"Okay, everyone, get up!"
Li Wei was disappointed by the flatterers and was too lazy to act anymore, so her true nature was exposed.
She sat down on the dragon throne, crossed her legs, and raised her chin slightly: "The emperor just told me that I have to take back the financial and military power. What do you think?"
When a few people who were about to stand up heard Li Wei's words, their knees went weak and they all knelt back down.
No one dared to breathe.
As the new cabinet chief, Lu Zhenyan secretly pinched the sweat in his palms, pretending to be a little aggrieved, and replied:
"Your Majesty, financial and military affairs should be decided by me... ahem, by Your Majesty. This is the rule of the court. How can... how can you take it back?"
He paused and continued.
"The previous emperor preferred to travel and rarely attended to state affairs. Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the Wu faction has disrupted government and obscured your hearing."
"Now, Your Majesty, with your majestic power, assists the Holy Sovereign. The Cabinet should consolidate all matters and return power to Your Majesty and Your Majesty to set things right."
These words were flawless, explaining the reason and showing loyalty.
Upon hearing this, Li Wei nodded with satisfaction.
She didn't care whether he would return the government or not. The first thing Gu Jinzhi asked her to do was easy to handle.
"Alright, alright, why are you kneeling again? Get up, get up!"
Li Wei spread out her hands with amusement and raised them upwards.
She had no interest in watching these old men prostrate themselves before her.
Seeing everyone start to stand up tremblingly, Li Wei thought of the second thing Gu Jinzhi had said, and without bothering to prepare for it, she asked directly:
"I also want to implement 'combining taxes and labor service, and collecting taxes based on acreage' throughout the country. Do you support this?"
Plop! Plop! Plop!
The six people who had just stood up halfway knelt down again in unison.
This time, even Lu Zhenyan had sweat on his forehead.
Those with poorer mental qualities have begun to tremble slightly.
The atmosphere instantly became stiff and the air seemed to freeze.
After a long while, Lu Zhenyan took a deep breath and spoke with courage:
"Your Majesty... our country is currently plagued by internal and external troubles, and wars are constant."
"Internally, bandits are rampant, and externally, the borders are unstable. Locally, many affairs still require the mediation of the gentry and elders to maintain stability."
"Even the troops Governor Xu used to suppress the bandits were largely militia organized by local gentry."
His voice was hoarse. "Right now, pushing for tax reform is probably not the right time... Your Majesty, please reconsider!"
The other ministers echoed in unison, "Your Majesty, please reconsider!"
Li Wei raised her eyebrows: "Oh? What if I really have to do it!?"
An invisible pressure spread as she spoke, and the temperature in the hall dropped to almost freezing point.
Lu Zhenyan trembled, and before she could answer, Wen Boyuan behind her suddenly straightened his upper body.
"Your Majesty, calm down... If you are determined to impose taxes based on the acreage, you must first remeasure the land across the land."
"This move... the time and effort it takes is secondary. The key is that this single move will offend all the gentry in the world."
"By then, I'm afraid the new law won't be finalized, and the world... the world will be in turmoil... Please understand, Your Majesty!"
When Lu Zhenyan heard the threat in Boyuan's words, she secretly exclaimed "Not good"!
He looked up quietly and saw that Li Wei had a bad expression on her face and there was a cold light flashing in her eyes. Alarm bells immediately rang in his heart.
He suddenly kicked back, hitting Wen Boyuan's knee as he tried to continue his "bitter remonstration," and interrupted him harshly, "Be careful with your words!"
Then, he turned to Li Wei, gritted his teeth, and said in a deep voice, as if he had made some kind of resolution: "Your Majesty! Measuring the land and collecting taxes by the acre is not impossible!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at him in surprise.
Lu Zhenyan ignored him and continued, "It's nothing more than 'kill'! Just like the suppression of the Wu Party rebels a while ago, if you kill enough people and terrify the gentry, then this thing will naturally succeed!"
He kowtowed deeply: "If the Empress has made up her mind, no matter the cost, the cabinet and the officials will certainly follow the Empress and work hard to implement it!"
"But...but those local gentry and powerful people who dare to resist will need...will need the Queen to personally take action and strike with thunder to wipe out the rebels!"
Li Wei raised her eyebrows and looked at Lu Zhenyan who was crawling on the ground.
This old man is more sensible than she thought.
She thought about it and felt that Zhang Juzheng's "one whip method" was still a bit minor and not thorough enough.
If we're going to change, why not make it a big one?
Then, she curled up the corners of her mouth into a meaningful smile and asked slowly, "My Lord...what if I want to implement 'gentry and officials pay taxes together'?"
boom!
These words were like thunder from the sky, exploding in the minds of everyone in the hall!
Everyone present, including Wei Xun and Chu Hong from the Imperial Household Department, staggered and almost fell to the ground in fright.
All the gentry pay taxes together! ?
The Queen's sword not only struck the gentry and landlords, but also stabbed their aorta!
With their high-ranking officials, who wouldn’t have thousands of acres of fertile land and numerous manors?
Even the two eunuchs, Wei Xun and Chu Hong, relied on their power in the palace to acquire land and property in the suburbs of Beijing and even in their respective hometowns, which was by no means a small amount.
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