I am engaged in construction in Datang

Empress Changsun frowned: "But how can we interfere with other people's land?"

"Sister-in-law, it's not us who interfered with other people's land, but other people interfered with state-owned land first."

Li Shimin was confused. He asked, "Sister, what do you mean?"

"The equal-field system is fundamentally flawed. It appears to be publicly owned, but in reality it is privately owned. The land sales law does not protect the land in the hands of the people, but provides a legal excuse for the aristocratic families to annex the land in the hands of the people."

"In today's two-tax system, part of the tax must be paid in copper coins, but there are not many coins circulating in the market."

"When I was talking about economics before, I mentioned the status of gold, silver and copper. I also talked about the distribution and storage of these minerals in our country. Do you remember it, brother?"

Li Shimin nodded. These things had a great impact on him and also made him change his attitude towards gold, silver and copper.

"So when the village does business with the noble families, it only accepts gold, silver and copper, because they don't need these at all!"

"Liuweizhai sells goods to the common people, and most of the goods they receive are silk and cloth."

The exchange rate of silk for copper coins in the village has always been clearly written on the blackboard and placed at the entrance of Liuweizhai.

People were willing to come to Liuweizhai to buy things, not only because the goods were affordable, but also because the shop did not suppress the prices of silk and cloth, and gave copper coins as change.

The village's textile technology is not bad, but now only some insignificant woolen yarn factories have been built because of the fear of impacting the people's assets.

"The common people had no copper coins to pay taxes, so they had to sell silk and grain in exchange for them. However, the copper coins were all buried in the land of the nobles, so how many were there on the market? As a result, copper coins became more and more expensive, while silk and grain became cheaper and cheaper."

Li Yin sighed. If the village’s textile technology could be introduced further, the ladies who lived close to the capital could come to the factory to work. But what about those who lived far from the capital?

The silk and cloth hidden at home suddenly became waste. How could the people survive?

She continued: “This is a bad faith annexation and should not be allowed.”

"In order to exchange copper coins for taxes, the people had to use large amounts of silk to exchange for them, so their lives became difficult and they gradually had to sell their private land."

Fortunately, this kind of situation rarely occurred in the early Tang Dynasty, and the people still had plenty of land, so there was no need to worry about not being able to promote good seeds.

"Brother, if officials collude with the gentry and landlords and become rich but unkind, the people will suffer even more."

"Nowadays, mining technology has been improving. In addition, the women's farm uses the copper coins taken from the noble families to give back to the people. At least in the capital, the use of copper coins has gradually caught up with silk."

Hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly wanted to drink two glasses of wine.

He had not noticed this subtle change before, but now that he thought about it carefully, it was indeed the case.

Nowadays, a very strange phenomenon has gradually emerged in the capital city. As long as Liuweizhai's prices remain stable, other shops, no matter who the owner is, have to follow Liuweizhai's pricing level.

Otherwise, if Liuweizhai launches your flagship product in a fit of anger, you won’t dare to move and won’t be able to compete with them. How will you sell your products in the future?

"So in the long run, the equal-field system will do more harm than good."

"But if we want to break this system, we can't just take back all the land by force. We can only use roundabout policies." Li Yin smiled and said, "Brother, just show that you are worried about the food shortage."

"I understand."

Empress Chang Sun's eyes lit up: "This autumn, there is drought in Jiannan and Guandong. Grain production is going to decrease. Private land is not under the control of the court, and many of them are tax-free. Who knows what people will plant!"

"so……"

"I'm so worried about not having enough food!" Li Shimin said at the right time: "Let's nationalize the land." (The original intention of the Tang Dynasty's equal-field system was to nationalize the land, but because of the aristocratic families, private and public ownership coexisted, and in the end private ownership completely defeated public ownership)

Li Yin laughed and acted out a situational drama: "Brother, you absolutely cannot do that! These were all bought with real money and the hard work of our ancestors from generation to generation!"

"No problem. I am willing to pay for the purchase for the court."

Li Yin made a funny expression and shouted, "No, land is the foundation of the people. This is killing everyone."

