In the Constitutional Court, Zhao Jun first communicated his main reform proposals with everyone.
However, the plans were basically moderate reforms, not as radical as Fan Zhongyan's, nor as idealists out of touch with reality as Wang Anshi, who was regarded as a great man.
Because his plan was a strategy he finalized after nearly three years of grassroots research and practice across the country, confirming that it could be implemented.
For example, increasing the consumption and returning it to the public, abolishing excessive taxes and levies, basically all the landlords were beneficiaries, so naturally there was no resistance.
The only thing to be wary of is that even though the imperial court has abolished so many exorbitant taxes and levies, there are still local officials who come up with various excuses and continue to find ways to make money in the name of the imperial court.
This depends on the intensity of supervision.
Raise taxes on the landlord class. The landlord class of the Song Dynasty had to pay taxes anyway and had no way of resisting the court's tax policy. Although there was resistance, it could not cause any waves.
However, they are likely to pass the consequences of the tax increase on to the tenants, for example, they may increase the original rent of 60% to 70% to 80% or 90%.
But the tenant class would definitely not agree to that. Before, they could barely survive with 60% to 70% tax, but now it’s 80% to 90%, and they can’t even survive.
Just like the military farming system of Cao Wei in history, which was close to collapse in the later period and countless military farmers rebelled because Cao Wei changed the military farming rent from the original 6:4 to 8:2 or even 9:1.
Once such a situation occurred at the local level, the imperial court would report it to the inspecting censors and local officials, and the court could then shift the blame onto the landlords. It would then take advantage of the situation to deal with a few landlords with more serious circumstances, catch a typical example, give an explanation to the people, and divert internal conflicts.
When silver from Japan began to flow in in large quantities, this problem would no longer be a problem. With the money, the imperial court could hire civilians to dig canals, repair rivers, and build infrastructure, launching the first industrial revolution.
By then, local areas may face the problem of insufficient tenants, and landlords will naturally have no choice but to lower rents to attract people to farm.
In summary, Zhao Jun's method was to temporarily ease the growing discontent among the lower classes by shifting the blame onto the landlords. When the people were oppressed by the landlords to the point of rebellion, the imperial court would intervene to appease them while killing the landlords and seizing their land.
This turned the conflict between the people and the court into a conflict between the people and the landlords. The court could also use this method to reclaim farmland, just as Zhao Jun did across the country, executing a group of landlords who had committed serious crimes and had killed people, confiscating their farmland, turning it into official land, and renting it out to the people at low prices.
Economically, the country made up for the price difference caused by the reduction of agricultural taxes by vigorously developing foreign trade, and through state-owned enterprise reform, it revitalized the rigid monopoly system, accelerated economic circulation, and thus made industry and commerce more developed.
In this way, the economy will accelerate and agricultural reforms will be much smoother.
"I've said this many times before: Wang Anshi's reforms were well-intentioned, but unfortunately, they weren't fully implemented at the local level. He also overlooked the fact that they were essentially robbing the landlords of their own interests. Naturally, the landlords and wealthy families would join forces with the local officials who were implementing Wang Anshi's reforms to obstruct them."
Inside the Constitutional Court, Zhao Jun emphasized again, "While my reforms further oppress the landlords, they do not compete with them for their interests. They will be allowed to continue lending, provided they do not evade taxes or violate laws and regulations."
"The farmers would have to pay less taxes, and their pressure would be reduced, so the amount of loans they would need from landlords would also be reduced, which would in turn reduce the landlords' exploitation of the people through loans and the annexation of land."
"But similarly, while we should increase taxes on landlords and rich peasants, we can't do so excessively. There's a critical point. If it's too harsh, it will inevitably lead to widespread uprisings among landlords and rich peasants."
"According to my research, the regular tax rate is indeed very low, only between 5% and 10%. However, the numerous miscellaneous levies and taxes can reach 40% to 50% of a person's annual income. This is in an agricultural society where a year's harvest may not even be enough to support a family, yet such high taxes are still imposed, which will obviously provoke social conflicts."
"So I think it's more reasonable to reduce the tax rate for poor farmers with less than 20 mu of land nationwide to around 10% to 15%, while for landlords and wealthy households with more than 50 mu of land, the tax rate must be maintained between 20% and 50%, with the critical point being around 50%."
"But it's difficult to make a specific classification, because local officials don't necessarily collude with local landlords and wealthy households, but the clerks below them are basically locals and have deep ties to the landlords and wealthy households. Once the court issues a policy that imposes different tax rates on different income groups, it will be very easy for hidden households and hidden assets to appear."
"For example, a landlord with 10,000 mu of land would certainly try to get local officials to falsify the size of his land in order to reduce taxes. Some powerful individuals even simply become tenants with no land to their name, thus obtaining ultra-low tax status."
It must be said that Zhao Jun's considerations were quite thorough. Unlike Wang Anshi, he completely failed to consider the possibility that local officials and landlords would collude and turn a good policy into a bad one.
Basically, all of Zhao Jun's strategies have taken into account the worst-case scenario and he has also adjusted his response methods.
Everyone listened to his analysis and felt that it was comprehensive. Lu Yijian couldn't help but ask, "Since you have thought of the possible problems, do you have any solutions?"
"The first is the intensity of supervision! The second is the intensity of punishment. Needless to say, once discovered, severe punishment will be imposed, and all concealed land and property will be confiscated to serve as a warning to others."
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