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

Chapter 320 didn't release a hammer, but a book.

Shen Ye looked at the fourth prince, whose face was full of expectation, and smiled, saying, "Tax reform is a very important matter, and we brothers alone can't handle it."

"After all, it involves too many interests, affects the livelihoods of many people, and offends more than just one or two."

“Since Father Emperor insists on father and son fighting together, I think we brothers should fight together.”

"So, I plan to bring my eldest brother, third brother, fifth brother, and eighth brother along."

"This way, we can pool our wisdom and efforts; it's easier to get things done with more people!"

As the Crown Prince uttered one name after another, the Fourth Prince felt his head buzzing.

When the Crown Prince invited him to join the game, he thought it was because the Crown Prince valued him highly.

But now, he realized that he was just one of many people favored by the Crown Prince.

If I want to continue to be valued by the Crown Prince, I need to work even harder.

But then I thought about it again and realized something was wrong.

Why should he have to desperately try to impress the Crown Prince? How did I end up in this state?

I should have tried my best to impress my father and gradually push the Crown Prince down!
Although he felt a little uneasy, he knew that once the Crown Prince's proposal was approved, he would have to behave himself well in front of the Crown Prince for the foreseeable future.

"Your Highness is wise!"

"Reforms have always stirred up quite a storm."

"If we want this country to last forever, we have to rely on our own people to do the work."

"Although I am not talented, I am willing to obey the Crown Prince's orders!"

Seeing how smoothly the Fourth Prince knelt, Shen Ye's opinion of him rose even higher.

A dragon can grow big or small, and a hero can bend and stretch!

The fact that the Fourth Prince was able to back down and admit defeat so quickly shows that he is indeed the most patient and tolerant one.

And it is often these kinds of people who have the last laugh!

"I am very pleased that my fourth brother thinks this way." Shen Ye said, patting the fourth prince's shoulder lightly. "I believe that if we brothers work together, we can overcome any obstacle. We will definitely be able to push this tax reform through."

The fourth prince chatted with Shen Ye for a while longer, and finally, unable to resist the crown prince's hospitality, he stayed for a meal before taking his leave.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and the winter solstice is getting closer and closer!
Aside from the officials in those insignificant government departments, the main officials of the Ministry of Revenue were the ones most concerned about the distribution of salaries.

Left Vice Minister Zhang Fengpan was so anxious that his mouth was covered in blisters.

The Crown Prince neither tried to allocate funds nor asked the Imperial Household Department for money.

It was as if this job had nothing to do with him!
"Lord Zhang, what exactly does the Crown Prince mean by this?" Qi Tai, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was so anxious that he kept rubbing his hands. "I heard that some people in the Hanlin Academy have said that if the salaries are not paid this time, they will jointly impeach the officials in our Ministry of Revenue."

"Oh, right, there are also those young censors from the Censorate who are planning to submit a memorial together."

The chubby Qi Tai, who usually always appears calm and composed, is really restless this time!
Having worked in the Ministry of Revenue for many years, he was well aware of many of the intricacies of the system.

Some of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts simply cannot withstand close scrutiny.

If we truly incur public wrath and His Majesty were to thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Revenue, that would be a huge problem.

Zhang Fengpan felt a strange sense of satisfaction when he saw Qi Tai, who usually didn't get along with him, speaking to him like this.

However, he also knew that this was not the time for him to laugh at the joke.

If he gloats at this time, he can forget about staying in the Ministry of Revenue in the future.

So he said helplessly to Qi Tai, "Lord Qi, who can interfere in the Crown Prince's affairs?"

"Why don't you go and talk to the Crown Prince about this?"

Qi Tai scoffed inwardly. Although he had his own ideas, he didn't dare to chase after the Crown Prince to do his work.

"Lord Zhang, I'm just worried. If we can't pay salaries by the winter solstice, there will definitely be trouble!"

"I've heard that quite a few people are waiting to see our Ministry of Revenue make a fool of itself!"

Zhang Fengpan ignored these provocative remarks, but he was also somewhat uneasy.

If he can't get his salary, he won't have an easy time either!
Just as he was getting anxious, someone came running up to report: "My lords, the Crown Prince has arrived!"

Upon hearing that the Crown Prince had arrived, Zhang Fengpan and the others, who had just been frowning, immediately stood up: "Quick! Go and greet the Crown Prince!"

Zhang Fengpan moved extremely quickly, and in less than a minute, he saw Shen Ye walking slowly towards him.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Highness!" Zhang Fengpan, leading the officials from the Ministry of Revenue, bowed respectfully to Shen Ye.

Shen Ye waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities!"

"I've come here because the winter solstice is approaching, and it's time to distribute the salaries arranged by His Majesty."

"Have someone notify all the government offices to send someone to the Ministry of Revenue to collect their salaries."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fengpan was overjoyed.

The Crown Prince truly lives up to his reputation as a living god of wealth!

Without doing anything themselves, the Crown Prince got his hands on a million taels of silver.

This is really great!
Thinking this to himself, he quickly replied, "Your Highness, I will send someone to inform you immediately."

"By the way, Your Highness, where is the silver... I'll have the people in the treasury retrieve it right away."

Shen Ye smiled and said, "I don't have any money."

Upon hearing this, not only Zhang Fengpan, but also some of the people following behind him felt an urge to curse.

