Ge Shouli left. Today is the third day. Basically. Nothing has changed here. From the second day of Ge Shouli's departure. The imperial court returned to its original function. After all, this is where the imperial court is the key to managing such a huge country. It is unlikely that one or two people will leave or stay to make any major changes. Equally. The people who are in it will never make any changes because of personnel changes.

The general direction has not changed. It's just a few things that exist in it.

Now. The imperial court sent to the southwest to inquire about the status of the conquest of the servants this time. The man who won the big or the big one has not yet returned. So this time. Zhang Fan didn't have anything to do. Over there. Zhuo Yang's stand-in. There are almost no more people who come to see him now. In a word. Now on this matter. The crowd just held on to an idea. This assassin is very tough. No matter how tortured they were, they refused to speak. But even he didn't say anything. It is enough for these ministers of the court. His failure to speak is already a problem. Behind this matter, it is absolutely inseparable from Zhu Xuanqi, the king of Shuduan. But as for what kind of relationship Zhu Xuanqi has with this matter. It's not clear now.

Therefore. Zhang Fan has also been idle recently. Now that we have entered a "dead end". I can't ask for any news. Naturally, he didn't have much to do. But the so-called nothing to do. In fact, it is only superficial. And in secret. Zhang Fan has been preparing. Preparing for the things that are coming. Then. There will be a lot of trouble and endless variables. All Zhang Fan can do now is try to prepare everything as much as possible.

And this time. Zhang Juzheng didn't know if it was because Ge Shouli left. I started to think about another thing. Although Zhang Fan, as a person who knows the inside story, understands. This matter is also something that Zhang Juzheng has already planned. But he brought it up at such a time. It feels like he decided to do this because of Ge Shouli's departure.

Although said. For this coincidence in time. Zhang Juzheng himself didn't care much. But let the people in the court have a bad image of him because of this. To be honest, Zhang Juzheng didn't feel happy in his heart.

Now. Zhang Juzheng doesn't just have Zhang Fan as a helper. There is also a Zhang Siwei. is also willing to contribute to Zhang Juzheng's idea. This made Zhang Juzheng feel that he was a lot more relaxed now. And no matter how smart a person is. No matter how you do, there is no last resort. It's always not as good as three people coming together to figure out a way. So. This time. These three Zhang adults get together to discuss things whenever they are free.

Now. What the three of them are thinking about is: About the land and the taxes. This thing. Almost every dynasty and every generation. Every emperor. Something that every minister is thinking about. But. This is also something that can never be completely solved. There will always be troubles of one kind or another. Even. People who dare to make a fuss about this. Most of them will face a lot of resistance. A bad one may also offend a lot of people because of it. Got ruined.

And the reason why Zhang Juzheng dared to make a fuss about this matter. One is his mind. Second, it is also because the situation of the imperial court in this regard is too bad.

Let's take this tax. During the Hongwu period. In summer and autumn, more than 24.7 million stone can be levied on tax rice. Wheat has more than 4.7 million stones. And in the early years of Zhengde. Most of the land was collected by some powerful people. Unequal taxation. Populations are also beginning to move. Localities are buying and selling official positions. Hide taxes. At that time. The imperial court could only collect an average of more than 22 million stone per year. The wheat is only more than 4.6 million stones. Although the two are compared. It doesn't seem like much of a difference. But think about it. More than 100 years have passed since the Ming Dynasty. There is no development in this area. It can be seen that the problem is serious.

And this question. In the Jiajing period, it was even more obvious. At that time. The imperial court levied a lot of wheat. Still so much. But this meter. But it plummeted to more than 18 million stones. Among them. The difference is more than four or five million stones. It's definitely not a small amount. Jiajing reigned for forty-five years. It's so much worse every year. How much less tax has the imperial court collected over the years. That's a lot to think about.

Then there's the issue of taxes. To know. When the Ming Dynasty was founded. The Mongols were not destroyed. Instead, they were driven to Mobei. And precisely because of this. So the Ming Dynasty has been since the beginning of the country. Northern Xinjiang has never stopped fighting. And war requires more than just people. Including military pay. Grain baggage. Forage for horses. equipment as well as training of personnel. All of this requires a lot of silver. Even. In this regard. Because of the change of the civil fort of that year. It doesn't matter who is in power. But there is absolutely no need to make any mistakes with these things.

