Chapter 131 Wang Anshi's Reforms

In the end, Xie Jiuque knelt down in front of Zheng Yi with a sincere heart.

He can't win against Zheng Yi alone.

Not to mention, there are three innate eunuchs whose aura and skills are superior to his!
This Dayu Palace is truly a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers are hidden.

Not only the eunuchs, but also His Majesty...

"Thank you Jiuque."

"Grass... the people are here."

A hoarse voice sounded, and Xie Jiuque lowered his head helplessly.

"Would you like to work for me?"

"willing."

"Are you willing to help me control the Great Yu Wulin?"

"willing."

"Would you like to join my Great Yu court?"

"willing."

"very good."

Zheng Yi said: "From today on, you will be the worshiper of my Dayu Shangwu Division and the vice president of the Warrior Guild."

"However, your identity does not need to be made public. I have something important for you to do."

"His Majesty?"

Xie Jiuque's eyes moved and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I need a man from the martial arts world to control the martial arts world for me."

"Originally, Zhao Suling was the most suitable, but unfortunately, Taiyi Dao was too involved with my Great Yu Dynasty, which caused dissatisfaction among many people in the martial arts world. We can only look for someone else."

"You are the most unfortunate person. You just happened to run into my gun. I can only choose you."

"As long as you can help me control the Great Yu Wulin, I will naturally not treat you unfairly."

"Let me think about it..."

Zheng Yi looked down at Xie Jiuque and said, "Your skills are incomplete. The only reason you have been able to practice until now is because of your own talent and qualifications, as well as the sword skills secrets you snatched from other sects. It's not decent."

"If you help me complete this task, I will open the entire Imperial Palace Martial Arts Pavilion to you."

"How about you take all the martial arts stored in the Martial Arts Pavilion?"

"really?!"

Xie Jiuque's eyes suddenly lit up.

Dayu Zangwu Pavilion.

Rumor has it that this Martial Arts Pavilion was established during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Dayu, and it collected martial arts from countless sects across the world.

There are even some where the entire family was wiped out, leaving only a single copy of the martial arts secret manual.

If he could learn these martial arts secrets, wouldn't his swordsmanship improve to a higher level?
Moreover, the Hundred Battles Blood-Slaying Knife, White Lotus Flower-Picking Technique, Heavenly Demon Technique, Seven-Star Sword Technique, etc., which Emperor Zhengyong had just used to defeat him, might also be collected in the Martial Arts Pavilion.

If I could obtain so many secret manuals...

"I am the emperor, and what I say is the imperial decree."

Zheng Yi said succinctly: "You can rest assured that I will never treat you unfairly."

"I can even let Xu Mujun spar with you and discuss the progress of swordsmanship together."

"I... obey your order!"

In the end, Xie Jiuque bowed down sincerely with a respectful look in his eyes.

"very good."

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "I will arrange for five Grandmasters and more than ten First-Rank warriors to accompany you to the Southern Martial Arts World to help you gain momentum."

"You can also establish a school of martial arts in the south with the team I give you, invite heroes from all over the world, and hold a martial arts conference. How about that?"

"Martial Arts Conference..."

Xie Jiuque's eyes became brighter and brighter, and he said excitedly: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

"But what reason should I give to hold a martial arts conference?"

"It's very simple, it's a weapon ban against me!"

Zheng Yi said succinctly: "After you arrive in the Southern Martial Arts World, you can fight against many sects in the name of sparring. Without Xiantian's skills, no one can be your opponent."

"Even if you have hidden talents, you just need to remain undefeated."

"After you become famous, you can establish a sect, hold martial arts conferences, and recruit martial artists."

Xie Jiuque hesitated and said, "I am holding a martial arts conference under the pretext of a martial arts ban. Should I support it or ban it?"

"At that time..."

Zheng Yi sneered and said, "By that time, whether to support or ban it will not be up to you."

"what?"

"There is one more thing. Please keep an eye out for me."

