Li Xingye was very unhappy.
Today is the day for New Year's greetings. There are so many officials waiting outside. Do you want me to give you some advice?
The Marquis of Zhenbei is indeed a mere warrior who can't even teach his own children.
As a civil official, Li Xingye had the arrogance of a civil official and naturally looked down on military officers.
Although Li Xingye is not as obvious as others, he is still vulgar.
Zhao Lin said, "Don't worry, Prince Zhao. Today is the day for New Year's greetings. There are so many adults waiting outside. How can you have time for anything else? Wait until you are back from your rest period and have gone to the government office. It won't be too late to ask."
Zhao Chenhan's heart skipped a beat.
He reacted.
I was so anxious to show off that I forgot the occasion.
Zhao Chenhan glanced at Li Xingye and saw that he was unhappy but also appreciative.
The displeasure was definitely directed at himself, while the praise was directed at Zhao Lin.
Zhao Chenhan was filled with resentment and quickly tried to make amends: "I was too eager to admit my shortcomings and forgot the occasion, causing you to laugh at me."
Li Xingye nodded slightly. "That's fine. It's not appropriate to discuss these matters today. As Zhao Lin said, come see me after your day off and I'll have a good talk with you."
"Thank you, sir." Zhao Chenhan said.
"Um."
Li Xingye nodded, picked up the teacup and took a sip.
This is serving tea to see guests off.
Zhao Chenhan said tactfully, "Student, take your leave."
Li Xingye said, "Take care, my prince."
Zhao Chenhan said: "My lord, please stay."
Zhao Chenhan turned around and was about to leave when he saw Zhao Lin sitting still. He reminded him, "It's time to go. Don't delay the adults from meeting the guests."
"Don't worry." Zhao Lin smiled and said, "I just have something I want to ask you, sir."
Li Xingye put down his teacup and asked, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Lin was about to speak when he suddenly looked at Zhao Chenhan: "Prince Zhao, are you not busy with anything else?"
Hold!
If he could curse, Zhao Chenhan would definitely curse loudly.
Neither of these is a good thing.
So it's okay for me to ask questions regardless of the occasion, but it's okay for Zhao Lin to ask questions?
Okay, you can do it.
Just wait, when I become the King of Zhenbei, I will make sure that you all die miserably.
Zhao Chenhan left angrily.
Zhao Lincai said, "I just came here and saw people setting up tents outside the city to distribute porridge to disaster victims. I felt deeply moved. The victims are having a hard time getting through the winter, mainly because of a lack of food. If there were enough food, fewer people would die of starvation and cold. So, I'd like to ask, Your Excellency, is there any research in the court on increasing grain production?"
Li Xingye nodded and said, "Indeed, the fact that you can think of this shows that you care deeply about the world."
After a pause, Li Xingye said, "Increasing grain production was indeed discussed by the court before, but..."
Li Xingye paused and said, "Let me test you first. If I ask you to do this, what would you do?"
Zhao Lin immediately said: "There are three ways."
"Oh?" Li Xingye became interested and said, "Tell me about it."
Zhao Lin said, "First, we need to reclaim wasteland and increase the area of arable land. With more land available for cultivation, grain production will naturally increase."
Li Xingye nodded and said, "It's a cliché."
When it comes to increasing food production, this is the first thing many people think of.
Zhao Lin was not discouraged and said, "The second solution is to improve water conservancy facilities. Currently, most people rely on the weather for their crops. If it rains, they get a harvest, but if it doesn't, they get nothing. This is not good. If there are enough water conservancy facilities to irrigate the farmland, we can greatly increase grain production and avoid harvest failures due to drought."
Li Xingye nodded and said, "Someone has said that too."
Zhao Lin said, "The third measure is to investigate the land holdings. All the land that has been concealed by wealthy officials will be cleared out, and a list will be filed with the government for the collection of land taxes. This way, more taxes will be collected, and the people will have to pay less, which is equivalent to an increase in grain production."
Li Xingye looked at Zhao Lin deeply.
"The three methods you mentioned have all been proposed."
"First, His Majesty issued an edict to reclaim wasteland. No taxes were collected for the first three years, half in the fourth year, and full in the fifth. But within three years, the newly reclaimed land disappeared, becoming tax-free land owned by landlords and bureaucrats."
"Secondly, some people have tried digging ditches and canals to connect directly to the fields. But firstly, digging ditches and canals requires too much labor, and many people don't want to do it. Secondly, the water in the ditches is not needed for irrigation during the flood season, and during the dry season, even the wealthy families don't have enough water. How can they be willing to give the water to the people? They just intercept it. Thirdly, during the dry season, there is less water and it can't flow through, so it is useless."
"As for the third option, it's not like no one has suggested it before, but it doesn't take long for anyone to be convicted and sentenced for various reasons. Former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Yun Bin, was sentenced to exile for this very reason, and his entire family was exiled, while his daughter was imprisoned in the Imperial Music Bureau."
Yun Bin is Yun Zhiyi's father.
Li Xingye sighed softly, "I'm glad you thought of this. But it's useless."
Zhao Lin understood.
These affected the interests of all parties. Even someone as strong as Li Xingye, a descendant of the royal family and trusted by the emperor, was powerless.
But Zhao Lin already knew all this without Li Xingye telling him, and he was laying the groundwork for what was to come.
Zhao Lin said: "I know these difficulties, but I want to give it a try."
Li Xingye looked at Zhao Lin, waiting for him to continue.
Zhao Lin said, "If all goes well, I will be appointed prefect of Qingzhou after the new year. At that time, I will have the help of Governor Feng Siyuan and Chief Justice Gao Junliang in the province, and the support of the adults and General Zhu in the court. I can try to implement these three methods."
Li Xingye's heart moved.
What Zhao Lin said might be feasible.
Apart from anything else, as long as Li Xingye is willing to cooperate with Zhu Zhongyan and support Zhao Lin together, Zhao Lin will be equivalent to having the direct support of the emperor, and it is support that goes deep into the local area. Those who are interested will think about it.
Besides, Zhao Lin is not a tough guy. He dared to beat a county magistrate to death in court when he just arrived in Qingzhou. By then, he would have become the prefect of Qingzhou. Anyone who dared to lay a hand on him would be beheaded by him.
In this way, it is really possible to solve the hunger and hardship of the people in a state.
If it succeeds in Qingzhou, we can try to promote it to other places.
Although it is difficult, Li Xingye is not afraid of it.
"good!"
Li Xingye slapped his thigh and said, "If you really have such courage, why not cooperate with that powerful eunuch?"
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "I know that you are not someone who only cares about reputation."
Li Xingye said, "For the sake of the court, I naturally don't care about a little reputation. But this is extremely difficult, so you must be mentally prepared."
Zhao Lin said, "I've already thought of this, and there's also a fourth way to increase grain production."
"Oh? Tell me quickly." Li Xingye said excitedly.
Zhao Lin said, "When I was in Qingzhou, I saw some people combining different varieties of fruit trees to increase their yields. This is called grafting. It allows the trees to grow more and larger fruits. Perhaps we can start from this and cultivate high-yield seeds. In this way, even if I fail, as long as this succeeds, it can also benefit the people."
Li Xingye was moved: "If this really happens, you will be a saint."
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