After Queen Mother Yu had taken her medicine and gone to bed, Yin Chengyu and Xue Shu said goodbye and left.

Yin Chengyu walked in front, and Xue Shu followed him closely at first, half a step behind. But as they walked, they started to walk side by side, and the distance between them was obviously beyond the limit, almost arm to arm. Yin Chengyu could even feel the slightly hot skin under the cool clothes.

He glanced at the other side and saw Xue Shu tilting his head to look at him, his eyes were as hot as boiling water, and he was extremely aggressive. However, he was restrained from doing anything too outrageous because of the support team behind him.

Yin Chengyu curled the corners of his mouth.

Xue Shu noticed the corners of his lips curled up, and his narrow eyes narrowed. When passing through Jingyun Gate, he turned back and said to the guard of honor, "You wait here," and then followed Yin Chengyu through Jingyun Gate alone.

Jingyun Gate is southwest of Fengxian Hall, and if you walk further, you will reach the square in front of Qianqing Gate. There are guards everywhere in the square, but they are too far apart to be seen clearly. Xue Shu took advantage of this and strode forward to trap the man between the pillars and chest of the Chaoshou Corridor.

Yin Chengyu seemed to have expected this and was not surprised. He just raised his eyebrows and looked at him.

Xue Shu lowered his head, his hot lips gently touching his cheeks and lips, as if he were treating a precious treasure. He was reluctant to swallow it immediately, so he tasted it tentatively first.

"I'm so happy..." he murmured softly, "I've never been so happy before."

He followed the corners of her lips and finally covered the two beautifully shaped and plump lips, feeling the touch of lips against lips. He was not in a hurry to plunder them, but gently stroking them, tracing their shapes and feeling their temperature.

That was a completely different kind of excitement from conquering a city.

Yin Chengyu's breathing quickened a little. He pressed his shoulder and scolded him "how insolent" in a gentle tone, but he did not seem angry.

Xue Shu really bit his lips "impudently".

It's not too forceful, so it doesn't hurt, but it does make you feel a sense of itchiness and dissatisfaction.

Yin Chengyu's Adam's apple moved, and he looked at him for a moment, then asked in a low voice: "Why didn't you tell me that my mother summoned you?"

"The Queen Mother did not make things difficult for me." Xue Shu replied vaguely, leaning against his lips.

"You are quite obedient in front of our mother." Yin Chengyu turned his face to the side and tried to distance himself from him. His lips brushed against hers and she felt numb.

Xue Shu didn't answer, but pressed his lips against hers, wanting to kiss her.

Yin Chengyu did not avoid him this time. His noses intertwined with his and they exchanged a light kiss. Then he whispered in his ear, "There is no difference between you and the Queen Mother." He saw through his hidden thoughts and his slender jade-like fingers brushed across his cheek and touched his ear, "You are all my relatives, do you understand?"

Xue Shu saw himself in those beautiful eyes.

Only yourself.

The joy that he had been suppressing deep in his heart at Renshou Palace suddenly burst out. He suddenly grabbed the back of Yin Chengyu's head and kissed him recklessly, trying his best to express his joy.

Yin Chengyu was infected by his emotions, and gradually lost herself in the heavy breathing and fierce kisses.

Behind the Jingyun Gate, which was only separated by a wall, the ceremonial guards were still waiting. In the distance, on the Qianqing Gate Square, the imperial guards were passing by on patrol, and the sound of orderly footsteps could be vaguely heard. Under the cover of the columns, the two of them were entangled like vines, their breath blended, their bodies infinitely close, and they wanted to squeeze into each other's bodies.

The warmth and ambiguity permeated the surroundings and were then absorbed into the five internal organs. The young bodies were filled with the desire for each other.

Before Xue Shu knelt down, Yin Chengyu stopped him with his remaining rationality.

Xue Shu's eyes were bloodshot, and blue veins appeared on the side of his neck. He said in a hoarse voice, "No one will come."

Yin Chengyu regained some sense, kicked him lightly on the calf, and said in a hoarse voice: "You are shameless, but I still want it."

Seeing that he was unwilling, Xue Shu hesitated for a moment, and had to give up with regret. After adjusting his breath, he smoothed out the wrinkles on the dragon robe for him.

