Previously, the Liang army was located in the Central Plains and had a very passive strategic position. If you are not careful, you will suffer a tragic defeat and it will be difficult to turn over again.

At that time, the Liang State was in danger, so Gao Huan only renovated the land in Henan and took over the resources such as mines and the military government.

After entering Jiangbei and occupying Nanjing for the first time, Gao Huan dared not make any big moves.

Because the enemy is too strong, Gao Huan has not yet gained a foothold, so he can only hide his intentions.

Now it's different.

Gao Huan defeated the Qing army, wiped out Zuo Liangyu, and dominated the area. The external strategic environment improved, and there was no feeling of covering the thin ice.

In the past, the Liang army had almost no room tolerate mistakes. If one mistake was made, there would be a risk of destroying the country. Now, there is room tolerant mistakes. If you suffer a few defeats, or if you make any mistakes, Liang State still has a chance to turn the tables again.

Therefore, Gao Huan has now gained a foothold, and it is difficult for external enemies to destroy him. However, the internal gentry class, after the Qing army invaded Jiangbei and Zuozhen cholera, had greatly lost its strength and could no longer challenge Gao Huan.

In view of this, Gao Huan no longer needed to hide and began to reveal his fangs.

Everyone was slightly stunned after hearing Gao Huan's words, but they didn't dare to refute.

Zhou Yanru swallowed his saliva and politely said, "What should the king do if he wants his ministers?"

Many officials who turned to Hongguang were anxious.

Master Zhou, what about your responsibility?

Originally, the reform had already touched the interests of too many people, and the interests of officials from Jiangnan would almost be affected.

Now we have to bring salt and iron back to the state, which is the business of local tyrants and big families.

Don’t you know how miserable it was when Wanli sent a mining supervisor to make money?

Gao Huan ignored the faces of some ministers and continued to say in a deep voice: "War requires money and food. Continue to rely on the model of the small government of the Ming Dynasty. If you can't even collect taxes, you will not be able to mobilize social resources and engage in a war of hegemony. Therefore, I must make drastic moves, strengthen centralization, implement new tax laws, and control the operation of grain, salt, iron and copper, and improve the tax and mobilization capabilities of the vassal governments!"

The most intuitive manifestation of how powerful a country is is how much tax it can be collected.

With more money, there will naturally be more things to do. However, like the Ming Dynasty, the territory is vast, but the taxes are gradually reduced. In the end, less than 10 million taels are unable to leverage the advantages of a large territory and a large population. The mobilization ability is not as good as the Qing soldiers.

Since Wanli overthrew Zhang Juzheng's reform, the Ming Dynasty has moved towards the model of a small government.

Whoever likes this model of small government the most is naturally the local gentry.

Under this weak government model, the local economy has developed unprecedentedly, local forces are getting stronger and stronger, but the court is getting weaker and weaker, and in the end it cannot even collect taxes.

As the Ming Dynasty has come to this day, everyone can see the problems of the Ming Dynasty, but it is difficult to make them give up their own interests.

At this time, Li Yan said: "The king is wise! If we want to unify the world, we want to launch annexation wars and expel the Tartars, we need to mobilize the resources of the entire society. We must strengthen centralization, implement reforms, realize the state-owned salt and iron operation, and increase taxes from the vassal governments!"

The old team also agreed and supported Gao Huan's strategy of implementing a large government and strengthening the government.

Because there is no change, the Liang Kingdom will not be able to unify the world.

Since ancient times, unless it is a colonial war that can seize the resources of the colony, it is often killing one thousand enemies and destroying eight hundred of them.

Especially in the wars against the northern nomadic and fishing and hunting nations, the Central Plains dynasty often suffers from winning or losing.

The nomadic peoples beat horses and raised their swords, lost one of their lives, and won the battle and grabbed a lot of money. The Central Plains dynasty won, and they consumed countless money and food, but they did not get any benefits, so they lost even worse.

Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Huns, but he also used up all the accumulation of three generations.

But if you don’t beat him, he will come to rob you again, and this battle must be fought.

In the future, the Liang Kingdom will wage war, and the consumption of money and food will be a huge amount.

Although there are more than 13 million taels in the Liang Dynasty's treasury now, if you don't fight, the military expenditure will be nearly 7 million taels a year. If you fight, it will be all done in one year.

War requires money, and raising the army requires money. The Ming Dynasty's strategy could not support the battle for hegemony and unification of the Liang Kingdom, so reforms must be carried out, and this reform is still imminent.

Otherwise, if Gao Huan occupied Jiangnan and taxes could not be raised, what's the use?

Seeing that Li Yan and others supported him, Gao Huan, others did not dare to object even if they had any opinions because of Gao Huan's words, so he said in a deep voice: "The government should come up with a specific strategy as soon as possible for the several things discussed today!"

...

Gao Huan gave the task and the content of the parliament soon spread throughout Jiangbei and Jiangnan.

The people immediately heard a voice spreading, saying that the reforms carried out by the vassal states were to compete for profit with the people.

Liang Palace, in the study.

Gao Huan listened to Gao Youwen's report and learned about the reactions of gentry, big merchants and merchants in Jiangnan and Jiangbei.

"I blocked Jiannu and attacked the left rioters. The military expenditure was huge, and the vassal government was in a dilemma. The people were already 10 taxes and three, and the burden was heavy. They could not add land taxes!" Gao Huan said in a deep voice: "I hope that these gentry and merchants can generously donate money, help the vassal government and fulfill their obligations. It seems that no one is willing to respond!"

Chongzhen repeatedly increased land taxes, which led to the rise of refugees from the north, and eventually led to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. The path to increase land taxes has proved that it is not feasible.

Therefore, Gao Huan has promised the people that after no more taxes are imposed, he will never increase the land tax again.

At this time, Li Yan said: "The king, I think these people said that the court used the state-owned salt and iron camp to compete for profit with the people, which is really absurd. The one who really competes for profit with the people is not the vassal state government, but these gentry, merchants and tycoons. Is it the king's land under the world? Where does their money come from? Isn't it that the king who gave them mountains, rivers, lakes and lakes to operate so that they can mine, sell salt and make money? Now in order to unify the world and resist Jiannu, the people have borne heavy taxes. Shouldn't these people give in to profit?"

Gao Huan nodded slightly, "To solve the financial problems and avoid the mistakes of the Chongzhen Dynasty, we must collect commercial taxes and realize the state-owned salt and iron operation. Only by increasing their taxes will the people be relaxed."

Li Yan asked: "How is the king ready to implement it!"

Gao Huan smiled slightly, "This is not busy. Before implementing the reform, there is still something to do, which is what I said to my husband before."

Li Yan said: "Master, it means two peaches kill three soldiers!"

Gao Huan nodded slightly, "Yes, if the enemy is full of sand and fights each other, things will be easier!"

On this day, Gao Huan sent someone to spread news that the people were rumored that the reform of the vassal states competed for profit. After repeated consideration, King Liang decided to listen to the opinions of the people and would absorb four Jiangnan people to serve as Liang's country to discuss politics, participate in the formulation of reform strategies, and adjust the reform content based on the actual situation in Jiangnan.

As soon as the news came out, the gentry in Jiangnan was excited and praised Gao Huan for sympathizing with the people and being a wise ruler.

Gao Huan then asked the official Cao Shen to judge Jiang Yueguang and took out four places for him to choose.

Jiang Yueguang was originally a native of Donglin, and immediately recommended four people with the gentry of Jiangnan, all of whom were the original Donglin Party.

There is no way, almost all the officials in Jiangnan have joined the Donglin Party, and they were once so powerful.

(Thanks to Zhu Shangbing for his 500 reward from Qin State, please give me monthly tickets, recommend, and follow up)
Chapter completed!