I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 529 I want to talk to His Highness, and I will die!

Liu Ju's actions had confused all the officials in the palace.

Whether some supported Liu Ju's succession to the throne or some did not want Liu Ju to succeed to the throne.

However, those ministers who did not want Liu Ju to succeed to the throne were obviously not only confused, but also felt strongly guilty and panicked. Coupled with the meaningful looks of Han Qianqiu, Shi Qing and Zhang Gan, they had already made some guesses.

Especially after Han Qianqiu finished speaking.

Shi Qing and Zhang Gan raised their hands without hesitation, and then Han Qianqiu, the Minister of Rites who was presiding over the vote, also raised his hand high. How could they not understand what this meant? So after a slight inner struggle, they could only reluctantly follow suit and raise their hands, just to get through this hurdle first.

So just a moment later, more than half of the officials raised their hands to express their support for this national policy.

Among them, in addition to those officials who did not want Liu Ju to succeed to the throne, there were also some fence-sitting officials who had no clear position and no organization.

These officials have historically had no strong opinions and no strong factional support.

In this situation, in order to avoid being the first to stand out and getting into trouble, one was swept along with the crowd.

On the contrary, people like Huo Guang, Sang Hongyang, Gongsun He, Du Zhou, Han Shuo, etc., who should have supported Liu Ju unconditionally, did not raise their hands to show their support in this vote.

"..."

Faced with such a situation, several people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Until now, they still haven't figured out what Liu Ju is doing today... Putting aside personal interests, once this national policy is implemented in the form of an imperial edict, Liu Ju will completely stand against all court officials, gentry and meritorious officials, and even many people who previously supported Liu Ju may turn against him.

After all, this is also a way to kill these people. It is simply a map cannon that does not distinguish between friend and foe...

This would have absolutely no benefit for Liu Ju's future succession to the throne, and it was a result they did not want to see.

At this moment, they wanted to stand up and advise Liu Ju more than anyone else, asking him to revoke his decision and think twice before acting.

However, this was Liu Ju's first time to hold court, and it was inappropriate for them to oppose Liu Ju's policies in public in the court. Therefore, they had to pinch their palms and force themselves to endure it. After the court meeting was over, they would persuade Liu Ju in private and try their best to prevent the edict from being issued, so as to minimize the negative impact of this matter.

However, such complicated thoughts made them a minority in the court at the moment, and they could not influence the vote at all.

After a while.

"Your Highness, after my humble count, more than half of the officials support your national policy, reaching 70% of the total."

Han Qianqiu turned around, bowed and spoke to Liu Qie.

"It seems that there are still many loyal ministers in the court."

Liu Ju sighed and nodded.

"In this case, the minority should obey the majority. This shows that the imperial examination system proposed by Han Taichang is indeed a national policy that benefits the country and the people."

"Zhao Qian, draft an imperial edict as soon as possible after the morning court session and announce it to the world. Have Li Guangli and Li Yannian work together to spread the message and ensure that everyone in the Han Dynasty understands the core spirit of this national policy."

"promise……"

Even Zhao Qian felt that something was wrong with today's morning court session. This national policy also had big problems, and the voices of those who agreed seemed a little unconfident.

"..."

Han Qianqiu could only complain inwardly.

Just now, this national policy was only led by him, but now, with just a few words, it became his proposal. It was too natural for Liu Ju to put the blame on him, so natural that it was a bit shameless.

Fortunately, this happened during the morning court session, and many people were watching. Everyone had sharp eyes and did not believe what Liu said.

In the end, it was still Liu Ju who bore the consequences.

Compared to Liu Ju's shamelessness, he was more curious about Liu Ju's second national policy.

Everyone present heard it carefully. Liu Ju just said that he was going to launch two national policies today.

This first national policy has exploded so much.

The remaining national policy is probably no less impressive...

really.

"Since everyone has reached a consensus on the national policy just now, in order not to waste time, it would be better to adopt a show of hands to vote on the other national policy. Do you have any opinions?"

Liu Ju then asked again.

"..."

This time, everyone kept their mouths shut tacitly and did not answer easily. This was also a way to express their silent resistance to Liu Ju.

