All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 119 Coveting Brother's Wife
The emperor's words were neither sarcasm nor praise, but a statement of fact.

As the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture, he did not hesitate to sell out the interests of various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River for the sake of collecting autumn grain in his prefecture.

What is this? This is fulfilling one's duty~~~
The Shuntian Prefecture Prime Minister is only concerned with whether the autumn grain can be collected in this prefecture. As for whether the prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River will cause trouble, it is none of my business.

Jia Yucun stood aside trembling, he knew very well how strong a backlash this kind of thing would bring about.

He was previously the prefect of Jinling, so he naturally knew how powerful the wealthy families in Jiangnan were.

If we collect taxes from them, won't there be chaos?
"If I had known that Zihou was going to do something big, I would not have gotten involved."

What Jia Yucun knew, the emperor naturally knew as well.

He frowned and thought, but had not made up his mind.

This is definitely a good thing. We can collect autumn grain no matter what. It is definitely a good thing for the emperor and the court.

But if there really were so many, the turmoil it would bring would make it difficult for him to make up his mind.

He raised his head and saw the confident Chen Ran. He immediately thought, 'The person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it'. Since the top scholar had raised the issue, of course he should be the one to solve the problem if there was any trouble.

"Chen Ran." The emperor asked, "If there are tax-collecting prefectures in Jiangnan, how should we deal with them if they resist taxation?"

"How should we deal with them? Of course, we should kill them all. If you dare not pay taxes, you are a traitor!"

Chen Ran complained in his heart, but what he said was "Your Majesty, the wealthy families in Jiangnan are headed by the Zhen family in Jinling. As long as we can appease the Zhen family, everything will be fine."

When the Zhen family was mentioned, the emperor's eyes immediately darkened.

The Zhen family belongs to the emperor!
Every emperor would think that he is the only one in the world and would never like to have an emperor emeritus above him!

"If you want to convince the Zhen family, you must get the approval of the emperor." The emperor simply passed the buck and said, "Go and explain this to the emperor."

"Your Majesty." Chen Ran looked at the emperor and said earnestly, "You can let me do the difficult thing, but where is the reward?"

Jia Yucun, who was standing by, was shocked.

You must be crazy to mention rewards in front of the emperor.

I thought the emperor would be furious, but unexpectedly he burst into laughter.

"If someone else said this, I would think it was just useless noise. But you have real skills and can really solve the problem and bring benefits."

"I have granted you the merits. Stamp duty, lottery, and this tax package. I have recorded every single one of them. When you want to redeem them, just come to me."

Jia Yucun and Xia Bingzhong were both so stunned that they almost lost their composure, and it took them a while to come back to their senses.

Is this still the strict emperor as rumored?

Emperors all want the whole world to work like slaves for them, working themselves to death without getting any food.

"Even if the Zhen family can be appeased temporarily." The emperor thought further, "But the big families in Jiangnan have suffered heavy losses and are still angry. Sooner or later, there will be trouble in the future."

He looked at Chen Ran again, his eyes full of expectation, "How should we deal with this?"

"Simple."

Chen Ran smiled and said, "When they are too angry to calm down, let them bid for Shuntianfu's tax package."

"Hiss~~~" The atmosphere group member nearby noticed the inhalation sound very timely.

This is too cruel!
"You," the emperor asked with a smile, "you are the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture, aren't you afraid that they will make Shuntian Prefecture a mess?"

Chen Ran shrugged indifferently. "When that time comes, it will be at least one or two years later. I am the Shuntian Prefecture Minister in name only. By that time, I will have stopped doing my job. What does it have to do with me if there is chaos?"

"Did you see that?" The emperor suddenly raised his finger and pointed at the dumbfounded Jia Yucun. "When you are in a position, you should do your job. When you are not in a position, you should not do your job. This is what an official does!"

Jia Yucun had nothing to say. He just felt that he had been living a dog's life all these years.

Bow respectfully to show that you have learned something.

The matter was settled, and the specific operations were handed over to Chen Ran, while Jia Yucun was the one who stepped forward to stop the trouble and took the blame.

The emperor was in a good mood and even invited them to stay for a midnight snack and had a drink for the first time.

The next day, the emperor called the eldest prince to talk and informed him of Chen Ran’s proposal to farm the taxes.

The eldest prince's expression was exactly the same as Jia Yucun's yesterday.

"This, this, this..." He hesitated for a long time, but didn't know what to say.

If we agree with it, there will definitely be overwhelming opposition from all levels of the government and even at the local level.

But if you object, they will be collecting the autumn grain tax from the court!
Whether it is Shuntian Prefecture or the various prefectures in Jiangnan, it is almost impossible to collect taxes.

Now there is an opportunity to reintroduce taxes, which is a good thing.

Especially since he was the eldest prince and considered himself the heir to the throne, how could he oppose this matter? Wouldn't that be opposing himself?

The emperor watched his expression change, and seeing that he hesitated for a long time but did not say anything against it, he nodded his approval.

'I haven't read too much to become stupid.'

If the eldest prince really opposed tax farming, the emperor would be disappointed and would seriously consider whether he was suitable to inherit the throne.

"You go and watch." The emperor instructed, "Take a good look at what it means to truly serve the court. Those so-called great scholars you befriended in the past are useless except for their sayings of 'zhihuzheya, sage said'."

"Yes Yes."

The eldest prince was submissive and as soon as he left the Qianqing Palace, he called his trusted eunuch to "check carefully what the number one scholar likes."

