Zhu Yunwen never objected to officials in the court targeting him, nor did he object to Zhu Yunwen's faction using certain methods to deal with him.

but.

Such struggles should be based on certain fundamental principles, such as not using the lives of others or engaging in unscrupulous behavior as a means of targeting oneself.

In Zhu Yunwen's view, this was absolutely unacceptable. For example, the Ministry of Revenue at this moment, in order to deal with Zhu Yunwen, actually forced the officials in charge of the construction of the Prince's Mansion to hire some old, young, sick and disabled people to do the work with a small amount of money.

In some of these situations, in order to speed up the construction period, these elderly, young, sick and disabled people are paid the lowest wages but have to do more work.

One can imagine how helpless and devastated they felt, often subjected to beatings, and some even died on the construction site because they couldn't endure it.

All of this became Zhu Yunwen's fault.

The common people only knew that this palace was built for Zhu Yunwen.

Therefore, any injustices that occurred during the construction of the Prince's Mansion would be attributed to Zhu Yunwen.

Such sinister intentions are truly disgusting.

This crossed Zhu Yunwen's bottom line.

Zhu Yunwen had already made up his mind. Since he wanted to seize power in the court, he might as well start directly with the Ministry of Revenue.

If one could take control of the Ministry of Revenue, it would be a good thing.

As for Zhao Mian, the Minister of Revenue, he was practically sentenced to death by Zhu Yunwen.

Originally, he left the palace in a good mood to visit his own palace, but he never expected such a secret to happen.

This made Zhu Yunwen feel somewhat uneasy.

After a moment of silence, he turned to the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and said:

"From now on, there will be no abuse or any mistreatment of these workers."

Regardless of whether they are old, young, sick, disabled, or anyone else, they must be treated well. If you dare to strike them with a whip, I will retaliate with ten whips.

"If you dare force them to do work beyond their wages or that is disproportionate to their pay, I will make you pay an even heavier price, do you hear me?"

The official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue lowered his head and said with a helpless expression:

"But this money is not enough to build the palace. If we proceed normally according to Your Highness's wishes, I'm afraid it won't be able to be completed."

Zhu Yunwen's face darkened, and he said, "If it can't be fixed, then it won't be fixed. You just need to do as I say."

"You need to understand, no matter how powerful the Minister of Revenue is, he's just a minister, while I am a grandson of the Ming Emperor. I have plenty of ways to deal with your minister."

The official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue hurriedly nodded and said:

"I understand, I understand."

Zhu Yunwen then calmed down somewhat, and said seriously:

"In my opinion, you should reduce the scale of this mansion. Just make some renovations on the basis of the original mansion. There is no need to expand it further or do any other luxurious construction."

The official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue said with some doubt:

"But Your Highness, this is a large-scale palace that the Emperor ordered to be built for you. Suddenly reducing its size... won't that..."

Zhu Yunwen frowned, and the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue quickly spoke up:

"I have spoken out of turn. I will do as you say immediately."

Zhu Yunwen nodded in satisfaction and said:

"Your past transgressions will be judged by your actions from now on. Remember, from this moment on, regardless of your status or who you are subordinate to, you are only responsible to me, and you need not have any fear."

Even if the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you. You just need to do as I say, take the limited funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, and renovate your old mansion. That should be enough, right?

The official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue nodded and said, "The money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue is indeed only enough for a renovation on the original basis. It is absolutely not enough to expand or even expand to such a large scale."

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "That's fine then. Do as I say."

The official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue nodded, then cautiously said:

"Your Highness, if your palace is not expanded, it will indeed be much smaller. Do you not mind?"

Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath and said:

“Comparatively speaking, what bothers me more is that you have so little money but hire so many workers and make them do work that is not worth the money.”

Upon hearing this, the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue looked ashamed.

He then kowtowed deeply to Zhu Yunwen and said:

"Your Highness, your actions today have made me feel extremely ashamed. I feel utterly embarrassed... You are the most approachable member of the royal family I have ever met."

In the past, some princes would stop at nothing to make their palaces bigger and bigger, some even exceeding the regulations. Did they ever care about the lives of the people who built their palaces for them? But Your Highness, you are different.

The Emperor clearly granted you a grand mansion, but because the Ministry of Revenue's funding was insufficient, and you didn't want the elderly, weak, and disabled to suffer too much, you preferred to reduce its size yourself. This truly earns my utmost admiration.”

Zhu Yunwen sighed and then said:

"No need to say more, that's fine. Remember, follow my instructions strictly. If any officials from the Ministry of Revenue come to you, just have someone tell me, and I'll handle them."

Upon hearing this, the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue gave a helpless, bitter smile and said:

"To be honest, Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue has hardly paid any attention to the project of building the Prince's Mansion so far."

Perhaps this is also a form of attitude towards you; they gave you a small amount of money and only sent me, a mere supervisor, to oversee this matter.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!