Tongjia smiled and said, "How would I know about such a thing?"
"Why aren't you surprised at all?" Jing Shu asked.
“Because Mother knows that even if He Xue goes to see the Crown Prince, it won’t be because of romantic feelings. Right now, her feelings for the Crown Prince are just those of a brother and sister!” said Madam Tongjia.
Based on Tongjia's understanding of Hexue, Hexue probably doesn't have any romantic feelings for the Crown Prince now. Hexue is rather cold to everyone except her family, and she is probably slow to react to matters of the heart. Otherwise, she would have discovered the Crown Prince's feelings for her long ago.
“Mother, I feel that He Xue has a special feeling for the Crown Prince!” Jing Shu couldn’t quite put his finger on what was so special about him, but he just felt that He Xue had a kind of affection for the Crown Prince that neither he nor Shu Yi had.
"Mother knows!" said Lady Tongjia. Lady Tongjia felt she should find an opportunity to have a proper talk with Hexue.
“Mother, Auntie wants you to talk to Father in advance, so that Father won’t be unable to accept it right away!” Jing Shu said.
"I will talk to your father!" This is what troubles Tongjia the most. Suhetai never intended for Hexue to marry into the royal family. Suhetai has recently been thinking of many ways to make Hexue lose the selection, but now it seems that they are no longer needed. Hexue has been directly chosen by the emperor.
Looking at Tongjia's expression, Jing Shu knew that she also didn't want to face Su Hetai, but he was powerless to help her. If anyone in the manor could control Su Hetai, it was probably only He Xue and Tongjia. Now that He Xue was no longer an option, he could only rely on Tongjia.
The Fourth Prince is currently working in the Ministry of Revenue. He reviewed the Ministry's past account books and discovered that many court officials had borrowed money from the imperial court.
He also analyzed why these people would borrow money from the imperial court.
Some officials borrowed money out of necessity. Officials below the fourth rank in the capital had low salaries and could not make ends meet, so they had no choice but to borrow. Others borrowed money to keep up with the Joneses. Some court officials liked to make friends and loved extravagance, so they borrowed money. Still others borrowed money for the sake of borrowing. These officials did not lack money but felt uncomfortable seeing others borrowing money, so they thought it would be a waste not to lend.
This is why the national treasury is empty while the pockets of officials in the court are bulging.
The Fourth Prince specifically calculated the amount of silver lent by these ministers, which amounted to several million taels, almost enough to support an army.
The Fourth Prince felt that he couldn't handle the task of recovering the debts on his own.
He also told Emperor Kangxi about this, which put Emperor Kangxi in a difficult position. Once the court officials started complaining about being poor, he felt embarrassed to ask for money.
When the Fourth Prince proposed to return the silver, he didn't take it too seriously. He felt that the Fourth Prince would definitely not be able to deal with those treacherous old ministers. However, it wouldn't be bad to let the Fourth Prince practice his skills. What if the Fourth Prince actually got the silver back? So Kangxi agreed to the Fourth Prince's suggestion.
Emperor Kangxi waved his hand and told the Fourth Prince to just say what he needed. The Fourth Prince then told Emperor Kangxi that the First Prince and the Ninth Prince should accompany him to collect the debts, and that the Infantry Commander's Office should also be at his disposal.
When Kangxi saw that the Fourth Prince had actually asked the First Prince and the Ninth Prince to accompany him to collect the debt, he felt that the matter was unlikely to succeed. The First Prince was good at leading troops into battle, but was he supposed to beat up people while collecting debts?
As for the Ninth Prince, there's no need to say more. A prince of such high status is competing with the common people for profit. Why does he have to do anything else but go into business? Among the social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants are ranked last. Isn't this an insult to his status?
Therefore, Emperor Kangxi did not think highly of the Fourth Prince. In order not to upset the Fourth Prince too much, he had already hinted to him that the money was probably not going to be recovered and that the Fourth Prince should not take it too seriously.
The Fourth Prince, however, vowed to get the silver back or he would not give up.
Seeing this, Emperor Kangxi had no choice but to let the Fourth Prince do it.
When the Fourth Prince found the First Prince and asked him to go with him to collect the debt, the First Prince refused outright. He thought those court officials were all slippery and cunning, and this would be a thankless task, so he wasn't going to go!
The Fourth Prince only said one sentence, and the First Prince obediently joined the Fourth Prince's team to collect the debt.
The Fourth Prince told the First Prince that the debts could support an army, and that the First Prince could ask Emperor Kangxi for funds to be allocated to the army. The First Prince had no choice but to grit his teeth and join the army for these funds.
Next, the Fourth Prince and the First Prince went to find the Ninth Prince.
The Ninth Prince naturally refused outright. Nothing could distract him from making money right now. He was researching greenhouse vegetables according to the method He Xue had given him. If he could grow a lot of vegetables in winter, he would definitely make a fortune.
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