Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 199 Li Zhi's Good Helper
"Your Majesty, the equal-field system is our ancestral system and has been implemented well. It should not be changed lightly!" Du Zhenglun advised.

Lu Chengqing also said: "The fubing system is based on the equal-field system. If the equal-field system is changed, the fubing system will also be destroyed!"

When Li Zhi heard the two people's objection, he remained silent.

Lu Chengqing and Du Zhenglun were both promoted by himself, and even they opposed it. The reaction of the ministers was predictable.

Li Zhi glanced at Liu Rengui and said, "Mr. Liu, what do you think?"

Liu Rengui pondered for a moment and said, "I understand your majesty's original intention. It was to deal with land annexation. However, the land system is the foundation of the country, so we must be cautious."

He had been to Hebei and was well aware of the seriousness of land annexation, so his words were more moderate and he did not directly oppose it.

When Lu Chengqing heard the words "land annexation", his face turned unnatural.

The Lu family of Fanyang was indeed involved in the Hebei incident, and it was done by Nan Zufang. However, Liu Rengui exposed the matter without any warning, which made him very dissatisfied.

"Your Majesty, the court has always strictly prohibited land annexation. Even if there are some violations, they will be severely punished. I think we cannot shake the foundation of the country because of an individual case." Lu Chengqing persuaded again.

Li Zhi turned his gaze, swept across the other ministers, and said, "Tell me, what do you all think?"

General Xin Mao paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I fully agree with Your Majesty's determination to curb land annexation, but I believe this matter involves too much, so we should proceed slowly and not rush into anything."

Shangguan Yi said, "Your Majesty, if this policy is implemented, the people may not understand your intentions. You must first make them understand before implementing it."

He was the only one among the crowd who had carefully considered the obstacles that would be encountered in implementing this matter, rather than knee-jerk opposing it.

From everyone's words, Li Zhi roughly understood their mentality.

Lu Chengqing and Du Zhenglun were in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, so they attached the most importance to the stability of the land system. They were relatively conservative in their thinking and were unwilling to carry out drastic reforms.

Yan Liben and Xin Maojiang were moderates and did not strongly oppose it, but they also felt that it should be done slowly and not too hastily.

Liu Rengui and Shangguan Yi should have also realized the problem of land annexation and had some support in their hearts, but they were worried that one blow would mess up the country, so they did not dare to fully support it.

At this moment, Li Yifu said loudly, "I agree with your majesty's policy. To curb land annexation, we must take strong measures. Your majesty is wise, and I believe that there will be no problems with the current land system. However, what will happen in the future is difficult to guarantee."

What this means is that if the emperor is wise, the equal-field system can still be maintained.

However, if unfilial descendants or extremely treacherous and evil ministers appear in the future and control the government, leading to serious land annexation and the destruction of the equal-field system, the country will be in great harm.

Li Yifu was the type of person who, no matter what the emperor said, would first express his support and then think of reasons and how to explain it.

His statement made Li Zhi very satisfied.

In the court, one really needs such a person who fully supports oneself so that many policies can be implemented.

Lu Chengqing hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, if we want to control land annexation, we can consider other strategies. The equal-field system is of great importance and cannot be changed lightly!"

Li Yifu was about to retort when Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "Let's stop here for today. Let's go."

He gathered everyone together this time just to test their reaction.

If there is no significant reaction from the public, we can discuss the details and bring it to the court for implementation another day.

Now that there is a lot of opposition, we need to think of some ways, make some changes, and also do some ministerial work to better promote reform.

The best breakthrough point is still land annexation.

Judging from the conversation just now, the ministers all knew the harm of land annexation, but they did not think it was entirely due to the equal-field system.

Li Zhi sat on the dragon throne and thought for a moment before saying, "Fu Sheng, ask Gao Youdao, Lu Zhaolin... oh no, ask Guo Zhengyi and Yuan Wanqing to come over."

This matter involved Lu Chengqing. Li Zhi was worried that his deployment would be leaked, so he decided not to use Lu Zhaolin.

After a while, Yuan Wanqing and the other man came to the main hall together and paid their respects to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "No need to be so polite. In the past few years, you two have handled a lot of government affairs for me. I want to ask you a question."

