After Confucius returned to the Lu state, Lord Ji Kangzi, the ruling Da fu, wanted to collect land taxes by Mu (a unit of area, 1 Mu = 0.1647 acres) and sent Ran You to ask Confucius for advice. Confucius did not formally reply, but privately said to Ran You, "The former king distributed the land according its fertility; collected land tax according to the level of the labor force; adjusted land tax according to the distance of the land; collected commercial tax according to the profit income of the merchants; adjusted commercial tax according to the merchants' property; assigned the labor force according to the number of men in each family and give consideration to the old and young men at the same time. If Lord Ji Kangzi wanted to do it according to the laws and regulations, he could use the land tax laws of the Duke of Zhou. If he didn't want to do it according to the laws and regulations, he would just collect taxes at will. There's no need to ask for my advice. However, Lord Ji Kangzi and Ran You insisted on the reform of land tax despite Confucius' opposition.