The prince is more stable

Chapter 922 So-called Integrity

A prime minister and a supervising official were utterly disgusted by the government.

"Eyebrows...exchanging glances?" Zhang Dun was stunned.

Han Zhongyan was also stunned. He quickly stood up and said with utmost seriousness, "Your Majesty, I swear that my relationship with Chancellor Zhang is completely innocent..."

Zhao Xiaoqian's expression immediately twisted strangely as he tried his best to maintain his imperial dignity.

Zhang Dun glanced at Han Zhongyan with a resentful look.

You might as well not explain at all.

Zhao Xiaoqian's lips twitched slightly, then he smiled and said, "Good, good, I believe you two are innocent..."

After a pause, Zhao Xiaoqian added with concern, "Although homosexuality can be considered a refined hobby, you two are, after all, high-ranking officials in the court. Try to be as normal as possible in your personal lives."

Han Zhongyan panicked: "Your Majesty, I didn't..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Dun tugged at him and sighed helplessly, "Shi Pu, ...you should just shut up."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "Forget it, teasing two old men is no fun at all. It's much more interesting to tease women."

"The matter of expanding the Supervisory Office has been discussed. Mr. Shi Pu will now handle this matter. The character assessment of the supervisory officials is of paramount importance. If a supervisory official commits a crime, the punishment will be doubled."

Han Zhongyan bowed and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."

"Let's talk about the second thing, regarding the amendments to the new policy terms..."

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at Zhang Dun and said, "The Green Sprouts Law has been discussed. There is nothing to amend in the specific clauses. The main issue is the supervision of local officials. As long as the supervision is in place and local officials have no loopholes to exploit, the Green Sprouts Law can continue to be implemented, and this new policy can be retained."

Zhang Dun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Your subject understands."

He was actually worried that the government would make too many changes to the new policies. If the new policies were to become unrecognizable in the end, could they still be called new policies?
The retention of the Green Sprouts Act today can be considered an explanation to the New Party officials in the court.

The Green Sprouts Act was one of the core contents of Wang Anshi's New Policies. The fact that this clause was retained shows that the New Policies had not changed, which reassured the New Party officials in the court.

Zhao Xiaoqian then said, "The next thing the New Policy Department will discuss is the 'Equal Taxation Law for Land Surveys.' Does Mr. Zihou have any insights?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dun's eyelids twitched, and his expression immediately became serious.

The "Equal Taxation Law for the Fields" was a new policy provision that no one dared to touch since Wang Anshi proposed the reforms.

During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, Wang Anshi touched upon this issue, and his fate is well-known.

This proposal seemed to have stepped on the tail of the old powerful officials and landlords. As soon as Wang Anshi put it forward, it was met with a frenzied backlash from the powerful officials and landlords all over the country. Those people had ferocious faces and were fearless, looking like they wanted to tear the new party to pieces.

It was also because of the Fangtian Equal Tax Law that several generations of Song emperors suffered considerable pressure, which led to the new law being abolished and reinstated several times.

It's far too sensitive; it's more serious than desecrating the ancestral graves of powerful and wealthy landowners.

In the first year of Shaosheng, after Zhao Xu assumed personal rule, he appointed Zhang Dun as prime minister to continue to preside over the new policies and reforms. However, despite Zhang Dun's strong leadership, although he had spared no effort in promoting Wang Anshi's new policies during his years as prime minister, the "Fangtian Equal Tax Law" had made virtually no progress and had almost stagnated.

None of the officials in the court dared to touch him.

Local officials misinterpreted the new policies for personal gain, and the "Green Sprouts Law" was one of the sources of this profit, but it was only a small part of it.

The real core interests of the powerful and wealthy landowners are land and taxes. To be precise, it is the amount of land they conceal from the imperial government. This is their core interest.

The "Equal Tax Law for Land Use" undoubtedly touched their core interests. These people, who owned a lot of land and property, were determined to fight back against the New Party with all their might.

The Fangtian Equal Taxation system aimed to investigate the quantity of land in the entire country. Once implemented, the amount of land that the powerful and wealthy landlords had concealed could no longer be hidden. From then on, the land in the country was divided into five grades, and the court levied taxes according to the grade. This caused the powerful and wealthy landlords to lose a lot of money and have to pay much more taxes to the court every year.

Even a powerful figure like Zhang Dun dared not easily touch the new policy of "Equal Taxation of Fields". During his years as prime minister, Zhang Dun could only turn a blind eye and pretend that the new policy did not exist, while sparing no effort to promote other new policy provisions.

I originally thought that after Zhao Xiaoqian ascended the throne, he would advocate for the revision of the new policies, and he would pretend not to see this most sensitive new policy and deliberately ignore it. I never expected that Zhao Xiaoqian would bring it up to my face today.

Zhang Dun and Han Zhongyan's expressions changed at that moment.

The emperor wouldn't bring up this new policy without a reason. The fact that he brought it up means he already has the intention to implement it.

This is a dangerous thing to do; one wrong move and it could cause a huge uproar.

"Your Majesty, I urge you to reconsider the Square Field Equal Tax Law... I believe it would be better to postpone it or temporarily shelve it, and only discuss it again after we have implemented other new policies. I think this is the safest approach," Zhang Dun said solemnly.

