Chapter 166 The wedding date is set
"Divide the land into three or five grades according to its fertility, set rents based on the grades, and announce them to the people. In this way, we can prevent officials from raising rents for their own selfish interests. At the same time, it can also ensure that the land is not annexed." Zhao Xing expressed his thoughts.
It is unrealistic to nationalize all the land in the world. Not only will the landlords and gentry not agree, even the ordinary people who own land will not agree.
Don’t you see, Wang Mang wanted to nationalize the land and implement the well-field system, but it ended up being destroyed not long after.
The reason why Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty lost to Zhu Di was largely due to his restoration of the well-field system.
The core principle of the well-field system is that the land belongs to the imperial court, and the people only have the right to cultivate it but not the right to buy or sell it.
The common people would not understand the deep intention of the court. Those who did not have land were fine, but those who had land would fight to the death when they heard that the court was going to take back their land.
The emperor was thinking about the feasibility of the method Zhao Xing proposed when a eunuch came in to report that Han Da Xianggong and his men had arrived.
"Let them in!" said the official.
The eunuch went out, and soon Han Zhang and others came in.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" several people bowed.
"No need for formalities!" The emperor waved his hand, gave seats to several people, and then asked Eunuch Liu to take the notes brought by Zhao Xing and circulate them among them.
As the eldest son, Han Zhang was the first to take the bundle.
After reading it, her expression did not change at all and she handed the hairpin to Mr. Yu.
Several men took turns to look at the knotted paper, and they all looked thoughtful, guessing the official's intention.
"There are more than 200,000 acres of farmland hidden in Yangwu County alone. I dare not even imagine how many acres are hidden in the whole world. You are all ministers in the court and my most trusted ministers. Don't you realize it?" the emperor said coldly.
"I am terrified!" Han Zhang and others even stood up and bowed.
"I didn't call you here to listen to you talk about these things. I want to measure the land in the world, and you need to come up with a plan." said the emperor.
"Your Majesty!" Han Zhang said, "This matter is of great importance, you need to think twice..."
"My Lord, do you mean to disapprove of measuring the land area throughout the country?" The emperor interrupted Han Zhang directly.
"Your Majesty has misunderstood. I have no intention of objecting. I just think that measuring the land in the world involves too much involvement and requires careful consideration. Moreover, the measurement of Shangyangwu County alone is not very persuasive. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is currently measuring the land in Kaifeng Prefecture. Once the land in all counties of Kaifeng Prefecture is measured, the resistance will be much smaller." Han Zhang said.
"I second the proposal!"
Shen Xianggong said: "I think the land measurement in Kaifeng Prefecture is also of certain reference value."
Mr. Yu did not say anything. He would retire in a few months, and what Han Zhang and the others said was similar to what he thought.
The emperor was silent for a while, then looked at Yu Xianggong and said, "I intend to let Yu Aiqing preside over this matter."
"Your Majesty, the process of measuring the land area of the country will take a long time. I will retire in a few months. Your Majesty should..."
"Your Excellency Yu, your health looks much better than mine, so there is no need to rush to retire. Wait until you finish this matter, then retire and return to your hometown to enjoy your retirement." The emperor waved his hand.
"This..." Yu Xianggong hesitated for a moment and could only respond: "I obey your order!"
"Fuer he..."
The emperor repeated to several people what Zhao Xing had said, that the land that had been investigated should be nationalized and rented out to the people by the government.
"What do you think?"
Han Zhang pondered for a while and said, "Your Highness, this is a brilliant move. If the land that has been found is distributed to the landless people, the people with land will certainly feel resentful. It is the most appropriate way to return the land to the court and have the government rent it to the landless people."
"Not only that, this can also curb land annexation. Moreover, the rent set by the court is relatively low, and those people who are tenants of landlords and gentry are also willing to rent the government's land. In this way, those landlords and gentry can only lower the rent in order to retain tenants." said Prime Minister Shen.
"What the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Shen say makes sense, but I think we need to formulate a strict and detailed system to ensure that these lands can be rented to the people and to prevent local officials from raising rents privately," said Prime Minister Yu.
Everyone talked about the advantages and disadvantages of it, and Zhao Xing stood aside and listened quietly without interrupting.
He doesn't think that he is smarter than the ancients just because he has insights that are thousands of years ahead of others.
It would be easy to become a husband. All Zhao Xing needed to do was to use his identity to open a loophole.
With the talents of Han Zhang and his colleagues, don’t they know about the hidden fields?
Maybe they don't know the details, but they definitely know the general idea.
However, they did not mention the need to measure the land.
Because this matter involves too many things, bringing it up before a good solution is found will not only fail to solve the problem, but will cause trouble instead.
If Zhao Xing had not been the crown prince, if someone else had ordered a thorough investigation of the land within his jurisdiction, he would have been impeached and dismissed from office long ago.
What Zhao Xing had to do was to prove that Yintian’s situation not only existed, but was also very serious.
In this way, when my father orders a thorough investigation of the land, there will be less resistance.
Zhao Xing never thought that this would be able to uncover all the hidden fields in the world, as this was not realistic.
However, with the example of Kaifeng Prefecture as an example, officials from all over the country had to find out some hidden fields no matter what before they could report back.
Even if only part of the truth can be found out in the end, it will be a good thing for the court.
Now that the goal has been achieved, the next thing can be left to the officials in the court to worry about.
After a long discussion, the emperor asked Han Zhang and others to go back and draft a regulation. Once the land inventory in Kaifeng Prefecture was completed, they would announce a land inventory for the entire world.
After Han Zhang and his companions left, the emperor looked at Zhao Xing and said, "Fuer, hurry up and clear the fields in Kaifeng Prefecture."
After that, the emperor added with some worry: "But you only need to control the overall situation, and leave the specific matters to the people below. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau has already selected the wedding date for you, and I will soon order the Ministry of Rites to prepare for your wedding. Although you don't need to worry about it, there are still some things that need your attention."
"Father, when is the date set?" Zhao Xing asked.
After living two lives, Zhao Xing was about to get married. He felt a little dizzy when he heard the news.
"March 25th of next year," said the official.
"Your Majesty, I have to manage all the affairs of Kaifeng Prefecture, review memorials, and now I am busy with my marriage. There are too many things to do. It would be better if Your Majesty excused me from attending the morning court." Zhao Xing said.
"When will you change your lazy temper?" the official glared.
Having said that, the official thought about it and agreed.
Even after Zhao Xing got married, he did not plan to let Zhao Xing attend court for a short period of time.
After Zhao Xing got married, the concubines he had chosen before could also be brought into the palace.
If I had that much time, maybe I could give him another grandson.
Zhao Xing had no idea what his father was thinking, and was very happy to see that his father agreed.
Finally, I don’t have to go through so much trouble.
After chatting with his father for a while, he said goodbye and left.
…………
Zhao Xing did not attend the morning court the next day. The emperor announced that the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Clan Affairs would be responsible for arranging the prince's wedding.
After the morning court ended and the emperor left, all the civil and military officials congratulated Duke Ying.
The Duke of England dealt with it for a long time before he was finally able to free himself.
I returned home and told my wife the news.
"My daughter is going to get married so soon?" The Duchess of England felt reluctant when she heard the news.
"It's been the New Year, and my daughter is already seventeen years old. How can that be fast? If she were in an ordinary family, she would have been married long ago. Remember to tell your daughter that from today until the wedding, she cannot meet His Highness." The Duke of England warned.
Thanks to book friend 2020…9580 for the reward of 8000 coins.
(End of this chapter)