Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 191 I admire his courage

Upon hearing Wang Yong's words, Lu Shuyun laughed and said, "My ninth brother really dares to touch anything, but then again, this is probably my father's intention."

Lu Chen was merely a vassal king.

Lu Shuyun found it hard to believe that Lu Chen could say something like, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the whole land, all people are subjects of the king."

Wang Yong said, "Your Highness, whether this is the Northern King's own idea or His Majesty's will, as long as someone dares to set this precedent, our aristocratic family will not let them off easily."

"The person who came up with this reform measure has malicious intentions; he wants to completely eliminate our aristocratic family."

It's no wonder Wang Yong reacted so strongly; the land reform measures in Beijun had clearly touched a nerve with the powerful families.

The current aristocratic families are all beneficiaries of land consolidation. Now, suddenly someone has proposed to take back the ownership of the land to the highest ruler, or hand it over to the state, or even prohibit land sales in the future. Isn't this uprooting their aristocratic families?

Although this is just a spark, the aristocratic families would absolutely not allow such a bud to appear.

Lu Shuyun then said, "Since I have already received the news, I guess everyone else has as well. It looks like tomorrow's court will be very lively."

The power to own land was not limited to aristocratic families; it also included the scholar-official class. Every official's family owned tens of thousands of acres of fertile land.

The Northern King openly reclaimed the ownership of his fiefdom from a mere vassal king. If even a vassal king dared to do this, wouldn't the Xia Emperor be able to do the same in the future? Therefore, the officials would inevitably oppose the Northern King's actions, even if he only did so within his own fiefdom.

Lu Shuyun could almost see the scene of the entire court impeaching Lu Chen.

……

at the same time.

The Imperial Garden of the Great Xia Palace.

Emperor Xia held the intelligence report in his hand, looking at it again and again, his gaze lingering on it for a long time.

At this moment, the Xia Emperor murmured, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the land, all people are the king's subjects..."

"So domineering...so domineering..."

"Is this really something Xiao Jiu would say?"

At this point, Emperor Xia threw the intelligence report in his hand directly to Situ Ce inside the pavilion. Situ Ce caught the report casually and glanced at it.

Upon seeing the contents of the intelligence report, Situ Ce finally understood why Emperor Xia had been standing still and scanning the report with his eyes after reading it.

Without a doubt, the Northern King's statement, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king," will surely cause a great upheaval in the Great Xia Dynasty.

Although the Great Xia Dynasty was nominally founded by the Great Xia royal family and all the land under heaven belonged to the emperor, it was only in name.

No emperor dared to enact a law specifically stipulating that all land in the Great Xia Dynasty belonged to the emperor. Anyone who dared to do so would likely have their reign over.

No one in this world, no monarch, has ever uttered the words, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king."

This statement roughly means that all land in the world belongs to the monarch, and all people are the monarch's subjects.

Although this is the principle, as a monarch or ruler, you absolutely cannot say such a thing.

If all the land under heaven belonged to the royal family, wouldn't all those who fought alongside Emperor Taizu of Xia have wasted their time?

It was precisely because he had never uttered these words before that the Xia Emperor was so deeply shocked upon seeing them.

Especially after reading the intelligence about the reform measures in Beijun, he found that the King of Bei was a thousand times more radical than he, his father.

Although he still couldn't be sure if Lu Chen was his biological son, Lu Chen's words instantly made him feel very good towards Lu Chen.

From the very beginning of the Xia Dynasty to the present day, many emperors ascended the throne with great ambition, intending to emulate the founding emperor of Xia, expand the territory, achieve great things, and make Xia the most powerful dynasty in the world.

As a result, they were all restricted by various forces and obstructed by powerful families. In the end, the court was controlled by these families, and the emperors' great talents and ambitions had nowhere to be displayed. They could only indulge in sensual pleasures in the palace and eventually die of old age.

When Lu Xingqiu ascended the throne, he was also full of enthusiasm, believing that he would definitely become another emperor who expanded the territory after Emperor Taizu of Xia.

He did manage to expand the territory, having destroyed the former Chen Kingdom. However, after destroying Chen, he found that his orders were becoming increasingly ineffective, and whatever he wanted to do was always obstructed by the powerful families in the court.

As an emperor, he felt incredibly ashamed that he couldn't control the entire court. He finally understood that as long as the powerful clans remained, the Great Xia Dynasty would never truly be his Great Xia; he was merely a puppet pushed to the throne by the powerful clans.

