Chapter 453: Thunderous Means
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Tang Nan and Zhou Jia bowed and said, ‘Your Majesty, calm down. We support
Your Majesty in investigating these beetles and returning Great Yong to peace.”
Chu Yuhao looked at the two of them and nodded in satisfaction. “As long as we are united, we will definitely be able to create peace and prosperity together.” After Chu Yuhao handed the mission to the two of them, he left in a hurry.
After Chu Yuhao handed the mission to the two of them, he left in a hurry. Upon receiving Chu Yuhao’s order, Zhou Jia and Tang Nan went home and began to prepare.
Zhou Jia looked at the dossier in his hand and recalled that when he first entered the Ministry of Revenue, His Majesty had ordered him to secretly investigate the income and expenditure reported by the Tea and Wine Division over the years. It seemed that His Majesty had long been prepared to touch these places. He had long thought of a way to increase to fill the national treasury. He had long wanted to deal with these people. His Majesty had even found evidence of their corruption. These days, he had been discussing with them in the royal court. His Majesty’s thoughts were unfathomable.
Zhou Jia thought to himself that since His Majesty was so heroic and strategic, those people were probably just clowns in his eyes. He thought about setting up the law to restrain the local government that Li Yu had mentioned and wrote a note to submit it.
The next morning, the officials led by the Shen family proposed to cancel the specialization in tea, wine, and silk. They also proposed to abolish the officials in these departments.
The officials who took these benefits immediately jumped out to object. The Censorate openly impeached these officials and even furnished evidence of their corruption.
On the list was the Minister of Revenue’s Wen family, who held a banquet last night, Assistant Minister Ren’s family, who had eaten something bad, and his father-in-law, the Minister of Official Personnel Affairs… There were also relatives of the royal family. Even the places where the things were hidden were clearly documented.
His Majesty was furious when he saw this. He sent the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, the Censorate, and officials to investigate. Shen Zhong led the imperial guards to assist the three divisions and the imperial guards surrounded these families.
After the confiscation, gold, silver, and jewelry were piled up into a mountain. The rare treasures were an eye-opener. Everyone was amazed by the wealth of some officials. Some people began to discuss quietly if the salt and iron division was the same.
Chu Yuhao looked at the thick list on the table and his eyes darkened. He thought of the salt and iron divisions that were fatter than these departments and suppressed his anger. He wanted to take it slow. After confiscating these items, the national treasury was already full. He wanted to slowly pull out all these beetles.
The officialdom of the capital had experienced a huge earthquake, and the vacated positions had also become the targets of officials. Half a month later, Chu Yuhao quickly appointed officials to fill these vacancies. Zhou Jia, the Minister of Revenue, was promoted to the Assistant Minister of Revenue in just half a year.
It was unknown if it was Chu Yuhao’s thunderous methods that deterred those people, or if it was for some other reason, but the tea, wine, silk, and other departments were quickly dismissed. The Imperial Court issued a decree imposing heavy taxes on the merchants who operated these things.
After Zhou Jia was done, it was already mid-September. The weather slowly turned cold. There were only two days left until Li Qing’s wedding. Zhou Jia went to Wang Family Village to pick Li Yu up and bring her back to the capital to attend Li Qing’s wedding.
When he arrived at Wang Family Village, he saw that Li Yu’s belly was even bigger than during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Zhou Jia suppressed his worry and hugged Li Yu. “How are you? Did the children disturb you?”
Li Yu smiled gently. “My body is fine. The two children are very naughty. One of them likes to kick me, and the other can’t be bothered to move for a long time. The two little baddies have so different personalities. It seems that one is a daughter and the other is a son.”
Zhou Jia placed his hand on Li Yu’s abdomen and gently stroked it. “Yu’er, you have to eat according to the recipe, understand?”
“Got it.” Li Yu smiled reproachfully and patted him. She pulled him to look at the sweet potatoes she had planted. “Xiao Xi, look, this is the sweet potato my master mentioned. ”
What was a sweet potato? Zhou Jia had never heard of it. Looking at the dark green vine-like plant in front of him, he smiled and asked, “Is this a sweet potato? Is this the new food variety you were busy planting? Do the fruits grow in the ground like yams?”
“Yes! Come with me.” Li Yu nodded with a smile.
Li Yu pulled Zhou Jia to the backyard. Zhou Jia saw a few wooden boxes beside the flowerbed. The sweet potatoes planted inside were the ones Li Yu had mentioned.
After the couple returned to the house, Li Yu said to him, “Xiao Xi, Master said that the yield of sweet potatoes is higher than corn. They’re resistant to drought and are afraid of floods. They can be planted in any corner of the field. The soil just needs to be loose and fertile, and the yield is also very high. My master said that we can usually harvest a few thousand catties from a plot like this.”
If they could really reach this yield, the people of Great Yong would not lack food.
Zhou Jia stood in front of the windowsill and looked at the sweet potatoes in the bamboo basket with glowing eyes. “Yu’er, how many months will it take to harvest them?”
Li Yu recalled the time when her family planted and harvested sweet potatoes in her previous life. “It will take about six months.”
Zhou Jia smiled and nodded. “Yes! When the time comes, let’s see what it looks like to have such a high yield.”
Li Yu recalled that Zhou Jia had brought a letter saying that he had been promoted. After pulling him to sit down, she asked, “You brought a letter saying that you’ve been promoted again and the tax matter has been resolved. Why are you so fast?”
Zhou Jia sighed in admiration. “His Majesty is strategizing and has long set a date with the secret guardians everywhere. His Majesty sent the Imperial Army to assist the three divisions. According to the information provided by the secret guardians, he copied the Minister of Revenue…”
“The secret guardians from all over the place below had already begun to take action to control the tea, wine, and silk officials. They had given the craftsmen severance pay for the valuables they had confiscated from those people. Who would dare to move with His Majesty’s lightning methods? Yu’er, you’ve helped Chu Sihai a few times and know the abilities of the secret guardians.”
Li Yu nodded and understood the meaning behind Zhou Jia’s words. She thought to herself, “These secret guardians are similar to the Jinyiwei of the
Ming Dynasty. This one is hiding in the dark, which is even more shocking. Chu Yuhao is still young and suspicious. If he becomes suspicious in his old age, these secret guardians will be a knife hanging above the officials’ heads. It’s better to find a suitable time to leave as soon as possible.”
“That’s good too. Great Yong will prosper and our lives will be better. When the time comes, let’s withdraw. We’ll bring our children to travel and see the great rivers and mountains of Great Yong.”
Zhou Jia also looked at Li Yu. He pulled her leg over and placed it on his leg, gently kneading it. “Yes! I think so too. When Yang’er grows up, he can help us take care of our siblings. Let’s go out for a walk then.”
Li Yu smiled. “Alright, we’ll hand them to Yang’er when the time comes. Let’s go have some alone time; it’s a twosome.”
“Twosome! Yes! This word is quite appropriate.” Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu and nodded with a smile. “Yu’er, Ah Qing’s wedding is coming up. Get someone to pack up and return to the capital tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, even if you didn’t come, I was prepared to go back tomorrow morning.
Calculating the date, Ruyi and Uncle Zhou should be here soon!”
“The bank brought out their letter. They said that they set off with the bank’s convoy in early July. They’re almost there.”
The couple chatted for a while. Seeing that Li Yu had fallen asleep, Zhou Jia covered her with a thin blanket and went out to the front yard to look for Mr. Wen, who was playing chess with Han San..
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience