Chapter 34: The Emperor and His Ministers Have Met with the Time (34)

Zhuo Feichen was already on his way to Mobei, and Chen Xiaoyu, who stood behind Shen Minghuan to protect him, was ready to move.

Nie Xingyu shouted in dissatisfaction: "Why am I the only one who has to leave?"

If Shen Minghuan wanted to kill him, he would not be so angry. "The first important official of the Qi Dynasty to be eliminated by the great traitor Shen was extremely afraid of him." This title will shine brightly thousands of years later.

But what does it mean to let him leave? Do you look down on him?

"I don't trust you." Shen Minghuan said honestly.

Unexpectedly, he got such an answer. Nie Xingyu was stunned, "What do you mean?"

Qu Zhengcheng, who had been thinking silently, raised his eyes and glanced at Shen Minghuan. He moved forward slightly, and seeing that no one stopped him, he bent down and picked up one of the papers with black words on the ground.

He finished reading it quickly, and felt a little complicated. He looked at the scattered papers again: "Have you finished reading all these?"

Shen Minghuan nodded as a matter of course, and said to Nie Xingyu: "I am not sure what kind of person you are for the time being. If you want to blame someone, blame Chen Xiaoyu. They have collected too little information about you."

He did not hesitate to throw the blame to Chen Xiaoyu who was rubbing his hands.

"Information?"

The ministers who heard this gathered around him, squeezed around Qu Zhengcheng and leaned their heads to read, and a few people also started to pick up the papers on the ground.

"Are all these our information?" Lin Zhihang asked in shock.

Shen Minghuan felt a little guilty, but he still said confidently: "This king believes in the vision of Prime Minister Qu. Since he chose you guys, it means that you must have something extraordinary. Of course, this king should pay more attention to it."

Shen Minghuan knew that he was lazy. As the regent, he should know everyone well. But he took a shortcut and used Qu Zhengcheng as the initial screening standard.

He couldn't guarantee that there were no talents who were loyal to Qi Dynasty and left behind by Qu Zhengcheng among the remaining people. This was considered a dereliction of duty as a king, so he was actually a little unconfident.

The ministers did not find Shen Minghuan's timidity. What they found incredible was that Shen Minghuan actually collected so much information about them and read it all.

And he was so serious just to screen out the available people?

Who can the available people be used for? They knew that the only person they would be loyal to would only be Qi Dynasty. Shen Minghuan should also be very clear about this after reading the information. There would be no room for maneuver.

So... he was aiming to find the available people in Qi Dynasty from the beginning?

Even Nie Xingyu, who had some concerns, was unwilling to stay. Such dedication and caution did not seem to be to eliminate dissidents.

Could it be that he was also for the Great Qi?

The ministers had a lot of thoughts in their hearts.

The system in the consciousness space door hesitated to speak.

The system silently added "Thoughts and Morality" to the bookshelf, and made up its mind to urge the host to study hard.

It's fine in the ancient world, but if you go to the modern world in the future, this is a bad behavior of invading other people's privacy!

People in other worlds are not like these fools. Not only are they not angry, but the system even sees some... touching on their faces?

Shen Minghuan, feeling guilty, changed the subject, "I asked you to come here to discuss something important. Don't waste time. That... Minister Nie, please."

Knowing that the next conversation is likely to be about saving the country, how could Nie Xingyu be willing to leave? He looked at his colleagues around him for help. This group of people just held hands with him and wanted to live and die together, but now they all avoided his gaze awkwardly.

After all, they were "trustworthy loyal ministers" stamped by Shen Minghuan after reading the vast amount of information, but Nie Xingyu's position was unclear.

Perhaps the papers in the room were too shocking, and they all believed in Shen Minghuan's judgment for a while.

Nie Xingyu lowered his voice and begged for mercy, "What other information do you need? This is Master Chen Xiaoyu, right? Come back with me, you can search and look around in my house, including the study and bedroom." He looked at Shen Minghuan pleadingly, "Is this enough information?"

Shen Minghuan, who was soft-hearted, laughed dryly, "Next time, I don't think you have a problem, that..."

Qu Zhengcheng stepped forward and said half tentatively and half solemnly, "I can guarantee that Minister Nie has no second thoughts for the country and the people."

He stared closely at the changes in Shen Minghuan's expression.

Shen Minghuan was not so friendly to Qu Zhengcheng, and he asked back, "What do you guarantee?"

Qu Zhengcheng paused and couldn't answer.

He dared to guarantee with his life, but Daqi didn't need his life.

Nie Xingyu was so anxious that he turned around and around. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and clapped his hands excitedly, "Your Highness, after this, you can let this Lord Chen Xiaoyu lock me up, so you don't have to worry about me hearing something and making trouble."

Nie Xingyu may be the first person in history who is so happy to be imprisoned.

Shen Minghuan turned his fan thoughtfully and said in agreement, "Good idea."

The other ministers also nodded happily, obviously thinking that this method was very good.

Only Chen Xiaoyu quietly refuted: "My name is not Chen Xiaoyu."

