Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After the court assembly concluded, the previously agreed-upon tax of 400 million mu and 30 million shi of land was transformed into a practical and feasible strategy.

Han Kuang, along with the Planning and Development Committee, distributed tasks to the provinces according to the quotas agreed upon in the imperial court.

At this moment, looking at the preliminary figures for acreage in each province, he felt genuinely fortunate that the emperor's decision to divide Huguang (Hubei and Hunan) had prevented the unification of the entire south.

"With the two lakes separated like this, Hubei is definitely unwilling to be grouped with the southwestern provinces, and Hunan probably wouldn't be willing either."

"The five southwestern provinces have been effectively broken up. Southern Zhili, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong wanted to form the five southeastern provinces, but Hunan and Hubei were unwilling."

"This division of Huguang into separate regions is truly a brilliant move. Could it be that His Majesty had been preparing for the partition of the South all along?"

If Huguang (Hubei and Hunan) were not separated, it would naturally form the five southwestern provinces along with Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi.

The remaining Southern Zhili, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces naturally formed the five southeastern provinces, creating two major regions.

Then, because of the close ties between Hubei and Hunan and the five southeastern provinces, the five southwestern provinces would naturally establish connections with the five southeastern provinces through Hubei and Hunan. When they united, they formed the combined force of the entire south.

However, after the split, Hubei would definitely prefer to align itself with Southern Zhili and the Central Plains, rather than being on the same level as other southwestern provinces.

The five southeastern provinces are willing to court Hubei, but Hunan would definitely not agree to that.

Why is Hubei grouped with the southeast, while Hunan is grouped with several southwestern provinces?
It would certainly like to align itself with the five southeastern provinces, but in that case, southwestern provinces such as Sichuan would not be as close to Hubei and Hunan.

Moreover, with the five southeastern provinces becoming seven, the complexities due to increased interests will make it even harder to reach a unified consensus.

The entire south, without the central coordination of Hubei and Hunan provinces, was divided into three large regions: four southwestern provinces, two central provinces, and five southeastern provinces.

Moreover, the five southeastern provinces of Southern Zhili, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang are not very close to Fujian and Guangdong.

The relationships in the entire South became complicated, and it was difficult to form a united force in the officialdom.
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At this moment, Han Kuang realized that as long as he could appease a few provinces, the entire south would remain silent.

This made it much easier for him to formulate plans, allowing him to selectively relax restrictions on provinces such as Hubei and Sichuan to avoid pushing them too hard and getting them mixed up.

Facing Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, he, being a native of Shanxi, made no attempt to conceal this point.

Qian Shisheng's betrayal made him realize that the Donglin Party in the south was beginning to slip out of his control. As the leader of the Donglin Party, he naturally had to do his best to suppress this.

Bi Ziyan was close to the Donglin Party and was from Shandong. Therefore, he naturally had no objection to the division of the South.

Instead, he said with emotion:
"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have changed many ancestral rules."

"However, the rule that people from Suzhou, Songjiang, and Zhejiang were not allowed to serve as officials in the Ministry of Revenue has been strictly enforced without any change."

"Now it seems that His Majesty had indeed planned to increase taxes on the south for a long time."

"Given the current situation in the North, it's impossible to collect taxes even if we wanted to."

Han Kuang fell silent upon hearing this, thinking of the situation in his hometown.

Although the situation in Shanxi, where he was located, was slightly better than in Shaanxi, the situation was actually more chaotic than in Shaanxi because the officials who had governed the province before were incompetent.

If the emperor hadn't decisively sent Sun Chuanting to take charge, Shanxi would probably be teeming with bandits by now.

In this situation, forget about taxation. The most important thing now is the immigration the emperor mentioned—

Only by relocating all the displaced people can the scourge be averted. This would prevent the bandits roaming the countryside from replenishing their ranks. Thinking of the situation mentioned in the letters from his relatives and friends back home, and considering that the Emperor had allowed him to take action against the Prince of Shu in Sichuan under the pretext of investigating the preferential treatment for ancestral worship, he set his sights on the Prince of Jin in Shanxi, who was also taking advantage of this to seize land on a large scale.

The Jin and Dai vassal states were both large vassal states with large populations and huge stipends. If these two vassal kings were moved out, Shanxi would definitely be able to reduce a lot of burdens.

He thought of Qian Qianyi, who was in charge of this matter, and felt it was possible to contact him and collaborate on this project.

Qian Qianyi was, after all, from Donglin University, so even if they had academic disagreements, there was still a bond of kinship between them.

Moreover, Suzhou, where he was born, had already completed the land survey and tax reform, so he wouldn't get mixed up with those in Jiangxi and Zhejiang who opposed the land survey.

Therefore, after nearly a year of coldness, Han Kuang and Qian Qianyi's relationship became close again.

Han Kuang even secretly promised to support him in becoming a high-ranking official next year.
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Qian Qianyi certainly needs the support of the Grand Secretary in order to secure a good position during next year's reshuffle.

However, before he could even rejoice, the "Science" magazine circulating in the capital dealt him a heavy blow.

His face contorted as he looked at the publication:

"You're not a human being!"

"You're not a human being!"

How could Zhang Tianru do such a thing?

Where does he place me?

After a year of hard work, the magazine "Hanlin" was finally published and became an instant hit, receiving praise from both the court and the public.

Qian Qianyi regarded this as his greatest achievement and even planned to use it as a basis to seek the position of Minister of Rites next year.

However, he never expected that Zhang Pu, who had only been back in the capital for half a month, would organize people to compile a book called "Science" in such a short period of time.

It also contains articles by the emperor, and even more essays. Taken together, its influence is no less than that of the Hanlin Academy.

How could he save face? If he were to use his achievements in compiling the Hanlin Academy to seek the position of Minister of Rites next year, wouldn't he be looked down upon?
He now feels like a joke, and can even imagine how some people are laughing at him behind his back.

What broke his defenses even more was the emperor's epistemology published in "Science," which mentioned practice. Zhang Pu even elaborated on this and proposed scientific experiments.

These two words containing the character "实" (shí, meaning real or substantial) clearly refer to practical learning.

Qian Qianyi felt extremely heartbroken when he thought about how science had taken them away from him:
"Zhang Tianru, Zhang Tianru..."

As he murmured the name, Qian Qianyi felt as if this younger generation from his hometown had dealt him a heavy blow from behind.

Now, his achievements are no longer significant, and even his foundation in academia, his practical knowledge, has been under attack by science.

Whenever he thought about this, he longed to grab Zhang Pu and interrogate him:
Isn't now the time for practical learning and science to unite against the old school of thought?

Why would they suddenly attack an old man like me?
The relationship between the two suddenly became tense, no longer the one of both rivalry and friendship they once had.

Qian Qianyi had completely regarded Zhang Pu as a major enemy, and gathered his friends and disciples, intending to write more substantial articles to completely suppress Zhang Pu's "Science".

With the entire Hanlin Academy as his backing, and learned officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Qian Qianyi was very confident. He planned to first develop theory and then combine it with practice, establishing achievements that would not be questioned by others. (End of Chapter)