Yin Chengyu suppressed his inappropriate thoughts and calmed down a little before calling the guard of honor to follow him back to Yangxin Palace.

After the Wanshou Festival, no one in the court mentioned the matter of establishing a queen and taking concubines. However, some women, perhaps unwilling to give up, mentioned the matter indirectly when they entered the palace to talk with the Queen Mother Yu, but they were all blocked by the Queen Mother Yu without a single leak.

The emperor was indifferent and the empress dowager didn't care, so everyone stopped worrying about it for the time being, and Yin Chengyu spent a few comfortable days.

But the good times did not last long. By the end of June, disaster news came from Shandong and other places again - the Grand Canal burst its banks, flooding the towns and villages along the river.

The Grand Canal connects the north and the south, making transportation between the north and the south faster and more convenient, and the prefectures along the way also benefited a lot. But the disadvantages are also very obvious - after the Grand Canal was opened for many years, the river sand from the upper reaches gradually settled in the middle and lower reaches, raising the riverbed. Every year, the court needs to spend a large amount of money and recruit a large number of river workers to clean up the river.

If the river is not cleaned up in time or there is a heavy flood, it may burst or change course, causing flooding.

The Yan Dynasty experienced two dynasties of extravagance, natural disasters and man-made disasters. The treasury was empty and the revenue was insufficient to cover the expenditure. The emperor often tore down the east wall to repair the west wall. The previous emperor did not attach importance to the management of the canal and was unwilling to transfer too much silver. The delay until this year when a flood occurred, the canal broke again. People, livestock, houses, etc. were all destroyed, and they had to evacuate in large numbers.

When the disaster was reported to the capital, the court officials were divided over how to deal with it. Led by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, they split into two factions and could not reach a consensus.

Today, the two ministers of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue are both newly promoted capable officials. Both of them are get-the-job-doers, with their backs held high and their eloquence more eloquent than the other.

The Ministry of Industry naturally advocates the management of the canal. The benefits of a smooth canal are long-lasting and far-reaching. If the canal is allowed to silt up, wouldn’t all the efforts made in the past be in vain?

The Minister of Works was so angry that he stamped his feet and scolded the Minister of Revenue without any politeness: "The canal is beneficial to the country and the people. If it is not repaired this year and next year, the situation will become more and more serious. In the future, the canal will be blocked and the people along the river will have nowhere to move. What will we do?"

The Minister of Finance was also unhappy and refused to give in: "How could I not know how important the canal is? But there is no money in the treasury! It costs money to resettle the disaster victims! It also costs money to manage the canal! They all come to me for money, but there is only so much money, can't they come in a hurry?!"

The two sides were arguing fiercely in the Huangji Palace. Each side had its own reasons, and if no one was holding them back, they would have almost started fighting on the spot.

In fact, there have been fewer natural disasters and man-made disasters this year, but the national treasury is really short of money. Whether it is to manage the canal or resettle the disaster victims, a large amount of silver is needed.

But the Ministry of Revenue has no money at all right now.

Yin Chengyu was so confused by the noise that he had to adjourn the court to discuss the matter further.

After the court session, he did not summon the two ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works who wanted to seek support, but instead summoned Xie Pingchuan to the palace to discuss matters.

Xie Pingchuan was led by Xue Shu to the Yangxin Palace. Out of habit, he wanted to chat with him, but he found that Governor Xue seemed particularly cold today. He had a stern face and looked very difficult to get along with. He could only respond with one or two words such as "hmm" or "oh", which was completely different from before.

He wondered if he had offended the other party at some point. He had already considered Xue Shu a friend, and he did not want any misunderstanding or rift between them, so he asked, "How did I offend the governor?"

Xue Shu glanced at him and said, "No."

Xie Chengchuan was confused: "Why did the Governor...?"

"My family members are jealous of our close relationship with Master Xie." Xue Shu put his hands in his pockets, raised his chin slightly, and said slowly, "We have to avoid suspicion."

Xie Pingchuan slowly opened his mouth.

I really want to ask you, as a eunuch, where does your family come from?

But this was too offensive, and he wisely stopped trying to talk.

