Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Your Majesty, everything has been taken care of."

Qingwen returned to Shuixuan Residence, knelt respectfully beside the Empress, and truthfully reported the process of Xu Jingyan's death.

After Qingwen finished speaking, Jiang Mengxuan sat down in front of the dressing mirror and sighed softly, "Qingwen, you've had a hard time tonight."

Qingwen stepped forward and, while removing Jiang Mengxuan's makeup, said, "Your Majesty, what are you saying? I'm more than happy to be able to relieve Your Majesty's worries."

"As long as Your Majesty and the Emperor can live together happily, Qingwen will do anything."

Jiang Mengxuan smiled slightly: "Qingwen, do you think I'm cruel?"

Qingwen: "Your Majesty, please don't think that way. It was Xu Jingyan who repeatedly offended Your Majesty. Your Majesty, out of consideration for our fellow disciples..."

"We've given him so many chances; we've done more than enough. It's his own ungratefulness that led to this predicament. He has no one to blame but His Majesty."

Jiang Mengxuan sighed: "Actually, I wanted to spare his life, but alas..."

"Alright, Your Majesty, don't think about it so much. It's getting late, you should rest now. Tomorrow, the Emperor should return to the capital."

Upon hearing that Shen Lang was returning to the capital, Jiang Mengxuan's previously gloomy mood instantly vanished.

She planned to give Shen Lang a big surprise when she returned to Beijing.

……

At this time, in a suburban house thirty miles from Jinling City, Shen Lang and Ye Mo began to discuss the future political reforms of the Chu Kingdom.

"Duke Zhenguo, now that the officialdom in Jiangnan has been rectified, His Majesty's new policies will surely be introduced. Why don't you give me a heads-up on which aspects His Majesty's new policies will proceed?"

Ye Mo's question was exactly what Shen Lang wanted to hear.

The implementation of the new policies in the State of Chu was truly inseparable from the support of this leading figure among the Jiangnan gentry; otherwise, there would have been many troubles in its subsequent execution.

Shen Lang is not a bloodthirsty person.

Killing is merely a means of establishing authority and intimidating people; he would not easily resort to killing if there were a peaceful way to resolve the issue.

Therefore, he did not hide anything: "Naturally, it is based on industry, but many interests will be involved, including yours, Ye Xiang, and you will probably suffer considerable losses."

Ye Mo: "When implementing the new policies, which one doesn't require the gentry to back down? Duke Zhenguo doesn't need to care what my Ye family thinks, just tell me."

"The first new policy is naturally to abolish corvée labor for the people of Great Chu."

In addition, all unnecessary exorbitant taxes and levies will be abolished, and future tax revenue will mainly come from agriculture, industry, commerce, and customs.

As for the poll tax and levies imposed on the common people, they will certainly not be repeated.

Ye Mo nodded upon hearing this, as if he had already expected it: "I have heard His Majesty mention this before. At first, I couldn't understand why such a new policy would place such a heavy burden on the national treasury."

However, upon closer examination, the numerous corvée labor services and exorbitant taxes did not improve the situation of the dynasty.

It only brought more unnecessary trouble. Let it be canceled; it's not a big deal.

Ye Mo's open-mindedness impressed Shen Lang.

Once corvée labor is abolished, local gentry will no longer be able to hire laborers for their own industries for free, and will inevitably have to take away the majority of the people's share.

"Secondly, the farmland should be re-measured, and no one should be exempted, including the gentry. The agricultural tax of the dynasty should not be borne solely by the self-cultivating farmers and small landowners."

Those powerful families who owned vast tracts of land, including the royal family, were all required to pay taxes.

Ye Mo narrowed his eyes: "Duke Zhenguo, I feel it's necessary to remind you that the practice of gentry paying taxes equally was already implemented by Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty a hundred years ago."

The new policy was met with unanimous opposition from both the government and the public from the outset. Twenty years later, the policy collapsed with the death of the leader, ultimately failing. Do you want to follow in his footsteps?

