Liang Xiao was certain that without the bottom line established at the founding of the nation, the official lands would have been continuously annexed at low prices by these aristocratic families. The Great Gan Dynasty would likely have collapsed before Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing could rectify the situation, and the barbarian invasion would have come even sooner!
Currently, there were still one hundred and sixty million mu of arable land registered under the requisition order, but they were scattered across the country.
Transportation was a problem; it would take at least two months to travel from the capital to some regions!
Repurchasing these farmlands and abolishing the head tax, along with implementing the "Tan Ding Ru Mu" (dividing the corvée tax among the households), required careful timing and simultaneous execution.
The prerequisite for ensuring simultaneous implementation was complete stability in the imperial court, with no opposition capable of posing a threat.
This necessitated a complete overhaul of officials across the country!
Liang Xiao once again scanned the list of officials from various regions, his expression grave.
Since ancient times, aristocratic families had been locked in endless struggles for power. Those who emerged victorious controlled the imperial court.
For example, the Dugu family, the Ouyang family, the He family of the capital, and the Gongyang clan of Jiangnan, banded together. With the addition of some smaller aristocratic families seeking patronage, they managed to dominate politics.
As for the aristocratic families that lost in the party struggles, their fates were tragic.
The remaining families either chose to lie low and protect themselves or showed favor to these dominant clans, like the Gu family, the Mu family, and the early Li family. Alternatively, they emerged as new aristocratic families supporting the imperial power to challenge these established clans, such as the Huang family and the Wang family. However, once their patrons lost power, they too faced various forms of retribution.
Once Wang Canghai and Huang Xing retired, their descendants would face the four great aristocratic families, and their fate would be the same as those who failed in previous struggles, suffering persecution.
Liang Xiao understood very well that this phenomenon could not be improved solely by the emperor relying on the army and the shadow guards.
For instance, when the Wei state was established during the Three Kingdoms period, the early army and the power of life and death were in the hands of Cao Pi and Cao Rui. Yet, these father and son emperors could only compromise with these aristocratic families and implement the Nine-Rank System. Cao Rui even had to yield to the aristocratic families and enfeoff the renowned Guo clan as empress.
This was because the country could not function without the support of these aristocratic families; relying solely on recommending talented individuals based on merit had limited effectiveness.
The consequence was that when Cao Rui died young, his infant son was powerless. Sima Yi launched the Gaoping Mausoleum Coup, eliminating Cao Shuang and seizing power, thus leading to the erosion of imperial authority.
The Jin Dynasty even had the saying, "The Wangs and the Ma, rule the world together." Even during the Eastern Jin, when Huan Wen held immense power, Xie An could still maneuver against him. Huan Wen could not find a legitimate excuse and dared not truly act against the Wang and Xie families.
This was because these top-tier aristocratic families, after years of development, had members spread throughout the country, forming powerful cliques. If handled improperly, they would rise up in unison, inevitably leading to great chaos in the nation. The emperor and powerful ministers could even be directly removed by them and replaced by others.
If the emperor wanted to deal with the aristocratic families but lacked a just cause and acted rashly, it would only lead to widespread turmoil.
Of course, with traitors emerging from the Dugu family, the Ouyang family, and the Gongyang clan, allowing Xiao Qing to seize an opportunity, Xiao Qing could rightfully suppress them, even dismissing Dugu Liang, the Minister of Works.
The development of this world had taken a different path, with the unexpected birth of the "Imperial Examination system." However, because the common people had difficulty accessing books, the Imperial Examination system was still exploited by the aristocratic families, allowing their own clan members and former subordinates to occupy the vast majority of positions.
"Ouyang Ji and He Wanli are arrogant in their daily demeanor, but they are exceedingly cunning. Under the surveillance of this old man and His Majesty, they each attend to their duties, and His Majesty finds it difficult to fault them," Wang Canghai sighed. "But the biggest problem is that we currently cannot find any elder officials qualified to immediately replace them who are not complicit with them."
Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing nodded in unison.
The positions of the three Grand Ministers absolutely needed to be replaced. However, the long-term struggles had resulted in the marginalization of other families. It was already quite remarkable that the Gu family could monopolize the Ministry of Rites.
