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

Chapter 151 Fire! Fire!
Prince Yu looked at Shen Ye who had stepped forward, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The Crown Prince has already promised not to go to his house to urge payment, so he doesn't need to worry about this matter anymore.

He doesn't have to pay back his one million taels of silver debt, which is incredibly satisfying!

Grand Secretary Tong Guowei frowned slightly.

He was Emperor Qianxi's maternal uncle and a newly appointed Grand Secretary.

For him, the crown prince was not the ideal candidate to support.

The shadow of the Suo'etu family is too deep behind the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will definitely appoint people from the Suo'etu lineage to important positions.

He was not satisfied with this situation.

He hoped to produce a new crown prince who, after ascending the throne, would ideally marry a woman from their family as empress, thus elevating the Tong family to a higher level.

Moreover, the Crown Prince even allowed Orondai to stay at home!
Orondai himself doesn't like this guy, and if he could, he would like to give his good-for-nothing nephew a good beating.

However, one must consider the owner before beating a dog. He may beat his own nephew, but others may not.

Because if anyone else beats up his nephew, it would be seen as an act of dissatisfaction with the entire Tong family.

The Crown Prince's casual relinquishment of the task of suppressing the rebellion is a way of winning over the court officials!
This is of no benefit to the imperial court, but it's fantastic news for those in debt...

Just as Tong Guowei was pondering how to put the Crown Prince in a bad light, he heard the Crown Prince say, "These past few days, I have been working with Lord Ma Qi to collect the arrears owed by the Ministry of Revenue."

“During the investigation, I discovered that some officials were not short of money. The reason they borrowed money was because they thought it was better to lend money from the treasury since they didn't have to pay it back. Borrowing was like making a profit.”

At this point, Shen Ye coughed and continued, "It's easy to owe money but hard to collect debts, because some people think, 'I borrowed the money through my own abilities, why should I pay it back!'"

"I believe that such a person should be punished."

"This kind of punishment should not be treated as a passing fad, but should be established as a system!"

"Make those who owe debts pay the price for their actions!"

"Your subject hereby proposes the following punitive measures in the 'Procedures for Handling Unpaid Taicang Silver': First, for debtors who maliciously default on their debts, a tiered interest system shall be implemented, with an additional year's interest for each additional year of non-payment."

The term "tiered system" may not be clear to many, but one can guess from imagination that it likely refers to increasingly higher interest rates.

As interest rates rise, the amount of money to be repaid also increases.

However, what many people were more concerned about was not the tiered system, but rather what the crown prince had said earlier.

Those who fail to repay their debts must pay a price, and this price must be institutionalized.

Most people are not afraid of short-lived, reactive governance.

When things are really getting heated, I can just keep my head down.

And if you run into problems, don't blame me for being ruthless!

However, once a system is established, it is difficult to change it.

Because once the system is established, anyone who violates it will have to pay the price.

"...An official who refuses to repay his debts is of low moral character. Such a person should not be promoted, should be demoted one grade in his annual performance evaluation, should not be allowed to ride in a sedan chair, should not be allowed to eat at restaurants, and should not allow his family members to take the imperial examinations..."

The indebted civil servant, who had initially been taking a wait-and-see approach, nearly exploded at this point.

Not only were they not allowed to be promoted, but their official positions were also progressively lower. Furthermore, they were not allowed to ride in sedan chairs, eat in restaurants, or have their family members participate in the imperial examinations.

This last one is practically severing a person's lifeline!

There is only one way for a family of civil officials to maintain continuous prosperity: through the continuous imperial examinations.

As long as someone in the family passes the imperial examination, the family will basically have nothing to worry about in the future.

Conversely, if they fail the exam, the family will gradually decline.

After all, a scholarly family that has never produced a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) is a joke.

Now the Crown Prince has gone even further; he has actually banned the civil official's family from taking the imperial examinations, which is practically a death sentence for them. It's only because it was the Crown Prince who proposed this measure; if it had been anyone else, someone would have already shouted and jumped up in protest.

Prince Yu listened to these words without panicking.

The crown prince only mentioned civil officials, but not meritorious officials, which was naturally due to his own merit.

If it weren't for him, even the nobles would probably have suffered the same fate.

But what are nobles afraid of? They don't need to take the imperial examinations.

If they don't allow the imperial examination system, then so be it. We're loyal farmers; we can rest on our laurels and sleep soundly...

Just as Prince Yu was secretly pleased with himself, the Crown Prince continued, "For nobles who fail to repay their debts, in addition to being forbidden from traveling by carriage, they are also forbidden from purchasing servants, and even more forbidden..."

After seven or eight prohibitions were made, the nobles present remained calm.

They felt that the Crown Prince's ideas did not address their fundamental concerns.

For them, this is no big deal.

But what he said next made their expressions change drastically.

Because then, the Crown Prince brought up the issue of succession.

"For nobles who fail to repay their debts, the inheritance of their title will be reduced by one rank and the number of successors will be reduced by one generation every three years if they fail to repay their debts..."

"...If the title is reduced to nothing, then the debts owed to the national treasury do not need to be repaid..."

The last sentence sounded good, but the nobles all turned cold upon hearing it.

They all wanted to pay off their debts; they absolutely refused to allow themselves to have debts they didn't repay.

Their titles were the lifeblood of their families; without them, they were nothing.

Who would still care about these people?

So at this moment, the debtor nobles were all feeling anxious.

They looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Many people turned their gazes to Prince Yu. Although he did not speak, his eyes spoke volumes.

Is this what you mean by the prince not coming to collect the debt?

It seems there's really no need to chase after payment!

But if you do that, you'll definitely have to obediently pay back the money yourself.

Otherwise, if you're alive, it's fine, but if you die, your children won't even be able to inherit the title.

Prince Yu, Fuquan, was not stupid; on the contrary, he was a smart man. After hearing the Crown Prince's words, he suddenly realized the truth.

I've been scammed!
I was tricked by my own dear nephew!
He doesn't urge payment, but his approach is a million times more effective than urging payment!

Although I am a prince, if I am demoted, then...

He would absolutely not want his son to become a duke instead of a prince, because of his own actions.

This means that the inheritance of their family will be greatly reduced.

Although he wouldn't lose his title in the end, becoming a leisurely member of the royal family early on was not what he wanted.

For a moment, he was so angry that he trembled all over, but he was helpless.

She wanted to go up and argue with the Crown Prince, but she didn't know where to begin.

Just as he was feeling distressed, he heard someone loudly proclaim, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's method is absolutely unacceptable. It damages Your Majesty's wisdom and the dignity of the court."

"It is competing with the people for profit, preventing talented individuals from serving the court!"

　The third update of the day is here! Please support me, everyone! If you have any votes, please give me one. Thank you so much!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)