But in his heart, he couldn't help wondering that the people who saw him and Xue Shu interacting were probably people in the palace. But wasn't marriage forbidden in the palace? Who could Xue Shu's family be?

He pondered all the way until he met the emperor, then he stopped speculating and bowed solemnly to greet him.

Yin Chengyu raised his hand to let him sit down, and then told him about the dispute in the court today.

In the long run, Xie Pingchuan also supported the management of the canal, but after he entered the court to observe government affairs, he also understood the difficulties of the Minister of Revenue and sighed: "It is true that a skilled cook cannot cook without rice."

Yin Chengyu did not speak, but pushed a few account books in front of him: "Take a look at this."

Xie Pingchuan took it and started looking through it. At first, he looked relaxed, but after reading a few books in succession, his expression became serious.

——Yin Chengyu showed him the summary of the total income and expenditure of the past years submitted by the Ministry of Revenue. The bulk of the treasury revenue depends on the land tax, followed by military settlements, salt taxes, etc. In addition, the rest of the taxes such as commercial taxes are pitifully small. Most of the income of the entire Dayan treasury depends on the land tax, but Dayan has been hit by natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years, resulting in a decrease in land income. Not to mention that a large number of officials and gentry are exempted from land tax, and many farmers register their land under the names of officials and gentry in order to avoid taxes. Over time, the land tax income has gradually decreased.

Looking at the expenditure, military expenses and salary expenses are the biggest. Last year alone, military expenses reached 3.9 million taels, and salary expenses reached 2.53 million taels. But this is still normal expenditure. Xie Yanchuan looked at the last item of royal family expenditure and his brows were already knotted.

The expenditure just for supporting the royal family and princes was as high as 2.1 million taels!

"Have you figured out anything?" Yin Chengyu pointed at the account books and asked him.

"There are too many problems. No wonder the Minister of Revenue almost had a fight with the Minister of Works in Huangji Palace." Xie Rongchuan said honestly.

This really couldn't be blamed on the Minister of Revenue. The national treasury had more money coming in than going out, and the accounts were already in a mess. If it weren't for looking at the account books, who would have thought that just to support the princes of the royal family, more than two million taels of silver would flow out every year?

The current system of supporting vassal kings was inherited from Emperor Gaozu, and was later improved by successive emperors. In order to prevent local vassal kings from causing chaos, Emperor Gaozu tried his best to weaken the power of vassal kings, stipulating that vassal kings were not allowed to interfere in local government affairs, raise troops, or leave their fiefdoms. The vassal kings were supported on their fiefdoms with high salaries. The vassal kings were inherited from generation to generation, and the number of vassal kings increased, and the annual salaries were also increasing.

By now, two million taels of silver had to be spent every year.

If this money could be saved, how much practical work could be done?

"To relieve the urgent need of the national treasury, we must first increase revenue and secondly reduce expenditure. To increase revenue, we must rely on commerce. Farmers have suffered greatly from natural disasters over the years, and the land tax can only be reduced, not increased. However, a lot can be done on commercial taxes. To reduce expenditure, we must rely on the royal family. There are hundreds of thousands of royal family members, and they are kept on their fiefdoms for nothing. This is a waste of both manpower and money."

Yin Chengyu had these ideas in his previous life, but the situation in Dayan was much worse at that time, and many of them had not yet been implemented.

Xie Pingchuan's heart moved: "Your Majesty means...?"

Yin Chengyu nodded slightly to confirm his guess: "What I have in mind will certainly be difficult to implement. The old officials in the court may be pedantic or have their own standpoints, and may not support it sincerely. To accomplish these things, we can only rely more on young officials like you who are still sharp and have no vested interests."

This is the purpose of Yin Chengyu summoning Xie Pingchuan into the palace today.

The treasury was in urgent need, so he had to find a way to get money. The best people to start with were naturally the princes and vassal kings who had land and money. However, everything was difficult at the beginning. These princes were used to being supported by high salaries and waiting for death. If he rashly touched them, he would definitely be blocked.

But no matter how difficult it is, someone has to do it.

Xie Pingchuan understood his meaning, stood up, bowed, and said in a deep voice: "I am willing to be your Majesty's vanguard."