This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Cheng Jun realized he was asking how to persuade a third-rank official to voluntarily give up his monthly salary, and continued:

"If I want the third-rank ministers to voluntarily forgo their monthly salary, my solution is to extend their term of office."

"Extend the term of office..."

Li Shimin pondered these words.

"Correct."

Cheng Jun held up one finger and said, "It only takes one hour."

One shichen is two hours.

Cheng Jun said, "Officials who are willing to extend their working hours by one hour each day can receive their full monthly salary, while those who are not willing to extend their working hours will not receive their monthly salary."

"There are about sixty third-rank officials in our Great Tang Dynasty. If we calculate based on sixty people, the monthly salary paid to them would be 360,000 coins. If we don't pay them, we can save 360,000 coins."

"Moreover, let alone third-rank officials, even fifth-rank officials in our Great Tang Dynasty are all quite wealthy and powerful. If we ask them to extend their terms of office, they certainly won't be happy. Even if half of them are unwilling to give up their positions and are willing to extend their terms of office, just assuming that half of the officials below the third rank and above the fifth rank give up their positions, we can still save at least 500,000 coins."

"Therefore, the monthly salary issued by the imperial court will only require 1.9 million coins."

Cheng Jun said, "This is a method of cost-saving."

Li Shimin thought for a moment, then realized something was amiss and asked in return, "What if they oppose its implementation?"

Cheng Jun immediately said, "If anyone objects, His Majesty should tell them that the monthly salary will be abolished and they will not receive a single penny in the future. Would they still dare to object then?"

Worried that he hadn't explained things clearly, Cheng Jun added, "If any minister dares to stand up and oppose it, His Majesty will tell the ministers to immediately abolish the monthly salary. That minister will then become the target of everyone's criticism. After all, the money that he could have received will no longer be available because of his opposition. Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents. How could such a person not be attacked by all the officials?"

Li Shimin nodded thoughtfully and said, "Indeed, no one dares to object."

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "The people of our Great Tang always like to compromise and moderate. For example, if Your Majesty and your ministers are in a room and Your Majesty thinks the room is too dark and wants to make a hole in the roof, the ministers will definitely be unwilling. But if Your Majesty advocates tearing down the roof, they will compromise and agree to make a hole in the roof."

"The same principle applies to monthly salaries. Stopping monthly salaries is like tearing down the roof, while extending the term of office to receive monthly salaries is like making a hole in the roof. The officials will definitely prefer the latter to the former."

Cheng Jun said earnestly, "I call this the 'demolition plan'."

Li Shimin looked him over a few times and exclaimed, "You really do come up with some new tricks for me."

"However, I must remind you of something."

Li Shimin held up two fingers and waved them in front of him, saying seriously, "Even if we do that, we still need to prepare at least two million coins every month. If I let you handle the money, how long do you plan to hold onto those two million coins?"

Cheng Jun replied decisively, "Three days!"

"how long?"

Li Shimin was taken aback. Three days? You must know that two million coins is no small amount; it would take more than 600 officials from over 70 departments in the capital to work for a month to collect the coins.

Cheng Jun, however, said he only needed three days!

Li Shimin stared at him and said, word by word, "You cannot speak jokingly in front of me, otherwise it is deceiving the emperor, do you understand?"

Cheng Jun thought for a moment and said, "Then let's do it for one day!"

"I can produce two million coins in a single day!"

Li Shimin stared wide-eyed at him in disbelief, truly not expecting that Cheng Jun would not only not extend the time, but would instead voluntarily shorten the time for catching money.

I just told him that if he can't catch two million coins in three days, it's treason, a capital offense!

He knew this all along, yet he still dared to say it.

Is he really that confident...? Li Shimin was still somewhat skeptical, because he himself couldn't think of any other way besides paying out of his own pocket. He asked in surprise, "Is this true? You're not going to pay out of your own pocket, are you?"

“I will not put on a show,” Cheng Jun shook his head and said, “What I say is not a joke. If I cannot do it, I beg Your Majesty to punish me with death!”

