After experiencing these two things along the way, Guo Hao realized a problem.

No wonder ancient dynasties could not last long. Perhaps it was not because the emperor was not diligent enough, nor because the politics was not clear enough, but because the information transmission was too inconvenient.

No matter how powerful the emperor is, he is still a person after all. Some things that he would never imagine if he had not seen with his own eyes.

Guo Hao didn't believe that Qiu Nan and Li Fu didn't know about Zhao Tingmei, but since they knew about it, they didn't tell him, it would be terrible.

Because Zhao Tingmei and officials from both governments were involved, Guo Hao's whereabouts were completely exposed, and the officials all knew that the emperor had come out.

Fortunately, everyone's attention was on the government, but no one thought that Guo Hao came out to check the temple. When Guo Hao arrived in Shu, he was indeed the same as Shen Xin said.

Guo Hao temporarily suppressed his worries and planned to complete the purpose of this trip first. He came to Rongcheng all the way, and Shen Xin was home.

"Huh, I thought I wouldn't come back for a long time after I went to Bianliang, but I didn't expect to return to this home so soon."

Shen Xin’s home is in the city, and her rouge shop is on a commercial street in the city.

There was only one old housekeeper who was guarding the house, so there was nothing to be so busy. Shen Xin just changed her clothes and wanted to pull Guo Hao to the street.

"I'll tell you, it turns out that there is hot pot in Sichuan now, and the taste is similar to that of later generations. It's very enjoyable to eat it!"

Shen Xin wanted to take Guo Hao to eat hot pot. Guo Hao smiled and said, "You are wrong. If you had been in the early years, the hot pot in Sichuan would definitely not be the current taste!"

"Why is this?"

Shen Xin was a little puzzled. She thought Sichuan hot pot always tasted the same, but she felt very moved before this.

“Because of chili!”

"chili?"

"Yes, I sent someone to retrieve the peppers, and the potatoes, tomatoes, corn, etc. I sent someone to retrieve them. Ten years ago, the Song Dynasty did not have these things."

"If I remember correctly, these are all circulated from the West, so you sent someone to the West?"

Guo Hao nodded.

"Did you see the savages? What America is like now? It sounds so interesting, and I want to go and see it too."

"Come on, aren't you seasick? The boats are so slow and unsafe. If you get the engine out, maybe you still have a chance."

Guo Hao's words brought Shen Xin back to reality is also correct. The technology is not good now, and the transportation is too backward. If you don't have a plane, you will probably not be able to go to America in just a few months.

"Then forget it. I can't stand the bumps on the sea, but you have such ambitions, have you never thought about colonization?"

Guo Hao refused to comment when he heard this. In fact, he had already told Li Qingnan that he would bring it back when he met something good. As for how to do it, Guo Hao never said it.

As a few people talked, they came to a tavern. As soon as they entered the store, they could smell the spicy smell. It seemed that they were truly unique and talented in eating spicy food.

A few people ordered a hot pot and a lot of special dishes. The wine was local rice wine, and the degree was not very high. Several people had a full meal before leaving the restaurant.

After eating and drinking, he was led by Shen Xin to a temple. The temple gate was crowded with people, and it was indeed as lively as a shop.

"Look, I didn't lie to you, they are also doing business, and under the guise of Buddhism, they have attracted many believers, and the price is almost a little higher than that on the market!"

Guo Hao nodded. If it weren't for seeing it with his own eyes, how could he have thought that although many temples in later generations have become scenic spots, they are not so lively.

"You really haven't deceived me, and these monks really need to be in charge. If they want to be merchants, I can help them, but if they want to be monks, they must abide by the rules!"

Guo Hao was not polite after saying that, and sent someone to find a magistrate and ordered the rectification directly. The monks could farm, but not too much. Monks were strictly prohibited from drinking, eating meat, getting married, and monks were strictly prohibited from doing business!

The order was delivered at once, and many people were puzzled. Many monks didn't understand. They did not make any mistakes and why were they restricted.