A massive personnel reshuffle, without suitable talent and valid reasons, would be difficult to convince the populace.
These aristocratic families did not dare to instigate their subordinates and protégés across the country to cause trouble; rather, it was because the emperor had not yet touched their true bottom line: power.
However, to carry out a nationwide overhaul of the imperial court, such a large-scale personnel transfer, at least the Ministry of Personnel would be unavoidable.
To repurchase the farmlands nationwide, the Ministry of Revenue would also be unavoidable.
Liang Xiao pondered for a moment and chuckled, "Are the positions of Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor in the 'San Gong' still vacant?"
Xiao Qing and Wang Canghai understood and nodded with smiles.
Dugu Yuncheng, the Vice Minister of War, had already been promoted in title but demoted in substance. As long as other elder officials could legitimately replace these two, these two could also be "promoted and demoted in substance"!
"Liu Qingping and He Jingyun, these two have performed well. If we can find suitable Governors of Jinling and Qiantang in the future, these two can be transferred to the central government. With their reputation and seniority in Jiangnan, they should be able to be gradually promoted to replace the two Grand Ministers," Liang Xiao said.
Wang Canghai added, "The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue have targets. As for the Minister of War, Zhuo Wulüe has great potential!"
Listening to Liang Xiao's suggestion, Xiao Qing's beautiful eyes lit up.
However, this matter could not be rushed. After all, Ouyang Ji and He Wanli were still performing quite well on the surface. Otherwise, Xiao Qing could have used someone from the Dugu family to replace them, emulating the ancient stratagem of "two peaches kill three warriors" to incite internal strife among the three families.
For example, Dugu Liang, the former Minister of Works who was dismissed, was waiting to be reinstated, and there were calls throughout the court and the public for his return.
After all, deceiving the emperor and annexing Liang Xiao and Zhang Yang's "Qu Yuan Li" (curved-shaft plough) was not considered a grave error in their eyes.
Xiao Qing had been considering using Dugu Liang to replace He Wanli, aiming to incite infighting between the two families. In any case, the position of Minister of Personnel was the same regardless of which of the two families held it.
Furthermore, transportation remained an objective limitation. Even if Xiao Qing were to arrange for He Jingyun and Liu Qingping to replace the two Grand Ministers now, sending urgent dispatches to Jinling and Qiantang, and for Liu and He to travel back to the capital, would still take about two months!
Liang Xiao was acutely aware of how transportation limited ancient policies. This objectively constrained Liang Xiao's schemes against these aristocratic families, forcing him to proceed with extreme caution, aiming to minimize the harm caused by the resistance of these political adversaries in the future.
"Dugu Xiao is far more of an idiot than Dugu Yuncheng or Ouyang Ping, and he ranked sixth in the National Affairs Selection. He has been waiting for an appointment. Perhaps he can replace Ouyang Ping, the Vice Minister of Revenue in the future, and then 'promote and demote in substance' Ouyang Ping as well," Liang Xiao said with a smile.
Xiao Qing and Wang Canghai exchanged knowing smiles.
Dugu Xiao was from the Dugu family, and coupled with his rank in the National Affairs Selection, Xiao Qing could then, under the guise of "extraordinary recruitment," appoint him as Vice Minister of Revenue.
Given Dugu Xiao's capabilities, he would likely perform poorly. Xiao Qing could then find an excuse to replace him and select Hong Jie, Gu Shaoyan, Zhang Yang, Li Xiuyun, and others! 138 Reading Network
After the three monarchs and ministers discussed their future strategy, they also had clear objectives.
First, cultivate these elder minor families and talented individuals from humble backgrounds, promote existing officials to replace the Ministers and Vice Ministers of the three ministries, and then popularize education among commoners through affordable books, enhancing the practicality of the Imperial Examination system, and eradicating the monopoly of official positions by aristocratic families from the root!
Ding Wuyi entered to announce, "Master, Dugu Qun, Minister of War, He Wanli, Minister of Personnel, and Ouyang Ji, Minister of Revenue, request an audience!"