But they wouldn't dare! Even if you are the Crown Prince, you can't joke like that!
How can you pay salaries if there's no money?
Are we going to let all those adults starve?
While everyone dared not speak out in anger, all eyes turned to Zhang Fengpan.

They couldn't afford to offend the Crown Prince, so they could only hope that Zhang Fengpan would step in.

Zhang Fengpan missed Ma Qi terribly at this moment, because with Ma Qi around, it wouldn't be his turn to speak as a vice minister.

Unfortunately, Ma Qi is currently recuperating at home, so this vice minister has no choice but to bite the bullet and take over.

"Your Highness, you're not joking with me, are you?"

"If there's no money, what kind of salary should we give everyone?"

Shen Ye smiled, then gestured to Zhou Bao, "Zhou Bao, bring me Lord Zhang's salary book."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Bao quickly came over with a hardcover notebook.

This hardcover notebook is exquisitely crafted and wrapped in purple silk, giving it a very noble feel.

Upon opening the hard cover, Zhang Fengpan's name was written on the left side, along with his job title and some symbols he didn't recognize.

These symbols were quite long, but Zhang Fengpan didn't understand what they meant.

However, on the bottom layer, he saw a number he recognized: how much silver he received each month.

On the other side of the hardcover book was a form printed with woodblock printing, which included fields for dates, withdrawals, deposits, and amounts of money.

Below these squares, a line has already been written.

The date is yesterday. Below the deposit, it says 36 taels, and the total amount is also written as 36 taels.

Zhang Fengpan stared blankly at the notebook.

This notebook is quite exquisite, but it can't conjure up any money!

Is the Crown Prince going to follow the example of the previous dynasty and issue paper money?

If that's the case, then the crown prince will definitely be severely reprimanded.

After all, the currency of the previous dynasty eventually became so stiff that even wiping your bottom with it was considered too difficult!

“Your Highness, this thing…this thing can’t be used as silver!” Zhang Fengpan gritted his teeth and said bluntly, “Your Highness, if the salary is delayed by a few days, people will just complain at most.”

"But this kind of paper money... that's going to cause a huge mess!"

Shen Ye looked at Zhang Fengpan, who was so anxious he was rambling incoherently, and chuckled: "Lord Zhang, you're mistaken!"

"This isn't paper money, it's your salary book."

"Although it can't be used directly as money!"

"However, with this salary book, you gentlemen can withdraw the corresponding amount of silver from Yuqing Bank according to the amount recorded on it."

Hearing Shen Ye say this, Zhang Fengpan glanced at his salary book and hesitated before asking, "Go to Yuqing Bank to collect the money?"

"What about the Ministry of Revenue..."

Distributing salaries to officials was also one of the powers of the Ministry of Revenue.

Although this power often puts the Ministry of Revenue in a very awkward position, the Ministry of Revenue is unwilling to relinquish it.

Upon hearing Zhang Fengpan raise this question, Shen Ye smiled and said, "I have already requested permission from my father that from now on, the salaries of all officials will be paid by Yuqing Bank."

"The Ministry of Revenue transferred the portion of the salt tax that belonged to the salaries of officials directly to Yuqing Bank."

Salt tax revenue was extremely important to the Ministry of Revenue; it was like a piece of fat meat in their mouths. Now, a piece of it was about to be cut off, making Zhang Fengpan feel like he was being ripped off.

Although the money wasn't his, he was, after all, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

He wanted to side with the Ministry of Revenue.

“Your Highness, if this money is transferred to Yuqing Bank, the Ministry of Revenue will face even greater difficulties in the future.”

"Moreover, this matter... was not discussed with the Ministry of Revenue, which is a bit against the rules!"

Shen Ye glanced at him and said indifferently, "If the salaries of all the officials can't be paid, is it the court that's losing face, or the Ministry of Revenue?"

These words made Zhang Fengpan's expression change.

Just as he was about to speak, Shen Ye continued, "His Majesty allowed me to observe the administration of the Ministry of Revenue. How can you say that the Ministry of Revenue's opinion was not sought?"

"Can't my opinion be considered the Ministry of Revenue's opinion? Does that mean my words don't count?"

Qi Tai and the others looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

After all, if the Ministry of Revenue couldn't pay its officials their salaries, it would be a crime if this matter were investigated.

After Shen Ye and his men left, Qi Tai finally came over and said, "Lord Zhang, are we just going to stand by and watch the salt tax money go into Yuqing Bank?"

"Otherwise what?" Zhang Fengpan said irritably, "Do you have the ability to pay salaries?"

At this point, Zhang Fengpan's gaze fell on his salary book again.

He stroked the salary book, feeling that the Crown Prince had a deeper meaning behind it, but he couldn't figure it out for the time being.

Qi Tai was speechless after being rebuked by Zhang Fengpan. He picked up a salary book and examined it, saying, "Lord Zhang, this book is easy to print, but can Yuqing Bank really come up with one million taels of silver?"

"If we can't come up with the money by then, then..."

Zhang Fengpan sighed; he was feeling very conflicted.

He both hoped that the implementation of this salary system would proceed smoothly, and secretly hoped that something would go wrong so that he could get back the lost salt administration funds.

　The first update of the day is here! Please support me, everyone!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)