At the same time, many temples were sealed, monks were reviewed, and fake monks were directly ordered to return to secular life and register according to ordinary people.

There are some real monks, Guo Hao gathered them together and encouraged them to study the scriptures, but they were not allowed to preach at will. The Song Dynasty is not so free now, and he does not want everyone to become a soft-legged shrimp.

Many monks expressed their discomfort in this regard, and Guo Hao was too lazy to explain this. It would be improper if he was unwilling to be a monk. There were not so many factions under his rule, and all monks treated them equally!

After dealing with the temple decisively, Guo Hao simply took the ceremonial guards all the way south. Wherever he went, he would definitely make rectifications and put local officials in charge. He would send someone to investigate later.

No longer have private visits in private, Guo Hao naturally can't see anything. The previous assassin may have known that it was impossible to do anything and did not appear again, but Guo Hao did not forget this.

In this process, Guo Hao did not gain anything. Here he saw a problem that would be encountered in all dynasties, that is, land annexation.

As a major agricultural country, all people cannot do without land. Many people think about buying houses and land after they have money.

This idea has been passed down for thousands of years and cannot be changed by Guo Hao overnight. Many merchants will annex a lot of land after they have money.

The emergence of money houses is to curb private lending and prevent serious uneven wealth. Guo Hao has also established granaries in various places to prevent disaster years, try not to worry about food, and try to avoid starving to death by some people as much as possible.

To put it bluntly, the two major royal merchants are state-owned enterprises. After controlling the salt and iron business, Guo Hao felt that it was not enough and should also control the grain business to achieve the goal of stabilizing grain prices.

In this era when there were no factories, the people's income was mainly land and merchants. Even if some paper mills and printing factories were established, they were all small workshops, which could not solve many problems.

Therefore, in order to prevent accidents from happening, land annexation must be curbed. Guo Hao issued an order in the palace and decided to restrict the landlords from purchasing land. Land transactions must be approved by the government. If you want more land, you can rent it...

This decree was delivered at once, and troubles followed. Many landlords had more land in their hands, so they asked the government what to do. Guo Hao gave two plans.

First, the court acquires it at the market price and can receive compensation in installments, which is somewhat similar to the nature of a treasury bond and is repaid within a certain period of time.

Second, the land is not recycled, but the extra part has to pay an additional 50% tax every year. The amount of land cannot be increased. The extra tax is equivalent to rent.

As soon as the two solutions were released, many people chose the first one. Guo Hao also thought of this possibility. He deliberately set the extra tax very high, so he forced them to hand over the land.

In order to prevent the amount of land acquisition from being too large, Guo Hao had to issue treasury bonds, and the land he collected could not be idle.

Some will be sold to officials and landlords who have insufficient amounts, and some will be asked to lend to the people, use loans to buy land, and then repay them in installments.

In this process, there must be some opposition voices, but the military power is in Guo Hao's hands, so what's the use of their opposition?

For land annexation, this method may not be completely solved, because some families have great business and can digest the land by dividing the family. There are many such methods, but they can be suppressed to a certain extent.

At the same time, Guo Hao encouraged the people to reclaim wasteland. The Song Dynasty is now vast and sparsely populated, which is far less dense than the later generations. Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and Guo Hao has to pay attention to it.

After a while, it was already May, Guo Hao returned to Bianliang. During the period, the three Buddhas and Qitu came to pay tribute. Guo Zhiyao and Guo Zhishun received them.

After returning to Bianliang, Guo Hao first looked through what happened in the past three months and looked at the two of them’s handling methods. The results were remarkable and acceptable.

After the fall of the Southern Han Dynasty, the imperial court immediately carried out a census. It was just over before that Guo Hao inspected Lingnan maps and found that there were many prefectures and counties but few household registrations, so he abolished fifteen prefectures and forty-nine counties.

After doing these tasks, Guo Hao felt that the whole country was transparent and there was no longer the foggy feeling before.

The policy on land has also prevented some things from happening, especially in the Lingnan area, where people's livelihood was originally very difficult, but now it has finally been alleviated.
Chapter completed!