Chapter 475: Rich Man

The next morning.

The three little ones came to the Imperial Garden.

As usual, there were already many people waiting here, but the atmosphere was much more depressing than usual.

It seemed that the recent events in the capital had also affected the people in the palace.

After all, everyone had a family in the court behind them, and it was unknown whether anyone had been implicated in this matter.

After the three little ones came to the Imperial Garden, their friends came to greet him one after another.

After a while, the princes and princesses gathered again.

"My brothers and sisters, have you heard about the recent empty treasury?" Princess Yuan An asked worriedly.

"This matter has been a hot topic, so of course I have heard about it, but I really didn't expect the treasury to be so vulnerable." The eighth prince shook his head and sighed.

Princess Ankang opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say, so she chose to remain silent in the end.

Many of the things she heard from the two stewards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should be confidential, so she couldn't say anything casually.

The reason for this incident was not that the treasury was empty.

Rather, those officials privately collected temporary war taxes, which led to unnecessary additional expenses and raised the burden of the war to the highest limit.

This situation should have been the consumption after the 200,000 troops of Daxing were assembled at the border and engaged in a large-scale battle with the desert.

However, these officials assembled the army at the fastest speed and completed the reason for preparing for war. They bypassed Emperor Yongyuan and collected such a special tax on their own. They were really worthy of death.

If there were no heavy resistance in the court, Emperor Yongyuan would have taken action against these officials long ago.

It would be difficult to relieve his anger without playing a game of Nine Clans Elimination.

But the most urgent task is still the problem in front of us: should the preparations for war continue?

If we continue, the treasury will soon end up with a deficit, and we will also have to bear a debt to repay the temporary war tax, and it is unknown how much of it will go into the pocket of King Zheng.

Such a thing of aiding the enemy must not continue.

But if we don’t continue, will the desert agree first?

As the party being attacked, how could they easily give up when they learned about Daxing's difficulties?

At that time, Daxing would definitely pay a huge price before they would be willing to make peace again.

What is even more difficult to deal with is the internal problems of Daxing.

Emperor Yongyuan insisted on starting the war, but ended up being counterattacked.

Will he still be the emperor in the future?

By then, not only the civil officials, but even the nobles will turn to King Zheng.

"Old Eight, this matter is not as simple as you think." The fifth prince looked solemn, and obviously had a deeper understanding of this incident.

"This time, some officials acted on their own and deceived the emperor. It's not an exaggeration to say that they forged the imperial edict."

"If it weren't for these people, the treasury of Daxing would not be able to afford even a war."

"Although there have always been natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years, which have caused the treasury's income to shrink year after year, it is still far from what you think."

"But the problem now is that even if the emperor wants to severely punish these officials, it is not an easy task."

The fifth prince holds a book every day, and he is really not a fool.

At least on this issue, many of his views are correct.

As a result, the Eighth Prince also said shockingly:

"Who said it wasn't?"

"Even my grandfather is now against severe punishment of these officials?"

After hearing this, Princess Ankang couldn't help but ask in surprise: "My dear brother, why is this?"

"Aren't civil officials and nobles always at odds?"

"It's good enough that they didn't add insult to injury in this situation."

In response to Princess Ankang's words, the Eighth Prince shook his head: "Ankang, you don't understand."

"If you want to fight, you really can't do without these civil officials, otherwise who will guarantee you the logistics dispatch?"

The Fifth Prince also nodded: "Old Eight is right, the two sides originally need to cooperate tacitly, but because of the conflict of interests, this has caused the situation on weekdays."

After hearing this, Princess Ankang couldn't help but fall into silence.

In other words, Emperor Yongyuan now has to face resistance from both civil officials and nobles in the court.

In order to continue the war, the nobles have to rely on the power of the civil service system. Although they agree with Emperor Yongyuan's punishment of officials who act on their own, they do not agree with severe punishment because they are afraid that there will be no war in the end.

"I heard that many nobles now propose to use the spoils of war to supplement the empty treasury to support the expedition to the desert."

"But in my opinion, this is too natural."

"The desert has developed very well in recent years, and it is not an opponent that we Daxing can control."

The eighth prince analyzed seriously.

As a result, everyone looked at the eighth prince with a strange expression, as if looking at a stranger.

The eighth prince noticed that the surroundings suddenly became quiet, and he couldn't help but look up at a few people, and said in confusion: "Why are you looking at me?"

"Old Eighth, I didn't expect that you can spit out ivory from your dog's mouth." Princess Yuan An said in shock.

"Humph, Yuan An, you know too little about mynahs." The eighth prince said triumphantly, and then his face changed: "Also, who is the dog's mouth!"

