The prince is more stable

Chapter 935 Shocking
Empress Dowager Xiang and Zhao Xiaoqian had a dispute, which was also about the Fangtian Equal Tax Law.

Zhao Xiaoqian clearly felt great resistance to implementing this new policy, from the court to the common people, and even the imperial harem.

Empress Dowager Xiang, who never interfered in court affairs, actually personally pleaded with Zhao Xiaoqian to postpone or suspend the Fangtian Equal Tax Law.

It's easy to imagine how many people's livelihoods this new policy has affected.

That time, Zhao Xiaoqian and Empress Dowager Xiang had a very unpleasant argument, almost to the point of breaking off relations face to face.

Zhao Xiaoqian was well aware that what he was doing was disrupting the class balance in the world and harming the interests of many people.

However, as the saying goes, if he wants to ensure that the vast majority of people in the world have enough to eat, then he can only choose to sacrifice the interests of a small minority.

They have so much; they should share some with the poor people of the world.

Therefore, Zhao Xiaoqian first set his sights on Empress Dowager Xiang. Her willingness to directly interfere in court affairs indicated that the Fangtian Equal Tax Law also touched upon her interests.

To catch a tiger, start with the biggest one.

In any case, although he and Empress Dowager Xiang are nominally mother and son, he has no feelings for her whatsoever. From the time he seized the throne until now, their relationship has been nothing more than mutual exploitation and mutual benefit.

Of course, Huo Die might not think that way, but Zhao Xiaoqian didn't care. He knew Huo Die's character very well; he was a scumbag who would deny everything after he had done his bidding.

If he had to choose between beautiful women and his son's imperial power, Zhao Hao's answer would never disappoint Zhao Xiaoqian.

The tacit understanding between father and son and their shared values ​​gave Zhao Xiaoqian the confidence to take action against the Empress Dowager.

"Tell me, what's the situation between Empress Dowager Xiang and her relatives?" Zhao Xiaoqian said calmly.

Zhen Qing lowered his head and said, "After the Imperial City Guard has investigated these past few days, it has been found that most of the land owned by Empress Dowager Xiang and her relatives is concentrated in the capital region, including farms and estates outside Bianjing, as well as land in six prefectures and more than twenty counties and townships in Nanjing and Luoyang."

"There are more than 40 plots of land directly under the name of Empress Dowager Xiang, totaling about 80,000 hectares, and about 40,000 hectares of land under the names of her relatives."

"Each member of the clan owns a different amount of land, but they are all large landowners. Moreover, the land under their names is all top-quality fertile land. In other words, they only want top-quality fertile land and look down on the second-best."

Zhao Xiaoqian was taken aback, and his face immediately turned very ugly.

He originally thought that even if Empress Dowager Xiang owned a lot of land, at most the whole family would only have about 10,000 hectares, but he never expected that the actual amount was more than ten times that of his expectations.

The total area is over 120,000 hectares, which is more than 12 million mu of land, and all of it is top-quality farmland.

This is just the Xiang family alone, yet the amount of land they own is already astonishing.

These people have taken over all the land. What will the farmers grow? What will they eat?
No wonder so many people oppose the equal taxation of the land. The land under heaven is truly untraceable and cannot be investigated. Once investigated, countless ugly faces and unspeakable crimes will be exposed.

"Empress Dowager, very good!" Zhao Xiaoqian said, taking a deep breath.

Seeing his ashen face, Zhen Qing hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. There may be some errors in what the Imperial City Guard found. I will verify them again."

Zhao Xiaoqian remained silent.

The Imperial City Guard's ability to investigate cases is beyond doubt. Zhen Qing was just afraid of getting involved in palace intrigues and worried that the data would damage the imperial family's reputation if it were leaked, so he deliberately said that there might be errors.

But Zhao Xiaoqian was well aware of the actual situation.

This is actually the real data, without any falsification. It concerns the Empress Dowager and the imperial family, so the Imperial City Guard and Zhen Qing wouldn't dare to falsify it.

If the land holdings of the Xiang family alone are so staggering, then think deeper: how much land do the Zhao imperial family members own? How much land do those seemingly respectable prime ministers and ministers in the court own? How much land do officials, powerful families, and landlords throughout the land own?
Don't forget that the Song Dynasty had not yet completed the unification of China; it was merely a separatist regime. The amount of land in the country was not as much as one might imagine, and the population of the Song Dynasty during the Yuanfeng era was already close to one hundred million.

If land is concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people, what about the rest?
Zhen Qing silently handed over a list, which detailed various aspects of the land owned by Empress Dowager Xiang and her relatives, including the amount of land they had concealed from the local government.

Zhao Xiaoqian took the list, glanced at it indifferently, and then put it into his pocket.

"You may leave now," Zhao Xiaoqian sighed.

Zhen Qing carefully and slowly withdrew from the hall.

Zhao Xiaoqian sat alone in the hall for an unknown amount of time before suddenly standing up and calling out, "Old Zheng, Old Zheng!"

Zheng Chunhe appeared immediately.

"Prepare the carriages and horses; I wish to return to the Chu Prince's residence."

…………

Qingshou Hall.

Today, Empress Dowager Xiang dismissed all the eunuchs and palace maids. Several elderly people sat in the hall. Some of them were members of the royal family, some were veteran officials of three reigns, and some were wealthy merchants and landowners who had interests in Empress Dowager Xiang's family.

The atmosphere inside the hall was heavy; everyone had a somber face, and the air seemed to have solidified into a black cloud.

The case of Shi Zhongxian's suicide has taken a turn.

