In the back hall.

Zhao Hao didn't know that Jiangnan Company had just been on the brink of death. If Lin Run hadn't had a more important opponent, he might have ordered him to hand over the cement formula on the spot.

This is something Zhao Hao cannot resist at all. Lin Run only needs to send an army to take over Xishan Island. Could it be that his gunner battalion really dares to fight against the imperial army?

By then, the secrets of cement will naturally be exposed, and Jiangnan Company will no longer have such a powerful tool to expand its territory.

Mr. Zhao, who was unaware of Lin Run's thoughts, was still considering whether to take on this big project.

Of course he was willing to do so, as this would allow the entire Susong area to be incorporated into the Jiangnan Company's system.

But Zhao Hao did not show any joy on his face, but smiled frankly and said: "For this matter, Zhongcheng needs to discuss it with Chairman Hua. The younger generation is only interested in science and does not understand business matters."

This answer did not surprise Lin Run.

After knowing that Mr. Zhao only had 2 percentage points of shares, he didn't think this young man had much say in Jiangnan Company.

In Lin Zhongcheng's opinion, the Hua and Wang families were the real decision-makers of Jiangnan Company. And Mr. Zhao was only included in their small circle because he invented cement and because of his father and godmother's identities.

This is also an important reason why Lin Run did not regard Zhao Hao as an opponent. If he knew that Mr. Zhao was the real owner of Jiangnan Company, he would probably have to put aside all the important things on hand and deal with this monster first.

A teenager has the ability to swallow up the whole of Jiangnan. What will happen when he grows up? I'm afraid the entire Ming Dynasty will not be enough for him to mess with.

With a change of mind, he let Zhao Hao go and temporarily let Jiangnan Company go.

In the following ten years, no one of the governors of Yingtian had the vision of Lin Run. When another governor realized this ten years later, the Jiangnan Company had already become a big deal, and the Minister of Justice could only sigh helplessly and keep a low profile.

It can be seen that anyone who can accomplish great things in this world must have great luck. Otherwise, no matter how powerful he is, he will end up in failure.

~~

Lin Run believed Zhao Hao's lies, so he naturally stopped forcing him, and only asked him to talk to Grand Tutor Hua about it. He told Chairman Hua that he would visit him another day to discuss the matter in detail.

Just when Zhao Hao thought that the review should be over, he heard Lin Zhongcheng say slowly:

"To solve the flood problem, it is always better to dredge than to block. If the entire river basin is not dredged, no matter how high the levee in Kunshan County is built, it will be at risk of flooding sooner or later."

"You don't have to worry about this, Zhongcheng. Zhongcheng Pan has designed a plan for us. Once the water level exceeds the warning line, we can immediately build a temporary sub-dike on the levee. Unless Suzhou City is submerged, we will be safe."

"You are harming your neighbors." Lin Run pointed at him and scolded him with a smile, "I think you are holding back to take revenge on Wu Jiang and Huating."

"We don't have such an idea. They have been taking advantage of their neighbors every year, and they have made us suffer a lot." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "You can't just allow them to celebrate on the first day of the month and not allow us to celebrate on the fifteenth day, right?"

"To completely solve the flood problem in Taihu Lake, we cannot learn from Gun, but from Dayu, and dredge all the waterways." Lin Run said in a deep voice.

"Zhongcheng is wise. We in Kunshan will definitely support it. Kunkaisi is also preparing to adopt the three methods of widening the river, straightening the bends, and confining the water to flush out the sand when repairing the south dike of Wusong River according to the plan designed by Zhongcheng Pan, so as to double the water carrying capacity of Wusong River in Kunshan County!"

"This move is certainly commendable, but what's the point of just doing this in Kunshan?" Lin Run said with a smile: "Besides, if you do this, the floods in other counties will be even more serious!"

Kunshan is low-lying and has always been the flood discharge area of ​​the entire Suzhou and Songjiang regions. If Kunshan is surrounded by dams, where will the floodwaters from Taihu Lake go? They will only flood other places.

"It's not our fault." Zhao Hao spread his hands and said innocently, "Prime Minister Pan gave us a plan to dig a Taipu River from Wujiang to divert floodwaters, but Wujiang and Huating refused to do it. We had no choice but to build the levee with great effort."

"I am here to solve this problem." Lin Run waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Next, I will go to Songjiang to see if I can mobilize them to give up some of the polder fields and let our hospital dredge the lower reaches of the Wusong River."

"That's great." Zhao Hao offered his sincere blessing and said, "With Lord Zhongcheng taking action, there will definitely be no problem!"

"It's not that easy." Lin Run smiled bitterly and sighed, "Most of the land in Songjiang belongs to the Xu family, and the remaining small part also belongs to the Xu family. As long as Xu doesn't agree, this matter can't be done."

"..." Zhao Hao glanced at Lin Zhongcheng strangely, thinking why are you talking about this to a kid like me.

Yes, we had some misunderstandings in the past. But now this young master and Lord Xu are doing well, his son works for me, and his grandson studies with me, I don't want to get involved in this mess...

"But this is a tough nut to crack." Lin Run ignored him and continued to talk to himself: "Since taking office, this court has been pushing for equal distribution of grain in Jiangnan and between officials and civilians. So far, nine prefectures have been completed, and only Songjiang has not yet been surveyed."

"This court has repeatedly ordered the prefect of Songjiang to survey the land, but they have always shirked their responsibilities with various excuses. All the prefectures are looking at Songjiang. As long as they don't complete the survey, the so-called 'equal distribution of grain in Jiangnan, and unity between officials and civilians' will never be realized."

Zhao Hao nodded, and suddenly felt as if he was experiencing history firsthand.

Only then did he realize that the Ming Dynasty's tax reform had reached the most critical moment.

The country was impoverished, and the treasury was cleaner than Mr. Zhao's face. The tax system of the Ming Dynasty had reached a point where it had to be changed, or else it would be fatal.

At this time, Jiangxi had already begun to try out the Single Whip Law. All provinces were also trying different tax reforms, and all knowledgeable and responsible officials were trying to figure out how to increase the court's revenue and reduce the number of people fleeing.

The top priority of the tax reform is naturally Jiangnan, which accounts for one-third of the world's tax revenue. As long as Jiangnan can be reformed, the reform can be smoothly implemented throughout the country, and the Ming Dynasty will be able to continue this momentum and prolong its prosperity for another hundred or eighty years.

If the south of the Yangtze River cannot be reformed, the country’s destruction is imminent.

Therefore, Lin Run and his predecessors have been looking for a new tax system that is most suitable for Jiangnan. After continuous attempts by several governors of Yingtian, they finally found the right path for reform - officials and civilians should share the same land and grain!

The so-called "officials and civilians are treated equally, and land and grain are equally distributed" has two meanings. First, the official land that originally belonged to the state is treated equally with the civilian land, and both parties pay taxes and grain according to the same standards.

The second is to distribute all taxes and levies to the land. Only when there is land will there be taxes. If there is a lot of land, the tax is heavy. If there is a little land, the tax is light. If there is no land, there is no tax.

In this way, the people and the country will benefit greatly, but the interests of the powerful landlords will be harmed.

ps. Please give me a monthly ticket for Chapter 3!!!