The first thing the prince did when he got involved in politics was to provide disaster relief in Shenyang, and the second thing he did was to collect debts.
There are also many bad debts in the court, which have accumulated since the founding of the country.
Originally, many court officials were in financial difficulty at home, so Emperor Kangxi showed mercy and allowed officials with financial difficulties to borrow money from the court to make ends meet.
Later, some royal family members with financial difficulties borrowed money from the imperial court.
The emperor has three poor relatives, right?
You allow court officials to borrow money, but don’t allow your own family members to borrow money?
Every emperor would face many bad debts in the court. Those that could be collected would be collected, and those that could not be collected would be collected by reducing the amount of loans later and checking more strictly.
In this dynasty, the biggest debtor was Lu Yan, Marquis of Pingyang. The rest of the court officials owed a total of 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver.
Naturally, Xie Qingling’s mission was not the bad debt of the previous emperor’s reign, but the bad debt of this dynasty.
After Xie Qing looked at the list of debtors, the first thing he did was not to block the old prince who owed the longest debt, but to block Lu Yan.
Xie Qing, sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in the prince's court robes, was no less imposing: "Marquis Pingyang, when will you return the money you owe?"
Lu Yan was so preoccupied with family matters that he had no time to remember the debt.
Once reminded, Lu Yan's face turned ugly: "Your Highness, there is no need to use public power to seek personal revenge, right?"
"Oh? Am I the kind of person who takes personal revenge? Am I so narrow-minded?" Xie Qing looked at Lu Yan with a smile.
What could Lu Yan say? Could he say that His Royal Highness was narrow-minded for blocking me here? Are you seeking revenge for my nighttime visit to the Marquis of Xuanwu's mansion?
The words could not be spoken, and the money had to be returned. Lu Yan was so angry that his heart ached. He gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will definitely return the money!"
"Great kindness!"
Xie Qing nodded in appreciation and said to Xiao Luzi, "Tell those court officials who owe you money: Marquis Pingyang, you must pay me back tomorrow!"
tomorrow!
He didn't say that!
Lu Yan quickly said, "Prince, I say..."
"I understand your difficulties." Xie Qing was very considerate. He smiled, but his words were cold and carried the dignity of a crown prince. "But the court is also facing difficulties. The disaster relief in Shenyang has cost a lot of money. You have been guarding the border for eight years, and you also fought for eight years. You know how much money has been spent. The court is indeed short of money."
"The weather this year has been unusual, and Your Majesty is worried about more natural or man-made disasters. If that happens, the treasury will be empty, and how will the people be accommodated? Marquis Pingyang is able to return the silver tomorrow, alleviating the court's urgent needs. Your Majesty will definitely keep this in mind."
Xie Qing dug a trap with a smile, and Lu Yan had no choice but to jump into it, so he had no choice but to agree.
Xie Qing didn't care where Lu Yan went to raise money, at least the Bai family had money, and the fourth brother also had money.
As long as Lu Yan pays back the money, it's fine, but...
How could Xie Qingchou pay back the money owed to the court officials, especially the two old uncles of the emperor. The court officials owed a total of 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver, and these two owed more than 30,000 taels of silver in total.
More than thirty thousand taels!
Ordinary people cannot save more than three taels of silver at home throughout the year. How many people’s food and clothing can be saved by thirty thousand taels of silver for many years?
"Your Highness, where are we going?" Xiao Luzi asked cautiously after watching Pingyang Hou leave.
Xie Qing's injury is no longer a problem, but since he has told others that he has difficulty walking, he has to be pushed and carried wherever he goes.
"I'm going to the Marquis Xuanwu's Mansion to see my fiancée." Xie Qing's cold expression did not change, but there was a gentle smile in his eyes.
Xiao Luzi was very clever. He asked, "Your Highness, I heard that a jewelry store in the east of the city has just acquired a large piece of mutton-fat jade. Would you like to take a look?"
Xie Qing's smile grew even brighter, and he nodded reservedly: "I happened to be passing by, so I went to take a look."
Where did he pass by? He clearly wanted to buy something good for Miss Qin.
Xiao Luzi saw through the situation but didn't say anything. He called a car and took His Royal Highness the Crown Prince straight to the jewelry shop in the east of the city.
So much so that before Qin Wan even saw Xie Qing, the table was already piled with various boxes.
Open one at random, and you will find gems, pearls, or various exquisite gadgets inside.
Qin Wan looked at Xie Qing being carried into the house, and said with a smile, "Are you planning to give away all your future belongings and not me anymore?"
"Who said that? Can't I just give you the good ones when I see them? The more duplicates there are, the more there are. If you like them, keep them. If you don't like them, just let others enjoy them." After Xie Qing entered the room, he asked everyone except Xiao Luzi to leave.
Seeing that Qin Wan, Yi Jia, and Zi Gui were the only ones in the room, he stopped pretending and stood up with the help of his wheelchair. He walked over to Qin Wan and sat down. "Look, my leg is healed. How's yours?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore." Qin Wan looked at him with her eyes curved, and asked Yijia and Zigui to go back down. "Hasn't the Imperial Observatory set a date yet?"
Xie Qing was not at all pretentious in front of Qin Wan. His cold and aloof image of the crown prince was thrown out the window, and he became even more scoundrel-like. "What? Are you so eager to marry me?"
Qin Wan rolled her eyes at him unhappily, "We also need to prepare a dowry. If the date is set too close, some of the dowry will have to be discarded. We need to look for something nearby."
"Why do you need a dowry when you marry me? Everything I have is yours." Xie Qing held Qin Wan's hand. "After the Imperial Observatory sets the date, I will ask the Ministry of Rites to deliver the betrothal gifts, and everything I have will be yours."
Qin Wan was curious: "Oh? What do you have?"
Qin Wan knew that in his previous life, the Crown Prince was very poor, and the Queen took all the dowry left by the late Queen for herself. Could it be that the Crown Prince had come back to life and taken it back?
Xie Qing met Qin Wan's inquiring gaze and touched his nose. He also had great ambitions in his previous life, but he was deceived and ended up with a tragic death.
After his rebirth, he kept a low profile for a long time, hired people to serve as his aides, and secretly learned the ways of being a king from his father. This was how he turned the situation around, so much so that sometimes he wanted to go back to his previous life and strangle his foolish self to death.
"You'll know how much my betrothal gift is once you give it to me." Xie Qing was reluctant to talk about his past experiences. He quickly changed the subject: "I've been hired as a debt collector. Can you give me some advice?"
Qin Wan blinked and said, "As the Crown Prince, how could you not have an idea?"
Xie Qing pondered and said, "I do have some ideas, but they are all drastic measures. I want to hear if you have any better methods that will achieve the goal without bloodshed."
Qin Wan looked at Xie Qing for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Now that you've accepted this assignment, will the first thing you do is ask Marquis Pingyang to pay you back?"
Xie Qing chuckled: "Of course, who made him confused? He bullied you before, and even came to harass you after knowing that you were engaged. I have many ways to punish him."
"A lot? One way is to withhold the rewards for the trip to Shenyang?" Qin Wan found it amusing yet helpless. She gently coaxed, "You are the Crown Prince, and I am the daughter of the Marquis Xuanwu. I may not value these meritorious rewards, but you are also accompanied by many ordinary officials from the Ministry of Works, as well as the guards who are escorting the grain and protecting you. They need this reward. You can't be willful."
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