The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 115 You tricked me, I tricked you; lying down, life is sweet.

The outstanding debts of the collection department!

If I remember correctly, in a parallel universe, the fourth prince won the Qianxi Emperor's favor through this very incident.

Ultimately, being able to have the last laugh seems to be inseparable from this matter.

If the fourth brother hadn't dug this hole for himself just now, Shen Ye would definitely have given him a good talking-to and made him take on the task, thus leaving a good impression on Emperor Qianxi.

Unfortunately, this good younger brother just plotted against himself.

The saying goes, "A gentleman does not leave a grudge unavenged!"

Didn't you just give me a bad idea?

I'll give you one too.

As for whether you can ascend the throne in the future, that has nothing to do with me!
Thinking this to himself, Shen Ye gently put down his wine cup and said, "Fourth brother, this matter is not easy to handle!"

There is a saying that goes, "It is difficult to give away wealth."

“Those who owed money all borrowed it from the Ministry of Revenue’s granary through their own abilities, and from the moment they borrowed the money, they never thought about paying it back.”

"Forcing them to repay their debts is like taking their lives."

At this point, Shen Ye said in a serious tone, "Although I haven't seen the Ministry of Revenue's bills, I can guess pretty accurately who the debtors are."

"Among them are princes who would be happy to lend money if they wanted to."

"For example, our imperial uncle borrowed several hundred thousand taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue's granary."

"I heard that his family fortune is worth over a million taels of silver."

"But when things were urgent some time ago, Father didn't make him repay the money."

"Do you think it's possible for him to pay back the money?"

Upon mentioning this imperial uncle, the fourth prince, Yunzhen, immediately changed his expression.

He naturally knew what kind of person this royal uncle was.

Emperor Qianxi, who ascended the throne as the younger brother, often yielded to his elder brother in order to show his full respect for him.

Even if this imperial uncle did something outrageous, Emperor Qianxi would generally give him face.

Now, going to his royal uncle to collect a debt is simply asking for trouble.

The Crown Prince is right.

Then Shen Ye said, "Fourth brother, I'm doing this for your own good. This is a huge mess, and whoever gets involved will be in trouble."

"Let's talk about other people who are in debt, such as Cao Yin, the father of my future concubine. All three major textile manufacturers in Jiangnan owe money to Taicang."

"But why are they in debt? It's all for the sake of welcoming the emperor!"

"It's common knowledge that they owe money. If you push them too hard and things go wrong, you'll end up pleasing neither side."

"But what if you push too hard? In the end, it will only be scratching the surface, and you won't get any money back."

"When the time comes, you'll have no way to explain yourself to them."

"Good brother, listen to my advice. Don't get involved in things that are thankless and will put you in a difficult situation where you're surrounded by enemies."

Shen Ye deliberately acted as if he was drunk, and spoke with sincerity and earnestness.

In fact, what he said was the truth in the eyes of many people.

However, what Emperor Qianxi valued in his fourth son was his attitude: to face hardships without fear and to rise to challenges.

Now, if we disregard his true intentions, everything Shen Ye says would sound like golden advice.

The fourth prince's expression turned hesitant.

He wanted to demonstrate his abilities to the Qianxi Emperor, but his reason told him that what the Crown Prince said was invaluable advice.

If he takes on this task, he will likely end up pleasing neither side.

He was not yet prepared to make enemies of the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital.

For a moment, he really hesitated.

Shen Ye looked at the hesitant Fourth Prince and sneered inwardly.

I thought to myself, "This isn't my fault; you chose this path yourself. If you hadn't provoked me, I wouldn't have set a trap for you. But now that you've provoked me first, don't blame me for secretly setting you up this time."

Even the smartest person, after reflecting on what their brother said later, will realize that they were truly doing it for their own good.

After all, nobody has eyes in the front and back.

The fourth brother hesitated for a moment, then said with a hint of resentment, "Second Brother Crown Prince, is it really impossible to get this money back?"

Seeing that his words had worked, Shen Ye deliberately sighed and said, "In this world, there is only one person who can get this money back, and that is Father Emperor."

"Only if Father Emperor personally collects the debts can we be sure that all due debts will be collected without any omissions. Otherwise, I think it's unlikely that we'll be able to pay this money!"

At this point, Shen Ye raised his wine glass and said, "Fourth brother, the autumn harvest will be ready in a while."

"Although production has decreased in the Yellow River basin, as long as the taxes from the south arrive, everything can be resolved."

"You don't need to worry too much."

"Come on, let's drink!"

Although the fourth prince felt a little regretful, he still obediently raised his wine cup.

A pang of guilt rose in his heart at that moment.

The Crown Prince treated him with sincerity and always put himself first.

But what about me? I just gave the Crown Prince bad advice on purpose, trying to make him do something wrong.

I really am...

Although I felt guilty, it was only a little bit.

Who wouldn't want to sit in that chair?

If you want to sit in this chair, you'll have to ask your good second brother to give up his place.

After drinking a few more cups of wine, the Fourth Prince was too drunk to drink anymore. Shen Ye then asked Zhou Bao to arrange for someone to take the unsteady Fourth Prince back to his residence.

After seeing off the Fourth Prince, Shen Ye, slightly tipsy, returned to his study to lie down and rest.

However, when he closed his eyes, all he could think about were the words the Fourth Prince had said to him, and he drifted off to sleep in a daze.

The fact that Shen Ye was drinking with the Fourth Prince was not actually kept from Emperor Qianxi.

Emperor Qianxi, in a good mood, looked at the report Zhao Chang brought, his expression constantly changing.

Because the two princes were drinking, the servants were quite far away, and the content of their conversation was not recorded.

However, the fact that the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince were together made Emperor Qianxi somewhat uncomfortable.

He couldn't help but think of the words Mingzhu had said to him.

The Crown Prince's intelligence is a blessing to the nation.

Will most people think this way in the future?

Is it possible that in the future, many people will be hoping to step down?

However, the Crown Prince is indeed intelligent!

After pacing back and forth a few times, his gaze fell on Zhao Chang and he said, "Zhao Chang, go to the Infantry Office and Shuntian Prefecture in secret and get me a share of Mingzhu's assets."

This was not a difficult task for Zhao Chang, but Emperor Qianxi's order made his heart tremble.

As the head of Emperor Qianxi's secret police, he naturally knew a great deal.

He naturally heard what the Crown Prince said when he argued with Mingzhu.

At that time, Emperor Qianxi told the Crown Prince to shut up, but now he has arranged for me to do this. Could it be that His Majesty is preparing to deal with Mingzhu?

Just as he agreed as usual, without any change in expression, Emperor Qianxi continued, "Based on the Crown Prince's statistics, make a statistics table of the changes in Mingzhu's family's assets."

"Also, after the form is completed, send a copy to Yu Hualong, the Censor of the Censorate."

Emperor Qianxi did not say what he was giving Yu Hualong to do, nor did Zhao Chang ask.

Just as Zhao Chang was about to leave, seeing that Emperor Qianxi had nothing to say, he heard Emperor Qianxi continue, "Mingzhu will soon be fifty years old."

"Tell Yu Hualong that, as a subject of the emperor, we should let the Prime Minister celebrate his birthday first!"

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(End of this chapter)