Ouchi Taming the Cat, starting with the Ten Tiger Forms!

Chapter 475 Monopoly

The next morning.

The three little ones came to the imperial garden.

As usual, there were already quite a few people waiting here, but the atmosphere was much more depressing than usual.

It seems that the recent events in the capital have also affected the people in the palace.

After all, everyone has a family in the court behind him, and I don’t know if anyone has been implicated in this matter.

After the three little ones arrived at the Imperial Garden, their friends came to them one after another to say hello.

After a short while, the princes and princesses gathered again.

"My dear brothers and sisters, have you heard about the recent empty treasury?" Princess Yuan An asked worriedly.

"This matter caused a lot of uproar, so of course everyone has heard about it. But I really didn't expect that the national treasury would be so fragile." The eighth prince shook his head and sighed.

Princess Ankang opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say, so she finally chose to remain silent.

Many of the things she heard from the two eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were probably confidential, so she couldn't just talk about them casually.

The reason for this incident is not the empty treasury at all.

Instead, those officials privately levied temporary war taxes and incurred unnecessary additional expenditures, which suddenly raised the burden of war to the highest limit.

This situation should have been the result of Daxing's 200,000 troops gathering at the border and engaging in a large-scale battle with the desert.

However, these officials assembled the army as quickly as possible to prepare for war, bypassed Emperor Yongyuan, and levied a special tax such as a temporary war tax on their own. Their intentions are truly despicable.

If there had not been so much resistance in the court, Emperor Yongyuan would have taken action against these officials long ago.

It would be difficult to calm down his anger without playing a game of Nine Clans Elimination.

But the most urgent task is still the problem facing us: should we continue the preparations for war?
If we continue, the national treasury will soon end up with a deficit, and will also have to bear the debt of repaying the temporary war tax, and no one knows how much of it will go into the pocket of King Zheng.

Such activities of aiding the enemy must not continue.

But if we don’t continue, first of all, will Da Mo agree?

As the party being waged war against, how could they give up easily when they learned of Daxing's difficulties?

By then, Daxing will definitely have to pay a huge price before they are willing to negotiate peace again.

What is even more difficult to deal with are the internal problems of Daxing.

Emperor Yongyuan went to war head-on, but ended up being defeated in a whim.

So will he continue to be the emperor?

By then, not only the civil officials, but even the nobles will turn to King Zheng.

"Eighth Brother, this matter is not as simple as you think." The Fifth Prince looked solemn, and it was obvious that he had a deeper understanding of this incident.

"This time an official acted on his own and deceived the emperor. It is not an exaggeration to say that he forged the imperial edict."

"If these people hadn't interfered, the Daxing treasury wouldn't have been able to afford even a war."

"Although there have been natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years, which have caused the treasury's revenue to shrink year after year, it is still far from the point you think."

"But the problem now is that even if the emperor wants to severely punish these officials, it is not an easy task."

The fifth prince holds a book every day, and he is really not a fool.

At least on this issue, many of his views are correct.

As a result, the Eighth Prince also said shockingly:
"Who says it's not?"

"Even my grandfather is now against severe punishment of these officials?"

Princess Ankang heard this and asked in surprise: "Myna, why is this?"

"Don't civil officials and nobles always get along?"

"It's good enough that no one has taken advantage of this situation."

In response to Princess Ankang's words, the Eighth Prince shook his head: "Ankang, you don't understand."

"If you want to fight a war, you really can't do without these civilian officials. Otherwise, who will provide you with logistics support?"

The fifth prince also nodded: "Old Eight is right. The two sides originally needed to cooperate tacitly, but because of the conflict of interests, this led to the usual situation."

After hearing this, Princess Ankang fell into silence.

In other words, Emperor Yongyuan now has to face resistance from both civil officials and nobles in the court.

In order to continue the war, the nobles had to rely on the power of the civil service system. Although they agreed with Emperor Yongyuan's punishment of officials who acted on their own, they did not agree with severe punishment because they were afraid that there would be no war to fight in the end.

"I heard that many nobles have proposed using the spoils of war to replenish the empty treasury to support the conquest of the desert."

"But in my opinion, this is taken for granted."

"Damo has developed very well in recent years. It is no match for Daxing."

The Eighth Prince analyzed seriously.

As a result, everyone looked at the Eighth Prince with strange expressions, as if they were looking at a stranger.

The Eighth Prince noticed that the surroundings had suddenly become quiet. He couldn't help but look up at the others and asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me?"

"Old Eight, I never thought that a dog like you could spit out ivory." Princess Yuan An said in shock.

"Hehe, Yuan An, you know too little about mynah birds." The Eighth Prince said proudly, and then his face changed: "Besides, who is the one who said that he is a dog's mouth!"

