To be fair, Zhu Yunwen wasn't a fool. Although he was initially puzzled by the strange actions of these powerful families in Luoyang.

But he soon realized a possibility: the reason why these powerful families took in refugees and even allowed ordinary people to impersonate their family members in their mansions was likely to prepare for the implementation of the land annexation policy.

Or perhaps it was to pave the way for the later land redistribution system.

The abolition of land annexation meant confiscating all the excess land held by powerful families, while the land distribution decree was to summarize all the land in various parts of the country and then distribute it equally according to the different populations of each place.

Zhu Yunwen's policies clearly mentioned that the land distribution order should be based on population.

Those with larger populations received more land, and those with smaller populations received less, with each person receiving an average of two to three acres of land.

That's why these powerful families cooperated so readily, handing over their surplus land.

The reason is that they already have a countermeasure: to increase the number of people in their families so that they can get more land when the land distribution order is implemented.

Now, after they hand over the land, they take it back because their families are so large.

If the population is particularly large, they can receive even more than before.

In this situation, they not only suffer no losses and do not hand over excess land, but they may even make more money.

After realizing this, Zhu Yunwen's face showed anger.

As expected, there are always countermeasures to policies from above and countermeasures from below. One should never underestimate the intelligence of these powerful and influential families.

There's a reason they've achieved such status and wealth.

Zhu Yunwen looked at the Imperial Guard and asked, "What's the situation with the household you're investigating?"

The Imperial Guard said, "I focused my investigation on the Li family in Luoyang Prefecture. The Li family is a family that has been established for hundreds of years. Originally, the Li family owned as much as a thousand acres of land, but now they have handed it all over."

However, his household originally had more than fifty people, but now, with the addition of more than one hundred beggars and vagrants he has taken in, the total number of people has reached nearly two hundred.

In addition, the maids and servants in his mansion were also included as family members, making a total of nearly three hundred people.

His subordinates discovered that there were also some so-called family members in his household, whose identities were not yet clear. They were from an unknown source, and there were nearly a hundred of them.

So, all things considered, his family originally had only fifty-odd members, but now it has over four hundred.

Zhu Yunwen said with a stern face:

"More than fifty people, but he managed to turn them into more than four hundred family members? If the land distribution order is implemented, and each person gets three mu of land, his family could get more than 1,200 mu of land."

"He really made a profit! Originally it was only 1,000 mu, but after his maneuvering, it's now over 1,200 mu! He even made an extra 200 mu. He really knows how to do business!"

Zhao Qingzhu, who was standing to the side, finally understood and said to Zhu Yunwen in surprise:

"These people are too shrewd! We even praised them before for cooperating with the court's policies and voluntarily handing over their land. But we never expected them to be so calculating, planning to gain more land in this reform. It's truly despicable."

Zhu Yunwen clenched his fist and said:

"They're more than just hateful, they deserve to die."

Zhu Yunwen would certainly not let those who deceive their superiors and subordinates, and who use extreme methods to provoke the court's policies, get away with it.

Of course, Zhu Yunwen also knew in his heart that it was definitely not something that only those aristocratic families could accomplish.

They need the cooperation of local officials; this is called collusion between officials and businessmen.

Otherwise, their tricks would be exposed by the local government.

Therefore, the local government must have known the inside story and would cooperate with these powerful families in doing so.

They just pretended not to know.

Zhao Qingzhu looked at Zhu Yuntong and said:

"How do you plan to handle this matter?"

Zhu Yunwen paused for a moment, then spoke:

“These powerful families are trying to play these tricks on me, so I’ll make them regret it. If they want to use these schemes against me, let’s see who’s more cunning.”

Zhu Yunwen had already decided to make these powerful families suffer a great loss, to make them lose both their wives and their troops.

Furthermore, Zhu Yunwen temporarily refrained from dealing with this matter openly, instead resorting to covert tactics to cause trouble for them.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen said to one of his Imperial Guards:

"Go and inform the prefect that I plan to visit the Li family in this city tomorrow."

After the Imperial Guard bowed and left, Zhao Qingzhu asked in confusion:

"The Li family is already in such a state, and you still want to be their guest. Doesn't that make them feel that you are very close to them, and encourage their bad habits?"

Zhu Yunwen said with a smile:

"I want them to feel that I'm intentionally trying to reach out to them, to make them feel flattered, so that they'll treat me well. Aren't there a lot of people in their families?"

"If I go a few more times, won't they throw a few lavish banquets? Over four hundred people will be eating their fill right under my nose several times. Let's see if a powerful family like theirs can withstand such extravagance."

Zhao Qingzhu didn't quite understand Zhu Yuntong's meaning, and Zhu Yuntong pretended to be mysterious and didn't say much.

He just wanted to make these powerful families bleed money badly once.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!