In Zhangtai Palace, Prime Minister Gao Zhong from the left, Prime Minister Zhao Chu from the right, Bian Hu, the prosecutor's officer, and Fang Yunyi, the hunter, came together to present the dossier on the investigation of the Shucheng assassination.
Bian Hu, the prosecutor's officer, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, after six months of investigation and evidence, except for the Xiang clan who escaped, the rest of the people involved in the case have been escorted to Tingwei Prison to await the court's decision."
Mu Sheng flipped through a few chapters of the file at random, nodded and said: "Okay, very good, thank you for your hard work. The Tsing Yi Envoy and Bai Shou who participated in the case this time will be rewarded heavily."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
After Bian Hu retreated, Mu Sheng looked at Fang Yunyi and said in a kind voice: "Yunyi, you have the greatest contribution to solving this case. You have obtained the key clues. After all, what reward do you want?"
Fang Yunyi said calmly: "I don't know what reward I want at the moment."
Mu Sheng thought for a while, summoned the chief steward of the inner court and asked, "Yang Jin, I seem to remember the last time I checked the treasures recorded in the inner treasury. There is a magic weapon inner armor stored in the treasury. Please take it and give it to Master Fang Tianshi."
Yang Jin said: "Your Majesty does have this thing. I will send someone to get it right away."
After saying that, he went outside the temple and sent two eunuchs to inform the treasury officials to go to the inner treasury to retrieve the treasure.
When Fang Yunyi heard this, her heart moved. This magic weapon inner armor is much more valuable than ordinary magic weapons. It is basically priceless. Refining the magic weapon inner armor is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The most important thing is that it consumes more materials than ordinary weapons. There are many times more magic weapons, and magic weapon-level inner armor is rarely held by even old monster-level monks, which means that the wealthy court can reward it.
Not long after, Yang Jin held up the tray and handed it to Fang Yunyi. She looked at the extremely rare magic weapon inner armor in the tray, and she felt a little excited. She immediately kowtowed and thanked you: "I thank you for your kindness. Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor."
Mu Sheng smiled and said: "Yunyi, do your best. If there is nothing to do, just step back."
"I excuse myself." After saying that, Fang Yunyi took the inner armor and left the main hall.
Mu Sheng looked at the two ministers on the left and right and asked, "Let's discuss the Shucheng case."
After reading the file, Zuo Xiang Gao Zhong stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the Shucheng case involves the Xiang family, the Fan family, and the Cai family. They were the three most powerful families in the Lu State in the era of other countries. The masterminds are The Xiang clan behind Xiang Lan all fled with their families to the sea. The Cai and Fan clans involved in the case were convicted by the Tingwei. The Yi clan and the rest of the people involved in the less serious crimes were all exiled to Beidi County to guard the border according to His Majesty's wishes. , now the three major families have been uprooted, and the land they left behind has been cleared by local counties and counties, and a total of 180,000 hectares of fertile land has now been taken over by the state."
Mu Sheng was a little surprised when he heard this. In this era, one hectare of land is equivalent to fifty acres of land, ten thousand hectares is equivalent to half a million acres of land, and 180,000 hectares is equivalent to nine million acres of land. Now all the land in the country has been cleared There are only 500 million acres of cultivated land and 9 million acres of land. This number is already quite exaggerated.
Mu Sheng was surprised: "So much land? These big Guandong families really have a deep foundation."
The Prime Minister of the Left said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the Seven Kingdoms of Guandong are not like our Guanzhong where there were almost no big families after the Reform. Most of the people in Guanzhong are self-cultivated farmers, and the big families in the old land of Guandong are not divided into families. In the era of various nations, most of these big families served as officials in the court, and many families have been rooted in the local area for hundreds of years."
"The Xiang family who plotted evil this time was a member of the Xiangwang family in the era of the various kingdoms. Later, Xiang State was annexed by the Lu State. The Xiang family has been serving as high ministers in the Lu State's court. It has been passed down from generation to generation. It is indeed a profound heritage. In the eighth year of the reign of the Emperor, After the fall of the Lu State, the Tian family, the most powerful in Lu, was moved to Guanzhong by the imperial court, and the Xiang family became the head of the wealthy family in Lu, which continues to this day."
Mu Sheng understood clearly after hearing this. After the imperial court unified the world, it still made great efforts to eradicate local aristocratic families in various countries, and moved the most influential families in various countries to the Central Plains. However, it could not control all the powerful families. In Guanzhong, there are still many less influential families such as Xiang, Fan, and Cai left to dominate the local area.
Mu Sheng asked: "The three major families have so much land, so there must be a lot of tenants depending on the three families, right?"
