Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 252 Then let's ask them how many divisions they have!
Longhu Mountain is not a place to be trifled with.

The Zhang family of Longhu Mountain has been known as the Celestial Masters ever since Zhang Daoling of the Han Dynasty.

It is the ancestral home of the orthodox Taoism.

Jiangxi is within their sphere of influence.

Several neighboring counties have basically become his farmland.

They did not pay taxes or grain.

Besides Longhu Mountain, there are numerous Taoist temples of all sizes that regard it as orthodox, and they also own a large amount of farmland.

Taoism has a great influence, especially in Jiangxi, where many people believe in Taoism.

It wields considerable influence among the general public and even within official circles.

Especially among the common people, they are truly revered as deities by countless devout men and women.

The Celestial Master on Longhu Mountain has been mythologized by many people as a terrestrial deity.

In addition to possessing unparalleled prestige and influence.

They also genuinely possessed a large amount of farmland, and even a considerable armed force.

The influence of Longhu Mountain is greater than that of the imperial court and local officials.

You could say he was a true local tyrant!
When the land survey and the establishment of the Yellow Register were carried out in Jiangxi, they were the ones who were most affected.

It's an extremely tough nut to crack.

In Zhu Biao's view, its influence and the difficulty of dealing with it are no less than those of the Confucius family in Shandong.

When the emperor launched the land survey, his first act was to set fire to Jiangxi, right on the head of Longhu Mountain, which was quite unexpected.

"Biao'er, it's alright. We're going to use them as examples to set things right."

Tell the whole world that this land must be surveyed.

Let's use Jiangxi as an example.

No matter who it is, no one can stand in the way of this national policy of land surveying!

No matter who you are, you must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Whether it's the founder of Taoism, the founder of Buddhism, or Confucius, they all have to obey the teachings and abide by the law.

Otherwise, we'll have to ask them how many divisions they have!
Killing the chicken to scare the monkey is less effective than killing the monkey to scare the chicken.

Let's see what Jiangxi can do this time, and how big the reaction will be.

"Dare you kick the bucket?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sat up straight.

He spoke calmly, but Zhu Biao could sense a murderous aura emanating from him, as well as an extremely firm conviction.

"Father is right, I was being a bit petty."

I always have a habit of starting with the easy things and then moving on to the difficult ones.

It's better for Father to start with the difficult part and then move on to the easier one. If we win this crucial battle, the people in other areas will be more obedient when we go to conduct surveys.

Let's consider whether they can surpass Longhu Mountain.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Biao gave his father, the emperor, a thumbs up.

Magnificent character and broad-mindedness are largely innate; they are truly difficult for the average person to learn.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and nodded.

Besides what Zhu Biao mentioned, there was another reason why he chose to go straight to Jiangxi to do things: in his previous life, when he chose to survey the land, he also chose to start in Jiangxi first.

And then... he got slapped in the face over there.

The land survey, after a period of time, suffered a major setback.

A typical example is Liu Lian, the son of Liu Bowen, who was sent there by Hu Weiyong to oversee the land survey. He was framed and killed by Hu Weiyong's accomplices.

In other words, in his previous life, that scoundrel Hu Weiyong single-handedly caused the deaths of Liu Bowen and Liu Bowen's eldest son.

Liu Lian's death also had a very negative impact.

This brought the land survey in Jiangxi to a standstill.

On the other hand, it also greatly fueled the arrogance of those who opposed the land survey in Jiangxi, and even in many other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Liu Lian's death and the land survey in Jiangxi became important triggers for Hu Weiyong's rebellion and for Liu Lian to kill Hu Weiyong.

The experiences of the previous life also proved that after cracking the tough nut of Jiangxi, they then cracked the tough nut of the Kong family in Shandong.

It certainly had a powerful deterrent effect.

This made the process of surveying and measuring land in various places much smoother.

Although various problems may occur, the overall process is smooth.

Now, with another land survey, he will naturally set his sights on Jiangxi.

On the one hand, the excellent results of doing this were already proven in my previous life.

On the other hand, it is also about wiping away past humiliations.

Let's see if Hu Weiyong and his cronies can harm the people they sent to do things this time.

Let's see whose methods are stronger.

In his previous life, after Liu Lian died, he sent people to survey the fields and killed countless people.

