remained relatively stable throughout. However, it was actually the Hou Jing Rebellion that saved the Southern Dynasties; otherwise, they would have also reached their limit."

Did the Hou Jing Rebellion save the Southern Dynasty?

This argument was so novel that even Su Zhe was stunned.

Yu Xin wrote "Lament for the South", which clearly describes the destruction of the South by the Hou Jing Rebellion. How could it be that the Hou Jing Rebellion saved the Southern Dynasty?
"Because the Southern Dynasties' model, in the final analysis, was to try to reclaim wasteland as much as possible when the total amount of land was limited. But no matter how much wasteland was reclaimed, even if all the hills were turned into terraced fields, the speed at which wasteland was converted into arable land could not keep up with the speed of population growth. So by the time of Xiao Yan, the Southern Dynasties were already overpopulated and land was scarce, and with the development of the power of the temples, land annexation was very serious."

The Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties sound like four long dynasties, but in reality, each dynasty was quite short. The Song and Liang dynasties lasted less than sixty years, while the Qi and Chen dynasties lasted only twenty or thirty years. The longest-reigning emperor among them was Xiao Yan, who reigned for a full forty-eight years. If it weren't for the Hou Jing Rebellion, he could have continued to reign for an even longer period.

"Oh wait!"

Zhu Zhen suddenly felt something was amiss: "Brother Lu, are you referring to the affairs of the Southern Dynasties?"

"if not?"

Lu Beigu countered with a question.

"I always felt that what Brother Lu was talking about was about our Great Song Dynasty."

Su Zhe frowned, caught in a dilemma: "But the Emperor is not a bodhisattva emperor after all. He is not so incompetent as to cause the Hou Jing Rebellion. Although the situation is difficult now, there should still be a way, right?"

"Have your elders ever mentioned what Sichuan was like decades ago? Were the cities so prosperous back then? Were the fields so bustling with activity?"

Yang Yaozi then said, “I have heard my grandfather mention that back in the time of Emperor Zhenzong, there was enough land to cultivate on both sides of the Yangtze River. But nowadays, if a family has many members, they inevitably have to go to the mountains to dig terraced fields to grow some grain, otherwise it will be difficult to make a living.”

"That's right. Logically speaking, unless a major upheaval occurs that restores the population to its state after the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the population will only increase, the amount of arable land will decrease, and the amount of grain grown per acre will remain the same. Sooner or later, the Imperial Guards will not be able to accommodate so many refugees, and there will not be enough grain to feed the Imperial Guards."

In fact, a rather ironic thing is that the "three redundancies" problem that plagued the Song Dynasty's emperors and ministers for a century was not solved through reforms, but rather by the Jurchens' southward invasion.

"Isn't there a way to get out of this predicament without causing too much chaos?"

Now that Su Zhe is determined to enter officialdom through the imperial examination and serve the country, he is naturally concerned about this issue.

"Yes, but it's very difficult."

Lu Beigu asked seriously, "How many acres of land do you own?"

(End of this chapter)