"What's the matter?"

"The Tuoba family of Yunmengze, find out the situation of Yunmengze for me."

"Yunmengze..."

Xie Jiuque hesitated and said, "When I was young, I once broke into Yunmengze and defeated several masters of the Tuoba family in Yunmengze, but in the end I was defeated by a young man who called himself the 'Yunmengze Zongjia'."

"Zong family? Hidden family? Visible family?"

Zheng Yi nodded and said, "No matter what, find a way to find out about the Tuoba family, but don't act arbitrarily, understand?"

"Okay, I see."

Xie Jiuque finally left, taking five grandmasters from the Shangwu Division and more than a dozen first-grade warriors with him, and stepped into the southern martial arts world.

He was just a chess piece placed by Zheng Yi.

What if there is an unexpected gain in the future?
But now his focus is on another matter.

Forcing the aristocratic families to rebel!

Yes.

He wants to force these noble families to rebel against me!

A few days later, the grand court session.

"If you have something to do, report it early; if nothing happens, leave the court!"

As soon as Liu Chengen finished speaking, Wang Anshi stepped out.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

Many officials raised their eyebrows and looked at Wang Anshi. There are now several major factions in the court.

The leader, of course, was the Imperial Party, which was established under the instructions of Zheng Yi.

Wang Anshi, Yuan Qichang and Cai Dashi all belonged to this party.

Next, it was General Xu Mujun’s military.

Although it is called the military, in fact it is Xu Mujun’s one-man show.

He has always supported the Dayu court and can be regarded as part of the imperial party.

The third faction is the aristocratic officials faction headed by Lu Xiangqing, Li Yuanhao and Kong Xiangsi.

This faction has the largest number of people, the deepest foundation, and although its power is not the greatest, it involves the most departments. Other factions cannot compare at all.

The fourth faction is the Southern Qingliu School, led by Zheng Xuanyue.

The officials of this party were all scholars who entered the court through the imperial examination.

They claim to be disciples of saints and come from a clean family, and they look down on aristocratic families and imperial factions.

Unfortunately, he does not have much power, and his influence is weak and his power is minimal.

The last party...

They were several officials who were on good terms with Liu Chengen, the eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department. They were frustrated and were excluded by other factions for various reasons.

There was nothing they could do but huddle together with Liu Chengen and the others for warmth.

This faction, known as the 'Eunuch Party', had the smallest number of members.

Wang Anshi was the first to speak today. He is your Majesty's mouthpiece. Doesn't this mean that your Majesty is going to make another big move?
Zheng Yi asked, "What's the important matter, Lord Wang?"

"Your Majesty, I have a volume of data here. Please allow me to show it to my colleagues."

data?

Many of his hearts skipped a beat when he heard this word.

The last time the word data appeared was when General Xu Mujun issued a ban on military power.

Could it be that His Majesty has issued another decree today?
Zheng Yi said succinctly: "Read it."

"Since I became the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, I have started to work with the Jinyiwei, the local county governors and county soldiers of the Thirteen Prefectures of Dayu to measure the cultivated land area of ​​the Thirteen Prefectures of Dayu."

"The two states of Manghuang have just been returned to Dayu, so they have not been measured yet."

Wang Anshi waved his hand, and immediately an official from the Ministry of Revenue ran over with a stack of account books and handed them to Wang Anshi.

"The survey has been completed since October 5, 1191."

"Including the capital, the total cultivated land area of ​​the thirteen states of Dayu is 1,365 million mu, and the total population is about 200 million people."

"Since the 27th year of the reign of Emperor Taizong, we have been experiencing natural and man-made disasters, resulting in a constant flow of refugees. We are unable to identify this group of people, so we can only check based on the registered population of each county."

"Why are there so many refugees in Dayu?"

"It's very simple. The people have no land to farm and can't survive!"

"They had no choice but to sell their children and become refugees, begging for a living."

