Chapter 284 No Way Out
"What do you mean?" Cao Cao actually understood what Mao Jie meant, but he still asked without lowering his head.
"My lord, do you know the current population of the world?" Mao Jie asked.
"It should be around 50 or 60 million," Cao Cao said.
"When the Han Dynasty was prosperous, how many people were there?"
"Almost the same."
"We have experienced the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Dong Zhuo's Rebellion, the struggles among princes, and the states under the heavens have changed hands several times. Droughts and floods have never ceased, but the population has not decreased. Don't you find it strange, my lord?" Mao Jie said.
Cao Cao fell silent.
"If Tian Chengshou doesn't trade for food and grass during this drought, what will happen to the Central Plains?"
Without waiting for Cao Cao to answer, Mao Jie said to himself: "Plus, Lu Bu was made king, and his rule is also developing rapidly. These are enough to prove that my original speculation was correct."
"If that's the case, Tian Chengshou's purpose in promoting the Hundred Schools of Thought and pushing out the Mohist School at this time is definitely not just to promote the Mohist School."
"Otherwise, with his reputation, he could have achieved this effect by simply spreading the news among the people under his rule. There's no need to make it known to the world and add more variables."
"One of his real purposes must be to hope that we and the family will change as well."
"Because if you don't change, there's no chance of winning."
Cao Cao smiled bleakly: "Reform is not easy. Moreover, even if we succeed, He Tian Cheng Shou will take the same path. We are so far behind. Is it possible to catch up?"
Xun Yu fell silent upon hearing this.
He believed that his ability was superior to Chen Gong's, and that under the same conditions, the efficiency of his rule might be higher than that of Tian Ze's.
But the problem remains: the gap between the two sides is too big.
Even if Tian Chengshou made no progress, they would probably have to chase him for decades if everything went well.
"That's right. In terms of development, we can't win. But we still have to reform, because if we don't, there is only one way out, and that is death," said Mao Jie.
"Tian Chengshou has the natural barrier of the Yellow River, hundreds of thousands of elite troops stationed there, and he is extremely steady. It is impossible for us to win quickly. The only way is to fight a protracted war."
"And today we simply don't have the ability to fight a sustained war."
"The people we can truly control are no more than a million, accounting for less than 30% of the population, and the rest are vassals of the aristocratic families."
"With a population of over one million, it is extremely difficult to support an army of 100,000. All supplies need to be provided by the noble families and powerful people."
"But the aristocratic families are all operating on their own and have their own selfish motives. Although they control a large population, their per capita productivity is much lower than ours."
"It is now extremely difficult for Yanzhou and Yuzhou combined to support the army. Unless the army is disbanded, there is no possibility of development. It is losing money every year."
"To achieve a lasting battle, we must break this deadlock, avoid the regression of development under our rule, and restore it to a healthy state."
"The two states have a combined population of nearly five million. If we can reform and integrate the population and productivity, it shouldn't be a problem to increase the money and grain output under our rule by more than half. Then we will have the capital to win."
Cao Cao sighed: "Xiaoxian, you are right. We want to win, and we have no other choice. But have you considered what the consequences of reform will be?"
"If we don't reform, we might still have a decent ending. After the reform, I'm afraid we will be unpopular both inside and outside."
Mao Jie smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, my lord. We were not the first to propose reform, and I think all the princes in the world have the same idea."
"If only one person does it, it's impossible to do it. But if everyone does it, then the law can't hold everyone responsible. And Tian Chengshou should also 'help' us. In fact, to some extent, he has already helped us."
The Mohist school's earth-shattering performance was like a thunderclap to the princes and the aristocratic families as well.
In the past, when they didn't know about this, the nobles looked at Tianze like looking at the moon in a well. But after knowing this, they looked at Tianze again, like a mayfly looking at the blue sky. Before, they knew that Tianze was powerful, but they didn't think it was invincible. Cao Cao and others might not be able to catch up with the other party if they sorted out the internal affairs. But now...
Even if they were hostile to Tianze, they had lost most of their confidence in defeating Tianze at this time.
With a probability of 30% to 40% or even 10% to 20%, you can still try to gamble, after all, the return is high with a small investment. But with a winning rate of less than 1%, the risk versus the reward is something that the noble families have to think about.
Even if Cao Cao and others did not change the law, the powerful families would "force" them to change, and they would have no way out.
"Besides, we have a huge advantage over others," said Mao Jie.
Xun Yu frowned and couldn't help feeling sad.
"Emperor!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao immediately understood and looked at Mao Jie in surprise.
"Will the emperor be willing?"
You must know that the emperor Liu Yu that Cao Cao now supports is not Liu Xie.
His domestic affairs capabilities are top-notch in the world, and he has many loyal followers. He even has his own army and has not lost his independence. At this time, his relationship with Cao Cao is more like a cooperative one.
Due to the limitations of the situation, the relationship between the two sides is quite good, but there is still a layer of separation.
"The emperor is kind and benevolent. He will agree to anything that benefits the people. And even if it is for the sake of the general situation, the emperor has no choice but to do this." Mao Jie said solemnly.
In this situation, if the losses are to be minimized, the emperor can only take the blame.
"Carry out reforms in the name of the emperor. It just so happens that Yuan Chang is now under the emperor's command, making him the most suitable person to do this." Mao Jie glanced at Xun Yu calmly.
Xun Yu looked quite unhappy, but he did not stop it.
In this way, the emperor was cutting off one of his own arms, and both the name and the reality were obtained by Cao Cao.
But given the current situation, this is the best solution.
"In that case, let's give it a try." Cao Cao said with determination in his eyes.
No matter how slim the hope is, he will never give up.
Just when Cao Cao made up his mind to carry out reforms, Liu Bei, Sun Ce and Yuan Shao made the same choice.
Needless to say, Sun Ce was a reckless man who had never had a good impression of the powerful families. He had been fighting and killing people all the way in Jiangdong and had already offended almost all of them. Now it was just the right time to overturn the table and start all over again.
Liu Bei had long wanted to suppress the aristocratic families.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Tian Ze's last words took root deeply in his heart, but because the time was not right, they never sprouted.
Now that Pang Tong had provoked them, they could no longer suppress the trend. Even if Chen Qun dissuaded them, they would still push forward.
At this time, Yuan Shao had completely fallen into the "role model for the world" mode.
After learning the whole story, he agreed to it without hesitation, not caring at all about the risks or what the consequences would be in case of failure.
At this time, Yuan Shao only had victory in his eyes. His courage was so amazing that all his civil and military officials admired him.
The four great princes finalized the matter. Although the noble families in the world did not know about it, they could vaguely feel that a terrible storm was about to hit.
The world is finally going to undergo a thorough reshuffle!
(End of this chapter)
