I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 177 Don't forget the bet I made with you just now

Grand Minister of Agriculture.

The great farmer ordered the doors of the house to be closed and the servants to leave.

Du Kongjin and Dongguo Xianyang were drinking tea and talking in low voices.

"Brother Dongguo, after the Crown Prince's interference in the morning court, if we don't hand over a few people this time, I'm afraid it will be unacceptable."

Although Kong Jin was the Minister of Agriculture and the head of the Grand Minister of Agriculture, when he spoke privately to Dongguo Xianyang, who was a few years older than him, he would still call him "Brother".

"It's up to Mr. Kong."

Dongguo Xianyang was not arrogant at all and lowered his head slightly.

"In that case, you and I will each select a few insignificant people from the Salt and Iron Office and give an explanation to His Majesty and the Crown Prince."

Kong Jin took a sip of tea slowly, and it was obvious that there was something else behind his words.
"I never thought that this young prince would become the biggest variable in our plan..."

"What Confucius said is absolutely true."

Dongguo Xianyang still had a worried look on his face, and said doubtfully,

"I'm still a little unsure. This prince's behavior is hard to predict. He doesn't know how to act even in front of the emperor. If he still behaves eccentrically after becoming the Minister of Agriculture, will he cause any more trouble?"

"Brother Dongguo, you worry too much."

Kong Jin laughed when he heard this and said indifferently,
"He's just a kid who hasn't even grown all his hair yet. It's not like we haven't been young and reckless before."

"If you act without consideration, you will be hard to predict."

"A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, so it naturally does not know how to advance or retreat."

"Brother Dongguo has such concerns, but it is because you are trying to figure out a brainless boy with your current state of mind, so it is inevitable that you will over-interpret it. Don't worry too much."

After hearing Kong Jin's words, Dongguo Xianyang still couldn't calm down and said:
"But Lord Kong should know that this prince has done a lot of things before, such as pacifying the Nanyue Kingdom and conquering the Western Qiang. He did a great job, and the officials and generals accompanying him all praised him highly."

"Brother Dongguo, why didn't you mention the incident of him destroying the dike and flooding the fields, and the matter of Donglai waiting for the gods?"

Kong Jin asked back slowly,
"The pacification of Nanyue was only possible because Your Majesty sent 60,000 Han troops to deter them. If Nanyue makes the slightest move, it will be a war to destroy the country. How dare we fight him? He is just a fox using the power of a tiger to bully others."

"The same is true for the conquest of Western Qiang. You and I both know what kind of people the Qiang are."

"Your Majesty has mobilized 100,000 elite Han troops to attack a mob of less than 100,000 people. This is tantamount to using a butcher knife to kill a chicken. Not to mention that the prince is a human being, even if you send a monkey, I'm afraid the result will be the same."

"Putting aside these two matters, look back at the destruction of the dikes and the flooding of the fields and the matter of Donglai waiting for the gods."

"Destroying the dike and flooding the fields shows that he is stupid and heartless."

"Donglai Houshen is even more ignorant. He became an immortal first and then exposed himself. What practical significance does this behavior have? Doesn't he look like a naughty boy trying to attract attention?"

"I can bet with Brother Dongguo."

"This prince will never amount to anything. If he loses Wei Qing's protection one day, it's still unknown whether he can keep his position as the crown prince."

Dongguo Xianyang hesitated for a moment after hearing this, but still said:

"But if that's the case, why did Your Majesty let him assist in governing the country?"

"Is assisting the government necessarily a good thing?"

Kong Jin laughed again and shook his head.
"There is a kind of killing called praising to death, and there is a kind of demotion called entrusting with important tasks."

"Your Majesty knows that this prince is outspoken and does not know when to act, yet he still often tests and teaches him in public in the court. Is this really for his own good?"

"Anyway, in my eyes, I only saw that this prince did not follow the rules of the king and his father, and that he made countless enemies."

"If it happens once or twice, it's fine. But if it continues like this for a long time, I'm afraid that even if Your Majesty doesn't say anything, the ministers below will not support this prince to inherit the throne, right?"

"..."

Hearing this, Dongguo Xianyang's worry finally eased a lot, and he turned and said:
"If that's the case, then that would be great. This prince would be easy to deal with. Right now, the person we need to be most wary of is still Sang Hongyang."

"Sang Hongyang doesn't need to worry."

Kong Jin still smiled.

"Although he is a trusted supervisor appointed by His Majesty to the Minister of Agriculture and is in charge of the accounts of the Salt and Iron Office, our subordinates are all experienced businessmen. How could he find problems in the accounts submitted to us?"

"Brother Dongguo, don't you think about how many years have passed since the government-run salt and iron industry was implemented?"

"If he could really find problems in the plan, how could we still be at ease until now?"

"In the final analysis, he is nothing more than a pedantic and ignorant accountant. Even if he is good at mental arithmetic, he can only calculate the accounts we want him to see. He can only be blind and deaf to the things we don't want him to see..."

While speaking.

"Report! Lord Kong, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here to visit the Minister of Agriculture!"

Suddenly, a report from a confidant came from outside the door.

"Please come in, Brother Dongguo."

