I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1032 Balance
With Zhang Chen's order, the entire northern region ushered in a massive reform. Regardless of the size of the land, the land of all the powerful and wealthy, landlords and gentry was confiscated. However, Zhang Chen could never have imagined that the first force to resist the reform would be the Zhang family from the capital.

early morning
Zhang Chen was sitting in the courtyard reading when suddenly a series of noisy footsteps and commotion came from outside the Prince's mansion. Zhang Chen frowned and asked, "Hmm? Who's making such a racket outside?"

Zhang Chen asked, his voice tinged with anger. He knew that the Prince's mansion was heavily guarded within a radius of several miles, and any unauthorized personnel would be driven away as soon as they approached. How could anyone dare to make a scene here?
"Your Highness, it's the Zhang family members gathered outside, making a ruckus and trying to get in, but we stopped them," a guard quickly stepped forward to report.

"The Zhang family? What are they doing here?" Zhang Chen raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"It's all because of the reform movement. Since the Zhang family came to the north, they have been acquiring land on a large scale and are now a major landowner. With your order, countless Zhang family members' lands have been taken away. Of course, they are unwilling and want to cause trouble." The guard recounted the events clearly: "The princess knew they came for this matter and ordered them all to be kept out."

Upon hearing the guard's words, Zhang Chen frowned: "It's not right for them to keep blocking the way outside. Let them in and communicate with me directly if there's anything."

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's instructions, the guards obeyed and left. Before long, a large crowd, led by Zhang Gaqi and stretching as far as the eye could see, entered through the main gate.

"Greetings, Patriarch." Zhang Gaqi and the others approached Zhang Chen and bowed respectfully.

"More than a decade has passed, and Fourth Uncle has aged considerably." Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Gaqi, whose hair had turned somewhat gray, and sighed softly, his words filled with emotion and a sense of melancholy at the passage of time.

Behind Zhang Gaqi were all familiar faces from his time in the capital, and all of them were elderly people who supported his father's lineage. Some of them had gray hair and beards, while others needed help to avoid falling. In just over a decade, a generation had changed.

Looking at the white-haired and frail elder, Zhang Chen's eyes revealed a hint of reminiscence. He said to everyone, "We're all family, so don't stand on ceremony. Please take your seats."

Zhang Chen arranged for everyone to be seated and instructed the servants to serve tea before asking, "Why are you elders gathered outside making a fuss?"

“Patriarch, we are here today to reason with you. You issued that ridiculous order to take over the land and make it the property of the royal family. Many of our clansmen depend on the land rent to live. That is our lifeline, the foundation for our descendants to pass on for generations. Now you take it away with a single decree. How are we supposed to live?” Zhang Gaqi asked.

Zhang Chen smiled upon hearing this: "So that's what it was about. Now that I've thought of this, of course I have a solution."

Zhang Chen looked at the Zhang clan members, glanced at them, and then said, "I was careless before. I will resolve this matter for you all." He then turned to the guard and said, "Go and summon Zhang Xiang."

A short while later, Zhang Xiang came forward and bowed respectfully to Zhang Chen, saying, "Father."

"How's the land acquisition going?" Zhang Chen asked.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's question and glancing at the clan elders who were looking at him, Zhang thought, "The resistance is immense."

"How did you handle this matter?" Zhang Chen asked.

“There is some silver in the treasury. I want to use it to buy land from various families, but they absolutely refuse, so the matter is at a stalemate.” Zhang Xiang also felt quite troubled. He didn’t dare to be too drastic, lest he provoke a backlash from everyone.

Although the royal family is not afraid of trouble, it is two different things to successfully complete the matter and to cause trouble and have Zhang Chen clean up the mess.

“Simply giving money won’t do. You should hand over the rights to ‘salt sales and mining’ to the major clans. That would be a way for us to give them an explanation.” Zhang Chen carefully instructed Zhang Xiang: “From now on, all the rights to sell private salt and mine will be given to the major clans. Each clan will be allowed to designate its own territory and exclusively operate the rights to sell public salt and mine in its own area. The imperial court will be responsible for salt extraction, but the rights to sell salt and set prices will be given to the major clans. The mining rights can also be given to the major clans as compensation.”

People can survive for a long time without salt, and there are even salt smuggling gangs and salt dealers, but if they don't eat, they will all starve to death.

The two major powers of salt and mining are related to the lifeline of the country, but they are also extremely difficult tasks, so it is just right to hand them over to the major families.

