The present invention relates to the use of a herbicide-tolerant protein, wherein the method for controlling weeds comprises applying a herbicide containing an effective dose of halosulfuron-methyl to a plant growth environment where at least one transgenic plant is present, wherein the transgenic plant comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding a thifensulfuron hydrolase in its genome, and compared to other plants without the nucleotide sequence encoding the hydrolase, the transgenic plant has reduced plant damage and/or an increased plant yield. The present invention discloses for the first time that a thifensulfuron hydrolase can show a high tolerance to a halosulfuron-methyl herbicide, plants containing a nucleotide sequence encoding the thifensulfuron hydrolase are strongly tolerant to the halosulfuron-methyl herbicide and can at least tolerate 1-fold field concentration, and thus the hydrolase has broad application prospects in plants.