A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

South of Boling County, there is a large estate covering more than 300 acres.

This used to be the southern village of the Wu family.

However, it has now become Li Rui's garrison.

It was also where Li Rui's family lived.

If I move here, any noise I make at night won't be heard anymore.

Nanzhuang originally had many garden landscapes, which were very well maintained and resembled a garden.

But as soon as Li Rui arrived, he ordered them all to be killed!

Apply fertilizer uniformly and plant grain!

This waste of resources deeply saddened Wang Yuan.

However, Li Rui held absolute power.

Even Wang Shuyu grew vegetables in her own yard.

……

Inside the main hall of the manor.

Zhao Pu, dressed in simple clothes, was speaking eloquently.

Li Rui sat upright, listening attentively while secretly testing his own abilities.

The topic of their conversation was another major issue following Hidden Field.

Hidden door!

Zhao Pu spent more than half a month traveling around Boling County and was very clear about how serious the problem of unregistered households was.

"General Li, in my opinion, there are probably no fewer than ten thousand unregistered households in Boling County!"

Boling County is a large county, with a population of 80,000 to 90,000 at its peak.

Due to years of warfare, their numbers have now dwindled to 30,000.

The number of people hidden by wealthy local families alone accounts for one-third of the county's total population!

Li Rui nodded slowly and asked.

"In your opinion, how should this be resolved?"

Zhao Pu smiled confidently and raised his head.

"This is simple. As long as the general is willing to give up half of the Wu family's farmland and distribute it to the hidden households for free, they will come forward on their own."

The Wu family was wiped out, and all of their more than 100,000 mu of farmland were transferred to Li Rui.

If Li Rui is greedy.

They could hire others to cultivate the land, and all the profits would belong to them.

It's like someone else has become the local tyrant in Boling County.

For ordinary people, there is no difference whatsoever.

Zhao Pu's words, however, led to Li Rui receiving land for free.

Not everyone is willing to give that up!

Li Rui was secretly observing Zhao Pu.

Zhao Pu was also secretly observing Li Rui.

His plan has some merit.

The premise is that those in power are not greedy and have the people's well-being at heart.

Zhao Pu was watching.

Let's see if Li Rui is like other regional military governors, only thinking about making money for himself and completely disregarding the lives of ordinary people.

in the case of.

He will leave Boling County today to continue his travels.

Seeing that Li Rui remained silent for a long time.

A hint of disappointment flashed in Zhao Pu's eyes.

That's right, we should take half of the farmland and give it to the people for free.

Not everyone is willing to give it up.

In this era, farming meant provisions, and provisions meant an army.

They wanted a general to abandon his army and instead focus on caring for the people.

That's absolutely outrageous!

Zhao Pu sighed inwardly, about to say a few more words before taking his leave.

But just then!

Li Rui suddenly smiled.

"I was the one testing you, how did it turn into you testing me?"

Zhao Pu was speechless and had no choice but to clasp his hands in a gesture of respect.

"General, you jest. I am but a commoner; how could I possibly test your courage?"

Li Rui stood up.

He picked up a document from the desk.

He then handed it to Zhao Pu.

"These are the policies I've drafted: the equal-field system and the integration of land tax and poll tax. Take a look, do they align with your expectations?"

Upon hearing this...

Zhao Pu was stunned.

So Li Rui already had a policy in place!

And it was always kept under his nose.

The Equal-Field System, or the Integration of Labor Tax into Land Tax?

Just hearing that name sent a shiver down Zhao Pu's spine!

He knew about the equal-field system, which had a history of several hundred years.

It means to distribute arable land evenly according to the population size.

It's similar in meaning to his previous proposal to distribute land to the people for free.

The system is a good system, but over the past few centuries, few people have been able to fully implement it.

What is this "equalization of land tax and poll tax"?

Zhao Pu opened the document and studied it carefully.

After reading only the first line, Zhao Pu was horrified!

