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

Chapter 543 Ouyang is a kind-hearted and broad-minded child (Please subscribe!!)
"Beware, beware, beware of all of that!"

"Do you really think anyone can defend against it?"

Queen Ma said unhappily, "It's only because Ouyang is kind-hearted and broad-minded. If it were anyone else, they would have been angry with you long ago!"

Forehead.
After being severely scolded by Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang felt helpless.

"Sister, I know you think highly of Ouyang Lun, but sometimes I have no choice!"

"Now that Biaoer has successfully taken over the position of emperor, I am of course happy to see that all the officials support him, but can Biaoer clear off those who support him sincerely and those who flatter him insincerely?"

"Old ministers like Li Shanchang and Lan Yu who followed us to conquer the world supported Biao'er simply because Biao was kind and easier to talk to."

"When the critical moment comes, Biaoer may not be able to control these meritorious officials and generals!"

"Of course, what we are most worried about are people like Ouyang Lun who don't support or flatter us at all. Such people are the most terrifying."

"Biao'er's current situation seems to be going smoothly, but in fact, he is restricted everywhere. Every step he takes is likely to lead to a pitfall!"

"So we must be on guard!"

Zhu Yuanzhang is worthy of being a legendary figure who transformed from a beggar into an emperor. He had long seen clearly that those who went to report to Zhu Biao did not do so for the purpose of reporting, but to curry favor with Zhu Biao!

It won’t be long before Zhu Biao will face more difficult choices.

Ouyang Lun has not yet gone to find Zhu Biao. This abnormal behavior makes Zhu Yuanzhang more curious.

"Sister, please don't be angry with me anymore. Wait until Ji Gang comes back from his investigation and everything will be clear!"

Upon hearing this, Queen Ma just nodded slightly.

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Ji Gang hurried back.

"His Majesty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked quickly: "Tell me quickly, what is that bastard Ouyang Lun doing!"

"In reply to your Majesty, according to my investigation, Prince Consort Ouyang seems to simply not want to see the Emperor."

Ji Gang said quickly.

"Huh!? You simply don't want to go?" Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.

"Zhongba, I have said it long ago that Ouyang is not as cunning as you." said Queen Ma.

"Your Majesty, I have heard some things, but I don't know whether I should tell you." Ji Gang said cautiously.

"No matter what you should say or not say, tell me all the news you hear about Ouyang Lun!" Zhu Yuanzhang roared.

"Yes, yes." Ji Gang nodded repeatedly, "I heard that Prince Consort Ouyang deliberately pushed His Majesty the Emperor to the throne because His Majesty the Emperor always pestered him when he was still the Crown Prince, so in order to get rid of him, so..."

"Now that His Majesty has ascended the throne smoothly, he is entangled in various affairs every day and has no way to find Prince Consort Ouyang!"

Hearing Ji Gang's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched, "You mean, the reason why Ouyang Lun supports Biao'er to be the emperor is just because he wants to get rid of Biao'er's harassment?"

"I'm not sure, but from the information I have collected so far, it is indeed true." Ji Gang nodded.

"Uh" Zhu Yuanzhang covered his chest and staggered back two steps, looking like he could not stand steadily.

"Your Majesty!"

Empress Ma and Ji Gang hurried forward to support them.

"This is not true." Zhu Yuanzhang finally stood up with the help of Empress Ma, but he kept muttering to himself.

Queen Ma gave Ji Gang a look, and the latter retreated tactfully.

"Zhongba, you are over sixty years old now. Don't get angry easily. It's not good for your health. Do you want me to call the imperial physician to see you, or ask Ouyang to call his doctors. His doctors are better than the imperial physician." Queen Ma said hurriedly.

"Don't call the imperial physician, let alone Ouyang Lun!" Zhu Yuanzhang said quickly: "I'm fine. Although I'm over 60 years old, I'm in good health!"

"Does Ouyang Lun really have no other ideas? Could it be that I really guessed wrong this time?"

Hearing that Zhu Yuanzhang was still struggling with this matter, Empress Ma said unhappily: "Chongba, you are prejudiced against Ouyang. In the past, you regarded him as a corrupt official, and later you regarded him as a treacherous minister. On the other hand, you were reluctant to give up Ouyang Lun's ability. Now that the facts are in front of you, you will also doubt it."

