A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 133 Embroidered Robe
The number of powerful maternal relatives of the Han dynasty has increased again.

Liu Ju didn't know how to evaluate it.

Is it an attempt to completely win over Mei Mian and Bai Zheng through such means, or is it simply a matter of being "hungry," or perhaps both?

"Your Majesty."

Gongsun Hong, however, was somewhat worried. "Is Your Majesty trying to find a relative among the bandits who can rival the Grand General and the Marquis of Champion?"

The status of maternal relatives is multifaceted, and most come from respectable families, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

The advantage is that they have little ability to cause trouble, and even if they become arrogant and domineering in the future, it will still be within a controllable range.

The downside is that they have no other abilities. Just like the Wang family, whom His Majesty previously favored, no matter how much His Majesty helps them, it's useless; they're just mediocre people.

People like Mei Mian and Bai Zheng, whose family backgrounds were not exactly respectable, were able to gather tens of thousands of people and wreak havoc in Nanyang County for more than a decade, outliving successive prefects and commanders. They must have had some ability.

According to Mi Pu, the prefect of Nanyang, in his letter, Mei Mian was strong and Bai Zheng was clever. Of course, the so-called strength meant that he was brave and fierce and believed in chivalry, while the wisdom meant that he was clever and cunning.

If we set aside prejudice, ability lies in the mediocre.

If this is the case in Nanyang, then who can guarantee the talent of the bandits and thieves in Chu, Qi, Yan, and Zhao? Could it be that His Majesty has once again considered "seeking talent through relatives of the emperor"?

Liu Ju was amused.

Relatives of the emperor like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing are a rare breed in China's five-thousand-year history. If the emperor can find another pair among the common people, it can only be said that heaven is on his side.

impossible.

Liu Ju shook his head, signaling the old prime minister to rest assured. He didn't want to waste any more time discussing his father's boundless energy and returned to the main topic: "Old Prime Minister, how is the new land policy being implemented?"

"Your Majesty, since the land ban was lifted, local government offices in prefectures, counties, kingdoms, and marquisates across the country have been busy selecting land for the eager people to cultivate, and progress is going smoothly," Gongsun Hong said respectfully.

Lifting the ban does not mean that ordinary people can cultivate land wherever they want. It means that local governments must organize manpower to select suitable wasteland for centralized cultivation, which will facilitate management.

All reclaimed wasteland had to be registered in great detail, including the reclaimer, location, size, and so on. Only in this way could reclamation proceed, and only then would the reclaimed fertile land be recognized by the imperial court and granted tax reductions or exemptions.

The population of the Han Dynasty was only forty million. Even if the population of the powerful and wealthy families who were hiding were included, it would not exceed fifty million. The territory of the Han Dynasty was thousands of miles long and thousands of miles wide. It could be said that outside the cities, there was only wasteland.

This is a reflection of traditional society.

The reclamation of wasteland has, to some extent, expanded the living area of ​​the people.

In short, everything went smoothly, which is how many things start out.

"Be careful of Hidden Field."

Liu Ju knew the greedy nature of the powerful clans, so the registered land was only exempt from taxes for five years. After five years, the land tax would have to be paid normally.

Paying taxes is something that ordinary people may be used to, but the powerful families simply don't have this concept in their minds. How can it be acceptable for my servants to share the harvest from the land they cultivate with the imperial court, even if it's just a tiny bit?

Where is the law? Where is the justice?
Tax evasion.

All the powerful families would do it without even thinking about it.

"Yes, the Prime Minister's office has prepared local officials for the methods the Lord instructed, such as 'land measurement and shrinking ropes,' 'tricks,' 'sprinkling,' 'widening ropes,' 'hidden fields,' and 'concealed households,' ensuring that powerful families will not have any chance to evade taxes," Gongsun Hong said respectfully.

Unlike previous emperors of the Han Dynasty, the Supreme Ruler liked to do things ahead of time, accurately identify loopholes in government policies, and fix them to prevent anyone from taking advantage of them. This wisdom was something I greatly admired.

"We must also be wary of local officials colluding with powerful clans," Liu Ju warned. "Officials travel thousands of miles only for wealth."

This is the true thought of the vast majority of officials in the world.

If local officials collude with powerful clans to deceive the imperial court, the effectiveness of the new land policy will be greatly diminished.

"I have entrusted the matter of collusion between officials and powerful clans to the Imperial Archives."

Gongsun Hong nodded and slowly said, "The Imperial Censor Zhang Tang has increased the severity of this part of the law. At the same time, in accordance with the Emperor's instructions, he has increased the number of Imperial Censors in Embroidered Robes, combining overt and covert methods to patrol the regions."

Let professionals do what they are good at.

If it's about preventing collusion between local officials and powerful figures, a pure legal official like Zhang Tang would naturally be more professional.

The laws were tightened to increase the cost of collusion between local officials and powerful figures, and a special inspection system was also established.

All the embroidered robes pointed directly to the Censorate, seemingly belonging to the Imperial Archives, but in reality, they did not belong to it, or even to the imperial court's order.

These people wielded immense power, capable of investigating high-ranking officials in the imperial court and judging local officials. Moreover, they were only accountable to Zhang Tang, the Grand Censor, who in turn was only accountable to the emperor.

They were truly detached from worldly affairs.

In fact, several years ago, His Majesty established the system of governors to supervise the prefectures and kingdoms, but the governors asked questions in six articles, which were aimed at the illegal acts of officials with a salary of two thousand piculs.

The Embroidered-Robed Envoy was able to investigate everything without fear. Gongsun Hong had a gut feeling that this was not a temporary special surveillance system, but rather something that would accompany the court for many years, perhaps even until the end of the Han Dynasty, becoming a nightmare for countless Han officials.

Overt intelligence and covert spies make it impossible to guard against.

"I have great confidence in Zhang Tang's abilities," Liu Ju nodded.

A pure cruel official.

He was similar to Shang Yang of the Qin Dynasty, but he lacked Wei Yang's ability to govern the country and control the people. If he were to focus on one thing, he could do it perfectly.

"How many servants of wealthy families were released from their social status?"

"Your Majesty, the desire is very strong. Countless petitions have been received from various prefectures and kingdoms. Some are willing to cultivate wasteland in their hometowns in exchange for being removed from the official register, while others are willing to go to border prefectures such as Shuofang to cultivate wasteland in exchange for being removed from the official register," Gongsun Hongshu said.

Many servants of powerful clans, feeling that their families held great influence in the region, wanted to break free from their clans' sphere of influence and were willing to go to places like Shuofang County to reclaim wasteland, no matter how difficult it was.

The imperial court had already made arrangements, with local government offices providing assistance, so that they could go to the border regions to start a new life.

"Are there any powerful clans defying government orders?" A cold glint flashed in Liu Ju's eyes.

Gongsun Hong thought for a moment and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty, most powerful clans do not dare to disobey the government’s orders. The conditions Your Majesty has given have exceeded the price of a servant. No powerful clan dares to openly defy Your Majesty’s orders.”

"What if it happens openly?"

"It comes down to special servants. Those servants who have undergone special training and have special abilities are worth far more than 20,000 coins or 10 acres of fertile land. Powerful clans are unwilling to release them, and even with a 'voluntary agreement,' some powerful clans have ways to keep them." Gongsun Hong spoke about the servants who were forced to voluntarily enslave.

That was a very small group of people, but it also represented how powerful families only reaped the benefits and never did anything that would result in a loss.

"Despite repeated orders and warnings, he remains unchanged. Let Zhang Tang take action."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)