Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

The next day, at the hour of Mao.

On this May morning, the sky is already clearly visible.

Chu Ning, wearing purple royal robes, rode his horse to the gate of the palace.

"See His Royal Highness the King of Chu!"

At the palace gate, many officials bowed to Chu Ning.

Chu Ning was the only one in the entire Chu Dynasty who could make the aristocratic families surrender by his own strength.

Regardless of which side the officials belonged to, they all admired Chu Ning.

Chu Ning glanced at everyone, nodded and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, my lords."

As he was speaking, the sound of horse hooves was heard and the Second Prince Chu Ming rode over on his horse.

"Eighteenth brother, you are so majestic!" The second prince smiled with his eyes narrowed as he looked at Chu Ning, who was like the moon surrounded by stars.

"Brother, you are joking. I just arrived. You gentlemen are just too polite."

"Okay, go in early, the morning court is about to begin."

After saying this, the second prince dismounted from his horse and headed straight for the palace gate.

Chu Ning smiled slightly, said nothing more, and followed.

At the entrance of the Golden Palace, many princes and officials were already waiting. When they saw the Second Prince and Chu Ning coming, they all bowed to them.

The prince glanced at Chu Ning expressionlessly and said nothing.

Chu Ning is too popular now, and it is not appropriate to confront him at this moment!

What's more, the emperor personally invited Chu Ning to attend the morning court today. To make things difficult for him at this moment would be to offend the emperor.

While he was deep in thought, the eunuch's shrill voice rang out: "The auspicious time has arrived, and the morning court session has begun!"

Civil and military officials were divided into two groups according to the size of their titles and positions, and entered one after another.

Chu Ning, who was invited to attend the morning court for the first time, was the last one in line on the prince's side and followed everyone into the hall.

"Your Majesty has arrived~"

"Greetings to Father (Your Majesty)!"

The emperor glanced at everyone and nodded slightly: "My dear ministers, there is no need to be so polite!"

Sitting upright on the dragon throne, the emperor looked at Chu Ning with satisfaction: "I believe you all know that Chu Ning has recovered a lot of silver for the national treasury. The first thing to do in the morning court today is to reward him!

The treasury of our dynasty has been empty in recent years, which has led to our dynasty not daring to recruit too many soldiers, and even not daring to be too tough towards the outside world.

The silver Chu Ning recovered this time is enough for our dynasty to let go, clear away the haze, and revive the government!

For such a great achievement, how do you think I should reward Chu Ning?"

As soon as this was said, the scene was completely silent.

Although everyone knew that the emperor would reward Chu Ning, it was still unexpected that he would do so openly and proactively.

Seeing no one answer, the emperor raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "Why, do you think Chu Ning should not be rewarded?"

Everyone looked at each other and finally set their sights on the prime minister.

As the head of all officials, the prime minister naturally had to make the final decision on such important matters as rewards and honors.

Prime Minister Yang Wende knew he couldn't escape, so he had to bite the bullet and stand up, bowing and saluting:

"Your Majesty, the contribution made by His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu this time is in no way inferior to the military exploits he made in Bingzhou. He should be greatly rewarded!"

He first affirmed Chu Ning's contribution, but then changed the subject: "However, His Royal Highness the King of Chu is already the King of Qin, and has Bingzhou as his fiefdom. If you reward him again...

I really don't know what else I can reward you with, what do you think?"

All the civil and military officials were stunned.

After talking for so long, it seems like you didn't say anything and just threw the question back to me.

The emperor's mouth twitched, and he was speechless about this prime minister who was as slippery as a loach.

"My dear ministers, please tell me what you think." The emperor had no choice but to ask others.

There was silence again in the hall.

At this moment, the prince suddenly stood up and said with a serious face: "Father, since there is no way to increase the title and fiefdom, why not reward me with some silver."

Glancing at Chu Ning, the prince continued, "Everyone knows that the eighteenth brother is in charge of Bingzhou and is short of food and money. Rewarding him with silver can greatly relieve his pressure."

Compared with the conferment of titles and fiefdoms, giving silver is the most direct, but its impact is not significant.

