Chapter 183: I Give You a Mission

In the past few days, the inside and outside of the court gradually settled down.

After several months of turmoil in many things, Da Zhou also ushered in a few days of stability.

However, many people know that such a stable situation may not last long.

The one on the dragon chair who first cleaned up the court and then exterminated the aristocratic family is obviously not a master who can melt sand in his eyes.

The Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Xiliang supported their own self-respect, listened to the announcement but not listened to it, and prevaricated twice.

Judging from the temperament of the person on the dragon chair in the recent period, it is impossible to remain indifferent to the actions of the Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Xiliang.

Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Zhou Chen sat on the dragon chair and listened to the reports from Lu Bu and Cao Zhengchun.

The end of the year is approaching.

Lu Bu and Cao Zhengchun also returned to Luoyang one after another.

After listening to the reports from Lu Bu and Cao Zhengchun, Zhou Chen looked at Cao Zhengchun; "How can I say that the Yuan family, the Zheng family, and the Fan family have already made preparations and secretly let some young children flee outside the pass?"

Cao Zhengchun nodded; "Yes, Your Majesty."

"By the time Dongchang reacted, it was too late to send someone to chase him down."

"So, the remnants of the three families have escaped from the customs."

Cao Zhengchun said.

Zhou Chen pondered for a while, and said to Lu Bu and Cao Zhengchun, "Go down and rest first!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Lu Bu and Cao Zhengchun withdrew from the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Zhou Chen didn't pay much attention to the fact that the remnants of the three great families escaped from outside the pass.

Perhaps, these remnants may bring some troubles to Zhou Chen later.

But from Zhou Chen's point of view, as long as he is strong enough, this little trouble is nothing.

These remnants who escaped from outside the pass can't escape the temple, and sooner or later they have to go down to reunite with those from the three great families.

A few minutes after Lu Bu and Cao Zhengchun had left, an internal guard walked in to report.

"Your Majesty, Xun Shangshu is seeking an audience outside the hall."

"Let him in."

Zhou Chen said something lightly.

The factory guard inside bowed and stepped back.

After a while.

Xun Yu walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"Chen Xunyu has seen His Majesty."

Xun Yu walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen who was sitting on the dragon chair.

"Wen Ruo doesn't need to be too polite."

Zhou Chen raised his eyes and looked at Xun Yu; "How is the matter of the household department handled, what's the problem?"

Before, Liu Yeqing found out many problems in the household department. After Xun Yu, the household secretary, took office, these problems had to be dealt with by Xun Yu, the household secretary.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have already dealt with the issue of the household department."

"However, as the new year is approaching, taxes from all over the country have been reported to the household department successively. Compared with last year, Dazhou's tax revenue this year has dropped by more than 30%."

Xun Yu said with a sigh.

After Xun Yu joined the household department, he spent a lot of time understanding most of the situation in the household department.

Especially the annual tax situation of the Ministry of Households, Xun Yu took it as a key point to understand.

After all, taxation is the most important lifeblood of a country.

If there is any problem with the tax, it will affect the operation of the entire Da Zhou.

After learning about Dazhou's annual tax situation, Xun Yu's heart was very heavy.

Xun Yu didn't expect that Dazhou's tax revenue would decline every year.

Especially this year's tax, compared with last year, directly reduced by more than 40%.

This forced Xun Yu to immediately enter the palace to face the saint.

"Reduced by more than 30%?"

Zhou Chen frowned.

Taxation is the foundation of a country,

It is a concrete manifestation of measuring the prosperity of a country.

In layman's terms, only when a country receives sufficient taxes can it have the confidence to do other things.

If there is not enough taxation, then the country is poor and backward.

"What's the reason?" Zhou Chen asked.

Zhou Chen knew that there was a severe drought in the four northern states this year, and Zhou Chen exempted the four northern states from taxes for three years.

But even if there is no tax from the four northern states, it is impossible for Da Zhou's tax to be directly reduced by more than 30%!

Without the taxes from the four northern states, Dazhou's taxes would be reduced by less than 20% at most.

But now Dazhou's tax has been directly reduced by more than 30%, so what happened to the reduced tax of more than 10%?

Xun Yu took out a memorial and handed it to Zhou Chen; "Your Majesty, please read it."

This is the reason why Xun Yu's investigation found that the tax revenue was partially reduced.

As the Minister of the Household Department, Xun Yu immediately investigated the reason after discovering the tax reduction.