The Eighth Prince and Princess Yuan An immediately started bickering, and the others couldn't help but laugh at them.

At this moment, a eunuch in gorgeous clothes came in from outside the imperial garden.

Everyone thought it was Zhao Feng, but to everyone's surprise, the person who came was Wang Xi, the eunuch in charge of lighting for Emperor Yongyuan.

Wang Xi smiled and held a golden scroll in his hand. He walked onto the stage, pushing aside the crowd, and announced to everyone:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Your Highnesses."

"This month's competition will be announced by this old servant. Manager Zhao is temporarily absent today due to his busy official duties."

"Please forgive me."

Wang Xi bowed, then opened the scroll and directly announced the content of this month's Imperial Garden competition.

The content of the competition is very simple. Each contestant starts with a capital of 12,000 taels of silver, and then makes a profit through legal means within a period of 20 days. The one with the most capital at the end will win this month's Imperial Garden competition.

"Monopoly?"

Hearing the rules of the competition, Li Xuan immediately thought of this game.

Moreover, they are playing the ancient reality version, which has a very high degree of freedom. As long as it is legal, they don’t care how you make money.

"Isn't Emperor Yongyuan planning to use this money to make up for the deficit in the national treasury?"

"Isn't he afraid that his descendants will cheat him and lose all his money?"

Li Xuan secretly criticized it, but he couldn't help but applaud Emperor Yongyuan's creativity.

"You are so amazing!"

"But is this amount of money really enough to fill the hole?"

Although Li Xuan was a little confused, the rules of the competition had already been announced and Wang Xi was distributing silver notes to each contestant.

Each person was given a large silver note of ten thousand taels of silver, which added up to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Emperor Yongyuan's generosity was really huge.

"Isn't the stakes of Emperor Yongyuan a bit high?"

Li Xuan looked around. It was already October, the early winter season, and the year was about to end.

As mentioned before, the Imperial Garden competition will last until the end of the year, and those with the highest points will participate in the New Year's worship.

All in all, including this month's games, there are only three games left in the Imperial Garden.

Princess Ankang is far ahead in points, and only one of the others, the eldest prince, has a chance to catch up with her and become the number one of the year together with Princess Ankang, and get the opportunity to pay homage to the shrine during the Spring Festival.

For the remaining princes and princesses, the significance of this game is not very important except to make their presence felt in front of Emperor Yongyuan.

They completely lost the chance to compete for the final victory.

Of course, the monthly competition rewards were still very tempting. Especially with the example of Princess Ankang, who wouldn't be envious of the rewards she received?

In just less than a year, Princess Ankang won the Imperial Garden Competition and leapt from a poor princess locked up in the cold palace and ignored by everyone to her current status.

Anyone with eyes in the palace could see what the Jingyang Palace looked like after it was renovated.

It’s not that they are all paying close attention to the developments in Jingyang Palace, but the Jingyang Palace is too conspicuous now. As long as you are in the West Palace, you can see the magnificent roof of Jingyang Palace just by raising your eyes.

As for other benefits, there is no need to mention them.

Three meals a day of imperial standard, the right to read in the Thousand Star Pavilion of the East Palace, bathing in the Jade Purity Pool, and the imperial carriage that can be driven around the palace...

Picking out any one of them alone would be enough to make others jealous.

In other words, the monthly competition rewards still remain the greatest attraction for them.

At this time, Princess Ankang took the banknote from Wang Xi and asked curiously:

"Eunuch Wang, what if we lose this money?"

Wang Xi smiled slightly and said to Princess Ankang in a kind manner:
"Don't worry, Your Highness. This money comes from His Majesty's private treasury."

After these words were spoken, many people looked strange and started to think of their own plans.

"It's Emperor Yongyuan's private money, so it won't be a loss if I just put it in my pocket."

This is what many people think.

After all, they might not win the competition, so getting 10,000 taels of silver for no reason was a very good reward.

But Wang Xi's next words put an end to their plans.

"As for the loss of money, I will slowly deduct it from my monthly salary. There will always be a time to pay back the ten thousand taels of silver."

The faces of the princes and princesses who received the silver notes suddenly turned dark.

Princess Yuanan took the banknote after Princess Ankang and couldn't help muttering:

"Father is so stingy..."

Wang Xi pretended not to hear and passed the banknote to the next person.

After distributing the banknotes to everyone, Wang Xi left after saying a few words.

"I wish you good fortune and prosperity."

Seeing Wang Xi leave, the princes and princesses who participated in the competition complained. Naturally, they were dissatisfied with having to make up for the loss to Emperor Yongyuan.

