Since ancient times, there was a saying hidden in the hearts of the common people, "Kings, nobles, generals, and ministers are all equal." No one would think that they were inferior to others, and even more so, no one would think that it was the will of the heavens for a noble to have a bad reputation.
The level of literacy of the common people in ancient times was generally low. They did not have the awareness of the imperial court and political power, nor did they know what loyalty was. They valued their own interests more. If the powerful could let them eat and wear warm clothes, they could accept it even if the exploitation was greater. However, if the powerful did not have the ability and caused their interests to suffer losses, they would oppose the powerful and hope that a new powerful and influential person would appear to lead them to a better life.
Therefore, since ancient times, usurpation of power had always been a matter for the aristocrats and the royal family. The common people would not participate, nor would they care. If the emperor won, he would continue to be the emperor. If the usurper ascended to the throne, he would replace the original emperor to rule. As long as the usurper did not infringe on the common people's interests, the common people would treat it as if nothing had happened.
Those who opposed the usurper were the loyal subordinates of the original emperor. The new emperor's usurpation had infringed on their interests, so they would fight to the death and would not stop until they died.
The common people only wanted to let themselves live a good life. It did not matter who the emperor was. Even if an outsider became the emperor, it was fine as long as the common people could live a stable life.
For example, in the later generations, there was a dynasty of braids. With only a few hundred thousand people, they conquered Hua Xia, which had more than 100 million people. It was simply incredible. Moreover, this regime could be maintained for more than 200 years, which could be called a miracle of the world.
The reason was that the imperial court of Hua Xia had accumulated too many abuses. The officials were too corrupt, and the common people were forced to have no way to survive. There were even uprisings everywhere. If it were not for two extremely powerful uprising forces that greatly weakened the imperial court of Hua Xia, the braids would not have been able to invade Hua Xia and rule for more than 200 years in one fell swoop. They even forced a huge ethnic group to shave their hair and comb it into a big braid, which was particularly ugly.
The reason why the braids were able to rule Hua Xia for more than 200 years had a lot to do with their policies. They had won over a large number of Hua Xia aristocrats, made them submit to them, and helped them rule the huge ethnic group of Hua Xia.
For the common people, as long as they shaved their hair, they could live very well. Moreover, due to the war, a large number of corrupt classes in Hua Xia died out. The new braids were more politically upright than the Hua Xia. Of course, this was in the early stages. It was not like this in the later stages....
In addition, in the later period of Huaxia, a small glacier appeared in the climate, and the agricultural output was greatly reduced. However, the taxes of the imperial court did not decrease at all. As a result, the common people could not survive, and there were violent uprisings.
Who can be blamed for climate change? ...... ...... This was a matter of nature, and it was not something that could be changed by man.
. However, the imperial court and aristocrats did not consider the actual situation of the common people. The taxes could not be reduced, and the land rent could not be reduced. As a result, the common people could only eat dirt. If they did not rebel, they would die. Who would not rebel?
Of course, the common people would not consider the difficulties of the imperial court and aristocrats. The imperial court's difficulty was that its expenses were relatively high. If all the common people did not pay taxes because of their own suffering, the officials of the imperial court would have no rice to cook, and the imperial court would collapse. The aristocrats also wanted to live better. The land was rented to the farmers, and the land rent could not be reduced. If the heavens were not generous, it was the heavens' business. The landlords could not be blamed. Therefore, the land rent could not be reduced.
It was the same in the future. For example, the rent of the retail store could not be collected just because the renters were paying for it. The rent could not be reduced.
There was also the income tax. As long as one's salary exceeded a certain amount, they had to pay it. Even if one's family needed to pay a high fee for hospitalization, it was their own business. The tax could not be reduced. Moreover, there was no way to reduce it. It was directly deducted from one's salary.
The greatest advantage of the Plait Dynasty was that it was in a good era. After Western Europe discovered America, a large number of excellent crops were spread from America to Europe, and then to Hua Xia. These crops were first-rate in terms of yield and resistance to disasters. After the common people used these crops, the agricultural output increased significantly. If one was not hungry, no one would be idle and run over to rebel.
