Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the candlelight was bright.
Emperor Tiansheng was leaning over the dragon desk, counting bank notes with complete disregard for his image.
"One, two, three..."
The rustling sound of his fingers rubbing against the paper was simply the most wonderful sound in the world.
Emperor Tiansheng counted very seriously.
These were all tributes from that clever little imp Xu Qinghuan last time, a full fifty thousand taels, all in large denomination convertible bank notes.
"That Xu girl is still the most sensible."
Emperor Tiansheng happily stacked the bank notes neatly.
The civil and military officials in the court all spoke of righteousness, but their hearts were full of business.
Only that Xu girl, although a bit greedy, actually shared the money with him!
And just now, the imperial merchant Xue Hong had passed on top-secret information. She was the richest woman in Jiangnan, and also his white glove planted in the south.
Xu Qinghuan had created a divine artifact called the Spinning Jenny, which spun yarn at dozens of times the speed of manual labor!
Xue Hong confidently guaranteed that as long as this machine started running, it would bring in gold every day, and the national treasury would be directly stuffed to bursting!
Emperor Tiansheng was so excited at the time that he almost jumped up from the dragon throne.
Money! That was all his money!
But before his excitement could pass, a basin of cold water was poured on him.
The fields and population of Jiangnan were tightly controlled by the four major aristocratic families. The commoners were confined to the estates, working like cattle and horses, and no one came out to work.
Having a divine artifact but no people, wasn't this like guarding a mountain of gold while begging for food?
Thinking of this, Emperor Tiansheng's joy of counting money was instantly halved, and his brows twisted into a deep frown.
Those old fogeys in Jiangnan, occupying the latrine but not taking a shit, sooner or later I will...
"Your Majesty!"
The voice of Shen Lian, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, suddenly came from outside the door, carrying a trace of trembling.
Emperor Tiansheng's hand shook, almost dropping the teacup he had just picked up.
He quickly used his sleeve to cover the secret compartment, cleared his throat, and instantly switched to a dignified imperial appearance.
"Come in."
Shen Lian pushed the door open and entered, holding a memorial wrapped in yellow silk in his hands, his expression both sacred and nervous.
"What's the matter? Rushing around in such a panic."
Emperor Tiansheng asked casually.
"An eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch from Jiangning!"
Shen Lian raised the memorial high with both hands. "Written personally by Xu Youde, the magistrate of Jiangning, requesting the implementation of the policy to spread the poll tax into the land tax!"
Emperor Tiansheng was drinking tea and didn't even lift his eyelids.
"Xu Youde? What kind of trouble is he stirring up again? Is that Xu girl coming to ask for a reward again?"
He casually took the memorial and glanced at the title carelessly.
The next second.
Pfft—!!!
A mouthful of pre-Qingming Longjing tea was accurately sprayed onto the dragon desk.
Emperor Tiansheng's eyes widened, staring fixedly at those words, the hand holding the memorial trembling.
Spread, the, poll, tax, into, the, land, tax!
"Has Xu Youde gone mad?!"
Emperor Tiansheng sprang up and pointed at the memorial, roaring in disbelief.
"Did he drink fake wine? Or does he think the head on his neck is too heavy?! Are these words something that can be mentioned casually?"
Eunuch Li was frightened out of his wits and hurried forward to wipe the tea, not daring to breathe loudly.
Spreading the poll tax into the land tax! This was simply digging up the ancestral graves of all the gentry in the world!
Which of those aristocratic families didn't own tens of thousands of mu of land?
In the past, taxes were paid per capita, and they hid their population, contributing almost nothing.
If taxes were paid according to the acreage of land, how much blood would they have to spit out?
This was asking for the lives of those old fogeys!
Emperor Tiansheng took a few deep breaths, sat back down on the dragon throne, his hands trembling badly, and opened the memorial.
"Your subject, Xu Youde, Magistrate of Jiangning, kowtows and reports with tears of blood..."
"The flaw of the world lies in the land not paying grain, and the people being like duckweed..."
"The aristocratic families occupy tens of thousands of mu of land, yet pay not a single coin due to their official ranks; the poor commoners have only meager fields, yet bear heavy taxes due to their large numbers..."
"Your subject believes that the poll tax should be changed to a land tax, so that those with land pay grain, and those without land are exempt from corvée..."
Every word was a gem, every sentence carried blood!
This memorial had rigorous logic and detailed data, even predicting clearly the resistance that might be encountered after implementation and the counterattack methods of the aristocratic families.
Could this be written by a greedy, cowardly little magistrate?
Who was instructing him behind the scenes?
But setting everything else aside, this was definitely a suicide note!
Emperor Tiansheng's brain began to work rapidly, his CPU almost burning out.
Xu Youde, as clearly written in his file, was timid, loved money as much as his life, and was a fence-sitter who swayed with the wind.
How could such a person dare to poke such a huge hole in the sky?
Unless...
Emperor Tiansheng suddenly remembered Xue Hong's report just now.