Moreover, now that the imperial court has money, it will surely not be stingy with rewards.

After all, this silver was recovered by Chu Ning.

As soon as he finished speaking, officials under the prince immediately stood up and echoed him.

The Second Prince and others looked at each other upon seeing this, and then responded one after another.

The other officials reacted at this time.

The princes have a tacit understanding!

But think about it, this time the King of Chu has made such a great contribution and stole the limelight. As a prince, everyone would be wary of him.

When it comes to rewards, the princes certainly don't want Chu Ning to take advantage.

The ministers who reacted immediately stood up and agreed.

"Your Majesty, the prince is absolutely right!"

"Your Highness the King of Chu has suffered too much in Bingzhou. In the past, the imperial court had no money and could only let the King of Chu be self-sufficient. Now that the imperial court has money, it should really treat the King of Chu well!"

"I also think that silver should be rewarded."

"Your Majesty, please issue an order immediately!"

Liu Shouren, the acting Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, could not stand the words of the civil and military officials.

He stood up with a sullen face and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, the King of Chu has recovered hundreds of millions of silver for our dynasty, which has completely solved the problem of our dynasty's empty treasury. If such a contribution is only rewarded with silver, I'm afraid it will be disheartening."

The emperor knew that Liu Shouren was Chu Ning's man. He raised his eyebrows when he heard this, thinking, could this be Chu Ning's intention?

The emperor glanced at Chu Ning and saw that this guy had his head down, looking like he was waiting for an answer and didn't want to speak. He couldn't help but roll his eyes.

It's already this late, and you're still trying to play hard to get?

"What Liu Aiqing said makes sense!"

The emperor said calmly, "I wonder what Lord Liu thinks?"

"This……"

Liu Shouren glanced at Chu Ning, then slowly said: "Your Majesty, Bingzhou is located in a remote area and sparsely populated. If we can gather some refugees there, it will surely make Bingzhou's population prosperous.

There are many refugees in the fiefs of the princes. It is useless for them to stay there, so it is better to let them go to Bingzhou."

This is the news that Chu Ning sent someone to inform Liu Shouren last night.

Bingzhou today lacks nothing except population.

If you want to vigorously develop the population, it will take a certain amount of time. The fastest way is to snatch population from other places.

He concluded that this reward would definitely be blocked, so he took an alternative approach and chose to seize the population of other princes' fiefs.

However, population is the foundation of every fiefdom after all, so he can only focus his attention on the refugees.

In recent years, the Great Chu Dynasty has been plagued by natural disasters and man-made disasters, and there are many refugees. It is useless to stay in the fiefdoms of other princes, so it is better to go to Bingzhou.

With the fertile land contracting system, the fertile land development system, as well as refined salt mines and facial mask businesses, it is not a problem to feed many people.

After hearing Liu Shouren's suggestion, the emperor couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He looked at Chu Ning deeply and asked:

"Chun Ning, what do you think of Lord Liu's suggestion?"

Chu Ning stood out of the class, his face full of sternness: "Father, I think Lord Liu's suggestion is very good. I am willing to accept the refugees from the fiefdoms of my brothers!"

The emperor laughed and said, "Very good. Then I will reward you with one million taels of silver, and all the refugees from all over the country will belong to you in Bingzhou!"

"Thank you, father!" Chu Ning was secretly happy.

Population is the foundation of everything!

The prince and others did not stop them this time. After all, the refugees were of no use to them and could even be considered a burden.

After giving it to Chu Ning, they felt relieved.

The emperor was in a good mood after handling this matter, and took the opportunity to solve another matter.

"Okay, that's enough about the rewards. Now let's talk about the vacancies in the Ministry of Revenue."

Chu Ning killed so many officials from the Ministry of Revenue. Now the Ministry of Revenue is in name only. We must find a way to fill the gap as soon as possible!

Of course, what is more important is the position of Minister of Revenue!

Although Liu Shouren is now acting Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, it is only acting after all, not a formal appointment!

Taking this opportunity, the emperor wanted to finalize the matter.