赵桓开口道：“朕听闻青州出现流民霸田一事，此事为何？”

Xu Churen said, “Your Majesty, all the fertile land in Jingdong Road and Jingxi Road has changed hands and been assigned to the court. Recently, local officials have been reappointed, and there is now a confusion regarding the local land ownership. I have already arranged for people to handle this matter. Officials in various places are re-registering the fertile land, and farmers are not allowed to arbitrarily seize other people's land.”

"Xu Qing, the autumn harvest is just around the corner, this matter must be handled promptly and there can be no delay."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Huan then asked, "After the court reorganizes the order of fertile land, how will these fertile lands be disposed of? Will the court appoint officials to manage them?"

Xu Churen then said, “Your Majesty, there is too much fertile land. If the court appoints officials to manage it, it will lead to an overstaffed workforce and rampant corruption. I believe that the fertile land can be sold directly.”

Tang Ke stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this is not advisable. If the fertile land is sold again, most of it will fall into the hands of a small number of people once more. How will that be any different from before?"

"What brilliant plan does Minister Tang have?"

Tang Ke said, "I believe that we can directly sell fertile land to farmers and then prohibit the sale of fertile land."

Zhao Huan disagreed, arguing that this would force farmers to work in the fields.

Xu Churen said, “No, I think it is unnecessary to prohibit the sale of fertile land. If anyone wants to buy it, they can buy it as long as they follow the new policies of the court. Your Majesty abolished corvée labor and reduced taxes in order to reduce the burden on farmers. As long as taxes are reduced, the burden on farmers will naturally be lighter. It doesn’t matter who owns the fertile land. In the end, they can pay taxes to the court according to the law.”

Zhao Huan somewhat agreed with Xu Churen's statement. The reason he took action against the western and eastern routes of the capital was not because the land consolidation there was unreasonable, but because after the consolidation, the landlords had too much power, and the court's control over this matter was too weak. The landlords, who had enjoyed the benefits for decades or even centuries, were naturally unwilling to reduce or exempt taxes.

The old landlords have been almost entirely eliminated by the emperor. The court has established a law that anyone who wants to buy land must abide by the court's laws.

The current laws of the imperial court are naturally less attractive to landlords who want to exploit farmers by buying land. However, as long as one works diligently, there is definitely a way to make money by contracting land.

In this way, the burden on farmers is reduced, new landlords can also make money, the imperial court has achieved its first step, and all parties benefit.

However, Zhao Huan's purpose was not just that simple. Although the burden on farmers was greatly reduced, farming in ancient times depended on the weather. Farmers in some places could have surplus grain, while those in others might not.

Therefore, the next step is to increase productivity. Only when productivity is increased will most farmers have surplus grain, and they will find ways to sell it. This will boost the economy, increase farmers' income and purchasing power, further stimulate the economy, and naturally increase the government's tax revenue.

This was the emperor's true objective.