Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 123: This is deceiving God!
After the coming-of-age ceremony, the emperor and the empress left separately. All the royal family members, relatives by marriage, and wealthy families except the court officials left. The crown prince and a group of court officials held a court meeting in the Jiade Hall.

The topics discussed in today's court meeting are mostly about people's livelihood issues in various places after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Thanks to the court's quick response and the hasty uprisings of the Yellow Turbans in various places, the damage caused by the Yellow Turbans' looting was not too serious and did not cause too much loss. However, the prefectures and counties in various places actually tried to use the Yellow Turban rebellion as an excuse to greatly reduce the original 5 billion coins a year.

"Your Highness, Taishan County Governor Zhang Ju has submitted a letter stating that the Yellow Turbans are wreaking havoc in Taishan County, causing the people's livelihood to deteriorate, and bandits are rampant. Taxes collected are only two taels..." Huang Wan, the Minister of the Three Dukes, paused briefly, successfully piquing everyone's curiosity, before slowly continuing, "Twenty million coins."

Liu Bian narrowed his eyes slightly and said nothing.

He didn't know how much tax Taishan County collected the previous year, but this was a big county in the Central Plains, not a border county, so how could it only have 20 million coins in taxes a year?

"Minister Huang, how much tax did Taishan County pay last year?" Liu Bian looked at Huang Wan and asked.

"Taishan County has a population of 450,000, and last year's taxes were approximately 67 million coins."

Huang Wan seemed to have anticipated the prince's question and took out a detailed list of taxes in Taishan County last year from his sleeve. The eunuch Ding Su handed it to Liu Bian, in which the income items such as the change tax, mouth tax, calculation tax, and land tax were clearly listed.

"evil creature!"

"Does Zhang Ju think he's paying the price for his position as a 2,000-stone prefect?"

Liu Bian did not want to get angry on the day of his coming-of-age ceremony, but Zhang Ju's behavior was simply too much. Could it be that he treated him as one of those cowardly young emperors of the Later Han Dynasty who were still in their cradles and didn't know how to count?
When Yuan Pang was the governor of Yanzhou, he put down the rebellion of all the bandits in Yanzhou within two months after the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Now, only Qingzhou and Yizhou have remnants of the Yellow Turbans in the Han Dynasty, and there are still bandits in Jiaozhou who are colluding with the barbarians in Jiaozhou to gather in the mountains to become bandits. What other bandits are there?
Faced with the prince's questioning, everyone lowered their heads and remained silent, and no one dared to respond rashly.

Even though selling official positions and titles was, to some extent, a way for corrupt officials to bribe their superiors and sponsors, it was still an evil policy of the emperor in public.

The prince could speak frankly, but his ministers did not dare to agree with him.

"Your Highness, the Magistrate of Mount Tai, Zhuge Gui, has also submitted a memorial detailing the taxes collected by Zhang Ju last year, totaling 100 million coins. Zhang Ju is a traitor, forcing the people to pay their taxes in the name of the Emperor. He also levied various taxes under the guise of the Crown Prince, including the 'Tax to Suppress Bandits' and the 'Tax for Peace'. The people of Mount Tai are suffering terribly."

Liu Bian laughed in anger, the muscles on his face twitched slightly, and his eyes were burning with anger.

You want to play the same trick on him, right?
A tax to punish thieves or a tax to protect peace?
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the national treasury was so empty, but he did not impose additional taxes on the people. Instead, his benevolent heart was taken advantage of by this group of scoundrels, who took the opportunity to levy heavy taxes?
"You're deceiving the heavens!"

Liu Bian stood up suddenly in anger and threw the memorial in his hand. The bamboo slips drew an arc in the air and landed right in front of Jia Xu.

If I use more force, it will probably hit him on the head.

"Why is Censor Jia silent?"

Suddenly, Liu Bian's gaze fell on Jia Xu, who had remained silent all the time, and Jia Xu trembled when his name was called.

He was the governor of Henan and also the Imperial Censor.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince always called him "Mr. Jia" or "Wenhe", but now he called him "Censor Jia", which showed that he was dissatisfied with him.