Prime Minister Zuo said solemnly: "It is true. There are at least hundreds of thousands of tenant households attached to the three major families. When the late emperor was in power, he wiped out the princes of various countries. In order to win over these old local nobles of Guandong, the names of these nobles were Taxes on farm property have been reduced or exempted, and many local farmers have taken their fields to these old nobles to be their tenants, so they can pay a lot less tax. In fact, after my dynasty unified the world, the power of these old local nobles became more and more powerful. The bigger the situation, the more local officials had to cooperate with them in order to collect taxes for the court. In recent years, the reason why the revival societies in various places were difficult to eradicate was inseparable from the strong support of the local old nobles, and the court had no good solution for this. "
Mu Sheng understood as soon as he heard it. In fact, this preferential policy was to exchange huge economic benefits for these local snakes not to get up and cause trouble. The world was initially settled. After the demise of the seven kingdoms, the empire expanded too fast, the territory was too large, and the foundation was unstable. This There is no other way. If you abolish people's political rights, then you have to compensate them with corresponding economic benefits. If you push people too hard, the result will be war. By then, let alone unifying the world, you will be suppressing the gourd. Without the scoop, the cost of unifying the world would be too high.
Mu Sheng said: "Now it seems that even though the imperial court treats the wealthy families from all over the country so favorably, they are still unconvinced. Gao Xiangguo, how do you think these old nobles should be treated?"
Gao Zhong thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, there is no good way. Our dynasty has only unified the world for twenty-seven years, less than a generation. To be honest, as long as they do not openly rebel, it is already very good. As long as we have long-term peace and stability for several decades and two or three generations of transition, it will be enough to smooth out these people’s ambition to restore the country.”
Mu Sheng nodded and said, "That makes sense."
Mu Sheng turned to Zhao Chu and asked: "Xiangguo Zhao, what do you think should be done with the hundreds of thousands of tenant farmers who are dependent on three families?"
Zhao Chu said: "Your Majesty, I suggest that the land of the three families be sold to tenants at a low price to continue farming to solve their livelihood problems, or that they be moved to Guanxi to redistribute the land. Our Guanxi area is vast and sparsely populated, so the land cannot be used." There is a shortage, mainly of labor force.”
Mu Sheng thought about it and still preferred the second option. He knew that large-scale immigration in this era is very hateful. If you go there in this traffic condition, many people will die on the road. Even on the immigration road, various people will die. It is common for half of the people to die for various reasons. It would be much cheaper to simply solve the problem of employment on the spot.
Mu Sheng asked: "At what price do you plan to sell that acre of land to tenant farmers?"
Zhao Chu stretched out his hand and said: "The current market price of land is at least one thousand yuan per acre. The imperial court plans to sell it to local tenants for five hundred yuan. Such a large amount of land is a considerable financial income, and the three families occupy it. Most of the land is farmland, good farmland, and the market price is more than one thousand yuan per acre."
Mu Sheng said: "The court doesn't seem to be short of money now. I have an idea. I might as well measure the land and give it to the local tenants for free. Now that the court's taxes have been reduced by almost half, they shouldn't rely on these lands in order to evade taxes. Local wealthy family.”
When Zhao Chu heard this, his face changed slightly and he said, "Your Majesty must never act like this."
After Zhao Shu explained it, Mu Sheng finally understood.
Mu Sheng suddenly said: "I understand, this market price, selling at a low price, is just a cover? In fact, it is to facilitate the local wealthy families to continue to annex land? Also, these tenant farmers actually don't have much money in their hands, even if they buy it at a low price, Each household has limited purchasing power. In fact, the real purpose is to facilitate those wealthy families to acquire land at low prices. Most of these tenants can only turn around and continue to rent the land from these people. Am I right?"
The left prime minister said solemnly: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. Once the Xiang, Cai, and Fan families fell, the land left behind will be a huge piece of fat meat. Everyone is eyeing it. If the imperial court directly distributes the land, then these wealthy families will It won’t take any advantage at all, and it will also cause them to resent the imperial court. What Prime Minister Zhao means is that the imperial court should better share the wealth with other local wealthy families, which is also a disguised attempt to win over the hearts and minds of other local wealthy families.”
Mu Sheng turned his hands behind his back a few times and said, "Do you think there are more ordinary people in this world, or do you think there are more wealthy people?"
Zhao Churuo realized something and said: "Your Majesty, do you want to side with these hundreds of thousands of tenants at the expense of offending the local wealthy family?"
Mu Sheng said: "Yes, I intend to stand on the side of the people. If the imperial court gives all the land to these tenants, who do you think these tenants will be grateful to?"
Zhao Chu said leisurely: "Your Majesty, I am also from a wealthy family in Yue. This move may cause resentment from the people of the world. I am afraid that the local wealthy families will become even more fierce and jealous. I am worried that your holy name, Your Majesty, will be stained."
