Zhu Yunwen's attitude was very clear: the policy of land annexation had to be abolished.
He was determined to take a bite out of the land belonging to the scholars, landlords, and nobles. Although most of the officials present were unwilling, they were powerless to do anything about it.
Those of them in the imperial court should naturally understand the consequences of going against Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen may not deal with them directly, but no one knows what methods he will use.
Therefore, in order to save their lives, no one dared to oppose Zhu Yunwen in the imperial court.
That would not do them any good; it would only make them die faster.
The most terrifying thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang supports Zhu Yunwen. Since Zhu Yuanzhang supports him, the officials not only have to deal with Zhu Yunwen, but also with Zhu Yuanzhang.
This is clearly not a wise choice.
Seeing that there were few people in the court who dared to stand up against abolishing land annexation, Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath in satisfaction and then said:
"Not only should land annexation be abolished, but a land redistribution order should also be implemented. This land redistribution order is to consolidate all the land in the country, make clear statistics, and then distribute it equally according to the population of each place."
Furthermore, the allocated land was to be fully owned by ordinary people and could not be resold or leased long-term. The land allocated to them could be inherited within their families.
Every ten or twenty years, land will be redistributed to ensure absolute fairness. This will prevent some families from becoming smaller but owning vast amounts of land, while others, with larger families, will still own only a small amount of land.
Zhu Yunwen's method was excellent; by redistributing land every twenty years, he could resolve the uneven distribution of land caused by changes in family population.
The officials below were somewhat helpless upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words. They understood that Zhu Yunwen meant to protect the interests of the common people.
This resulted in the sacrifice of the interests of the nobles, officials, and landlords.
Although many officials felt helpless but dared not speak out, they also knew that implementing this matter would definitely not be easy.
Even though these officials stood in the imperial court, they dared not openly oppose Zhu Yunwen, nor openly interfere with his plan to implement land annexation and abolish the land redistribution order.
However, they were also very clear that the landlords, scholar-officials, and nobles of the land would absolutely not allow this matter to proceed smoothly.
Their interests must not be allowed to be undermined.
So even if these officials didn't oppose it in court, they believed that it was highly unlikely to be achieved.
However, to their surprise, Zhu Yunwen spoke again:
"I am very determined about this matter. Not only will it be implemented, but it will be done with swift and decisive measures. These are the two most important decrees of our Great Ming Dynasty going forward."
Whether they were officials, nobles, gentry, or landlords, anyone who dared to obstruct the implementation of these two decrees of the Ming Dynasty would be imprisoned or sentenced to death.
Remember this: the greatest crime in the world is to oppose the people and deprive them of their interests. This is absolutely forbidden in my Great Ming Dynasty, and even more so here.
I know what you're all thinking. You don't dare to openly oppose us in court, but you'll try to communicate with the scholar-official class, nobles, and landlords in private, hoping to use their power to launch a rebellion.
That's a pipe dream. Our Great Ming Dynasty has only been established for a little over twenty years. It hasn't reached the point where it can be forcibly bound by you nobles, officials, and landlords. They can't threaten the Great Ming Dynasty either.
If any situation becomes uncontrollable, I will use strong measures to suppress it forcefully. Therefore, I hope everyone will behave themselves and obediently carry out my decrees.
If I find out that anyone has not only failed to carry out the plan properly, but has also been hindering its progress, then hmph, it won't be as simple as executing their entire family.
These words turned the faces of countless officials below pale. They felt as if Zhu Yunwen had seen through them, and they were all inexplicably panicked.
She didn't even dare to meet Zhu Yunwen's gaze.
At this moment, the Minister of Revenue immediately stepped forward and said to Zhu Yunwen:
"The Ministry of Revenue will resolutely implement His Highness the Crown Prince's decrees!"
Zhu Yunwen nodded in satisfaction. Zhang Shan was one of his men. He was originally from the lower class, with a relatively clean background, and had no ties to the scholar-official, landlord, or noble class.
Therefore, he was not only Zhu Yunwen's confidant, but this matter would also not harm his interests, so he had every reason to strongly support Zhu Yunwen.
The newly appointed Minister of War, Feng Sheng, also stepped forward and said:
"My Ministry of War also supports Your Highness. If necessary, I will be the first to step forward and clear obstacles for Your Highness to implement your decrees."
He had to make a statement because he knew that his position as Minister of War was given to him by Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen did not harbor any suspicion towards him; on the contrary, he valued him highly, which made Feng Sheng very grateful to Zhu Yunwen.
Furthermore, he also received some information from Fu Youde, saying that Zhu Yuanzhang had intended to eliminate Fu Youde and Feng Sheng, the two princes' in-laws, to clear away any potential threats to the future crown prince.
It was Zhu Yunwen who stepped forward and stopped this.
Although Fu Youde didn't reveal much to Feng Sheng, these few words were enough for Feng Sheng to know that Zhu Yunwen had not only saved Fu Youde's life, but also his.
He has now been appointed Minister of War, which is an absolute sign of trust and high regard.
Although the policies of abolishing land annexation and distributing land also harmed Feng Sheng to some extent, at least the extra land he had would be taken back.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
