Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Page 1894

"This must be in line with the wishes of both the strategist and the King of Liang."

Li Bangyan was overjoyed: "I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

"He possesses great talent!"

Qin Hui continued, "Hu Anguo's scholarship,"

"His scholarship shares many similarities with that of the King of Liang."

Chapter 1653 The Way to Secure Favor

"However, there are also many dissenting opinions,"

"Li Xiangke can discuss this with Hu Anguo,"

"Let him follow the path of the Marshal's prosperity and apply his knowledge!"

"This is the true path of the new dynasty,"

"If this matter can be accomplished, the Marshal will regard Prime Minister Li as his right-hand man."

Li Bangyan clapped his hands and exclaimed, "He has the talent of a prime minister!"

"He will be appointed Grand Secretary from now on!"

The two then discussed some more details.

Li Bangyan personally saw Qin Hui off at the door.

He returned to his study alone.

Li Bangyan became more and more excited as he thought about it.

He has found a way to secure his future favor.

Zhao Yuan's application of knowledge,

It integrates modern learning with Luoyang learning.

Therefore, neither the Cheng brothers nor Wang Anshi can be criticized.

But a target must be set up.

Only then can one demonstrate their usefulness.

Li Bangyan's target was, of course, Cai Jing.

He decided to write two articles.

An article criticizing Cai Jing for misunderstanding Wang Anshi's new learning.

An article elucidating the commonalities between the Luoyang School and the New School.

This was done to advocate for Zhao Yuan's application of Taoism and to pave the way for his own path.

Li Bangyan is very good at writing screenplays.

He would have a hard time writing this kind of article.

We must invite the great scholar Hu Anguo to write this!

.....

After the officials left,

Zhao Yuan and Wen Huanzhang strolled to the Mingtang.

This dilapidated place has been renovated to be far too grand and beautiful.

Moreover, it comes with a large garden.

I don't even know what to do with it now.

"The Cao family, the Xiang family, and the Han family were among the first families confirmed to be split up and relocated,"

Wen Huanzhang said,

“These three companies occupy too much land,”

"After migrating elsewhere,"

"It's impossible to distribute land by the acre; we'd have to find some pretext to confiscate most of the land."

Zhao Yuan asked, "Isn't it easy to find a charge?"

Wen Huanzhang said, "If you're determined, you can uncover a whole host of crimes."

"And there is a lot of land,"

"They can't produce the land deeds either,"

"This is what we mean by confiscating it directly."

"Then let's do it."

Zhao Yuan did not hesitate.

Where is there even a trace of mercy?

The Cao family are descendants of Cao Bin.

The Xiang family are descendants of Xiang Minzhong.

The Han family are descendants of Han Qi.

The first two companies occupy the largest territories in the Gyeonggi region.

Moreover, they continuously formed marriage alliances with the Song dynasty.

Emperors throughout history have granted them large amounts of land.

The three families were split up and relocated.

The land was confiscated.

The land consolidation issue in Gyeonggi Province

That would solve a small part of the problem.

The consequences caused by the Western City and the Jin army.

It also solved some of the merger issues.

Many small and medium-sized landowners simply disappeared.

The wealthy landowners fled to other places with their entire families.

Zhao Yuan said, "The landlords who return one after another must show their land deeds."

"Any land for which no deeds can be produced,"

"It was distributed to tenant farmers, peasants, and vagrants."

Zhao Yuan said worriedly, "Your command has too much room for maneuver."

"Won't this lead to officials taking the opportunity to extort small landowners and self-cultivating farmers?"

"Instead, it helps large landowners seize the opportunity to acquire even more land?"

"It will definitely cause some chaos for a while,"

Zhao Yuan, however, had already raised his butcher's knife.

"Send more young officials with no connections,"

"Serving as a censor in the Jingji region,"

"Have them secretly investigate the implementation of this order."

"This could be an opportunity to train more qualified censors,"

"They were trained in the Gyeonggi Province,"

"Then they will be sent to carry out missions across the country."

"Secondly, this can be used as an opportunity to punish corrupt officials."

"Make the administration of the capital region more transparent and efficient."

"San Ke can take this opportunity to target the large landowners in the capital region,"

"Very large families split up and migrated,"

"For those of moderate size, their surplus land will be confiscated!"

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "After this whole thing, the title of tyrant will be yours."

"For the founding monarch,"

"This method can only be considered mild."

Wen Huanzhang said, "Actually, the area around Tokyo City is several dozen miles away,"

“Land consolidation is not a serious problem,”

"The truly serious cases are located tens or even hundreds of miles away."

"The land and property of the Cao, Xiang, and Han families,"

"They are mostly located dozens of miles away."

Zhao Yuan hadn't seriously investigated: "Is that so?"

Wen Huanzhang nodded and said, "Back when I was teaching in Tokyo,"

"I've already done a quick check."

"The land surrounding Bianjing (Kaifeng) during the Northern Song Dynasty,"

"It went through three periods: hunting, farming, and gardening."

Zhao Yuan did not interrupt.

Wen Huanzhang explained in detail: "At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty,"

"It belongs to the era of school hunting."

"At that time, the land was vast and sparsely populated, and hunting was possible freely around the city of Tokyo,"

“Everywhere there are barren mountains and plains.”

"At that time, refugees were recruited to cultivate the land,"

"Agriculture is very extensive,"

"The main focus is on producing staple grains and miscellaneous grains."

"After the Treaty of Chanyuan, the imperial court intensified its efforts to resettle and reclaim wasteland."

"Only twenty or thirty years later,"

“There is less and less wasteland around Tokyo,”

"Even the emperor couldn't find an open space to hunt."

"Every time a large-scale military parade is conducted,"

"The land tax in the capital region must also be waived,"

"Because it will damage the crops."

"Small and medium-sized landowners around Tokyo,"

"It was also produced in large quantities around that time."

Chapter 1654 Tokyo's Water Transport

"Why do you say within dozens of miles of Tokyo?"

"Is land consolidation not too serious?"

"Because as cities prosper,"

"Suburban agriculture will soon enter the garden era."