Even if you can solve a temporary problem, you can't solve a lifetime problem. In the end, all the problems will return to the starting point, which is meaningless.

Besides, he could deal with the Kong family and the King of Lu, but he could not deal with the gentry of the world. All the scholars were doing this, and no one thought it was wrong.

Even the oppressed people at the bottom of society think this way. They want to turn their lives around through studying. They don't think about overthrowing those who oppress them, but only think about becoming the ones who oppress others.

Under such circumstances, if he were to force the implementation of the equal distribution of land, no one would support him. The top dignitaries would not support him, the middle-class gentry would not support him, and even the common people at the bottom would not support him.

With no one supporting him, it would be impossible to distribute the land equally, and he would end up burning himself to death.

For the lower classes of the Ming Dynasty, tribute was even considered a good thing. If a person who did not have to pay taxes appeared in a village or a family, the people of this village or family would give their money to this person who did not have to pay taxes as a tribute, and then rent the land back.

In this way, these lands do not have to pay taxes, and the gentry only collect land rent, which is much lower than the taxes paid to the court. It is a win-win situation for both parties.

However, once a natural disaster or man-made disaster occurs, the court has no money to provide disaster relief, and the gentry will not help the people. The people will become refugees and die miserably.

Why do many gentry have such a good reputation in the local area?

Because these people repair bridges and roads, care for the widowed and the lonely, and help the disabled, the elderly and the young, they have a very good reputation. But in fact, they are really digging up the roots of the country.

When all classes of the country are doing this, no one can break this chain of interests. Not even Zhu Youxiao, the emperor, can do this.

Unless someone dares to change the world, nothing can be done.

Even in the Qing Dynasty, it was necessary to keep these people and their interests stable. Emperor Yongzheng's reforms were nothing more than universal taxation.

The policy of equalizing the land tax and requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes together increased the court's revenue, but it made life even harder for the common people. In addition to paying land rent, they also had to pay taxes to the court. Under such circumstances, the common people had no way to survive.

The Qing Dynasty was able to survive because of the promotion of high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, as well as the development of land in the Northeast, which allowed less land to support more people.

You can move the people to the Northeast, and Zhu Youxiao can do the same, but this will take a long time to implement, so it is not feasible for the time being.

Potatoes have already been planted, but it will take more time to cover the entire north. As for the Northeast, it cannot be taken for the time being, and I don’t have the energy to start a war in the Northeast and the grasslands.

The important thing is not to think about these things. What Zhu Youxiao is doing now is just to eat up a few big households and complete his own primitive accumulation, which is the primitive accumulation of the emperor, not the primitive accumulation of the country.

To truly complete the country's primitive accumulation, more investment is needed, and Shandong's work can only be done to this extent. The problem of the Ming Dynasty is not a problem of Shandong, but a problem of the entire country.

Zhu Youxiao stretched his body, took a sip of tea, sorted out his thoughts, turned his head to look at Chen Hong and said, "Is there any urgent report?"

Everyone has been taking action these days. Although Zhu Youxiao looks very relaxed, he is always nervous.

Zhu Youxiao was actually worried about problems with such a big move this time. If there was a big mess, it would be troublesome.

After all, the situation in Shandong is quite complicated, with all kinds of people, and even more people taking advantage of the situation. If you are not careful, unexpected situations will occur.

"Your Majesty, there's nothing urgent to report," Chen Hong said quickly. "Over at Lord Xu Xianchun's, the Imperial Guards are out in force arresting people. All the Imperial Guards in various locations have been mobilized. Elder Xu is stationed in Jining, while Elder Huang is leading his men to investigate and punish officials from various parties. Everything is progressing smoothly."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong, nodded slightly and said, "Then continue to wait."

At the same time, inside the Jinyiwei's cell.

Xu Guangqi is interrogating Kong Yinzhi.

It's called an interrogation, but it's actually just a conversation.

After a few days, Kong Yinzhi's mental state has recovered.

Looking at Xu Guangqi in front of him, Kong Yinzhi smiled bitterly.

"Lord Xu, is there no hope?" Kong Yinzhi looked at Xu Guangqi and asked with a pleading tone, "Why has it come to this?"

Xu Guangqi glanced at Kong Yinzhi and said softly, "You've gone too far this time. The most important thing isn't the grain resale, but the excessive actions you took in Shandong."

"Every official in Shandong, big and small, high and low, is connected to you. There's no point in talking about this now. All you can do is plead guilty and await His Majesty's punishment. If you continue to play some useless tricks, I won't be able to help you."

Kong Yinzhi fell silent for a moment, then said, "Then what crime does Lord Xu want us to confess?"

Glancing at Kong Yinzhi, Xu Guangqi could of course hear the insincerity and resentment in the other's tone.

But Xu Guangqi couldn't care less about these things now. He didn't want to waste time talking to Kong Yinzhi, so he just took out a confession and placed it in front of Kong Yinzhi.

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