I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

"A bloodbath at the Shen residence?"

The head of the Zhou family was so shocked that his eyes widened and he stared straight at the wealthy man, Qian.

"That's right, you don't want your ancestral heritage to be stolen and your descendants to be begging, do you?"

"You must agree to all of them today, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Master Qian sneered. As long as there are enough people involved, even if the Shen family finds out that they did it, what can they do to them?

Since we're going to die anyway, let's take a gamble; maybe there's a way out.

The Zhou family head did indeed stamp his seal on the guard register and used a carriage to block the alley entrance.

He dared not lead the killing, but he was also reluctant to give up those tens of thousands of acres of land.

late at night!

After more than a hundred men in black stormed into the Shen residence, they headed straight for the accounting room.

The leader kicked open the door, raised his knife halfway, and then froze.

Behind the long table, there were no screaming tents or people fleeing for their lives, only a row of raised crossbows.

In the side corridor, short muskets were already aimed at the courtyard.

"put!"

Gunfire erupted, and the men at the front fell one after another.

Before the people behind them could even land properly, they were forced to tumble down the wall by crossbow bolts.

The Qian family counted the guards of the Shen residence, but did not include the group of female soldiers who returned to their hometown with Shen Chongli.

When Shen Chongli left the capital, Lu Yuan dispatched elite troops from the Phoenix Battalion to escort him.

The land deed must be protected, and the person handling the matter must be protected even more.

Or rather, Lu Yuan was worried that someone within the Shen family might be dissatisfied with Shen Chongli and deliberately cause trouble.

These soldiers were specifically there to support Shen Chongli, this "incompetent head of the family."

But I never expected there would be such a pleasant surprise.

The people waiting outside the compound turned and fled, only to run into the garrison troops who had rushed over after hearing the news.

Shen Chongli held up the Crown Prince's edict, even wearing one shoe on the wrong feet.

He was terrified and cursed fiercely.

"I spared your lives, and you've chosen my grave!"

"If I don't make you bastards pay the price today, I'll write my name Shen backwards."

"Ran the Qian family's property!"

Before dawn, the Qian residence was broken into.

Except for those who were away, most of the Qian family members had died.

The wealthy man's escape cart was filled with silver chests, but before he could even get in, he was pulled down the steps.

The Zhou family head shouted that he had not entered the Shen residence, but the carriage blocking the alley was still pulled in front of him.

All the wealthy landowners involved in the crime were arrested, and the land involved was seized.

The vast land that was counted was listed in a separate register for returning the land to its original owners. The land was measured and verified village by village. The original owner's name could not be erased simply because it was described as "ancestral property".

Zhang Mancang returned to the contract office and brought a basket of eggs that he was reluctant to eat.

Instead of giving the money to the officials, he placed the basket next to the wounded soldier, then knelt very upright, holding the land deed stamped with a red seal.

The tenants who had fearfully reclaimed their land yesterday also knelt down.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

The first batch of receipts and reports of victory were sent to the capital, while the notices of returning the land to the people were transmitted to various prefectures along the post roads.

Some people immediately stopped collecting old debts that had accumulated for over a decade, while others took their ancestral deeds to inquire about how much the Shen family had actually refunded.

The Shen family returned the land, and the Qian family paid with their lives.

No one dares to treat returning land as a joke anymore.

In the study of the Eastern Palace, He Shen finished reporting the progress in Runan, but didn't receive a single word of praise for a long time.

Lu Yuan was flipping through another stack of booklets, his face even darker than before.

"Uncle, are our Lu family's ancestral graves filled with ancestors, or rabbits?"

He Shen's lips twitched. "I dare not accept such a reply."

Lu Yuan pushed the master book over.

There were forty-eight princes, four hundred and sixty-two dukes, and generals and lieutenants of various ranks, along with their relatives who nominally received stipends, totaling nearly one hundred thousand people.

These are not the descendants of Lu Cangqiong alone.

When the nation was founded and kinship was established, distant branches of the Lu family were granted titles by referring to the family genealogy. Uncles, paternal relatives, and nephews from various branches of the family received these titles, which were then passed down through generations.

Some people were separated from the emperor by several houses and had never even met him, yet they were never late in receiving their silver.

Last year, the family stipends, rice stipends, plus the cost of mansion repairs, weddings, funerals, and other rewards, consumed more than half of the annual income.

