Hidden in the court

Lowe also sighed.

This is a fact. The court is famous for its bad fathers and bad sons. The most prominent ones are the Minister of Revenue Jia Qian and his two sons Jia Ren and Jia Yi.

How many of the people who passed the imperial examinations were poor people? Most of them went to the local areas, and when they came to the court, they no longer had their original intentions. Even if there were some, they were like rootless duckweed, and they would be destroyed in an instant.

"Ugh--"

"So that's why your majesty wants Ji Mingshang and the crown prince to preside over the summer harvest in the south. It's for training and also to establish your authority?"

"Not really, I just heard from Jia Qian that the prince was an expert in math when he was in the Ministry of Revenue, so I wanted to take a look."

Nangong Lin laughed, and Luo Wei was also happy to see this. Ji Mingshang was traveling far away, he couldn't possibly climb over my wall again, right?

Ji Mingshang returned home and wrote a letter.

"My father has informed me that I have been adopted by His Majesty as his son and will be heading south to oversee the summer harvest. I have been appointed to an important position, so don't worry."

After writing it, he asked someone to deliver the letter.

Ji Mingshang suddenly smiled and wanted to write the word "traitor" directly on it.

"Ruyan, clean up the mess..."

Halfway through shouting, he came to his senses and said, "Okay, it's better for everyone to leave."

Nangong Lin asked his son to go to Jinling, and Nangong Xiao naturally obeyed the order, but Nangong Bian refused.

"Father, how could you let my brother preside over the summer harvest? It would be a mess!"

Nangong Lin glared at his daughter. "Ji Jun is in charge, and your brother is just helping out. You know, your brother is the crown prince and Ji Jun is my adopted son. If they don't do something big, will anyone obey? Okay, you don't have to say anything. Mengyang, not only must you promise not to persecute the people and collect all the taxes, but you must also get rid of those corrupt officials and give us Liangwu back our blue sky and white sun."

"Yes, I will remember this."

"Go pack up and leave tomorrow."

After Nangong Lin left, Nangong Bian angrily said to his brother: "How could Father be so? The taxation in the south is notoriously chaotic. The scale is huge, the calculation methods are numerous, the officials and the people are in collusion, and the officials protect each other. It is impossible to completely eradicate it."

It’s no wonder that Nangong Lin was so angry. He was just too angry.

Summer harvest is the first time that grain matures in a year. It is not only about the people's grain harvest, but also summer taxes. Generally, the harvest is collected by the prefectures and then sent to the capital. The tax laws of different prefectures are slightly different. There are many fields among the people and they are scattered. The number of fields and the quality of the fields are different, and the tax burden is different. As a result, it is difficult for the court to send people to check. The amount of tax collected is naturally decided by the officials in various places. Over the years, the area has become a "spider web". Apart from other things, the teams that lined up to preside over the summer harvest can collectively "slip" and fall off the cliff, which is really difficult to track down.

Nangong Lin had no choice but to think of letting Ji Mingshang and the Crown Prince go. If you have the guts, let the Prince of Jin and the Crown Prince fall off the cliff together!

Back to this point, Nangong Xiao understood the pros and cons of this matter after hearing what she said. In addition, he was born in a poor family, so he naturally knew how much tax the people paid in a year. He was also more determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Alas... I think since I passed the imperial examination, I have been taken care of by the Nanyang Prefecture, and I have forgotten my original intention."

Nangong Bian didn't think so. "Brother has gone through many hardships, and he cares about the world. He is a man of great responsibility, and he will definitely be a wise ruler."

Nangong Xiao smiled innocently, "Sister, how much do you know? Tell me, so that we can prevent any trouble before it happens."

The next day, Ji Mingshang and Nangong Lin's convoy set out for Jinling and arrived at the post station in the evening.

The firelight flickered, and Ji Mingshang suddenly saw a strange personal soldier beside the prince's carriage.

"Hey, you, stop looking, just you, come here."

The fully armed guard came closer, and the armor on his face turned red.

Ji Mingshang brought his personal soldiers with him this time. Three hundred of them were armed to the teeth, just to prevent anyone from taking desperate measures. In addition, there were also five hundred imperial guards of the crown prince, which was considered routine.

"How long have you been a guard?"

"My Lord, it's only been two months. I was selected in the last selection."

"Oh--"

Ji Mingshang seemed to suddenly understand and said "oh".

"You put it on?"

The guard was stunned, not knowing what he was saying, and asked again: "What did you say?"

Ji Mingshang looked down, "I'm asking if you are tall..."

Before he could finish his words, he was startled, pulled his arm, turned over, locked his wrists behind his back, and pressed his other hand on the back of his neck.

The soldier was unable to react in time and let out a thin cry of surprise and then cried out in pain.

"Who are you? None of my personal soldiers are shorter than me, and your hands are so delicate and tender. How did you become a soldier? What do you want to do?"

Ji Mingshang roared, making the entire post station alert in an instant. There was a clanging sound, and swords were unsheathed, surrounding the two men.

Nangong Xiao also ran out and saw Ji Mingshang escorting a personal soldier. He asked in confusion, "Brother Ji, what happened?"

"He is not one of ours. Take off his mask."

The soldiers made way for Nangong Xiao. Nangong Xiao walked closer and reached out to remove the visor.

A familiar voice was heard, as soft as a mosquito's hum, and only Nangong Xiao and Ji Mingshang could barely hear what was said.

"Brother, it's me."

Nangong Xiao stopped extending his hand. Ji Mingshang saw that something was not right and immediately called for the people around him to retreat. Together with Nangong Xiao, they took the person away.

"Keep watch, don't let even a fly in, and also, check the surroundings."

When they got to the room, the man took off his mask himself, and it was none other than Nangong Bian.

"Bian'er, why did you follow me secretly? It's full of dangers. Father doesn't know this, right?"

"I came here precisely because of the dangers. The tax problem in the South has been going on for a long time. Brother, you are kind-hearted. How can you defeat those people?"

It’s understandable that Nangong Bian is worried about her brother’s safety, but her brother doesn’t look very happy either.

"I will naturally be careful. As for you, I will send some imperial guards to escort you back to the capital."

"No return!"

Nangong Bian turned and left, and said to Ji Mingshang: "Brother, where do I live?"

Ji Mingshang chuckled and winked at Nangong Xiao, "I'll have someone clean up the next door. Have a good rest tonight and continue on our journey tomorrow morning."

As soon as Nangong Bian left, Nangong Xiao looked at Ji Mingshang with resentment.

"Brother Ji, you..."

"What do you mean by you? What do you mean by me? Besides, we've come so far, and you're still sending people back? In my opinion, your sister is much smarter than you. She might be very useful to you. Be good and go to sleep."

Back in the imperial palace in Beijing, Nangong Lin was looking at Hu Die, while Old Man Hu was sitting beside him.

"Ying'er, I know you don't want to be a princess, and I've wronged you these days. You are sensible, and there is no precedent for women serving as officials in our dynasty, and you can understand..."

"Your Majesty, don't say more, I understand..."

Hu Die's answer seemed calm, but how could the two of them not hear the disappointment in her voice?

A girl who had made it her goal to revitalize her family since she was young, and gave everything for it, even her identity as a girl. However, after being conferred the title, she lost her goal and became a vase.

It would be hard for anyone to accept.

Nangong Lin suddenly laughed out loud, "No, you don't understand."