It is not appropriate for the prince to entertain the officials and the people at this time.

Although everyone knows that the prince is raising money to provide disaster relief, you must have seen the officials of the Eastern Palace first! If the serious officials are not seen, they will send some eunuchs all over the world. How ugly is this? However, there is obviously no need to complain to the emperor about such a thing. I believe the emperor knew it earlier than them, and it may even be the emperor's instruction.

The Ming officials who did not rub the sand in their eyes, and even the Imperial College students, all sent Qiben to the outer residence of the East Palace. What disappointed them was that the East Palace was not the Imperial Palace, and there were institutions like Tongzhengsi who were responsible for delivering letters. These Qiben were left there when they were sent to the doorman, and the prince had no interest in reading them at all.

The prince's dinner was held as scheduled. I heard that there was only one pot of thin wine, two plates of vegetarian dishes, and no singers. This somewhat blocked the guardian's mouth. After all, the prince was not an extravagant and wasteful person and eroded public funds.

In fact, rumors from the outside world are still not realistic enough.

The arrangement of this banquet is not that luxurious!

There is only one cup of water in front of each person!

The so-called two dishes of vegetarian dishes are actually boiled peanuts in one dish of water and dried tofu shredded tofu. Moreover, the prince did not seem to let everyone enjoy it. The chopsticks in front of everyone were made of bamboo, and there were burrs on it. This made the nobles who were used to using ivory and agarwood chopsticks put their hands into their mouths?

But there are still female musicians.

When the guests were respecting His Majesty the Emperor, the Jiaofangsi performed the "Song of the Flame Essence".

After the report, he was driven away by the prince.

"Today's hospitality is not good, don't mind." The prince ordered people to tap Tong Qing and began to speak.

Everyone below knew that the meat scene was coming, so they were excited and focused on dealing with it. They sneered in their hearts: No matter how much you say, the rice is good, as long as we keep our money tight, are we still afraid that you will rob it?

Although the Ming Dynasty did not have sacred and inviolable laws on private property, social civilization had developed to the point where the emperor could not confiscate his family at will. The emperor seemed to have no restrictions on his power. Once he offended the entire Shilin and became a "tyrant", even if the civil servants did not incite the people to cause trouble, they would not be able to leave the Forbidden City with a non-violent and non-cooperation attitude.

This is the rule of the game, and the hematopoietic mechanism also determines which type of people the emperor can meet. They belong to different interest groups and relationship networks, but in the final analysis they are only people recognized by the civil service system.

The country's talent ceremonies are said to be people who choose talent, but in fact, it is just a civil servant reserve. Whether it is killing Zhou's presiding yesterday or changing Chen's presiding tomorrow, it actually cannot solve the problem of restricted imperial power. Although this is a manifestation of social progress in some theories, from a dictatorship to class rule, as the crown prince, it is not very happy to see such "high-end".

Constraints are everywhere!

Zhu Cixuan looked at the faces below with high spirits and knew that they were preparing to fight with him, and immediately became motivated. He shouted: "I won't talk about national affairs today, I will only talk about your own wealth and lives!"

There was a neat breathing sound from below, and they all thought to themselves: Do you really want to steal it openly? Is the prince disregarding the world's affairs?

"Now the plague is rampant, and you are all the sons of a daughter. Is there no one behind the dangerous wall?" The prince said in a surprisingly kind tone, "The "Epidemic Prevention Rules" will be distributed to every neighbor. Everyone will implement this as a result to ensure the safety of the family."

"The prince is kind!" The nobles took the lead in singing and responded countless times.

Zhu Cixuan gently pressed his hand: "But if you want to be truly safe, you have to destroy rats in the city, disinfect, cure diseases, resettle refugees, and burn corpses. These things are ultimately money."

"Your Highness! The people of the grass are willing to contribute to the country!" Some of the respected guests responded loudly.

The prince looked at him quietly.

The old man in the crowd slowly stood up and bowed and said, "Your Highness personally provides disaster relief with the highest authority as the country. Why don't people sigh and admire it? Zhang Delong, a gangster, is willing to donate 500 taels to alleviate the difficulties of the people in the capital!"

Some of them turned their faces and laughed secretly, while others were serious, waiting for the prince to bargain. They didn't mind giving them an extra three or five hundred taels after another move, but this feeling of being on par with the prince was unavailable.

"He is the boss of Delong Grain Store." Liu Ruoyu stood behind the prince, bowed and took a step forward, and whispered: "The family's capital is one million."

