Ganlu Year One.
Great Wei officially promulgated the rewarded fields edict.
It set detailed limits on the amount of cultivated land, the number of tenant farmers, and other holdings that officials throughout the realm could possess.
The moment the edict was issued, it stirred up towering waves in Luoyang.
For a time, winds rose and clouds surged throughout Luoyang, and officials suddenly began gathering much more frequently.
Whispers came from everywhere, all expressing dissatisfaction with the new edict.
Strangely, however, in the days after its promulgation, not a single person came before the emperor to voice his displeasure.
Never mind approaching the emperor-not even one minister could be found who had publicly criticized the edict.
The great clans needed someone to lead them.
So among the ministers of Great Wei today, who could take the lead and rally the others to resist the emperor?
Wang Chang?
Hu Zun??
Guanqiu Jian???
Those who held real power at court were, without exception, His Majesty's trusted aides, and none of them cared all that much about their clans.
In Cao Mao's eyes, these men devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the state. In the eyes of the great clans, they were probably putting on airs of lofty virtue, caring only for themselves while disregarding the greater picture-selfish petty men.
These men fully supported the rewarded fields edict.
The court's revenues had declined year after year, while the officials' farmland and family fortunes grew by the day. Who could stand that?
These officials paid no taxes, placed all their clans' farmland under their own names, and swallowed up more and more land. The localities enjoyed bumper harvests year after year, yet the court had no share in any of it!
What sort of propriety was that?
It was only because Cao Mao was generous and lenient.