Chapter 252: Roots of the Yang World

Xu Jia had said before that in every village, he must leave behind at least three of his own people: one to control faith, a shaman or witch; one to control production; and one to control armed force.

The Da Ning dynasty has been founded for over one hundred and seventy years, and the means of production are basically all in the hands of the landlords, which is to say, the political clique of the gentry and great clans.

The Eighth-Rank Scattered Official title that the Xu family's ancestors donated for, along with these hundred mu of fertile land, is actually not much, because this is just for one person, after all.

If one speaks of a whole clan, that would be a thousand mu, or ten thousand mu.

Do the common people have land? Most do not; eighty percent of the farmers are tenant farmers, are farmhands.

For tenant farmers and farmhands, the first generation has a very hard time, but by the second or third generation, there is actually some improvement.

Their economy follows the landlords and the great clans, because they are essentially propertyless, so they have no risk of bankruptcy. But because their food and drink are all provided by the landlords, they are also highly dependent on the landlords; thus, in the countryside, the landlord is often equivalent to the emperor.

Although they are not slaves, they are no different from the landlord's private property.

Those who have the risk of bankruptcy are actually the small farmers who own their own land, or the handicraftsmen; whatever risks they have, they bear themselves, and when they cannot bear it, they go to borrow money, and if they cannot pay it back, they end up reduced to tenant farmers, or even sell themselves into slavery.

If one does not count the exploitation by the imperial court, or Heavenly Disasters and man-made calamities, and simply farms the land, the life of such small farmers can actually be lived quite well.

But if one adds those things, they can only manage to be underfed and underclothed, and once the farming is done, they have to go do odd jobs.

A single illness means bankruptcy. Therefore, they will desperately have children; having children has little rearing cost for them—if they die, they die, and those who don't grow up don't; those who grow up a little can help with work, and if one happens to have promise, that is the life-saving straw to reach the shore.

But those who can have promise are the minority, and often the more they have, the poorer they become.

The Jiangnan West Circuit has a flourishing literary culture, so there are many who serve as officials, and many great clans that rose by relying on family members serving as officials; this includes the Xu family as well. Although this official rank was donated, it is still an official rank, and it is also a prestigious power in the countryside.

Xu Jia wants Ao Jin and Yuan Yiqi to control the means of production, but what they control more is actually not these landless commoners, but these landlords and these great clans; however, these great clans have a layer of insurance, which they will shift onto these tenant farmers, because they only need to worry about collecting rent.

Yet, this layer of insurance also has times when it burns through, which is when the tenant farmers, who were originally oriented toward their "parents of food and clothing," begin to be dissatisfied and begin to resist; then, they will in turn force the landlords.

The method of "struggle" that Xu Jia is spreading actually involves many things, and the struggle between tenant farmers and landlords is included within it.

Struggle is a matter of life and death; it is a matter of no retreat.

But right now, it is still too gentle; after all, the tenant farmers have not yet reached the point where they cannot survive.

Moreover, Xu Jia himself is not a firm struggle warrior. The Golden Toad under his seat became the biggest landlord and the biggest financial tycoon during the Dexing flood. But this is not a split, because below the self, all living things are unequal and divided into classes; only above the self is there a need for struggle.

This is also the essence of dynastic hegemony; peasant uprisings cannot amount to anything, and only when the great clans enter the arena can a revolution be completed and a transformation be achieved.

Then, for whom is the struggle, and to whom do the benefits of the struggle belong? That is a question.

Do they belong to oneself, or do they return to the common people?

If they return to the common people, the common people cannot hold onto them; it is just another cycle.

If they return to oneself, one cannot hold onto them either; it is just the corruption of a class.

Then, only by establishing a system and attributing all benefits and all development to this system can one go further.

The enfeoffment system is like this, the feudal system is like this, or other systems that follow.

But in the end, the people, the commoners, are the cornerstone of this system. If this were a world without a Heavenly Court and without an Underworld, Xu Jia would definitely learn from the Instructor and slay the dragon to start an uprising.

But this is an Immortal-Xia world, and the Heavenly Court's system governs these myriad worlds.

Xu Jia can only attempt to establish a small system within this great system; this system may not necessarily be able to break away from feudalism, as after thousands of years of habits, it is always the tradition of setting up the stage—the play being performed is different, but the script being sung is similar.

But Xu Jia hopes it develops better, and that this system can be maintained more stably and for longer.

If one combines Ghost Gods and technology, is there any potential? Xu Jia feels there is potential. The Yellow Heaven Sect of many years ago perhaps was like this; their Bean-Scattering Soldier-Making Technique could actually synthesize mechs.

It is just that Ghost Gods rely on faith, and population is the key, while technology relies on productivity. The productivity of this world is too low; although it has reached roughly the level of the Qing dynasty in his previous life, and intensive cultivation can yield three to five hundred catties per mu—not as inefficient as slash-and-burn—there is still a gap compared to eight hundred or one thousand catties.

To cultivate the foundation of the Yang world, one must start farming; only after farming can one recruit the young and strong.

The Da Ning dynasty is in chaos, monsters are rampant, and the Longevity Sect has also begun to run wild; it just so happens that Xu Jia has some ambitions.

The Longevity Sect is a scourge, and the goddamn old era that makes it impossible for people to live is also a scourge.

Going up the mountain to cultivate as an Immortal is something to do in peaceful times.

In chaotic times, one must go down the mountain to save the world, to save the common people.

"The chaotic cave of ten thousand gods, refining the self into the Heavenly Heart." Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit sits in the Zi Fu, gradually beginning to condense Emperor Qi.

The Inner Heaven and Earth and the Outer Heaven and Earth are the same.

The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of antiquity were emperors in the human world, and after ascending, they were also emperors in the Heavenly Court.

The Great Cave Yellow Court Method, as Huang Zhenren pointed out, is a method of "entering the world."

To cultivate the one hundred and eight thousand Body Gods within, one needs to cultivate the Saint King Dao, internal virtue and external merit, and establish a Dao Kingdom on earth.

But at that time, Xu Jia did not feel that the Da Ning dynasty was completely rotten; what he wanted was to step on the corpses of the Longevity Sect, establish a Dao Kingdom overseas, confer titles upon gods, then cultivate all the Body Gods, ascend to the Shangjie, and upon reaching the Form Realm, at the very least, have the merit and fruit of a Fifth-Rank Imperial Lord like Qin Shi Huang, establish an Immortal Kingdom in the Form Realm, and have those Heavenly Humans transformed from lonely ghosts and wild spirits ascend with him to become citizens of the Immortal Kingdom.

Then, continue to cultivate in the Form Realm and so on, until ascending to the Formless Realm, the Three Pure Ones Realm, and the Great Luo Heaven.

But now, Xu Jia wants it all.

Of so many emperors, only a few have completed the great unification and ascended; they were all people who cultivated and established a Dao lineage.

As for those who did not ascend and went to the Underworld, there are many, countless.

The path Xu Jia is walking is no longer the heterodox path of his previous life; it is the proper one, like the paths of the Yellow Emperor, the Flame Emperor, or Chiyou and Zhuanxu.

Birds and beasts are all my officials: the Bird Official is called the Phoenix, the Beast Official is called the Qilin, the Scaled Official is called the Dragon... besides these, there are the Heaven Official, Earth Official, Water Official, Spring Official, Summer Official, Autumn Official, Winter Official...

These are the sacred beings of the Outer Heaven and Earth, and they also correspond to the sacred beings of the Inner Heaven and Earth; if one governs by following the Dao of Heaven and Earth and nature, one will surely become a "Saint King."

(End of chapter)