Chapter 298: Still the Familiar Style

Guanyin Maid, now you know why I always enjoy chatting with this kid, don't you?

Li Shimin turned his head and laughed: "This kid may sometimes annoy me, but I must admit, his words always lift my spirits."

Empress Changsun smiled faintly: "It seems I can be more relaxed from now on."

Li Shimin's smile tightened, and he felt a sense of gloom.

What does "more relaxed from now on" mean?

It sounds as if he often needs consolation.

Chen Yan chuckled merrily, and only when he met Li Shimin's displeased gaze did he return to normal.

Hmph!

Li Shimin's expression softened, and he said: "Perfect, I have free time today; continue to tell me properly what I should do now."

"Boiling a frog in warm water"—what's the method?

Upon hearing this, Empress Changsun's eyes brightened, and she sat up a little straighter.

As the number of times increased, people of all ages and genders grew more fond of listening to Chen Yan answer various questions.

Empress Changsun, of course, was no exception.

Chen Yan replied: "The question is actually simple. First, we must understand the current state of the Tang Dynasty and where the difficulty lies in implementing the prototype of Labor-to-Land Redistribution."

Before Li Shimin could speak, Empress Changsun impatiently said: "The governance of the Tang Dynasty depends on the aristocratic families; for the Tang Dynasty, they are, to some extent, bloodsuckers, yet they are also the foundation of the empire."

"Labor-to-Land Redistribution"—even mentioning those four characters could provoke opposition across the realm, because it touches the interests of most aristocratic families.

"Indeed, Her Majesty summarized it perfectly," Chen Yan agreed with Empress Changsun's words, then added:

"This is the current situation of the Tang Dynasty and the difficulty in implementing the prototype of Labor-to-Land Redistribution."

"Therefore, to boil a frog in warm water, we must first dissect the prototype of Labor-to-Land Redistribution, break it down and simplify it, then divide it into several steps, starting with the simplest first step."

Li Shimin said: "What is the first step?"

"The first step, of course, is to audit all the land in the realm!" Chen Yan explained: "The Tang Dynasty's territory is vast, and the lands hidden by aristocratic families are countless."

"If we don't even know exactly how much land the Tang Dynasty possesses, how can we discuss Labor-to-Land Redistribution?"

"Makes sense." Li Shimin nodded in agreement.

Last time in Weinan County, Yuan Tiangang said something similar.

"Then, how should we audit the land?" Empress Changsun raised another question, "We must know that auditing all the realm's land sounds easy, but in practice it's not simple; a slip could alert the aristocratic families."

"That's equally simple," Chen Yan smiled: "Throughout history, countless rebels have risen—such as King Wu of Zhou overthrowing Zhou, King Tang of Shang using ministers to overthrow a ruler, Chen Sheng, Wu Guang rebelling against Qin."

"What was the first thing they did?"

Li Shimin and his wife exchanged a glance, and Empress Changsun's expression turned odd: "Find a suitable reason for themselves?"

"For example, King Tang of Shang said, 'The Xia committed many crimes; Heaven's mandate condemns them.'"

"Yes, exactly." Chen Yan said cheerfully: "When doing such things, one must stand on the side of righteousness and find a well‑justified pretext."

"Your Majesty's desire to audit all the land is the same."

"If Your Majesty were to propose it directly, the aristocratic families would never agree, and several officials at the Court would end up hitting the pillars."

"Therefore we must change perspective, have Your Majesty put forward 'Survey the fields and equalize taxes and labor,' or 'Use land to account for population, striving for true equality.' The goal is to collect taxes more fairly and lessen the burden on the poor, fully aligning with Your Majesty's 'benevolent governance' philosophy; no one can point to a flaw."

"You say, with this, would the aristocratic families still dare to brazenly oppose?"

Li Shimin smiled.

Indeed, it's still Chen Yan's familiar style.

Don't aristocratic families love fame?

Then use fame and righteousness to crush them.

Empress Changsun sighed: "Impossible, unless they want to be cursed to death by the people and incite popular anger; otherwise they cannot swallow this and must praise Your Majesty's wisdom."

"Specifically, what should we do?" Li Shimin grew increasingly excited.

"Specifically…" Chen Yan glanced at Li Shimin, "Your Majesty must have experience; last time you used the virtue monument's righteousness to pressure officials into pinching their noses and donating money, didn't you do it well?"

"You can gather many ministers, or discuss with the officials in the Court, and the core of the discussion should be: 'In the previous dynasty, the rent‑labor‑tax system, with a declining population makes tax collection difficult; the rich have vast fields and light labor, the poor have no land and heavy labor.' State that this is not the way to long‑term stability, and ask the ministers if there is a solution."

"At this moment, say little; regardless of any policies the ministers propose, ignore them, raise the problem, and if discussion yields nothing, say it will be revisited another day."

"Then, send trustworthy people to secretly gather concrete cases of population flight, land annexation, and uneven labor taxes, display those cases to the ministers, creating a public‑opinion atmosphere that the current system indeed has flaws and needs reform."

"Next… should I still say anything, Your Majesty?"

"No need!" Li Shimin waved his hand broadly, already understanding what to do.

Chen Yan's action can be counted as teaching him step by step; if he still doesn't get it, then he should crash headlong, allowing Li Chengqian to take the throne.

"Hmm, now that we've explained how to properly and reasonably propose the land audit, let's discuss how to actually conduct the audit," Chen Yan said.

"Among them, auditing the land mainly involves locating the plots hidden by aristocratic families, and the crucial step is to categorize the fields into upper, middle, and lower grades based on soil fertility."

"At the same time, this lays the foundation for piloting the new tax law in the second step."

"New tax law?" Li Shimin murmured to himself, then looked up and asked: "What new tax law?"

"Based on the surveying, we will implement in pilot regions a 'Field Tax plus Household Assessment.' Chen Yan spoke at length:"

"The Field Tax means that all fields, regardless of owner or tenant, pay a fixed amount of grain according to their grade."

"Household Assessment means drastically reducing the current 'labor' and 'assessment' quotas, even temporarily decoupling them from population, and levying silk and labor based on each household's assets and field grades."

"I understand," Empress Changsun exclaimed: "Thus, the people's burden is reduced significantly; although it doesn't fully achieve the prototype of Labor-to-Land Redistribution, it lowers the proportion of population in the tax base."

"Especially the landless and land‑poor peasants, whose burden will be immediately lightened."

"It lays the groundwork for later implementation of the Labor-to-Land Redistribution prototype, while the new tax law is merely a transitional measure."

Li Shimin remained silent, his thoughts unknown.

Chen Yan reminded: "If Your Majesty worries about stirring unrest, you can first pilot this method in several counties around Chang'an; the local people will surely benefit, and the Court will benefit as well."

"Once the results are presented, the righteousness will be on Your Majesty's side."

Li Shimin's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam, "I understand."

"......"