"The prince's performance today really makes me feel incredible."
"I was just worried that the prince would take the account book and threaten the officials in the court." After leaving the Tai Chi Hall, Yao Xiao looked at Chen Changfeng with admiration on his face.
Chen Changfeng turned around and smiled at Yao Xiaoren.
Although the ledger can threaten hundreds of officials, it will also make them completely stay away from Chen Changfeng.
It is basically impossible to poach them from the second and third princes.
It may even be counterproductive, making all of them hate themselves even more thoroughly.
Moreover, by allowing himself to dispose of the account book, the emperor had almost made it clear that he did not want to pursue the issue of this account book anymore.
If Chen Changfeng were to investigate again, he would be really desperate.
"It turns out that you, old Yaotou, looked worried when you came here just now. That's what you were worried about." Chen Changfeng said with a smile.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince handled the matter skillfully, I am not worried now." Yao Xiaoren smiled.
Chen Changfeng won a big victory today.
Not only did he help the emperor check his accounts, but he also got rid of the second prince's right-hand man, the Minister of Accounts.
Now that the position of Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue is vacant, Yao Xiaoren feels that the emperor will consider letting Chen Changfeng take over this position.
Although Chen Changfeng is the prince, he is not unable to hold specific positions in the court.
The third prince is still the Minister of War.
"Prince, if His Majesty decrees that the prince take over the post of Minister of Household Affairs, the prince must not refuse."
"The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the money and food of the Ming Dynasty. To put it bluntly, anyone who wants to do anything needs the approval of the Ministry of Revenue."
"And with the support of the Ministry of Revenue, His Highness the Crown Prince will easily make friends with hundreds of officials in the court. If the Crown Prince is interested, he can recruit some people under his command."
"The lower the reputation of the second and third princes, the more people you can attract, prince."
"It's just that recruiting people requires money. It's up to the prince to figure it out himself." Yao Xiaoren said what Chen Changfeng should pay attention to next.
Although the Ministry of Revenue is rich, Chen Changfeng must not use the money from the Ministry of Revenue to recruit people.
If the emperor knew about this, it would mean that the prince was not forming a force to fight against other princes.
That was because the prince was preparing to rebel and challenge the emperor.
Moreover, forming a force is definitely not just about recruiting one or two people.
The amount of money needed to spend is simply an astronomical figure.
…
When the emperor learned that Chen Changfeng had burned the account books in public, his face showed relief.
Chen Changfeng is a smart man.
Know your own thoughts.
The emperor became more and more satisfied with Chen Changfeng.
At this moment, the emperor was standing on the steps outside the Tai Chi Hall. He could see from a distance that in the square in front, officials' servants had already delivered boxes.
Without thinking too much about the heavy box, I knew it was the money they had embezzled over the years.
The emperor's face instantly turned cold.
If Chen Changfeng hadn't found out today, the Ming Empire wouldn't have known what it would have been like if it had been eaten away by these moths.
"Liu Xi, guess how much money these people have embezzled." The emperor's eyes fell on Liu Xi.
How did Liu Xi know how much corruption the officials in the imperial court had committed?
He didn't see the account book, so he could only cautiously give an approximate figure: "It should be a few million taels."
"A few million taels?" The emperor sneered: "Just the second and third sons, do you know how much they have embezzled?"
"One hundred and fifty-seven million taels!" The emperor spat out a number coldly.
Liu Xi was shocked.
More than eleven million taels of silver.
No wonder the emperor didn't even look at the second prince when he interceded for the Minister of Household Affairs today.
This more than 11 million taels of silver is almost the same as the Ming Empire's annual tax revenue.
And just the two princes were greedy for so much!
"This Ministry of Household Affairs, if you don't put someone who can make me feel at ease, I won't be able to sleep at night." The emperor suddenly said.
Liu Xi instantly realized that the emperor was considering the candidate for Minister of Household Affairs.
As the most important departments among the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War certainly cannot leave the position of Minister empty all the time.
What the emperor was more worried about was that the Minister of Revenue was engaging in corruption behind his back.
Liu Xi didn't speak. He, a eunuch, dared to speak about important matters in the court.
"Liu Xi, what do you think about me letting the prince take over as the Minister of Household Affairs?" The emperor's eyes fell on the square in front of him, but he didn't stop talking.
Liu Xi was shocked.
He suddenly realized that the emperor had completely trusted the prince.
Otherwise, why would you want to hand over the position of Minister of Revenue to the prince after experiencing something like this?
"This matter is all decided by His Majesty. How can I know this?" Liu Xi kept smiling, not daring to express any opinions.
The emperor glanced at Liu Xi and smiled lightly: "You old guy, you really like to play tricks."
"I won't force you, just tell me what your impressions are of these princes of mine."
Liu Xi knew that he could not escape.
He could only speak reluctantly: "The second prince is very talented, and most of the civil servants in the court support the second prince."
"The third prince is unparalleled in his bravery, and the generals also think that the third prince should take a step forward."
"As for the prince, I feel that although the prince's actions are a bit extreme, in the end he will find that what his highness did is correct."
"And His Majesty and the Crown Prince have been getting along very happily these days."
Liu Xi just clicked until then.
He doesn't support which prince will eventually become the Ming Emperor. To him, Liu Xi, it actually doesn't make much difference.
If the emperor is really gone, Liu Xi will either die or leave the palace.
But Liu Xi didn't say anything wrong.
The emperor and the prince have been getting along really well recently.
So much so that whenever he mentioned the prince, a faint smile would always appear on the emperor's face.
"Why do you talk nonsense, old man?" The emperor was not satisfied with Liu Xi's answer, and then said impatiently: "You will go to the East Palace later and tell that boy that he will remember to go to court tomorrow."
When Liu Xi heard this, he immediately realized that the emperor had already chosen the person to be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
If the predictions are correct, Prince Chen Changfeng will be the emperor's favorite candidate.
Otherwise, why would the emperor ask himself to inform the prince that he would go to court tomorrow?
…
"Snow!"
Chen Changfeng returned to the East Palace and walked around the courtyard where Tang Xueer often stayed, but there was no sign of her.
"Your Highness, the Crown Princess is writing a novel." Xiang'er poked her head out from the entrance of the courtyard.
"Still writing?" Chen Changfeng was stunned.
Tang Xueer has been busy with this matter these days.
But this is really too fascinating.
"I'll go take a look." Chen Changfeng said and went straight to where Tang Xueer was.
When she saw Tang Xueer, she was still biting the end of her pen, frowning slightly, thinking hard for a while.
Chen Changfeng was a little curious and gently picked up a piece of Tang Xueer's manuscript.
"Damn it, Xue'er, you wrote a forbidden book!" Chen Changfeng was dumbfounded.
Didn’t you say you were writing a novel?
Why is this something that makes Chen Changfeng blush when he sees it?
Tang Xueer was startled, and when she saw Chen Changfeng holding her manuscript, her face immediately turned red with embarrassment.
"Give it back to me." Tang Xueer shrank her head, not daring to look at Chen Changfeng, and then stretched out her hand to ask Chen Changfeng for the manuscript.
"Aren't you writing a novel?"
"Why did you write this?" Chen Changfeng saw that Tang Xueer was so ashamed that he returned the manuscript to her.
"Isn't this written crookedly?" Tang Xueer quickly put the manuscript away and hid it behind her, while muttering in a low voice with a red face behind her.