Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 106 On the New Deal

After the emperor and his minister played a few more moves, Emperor Yongping looked at Jia Jue and asked.

"At this court meeting, I did not intend for you to participate in the land reform. Why did you still want to take the lead?"

"You have offended many people by rectifying the Beijing camp, the salt administration case, and the customs case."

"Aren't you afraid that one day I won't be able to protect you?"

After hearing this, Jia Jue said very sincerely.

"When I was a humble official, Your Majesty recognized my talent and promoted me all the way to where I am today."

"To receive the emperor's salary and rewards, and to share the emperor's worries, is the duty of a minister."

"If things ever get out of hand, I only ask Your Majesty to consider my hard work and allow me to retire to the mountains and live as a country dweller with my wife and children. That will be enough for me."

Looking at Jia Jue's sincere look, Emperor Yongping smiled calmly and said.

"I work day and night, and I don't even have a day of rest. How old are you, kid, and you actually want to retire? You wish."

"You, just guard the Beijing Camp and the Imperial Guards for me."

"By the way, how's the matter with the Night Banquet?"

Jia Jue said immediately after hearing this.

"I am ready and will retrieve the Night Banquet Painting tomorrow."

Emperor Yongping nodded slightly and said.

"Once you obtain the Night Banquet painting, you must personally deliver it to the palace. Also, you must be prepared to silence the woman from Yuhang."

Jia Jue hesitated for a moment and then looked at Emperor Yongping and said.

"Your Majesty, the Night Banquet Painting has been in Zhao Pan'er's possession for many years. She simply kept it as a relic of her father and was unaware of the secrets contained within."

"In fact, not only she, but even I don't know the mystery behind this."

"She is just an innocent woman. Your Majesty, could you please show some mercy and let her go?"

After hearing this, Emperor Yongping looked at Jia Jue meaningfully and said.

"Then Miss Zhao must be a stunning beauty. You are feeling a pity for her, aren't you?"

"You boy, you don't have enough beautiful wives and concubines at home, and you married another concubine, and you even have your eyes on this Miss Zhao. What can I say to you?"

Jia Jue smiled awkwardly and said.

"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? I am not that kind of person."

"I really don't think she holds any secrets, and she's a lonely woman, so I'm just unwilling to kill her."

Emperor Yongping waved his hand and said.

"Okay, if you're greedy for a girl's body, just say it directly. Why are you beating around the bush?"

"You can handle this matter on your own. I have only one request: this matter must be kept secret forever. If she dares to leak the news in the future, I will hold you responsible."

Jia Jue bowed and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will keep this secret."

After talking about the Night Banquet, Emperor Yongping brought the topic back to the subject.

"Tell me, is my decision to implement land reform, which includes equalizing the land tax and requiring all gentry to pay taxes and serve as officials, right or wrong?"

Jia Jue said after a moment of thought.

"There's naturally no problem with this national policy, but to be honest, there's a lot of resistance to its implementation."

"In the palace, Prince Beijing used the pilot program as a delaying tactic, which clearly indicates ill intentions."

"Your Majesty saw through his plan and set the pilot land reform site in the Divine Capital. With Your Majesty personally escorting us, there will naturally be no problem implementing the land reform in the pilot site."

"But once land reform is implemented at the local level, things will become difficult to predict."

"It's easier said than done to let officials cut their own flesh."

"I'm afraid everyone is passively slacking off, or even obstructing the work. I estimate that within three to five years, it will be difficult to make any progress."

Emperor Yongping sighed and said.

"Alas, I don't understand this truth."

"But no matter how difficult the task is, someone has to do it."

"If we allow the annexation of land to proceed unchecked, it will be the path to national destruction."

"In the last dynasty of the Great Xia, by the end of the dynasty, the common people controlled only one-third of the land, yet they had to provide for the entire nation. The gentry, nobles, and royal families were all bloated and fat, yet they were unwilling to contribute even a little to save the country."

"I don't want to see something like this happen in the Great Zhou a hundred years after my time."

"Rather than leaving these things to future generations, I might as well do them all."

"If all the infamy falls on me, and I leave behind an empire full of vitality for future generations, I am willing to do it."

"You are always full of clever ideas, tell me how I can implement the land tax system smoothly."

Jia Jue said after a moment of thought.

"To accomplish great things, the first thing is to employ people."

"Your Majesty has chosen Prime Minister Xiao to lead the issue of the land tax system. The backbone has been found."

"But if we want to implement land reform on a large scale, we must cultivate a group of capable officials from humble backgrounds."

