"What is land without taxes? What is taxes without land?"

King Ding Zhao Huan was a little confused when he heard this, so he asked.

The taxation method of the Song Dynasty was quite special. It was not a one-size-fits-all approach, but was divided into five levels and progressed layer by layer. The more property, the higher the taxes it needs to be paid... This is the case in theory, but it is definitely not the case in actual operations. When wealthy families purchase land, they often use "white contracts" instead of transferring the property to the government. This will lead to the transfer of land and taxes that are not allowed to be paid.

However, this is not the biggest problem. After all, the land is still on the list and there are places to collect taxes. Rich households can transfer the land tax, but once the poor households cannot bear it, local tax collectors still have to buy land from the rich households. Therefore, the situation of hidden land began to appear.

If the land is hidden, the land disappears. If it is gone, then there will naturally be no taxes.

According to the official record of the Song Dynasty, during the Zhenzong Dynasty, there were nearly 525 million mu of land in the country. However, in the Renzong Dynasty, it suddenly dropped to 228 million mu...it decreased by nearly 300 million mu! It was simply incredible!

The later Xining reforms were actually related to large-scale tax evasion in hidden fields. Under the leadership of Wang Anshi, the Song Dynasty court launched the "Fangtian Tax Law", and nearly 130 million mu of hidden fields were found on the fifth northern road alone. The reclamation of the country was restored to about 460 million mu.

From 228 million mu to 460 million mu, it seems to be a lot, almost doubled, and it is also not much less than the 525 million mu during the Zhenzong Dynasty. However, this increase is to calculate the land obtained by the reclaiming of Xining, Jinghu reclaiming and the conversion of a large number of herds and supervision ranches into cultivated land. Therefore, there is still a big gap from the real number of land. If we consider the expansion of the country's territory since the founding of the Jingguo Kingdom, even without calculating the land of Liang and Jiaozhi, the real number of land in the Song Dynasty in the country will not be less than 660 million mu!

In other words, at least 200 million mu of land reclamation were hidden by powerful landlords!

If 60% of them can be dug out, there will be 120 million mu. Even if you trade it in half, there will be 60 million mu, which is enough to solve the problem of land granting for military households.

"So that's it..." After hearing He Li's explanation, Zhao Huan finally understood what "there is land but no taxes and taxes but no land" was going on. He asked Cai Jing and others again, "Is what He Qing said true?"

Cai Jing said: "What He Li said is basically true..."

This cannot be denied. Fang Tianjun’s tax law was promoted by Wang Anshi, and Cai Jing himself participated in it. How could he say that there was no one?

Zhao Huan nodded: "According to what He Qing saw, should we restore the method of equal taxation in square fields and find out all the hidden fields among the people to increase national taxes?"

"It should be checked, but tax increases may not be necessary."

"No tax increases?" Zhao Huan asked, "What does it do?"

"King, what's the use of increasing taxes? The court is now full of prosperity and hey!"

"Don't this meant to enrich the country and strengthen the soldiers?" Zhao Huan said, "With more money, the soldiers will naturally become stronger."

"King," He Li said, "I do not agree with the saying of enriching the country and strengthening the army."

"Oh? Why?"

"I dare to ask Your Highness, if the strongest troops are today, the Great Song, Zhou, or Jin?"

Zhao Huan looked at Tong Guan. Tong Guan replied: "Report to Your Highness, Zhou State has the most powerful troops, Jin State is second, and Song State is second."

"What about taxes? Is there a lot of Song Dynasty, or Zhou Dynasty, and Jin Dynasty?"

Zhao Huan said: "Since the Song Dynasty has more! Our dynasty's financial resources are ten times that of Zhou and dozens of times that of Jin!"

In fact, the financial resources of the Song Dynasty and Zhou State were not that big. The Song Dynasty now earned about 100 million yuan a year. The annual income of the Zhou State was more than 10 million yuan, which was at most six or seven times the gap.

He Li asked: "Since our dynasty has ten times more wealth than Zhou State, why are the soldiers and horses not as powerful as Zhou State? With ten times of wealth, even the troops that can defeat Zhou State can not be raised. Can eleven times of wealth be cultivated? I think it is impossible. This rich country and strong army are not certain!"

"A rich country and a strong army are not certain..." Zhao Huan said to himself, "But it makes sense. If a country is rich, it must be strong, and a country is poor, it must be weak. Why should our dynasty be afraid of Zhou and Jin? He Qing, according to your opinion, how can we strengthen our army in the Song Dynasty?"

This young prince, the future official of the Song Dynasty, is now a bit impressed by He Zhuangyuan's great talent!

What smart old foxes are the several priests in Chongzheng Hall? Seeing Zhao Huan's expression and hearing the tone of His Highness Ding, they all know it in their hearts.

Since the crown prince of the Song Dynasty was attracted by He Li, everyone was happy to see him jump into the pit...

He Li said: "I think the Zhou State's powerful military method is enough to learn from."

"The way to strengthen the army of Zhou is..."

"Suppress the merger and grant the land to raise soldiers." He Li said, "This method was improved by the military methods of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It is called reform and rejuvenation, but it is actually retro."

Zhao Huan nodded, "Is this method possible in my Song Dynasty?"

"It is feasible, but not easy to do." He Li said, "The Western Army, Shuofang Army, and Lingzhou Army all have all given the Tianfu soldiers and knights. Since the Western Army, Shuofang Army and Lingzhou Army are feasible, how can the rest of the army be controlled? It's just that the people in the Central Plains are mostly narrow and there is not enough land to be granted. Only by implementing the implementation of land, tens of millions of acres of hidden fields are distributed to the soldiers. If the land is completed, hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers can obtain it!"