However, Liu Ju didn't care, he smiled calmly and continued:

"This second national policy is called the land measurement system."

"Swish, swish—"

As soon as these words were spoken, there were bursts of whispers in the Xuanshi Hall. In a feudal society dominated by agriculture, fields were the foundation of the entire society.

Regarding the national policy concerning land, even if Liu Ju had not yet stated the content of the national policy, it was enough to make everyone realize what a significant impact this national policy would bring and what kind of opposition and resistance it would encounter.

Some people even have four words in their mind:
"Liu Ju is finished!"

The national policy called the imperial examination system just now affected the interests of the official ruling class.

And now they are going to implement the land measurement system, which will shake the foundation of the Han Dynasty. After all, even people of this era understand that the Liu family of the Han Dynasty is the largest landlord in the world, and the real support for the rule of the Han court are the landlords of all sizes in the world. As for those common people who don't even have land, they don't even have the right to speak.

Liu Ju ignored the noise below and just raised his voice and continued:
"My teacher Dong Zhongshu once wrote in a memorial to my father: 'The rich have fields stretching for miles, while the poor have no place to stand.'"

"This sentence has already explained the serious problems that exist in the world's cultivated land today."

"The Han Dynasty has been established for nearly a hundred years, but it has continued its previous land policy and has not made any changes. Now the situation is getting more serious and has reached a point where reform is necessary."

"The key point of the land measurement system I just mentioned is the word 'measure'."

"As the name suggests, it is to measure the existing cultivated land in various places, verify the number of households and the ownership of the map, and use this as the basis for correcting the cultivated land, population and taxes. The cultivated land that is not true and detailed will be nationalized, and redistribution based on merit or the policy of fake public land implemented by my father before will be implemented." "Although this policy does not seek absolute fairness, it is also aimed at changing the situation where the poor have no place to live."

"In addition, as far as I know, there are still a lot of people in the Han Dynasty who have land but no taxes. There are many princes, dukes, and officials in the court and the country who enjoy the privilege of being exempt from taxes. Therefore, they have been annexing farmers' land endlessly and without limit. Most of the good land in the world is in the hands of these people, while most of the taxes in the world have to be borne by the poor who have no place to live. If this continues, the country will definitely be ruined."

"Therefore, this tax-free privilege should be abolished. The more land you own, the more taxes you should pay. Responsibilities and obligations should be commensurate. Otherwise, if this continues for a long time, the treasury will be empty and the country will no longer be a country."

"Didn't my father implement the policy of reporting the corruption before?"

"During the implementation of the land measurement system, this policy can also be implemented. Those who conceal and fail to report, or report false information, will be severely punished, and all family property and land will be nationalized."

"As for this national policy, it will be handed over to Prime Minister Shi and Censor Zhang to take full charge, and Du Tingwei will lead the court to assist."

"I've finished what I want to say. Who's in favor? Who's against?"

"this?!"

After hearing this, Huo Guang, Sang Hongyang, Gongsun He, Du Zhou, Han Shuo and others felt numb all over, and the three major philosophical questions "Who am I", "Where do I come from", and "Where am I going" appeared in their minds.

These three philosophical questions were connected together, and finally merged into the question they had just asked themselves confidently:
"Why did your highness rebel?!"

No one knew the issue of land annexation better than Sang Hongyang.

The policies previously implemented by Liu Che, such as external expansion, reporting and calculating the amount of silk collected, and relocating the Maoling Mausoleum, were all aimed at the problem of land annexation in the Han Dynasty.

Just as Liu Ju said just now, a hundred years after the founding of the Han Dynasty, the land policy has long been out of control, and land annexation has reached a level that is difficult to curb.

Liu Che expanded outward in order to gain more land, and he moved people to guard the border in order to increase revenue.

The system of reporting and calculating silk was actually similar to Liu Ju's land measurement system, except that it was only aimed at merchants and the scope of impact was not too wide to avoid causing too much turmoil.

The relocation to Maoling was aimed at some local powerful people.

When those local tyrants moved away, they certainly could not take their land with them. So the imperial court could redistribute the land and resettle the common people in the form of public land.

In short, Liu Che was actually walking on thin ice when implementing these policies, fearing that he would take too big a step and end up hurting the Han Dynasty, thus cutting off its vital artery and becoming a king who lost his country.

