C177

Chapter 177 - Rent Reduction

"Subtract rent? How do I reduce rent? " Wang Shu was startled, and said.

"I want to issue a decree stating that no one can rent more than thirty percent of the land under the heavens. What do you think?" Zhao Chen said.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Wang Shu was shocked, and said: "Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot!"

"Why not?" Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, all the lands in this world are in the hands of the officials, the landlords, and the temples. If you give the order to reduce the rent, I'm afraid the officials, the landlords, and the temples would attack you together! I'm afraid the world will be thrown into chaos by then! " Wang Shu said.

"They drink blood and eat meat from the people. I want them to drink less and eat less. Are they not willing?" Zhao Chen sneered.

"Your Majesty, this matter is of utmost importance. You mustn't be so reckless! "Actually, I also have some experience in dealing with the hardships of the people. I also agree with reducing rent, but even if I want to do so, I must take it step by step. I can't do it overnight!" Wang Shu said.

"How?" Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, we can start from Guan Shan! The counter-attack on the Guan Shan was successful this time, we have obtained a lot of land, we can sell these lands to the rich families, but the rent cannot exceed 30%! Those rich families will not buy it if they don't want to, but if they buy it, they will follow our orders! This way, the Guan Shan could achieve the goal of reducing rent first! After Guan Shan implements the target of reducing rent, we will implement the rent reduction in Middle Han Area! The various powers in the Middle Han Area were complicated to begin with, but when His Majesty killed Zhe Keqiu and all the officials of the Middle Han Area, there shouldn't be too much resistance in the Middle Han Area! The only problem was the Chuan Shu. There were many aristocratic families in the Chuan Shu and they had a lot of land. We'll think of a way slowly when the time comes! " Wang Shu pondered for a long time, and said.

"What you said makes sense!" However, why would the land of the Guan Shan be sold to those rich families? We can directly give the Guan Shan's land to those poor people who have no land! " Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, this way the country will lose a lot of wealth!" Wang Shu said.

"The country's wealth is not obtained by selling land! The best way to increase the country's wealth was to make the people richer, the people richer, and the country stronger. Only with money would the country become stronger! There is a lot of land in Guan Shan, but there has just been a war there, so many citizens are not willing to go there. We can encourage the citizens to go there, reduce the taxes, or give other incentives. All in all, I want that place to have enough people in the shortest amount of time possible! With more people, the economy will naturally develop, and taxes will naturally increase! Selling the land for a while was only for profit, but this was for a long term benefit! As for the rent reduction, once I go back, it will be carried out in the Middle Han Area! " Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject fears that the resistance will be too great!" Wang Shu said.

"No matter how much resistance there is, I still want to do this! People had to do something when they lived in this world! As the Son of Heaven, I have the duty of being the Son of Heaven. This duty is to expel the Tataru and restore China, to let the people of the world live a good life, to let us Chinese truly prosper! "The rent reduction is a matter of great success, I will definitely accomplish this!" Zhao Chen said.

Since he was born in this world, since he became the crown prince and later the Son of Heaven, he had long understood his duty. He would do things according to his own heart and would not be afraid of resistance!

"His Majesty is kind to the people, Wang Shu is willing to assist His Majesty!" Wang Shu thought for a while longer, and felt that although there was pressure to reduce the rent in Middle Han Area, it was not impossible to overcome it, so he replied immediately.

"It's already late, let's rest early. We still need to hurry tomorrow!" Zhao Chen said.

Wang Shu nodded!

Everyone went to rest while Kang An and a few guards continued to stand guard throughout the night.

Early morning on the second day, everyone bid their farewells and left. When Zhao Chen left, he left behind 10 taels of silver, the old man anxiously declined, but Zhao Chen still accepted it! The old man was ecstatic, there was no need to say more!

Everyone headed out of the village. Along the way, they saw that most of the courtyards and houses were abnormally dilapidated. They could not help but sigh!

When they reached the outskirts of the village, they rode their horses forward. After walking for a few miles, they saw the corpses of a few children by the roadside. Zhao Chen stood there dumbstruck, and Wang Shu said: "Your Majesty, every winter and spring season, there are always some people who starve to death in these villages, especially children. Their bodies are weak, and they often don't live past winter! This humble official is agreeing more and more with His Majesty that the rent should be reduced! Once we return to the Middle Han Area, this humble subject will definitely handle this matter well! "

Zhao Chen nodded his head, his heart was slightly dejected, and said: "Let's go!"

