Secrets of Yuqing Palace

Yinzhen chuckled.

"Khan Ama."

"My second brother is the crown prince, and my fourth brother is a prince. They don't fit in, and no one dares to isolate them."

"Besides, my son didn't borrow much money from the Ministry of Revenue. It was just that he suddenly needed some money for business operations, so he thought of going to the Ministry of Revenue to withdraw some money in advance for convenience."

"Khan Ama, don't look at your son like that. He really only used it for emergencies occasionally, and he only borrowed a little over 10,000 yuan."

"But it's not as much as my brothers, who make tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands."

Kangxi snorted coldly, agreeing with his explanation.

Yin'e confessed without waiting for Kangxi to ask any questions.

"Khan Ama, my father-in-law travels thousands of miles every year to send so many cattle, sheep, medicinal herbs and furs from Mongolia to me and my wife. I must show my appreciation."

"My son is not like other brothers who have a mother to support them."

"My mother is gone now, and there's no one to give me money. I can only ask Khan Ama for help."

"hey-hey...."

"But I know that Khan Ama is very busy with government affairs, so in order not to disturb Khan Ama, I took the initiative to go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask Bage for money."

"Besides, the amount of money my son took out was not as much as that of my eldest brother and eighth brother. My son only took out 100,000 taels of silver."

"I don't know what their money has been spent on, but my son's money has been spent on cutting-edge things."

Yin'e acted as if to say, "See, my son is so filial," which made Kangxi swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

After asking about the tenth son, Kangxi did not ask any more questions about the subsequent sons.

Anyway, the amount of money they withdrew from the Ministry of Revenue was not much, and they were not as bold as the bosses.

In fact, after asking the questions, Kangxi was no longer so angry.

The most urgent task now is not to find out why these people borrowed so much money.

Instead, collect the outstanding silver as soon as possible and fill the national treasury!

But Kangxi's face remained expressionless, and he continued to look at everyone with anger.

He flicked his sleeves suddenly and stepped onto the high dragon throne with heavy steps.

My emotions are complicated and hard to describe.

He sat back on the dragon throne, his eyes as sharp as torches as he scanned the officials below, as if he wanted to see through their souls.

"My Ministry of Revenue, the treasury of the Qing Dynasty, has become a place for you to amass wealth and satisfy your greed!"

"Look at you all, dressed in official uniforms, with rosy faces and chubby bellies."

"Family financially strapped?"

"This is truly the funniest joke I've heard this year!"

"My son, my minister, was tasked with providing livelihoods for the people and relieving my worries, yet he did something shameful and despicable, something that shook the foundation of the Qing Dynasty!"

Hearing the emperor's rebuke filled with endless anger, the clan ministers and princes below all trembled in their hearts.

Regardless of whether they had borrowed money or not, they all knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor at the top to apologize.

"What I want is a clean and honest court, a court that works for the people and helps me share my worries, not a den for some of you parasites!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers trembled and dared not look up.

"I was kind-hearted and sympathetic to some ministers who were truly in financial difficulty, so I opened the door for them to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue."

"But there are always people who take advantage of my kindness and compassion to satisfy their own greed!"

"I tell you!"

"From today on, anyone who dares to destabilize the Qing Dynasty out of greed will be shown no mercy!"

Kangxi's voice was like thunder, causing everyone to have a momentary tinnitus.

The solemnity and coldness in the words became more and more intense, making people shudder.

After he finished speaking, he slowly sat down and looked at the people in the hall with a cold gaze.

Upon seeing this, all the ministers and princes kowtowed and responded in unison: "Your Majesty is wise."

"We, your Majesty, will faithfully follow your instructions and uphold integrity in the future, sharing your Majesty's worries and working for the well-being of the people."

The princes bowed their heads respectfully and said in unison: "Khan Ama's teachings are engraved in our hearts. We will set an example and never let Khan Ama down."

After asking everyone to stand up, Kangxi looked at Zhang Yushu.

"Minister Zhang, the Ministry of Revenue's money was borrowed right under your nose."

"Tell me, what should we do now that the treasury is empty?"

Zhang Yushu sighed softly in his heart.

【Nineth Master, ah, Nineth Master.】

【Why don’t you wait any longer? 】

[It won't be too late to expose this matter after I retire from my position as Minister of Revenue in a year or two.]

【Alas~】

Faced with Kangxi's questions, Zhang Yushu could not show any complaints in his heart.

He bowed and stood up, shouting back, "Your Majesty, it's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost."

"I believe that the treasury is now empty and that the borrowed silver should be collected to replenish the treasury."

Kangxi asked, "Then, my dear minister, who do you think is the most suitable person to handle this matter?"

Zhang Yushu said, "Your Majesty, this matter involves the royal family and the princes. I believe that it would be most appropriate for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or the princes to handle this matter."

After hearing Zhang Yushu's answer, Yinreng immediately stood up.

"Khan Ama, as the crown prince, I am responsible for failing to oversee such a major incident at the Ministry of Revenue."

"My son is willing to recover the silver owed to the national treasury and to recover and reduce the losses of the national treasury."

Kangxi looked at Yinreng carefully, but did not immediately agree to let Yinreng take over the task of recovering the outstanding silver. He just spoke in a gentle tone.

"Prince, although you are responsible for negligence in this matter, the task of recovering the outstanding silver is too complicated and tedious to be handled by you."

Although Yinreng was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help feeling cold.

[Tsk~ Now you don't even want to give me a chance to stand out.]

Regarding Kangxi's refusal to allow the crown prince to handle the matter, some people were indignant, some were relieved, and some were regretful.

Those who were indignant, such as Prince Yinzhen of Zhi, felt that Khan's father thought that recovering the owed silver was a trivial matter and that handing it over to the crown prince was a waste of talent and an injustice to the crown prince.

Most of those who were thankful were those who owed money. How could they bear to give up the money that had gone into their pockets?!

If other princes were to demand repayment of their debts, whether they were court officials or clan members, they would still have various excuses to shirk responsibility, because the law does not hold everyone responsible.

But if it is the crown prince, as the next emperor, they won’t even have a chance to get on board the crown prince’s ship, so how dare they offend him easily?

The ones who feel regretful are the supporters of the prince's lineage.

This is a good opportunity for the prince to establish his prestige among the court officials and increase his prestige among the people of the world.

It’s a pity that the emperor rejected it.

Although they had long heard from the prince that the emperor would not let the prince take over this matter, when it really came to this moment, they still couldn't help but feel regretful and frown.

[Has the Emperor begun to be wary of the Crown Prince to this point?]

After being rejected by Kangxi, Yinreng looked lost.

Then he looked up at Kangxi sitting on the dragon throne and gave him righteous advice.

"Khan Ama, my eighth brother is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, yet such a deficit has occurred. He cannot escape the blame."

"Furthermore, Eighth Brother has been concealing the Ministry of Revenue's situation. If it weren't for the need for imperial funds for this disaster relief, I'm afraid the Ministry of Revenue's deficit would have been exposed at some point."

"If we only discover this when the imperial court needs to deploy troops, or when another major disaster strikes, the Qing Dynasty will be in danger!"

"Eighth brother has made such a big mistake. Why not let him handle this matter and make amends for it?"

Zhang Yushu was the first to step forward.

"I second the proposal."