I meet all the requirements for becoming a god in this world!

Chapter 247: Good Fortune Arrives!

From then on, everyone's minds followed Cheng Laiyun's words and got on track.

"Your Majesty, regarding the shortage of manpower—my solution is called hierarchical contracting, assigning responsibility to specific individuals."

?

Upon hearing these words...

Everyone instinctively turned their gaze to Cheng Laiyun's face.

Cheng Laiyun took a deep breath:

"Each county assigned the surveying task to each township, each township to each village, and each village to each jia (unit of land measurement)."

"Each village head is responsible for the preliminary measurement of the land in their village. The measurement results are posted within the village for three days. Any household in the village who believes that the data is incorrect can request a review on the spot."

"After the public announcement period ends without objection, the data will be reported to the village head, who will be responsible for summarizing and randomly checking 30% of it. If the random check finds that the error exceeds the limit, all data from that village will be returned for weighing."

"After the village summarizes the information, it is reported to the township, the township reports to the county, and the county reports to the prefecture."

"Everyone at every level responsible must sign and affix their fingerprints. If forgery is discovered later, none of those who signed will escape punishment." As he said this, his gaze turned melancholy.

"In the past, there was only one county magistrate overseeing things. If he slacked off or turned a blind eye, the people below would follow suit and slack off as well."

"But now all the surveying tasks are distributed to each headman of the village—the surveyors are local people who are most familiar with the local fields and can measure the land accurately."

"Moreover, the system of joint liability for signing and sealing deters them from deliberately making measurement errors, because if they are caught in a random inspection, they will lose their jobs."

That concludes the discussion.

Almost everyone in the Imperial Study looked up at the same time.

Their gazes turned to astonishment.

Especially Zhou Wenqing.

He was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts, and his biggest headache was surveying—no matter how many people he sent down, it wasn't enough, and the people he sent down were easily bribed by the local authorities.

However, Cheng Laiyun's method did not require sending any additional people. He used the existing headman system, but tied everyone's interests together with the principle of collective punishment, so no one dared to cover for anyone else.

This tactic doesn't involve whipping from behind; it involves tying everyone together on a rope. Anyone who moves forward or backward will die together, so no one dares to retreat.

Yu Qingzheng's eyes lit up. He was in charge of the Ministry of Works, and all he thought about was how to promote standardized practices nationwide, but the Ministry of Works' standardization efforts had never extended beyond the capital.

Cheng Laiyun quietly taught him a lesson—not only can rulers be standardized, but systems can also be standardized, and even responsibilities can be standardized.

"good!!"

He suddenly shouted and then burst into laughter.

Looking at Cheng Laiyun, his eyes were full of pride:

"Lai Yun's words have truly resonated with me!"

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!"

He was very generous with his praise of Cheng Laiyun.

Not only him, but everyone in the room, after thinking about it for a while, also showed expressions of sudden realization and admiration.

"Brilliant plan!"

"This plan has significantly accelerated the implementation of the new policies!"

Cheng Laiyun remained calm and composed, continuing, "As for His Majesty's question regarding the issue of wealthy landowners hoarding land..."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jianye's heart leaped into his throat, and he stared intently at Cheng Laiyun.

This issue is of paramount importance in the implementation of the new policy.

Cheng Laiyun's gaze was deep: "My method is to encourage self-reporting."

"Instead of having local officials investigate the hidden lands of wealthy landowners, it would be better to let them report them themselves."

"initiative???"

Not only Emperor Jianye, but even Zhang Linzheng was somewhat taken aback.

How could they possibly report it voluntarily?

Those gentry aren't fools.

"They... probably... won't report it voluntarily, right?"

Because of Cheng Laiyun's previous answer.

Even if the Emperor of Jianye harbored suspicions, he dared not voice them too openly, merely glancing hesitantly at Cheng Laiyun. Cheng Laiyun's gaze was earnest, his voice calm:

"As for how to get them to report it voluntarily?"

"My idea is to set a deadline. Within the deadline, anyone who voluntarily reports their hidden land will be subject to the new tax starting from the following year, and all previous tax arrears will not be investigated."

"But if you fail to declare within the time limit and are reported or found out by superiors during a random inspection, you will not only have to pay all the back taxes, but also be fined double the amount. In serious cases, your land will be confiscated."

"In the past, the imperial court would send people to investigate them, and they would try every means to hide; now they are weighing the options themselves—they will report voluntarily, even if they lose future taxes, they will still have their land and their lives will be saved."

"But if we don't report it, and it gets discovered, we'll not only have to pay more money, but we might also lose our ancestral land."

"More importantly, they don't know if anyone has already secretly reported it, and no one can guarantee that they are the most discreet."

"Once this suspicion spreads among the wealthy and powerful, it is more effective than the court sending down a hundred censors."

When he said this...

Cheng Laiyun's lips slowly curled up:

"Does Your Majesty truly believe that those powerful gentry are united and unbreakable?"

