Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 1033 - 832: Why Not Rob_3

Chapter 1033: Chapter 832: Why Not Rob_3

Among these, north Zhili was doing well, as Li Xuan had a high reputation in Hebei.

Not only were many of the Weisuo Institutes in Hebei supporters of Li Xuan, but the local citizens also deeply respected Prince Fenyang.

As long as it was a policy promoted by Prince Fenyang, there was no reason for the people of north Zhili not to support it.

Moreover, this so-called "apportionment of peasants to the land," which involved integrating the poll tax into the land tax, exempted the landless from taxation, clearly benefiting the people.

Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, official and gentry classes had exploited their privileges to conceal households, and cunning individuals registered elsewhere to evade taxes, leading the poorest households owning dozens of mu to report truthfully. Consequently, they faced an increase in the poll tax, becoming the dynasty’s foremost corruption.

Therefore, the entire region of Hebei was jubilant about this.

However, the main purpose of Li Xuan’s implementation of the "apportionment of peasants to the land" was to increase the population, allowing the government to relax control over the household registries, and enabling citizens to migrate freely and sell their labor.

According to Li Xuan, the population explosion in the Qing Dynasty was partly due to the introduction of high-yield crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, and partly due to the exemption from the poll tax.

Without the burden of the poll tax, people were willing to have more children. Many households that were not registered could also stop hiding in the countryside.

Li Xuan estimated that the total population of the Jin Dynasty would not be less than 150 million, the majority of whom were simply not registered.

As for the grains and progressive land tax system integrated with official and gentry classes, these were even more unrelated to the common people.

From then on, all official gentry would lose their tax-exemption privileges, and those owning more land would have to pay more taxes. Because of this, everyone in north Zhili applauded.

The officials were naturally dissatisfied, but near the Emperor’s feet, around the Capital City, no one dared to oppose directly.

Although there were various malpractices during the tax reform process, such as concealing land size and, in some cases, local government officials colluding with the public to hide household members, overall, it went smoothly.

Only in south Zhili, where the power of the gentry was exceptionally strong and they controlled public opinion through local academies, did things differ.

Although Li Xuan had prepared in advance, appointing his chosen personnel throughout the upper echelons of south Zhili, various issues still arose during the tax reform.

Some even assaulted the government offices, forcing local officials to flee in embarrassment.

However, with Li Xuan’s personal arrival and his explicit orders for local Weisuo Institutes to accuse the resisters of colluding with Prince Yi in rebellion, he directly eradicated over a dozen of the most fiercely resistant gentry families, causing the entire region of south Zhili to calm down.

With a reputation for ruthlessness known throughout the world and five million long knives at his disposal,

At this time, with figures like Prince Xiang, Prince Yi and others dead, who else in the world would dare confront him directly?

Li Xuan then reformed the academies, inviting many notable scholars of south Zhili and all scholars with official titles to Nanjing’s Guozi Bureau for a debate on "justice and benefit."

Using the enemy’s spear to attack the enemy’s shield, the Saint said, "A gentleman loves wealth and acquires it justly"; Dongzi also said, "Those who eat from the public coffer should not compete with the common folk for profit."

"You local officials and gentry occupy land and assault government offices for Silver Coin; how is this justified? Does it align with the teachings of the Saint?"

At this point, his scholarly attainment in Confucianism was profound, and he debated with the scholars so effectively that even the grouped scholars of south Zhili could not respond.

Meanwhile, mostly unnoticed across the entire Jin Dynasty, The Court issued a decree in early April, inviting monks of deep virtue from across the realm to Capital City to assist in restructuring the Buddhist scriptures.

At the same time, The Court also organized three thousand-monk brigades, rushing to Nanyang.

With the issuance of this decree, those monks who had been anxiously waiting burst with excitement, spreading the news far and wide. This signified that the Buddhist crises that had persisted for two full years since the Second Year, Weixin Era, had finally come to an end.