Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Equalize the land tax and poll tax? Brother, please explain in detail?"

When everyone heard about "equalizing land tax and poll tax", they began to ponder, as they felt that Ren Yuan generally wouldn't talk about unrealistic things.

"The 'equalization of poll tax and land tax' mainly involves two points. First, I plan to incorporate the poll tax into the land tax, allocating a fixed total poll tax amount to the land tax based on the acreage of land. Those with land will pay more taxes, while those without land will be exempt from paying the poll tax."

Ren Yuan held up two fingers and began to explain the system of merging land tax and poll tax.

"Secondly, we will simplify the tax system. After implementing this, I plan to merge the land tax and the poll tax, and collect them uniformly from now on. This will reduce the number of tax collection steps and also reduce the opportunities for corruption among local officials."

"Wonderful! Brother, that was truly amazing!"

Xiao Jiasui and Xu Guanzhong reacted the fastest; their eyes lit up the moment they heard Ren Yuan say that.

If this policy is implemented, it could indeed relieve the poor, who have little or no land, of their heavy shackles. Those with more land would pay more, those with less land would pay less, and those with no land would pay nothing. In this way, those traditional aristocratic families who occupy large amounts of land would be in trouble.

"Not only that, brother, your move directly targets the household registration system. Taxing land rather than people means that those without land can move freely. Whether they want to do business, join the military, or work, there will be more people to choose from!"

Wen Huanzhang and the others realized at this moment that their brother's move was indeed very useful.

"However, brother, this still cannot fundamentally curb the buying and selling of land by wealthy families, and if there are corrupt officials down below, they may conceal the amount of land they own."

Wang Yin said that his brother's move was good, but it needs a strong regulatory framework.

"Yes, I've considered that. Completely eliminating it entirely is probably impossible, but I plan to use a triple regulatory system."

Ren Yuan gave Wang Yin an approving look, and then said:

"First, there is overt supervision. Every year, the imperial court inspects each prefecture, each prefecture inspects each county, and each county inspects each county."

"Then, the inspection team under Master Guanghui will randomly select prefectures, counties and districts for investigation every year. Once a problem is found, the officials at all levels will be held accountable."

"Finally, Shi Qian's shadows secretly investigated again, especially those places that seemed to have no problems at all, leaving no loopholes!"

"If someone can still buy and sell land under these three levels of exploration, or even bribe my three levels of exploration, then I'll consider them amazing."

Ren Yuan's three-level exploration can be said to be the most rigorous exploration in this era. And indeed, as he said, if someone can still complete a land transaction under these circumstances, then that person is truly remarkable.

“Brother, I think this is feasible. However, when distributing the land, it is best to have a well-defined strategy. How much land each household should receive, how it should be distributed, and how much should be reserved for established families all need to be stipulated.”

"Moreover, we need to decide how much land our descendants will receive after fighting alongside so many brothers. Otherwise, what difference will there be between our descendants and the powerful families of today?"

Wang Yin's words drew everyone's attention. Goodness, this guy's skills have really improved a lot after following Wen Huanzhang for a few years!

"Brother Wang, you've really impressed everyone!"

Xiao Jiahui was deeply moved, realizing that there would be another truly capable strategist in the future.

"Brother Xiao is too kind. I still have much to learn from my brothers."

Wang Yin himself was very modest.

“Brother, then let me do this.”

Xiao Jiahui took the initiative to shoulder this heavy responsibility. After all, land is a matter that involves not only the poor but also powerful families. Taking on this responsibility would be very stressful.

If this matter is not handled well, the pressure in the future will be enormous, and sometimes sacrifice may be necessary. Shang Yang and Chao Cuo are living examples of this.

"Old Xiao, you don't have to be alone..."

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised. He had originally intended to take the blame himself and fight those powerful families to the end, but who would have thought that Xiao Jiahui would take the initiative to do this job.

“Brother, I, Xiao Jiahui, am a member of the royal family, and I would also consider myself a member of a prominent family. It is appropriate for me to do this.”

Xiao Jiahui smiled and stopped Ren Yuan.

“I thought my life would just pass by uneventfully, but then I met my brother, and these past few years have been incredibly interesting. Now, my brother can’t do this job. If he does, our Yiguo will face huge internal troubles. If I do this job, my brother will be under much less pressure.”

Xiao Jiahui's concerns were justified. Dynasties lasted for hundreds of years, and families lasted for thousands of years. Many families were able to survive through multiple dynasties because they also had formidable foundations.

Although Yiguo relied on its army to conquer the world, it is now in need of internal recuperation. If it were to provoke those powerful families too much at this time, it would be detrimental to Ren Yuan.

"Old Xiao, go for it! Write down anyone who opposes you! Once the issues with Western Xia and Jin are resolved, I'll personally lead troops to seek justice for you!"

"Haha, brother, do you think I, Xiao Jiahui, am a weak scholar? Don't worry, brother, if you're really worried about me, just send me a few more guards."

Xiao Jiahui laughed heartily. Now that he had made the decision, he already knew what he would face.

"I'll give you the Iron Tower and assign you members of the Shengwu Legion as guards. With them there, I don't believe anyone can hurt you!"

Ren Yuan directly assigned the Iron Tower, a highly defensive figure, to Xiao Jiasui. With the task of surveying and dividing the land, Xiao Jiasui would definitely be targeted. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. Only with the Iron Tower around could Xiao Jiasui's safety be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

"Brother, I just thought of another question."

Xu Guanzhong then spoke up.

“Brother just mentioned reminting coins. Whether it’s copper or silver, there will be fire loss during the smelting process. What should we do about that? If we let the prefectures handle it themselves, they might take the opportunity to embezzle a lot.”

"Issue an order to all prefectures and counties that when minting coins, the fire loss shall be collected by the state. No matter how many new coins each prefecture or county mints, one-tenth shall be collected as fire loss silver. The fire loss silver shall be uniformly turned over to the national treasury and transported by the Zhengtian Cavalry every year!"

"Then notify the officials of each prefecture that some of these fire loss funds will be their future allowances for maintaining integrity. If they are honest and upright during their tenure, their allowances will be much higher, at least ten times their salary, and there is no limit. But if they are corrupt during their tenure, once discovered, all their assets will become someone else's allowances for maintaining integrity. If they want to embezzle money to support someone else's family, then they can be corrupt. The more they embezzle, the more those who report them will receive!"

Ren Yuan had already thought of a way to deal with it. That's right, it was to return the fire tax to the public treasury. Moreover, he sent the Zhengtian Cavalry to be in charge of this matter. That was to clearly tell the world that if anyone with ill intentions wanted to die, they could do whatever they wanted. Anyone who dared to mess with the Zhengtian Cavalry was directly declaring war on Ren Yuan!

Furthermore, local government officials were specifically informed that the money they had embezzled could only be used to support others, which could, to some extent, enhance mutual supervision among officials.

“Brother is wise. I will talk to the instructor about this later.”

Xu Guanzhong was very impressed; his brother's mind was indeed full of useful ideas.

Those who are born with knowledge are truly monsters...