Compared to the forr emperor, the Noble Families in the capital fear the current emperor more.
Don’t be fooled by the emperor’s constant smiling appearance; he can change his face instantly, giving them no ti to react. By the ti they realize it, disaster has already befallen them.
Before making a move, the forr emperor would first offer courtesy and then bring out the troops. But the emperor is different; he uses troops first before courtesy. The forr emperor was ruthless; the emperor is even more so. The most terrifying thing is that the emperor is extrely intelligent. If the Noble Families attempt to act clever before him, it’s akin to showing off inferior skills before a master craftsman.
Unable to outplay him with intrigue, or fight him head-on, the Noble Families can only behave obediently in front of the emperor. Fortunately, the emperor does not press them excessively; as long as they don’t go too far, he usually turns a blind eye.
Back when the forr emperor and his son established the Great Zhou, the Noble Families in the capital saw them as re peasants and thought they would be easy to manipulate. They decided to make them puppets in their hands, even the Xie family thought so.
Once they witnessed the ans of the forr emperor and the emperor, they dared not underestimate them in the slightest, nor did they dare to flaunt their own noble status before them or make any threats.
It was the year the forr Empress passed away that instilled complete fear of the emperor in the Noble Families. The emperor ordered the execution of nurous eunuchs, palace maids, and concubines.
These individuals were all informants planted in the palace by the Noble Families, and they were all thoroughly eradicated at that ti.
Besides conducting a cleanup in the palace, a purge also occurred in the governnt, ridding many officials. These officials were either beheaded, exiled, or imprisoned. They were either mbers of the Noble Families or individuals carefully cultivated by them.
The emperor directly told the Noble Families at the morning court assembly, smiling all the while, not to act clever before him, not to play tricks in front of him, and not to arrange questionable individuals under his nose. If he is in a good mood, he may let it pass. But if he is not, they should not bla him for being ruthless.
On that day’s morning court, many were so frightened their faces turned ashen, and their legs went weak. Once the court session ended, many were so terrified they collapsed to the ground, unable to stand for a long ti.
Since that incident, the Noble Families dare not test the emperor’s limits again. The consequences of such tests are beyond their capacity to bear.
Over the years, the Noble Families have gradually figured out the emperor’s limits, so they dared not make any big moves.
In addition to crop seeds, the forr emperor initially forced the Noble Families to donate land.
These Noble Families had already seized a lot of land. During the chaos of the previous dynasty, they grabbed even more, leaving the common people with no land to farm.
The forr emperor forcibly reclaid much land from them and distributed it to the people to farm. The forr emperor and the emperor also encouraged the people to open up wasteland. The land they developed would belong to the pioneers themselves and would not be taken by the governnt. Apart from this, the local governnt would reward the pioneers with things such as grain, seeds, and exemption from tax for three years. Oh, and there was one major benefit: they could establish residency.
Due to the turmoil, a lot of refugees erged across the land. These refugees wandered from place to place, with no settled ho.
When the Great Zhou was first established, the capital did not have many people. In the previous dynasty, at its peak, the capital had a population of over a million. However, in the early days of the Great Zhou, the capital had only two to three hundred thousand people, one-fifth of its peak population in the previous dynasty.
To increase the population across various regions, the forr emperor implented a policy. Refugees who opened up new farmland and resided there for a year could register as resident households.
Because of this policy, the refugees stopped wandering everywhere, settled locally, and actively opened farmland. This not only increased the local population but also added much arable land.
At present, the newly opened farmland in the Great Zhou amounts to five or six million qing. Hearing this number, one might think it is a lot, but it is not much. In terms of the total population of the Great Zhou, it still hasn’t reached the point where everyone has farmland.
Actually, during the most prosperous and flourishing tis of the previous dynasty, over seven million qing of farmland had been cultivated. However, due to war and natural disasters, much of the arable land was destroyed. Most of this destroyed arable land turned into utterly useless wasteland, irrecoverable as farmland.
In the early days of the Great Zhou, there were only two to three million qing of farmland capable of growing grain. After more than a decade of effort, the Great Zhou’s farmland has increased twofold, now totaling five to six million qing. Moreover, the population in various regions has also doubled. Still, it falls short of the emperor’s goal.
Thus, the emperor and Pri Minister He decided to cultivate peace and nurture strength for another five years. By then, farmland and population will double again. This is why Pri Minister He previously told Shen Hu and others why the next five years should not be spent attacking Shu.
The upcoming five years are crucial for the Great Zhou. As long as population, farmland, and grain reach the targets set by the emperor within these five years, then there will be no issues in reclaiming Shu and resisting the Xiongnu.
Moreover, back when the forr emperor encouraged the people to open up wasteland, he led by example, taking the emperor and his generals to develop several acres of farmland.
Every year during the spring plowing and planting season, the emperor personally tends the fields that he and his father developed.
Naturally, the emperor has also tasked the Crown Prince and Prince Dai with opening a piece of land of their own.
The emperor decreed that every Prince, upon coming of age, must develop a piece of their own land within a year. If the grain they produce is plentiful, they may be rewarded.
The pieces of land developed by him and the forr emperor are quite fertile, yielding abundant grain every year.
Whenever ti permits, the emperor visits these fields to inspect the situation. If weeds are growing, he personally enters the fields to remove them. If there are pests, he personally takes action to clear them. During harvest, he also gets into the fields to cut the rice.
While the forr emperor was alive, he often said they were farrs and must not forget their roots, nor forget how to farm. Even as emperors, they must not forget these skills, for they form the foundation of the Zhao family. Should they lose their empire in the future, they can still return to being farrs, sustaining themselves.
As a child, the emperor often helped with farm work at ho. He was adept at farming from a young age, naturally expecting his sons to learn farming from their childhood.
Among all the Princes, only the youngest son, Zhao Yao, has never entered the fields. All other Princes do so yearly and perform quite well. If they don’t, the emperor does not hesitate to punish them.
The third Prince and others almost faced death at the emperor’s hands because of a poor attitude toward farm work. Furthermore, when doing farm work, if they dared to complain or bla everything, the emperor would punish them.
As both the emperor and Princes engage in farming, the ministers naturally must follow suit. While the emperor did not force the ministers to mimic them, the ministers dared not do otherwise.
Though their farming might not match that of farrs, they, at the very least, learn to farm. Moreover, they gain a profound appreciation for the hardships of farrs and understand that every grain is hard-won.
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