The eighth prince and Princess Yuan An immediately quarreled, and others couldn't help but be amused by them.

At this moment, a eunuch in gorgeous clothes came in from outside the imperial garden.

Everyone thought it was Zhao Feng, but to everyone's expectation, it was Wang Xi, the eunuch of Emperor Yongyuan who came.

Wang Xi smiled and held a golden scroll, separated from the crowd and walked onto the stage, and then announced to everyone:

"My ladies, Your Highnesses."

"The content of this month's competition was announced by Lao Nu. Manager Zhao is temporarily absent today due to his busy official duties."

"Please forgive me."

Wang Xi saluted, then opened the scroll and directly announced the contents of this month's Imperial Garden competition.

The content of the competition is very simple. Each contestant has a starting capital of 10,000 taels of silver, and then makes profits through legal means within a period of twenty days. The one with the most capital in the end will win this month's Royal Garden competition.

"Monopoly?"

After hearing the rules of the game, Li Xuan immediately thought of this game.

Moreover, what they want to play is still the ancient reality version, and the degree of freedom is extremely high. As long as it is legal, it doesn't matter how you make money.

“Emperor Yongyuan doesn’t want to use this money to make up for the shortfall in the treasury, right?”

"Isn't he afraid that his heirs will cheat his father and lose all his money?"

Li Xuan secretly cursed, but he couldn't help but applaud Emperor Yongyuan's creativity.

"What a shame!"

“But is this money really enough to fill the hole?”

Although Li Xuan was a little confused, the rules of the competition had been announced, and Wang Xi was giving out silver tickets to each contestant.

A large banknote of ten thousand taels for each person, which adds up to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Emperor Yongyuan's handiwork is really not small.

"Isn't Emperor Yongyuan's bet a bit big?"

Li Xuan looked around. It was already October, the beginning of winter, and this year was about to end.

As mentioned before, the competition in the Royal Garden will last until the end of the year, and then the person with the highest points will participate in the New Year's shrine visit.

After all the calculations, including this month's games, there are only three games left in the Royal Garden.

Princess Ankang's points are far ahead, and only one of the others, the eldest prince, can catch up with the points, become the number one in the year together with Princess Ankang, and get the opportunity to pay homage in the New Year.

For the remaining princes and princesses, the meaning of this game, apart from gaining a sense of presence with Emperor Yongyuan, no longer means much.

They completely lost the chance to compete for final victory.

Of course, the monthly competition rewards are still very attractive.

Especially in the case of Princess Ankang, who wouldn't be greedy for the rewards she received.

In less than a year, Princess Ankang passed the Royal Garden Competition and jumped from a down-and-out princess who was locked up in the cold palace and no one cared about her to her current status.

Anyone with eyes in the palace can see what Jingyang Palace has been renovated into.

It's not that they are all paying attention to the movements of Jingyang Palace, but that the Jingyang Palace is now too conspicuous. As long as you are in the West Palace, you can see the gorgeous eaves of Jingyang Palace.

As for the various other treatments, let alone mention them.

What about three meals a day according to the imperial cuisine, the qualifications to read in the Qianxing Pavilion of the East Palace, bathing in the Yuqing Pool, and the carriage given by the emperor to drive in the palace...

Picking out just one of them can make others jealous.

That is to say, the monthly competition rewards are still the most attractive to them.

At this time, Princess Ankang asked curiously while taking the banknote from Wang Xi's hand:

"Eunuch Wang, what should I do if I lose this money?"

Wang Xi smiled slightly and said kindly to Princess Ankang:

"Your Highness, don't worry. This money was taken from His Majesty's private treasury."

As soon as these words came out, many people looked strange and thought about their own little Jiujiu.

"It's Emperor Yongyuan's personal money, so it won't be a loss if you just put it in your pocket."

This is what many people think.

After all, they may not be able to win this game, so getting ten thousand taels of silver for no reason is considered a good reward.

But Wang Xi's next words gave up their plans.

"As for the loss of money, I will gradually deduct it from the monthly income from now on. There will always be a time when I can repay the ten thousand taels of silver."

The faces of all the princes and princesses who received the banknotes suddenly turned dark.

Princess Yuan'an took the banknote after Princess Ankang and couldn't help but murmured in a low voice:

"Father is so stingy..."

Wang Xi just pretended not to hear, and then handed out the banknote to the next person.

After giving out the banknotes to everyone, Wang Xi left his last words and left.

"I wish your highnesses good fortune."

Seeing Wang Xi leaving, all the princes and princesses participating in the competition complained. Naturally, they were dissatisfied that they had to make up for the loss of money to Emperor Yongyuan.

