Chapter 377 Reform and Improvement

As soon as the new prefect of Lin'an, Wen Tianxiang, took office, he began to rectify the order with great force.

All the idlers and hooligans who had caused the civil unrest in Lin'an due to the arrival of the Tang army were arrested.

Those who smashed, looted and burned were thrown into prison camps as hard labor according to the will of His Royal Highness the King of Tang.

Those who committed serious crimes, such as murder, were all taken to the downtown area for execution without exception!

Hundreds of good people fell to the ground, which cleared up the originally restless order of Lin'an!

As the saying goes, heavy punishments are used in troubled times, and these heads have just the right effect.

Within a few days, Lin'an returned to the past and everything was back to normal.

If there were no bloodstains in the corners of the streets that had not been washed clean, it would be hard to tell that Lin'an had experienced a change of dynasty.

However.

For these ordinary people who originally lived under the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty, the most profound feeling was that His Royal Highness the King of Tang issued an edict to cancel the heavy taxes of the Southern Song Dynasty.

You have to know that the heavy taxes in the Southern Song Dynasty made it difficult for ordinary people to just survive.

Later generations only know that the annual tax revenue of the Southern Song Dynasty was the highest in the world, but they don’t know how difficult it was for ordinary people to make a living.

Once this edict was issued, it won the hearts of ordinary people in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Not only that!

At present, the territories controlled by Lin Chen are all under the leadership of Lu Xiufu, and they are still arranging land and clearing the population.

It has to be said.

The Southern Song Dynasty was not short of money.

However, these wealth were not in the hands of ordinary people, but in the hands of gentry and landlords.

Lu Xiufu, who got the cooperation of Jinyiwei, was surprised to find that there were so many termites under the local governance!

In ancient times, especially in the late Southern Song Dynasty, it was normal for government orders not to go to the countryside.

Therefore, there were gentry and landlords in the countryside.

It was not uncommon for these gentry and landlords to squeeze out land.

There was even a huge county, and all the fields belonged to a few big families!

However, the taxes paid by this county every year were very few.

It can be seen that the local administration in the late Southern Song Dynasty collapsed to the extreme.

So Lin Chen just wanted to arranging land and clearing the population.

Because of this, Lu Xiufu's reputation among scholars during this period has become infamous.

In response, Lu Xiufu did not say much, but continued to sort out the land and clear the land, and then divided the land found out to the refugees.

However, among the people, his reputation is polarized.

This is natural.

In ancient times, all the mouthpieces were controlled by literati.

However, the people are not idiots who are fooled by others.

Lu Xiufu's own ancestral temples have been newly built in various places, which shows that the people are not stupid, and they know who is good to them.

Lin Chen flipped through the detailed records of Lu Xiufu sent by Jinyiwei, and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.

Perhaps at first, when Lu Xiufu received his appointment, he still had the meaning of resigning himself to fate and letting things go.

But when he saw the suffering of the people, this capable minister who was later named a national hero did not sit idly by.

"First temper yourself among the people for a few years, and then transfer to the court to do things."

Lin Chen had a conclusion in his mind about whether Lu Xiufu should stay or go.

As the Tang king who had usurped the throne, he had too many things to deal with every day.

He only paid attention to Lu Xiufu's affairs for a moment and then stopped asking about them.

Apart from the land and labor system, Lin Chen's focus was on the military system.

From a certain perspective, the Southern Song army, which emphasized culture over military, was already rotten to the core.

If Lin Chen wanted to march north, he had to eradicate this trend.

Of course.

This was not something that could be solved overnight.

The most important thing was to make most of the Southern Song surrendered troops in his army surrender.

Lin Chen was already preparing for this.

For example.

"Today is the day to pay salaries!"

Wang Yuan glanced at the deputy general and said in a casual tone.

His deputy general was a low-ranking officer of the Southern Song Dynasty. After joining Lin Chen's army, he was promoted to Wang Yuan's deputy.

"Pay salaries?"

Sure enough.

As soon as these words came out, the deputy general looked confused.

For the Southern Song Dynasty's imperial army, it was a luxury to have enough food every day, and the word "military pay" was quite unfamiliar.

Even when he was in the Southern Song Dynasty army, he could only barely eat enough.

But when these soldiers and generals saw the carriages pulled into the military camp, they felt at a loss.

I didn't expect that the Tang army really had military pay, and it was paid on time!

Wang Yuan looked at the deputy general's appearance, but he didn't laugh at anything.

Because he used to be similar to the other party.

For most of the big soldiers.

Being a soldier is nothing more than having enough food and supporting the family.

Now that the Tang King pays on time and has no shortage of food every day, it is enough to shock these Southern Song surrendered soldiers and the northern Han army.

Yes.

Even the northern Han army under Mongolian rule is not treated very well.

Because in the Mongolian army, the status of the Han army is not good.

If there is a visual panel.

Lin Chen can definitely see that the morale of these newly trained troops under his command has increased by 30 and the loyalty has increased by 20.

"Your Highness, yesterday there was a strange phenomenon in the sky, the Emperor Star was shining brightly, this is an auspicious sign!"

"Report to the King of Tang, now the Lin'an treasury is empty, and the military expenses are very high. Can the army be reduced?"

"What Liu Yushi said is very true. Now the Mongolians in the north are busy with their own affairs. It is not good for people's livelihood to support an army of 200,000."

Hmm?

Lin Chen looked at the group of old officials of the Southern Song Dynasty who made suggestions at the court meeting, and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Good parents, these people really don't know how to write the word death?

The first one who made suggestions is easy to say.

It's nothing more than persuading Lin Chen to become emperor in a roundabout way, so as to get the credit of following the dragon.

The so-called Emperor Star and auspicious signs are all common routines.

For example, Sun Quan in the Three Kingdoms period, in order to ascend the throne and become emperor, he created 500 auspicious signs in a year.

Lin Chen ignored this.

The next two people who sang the same tune were interesting.

You know, Lin Chen didn't take money from the Lin'an treasury to raise his troops.

Just kidding.

When he took Lin'an, the so-called treasury of the Southern Song Dynasty had less than two million taels of silver.

This money was barely enough to pay for the expenses of officials.

Lin Chen raised his soldiers with the rewards he had given before.

Seeing that the King of Tang in the hall did not say anything, Qiao Xuan stepped out and scolded: "It's a fallacy!"

Qiao Xuan, as Lin Chen's confidant, naturally knew that his master was plotting something big.

It was impossible for him to live in peace in the south.

What's the difference between jumping out and saying that the army should be reduced at this time and courting death?

Lin Chen looked at the noisy courtiers with cold eyes and sneered in his heart.

He saw it.

This was a demonstration by these old officials of the Southern Song Dynasty, expressing their dissatisfaction with his land and labor separation.

But did this group of insects think of one thing, that is, the situation is different?

Do you really think that Lin Chen is the emperor of the Zhao family and is unwilling to take action against civil officials?

It is worth mentioning.

After Lin Chen took Lin'an, he promoted Shen Lian to the commander of the Jinyiwei, who was specifically responsible for the establishment of the Jinyiwei in this world.

Now it has begun to show results.

Treating civil officials.

Lin Chen may learn a thing or two from the practices of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Otherwise, if these civil officials are allowed to drag their feet, they will be annoyed to death!

"Let's discuss this matter later!"

Lin Chen chose to skip this question lightly.

This made the old officials of the Southern Song Dynasty who still wanted to charge forward and try to make the King of Tang compromise dumbfounded.

…