After hearing this, Tong Guan, who knew the situation of the Western Army, Shuofang Army and Lingzhou Army very well, had to sigh in his heart.

It is easy to teach the land and it is difficult to defend the land! The knights of the Western Army and the Shuofang Army can still save the land, but the soldiers of the palace have been losing their land in recent years. Many soldiers of the palace have fallen into poverty and are unable to afford military service...

Zhao Huan turned his head and looked at Cai Jing, "What do the old teacher think?"

Cai Jing frowned and said, "But tens of millions of acres of hidden fields are so easy to discover? Taifu Temple established rice fields in the first year of Zhenghe, which specifically investigated hidden fields such as the capital, the east and west of Beijing, and has not yet gained much. It is not easy to find out tens of millions of acres!"

Some people have been doing the work of clearing fields and inspecting land, but they are not very effective. In history, the rice fields business was responsible for Zhao Ji's confidant eunuch Yang Jian. He offended countless people. Until the Xuanhe period, he finally squeezed out more than 34,000 hectares, which is more than 3.4 million acres.

Of course, these more than 3.4 million acres were squeezed out from the middle-class homes, barren land, abandoned dikes, and silts of sandy beaches. Yang Daguan didn't dare to touch the real wealthy and powerful families.

Otherwise, let alone more than 3.4 million mu, it would not be a problem to have more than ten times more!

However, as the minister of Zhou State, Yang Jian did not have a black-hearted official to preside over the rice field affairs, so no land was detected.

Cai Jing suddenly mentioned rice field affairs now, and he was actually digging a hole.

He Li now proposed to investigate the land and cover the fields, so he would inevitably have to create a territory for him to pilot. With He Li's current status as a Beijing official and his first grade, his parents can be the one in a county. If it weren't for the powerful county, He Li might have achieved some results.

So Cai Jing pushed out the rice field business...

The rice fields are for the invasion of the Gyeonggi and the hidden fields in the east and west of Beijing!

It would be a joke to say that there is no hidden field in these places. If you check carefully, it will be no problem to 30 million acres. But after checking, you will become the public enemy of all relatives and nobles.

However, this pit was not just dug by He Li, and Zhao Huan is also Cai Jing’s target!

Cai Jing certainly knew that Zhao Ji liked Prince Yun Zhao Kai, and he always had the idea of ​​deposing the eldest son and establishing the young. But Zhao Huan was not only the eldest son, but also the legitimate child. Zhao Kai was the third son (the second son died early), and was also the illegitimate child. It was really against feudal etiquette to replace the eldest son of the legitimate child with the three sons of the illegitimate child.

Therefore, Zhao Ji did not dare to propose to make Zhao Kai the crown prince, but he did not give the title of the crown prince to the king Zhao Huan.

If Zhao Huan becomes a public enemy of all relatives and nobles due to land issues, then the resistance to establishing Zhao Kai as the crown prince would be much smaller...

Zhao Huan didn't want to get a sinister official, so he followed the underworld pointed by Cai Jing and asked He Li, "He Qing, how about you going to the rice fields?"

Of course, He Li knew that it was not easy to inspect the land in Gyeonggi and Gyeong-tou, but he was still willing to give it a try.

The reason is very simple, because Kaifeng Prefecture not only has relatives and nobles, but also has clear liquor logistics discussions.

As long as the Qingliu logistics proposal is directed to retro reform, a mere relative and noble person cannot stop the land and clear the fields.

If the hidden fields in Gyeonggi and Gyeong-tou are all caught, would you still want to hide elsewhere?

"I am willing to go to the rice fields." He Li shouted, "I am going to be heartbroken and swear to detect tens of millions of acres of fertile land for the Song Dynasty!"

Zhao Huan turned his head and said to the important officials of the two governments: "The "Commentary on the Commentary on the Interchange of Fields" will not be discussed for the time being. Let He Qing try it on the rice field service first. If thousands of good fields can be detected, it will always be good no matter what."

"The king is wise."

Cai Jing took the lead in expressing his opinion.

This matter was discussed by Zhao Ji, the two government officials, and the current handling plan is quite stable. I think Zhao Ji will not object. Therefore, the remaining nine prisoners also expressed their support.

After discussing the matter of offending the landlord class, the topic in Chongzheng Hall turned to the four directions to attack Jin.

According to Zhao Huan's idea, he should participate in the attack on Jin in all directions and send troops to Datong.

However, the prime ministers of the two prefectures were not so bold, so they could only choose one between being out of the matter and waiting and watching.

Zhao Ji thought for a while and said, "It is difficult for us to decide whether to stay out of the matter or to station troops to watch. We should report to Xiangyang. Cai Qing, Tong Qing, you two each wrote a memorial to explain the truth and send it to Xiangyang."

"The old minister follows the order."

"I obey the order..."

The memorials sent to Xiangyang Prefecture with Cai Jing and Tong Guan were also Zhao Huan’s own memorials, which were to ask for instructions to strengthen the inspection of land and fields in Jingjin, Jingdong and other places.

Zhao Ji's imperial criticism was quickly sent to Kaifeng Prefecture. On the issue of the four countries' attack on the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Ji supported Tong Guan's suggestion and ordered Tong Guan to serve as the commander of Heshuo Xuan and unified the command of the Song army on both sides to put pressure on the Jin Dynasty.
Chapter completed!