As a former official of the Ministry of Revenue, Li Ling naturally knew how active it would be for the government to rebuild the civil book and to measure the land.

Since ancient times, population and land have been the foundation of a court's true foothold and the foundation for power. Often, a dynasty was newly established, and relevant personnel would be sent to register and record them in various places, and then every few years - as short as three to five years, as long as ten years - will be re-recorded. This is also the basis for the financial yamen such as the Ministry of Revenue to collect taxes from local governments, and it is also an important means for the imperial court in the capital to control the people and officials thousands of miles away.

However, there are policies from the top, but there are countermeasures. Perhaps during the decades of the dynasty, the central government was in full swing, and local forces could only obediently report the local population and land. But by the time, the central government's authority began to decline and local forces continued to rise, especially when various vested interest classes began to completely control wealth and monopolize the official path, the policies that were originally implemented would also be deviated, and there were many things that the local government had to hide from the court or the superiors' yamen.

Take Jiangnan for example. It has been more than 30 years since his son succeeded to the throne. In the past 30 years, there has been almost no change in the taxes paid here, and even the relevant civil book and land volume registered in the Ministry of Revenue Department have not changed much.

This is obviously unreasonable, because today's Dayue is in a prosperous era, with almost no internal troubles or external worries. At most, there are only natural disasters. In such a prosperous era, how can the population of the fertile and rich land in Jiangnan not grow rapidly? How can the population almost remain unchanged for 30 years?

The only explanation is that the number of people that have been more than tens of millions in the past few decades has been deliberately hidden by local forces. Because population means wealth, wealth means taxes will be collected by the court. If one person is hidden, the local forces will have an extra portion of money. In Li Ling's opinion, given that the current population of Jiangnan is only more than 50 million, at least tens of millions have been hidden.

The same is true for the number of land, excluding some land controlled by the privileged classes with fame or title, at least two to three percent of the land was hidden. After this calculation, another astronomical tax fell into the hands of local forces.

These local forces may be officials or families. Anyway, they are mixed up and cover the entire Jiangnan with a huge network of relationships. They are like a huge bug lying on the land and people in Jiangnan, constantly absorbing wealth, harming the country and enriching their own private life.

In fact, it is not just Jiangnan. As the world has been in peace for a long time, over the past century, the seemingly prosperous world has already become full of problems, and all places have more or less hidden such disadvantages. The emperors and priests in the capital are not ignorant. They know what is going on below, and they also know that this will lead to the continuous reduction of the imperial court's control over the local area, which will make the people unable to sustain it, but will continue to increase the power of the aristocratic families. However, in front of this network of relationships that are intricate and affect the whole body, even the emperor has to be afraid of the rat and dare not act rashly.

Now, Wen Ming, the governor of Jiangnan, plans to do something that even the court cannot make up his mind to do. He actually wants to rebuild the people's books and measure the land. This ambition and courage surprised Li Ling, but also made him sincerely admire him. If this is true, he will be enemies with all the local forces in Jiangnan.

After being stunned for a long time, Li Ling came back to his senses and looked at Wen Ming with a calm expression: "Master Futai, what you said is true?"

"Do you think I am a joke on such a big thing?" Wen Ming looked back at him and then smiled again, "It seems that Wen Zhong, you also understand how heavy and difficult this matter is."

"That's right, this is tantamount to snatching food from a tiger's mouth. Once an order is issued, it will inevitably encounter obstacles from all parties, and even adults will suffer from various slander and criticism..."

"Not only that. If I really do this, even if I am a leader, the enemy of all the aristocratic families, bureaucrats and clerks in Jiangnan, they will definitely use various means to block the order from the downward movement. Perhaps it will take not long before someone in the court will attack me, and my position as governor may not be able to be maintained."

Wen Ming saw it better than Li Ling, and knew very well how terrible counterattack and obstruction would be suffered. However, when he said this, his face still did not retreat at all, and he still looked calm. This surprised Li Ling even more: "Since you know the consequences, why dare to make this decision to be an enemy of everyone?"

Wen Ming's eyes suddenly became deeper: "If I don't do it, do you think there are still people in the court who dare to do such a thing now? Have you ever thought about it? If the current situation continues, how long can I last for the appearance of my prosperous era in Dayue? Ten years or twenty years?"