The concubines and ladies present had strange expressions on their faces, but none of them said anything about it. They just encouraged their children and left the imperial garden, as if they all had something to do.

The eldest prince's three siblings gathered in a corner of the imperial garden and put all the three silver bills in their hands into the hands of the fourth prince.

"Fourth brother, do you have any good ideas?"

The eldest prince asked the fourth prince.

"There are many ways, but it's hard to find a way that is both legal and profitable."

The Fourth Prince was very familiar with these businesses and immediately came up with a number of plans.

But as he said, it is not easy to meet both conditions.

"Fourth brother, you should also have a way to make a highly profitable business look legal, right?"

Although the Sixth Princess was asking, her expression was extremely certain.

The Fourth Prince said nothing, but just looked at the Sixth Princess lovingly.

"Then let's act as soon as possible. Twenty days shouldn't be a very long time to do business." The eldest prince suggested.

The three siblings are quite confident about this month's competition.

The Fourth Prince is in charge of handling Qingshu Palace's external affairs all year round. Matters that their mother is not convenient to handle are handled by the Fourth Prince, so he is considered to be very experienced.

Moreover, the eldest prince and the sixth princess also knew about the fourth prince's "transfer protection" of valuable items in Qingshu Palace.

They believed that the Fourth Prince must have more good ways to make money like this.

Now, the three siblings have a capital of 30,000 taels of silver. It should not be difficult to multiply it several times within 20 days.

"No rush, send someone to look after Ankang first."

"Of all the people, she is the most unexpected. We better keep an eye on her."

The Fourth Prince has learned his lesson and now dares not relax at all towards Princess Ankang. He even has a faint fear in his heart.

Of course, the Fourth Prince himself would never admit this.

He only admitted that Princess Ankang was indeed a strong opponent.

"That's not difficult. We can just send someone from among our three attendants to watch over him in turn."

"But the Jingyang Palace is closely guarded by the eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We cannot find out what they are doing inside."

The eldest prince said.

"It doesn't matter. Ankang wants to make money. He can't stay in Jingyang Palace forever." The Fourth Prince said confidently.

Making money has always been earned from rich people.

If Princess Ankang had stayed in Jingyang Palace all the time, whose money would she make?

The Fourth Prince was certain about this matter and did not think that they would not be able to monitor Princess Ankang's movements.

After the three siblings had discussed it, they looked in the direction of Princess Ankang and left the Imperial Garden, ready to go out and make their mark.

Since the content of this competition was to make money in the capital, the participating princes and princesses could enter and leave the palace at will, giving them another opportunity to go out of the palace and have some fun.

At the same time, Princess Ankang also gathered with her friends, looking at the silver bills in their hands, looking a little confused.

"I don't know how to do business."

Princess Ankang thought to herself.

Compared to the others, the Seventh Princess, who was originally dozing off, was the most excited.

"Hehehe, with this money, I can buy the latest Stargazing Treasure Book published by the Sitiantai."

The Seventh Princess rubbed the banknote with her face, as if it was the stargazing treasure book she had been longing for.

"Seventh sister, what is the Stargazing Mirror?" Princess Ankang asked curiously.

Princess Yuan An, who was standing by, answered for the Seventh Princess: "It is a mirror, but it can magnify the stars in the sky countless times."

After listening to Princess Yuan'an's explanation, Princess Ankang asked tentatively, "Is there a market?"

Princess Ankang felt that this might be a business opportunity that the Seventh Princess had found by leveraging her own strengths.

As a result, Princess Yuan An replied speechlessly:

"Apart from someone like the Seventh Princess, who would spend ten thousand taels to buy something like this?"

Princess Ankang smiled awkwardly, but found it not surprising.

She just felt that there was a glimmer of "maybe" possibility.

Facts have proved that she still thinks too much.

"Seventh sister, this money will be deducted from your monthly salary and you will have to pay it back later. I advise you not to be too impulsive." Princess Ankang advised kindly.

As a result, the Seventh Princess replied solemnly: "Ankang, what I lack is not the monthly allowance, but a stargazing treasure mirror."

"I have wanted to buy this for a long time. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not given me an advance on my monthly allowance, I would have bought it long ago."

Oh my god, it turns out that the Seventh Princess had once set her sights on the Imperial Household Department.

Li Xuan shook his head and sighed: "No matter what Emperor Yongyuan is planning, at least the 10,000 taels from Old Seven will not be returned."

Looking at those naughty kids in the distance, Li Xuan really found it hard not to wonder whether Emperor Yongyuan would lose all his money this time.

"After the national treasury, will the private treasury of Emperor Yongyuan also be blown up?"

(End of this chapter)