Fang Yuegong was so experienced that he easily misled Qiu Yu by confusing the concepts.

After being shocked by Fang Yuegong's words, Qiu Yu's face turned blue and red. He was holding his breath but couldn't utter a word.

In fact, this cannot be blamed on Qiu Yu. It is his age and experience that limit his words and actions.

Qiu Yu was a Jinshi graduate. When he first entered the court as an official, he served as a Shujishi and had no experience in grassroots government.

(Shujishi were close ministers to the emperor, responsible for drafting imperial edicts and explaining classics to the emperor. They were one of the important sources of ministers for the cabinet during the Ming Dynasty.)

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Banghua saw that the time was right and stood up and said, "What you two said is both right and wrong."

"In fact, this matter is very simple, even simpler than what Minister Qiu said."

"Oh?" Fang Yuegong raised his head in surprise: "I'd like to hear more details."

"Taxes owed will be collected equally, and the amount owed will be collected accordingly. People without money will be asked to sell their land and use the proceeds to pay taxes. If this is done, the wealthy gentry will have no objection, right?"

Fang Yuegong looked at Li Banghua with suspicion and had a new opinion of the cabinet chief.

Forcing people to sell their land...

Li Banghua's behavior is even more hateful than those corrupt officials...

How could he say that?

Before Fang Yuegong could refute, Qiu Yu suddenly understood something. He said to Fang Yuegong arrogantly, "Land Bureau!"

"What?" Fang Yuegong didn't hear clearly.

"What Lord Li meant was to have the people sell their land to the Land Bureau, and then rent it from the Land Bureau or buy it on credit."

"As long as we get through this difficult time, the remaining problems will not be a problem."

Oh...I see.

Fang Yuegong first looked at Li Banghua with an apologetic look, and then looked at Chongzhen with respect.

What on earth was in the mind of this Ming emperor that he actually established such a magical government office as the Land Department?

Everyone discussed it for a while and finally finalized the matter.

All of this was within Chongzhen's expectations.

He knew that taxation was the foundation of the imperial court, and so did all the civil and military officials in the court.

If this rule is broken, no one will be able to play.

So even if someone doesn't want to agree, they can't find any fault with it and thus can't refute it.

After all, both the rich and the poor were required to pay taxes.

"Your Majesty, what I mean is that the people who provide disaster relief and those who collect overdue taxes can be the same group. This will not only improve efficiency, but also save court expenses."

"Well, I can." Chongzhen thought for a moment, "This mission is very complicated and tedious. Not only do we have to provide disaster relief, recruit soldiers, train soldiers, and recruit workers, but we also have to collect and refund taxes."

"The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Censorate and even the Five Military Commands should all think carefully about how to coordinate this task."

"And this matter is neither urgent nor can it be delayed. Especially the taxes, which need to be verified by each prefecture, state, and county. Those that should be collected should be collected, and those that should be refunded should be refunded."

"Both the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Depot must be involved. They are only responsible for supervision and cannot interfere with the administration of officials. What do you think?"

"Your Highness, I will obey your command."

After the court meeting, Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace.

Somehow, he began to feel uneasy.

The Ming Dynasty had three battle fronts: upper, middle and lower.

The outcome of the battle on the road was unclear for the time being, as Duoduo neither captured Xuanfu Town nor Juyongguan.

The future is unclear.

Yan Yingyuan defended Xuanfu Town to the death, able to resist but not fight. Fortunately, there was enough food and grass, so he could hold out for a long time.

After Dorgon was defeated in the middle, there was still the tough opponent Li Zicheng.

Huang Degong suffered heavy losses and was exhausted from all the traveling. At best, he could only fight Li Zicheng to a draw. As for how to rescue the King of Zhao and the King of Zhou, no one had a plan for the time being.

The most important thing is the bottom lane!

Qin Liangyu's victory or defeat determined the future direction of the Ming Dynasty.

"Wang Chengen, do you think General Qin can defeat Zhang Xianzhong? At the end of the 13th year (referring to the 13th year of Chongzhen), Zhang Xianzhong invaded Kuizhou. General Qin led 30,000 elite Shizhu soldiers to Kuizhou. Sichuan Governor Shao Jiechun's improper command led to the annihilation of General Qin's entire army."

"Only three and a half years have passed. How many elite troops can Qin Liangyu, who is short of money and food, train?"

Wang Chengen didn't dare to say anything, so he could only comfort him: "Your Majesty, don't worry. General Qin is a man of rare talent, and you have appointed him as the governor of four provinces. He will definitely be able to stop the bandits."

"Oh!" Chongzhen sighed.

In the battle at the bottom lane, the mid laner and jungler were unable to provide support, so Qin Liangyu had to rely on herself.

What Chongzhen didn't know was that although Qin Liangyu was temporarily appointed as the governor-general of four provinces by him, Zhang Xianzhong's military strength was several times that of hers.

With the help of four capable and battle-hardened generals, Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi, they won battles time and again.

......

Sichuan, Fuling City.

"Report!" The messenger came running in from outside the door, "Zhang Xianzhong's main force has set out from Zhongzhou, advancing by water and land, and attacking Fuling and Changshou respectively."

Fuling and Changshou are both downstream of Chongqing.

Changshou, in particular, is located between Fuling and Chongqing. Once it is lost, Fuling will be surrounded by Zhang Xianzhong.

"I understand. Please leave." Qin Liangyu's old voice sounded in the house.

As the messenger left, the house returned to silence.

After a while, someone asked, "Governor, since the flood stopped, our army has fought many land and water battles with Zhang Xianzhong, but we have been defeated repeatedly, first losing Liangshan and then Zhongzhou. If we continue to fight like this, Fuling and Changshou will be lost! If these two places are lost, Chongqing will have no defenses."

Qin Liangyu looked up and found that the person who spoke was Lieutenant General Zeng Ying.

As early as the spring of the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zeng Ying was appointed as garrison commander by Sichuan Governor Chen Shiqi.

After taking over Chen Shiqi's troops, Zeng Ying was promoted to lieutenant general by Qin Liangyu because of his ability and courage in fighting.

Zeng Ying continued, "The most crucial point is, why didn't you concentrate your forces to fight Zhang Xianzhong? Instead, you divided your forces everywhere, making our forces always at a disadvantage?"

"Yes, Governor Qin!" Sichuan General Liu Jiayin also complained: "Zeng Ying's troops are not bad, they can fight Zhang Xianzhong."

"Although my troops are capable of fighting, they are unable to fight Zhang Xianzhong in a real battle. They can only keep showing weakness and retreating. Not only have they lost soldiers and generals, but the morale they have worked so hard to build up is also gone."

"What exactly is the meaning of this move? Governor Qin, please tell me!"

Faced with the accusations of the two, Qin Liangyu's nephew Qin Yiming stood up and was about to refute.

Qin Liangyu blinked her red eyes and gestured to Qin Yiming to sit down.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Qin Liangyu said, "I want to ask you a question. If you keep the land but lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost; if you keep the people but lose the land, both the people and the land will be preserved. What does harmony between people and land mean?"

"People...land?" Qin Yiming muttered to himself.

Liu Jiayin and Zeng Ying looked at each other and said, "People are people and people's hearts are people, and land is territory. We have been defeated repeatedly and not only lost the territory, but also lost the hearts of the people!"

"Governor, I wonder if what I said is correct?"