Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

Looking at the neatly arranged rows of civil officials on the left and military officials on the right, Emperor Tianqing nodded with satisfaction.

The team of civil officials was finally as long as the team of military officials, and he looked very relaxed.

Feeling better, Emperor Tianqing began to get to the point.

"A few days ago, I mentioned that we should change the population tax to a land tax. Do you have any other questions about the reform of the taxation system?"

Prime Minister Xiao stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Emperor Tianqing stretched out his hand and gestured to him.

"I have many questions about this new taxation system. First of all, although our Daxing Kingdom has a vast territory, the land available for cultivation is really limited. Collecting taxes based on the number of acres of land will obviously greatly reduce tax revenue."

"Secondly, measuring the country's arable land is a long process, and the land that can be measured in some marginal areas is difficult to accurately estimate. So no one can be sure how much tax the country collects each year, and we don't know whether there is tax evasion or tax avoidance in this way."

"Third, and most importantly, will the people sell a large amount of land because of this system, resulting in no one to cultivate the land and the country's food supply being unsustainable?"

Xiao Chengzhang clearly and forcefully exposed the drawbacks of land tax.

The other officials who had not spoken also had these questions in their minds, and they all pricked up their ears to listen to how His Majesty would answer them.

Emperor Tianqing himself had no intention of engaging in a debate with the officials, and after hearing these simple questions, his frown relaxed slightly.

He looked at Yan Ci, who was standing quite conspicuous among the officials.

"Yan Ci, come and explain this to the Prime Minister."

This is why he asked Yan Ci to attend the court.

Yan Ci is his substitute today.

There were gasps from all the officials. This was about tax revenue, which was related to the lifeblood of the country. How could His Majesty treat it so lightly and let a woman answer it? What could she know?

Yan Ci, who was called, had already prepared a speech in her mind. Since she had prepared in advance, she was not panicked when she was called.

She stood up, bowed her head and saluted, then looked straight at Xiao Chengzhang who was standing at the front.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I will answer these three questions for you."

Xiao Chengzhang turned sideways to glance at Yan Ci behind him, with an expression that said, "Let's see what you can say."

Yan Ci curled the corners of his lips and told the story slowly.

"First, the Prime Minister mentioned that less arable land will lead to a reduction in national tax revenue. Indeed, changing from a population tax to a land tax will reduce tax revenue, after all, yield per mu is not as high as human yield. But don't forget that the population is a fixed number, while yield per mu is an unknown number. If the people want to get more food, they will work harder. Then the yield per mu will be greatly increased, and tax revenue will naturally increase accordingly. This behavior of increasing taxes by incentives will obviously be more popular than increasing taxes by coercion."

Xiao Chengzhang moved his mouth, wanting to refute, but Yan Ci raised his voice slightly and retorted, "Second."

Yan Ci had no intention of letting him refute. "Second, the problem of unknown taxation and tax evasion. This depends on the actions of local officials. The implementation of national policies naturally requires the cooperation of local governments. If local governments do nothing and even help the evil, then no matter how good the system is, it will only be a decoration. So if you want to solve this problem, you must first solve the problem of people."

"Third, even if land is taxed, the people will not give up their own farmland, because the tax now is much less than when the tax was collected per capita. Only those who own a lot of farmland but do not cultivate it will choose to sell the land. As for the people who own land, unless they have no choice, they will not sell the land on which they depend for survival and turn to live under someone else's roof and cultivate for others."

"In short, land tax gives people more choices. They can choose to farm and support themselves, or they can choose to become hired farmers and live on monthly wages. But obviously which is good and which is bad, and smart people can figure it out. Prime Minister, do you understand?"

Yan Ci looked at Prime Minister Xiao with a smile. Although she could only see his back, she could roughly guess that Prime Minister Xiao had a look of ashamed at that moment.

The last question she left was used to shut Xiao Chengzhang up.

If he answered clearly, it would mean that he agreed to the land tax system in disguise. If he didn't understand, he would become the stupid person who couldn't distinguish the pros and cons as Yan Ci said.

But no matter whether he answered or not, everyone in Longchang Hall already knew the answers to the three questions he raised.

Xiao Chengzhang stood there without saying a word, ignoring Yan Ci's teasing.

"Your Majesty, if that is the case, then I have no objection."

Emperor Tianqing relaxed his brows and slowly glanced at all the ministers. With the Prime Minister taking the lead, they naturally no longer had any objections and said in unison: "We have no objection!"

"Okay, then let's implement it. I want to see the results of this year's annual tax. Local governments must also conduct strict inspections and supervision. If anyone pretends to obey but actually disobeys, they will be severely punished!"

"According to the order."

The grand court meeting was over. After Emperor Tianqing left Longchang Palace, Prime Minister Xiao also left. Just as he walked past Yan Ci, he deliberately stopped.

He carefully looked at the brazen girl from the Yan family. To be fair, if she was the daughter of his Xiao family, he would definitely applaud and cheer for what she just said. Unfortunately, her ruthlessness made him lose face.

Even though he was a tolerant prime minister, he felt a little angry when he saw Yan Ci.

He spoke in a sarcastic tone, "Master Yan, you really raised a good daughter!"

Yan Tonglin bowed his head and smiled, taking the sarcasm as a compliment and accepting it all: "Thank you, Prime Minister, for the compliment."

Xiao Chengzhang suddenly felt a breath stuck in his chest, unable to let it go up or down. He groaned in his throat, shook his sleeves fiercely and left.

Like father, like daughter, this saying is indeed true!

The ministers who wanted to watch the show saw that there was nothing interesting to see on both sides, so they all left.

Yan Tonglin walked at the back holding Yan Ci's hand. Although he knew that his daughter's answer was correct, the way she spoke had obviously offended people.

He deliberately slowed down his pace, he had a lot to say, Yan Ci couldn't leave the palace, and the time for talking was limited.

"Aren't you in Qiu's house? When did you come to the palace? Why didn't you send a letter home?"

Yan Ci immediately guessed that Xie Chengyin had helped her conceal the truth during her time in the imperial prison, and her family had not received any information at all.

But it’s a good thing, so my family doesn’t have to worry about it.

She replied succinctly, "I have only been in the palace for a few days. His Majesty summoned me to the palace in a hurry, so I didn't have time to send the news back. I thought I would be able to see you when you enter the palace, and there is still time to talk."

Yan Tonglin nodded, and could not help but give a few more words of advice to Yan Ci for his carelessness, "In the palace, it's different from home. You have to be careful in everything. In the palace, you have to be more tactful in everything, and don't say things that touch people's hearts. Even if you are favored by His Majesty, you have to be careful of villains."

Yan Ci vaguely saw the long-lost fatherly love in Yan Tonglin. Unlike Hua Yingliao's direct and obvious preference, Yan Tonglin's subtle and unobtrusive suggestions made her feel warm in her heart.