The Empress's roar startled the officials in the court.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Qian Jieren colluded with foreign powers, his crime deserves death. Your Majesty, please take care of your health."
"Qian Jieren's crime is punishable by death. Your Majesty must not be distressed over such a person."
"Your Majesty, the urgent matter is to deal with the black hands of the Xiongnu. Those like Qian Jieren should be put aside for later."
All the officials knelt down and pleaded with the Empress to calm her anger.
"Oh, you are all so protective of Qian Jieren. Do you also stand with Qian Jieren, colluding with the Xiongnu? Otherwise, why are you preventing me from arresting Qian Jieren?"
"I understand now. You are afraid that if I arrest Qian Jieren today, I might arrest you tomorrow, is that it?"
Upon hearing this, some ministers who had spoken with great emotion just moments before were now so terrified that they dared not utter a word.
Chu Chen glanced at the officials and shook his head helplessly. "Your Majesty, if we are to deal with Qian Jieren, we must be swift. He has not returned home but has gone north."
"Your humble servant worries that if too much time passes, it will be difficult to find him. He might even have gone to the Xiongnu."
Hearing this, the Empress was furious and looked at the officials. "This is the Qian Jieren you are protecting? Didn't you say he was fine?"
"Who among you is willing to capture Qian Jieren and bring him back for interrogation?"
The Empress sat back on her dragon throne, her expression returning to normal, neither joyful nor sad.
The officials all looked at the Minister of Justice. Arresting high-ranking officials was naturally the Ministry of Justice's responsibility.
Wang Zhe stepped forward, bracing himself. "Your Majesty, your humble servant is willing to send people to search for Qian Jieren's whereabouts, but."
Wang Zhe's hesitant expression made the Empress lose patience. "But what? As the Minister of Justice, if you cannot even capture a Qian Jieren, you should take off your official hat."
Wang Zhe quickly said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. Your humble servant will do his utmost to pursue and capture Qian Jieren."
The Empress snorted lightly. "I'll give you a month. That's not too difficult, is it?"
Wang Zhe wiped the sweat from his forehead and cupped his hands. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Your humble servant will definitely capture Qian Jieren within a month, or else, your humble servant is willing to resign."
The Empress then nodded, saying with satisfaction, "That's more like it. Besides apprehending Qian Jieren, don't forget one other thing: eradicate the Xiongnu's pawns within the Imperial City."
"And those officials who have colluded with the Xiongnu must also be brought to justice."
The Minister of War, Xie An, immediately stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant will handle this immediately after the court adjourns."
The Empress nodded and looked at Chu Chen.
"Does anyone else have anything else? If not, let us adjourn."
Everyone looked at each other, about to adjourn, when Chu Chen stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant has one more matter to discuss with Your Majesty."
The Empress looked at him with some curiosity and nodded. "Speak, what is it?"
Chu Chen looked at the officials, then said to the Empress, "Your Majesty, this matter concerns the previous case."
"Although we have undergone reforms, to fundamentally prevent the occurrence of hidden population, we must eliminate the motivation for them to do so."
The Empress's eyes lit up.
"Eliminate? How to eliminate? Tell me."
Chu Chen said in a deep voice, "Those who hide their population naturally think of paying less tax and gaining more.
"We can directly abolish the head tax. Although the Yunyue Kingdom's national strength is growing day by day, currently, like other countries, the vast majority of the population consists of commoners."
The Empress nodded.
The officials, however, were even more astonished.
The Minister of Justice stepped forward and said, "Prime Minister Chu, there's no need for that. After our reforms, we only collect one copper coin per person per month."
"If we are to forgo this small amount, then these commoners are too worthless."
Chu Chen's expression turned somewhat cold. "Minister Wang is truly generous. Although one copper coin a month is not much, with Minister Wang's salary, you don't need to look down on it so much."
"Does Minister Wang have other income besides his salary?"
Chu Chen's words made Wang Zhe's heart skip a beat. His face paled slightly, then he became somewhat indignant.
"Prime Minister Chu, do not slander me. Are you accusing me of accepting bribes?"
Chu Chen snorted. "I didn't say that. I just wanted to tell you that abolishing this one copper coin monthly head tax is actually symbolic."
"If this one copper coin remains, it might be added back later. But if this tax is abolished directly, then there will be no such thing in the future."
"Think about it, one copper coin per person per month, for a million people, that's a thousand taels of silver per month."
"Our Yunyue Kingdom now has tens of millions of people, and the head tax alone amounts to tens of thousands of taels of silver each month."
"If it is abolished, although it won't bring much tangible benefit to ordinary people, it's better than nothing."
The Empress frowned and fell into thought.
The Minister of Rites, Wu Sheng, immediately stepped forward. "Your Majesty, the head tax cannot be abolished. As Prime Minister Chu just said."
"For the common people, although each person only pays one copper coin per month, with tens of millions of people nationwide, tens of thousands of taels of silver are collected each month."
"This is equivalent to each person contributing one copper coin to the court, and the court deciding how this money is used."
"For the common people, one copper coin per month is not much, but when gathered together, tens of thousands of taels of silver each month can accomplish great things."
The Empress nodded, Wu Sheng's words also made sense.
The Minister of Works, Meng Yuan, also stepped forward. "Yes, Your Majesty. This money is not much to begin with, and moreover, the common people have become richer in the past year or two."
"If various taxes are reduced, the court will not receive the dividends of the people's prosperity. If this continues, the people will advance and the state will retreat, which is not a good thing."
The Minister of Personnel also stepped forward. "Your Majesty, your humble servant also agrees with their statements."
"Concentrating strength can accomplish great things. We can use this money to do practical things for the people, which is much better than leaving it in the hands of each individual."
The Empress nodded, about to be persuaded by everyone.
Chu Chen, however, stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, what I said is only one aspect. Although I propose to abolish the head tax, I will require everyone to pay taxes based on the land they own."
"This way, those with little or no land will benefit, while the wealthy who own a lot of land will suffer relatively."
"I believe Your Majesty can see the benefits of doing so."
Upon hearing this, the officials were all shocked.
If they truly acted according to Chu Chen's proposal, wouldn't the land they owned become a hot potato?
The common people would not have to pay the head tax. If they had no land, they could still survive even without farming.