Chapter 284: Continuation of the Life‑Extending Elixir

Upon hearing it, everyone's mouth twitched.

Chen Yan's metaphor was still fresh and unworldly, yet instantly understandable.

God damn, give a tiger a slippery shovel and try the feeling of hanging.

This isn't courting death, this is seeking death, right?

But, after thinking it over, everyone also grasped what Chen Yan meant to convey.

In short, a dynasty is like a person; natural disasters and human calamities are diseases that can cause an early demise.

Yuan Tiangang rasped, "Then, what is the common factor in the downfall of the great dynasties?"

"Hmm…," Chen Yan pondered, "How should I put it?"

"I'll give you another analogy; this time we'll use two different dynasties as examples."

"The Xi Han, which lasted 210 years, and the Sui Dynasty, whose reign lasted only 38 years."

At that moment, only Chen Yan's voice echoed in the room, while everyone else, including Li Shimin, perked up their ears.

"First, let's talk about Xi Han. If we use it as an analogy, its downfall is the textbook embodiment of the Dynastic Cycle Law."

"Let's analyze the reasons for Xi Han's downfall."

"Is there anyone— cough cough— well‑versed in history to answer?"

Cheng Qian immediately took the floor: "Wang Mang usurped the Han?"

"That's the result of the downfall, not the primary cause," Chen Yan said, sipping tea to moisten his throat.

"The main cause of Xi Han's downfall was land annexation!"

Li Shimin, upon hearing this, couldn't help but strongly agree.

Indeed, he had long been keenly aware of the dangers of land annexation and had taken a series of countermeasures accordingly.

Unfortunately, Li Shimin and Li Yuan mainly adopted 'preventive' and 'foundational' measures; they had some effect but were only temporary and limited.

The Equal-Field System was one such measure.

Cheng Qian said gravely, "Land annexation is an unavoidable factor; can it be understood as the ultimate cause of a dynasty's death?"

"Just like a person's lifespan being exhausted."

"Yes, exactly, you can think of it that way!" Chen Yan praised, "The reason I say Xi Han exemplifies the Dynastic Cycle Law is that after the 'Wenjing Governance' and the 'Han Wu Prosperity', nobles, officials, and landlords massively annexed land through various means, causing countless peasant farmers to go bankrupt and become tenant farmers or refugees. Peasant farmers were the main source of imperial taxes and conscription; their ruin shook the foundation of the state."

"The second major cause: bureaucratic corruption!"

"By the late Xi Han, powerful in‑law families like the Wang clan, together with bureaucrats, monopolized power; corruption ran rampant, administrative efficiency plummeted, and popular grievances continuously intensified."

"The third major cause: extreme wealth inequality."

"The rich owned fields stretching across miles, while the poor had not even a spot to drive a stake into. Social mobility stalled, the lower masses lived in hardship; at this point, Xi Han was gravely ill, on the brink of collapse."

"Finally, the in‑law Wang Mang manipulated court affairs and eventually usurped the throne; of course, this itself was the ultimate manifestation of imperial authority's decline."

"At that time, even if Wang Mang hadn't usurped the Han, popular uprisings would still have erupted."

Chen Yan smiled, "Xi Han's downfall is a typical symptom of a dynasty entering its 'old age'; it went through a complete cycle of rise, prosperity, and decline."

"The primary conflict between officials and the people was the escalating land issue, ultimately causing dynastic decay; all it took was a suitable individual— for example, Wang Mang— to effect a dynastic replacement."

"I understand," Cheng Qian exclaimed, "It doesn't matter whether the person is Wang Mang; any coup or uprising works, the method isn't important!"

"What matters is that he must reallocate fiefs, divide interests, restore the dynasty to a youthful healthy state, and then go through everything again as Xi Han did."

"So this is the cycle of the Dynastic Cycle Law?"

"Yes, exactly!" Chen Yan feigned surprise, "But, Brother Cheng Qian, you make me feel unfamiliar."

Cheng Qian had been pleased with his correct guess, but upon hearing the following sentence, his face immediately darkened.

What unfamiliar?

Why unfamiliar?

Just because I guessed correctly makes it unfamiliar?

If I hadn't guessed right, would you not be unfamiliar?

Just say I was stupid before!

After that, the scene fell silent for a long while as everyone earnestly contemplated Chen Yan's words, weighing their pros and cons, and pulling out the historical texts they had read for comparison.

Meanwhile, Chen Yan leisurely sipped his tea, not disturbing them.

After a while, Li Shimin looked up, "We've finished Xi Han; what about the Sui Dynasty?"

"The Sui Dynasty…," Chen Yan set down his cup, "The Sui Dynasty is a textbook case of courting death; its main downfall stems from the ruler—the emperor's 'rash governance' and 'tyranny'."

"I won't elaborate further; you all know it well."

"The second is the rapid escalation of popular grievances; massive corvée labor, conscription, and tax burdens were all placed on the peasants, leading to 'the world dies from labor while families are wounded by finances', and agricultural production was severely damaged, with countless households destroyed."

"This is equivalent to rapidly completing, within a short span, the 'land annexation' and 'financial crisis' contradictions that would normally take centuries to accumulate."

"The third major cause is..."

Chen Yan hesitated at this point.

Li Shimin saw this and waved his hand, "But it's fine to speak!"

"Alright!" Chen Yan exhaled, continuing, "Emperor Yang of Sui's rule also harmed the interests of the Guanyuan nobles, causing the superstructure to begin loosening and fragmenting."

At this time, the nation could no longer bear the load, the common people could not survive, directly sparking peasant rebellions everywhere; amid the chaos, the former nobles and officials, such as the Taishang… cough cough.

"Figures like Wang Shichong rose in arms, vying for the realm, and the Sui Dynasty rapidly collapsed under internal and external attacks."

Li Shimin didn't cling to Chen Yan's words; instead he said cheerfully, "I increasingly find you correct; I'm not afraid of a decadent second generation, but I fear a second generation that strives upward."

"Originally it was a dynasty in its ascendant phase, just becoming youthful; under Emperor Yang of Sui's 'slippery shovel' to a tiger, the vast nation quickly collapsed, perhaps the greatest prodigal of all realms."

"Cheng Qian," Li Shimin turned and said, "I don't ask you to achieve great deeds; I only ask you to properly inherit the Tang Dynasty."

Cheng Qian: "......"

"...... Very well, Father Emperor, I, your son, understand."

"Now, everyone should understand the essence of the Dynastic Cycle Law, right?" Chen Yan looked around, smiling, and said:

"Simply put, Land Annexation is the cause that consumes a dynasty's lifespan until death; you can treat it as an extremely hard‑to‑cure chronic disease."

"And a wise emperor is a good medicine that can greatly extend lifespan and delay the arrival of the cycle."

"During that period, if various natural disasters and human calamities occur, they also drain national strength and reduce the dynasty's lifespan."

"However, if an emperor like Emperor Yang of Sui appears, a single swipe of a shovel can quickly consume the dynasty's lifespan, leading to its downfall."

"Then, can commercial tax really break this cycle?" Li Shimin's eyes were blazing, and his heart suddenly tightened with anxiety.

"His Majesty, to break is not to leap out!" Chen Yan said seriously: "Breaking only temporarily disrupts one layer of the cycle; you are still within the cycle."

"Collecting commercial tax merely makes the state's finances more stable; when the Land Annexation problem erupts, the treasury can still hold out for a while, extending the time before collapse."

"Commercial tax is equivalent to a life‑extending medicine, not a life‑saving one."

"......."