The two men said in unison: "Your Majesty, we respectfully await your inquiries."

Li Zhi said, "You have been handling government affairs for the past two years. Are you familiar with the situation of the ten provinces and 356 states of the Tang Dynasty?"

Guo Zhengyi said, "I understand." Yuan Wanqing said, "I feel the same way."

Li Zhi asked, "Then, in your opinion, which region of the prefectures and counties has the most serious land annexation?"

Both of them were surprised. After looking at each other, Guo Zheng said, "Your Majesty, if we only look at the nearest area, it should be the Hebei area."

Li Zhi said: "What about the long term?"

Guo Zhengyi said: "It must be the Jiangnan region."

Li Zhi continued to ask, "Where in Jiangnan is the land annexation most serious?"

Guo Zhengyi hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm not sure either, but judging from the reports from various places, the situation in the Changzhou and Lanling areas is the most serious."

Lanling County in Changzhou is where the Lanling Xiao family lives.

The Lanling Xiao family was originally from Lanling in Donghai County. Later, the Xiao family moved south to Changzhou and established the overseas county of Lanling, which had the same name as the northern county and was called Southern Lanling.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the Jiangnan noble families gradually died out. Only the Xiao family, thanks to Xiao Yu's contribution in surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, found a place for themselves in the Tang Dynasty.

In other words, the Xiao family had such influence in Guanzhong, not to mention in Jiangnan. I'm afraid they were equivalent to local emperors.

Land is always linked to family power. When a family becomes powerful, the first thing it does is to annex land.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the great families in the south of the Yangtze River divided up most of the land in the south of the Yangtze River, which was equivalent to dividing the land and enfeoffing themselves as kings, and the people on the land also became their private soldiers.

This is also the reason why the Southern Dynasty could not defeat the Northern Dynasty.

Li Zhi originally did not want to deal with the Lanling Xiao family so quickly, but for the sake of his reform plan, he had no choice but to start with the Xiao family.

"Mr. Guo, Mr. Yuan, please go to the Ministry of Revenue and look at the household registration and land registers of Changzhou. I want to know how much land the Xiao family currently owns."

The two men took the order and left.

In the afternoon, the two men came to Ganlu Hall to report. Li Zhi met them in the bedroom and said, "Thank you for your hard work. How is the situation?"

Both of them looked very solemn.

Guo Zhengyi said, "Your Majesty, if we only look at the household registration and land registers compiled by the Ministry of Revenue, the Xiao family only owns 8,000 acres of land. However, I have carefully examined Changzhou's tax revenue and found that Changzhou's population has been increasing, while tax revenue has been decreasing year by year."

Li Zhi's heart moved.

Generally speaking, where local gentry owns a lot of land, taxes will gradually decrease.

The reason is also very difficult. The local gentry are extremely powerful and can think of all kinds of ways to evade taxes. Local officials mostly turn a blind eye and dare not offend them.

There is another reason. Because the gentry occupied the land, the common people could only serve as tenants for them. Naturally, their enthusiasm for farming was not as high as that for farming their own land.

Li Zhi looked up at the two of them, impressed by their abilities, and said, "You've done a great job. But do you know how much land the Xiao family actually has?"

Yuan Wanqing bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please give us some time and we will find out."

Li Zhi thought for a moment and waved his hand, saying, "No need. I have my own ideas on this matter. You've worked hard, so go back and take care of your own business."

Seeing that the emperor did not assign them any more tasks, the two men felt disappointed and took their leave.

Li Zhi stood up, put on a cloak, and walked towards the Lizheng Hall.

This time, he had to deal with the Lanling Xiao family quietly and not let the ministers notice.

Otherwise they would have realized that Li Zhi dealt with the Xiao family in order to revise the land system.

In this situation, if one wanted to deal with the Lanling Xiao family, there was no doubt that the best candidate was his energetic and vindictive queen.

She would basically not let go anyone who offended her, including Concubine Xiao Shufei, Queen Wang, and Zhangsun Wuji.

If Li Zhi had not restrained her, she would have gone on a killing spree and killed all three of them.

There is no doubt that she must be aware of all the situations of Lanling Xiao family, so she is her best helper right now.

(End of this chapter)