“But what if someone doesn’t grow food?”

"Food is the foundation of a country. Our family will definitely urge the people to grow grain!"

"No, just ask me to buy it. I am thinking about the people of the world, and you should understand."

As Li Shimin spoke, he could not help but burst into laughter. "Since you all think this is inappropriate, why don't we all take a step back and draft a decree. The content is: All good land in the Tang Dynasty can only be used to grow crops for the people. Those who violate this decree will be executed along with their entire family. If one mu of land is left uncultivated, a fine of 10,000 taels of silver will be imposed."

Li Yin pretended to beat her chest and stamp her feet: "Absolutely not! This punishment is too severe."

The play could not go on any longer. Several people looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Such a request is like telling others, choose one of these crops to eat today, or I will chop off your head!"

Empress Changsun pursed her lips and couldn't help laughing: "Erlang, you must get up after you have had enough sleep, otherwise I won't obey you!"

Li Yin gave Empress Changsun a thumbs up. This metaphor was too demonic.

"All the farmland nowadays is used to grow crops, and it's not enough for the people to eat now. How could anyone have imagined that one day there would be so much food that there would be no food left?"

Just like her at that time, no one could have imagined that Mr. Yuan would graft out the magic rice.

If Li Yin tells others now that the yield per mu is more than 600 kilograms, no, if she just says that the yield per mu is more than kilograms, others will call her sick.

"Sister, will food production really continue to increase? To what extent can it increase?"

“The yield will continue to increase until it reaches 1,000 kilograms per mu.”

"!"

Everyone was confused.

Li Yin said, "We will plant another crop of rice this fall and continue grafting. Brother, why don't you come and take a look next spring?"

With the development of industry, grain production is increasing, but fewer and fewer people are willing to farm. When mechanical tools are produced and labor is liberated, grain will become even less valuable. At that time, it will depend on state regulation.

The aristocratic families have so much fertile land, so will they plant crops or not?

If you plant crops, you won't make any money, and you'll waste manpower and resources, which will be a huge loss.

If you don't plant, then expect to be fined. Abandoning arable land is an unforgivable crime.

If you plant anything else, you are breaking the law and will be beheaded.

This is something that everyone agreed to at the beginning, and we can't go back on our word.

Even if everyone wants to sell it, they can't. How many suckers would want this kind of land that needs to be used to grow crops every year?

When Li Yin first founded the country, it took 30 years to barely reach a population of 1 billion based on a population of 500 million.

Today, the population of the Tang Dynasty, including the invisible population, is only about 30 to 40 million. Even if everyone is given 50 years, it will not be able to reach 1 billion people. With the sudden increase in food, the arable land that has to be used for growing grain will become a huge pit.

When the time comes, if the noble families do not grow crops, they will be reported as violating the law, resulting in a shortage of food, so the emperor will spend a large amount of money to buy food from the barbarians.

When aristocratic families hoarded grain, they would publicize their cruelty and tyranny, and would rather watch the people starve to death than sell grain at a low price.

The noble families sold their grain at a low price, so she and Lao Li would secretly buy it and regulate the grain prices in the country. If there was too much, they would make wine and make a fortune... (Don't worry about the noble families secretly making wine or selling grain to the barbarians, which is also a serious crime)

"Brother, there are still many good things in the farm that have not been taken out. Let's use the perfume and colorful glass jewelry to make some money from the barbarians."

"If they don't have gold and silver, they can exchange them for grain. We are not afraid of having too much grain. As for the other things, they are not rare. Whatever Brother likes, the farm can probably make it, so we don't want any of them."

Li Yin said, "Of course, if they want to buy at a lower price, that's fine. We can ask them to pay tribute with local specialties, including plants and animals. If we find something we like, we can give them a lower price."

After saying that, Li Yin nodded.

In this way, there is no need to worry about someone deliberately hoarding grain. The taxes plus the grain imported from abroad are enough for the court to release grain to ensure that the people have enough to eat.

Let the aristocratic families store their own food.

As long as she stands on the moral high ground, she will release Lu Zhen if they dare to resist with force.