When the news of the rebellion of 100,000 troops from the northern camp reached the capital, the turbulent situation in the court seemed to calm down in an instant.

Those who had been resisting the empress's ascension to the throne completely hid their whereabouts, obviously waiting for something.

The relationship between Xiao Ling and Chu Yi had been made public many days ago. All the civil and military officials in the court knew about it, and those who didn't know about it now knew about it, which they thought was reasonable.

This time, Xiao Ling did not hesitate to announce the pregnancy to the whole world the next day to ensure the safety of the country.

Once this matter was made public, all officials became much quieter.

The whole world is looking forward to the royal heir in the empress's belly.

From now on, it doesn’t matter whether his surname is Xiao or Chu. This matter is none of their business.

As long as he is a prince and his position as crown prince is stable, it is a good thing.

…

Purple Palace.

As the sky gradually darkened, Chu Yi rubbed his brows and looked at the little empress who was happily playing with Xiaotuan beside him, feeling a sense of emotion.

It’s really not easy to be a full-time dad.

After just a few days, he became a little tired of reviewing memorials all day long.

Chu Yi even fantasized that if he really became the emperor, he would have to review all the memorials by himself, and he would be exhausted to death.

Well, it’s more comfortable to be a tyrant. You don’t have to worry about anything but the beauties in the harem.

Chu Yi took out the list he had prepared from a pile of memorials and handed it to Xiao Ling.

"This is the final list of the tribute scholars that I have determined. Your Majesty, please take a look."

Only when Xiao Ling heard Chu Yi calling him did he turn back from playing with Xiao Tuan.

Seeing Chu Yi handing her the memorial, she smiled but did not take it.

"No need. I trust you, Lord Chu, to handle the affairs of the court. The final ranking of the tribute scholars will be determined according to your will."

Chu Yi: “…”

have to!

Now it's natural for him to take charge of all the power in the court!

This was just the beginning. The empress still had more than seven months of pregnancy left, and she would need to rest for a month or two after giving birth to the heir.

Damn, this day has no end.

Chu Yi withdrew his hand and looked at the endless desk for a long time.

It seems...the cabinet needs further optimization.

Apart from anything else, at least there is no need for every place to send a memorial to the Zichen Palace regarding funding for local floods and banditry.

For smaller matters, at least the cabinet can directly approve them, and only the statistical bills need to be submitted to the emperor once or twice a month.

This way things will go much faster. If the final bill is inconsistent with the one from the Ministry of Revenue, we can investigate and verify it further.

The emperor is not a donkey in the production team, and neither is I, the chief minister of the cabinet!

There were also memorials like "The Annan Provincial Administration Commissioner Respectfully Prays for Your Majesty's Health and Well-being"...

No more of that!

It gives me a headache to read.

After a long time, Chu Yi raised his head again and looked at Yu Zhu beside him.

"Yuzhu, take this list and have the eunuchs summon the unaccepted scholars on it to the Purple Palace. I want to question them."

"Yes, I understand."

Yuzhu responded and then left the imperial study.

"So far, tax reform in southern China has been going smoothly. Even though tax officials haven't been dispatched yet, local governments are quite cooperative."

As soon as Yuzhu left, the usually well-behaved Chu Yi showed his true nature and fell to the side, lying across Xiao Ling's thighs.

Xiaotuan, who was originally held by Xiao Ling, screamed, jumped onto the table next to him nimbly, and then got angry at Chu Yi.

Chu Yi was too lazy to care about this little beast and deliberately kept a little distance so as not to press on the little empress's abdomen.

Relaxed and comfortable, extremely leisurely.

"It's a good thing that it's going smoothly. Once Annan has gained experience, it will be much better if we can promote it nationwide."

Xiao Ling smiled and took the initiative to massage the shoulders of the Chu thief lying in front of him.

"There are too many things to do. I just hope that the treasury can be gradually filled."

"In fact, I intend to completely abolish taxes, but with the current tax system in Anguo, the people cannot afford to pay taxes."

"The main reason is that the market economy is too depressed. The grain grown by the people is easy to buy. The fair price warehouse needs grain, but other things are difficult to deal with. It is not easy to exchange levies for taxes."

Chu Yi was describing the current difficulties that Anguo was facing, which were related to economic issues. He only had a superficial understanding and could not help much, but he also hoped to change the current impoverished situation of Anguo.

He had once conducted investigations in local areas and found that under the taxation system, many local governments were unable to pay in-kind taxes to the national treasury in a timely manner and could only pile up in warehouses across the country, gathering dust and germinating.

The national treasury does not need physical objects, it only needs silver.

However, most of the lower-class people did not have money and could only pay taxes.

Annan’s tax reform did not change the tax in kind, but the commercial tax.

It’s a very simple and direct method. If the people don’t have money to pay taxes, just ask merchants to collect taxes!

In the past, the commercial tax in Anguo was only one in thirty, and there were no tariffs between cities. Therefore, it supported a large number of merchants, to the extent that even dogs would shake their heads when they saw it.

Although Xiao Ling disagrees with Chu Yi on many things, he deeply agrees with Chu Yi's reform ideas.

"I understand your thoughts, but... we still have to develop the business, otherwise it will be difficult to cut it off."

Chu Yi nodded helplessly, "Indeed, it may take more than ten years or even several dynasties to find the right time to abolish the in-kind tax..."

"Until then, developer taxes and trade are king."

Xiao Ling's expression suddenly changed, and the strength of his massage on Chu Yi eased a lot.

Then she raised one hand and gently stroked Chu Yi's face.

"Chu thief, I suddenly think you are amazing. How can a person like you, a civil servant, know so much?"

Chu Yi didn't boast, but shook his head and said, "It's just some superficial opinions. Besides, I used to be very powerful."

Hearing this, Xiao Ling became interested and immediately expressed his dissatisfaction:

"I used to think you were hateful. You were corrupt all day long, forming cliques and engaging in private business, turning the entire court into a collusion."

Chu Yi: “…”

He also rested on the little empress's legs for a long time, enjoying the little empress's clumsy massage skills.

Finally, Yuzhu, who was guarding the door, came in again.

"Your Majesty, Lord Chu, the scholars have arrived."

"Well, let them in."

Chu Yi sat up straight and straightened his posture.

The list he had given Yuzhu earlier contained all the scholars who had failed the imperial examination. The reason he had chosen these people was because the south needed talented tax collectors, and it would be too late to wait until the palace examination was completed before sending them.

After the imperial examination, Chu Yi added a subject of arithmetic and an examination of the censors. This group of people were also the high scorers in this subject who failed the imperial examination.

It just so happened that the imperial court needed talents and could give them a chance to work as tax collectors.