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

Chapter 321 Serving the King and Being Loyal to the King
Although Ma Qi was ill, he kept a close eye on all matters, big and small, within the Ministry of Revenue.

As soon as his salary was paid out, he immediately took it into his hands.

Looking at the uniquely designed, brand-new purple salary book, Ma Qi was completely dumbfounded!
All I asked you to do was raise some money. What are you trying to do with this?
Looking at his official position, rank, age, and even place of origin, Ma Qi felt quite displeased.

The fifty taels of silver written on it was particularly irritating to Ma Qi.

His salary of fifty taels was not his salary as Minister of Revenue, but rather the salary of his earldom.

The count's annual salary was six hundred taels of silver, which, when divided into monthly stipends, amounted to exactly fifty taels of silver.

Fifty taels of silver sounds like a lot, and if you're a bachelor, you could live a comfortable life.

However, Ma Qi's entire family would starve to death on this salary alone.

Therefore, the Ma family's main livelihood depended on the large tracts of land inherited from their ancestors and some unspeakable transactions.

For example, in the suburbs of Beijing, the Ma family owns four or five estates covering tens of thousands of acres.

Therefore, he didn't care about the fifty taels of salary at all.

What really bothered him was what Fuheng said next: "The Crown Prince said that these salaries can be collected at any time, and it is not necessary to collect them all at once."

"You can take it as you use it!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Qi's lips curled into a sneer: "With such a small amount of money, why would you need to take it out in installments?"

"The Crown Prince simply wants to save money!"

"Hmph, let's see who takes it as they use it!"

Upon hearing this, Fuheng pondered for a moment and said, "The Crown Prince has arranged that as long as the money in the salary account is not withdrawn all at once, an interest-free loan opportunity will be automatically granted at the end of the month."

"This interest-free loan means that you can borrow three times your salary from Yuqing Bank without interest."

"No collateral or guarantee is required. As long as the money is repaid within one month, there will be no interest."

As he spoke, Fuheng flipped to the back of the salary book and said, "Look, these are the rules for using the salary book."

Ma Qi took one look and saw that there were more than twenty rules, printed with woodblocks, and looked neat and tidy, just like a book.

He quickly glanced at the rules, and his expression turned serious.

As the Minister of Revenue, he was an expert in finance.

In his view, the Crown Prince's actions were aimed at recouping the losses for Yuqing Bank.

After all, with the salary of an official appointed by the imperial court as a guarantee, there would be absolutely no chance of defaulting on debts.

If someone is short of money, they have to borrow from Yuqing Bank. Although it is interest-free for one month, some people still can't repay it.

They couldn't repay the interest, but the officials of the imperial court were guaranteed by their salaries, so they had no choice but to repay the money they borrowed.

Little by little, over time, Yuqing Bank will surely become more and more stable...

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly sat up and said, "His intentions are truly despicable."

"But how salaries will be distributed from now on is ultimately up to the Ministry of Revenue."

Fuheng glanced at Ma Qi, then whispered, "Uncle, from now on, all salaries will be paid by Yuqing Bank."

"The Ministry of Revenue would allocate the salaries of officials appointed by the court to Yuqing Bank at the beginning of the year, and then have Yuqing Bank distribute them."

"According to the Crown Prince, this is to ensure that officials of the court will not go hungry or lose face because they cannot receive their salaries on time."

Upon hearing his nephew's words, Ma Qi yanked the towel off his forehead and said, "Nonsense!"

"How can the salt tax revenue from the Ministry of Revenue be directly transferred to Yuqing Bank?"

"How will the Ministry of Revenue allocate funds in this way!"

"Zhang Fengpan deserves to die! How dare he agree to such an unreasonable request!"

"Bring me paper and pen. I need to write a memorial impeaching Zhang Fengpan. I need to..."

Just as Ma Qi was furious, Fu Heng carefully said, "Uncle, please calm down. Now is really not the time to be angry."

"You don't need to impeach Lord Zhang; this wasn't Lord Zhang's decision."

Upon hearing this, Ma Qi snorted and said, "Could it be that Qi Tai made the decision?"

"He doesn't have the guts!"

Fuheng touched his chin, wanting to say, "Uncle, you have a really good eye for people."

However, he dared not make jokes at this moment, and could only cautiously say, "Uncle, it was not Lord Qi Tai who made the decision."

"It was the Crown Prince who made the decision. The Crown Prince is currently overseeing the administration of the Ministry of Revenue."

"His words are law within the Ministry of Revenue!"

Ma Qi's face immediately darkened; he felt he couldn't even vent his anger.

He threw the pot to the Crown Prince, who then swung his knife and cut a piece of flesh off the Minister of Revenue.

Although this amount of meat wasn't much for the plump and robust Minister of Revenue, he felt a deep sense of urgency about it.

Moreover, any future Minister of Revenue would probably curse him with gritted teeth.

After all, it was he who directly lost some of the powers that belonged to the Ministry of Revenue.

"I must go to His Majesty; the Crown Prince cannot be allowed to act so recklessly." This was Ma Qi's last act of defiance.

He knew that Emperor Qianxi had always been wary of the Crown Prince, and he simply couldn't believe that Emperor Qianxi could watch the Crown Prince expand his power so recklessly.

After all, the greater the power of the crown prince, the more dangerous the Qianxi Emperor would feel.