When Lu Xingqiu saw his princes mingling with those aristocratic families, he was very disappointed in them. At the same time, he also believed that if this continued, the next Xia emperor, the emperor after that, and even generations to come would remain puppets of the aristocratic families.

At this moment, Emperor Xia's emotions were somewhat complicated. He never expected that the first prince to dare to stand up and openly challenge the aristocratic families would be the prince he least favored and most hated.

After reading the intelligence report, Situ Ce placed it on his desk and then asked, "This old minister once said that the Northern King possessed the ambitions of Emperor Taizu of Xia, but Your Majesty did not believe him. Does Your Majesty now believe what this old minister said before?"

Upon hearing Situ Ce's words, Emperor Xia sneered, "I admire his courage to say such things, but it is foolish to reveal his thoughts prematurely when he has no strength. He will not only be impeached by aristocratic officials and scholars, but will also face endless assassination attempts."

Lu Chen's reforms in the Northern Kingdom have provoked the powerful families and the scholar-official class. They will not allow Lu Chen to continue living, even if the Xia Emperor may be behind him.

Land interests are their fundamental interests, and they will not allow anyone to touch their core interests, not even a vassal king, let alone the Xia emperor.

That is why the Xia Emperor greatly admired Lu Chen.

Lu Chen's decision to raise the issue of land ownership is tantamount to disregarding life and death.

At the same time, Emperor Xia was also curious. The heavy cavalry of Beijun had been wiped out, so why did Lu Chen dare to reform Beijun at this time? Reforming Beijun was one thing, but he even wanted to touch the land ownership.

Isn't the mysterious force behind Lu Chen afraid that he'll be killed? Or are they so confident in their strength that they believe they can protect Lu Chen? Is that why they let Lu Chen act recklessly?

At this moment, Emperor Xia looked at Situ Ce and asked, "Grand Preceptor, what do you think I should do tomorrow to deal with the impeachment of Xiao Jiu by the aristocratic officials? Should I order the cessation of the reforms in Beijun, or should I directly strip him of his title as a prince?"

Lu Chen has violated a taboo and will inevitably face impeachment, that's for sure. The key question is how the emperor should respond.

If Lu Chen's actions go unpunished, the officials will surely think he shares the same idea as Lu Chen: he has already offended the powerful families, and if he offends the scholar-official class as well, it will not do him any good as emperor.

Upon hearing the Xia Emperor's question, Situ Ce smiled faintly and then said, "It is perfectly reasonable and legal for a vassal king to carry out reforms within his own fiefdom."

Upon hearing Situ Ce's answer, Emperor Xia was very dissatisfied. "Grand Preceptor, you're pretending to be ignorant when you know the truth."

"It is certainly not a problem for him to carry out reforms on his own fiefdom, but he has touched on the issue of land ownership. If the aristocratic families and scholar-officials are not given an explanation, it may cause turmoil in the Great Xia."

Situ Ce said, "Then Your Majesty should recall the 20,000 imperial troops from Beijun and let the Prince of Bei defend the north alone. Furthermore, Your Majesty should declare that no more aid or supplies will be provided to the Prince of Bei. Without a safe environment, the Prince of Bei's reforms will naturally be unable to proceed."

Although that's what he said, Situ Ce didn't think so in his heart. In his view, since the Northern King had already raised the issue of land, the Northern King was already prepared to deal with the aristocratic families and the scholar-official class.

This also suggests that the heavy cavalry of Beijun are likely unharmed. It's all a smokescreen put out by the Northern King; otherwise, he wouldn't dare to do this. So even if the imperial army is recalled, it won't have any impact on Beijun.

Situ Ce approved of Lu Chen's approach. In his opinion, Lu Chen's reform measures were not only sound, but also timely, because the court had no energy to deal with what he was up to in Beijun.

Of course, in the coming period of time, there will probably be quite a few assassins going to Beijun to cause trouble for Lu Chen.

However, Situ Ce believed that Lu Chen, this young grandmaster, should have no problem dealing with the assassinations by the aristocratic families.

Emperor Xia considered Situ Ce's words and concluded that Situ Ce's method could indeed provide a temporary solution.

We are currently at war between two great dynasties. If we strip the princes of their thrones, it could very well force them to rebel. We can use the war as an excuse to give the Northern King a token punishment.

With war as an excuse, those aristocratic families and scholar-officials, no matter how uncomfortable they are, will not say anything. If they are forced to rebel, it will lead to an even greater crisis for the Great Xia, and those officials will not be able to bear the responsibility.

(End of this chapter)