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

Chapter 315 We need to find something for the Crown Prince to do; he can't just keep thinking about usurping the throne.
Seeing that Shen Ye was unwilling to get involved in the matter of distributing salaries, Gao Youzhen and Jin Wushan didn't say anything more.

After all, neither of them lacked that much money.

As for whether the lives of the people below were difficult, the blame should be placed on the Ministry of Revenue and Emperor Qianxi, not on them.

Fortunately, the crown prince accepted their request, which allowed them to give an explanation to their subordinates.

Standing at the entrance to the living room, after seeing the two people off, Shen Ye began to ponder how to bring up the matter with the Ministry of Personnel.

According to Shen Ye's thinking, since this is a precedent, the Ministry of Personnel should give him some face.

Just as Shen Ye and Gao Youzhen were discussing the capital inspection, Emperor Qianxi was staring blankly at a memorial.

This was submitted by an editor from the Hanlin Academy.

Frankly speaking, someone of the rank of compiler in the Hanlin Academy rarely had the opportunity to make their presence known to Emperor Qianxi, let alone attract his attention.

But this time, the editor actually complained to Emperor Qianxi in his memorial to pay his respects.

He said that winter was approaching and his official winter clothes were still pawned and had not been redeemed.

I'm short of money, and the Ministry of Revenue won't let me borrow any more now.

Although it was a complaint, it still made Emperor Qianxi feel a little embarrassed.

He was fully aware that the imperial court had not paid salaries for five months.

However, he also knew that the ministers under his command basically did not rely on the government's salaries to make a living.

Putting aside other things, let's take Nian Dongliang, who is currently closely related to the Crown Prince.

A county magistrate never lacked money.

This was under the condition that he was relatively honest and incorruptible as an official.

and also……

However, this Hanlin compiler wasn't pretending to be poor; he genuinely had no money. After all, the Hanlin Academy was a low-income institution, let alone a junior compiler like him.

With the winter solstice approaching, it would be a real loss of face not to give my subordinates some paychecks.

"Summon Tong Guowei, Zhang Ying, and Ma Qi here," Emperor Qianxi ordered in a deep voice after a moment's contemplation.

Liang Jiugong had been serving Emperor Qianxi closely. Seeing that the emperor's expression was not right, he did not dare to say anything and quickly ran to call for someone.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the three of them arrived at the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Qianxi and the three men didn't beat around the bush. They simply raised the memorial in their hands and said, "You three, take a look at this memorial first."

As the chief scholar, Tong Guowei naturally had the first opportunity to review the documents.

After quickly glancing at the memorial, Tong Guowei frowned.

In his view, everything else was easy to handle, but the matter of money was the most difficult to deal with, since he didn't have the ability to turn stones into gold.

After reading the memorial, he handed it to Zhang Ying.

As the second-ranked Grand Secretary, Zhang Ying did not concern himself with the Ministry of Revenue, so he wasn't too troubled, especially since he had Ma Qi and Tong Guowei to rely on!

Ma Qi, on the other hand, turned pale after reading the memorial!
He is the Minister of Revenue. If he doesn't receive a salary, that's the Ministry of Revenue's problem, and he'll definitely have to take the blame.

Now that the emperor is being indirectly asked for money, isn't that a dereliction of duty on the part of Ma Qi, the Minister of Revenue?
Ma Qi felt a tightness in his chest and, after a moment's hesitation, apologized to Emperor Qianxi, saying, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

"It is because I, as the Minister of Revenue, have failed in my duties that this situation has arisen."

"Your Majesty, please punish me!"

Emperor Qianxi understood that Ma Qi's apology was merely a gesture, and he did not truly intend for Emperor Qianxi to punish him.

He also knew that the reason why the Ministry of Revenue was short of money was mainly because he spent money too much.

Putting aside everything else, just consider the campaign against Galdan and the management of the Yellow River—which of these didn't require spending a lot of money?
Furthermore, the recent breach of the dike resulted in a large sum of money being waived in taxes for the disaster-stricken areas…

So he waved his hand and said, "Ma Qi, I invited the three of you here not to punish you."

"I want to ask you, what should we do next?"

"The winter solstice is just around the corner. If we don't pay salaries soon, the staff might start to complain!"

Ma Qi remained silent. Although he considered himself good at managing money, he did not possess the Crown Prince's Midas touch.

So he really had no other choice.

Seeing that Ma Qi remained silent, Tong Guowei, as the chief scholar, had no choice but to share the burden for his nephew.

He said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, how about we have the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household Department pool their resources and issue one month's salary as a temporary measure?"

In Tong Guowei's view, a month's salary was not much.

All things considered, it would amount to a maximum of four or five hundred thousand taels of silver.

But before he could finish speaking, Ma Qi whispered, "Lord Tong, the officials' monthly salaries are not much, but after paying them, shouldn't we also pay the soldiers' wages?"

"They've been in arrears for several months too!"

"If we don't issue it, things might get messy."

Upon hearing this, Tong Guowei frowned.

If you calculate it that way, you can't make ends meet without a million taels of silver a month.

He couldn't help but look towards Emperor Qianxi.

Emperor Qianxi was also troubled. The emperor would not starve his soldiers. If the salaries were only paid to ministers and not to soldiers this time, the soldiers' resentment would be even greater.

Emperor Qianxi did not want to cause any unnecessary trouble because of this.

He hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind and said, "The Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household Department should discuss it. No matter what, we must issue a month's salary before the winter solstice." "As for how to raise the money, Ma Qi, you will be in charge."