The several concubines who were present had strange expressions on their faces, but none of them made any comments about it. They just encouraged their children and then left the Imperial Garden. They all seemed to have something to do.

The three brothers and sisters of the eldest prince gathered in a corner of the imperial garden and placed all three silver notes in their hands into the hands of the fourth prince.

"Fourth brother, do you have any good ideas?"

The eldest prince asked the fourth prince.

“There are quite a few ways to do it, but it has to be legal and profitable, so it’s not easy to find one.”

The fourth prince was familiar with these businesses and immediately thought of many plans.

But as he said, it is not easy to meet both conditions.

"Fourth brother, you should also have a way to make a profitable business look legal, right?"

Although the Sixth Princess was asking, her expression was extremely convinced.

The fourth prince said nothing, but looked at the sixth prince fondly.

"Then let's act as soon as possible. Twenty days is not a long time for doing business." The eldest prince suggested.

For this month's competition, the three brothers and sisters are quite confident.

The fourth prince is responsible for handling the external business of Qingshu Palace all year round. Matters that are inconvenient for their mother and concubine to come forward are handled by the fourth prince, who is considered to be rich in experience.

Moreover, the eldest prince and the sixth prince also knew about the fourth prince's "transfer protection" of valuables in Qingshu Palace.

They believed that the fourth prince must have more good ways to make money like this.

Now, the three brothers and sisters have a principal of thirty thousand taels of silver. It should not be difficult to double their money several times in twenty days.

"There's no rush, let's send someone to check on Ankang first."

"Of all the people, she is the most unexpected, so it's better to keep an eye on her."

The fourth prince learned a lot from the experience, and now he did not dare to relax at all towards Princess Ankang, and even felt a faint sense of fear in his heart.

Of course, the fourth prince himself would never admit this.

He only admitted that Princess Ankang was indeed a strong opponent.

"It's not difficult. We just have to take turns sending people from among the three of us to keep an eye on it."

"It's just that the surroundings of Jingyang Palace are closely guarded by the eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so we can't detect what they are doing inside."

The eldest prince said.

"It doesn't matter. If Ankang wants to make money, he can't stay in Jingyang Palace forever." The fourth prince said with conviction.

Making money has always been made from rich people.

If Princess Ankang stays in Jingyang Palace, whose money will she make?

The fourth prince was sure of this matter and did not think that they would not be able to monitor Princess Ankang's movements.

After the three brothers and sisters made a discussion, they looked in the direction of Princess Ankang and then left the Royal Garden, ready to show off their talents.

Since the content of this competition is to make money in the capital, the participating princes and princesses can enter and leave the palace at will, giving them another chance to have fun outside the palace.

At the same time, Princess Ankang also gathered with her friends, looking at the banknotes in their hands, looking a little confused.

"I don't know how to do business either."

Princess Ankang secretly thought.

Compared to the others, the Seventh Princess, who was still dozing off, turned out to be the most excited.

"Hehehe, with this money, I can buy the latest stargazing guide from Si Tiantai."

The seventh princess rubbed her face against the banknote, as if it was the stargazing guide she cherished so much.

"Sister Seventh Emperor, what is the Star Gazing Treasure Book?" Princess Ankang asked curiously.

Princess Yuanan on the side replied for the Seventh Princess: "It is a kind of mirror, but it can magnify the stars in the sky countless times."

After hearing Princess Yuan'an's explanation, Princess Ankang asked tentatively: "Is there a market?"

Princess Ankang felt that this might be a business opportunity found by the Seventh Princess using her own advantages.

As a result, Princess Yuanan replied speechlessly:

"Other than people like the Seventh Emperor Sister, who would spend ten thousand taels on such a thing?"

Princess Ankang smiled and felt that there was nothing unexpected.

She just felt that there was still a slight possibility of "maybe".

Facts have proved that she still thinks too much.

"Sister Qihuang, this money will be deducted from the monthly salary and repaid in the future. I advise you not to be too impulsive." Princess Ankang advised kindly.

As a result, the seventh princess replied solemnly: "Ankang, what I lack is not the monthly routine, but a stargazing guide."

"I've wanted to buy this thing for a long time. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs hadn't given me a monthly advance, I would have bought it long ago."

Good guy, it turns out that the Seventh Princess had an idea for the Ministry of Internal Affairs before.

Li Xuan shook his head and sighed: "No matter what Emperor Yongyuan's plan is, at least Lao Qi's ten thousand taels will not come back."

Looking at the naughty children in the distance, it was really hard for Li Xuan not to doubt whether Emperor Yongyuan would lose all his money this time.

"After the national treasury, the private treasury of Emperor Yongyuan will also be blown up, right?"