"I suddenly realized that it was the right decision for you to move in and be Ouyang's neighbor."

"Sister, you also agree with me and think it is necessary for us to keep an eye on Ouyang Lun!" Zhu Yuanzhang said excitedly.

"I think that living here is a good opportunity for you to see clearly what kind of person Ouyang is. You should open your eyes and see clearly." Queen Ma replied.

"Uh" Zhu Yuanzhang looked embarrassed.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang completely recovered. "Sister, you may be right, but I don't think I am wrong. Ouyang Lun is both good and evil. No one can figure out what he is going to do. He is different from all the ministers!"

"It's too difficult to control him. We haven't even done that. Biao'er might be even more difficult. So we still have to keep an eye on Ouyang Lun!"

Empress Ma rolled her eyes at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "It seems that everything I said just now was in vain!"

"Why do you have to control Ouyang? He is your son-in-law, the consort of the Ming Dynasty, Anqing's husband, and one of our own family. I think the way Biaoer and Ouyang get along is the right one."

"Now that Biao'er has ascended the throne, you don't have to worry about so much!"

"Biao'er and Ouyang are definitely stronger than you when they join forces!"

Hearing what Empress Ma said, Zhu Yuanzhang pouted and said, "I am the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. How can they compare to me?"

"Let's see what kind of waves they can create!"

"But having said that, Ouyang Lun did not go to fawn on Biao'er like those officials like Li Shanchang did this time, which is worthy of recognition."

"Zhongba, you were quite angry just now, why did you change now?" Queen Ma asked with some confusion.

"Hehe, sister, you don't understand this." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile, "I am angry because Ouyang Lun pushed Biao'er to the throne just to prevent Biao'er from bothering him. The key is that he really succeeded. If this matter gets out, how can we save our reputation?"

"At that time, someone will definitely say that Ouyang Lun is the most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty and can control the throne of the emperor!"

"This is absolutely unacceptable. Ouyang Lun doesn't have that ability!"

"Ouyang Lun doesn't flatter Biao'er. This is also the cleverness of this kid. His desire for power is not that strong, which makes his threat level drop sharply. This is also the reason why we give Ouyang Lun opportunities again and again!"

"Of course, all this is probably because Ouyang Lun is too lazy!"

Listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Empress Ma laughed, "Chongba, I never thought that one day 'lazy' would become a good word in your eyes."

"." Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of black lines again.

"Zhongba, I think the situation in the Ming Dynasty is pretty good now. You don't have to worry too much. We should trust Biao'er." Queen Ma comforted.

"Of course I believe in Biao'er, but I will not let go those who flatter Biao'er and try to control him." Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.

"We will have Ji Gang keep a close eye on these people. If they dare to do anything out of line, we will never let them go."

When Zhu Yuanzhang said this, a strong murderous intent burst out from his whole body.

Empress Ma naturally felt the murderous intent, but she didn't say anything in the end. She knew Zhu Yuanzhang very well. There are some things that can be persuaded, but there are some things that cannot be persuaded even if persuaded. It is better not to say anything.

The new emperor's accession to the throne did not have a big impact on the entire Ming Dynasty. After all, the country's name and policies were directly used, and Zhu Biao did not replace ministers on a large scale. However, for civil and military officials, the changes were still quite large. The most obvious thing was that the pressure was much less, especially without the many concerns in the past. Now they only needed to focus on doing their job well.

Moreover, the new emperor was young, strong and energetic, and government affairs were handled more promptly, so many things could be dealt with in a timely manner.

This makes many officials who want to achieve something more motivated.

In addition, the reform of the early court system gave officials more time and energy to focus on their work, which greatly improved the efficiency of Ming Dynasty government affairs.

Soon it was the beginning of a new month.

At the same time, it was time for the morning court session.

Tai Chi Hall.

in the afternoon.

After handling the government affairs at hand, officials came to the hall one after another to prepare for the court meeting.

"His Majesty is here!"

Swish--

The civil and military officials, who had been somewhat lazy at first, immediately perked up and stood up straight after hearing these three words.

Soon, Zhu Biao, dressed in emperor's attire, slowly walked to the dragon throne and sat down.

"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

"Long live your majesty!"

"Everyone loves you!"

Zhu Biao sat upright on the dragon throne with his hands outstretched and slightly raised, his imperial majesty fully displayed at this moment.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

All the civil and military officials saluted again and then stood up straight.