This investigation allowed Xun Yu to discover the seriousness of the problem.

If these problems are not resolved, Dazhou's tax revenue may decline after the economic crisis.

Zhou Chen opened the memorial, glanced at it, and his face became more and more ugly.

Da Zhou practiced the land equalization system.

What is the equal-field system?

That is, Da Zhou distributed the land equally to the common people.

Then the people cultivated the land, and Dazhou collected taxes according to the population.

How many people there are in the family, how much tax will be collected by the court.

It has nothing to do with how much food is grown or anything else.

This kind of land system has many advantages. If there are no natural and man-made disasters, it can greatly promote the prosperity of the Great Zhou.

How many years the Great Zhou can be passed down has an inseparable relationship with the land equalization system.

However, the equal-field system also has one of its biggest drawbacks.

That is tax exemption for the privileged class.

Some aristocratic families, sons of officials, and clan landlords all have the right to tax exemption.

In other words, no matter how much land these people have in their hands, they still enjoy this privilege and do not have to pay taxes to the court.

This kind of privilege has existed in all dynasties and cannot be avoided.

Even Zhou Chen knew that this privilege could not be easily eliminated.

If you just have this kind of privilege, there is no big problem.

After all, the privileged class is a minority after all.

The most common people in this world are ordinary people.

More than 90% of the people in the world are common people.

As long as these people pay taxes, the foundation of Dazhou cannot be shaken.

However, the Great Zhou has been passed down for hundreds of years, and the system of land equalization has been implemented for hundreds of years.

Over the past few hundred years, the people who were allocated the land at the beginning have already died.

And their descendants, after hundreds of years, perhaps due to various reasons, the land in their hands gradually fell into the hands of family landlords.

When the land is in the hands of the family landlords, it becomes their land, and they who have privileges do not have to pay taxes to the court.

Thus.

The land is still the original land.

But it has become a tax-free zone for family landlords.

Invisibly, the tax revenue of the imperial court was reduced.

If things go on like this, hundreds of years will come down.

Naturally, the tax collected by the imperial court became less and less.

The less part naturally fell into the hands of the family landlords.

This is the so-called aristocratic family, while enjoying privileges, they are still digging the foundation of the Great Zhou, annexing and occupying the land of the Great Zhou.

Looking at the memorial that Xun Yu handed over, Zhou Chen's expression was uncertain.

The imperial court gave these wealthy families various comforts. All kinds of subsidies, especially this kind of class privilege, can't be said to be preferential treatment.

But how did these wealthy families report to the court?

Invade and annex people's land.

He enjoys the privileges of the imperial court, digs the foundation of the imperial court, and competes with the imperial court for tax revenue.

This is what the rich and powerful families do.

Zhou Chen knew that in all dynasties, there was no shortage of such incidents of encroachment and annexation of people's land.

Especially in the later period of the past dynasties, this kind of thing is the most serious.

This is also one of the most important reasons why all dynasties are going to perish.

Zhou Chen didn't expect that Da Zhou's land would be annexed to such a serious extent.

If the common people have no land, they can only plant it under the wealthy family.

The common people help the aristocratic family to cultivate the land, and the aristocratic family squeezes the labor force of the common people while strengthening the strength of the aristocratic family.

As time goes by, the aristocratic family is getting stronger and stronger, and the court will become weaker and weaker without enough tax revenue.

If things go on like this, what kind of consequences will it be.

Needless to say, Zhou Chen knows better than anyone else.

Da Zhou has also declined to the extreme in this direction.

Only a little bit, I am afraid that he will follow in the footsteps of the past dynasties and go to perish.

This is no longer a simple issue of land annexation and taxation.

This is a matter that concerns the foundation of the Great Zhou and shakes the foundation of the Great Zhou.

It is precisely because these wealthy families have such privileges that the Great Zhou was divided into a country called China.

The local people only know the aristocratic family, but not the majesty of the Great Zhou court.

In Xun Yu's memorial, there are other reasons related to tax reduction, such as the court's salt tax issue, which also has a lot to do with the wealthy family.

In a word, the taxes lowered by the imperial court all went into private pockets.

Zhou Chen's eyes flickered, thinking about these questions.

These problems must be solved.

Otherwise, it would be empty talk to want ZTE Dazhou.

Besides, if you want to have a big ZTE week, you can't get around these problems.

But in order to solve these problems, the privilege of tax exemption for family landlords must first be eliminated.