Zheyue Ru's heart was also in great pain. After experiencing Zhe Keqiu's transformation, her father and brothers had already been killed! In her opinion, the people who killed her father and brother were a bunch of treacherous officials. However, she could not avenge her father! At the very least, she still hadn't thought of a way to take revenge! She felt very pitiful for herself. Now that she saw the lives of these commoners, she knew that the people at the bottom were suffering much more than she was. She lightly sighed, not daring to look at the corpses of the children as she followed the rest of the people.

"All the people who have lived so arduously and exploited them were all officials and landlords! Especially since many landlords were officials! This way, how could the commoners believe in the government? Wang Shu, I told you to set up the Advocacy Division, and take charge of the promotions. But the citizens do not believe in the government, so I'm afraid your promotions are of little use! " Zhao Chen said.

"Your Majesty is right. The citizens are very resistant to officials!" Wang Shu said.

"Therefore, subtracting the rent can win the hearts of the people. This way, the people can truly be grateful towards the government and believe in the government! This way, the effect of the promotions will naturally be much greater! " Zhao Chen said.

"Yes sir!" Wang Shu nodded.

"When we go back, we will discuss this with Li Gang first. The two of you will handle this together! You guys have to reduce rent and advertise at the same time, I want to make a real change in Middle Han Area! Let the people of Middle Han Area truly believe in the government and rely on the government! " Zhao Chen said.

He and Wang Shu discussed for a long time before finally falling asleep.

Three days later, they finally arrived outside the Hanzhong City.

In front of them was the Changchun View, where everyone stopped. Zhao Chen took Zheyue Ru and entered the Changchun View!

He hadn't been here for a very long time, and it had been a long time since he had seen Wang Chongyang, so his heart was filled with nostalgia! During the period when Zhe Keqiu was in power, Li Gang, Yue Fei and the others were all expelled. Only he was in power with Wang Chongyang. Now, he truly treated Wang Chongyang as his own master. After not seeing him for a long time, he missed this master very much!

Just as he entered the Changchun View, Ma Yu pounced over. Zhao Chen rubbed his head and asked: "Where is Master?"

Ma Yu stuck out his tongue, pointed to a room in front of him, and said: "It's right there!"

Zhao Chen brought Zheyue Ru into the room. Sure enough, Wang Chongyang was sitting cross-legged inside.

After a long while, Wang Chongyang opened his eyes. He looked at Zhao Chen first, and then at Zheyue Ru! When he looked at Zheyue Ru, his face revealed a hint of surprise!

"Teacher, what's wrong?" Zhao Chen said in surprise.

"She has the innate constitution of a Xiantian cultivator. If she followed me in cultivating the Dao, I'm afraid she would be able to achieve great perfection!" Wang Chongyang said.

Zhao Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Zheyue Ru was still the Queen in name, how could he follow Wang Chongyang and cultivate.

Wang Chongyang obviously understood this logic as well. He only said it because he didn't have any other intentions.

Then, Wang Chongyang asked Zhao Chen about his experiences during this period of time. Hearing that the Song Army had defeated the female real one, Wang Chongyang was shocked, and muttered: "Weird, weird, to actually defeat the female real one."

Zhao Chen asked: "Master, what are you talking about? It couldn't be those mysterious things again, right? "

Wang Chongyang shook his head, and said: "Nothing much, just that it doesn't match with heaven's will!"

Zhao Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said: "What heaven's will? A man can rule the sky, and that's all nonsense! "

Wang Chongyang was stunned again, and said: "A man wins against the heavens? Is it really like this? "

At this moment, Wang Chongyang was deep in thought. If Zhao Chen spoke again, he would ignore him! Zhao Chen knew that Wang Chongyang's temperament was as such, so he didn't disturb him and took Zheyue Ru on a tour around Changchun View!

When dusk fell, Zhao Chen and the rest had to take their leave. Not long after, they returned to the Imperial Palace, where Zhao Chen immediately called for Li Gang to discuss the matter of reducing the rent.