After making sure that Zhu Biao was able to preside over court meetings alone, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer attended court.

Zhu Biao now has all the power except military power and command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Of course, under the current circumstances, it is of no use for Zhu Biao to have military power and command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Look at your complexions, they are indeed much better!"

"Song Aiqing, you look a lot fatter."

Zhu Biao looked at the civil and military officials in front of him and said with a smile.

Song Lian said quickly: "Your Majesty, thanks to your Majesty's change in the court meeting system, I have been eating well and sleeping well recently, and I have gained a few pounds without noticing."

"Haha!" Zhu Biao smiled and nodded, "Then I feel relieved!"

"Alright, let's begin the court meeting. My dear ministers, please speak up if you have anything to say!"

Zhu Biao did not engage in idle chat, but went straight to the point.

The civil and military officials had already gotten used to Zhu Biao's efficient and decisive style of doing things. As Zhu Biao finished speaking, the officials came out one after another to report on their respective affairs.

The six ministries, nine government offices and other government offices reported one by one.

Zhu Biao also listened carefully and gave instructions on every matter.

Since these were matters that had accumulated for half a month, the report took a little longer than the previous morning court sessions, and it took a full hour to sort out all the matters.

After these matters were reported, there was a brief silence in the court.

Zhu Biao's gaze fell on Ouyang Lun.

"Prince Consort Ouyang, do you have anything to say?"

Forehead.
Ouyang Lun was quite helpless when he saw that Zhu Biao had called on him. Whenever he attended a court meeting, Zhu Biao would definitely call on him to say a few words.

Obviously today will be no exception. Fortunately, there are only two court meetings a month, which is acceptable.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Ouyang Lun stepped out and bowed.

"Oh!"

Zhu Biao's eyes suddenly lit up. He knew that since he ascended the throne, he would ask Ouyang Lun every time there was a court meeting. Ouyang Lun would either directly say that he had nothing to say, or he would just say a few random words to fool the question. This was the first time that Ouyang Lun took the initiative to say something.

"Prince Consort Ouyang, please tell me quickly!"

Zhu Biao said quickly.

"Your Majesty, after statistics from the Ministry of Revenue and calculations by the Taxation Inspection Department, the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty last year, that is, the 21st year of Hongwu, has been fully calculated, and the total amount is 230 million!!"

kindness!?!
When everyone heard Ouyang Lun say this number, their eyes widened!

Two hundred and thirty million! ?

So many?!

Didn't they say that the situation last year was not very good, and that being able to maintain the existing tax revenue was already very good? How come the tax revenue has doubled after calculation?

Is there something fishy going on here? Or is Ouyang Lun lying?

Lying about taxes is a capital crime!

How dare Ouyang Lun? !
An official immediately stood up and questioned: "Your Majesty, the tax revenue of our Ming Dynasty was just over 100 million yuan the year before last. The situation was not very good last year. Later, there were tax exemptions and tax refunds. How could the tax revenue still be so high? Obviously..."

The official glanced at Ouyang Lun, his eyes showing a trace of fear, and gritted his teeth and said, "Obviously someone is cooking the books and trying to deceive Your Majesty. After all, some people control both the Ministry of Revenue and the Taxation Inspection Department. How much tax is collected is up to him!"

In the end, the official did not dare to call Ouyang Lun by his name.

However, after this official started talking, another official immediately stood up and continued to question, "Your Majesty, the economic situation of our Ming Dynasty was not good last year, which is obvious to all. We also carried out tax reforms. Although the effect of the reforms is good, it is definitely not possible to increase tax revenue by so much!"

"Even if the court made various efforts last year, it was already great that the annual revenue last year was the same as the previous year. It is absolutely impossible to increase this much!"

"I suggest that Your Majesty conduct a thorough investigation!"

"Annual revenue is the foundation of the country and must not be messed up. I suggest that the Ministry of Revenue's account books be checked carefully!"

Officials have come forward to raise questions.

This time even Zhu Biao was stunned.

Although he was only a prince last year, he has always been involved in the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. The news he received before was that the annual revenue had increased by 30%, but even if it had increased, it would definitely not exceed 200 million!

Where exactly is there more?
Or is it really as the ministers just questioned?
(End of this chapter)