Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 493 Something happened in the Ministry of Revenue (Please subscribe!!)
"Please take the receipt, Your Highness. It is enough to prove that you spent one million to buy a top massage technician from my master! At the same time, we will pay taxes reasonably in accordance with the tax laws of the Ming Dynasty!" Zhou Bao accepted the one million taels of silver provided by Prince Zhu Biao and also issued a receipt to Zhu Biao.

Looking at the receipt in his hand, Zhu Biao fell into deep thought.

One million is gone!!
After a moment, Zhu Biao raised his head and said, "Brother-in-law, you are too formal!"

Ouyang Lun waved his hand and said, "Brother Prince, although I am no longer the Minister of Finance, tax policy is the foundation of the country. We must take the lead. Don't worry, I will pay the taxes, so you don't have to worry."

"All right." Zhu Biao nodded and continued, "Brother-in-law, can I ask questions now?"

"Of course, we always provide the required services without compromise." Ouyang Lun said with a smile: "Tell me, what are you doing here today?"

"Brother-in-law, actually, it's mainly because of a problem in the Ministry of Revenue." Zhu Biao said helplessly, "I don't even dare to tell my father now, so I can only come to you, brother-in-law, to discuss it first."

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Ouyang Lun immediately shook his head, "Brother-in-law, I only promised to answer you a question, but your question may not be solved by just one question!"

"Now that I am no longer the Minister of Revenue, I have no obligation or responsibility to manage the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. Besides, isn't the current Minister of Revenue Wang Bi? Even if Wang Bi is useless, isn't there Li Shanchang behind him?"

"If it's Li Shanchang who messed things up again, then he has to go to my father-in-law, the emperor, and it won't be my turn!"

"Brother-in-law, if you want to ask other questions, even if they are difficult, it doesn't matter. Given our relationship, I will definitely give you a solution, but you'd better not mention the Ministry of Revenue."

Hearing this, Zhu Biao became a little anxious and said quickly: "Brother-in-law, my good brother-in-law, this Ministry of Revenue was built by you, can you bear to watch others ruin it?"

"Please be careful with your words, Your Highness! This Ministry of Revenue was not created by me, but was completed under the wise leadership of His Majesty the Emperor. I am just a dispensable existence. I will be used when I am useful, and kicked away when I am not. So I dare not wade into muddy waters. If His Majesty the Emperor knew about this, who knows what he would think of me."

Ouyang Lun started to complain directly, with no intention of taking any action to manage the Ministry of Revenue.

"Brother-in-law, I know you suffered a great loss at the last court meeting, but..."

"Oh, my stomach is uncomfortable. It hurts so much!" Before Zhu Biao could finish, Ouyang Lun suddenly covered his stomach with both hands, "Brother Crown Prince, I have to go to a big event. I won't entertain you. I'm leaving first!"

After saying that, Ouyang Lun left.

"Brother-in-law."

Watching Ouyang Lun leaving, Zhu Biao felt helpless and sad at the same time, "Hey, what should I do now?"

Suddenly Zhu Biao seemed to think of something and quickly turned to look at Zhou Bao, "Zhou Bao, does your master often have stomachaches?"

"It's not often, but it happens every now and then. It's become more frequent recently because of my master's health. Oh. Your Highness the Crown Prince, please let my master go!" Zhou Bao said, with an increasingly sad look on his face.

"I see. Today I saw that my brother-in-law looked good, so I thought his health had improved. I didn't expect that he was so talented!" Zhu Biao warned, "Zhou Bao, you must take good care of your master and make sure he lives longer. If you need help, you can come to the East Palace to find me!"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, you already know about my master's affairs! But I didn't make it public!" Zhou Bao was a little surprised, but immediately said solemnly: "But your Highness, the Crown Prince, please keep my master's affairs confidential. My master is very proud and doesn't want others to know about his affairs. If he knew that your Highness knew his true situation, it would definitely cause many bad consequences."

"Don't worry, only I and His Majesty know about this matter now, no one else knows about it."

"I'm leaving first, take good care of your master!"

Zhu Biao knew that it was impossible to invite Ouyang Lun to come out of retirement today. If he was too hasty and let Ouyang Lun's body collapse completely, the loss would be even greater.

Of course, Zhu Biao would not give up just like that. After all, the current situation of the Ministry of Revenue was becoming increasingly critical. If it could not be properly handled, it would likely lead to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's finances. By that time, the situation that had occurred in the four southern provinces would be repeated, with a larger scale and greater harm! !