"As the Prime Minister, doesn't Prime Minister Ke know the benefits of implementing the land-based tax system? He knows it very well."

"It's just that he was limited by his background and status, so he could only stand up and oppose this matter."

"Position determines stance, that's the truth."

"Also, I think the tax burden cannot be distributed across the board, but rather a tiered tax system should be implemented."

Emperor Yongping said with great interest.

"Can you explain in detail what progressive taxation is?"

Jia Jue said with a calm smile.

"Your Majesty's implementation of the land tax system is intended to limit the annexation of land by the powerful."

"In this case, the spearhead should be directed at the powerful and wealthy who hold large amounts of land."

"So for people who own less than 100 mu of land, the tax rate is still 20% to 1%."

"For land over 200 mu but less than 1,000 mu, the tax rate is 15%."

"For those exceeding one thousand acres but less than ten thousand acres, the tax rate will be one tenth."

"For those over 10,000 acres, all are subject to one of the five taxes."

"Of course, the ratio I mentioned is just a rough estimate. The specific ratio still needs to be discussed with the cabinet by Prime Minister Xiao."

"But the core idea remains unchanged: we must ensure that the interests of small farmers and the poor are not harmed, restrict the powerful from further annexation of land, and even make them feel that the more land they buy, the more they lose."

"After losing their profits, the powerful and wealthy naturally lost their obsession with land."

Emperor Yongping's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"That makes sense. A tiered tax system can indeed more accurately restrict the powerful."

"But if we do that, I'm afraid their resistance will be even more intense. After all, asking them to pay a tax of one in twenty is like asking for their lives."

Jia Jue said with a chuckle.

"Of course, that's why I think it's better to open up than to block. Even if I slap someone, I have to give him a sweet treat."

"Your Majesty, what do you think of opening up maritime trade and lowering tariffs by 20%?"

Emperor Yongping said after a moment of thought.

"You mean to open up maritime trade and lift the maritime ban? This will probably have an impact on the customs and commerce bureau's special forces. Customs duties are also an important source of income for the national treasury."

Jia Jue said with confidence.

"Your Majesty, even if the customs duties increase annually, they will only amount to seven or eight million taels of silver."

"And your Majesty believes that if the maritime ban is not lifted, maritime trade will cease to exist."

"During my trip south this time, I discovered that the aristocratic families along the southeastern coast have been using maritime trade to reap exorbitant profits. Furthermore, they are deeply entrenched in the region, making it difficult to catch them." "At the time, the tariff case implicated many, so I had no choice but to put it on hold."

"If the imperial court unilaterally investigates this matter, it will not only be time-consuming and labor-intensive, but will also cause unrest in the southeast."

"So, they simply muddied the waters. The imperial court directly opened up maritime trade. As long as you register with the Maritime Customs and go through the formalities, you can participate in maritime trade."

"Most of the powerful people in the capital are from the north, and they don't have a direct understanding of the huge profits of maritime trade."

"As long as they get a taste of the sweetness, they will definitely invest madly in maritime trade. The returns are much higher than buying land and farming."

"By that time, even if they were asked to buy land with money, I'm afraid they wouldn't be willing to do so."

Emperor Yongping frowned and said after hearing this.

"It's better to open it than to block it. This is indeed a solution, but in this way, they will become richer, while the court will still lose money on customs duties."

Jia Jue said with a calm smile.

"How could that be, Your Majesty? Let's calculate this way. The current tariff is 10%, and the total amount of maritime trade in a year is only 10 million taels of silver. The court can only get 7 or 8 million taels."

"But if we reduce it to 20% and vigorously encourage maritime trade, I believe that within three years at most, the total annual maritime trade volume can reach at least 100 million taels of silver."

“And the shipbuilding industry and trade throughout the southeast will flourish to the extreme.”

"Then the court can naturally and vigorously develop the ocean-going navy. Your Majesty has always intended to expand the Jiangnan navy, but there are many obstacles in the court."

Emperor Yongping pondered for a moment, then his brows relaxed. He looked at Jia Jue and smiled with satisfaction.

"You are full of clever ideas, kid. Now guess why I have always wanted to expand the Jiangnan Navy."

Jia Jue thought for a moment, dipped his tea in water, and wrote two words.

Emperor Yongping took a look and couldn't help feeling deeply moved.

If Jia Jue in front of him was his own son, he would no longer have to worry about the issue of the crown prince.

Then Emperor Yongping looked at Jia Jue and said with a chuckle.

