Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

Recently, he has been inclined to develop his literary career and has focused on academic pursuits.

Zeng Bu was a junior scholar who served as a sixth-rank official. When he was transferred to a post outside the capital, he was promoted to the sixth rank.

Zhang Heng presided over the tea-horse trade and made considerable contributions, earning him the rank of a fourth-grade civil official.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will become the Deputy Transport Commissioner of Xihe Road.

Gu Tingye rose to prominence overnight, becoming a fifth-rank general of Huaihua and the military commissioner of Xizhou at the age of twenty-one. Even among the noble sons of Bianjing, he was a top-tier figure.

Sheng Changbai has passed the imperial examination and become a Juren, but has not yet entered officialdom.

Jiang Zhao held bamboo chopsticks, picked up two bites of food, and listened attentively to what the others had to say.

“In recent years, Zhonghuai, Ziping, and I have not been living in Bianjing for long. I wonder how the situation in Bianjing is these days?” Jiang Zhao asked curiously.

His existence has altered the plot countless times.

In terms of the throne, the struggle between the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Yong has now turned into a process of six members of the imperial clan entering the capital for observation and training.

Emperor Zhao Zhen was no longer in an awkward position.

In terms of the individual, Gu Tingye was already a successful person and there was no way he would become an outlaw.

Therefore, he really didn't know what the situation in Bianjing had become.

“Five members of the imperial family were vying for power,” Su Shi replied, tapping his chopsticks with interest.

"Five members of the imperial family vying for power?" Jiang Zhao was taken aback. "How did it become five?"

Su Shi explained: "Zhao Yunchu, a member of the imperial clan, passed away last year."

Jiang Zhao understood and nodded slowly.

Zhao Yunchu, also known as the former heir apparent, was summoned to the palace by the late Empress Dowager and competed with the Emperor for the throne.

These are older generation figures; it's perfectly normal that they couldn't hold on.

"How exactly will the remaining five compete?" Jiang Zhao asked, picking up a piece of food.

Even with the secret succession system, which kept the crown prince hidden, the power struggles among the members of the royal family remained unaffected as candidates for the throne.

Jiang Zhao had anticipated this.

It's human nature to fight.

However, there are different ways to compete and different levels of struggle.

“Even before the secret succession law was proposed, the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Yong already had a considerable number of supporters.” Su Zhe interjected calmly, “These people have no way out but to continue supporting the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Yong.”

"The two members of the imperial clan, Zhao Zong'e and Zhao Congshi, are clearly ambitious. They have won over some officials of the fifth or sixth rank, and have already cultivated a reputation for virtue by cheering them on."

Jiang Zhao nodded, not surprised.

The word "throne" is too alluring.

Given the opportunity, whether voluntarily or under pressure, the members of the royal family would fight for it.

“The remaining member of the imperial clan is from the lineage of the founding emperor. He is cautious and discreet, and his every move is very low-key,” Su Zhe said.

"Don't fight!"

Jiang Zhao nodded slowly.

Not arguing is also a skill.

“As long as the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet don’t get involved in the power struggles within the imperial family, it won’t affect the overall situation,” Jiang Zhao asserted.

The secret succession plan ensured that the six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet would remain in power, without needing to intervene.

Since the six most important figures representing the pinnacle of civil service are not involved, it will not affect the imperial power.

With a stable imperial power, the country and its people are unlikely to experience turmoil.

His teacher, Han Zhang, as the head of all officials, was destined to gain merit in supporting the emperor.

It doesn't matter who you follow, just follow whoever is the dragon!

"Let them fight over Bianjing then."

Su Zhe interjected, "Anyway, according to the Grand Master's arrangements, we are all going to Xihe Road."

"Who cares? Let's drink and eat as we please." Su Shi raised his cup.

The group exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly.

Staying away from disputes is definitely a good thing.

However, Su Zizhan's personality is a bit too carefree.

Let's demote him and see if he still dares to be so carefree!

……

These two are a bit hard to distinguish.

Chapter 99 Imperial Estate IOU!

Main hall.

"clatter!"

Sheng Hualan moved the abacus beads with her small hands and said, "One thousand three hundred and seventy."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng Shulan picked up her brush and carefully wrote it down.

She noted down the numbers, touched several IOUs stamped with seals, and passed them over.

Sheng Hualan glanced at it twice and started working on the abacus.

"Five hundred and twenty-seven."

Thus, Sheng Shulan wrote down another number.

The more the two sisters calculated, the more embarrassed they became.

These individual IOUs are all bad debts.