These lands could only be taxed if the tax-free privilege of the aristocratic landowners was eliminated.

Zhou Chen was not afraid of the aristocratic family's annexation and encroachment on the land, what he was afraid of was the tax-free rights of the aristocratic landlords.

Zhou Chen raised his eyes and looked at Xun Yu; "Xun Yu, taxation is the foundation of a country, and only with taxation can the court do other things."

"Now, Dazhou's tax revenue is decreasing every year. If things go on like this, this will shake the foundation of Dazhou."

"How do you think this matter should be resolved?"

Zhou Chen looked at Xun Yu and asked seriously.

Xun Yu pondered for a while, and then said, "Your Majesty, if you want to solve the tax problem, you must first solve the problem of land annexation in Dazhou."

"Half of my tax revenue comes from the land."

"Therefore, I believe that the privilege of Dazhou's land tax exemption should be eliminated."

"At the same time, check the land that has been annexed and occupied in the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"Redistribute the land that has been annexed and occupied to the common people for cultivation."

"Also, other taxes have to be revised and checked..."

Xun Yu revealed the secrets in his heart one by one.

Xun Yu had already prepared for these questions when he entered the palace to face the saint.

Now when Zhou Chen asked, Xun Yu almost thought for a while, and said everything without thinking too much.

Zhou Chen nodded after listening to Xun Yu's suggestions; "Xun Yu, your suggestions are all good."

"You're right, if you want to solve the tax problem, you have to solve the land problem first."

"However, these problems cannot be solved at once."

"I entrust you with a task to measure the land of the world for me."

"Whether it is the land of the common people or the land of the landlords of the family, it must be measured into a book, counted, and recorded clearly. There must be no difference at all."

"I would like to see how much land that does not need to pay taxes now occupies the territory of Dazhou."

As soon as this word came out.

Xun Yu's expression changed.

Measure the land of the world?

Isn't it an inventory of those lands that have been annexed and occupied?

Your Majesty, what are you trying to do?

Xun Yu didn't believe it, the emperor Zhou Chen simply wanted to know how much land in Da Zhou didn't need to pay taxes.

Since His Majesty's purpose is not so simple.

Then what is the real purpose of His Majesty measuring the land of the world?

Suddenly, a flash of light flashed in Xun Yu's mind.

Does His Majesty want to take over the land of the world?

Thinking of this, Xun Yu's face became a little dignified.

If Zhou Chen really had this purpose, then this matter is no small matter.

Take over the land of the world.

The resistance of those people will not be too great.

But the wealthy family is different.

For aristocratic families, land can be regarded as the foundation for the real existence of aristocratic families.

Taking back the land of the wealthy family, isn't that digging the foundation of the wealthy family again?

The aristocratic family will definitely not agree.

At that time, the resistance of the wealthy family will not be so great.

Maybe, what kind of crazy things the aristocratic family will do is not an exaggeration.

"Is Your Majesty going to take back the land of the world?"

Xun Yu asked seriously.

Zhou Chen shook his head; "There is too much resistance to reclaiming the land in the world. No matter how sharp my blade is, there is no reason to take back the land that originally belonged to the landlords of the family."

"I can't do that either."

"I asked you to measure the land in the world in order to reform the taxation system. In the future, when the land is cultivated, taxes will be collected according to the amount of land."

Zhou Chen's words made Xun Yu's eyes flash brightly.

However, immediately Xun Yu frowned again.

Taxes are collected according to the amount of land. If the land is not cultivated, then there is no taxation?

If so, the problem would be even worse.

Zhou Chen seemed to see what Xun Yu was thinking, and said, "This matter is only my preliminary prediction. How to reform the taxation and how to collect taxes according to the amount of land, I have to call all the ministers to discuss."

"You first measure the land of the world for me, and collect the data, and I will ask Dongchang to cooperate with you."

Zhou Chen knew that it was not so easy to measure the land of the world.

There should be resistance too.

It is estimated that the wealthy family will not cooperate easily.

However, compared with these problems, just measuring the land will not cause much resistance.

With Dongchang's assistance, it shouldn't be too difficult.

"The minister obeys the order."

Xun Yu bowed to receive the order.

Afterwards, Xun Yu reported some other situations of the household department to Zhou Chen, and then left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Measuring the land of the world is not an easy task.

Xun Yu hurried back and made a good plan.

Sign a Lu Fengxian at the beginning