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

Chapter 87 People are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being strong.
Shen Ye was watching the show with an air of nonchalance, never expecting that he would become the main character so quickly.

Shen Ye understood somewhat why Emperor Qianxi had thrown him into this situation.

Besides testing the Crown Prince, it also gave him some time to think about how to handle the censor's memorial.

With all eyes on him, Shen Ye knew he had no choice but to keep quiet.

He glanced at Yang Menglong and said calmly, "Your Majesty, I believe that Censor Yang of the Censorate is right."

Ah!
Emperor Qianxi's face immediately turned cold.

What is the Crown Prince saying? At this crucial moment, how can he spout such nonsense and blatant lies!
Although Jin Fu, the governor of the waterways, cannot escape responsibility, at this time, no one understands the river works better than him.

Once the offender is convicted, it will take a long time for the river management department to return to normal operation.

Therefore, how could Emperor Qianxi possibly agree to such a request?
"Your subject believes that simply killing Jin Fu to appease the world is not enough. Jin Fu has served as the Governor-General of the Yellow River for so many years and has committed so many crimes, yet the censors of the Censorate have ignored them."

"This is dereliction of duty, a breach of responsibility!"

"Your subject requests that the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief of the Censorate, as well as fourteen other supervising censors, be executed to appease the people."

Yang Menglong's lips began to tremble!
If just now he thought the Crown Prince's agreement with him was a rare sign of a wise ruler, then now his first thought is that the Crown Prince is a great tyrant!

Although we are censors, we only submit memorials.

What, is there something wrong with this river? Are we going to be punished for this?
However, what the Crown Prince said did seem to make sense, and it seemed that we ourselves did indeed bear some responsibility for oversight.

If other ministers had made such a report, the censors of the Censorate would certainly have come out to debate it.

However, it was the crown prince who said this, and although they harbored resentment, they could only swallow their anger.

After all, there is a distinction between ruler and subject, and ordinary people would not be able to act freely when facing the crown prince.

Chen Tingjing, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, had a truly bitter expression on his face.

What did he do to deserve this? The crown prince is demanding his execution to appease the people.

He had nowhere to seek justice, since he was facing the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince said they had a problem, so even if they didn't, they still had a problem.

So the first thing he did was to apologize.

Only after confessing his guilt could he offer some explanation for himself, which was one of the benefits of being the crown prince.

"Your Majesty, I and the Censorate have failed to properly supervise the river works issue. Please forgive us!" Chen Tingjing stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "However, the River Works Office is too far from the capital. Although our Censorate has inspected its accounts, it is somewhat beyond our reach and difficult to discover problems in a timely manner."

Chen Tingjing's actions were quite normal: first plead guilty, then offer explanations, emphasizing a respectful attitude.

He knew that Emperor Qianxi would not punish him for the Crown Prince's words, but he still had to admit his guilt.

After Chen Tingjing finished speaking, Shen Ye bowed to Emperor Qianxi and said, "Father, the Left Censor-in-Chief Chen said that the Censorate has no influence over the River Works Department."

"I have no doubt about this!"

"However, just now, Imperial Censor Yang came up and said he would kill Jin Fu to appease the people, which made me think that the Censorate knew everything!"

Having said that, he shrugged and said, "Please, Father Emperor, understand!"

From the Left Censor-in-Chief to several supervising censors, everyone in the Censorate turned pale.

Chen Tingjing and Yang Menglong's words, taken individually, seem fine, but upon closer examination, they are self-contradictory.

Just as they were feeling distressed, Emperor Qianxi snorted and said, "I have summoned all of you ministers here today to discuss disaster relief."

"The Censorate should conduct an investigation instead of immediately resorting to violence and bloodshed."

"Say a bunch of useless nonsense."

Having said that, he waved his sleeve and said, "You may all leave." The censors, led by Chen Tingjing, exchanged glances and then slunk away.

Shen Ye, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, as if what had just been said had nothing to do with him.

Most of the people present actually had little affection for these censors who immediately started shouting for war.

Although we know that shouting for violence is their duty, it's really going too far to shout for violence and kill people before the matter has even been investigated.
So everyone watched all of this with smiles on their faces.

However, they became increasingly cautious about the Crown Prince.

Seeing that no one spoke, Emperor Qianxi turned his gaze to Mingzhu and said, "Mingzhu, you are the Grand Secretary in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. Tell me, what should we do about disaster relief?"

Mingzhu was well-prepared for this matter.

He calmly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, there are two most important things right now: one is to allocate funds for disaster relief to the affected areas;"

"The second thing is food."

"This flood has left too many people homeless. Only by feeding these people can we prevent them from causing trouble and creating chaos."

"I believe that the grain transported to the capital can be temporarily sent to the disaster-stricken areas, and the deficit in the Ministry of Revenue's granaries can be made up later."

"Furthermore, local governments near the disaster area can purchase grain from wealthy households and transport it to the affected areas."

To be objective, Mingzhu is quite capable; she outlined the tasks in detail as soon as she opened her mouth.

However, Shen Ye knew that although Mingzhu had said a lot, she had missed a crucial question: where would the money come from?

Emperor Qianxi clearly didn't want Mingzhu to get away with it so easily. He said calmly, "Mingzhu, how much disaster relief money do you think is needed?"

Mingzhu's forehead was beaded with sweat. He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Your Majesty, according to my and the Ministry of Revenue's estimates, two million taels of silver are needed."

"How much silver does the Ministry of Revenue currently have in its coffers?" Emperor Qianxi asked coldly.

Mingzhu was reluctant to answer the question, but she still avoided it and could only truthfully say, "The Ministry of Revenue still has 400,000 taels of silver as ballast."

"If the funds are transferred out, the Ministry of Revenue will have no money to allocate in case of any unforeseen circumstances."

"But this 400,000 taels is only a temporary solution!"

Above the court hall, there was silence.

Everyone present knew that any disaster relief without money was basically nonsense.

But in this situation, who can conjure up silver?

Ministry of Revenue?
Some people lowered their heads, fearing that Emperor Qianxi's gaze would fall upon them.

Some people's gazes unconsciously fell on Shen Ye, the crown prince.

The disaster relief for 200,000 victims was resolved without Shen Ye, the crown prince, spending not a single penny.

Now, does the Crown Prince have a way to get these two million taels of silver?

In fact, not only were these ministers looking at Shen Ye, but even Emperor Qianxi was looking at Shen Ye.

Although he was wary of the Crown Prince, Shen Ye's two actions made him deeply realize that the Crown Prince was quite capable in economic matters.

He was even more capable than some of the senior officials in the Ministry of Revenue who claimed to understand finance and economics.

Shen Ye noticed these gazes, and he knew what they were thinking. At that moment, he felt a sense of unease, like the saying "a man fears becoming famous, just as a pig fears becoming fat."

He did come up with some ways to raise money last night, but he was a little reluctant to give it away for no reason.

"Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue has no money for disaster relief. What should be done?" Emperor Qianxi finally turned his gaze to Shen Ye.

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(End of this chapter)