In other words, if the empire wants to become stronger again, a bloody purge is unavoidable. This will inevitably touch the interests of some people, and they will use various methods to prevent the purge, and even a tragic war will break out.

Civil War - This is also one of the important reasons for the frequent civil wars in the Roman Empire.

But if they are not cleansed, the country will be destroyed. Choosing to eradicate the old party may not necessarily lead to successful reform, and the risk is very high, and it may even cause backlash.

In the Middle Ages when productivity was backward, land was undoubtedly one of the key targets of reform.

In the 13th century, the Roman Empire fell into pieces. Landlords and rich peasants controlled most of the land. Land annexation continued to worsen. A large number of homesteaders went bankrupt, were forced to sell off their property, and even committed suicide.

The empire still lacks a land reform.

The significance of land reform lies in three aspects. First, it reduces the non-working population in society, integrates landless farmers into social production, and reduces conflicts; second, it expands the market. Landless farmers have no money to consume, but they can make money if they have land and can produce; third, they can expand the market.

The third is to reduce land waste and expand food production potential.

There are two forms of land reform. The first is to divide land to landless farmers, and the second is to let landless farmers move to cities to work as workers. In fact, the two forms are ultimately about reforming the land system and expanding the consumer market. The disadvantages of the first approach are

It reduces the agricultural potential and increases the cost of land transfer. The second is to create slums.

It is different from modern land reform. Modern landowners are not so conservative, because large landowners have a large amount of land that can transform landlords from feudal landlords to agricultural capitalists. The conservative ones are small landowners, rich farmers, and middle peasants. If you want to dismantle these people, you have to destroy that kind of feudalism.

The land system either allows all farmers to move to cities and the rest are farmers, which will naturally complete progress, or it divides the land equally and everyone has land, but the size of the land is not enough to support self-sufficiency, and men farm and women weave.

small landowners, rich peasants, and middle peasants.

Let’s not talk about the land reform in the East for now.

Alexius does not want to establish "public ownership", nor will he kill the landlord class (or the rich peasant economy). In the eyes of ordinary peasants, landlords deserve to die, but they are very important to the monarch, because landlords are the extension of royal power in the countryside.

, at the same time, the clergy maintained the ideology of royal power at the grassroots level, and they were the basis for maintaining royal rule.

His land reform will still give priority to the interests of the landlord class (or rich peasants), with the main purpose of curbing land annexation and protecting self-cultivators.

If you let it go, there will be no need to say the consequences.

However, so far he has not been able to solve these problems. The Latin attack has already made him overwhelmed, and the refugee problem has "added fuel to the fire" for him.

Train these refugees into soldiers to forcibly reduce the unemployment rate? First, many of these refugees are old, weak, sick, and disabled. There are very few young people suitable to serve as soldiers, and there are not enough temptations. It is difficult for these young people to be willing to serve for the empire.

Working hard.

Second, there was a serious lack of weapons and equipment. What weapons did these recruits use to fight the heavily armed Latins? Hoes? Or pots and pans?

Third, the problem has not been fundamentally solved. What the refugees want is land and a meal, not joining the army to serve the country.

Groups of refugees will seriously impact the order of local society and bring about a series of atrocities such as burning, killing, and looting.

Previously, Alexius took in a group of refugees from Constantinople, but most of these refugees were nobles, soldiers, priests and craftsmen. With their status, they could easily "re-establish themselves in Trebizond"

"Mix up".

Most of these refugees from Bithynia are farmers. They are illiterate and find it difficult to live in the city. They can only flee to the countryside. However, the rich farmers in the countryside are disgusted with these people, causing these refugees to face "no one".

"want" situation.

The power of the traditional land-owning class was very strong, and the emperor could only compromise and compromise again and again, which resulted in a situation that offended both parties and made both parties dissatisfied. The final effect of the land reform was only to solve the land problem of half of the farmers.

, while less than half of the farmers continue to move into the city.

In addition, most farmers have a natural desire to go to cities, thinking that they can make more money.

Homeowners and farmers are the backbone of rural society's influx into urban society. If you want to maintain social order, the number of poor people in cities cannot increase. The reason why farmers are pouring into cities in large numbers is because most of them do not have land.

They pursued high wages in cities and towns, but found that they could not integrate into urban life at all. As a result, there were more and more slums around the cities and towns. There was no vitality in the countryside. The streets and alleys were filled with bankrupts and beggars, who were full of disappointment in life.

, indirectly disappointed with the government.

(In ancient times, there was a reason for focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, whether it was Rome or China. After the reform and opening up, a lot of farmers went to the north, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Even now, many farmers mistakenly believe that they can make a fortune by going to first-tier cities. East

The same goes for Rome, a bunch of peasants ran to Constantinople, and as a result there were more and more slums along the sea wall.)

Therefore, if we want to alleviate this problem, we must provide land to the tillers and "locate" farmers in the countryside.

The rural economy was the core of the Eastern Empire, and commerce was only secondary.

Distributing land to farmers can only attack the political foundation of the monarch. Therefore, the landlord is your political ally, but he is your enemy in policy. If the monarch offends the traditional class, then when he governs the country, he will

The number of available people will decrease, and in the end, the monarch can only rely more and more on royal members and cronies.

There is a saying that goes well, the more successful a monarch is in policy, the more he will fail in politics, and vice versa.

And what are the consequences of relying on a few cronies to govern the country? Corruption.

The Angelos dynasty and the Palaiologos dynasty are typical examples.

Especially during the Palaiologo period, most of the social resources were not occupied by a broad class, but were quickly occupied by a small number of people. The entire country quickly became corrupt and degenerate. Therefore, the rapid corruption of the ruling class aroused

There was strong public indignation, which led to many people's uprisings during the Palaeologian period. All this was not without reason.

Maybe you want to say that it is enough to use the army to suppress "unruly people". But what are the consequences of your large-scale military expansion? People from poor people at the grassroots level join the army, so that the army is no longer a privileged class, and the army's ideology becomes more and more serious.

They are getting closer and closer to the people. When this kind of army faces their fathers and fellow villagers, it is natural for them to switch sides.

Another point is that when farmers are oppressed by landlords and wronged by their neighbors, they have to go to church to pray and listen to the teachings of priests. Farmers do not have much land. Once a disaster occurs and the harvest is cut off, the church will provide relief. For farmers

For example, the emperor is far away, but the church is close at hand, and they live together day and night. The peasants may not believe in the emperor, but they must not believe in the church. In the Middle Ages, these priests also played the role of teachers.

There are more and more migrant workers in cities and more and more slums. They have naturally become the best audience for these scholars.

You must know that in the Eastern Empire, the power of the Eastern Church was far less than that of Western Europe, so there was a common phenomenon of "eating the court's food and scolding the court". These traditional groups of priests still have the right to speak among the civilian class. If Alai

If Xius wanted to maintain his rule, he had to rely on the help of religion.

In summary, Alexius's land reform prioritized the landlords and rich peasants, followed by the yeoman farmers. While reforming, he also needed the support of the priests, in order to consolidate his dominance.

The purpose of the reform is to curb land annexation and increase the number of farmers, rather than to realize "public ownership" and liberate farmers.

At the same time, it avoids the influx of too many farmers into cities and emphasizes the importance of the rural economy.

Strive for a balance in policy and politics, and at the same time, do not overuse relatives as officials.
Chapter completed!