Meanwhile, the Third Prince, after traveling for seven or eight days, finally arrived at Yuquan Manor.
Xie Yushu was somewhat surprised by the arrival of the Third Prince. She had learned about the situation in the capital through the information transmitted by Qiu Shuang and the others. Moreover, nearly half of the Divine Eagle Guards had finished practicing their spear techniques and Qingfeng had sent them out. Based on the information they had gathered, they also knew the general movements of the aristocratic families and wealthy merchants.
Although she had anticipated that the conflict between the imperial power and the aristocratic families would not be resolved so quickly, she truly did not expect that the Third Prince would abandon his advisors and come to her instead.
Of course, before the Third Prince spoke up, she was unsure of the purpose of his visit and simply provided him with a standard reception.
Fortunately, the Third Prince was not one to beat around the bush; after a few polite words, he got straight to the point.
"I have long heard that the princess is wise and resourceful. The reason I have come here to bother you is that I have some things I would like to ask the princess."
"Your Highness is too kind. I am unworthy of such praise."
"Princess, there's no need to be so modest. I came here because I was really bored staying in the palace."
People in that circle all speak and act in pretty much the same way, it's really unoriginal and incredibly boring.
Thinking about how the princess does things in an unconventional way, I thought I'd also try to broaden my thinking.
Regardless of the outcome of what I said today, I thank the princess.
Having said all that, Xie Yushu felt it would be ungrateful to be modest any further, so she could only say...
"Saying it's unconventional is just a whim. Since the Third Prince is interested, why not tell me? Although I'm not sure I can offer any suitable suggestions, I'll do my best. Consider it a brainstorming session."
Seeing that Xie Yushu was no longer being polite, the Third Prince said...
"I'm sure the princess has heard that a few days ago, the emperor issued an edict that for families with more than 200 acres of land, the tax on the excess portion will increase by 20%."
That is, for land of 200 mu or less, only 20% tax is levied per mu. Based on the current grain yield of 500 jin, that means 100 jin is levied per mu.
For the portion of land exceeding 200 mu, a tax of 200 jin of grain per mu shall be levied.
Although it sounds like a lot, with biogas fertilizer, grain production has also increased. Those powerful families all own tens of thousands of acres of land, so these taxes are not much for them.
In fact, this edict had little impact on ordinary people; it was mainly aimed at powerful families. Firstly, since they enjoyed more national resources, it was only right that they contribute more to the national treasury of the Great Qi.
Secondly, it was also intended to limit the revenue generated from land, thereby stopping these large families from acquiring more land.
Give more land to the poor to reduce the number of people without homes and land.
Only with industry can one have a stable family; only with families can one have manpower; only then can the country have successors and become stronger and stronger.
However, as soon as the emperor issued his decree, these powerful families jumped out to oppose it.
Not only that, they also demanded to intervene in the government's industries, citing the shortage of goods such as glass and electric lights after the trade was established.
This time, Father Emperor sent Lord Han, myself, the Grand Tutor, and Lord Yao, who is known for his stubbornness, to each go to four different directions to implement the issues of biogas waste and tax reform. I don't know how things are going with those officials, but I certainly got a run of bad luck.
However, I suspect their situation isn't much better than mine.
To be honest, the people my father sent out were all well-known honest officials in the court, and their abilities were all first-rate. However, the powerful families were in cahoots, so even though they were exceptionally capable, they could not move an inch on other people's territory!
This matter has been deadlocked for two months now. Father Emperor is so angry he has a headache, and I, the prince, am also very angry!
When I was on the grasslands with Pei Jie, I overheard him talking about the Princess's use of straw men to borrow arrows and the burning of granaries by birds in Tianshui City. I wonder if the Princess has any brilliant plan to thoroughly humiliate the powerful clans about this?
The Third Prince was probably furious. He gritted his teeth and looked murderous when he mentioned the aristocratic families, indicating that he had suffered a lot at their hands.
Xie Yushu has been living a semi-secluded life lately. She was exhausted from the previous period, both mentally and emotionally. So, she tries to avoid using her brain as much as possible. Even when Zhao Hu and Qingfeng report some news to her, she doesn't bother to think about it unless it involves the manor.
Upon hearing so much from the Third Prince, I had to first process it all and organize the information.
The Third Prince's mouth was dry from talking. Seeing that Xie Yushu remained silent, he became anxious and drank two cups of tea by himself before refraining from urging her.
This is both a game of strategy and a test. The powerful families are testing Emperor Qingyuan's determination to implement this edict, while Emperor Qingyuan is also testing the bottom line of the powerful families' willingness to make concessions.
The primary goal of emperors throughout history was to consolidate imperial power, followed by development.
If a ruler of a country is constantly controlled by others, what difference is there between him and someone being choked? He would surely wish he could break the hand that is choking him.
The aristocratic families should never have, ever should never have, sought to share a piece of the business pie with Emperor Qingyuan at this critical juncture.
This is simply adding fuel to the fire.
Actually, they are not unaware of the situation; it's just that wealth is tempting, and they forget their proper place.
After a while, Xie Yushu spoke.
"In other words, the main conflict between the emperor and the aristocratic families is actually the conflict over the inability to share land ownership and commercial management rights."
The emperor wanted to control land annexation and force them to return what they had taken.
And they still felt they hadn't eaten enough.
Not only did it cling tightly to what it was holding, but it also tried to pull some more back.
That's really a bit greedy.
Land annexation will inevitably become a major problem sooner or later. Historically, all peasant uprisings have been influenced by land annexation.
It's a good thing that the Emperor took action in this area early on.
However, getting them to vomit directly will probably not be easy; it will inevitably involve bloodshed, and even a major reshuffle of the court.
This would have too great an impact on the entire court and could potentially cause unrest.
It would be better to give up some of the profits in exchange for their land.
Now that this decree to increase taxes has been issued, it should be carried through to the end. Make an example of a few who don't pay taxes to deter others.
At the same time, the production qualifications, production methods, and sales channels of the goods are all priced and exchanged for a price several times or even dozens of times higher than that of the land.
They were given either land or the right to operate businesses selling goods such as glass and electric lights.
Just tell them they can only choose one of the two options.
Xie Yushu's method was essentially turning a sharp knife into a dull one. Both methods were still meant to cut the flesh of the aristocratic families, but Xie Yushu's strategy made it seem a little more refined, making it more acceptable to them.
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