As a time traveler, Chen Ran does not have so many concerns. He dares to do things and can do them.

In just a few days, invitations to participate in the tax-inclusive auction were sent to almost all the wealthy families in the capital.

Tax farming is not a new thing. When the Mongols entered the Central Plains, they used the tax farming system. The wealthy families are very clear about this.

Similarly, they also knew very well how wealthy the provincial capitals in Jiangnan were.

The incident soon spread throughout the capital, with the wealthy and powerful discussing it crazily and preparing to take action.

There are also many people who overestimate their own capabilities and want to get a piece of the pie.

Chen Ran, who was sitting on a chair reading a storybook, put down his hands and looked up at Wang Xifeng who came in, with a puzzled look on his face. "It's not the day to divide the money yet."

"Something else." Wang Xifeng showed disgust on her face. "My father-in-law invites you to have a drink."

"Oh? It's General Jia."

The head of Rongguo Mansion is Jia Zheng, but the one who actually inherited the title is the eldest son Jia She, whose title is first-class general.

It's just that he is greedy and incompetent, and is not liked by everyone. He usually hides in his own courtyard and acts arrogantly.

Chen Ran has come to Rongguo Mansion so many times, but this is the first time he has heard news about him.

"Since General Jia has invited me, I will go." He simply stood up and gestured, "Madam, lead the way."

Arriving at the East Courtyard, Jia She, with a bulging belly and a face full of drunkenness and lust, stepped forward to greet him and said, "I have heard of your name, No. 1 Scholar, for a long time. I am so glad to see you today. You are such a handsome man."

"General, you are too kind." Chen Ran exchanged a few words of greeting and followed Jia She into the flower hall to drink.

Mrs. Xing brought her daughter-in-law Wang Xifeng to serve wine and food.

Wang Xifeng was reluctant to do these things, but these were her parents-in-law after all. In that era, if one did not obey them, one would be accused of being unfilial.

Jia She didn't talk about business, he just kept urging people to drink.

Chen Ran deduced that he must be waiting for someone.

Sure enough, after a short while, several figures came in from outside the door.

Looking up, they were all familiar faces.

Jia Lian, who has not appeared for a long time, and Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, father and son from Ningguo Mansion!

The smile on Chen Ran's face suddenly faded.

Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, father and son, had set their sights on Qin Keqing, and he had long planned to deal with them when he had time.

Seeing Jia Lian, Wang Xifeng looked at him coldly and frowned, as if she wanted to rush up to him and scratch him, forcing him to spit out his silver!
But now that her parents-in-law were in person and they were entertaining guests, she really couldn't do such a thing. She could only glare at Jia Lian with sharp eyes.

Lian Erye didn't care about it at all.

During this period of time, he had a large sum of money in his hands and his life was really comfortable.

After everyone took their seats and chatted for a while, they finally got to the point.

"Recently, there are rumors in the capital that the imperial court intends to order the various prefectures in Jiangnan to contract out taxes?" Jia Zhen pretended to mention it casually. "Is this true?"

"Yes." Chen Ran said seriously, "The emperor has approved this matter, and Shuntian Prefecture will handle it."

"Tax collection." Jia She's eyes flickered. "Jiangnan is a good place. If you can collect taxes from a prefecture, you'll be rich."

"That's true." Jia Lian said from the side, "Zihou, can you help me?"

"Help." Chen Ran smiled, put down his wine glass and looked around. "How can I help you? Can I just give you a tax-free area?"

"That's great." Jia She was delighted. "If that's the case, we will definitely not miss out on any benefits from you."

"No benefit." Chen Ran simply raised his hand and gestured at his neck, "I can't get any benefit because my head has been chopped off."

The brainless Jia She was speechless, and Jia Zhen quickly took over the conversation, "Sir, we just want to participate in this matter, and we would like to ask you for some advice."

"Nothing to point out."

Knowing what these people were thinking, Chen Ran was too lazy to socialize with them anymore.

He looked at Jia Zhen, his eyes showing no disguising mockery. "This time the tax-farming is divided among the prefectures, and the highest bidder wins. How much silver can you afford?"

Jia Zhen looked unhappy after hearing Chen Ran's sarcasm.

But he still forced a smile and said, "Let's not talk about anything else, but we can still afford tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"Tens of thousands of taels?" Chen Ran was also amused. "Tens of thousands of taels, and you can't even get through the gate!"

"This year, Suzhou Prefecture is required to collect 2.74 million dan of autumn grain! Tell me, how much is this worth in silver?"

"Hiss~~~"

"So many?!" Jia She, who was standing by, was not frightened by the number. Instead, he stood up in surprise and grabbed Chen Ran's hand. "Zhuangyuanlang, you must help us!"

Chen Ran dodged quickly and saw two lines of subtitles floating in front of him.

'Jia She is a cold-hearted man, greedy for money and lustful, a typical example of a dandy boy. He covets his daughter-in-law and harms his son. He is truly a scumbag.'

'Note: You can modify one of the words.'

"He is indeed a scumbag." Chen Ran glanced at him and quickly changed 'coveting his daughter-in-law' to 'coveting his brother's wife'.

"Everyone." Chen Ran looked at Jia She meaningfully and stood up to say goodbye. "I have something else to do. I'll take my leave first."

Looking at Chen Ran's departing figure, Jia Zhen's cloudy eyes with heavy dark bags under his eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger, and he urgently needed a good meal to calm his anger.

"Uncle, I'm going to the bathroom."

(End of this chapter)