"You're quite smart."

"Okay, as long as you understand, I only have an idea for this matter. The specific implementation will have to wait until the Jiangnan Navy is fully expanded."

"Let's not talk about this anymore and continue playing chess."

Then the king and his minister continued their conversation.

In the evening, in Rongguo Mansion, Jia Zhen looked at Old Lady Jia with a pleading look on his face and said.

"Grandfather, you have to save me. I really didn't know the Qin family was involved with the Champion Marquis."

Mrs. Jia sighed and said.

"Brother Zhen, it's not that I don't want to save you, it's just that I really can't do anything."

After hearing this, Jia Zhen hurriedly said.

"Old lady, I know that the mansion is close to Prince Beijing. Please ask Prince Beijing. He will definitely have a way."

Old Mrs. Jia said helplessly.

"This is what the prince meant."

"Brother Zhen, the Champion Marquis is already in power, and yet he has the upper hand over you."

"The case was personally assigned to the Ministry of Justice by His Majesty, so it's difficult for Your Majesty to handle it."

"All we can do is try our best to save your life. As for the rest, you'll have to fend for yourself."

Jia Zhen was now completely desperate. He collapsed to the ground helplessly, feeling completely hopeless.

After ordering someone to help Jia Zhen away, Old Lady Jia said very sadly.

"It's a complete failure, a complete failure."

Seeing this, Mrs. Wang hurried to comfort her.

"Mother, the Ningguo Mansion was already defeated, and he was caught in a trap. It was his own fault. Why are you so upset?"

Old Mrs. Jia waved her hand and said.

"If the two former Dukes were still alive, this little thing wouldn't matter."

"In the final analysis, it's because the mansion is in decline."

"This evil creature Jia Jue has become so powerful that he wants to eat people."

"This time, no matter how I look at it, it seems like Jia Jue deliberately set a trap for Ningguo Mansion."

"How could it be such a coincidence? And what about Zhang Hua? If it wasn't someone who was eyeing Ningguo Mansion covetously, who would have found out about this so suddenly?"

"It seems like we need to come up with some countermeasures for Jia Jue."

"If we continue like this, the fire will burn us sooner or later."

Mrs. Wang sighed and said.

"Now that His Majesty has such trust in him, I'm afraid it won't be easy to do anything to him."

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have offended so many people and still be safe and sound."

Old Mrs. Jia said with a sharp look in her eyes.

"Don't forget, he has deeply offended the Empress and the Crown Prince."

"Master Lou died at the hands of him and his father-in-law."

"This is the eldest prince's mentor and right-hand man."

"Between the founding father and the champion, Your Majesty would choose the champion."

"If it were between the Crown Prince and the Champion Marquis, who would Your Majesty choose?"

Mrs. Wang said after hesitating for a moment.

"Mother, what are you planning?"

Old Mrs. Jia waved her hand and said.

"This is just an idea. The details still need to be planned. This is not something that Rongguo Mansion can do on its own."

"Okay, let's not talk about this for now. No matter how powerful the Champion Marquis is, he won't be able to bring us down anytime soon."

"The most important thing right now is to find a way to drain the Xue family's blood."

"Otherwise, our house will soon be unable to sustain itself."

Mrs. Wang nodded and said.

"Don't worry, mother. The Xue family will arrive in Shendu tomorrow. I have plenty of ways to make them cut their flesh."

Then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law discussed how to give the Xue family a hard time.

The next day, the left prime minister Ke Zheng was in his study, looking annoyed.

When Emperor Yongping implemented the new policy, Ke Zheng actually agreed with it from the bottom of his heart.

But he represents the interests of a faction. As the saying goes, if a ruler rises by this, he will fall by this.

Because he has received support from the faction and has come to where he is today, he naturally has to protect the interests of the faction.

So he could only bite the bullet and think about how to stop the land tax from being distributed among the land.

In such a situation, Ke Zheng felt extremely conflicted and uncomfortable.

Just when Ke Zheng was feeling upset, there was a knock on the door, followed by the voice of a servant.

"Prime Minister, there is a woman outside the palace who wants to see you. She is carrying a token from the Imperial Guard."

Ke Zheng was a little surprised after hearing this. Why did the Jinyiwei come?

Could it be that His Majesty is so dissatisfied with his behavior yesterday that the Jinyiwei are going to cause trouble for him?

Thinking of this, Ke Zheng couldn't help but become a little alert.

After all, the Jinyiwei are notorious, and being targeted by them will definitely not be a good thing.

(End of this chapter)