Beside Sheng Shulan were hundreds of IOUs.

Four hundred and eighteen.

"Six hundred and twenty-four."

One hundred and thirty-seven.

The two sisters spent a full three hours calculating and verified the results twice.

"its not right!"

"How could we owe so much?"

Sheng Hualan stared at the result she had calculated in her hand, and her heart skipped a beat.

Twenty-one thousand seven hundred!

The imperial estate, bestowed by the emperor, was in debt for more than 20,000 taels of silver.

"This is an imperial estate!"

Sheng Shulan looked puzzled: "Since ancient times, the taxes on imperial estates have been lower than those on rented land. Logically speaking, if ordinary people have money, they shouldn't have IOUs."

These IOUs are all for money owed by the tenant farmers of the imperial estate.

The person who owed the money was the steward of the imperial estate.

Tenant farmers rented land to grow grain.

The cost of renting land to grow grain consists of two parts.

Part of it was money from renting imperial estates, and part was money from paying taxes.

The grain was produced, and the money was paid.

The remainder was the tenants' earnings from their labor.

Generally speaking, even if they rent ordinary land, tenants can earn a small amount of grain to make a living.

Not to mention imperial estates?

As royal estates, the farmland on the royal estates consisted of first-class fertile land.

Furthermore, the taxes levied on tenants of imperial estates were significantly less than those levied on normal land rentals.

Renting ordinary fields can earn a small profit enough to make a living, so there's no reason why renting imperial estates would result in debt!

The term "owing money" means that the tenant's income is insufficient to cover their expenses.

In years of great disaster, if tenant farmers, after a year of farming, do not have enough grain to pay for rent and taxes, they will be forced to borrow money from the landlords and beg for leniency.

Thus, the IOU came into being.

Alternatively, even if the tenants have paid for both expenses, but have too little grain left to sustain them for a year, they may be forced to sign an IOU.

However, theoretically speaking, this situation is rare.

There's no way they could owe more than 20,000 taels of silver.

"The key issue is that this debt is owed to the steward of the imperial estate."

Sheng Hualan frowned slightly: "Where did this manager get 20,000 taels of silver to lend to the tenants?"

For some reason, the tenants of the imperial estate she owned were always "spending more than they earned".

Seeing the people's suffering, the steward of the imperial estate took pity on them and said that whether the people had not enough food to make a living or not enough money to pay rent or taxes, they could write an IOU and borrow money from him.

To make a living, tenants had no choice but to keep issuing IOUs.

As a result, the tenants owed money to the steward of the imperial estate.

If a tenant owes money to the imperial estate, then from the moment the imperial estate is granted to the official, the debt becomes a debt owed to the official.

If all else fails, we can simply burn the IOU to settle the debt and avoid having the tenants pay back the money.

However, the debt was owed to the steward of the imperial estate.

As a result, the people who owe money to the steward of the imperial estate will have to repay the money to the steward of the imperial estate.

Now that the royal estate has changed hands, the entity from which tenants have to pay their rent has changed somewhat.

Instead of paying rent to the royal family, they paid rent to officials.

The taxes due were paid as usual.

This is no problem.

However, the tenant farmers owed the steward of the imperial estate more than 20,000 taels of silver.

It should be noted that even if the tenant continued to rent the land, the rent for a lifetime would probably not amount to 20,000 taels.

In other words, the amount of money that actually reached the officials was less than the amount that reached the stewards of the imperial estates.

The official worked hard to expand the territory and was rewarded with a royal estate, but ended up doing all the work for the estate manager.

The junior Grand Secretary takes a small share, while the steward of the Imperial Estate takes the lion's share!

“This manager must have taken bribes,” Sheng Shulan asserted. “There haven’t been any major disasters lately, and if farmers work honestly, they certainly won’t be unable to make ends meet. The fact that the tenants are unable to make ends meet means that someone has secretly raised the rent or taxes.”

Sheng Hualan nodded in agreement.

They secretly raised rents and taxes, and the increased portion went into the pockets of those in charge.

As a result, the price increase was too steep, making it difficult for tenants to afford, and naturally, they kept issuing IOUs.

Sheng Hualan stretched out her hands, pondered for a while, and then shook her head.

This is difficult!

There are four possible interpretations of this matter.

Firstly, it's a way to avoid disaster by spending money.

The official paid back the money owed to the manager on behalf of the tenant, thus canceling the IOU.

In this way, the manager was dismissed, the tenants were free of debt, and they could start afresh.

From now on, the Imperial Estate will be a completely clean asset; all we need to do is sit back and collect rent.