Chapter 2: The Northern Old Man Knows His Ambush 4. Land measurement
On April 17, Liu Xiu posthumously conferred the title of Duke Wu of Qi on his eldest brother Liu Yan and the title of Duke Ai of Lu on his second brother Liu Zhong.
On June 25, Emperor Jianwu issued an edict ordering the whole country to measure land.
The so-called land measurement was an economic census that mainly measured the land in the country and verified the age of the household registration. After settling down, the people reported the actual amount of land they owned. The court recognized the legitimacy of their land possession through household registration, and regularly checked the household registration and age in the mid-autumn month of each year, forming a system of "household registration and age comparison", which served as the basis of the tax and service system.
Because of the intensified land annexation during the war and the deliberate concealment of local powerful families, the number of registered cultivated land and registered households was far less than the actual number, which affected the country's fiscal revenue. In order to restore the rural economy as soon as possible after the war and solve the practical problems of some landless farmers, Liu Xiu ordered the officials of the prefectures and counties to carry out this nationwide land survey and household registration census.
In short, this is a nationwide land resource survey. When Liu Xiu first presented his views to me, I did not realize how earth-shaking and shocking this decision was. It was not until the land measurement order was announced that it was criticized by many officials. Even Yin Xing, who had not been to the palace for a long time, rushed to me in a rage...
"Don't tell me that the nobleman was also involved in this decree!"
Seeing his face was livid, veins popped out on his forehead, and he looked full of evil spirit, I kindly asked Chen Min to serve him some tea to quench his thirst. But he didn't appreciate it and actually knocked over the bowl with his palm.
The soup splashed over and the wooden bowl fell onto the mat, spinning around.
"You are really crazy. It's no wonder that the Lord has such thoughts. He cares about the country and the people, so he naturally won't care about these minor gains and losses. But you shouldn't be so confused. You should point out the things that His Majesty has not considered in time, instead of instigating..."
"You mean to blame His Majesty for doing something wrong?" I raised my voice, my hand on the corner of the desk, my eyes were cold, and I was intimidating without being angry.
Yin Xing suddenly stopped talking and stared at me blankly. After a while, he laughed and said sarcastically, "It turns out you never understood it!" After that, he turned around and left.
I pulled out the crossbow from the corner of the table, put an arrow on the crossbow, and with a buzzing sound, the arrow broke through the air and brushed against Yin Xing's shoulder and hit the door in front of him.
"What do you think this place is? You can come and go as you please?" I threw the crossbow on the table, jumped up, rushed forward and put my hand on his shoulder.
Yin Xingben was stunned by the crossbow arrow. At this time, I pulled his shoulder with my hand. He took my hand and threw me out on his back over his shoulder.
When I was off the ground, I whispered something into his ear. He paused, then stopped, held my waist and put me down again. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I kicked him in the jaw without mercy.
Yin Xing groaned in pain, covered his chin and rolled into the corner: "You..."
I clapped my hands and sneered, "I just casually said I was pregnant, and you actually believed it? You don't even use your brain. How could I be pregnant so soon after I gave birth to Little Eleven?"
He got up from the ground, his face turning blue and red: "Who knows about you women..."
"Someone in the palace is indeed pregnant again, but that person is not me!" I gritted my teeth in hatred, my eyes flashing with ferocity, "I listened to you and waited for six more years. I saw that there were more and more princes in the palace. By the end of the year at the latest, there will be a twelfth prince in the palace. How long do you want me to wait? My patience has reached its limit..."
"That's why I say you're confused!" He accused bluntly, "Your Majesty's previous actions were not enough to shake the fundamental interests of the aristocracy. The emperor wants power, and as long as he doesn't take away the profits, the people below will naturally give in. But the land measurement is a matter of great importance, and there is no precedent to follow. Do you think Your Majesty can definitely win?"
"Why can't I win?" I dare not say that I am actually timid in my heart. I am an expert in fighting, but when it comes to politics, I am always a rookie. The only person I can rely on is Liu Xiu! Believe in Liu Xiu, believe in his timing and decision-making.
Yin Xing sneered: "It seems that you have completely lost your judgment. I can't even convince you, how can I convince His Majesty? Well, the reason doesn't make sense, you just have to wait for the result. I'm afraid that by then all your efforts will be wasted and it will be too late for you to regret!"
That day, Yin Xing and I parted on bad terms, and in the end I still couldn't understand why he said that. Since the previous demobilization and enfeoffment of the princes were carried out smoothly, there was no reason why the land transfer order couldn't win. Moreover, no matter from which angle I analyzed it, I felt that the implementation of the land transfer order would only benefit the country and the people, not harm them.
However, the Land Measurement Order, which I thought had no disadvantages but only benefits, encountered huge resistance as soon as it was implemented, and the strength of this resistance far exceeded my and Liu Xiu's expectations.
Yin Xing never entered the palace again, but the news that the shadowy men brought back to the palace became more and more frightening. After the land measurement order was introduced, the governors of each state and the prefecture governors did not dare to offend the local nobles and powerful people, so they passed the number of acres of land to the people. In the name of measuring land, they drove the people out of their homes and counted the people's houses and villages as cultivated land, thereby expanding the number of acres of land to be measured, causing the people to complain.
Holding these bloody and tearful bamboo slips, my hands were shaking violently, and a voice in my heart kept asking myself, did I really do something wrong?
But the arrow has been shot and it is impossible to take it back!
"Mom, let me tell you something." Liu Yang couldn't hide his joy, his eyes and eyebrows were stained with this complacency, "When the emperor was reviewing the memorials from various counties, he happened to find a document from Chenliu County that said 'You can ask about Yingchuan and Hongnong, but you can't ask about Henan and Nanyang'. This morning, the emperor questioned the official in question, but he lied and said he picked it up on Changshou Street. Don't you think it's ridiculous?"
My eyelids throbbed and I asked with a palpitating heart, "And then?"
"Then? Then the prince who was hiding behind the curtain and listening to the court didn't understand either, and asked me if I knew the reason. I said that the wooden slip was obviously an order from the Chenliu County official to his subordinates, asking them to find out the results of the land measurement in other counties. I deliberately spoke a little loudly, and as a result, my father and all the ministers in the court heard it. My father asked me: "If that's true, then why do you say that Henan and Nanyang cannot be questioned?" I replied: "Henan is the imperial city, with many close ministers; Nanyang is the imperial hometown, with many close relatives; the land and houses exceed the regulations and cannot be approved." As a result, my father ordered the tiger guards to question the official on the spot, and he was so scared that he immediately told the truth, which was no different from my inference. Mother, did my child do well this time? My father praised me greatly..."
"Henan...Nanyang...Henan...Nanyang...Nanyang..." My chest was so depressed that I could hardly breathe. My vision was flickering. Finally, I couldn't stand the dizzy feeling anymore and I fell backwards.
"mother--"
There was a buzzing sound in my cochlea, and the moment I fell down, I could clearly hear Liu Yang's call, followed by the chaotic footsteps.
Why...why didn’t I figure it out before?
"So you never understood!"
You never understood...
Never understood!
Such a harsh rebuke did not wake up my stupid head. It turns out that I really never understood...
