Rebirth: The wedding night, my whole family was exiled, I raised 500,000 soldiers

Shen Lanxi smiled and said, "I've also been on the battlefield, I understand! Everyone, let's sit down and talk!"

……

Seven days later, Shen Lanxi submitted a grain storage regulation to Emperor Renxiao, and this regulation was brought out during the morning court session.

"Your Majesty, Lord Shen's grain storage tax is simply ridiculous!" Wu Yanzhi was the first to stand up and object.

"Your Majesty, Shen Lanxi is exploiting and oppressing the people of our Great Zhou. The people are the foundation of our Great Zhou. If they collapse, our Great Zhou will perish from within without the invasion of enemy tribes from all directions!" The old Grand Tutor was filled with sorrow.

Liu Mingxin said nothing, but his meaning was obviously the same as that of the old Grand Tutor and the Left Prime Minister.

Emperor Renxiao frowned and thought about the feasibility of what Shen Lanxi said.

Encouraging the people to open up wasteland is a good idea. However, due to the wars in the past few years, the treasury was empty and the court increased taxes. The civil officials occasionally complained, and if such a heavy burden was placed on them, he was worried that it would be counterproductive.

"I need to think about this matter again!"

Emperor Renxiao and most of the court officials had never been to the fields, so Shen Lanxi didn't rush to get an answer without agreeing.

"Your Majesty, what about encouraging noble families to convert their gardens into fields?"

Emperor Renxiao thought, "We need to work out a detailed rule for this matter. If it is true as you said, that I will give them calligraphy if they give me food, wouldn't it make my calligraphy seem too cheap?"

Shen Lanxi smiled and said, "I have a plan. For grains exceeding 2,000 kilograms, Your Majesty will write it as a family of good deeds. For grains exceeding 5,000 kilograms, Your Majesty will write it as a family of good fortune. For grains exceeding 10,000 kilograms, Your Majesty will be more generous and can approve one condition."

Everything else was easy, but the last one made Emperor Renxiao frown.

"What if they have committed a serious crime and I forgive them?"

Shen Lanxi: "That is of course impossible. The conditions I mentioned must be in accordance with etiquette and morality, and not violate the laws of the court or the morality of the people."

The corner of Emperor Renxiao's mouth twitched. If she really said that, wouldn't he only be able to ask for trivial matters?

It's not impossible to negotiate if it's just a trivial matter of promising 10,000 kilograms of grain!

"We can discuss this."

Shen Lanxi: "As far as I know, there are many ownerless mountains and mass graves in the Great Zhou, and I want to make use of them!"

Emperor Renxiao twitched his lips. Are these two places suitable for farming?

Shen Lanxi: "I have seen my grandmother grow corn in flower pots and rice in water tanks because she missed her hometown. The crops are growing very well!"

Emperor Renxiao smiled and said, "Your grandmother is a blessed person."

Shen Lanxi: "Your Majesty, I think we should adapt to local conditions and make use of every inch of land in our Great Zhou. Our Great Zhou has a vast territory. Can we not compete with a tiny country in farming?"

Emperor Renxiao's desire to win was aroused, but it was quickly extinguished.

The Ministry of Revenue had previously submitted a memorial stating that due to years of war, the able-bodied labor force among the people had been dwindled away, and in many places, there were no households left, resulting in large tracts of land being abandoned and uncultivated.

It’s not that the Great Zhou doesn’t have land, but that it has insufficient population.

Shen Lanxi suggested: "Your Majesty, half of my Royal Guards are vacant. You can send them to cultivate the land temporarily. When the population of our Great Zhou increases, we will transfer them out."

Emperor Renxiao was stunned, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

Before, he had always been worried that the officers and soldiers from Xihuazhou would be disobedient and cause trouble, but he was short of manpower, so he could only use them while being cautious.

Now, thanks to Shen Lanxi's reminder, he finally has a legitimate reason to resettle these people.

"Okay, we will take a look at the ownerless mountains below, and then you will be responsible for assigning the Royal Guards to them!"

Emperor Renxiao seemed to have finally solved a major worry, and he felt a lot more relaxed.

He also agreed to Shen Lanxi's previous suggestion of encouraging the people to open up wasteland.

"I'll leave this matter to you as well!"

All the civil and military officials in the court knew that this was a hot potato. If not handled properly, it might arouse public resentment.

So everyone was very consistent and didn't say anything to stop it.

They were just waiting to see how Shen Lanxi would cry when this ridiculous grain storage tax failed!

The Yue Kingdom's envoys were in no hurry to leave. Instead, they went to the Duke of Huguo's mansion every day to wait for Shen Lanxi.

Shen Lanxi was so busy that she hadn't stepped into the gate of the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion for half a month. However, the envoys from the Kingdom of Yue still insisted on paying her visits every day without interruption.

People privately discussed that Shen Lanxi had ruined the piety of the Great Zhou and despised the envoys of other countries. They said that she was arrogant because of her favor, disregarded etiquette and laws, and did not care about the lives of the people and soldiers.

Among these sounds, there are also different voices.

"How can we, a great country like the Great Zhou, bow to a small country? Moreover, this small country has repeatedly threatened us with food. Isn't this trampling on the face of the Great Zhou!"

"There's nothing wrong with the grain storage policy. I heard that the imperial court is responsible for distributing grain seeds, and the land you reclaim yourself only needs to pay grain according to the proportion. You only need to hand over 20 kilograms of grain per mu of land, and you can get some reductions if you reclaim more land!"

"Is there such a good thing?"

"My brother-in-law's brother was serving tea to the adults in the Ministry of Revenue, and he secretly heard that if you cultivate land yourself for more than five years, the tax will be halved, and if you cultivate land for more than ten years, the tax will be completely exempted."

"Is it true? There is such a good thing?"

"My wife's brother's sister-in-law's brother-in-law is cleaning the courtyard at the Ministry of Revenue. I heard that the Ministry of Revenue has already uprooted the small garden and planted food there."

"Your news is quite late. I also heard that the old lady of the Duke of Huguo's Mansion was given the four characters of Ji Fu You Yu by His Majesty, praising her for being a model of a noble lady who is frugal and manages the household."

"Oh, no wonder many officials started digging up their gardens and filling up their ponds. This is the reason."

……

Shen Congwen's nominal position as the head of the Ministry of Revenue was not filled by Emperor Renxiao.

When everyone in the Ministry of Revenue was guessing that His Majesty wanted Shen Congwen to go to court with his broken leg, Shen Lanxi came to the Ministry of Revenue.

Although she had no intention of joining the Ministry of Revenue, she acted like the head of the ministry.

"Tian Chong, Yu Jiang, Xu Yuan, Zhang Han, the four of you are responsible for having your subordinates count the ownerless mountains in various places. The four of you will discuss and send out two people to count the ownerless mountains near the capital."

"Liu Yanhui, Ding Mao, Sun Zhang, and Zhang Shuping, the four of you are responsible for counting the mass graves in and around the capital. Have them relocate the owner's graves and level the ownerless ones. I will only give you ten days."

"Ten days later, you will go to various places and take charge of pacifying the mass graves!"

Four people took orders.

Shen Lanxi: "After we level the mass graves, we will arrange for people to plant food. The time for planting is equivalent to the time for war, so we cannot delay it!"

"Yes!"

Shen Lanxi: "I will send soldiers to follow you. If anyone causes trouble, your whole family will be exiled to a bitter and cold place to open up wasteland!"

"Yes!"

"Do the officials have any objections?"

The troops have been sent, who dares to leave?

Whoever causes trouble will have to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land. Shen Lanxi probably hopes that someone will cause trouble, because they won't provide her with any labor!