Of course, Zhang Chen didn't say the court had no right to prohibit mining; he only said he had handed over the salt mining and trading business. As for whether the various families would maliciously raise salt prices, Zhang Chen had certainly considered this issue, but it was unavoidable. After all, he wasn't the future Taizu Emperor who could directly distribute land, and he didn't want chaos in the north. As for raising salt prices? So what? The common people would simply eat less; as long as they didn't starve, the court's stability would be maintained. Moreover, if salt prices rose, there would inevitably be smugglers selling smuggled salt. Besides, Zhang Chen had entrusted the right to sell salt to thousands of families, large and small; it wouldn't be so easy for them to raise prices.

Upon hearing that Zhang Chen intended to offer up the rights to sell salt, mine salt, and conduct mining, the elders of the Zhang family all had their eyes light up.

"As for the iron ore mined by each family, it is all collected by the imperial court and can only be sold to the imperial court." Zhang Chen paused here, "As for the ancestral lands of the major families, there is no need to confiscate them all. They can be divided equally among the people."

"With this arrangement, if anyone still doesn't know what's good for them, just kill them all, confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan, and take everything back to the imperial court," Zhang Chen said.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiang carefully noted down Zhang Chen's instructions, inquired about the details, and then stood aside quietly watching Zhang Chen clash with the elders of the family.
"In the future, all the land that the court will reclaim will be rented out to people throughout the land according to the number of people, including all the major families. Every member of a major family will also have land to use, so there is no need to worry about not having land at home, nor about the family members starving to death. The northern lands have been severely damaged by the demon race and are in dire need of reconstruction. There are a large number of vacant fields, enough to be distributed to everyone. It is not a problem for each person to have twenty or thirty acres of land."

"As for the Zhang family's land in Kyoto, you must not hold the royal family back. Set an example for all the great families in the world. In the future, the salt fields in Kyoto will be mined and sold, and they will belong to the Zhang family." Zhang Chen turned to look at Zhang Gaqi.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gaqi's face lit up with joy, and he quickly led the group of elders behind him to bow in thanks: "Thank you, patriarch."

Zhang Chen dismissed the rest of the Zhang family, leaving only Zhang Xiang in the courtyard. Standing under the shade of a tree, Zhang Xiang suddenly couldn't clearly see Zhang Chen's face in the dappled shadows. Then, Zhang Chen's chilling voice echoed from within: "Reforms never happen without bloodshed. Go ahead and implement them decisively. If anyone is disobedient, slaughter their entire family. As long as your father and I live, the North will remain calm. No matter how big their moves, I can suppress them. While we're all here, go ahead and use your methods to thoroughly investigate and eliminate all the families."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiang's expression hardened, and he bowed respectfully to Zhang Chen, saying, "Your son understands."

As Zhang Chen implemented his new policies, the north was in an uproar. When the various lords heard about Zhang Chen's new policies, they were filled with questions. They wanted to crack open Zhang Chen's head and ask him if he had gone mad. Why would he offend the common people for the sake of the peasants? Had he lost his mind?

The reforms were bound to be bloody, but faced with the elite soldiers who had won a great victory over the royal family, the various families were unable to put up an effective resistance. After the court ruthlessly slaughtered dozens of powerful families, the remaining people could only accept the situation helplessly.

However, an undercurrent was brewing beneath the surface. Although the various families had obtained the rights to operate salt and mines, they were still unwilling to have their lands taken away by the royal family with a single word.

Just as a massive land reform was sweeping across the north, Xie Lingyun arrived at Zhang Chen's secluded courtyard with a secret report in her hand.

Zhang Chen was organizing materials regarding the location for constructing a feng shui formation. After pondering for so long, he had come up with several targets.

"Something happened!"

Holding a secret report in her hand, Xie Lingyun swiftly entered Zhang Chen's room.

"What's the big deal?" Zhang Chen asked.

"Some old fellows are unwilling to have their family businesses taken away, so they have secretly colluded with Huang Tiandao's sorcerers, and even Wang Heng has gotten involved." Xie Lingyun handed over the letter in her hand.

"Wang Heng?" Zhang Chen ignored Huang Tiandao and instead focused on Wang Heng. He remembered when he left the territory of the King of Pingbian, Wang Heng had obtained the Yama Banner. At that time, he conjured up a terrifying parade of a hundred ghosts. He only managed to escape from Wang Heng's clutches by using the He Sha technique.

I can't believe this guy is still alive! I thought he had died long ago under the siege of the demon army.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xie Lingyun said, "Wang Heng obtained a secret treasure in the past that could control the souls of the dead, which enabled him to establish a foothold in the North and seize a territory from the demon race and Huang Tiandao. Later, he joined Huang Tiandao and became one of its leaders. I heard that he has led his followers to our territory to cause trouble."

(End of this chapter)