son-in-law

Chapter 472 The Four Laughter
The Zichen Hall, the golden seat and the jade majesty, and the big pillar of the dragon.

The hall is solemn and solemn.

The Empress Dowager Cao Yuzan sat behind the curtain, and the screens on both sides blocked it, so she was not allowed to watch.Every morning, the little emperor, who was only four months old, was carried out, placed on a dragon chair to receive worship, and then carried back to the palace.Sometimes the little emperor still fell asleep, and he didn't wake up after three calls.Some people say that the young emperor Zhao Ce was born with gentian, and he was not afraid of the scene, which is really the luck of the great Liang.

"Tax reform" has been proposed for more than a month, but there has been no progress.And this is Cao Yuhan's first-hand plan to change the poverty situation of the Liang Dynasty.Although there was a lot of resistance, this woman who never gave up until she reached her goal couldn't let this matter go by the wayside.In the court today, Cao Yuzan suddenly put pressure on Ximen without discussing with anyone.And Ximen Zhensen, the Duke of Chu, was also unceremonious, arguing with the Queen Mother in the hall.At first glance, both sides have good reasons.

Ximen Zhensen, the head of the Huainan Dao warlord, held his head high. In front of the officials, he glanced at the curtain without hesitation: "At the beginning of the establishment of the Liang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu signed the "Peace Alliance" with Tang, Meng, and Ximen. Princes and county kings do not enjoy fiefdoms, but the Tang family, the Meng family, and the Ximen family each occupy one area. In other words, our three families only occupy one area, but each family supports 15 soldiers, and each fights against the enemy. The Zhao family of the royal family has six kingdoms , but only raised 20 soldiers. Now my Ximen family not only has to raise soldiers to defend against the enemy, but also pays half of the tax to your Zhao family every year. It is not easy to maintain the status quo, why do we need tax reform?"

The Empress Dowager said in a deep voice: "Most of the cities are controlled by the gentry, and the gentry colluded with the local government, and there were many big families. Most of the land is in the hands of the gentry and big families, and the big gentry concealed their income, and the officials cheated for their own interests. The court could not collect taxes at all. This tax reform is not only a change in the way of tax collection, but also a change in the ownership of land. The land in each province and prefecture is nationalized, and the imperial court then distributes the land to the people on a per capita basis. Only in this way can the population increase and the national power be restored. "

Ximen Zhensen asked coldly: "What does the queen mother mean, Huainan Road, Shannan Road, and Chang'an Road will also be taken back?"

The Empress Dowager said: "Santao is still yours, but the way of collecting taxes has to be changed. Aijia will give you half of the tax collected in Sandao every year. Instead of paying half of your taxes to the treasury like now. "

Some of Su Yu's opinions were added to the Empress Dowager's tax reform plan, but it was only part of it.And this is something Ximen cannot tolerate, Duke Chu stared at the queen mother: "I want to ask the queen mother, is this the final decision of your royal family? If so..."

"I don't agree." Prime Minister Meng Danqing interrupted Ximen Zhensen: "To do so is to destroy the "Taiping League."

"I don't agree either." Tang Zhen tapped on the cases in front of him.

Ximen Zhensen thought it was a conspiracy between the queen mother and the other two princes, but now it seems that this is not the case. He sneered and did not speak again.

Cao Yuhan felt a little regretful.I still remember that Su Yu once advised her to think twice, but she insisted on giving it a try, and ended up in this predicament.

But Cao Yuzan is not very worried, after all, she still has a backup.But after the early court, the five generals and the three old princes who had not communicated with each other in advance questioned Cao Yuzan: Why did you suddenly change the plan?
The three old princes were furious, almost scolding Cao Yuzan angrily.

At this time, Cao Yuhan came up with another plan to shut them up, and this plan absorbed all of Su Yu's suggestions.

……

Prime Minister Meng Danqing appeared in the apse with a complexion like steel.The queen mother had just finished dealing with the five generals and the three princes, and she was in a bad mood, but she had to come to see the powerful minister again.

Meng Danqing asked seriously: "Why didn't the queen mother change her plan and tell me?"

Meng Danqing still maintained the minimum politeness, but his intention of crusade was already very obvious.

Cao Yuzan said against his will, "I knew it would not succeed, so I didn't discuss it with Xiang Meng."

Meng Danqing shook his sleeves and sat down.

Cao Yuzan said again: "But I do have plans to nationalize the land of the gentry and big families. Why don't we unite and annex the gentry and big families in our respective jurisdictions."

Meng Danqing frowned and said, "Has the Empress Dowager given up on the tax increase in Huainan?"

Cao Yuzan said: "It still needs to be collected, but the method needs to be changed, otherwise the Ximen family will really collect taxes ten years in advance in Huainan, and in the end both sides will suffer. I hope that the three of you will be consistent with the royal family and take the land under your jurisdiction into your own hands. .Then distribute it to the people according to the labor of each household. There is a premise here, the land is actually still yours, and your taxation is equivalent to renting the land to the people. But it is said that it is given to the people. If the population of this family If the land is reduced, their land will be taken back and distributed to those who have children. This method can stimulate the people to have more children. The population increases, and in the end it is you who earn more money.”

Meng Danqing nodded: "If the queen mother could make it clear to the ministers earlier, the situation like today would not have happened, and all three families opposed the queen mother. But it's okay. Not today, and the mother will bring it up again after a while. It can be regarded as a concession to the Sanmen Clan. At that time, Chen and An Guogong will also take a step back. I think Ximen Zhensen will agree this time. After all, there are the most Taoist clans and big families in Huainan. If they are ordered to take back all of them, he will also get the most. But there is also a problem here, what if there is a large-scale riot?"