This time, he wouldn't mind starting by racking up kills.

It's better for those people to die than for the people on our side to die.

Of course, there was another important reason why Zhu Yuanzhang chose to conduct a land survey at this time: the Imperial Academy had cultivated a new group of students who had made progress in arithmetic.

These students will become the main force in the upcoming land survey.

They are technically skilled professionals.

After all, surveying and measuring land requires calculating the area of ​​the land, which requires the corresponding personnel.

In my past life, it took me a very long time to cultivate such talent.

But in this lifetime, the mathematics I brought and promoted has made arithmetic much, much easier than before.

Therefore, following the blank seal incident last year, a large number of people were sent to various places to fill vacancies, and another batch of students from the Imperial Academy were available.

Next, students from the Imperial Academy who participate in the land survey and perform exceptionally well can be promoted to official positions ahead of schedule.

Now that the dynasty has just been established, there is a shortage of talent in all aspects, and there are many vacancies for officials.

They benefited from the era's dividends.

These things are a challenge for them, but more importantly, they are an opportunity.

Once this period is over, it will be impossible to find such an opportunity again, to jump directly from the Imperial Academy to the officialdom so quickly, and then be promoted.

It will only get stricter and slower in the future...

……

"It's time to survey the land; we need to take stock of our assets."

Let's see how many people and how much land our Great Ming Dynasty really has.

And who owns these fields?

The next morning at court, Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne and addressed his ministers.

Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, countless officials among them trembled and their faces paled.

Countless people exchanged glances in that instant.

This matter is truly too sudden and too big.

However, some people were not surprised at all.

For example, Liu Bowen, Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, Wang Guangyang...

Land surveying was something that wise rulers throughout history would have done.

The current emperor, though of humble origin, has great ambitions.

Judging from all his actions, he was thinking of making the world a better place and enabling the Ming Dynasty to last longer.

Therefore, the land survey will certainly not be neglected; it's just a matter of sooner or later.

The only thing that surprised Hu Weiyong was that they arrived so early.

He originally thought that Zhu Yuanzhang would first defeat the Northern Yuan court and recover the southwest, and only then would he address these external threats.

Who would have thought that they would act unconventionally and insist on settling accounts for the land first?

"Your Majesty," Hu Weiyong said, "a land survey is indeed necessary. Only by surveying the land can we understand the situation of our Great Ming in all aspects." He then asked, "But I wonder, how does Your Majesty plan to conduct this survey?"

"What does Prime Minister Hu think is the proper way to conduct the land survey?"

Zhu Yuanzhang calmly countered with a question.

Hu Weiyong pondered for a moment and said, "I think this matter must be done."

However... I wonder if we should postpone it a little longer?
Now is not the right time to conduct a land survey; the Ming Dynasty has many urgent matters to attend to.

Let's wait two years, do all the necessary things, and recover the Northern Yuan before we survey the land.

Only when external threats are eliminated can internal problems be addressed.

He certainly didn't want to do a land survey.

If the emperor has a clear understanding of the local situation, how can they take advantage of the chaos?
How do those local people get the money?

If they don't take the money, how are the prime minister and all the people above and below supposed to take the money?
But he also knew that with Zhu Yuanzhang's stubborn nature, once he said he would survey the land, he would definitely do it.

This matter is beyond question. Opposing it will not have any effect; it will only make the emperor resent you.

The best course of action is to try to delay this matter as much as possible for several years.

Delaying it a little longer is still beneficial.

Delaying for a year will bring a year's worth of rewards.

If I can accomplish this, I will gain a lot of goodwill in the future.

He made many people feel indebted to him.

"Prime Minister Hu is mistaken!"

What does it mean to need to be pushed back a little?
What do you mean by "now is not the time to conduct a land survey"?
The land survey is an urgent matter, concerning the nation and its people.

The sooner we do it, the sooner the country will be better off!
What could be more important than surveying and measuring land? Surveying and measuring land is the most important thing to do!

Now is the best time!

Your Majesty, I request that a nationwide land survey be conducted immediately, and that a complete register be made of the number of people and the amount of land owned by our Great Ming Dynasty.

This matter cannot be handled with the slightest carelessness!

As soon as Hu Weiyong finished speaking, someone stepped forward proudly.

He strongly refuted Hu Weiyong.

