newbobooks Chapter 12 Let's raid their house!
Chapter 12 Let's raid their house!
[On the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the Crown Prince took off running, and the Emperor gave chase. He pursued and fled, but the Crown Prince could not escape.]
Zhang Sheren pinched his philtrum hard.
God's father can't escape even if he grows wings. The one chasing him so hard he could barely breathe isn't the Emperor, could it be a ghost?
The Crown Prince is indeed young; he runs incredibly fast, and the old emperor can't keep up at all.
But the old emperor had an advantage; the Dragon Scale Guards captured the crown prince in no time.
Zhang Sheren: It's really impossible to escape now.
"Father, Emperor, Your Majesty, you can't do this, ah!"
"What are you saying?"
I haven't even started fighting yet.
The old emperor, furious, puffed out his beard and waved his hand, pulling the crown prince to his own Zichen Palace.
Although he was angry, he still knew his limits.
The Crown Prince still needs to be given face, even if he doesn't want it himself, but his father has to be mindful.
So it was inappropriate to spank the crown prince in front of all the ministers, but in his own Zichen Palace, there was nothing wrong with spanking him.
So even after the court session ended, many people remained.
Nonsense, the royal family's entertainment is the best.
Shen Zhiyi stood hesitantly outside the Zichen Palace shop, listening to the chaotic screams coming from inside.
He happily picked up his pen.
[Hehe, on the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the Emperor, for reasons unknown, brutally beat the Crown Prince, demonstrating the deep affection between father and son.]
The prince, sobbing, bit his handkerchief and whispered, "Where did this little bit of affection come from?"
The old emperor listened and felt something was off: it sounded like he was the one who was capricious and unpredictable.
But that's not important. What's important is this brat.
"Tell me, explain yourself properly, did you write all these letters?"
The crown prince chuckled and said, "I never expected it to be written for you, Father. If I had known, I certainly wouldn't have written it."
"Ha, your woman is exchanging letters with other men right in front of you, and you even help her write them!"
[The Crown Prince is truly a man of great literary talent; there is a handsome man I think of so much, so much, so much longing for him.]
Shen Zhiyi's heartfelt words resonated deeply.
The old emperor, thinking of the possibility that those officials in the capital might overhear this, tugged at the few sheets of paper in his hand.
"Your handwriting is like a dog's crawl, and your writing is like your missing teeth. If you haven't practiced your handwriting and writing skills properly since returning from the disaster relief efforts in Jiangnan, you are not allowed to leave the Eastern Palace."
The Crown Prince protested, "Father, why do you think it's good just because it was written by my concubine, but not because it's good? Father, you have to treat everyone equally."
"You are the Crown Prince."
"Then we don't want the son."
"You are the Crown Prince."
"I don't want my son anymore."
"You are the Crown Prince."
……
"I want my son."
Finally, the crown prince left through gritted teeth, received the imperial decree, and prepared to go to Jiangnan for disaster relief. Then, an awkward situation arose.
[On the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), the Emperor summoned his ministers to discuss the drought in Jiangnan, because while there was no money to be had, there were countless lives to be given.]
Such honest words, but is it really okay to write them into the daily records like this?
The Minister of Revenue wiped away his tears and said in a heavy tone, "Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty."
"You're in charge of the money, so you'd better figure something out."
Minister of Revenue: ...
Poor Minister of Revenue, what a heartless boss!
When will these unscrupulous bosses understand that some things don't just spring from a rock with a few words? Do they think they're Sun Wukong?
Although he didn't know who Sun Wukong was, the Minister of Revenue understood that Shen Zhiyi was speaking up for him.
"Your Majesty, the previous dynasty was arrogant and extravagant, with numerous exorbitant taxes. Since its establishment, Daye has exempted the people from most of the taxes. Moreover, the country is in dire need of reconstruction, and there are many places to spend money. The income is insufficient to cover the expenditure, and the national treasury is empty."
The old emperor asked in bewilderment, "Haven't we been saving money for over twenty years? Why are we still short of funds?"
No emperor in any dynasty could be as miserable as him, living in a palace left by the previous dynasty, using a carriage left by the previous dynasty, and eating... well, that's his own food.
Since Da Ye was poor, he set an example by encouraging frugality throughout the country.
This frugality has lasted for more than twenty years.
[Tsk, money isn't something you save up; I've never heard of anyone getting rich by saving money.]
Old Emperor: “…”
"So what do you think we should do? We can't just ignore the disaster victims in the disaster area."
The old emperor was having a headache; he had to provide disaster relief and crack down on corrupt officials.
The Minister of Revenue pondered for a moment: "Your Majesty, how about we postpone the Grand Canal project for now?"
"Fart you!"
The Minister of Works acted as if he had stepped on someone's tail.
"Your Majesty, please don't listen to him. From a long-term perspective, once the Grand Canal is opened, connecting the economic zones of the north and south, the future development of Daye will only become more prosperous."
"It's only temporary."
"It won't work for now either. Every hour wasted will cost a lot of money in the future."
The Minister of Revenue was furious: "So, Minister Wang means that you don't care about the lives of the disaster victims?"
"of course not."
"Then tell me, what about the money?!"
"do not know!"
Old Emperor: “…”
The prince was happily cracking open sunflower seeds, almost bursting out laughing.
He quieted down after being glared at by his father.
The crown prince clapped his hands and asked, "Approximately how much silver can the national treasury still produce?"
"If we reduce expenses in many ways, we can scrape together 30,000 taels of silver at most."
[My goodness! A country this size can only come up with 30,000 taels of silver for disaster relief? It's laughable.]
Everyone: Sometimes you can be more tactful and don't have to be so direct. Don't they have any pride?
I suspect that to produce 30,000 taels of silver, they must have confiscated it from the home of the Minister of Personnel.
The truth is out, Big Soap.
[Wait a minute, isn't the Minister of Personnel supposed to have a very solid financial background?]
Minister of Revenue: No matter how substantial the funds are, they can't support such a large country. There are other expenses for those funds. After deducting other expenses, he has already used all the remaining money for disaster relief.
[Or maybe we should just continue and confiscate their property.]
The moment Shen Zhiyi conceived this idea, all the ministers present knelt down in fear.
Regardless of the dynasty, there might only be a handful of completely incorruptible officials every few decades.
In short, no one is immune to greed.
It's just a matter of how much or how little you're greedy.
The old emperor, seeing all his ministers kneeling down, smashed a teacup on the table in anger.
[On the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), the Emperor, in a fit of rage, smashed his cup. His heart was heavy with the plight of the disaster victims in Jiangnan, and he condemned his ministers as useless and incompetent.]
Ministers: Who taught you to write the daily records like this!
The Minister of Revenue snorted coldly, determined to get his revenge.
"Your Majesty, we can appeal to the whole country to donate money. With everyone working together, we will surely be able to help the people in the disaster area overcome their difficulties."
[This is truly brilliant! The people down below are reduced to gnawing on tree bark. They don't come to them when they need money, but they come to them when they need it. Who's going to donate?]
[Wealthy merchants, needless to say, were already doing well enough not to take advantage of the chaos to become unscrupulous traders. With Daye continuing its policy of prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, many of those merchants were quite angry.]
Everyone was silent.
If you ask me, raiding their homes is the quickest way.
Wow, Minister of Revenue, you are amazing!
The Minister of Revenue felt a heavy blow to his forehead, which slammed hard onto the ground.