Kong Jin put down his teacup, stood up, and said with a smile,

"I only need a few words to find out the depth of this prince." "Don't forget the bet between you and me just now. How about using one thousand gold as a prize for fun? Don't deny your debt if you lose."

……

"Congratulations, Your Royal Highness."

A group of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, led by Kong Jin, Dongguo Xianyang and Sang Hongyang, came out to welcome Liu Ju.

"No need to be polite."

Liu Ju waved his hand casually and said with a smile,
"Let me make it clear that I know nothing about the country's finances. I am only here to take a symbolic look because of the emperor's order. You can do whatever you need to do and don't take me to heart."

"Your Highness, you are joking. How dare we not take your presence seriously?"

Kong Jin bowed and smiled apologetically,
"I will accompany Your Highness to inspect the Taicang, Agricultural Supervision, Water Conservancy, Salt and Iron Departments of the Minister of Agriculture. Please give me your guidance."

"Forget about the other ministries. Father only taught me to assist you in handling the affairs of the salt and iron government. The affairs of other ministries have nothing to do with me. I don't want to ask about them, and I'm too lazy to ask about them."

Liu Ju said with great patience.

"In that case, Your Highness, please come this way."

Upon hearing this, Kong Jin made a gesture of invitation. After Liu Ju walked in front, he glanced sideways at Dongguo Xianyang on the side. The look in his eyes seemed to say, "Look, I've already won."

Dongguo Xianyang smiled bitterly, lowered his head and followed silently.

Also following along was Sang Hongyang.

The look he gave Liu Ju's back was a little complicated.

Although only a few hours had passed since the end of the morning court session and it was not yet time to go to bed, when he thought of Liu Ju's bow to him in front of Liu Che and all the civil and military officials, he knew that he would not be able to sleep at night for the next few nights.

What Liu Ruo said was absolutely right. The state-run salt and iron industry had long since violated the original intention of its design.

Even though Sang Hongyang had already realized the problem.

However, he could not find any problems in the account books submitted by salt and iron officials from various places.

Even when he ordered people to secretly investigate various places, he did not find any major problems. He was never able to give Liu Che a reasonable and well-founded explanation, let alone a practical solution.

Of course, this does not mean that Liu Che is a reasonable person.

As long as it is something he wants to do, he can find a reason to do it even if it makes no sense.

But the state-run salt and iron business is different. It has now become an important source of financial resources for the country, involving a wide range of people and regions.

If we just kill people and confiscate their properties, we will not be able to effectively solve the problem, or to suppress the problem within a controllable range to a certain extent.

This would only make the salt and iron industry more notorious, and would also have a huge impact on the national finances and Liu Che's reputation. The situation would only get worse, and it would really be like what Liu Che said: "It would be better to directly increase the taxes on the people..."

This is something that Liu Che absolutely cannot accept, and even the current Han Dynasty cannot bear it...

However, seeing Liu Ju's current performance.

Sang Hongyang just felt that this prince was not very reliable.

Everyone can talk well. He can talk about benevolence, righteousness, and morality all day long like those Confucian scholars of the Imperial Academy and the virtuous and talented writers, and he can also criticize the ministers for their cunning in current affairs like Liu Ju.

But the question is how to solve the problem?

If he talks about benevolence, righteousness, and morality, criticizes current affairs, and acts as a minister of yin and yang, will the Han army have food and wages to fight, the victims of disasters have food relief, and the country will be free from worries?

Those all cost money. No money will come out of your mouth when you close it!

In the process of such slander.

Kong Jin, Dongguo Xianyang and Sang Hongyang had already invited Liu Ju to the Ministry of Salt and Iron.

Naturally, iron smelting and salt boiling could not be carried out in the ministry. There were only dozens of "accountants" and several large wooden desks, as well as a large number of account books and bamboo slips sent from various places, which were classified and placed on several rows of large shelves in the back.

Dozens of accountants were sorting out the account books, while others were standing in front of a large wooden table, flipping through the account books while meticulously fiddling with a pile of small wooden sticks.

"Your Highness, do you know what this is?"

Kong Jin deliberately came to the large wooden table and picked up a few small wooden sticks to show Liu Ju.
"This thing is called an abacus. Your Highness, please do not underestimate it. As the saying goes, one vertical and ten horizontal, a hundred standing and a thousand stiff, a thousand and ten facing each other, ten thousand and a hundred equal. The calculation and accounting of the Minister of Agriculture depends entirely on this small abacus."

Being a presiding judge is a tough job, and the Han people even call them "accounting slaves".

Therefore, Kong Jin believed that it was impossible for Liu Ju to have come into contact with such things given his status. Even if "mathematics" was one of the six arts of a gentleman, Liu Ju would only learn mathematics and fate, not arithmetic.

"So this is what counting chips are."

Liu Ju was indeed full of curiosity. He took the small wooden stick and looked at it carefully. After reading it, he came to the table and carefully observed the way the items were placed.

"..."

Seeing this, Kong Jin looked at Dongguo Xianyang again, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

Sang Hongyang also said nothing.

Then they heard Liu Ju asking himself:
"If you're still using counting rods... then you probably don't know what an abacus is, or what a four-pillar inventory is?"

(End of this chapter)