They showed absolutely no regard for Hu Weiyong's feelings.

The court officials knew without even thinking who had spoken.

Naturally, he was none other than the indomitable Korean Duke Li Shanchang.

Besides him, who else would dare to oppose Hu Weiyong, the prime minister?

Not giving them the slightest bit of face?
Hu Weiyong was instantly furious, gritting his teeth.

Why isn't that old dog Li Shanchang dead yet?
How abominable!

He's so old, his chin is practically buried in the earth, but he just won't die!

He immediately refuted her.

A heated debate immediately ensued. The imperial court became quite lively.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, not in a hurry to speak.

I just watched them argue and bicker.

Li Shanchang, that old dog, whose spine he broke and who became a loyal subject, is now probably becoming more and more obedient and useful.

Faced with Hu Weiyong and the rebuttals of many others, Li Shanchang was eager to fight and showed no signs of being at a disadvantage.

After they had finished arguing, Zhu Yuanzhang cleared his throat.

The noisy court immediately fell silent.

"What the Korean official said is right. This land survey must indeed be carried out immediately and cannot be delayed."

The most important thing now is to survey the land and establish a yellow register!

Zhu Yuanzhang set the tone for this matter.

Upon hearing this, many people, including Hu Weiyong, felt a jolt of unease.

"However, this matter cannot be handled as the Korean official suggested, and it cannot be implemented simultaneously across the country all at once. That would be too big of a deal."

Furthermore, since there is no prior experience with this approach, doing so could easily lead to various problems.

We think it's better to conduct a thorough survey in one place now.

"Once this area is fully surveyed, we can gradually expand the program to other areas. This is the only prudent approach."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words amounted to a compromise.

Instead of adopting Li Shanchang's suggestion to simultaneously promote the policy across the country, the approach was not adopted.

They also did not agree with Hu Weiyong's suggestion to postpone the start for a few years.

Zhu Yuanzhang understood how bravely Li Shanchang had fought, and insisted on implementing the policy simultaneously throughout the country.

This was actually done on purpose.

This is to leave myself some leeway so that I can compromise in the future.

It must be said that this old minister was truly devoted to his own interests, obedient, and capable of handling all matters very well.

It makes people feel quite comfortable.

Sure enough, once Zhu Yuanzhang spoke up, the dispute over the matter disappeared immediately.

Although it did not go as planned, the emperor postponed the event for several years.

However, this result is different from what Li Shanchang said, which was to immediately carry out a nationwide cleanup.

It's already pretty good; it's not as unacceptable as some people think.

Li Shanchang spoke first: "Your Majesty is wise and has considered everything thoroughly!"

Upon seeing this, Hu Weiyong understood that this was the only way to handle the matter.

Continuing to argue further will not achieve any further results.

On the contrary, it would make that scoundrel Zhu Yuanzhang have a lot of resentment towards him.

So, while cursing Li Shanchang in his heart, he spoke respectfully, expressing his approval of the matter.

The matter was thus settled.

"I wonder where the superior intends to implement this first?"

Hu Weiyong asked again. Where to implement it first is equally important and involves a great deal of implications.

"Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commission, I think that's a good place."

Upon hearing this, Hu Weiyong's heart skipped a beat again.

He was stabbed in the back again by Zhu Yuanzhang.

For a moment, I just wanted to curse.

He spent a considerable amount of time in Jiangxi when he served as an official in a local government.

They have a very deep foundation there.

After Zhu Yuanzhang lifted the maritime ban, established the Maritime Trade Office, effectively crippling many maritime merchants, and standardized tax collection and transportation,

Nowadays, most of his annual income comes from Jiangxi.

Now, the dog emperor has taken the lead in surveying and registering land, and has first struck Jiangxi.

He's deliberately making things difficult for himself!

This was the only thing on his mind. While cursing the emperor, he was also constantly thinking of countermeasures and carefully considering his words before finally speaking.

They wanted to persuade the emperor to change his mind.

Unfortunately, the objection was ineffective.

Ultimately, things were settled as Zhu Yuanzhang had initially envisioned.

"We have another matter to discuss. The poll tax will be abolished after the land survey!"

Um? ? ? ! ! !

When Zhu Yuanzhang said this, many people in the court were shaken!

(End of this chapter)