This is a pledge made in military discipline!

Li Shimin's expression turned serious, and he had to think more highly of him. If Cheng Jun could really do it, he would not only be an upright official, but also a capable minister!

Li Shimin said in a deep voice, "Since that's the case, tomorrow I will abolish the public office capital and the money-collecting clerk during the morning court session!"

"Your Majesty, I believe this matter should be abolished immediately!"

Cheng Jun added, "Especially the money-catching clerk!"

Li Shimin looked him over, understood something, and chuckled. The money-catching clerk was related to Du Jingjian, and this kid still said he wasn't here for him.

But at this moment, Li Shimin had no intention of arguing with him, because he knew that Cheng Jun would definitely have something to say in response, so in order to avoid being angered by him, he swallowed back the words that were about to come to his throat.

Moreover, Cheng Jun is now shouldering a heavy responsibility, with him at the center, to solve the problems of abolishing public office capital and the corrupt officials in charge of collecting money. As the leader, it is not appropriate to criticize him at this time.

After all, we still need to rely on him.

Li Shimin stood up, turned to the outside of the hall, and said loudly, "Anan, come in here for a moment!"

The middle-aged eunuch in purple robes immediately entered and bowed in greeting.

Li Shimin looked at Cheng Jun and said, "Cheng Jun, listen to my decree!"

Cheng Jun immediately stood up and bowed.

Li Shimin also stood up, looked at him seriously and said: "From this moment on, I hereby appoint you as the Imperial Censor in charge of capturing money. You are hereby ordered to capture money. All departments in the capital must assist you in matters related to capturing money. Anyone who disobeys will be punished as disobeying an imperial decree and will be severely punished without leniency!"

Cheng Jun solemnly replied, "Your subject Cheng Jun obeys the decree!"

"Ananda, you draft the decree."

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he looked at Cheng Jun and said seriously, "Cheng Jun, listen carefully. Regarding the matter of catching money, you must adhere to three rules: first, do not harm the people; second, do not damage my benevolence; and third, do not harm the court. Do you understand?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "Your subject will certainly do it!"

Li Shimin was completely satisfied and said with a pleasant mood, "Is there anything else that you need my help with? Just let me know!"

Cheng Jun then took out the list from his pocket and said seriously:

"Your Majesty, this is a list of more than six hundred officials in the capital who are in charge of collecting money."

"I am now ordered to arrest money, so these money-catching clerks are no longer needed. Moreover, because of their existence, countless people have been torn apart from their families and have lost their lives. They have damaged Your Majesty's benevolence and harmed the court, and should be brought to justice immediately!"

Li Shimin twitched the corner of his mouth. "That's not a good idea..."

After all, the government's capital and the establishment of the money-catching officials were all ordered by him. If they were to be punished now, wouldn't that be like cooking the hunting dog after the cunning rabbit has died?

Cheng Jun patiently explained, "Therefore, His Majesty should issue another imperial edict to reprimand Minister Changsun!"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "Didn't I already tell you to give him twenty lashes? Aren't you satisfied yet?"

Cheng Jun asked in bewilderment, "Minister Changsun and I have no past grudges or recent feuds. Why do I feel relieved to beat him on imperial orders?"

Seeing that Li Shimin was about to erupt in anger, Cheng Jun changed the subject and continued:

"What I want to say is that Changsun Wuji, as the Minister of Personnel, is involved with the public funds and the money-collecting clerk. Your Majesty's reprimand of Minister Changsun proves that Your Majesty was unaware of the money-collecting clerk's actions beforehand. Now that you know, it is all due to Minister Changsun's indulgence. So, isn't it right to reprimand Minister Changsun?"

Suddenly, Changsun Wuji rushed into the hall with an agitated expression, letting out a roar from the depths of his soul.

"Then all those twenty lashes I received were for nothing?"

…………

This is the second update. An extra chapter will be added later for those who sent gifts.