The Great Han Dynasty: From Feng Lang Juxu to the Eternal Emperor

Chapter 420 Land Reform
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, saw the torture instruments prepared by Zhang Tang, and looked at the sluggish looks of Chen Zique and Zhao Fei, and finally believed what Zhang Tang said.

He looked at Zhang Tang and asked, "Why does the torture of this kind of punishment make their will collapse?"

Zhang Tang shook his head and said he didn't understand either.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty looked a little gloomy, and left the Ministry of Justice without asking any questions, with his hands behind his back.

He did not return to Qilin Hall, but instead went to Wuliang Taoist Temple.

"What problem do you think this is? Why can such a simple thing cause a person's will to collapse?"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Gongsun Qing.

Gongsun Qing pondered for a while and then said: "Back to Your Majesty, I have seen in the Taoist scriptures how to use witchcraft to control people's hearts."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked: "Is this witchcraft?"

Gongsun Qing shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty murmured: "Why does he know witchcraft?"

Gongsun Qing really didn't know how to explain it. He just said it bravely. Recently, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty trusted him more and more, so he had to pretend to know everything.

"Your Majesty, I am just speculating. It may be something else."

Emperor Wu of Han snorted.

Gongsun Qing hesitated for a moment and then said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: "Your Majesty, I am ashamed and have something to ask for."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: "You say."

Gongsun Qing said: "There are too many historical documents, and I don't have the financial resources to buy them... I have been studying Taoism recently and need to collect a lot of historical materials to improve the theory..."

Short of money.

Gongsun Qing's meaning is very simple.

Emperor Wu of Han said: "I will ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 50,000 coins to you tomorrow."

Gongsun Qing hurriedly cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I plan to recruit some boys to help me do something."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said, "I will allocate another 50,000 yuan to you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

……

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty returned to Weiyang Palace with thoughts in mind. He glanced in the direction of the East Palace and didn't know what he was thinking.

Early the next morning, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty summoned Weining at the Qilin Palace. He planned to take Weining out of the palace for a walk to see the changes in Chang'an.

Weining readily agreed.

There are many academies and medical shops in Chang'an, and the roads are clean and tidy. The population of Chang'an City has almost exceeded one million, and it looks like a real imperial capital.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty looked around absentmindedly and asked Wei Ning casually: "Who taught you the torture you did to Zhao Fei and Chen Zique yesterday?"

what?
Weining really didn't expect that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would ask this, so he could only prevaricate casually: "It seems like I dreamed about it."

Dreaming again?

Gongsun Qing said that dreams are immortals imparting knowledge, which is enough to show that there are immortals in this world...

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty nodded and asked: "Who entrusted you with the dream? Did you see his face clearly?"

Wei Ning looked at Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in shock, feeling more and more that something was wrong with him recently.

He said bravely: "I didn't see the face clearly."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty let out a disappointed sound. In the first year of Yuanding, winter has entered, and people wearing cotton-padded clothes can be seen everywhere on the streets.

After cotton was planted in Weining last year, Han Dynasty began to rush to plant cotton in various places. Nowadays, cotton-padded clothes are common and cheap, but they are good winter clothes.

The business in Chang'an is more prosperous, and workers can be seen everywhere on the Weihe pier.

There were countless ships on the Wei River, and goods from the south of the Yangtze River were transported to Chang'an by water, making Chang'an, the starting point of the Silk Road, more prosperous.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty watched the changes in Chang'an absently, and couldn't help but sigh at the rapid economic development of Chang'an in recent years.

The Xiongnu were wiped out in the north, the situation in the western regions was stable, and grains from the southern Xinjiang continued to be transported to the north. The entire country saw an unprecedented prosperous period. The people lived and worked in peace and contentment. After business flourished, the people's income also increased day by day.

After there was no war, the people began to develop rapidly, various animal husbandry and breeding industries flourished, and fish and shrimps from the south of the Yangtze River were constantly transported to Guanzhong.

Livestock from the north is also transported to the south. From the beginning, the people were not able to eat enough, but now every household can have a bite of meat every other month.

These are all due to Weining.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gradually relaxed and looked at Wei Ning and praised him: "These are all your contribution!"

The education industry is booming and the imperial examination system is becoming more and more complete. The first batch of students who took the imperial examination last year have now been sent to serve as officials in various places, ensuring the blood supply for national talent selection.

After the development of commerce, agriculture no longer seemed so important. From the beginning when the monarchs were worried about the people's food and clothing, to now they don't need to worry about it at all. This is all the result of the development of these two years.

"The government and the gentry can also implement the unified payment of grain and the sharing of land between farmers and farmers."

"It seems that corvee can be abolished."

This is the decision made by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty during his inspection of Chang'an today.

When agriculture no longer plays such an important role in the development of the entire country, landowners will no longer regard land as their core interest.

If you want to abolish the land annexation system since ancient times, you need to make fundamental changes in this country. As long as you no longer rely on the small farmer economy, the interests of the land will naturally weaken.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty advised Guo Weining not to rush into reforms. At that time, the country's economic focus was still on agriculture.

Land is the foundation of the common people and landlords. Big bureaucrats and big landlords value land, so land annexation occurs.

The ultimate reason is that holding land is equivalent to holding wealth.

But things are different now. There is no longer much benefit from farming alone.

The big man has no shortage of food.

The land in the south of the Yangtze River is more suitable for growing food, especially on both sides of the Yangtze River, and food from South Vietnam is being continuously transported to the Han Dynasty.

This has led to food saturation and food prices gradually falling with social and economic development, leaving little benefit at all.

Now it will be easy for the country to carry out land reform, and there will not be much resistance.

Weining had long wanted to discuss this matter with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Now that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty proposed it, he naturally agreed happily.

Three days later, the Ministry of Punishment publicly tried the governor and governor of Kuaiji County, and both of them had their homes confiscated and their families exterminated.

The imperial court also encouraged merchants from the southeast to go to sea and conduct overseas trade, bringing large amounts of wealth into the country and boosting domestic demand.

After the ships from the Ministry of Industry were sent to the southeast, the naval establishment in the southeast also began to develop intensively.

Now we just have to wait for the Academy of Sciences to research the firecrackers and deploy them to the Southeast Navy. This navy will be enough to ensure the safety of the people in the Southeast when they go to sea.

Huo Qubing did not return to the court. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked him to continue patrolling various places. The incident of Zhao Fei and Chen Zique made Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty very angry. It was unknown whether such beasts still existed in these local feudal officials. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Huo Qubing to keep secrets Patrolling various places, investigating and punishing one clan.

Early this morning, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty summoned all the departments and departments from the three provinces and six departments to the Qilin Hall.

Weining also came early.

He knew that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was going to announce an unprecedented policy reform today!

Let the officials and gentry pay their taxes together! Divide into acres! Abolish the corvee!
(End of this chapter)