Liu Ju is now suddenly implementing this national policy, which is undoubtedly much more radical than Liu Che...

Sang Hongyang could even imagine what kind of ripples would be caused throughout the Han Dynasty once this national policy was issued in the form of an imperial edict. Perhaps someone would immediately rise up in rebellion.

A dictatorial ruler like Liu Che is always cautious when formulating national policies.

Liu Ju is now only the crown prince in charge of government affairs, and his foundation is still unstable. How can he control the situation? If he is not rebelling against himself, then what is he doing then rebelling against the Han Dynasty?
However, there was one thing that Sang Hongyang did not know.

Liu Ju's "Land Measurement System" was not actually invented by himself, but was borrowed from the "Land Measurement Order" of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu in later generations.

In fact, when Liu Xiu was implementing this national policy, he also encountered extremely fierce resistance. An armed riot broke out that affected the entire country. Even many peasants who did not know the truth followed local tyrants to participate in the resistance, posing a serious threat to the newly unified dynasty. This incident is known in history as the "Land Measurement Incident."

However, Liu Xiu did not back down. He adopted the strategies of suppression and division, conquest and appeasement, and put down the rebellion in a few months. Ultimately, the "land measurement system" was implemented and further tightened.

From then on, the Eastern Han Dynasty ushered in its first prosperous era of "cattle and horses grazing and the city gates not closing", and the land measurement system became a custom that continued until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

And Liu Ju knew better than anyone that the problem of land annexation could never be eradicated, which was determined by the unique bad nature of human beings.

Therefore, no change can eradicate this problem, and it can only be alleviated and restricted through continuous rectification.

Therefore, Liu Ju was very clear about what he was doing now.

He had already considered the concerns of Huo Guang, Sang Hongyang, Gongsun He, Du Zhou, Han Shuo and others in a very comprehensive manner. Since he dared to take action at this time, it was because the opportunity had come and everything was within control.

at the same time.

"!!!"

There was a subtle hint of surprise in the eyes of Shi Qing, Zhang Gan, Han Qianqiu and others.

If the imperial examination system that Liu Ju had just come up with was not big enough, then the current land measurement system must be big enough. It was big enough to create a huge wave and smash Liu Ju to death on the beach!
Even at this moment, Liu Ju became much cuter in their eyes...

This is called timely assistance, right?
If Liu Ju did not do this, but instead kept a low profile like Liu Che did when he first ascended the throne, using his status as the crown prince to win over and divide their alliance, and gradually support his own confidants to compete with them, that would definitely be the situation they least wanted to see.

But Liu Ju made such a big deal right from the start, putting himself in opposition to the entire officialdom and even the whole world.

Even if Liu Che left a will clearly stating that the throne would be passed to Liu Ju, Liu Ju was doomed to not be able to keep his throne in such a turbulent situation. The country would either be destroyed or the ruler would change.

It doesn’t matter even if the country is destroyed. After all, the essence is that the owner has changed, and the one who has the greatest impact is still the Liu family of the Han Dynasty.

All they have to do is to change one person to show their loyalty, and the new master also needs their support.

I really love this world of shit!

They had previously racked their brains to devise conspiracies in an attempt to influence Liu Che and prevent him from passing the throne to Liu Ju.

Now it seems that all the previous risky actions were really unnecessary. They didn't need to do anything at all, Liu Ju would be killed by himself.

While thinking so.

"Your Highness cares about the people, and I support you wholeheartedly!"

"I also support this."

"..."

Shi Qing, Zhang Gan and Han Qianqiu put on an expression of being "forced" and reluctantly raised their hands to express their opinions.

The officials who were able to sneak into the court, even if they did not hold high positions like these three, were all old foxes with more tricks than honeycomb briquettes. Seeing this, they reacted quickly and raised their hands.

"Ugh……"

This time, Huo Guang, Sang Hongyang, Gongsun He, Du Zhou, Han Shuo and others still did not raise their hands and sighed helplessly.

They smiled bitterly at each other and made up their minds secretly:
"After the morning court session is over, I must stay and have a good talk with His Highness. I will die for your advice!"

(End of this chapter)