Lu Yuan added a few scholarship slots to the academy, but the accounts still needed to be checked before approval.

Add a name here, and you can eat for free for life.

After reading it, He Shen could no longer laugh. "The northern border is stockpiling military provisions, and Runan has been exempted from taxes for three years after returning its land to the people..."

"So, as soon as the people received their land, they were already waiting with their bowls of rice?"

Lu Yuan picked up the vermilion pen, but did not immediately cross out the total.

This place includes wealthy princes with vast estates, widowed wives, and disabled elderly people.

You can't just hit the big fish without hurting them first; you have to kill the weak ones first.

He turned the page and added two more columns.

"Rank and stipends are assessed separately, and government properties are also listed."

He Shen picked up the ledger and went to the Ministry of Revenue to reconcile the accounts.

The land has been distributed, but the national treasury is still leaking money.

If things continue like this, how many more days can ordinary people enjoy their good life?

Shen Hanqiu brought in a soup bowl and saw him gritting his teeth at the booklet, so he first placed the soup where it wouldn't obstruct the document.

"If you keep glaring at me, the money won't come back on its own."

She opened the section on pensions and said, "If these widows and orphans need to be verified, it's best to register them separately. Some people even have to rely on relatives to deliver the register when they go out."

She had experienced the bitterness of living under someone else's roof and couldn't bear to see others also lose their livelihood.

Lu Yuan picked up his pen and added the missing words.

Shen Xiyao followed in carrying the empty album and immediately divided the old album into three stacks.

"I can verify the total amount, but I cannot determine people's wealth or poverty based on the ledger alone. Let's reconcile the accounts first, and mark the items that lack supporting documentation separately."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Not sending the Spring and Autumn Annals this time?"

Shen Xiyao straightened the abacus.

"If the accounts are wrong, Your Highness may punish me as you see fit, but don't try to use past grievances to offset my wages."

Lu Yuan was amused and finally took a bite of the soup.

Su Yuling entered the room carrying the duty roster of the Phoenix Battalion and witnessed this scene.

She glanced at the corner of the desk that was completely occupied, and placed the booklet in front of him.

"The female soldiers have done a good job protecting the fields. You, as the crown prince, must not only know how to use people."

"The reward money will not be reduced to a single penny. You will distribute it personally when they return."

Her tense expression relaxed a little, but she didn't leave.

She could keep an eye on his soldiers, but she didn't just want to talk about official business.

After finishing her official business, she still had a private thought to say, but with so many people around, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Shen Hanqiu recognized her expression, took away the empty cup, and beckoned Shen Xiyao to the outer room to check the records.

As soon as the door closed, Su Yuling went around to the back of the chair and pressed down on Lu Yuan's shoulder.

"Raise your hand. You've been sitting for half a day; your shoulders are stiff."

Just as Lu Yuan was about to pick up the pen, she pressed his hand back down.

"Take care of yourself first."

She massaged his hands a couple of times, using much less force than usual.

Lu Yuan seized her hand and refused to let go.

"Weren't those people quite impressive?"

Su Yuling glanced at the doorway and bit her lip.

She dared to publicly command troops, but she didn't want anyone to hear her come to the study just to ask him for company.

When Mingzhu and Ruyan had good news, she said she wasn't in a hurry, but she couldn't help but think about it when she had free time.

But he's already so busy, I can't very well use the children's situation to pressure him.

"I'll be waiting for you for dinner."

Lu Yuan pulled her to his side and responded with a smile.

"Just waiting for dinner?"

Su Yuling reached out and covered his mouth; the sound of the abacus was still ringing outside!

"If you keep talking nonsense, you'll be sleeping with your account books tonight."

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded, but didn't let go of her hand.

Her ears burned, so she had no choice but to turn the page of the roster that was covered up for him.

The next moment, Lu Yuan's laughter stopped.

Prince Qing, a descendant of Lu Xiu, the sixth son of Emperor Taizu, was seventy-six years old and listed as one of the 117 biological sons.

This is my father's distant cousin, not a younger relative who got married after the founding of the dynasty.

The records of births and salary requests over the years filled three whole pages!

Lu Yuan put one arm around Su Yuling and slammed the other hand heavily on the roster.

"When Emperor Taizu established these regulations on stipends and stipends, he was really digging his own grave!"

"That Prince Qing fathered over a hundred sons, all to cheat the imperial court out of its stipend!"