Looking at Zhu Yunying, Zhu Yunying said with a mix of mystery and pride, "Grandfather, under heaven, all land belongs to the king, and all people within the realm are his subjects. This world belongs to the Ming Dynasty, to our Zhu family, and the land naturally belongs to our Zhu family as well."

Old Zhu nodded; that made sense, but he was also a little puzzled. "Is that so? Then what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yunying said smugly to Old Zhu, "Since the land belongs to the country, the land of our Great Ming Dynasty will also belong to the country in the future. Since the land belongs to the country, we should generously let the people farm."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment. He seemed to have guessed something, but he wasn't sure. Sometimes, Old Zhu really couldn't understand some of his precious grandson's ideas. How could his grandson be so imaginative and daring? Some of his ideas actually had some merit.

Zhu Yunying continued, "I have always been afraid of land annexation. When that happens, the people will have no land to cultivate, and naturally there will be unrest. Previously, I abolished the treatment of some scholars and tried every means to avoid land annexation that would lead to insufficient tax collection. But this is not a solution; there are always ways to exploit the system."

"So you want to get to the root of the problem?" Old Zhu said, somewhat agitated, standing up. "If the land belongs to the state or the imperial court, then it cannot be bought or sold privately!"

Zhu Yunying nodded and said with a smile, "That makes sense. The land will belong to the state, and we will lend it to the people. Every ten years, we will redistribute the land according to the register. This is also to prevent the population from increasing and causing some people to have no land to use."

Old Zhu was very excited and said to Zhu Yunying, "That makes sense! In this way, our people will have land to cultivate and won't have to farm for landlords and gentry. With the 'equalization of poll tax and land tax,' landlords and gentry will no longer have the desire to buy more land."

Land was nationalized and allocated periodically. In addition, the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" meant that many farmers had to pay taxes, and the more land they owned, the more taxes they paid.

Zhu Yunying continued, "Actually, if things had been like this at the beginning of the founding of the country, it would be easier for us to take action now. However, we cannot take over land on a large scale now, otherwise there would definitely be turmoil throughout the country."

Old Zhu wasn't embarrassed, but rather felt some regret. In order to secure his rule, he had indeed made some compromises, and some things hadn't been considered comprehensively enough, leaving some potential problems that were inconvenient for his children and grandchildren to handle.

“We won’t take back those private fields now,” Zhu Yunying said with a smile to Old Zhu. “There are still a lot of these fields. If those gentry or common people want to cultivate or buy and sell land, that’s fine with us. But besides these fields, there are also many public fields.”

Old Zhu nodded in agreement. Currently, in the Ming Dynasty, apart from a portion that is 'privately owned,' a large portion of the land belongs to the state and is the land of the imperial court.

All of this naturally means that Zhu Yunying can take action. The nationalization of land will not be a blanket policy, so that some people will not feel that their lifeline has been cut off. Of course, those people may also feel troubled, as it will become increasingly difficult for them to buy land in the future.

Zhu Yunying continued, “The fields of the garrisons, the fields of the imperial estates, and the new farmland that has been developed one after another all belong to the imperial court. These serve as our guarantee, and will also provide a safety net when they are distributed to the people in the future. There are many ways to farm, and we are not afraid that the people will have no land to cultivate and will have to rely on landlords and gentry.”

Old Zhu's eyes flashed with a cold light as he said to Zhu Yunying, "If anyone causes trouble below, we'll take the land back!"

"Actually, I understand that this policy will also give some people an opportunity to take advantage of it. But if we set some policies firmly and supervise strictly, we can probably avoid some trouble." Zhu Yunying said with a smile to his father, "This policy is good and benefits the vast majority of people, and that's enough."

These were Zhu Yunying's true feelings. He knew that there was no such thing as a perfect policy, and that many policies could be distorted by those below him.

However, these policies are beneficial to the vast majority of the people of the Ming Dynasty, and that is enough. Even if they harm the interests of some people, it doesn't matter.

The current Zhu Yunying has the confidence to refute all doubts; the knife in his hand is sharp enough!