"I will personally oversee this matter, and have my officers investigate the facts. I will submit a detailed report within ten days." Jia Xu remained calm, his face unperturbed. He slowly stood up from his seat, holding his tablet, and bowed respectfully to the Crown Prince. Then he said, "However, since I became the Governor of Henan, I have been toiling day and night with paperwork, and I am exhausted, as if carrying a heavy burden."

As he spoke, Jia Xu sighed slightly, his back bent even deeper, as if he were truly carrying a heavy burden. He said, "The Embroidered Uniform Censor is responsible for exposing and prosecuting lawbreakers. This position requires only the strongest and most capable. My talent is weak, and my strength is exhausted. I fear I will fail Your Highness's earnest trust. I humbly request that you appoint someone worthy and capable. This will benefit the state, and I, humbled, will be grateful."

Liu Bian glanced at Jia Xu and snorted coldly.

Look, this is Jia Xu.

He didn't make excuses or quibble, but instead set his stance straight, proposed remedial measures, and then took the opportunity to resign, thus avoiding excessive power. Hey, did you think he was retreating to advance?

No, this guy is just trying to protect himself!
"It's alright. I understand your hard work." Liu Bian looked at Jia Xu with a smile that seemed to carry some deep meaning. "You can go and investigate. If you can mend the fence after the sheep have been lost, the merits and demerits can be offset."

The expression on Jia Xu's face froze instantly. It was said that the Embroidered Uniform Envoy of Taishan County had not reported it, so it was most likely that he was colluding with Zhang Ju inside and outside. Your Highness, can you forgive me for this mistake?

But he still wanted to make one last effort, so he asked cautiously, "What if I am unfortunate enough to remedy the situation?"

"Then I can only let Wenhe be abandoned."

Jia Xu suddenly raised his head and looked at the prince. The prince still had a gentle smile on his face, but he uttered such cold words.

"I was just joking with you. Wenhe, just focus on this matter. There's no need to rush. Take your time."

Looking at the prince's unchanging smile, Jia Xu felt an inexplicable chill on his back. Although the prince has always been loyal and righteous, and once swore an oath by the Luo River, he always felt that the prince's words "take it slow" were just a joke!

"I ask you to investigate immediately!"

Looking at Jia Xu's fleeing back, Liu Bian's lips curled up slightly.

Jia Wenhe is still the same. He will never take the initiative to move forward unless someone whips him from behind.

However, just after Jia Xu left the Jiade Hall, he put on his shoes and jogged all the way. His pace gradually slowed down as if he was exhausted. Finally, he stopped by the side of the road, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily, hunching his waist, supporting his hands on his knees, and his chest heaving violently.

The eunuch who had been following Jia Xu all the way came to his side breathlessly and stretched out his hand to help Jia Xu to rest aside, but Jia Xu refused with a flick of his sleeves and continued to walk out of the palace step by step.

However, if the eunuch had looked carefully, he would have noticed that the anxiety and eagerness in Jia Xu's eyes when he rushed out of Jiade Hall had long disappeared, and was replaced by a cunning smile at the corner of his mouth that was no less than that of the prince.

Why should he be so anxious? Why would it take ten days to investigate such a matter?

The prince took away his position as the Embroidered Robe Censor, thus fulfilling his wish to keep himself safe.

As long as the prince did not take away his position as the Embroidered Uniform Censor, he would continue to hold on to this power.

No matter what decision the prince makes, he will definitely win.

And no matter what decision the prince makes, the first thing he has to ensure is the prince's trust.

Doesn't it matter to him whether the power is real or not?
All he had to do was act like he wasn't obsessed with power and was even happy with a leisurely life.

If the prince did not take away his position as the Embroidered Robe Censor, he needed to behave like this to reassure the prince.

If the prince took away his position because he didn't trust him, he had to behave like this to reassure the prince.

Of course, everything was just a tacit game between the king and his ministers.

Jia Xu strode out of the palace gate and headed straight for the Embroidered Uniform Censor's Mansion.

(End of this chapter)