...Xie Yuheng's hand, which was holding the teacup, suddenly hovered in mid-air.

He looked at Cheng Laiyun, and a light suddenly shone in his cloudy eyes that was rarely seen on the face of this old scholar who was known for his disillusionment with the world.

People's hearts!

Cheng Laiyun's plan was tailor-made for those wealthy gentry!

He even imagined that once this system was introduced, the wealthy gentry would gather together and all say that it was impossible to report it and that they should unite to oppose the imperial system.

But when the day is actually reported, everyone will see the other person's name on the list...

Moreover, even if it is not reported, the imperial court will definitely send people to investigate.

Xie Yuheng took a deep breath and slowly uttered a single word:

"it is good."

He served as the emperor's tutor for thirty years and had seen countless gifted young people, but this kid was more than just smart.

He knew this strategy—not to suppress with force, not to punish with laws, but to strike at the cracks in people's hearts.

Once the deadline for filing is set, the wealthy and powerful will begin to suspect each other. No one knows if the neighboring family has secretly filed, and no one dares to gamble that others will suffer the same fate. If one family can't hold on any longer and files first, the entire circle will collapse.

This is a true act of undermining their own interests, using their own interests to dismantle their own alliances.

Emperor Jianye was now completely absorbed in the conversation, and he waved his hand repeatedly at Cheng Laiyun:

"explain!"

"Go on!"

"Let's address all the issues at once."

Cheng Laiyun felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Emperor Jianye's hungry gaze.

His smile remained unchanged, and he cleared his throat before continuing:

"Regarding the verification problem—my solution is cross-blind verification."

Cross-blind nucleus?

Another new word!

Everyone stared intently at Cheng Laiyun's mouth like ravenous wolves. Cheng Laiyun raised his voice:

"Make three copies of the measurement data for each county: one copy to be kept in the county, one copy to be reported to the prefecture, and one copy to be sealed and sent directly to the capital."

"The three sets of data traveled through three different channels and were not shared with each other until they were compiled by the imperial court."

"The Ministry of Revenue cross-referenced the data from neighboring counties—fields of the same area and with similar fertility should produce roughly the same data in two adjacent counties."

"If County A reports significantly less farmland than the neighboring County B, it will automatically be added to the list of counties requiring special verification."

"At the same time, the Regent's Office will send out inspectors from time to time to conduct surprise inspections of randomly selected prefectures and counties. Once forgery is discovered, it will be dealt with severely."

"The core of this method is that local officials do not know whether their data will be selected, nor do they know how much neighboring counties have reported, let alone when the people from the Regent's Office will suddenly appear at the yamen gate."

"Three sets of data go through three different paths. To falsify them, you would have to bribe everyone on all three paths, which is so expensive that it's almost impossible."

The words fell.

The atmosphere in the hall had completely changed.

What was once a stagnant pool of water has now become like a pot of water about to boil, and everyone's expression is different.

Zhou Wenqing's mouth was agape, the list in his hand had somehow fallen to the ground. Zhang Qinian leaned forward slightly, his eyes shining brightly, his hands supporting him on the imperial desk.

Zhang Linzheng wasn't looking at Cheng Laiyun; he was looking at the expression on Emperor Jianye's face.

He had followed Emperor Jianye for so many years and knew the emperor very well.

Emperor Jianye now leans back on the dragon throne, his fingers no longer tapping the armrests, his lips wide open, and his gaze vacant.

It remained fixed on Cheng Laiyun and did not move away.

His breathing became extremely heavy.

The last time this kind of reaction occurred was on the night the Edict of Grace was proposed.

Cheng Laiyun spoke calmly and slowly, at a comfortable pace:

"One last question."

"The people do not trust the new policies and are worried that they will be disadvantaged after paying taxes, which leads to instability among the people."

Cheng Laiyun slowly took out a document from his sleeve and presented it with both hands:

"I believe that the root cause of the people's unrest is not their ignorance, but their fear of being cheated." "When the court says it will abolish the poll tax, they are afraid that the poll tax will still exist after they have paid the land tax; when the court says it will levy taxes based on acreage, they are afraid that the measured acreage will be more than the actual acreage."

"To solve this, talking won't do the trick—we have to show them."

At this point, Cheng Laiyun's eyes narrowed slightly, becoming extremely sharp:

"I suggest that when the measurement is carried out in each county, every measurement data should be posted locally for three days, and any household that believes that its data is incorrect can request a review on the spot."

"When the autumn tax is collected, the amount of tax payable by each household is posted in advance, and the people can do the math themselves—they will believe that the tax they pay after the new policy is less than before."

The sound faded.

The entire room fell silent.

The Imperial Study remained quiet for a full five breaths.

It wasn't the kind of silence where someone was preparing a rebuttal; it was as if everyone's brain had been hit hard by something at the same moment, temporarily losing the ability to organize their thoughts.

