The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 98 Would Lord Yang be willing to make some money?

"The reason I have summoned you all here today is simple. Although I have appointed Hu Weiyong as acting prime minister, he is only acting prime minister. Apart from investigating this blank seal case, he has no other authority. Therefore, you do not need to obey his orders!"

"Only my grandfather could truly appoint the position of prime minister. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock.

They initially thought Hu Weiyong lacked sufficient qualifications, and although he obtained the position of prime minister by betraying Li Shanchang, they believed he wouldn't last long.

Unexpectedly, His Highness the Crown Prince had no intention of letting him sit in this position at all.

Now he's just being asked to handle the blank seal case. After he finishes it, nobody knows what the outcome will be.

Thinking about what happened in the court today, it was all a scheme orchestrated by Zhu Xiong Ying from beginning to end.

Li Shanchang was one of those involved, as was Hu Weiyong.

Yang Siyi was the first to speak up in agreement.

"Before His Majesty went on his tour, he summoned us to let His Highness the Crown Prince oversee the country. That shows his trust in His Highness the Crown Prince. We only need to obey His Highness the Crown Prince's orders. Since His Highness the Crown Prince has given the order, we will obey!"

The other ministers followed suit.

"I'll obey!"

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at Yang Si Yi with increasing satisfaction.

As expected of Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite money bag, he really has some skills. With such a sense of opportunism, no one in the entire court can compare to him except for Uncle Xu Da.

Ask any king in the world, which one wouldn't love such a minister?

It would have been more appropriate to have him in the position of prime minister.

However, the position of Minister of Revenue is of paramount importance, and currently, apart from Minister Yang, there is no one else in the court suitable for it.

That's why Yang Siyi remained in the position of Minister of Revenue for more than ten years.

Yang Siyi looked at Zhu Xiong Ying and asked.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince, if I may be frank, in the past, all matters were reported by us to the Secretariat, which would then discuss and deliberate on them before finalizing the plan for Your Highness's review!"

"Now that the people of Hunan University no longer have the duties of a prime minister, I wonder who we should consult?"

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at Yang Si Yi and asked.

"I wonder what the esteemed elder thinks is the best course of action?"

Yang Siyi didn't expect Zhu Xiong Ying to pass the buck back to him, but he quickly realized what Zhu Xiong Ying meant.

"In your opinion, this old minister, it would be better to present all these memorials to His Highness for his decision!"

Zhu Xiong Ying was extremely pleased with Yang Si Yi's words.

This old fellow truly lives up to his reputation as someone who has been immersed in officialdom for many years; he understands things instantly.

Talking to him saved me a lot of trouble.

"Since Lord Yang thinks this is appropriate, then let's do it this way. In the future, if there are any matters, minor matters can be accompanied by draft documents, and the most suitable handling method can be selected before I handle it. As for important matters, you can all come to me for discussion until the Emperor returns. Do you have any opinions?"

The ministers looked at each other.

Yang Siyi and Zhu Xiong Ying have already finalized the matter in a coordinated manner, and even if they have objections now, it probably won't make any difference.

In any case, they were all just handling official business, so whether the decision was made by the Crown Prince or the Prime Minister made little difference. On the contrary, with so many matters to deal with, the Crown Prince certainly wouldn't have much energy to process them all, which gave them a lot more autonomy and indirectly elevated their positions as Ministers of the Six Ministries. Thinking of this, the group felt a little smug.

"I have no objection!"

"In that case, gentlemen, please return. Before the palace gates are closed tonight, please present all matters concerning your respective departments!"

Just as the group was about to leave, Zhu Xiong Ying spoke again.

"Lord Yang, please wait!"

Yang Siyi was somewhat curious. Did His Highness keep him behind for some other reason? However, he was not opposed to a grandson of the Crown Prince who could generate revenue for the Ministry of Revenue.

"I wonder what important matter His Highness the Crown Prince has summoned me for?"

"My lord, please don't be in such a hurry. The reason I've summoned you is to do something that can increase the national treasury's revenue. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Siyi sat up abruptly from the stool, his eyes shining, and he looked much younger than before.

"Please explain, Your Highness, that although the post stations are profitable, they still need to be expanded, which will consume a lot of money. There are many places in the Ming Dynasty that need money, and the Ministry of Revenue is really struggling to make ends meet!"

"If there's any way to make money, I'll be happy to help!"

If anyone else had said such things, Yang Siyi would have scoffed at them, but it was different if it was His Highness the Crown Prince.

Previously, His Highness the Crown Prince had only pointed out one way for them to expand the post stations and change their functions, which made the Ministry of Revenue a lot of money. Now that there are other ways to make money, how could he not be happy?

"Does Lord Yang still remember the newly available icing sugar?"

Yang Siyi nodded subconsciously. The newly emerging icing on the market was not only of good quality, but also extremely cheap.

Even the Qian family, who have been in this business for many years, cannot compare with it.

But this matter was clearly handled by the Empress.

Yang Siyi felt as if he had been doused with cold water when he thought of this.

The Ministry of Revenue was indeed short of money, but it didn't dare to steal money from Empress Ma's pocket. If Emperor Zhu found out, he might punish the entire family.

"Your Highness, although the Ministry of Revenue is short of money, we would never dare to ask the Empress for help. If His Majesty finds out, my whole family will be ruined. I haven't lived enough yet, so please, Your Highness, give me a way out!"

Yang Siyi fell to his knees with a thud, cold sweat pouring down his face.

Zhu Xiong Ying pursed his lips, not expecting that Old Zhu still had a strong deterrent effect on the officials in the court.

"Lord Yang, you misunderstand. Although this icing business is indeed the Empress Dowager's business, it's already quite good that the business can be done in Yingtian Prefecture. It would be difficult to push it to other provincial administrations. Therefore, it's better to leave the business outside Yingtian Prefecture to the Ministry of Revenue. This is also the Empress Dowager's wish!"

Upon hearing that it wasn't about stealing Empress Ma's business, Yang Siyi became radiant and instantly came to life.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, if Your Highness is willing to entrust this business to our Ministry of Revenue, our Ministry of Revenue guarantees to handle this matter well!"

The frosting sugar is as white as snow, and its price is so cheap that its production cost is definitely not high.

Once this thing is adopted by the public, it will inevitably cause a heated discussion, and the amount of money involved will definitely not be small.

As for those merchants in the countryside who make a living from frosting sugar, what a joke! What do their lives have to do with me? As the Minister of Revenue, all I care about is money.

Money placed in the national treasury can benefit the people, but in their hands, it's nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.

(End of this chapter)