Prince Rui then began to recount another piece of history.
In the third year of the Taiwei era, the previous Director of the Bureau of People's Affairs grew old, and His Majesty granted him permission to retire and return to his hometown.
In Prince Rui's words, it wasn't that he was truly unable to do it; he probably just feared that things would be exposed and he would not have a good end.
The old man then sent his prized student to Bailu Prefecture to oversee the investigation.
To put it bluntly, it was Governor Yan Wenyuan who took over the matter.
The truth about the counterfeit money couldn't be hidden forever; in fact, rumors were already circulating at the time.
Yan Wenyuan was a talented man who proposed a solution of dredging rather than blocking.
By vigorously promoting lower-level officials, the government firmly controlled Bailu Prefecture and benefited the people.
At the same time, he used the connections left by his old mentor to drag officials in the capital into corruption through various means.
This dragged on until the war ended, but the underlying interests had already become deeply intertwined.
The war has ended, but the legitimacy of the Empress's accession to the throne is still questioned by all sides.
Prince Rui didn't elaborate on this part, as it involved the late emperor.
In any case, during that period, the network of interests that Yan Wenyuan had built played a significant role in stabilizing the situation in the central government and local areas.
Later, a message was sent wanting to stop the minting of inferior coins, but it was no longer something that Prince Rui could decide.
As a subject, Yan Wenyuan's contributions are beyond words.
Moreover, his children are all in Fengjing, which he sent there voluntarily, so His Majesty doesn't have to worry about them at all.
"Over the years, he secretly sent people to collect the earliest batch of inferior coins, and then gradually reduced the proportion of adulteration, but this was the limit."
As for how to do it, that's up to you to decide.
The arrival of His Majesty's imperial edict indicates that patience has reached its limit and the decision has been made to eliminate this hidden danger.
Qin Zhaoyue glared at Prince Rui, "Old man, you didn't deliberately hand over control to someone else, did you?"
Prince Rui: ...
What a perceptive sixth daughter!
"No, no, I am just a nominal prince, how can I compare to a prefectural governor?"
Qin Zhaoyue rolled her eyes, too lazy to bring up old grievances.
She sighed deeply. Yes, she had watched plenty of palace intrigue dramas, but dealing with these seasoned veterans of officialdom was really not her thing.
While the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs was retiring gracefully, Prince Rui actively cooperated with the younger generation and began to dilute his power early on.
Now, thirteen years have passed, and the old man's words no longer carry weight. What can we do?
His Majesty entrusted him with such a task back then, which was partly due to trust, but the most important reason was probably his ability, as evidenced by the title "Rui".
He arrived first, but he couldn't even beat a young guy?
Tui! Who would believe that?
Prince Rui's meaning was very clear: if you touch Yan Wenyuan, you can't touch him.
That's the difficult part: how to move it.
They handled their job exceptionally well. Look at how well they managed Bailu Prefecture. Even the once-in-fifty-years flood didn't cause the imperial court a single worry.
Not to mention his past achievements, he has made outstanding contributions. If this were public, he would probably be promoted to the position of Director of the Six Departments without any problem.
When birds are all gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked. How do you expect those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to think when you deal with people like this?
It is obvious that Yin Zhe knew at least the inside story of the counterfeit money case.
Putting aside everything else, won't this affect the Xuanji Guard, creating a situation where the rabbit mourns the fox's death?
Qin Zhaoyue raised her head and looked around, then cleared her throat. "I'll offer a few suggestions, but whether you listen or not is up to you, elder sister."
First, due to the disaster in Bailu Prefecture and the blockage of waterways, the minting of inferior coins was suspended.
Second, there is no such thing as minting inferior currency; it never has.
Third, the prince and his elder sister temporarily resided in the prefectural government office to support Governor Yan Wenyuan;
Fourth, whether Yan Wenyuan's wife has an imperial title or not; if not, then grant her one, and reward his children handsomely.
Fifth, since he possessed extraordinary abilities, after cutting off the bad money supply, he should find a way to raise funds to maintain the operation of the Bailu Prefecture clerks.
Sixth, Prince Rui, for his meritorious service in overseeing the mint for many years, was granted a fiefdom, with Bailu County as his fief.
"Hey!" Before the words were even out of his mouth, Prince Rui sprang up. "No way!"
"Then I'll kill you first."
Prince Rui silently sat back down, crossed his arms, and glared at the enemy.
Qin Zhaoyue's words are contradictory. She says that construction has been stopped, that it never existed, and that she was granted real fiefdoms in the prefectures and counties. So whose opinion should be followed?
But the people in the room quickly understood her meaning: to put it bluntly, she was relinquishing control and letting them handle it themselves.
Rewarding meritorious officials is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.
As for the official title, it is not a matter of bestowing a title, but rather the meaning that His Majesty would represent.
We can't let that governor become too powerful. The prince should take on his responsibilities and at least restrain his development.
As for the present situation, it's nothing more than a matter of stalling.
Using the pretext of disaster relief and flood control, they suspended forging and resisted the sorcerer's next move by providing strong support.
"Sixth Sister, is this a final conclusion... His Majesty's intention..."
Qin Zhaoyue tucked her little hands into her pockets.
"Then there's nothing I can do. Who knows what His Majesty is thinking?"
The fact that we know Pei Xiang's role in this matter suggests that someone might dislike him and want to remove him from his position as prime minister.
Perhaps he didn't tell Liu Yan the inside story because he was always incompetent and wanted to use Yin Zhe to kill him?
He told Yin Zhe the inside story, perhaps because he thought her veil was too stiff and wanted to use Liu Yan to kill her.
There might be too many issues. Is the current situation easy to resolve? We have to consider both the present and the future…
A silence fell over the room as everyone considered the feasibility of these words. Only Prince Rui's nose and eyes were not his own.
"Sixth Girl, how did I treat you at the manor? Why are you repaying kindness with enmity?"
Qin Zhaoyue scoffed; she wasn't going to be morally blackmailed.
As long as there is no morality, no one can kidnap her.
"You're still complaining? You're at least half responsible for the current situation in Bailu Prefecture."
If you hadn't indulged him, would Yan Wenyuan have grown to this point?
A king of a different surname, a privilege unparalleled during the Taiwei era, what more do you want?
"Elder sister, I was wrong. His Majesty intends to kill Prince Rui and reward his estate to meritorious officials!"
"Pah!" Prince Rui spat. "Did they misunderstand? They're just after his manor!"
Qin Zhaoqiong sighed inwardly.
Yes, we always want to be thorough, but it's never that easy.
They had already witnessed the sorcerer's methods of bewitching people, and could foresee that rumors would inevitably spread throughout Bailu Prefecture. They decided to weather the storm first!
Qin Zhaoqiong was not an indecisive person, but what she had learned today was so shocking that after thinking it through, she immediately spoke in a deep voice:
“I was greedy. I’ll do as Sixth Sister says.”
“Eh,” Qin Zhaoyue shook her head, “What you’re saying is that the imperial edict is for my elder sister; it’s her wish.”
Qin Zhaoqiong: ...
My sister's disgusted expression practically screamed "Get out of here!"
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