Chapter 217 It's so long

[Frog fun, the tyrant issued an order overnight to banish Concubine Yun to the cold palace! ]

Chu Liuzheng was used to reading morning gossip to wake herself up, but the first piece of gossip that caught her eye startled her so much that she lost all sleepiness and her eyes widened.

[Concubine Xu, who relied on her father's favor and became arrogant, harbored treacherous plots. She took drugs to fake a pregnancy and falsely claimed to be the descendant of the emperor. She then faked a miscarriage and framed Concubine Dou. She deceived the emperor and committed harem insurgency, and is guilty of the Three Treasons. She is stripped of her title, demoted to a talented lady, and exiled to the cold palace, where she is forbidden to see the emperor for life.]

After silently reciting the contents of the imperial edict in his mind, Chu Liuzheng was secretly shocked.

[Moved to the cold palace and forbidden to see the emperor for life, Concubine Yun is truly finished this time.]

She crossed out Concubine Yun from the list of enemies in her heart, but before she could feel happy, she suddenly realized a serious problem.

As the saying goes, when one enemy falls, another stands up. The imperial edict says that Concubine Dou was framed. Could it be that Concubine Dou will be reinstated?

If this poisonous beauty were to return to her original state... Chu Liuzheng shuddered and quickly pulled her away.

【Huh? Why isn't there one? Logically, the two imperial edicts should have been issued at the same time.】

Chu Liuzheng was puzzled, worried that he had missed something by flipping through the book too quickly, so he flipped through it carefully several times, but still did not see the imperial edict that restored Concubine Dou to her former position.

A guess popped into her mind.

[Does the tyrant not intend to restore Concubine Dou to her rightful place?]

[Hmm... If that's really the case, then my previous analysis was correct. The tyrant didn't demote Concubine Dou because of Concubine Yun's miscarriage. Rather, Concubine Dou violated the tyrant's taboo, and the tyrant was using this as an excuse to exaggerate.]

Xiao Jingfan, who was practicing boxing in the hall, raised his eyebrows slightly after hearing this voice, and slowed down his boxing movements.

[The tyrant imprisoned Concubine Yun for such a long time, and suddenly issued an edict to demote her. This must mean that there has been some result with Minister Wen, right?]

Thinking about the nonsense he told in the emperor's presence about the South Pole Immortal's dream, Chu Liuzheng flipped back the pages and found the related gossip.

[Oh, he's using merit to atone for his sins. Minister Wen is quite the cunning fellow. He first apologized, saying that his secret correspondence with King Xiao was wrong, and then gave the tyrant the draft of the tax reform he had discussed with King Xiao for his review.]

[Let me take a look... Tsk, this draft is way too long. Many parts still need to be considered. It really is just a draft.]

Chu Liuzheng scrolled down, habitually extracting key information after reading the entire lengthy draft.

Actually, to sum it up, it's about merging tax items, collecting taxes in silver, measuring the land, collecting taxes based on the amount of land, and then having officials collect and pay the taxes. It's so long, it's dizzying just to read it.

If taxes were not closely related to individuals, she would not have had the patience to read it to the end.

After hearing the insightful summary, Xiao Jingfan's eyes flashed with surprise. This woman could actually understand it.

He quickly put his fist down, took the handkerchief handed to him by Zhou Yuande, wiped his sweat, and ordered the meal to be served.

On the other side, Chu Liuzheng was combining the little historical knowledge he had in his previous life with the gossip he had read in the system, trying hard to use his little brain to interpret this draft.

Taxes are no small matter. If there are any traps in it, she can remind her family in a letter and make plans early.

She analyzed it one by one.

Merging tax items would indeed simplify procedures compared to the current disparate collection of taxes. It would also reduce the level of exploitation by officials, lower tax collection costs, and improve efficiency.

[Taxation in silver... Simply put, it means collecting silver instead of grain, reducing losses along the way, and using the collected silver to buy grain directly. This way, the people won't be tied to the land, and perhaps they can free up their hands to develop commerce and boost economic growth.]

Xiao Jingfan paused while drinking tea, frowned slightly, looked at the ginseng slices floating in the teacup, and listened carefully to his inner voice.

The purpose of this land survey was to survey the land that had been hidden by landlords and gentry, thereby increasing revenue for the national treasury and ensuring the fairness of the 'land tax system'.

[Nowadays, taxes are levied based on the number of people in your household. It doesn't matter how much land you own; the more people in your family, the more tax you pay. Some families have only one or two mu of land but have to support seven or eight people. In years of famine, selling children and land is common, enriching many landlords.]

Before Chu Liuzheng entered the palace, she had witnessed people selling their children. If she hadn't sold herself into the palace, her family wouldn't have been able to survive for long during the years when her father disappeared.

There is no convenient contraceptive method in this world. As long as the couple is healthy, it is common to have two or three children. The poorer the family, the more children they have. As long as they can walk, they have to help with work.

Chu Liuzheng also came this way.

If the tax is levied according to the size of the land, as King Xiao proposed, the more land one has, the heavier the tax. This would definitely be a good thing for ordinary people, as the tax burden would be greatly reduced, giving them a great deal of relief.

[Hmm... If the tax burden on the people is reduced, there will be fewer cases of people being forced to sell their land. This will prevent the concentration of land in the hands of a small number of people and, to a certain extent, curb land annexation.]

Hearing this, Xiao Jingfan was no longer just surprised, he looked at Chu Liuzheng with new respect.

Is this really a farmer's daughter who has not read many books and only knows a few words?

Many officials in the court might not be able to fully understand what this woman mentioned in her heart.

Chu Liuzheng didn't know how shocked the emperor was and continued to analyze.

The rule of "official collection and delivery" means that the imperial court will send people to supervise, and local officials will collect and escort taxes. Without middlemen taking a profit, this will reduce corruption and prevent landlords and gentry from colluding with clerks to privately withhold taxes or create numerous pretexts to increase the tax burden on the people.

[Hmm... Generally speaking, it's a good thing that benefits the people, but...]

Chu Liuzheng read the first draft from beginning to end again and shook his head.

[Tsk tsk, touching so many people's cakes, if this is really implemented, the resistance... I wonder how many lives will be lost.]

Since ancient times, there has been no reform without bloodshed, but Chu Liuzheng still felt that King Xiao and Minister Wen were too brave. Wouldn't these reforms force the landlords and gentry and some officials who were too deeply involved in their own interests to rebel?

The current prosperous country cannot withstand such turmoil.

Moreover, in Chu Liuzheng's opinion, there are many areas in this draft that need to be refined.

[This is too general. Every place has its own unique situation. If we consider regional differences... Tsk, that's hard!]

Chu Liuzheng felt his scalp tingling just thinking about how many things needed to be detailed. Wouldn't this tire a few people out?

[The rule of levying silver based on the acreage alone can be refined a lot. Since the main purpose is to reduce taxes for the poor and curb the powerful from annexing land, it can be levied according to social status.

For example, there are five or six levels. The more land you own, the higher your level, and the higher the tax rate you have to pay. If you want to pay less tax, you have to control the amount of land you own.

Of course, land surveys must be strictly enforced, and the fish-scale registers must be updated regularly. For example, there should be a small random inspection every three years, a large random inspection every five years, and a comprehensive inspection every ten years. Anyone found to have hidden land will be punished according to the number of acres of land in excess, and the punishment must be severe, to serve as a warning to others.