"These people cannot survive. Once they are bewitched by someone with ulterior motives, they will turn into rioters!"

"In the past few years, there have been constant civil unrest in the six states of the North, and it all started because of this."

Although Wang Anshi's voice was not loud, it sounded a bit harsh to the ears of many court officials.

"However, based on the total cultivated land area and total population, each citizen has at least five mu of arable land, which is enough to feed all the people."

"But unfortunately, there are still countless people who have become refugees, and then transformed into rioters and mobs!"

Just then, someone interrupted Wang Anshi.

"Sir Wang, you are wrong."

“Although the total cultivated land area is more than one billion, the land can be bought and sold.”

"Some people are lazy by nature and don't like to farm. They idle away all day long, and the fields are barren."

"In order to survive, they had to sell off their land, so that the land was concentrated in the hands of hardworking people, which could produce more food and taxes."

"Does Lord Wang allow the land to become barren without caring about the lives of other people?"

"Do not."

Wang Anshi said: "I am not talking about these, but the changes in the total cultivated land area of ​​Dayu."

"I have checked the data. In the 35th year of the Tianqi reign, the Ministry of Revenue conducted a nationwide survey of cultivated land and population."

"At that time, the country's arable land reached 1.75 billion mu, and the population was 350 million!"

"During the seventh year of the Tianqi period, a survey was conducted and the arable land area was 1.86 billion mu."

"Going back further, in the fourth year of Wanchang, the country's arable land was 1.62 billion mu."

"In the more than 300 years of the Great Yu, the country's arable land reached its peak in the 11th year of Yong'an, when the country's arable land reached 2.1 billion mu!"

"Master Shen, you said that there are lazy people who are unwilling to farm, and the arable land will be concentrated in the hands of hardworking and down-to-earth people, but why is it that in just over 20 years, the cultivated area has decreased by 700 million mu!"

"Where did these 700 million acres of land go? Do you colleagues know?"

Wang Anshi faced many court officials. The officials present had different expressions, but no one said anything at this time.

Wang Anshi turned around, straightened his clothes, and bowed to the ground with his hands folded.

"Your Majesty, I have found that from the 35th year of Tianqi to the 7th year of Zhengyong, the arable land in Dayu has been reduced by 700 million mu for various reasons!"

"Natural disasters are one thing, but more important is man-made disasters!"

"The heavy taxes, corvée and military service continued, causing the people to suffer terribly. They had no choice but to sell their land and become refugees."

"And these lands will eventually be concentrated in the hands of big landlords, high-ranking officials, big families, and even nobles."

"These great families, big landlords, and nobles do not have to pay taxes because of their special status, which makes our tax revenue decrease year by year, and the treasury is empty, which makes our Dayu precarious."

"There is also a group of people who wantonly concealed the labor service of tenants and used deceptive means to conceal the specific cultivated land and population, and gained a lot of benefits from it."

"All of these are digging up our Dayu's roots!"

"There are also officials who are not allowed to pay taxes if they have achieved academic titles. This has led to numerous large landowners registering their small fortunes and tens of thousands of acres of land under the names of scholars with academic titles, thereby evading a large amount of taxation and causing the country to become poor and weak."

"Merchants also don't have to pay taxes. This is a big taboo."

"Merchants do not produce, they buy low and sell high, they hoard goods and forget morality when they see profit. Your Majesty, have you not seen the eight great merchants in the past?"

"Taxation is the foundation of a country. There are too many parasites in the country. Your Majesty, please understand."

"For this reason, I ask Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the land and population of the country, abolish excessive taxes, reduce taxes and levies, and implement the One Whip Law."

"It is reiterated that officials and those with meritorious service must pay all taxes and grain, and be treated equally with the common people in the world."

"Reorganize our Dayu taxation system to ensure the safety of the people!"

"If this continues, our Dayu will surely regroup, become more prosperous, and restore Dayu's heyday!!!"

(End of this chapter)