Chapter 119: Timely Q&A Session

"The subsequent questions are quite difficult. You are permitted to read from the manual—temporarily. Three days from now, you will be required to recite it from memory."

Wang Luo said this as he handed the two men a booklet. Ignoring the initial look of relief and the subsequent expression of distress on the officer's face, he began his questioning.

"If the powerful gentry and landlords emerge victorious, what kind of hazards will it lead to?"

"A massive slaughter of peasants. The gentry, emboldened by ambition, will abandon the Han Dynasty and engage in infighting until they establish a clan-based aristocratic system favorable to themselves. This aristocratic system will lead to a comprehensive decline of the nation as a whole, thereby triggering invasions by surrounding foreign tribes such as the Man, Yi, Qiang, and Di. Meanwhile, the victorious gentry aristocracy will become corrupt and paralyzed, utterly incapable of resisting. In the end, this land will be barren for a thousand miles, rivers of blood will flow, and it will be nearly depopulated..."

"Will it really turn out like this?" Wang Chuan interrupted Wang Meng's recitation, asking with a panicked expression.

"Of course." Wang Luo pointed at Wang Meng. "How are the gentry and landlords formed?"

"They evolve from ordinary people. The smartest, hardest-working, and most outstanding segment of society discovers techniques, channels, or loopholes. Through the continuous accumulation of land and wealth, passed down from generation to generation, they eventually transform into gentry and landlords. When many hardworking individuals cooperate with one another, they become the gentry-landlord class."

"And how do they become corrupt?" Wang Luo asked.

"When the entire society develops to a certain stage, the gentry and landlords can no longer find a direction that both drives personal wealth growth and benefits the nation as a whole. During their earlier growth, their efforts were beneficial to the country. But once a certain threshold is reached, their efforts begin to harm the national interest instead."

"From their perspective, they are merely doing what is natural and what ordinary people do. Yet these 'ordinary' and 'natural' actions continuously undermine the entire collective."

"For instance, parents leaving wealth to their children is something most people would do—but a father who commands vast wealth possesses ability, whereas his offspring may not necessarily possess the capability matching that wealth. When individuals devoid of ability occupy vast amounts of wealth, the whole system falls out of balance."

"Countless similar behaviors, when accumulated, lead to the corruption of the entire gentry-landlord class."

"What is the root of the gentry's corruption?" Wang Luo asked, noncommittal, moving on to the next question.

"It stems from the pursuit of profit inherent in their instincts. As a collective, the gentry-landlord class does not think; it merely relies on instinct to chase after more land, more wealth, higher status, and greater benefits. They pay no heed to how many peasants will starve to death because of this pursuit, nor to the extent of the harm inflicted upon the entire country and the entire race. At the same time, as they accumulate more and more resources, they become increasingly fond of ease and comfort, causing their capabilities to steadily decline."

"What are the typical manifestations of the landlord gentry once corruption spreads?" Wang Luo asked.

"Refusing to work, refusing to shoulder responsibilities, and refusing to do anything meaningful for the country. Instead, they turn to pursuing spiritual pleasures, gratification, and amusement. They develop an illusory sense of superiority, believing themselves to be superior to ordinary citizens, and imagining that they do not even belong to the same species as the common people."

"At present, what state are the landlord gentry of the Han Dynasty in?" Wang Luo asked.

"They are in a state of beginning to corrupt, but not yet completely decayed. At present, many among them still possess talent, and as a collective, they retain strong organizational skills and combat capability."

"As rebels among the common people, how can one defeat them?" Wang Luo asked.

"Knowledge is power. Although the gentry have become corrupt, they still hold a monopoly on knowledge, making them stronger than an unorganized populace that lacks education. The people must study diligently, organize themselves, and form a collective before they can have the strength to confront the gentry and landlords."

"In addition, one must also master struggle strategies and combat techniques. Through propaganda and facts, the people must be made to see the true face of the gentry and landlords, facilitating their entry into the revolutionary cause; as much as possible, one must unite those elements within the gentry and landlords who have not yet completely rotted, making them realize the degradation of their own class and providing them with opportunities and conditions to join the new people's revolutionary collective."

Not bad, even though his expression showed he still didn't fully understand. Yet, being able to read it smoothly with very few mispronunciations made Wang Luo quite satisfied at this stage. "In the process of revolution, what is required to forge the loose populace into a unified whole?"

"Ideology and resources. Food is needed to sustain basic livelihood, weapons to fight the enemy, and armor and shields to protect one's own soldiers. Other resources are likewise useful in various ways, each enhancing the chance of victory."

"Yet having these alone cannot guarantee the success of the revolution; there is a high probability of going astray. Some people might mistakenly believe that the work is finished upon achieving victory, thereby falling into rapid degradation; other people might mistakenly recruit enemies who cannot be redeemed. Only by possessing the correct ideology can the entire revolutionary team steer clear of those errors, preventing the masses who defeated the gentry and landlords from turning into a new class of gentry and landlords themselves, which would lead to the tragedy of overall destruction."

"Is the birth of the landlord gentry inevitable in this era?" Wang Luo asked.

"Yes, and no. Because of the invention of papermaking, knowledge began to undergo an initial diffusion. When the group holding knowledge shifted from the grand aristocracy to the gentry and landlords, it resulted in this class becoming stronger than the ordinary populace. The birth of the gentry and landlords, and even the subsequent aristocratic clans, became a high-probability event. Because they failed to master knowledge, the common people—despite their arduous labor—remained powerless to fight them."

"How can the root of the landlord gentry be dismantled?" Wang Luo asked.

"Within any human collective, as long as the people begin to ponder and pursue progress, the existing ruling system must make corresponding adjustments—to adapt to new changes. Otherwise, it will gradually begin to disintegrate. After victory, popularizing knowledge and erasing the advantages held by the gentry and landlords in this regard will cause this class to gradually wither away."

Having finished reading this sentence, Wang Meng closed his eyes, wearing a pensive expression.

He seemed to be a person willing to learn and think, which was good. "Not bad," Wang Luo praised. "You two may return now. Send Zhang Yuan and Mo Heng to me."

After the two officers departed, Wang Luo closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

A pair of soft hands reached out from behind him, gently massaging his head.

"You have them read these notes of yours—is it of any use?" she asked. "Won't it affect their fighting?"

"No, it won't," Wang Luo leaned back. "After all, people validate theories based on reality. These people have suffered hardships and endured trials; these principles resonate with their actual experiences. And instilling knowledge at this stage is most effective. Having just won, I possess prestige, and they trust me. Right now, without a powerful enemy, we have the time and energy to engage in this. Even if they cannot understand it temporarily, as long as they commit it to memory, these trains of thought will integrate into their instincts and become a part of their souls."

"Yet I see you working so hard... Rest for a while. Doing this for something with so little reward..."

"Little reward? Heh... Never mind. Thank you for your concern."