Huang Qiong glanced at the stunned ministers, who smiled faintly, and then continued: "The Ministry of Household Affairs will work with the Yushitai to urge all states and counties to complete the matter of land clearing in the world. I want it. It is the number of acres of land in the world, including all the land owned by officials, gentry, aristocratic families, and clans, regardless of whether they are serving officials or not, not just the acres of land owned by ordinary people."
"The registration of the number of acres in the country must be under the unified control of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The Ministry of Household Affairs must take the total number of land taxes in the country in the eleventh year of Gaozong Road as the base and come up with a An equal sharing plan. There must be a distinction between fertile fields and thin fields. The yields of the two are different and cannot be treated equally. Mulberry fields and fruit fields are not counted as ration fields, but they must also be included."
"The Yushitai will send out inspectors to check whether there is anyone who hides something and fails to report it. The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple must come up with certain punishment methods. Those who hide land must be severely punished. If they are officials or have someone in their family who is an official Yes, the crime will be increased. Officials from various places who dare to cover up those who hide, or even falsify statistics and conceal for those gentry, will be exiled to Longyou."
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, Lu Mengzheng, who had been silent until now, thought for a while and said: "Your Highness, I think that this time the sharing of small shares into acres is equivalent to the complete abolition of the small money that has been implemented since the Han Dynasty. This This is a large-scale move that has never been done in the past dynasties, and it is also a move that benefits the people by reducing the burden on the people. However, I believe that no matter how beneficial the country is to the people, it will take time to verify."
"I think it will not be easy to fully implement this matter at once. Should we choose to use it as a pilot first? If the results are obvious and the resistance between the government and the people is not obvious, it is better to implement it in an all-round way. If the resistance between the government and the people is strong, it means that this move is still feasible. Adjustments are needed. Therefore, I sincerely request Your Highness to select one or several major mansions from among all the roads in the world as a pilot project to spread the land among the people."
Regarding Lu Mengzheng's suggestion, Huang Qiong nodded slightly and said: "No matter what kind of new changes, they are bound to touch the interests of some people. Therefore, naturally some people will welcome it and some will oppose it. Especially those who have become literate because of their education. The officials and gentry who think they have the right to speak in the world. On the one hand, they receive the salary from the court, and on the other hand, they enjoy the privilege of the court exempting them from land and money."
"Even if the imperial court levies a penny of tax on the land under their family's name, it will be like killing them. As a member of the imperial court, he ignores the large loss of imperial tax and faces the arrears of tax. , I don’t want to come up with a solution. But here I am, making irresponsible remarks on the court’s new measures for my own little profit. If you don’t compete with the people for profit, who are the people?”
"Whether it is the officials and gentry who have tens of thousands of acres of land to their names, or the poor peasants who can only rely on tenant rent to own the land, I am afraid I can only ask some people themselves. There are some things that I don't want to say, I want to save some face for some people. They are all high-ranking officials in all aspects, and they know everything in their hearts. For your own selfish interests, do you have to force the government to force the people to rebel? "
"This time I decided to divide the land between people. The reason is very simple. The people are so poor that they can't afford to eat. People can walk but they can't run away. Instead of holding on to the money that cannot be collected, it is better to change the idea. What's more, We cannot shift the burden of money and food to those poor people. It’s hard to pluck a chicken that has not many feathers left. People with lots of land and wealth cannot always be so plucking away.”
"However, Mr. Lu's words are indeed an old man's advice for the country, and he also speaks to the hearts of the people. Regardless of whether there is any precedent before, the pilot is still needed. The proportion of collection is the number of high-grade farm stalls, the number of medium-grade farm stalls, and the number of low-grade farm stalls. The number of stalls needs to be continuously adjusted. It is a more prudent consideration to first conduct a pilot project on one road or one province, and then solve the problems that arise and then implement it across the board."
"I have already given orders to Fang Ming, Shanxi Road's pacification envoy, and Zheng Tong, the prefect of Jinyang Prefecture, to transfer them both to return to Beijing immediately to report on their duties. This matter will start from Shanxi Road. This time, the rebellion has not spread to the state capital. Select a relatively wealthy prefecture as the pilot. The Zhongshu Province will also choose one prefecture each in Lianghuai, Huguang, and Jiangnan West Road for the pilot. The Ministry of Household Affairs must cooperate well, and the Yushitai must send out censors to do a good job of inspection."
Having said this, Huang Qiong pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. After leaving Lu Mengzheng behind, let the others retreat first. Looking at Huang Qiong who was a little tired, Lu Mengzheng also sighed softly. But before Lu Mengzheng could offer words of comfort, Huang Qiong suddenly said: "The Shanxi Road Rebellion has now been completely put down. I have decided to transfer Fu Yuanshan to Beijing to serve as Zhongshu's Pingzhangshi and Shangshu Zuocheng."
"As for you, as a bachelor of the Jixian Academy and a counselor in political affairs, you will first serve as the concurrent minister Youcheng. You will be in charge of the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Punishment first. In addition to continuing to arrest the homeless people as immigrants, you will continue to arrest them. , is responsible for this matter. However, you must be mentally prepared in advance. For this matter, I, the prince, will definitely be scolded. I am afraid that you, the main coordinator, will also be scolded together with me. "
At Huang Qiong's words, Lu Mengzheng shook his head and said: "Your Highness, knowing this is a good thing for the court and benefiting the country and the people. But are you a little anxious? The most important thing for you now is to strengthen yourself. The foundation is unstable and the sky is shaking. You are pursuing this matter at this time, not pushing yourself against the entire government and gentry. Your Highness, please be cautious about this matter."
