Originally, the local governments had been adhering well to the new policies issued by the imperial court, making modifications according to their own wishes. However, recently the emperor has dealt them a few severe blows, causing the local bigwigs not only to feel pain in their necks but also in their testicles.

After the Confucian scholars were killed in the Confucius Mansion case, the Qingzhou case was used to thoroughly investigate taxes and corvée labor. The emperor used the heads of countless people to tell everyone that the new policies he promulgated were not child's play. If they were not strictly enforced, those people in the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce would suffer the same fate!

But some people just wouldn't believe it. After all, if taxes were reduced according to the new policies of the imperial court, it would indeed be a huge amount of revenue. How could the landlords, who were used to living the life of a lord, agree to that?

This is similar to how, in later generations, many people own a large number of properties, tenants work themselves to the bone, while landlords simply sit at home counting the rent they collect, and then the central government suddenly forces landlords to collectively lower their rents.

According to normal market development rules, the imperial court generally wouldn't touch the landlords, since according to the law, the land belongs to the landlords. The imperial court's reckless actions would be a slap in its own face.

However, the situation was different in the Song Dynasty. Because the laws of the Song Dynasty did not curb land annexation, by the time of Zhao Huan, the state-owned strategic resource of land had become unprecedentedly concentrated.

First, landlords turned peasants into serfs, binding them to the fields and severely suppressing productivity. Second, this unprecedented concentration of land seriously threatened the central imperial power. Third, the court's collection of agricultural taxes also encountered unprecedented obstacles.

At the beginning of this year, Zhao Huan looked at last year's tax revenue and found that agricultural tax accounted for only 20 percent, while the remaining 80 percent was commercial tax. Later historians praised this tax structure, saying that during the Song Dynasty, commercial tax accounted for the majority, indicating that the Song Dynasty had entered a commercial society and was on the eve of entering the commercial era, more so than any other dynasty in China.

At first, even Zhao Huan believed it.

Of course, he does not deny the development of commerce in the Song Dynasty, but agricultural taxes were definitely more than that! The reason why agricultural taxes accounted for such a low percentage was largely due to land annexation.

Take the Qingzhou case for example. Zhao Huan executed the merchants in Qingzhou. The merchants owned more than 150,000 mu of land, but only 50,000 mu were reported to the court. The other 100,000 mu simply vanished!

However, for the other 100,000 mu, the landlords collected the same amount of taxes from the tenant farmers, but pocketed it all.

If Qingzhou is like this, what about Xuzhou? What about Yongzhou?

As for Luoyang in western Beijing, Zhao Huan also ordered people to investigate it thoroughly, and the result was the same!

Luoyang was dominated by Confucian scholars who received imperial favors. These scholars would sit at home and talk about the ways of the sages, but none of them worked. Instead, they would think of ways to seize land, and some even forcibly bought land from individual farmers.

While oppressing the people, he constantly sang praises of the sages, calling himself a gentleman of the bamboo grove, with an elegant temperament and noble character.

Regarding the issue of land, Zhao Huan believed that it had severely hampered productivity and needed to be eradicated completely. He suggested that all of it could be taken back and managed by the imperial court, and then rented to farmers or contracted to merchants to plan farms. However, he stressed the need to re-establish farm management rules and to ensure that labor could no longer be confined to the fields.

This matter is quite complicated, after all, production relations and technology are closely related. Zhao Huan has already assigned the scientists the task of accelerating the research and development of agricultural equipment.

As night fell that day, the emperor ordered many delicious dishes to be laid out, not for anyone else, but for Princess Yifu.

Since his arrival in this world, Zhao Huan has never properly taken care of his sisters.

Princess Yifu ranks ninth among the many princesses, and the princes and princesses all call her Ninth Sister. She is only seventeen years old this year, but she is already graceful and elegant.

At this moment, the bright moon rose above the treetops, the summer heat slowly dissipated, the summer lotus flowers by the lake were in full bloom, and the lake surface shimmered, reflecting the bright moon.

A gentle breeze carrying moisture and the fragrance of flowers occasionally wafts by, refreshing the mind and body.

The tables were laden with various pastries and wines. Most importantly, each table also had a finely crafted box with many compartments containing various beverages such as spleen-soothing drink, plum juice, river tea, Wuling powder, Dashun powder, lychee paste, and snow-foam plum blossom wine.

This is a "refrigerator" from the Song Dynasty. The bottom of the box contains ice blocks. These ice blocks were collected by special people in winter and stored deep underground for use in summer.

Because of the flourishing commerce in the Song Dynasty, there were various iced drinks available in the summer, which were sold on the streets. The royal family naturally also made all kinds of delicious food and drinks, and even had a "primitive version of ice cream".

Before long, Princess Yifu arrived.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Zhao Huan revealed a rare smile, a smile that his ministers would never see. He personally stepped forward and grasped Zhao Yuanzhu's slender, jade-like hand: "Come, come, Ninth Sister, I have prepared many of your favorite foods for you. I remember that you love preserved plum juice the most. Three years ago, when we secretly left the palace, you loved the preserved plum juice on the streets of Tokyo, not just anyone."

Zhao Huan looked at his younger sister with affection. Seeing Zhao Yuanzhu's innocent and romantic appearance, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. If he hadn't transmigrated here, Tokyo would have been captured by now, and the royal princesses would have been taken to the north to be prostitutes and maids, including Zhao Yuanzhu.

However, now that he has transmigrated, he must not allow such a human tragedy to happen again.

Having not seen her brother for more than half a year, Zhao Yuanzhu missed him terribly. However, she heard that his personality had changed drastically after he became emperor and that he had killed many people. This made the little girl feel scared most of the time.

But this time, seeing that Zhao Huan was not only not cruel, but even gentler than before, she felt much more at ease.

The two chatted for a while, talking about funny things from their childhood. Zhao Yuanzhu kept laughing, laughing happily and innocently.

At this moment, a man arrived. He was eight feet tall, with a handsome appearance and a calm demeanor: "Your subject kowtows to the Emperor."

"In non-discussion occasions, Yue Qing need not be so polite."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The person who arrived was none other than Yue Fei.

Zhao Huan talked with Yue Fei for a while, asking mostly about family matters, including Yue Fei's elderly mother.

Yue Fei had already led the elite of the new army across the Yangtze River and stationed himself in the Jiangling area, but the emperor ordered him to return to Tokyo overnight.

After Yue Fei returned, he was urgently summoned to the palace and came to this place.

After asking the question, Zhao Huan got straight to the point: "Ninth Sister, this is Yue Fei, the commander of the new army, who made great contributions in the Tai-Liao Campaign!"

That year, Yue Fei was exactly twenty-four years old, full of vigor and extraordinary bravery. Although young, he had been tempered by the world and shed his impetuousness and frivolity, and had developed a profound and ancient aura.

In fact, as soon as Yue Fei arrived, Zhao Yuanzhu's attention was drawn to him; he was a very charming man.

Zhao Yuanzhu's every move was observed by Zhao Huan. Zhao Huan was not a man of simple sentimental feelings. Although both the Kong family case and the Qingzhou case had been suppressed, they left Zhao Huan feeling insecure. Moreover, the situation in the south was turbulent. Yue Fei was in the south and held considerable military power. If he didn't call him back to sit down and arrange a proper marriage, Zhao Huan wouldn't be able to sleep at night.