He suddenly looked up, staring at Li Rui in disbelief.

After standing there for a long time, he exclaimed in astonishment.

"The general wants to take all the farmland in the entire county and distribute it uniformly?!"

Previously, he only dared to suggest to Li Rui that half of the Wu family's farmland be given to the people.

The results of it?

He never expected this.

Li Rui is actually so willing to give up something!

That's incredibly bold!

Not only did they take all of the Wu family's farmland, but they also wanted to completely divide it equally throughout the county!

This is no longer about solving the problem of hidden accounts.

This is a reform!

Zhao Pu gasped.

My opinion of Li Rui has undergone another dramatic change!

It seems that this young regional military commander is a capable general.

He wasn't just thinking about making a name for himself!

To undertake such a large-scale and thorough reform...

This is clearly aimed at conquering the heavens!

Thinking of this.

Zhao Pu was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he was secretly excited.

He quickly lowered his head and continued to study carefully.

The equal-field system was not complicated.

The potential obstacle is the presence of wealthy local residents.

But the wealthy households in Boling County have been completely subdued by Li Rui!

Needless to say, the Wu family's house has long since collapsed.

The only families that are still recognizable are the Kong family and the Yin family.

But how could these two dare to utter a single word of dissent?

Moreover, Kong Xing and Yin Tao have already become Li Rui's concubines.

and so.

The implementation of the equal-field system in Boling County faced minimal resistance.

After reading the specific policies, Zhao Pu nodded repeatedly.

"Brilliant! Brilliant! Even more perfect than my method!"

Upon reading this, Zhao Pu couldn't help but ask a question.

"May I ask, General, whose strategy was devised?"

He was eager to meet this reformer with great vision.

Li Rui was taken aback.

Before he could speak.

Zhang Yaozu, the guard at the door, couldn't help but say.

"You pedantic scholar, you look down on people. These words were written by my general after staying up for several nights, stroke by stroke."

Who gave him any advice? It was all our general's own ideas!

Upon hearing this...

Zhao Pu looked at Li Rui in astonishment!

He immediately looked ashamed and quickly apologized.

"General Li, please don't be offended. I was being presumptuous. I really didn't expect this."

Besides fighting, writing poetry, and doing arithmetic, the general actually... he even knows the art of governing a country!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yaozu immediately became smug.

"Hey, that sounds nice! My general is a true all-rounder!"

Zhao Pu was filled with emotion and continued reading.

The following is what is known as the "equalization of land tax and poll tax".

The meaning is very simple: change the poll tax into a land tax.

In the past, the government collected taxes per capita.

You pay taxes based on the number of people in your household.

The advantages are convenience and higher tax revenue.

The disadvantages are obvious.

If the family does not cultivate the land, or has no male members, or the male members are unable to work.

This family is ruined!

The government didn't care about these situations; they just collected taxes based on the number of people.

As a result, more and more people became refugees.

The displaced people were taken away by landlords and wealthy households, and thus became unregistered households.

The land tax was converted into a poll tax.

It means that taxes are not levied per capita, but only based on the amount of arable land.

If you own an acre of farmland, you only need to pay one tax!

In this way, wealthy households with more land pay more, while poor farmers with less land pay less.

Zhao Pu finished reading the policy on merging land tax and poll tax.

His hands and feet trembled slightly, and his expression was complicated.

He stood there, as if frozen in place.

He remained motionless and silent.

Li Rui took a sip of tea and did not urge him.

He knew that the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax would not appear until a thousand years later.

The shock that this moment brought to Zhao Pu was revolutionary.

suddenly!

Plop!

Zhao Pu knelt down directly before Li Rui!

Zhang Yaozu, who was standing at the door, was startled.

Zhao Pu, with a solemn expression, gave Li Rui a proper salute!

When he was prostrating himself on the ground, Zhao Pu shouted loudly.

"On behalf of the tens of thousands of people of Boling, I kowtow to express my deepest gratitude to the General!"