Qin Yao asked him, "What do you think is the most important component of a stable and powerful country?"
This wasn't difficult; Liu Ji could answer offhand, "Vast and fertile land, and hardworking citizens."
Qin Yao nodded and asked again, "What reasons could undermine the vastness of the land and the industriousness of the people?"
This was also easy to answer, as it was right before his eyes.
Liu Ji pointed to the manors on both sides of the official road; all these lands belonged to the county's big landlords. These people, either rich or noble, had early on used their power to seize the best farmland.
And for ordinary people to make a living, they had to rent and farm the landlords' land, becoming tenant farmers.
If all the land became like this, coupled with pest infestations like today or wars like last year, and these land-holding and powerful landlords not only don't reduce the rent but increase it, then it would become extremely difficult for the people to survive.