And that's not the only place where silver is needed. In addition, there are always droughts and floods in various places every year. And the imperial court is going to disaster relief. The amount of money used will never be less. If you add in some of these embezzlements and the like. That's even more expensive.

Merely. Now these silver things. The DPRK is not so worried. After all. Since the opening of the sea ban in Longqing. Private merchants were allowed to go to sea to do business. Until now. The imperial court also ordered warships to escort merchant ships. It was even allowed to equip merchant ships with several guns on top of them. For self-defense.

These measures. It's tantamount to making those who still have some worries about doing business with the sea. Eliminate those worries. Nowadays, there are countless people in the Ming Dynasty who want to go to sea to do business. I want to make a profit. And because of this. After the imperial court collected taxes from the maritime merchants. The matter of this silver is now completely relieved.

Originally. When the first year of the imperial court began to collect commercial taxes. Do the math on how much you can gain. The result is that the result is. If only the imperial court could collect taxes in this way every year. Even if it's every year. There are six major provinces that have suffered disasters; Even if Northern Xinjiang fights from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, it does not rest. and so on the silver for a whole year. After removal. What is left is more than the amount of tax collected in the previous six months.

And so it goes. The problem of money is solved.

But. Zhang Juzheng is not concerned about money. It was the land and the food that he was concerned about. After all. The land is fixed. No matter how much money there is. It is not possible to let the land of the Ming Dynasty just add an extra acre of land. And the same is true of this grain. That's all the country can collect. Even if it's a lot of money. No one sells food. You can't get a grain of rice.

Want to solve this problem. It's actually quite simple. That is to take back the land that has been usurped by the powerful. Redistribute it to the common people. In this way. If you have land, the people will not move around. I will only concentrate on farming on my own land. And these lands. It's all counted. It will also be taxed in the future. In this way. Only then will the imperial court be able to solve this problem.

Merely. The solution to this problem. Sounds simple. But get it done. But it's even more difficult. Why do those heroes dare to encroach on the land? And not just because they have money. In this world. Money alone can't do anything. What is needed is a relationship. That's the most important thing.

The reverse is also true. There are only people who have a relationship. to dare to do such a thing.

It's okay if you don't check this kind of thing. But once you find out. It's definitely not over. Pull up the radish and bring out the puree. You looked one up. Maybe you can find out more than a dozen people who are implicated. Let's not talk about how powerful these people are together. Maybe you look it up later. It's about to find out what important people are heading for. And wait until that time. I'm afraid we're going to be in big trouble.

Originally. Gao Gong did this once. Speaking of which, though. It was just him trying to deal with Xu Jie. I don't want to make things too obvious to make such a big move. But the people below don't know about it. They were just following the court's wishes.

But what about the result. Even people like Hai Rui who are not afraid of the sky and the earth are also executing. But the results were not satisfactory. The land was found out a lot. The imperial court also took back a lot. But in the end. But there is no way to solve the problem.

Now. Zhang Juzheng has to do this again. It's not that Zhang Juzheng will have any problems. After all, he's in such a position now. In addition, Empress Dowager Li trusted him so much. Hardly anyone could threaten him.

But the problem is not Zhang Juzheng. The problem is. When the time came, the imperial court gave an order. How many officials are able to do that. And among these officials. And how many people are able to persevere to the end. How many people will be used in various ways halfway. Threaten, buy. Until they don't want to bother with it anymore. These things. It's hard to say for sure.

So. Zhang Juzheng's current problem is. How can you get the people below to carry out your orders well? Don't give up halfway for some kind of reason.

But this problem is not easy to solve. Otherwise. Nor is this a problem that can happen in every dynasty.

So. Now Zhang Fan and Zhang Siwei are also here. Ultimately. They're here to help with ideas. Let's see how things should go.

However, Zhang Juzheng seems to have planned for a long time. Now let Zhang Fan and Zhang Siwei come over. It was to help him perfect his methods.

And Zhang Juzheng's method is actually not new. Because someone has already done this. This is the famous "one whip method".