Such a result was unacceptable to both him and Zhu Yuanzhang. Once the collapse of the four southern provinces happened to the entire Ming Dynasty, all the efforts of the Ming Dynasty over the years would be in vain, and the country might even be in danger of extinction!
This was definitely not Zhu Biao scaring himself, but he summoned many aides and gradually deduced the situation based on the original situation in the four southern provinces.

Li Shanchang failed to solve the problems of the four southern provinces, so Zhu Biao naturally would not believe that he could solve the problems of the Ministry of Revenue. Moreover, the current situation of the Ministry of Revenue was largely due to Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party.

Looking across the country, Zhu Biao could not think of anyone else who was capable of solving the Ministry of Revenue's problem except Ouyang Lun.

But now Ouyang Lun directly rejected his request for help. Normally, Zhu Biao was the crown prince and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he could directly order Ouyang Lun. But now Ouyang Lun was already terminally ill. If extreme measures were taken, resulting in Ouyang Lun's death, then no one would be able to solve the problem.

Zhu Biao was preparing to return to the Eastern Palace in a sedan chair, but was stopped by Wang Zhong halfway through the journey.

"Eunuch Wang? What do you want from me?"

Zhu Biao asked.

"Your Highness, please go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony immediately. Your Majesty, I'm afraid someone is going to be killed!"

Wang Zhong said quickly.

"what happened?"

Zhu Biao asked with a frown.

"I don't know the details, but it seems that something happened in the Ministry of Revenue. His Majesty summoned Minister of Revenue Wang Bi and other officials to the Hall of Supreme Harmony early in the morning. Even Lord Li was called over. His Majesty was furious!"

Wang Zhong explained.

"Oh no, my father has found out about the Ministry of Revenue." Zhu Biao's face changed, and he immediately said, "Quick, go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony!"

Following the order given by Crown Prince Zhu Biao, his men hurriedly carried Zhu Biao towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"You are all trash! What use do I have for you!"

"It hasn't been long since I last saw the Ministry of Revenue turned into this state!"

"You think I can't lift the knife, so I don't dare to kill you?"

Zhu Biao had just arrived outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony when Zhu Yuanzhang's furious voice was heard, and everyone outside the palace was trembling!
Zhu Biao's face also turned pale. His fear of Zhu Yuanzhang was no less than that of others, and he felt a great deal of pressure.

"Wang Zhong, don't go in. After I go in, you all leave!"

"Yes, His Royal Highness!"

call--

Zhu Biao took a deep breath and then stepped into the palace.

"My son has met my father!"

Zhu Biao walked to the center of the hall and bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Then Zhu Biao saw out of the corner of his eye that a group of people were kneeling in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. They were all officials from the Ministry of Revenue. Li Shanchang and Wang Bi were kneeling at the front, crawling on the ground, and many of them were trembling with fear.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood in front of the dragon throne, his face full of anger, and there was a broken inkstone under his feet, which was obviously smashed when Zhu Yuanzhang was angry. Seeing Zhu Biao coming, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression eased a little.

"The prince is here!"

"Prince, how much do you know about the Ministry of Revenue?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was cold, as if there was no father and son at this moment, only monarch and subject.

Zhu Biao knew that his father, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, was testing him. If he didn't even know these things, besides Li Shanchang, Wang Bi and a group of officials from the Ministry of Revenue, he, the crown prince, would also be scolded!

"Your Majesty, I do know something!"

"Since Wang Bi, the Marquis of Dingyuan, took office as the Minister of Revenue, the tax revenue of our Ming Dynasty has been reduced by half. The settlement of various payments has been several times slower than before, causing serious delays in the progress of projects in various provinces. Many construction sites cannot even pay workers, and officials have not yet received their salaries. The people and officials are quite complaining about this. More importantly, the consumption of the national treasury has increased several times. At this rate, the national treasury will be empty by the first half of next year at the latest!"

Zhu Biao said slowly.

"It seems that you have done a good job as the regent prince." Zhu Yuanzhang's expression eased a little, but when his eyes fell on Li Shanchang and Wang Bi who were kneeling in the hall, his anger suddenly flared up again.

"Li Shanchang, Wang Bi, this is the current Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty. All of this was created by you two!"