At this time, grain merchants were richer than later real estate developers. They were not only rich, but also powerful. They controlled the lifeblood of the country, grain! Once grain merchants collectively sacked or stocked up and sold, the only thing the court could do was to cut them down. Even this inferior strategy would be impossible because of the big landlords behind the grain merchants.

Because every official in the court is a big landlord. When they pass the imperial examination, the villagers will take their families and follow their families to avoid the taxes collected by the court. If someone is noble and unwilling to accept them, they will even be stabbed by clan relatives!

Zhu Cixuan knew the consequences and did not directly make plans to shake the foundation of his own rule.

He looked at the old man who was the first to stand out and asked softly: "Is the old man long?"

I don’t talk about money and food, nor do I talk about justice, but just ask about my birthday.

Zhang Delong was quite flattered and said: "The little old man dared not be the prince and asked questions. I dared to open the prince: The little old man is seventy-three this year."

"Liu Ruoyu." The prince shouted slightly.

"The old minister is here."

"Give the white jade on my desk to Mr. Zhang." said the prince.

Zhang Delong's body trembled slightly and his head lowered.

Liu Ruoyu was stunned for a moment and then went there.

After a while, Liu Ruoyu came back with the little eunuch. The little eunuch held a red sandalwood tray in both hands. There was a cloud pattern Ruyi carved from fat white jade on the tray. It was already covered with a layer of delicate patina. It was indeed the prince usually put it on the desk and played with it casually.

"What kind of virtue is that I can do? I am given such a treasure by the prince!" Zhang Delong cried and looked grateful.

"The old man first advocates, and is worthy of being a model!" Zhu Cilang said loudly: "The ancients said: The people's hearts are self-hearts. Now the people are sad, how can the heavenly hearts be peaceful? The public naturally cannot shirk responsibility for this matter of saving the people and accumulating virtues, and the people should work together to overcome difficulties. From today on, anyone who donates silver, grain and clothing will be fully deducted from silver and taxes. Mr. Zhang, your family's commercial tax this year can be worth 500 taels. I will order someone to send the document coupon to the mansion tomorrow."

"Your Highness is kind!" Zhang Delong shouted loudly, and there were many followers below, and the scene was very lively for a moment.

As the prince's attendant, Wu Weiye hid in the dark and frowned. The prince had only said that he wanted to raise funds, but he did not say that he had tax deductions. Taxes are a state official tool, so how can someone take them away? Does Your Majesty know about this? Is the Ministry of Revenue willing to agree to this? The prince is too lazy to do things!

Liu Ruoyu was old-fashioned and seemed to sense the invisible resentment and looked at Wu Weiye. Wu Weiye happened to turn his head and face the gaze of the old eunuch. He seemed to be pricked on his body, and quickly turned his head.

"Son Wu!"

The prince's voice was a little sharp, which scared Wu Weiye's hand trembled, his heart pounded wildly, and he quickly stood up and said, "Your Highness, I am here."

"Take someone to write down the amount of donations from these heroes. Don't make any mistakes. Make a documentary coupon tomorrow and send it to the government offices." Zhu Cilang seemed very happy and said loudly.

It was naturally very happy that everyone could fool the prince so much when he saw hundreds of taels or even dozens of taels of silver. In addition to a group of honors and internal supervisors, officials watched coldly and donated thirty or fifty taels to make up for fun. The merchants who had received the tax deduction promise were all excited and lamented that the banquet was really fortunate.

They don't care about tax deductions, but they like to be recognized by the royal family.

It's like a husky with his head slapped...

...

"Father, is the prince still a little fun? He was played with by those profiteers. It was so heartbroken when his son saw it."

After the banquet, everyone came out of the middle door and got into their own sedan chairs. After the lantern of the word "Zhou", a middle-aged man outside, who was thirty years old, said to the person inside with a gloomy face through the curtains of the sedan chair.

A sound of vicissitudes of life came from the sedan chair, but he said disapprovingly: "Heart hurts? That's true that your nephew is, but he is the prince of the Ming Dynasty! People's leg hair is thicker than your waist, so why do you feel heartbreak?"

This old man is the father of Empress Zhou and Zhu Cilang's grandfather - Zhou Kui.

The man following the sedan chair was Zhou Kui's son, the queen's brother, and Zhu Cixuan's uncle Zhou Yi.
Chapter completed!