The Crybaby Prince is Reborn, Where is the Prince Going?

Jinyou closed his eyes to rest, and soon the carriage slowly stopped.

Here we are, at the palace again.

But because today is Mid-Autumn Festival, many ministers are waiting outside the palace, waiting for the Meridian Gate to open at noon.

As soon as Jin You got off the carriage, all the ministers saluted him.

"His Royal Highness!"

Jinyou nodded in return, then walked over to the cabinet ministers and clasped his fists in greeting, "Master Cui, Master Su, Master Mu, I'm honored to meet you."

Master Cui nodded slightly, his eyes smiling, and said to Jinyou in a kind tone: "I haven't seen you for a while, you have grown a lot taller."

Jinyou smiled and said, "Thanks to you, sir."

Lord Mu beside him glared with his eyes and snorted in dissatisfaction.

"What? Are you dissatisfied?" Lord Cui turned around and glared at Lord Mu. The two old men glared at each other in public.

The three elders of the cabinet each belonged to a different faction. Lord Cui Guangdao, a veteran of three dynasties, belonged to He Qianzhao's faction; Mu Qian, on the other hand, favored the princes, aligning himself with whichever prince was most likely to ascend to the throne. In other words, he was a fence-sitter, his resolve unstable. Su Yanshen, on the other hand, was a staunch royalist, rarely intervening in the struggle between the two.

Even if the two old men started fighting on the spot, he didn't care much.

However, in front of the palace gate, the two old men were not so ignorant of the current situation. They stared at each other for a long time until their eyes became sore and they turned their eyes away silently.

Cui Guangdao coughed and stood next to Jinyou, the meaning was self-evident.

Mu Qian snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and joined another group of people.

Jinyou glanced at the positions of everyone present and had a superficial understanding of where they belonged.

The forces present were roughly divided into several types. One was the regent aristocratic faction headed by Cui Guangdao and He Jinyou, one was the royalist faction headed by Su Yanshen, one was the princes standing in groups of three or two, and the last one was the neutral faction, which did not belong to anyone. In the court, they were just people who did things for money and didn't talk much, so they stood in the corner silently.

Everyone was talking in groups of three or four about trivial matters in the court. Jinyou listened silently. Even though he was curious, he never asked any questions.

At his age, he can understand political affairs and even inquire about them secretly, but he must never show his desire to get involved in political affairs in front of outsiders, otherwise it will only give others a loophole to criticize He Qianzhao.

But there is one exception.

Cui Guangdao pulled Jinyou aside to listen to the ministers' discussion of recent events in the court. When one of them mentioned that the autumn harvest was approaching and Emperor Xuan wanted to raise taxes, he asked Jinyou, "Jinyou, what are your thoughts?"

Jinyou raised his head slightly and looked at Cui Guangdao, understanding that he was giving him a chance to show off.

If his analysis is correct, he can gain a group of loyal fans who will help him when he enters the court. However, if his analysis is wrong, he can also use the excuse of childish talk to cover it up.

Jin You felt grateful and bowed to Cui Guangdao, then performed the junior's salute to everyone.

"I am not talented, and I am showing off my knowledge in front of all the uncles and brothers. If I say something wrong, I hope you will forgive me."

Everyone said, "It's okay, it's okay."

But if Jinyou said something wrong, even if Cui Guangdao was behind him, I'm afraid people would lose confidence. After all, Jinyou's existence as a Purple Star was known to almost everyone in the court.

At the beginning, He Qianzhao brought Jinyou back with great fanfare, and announced to everyone on the day he was named the crown prince that He Jinyou had the aura of Ziwei and would be a talent to assist the country.

If he were troubled by the tax problem today, I'm afraid that before he even grows up, people will doubt whether he is really that capable.

The image that He Qianzhao had worked so hard to build up would probably collapse in an instant.

In order to maintain the character that He Qianzhao created for him, he had to give brilliant answers.

However, although he has been busy recently, he still read a lot of books, and among them happened to be articles about taxes.

Theory exists, combined with practice, quoting classics, Jinyou can come up with it at will.

"Since Lord Cui has asked, I'll analyze it. I imagine the ministers share my sentiments and certainly don't support the Emperor increasing taxes. While the drought of recent years has ended and much remains to be done, the people's grain harvests may not meet expectations. Every year, the head tax takes 25% of the grain tax, and the remaining 75% is deducted for personal use. After the rest is passed down through the various levels of government, the final total is only 20%.

"But if we increase taxes further, the people will only have 10% left. Food is the most important thing for the people. If the people have no food, how can the country be at peace? The emperor is willing to impose taxes to provide food and fodder for the border, or to deal with the floods in the south, but withholding food from the people is a bit..."

Jin You paused for a moment, then, seeing everyone nod and understand what he meant, he automatically skipped over that word and continued, "Increasing taxes during the autumn harvest is only a temporary solution, draining the pond to catch fish. If we want to fill the treasury and completely resolve the disaster in the south, we must start..."

Jinyou ended his words completely. In order to solve the problem of the empty treasury, property had to be collected from the rich businessmen. However, the rich businessmen were generally members of these nobles. The nobles would definitely not be willing to pay out their accumulated property.

The nobles in the capital are all headed by He Qianzhao. If one wants to solve the problem of the nobles accumulating wealth, it would be equivalent to stabbing He Qianzhao in the back, and even offending everyone in their camp.

Jinyou would never do such a thankless task, and he wouldn't even talk about it.

Although these people knew it well, if he mentioned it, it would only light a fuse and eventually cause trouble.

"Excellent analysis." Cui Guangdao stroked his beard and praised him. "As expected of the Prince Regent, he truly surpasses his teacher. The young are truly formidable... Very good!"

Jinyou received Cui Guangdao's approval and he smiled shyly.

But there are also people who do not praise Jinyou like these people, but ask questions in return.

"Your Highness, your words are incomplete. Everyone knows that if we want to completely solve the problem of an empty treasury, we must confiscate the wealth of the wealthy in the capital and even in other regions. We must not allow the aristocratic families to monopolize power and wealth. However, Your Highness is the representative of the aristocratic families. Are you willing to donate the property of the Regent's Palace to the Emperor?"

This person's words were so sharp that they made everyone's smiles disappear.

Jinyou looked at the person who was speaking and blinked. It was a young man who seemed to have just come of age. He didn't know him.

So he asked, "You are...?"

The young man was devastated. After all, he had said so many words and stood here for such a long time, but the other party didn't even recognize him and embarrassed him in front of so many people. It was really despicable!

"Hmph! I am Ren Minghao, the third place winner of the last imperial examination. I am currently working as an editor in the Hanlin Academy."

As soon as he heard the name, Jinyou knew who this person was.

The third place winner of the imperial examination in March was truly the most popular person at the time. Although he was not particularly knowledgeable, he was elevated to the rank of third place thanks to his androgynous face. On the day of his horse parade, he was spotted by many young ladies and even princesses.

But in the end... Ren Minghao finally chose to become the princess's son-in-law, and took advantage of the princess's influence to get a sinecure job as an editor in the Hanlin Academy.