Chapter 52

Ying Zi Ye is right; what is the point of picking up small gold nuggets when there is a gold mountain not being mined?

"Ying Zi Ye, in your view, how should the taxes of these noble gentry be collected?"

Ying Zheng had opened his mind; since the noble gentry have money, some must be collected.

Otherwise, if the treasury is empty, his own purse will be flat.

Ying Ying Zi Ye bowed and cupped his hands, smiling:

"Father Emperor, this son believes that taxes should be reformed!"

"This is the method I spoke of; those two matters of yours, in my view, are not issues at all."

Ying Zheng's brows were tightly furrowed; hearing Ying Zi Ye say this, how could he not want to reform?

But this is not just talk.

Reform requires touching the interests of many people, and the resistance is great.

It is not something that can be reformed immediately just by saying so.

Not to mention the nobles, even the officials in the court would mostly obstruct the reform.

Once reformed, their interests would be touched.

Ying Ying Zi Ye saw Brother Zheng's expression and knew that he also wanted to reform but had never been able to do it.

He had thought about it; to reform, one must start from the basics.

Solve this problem from the root.

Do not look at how Great Qin appears as stable as Mount Tai now; this is all an illusion.

Little do they know it is already riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse!

Once the common people cannot afford to eat, they will certainly rise up in peasant uprisings.

By that time, the national destiny of Great Qin will certainly be severely damaged.

And since he is bound to the national destiny of Great Qin, he will certainly not have it easy.

Great Qin today can be described as teetering on the edge.

Even if Brother Zheng is still alive, he probably cannot suppress it for long.

If the common people cannot afford to eat, they will rebel regardless of who is Emperor.

But if they have food to eat and are full, they will not rebel regardless of who is Emperor.

These are all forced circumstances.

The common people do not care who is Emperor; they just want to have a full meal.

Great Qin today is like a car driving on a highway; one moment of carelessness and there is a possibility of flipping over.

To keep the car driving smoothly, the helmsman is key, but the various parts must also be well-maintained.

And these parts are the common people of Great Qin.

As long as they have food and are full, there will not be grievances everywhere, and the best method is reform.

Change the taxes; as long as the people of Great Qin are full, who would risk decapitation to rebel?

Sacrifice the fellow Daoist, not the poor Daoist; the fastest way is to take the knife to those noble gentry.

Previously, there might have been no way to reform, as the Great Qin treasury was empty.

It was impossible to reform and collect taxes.

And food was also severely lacking.

But as a modern person, Ying Ying Zi Ye has a way to reform.

He can make the common people of the world have enough to eat!

It is just... he needs Brother Zheng to give him the power.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, absolutely not!"

"Those noble gentry have money, but their influence is great; they are the cornerstone of our Great Qin."

"Once you touch them, the foundation of Great Qin will shake!"

"If you push them too hard, the world will be in chaos!"

Chunyu Yue was very dissatisfied with the reform; having just lost three million Qian, he hated the Ninth Prince to the core.

Now hearing the Ninth Prince's meaning, the reform was intended to take the knife to the noble gentry.

How could this be allowed? One must know he was also of noble origin.

And most of the Rujia Sect are nobles; as for scholars from the Han Sect?

Don't joke; in Great Qin, scholars from the Han Sect are extremely rare; they are all children of nobles.

And most children of nobles are of the Rujia Sect.

Taking the knife to the noble gentry is that not taking the knife to his Rujia Sect?

This matter must absolutely not be done; he will be the first to disagree!

"Your Majesty, it must not be done! The wealthiest people in the world now are the nobles; if you push them too hard, Great Qin will be in danger!"

"The noble gentry have money and people; their influence is too great; if you push them too hard, Great Qin will be filled with the smoke of war!"

"They are all loyal to our Great Qin; if you take the knife to them without cause, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"When the treasury lacked money and grain, they also contributed to the imperial court; it can be said they are loyal and devoted."

"If you kill them, who will dare to be loyal to the imperial court in the future?"

"This subject seconds the motion...!"

"This subject seconds the motion...!"

"This subject seconds the motion...!"

The court officials followed Chunyu Yue.

They spoke one after another to dissuade Qin Shi Huang from collecting taxes from the noble gentry of the world.

This was their interest, closely related to them.

Even if it was His Majesty, they were unwilling to hand over these interests.

Ying Zheng's brows furrowed even tighter.

The heart that wanted to collect taxes from the noble gentry also began to hesitate.

The officials were also right; when the treasury was spending more than it earned.

These noble gentry had indeed extended a helping hand.

Being able to persist until now, the nobles also had merit.

Taking the knife to them now would earn him the reputation of being ungrateful.

Ying Ying Zi Ye saw all of this in his eyes.

Sure enough, if one wants to reform, the greatest resistance is still this group of old fogies!

Gradually, Ying Ying Zi Ye's face turned cold.

He looked around and swept a cold glance over everyone.

"You group of old fogies! Seconding the motion, my foot!"

"The reform hasn't even started, and you are already jumping out?"

"This has touched upon your interests, hasn't it?"

The court officials were furious, being cursed as old fogies by a young brat.

They were extremely angry, but before they could speak, Ying Ying Zi Ye continued to speak directly.

"You have such gall! Daring to deceive those above and hide from those below! There are common people starving to death in every commandery of Great Qin, right?"

"If we don't reform, more common people will starve to death!"

"Yet you all do not report it; what? Do you want to rebel?"

Once these words were spoken, the officials were shocked and angry, and they knelt down one after another.

If the charge of rebellion were confirmed, that would be a capital crime punishable by death!

"Your Majesty, this old subject is wronged!"

"Your Majesty, this subject has no heart to rebel; please examine clearly!"

"Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince slanders us; please punish him!"

The officials knelt on the ground and cried out their grievances, and some even tried to shift the blame. ===== CHAPTER 54 =====