When I returned to the table, the debate was about to begin.
As soon as Xue Zhiyi sat down, he saw Shen Qingtang holding her cheek with red eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Seeing that Shen Qingtang didn't answer, she looked at Xue Runing again. Xue Runing didn't understand what was going on and just shook his head.
Shen Qingtang was already sad, and when she saw the two of them coming back one after another, she sobbed and threw herself on Xue Zhiyi's shoulder. She didn't say a word, but just wiped her tears silently.
Xue Zhiyi wanted to ask her what happened, but Shen Qingtang just said with a nasal tone: "Zhiyi, don't ask, I'm fine, just let me lean on you for a while."
At this moment, another gong sounded.
Finally, it’s time to read the policy papers publicly.
As expected, as in the previous life, most opinions still focus on the short-sightedness of the people and the corruption of local officials.
Until that article that shocked everyone appeared.
In the Guanshan Pavilion, beside Ge Jingyang, a book boy was holding a policy paper and reading it aloud.
The views of this policy paper are different from those of everyone else.
He believed that it was not that the people were unwilling to pay the charity granary tax, but that they were simply unable to afford it because the taxes on the people were already too high.
Although the taxes written in the "Dayong Laws" were not high, the actual taxes were much higher than that.
The aristocratic families in various regions were deeply rooted, and most of the officials in the court came from them. They were able to use their power to manipulate the court to reduce taxes on their relatives. However, the annual tax revenue that each region had to pay to the court was fixed, so they could only exploit the people.
Your Majesty felt that the tax was not high, so he wanted to levy a charity granary tax, but this was due to deception at each level by the lower levels, which led to Your Majesty's misjudgment.
Furthermore, the imperial court allocated land to the common people based on population, with two-thirds of the land becoming permanent land, inheritable from generation to generation. However, officials resorted to levying taxes, forcing ordinary people to sell their permanent land or even into slavery. The common people became the household slaves of the aristocratic families, and their inherited permanent land naturally fell into the hands of the families.
Aristocratic families occupied most of the land but evaded taxes, placing a growing burden on the people. This led to more people selling themselves into slavery to survive. If this continued, the rich would become richer and the poor would become poorer, undermining the very foundations of Dayong.
To solve the problem fundamentally, it is not a matter of charity granary tax, but a tax reform. Taxes should no longer be levied based on population, but based on the amount of land held.
After this long speech was finished, everything was silent for a while.
Only Jiang Xu had a proud face, with high fighting spirit in his eyes and tears in his eyes.
Gradually, everyone started talking about it.
It’s not that no one else has thought of this point of view, but it is too harsh. Or maybe he himself comes from a prominent family, so how could he say such self-defeating words?
Xue Zhiyi glanced in the direction of Huo Wuyou.
This is why Huo Wuyou felt that her substitution would harm Xue Tingliu and even Xue Zhentong.
Regarding the discussion of this article, most of the children from poor families supported it, while the children from wealthy families tried their best to suppress it. The discussion was tit-for-tat and deadlocked.
Although the discussion has not yet reached a conclusion, the authors of the articles to be read publicly today must still be announced one by one.
Many people are also curious about who wrote this overly bold article.
Jiang Xu adjusted his collar, raised his face, and looked calm and composed.
Ge Jingyang flipped open the signature on the back of the book and saw his brows pause slightly, but he quickly covered up the slight annoyance: "This essay is written by - Xue Tingliu."
In an instant, there was another uproar.
Looking in the direction of Xue Tingliu, I saw him sitting among the scholars, with a sudden shock in his eyes.
The children from poor families were all amazed at this moment.
"Xue Tingliu? Isn't he the son of the Minister of Revenue? Despite his background, he's sympathetic to the people and possesses brilliant literary talent. It's clear he's truly as gifted as the rumors say!"
"You don't know that the Minister of Revenue also came from a humble family. This shows that Minister Xue has a good way of educating his son and has not forgotten his origins. This is truly rare."
"With such a father and son serving in the court, our Great Yong has successors, and the country has hope of peace and prosperity!"
For the first time, Xue Tingliu felt the exclamations around him were so harsh... Who? Who did this?!
When he met Ge Jingyang's gaze, he felt like sitting on pins and needles.
The noble families around him had fallen silent.
Who in the imperial court didn't know that Prince Gong was the most popular among the aristocratic families? Prince Gong's faction represented the interests of the major aristocratic families. Although Xue Zhentong came from a humble background, he had long been under Prince Gong's command and was even related to him by marriage. Now, what did Xue Zhentong's son mean by writing such an article?
Listening to the discussions, Xue Zhiyi couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
Prince Gong's mother, Concubine Ge, was of noble birth, and most aristocratic families favored Prince Gong.
Prince Sheng's biological mother was just a palace maid, so she had no support from her maternal family. In order to compete with Prince Gong, Prince Sheng had been trying to build up his own power. The most convenient way was to win over some noble families who were already dissatisfied with Prince Sheng's party, and then support the poor children who passed the imperial examinations and became officials to become new nobles, and let them become his own party members.
So in his previous life, Jiang Xu's test paper was replaced not only because Xue Tingsheng was useless, but also because it was the result of the competition between Prince Cheng and Prince Gong.
With Jiang Xu's talent, Prince Cheng would definitely find a way to recruit him. By exchanging Jiang Xu's test paper with Xue Tingsheng, Prince Gong would not only get rid of a court official who would collude with Prince Cheng in the future, but also support Xue Tingsheng who would be loyal to him.
Now that Xue Zhiyi has made this change, not only can he temporarily cover up Jiang Xu's edge and save his life, but he has also disrupted Prince Gong's sight, making him doubt Xue Zhentong's position, and also making Xue Tingliu, a member of Prince Sheng's party hidden in Prince Gong's party, be targeted by Prince Gong.
At this point, Xue Tingliu could only stand up and bow: "It's just a few superficial opinions from Xue, please forgive me for making fun of you."
Jiang Xu had already stood there in a daze, watching all this in disbelief... This was clearly his article, so how did it become someone else's?
He clutched the hem of his clothes on his knees, and his lips trembled slightly.
Beside him, a scholar asked him, "Brother Jiang, what's wrong with you?"
Jiang Xu gritted his teeth and shook his head firmly: "Nothing..."
The other party was the son of a Shangshu mansion, while he had traveled thousands of miles to Beijing to take the imperial examination, all alone and without anyone to rely on. He had seen the horror of power before, so how could he defeat someone of such a background?
How could Fu Rongxin, who had been reborn, not know who wrote this article in her previous life? She turned her head and looked at Xue Zhiyi, guessing that the instigator was her.
However, Fu Rongxin didn't think that deeply for the time being. She thought that Xue Zhiyi simply didn't want Xue Tingsheng to pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar through this method like in his previous life.
She sneered inwardly: Did Xue Zhiyi think she was reborn in vain? As long as she proposed to Fu Ling and Xue Zhentong, Jiang Xu's test paper would eventually be given to Xue Tingsheng.
Could it be that Xue Zhiyi thought that if she could save Shen Qingtang, she could save everyone else? She really overestimated her own abilities.
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