Holding the memorial, Zhu Yunying walked happily toward the Qianqing Palace. "Grandfather, our granaries should be full by now. In two more years, our granaries will be overflowing with new grain over old grain."

Old Zhu quickly took the document and immediately laughed, "Good! This is what's essential for survival. Food is more important than anything else. Silver and gold can't fill our stomachs during a famine."

Zhu Yunying laughed and said casually, "Whether it's food or silver, I like it!"

Zhu Yunying didn't think he was being greedy at all; it was perfectly normal. Everyone likes beautiful things, which is only human nature. Having such thoughts is perfectly normal.

Old Zhu was increasingly satisfied with what he saw, and said to Zhu Yunying, "This is good. Our granaries are full, and we can finally feel at ease. With grain in hand, we have confidence and won't panic when we do things."

“That makes sense. Having grain in hand brings peace of mind.” Zhu Yunying smiled in agreement, especially for an emperor like himself. “Grandfather, about the Suzhou area we mentioned last time, it’s time to reduce their taxes. For the past thirty years since the founding of our Ming Dynasty, we’ve been levying heavy taxes there. People are saying you’re taking revenge on the people of Suzhou for helping Zhang Shicheng defend the city back then.”

Old Zhu was naturally aware of these matters, but he didn't care. "Let those people say what they want, we're not afraid of what they say. Suzhou is our tax-paying territory, and this year's harvest is good, so we don't need to worry about food. It's just that if we reduce taxes, what will we do if there's a famine in the future? If we want to increase taxes again then, that will be a real problem."

Zhu Yunying had naturally considered these matters, but he was also somewhat worried. "Grandfather, you've seen what happened with the maritime trade. Our tax system needs to be changed; the current tax revenue is still a bit low."

When it comes to topics like taxation, Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally extremely cautious. He knew that this matter could not be taken lightly and needed to be given even greater attention. Ultimately, the Ming Dynasty's finances appeared to be improving, but some things could not be neglected.

Taxation undoubtedly affects a country's development, and the tax system can be said to be related to the country's future.

Old Zhu thought about it carefully and said to Zhu Yunying, "Ying'er, we've thought about what you're saying too. We were too simplistic in our thinking before, and there are some things we hadn't considered before."

After all, it was Zhu Yuanzhang's first time as emperor, and even though he studied hard when he ascended the throne, he couldn't possibly consider everything perfectly at once. In particular, in order to be a good emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang sometimes had to make compromises with some powerful families, landlords, and gentry, even if they were just small compromises.

Zhu Yunying spoke up, saying to his father, "I'm thinking that if it's appropriate, we need to pay attention to the issue of land annexation. There are already some signs of this happening. Our Ming Dynasty has only been established for thirty years! If this continues, all those lands will eventually belong to large landowners and gentry."

Old Zhu couldn't help but frown, but he was also joking, "You've restricted the fields that scholars cultivate."

Old Zhu did a decent job in treating scholars well. However, this is only relatively speaking.

During the Yuan Dynasty, scholars had a low social status, but the Yuan Dynasty was relatively tolerant of them. Therefore, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, some remnants of the Yuan Dynasty still missed the Yuan Dynasty, feeling that the Yuan Dynasty had been more tolerant of scholars.

But now, although the status of scholars has improved, the constant suppression by Emperor Zhu has made many scholars feel dissatisfied. Especially recently, the new emperor suddenly restricted the land that scholars were exempt from taxes and corvée labor.

In the future, it will be completely impossible to donate land under someone else's name. However, it is no longer possible for someone who passes the imperial examination to have the entire village or half the county donate land under their name to be exempt from taxes.

Old Zhu took this matter very seriously. He genuinely felt that it affected the very foundation of the dynasty, and therefore could not be treated lightly. While it might not be a matter for long-term deliberation, it certainly required extensive discussion.

The current tax system has some advantages, but it also has some shortcomings.

Zhu Yunying knew all this, and naturally, he wanted to change some things. He knew that there was no perfect policy, but as long as it was good for the Ming Dynasty and had fewer hidden dangers, that would be enough.