Lady Liang said, "Didn’t you just say that when water overflows, it spills over."
"In the previous dynasty and during the Chen Dynasty, after a prosperous era came decline. However, it didn’t pletely collapse because a ruler who revitalized the regime emerged, allowing the dynasty to continue for several decades, or even a century. But in the end, it still perished. Why is that?"
Lady Liang’s first reaction was that the emperors following the revitalizing ruler lacked talent. She felt it was unlikely to be the reason. After careful thought, she said, "At that time, the problems within the court were increasing, and the last emperor couldn’t solve them."
"Mother, you’ve only seen the surface."
"The surface, then what is the real reason?" As soon as Liang Zhaoyi finished speaking, she thought of a reason, "The noble families?"
"The noble families are the surface reason."
"What, the noble families are the surface reason?" Lady Liang asked in astonishment, "What is the real reason then?"
"The real reason is the land." Zhao Yao thought of something, his expression being somewhat subtle, "Mother, could you be pregnant?" As the saying goes, pregnancy makes one foolish for three years, could it be that Mother suddenly became so silly because she’s pregnant?
"No." Lady Liang didn’t understand why her son said she was pregnant.
"No, then why did you suddenly bee so silly, Mother?" Zhao Yao asked suspiciously, "Maybe we should still have the Imperial Physician take your pulse..."
Before he finished speaking, his forehead was flicked by Lady Liang.
"Your courage has grown, daring to tease your mother."
"I’m not teasing, I’m telling the truth, Mother, you have bee silly."
"Alright, Mother has bee silly, then tell me why it’s the land?" Lady Liang asked humbly.
"To be precise, it’s the problem between people and land, and this problem has existed from ancient times to the present. Why do kings of each dynasty suppress and weaken noble families?"
"Because noble families hold power."
"No, the most important reason is because noble families hold a large amount of land." Zhao Yao said seriously, "Noble families have been able to stand for hundreds, even thousands of years, because they have land. Land is their final retreat."
Liang Zhaoyi still didn’t quite understand. Having grown up in a wealthy family, if it weren’t for the chaos in the previous dynasty, she would not have suffered. Most importantly, the Liang family had a lot of land.
"The noble families occupy more and more land, while the land distributed to the mon people bees less and less, sometimes none at all. Without land, the mon people have no food to eat." Zhao Yao continued, "Not eating for a day or two is fine, but after ten or twenty years without food, the mon people will rebel."
Upon hearing Zhao Yao’s words, Liang Zhaoyi realized it was indeed so.
"I see."
"Grandfather and Father took back a lot of land from the noble families, but the noble families still hold a lot of land." Zhao Yao frowned, "Honestly, the land the Imperial Family controls is not as much as the noble families."
"I was ignorant; I never thought about it in this way." Lady Liang was enlightened and asked, "How did you discover this?"
"By reading history books." Zhao Yao thought Lady Liang’s question was a bit silly, although he didn’t mind since she is his mother, "Mother, what do you read in history books? Do you only read the stories of the rise and fall of each dynasty?" Mother has studied history longer than him, yet she only understood surface history, which truly surprised him.
"Also about the mon people, but I didn’t see the land issues behind history." Lady Liang suddenly felt she had read those history books for nothing, "I was foolish."
"Grandfather and Father encouraged the cultivation of wasteland, so that the mon people would have land, but it’s a temporary fix, not a solution." Zhao Yao said with a slightly solemn expression, "To make the noble families willingly hand over all their land is very difficult, unless you directly eliminate them."
"The noble families in Yangzhou were eradicated by Father, but the noble families in the capital are not so easy to remove." Zhao Yao added, "The noble families in the capital have existed for thousands of years."
"If Great Zhou wants to break out of the three hundred years cycle, then all the land in the world must be controlled by the court, and the court must be clear-headed and considerate of the mon people. However, not every emperor can be clear-headed."
Liang Zhaoyi finally understood what Zhao Yao meant upon hearing this.
"Looking at it this way, no dynasty indeed lasts more than four hundred years."
"Land is the most important reason, but there are other significant reasons."
"What other reasons?"
"You have to think about it yourself, Mother." Zhao Yao thought for a moment, then said, "Mother, you should still have the Imperial Physician check on you tomorrow..."
Zhao Yao’s little head was knocked hard with a book by Lady Liang, "Mother, don’t be so embarrassed."
Lady Liang angrily scolded, "You little brat..."
"Mother, you’ve bee silly..."
Zhao Yao didn’t escape; in the end, he was caught by Lady Liang and spanked while lying across her lap. Of course, she didn’t hit him hard.
After the mother and son played around for a while, they each continued reading their books.
Lady Liang picked up the history book again, while Zhao Yao was writing a letter to his third uncle.
After finishing the letter, Zhao Yao planned to have Tong Xi deliver it out of the palace to his second uncle tomorrow.
Seeing that it was getting late, Lady Liang reminded Zhao Yao to quickly return to his room to sleep.
Before Zhao Yao left, he again reminded Lady Liang to have the Imperial Physician take her pulse tomorrow.
Lady Liang laughed angrily, "This little brat..."
Gui Xing came over, laughed and said, "Madam, how about calling the Imperial Physician for a pulse check tomorrow?"
Lady Liang poked Gui Xing’s forehead and laughed, "You’re making fun of me too."
"Maybe Madam, you really are expecting?"
Lady Liang shook her head and said, "No way, I know my body well. If I was really expecting, I would definitely know." She continued, "I won’t be able to have another child in this life."
Gui Xing heard Lady Liang’s words, her eyes full of distress, "Madam, don’t think like that, maybe in the future, you’ll give birth to a brother for His Highness."
"I’m not sad." Lady Liang had long e to terms with not being able to conceive again, "Fortunately, Yao Yao has the fourth and eighth princes as good brothers."
"Madam..."
"Am I getting old, otherwise how did I suddenly bee silly?" Lady Liang thought of her white hair and sighed, "It seems I’m really getting old." She actually had not noticed that no dynasty exceeded four hundred years, nor had she discovered the real reasons behind each dynasty’s decline. If Yao Yao hadn’t told her these things tonight, she might never have discovered them in her lifetime.
"Madam, you are not old, nor have you bee silly, it’s just that His Highness is too intelligent." Gui Xing marveled, "His Highness is really too wise, it’s good that His Highness always pretends to be silly."
"Yao Yao is not only smart, but also very meticulous," said Lady Liang. "Most importantly, he is very perceptive." She had not seen the real issues behind history, but Yao Yao had long noticed them. This child... as the Emperor said, Yao Yao is naturally destined to be an emperor.
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