But no one heard it, and even if they heard it, they didn't care.

Shen Minghuan took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve, and seeing that there was no place to put them, he waved to Qu Zhengcheng to come and take them, "You look first."

Nie Xingyu made up his mind to perform well, and happily stepped forward before Qu Zhengcheng to take the pages with both hands.

Everyone roughly trimmed the information on the ground, and then spread the huge pages on the ground, sitting on the ground or bending over and frowning in thought.

"Restart the equal-field system, reform the imperial examination, take back all the preferential treatment of the aristocratic families, and revise the laws..."

Qu Zhengcheng stroked his chest, trying to make his heart beat less violently. He forced himself to be calm, but his voice was still trembling: "You are determined to fight against the aristocratic families to the end."

Each of these measures is cutting off the lifeblood of the aristocratic families.

"Isn't this good?" Shen Minghuan asked.

"Okay, okay, how can it be bad?" Qu Zhengcheng laughed twice in a hurry and abruptly, with indescribable longing and expectation.

However, he soon changed the subject and said sadly: "But you should also know that all the things you want to do will face great resistance."

"It's not me, it's what we want to do." Shen Minghuan corrected. He didn't want to be too tired, and "Shen Minghuan" would die anyway, so the affairs of the Qi Dynasty should be left to the heroes of the Qi Dynasty.

He said it casually, and naturally didn't know how many waves the ministers who heard this were in their hearts. Shen Minghuan continued: "I know, so let's start with the simple ones."

He also squeezed into the crowd, half squatted down, and reached out to tap a few of the big words.

"For example - the equal-field system."

Qu Zhengcheng was shocked: "You call this simple?"

"The equal-field system has a precedent in the previous dynasty. It's nothing more than walking the path that the predecessors have walked again. Isn't it simple?" Shen Minghuan felt that Qu Zhengcheng was making a fuss.

Qu Zhengcheng smiled bitterly, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

It is true that there was a precedent in the previous dynasty, but the equal-field system of the previous dynasty failed.

As soon as this policy was proposed, the emperor at that time praised it highly and set aside two cities as experiments without saying a word.

But when the emperor wanted to promote it to the whole country, half of the court officials knelt down and begged him to withdraw his order, otherwise they would resign and return home.

The emperor was not threatened. He saw the unique superiority of this system and insisted on letting the people own their own land.

But the officials he sent out to implement this measure either encountered bandits or suffered from sudden serious illness, and the minister who proposed the equal-field system even "committed suicide" at home inexplicably.

So the land system reform that was carried out vigorously for three years was completely declared a failure.

After that, the previous dynasty went into decline, local tyrants became more unscrupulous, and the merger and sale of land became increasingly serious.

So it would be more difficult for the current Qi Dynasty to implement the equal-field system than the previous dynasty.

Lu Zhi thought that young people were still young, and he didn't know that some things, even if they were correct, could not be accomplished by passion. He tactfully reminded: "The powerful families control more than nine layers of land. You want to divide the farmland among the people according to the population. Will they agree?"

"So you are worried about this. Don't worry, I will find a way to make them agree." Shen Minghuan was confident, "Regarding the specific implementation, do you see if there is anything you need to add?"

The ministers were not as optimistic as Shen Minghuan, but their business capabilities were impeccable. Although they were worried, they still discussed it.

"Farmland is no longer privately owned. People are only given the right to use it within the city for a certain period of time. How long is the appropriate period? Thirty years?"

"Is it too late to divide the land according to population after adulthood? Newborn babies are prone to premature death, so why not start at the age of twelve?"

"What if the population increases and the land is insufficient? Brother Xingyu, don't look at me like that. I know that we can still reclaim wasteland outside the city, but what if there is not enough wasteland hundreds of years later?"

"You think too far ahead. Dynasties are constantly changing. It is hard to say whether the Qi Dynasty will still exist hundreds of years later."

"Pfft, pfft, children speak without restraint."

"Huh? Children's words? You say I am an ignorant child? Brother Lu Zhi, you are going too far."

"..."

Lu Suiping lowered his eyes and pondered. He had a strange insistence in his heart, as if if he spoke today, he would acknowledge Shen Minghuan's position as regent and betray Da Qi.

He thought, even if he wanted to discuss, even if he wanted to offer advice, he should have been talking to Luo Xiuyuan, not Shen Minghuan.

Wang Jin looked at Shen Minghuan carefully.

This man was really strange. He used to look at people with a squinting look, arrogant and insolent, as if no one could catch his eye.

He also sneered fiercely and threatened them to work for him.

Wang Jin didn't know much about him, except for those rumors that had been polished several times. The first time he saw this man was in the court. This man casually replaced an emperor and then undermined the new emperor.

These events were enough to piece together an image of a sinister, vicious and ambitious person, and Wang Jin believed it without a doubt.

But when he saw the seriousness in that man's brows, he suddenly wavered.

Perhaps -

Although this man is ambitious, he will also be a good king.

And for a king, ambition is not a shortcoming at all.