Of course Mu Sheng knew what this would lead to. Not only would he be stigmatized, but he might also be called a tyrant and a coward. His move completely offended the local interest groups. The common people were illiterate and they were actually completely excluded. Outside the social discourse system, no one will remember your kindness to the common people. Your good governance is to hinder those wealthy families from grabbing profits. This is your greatest evil. In Echeng, you can unite with the wealthy families to squeeze the people, but absolutely Don't offend Huang Silang, who is literate.
Mu Sheng frowned and thought for a while, but decided to distribute the land directly to the people. A leader must be responsible. If you want to do something, you don't want to be stigmatized? That is impossible.
Mu Sheng was resolute and said: "I still decided to distribute the land directly to the people. This also reminds these Guandong wealthy families that if they dare to have different intentions, the Xiang, Cai, and Fan families will be their fate. As for the holy name being stained? I don't care. Let them scold you."
The two ministers on the left and right looked at each other in confusion. Since the emperor has said so, what else can be done? Just execute it.
When the matter came to an end, Mu Sheng asked: "You have read the ten volumes of civil policy provided by Zhao Xiangguo, Gao Xiangguo, and Qingyi envoy? Do you have any countermeasures?"
The so-called Ten Volumes of Civil Policy were collected from private surveys by the procuratorate, Bian Hu, about the old land of Guandong, the influence of the imperial policies and decrees in recent years, and the specific situation of the implementation of imperial laws in the old land of Kanto.
Gao Zhong, the Prime Minister of the Left, added: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. How about holding a court meeting to discuss this matter publicly?"
Mu Sheng said: "There is no need to hold a court meeting, just discuss it here."
When Mu Sheng thought of the court discussion triggered by the civil uprising in Dong County a year ago when Huo Xiangguo was in power, he basically understood everyone's views and attitudes. If the court discussion was held in public, it would be hard to be as conservative as Dr. Bao. The faction will still jump out to advocate enfeoffment, it is better to discuss it on a small scale and then implement it directly.
Hold a general meeting for small things, and a small meeting for big things. The main meaning of the meeting is to show off, set the tone, lick the leadership, and show off your acting skills. The meaning of holding a meeting is not very important. To really do things, just a few major leaders can hold a meeting to make decisions. Efficiency is also high.
Right Minister Zhao Chu first spoke: "Your Majesty, I didn't expect that after so many years, the old land of Guandong still cannot adapt to the laws of our dynasty. I'm afraid there is some resentment among the people. Fortunately, your Majesty is kind and has reduced half of the world's taxes. It can still win over some people's hearts."
After Zuo Xiang Gao Chong read the ten volumes of civil policy, he speculated that the emperor might significantly adjust the national policy towards the old lands of Guandong, so he took advantage of the situation and said:
"Your Majesty, I believe that the laws of our dynasty are indeed too harsh, too tyrannical, and not lenient enough. The people do not know how to educate and only know profit but not etiquette. It has been more than a hundred years since Duke Wu's reform in the Three Jin Dynasties. It has long been adapted to the laws of the Jin Dynasty. Now in the old land of Guandong, culture and education are prosperous, the people are scattered, family laws are greater than national laws, private fighting is prevalent, and the customs and customs are very different from those in the three Jin lands. In the past twenty years, if the old land of Guandong had not been afraid of the majesty of the late emperor, , I am afraid that people in the world will change their minds, as shown by the civil uprising that broke out in Dongjun last year. Now our government must adjust the administration of officials as soon as possible to calm the people of the world."
Mu Sheng nodded and said, "What Prime Minister Gao said is true."
The right minister Zhao Chu said: "Your Majesty, I believe that when Prince Li was supervising the common government on behalf of the late emperor, he had further adjusted some laws and policies. No matter in Guanzhong or in the old Guandong area, the gentry and common people all praised Prince Li's virtuous name. If you want to To further stabilize the overall situation, reform is indeed imperative.”
Hearing this, Gao Zhong had a look of surprise on his face. He, Zhao Chu, was the only one who dared to directly praise Prince Li. If Gao Zhong knew that even Prince Li was framed to death by Zhao Chu, the look on his face would be even more exciting.
The emperor actually nodded and admitted: "Well, what Zhao Xiangguo said is absolutely true. When I was granted the title of Lord Changping, I also had some expectations for the former prince. If he comes to power, he will be a benevolent ruler. In fact, I have some expectations for how to manage the affairs of Guandong. I thought about the administration of the old land and wrote down the countermeasures during the tour. Zhao Xiangguo and Gao Xiangguo can take a look at it."
After the emperor finished speaking, Yang Jin, who stood aside, had already presented the prepared bamboo slips.
