Sima Guang was still a little nervous about Hwarang's invitation. After sitting down in the living room of Hua Mansion, Sima Guang immediately asked: "I wonder if Mr. Hua has any important matters to discuss with me." Hua Lang smiled: "Didn't Mr. Sima say that taxes are very small before? I have come up with something. I came up with a way to ask the government to increase tax revenue. I wonder if Master Sima is interested." When Sima Guang heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. In the Song Dynasty, a large part of the evaluation of an official's performance was based on tax revenue. If With more tax revenue and good other political achievements, it would be easy for Sima Guang to be promoted. When the three years are up, he might be able to enter the capital and enter the center of the court. Although he was excited, Sima Guang still suppressed it very well and asked: "I wonder if Mr. Hua has any way to increase tax revenue." Hualang smiled: "There is a lot of uncultivated land outside Huainan City." Suddenly Hearing Hwarang mention the land outside Huainan City, Sima Guang was suddenly shocked. How smart he was. As soon as Hwarang mentioned the land, he thought of Hwarang's idea, but he felt that Hwarang's idea was not feasible. , He, Sima Guang, is not stupid. Why hasn't he thought about this? It's just that it's too difficult to use those lands. Although those lands are deserted, they can¡¯t be used by anyone who wants to. Sima Guang was a little embarrassed and said: "I understand what Young Master Hua means, but those lands all have owners. It may not be easy to get people to open up wasteland." Hualang smiled. He naturally asked about these things early. In any dynasty, there was always the matter of enclosure of land. Those nobles and nobles had a lot of land at home, but they would rather leave it uncultivated than cultivate it for others. Even if it was cultivated by others, the exploitation would be extremely severe, and There are many ways for these people to obtain land. In many cases, they directly enclose the land that no one wants. Whoever encloses it owns it. It is similar to the land distribution in rural areas in later generations, but these people enclose more land. It's just bigger, some have hundreds of acres, some have almost a thousand acres, the craziness is simply staggering. Of course, with so much land, many of them have owners, but they are hidden. In other words, although these lands are in the name of a big landowner, they are not included in the court records. More than ten years later, Wang Anshi carried out a reform. He wanted to liquidate the land in the country, tax the land according to its fertility, and find out the hidden land. It was because of this that Wang Anshi's reform was opposed. Of course , there are many reasons for the failure, and it cannot only be blamed on the square field equal tax (square field equal tax: an order was made to clear the land nationwide, verify the landowners, and classify the land into five grades according to the quality of the soil as the basis for collecting land taxes. ,) The resistance to equalizing taxes on square fields is great. Hwarang has never thought of doing this, but now the problem he faces is that he has to do it. Of course, what he did was not thorough, he only The land in Huainan City needs to be allocated to the soldiers. As for other people, the people in Huainan City have food and drink, so there is no need to worry. So, although it is not a reform, some of the properties are the same. Hwarang had figured out how to deal with those big landowners, but now all he needed was Sima Guang's consent. Now Sima Guang looked troubled. Hwarang had expected it. After all, he knew from the history of later generations that Among the people who were most opposed to Wang Anshi's reform was Sima Guang. Now that Hwarang has raised this situation, it is normal for Sima Guang to oppose it. So at this time, Hwarang smiled calmly and said: "Sir Ma, I understand what difficulties you are talking about, but as long as we take back those lands and distribute them to the soldiers, our government's tax revenue will increase. It's quite a lot, and it also solves the problem of feeding the soldiers. Master Sima may not know that the salary of the soldiers is very low, and it is not easy to feed a family. " After hearing what Hualang said, Sima Guang smiled slightly. He was a little tempted, but still hesitant, and said: "Young Master, what those big landowners care about most is their own land. If we forcefully expropriate it like this, I'm afraid it will cause trouble." Sima Guang is a very orthodox official, although he has a heart for the people. When doing things, his biggest wish is not to cause trouble. In this way, he can be promoted. If he does things for the people when he is promoted, it is naturally a good thing, but he does not want to do things that cause trouble. In other words, if such an official was in an era of political clarity, he would have a bright future, but if it were in troubled times, he might not have a way out. Things in Renzong were pretty good. Renzong was benevolent and the people lived in paradise. Just a few decades after the founding of the Song Dynasty, everything was developing prosperously. Sima Guang had caught up with the good times. Seeing that Sima Guang was so scared, Huarang smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord Sima. There won't be any trouble. There are only tens of thousands of soldiers in Huainan, and only a few thousand are willing to work in agriculture."?We only need to expropriate a few thousand to ten thousand acres of land. This should not be a big deal for those landowners. I heard that in Huainan, there is a landowner who owns thousands of acres of land. That land It can feed hundreds of people. Lord Sima can't bear to let him own it alone. "In fact, a landlord has a lot of land, and Sima Guang can tolerate it, as long as those landlords don't cause trouble, but how can he speak his mind in front of Hualang at this time. After some hesitation, Sima Guang asked: " Since Mr. Hua is so determined, let¡¯s do it, but I don¡¯t know how Mr. Hua wants to do it. " Hwarang smiled: "Simple, these big landowners have a lot of money, and they have done a lot of illegal things. If we want to expropriate land, we will start from this aspect. They will either hand over the land or go to jail. Mr. Sima, do you think this method is feasible? " Sima Guang thought for a while, and finally nodded: "This is a good idea. In that case, how about leaving everything to Young Master Hua. " Sima Guang still doesn't want to wade into this muddy water. Seeing this, Hwarang smiled and said: "I'm afraid it's inappropriate for me, a detective, to come forward in this matter. Master Sima should investigate first. If it is found that those big landowners have done something How about recording any illegal things first and then we can discuss it. " Sima Guang had no other choice but to nod his head repeatedly and said: "Okay, since Mr. Hua said so, I will have someone investigate after I go back. Hwarang smiled and said, "That's right. When you go to investigate, tell the government officials that if they do a good job, I will reward them later. I will ensure that they are satisfied." "