Cao Yuzan said: "That's why it is more necessary for our four families to unite. And it must be carried out separately. First, carry out from Hebei Road, Shandong Road, Henan Road, Hedong Road, and Guannei Road. If there is a riot, the royal family's 20 Xuanjia troops will go Suppression. If the suppression is not effective, you will need the help of the three families. When the five tax reforms are completed, the three of you will reform again. At that time, the Xuanjia Army will also support you."

While speaking, Cao Yuzan handed over to Meng Xiang a copy of the "Compensation Plan for Tax Reform for Half-Business, Half-Agricultural Nobility and Pure Farmers" written by Su Yu.

Meng Danqing smiled after reading it: "The Queen Mother is wise."

Cao Yuhan also smiled: "I didn't write this."

"Is it the idea of ​​the four of them?" Meng Danqing was referring to Cao Yuzan's four generals.

Cao Yuzan shook her head: "No."

"Who is that?"

"Chang'an county horse."

"Sister-in-law of Tang Zhen's family?"

The Queen Mother nodded: "Yes. I told Xiang Meng long ago that he is a talent. But Xiang Meng seems to have never paid much attention to him."

Meng Danqing smiled wryly: "I met him once in the prime minister's mansion. That time he talked about 'stocks' with me, and he talked so cloudily that I couldn't hear him. At that time, I only thought he was a man. His ideas are wild and unconstrained, but they don’t necessarily have any real skills. I thought they were just talking about it.”

The queen mother said: "Since Meng Xiang thinks it is feasible, it is better to invite the other two princes now, and let's finalize the matter directly."

Meng Danqing said: "Tell Tang Zhen to bring Su Yu along, I'd like to hear if he has any other ideas."

The queen mother smiled: "That guy has a lot of tricks, please look over there, Mr. Meng."

Then Cao Yuzan pointed out the building blocks Su Yu gave her to Luoyang City to Meng Danqing. Meng Danqing walked over and looked at it with great interest.Suddenly Meng Xiang raised his eyebrows thickly, and his eyes swept across the Queen Mother's face. He felt that the smile on the Queen Mother's face was actually a little secretly happy.It's as if a certain girl received a gift from her lover and showed it off to her friends.

……

When the lights were on, a group of people in the apse were chatting happily.

After two trials, the queen mother felt that the interests of the warlords could not be shaken unless their military power was lifted.But this is what she can't do.Before, she selectively incorporated Su Yu's tax reform proposal into her own tax reform plan, but now she decided to fully adopt Su Yu's proposal - unite with the warlords, and eat the territory of other gentry and big families.

After all, it is actually the old routine of big fish eating small fish and small fish eating dried shrimps.And Su Yu's plan is that the big fish eat the small fish, chew them up and spit out some for the dried shrimps, so that the dried shrimps grow stronger.But it is the big fish that will benefit in the end, and at the same time, the increase in shrimp will strengthen the national power.

Su Yu accompanied Tang Zhen to the apse, and Ximen Zhensen also walked in soon after.

At first, Ximen Zhensen's face was very ugly, but when he heard the latest tax reform plan, he fell into thinking and thought about it for a long time.Then he raised a few concerns. He said that Huainan had the largest number of gentry, and riots would definitely be triggered by then.

At this time, he got the support of the queen mother and two other warlords, saying that he would send troops to Huainan to help in advance.At this time, a smile appeared on Ximen Zhensen's face, and he nodded slightly.

At this time, there was applause in the hall, and then a group of people burst into laughter.The three warlord leaders and the queen mother laughed at the same time, which is really a rare situation.And amidst their laughter, the gentry and big families will usher in a disaster.But at the same time, the general public will get huge benefits.At this time, the local gentry and big families had occupied more than 80.00% of the land.And the working people are less than 20.00%.Su Yu believes that this is the main reason for the sharp decline in the population of the Liang Dynasty.

Facts have proved that as long as the interests of the powerful are maintained, then everything the royal family says is right.The three major powers will agree with both hands and create momentum with the royal family.If any gentry conspired to rebel, they would unceremoniously send troops to suppress it.In the final analysis, it is still whoever has soldiers and whoever speaks makes sense.

So far, a massive tax reform plan has been implemented.

The Empress Dowager dispatched troops and generals to distribute the 20 Xuanjia troops to various provinces to implement her tax reform plan.

However, their conversation actually left a big problem unresolved, and that is Gyeonggi Province.Originally, Gyeonggi-do was the territory of the royal family, but now it is being eroded by the six families of Tang, Meng, Ximen, Fan, Qian, and Han.This is intolerable to the royal family.

At this time, the three chaebols who felt the most pressure were Fan, Qian, and Han.Their influence has already broken through Gyeonggi Province and spread to all parts of the country.Most of the gentry in various places have marriages with the three families, and it can even be said that nearly half of the gentry are their tentacles and branches.The financial strength of the three families is not under the three big clans, but they have no soldiers.Seeing that the gentry in those places would be wiped out, they panicked, and the three families jointly went to see the queen mother.

The queen mother said that if each family handed in 200 billion, they would give you a chance to take back your tentacles.Time is running out, and you can take as much as you can.With the money you get back, you can buy the land of the Tang, Meng, and Ximen families in Gyeonggi-do.As long as the land was bought from the three of them, the queen mother promised not to move it.

(End of this chapter)