I have already established my power and prestige, so how did Li Shimin come back to life?

"Although the land tax system can make taxes more reasonable, it is difficult to eliminate the situation where landlords and powerful families conceal the amount of land they own, which will create huge loopholes in the collection of land taxes."

"Moreover, re-measuring the land will require a huge amount of manpower and material resources, which will likely increase the burden on the people. If not handled properly, it will also affect local public security."

"Your Majesty, officials are also worried that their positions will be impacted by this series of reforms. Those officials who have been diligent in their duties hope that the court will have clear promotion rules so that their future prospects will not be cut short by the reforms."

"Furthermore, if the reforms trigger local unrest, the lives and property of officials will also be threatened."

"To prevent landlords from concealing their land, the county magistrates in various regions can work together with the gentry and village heads to conduct an inventory of every household in every village. At the same time, they should establish a land file, recording in detail the owner, area, fertility, and other information of the land. Two copies should be kept, one for each of the county magistrates and the Ministry of Revenue."

"However, this gentry headman may be colluding with the landlord, making it difficult to conduct a fair investigation."

Furthermore, after abolishing the prime minister system and establishing a cabinet, the selection criteria and process for cabinet members need to be carefully considered. If the wrong people are chosen, the cabinet may not be able to shoulder the responsibilities of the core.

Wei Zheng immediately retorted, "Prime Minister Fang, stability is important, but if reforms are only about stability, it will be nothing more than scratching the surface."

"The court has been plagued by problems for a long time. If we simply allow a smooth transition, those hidden problems will continue to breed. Reforms must involve the courage to make radical changes and establish new ones."

"Moreover, this tax-sharing system will make taxes more reasonable, the public tax collection will help to rectify the administration of officials, and the unified tax collection by the gentry will alleviate the suffering of the people, which will benefit both the country and the people."

"For landlords who conceal their land, the court can send special personnel to conduct a thorough investigation and severely punish those who violate the rules."

"Your Majesty, officials who actively support reform should be rewarded, so as to encourage more people to participate in reform."

"But I am also concerned that if rewards and punishments are unclear, reformers will be discouraged and obstructors will go unchecked, making reform difficult to advance."

"To reward those who support reform, we can start with material rewards, official promotions, and honorary titles, such as rewarding them with gold and silver, fertile land, promoting them to a higher official rank, and bestowing plaques such as 'Model of Loyalty and Diligence'."

"However, excessive rewards can easily lead officials to become greedy, seeking only rewards without regard for the effectiveness of reforms. As for establishing a cabinet, power cannot be too concentrated in a few individuals. There must be checks and balances, otherwise it will easily lead to the danger of autocracy."

Furthermore, during the reform process, we must be wary of eunuchs taking advantage of the situation to grow in power and interfere in government affairs. There are many such lessons in history."

Ma Zhou frowned and looked at Wei Zheng: "Minister Wei, your courage is commendable, but reform is not something that can be done impulsively."

"If power is decentralized without a proper oversight mechanism, it will only allow those with ulterior motives to exploit loopholes."

"Take Shaanxi Province, for example. The implementation of the land tax system is questionable. The standards for measuring land and the fairness of the personnel involved are both problematic. Furthermore, how can we ensure that local officials pay the authentic taxes, and how can we prevent them from collecting fees under other pretexts?"

"Local officials are likely to use other covert means to extort money from the people to compensate for their own losses, such as deliberately making things difficult for the people during the tax collection process or increasing other miscellaneous taxes and levies."

"Furthermore, if there are loopholes in the management of the funds after the huohao is returned to the public, it may breed new corruption problems, and the allocation of funds will easily lead to competition among various parties."

"If the gentry were to pay taxes together, they would certainly strongly oppose it. They have cultural and public opinion influence in the local area. Their opposition could hinder the development of local education and incite the people's dissatisfaction with the reform."

"At the same time, gentry families often have close ties with court officials, and reforms may trigger conflicts between different factions within the court."

"Your Majesty, although the local gentry must pay taxes, they also hope that the court can guarantee them a certain say in local affairs and certain rights in controlling cultural and educational resources."