Daming: Grandpa Emperor, please get up and sit on my throne!

"This saves me the trouble of personally setting the fishing line!"

"Ha, killing the chicken to scare the monkey... In this world, central and local officials and gentry are as numerous as carp crossing a river. With so many 'monkeys,' how can one 'chicken' be enough?"

At this moment, although Zhu Yunwen's voice was calm, Zhao Feng felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, as if he could feel countless sharp blades standing in front of him.

In Zhu Yunwen's eyes.

Tax reform, the abolition of the privileges of gentry not having to perform official duties or pay taxes... and even the subsequent reforms and popularization of basic education, etc., can all be said to have far-reaching consequences, and are things that will cause great uproar and fierce resistance in this era.

Throughout history, every policy reform, without exception, has been accompanied by clashes and bloodshed.

What Zhu Yunwen is about to do, and the extent of the reforms he intends to undertake, is far more earth-shattering than any major reform that has occurred in previous dynasties...

To know.

He hasn't even publicly and formally proposed many policy concepts such as "integrating land tax into poll tax", "tax reform", and "officials and gentry serving and paying taxes together" yet!

It merely revealed his intention to investigate matters such as land ownership, tax evasion, and abuse of power by gentry.

It's fair to say that he hasn't even begun to uncover the full extent of what he's about to do.

However, many people in the court had already tried to oppose it, either openly or covertly.

When it comes to getting serious, what will happen...? It's easy to imagine—to eliminate that enormous resistance and obstacles, Zhan Hui alone is definitely not enough, far from enough!

So Zhu Yunwen thought... he could take advantage of the joint trial of Zhan Hui's case by the three judicial authorities to bring a group of people and start killing them!

It wasn't that he enjoyed killing, nor that he couldn't tolerate any wrongdoing; rather, the only way to deal with those stubbornly greedy people was to kill them until they were terrified!

from now on.

This is a preventative measure for all officials, gentry, landlords, and powerful figures in the land!

Let them all know what will happen to anyone who dares to have their own selfish motives or dares to obstruct or disrupt what the current Emperor Qianlong of the Ming Dynasty is going to do: if killing one is not enough, kill a batch; if killing a batch is not enough, kill two batches. This can also be seen as laying the groundwork for the formulation, dissemination, and implementation of various policies and decrees in the future, and reducing resistance.

"His Majesty is going to kill someone again..." Zhao Feng thought to himself, horrified by the undeniable killing intent emanating from his master. A cold sweat broke out on his back.

The court officials thought they could gain an advantage in front of His Majesty, but little did they know that they had long since become targets in His Majesty's eyes, chickens to be used as a warning to others!

At times like these, Zhao Feng dared not let his guard down. He forced himself to remain calm and replied in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I understand!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will keep a close eye on Chen Zhou and the officials from the Three Judicial Offices who are in charge of this joint trial! I will report their every move to Your Majesty," Zhao Feng assured Zhu Yunwen.

He has been in charge of intelligence surveillance both inside and outside Yingtian Prefecture for quite some time now.

Zhu Yunwen had done this kind of fishing before, and he knew exactly what to do and how to do it... It was his old profession. Although he was horrified by his master's murderous intent, he was still very familiar with the task at hand.

Zhu Yunwen also trusted Zhao Feng.

He nodded and said, "You have always been meticulous in your work. Once the results of the joint trial by the three judicial departments are out, I also want to see the list that I want to see."

"Your Majesty, I obey!" Zhao Feng's eyes sharpened, and he solemnly replied, "In that case, I will take my leave now. Please wait for me, Your Majesty."

"Hmm." Zhu Yuntong waved his hand dismissively.

……

As the Minister of Personnel and concurrently the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Zhan Hui was the head of the civil officials, and his case naturally attracted the attention of everyone in Yingtian Prefecture.