The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

And so, the temple abbot left unwillingly, his gaze lingering on the gold until the very end.

After seeing the temple abbot off, Mo Bai approached Chen Nan and asked, "Your Highness, what should we do with Minister Qian and all this gold?"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Nan said, "Imprison Minister Qian in the prefectural jail and find out who he has been dealing with."

"This place has been heavily guarded. I will go to the palace to report this immediately!"

Under Chen Nan's arrangement, Mo Bai took Minister Qian to the Prefect of Weidu.

Wu Xu was left behind to guard the soldiers.

He rushed to the palace as quickly as possible.

Soon, Chen Nan arrived outside the palace.

When the guards saw that the person who came was Chen Nan, they had no intention of stopping him at all.

The two of them took a step back at the same time, making way for each other.

Chen Nan arrived at the palace as quickly as possible.

He had no idea where the Empress Dowager was at that moment.

Coincidentally, an old man walked towards us.

He immediately stopped the man and asked, "I have urgent business with the Empress Dowager. Where is she now?"

The eunuch was about to get angry, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that the person standing in front of him was actually the Prince of Zhennan.

He immediately lost his temper and smiled, "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has already retired for the night. You can report anything tomorrow."

After saying this, the father-in-law prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, Chen Nan pulled him back in front of him, glared at him, and angrily said, "I'm telling you, this matter is extremely urgent. Can you bear the consequences of delaying it?"

"Take me to report this now, or don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

Seeing that Chen Nan was on the verge of exploding in rage, the father-in-law dared not say another word.

Moreover, he had no doubt about the truthfulness of Chen Nan's words.

Even if Chen Nan really killed him here, his life would be over, but Chen Nan would definitely be fine.

Left with no other choice, the eunuch had to lead Chen Nan to the imperial bedchamber.

The two arrived outside the palace, where two eunuchs stood guard at the entrance.

Upon seeing the newcomer, the eunuch immediately stepped forward, gripping his sword tightly: "Who dares to trespass into the imperial bedchamber?"

Chen Nan coughed lightly: "I am Chen Nan, the Prince of Zhennan!"

"There is an urgent matter to report to the Empress Dowager. Please go in and inform her."

Upon hearing that it was Chen Nan, the two men softened their tone: "Is Your Highness really in such a hurry? The Empress Dowager has already retired for the night. If you're not in such a rush, why not come again tomorrow?"

In fact, the two of them could tell from the fact that Chen Nan was holding his father-in-law that this matter was really urgent.

Their questioning was merely a routine matter.

Chen Nan nodded emphatically: "Of course, this matter is extremely urgent, and I must see the Empress Dowager immediately!"

"In that case, Your Highness, please wait a moment while we send someone in to inform you!"

After speaking, one person walked to the side, while the other returned to the entrance of the palace.

Before long, one person returned, accompanied by a palace maid.

The palace maid first bowed to Chen Nan before going in to announce his arrival.

A quarter of an hour later, in the Hall of Diligent Governance, the Empress Dowager sat in a chair, looking at Chen Nan with a smile on her face.

"I wonder what urgent matter brings the Prince of Zhennan to see me at this hour?"

Chen Nan sighed: "I wonder if Your Majesty has heard of the forced land seizures in villages near Weidu?"

The Empress Dowager frowned and shook her head: "I have not heard of this matter. Could it be that someone has forcibly seized land?"

Chen Nan scoffed: "So the Empress Dowager doesn't know anything about the villages near Weidu either?"

Before the Empress Dowager could speak, Chen Nan continued, "Your Majesty, in fact, the land of the villages near Weidu has already been forcibly requisitioned."

“Those lands that were forcibly seized have long been sold to powerful families.”

"And the person behind this matter is none other than the Minister of Revenue."

"Just now, I went to the residence of the Minister of Revenue to investigate."

"A wooden box containing gold was found in the field of his house."

"According to the confession of the Minister of Revenue, all the gold buried in the ground in his house was gold."

"The approximate estimate is nearly several hundred thousand taels!"

"Hundreds of thousands of taels?" The Empress Dowager was completely stunned.

The Northern Wei Dynasty only collected a tiny amount of silver in taxes each year.

Yet a mere Vice Minister of Revenue was able to amass hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, all of which was gold.

The Empress Dowager quickly realized what was going on: "So, what does the Prince of Zhennan intend to do with all that gold?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that this batch of gold should be put into the national treasury."

"Then we will use force to suppress those powerful families and force them to return the land to the people."

"Furthermore, commercial taxes will be increased, land taxes will be reduced, and a head tax will be levied based on land ownership."

"In this way, the people of Northern Wei can be freed from those cumbersome taxes."

"Furthermore, the land is leased to the people and cannot be bought or sold."

“Once any suspicion of land buying and selling is discovered, any government has the right to investigate.”

"The investigation results will be reported to the palace. Once convicted, those involved in the land sale will be executed immediately!"

In fact, Chen Nan also knew that these were just measures.

Unfortunately, due to underdeveloped transportation and communication methods, unexpected events are bound to occur during the execution.

What he wants to reform is to avoid these accidents as much as possible.

The Empress Dowager agreed, saying, "In that case, let's do as the Prince of Zhennan says."

Chen Nan took a breath and said, "Your Majesty, that batch of gold is currently buried in the land of the Minister of Revenue's residence."

"I have dispatched heavy troops to guard the area. I urge Your Majesty to send people to excavate it as soon as possible so that this batch of gold can be put into the national treasury as soon as possible."

The Empress Dowager did not hesitate and immediately sent people to the residence of the Minister of Revenue to dig.

After giving the order, he looked at Chen Nan and asked, "Prince Zhennan, where is the Minister of Revenue now?"

Chen Nan was taken aback; he didn't know why the Empress Dowager would suddenly ask this question.

He answered truthfully, "The Minister of Revenue is currently imprisoned by me."

"Detained?"

"Issue the order: Qian Pi, the Minister of Revenue, has been found guilty of embezzlement and bribery of a substantial amount. He shall be executed immediately, and his entire family shall be exterminated!"

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" Chen Nan quickly stopped her.

"What? Could it be that the Prince of Zhennan intends to save Qianpi's life?"

The Empress Dowager stared coldly at Chen Nan.

Chen Nan chuckled: "Does Your Majesty know that reform is not just about bloodshed?"

"What reform needs most is money."

"These hundreds of thousands of taels of gold were the first batch of funds for the Northern Wei reforms."

"If there's a shortage of follow-up funding, then Qianpi's life will come in handy!"

Upon hearing Chen Nan's words, the Empress Dowager quickly realized what he meant.

When Qianpi dies, he has nothing left.

If he were still alive, then his embezzlement would be confirmed.

Furthermore, he was not executed by the imperial court for a long time.

Those powerful and influential families probably sleep with one eye open.

If subsequent funding is insufficient, those powerful and influential families will become Chen Nan's second target for exploitation.

Both of them are intelligent people, so there's no need to be so blunt about many things.

After exchanging a smile, Chen Nan left the palace.

However, what he didn't know was that after he left, a blush appeared on the cheeks of the usually dignified Empress Dowager.

She stared blankly in the direction he left, speechless for a long time.