The list in Zhou Wenqing's hand had fallen to the ground without him noticing. He was staring intently at Cheng Laiyun, his lips moving slightly as if he were repeating every word he had just heard.

He had managed the accounts in the Ministry of Revenue for over a decade and understood the significance of these measures better than anyone else.

Tiered contracting, joint liability, cross-checking, and strict enforcement... This is not a matter of solving one problem after another, but rather of smoothing out the mess that the Ministry of Revenue had been unable to sort out for more than a decade in less than half an hour.

Is this even human?!

It's not just the mess that the Ministry of Revenue has been making for over a decade.

These problems are extremely difficult to solve in the context of history!

Today, in this imperial study.

He actually heard a solution to the fundamental problem...

Zhang Qinian braced himself on the imperial desk with both hands, leaning forward so far that it looked as if he was about to flip over the desk.

His square face was filled with excitement, his breathing was heavy, his lips opened and closed repeatedly, finally letting out an almost roaring exclamation of praise:

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Tiered contracting eliminates the need for additional personnel, and cross-checking leaves no room for fraud..."

He started to stammer when he spoke:

"This...this...Lord Cheng, what's wrong with your brain?!"

Yu Qingzheng stood to the left of the imperial desk. At first, he stroked his beard and nodded slightly, but after hearing Cheng Laiyun's last word, his fingers suddenly tightened, tearing out several strands of his beard. He gasped in pain, but he didn't bother to rub his chin. He just looked at Cheng Laiyun with a gaze that was hard to describe as either pride or shock.

He was the Minister of Works, the Grand Elder of the Mo Clan, and the one who watched Cheng Laiyun climb all the way from a lowly ninth-rank cultivator to a fourth-rank inspector.

He thought he had gotten used to the kid's amazing abilities, but today he was still stunned—not only can rulers be standardized, systems can be standardized, but even responsibilities can be standardized.

This was the second lesson Cheng Laiyun taught him, and it convinced him even more than any previous sparring match.

Zhang Linzheng remained silent.

He didn't say a word from beginning to end, but his gaze remained fixed on Emperor Jianye's face.

After a long while.

He withdrew his gaze, and slowly loosened the hand that had been behind his back.

He knew that the biggest hurdle of the new policy had been overcome.

Xie Yuheng had only one thought in his mind.

Moreover, he said it aloud.

He spoke with a look of shame: "The late emperor once said that with Yuheng around, the sky of the Great Yuan Dynasty will not fall down... In my opinion, after tonight, we should add another half sentence—"

He reorganized his thoughts for a moment, then looked intently at Cheng Laiyun and said:

"With Cheng Laiyun around, the Great Yuan Dynasty's territory cannot be overthrown."

"No, no..." Cheng Laiyun felt a little guilty after being praised.

He quickly waved his hand.

"No."

"You deserve that!"

Emperor Jianye suddenly spoke.

These words were spoken.

Everyone instinctively looked up at the emperor.

That's when I realized it.

The iron ruler in Emperor Jianye's hand had slipped from his grasp at some point, landing on the imperial desk, then rolling onto the gold-brick floor with a crisp metallic clang. The ruler bounced twice on the ground before coming to rest at the foot of the desk, its inscriptions gleaming faintly in the candlelight.

Everyone in the hall looked at the iron ruler that had fallen to the ground, and then at Emperor Jianye; no one dared to pick it up.

Emperor Jianye did not pick it up.

He simply leaned back on the dragon throne and murmured a sentence in an almost blank tone. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear in the silent imperial study:

"Five difficult problems. The cabinet discussed them three times, and the Ministry of Revenue submitted more than a dozen memorials, but none of them could come up with a solution that would satisfy me."

"You, Cheng Laiyun, managed to fill all five obstacles for me in less than an hour."

He slowly sat up straight, his gaze sweeping over the officials with their varied expressions, over Zhang Linzheng, over Yu Qingzheng, over Xie Yuheng, and finally landing on Cheng Laiyun.

"Hehe."

He suddenly laughed, not his usual stoic laugh, but a genuine, hearty laugh that burst forth from the depths of his chest.

Laughter echoed in the imperial study, making the candlelight flicker several times.

He stood up, walked around to the imperial desk, and bent down to pick up the iron ruler from the ground with his own hands.

He looked down at the iron ruler, examining it over and over, then carefully wiped away the dust with his sleeve before placing it in the center of his desk—on top of all the folded paper. "The iron ruler measures the world. Good."

He savored those four words as if they were a elixir with endless aftertaste.

Then he raised his head, looked at Cheng Laiyun, and spoke as if each word was carved into an iron plate with the tip of a knife:

"Minister Cheng, use this iron ruler to measure every inch of the Great Yuan Dynasty's land for me."

"I'm keeping this standard for you—implement it nationwide without fail."

"I'd like to see who dares to hide my land before my iron ruler!"