The Spinning Jenny lacked people. To recruit workers, the aristocratic families' monopoly on the population had to be broken. To break the monopoly, the poll tax had to be spread into the land tax, liberating the commoners from the land. Only when the commoners came out to work could the Spinning Jenny run, and only then could his national treasury be filled!
Boom!
Emperor Tiansheng instantly understood! He completely understood!
"I understand! I understand everything!"
Emperor Tiansheng slapped his thigh fiercely, his face flushed with excitement as he paced back and forth in the hall.
"Companion Li, did you think Xu Youde was paving the way for his daughter? Wrong! Completely wrong!"
"He is sharing my worries and extending the life of the Great Qian Dynasty!"
Emperor Tiansheng and Eunuch Li automatically imagined a grand drama in their minds.
Under the dim oil lamp, Xu Youde and his daughter Xu Qinghuan hugged each other and cried bitterly.
Xu Qinghuan knelt on the ground: "Father, once this memorial is submitted, our Xu family will be the thorn in the side of all the aristocratic families in the world, and our nine generations will be wiped out!"
Xu Youde held his brush tremblingly, tears streaming down his old face: "Daughter, Father knows. But for His Majesty, for the national treasury, and for the revival of the Great Qian Dynasty, Father is risking this old life! Even if my body is smashed to pieces, I must pave a path to wealth for His Majesty!"
The more Emperor Tiansheng thought about it, the more moved he became, and he couldn't help but take out his handkerchief to wipe the corners of his eyes.
"Beloved Subject Xu... What loyalty! What vision!"
Eunuch Li watched dumbfounded from the side and carefully added a sentence.
"Your Majesty, this servant also heard from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that before Lord Xu wrote this memorial, he ordered his family to stop eating braised pork, saying it was to... show his resolve and live a life of poverty."
This was actually just something the Embroidered Uniform Guard made up casually after seeing the Xu family's food quality decline recently. The real reason was that Xu Qinghuan had poured all the money into the machines, and Xu Youde really had no money to buy meat.
But to Emperor Tiansheng, this was simply a heavy hammer blow!
"He's not even eating braised pork anymore?!"
Emperor Tiansheng's voice was trembling, his heart aching beyond measure.
"To write this memorial, he actually went on a hunger strike to show his resolve! He is determined to die!"
He turned around abruptly, pointed at the group of court officials still scheming against each other outside the hall, and shouted angrily.
"The civil and military officials in the court are all useless people occupying positions without doing any work! Not a single one can compare to my gree... oh no, my loyal subject Xu Youde!"
Eunuch Li knelt on the ground, shivering: Your Majesty, you almost let it slip just now, didn't you?
Emperor Tiansheng took a deep breath, his eyes gradually becoming sharp.
Since Xu Youde dared to be this sharp knife thrust at the aristocratic families, then he would be his hardest shield!
"Pass on my oral edict!"
"Xu Youde is loyal to the country, and I am very pleased. Order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to secretly protect the Xu father and daughter around the clock. If any aristocratic family dares to touch a single hair on their heads, do not ask for instructions, exterminate their entire clan directly!"
"Yes!"
Shen Lian received the order, murderous intent surging.
"Besides," a sly glint flashed in Emperor Tiansheng's eyes, "I approve of this policy to merge the poll tax into the land tax! At tomorrow's morning assembly, I will personally add some firewood to this blaze!"
"And another thing!"
Emperor Tiansheng suddenly remembered something and waved his large hand.
"Reward Xu Youde with a thousand taels of gold! And an imperial gift of one hundred bowls of braised pork! Let him eat to his heart's content! If it's not enough, I will send more!"
Eunuch Li: ...
The next day, at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
The atmosphere at the morning assembly was as oppressive as the calm before a storm.
When Emperor Tiansheng introduced the topic of merging the poll tax into the land tax, the entire court instantly exploded.
Led by the four great noble families of Jiangnan, the officials reacted like cats whose tails had just been stepped on. They jumped out one by one, wailing and quoting ancient classics, bitterly denouncing this policy as a sign of political chaos and national ruin.
"Your Majesty! The laws of our ancestors must not be changed!"
"Once this law is enacted, the gentry of the world will be alienated, and the Great Qian Dynasty will be in peril!"
Looking at this group of so-called loyal officials and their clumsy acting below, Emperor Tiansheng sneered repeatedly.
Just as the Jiangnan noble families thought victory was in their grasp and prepared to join forces to pressure the emperor into retracting his edict, the Xu family, who had been silent all along, suddenly stepped forward.
With this single movement, everyone was stunned.
The Xu family was the undisputed leader of the northern noble families.
Immediately after, following the Xu family's lead, a group of northern officials stepped out of the ranks one after another to second the motion.
"I second the motion!"
"I also second the motion!"
The originally one-sided situation was instantly reversed!
Emperor Tiansheng sat high on his dragon throne, watching the wonderful drama of dogs biting dogs below. Thinking of the rolling tax silver and the dividends from the textile factory that were about to come pouring in, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably flew up toward the heavens once again.
Xu Youde, oh Xu Youde, you really are a cunning old fox! Did you actually calculate things this far? It seems I have still underestimated you.