And so the plans of everyone in the hall fell through. They had only hoped to use Shi Zhongxian's death to create public opinion, and under the weight of public opinion, even if the emperor was resolute, he probably wouldn't be able to push through the implementation of the Fangtian Equal Tax Law.

Unexpectedly, the case took a turn for the better just a few days later.

Shi Zhongxian became a pariah, and the words that were originally detrimental to the emperor were no longer mentioned. In fact, many people even repented and apologized to the emperor, feeling that they had wronged him.

The plans of the people in the hall had obviously failed. Now they had to face the Emperor's unwavering determination and the upcoming Fangtian Equal Tax Law from the Council of State Affairs and the New Administration Department.

Once formally enacted into law, this new policy will be unstoppable. When it becomes the national law of the Song Dynasty, anyone who dares to disobey will be dealt with by officials of the Censorate.

This new policy has a huge impact on the interests of everyone in the palace.

"What do we do now? I've done everything I could, even argued with the Emperor face-to-face. His expression at the time..."

"In short, you all know my current status. The Emperor is not my biological son and has no blood relation with me. He will certainly not give me any face," Empress Dowager Xiang said coldly.

An old minister squinted, stroked his beard, and said slowly, "No matter what, we cannot allow the Emperor to continue this nonsense. What 'equal taxation of land'? He is threatening our very lifeline. I will never allow it!"

Another old minister said helplessly, "The emperor has the power in his hands, what can we do to him? It's a pity that the land under my and my clansmen's names will have to be taxed according to the actual acreage from now on. The number of acres of land registered by the government was only one-tenth of the actual land in my family. I'm afraid that not a single acre will be hidden from us in the future."

"If we really have to pay taxes based on the actual acreage, what's the point of us owning so much land? From now on, each of our families will lose at least 80% of our annual income!"

An old minister rose and bowed to the Empress Dowager, tentatively saying, "How about... Your Majesty, please condescend to persuade the Emperor again that things cannot be done this way? We are all meritorious officials who have made contributions to the Song Dynasty and devoted our efforts to it. All we ask for is a few acres of land. Why must Your Majesty be so ruthless?"

Empress Dowager Xiang said coldly, "Should I try to persuade him again? And then get another scolding from the Emperor? I am an elder; isn't losing face once enough?"

Another veteran official said angrily, "Back when Emperor Shenzong and Wang Anshi were alive, the court didn't push the reforms this aggressively. This is too much! They're not giving us any way out!"

"If this continues, we'll have no way to survive, and the government won't be able to either..."

He suddenly stopped speaking, his face turning pale. He quickly looked up and laughed, "Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue! I was angry and spoke without thinking. Please forgive me, everyone."

Everyone just smirked, indicating that they were pretending not to hear.

However, an eerie silence fell over the hall.

No one spoke, yet a chilling atmosphere permeated the air.

After a long while, Empress Dowager Xiang's expression changed, and she hurriedly stood up.

"I am tired, please excuse me from keeping guests!"

After speaking, he turned and walked towards the Empress Dowager's bedchamber, his steps hurried and even a little unsteady.

The others also got up, lowered their heads, and hurriedly left the Celebration Hall, each with a somewhat eerie expression.

…………

Prince Chu's Mansion.

Zhao Xiaoqian traveled in a low-key manner, wearing only ordinary casual clothes. Chen Shou, who accompanied him, only brought nearly a hundred Imperial Guards. Even the carriage was a blue-roofed carriage from an ordinary wealthy family.

The group left the palace and walked along the Imperial Street for a short distance before arriving at the Chu King's residence.

After Zhao Xiaoqian ascended the throne, the security of the Chu Prince's Mansion became even more stringent. Hundreds more imperial guards were stationed around the mansion, and the number of eunuchs and palace maids inside also increased significantly.

This was all arranged by Zhao Xiaoqian.

After all, his son had become emperor, so he couldn't mistreat his own father.

Not only did he not mistreat his father, but he also treated his mother well. The Fanglin Garden mansion where Zhao Xiaoqian's mother, Madam Feng, lived was also staffed with imperial guards, eunuchs, and palace maids, making the family of three extremely wealthy.

Standing outside the gate of the Chu Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xiaoqian looked up at the familiar lintel and furnishings, as well as the royal guards on duty outside the gate. He recognized the appearance of each of them very well.

Upon seeing Zhao Xiaoqian's arrival, the imperial guards on duty excitedly knelt down, some addressing him as "Your Majesty" and others as "Your Highness."

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed heartily and personally stepped forward to help up a familiar Imperial Guard captain.

"Old Shen, right? I remember back when you were under Commander Chen, you got into a gambling fight with your comrades and got beaten up by Commander Chen, who even forced you to hold hands with your fellow fighters and sing. You were so ashamed and indignant that you almost committed suicide..."

The constable named Lao Shen blushed and awkwardly forced a smile.

Being remembered by the emperor should have been a good thing, a great honor, but the emperor only remembered these shameful and disgraceful things. Old Shen's feelings were very complicated at this moment.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked around at his fellow soldiers in the Prince's Palace. These were all his old guards who had followed him in battles across the country. They were his personal protectors and the last line of defense in his life.

Now that Zhao Xiaoqian is the ruler of the world, the imperial guards of the Prince's Palace remain there to protect his father and family. Only Chen Shou has been brought into the palace and risen to prominence.

"Today we old brothers meet again, so let me do something substantial. Old Zheng, issue an edict that each of these old brothers in the Chu Prince's Mansion be rewarded with fifty taels of silver to buy wine for the brothers."

(End of this chapter)