Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

Chapter 124 I want your land in Neihuang County

After Li Zhen and his group finished their meal, the gentry and wealthy families of Neihuang County also arrived at Wangjiazhuang one after another. Usually, it was the county magistrate who issued the notices, but today the prefect had summoned them to Wangjiazhuang without any apparent reason, which made many people uneasy.

Scholar Wang greeted everyone warmly and personally arranged for tea to be served to them. The reception room was soon filled with people.

Seeing that there were not many people left, Wang Juren came to the middle of the reception room and shouted to everyone, "Everyone, please be quiet. Today, the Prefect has come to Neihuang County to gather you all here because he has something important to tell you."

After saying this, Wang Juren smiled and glanced at Li Zhen, then consciously stood aside.

Li Zhenqing cleared his throat and stood up. His cold gaze swept around the room, and after the whispers subsided, he spoke: "This is the first time I'm meeting you all today. I imagine you're all quite nervous. Listen to me, don't be nervous. I came here today and summoned you all here on a whim. Neihuang County is a large county in Anyang Prefecture, and its strategic and economic position is very important. When the Jurchens ruled, you must have suffered a lot. Now that Anyang Prefecture is back under the jurisdiction of the Song Dynasty, we finally don't have to be beholden to the Jurchens anymore."

此时应该有掌声的，但这些乡绅大户们并没有什么表情变化，因为对于他们来说被金人管辖和宋人管辖好像变化都不大，他们该交的钱一分不少，该交的粮食也是一粒未落下，对于他们来说无非是换了个主人。

Li Zhen continued, “As you all know, I have my own business in Tangyin City. The people of both Li Family Village and Tangyin City live very well. But today, I have come here and seen countless people in Neihuang County who cannot even afford a full meal. There are very few merchants on the streets of Neihuang County. I ask you all, would you like this?”

At this point, a bolder wealthy household member spoke up: "Your Excellency, just tell us, what do you want us to do here today?"

Finally, someone spoke up, so the rest was easy: "I said after I took office as prefect that I would make Anyang Prefecture the richest prefecture in the entire Daming Prefecture Circuit. Don't underestimate Anyang Prefecture just because it only has three counties. We have abundant resources, but unfortunately, these resources are just sitting there untapped. In my eyes, that's a waste."

“所以我要对内黄县进行改革，第一项就是废除各种苛捐杂税，重新制定适合我们内黄县的税务制度。只有这样我们才能吸引外来的客商，将我们产出的物品贩卖到其他的地方，而让外边那些物资也源源不断地汇集到这里。”

An older local gentryman slowly spoke up: "Your Excellency, if I may be so bold as to ask, these mineral resources and taxes have always belonged to the imperial court. Aren't you afraid of being blamed by the higher-ups for making such a rash reform?"

Mr. Bad Guy stood up at this moment: "You may not know this, but the Prefect has received an imperial edict. His Majesty has agreed to Anyang Prefecture's request for self-governance. In other words, Anyang Prefecture's output and tax revenue, including your lives and property, are all at the Prefect's discretion."

Hiss... Everyone gasped. For an emperor to make such a decision, this Lord Li must be no ordinary man.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Li Zhen smiled and said, "Today, in front of everyone, I announce the removal of Kong Fanxue from his post as county magistrate. Your new county magistrate, Qian Dazhuang, will arrive and take office tomorrow. In addition, starting tomorrow, everyone will have to undergo household registration statistics to facilitate subsequent management. Furthermore, all cultivated land within the entire Neihuang County will be remeasured, and agricultural taxes will be levied based on the amount of land."

This statement caused an uproar among the local gentry and wealthy families. Previously, the Song Dynasty's tax policy was based on a per capita tax, and people of Wang Juren's status were exempt from taxes. If Li Zhen's agricultural tax system were to be implemented, wouldn't that be the death of these gentry and wealthy families? Thus, some of the bolder ones began to speak out.

"Your Excellency, since the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, the national policy has been to treat Confucian scholars and intellectuals with respect and forbid the government from competing with the people for profit. What you are doing completely overturns this national policy. Aren't you afraid of arousing public resentment?"

Li Zhen: "Hahaha... I forgot to tell you all earlier that I not only dismissed the magistrate of Neihuang County, but also sent all the yamen runners and clerks back home. Starting tomorrow, new personnel will take office, and Neihuang County will be under military government control, just like Tangyin County. Also, this gentryman's claim of competing with the people for profit is probably not true. I know that the people of Neihuang County don't own much land at all; most of the land is concentrated in the hands of you all. That's why I called you here today."

李振对不良使了个眼神，对方心领神会地点了点头，然后起身高声说：“大家先不要讨论，这次为了安抚那些土地大户，知府大人愿意按照市场价回购大家手中富足的土地。这次改革并不是将你们手中所有的土地收回，还会让你们保留一部分的。除此外，内黄县境内的几处矿产将会进行拍卖开采权，到时候大家可以公平参加。另外内黄县还将建设大量的工厂作坊，对于占用的土地，安阳官府会按照高于市场价三倍的价钱进行赔偿。”

This has left these people completely bewildered. Could it be that Li Zhen came for the land? But didn't he say he wanted to buy it, and that he would even offer substantial compensation to those who occupied the land? Besides, mining is the most profitable industry of this era; whoever gets the mining rights, their entire family will be set for life.

After seeing off the local gentry and wealthy families, Wang, the scholar, knelt down before Li Zhen and said, "Your Excellency, I, Wang Shi, would like to offer you 350 mu of farmland and 200 mu of forest land. I also request that Your Excellency grant me permission to mine a mineral. I promise again that I will give you 40% of the profits from the mining."

Wang, the scholar, knew that being in a good position made him an easy target. While the local gentry and wealthy families were still discussing and deliberating, he was the first to express his opinion to Li Zhen.

不得不说王举人是非常有眼光的，他从李振话语中听出了对方想要对内黄县的土地下手，逐步的将土地收为官府。与其到时候竹篮打水一场空，还不如现在用这些土地换取一些资源，毕竟等其他人反应过来，到时候肯定会疯抢的。

Li Zhen pondered for a moment, then looked at Wang Juren and said, "Get up. You've contributed a lot today, and your brother-in-law has just joined my Li family army. As you said, I'll have someone verify the land ownership tomorrow. As for mining, you'll have to wait until we've thoroughly investigated before granting you mining rights. Is that acceptable?"

This is simply amazing! Wang Juren almost couldn't resist the urge to fawn over Li Zhen. At this moment, he could already picture the Wang family taking off.