In addition, after the war, a new imperial court was established. The population must have decreased a lot because of the war, and the arable land could not be reduced. As a result, the per capita arable land increased a lot. In this way, the possibility of the common people being hungry was very low, and the possibility of rebellion was also very low.
Therefore, it was not that the Emperor of the Plait Dynasty was chosen by God, but because the Plait Dynasty was in a good era. As a result, their rule had been carried out smoothly for more than two hundred years.
Although there were opposition forces in the process of their rule, these were only a small number of people. Most of the common people only cared about how their lives were, whether they could live a happy life, whether they could eat well and wear warm clothes. As for rebelling against the Plait Dynasty, as long as there was no sufficient reason, they would not do it. Don't talk about national righteousness. The common people did not buy it.
At this time, the Tang Empire was very powerful and economically rich. Therefore, the common people of Nanyang countries liked to join the Tang Dynasty. They would clearly understand that joining the Tang Empire would make their lives better, but if they became an independent small country, their lives would not be so good.
The Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom was a very good example. When the Great Tang announced that it was going to build a county in the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom, the people of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom all happily ran around to spread the news. They were extremely excited and didn't show the slightest bit of dissatisfaction.
Of course, this did not include the king of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom. There were also some aristocrats because the Tang Dynasty did not give them any promises or benefits. After the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom was merged into the Tang Dynasty, the common people could usher in an opportunity for development, but the interests of the aristocrats would be greatly damaged.
People lived for the pursuit of interests. This was the case for common people, businessmen, and aristocrats. The Tang Empire wanted to build a county in the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom and promised to reduce taxes for the common people. This was in line with the interests of the common people of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom, so the common people naturally fully supported it. However, the aristocrats represented by the king did not get any benefits. The privileges and interests that originally belonged to them were also taken away by the court of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, they naturally strongly opposed the Tang Dynasty and hoped that the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom could be rebuilt.
But the current situation could not be influenced by a small number of aristocrats in the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom. They were only a small part of the people, and most of the common people supported the merger of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom into the Tang Dynasty. These original vested interests would not be supported by the common people at all. Therefore, their opposition would not have the slightest effect. They would not even dare to express their dissatisfaction publicly. Otherwise, it would not be as simple as losing their vested interests. They would not even have the opportunity to be common people of the Tang Dynasty. They would be beheaded by the court of the Tang Dynasty because of their opinions.
If they encouraged the common people to oppose the Tang Dynasty, the common people would only stare at these aristocrats with disdain and scold them, "You idiot, you still want to ride on our heads and do whatever you want!" "The era of you aristocrats is over. Now, you can't go back to the era of the Tang Dynasty."
This was the general trend, which could not be reversed by a small number of people. The king and aristocrats of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom usually did not bring any benefits to the common people. When the pirate forces invaded, they directly surrendered and wantonly plundered the common people's wealth to give to the pirate groups, which made the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom a mess. The common people complained everywhere. Many of their beautiful daughters were ruined by the pirates who invaded the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom. Many of the common people's belongings were also looted by the pirates. More young people were caught in the pirate's lair and forced to be pirates, or they would be killed.
Due to the incompetence of the aristocrats of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom, the common people of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom suffered a great disaster. They were badly bullied by the pirates, but the Tang Dynasty Navy taught the pirates a lesson and almost wiped out the pirates in the Malacca Sea. Therefore, the common people of the Dragon Tooth Gate naturally regarded the Tang Dynasty as their patron saint. Naturally, they were more willing to join the Tang Dynasty and become a member of this great empire.
As for the king and aristocrats of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom, in the hearts of the common people, they were as far away as possible. When they were needed, they could not play the slightest role. Instead, they were quite good at riding on the heads of the common people.