“Uncle, the Crown Prince said that he has already reported this matter to His Majesty, and His Majesty has agreed.” Fuheng said, “Your previous illness had already angered His Majesty.”

“If you cause any more trouble, I’m afraid His Majesty won’t look too good.” Fu Heng’s words still left some face for his uncle.

His meaning was very clear: Emperor Qianxi already had objections to Ma Qi's illness, and if you were to cause trouble again now, it would only make Emperor Qianxi even more upset.

In situations like this, you absolutely must not do anything reckless or self-destructive.

Ma Qi picked up his cup, took a sip of water to calm himself down, and then said in a deep voice, "The Crown Prince's plan is quite shrewd."

"However, I estimate that the Crown Prince doesn't have much silver on hand."

"Don't you have quite a few classmates? Tell them to exchange the silver from Yuqing Bank as soon as possible."

"Just say... just say that all other promises are empty words, only having the money in your own hands is truly reassuring."

Upon hearing this instruction, Fuheng frowned.

To be honest, he really didn't want to do something that was thankless and exhausting.

After all, there are many spies of the court in the capital now, and my little tricks might fall into the eyes of Emperor Qianxi.

Once the emperor finds out about his actions, even if his uncle is Ma Qi, Emperor Qianxi will not punish him, but it is certain that he will not be given an important position.

Why didn't your uncle let his own son, Fuliang, do something so dangerous?

It's just that they're afraid of ruining Furan's future!

At this moment, Fuheng was filled with resentment, but no matter how much resentment he felt, he still had to obediently agree to the matter.

Because he couldn't afford to offend Ma Qi.

"Yes!"

Ma Qi waved his hand, signaling Fu Heng to leave.

Watching Fuheng's departing figure, Ma Qi's eyes turned cold, but then he picked up the salary book again and quietly began to read it.

While Ma Qi was looking at the salary book, Emperor Qianxi was also looking at the salary book.

However, he wasn't looking at the contents, but rather at the cover of the salary book.

The words on the cover of the salary book were written by him!

Emperor Qianxi was not particularly narcissistic about his calligraphy.

At that moment, he only saw one thing: eight slightly smaller characters written on the salary book.

Those who receive the emperor's bounty must serve him faithfully!
Writing this line below the salary book pleased Emperor Qianxi greatly; it was truly a good thing.

In the past, issuing salaries meant that officials would collect money.

But now, with this salary book, Emperor Qianxi inexplicably felt a sense of high-end sophistication and class.

This salary seems to be associated with an official seal.

Just as Emperor Qianxi was lost in thought, Zhao Chang quietly approached.

As a confidant of Emperor Qianxi, Zhao Chang would come to Emperor Qianxi's side almost every day to report on everything that happened in the palace.

Emperor Qianxi put down the salary book in his hand and suddenly noticed that Zhao Chang's expression as he looked at the salary book carried a hint of envy.

After a moment's hesitation, Emperor Qianxi casually asked, "You want this too?"

Zhao Chang never expected that his little actions would attract the attention of Emperor Qianxi.

However, he knew he absolutely could not lie to Emperor Qianxi, otherwise his life would be in danger.

So he said sincerely, "This servant also hopes that one day I can have such a salary, just like those officials of the previous dynasty, to eat the emperor's food and serve the emperor faithfully!"

Upon hearing Zhao Chang's words, Emperor Qianxi laughed heartily and said, "If you want it, what's so difficult about that? I'll have the Crown Prince make one for you later."

At this point, as if he had thought of something, Emperor Qianxi said with a hint of solemnity in his voice, "The eunuchs in the palace who have ranks will also be issued such salary books in the future."

“You should also have a salary commensurate with your position.”

Upon hearing Emperor Qianxi's words, Zhao Chang quickly knelt on the ground to express his gratitude.

After Emperor Qianxi helped Zhao Chang to his feet, he asked in a deep voice, "How is the palace today?"

"Your Majesty, everything is normal in the palace. The Crown Prince went to the Ministry of Revenue today to submit his salary book, and then went to Yuqing Bank to arrange for his salary to be collected tomorrow..."

Zhao Chang's voice was unpleasant as news about the Crown Prince quickly reached Emperor Qianxi's ears.

Emperor Qianxi was well aware of the Crown Prince's actions.

"After the Crown Prince returned, besides taking a stroll in the back garden with the Crown Princess, he also spent four rounds of mahjong with the Empress Dowager..."

If the previous events concerning the Crown Prince were within Emperor Qianxi's expectations, then the current events concerning the Crown Prince have surprised him somewhat.

He hadn't expected that the Crown Prince would have time to play mahjong with the Empress Dowager at this time.

Is he unaware of the dangers that lie ahead?

After a moment's thought, Emperor Qianxi casually asked Zhao Chang, "Do any of you ministers have anything to say about this year's salary budget?"

"Your Majesty, I have heard many things about the salary book. Although the stories are different, their main concern now is whether they can use the salary book to withdraw silver from Yuqing Bank."

Zhao Chang said respectfully, "Some people are even spreading alarmist rumors, saying that it's best to keep the money in your pocket."

"Otherwise, it will be troublesome if Yuqing Bank refuses to acknowledge the debt."

Emperor Qianxi merely gave a cold snort in response to this statement and said nothing more.

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(End of this chapter)