Shen Lang laughed: "Wang Anshi's reforms failed mainly because the timing was wrong. At the beginning of his reforms, the power of the Song Dynasty's aristocratic families was at its peak."

Furthermore, the Zhao imperial power was not entirely committed to supporting the reforms, constantly wavering, which ultimately led to the collapse of the regime and the death of the people.

“Your analysis is quite insightful. Even though nearly ten thousand of the Jiangnan gentry have been purged at once, the remaining factions are still difficult to deal with, and they will definitely oppose the implementation of the new policies.”

Shen Lang said directly: "Therefore, the third point is to encourage private enterprises to set up factories. As long as they are willing to get involved in the industrial field, the imperial court will give them certain preferential policies."

Ye Mo was taken aback, then smiled: "I understand now. This third point, while aimed at appeasing the gentry, also contains elements of instigation, doesn't it?"

Shen Lang narrowed his eyes: "What makes you so sure, Prime Minister Ye?"

Ye Mo: "People are driven by profit. Once corvée labor is abolished, even if aristocratic families own tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, there will be no one to cultivate it."

If no crops grow in the fields, they are considered wasteland, yet taxes still have to be paid in full.

Over time, some powerful families will inevitably compromise with the new policies for their own benefit.

Instead, they sold the land to set up factories, thus allowing the government to reclaim the land and redistribute it to farmers in need.

As for the old, powerful landowners who stubbornly resisted, they naturally became tempted when they saw that their former competitors had all made their fortunes through factories.

In this way, the so-called alliance of the aristocratic families would collapse without a fight.

"Haha, Prime Minister Ye is indeed far-sighted; his three new policies alone reveal his true intentions."

"Haha, if I couldn't even see this little sign, how could I have stayed in this court for more than thirty years?"

Shen Lang continued, "Then came the military reform, with the Imperial Guard as the foundation, and from then on, a comprehensive reorganization of units began."

After all, the current military system of the Great Chu is too chaotic; there is no standard number of men in a battalion, making command extremely difficult.

How to adapt it?

"The units are army, division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company, platoon, and squad. One squad has 20 people. Three squads make up a platoon, three platoons make up a company, three companies make up a battalion, two battalions make up a regiment, two regiments make up a brigade, two brigades make up a division, and two divisions make up an army. The number of personnel in a unit is not fixed and will be changed according to the actual situation."

"Of course, this is the combat corps. There are also special corps such as cavalry, artillery, engineers, logistics troops and other support troops, which truly realize rapid mobile combat power and can be deployed to any battlefield at any time."

"In addition, the logistics support troops must also keep up. Throughout history, wars have ultimately come down to logistics and transportation."

Since the decision has been made to abolish corvée labor, a force capable of independently supplying the front lines must be established. The most basic guarantee is ensuring that soldiers do not go hungry…

After hearing this, Ye Mo fell into deep thought.

After a long silence, he said with a worried expression, "I believe your idea is good. As long as the military reform is successful, it will definitely make the Chu army stronger in the future."

However, if you do this, you'll likely completely offend the entire old army. Aren't you afraid of their backlash?

Shen Lang said indifferently, "There's no need to worry about Prime Minister Ye. I already have a plan in mind."

Seeing Shen Lang's confident demeanor, Ye Mo was taken aback.

I really don't know where his confidence comes from.

……

The following morning, at Weiyang Palace.

"Your subject Shen Lang greets Your Majesty!"

In the center of the main hall, Shen Lang performed the traditional court etiquette of a subject to a ruler to Jiang Mengxuan with a firm and resounding voice.

Seeing Shen Lang appear before her safe and sound, Jiang Mengxuan was overjoyed and wished she could pull him to her side and whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

But now that they were in a public place, he kept reminding himself to stay calm and that it wouldn't be too late to be affectionate after the court session.

"Inspector Shen, you have worked hard and made great contributions. This trip to Jiangnan has really been tiring for you. Someone, please bring a seat."

The undisguised pampering not only displeased the officials in the hall, but also made them worry about their future.