Ma Qi was the Minister of Revenue, and he couldn't refuse this assignment.

After all, it was his duty.

Since Emperor Qianxi told him to discuss it with the Imperial Household Department, then he should just go to the Imperial Household Department to ask for the money.

After waving for Tong Guowei and the others to leave, Emperor Qianxi frowned and pondered alone.

The imperial court's tax revenue was just enough to cover daily expenses, but it would be stretched thin in the event of natural disasters or man-made calamities.

This tax system has reached a point where it absolutely must be reformed!
But who will lead this tax reform?

Let Ma Qi come; he can't handle this tough nut.

Send Tong Guowei? Thinking of his uncle, Emperor Qianxi immediately chose to give up. Although his uncle was loyal to him, he was simply not cut out for great things.

Zhang Ying wouldn't do it either; he had too many students and old friends, and he was unwilling to do something that would offend people.

Even if he forcefully puts pressure on Zhang Ying, Zhang Ying will probably just outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.

As thoughts flashed through his mind, the image of the Crown Prince suddenly popped into Emperor Qianxi's head.

The crown prince is a capable man, but this is a job that will offend people.

If the Crown Prince were to preside over this tax reform, it would both advance the reform and distract him, preventing him from having nothing to do all day and constantly thinking about seizing power.

Furthermore, once the crown prince makes too many enemies, he will lose the will to even consider usurping the throne.

When he grows old, the crown prince can ascend the throne with the support of his own people whom he cultivated during the tax reform.

Of course, that will have to wait until I get old, which is a long time from now.

The more Emperor Qianxi thought about it, the more feasible his idea seemed—letting the Crown Prince tackle the tough challenges would be a win-win situation.

"Liang Jiugong, go and invite the Crown Prince over," Emperor Qianxi said, waving his hand at Liang Jiugong.
As Emperor Qianxi's most trusted eunuch, Liang Jiugong was extremely sensitive to every word the emperor uttered.

Upon hearing Emperor Qianxi use the word "please," a bad feeling immediately arose in his heart: Is His Majesty about to give the Crown Prince another difficult task?
However, he didn't show it on his face, and after responding, he hurried to Yuqing Palace.

Shen Ye had just seen off the two vice ministers of the Court of Colonial Affairs and was listening to Zhou Bao report on the construction progress of the Xiaotangshan Imperial Palace.

Shen Ye has bought up almost all the land in Xiaotangshan, including deeds to hundreds of thousands of acres, investing a considerable amount of money.
Nowadays, in the village near the hot springs in Xiaotangshan, Shen Ye has planted all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

The temporary palace prepared to be presented to Emperor Qianxi was built in the best location in Xiaotangshan, right in the center.

An imperial palace would cost an estimated 200,000 taels of silver, and the person in charge of supervising its construction was an assistant minister from the Ministry of Works.

Because the buildings are all single-story structures, and Shen Ye has provided ample funds, the construction is progressing very quickly, and the main structure is now up.

As long as we hurry, before the weather gets cold, we can ensure that Emperor Qianxi can spend the winter there.

Once Emperor Qianxi experiences the benefits of Xiaotangshan Hot Springs, the land Shen Ye bought will be easy to sell.

Once these lands are sold, Yuqing Bank's cash flow will be much more abundant.

"Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence." Liang Jiugong said respectfully to Shen Ye.

Although Shen Ye didn't know what tricks Emperor Qianxi was up to, he immediately followed Liang Jiugong outside.

Before Shen Ye could ask, Liang Jiugong whispered, "His Majesty just met with two Grand Secretaries and Lord Ma Qi."

Although Liang Jiugong did not reveal why Emperor Qianxi had summoned him, Shen Ye had a guess based on the people Emperor Qianxi had met.

The Emperor Qianxi's visit to him was likely related to the three people he had just met.

It can't be about officials' salaries, can it?

Upon arriving at the Qianqing Palace, Shen Ye respectfully bowed to Emperor Qianxi and said, "Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty."

"Get up. Did your trip to Suo'etu's house go smoothly today?" Emperor Qianxi asked casually.

However, upon hearing his father utter the name Suo'etu, Shen Ye knew that this was no ordinary statement.

He replied earnestly, "Your subject met with Algishan and the others and conveyed the Emperor's concern for them. Algishan and the others intend to move all the ancestral tablets from the ancestral hall back to Shengjing this time, and your subject also went to offer incense to your maternal grandfather."

Hearing Shen Ye's account match the report he had received, Emperor Qianxi nodded and said, "That is the way it should be."

"It is hoped that after Algishan and his men return to Shengjing, they will be able to repent and correct their past mistakes."

"If there is any further act of filial impiety, I will not let it go lightly."

At this point, Emperor Qianxi changed the subject, saying, "I just summoned Ma Qi and the others to discuss the matter of issuing salaries to the officials."

"Although many people in positions of power do not rely on salaries for their livelihood, there are still quite a few people who depend on this amount of money to support their families."

“Someone wrote to me saying that it’s getting cold and winter clothes are still pawned and haven’t been redeemed.”

"But the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have the silver available right now."

"The imperial court's expenditures are increasing, but tax revenue is decreasing. If this continues, a major crisis is bound to occur!"

"Yunye, tell me, what should we do?"

Although Emperor Qianxi had made up his mind, he did not reveal his hand directly. Instead, he fished Shen Ye, letting him take the bait.

Upon hearing this question, Shen Ye had a bad feeling.

He pondered for a moment, and soon came up with a solution.

　The second update for today is here! Please support me, everyone!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)