What are the "prosperous times" in history? What is false prosperity?

Today's editorial brings you an article.

Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, was born in Ji Cheng, Longxi. The Tang Dynasty was an outstanding politician, strategist, militarist and poet. He is the second son of Tang Gaozu and his mother is Dou Taihou.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, people were able to use them honestly and wisely. Broaden the road, respect life, self-control, and accept guidance with an open mind; It also adopted policies such as attaching importance to agriculture, practicing economy, recuperating, reviving culture and education, and improving the imperial examination system, which led to social stability. And vigorously pacify foreign aggression, respect the customs and habits of border nationalities, stabilize border areas, and finally realize the ideal world governance situation.

Because the title of the book at that time was Guan Yu, from Yi ·Xi· Hua Ci: The Way of Heaven and Earth, Guan Yu Ye. Meaning: Show people the right way. Therefore, his ruling history is called "the rule of Zhenguan".

Later generations have always believed that the rule of Zhenguan was the political, economic and cultural prosperity during the reign of Emperor Taizong.

There is a saying: "In the four years of Zhenguan, the price of rice was between four and five yuan a barrel. People who go out for a few months don't have to close the door. The streets are full of cows, horses and other livestock. People don't need to store dry food thousands of miles away. " It can be seen from this record that in the four years of Zhenguan, the productivity of the Tang Dynasty reached its peak, at least fundamentally restoring the previous war.

Friends who are familiar with economics know that it is obviously inaccurate and unreliable to measure social conditions with food prices. To refute this point with the words of "Han Shu", that is, "buying is very expensive and hurts the body; Cheap and hurting farmers. People are injured, and agriculture is poor. " The most important point is that if the food price is too low, the fundamental interests of farmers will be damaged. Food prices are ridiculously high and may even endanger the economic lifeline of society.

Therefore, the food price is at an abnormal level, which shows that the four-year political achievements of Li Dynasty Zhenguan are still unsuccessful, but it may cause a large-scale economic crisis. More importantly, it is difficult to see the strange phenomenon of four yuan per meter in the capital of the Tang Dynasty. If you want to know the truth, you might as well continue to take the contents of New Tang Book as an example.

According to records, in A.D., the land near Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty was fertile, but the cultivated land was very scarce, which could not meet the daily needs of the capital.

Therefore, the grain in Chang 'an needs to be transported from all parts of the country by water.

As we all know, grain transportation needs a lot of goods. Due to the inconvenient transportation in Tang Dynasty, the transportation cost of a barrel of rice usually reached near San Qian. According to the New Tang Book, Chang 'an only needs 4 yuan per barrel of rice. Does this mean that the price of these grains in the producing area is only 1 yuan per barrel? Obviously, this is unreasonable, and it is also a contradiction in the Book of the New Tang Dynasty.

The word "Chang 'an Migui" is very suitable to describe the economy of Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty.

When Bai Juyi visited his predecessors in his early years, he heard a somewhat ironic sentence: "Although Chang 'an is expensive, it is not easy to live in a big city. "In addition, the highest price of rice in Guanzhong was 0/000 yuan per bushel/kloc, which was the highest grain reserve in Chang 'an at that time. Emperor Taicang's Sixth Palace only had 10 day's food. From Emperor Taizong to Tang Gaozong, the price of rice rose from 400+0000 to 1000 in just a few decades. Obviously, this is illogical.

In fact, during the Zhenyuan period, the food price in Chang 'an also hit a "historical low", which is a once-in-a-century event.

According to historical records, in the early years of Zhenyuan, Premier Lu Zhi suggested that the government buy low-priced rice from the people to expand Taicang's grain reserves. Subsequently, the imperial court bought a large number of millet in Guanzhong area, but the unshelled millet still needed a barrel of 70 yuan. In the early days of Emperor Gaozong's reign, there was a clear record in the history books about the period of "low grain prices". 70 yuan was a bushel, which was far lower than the price at that time.

Through the thick fog, we might as well continue our discussion. What do these incredible numbers mean? The author believes that it is historians who have fabricated these false excuses, thus presenting the absurd joke of "four dollars a meter" to future generations. Only through this incident can we get a glimpse of the whole leopard, and we have every reason to suspect that it happened in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

So, what is the national strength of a country?

There are only a few official pens, so it is impossible to describe them in detail. It depends on the external evaluation. Wang Juwentai of Gaochang, who had a deep friendship with the Tang Dynasty at that time, once said: "When I entered the north of Qin, the northern cities were depressed, and the Sui Dynasty could not be compared with Qin."

So, what does this sentence mean?

In other words, the economic level of the early Tang Dynasty cannot be compared with that of the previous generation.

In fact, in Li Shimin's life, the economy of the Tang Dynasty did not catch up with that of the Sui Dynasty, and the population was far less than that of the Sui Dynasty. Three years after his death, Li asked the household registration officials about the population growth this year. By chance, he learned that the total population of Sui Dynasty exceeded 8 million, but now the population of Tang Dynasty is less than 4 million.

It can be seen that Li Shimin has struggled all her life, but she can't catch up with the previous dynasty, or even catch up with half of its population.

In fact, long before the Zhenguan period, rulers had already provided money for their dynasties in this way. In contrast, the Tang Dynasty can only be regarded as a "latecomer". In the Book of the New Tang Dynasty, the social situation in the period of Taikang was evaluated as follows:

"Cattle and horses, surplus grain covers an area of an acre, thatched cottages, and the countryside is not closed. People meet like relatives, and those who lack relatives take money. "

So, was the Taikang period really that prosperous? Obviously, this is very worthy of scrutiny. If this passage really says so, how can Taikang conquer for three generations? Obviously, this is unrealistic.

From this point of view, Li Shimin is just copying the practice of his ancestors and drawing his face in the history books.