Quick Wear: Under the Skirt, All Beings Are Equal

The old emperor doesn't take care of state affairs now. He doesn't even attend the morning court except for the monthly grand court meeting. He leaves all matters to Tang Ran.

The Prime Minister's Mansion has now become a small court.

Tang Ran frowned more and more as he flipped through the account book, while the Minister of Revenue below him kept raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Not only is there not a penny in the account, but it actually owes more than 3000 million taels of silver." Tang Ran was so angry that she laughed.

Disaster relief doesn’t cost money?

Fighting bandits for free?

It doesn’t cost money to maintain an army?

Not to mention the need to pay salaries to civil and military officials, as well as maintain the living expenses of the royal family.

As it turned out, I not only had no money to do anything, but I also owed so much.

Tang Ran's face was extremely ugly. He took a group of ministers to the treasury. After opening the door, only a few hungry rats were running around.

The Minister of Revenue was filled with shame: "I am incompetent."

Natural disasters have occurred frequently in recent years, and people can hardly eat, let alone pay taxes.

Tang Ran took a deep breath and began to think about how to make money.

If we don't make money, we will have no choice but to watch the disaster victims in the Jiangnan area starve to death and watch uprisings break out all over the country.

He also knew that the old emperor's private treasury had been emptied and all used to replenish the national treasury. Now the rewards given to the concubines in the harem were nothing more than calligraphy and paintings written by the old emperor himself.

The queen also took the lead in reducing expenses. She replaced many of the porcelains in her palace with fakes and sold all the genuine ones to fill the huge hole in the national treasury.

The old emperor said that two-thirds of the empress's dowry had been sold, and many concubines and princesses in the palace also took out their own private money.

But these are just a drop in the bucket.

When the officials under him calculated the amount of silver needed, the astronomical figure was like a bolt from the blue that hit Tang Ran on the head, making him dizzy.

Otherwise, just kill him.

Even if you cut him into pieces and sell them by weight you still wouldn't get that much money.

Tang Ran glanced at the ministers sitting below. Each of them had their necks hunched and was looking at him with sad faces.

Especially when he saw those ministers who were a generation older than him, their white hair was very eye-catching, but now they were blinking their little eyes and looking at him with expectation on their faces.

After all, the court had delayed paying salaries for two months.

Apart from those corrupt officials, many honest officials’ families are barely able to make ends meet.

Tang Ran waved her hand, "Everyone, go away. Go back and think about how to solve these problems. Give me a plan tomorrow."

He soon set his sights on the merchants of Northern Qi, thought for a while, and then picked up his pen to write a recruitment order.

The next day, the order to recruit talents was handed to the ministers. When everyone saw it, they were shocked.

Although the prime minister's writing is brilliant, the content is not as good as it seems. The current official selection system is the imperial examination, and the prime minister suddenly issued a call for talents, which is obviously not aimed at ordinary scholars.

"What do you think?" Tang Ran looked at them.

Everyone present knew very well that no matter how nice the words sounded, they could not cover up the fact of buying and selling official positions.

They looked at each other, and no one dared to be the first to speak. If they were not careful, they would be infamous for eternity and would definitely be condemned by writers all over the world.

Oh, not accidentally, but absolutely.

Look at that person who was infamous for thousands of years and brought disaster to the court. Didn’t he also do these things?

"Mr. Prime Minister, this is inappropriate."

Tang Ran was very calm: "Then can you raise 200 million silver?"

Everyone was silent. What does 200 million silver coins mean?

According to their salaries, they would have to have been officials since at least three thousand years ago, working without eating, drinking or using anything, to be able to save so much money today.

Chen Ran said, "But selling official positions and titles is still a taboo in the country. It will shake the foundation of the country. How can the court explain this to students all over the world? Once this is announced, the court's prestige among the people will be greatly reduced."

"What about the people?"

Tang Ran glanced at them coldly, not failing to see the disapproval on their faces, and said, "It's just giving them some powerless official positions. This matter has been decided. If anything happens, I will take full responsibility."

Liu Deyuan stood up immediately and said, "The Prime Minister is wise and is willing to bear the infamy for the sake of the people of the world, which makes us feel inferior. I am an incompetent official, but I am willing to follow the Prime Minister and donate my three years' salary to do my best."

Tang Ran was very satisfied with having such a subordinate who knew how to adapt to the times.

Now that the decision had been made, Tang Ran quickly set about carrying it out. This action caused an uproar, and countless merchants quietly came to the Prime Minister's Mansion with large amounts of silver and money.

Tang Ran was also very generous. For those who paid a lot of money, he either sold them honorary titles or some insignificant official positions, making those businessmen very happy and moved, and they left in tears.

The corners of their mouths were almost stretched to their ears, and they couldn't hide their excitement.

A young man was holding his appointment letter, crying heart-wrenchingly.

Although these merchants are rich, everyone looks down on them wherever they go. Even the impoverished nobles will curse them if they catch them.

Moreover, merchants were forbidden to take the imperial examinations, so they could only do business from generation to generation, and they were eager to become officials.

Even though the prime minister did not give them any good official positions, it allowed many businessmen to cross class boundaries, and their descendants also benefited.

Who knows, they may be the next noble family.

"The Prime Minister is such a good man."

The young man wiped away his tears, couldn't help cheering, and wished he could run home immediately to share the good news with his family.

When he got home, he saw his father waiting for him with a stick, scolding him for being a spendthrift.

The man raised his head and put his hands behind his back, his attitude was so arrogant: "Dad, I advise you to respect me a little. From now on, our family tree will start from my page."

Old Man Song was so angry that he laughed.

"The family tree starts from your page, right?" He weighed the stick in his hand and said through gritted teeth, "You're still trying to persuade me to respect you. You're a prodigal son. You've emptied all the money in the family. What did you do with it?"

He wondered if Song Chenggui was addicted to gambling.

Song Chenggui curled his lips and said, "Too small, too small. Money is just a thing outside of the body. Dad, you need to broaden your horizons and take a longer-term view."

Old Man Song stared at him.

Could it be that my son took the wrong medicine?

Normally, when he sees me, he is like a mouse seeing a cat, but today he is so brave.

He is the richest man in Xuzhou, but this brat dares to play tricks on him.

Seeing that his father was really about to get angry, Song Chenggui didn't dare to keep it a secret any longer and handed over the thing in his hand. When his father saw the seal, his hands trembled with fear.

"Son, you didn't carve a fake seal, did you? This is a heinous crime that will exterminate your entire clan. I, your father, haven't lived long enough."

Song Chenggui's face was full of black lines, and he turned and left.

He sat directly in the highest seat and tapped the table lightly with his fan, signaling his father to pour tea.

Old Man Song: “…” I can’t bear it.

After Song Chenggui drank a sip of tea, he calmly laid out all the matters.