The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 521 The Emperor's Mindset: Nothing But Defense

Emperor Qianxi's temper, to put it nicely, was decisive and efficient.

To put it bluntly, it's a straw that's easy to set on fire, and it's easy to get agitated when you're angry!
Upon hearing Wei Zhu's report, his first reaction was that these ignorant fools must be severely punished!
However, just as his anger reached his head, he slowly calmed down.

The bondservants of the Imperial Household Department intermarried with each other, forming a dense spider web.

Dealing with one or two of them is easy, but eradicating them completely is difficult!
Besides, it would be easy for me to deal with them, so why do I have to do it myself?
This matter has already been handed over to the Crown Prince!

If the Crown Prince makes a move, who will these guys hate? It'll definitely be the Crown Prince!

They would never be on the same page as the Crown Prince.

In this way, when I'm not in the capital, won't there be a few more pairs of eyes watching the Crown Prince for me?

If the Crown Prince doesn't take action against these people, he'll likely find it difficult to gather the funds for his upcoming campaign. Given his personality, it's highly probable that he will.

In reality, all I need to do is hand over the incriminating evidence against the key personnel of the Imperial Household Department that I have collected over the years to the Crown Prince.

This not only demonstrated his strong support for the Crown Prince, but also subtly created a group of enemies for the Crown Prince.

Wonderful!

That's a brilliant two-birds-with-one-stone strategy!
With these thoughts in mind, Emperor Qianxi made up his mind.

This time, in addition to defeating enemies like Arabtan, he also had a concern about his own rear:
That means that while he was fighting on the front lines, before the battle was even over, the crown prince secretly arranged for him to succeed to the throne from the rear!
Being an emperor emeritus is no easy task; anyone who has done it knows!
"Liang Jiugong!"

"The slave is here!"

"Go and report this matter to the Crown Prince. Also, tell the Crown Prince to go ahead and do it with confidence; I am his strong support!"

After saying this, Emperor Qianxi turned to Liang Jiugong and said:

"Go and send some information about those important families in the Imperial Household Department to the Crown Prince as well."

Liang Jiugong was very astute; he instantly understood Emperor Qianxi's intention, agreed, and promptly went to carry out the task.

When Liang Jiugong arrived at the Qingqiu Prince's Mansion with his men, Shen Ye was chatting with the Thirteenth Prince.

After the fifteenth, the thirteenth prince will go to Qingqiu to help Shen Ye recruit and train the Fubo Navy.

Therefore, the thirteenth prince has been visiting Shen Ye very frequently during this period.

Aside from the fact that this separation will last a long time, I'm somewhat reluctant to part ways;

Secondly, he desperately sought advice from Shen Ye on how to build the future Fubo Navy.

Although Shen Ye had never actually trained a large army, his experience from browsing forums in his previous life still gave the Thirteenth Prince a lot of hints.

This completely stunned the thirteenth prince.

Just as the two were having a lively conversation, Liang Jiugong walked in, bowing respectfully.

"This servant greets Your Highness."

Liang Jiugong never dared to be the slightest bit rude to Shen Ye.

Despite the Crown Prince's increasingly high profile lately, Liang Jiugong actually feels that the Crown Prince's position is becoming more and more secure.

Shen Ye waved his hand:
"Eunuch Liang, don't be shy here. What instructions does the Emperor have for me?"

"Today, several old maids who used to serve the Empress Dowager came to complain to her about your taking over the Imperial Household Department. His Majesty asked me to inform the Crown Prince!"

As Liang Jiugong finished speaking, a small booklet appeared in his hand, and he continued:
"These are all the records of those nannies and their families. His Majesty said that Your Highness can dispose of them as you see fit."

"His Majesty also said that you should not have any concerns."

Shen Ye took the booklet but didn't look at it immediately. Instead, he turned to Liang Jiugong and said:

"Eunuch Liang, please convey my gratitude to the Emperor and tell him that I understand."

Then he suddenly raised an eyebrow:
"Eunuch Liang, although the salary in the palace is stable, it is ultimately not as lucrative as the outside world."

"If you are interested in the business of the Imperial Household Department and want to partner with someone to contract one or two, you should start planning as soon as possible."

"If you don't think the other options are secure, then take over the storefronts that the imperial court owns in Beijing."

"Three storefronts in the inner city cost less than ten taels of silver a year in rent. Those bigwigs in the Imperial Household Department are just trying to fool us!"

"If you contract the land at 80% of the normal market price, you should still be able to earn 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver a year."

Liang Jiugong also knew about what the Crown Prince had just said.

He was fully aware of the audacity of those people in the Imperial Household Department.

Hearing Shen Ye mention this business, he felt a strong urge to try it. The young master was clearly handing him a ladder to make money in a legitimate way!
He quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I will go back and think about it."

"If I can raise enough money, I will definitely come and trouble Your Highness."

Shen Ye didn't linger with Liang Jiugong. After exchanging a few more words, he saw him out of the living room.

Although Liang Jiugong didn't say anything about the Crown Prince personally seeing him off, he felt very warm inside.

He felt that, putting aside everything else, the Crown Prince never put on airs in his interactions with others...