The common people of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom had completely abandoned the aristocrats who were riding on their heads. They willingly joined the Tang Empire and cooperated with the county magistrate of the Tang Dynasty to build a new Dragon Tooth Gate County of the Tang Dynasty.
In order to thank the common people of the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom for their cooperation, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty had decided to select officials from the common people and let them cooperate with the county magistrate of the Tang Dynasty to manage the Dragon Tooth Gate County well. They vowed to build the Dragon Tooth Gate County into an exemplary county of the Tang Empire overseas, so as to attract the envy of the common people of the countries along the way, and thus promote the common people of the small countries to join the Tang Dynasty.
In any era, if a poor small country was merged into a powerful rich country, it would certainly greatly improve the lives of the common people, and the status of the common people would also be greatly improved. The benefits were self-evident.
However, there was also a class whose interests would be damaged. That was, the people in power of the small country, who had vested interests. As the aristocrats, no matter how poor the country was, they would not starve. They could live very comfortably, and only the common people would suffer.
Once the country was merged into a large rich country, the common people's lives and status would be improved, but the interests of the aristocrats would not be guaranteed. Especially the king, as the king of a country, would no longer be the king of a country once it was merged into a large empire. His status and autonomy would suffer a great loss.
Since ancient times, there was a saying that it was better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. The aristocrats of the small country were above the common people, and they could be very proud to ride roughshod over the common people. They had the final say in what they wanted to do. However, once they were merged into a large country, the decision-making power would no longer be in their hands. Moreover, once someone framed them and said that they were plotting to restore their country, they would not be able to clear their names even if they jumped into the Yellow River.
Therefore, the kings and aristocrats of the small country were the most reluctant to merge into a large country. Only the common people wanted to live a better life, so they wanted to merge into a rich country.
In the Hua Xia of later generations, because it was too poor, many common people wanted to live in a rich country, so there was a large scale of illegal immigration. Many illegal immigrants died on the way, which was pitiful and sad.
Ang Lee did not care about the future life of the former king of the Dragon Tooth Sect. This useless king had been abandoned by his people. In other words, this old man was useless. The imperial court of the Tang Dynasty did not need to spend a lot of money to support this useless person. Moreover, between an affiliated country and a county, the latter was more conducive to the Tang Dynasty's control over the Dragon Tooth Sect. It was also more conducive to the Tang Empire's protection of the Maritime Silk Road.
Not long after, the destitute king walked out of the Tang Army's camp. Obviously, he was rejected by Black Wolf. This pirate leader was a selfish guy. How could he support his father-in-law who had lost his value?
"Big Brother, this king looks very pitiful. Are we just going to let him fend for himself? Isn't that a bit cruel? "
Li Feiyu suddenly felt compassion.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "What do you mean by fend for himself? I have ordered that this destitute king, his wives, and his descendants be given a total of 800 mu of land, which is not less than that of ordinary people. As long as he and his descendants work hard, they will never starve to death. But this old guy still wants to reap without sowing. He wants the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty to provide for his family. How can it be so cheap?"
This king had more than a dozen wives, eight sons, and more than 20 grandchildren. The total population was more than 50 people. It was not very large, but it was not small either. If the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty supported all of them, it would be a big burden. Although the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty could afford to support them, these guys had hands and feet and were not disabled. Why should they support them for free? It was best to let them learn to work by themselves. Of the 800 mu of land, 500 mu were cultivated. There was also some land that was not very good, but could be planted with fruits and economic trees. As long as they worked hard, they would never starve.
"Haha! Big Brother, how can these fellows endure the hardships of farming? I reckon it's enough to keep them busy. I heard that this old King has more than ten wives, and the youngest is only sixteen years old. I wonder if they can endure the hardships of farming, and if they will remarry! "
Li Feiyu joked.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "If you like any of them, you can discuss with the king and buy them as concubines."
"Haha! Forget it! After all, he used to be the king of a country. I won't bully him. Whether his family can live well or not depends on whether they can learn modestly and be good farmers. "
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