After Lu Mengzheng's persuasion, Huang Qiong shook his head and said: "How can I not know what you said? But today's income makes me so anxious all night that I can't even sleep. There was a drought in the northwest the year before last, and the imperial court didn't even have money and food for disaster relief. It all depends on fighting the autumn wind. I have worked hard to raise and save money and food for more than half a year, but the two scabies-infected rebellions in Shanxi Road and Ningxia Mansion were all consumed."
"In the national treasury, even the rats are running away from hunger. Once there is any trouble in the world, the current balance of the court will not be able to support it. And now the land tax cannot be increased. If it is increased again, the world will be in chaos. Don’t you know that my foundation is far from stable now? But if we don’t open up new sources of income, the court will really be in trouble.”
"Although this diversion has touched the interests of those dirty officials, the so-called gentry, to be precise, officials who are serving or have become officials, as well as those aristocratic families and clans. But for them, it is not possible to talk about it. But the money and grain collected will be a great supplement to the imperial court's annual income. At least the imperial court has a certain amount of emergency money and grain in its hands."
"Start with a few prefectures on a trial basis, so that the impact will not be too big compared to the whole world. After it becomes more stable, we will gradually start to implement it to the whole world. Mr. Lu, I also know that you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. But the problem is , The annual income of the imperial court does not wait for anyone, the daily expenses of the imperial court wait for no one, and the river work waits for no one. The overall situation of the world cannot give me so much time."
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, thinking of the empty treasury in the Ministry of Finance, Lu Mengzheng shook his head helplessly: "Your Highness, it is getting more and more difficult to earn money this year, and I, as a counselor in charge of political affairs, also know that. I have been thinking about how to do it these days. Increase income. But the problem is, Your Highness, now that you have taken charge of the government, you have pushed yourself to be the opposite of the officials and gentry in the world, which is really not good for you. The pen can also kill people."
Regarding Lu Mengzheng's worries, Huang Qiong smiled faintly: "Master Lu, if you wait until everything is ready before doing everything, then what's the challenge? How can you dare to be the first in the world? Everything is done. It is simply impossible to keep everything stable and to keep everything from leaking to water. It is impossible for a few people to satisfy everyone, especially at this dangerous time."
Standing up and looking at the blue sky outside Wende Hall with his hands behind his back, Huang Qiong never spoke again. It wasn't until Lu Mengzheng stood up to leave that he waved lightly. After Lu Mengzheng left, Huang Qiong felt extremely upset. After hesitating for a moment, he returned to Xiyuan. When he arrived at the courtyard of Qingzi Erluo and the He sisters, he asked them to change into ordinary clothes and accompany him out of the palace incognito to relax.
The four girls who are now obeying Huang Qiong's words will naturally not ask too many questions after hearing Huang Qiong's instructions. Although he persuaded the master to bring a few guards, Huang Qiong's attitude was very stubborn. He insisted on taking only the four of them and asked them not to bring weapons. However, under the insistence of the four women, they still brought short weapons that were easy to hide. Don't be afraid of ten thousand on this road, just be afraid of the unexpected.
In fact, the four girls were very happy to hear that Huang Qiong was taking her out of the palace, even though they knew it was wrong. This Xiyuan is located in the deep palace compound. It seems to be enjoying great glory and wealth, but in fact it is a high-end prison. It's not easy to get in, but it's also impossible to get out. The four girls were originally women of the world. They were used to being free outside, but they felt restricted in Xiyuan.
Throughout the day, I was faced with palace maids and eunuchs, not even a new face. Several women were really depressed. Isn't it quite exciting to hear Huang Qiong take him out today? Originally, the He sisters wanted to call Lin Wanqing and Zhu Xinger, but Huang Qiong did not agree. Lin Wanqing and Zhu Xing'er were too beautiful, and they would easily get into unnecessary trouble when they went out.
After the four girls had packed up, Huang Qiong didn't say much. He just took the four girls out of the palace quietly, avoiding everyone's eyes. After leaving the palace, Huang Qiong first raised his head and looked at the sky. After pondering for a while, he took a few girls and walked around the most lively place in Jingzhao Mansion. What surprised Huang Qiong was that he met someone he didn't want to meet at a certain teahouse.
Women can go shopping, and they never feel tired when shopping. He understands this. But what he didn't expect was that this kind of thing is the same in ancient and modern times. The ability of women in ancient times to continue shopping while shopping was no worse than it would be a thousand years later. After wandering for more than an hour, Huang Qiong was a little tired, but the four girls were still in high spirits, with no sign of fatigue.
Although I only bought some bits and pieces, there was still not enough. Instead, he was doing other things. Huang Qiong, who was always energetic, was a little tired this time. Huang Qiong, who really didn't want to leave, took a look around and chose a teahouse nearby that she always went to. It was not very regulated, but it was extremely elegant and had a Jiangnan style. She wanted to go there to have tea and take a rest.
Just waiting for him to go up to the second floor of this seemingly elegant teahouse. But he was shocked to find that the place with the best view on the second floor was a pair of middle-aged people he was familiar with sitting there. And these two people were none other than the old man who was supposed to be listening to Xuexuan's mysterious secrets and didn't know what to do all day long. And his mother, who was wearing a veil and listening to Xuexuan, never left the door.
Watching the couple sipping fragrant tea, they admired the scenery along the Luo River filled with willow trees outside the teahouse next to the Luo River. Although the two of them didn't look back, they were so familiar with their backs. How dare Huang Qiong take another step forward? Huang Qiong made a quick decision and immediately decided to change to another teahouse. No, when I immediately returned to the palace, my mother's plain voice suddenly came from behind.