However, what came to mind even faster was the Crown Prince's suggestion:

You can earn 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver a year without doing anything!

Moreover, it was a legitimate and aboveboard transaction that both His Majesty and the Crown Prince approved. Where else can you find something like that?

As soon as Liang Jiugong left, the thirteenth prince slammed his fist on the table in anger:

"Second brother, these servants in the Imperial Household Department are becoming more and more outrageous." "You have already said that you will forgive and forget, but they still want to send people to Grandmother to speak ill of you, stirring up trouble and trying to prevent the court from mobilizing funds for military operations."

"If I were in charge of the Imperial Household Department, I would definitely punish them severely!"

Shen Ye slowly picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Some people, they're used to getting money for nothing, so they think the whole world is theirs."

"If we stick a spoon in there, how can they not scream!"

"Don't worry, it won't cause any major trouble."

The thirteenth prince said, "Now Father Emperor needs you to find him money. With Father Emperor's support, you don't need to worry about them."

"If you ask me, this time we should make an example of one to warn a hundred."

"Let's deflate their arrogance."

At this point, the thirteenth prince glanced at the booklet in Shen Ye's hand again:
"It seems that this time, Father is going to give you all the power to handle this matter."

"Please don't hold back."

Upon hearing the Thirteenth Prince's words, Shen Ye's lips curled up, but he didn't reply.

When Liang Jiugong first came to deliver the imperial decree, he also thought that Emperor Qianxi trusted him very much.

But after just a couple of glances at the documents, Shen Ye immediately understood their meaning.

In accordance with Emperor Qianxi's style of doing things, when he discovered that someone dared to disobey him, he would have already taken action personally and sent those people away directly.

But this time, the dear old father handed the evidence of his crime over to himself.

It's very obvious that they're handing the knife to themselves.

It's obvious that he's making himself the "bad guy".

While I don't need to be too wary of these people, I've still gained some more enemies.

Since these people have always regarded Emperor Qianxi as their master, they will be even more loyal to him in the future.

The art of imperial manipulation is truly all-pervasive!
With a sigh in his heart, Shen Ye said to the thirteenth prince:
“I will not be lenient with these greedy fellows.”

"If Your Highness trusts me, then entrust this matter to me."

The thirteenth prince waved his hand and said, "Your subject will definitely let them know what they cannot do."

Shen Ye looked at the thirteenth prince, who seemed eager to take on his responsibilities, and smiled, saying, "You should just focus on doing your own job well."

"As for this matter, I already have my own plans."

The thirteenth prince did not press the matter further, but instead brought up the matter of the Fubo Navy with Shen Ye again.

The thirteenth prince took this matter very seriously.

Commanding the navy under General Fubo and traversing the four seas had become his dream.

At this very moment, Su Mahu, who had just returned from Tong Guowei's residence and was trying to raise funds, received an invitation from a friend who was also a secretary in the Imperial Household Department.

"Lord Su Ma, Lord Feng has invited many colleagues to discuss the Crown Prince's contracting of the affairs of our Imperial Household Department. Let's go together!"

Upon hearing his companion's words, Su Mahu frowned.

He had almost finished talking with Tong Guowei, so what kind of trouble is this He Shun trying to cause now?

Although he was reluctant to attend the gathering, he went anyway.

Because he didn't want to offend people openly, and he didn't want his colleagues in the Imperial Household Department to think he was a traitor.

Feng Heshun's father was once the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department and was deeply trusted by Emperor Qianxi, but he died rather young.

Feng Heshun's mother was the hairdresser of the Empress Dowager.

Although she was a maid, she was deeply favored by the Empress Dowager; otherwise, she would not have married Feng Heshun's father, a prominent figure in the Imperial Household Department.

Although Feng Heshun did not become the head of the Imperial Household Department like his father, he always held a lucrative position.

In the past two years, he has been in charge of mining several gold mines in the black soil region. It was under his supervision that a gold mine, including its investment, ultimately made a profit of one hundred taels of gold in a year.

He kept very detailed accounts and even consulted many experienced craftsmen to confirm that the veins of several gold mines were almost exhausted.

Now that the Crown Prince wants to contract these gold mines, he probably doesn't want to give up what he's already got.

Honestly, who would willingly spit out the fat that's already in their mouth?
He would not have agreed if he hadn't been forced into this situation.

With the mindset of "participate if you can, don't participate if you can't," Su Mahu brought some snacks to Feng Heshun's house.

The reason given for this discussion at Feng Heshun's home was to celebrate the birth of a son by Feng Heshun's concubine.

In the outer hall of the Feng family, a group of relatives were having a banquet, but people like Su Mahu, who held important positions in the Imperial Household Department, were invited into the inner flower hall of the Feng family.

Several tables of wine were set up in the inner hall, but most people had no interest in drinking.

When Su Mahu walked in, he heard Feng Heshun loudly proclaiming, "Gentlemen, the operation of the Imperial Household Department has been governed by established rules for decades."

"We cannot let the Crown Prince run wild like this."

"I believe that as long as we all work together and refuse to take on the contract, even if the Crown Prince is very capable, he will be helpless!"

　The second update for today is here! Please support me, everyone! Please vote! Please give me everything!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)