Chapter 22

Even with the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers assisting, it is equally exhausting!

Facing Ying Su truly admires Seeing Ying Zheng; he is just one person, how can he manage so many affairs?

Of course, while understanding the nation's current state, he discovered that not everything was Seeing Ying Zheng's merit!

Similarly, there were black marks!

The biggest black mark among them was that Facing Ying Su agreed with that phrase circulated by Seeing Ying Zheng's online detractors in the modern era!

The Great Qin flourished under the First Emperor, and perished under the First Emperor!

Yes!

He agreed with this phrase!

Why?

A very simple reason!

Taxes!

Very heavy!

How heavy?

Qin Banzhi taxes!

That is to say, half of the harvest obtained by ordinary people from farming is used to pay land tax!

Moreover, this is merely the land tax!

Besides land tax, there are head taxes and corvée labor!

This is something every Qin citizen must face!

No one can escape it!

And besides land tax, head tax, and corvée labor, the people also face a huge problem!

That is paying land rent to the nobles!

Yes, in this era, although all under heaven is the King's land, the ownership of the land does not belong to the Emperor, but to the nobles.

If the people want to farm, they can only lease it from the nobles.

And the annual grain production counts as the rent.

As for how this rent is collected, it depends entirely on the noble's own will, but most nobles collect twenty percent!

That is to say, for all the people, at least seventy percent of the grain obtained from farming each year must be given to others.

Only the remaining thirty percent belongs to themselves!

Is this considered harsh?

In the eyes of modern people, it is considered extremely harsh!

It has even reached the point where rebellion is possible!

But in Facing Ying Su's view, this is nothing!

Because, collecting taxes this way is not unique to the Qin dynasty!

Reducing taxes to one-tenth was something that happened after Han Gaozu Liu Bang.

One-fifteenth, one-twentieth, those were things that happened after Han Jingdi and Han Wendi!

Before the Han, all dynasties collected taxes this way!

So, such taxation does not pose much of a problem!

In an agricultural civilization, as long as the people have a mouthful of food, they will not choose to rebel!

But... the problem arises when excessive corvée labor and excessive taxes appear together; that is a huge problem!

For example, King Zhou of Shang's Star-Gazing Tower and Deer Platform stirred up immense public resentment!

And in the Qin dynasty, there were indeed four such great projects!

Moreover, none of them can compare to the Star-Gazing Tower and Deer Platform!

Yes, building the Great Wall, building the First Emperor's Mausoleum, building the Epang Palace, and also the Dujiangyan and Zhengguo Canal!

These count as the four great projects of the current Great Qin!

And these four great projects consumed a total of over three million people's labor!

Amidst such severe taxation and consumption of manpower, the people might already not even have a mouthful of food!

What? You say there was Qian Liang distributed within these huge projects?

Brother, how old are you?

Isn't that childish?

Even in modern society, there are cases where funds are stripped layer by layer in projects; a project budget of one billion reaches the contractor's hands with only one million left, resulting in shoddy construction.

Let alone in ancient times?

How do you think ancient times were so clean?

Qin Fa is harsh!

But... even the harshest Qin Fa needs people to supervise its execution!

Not hearing much about corruption cases in the Qin dynasty does not mean there were none, but that they were not exposed!

That is to say, they were simply not discovered!

If not discovered, how can it be executed?

Facing Ying Su can imagine that when that Qian Liang reached the people's hands, not even one in ten remained, or even the situation where there was absolutely nothing!

And at this time, public resentment had already begun to accumulate!

But due to the First Emperor's overwhelming pressure, no one dared to rebel!

And once the First Emperor died, with no one to suppress them, rebellion naturally occurred!

Do you think the Daze Village Uprising came about by chance?

Do you really believe Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were so full of idle energy that they chose to rebel for fun?

Facing taxes of this magnitude, massive construction projects, and the pressure of personal survival, very few people would choose not to rebel.

And from this perspective, the saying that Qin flourished under Shi Huang and perished under Shi Huang is not wrong in the slightest!

Could Shi Emperor Ying Zheng have realized this problem?

Or did he even think about these issues?

Ying Su felt that he must have discovered it and realized it.

Otherwise, he would be mad; unifying the world for eleven years, touring five times?

Five tours, and seven times he altered his route to gaze upon the Great Wall!

Do you really think touring the world is a pleasant assignment?

Merely being jolted in a carriage for a year at a time is something no ordinary person could endure.

Moreover, he had to conduct inspections and handle various state affairs while in the carriage!

This truly is not something an ordinary person could endure.

Nor is it the kind of toil an emperor should bear!

These tours of the world served two purposes: first, to intimidate those in the six states with disloyal hearts; second, to warn those who committed corruption and perverted the law.

He told those people: Do not think that because the sky is high and the Emperor is far away, I know nothing; the Emperor is always by your side!

As for stopping these projects, or delaying them? Or perhaps being stricter, catching those who embezzled Qian Liang, and punishing them directly and severely?

Ying Su felt that was impossible.

Since the work was started, it had to be completed in one go; dragging it out would only create trouble!

By then, the Great Wall, the Epang Palace, water conservancy projects, and so on would be unlikely to continue construction!

Similarly, punishing them severely was also impossible, because of that saying: if the water is too clear, there are no fish!

If you clean out all the corrupt officials, who will do the jobs that offer no profit for you?

Under their supervision, though the common people suffered in deep water and scorching fire, the quality of the construction projects was guaranteed!

Without their supervision, heh... the five-thousand-year Great Wall standing unshaken?

I fear if Meng Jiangnu cried for a little longer, even Outside Xianyanggong would collapse!

As for when to change these things?

Based on the national conditions he mastered, the actions Shi Emperor had taken, and even the speculations of people in later generations,

Ying Su personally felt that Shi Emperor's plan was to wait until the Great Wall, the Epang Palace, and the Mausoleum of Shi Huang, these great projects, were all completed.

Only then should changes be made.

At the very least, the common people could not be made to suffer like this any longer.