The court was unusually quiet, but the emperor was not used to it.

Last night, he reviewed almost all the reports on the autumn harvest submitted by the prefectures and counties, and found that they all had one thing in common.

Increased grain production should be a cause for celebration and a great achievement, but instead, they either spoke vaguely or glossed over it, as if they were deliberately trying to avoid his attention.

He thought of the continuously increasing tax revenue of Jizhou County and Anle County in recent years, and asked Zhang Shunde to dig out the memorials from those counties in previous years. Sure enough, each memorial about the autumn harvest only had one or two brief sentences.

Seeing this, the emperor finally understood that these people were doing it on purpose!

They're deliberately trying to fool him!

The emperor was furious!

These grain seeds were obtained by the Crown Prince. Those officials would never dare to deceive him. Only the arrogant Crown Prince, who relies on the Crown Prince's favor, would dare to do such a thing!

But the thought of increased grain production made him happy.

Increasing national treasury revenue is one aspect; on the other hand, it also helps solve the basic needs of the people!

Most importantly, this great achievement is enough to ensure that he will be recorded in history and go down in history!

He was so emotional that he didn't sleep well last night!

This morning at court, the emperor presented the crown prince's memorial for the ministers to discuss, intending to wait until the opposition was at its strongest before announcing the optimization of grain varieties.

Normally, even if the Crown Prince gave him a small flower, he would boast about it. This time, the Crown Prince gave him a great achievement that would benefit the country and the people and be remembered in history. How could he not boast about it?

He could imagine how envious and jealous the courtiers would be of him!

He was all prepared, but who knew the Six Ministries would be so useless, with not a single person opposing him!

"Prime Minister Wang, what do you think?" Seeing that the six ministries were all speechless, the emperor directly called on them.

"Your Majesty, I believe this plan is feasible!" Wang Xiang lived up to his nickname, Wang Niba, and after some deliberation, uttered four words that the emperor absolutely did not want to hear.

"Your Majesty, I believe this is inappropriate!" At this critical moment, it was actually the censor, whom the emperor had always disliked the most, who stepped forward and said in a powerful voice what the emperor most wanted to hear.

"Minister Liu, please tell me, what is wrong with this?" the emperor asked gently.

Normally, His Majesty would call this censor "old man," but now, His Majesty calls him "my dear minister"!

Most importantly, His Majesty usually dislikes these censors the most and has never been kind to them, but now he is being very gentle with them.

The imperial court is never short of people who try to guess the emperor's intentions and flatter him. When the emperor's attitude changes, the court officials will naturally change accordingly.

Thus, led by Imperial Censor Liu, many court officials began to offer their advice, detailing the dangers of expanding military supplies.

The more cautious minister argued that having too much military equipment could lead to waste, as the transportation, storage, and maintenance of military equipment require manpower and financial resources, which could strain the national treasury.

The radical viewpoint argues that ample military equipment can easily breed ambition among soldiers, leading them to hold onto their power and become arrogant!

In short, the issues that the emperor had previously worried about were brought up again by these court officials.

However, despite the large number of dissenting voices, the most influential figures, including the Prime Minister and the Six Ministries, remained silent throughout.

"Your Highness, what is your opinion?" the emperor asked after the court officials had given their opinions.

"Your subject does not believe that an additional 30% in military supplies is a waste. On the contrary, it is a guarantee for the soldiers and people of the northern frontier! In recent years, the Great Yuan has enjoyed favorable weather and peace, and the national treasury has increased year by year. It is fully capable of supporting the additional 30% in military supplies!"

"As for what you gentlemen are worried about—the Divine Might Army and the Border Defense Army have defended our Great Yuan and ensured its peace and security on the battlefield. It is only through their lives and blood that you gentlemen can rest easy in the capital. Not only do you not know how to be grateful, but you also make unfounded speculations about the loyalty of the Northern Frontier soldiers just because of the extra 30% of military supplies. It's like reciting scriptures and then beating the monks, or eating your fill and then scolding the cook. 'Ingratitude' is not even enough to describe your despicable behavior!"

Ye Jingchen usually doesn't talk much nonsense when he attends court, except when he's cursing.

These people deserve to be scolded!

If Ye Jingchen weren't worried that they would cause trouble in the Northern Frontier, he would have liked to send those people who had just given advice to the Northern Frontier for a trial, to see if they would still say such heartless things in the future.

This was the first time that someone other than the emperor had insulted them so harshly. Some courtiers were terrified, while others harbored resentment. But no matter what they felt, they dared not show it openly.

"Ahem! Your Highness, watch your words!" The emperor on his throne coughed awkwardly as a reminder.

That unfilial son! They've included him in their insults too!

Ye Jingchen also realized that he had been so quick to curse that he had forgotten that the emperor was the most ungrateful of them all.

"Father, don't you have something very important to announce?" Ye Jingchen quickly changed the subject.

The emperor became even more displeased.

With the Crown Prince urging him like this, wouldn't the effect of his boasting be greatly diminished?!

He shouldn't have asked that question just to make things difficult for the Crown Prince!

After Ye Jingchen finished speaking, he put his hands behind his back and made a gesture to Prime Minister Wang.

Wang Xiang wanted to pretend he hadn't seen it, but he had already suffered several losses at the hands of the young crown prince and dared not truly ignore it.

"What instructions does Your Majesty have?" he asked respectfully as he stepped forward.

The emperor was even more frustrated.

He tossed several memorials to Zhang Shunde and said, "Read them!"

These memorials are all related to the autumn harvest, recording the local grain yield per mu and the amount of taxes levied.

Interestingly, in places like Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yangzhou, which are known for their abundant water resources and fertile land, the yield of rice per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres) is actually lower than that of barren lands like the northern frontier.

Not to mention the rice yields per mu in places like Jizhou, Fufeng, Anle, and Shang, which were already quite high, now the yields per mu are more than double those in Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yangzhou.

"The climate in the northern frontier is harsh and water is scarce, so it is not suitable for growing rice. It is good enough if the rice can survive. How could the yield per mu be higher than that of Yangzhou? The prefect of Beiping has a lot of nerve. He actually dared to falsify the memorial submitted to His Majesty!" After listening to Eunuch Zhang finish reading the memorial, Imperial Censor Liu immediately questioned the Minister of Rites.

As is well known, Wu Zemin, the prefect of Beiping, was the eldest grandson of the Minister of Rites and a companion to the Crown Prince. Compared to the Crown Prince, the Minister of Rites was naturally a better target for him.

"Lord Liu, please be careful with your words. The memorial from Beiping Prefecture was verified by the Ministry of Revenue and confirmed to be correct before it was submitted to His Majesty! Lord Liu, you just say that the Prefect of Beiping Prefecture is fabricating information. Does that mean that the Ministry of Revenue is also implicated?" Before the Minister of Rites could speak, the Minister of Revenue, Cao Jin, retorted.

"Such an abnormal matter is completely illogical. Has Lord Cao really verified it? Beiping County is thousands of miles away from the capital. How did Lord Cao verify it?" Imperial Censor Liu immediately turned his attack on the Minister of Revenue.

Book categories, authors, and full-length book rankings

Homepage Click Ranking Recommended Ranking Favorites Ranking Temporary Bookshelf

PC version of all novels, latest updates, site map, member bookshelf