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered: "If the Fangtian Equal Tax Law is shelved, all the so-called new policies are a joke. As the prime minister, Mr. Zihou, can't you even see this?"

Zhang Dun gave a wry smile.

How could he not understand? He simply dared not. Yes, even the prime minister dared not.

When faced with the fierce counterattack of the old powerful landlords, even the prime minister of the court had to be wary. Back then, Wang Anshi's reform failed because he was overthrown by these powerful landlords, which led to the abolition of the new policies and the return of the old party to power.

If someone touches upon their core interests, they don't care who you are—whether it's the prime minister or even the current emperor—if you dare to touch them, they dare to rebel.

Zhang Dun dared not touch it, but Zhao Xiaoqian did.

Chinese dynasties rose and fell over thousands of years, and the lifespan of a unified dynasty rarely exceeded three hundred years.

The most important reason for this is that as dynasties developed to their final stages, the phenomenon of land grabbing and annexation became increasingly serious, and all the land in the country was concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people.

How could the peasants not rise up in rebellion when they had no land, no food, and no source of income?

We can't survive anymore. Who the hell still cares about you being an emperor or the Son of Heaven? We're all going to die anyway. Even the Heavenly King himself is going to rebel.

Wang Anshi's proposed Fangtian Equal Tax Law was not only intended to increase the court's annual revenue, but more importantly, it could restrain powerful landlords from unlimitedly seizing and annexing farmers' land.

If the data on the increase or decrease of the land area in the country were under the watchful eye of the imperial court, those powerful landlords would have to be more cautious about annexing land, as their every move would be observed by the court.

If you dare to annex too much land, you are very likely to be used as a negative example and be cut up by the imperial court like weeds.

It must be said that Wang Anshi was indeed a man of great talent; his understanding of the state of affairs was both clear-headed and wise.

Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time and ultimately failed.

He probably never imagined that the reform provisions he proposed would later become weapons and tools in the power struggles of the court, and that the people would continue to suffer.

What Zhao Xiaoqian needs to do is to completely resolve these historical issues during his lifetime.

There are clearly specific new policy provisions laid out here, yet no one in the court dares to touch them; they all pretend to turn a blind eye. What's going on here?
"The next topic of discussion for the new administration is the Fangtian Equal Tax Law," Zhao Xiaoqian said firmly. "Let everyone think about whether there are any amendments to this law, how to promote it, and how to implement it. Truth is not clear without debate. Let's discuss the issues thoroughly before implementing it."

Zhang Dun said with difficulty, "Your Majesty, this clause will probably affect the interests of many people. It will inevitably cause great turmoil in the court, and local officials, scholars and common people will all be in turmoil."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled wryly: "Then let's create some turmoil. If they go too far, then we'll just wipe them out."

"In the past, there has never been a bloody killing in the process of reforming and strengthening the country. Let's start with my Jingkang year."

"You may discuss this as you see fit, I will be sharpening my sword behind your backs."

Zhang Dun and Han Zhongyan were startled and looked up abruptly. They saw that although Zhao Xiaoqian's face was smiling, his eyes were filled with a chilling murderous intent.

Zhang Dun's heart sank, realizing that the Emperor was not joking and that he truly intended to kill someone.

Moreover, the number of people killed this time will probably be quite large.

This official may appear to be mild-mannered, but deep down he is an absolute and domineering man. Anyone who dares to obstruct him from doing what he sets his mind to will surely meet a bad end.

"Your Majesty, I urge you to reconsider. If too many civil officials and landlords are killed, it will not only tarnish Your Majesty's reputation, but also cause officials and scholars throughout the land to become disloyal to Your Majesty. This is not something that can be solved by killing people," Zhang Dun advised solemnly.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled.

"This can't be solved by killing someone, Mr. Zihou. You're wrong. You overestimate the integrity of scholars."

For thousands of years, although scholars have read many books by sages and often shouted the slogans of sages, they have always talked about morality and benevolence.

In reality, when a knife is truly held to the throat of a scholar, very few can still uphold their so-called integrity and morality; they are as rare as phoenix feathers.

In real history, the Chinese nation experienced invasions by foreign tribes and the rule of barbarians in the Central Plains. From the Mongol Yuan Dynasty to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Han Chinese civil officials still had to bow down and submit to their foreign masters.

Especially during the Manchu Qing dynasty, Han Chinese civil officials obediently shaved their heads and knelt on the ground, calling themselves slaves.

Where did the so-called "integrity" go at that time?
Therefore, "core interests" are insignificant in the face of "life and death".

When the officials from the Censorate and the Imperial City Guard politely knocked on their doors, they probably knew that no matter how much money and land they possessed, they couldn't leave it to their descendants if they didn't live to enjoy it. At that point, they should learn to be obedient.

As for the emperor's reputation...

Zhao Xiaoqian said that this thing is the least important thing, it doesn't matter whether it exists or not. So what if the history books curse him to death? I've long since turned into a skeleton in a tomb. If you're so capable, dig up my grave and curse me to my face while you're pointing at my skeleton.

...I might even argue back.

"Other matters need not be concerned. The Council of State Affairs and the New Administration Office should focus on their own tasks. Starting tomorrow, we will discuss and deliberate on the Equal Tax Law for the Fields. If any court officials submit memorials to advise against or slander those who oppose it, the Censorate should draft their names and submit them to the emperor. I will deal with them."

(End of this chapter)