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

Chapter 140 There are no outsiders who owe debts.

Even if Cao Yin had a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare to break off the engagement.

After all, this is the Crown Prince!

Moreover, making their daughter the Crown Princess would guarantee their family's future wealth and prosperity, so why would he want to break off the engagement?

He came here to plead with the Crown Prince!

Originally, Cao Yin came to the capital to happily marry his daughter into Yuqing Palace, but just as he was preparing the dowry, they started demanding payment for debts.

To be honest, Cao Yin, the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Jiangning, should have been a wealthy man. However, no matter how rich he was, he couldn't stop Emperor Qianxi from making repeated trips to the south of the Yangtze River with great enthusiasm!
In order to maintain a good reputation, Emperor Qianxi absolutely forbade the use of national treasury funds during his trips to the south.

However, in order to ensure that Emperor Qianxi was comfortable, Cao Yin and the others who were there to greet him had to find a way to raise money themselves.

How to do it? Of course, we'll borrow silver from the national treasury.

When it came to welcoming the emperor's tour, the Ministry of Revenue was quite generous with its loans, even fearing that you might not get enough.

At first, Cao Yin felt that he didn't need to repay the money.

After all, everyone knows the intended use of this money; both the lender and borrower are tacitly aware of it.

I spent the money on Emperor Qianxi, not on myself.

However, to his surprise, the Ministry of Revenue's collection of debts in Taicang actually made him pay off this debt as well!

If it were 100,000 or 200,000 taels of silver, this would be easy to handle.

With some maneuvering, Cao Yin could still get the money.

However, he really couldn't come up with the deficit of nearly one million taels.

What if he couldn't come up with the money? The Jiangning Textile Bureau was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Department, and although the person in charge of the Imperial Household Department wouldn't force Cao Yin to repay the money, he did point out a clear path for Cao Yin.

Find the Crown Prince!
You are the Crown Prince's father-in-law, and the Crown Prince is the person in charge of this crackdown. If you don't go to the Crown Prince, who else can you go to?

Although Cao Yin did not want to cause trouble for Shen Ye, he had no other choice at the moment.

So in the end, he still came to Shen Ye!

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Shen Ye, Cao Yin explained the situation to Shen Ye with a hint of helplessness, and then said, "Your Highness, if I had any other way, I wouldn't have dragged this money out without paying it back."

"But...but we really can't pay it back right now!"

Looking at Cao Yin's bitter face, Shen Ye also felt a pang of resentment towards Emperor Qianxi.

Your hypocritical nature will not only harm your son, but also your trusted confidants.

From now on, no one will let you lie anymore. Let's see what you do then.

"Lord Cao, you don't need to worry about this matter. Just try your best to repay as much as you can," Shen Ye said solemnly. "The key is to make a repayment plan for these debts."

"How much money do you plan to pay back each year, and how many years will it take to pay it off?"

At this point, he glanced in the direction of the Qianqing Palace and said, "Lord Cao, we are not outsiders. Let me tell you something. There are some things that need to be said."

Upon hearing this, Cao Yin felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

Emperor Qianxi was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. Once he brought it up, he would definitely help him repay the money.

But if I actually did that, what would the emperor think of me?
If you can't even handle this small matter, it's not just that you, Cao Yin, lack coordination skills; the most important thing is your attitude!

"Your Highness, besides this matter, there is another problem that is troubling me: His Majesty is going to travel to the south of the Yangtze River next year."

Cao Yin's lips twitched.

For the Cao family, it was an unparalleled honor for the emperor to stay at the Cao residence during his visit to Jiangnan.

But this glory requires money to pave the way.

Without money, everything is meaningless!
Although Cao Yin was her future father-in-law, Shen Ye was unwilling to waste her energy on this matter of borrowing money.

After all, Cao Yin borrowed money in order to curry favor with Emperor Qianxi.

I'm already doing you a favor by giving you some pointers on your debt situation.

Shen Ye picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then fell silent.

Cao Yin was a smart man; seeing Shen Ye's actions, he knew he had made a mistake. After all, matters like continuing to borrow money were not the Crown Prince's responsibility.

I'm so busy I'm completely overwhelmed!
He quickly replied, "Thank you for your mercy, Your Highness. I will take my leave now. In a few days, I will submit the repayment plan to the Imperial Household Department."

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Then I'll see Lord Cao off."

Shen Ye escorted Cao Yin all the way to the outside of the main hall of Yuqing Palace before returning to his study.

However, before he could even finish his tea, Zhou Bao came over again to report that Ma Qi, the Minister of Revenue, was requesting an audience.

Shen Ye knew perfectly well why Ma Qi had come to see him.

To be honest, if there's one person he least wants to see right now, it's definitely Mazi.

Ma Qi ran over there, definitely because of the issue of recovering the silver from the Taiku warehouse.

It was only because he, as the Minister of Revenue, was so concerned about the recovery of treasury silver, just like himself.

Since they've already come, we can't just ignore them.

Moreover, many of Shen Ye's plans require Ma Qi's cooperation.

He immediately ordered, "Please invite Lord Ma Qi over."

Shen Ye didn't greet Ma Qi. After all, Ma Qi wasn't his father-in-law, so why would he greet him?

"Greetings, Your Highness." Ma Qi bowed respectfully to the Crown Prince, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

He was Emperor Qianxi's confidant and relied on Emperor Qianxi, but he dared not be disrespectful to the crown prince, who in his eyes was highly skilled, capable, and destined to be a wise ruler.

Both of these major obstacles, Suo'etu and Mingzhu, were silently removed by the Crown Prince.

Although the term of office for Grand Secretaries was no more than six years, which was quite unpleasant for these close advisors to the emperor, it was definitely a good move for the emperor.

By defining the term of office for Grand Secretaries, it became more difficult for some individuals to deceive their superiors and form alliances, thus creating a situation where they became too powerful to control.

However, this also made him somewhat reluctant to become a Grand Scholar too early.

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Lord Ma Qi, there's no need for such formalities. Zhou Bao, please offer Lord Ma Qi a seat."

Ma Qi declined a couple of times, then sat down to the left of Shen Ye.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ma Qi explained his purpose.

"Your Highness, the collection of treasury silver has now entered the second phase, but there is not a single person willing to repay the silver."

Ma Qi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then said with a wry smile, "I had someone inquire about it, and I heard that a storm has been brewing in the capital at some point."

"It is said that whoever repays this treasury silver first will be making an enemy of all the debtors."

"In this way, although the source cannot be found, it makes many people who do not owe much debt and want to repay their money feel apprehensive."

Shen Ye wasn't too surprised when he heard Ma Qi's words.

Humans have a tendency to conform.

Others aren't very good, so I won't be the one to stick my neck out.

It is precisely because of this herd mentality that some simple things have become subject to a wait-and-see attitude.

Shen Ye said calmly, "Besides these, is there anything else?"

Ma Qi hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Actually, the reason why many people are not paying back their debts is because they are watching a few people."

"I want to see if these people will pay it back."

Seeing Ma Qi's serious tone, Shen Ye had a bad feeling.

He felt that among the people Ma Qi was going to mention, there were definitely names he didn't want to hear.

Ma Qi had been waiting for Shen Ye to ask him questions, but he found that the Crown Prince was completely unfazed and motionless, as if he hadn't heard him at all.

Under these circumstances, he gritted his teeth and said, "These people are Prince Yu, Prince Gong, and Lord Cao, the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Jiangning."

Upon hearing the three names Ma Qi mentioned, Shen Ye's first thought was that there were no outsiders among them.

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(End of this chapter)