Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 51: The red official robes are stained with the blood of the people, I wear blue to be clean
Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qizhen sat on the imperial chair, with Xu Youzhen and Li Xian standing in front of him. He spread his hands and smiled: "Xu Youzhen, you have been promoted, why are you still frowning?"

"Your Majesty, this position of Shangshu is not easy to sit on." Xu Youzhen smiled bitterly, "I don't need to think about it. I will face countless open and hidden attacks in the future. I might be kicked down before I even get comfortable in the seat."

Zhu Qizhen smiled and waved his hands, as if everything was under control, and said: "So, the first thing you should do as Shangshu is to make the other party lose their composure first."

"Why are they so chaotic?" Xu Youzhen and Li Xianqi asked.

Zhu Qizhen did not give a direct answer, but asked seriously: "What is the biggest problem facing our dynasty right now?"

Xu Youzhen thought for a moment and replied: "Land annexation has intensified, and the number of refugees who have lost their land has become a major problem."

Zhu Qizhen spread his hands and said, "So, as the Minister of Revenue, you have to solve this problem. I can first issue an edict to appease the refugees, exempt them from taxes and corvée."

"The next step is to help the people take back their land." Xu Youzhen's eyes flashed, "Your Majesty, this is very difficult to do. The land has actually been taken away by powerful people such as local princes, princes and ministers."

Li Xian smiled and said, "In this case, the other party will not be able to deal with you, the Minister of Finance, and a lot of trouble will fall on them."

"If we want to accomplish this, we will definitely face huge resistance." Zhu Qizhen snorted, "But if we don't do this, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger of extinction. Some people in Guangdong and Guangxi have already risen up."

He knew it was difficult, but he also knew that knowledgeable ministers in the court would definitely support him, such as Yu Qian. In addition, the people of the world would support him, and he needed the support of the people.

……

The next day, morning.

After the court session, the officials reported to the empress dowager as usual. Of course, they mostly reported to the empress dowager. When the meeting was almost over, the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Xu Youzhen, skipped the empress dowager and reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Zhu Qizhen smiled and waved his hand: "If you have something to say, please speak quickly. Don't delay the ministers from leaving the court."

Xu Youzhen walked to the center of the hall, his face solemn, and knelt down and played:

"The princes, nobles and some powerful eunuchs in the court plundered the people's land on a large scale, forming the so-called 'official fields'. The emergence of these official fields exacerbated the problem of land annexation. Some princes and nobles had farmlands as large as tens of thousands of hectares."

"This situation caused the people to lose their land, become displaced and become refugees. What is even more worrying is that the military settlement land originally used for military defense and self-sufficiency has also been annexed in large quantities, forcing soldiers to flee for their livelihoods, and the army's combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced."

"In recent years, land annexation has intensified, and land has become increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few powerful people. The people have lost their land and have no means of livelihood. In addition, they are burdened with heavy taxes and corvee labor, and have no choice but to become refugees."

"Your Majesty, if you don't investigate thoroughly and try to ease the situation, it won't be long before the refugees bury one-eyed stone men on the banks of the Yellow River."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall exploded.

Some ministers directly stood up to refute: "Nonsense! Who occupied the land? It's all normal transactions! Some people want to sell their land, can't they buy it? Are they waiting for it to be abandoned?"

"Haha, don't you know how the land was bought?" Xu Youzhen snorted, "Droughts, locust plagues, and floods are frequent, and the people are having a hard time. You took the opportunity to buy their land at a low price!"

"There's no provision in the Ming Dynasty Law that prohibits buying land, right?" someone objected.

boom!
Zhu Qizhen slammed the table and glanced at him coldly:
"The Great Ming Law does not care about people burying stone men in the Yellow River! Haha, the stone man with one eye incited the whole world to rebel against the Yellow River. How long has it been since then? Have you all forgotten it?" "I approve Xu Youzhen's request and am determined to thoroughly investigate the land annexation case!"

……

Many ministers did not dare to oppose directly, but they were obviously dissatisfied, and no one stood up to express their approval. As long as the ministers did not express their approval, it would be difficult for the emperor to push forward.

At this time, Yu Qian, the Imperial Guard, stood up and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision. I fully support Your Majesty! If you don't investigate land annexation, the Central Plains will be filled with wars!"

The ministers were horrified, as they did not expect that the first person to stand up and support the emperor was Yu Qian. Then, they were even more surprised, because the cabinet chief Wang Zhi, cabinet minister Shang Lu, and the minister of rites Hu Yi all stood up to support the emperor.

A barely perceptible smile flashed across Zhu Qizhen's lips.

He knew that these knowledgeable ministers would definitely support him because this was related to the future of the Ming Dynasty and even more to the life and death of the people.

"Very good!" The Queen Mother's voice came, "Your Majesty has such courage, I am very pleased. I also support Your Majesty. This is a major case. I only have one thing to say: Your Majesty must act fairly."

"I will follow my mother's teachings." Zhu Qizhen bowed behind the curtain.

He knew what the Queen Mother meant. This land annexation case involved many princes, all of whom were members of the Zhu family.

Zhu family? They are different from Zhu. Taizu's system of enfeoffment has resulted in Zhu's vassal kings all over the world. The court needs to spend a huge price to support these vassal kings.

According to my opinion, all of you will be demoted to commoners.

……

After the court session, Duke Chengguo and Sun Xianzhong walked side by side on the imperial road. Sun Xianzhong snorted coldly and said, "You were still thinking about how to destroy Xu Youzhen? Now, he took action first."

"No need to panic!" Duke Chengguo seemed unusually calm. "The issue of land annexation has been on the rise since the reign of Emperor Renzong, but Emperor Xuanzong never conducted a thorough investigation during his reign. Why? This matter is thorny, and if we are not careful, it may lead to unrest in the government and the country. Humph, Your Majesty is young after all. This thorough investigation of the land annexation case is essentially the same as his personal expedition to Tumubao. They are both in a hurry to achieve success and show off. However, the result will probably be the same, and failure is inevitable!"

Sun Xianzhong shook his head and retorted: "This situation is different. The Prime Minister and Yu Qian have both expressed their support. The Queen Mother has also approved it. A thorough investigation is imperative."

"Then we should start with the princes!" Duke Cheng sneered. "The Queen Mother's instructions are actually very pointed. The princes of the royal family are the ones who have annexed the most land. If we don't solve the prince problem first, how can we talk about fairness?"

Sun Xianzhong suddenly understood what was going on when he heard this: "Hahaha, the Queen Mother is still smart! Both Renzong and Xuanzong failed to deal with those vassal kings, so how can Your Majesty do it?"

The two men smiled at each other and strode away.

Zhu Qizhen stood in front of the Fengtian Hall, looking at the ministers in purple, red, and blue on the imperial road. He remembered Yu Qian's words: The red official robes are stained with the blood of the people, I wear blue to be clean.

"How can I be clean now that I'm in trouble?" Zhu Qizhen said to himself, "Yu Qian, please don't let me down."

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(End of this chapter)