Li Ling was silent. The Great Yue court was not in the history he was familiar with, so he naturally could not give an answer. But he also understood that the other party was not alarmist. When any dynasty came to its peak, it meant the beginning of a downhill road. The reason for the demise of the imperial court was that it laid the roots at its peak.

Judging from the Dayue he knew, it is indeed in its most prosperous period, but at the same time, various hidden dangers have long appeared - the disputes between the various parties in the court, there are many struggles between princes, local officials are corruption and the gap between the rich and the poor is constantly widening... These problems can naturally be covered up one by one when the dynasty is at its peak, but once there are great worries and major changes, they will become the tombs to bury the entire Dayue.

"You have also seen the situation in Jiangnan. Why can a few thousand Luotian scholars easily sweep the governments here and make the governments tired of resisting? Isn't it because ordinary people have long been disloyal from the governments, and they will become mobs and rioters because of the sweet words of the thieves; it is because the aristocratic families who are capable of helping the government to quell the chaos in the places stand by for their own interests, because they are thinking about taking advantage of the chaos to make profits... After all, these issues are all the courts, and the government's governance over Jiangnan has been reduced to a minimum.

"I know the details, Jiangnan is like this, isn't it the same in all provinces in the world? Now the ills are emerging. If the court is willing to spend some time to deal with it, and to eliminate these worm-worm patients one by one, then I will be able to cheer up again, but once everyone sees it, no one can see it. Do you think such ills will make me ill completely ill and eventually embark on the old path of the demise of the former Song Dynasty?"

This time, Wen Ming seemed to have been holding it in for too long and finally found an outlet to vent his feelings. He couldn't stop what he thought: "Maybe Your Majesty was willing to reorganize the mountains and rivers for my Dayue in the future, but now... As for the nobles in the court, whether it is Lu or Wang Xiang, regardless of their origin, just their age, they would not have the determination and aura to reorganize the world with the consequences of offending everyone.

"Since that's the case, I, Wenming, has been deeply kind to Your Majesty. As an official in the court's territory, I should share my worries with you. Even if I die because of this, I will not have any grudges. I just hope to start with me and walk a road in Jiangnan that is completely different from other places, cleanse the filth of the world, and restore the court in Dayue to a clear and clear place!"

After saying this, Li Ling was so righteous that he was so loud that he could not sit still. He stood up and bowed solemnly: "Master Futai is full of heart, which really makes me admire him. Please accept me!"

Wen Ming did not stop him, but sat down calmly, and then looked at him with a smile: "Do you know why this official said these words to you?"

“Why?”

"Because I can see that you are very different from other officials who are fond of the world. You are also willing to do something big for the people, the court, and the world. You have your own persistence, and your own ideals. More importantly, you, like me, have certain abilities!

"I don't hide it from you. The official position of the prefect of Yangzhou is what I use to test your ability. As a result, your ability is stronger than I thought before. In just a short period of time, I received taxes that others could hardly receive, and it has not caused local civil unrest.

"People like you are the officials I hope to rely on and help me carry out the important task of rebuilding the civil order in Jiangnan. Are you willing to help me, take risks for the people of Jiangnan and the Dayue court?"

Li Ling felt a heat all over her body, and an unprecedented sense of courage continued to spread in her chest. His eyes began to shine. Although he still had many concerns in his heart, at this moment, his soul and his heart were telling him a sentence: "Come on! Traveling through time once and becoming an official for the rest of his life, isn't it just to be able to do a great career?"

Finally, under the eager eyes of the other party, Li Ling nodded slowly: "Mr. Futai respects the officials so much, I should follow them. I will do my best to benefit the world!"

After pausing, he frowned slightly again: "But Lord Futai, this fact is hindering a lot. As you said just now, once you propose to rebuild the civil book and measure the land, you will inevitably encounter obstacles from major local forces. It is probably difficult to convince the public by relying solely on the government's pressure."

"I naturally had considered this, so I made Jinling go to this incident." Wen Ming was very satisfied with Li Ling's answer, and his eyes looked at Li Ling were full of admiration. "I just wanted to use the reason that Luotian Sect was causing trouble in Jiangnan and hidden among the people that there were many hidden dangers to let the court allow me to recreate the civil book. As long as the court nods and is justified, you can act drastic. And Yangzhou where you are, is where I want to make the first breakthrough and achieve my goal!"
Chapter completed!