"When I handed the Ministry of Revenue over to you, you promised me that you would run the Ministry of Revenue better. Is this your better?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was now extremely furious.

The tax losses and money spent by the Ministry of Revenue all belong to Zhu Yuanzhang!

boom!
"Lift your heads and speak to me!"

Swish--

Officials such as Li Shanchang and Wang Bi slowly straightened their bodies and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with fear in their eyes.

"Speak! Are you all mute?!"

Seeing that Li Shanchang, Wang Bi and other officials remained silent, Zhu Yuanzhang became even angrier.

"Father, please calm down. The most important thing now is to solve the problem of the Ministry of Revenue. If we delay, the problem will only become more serious!"

Zhu Biao quickly persuaded.

"Did you hear that? Now we need to solve the Ministry of Revenue problem. Tell me what your solution is!!" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

"Your Majesty, the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue are complicated. I plan to recruit some talents who are good at arithmetic to sort out the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue first. Once the accounts are sorted out, we will naturally be able to find the problem, and then we will be able to prescribe the right medicine!" Wang Bi stammered.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to ask: "Then tell me, how long will it take you to sort out the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue?"

"About a year." Wang Bi said, and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang cautiously. Seeing that the latter looked a little unhappy, he immediately changed his words, "No, no, it doesn't take a year. As long as there are people who are good at math, half a year will be enough!"

"Your Majesty, this is fast enough!"

Zhu Yuanzhang walked slowly to Wang Bi with a blank expression on his face.

Just lift your leg and kick it!
Then he started kicking, cursing as he kicked, "Hurry up! Hurry up! Half a year! You've ruined the Ministry of Revenue like this in just one month. If I let you run it for another half a year, I'm afraid I'll be starving!"

"You bastard! If you don't have the skills, don't take on this job!"

"I'll kick you to death!"

Zhu Yuanzhang kicked Wang Bi crazily, and no one in the hall, including Zhu Biao, dared to step forward to persuade him to stop.

Even Zhu Biao felt that Wang Bi's statement that it would take half a year to sort out the Ministry of Revenue's accounts was too outrageous. If he really had to wait another half a year, the Ming Dynasty would probably be finished.

Zhu Yuanzhang kicked for a long time until he was gasping for breath and Wang Bi almost fainted, only then did he stop.

"Li Shanchang!"

"Your servant is here." Li Shanchang responded quickly. He was right next to Wang Bi. When Wang Bi was kicked just now, he was extremely scared. He was already over sixty years old. If he was kicked like this by Zhu Yuanzhang, it would be unknown whether he could walk out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony alive today.

"You recommended Wang Bi. If he's not good enough, tell me what we should do about the Ministry of Revenue."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has developed rapidly in the past two years and has made many reforms. It is very different from the original Ministry of Revenue. Not only are the accounts numerous, but they are also extremely complicated. Wang Bi has done his best."

Li Shanchang said quickly.

"I asked you to come up with a solution to the problem, not to say good things to that bastard Wang Bi!" Zhu Yuanzhang's voice became colder and colder.

"I don't have a good solution for now."

Li Shanchang held it in for a long time, and finally could only say this sentence.

Of course he wanted to solve the problems of the Ministry of Revenue, but the more he understood the situation of the Ministry, the more powerless he felt. The Ministry of Revenue was already complicated in all aspects, and Wang Bi had intervened to conduct various investigations. Before Long could figure out the situation, all the account data of the Ministry of Revenue was messed up, and no one could figure it out!
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard what Li Shanchang said, he was stunned with anger.

"no way??!"

"You told me there's nothing you can do?"

"When you asked Ouyang Lun to resign and recommended Wang Bi, you didn't tell me that there was no other way!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so furious that he wished he could kill Li Shanchang with just his eyes.

He felt more and more regretful. A month ago, for the sake of the so-called balance in the court, he allowed Ouyang Lun to resign and let Li Shanchang manage the Ministry of Revenue. He thought that even if Li Shanchang and others were useless, as long as they could ensure the normal operation of the Ministry of Revenue, it would be fine.

Just find an opportunity to call Ouyang Lun back later.

As a result, the Ministry of Revenue collapsed in less than a month. It was completely useless!
"Good! You are truly my good subjects!"

"Where's Ouyang Lun? That bastard must have finished building something!"

"Go! Call this guy over here!!"

(End of this chapter)