bookrandom Chapter 217 The bird is gone and the bow is hidden
Chapter 217 The bird is gone and the bow is hidden
Zhou Chuxuan cleared his throat and said straight to the point without further hesitation: "Master Xu, isn't it time to properly resolve the military pay issue in the current Wu Dynasty?"
Xu Qinglong's old face twitched for a moment, but he still forced a smile and said, "Your Highness, what do you mean by this? Military pay? How can my Xu family have anything to do with military pay?"
Zhou Chuxuan sneered, "Father-in-law, we are all family. There's no need to be so discriminatory. In the court, whenever there's money involved, the process basically has to go through your Xu family, right? If the Xu family really didn't take a single cent from it, then I'm going to investigate the whereabouts of this money."
"Ahem, wait a minute, Your Highness! Wait a minute, Your Highness!"
Xu Qinglong waved his hands repeatedly, feeling even more resentful in his heart.
This kid, you are not the son-in-law of my Xu family, you are clearly the ghost of my Xu family. If you continue to act like this, a lot of Xu family's income will be lost by you.
"Your Highness, I wonder what happened that has offended His Royal Highness the Crown Prince again?"
Zhou Chuxuan stood up and paced back and forth in the room at a leisurely pace. He looked at the calligraphy and paintings covering the walls and said with a smile, "Father-in-law, haven't you heard about the incident at the Hong family's cloth shop? That incident nearly defiled your daughter."
Xu Qinglong's face twitched. He had of course heard of these things.
"General Hu Yongwei once told me that the military is facing a serious pay shortage. I don't expect every official in the court to be incorruptible, but can you please set a limit?"
Today, every official, big or small, in the court will try to get some benefits. Zhou Chuxuan does not expect to completely eradicate it in a short time.
It is impossible to ask all officials to take nothing at once. We can only try our best to minimize the occurrence of this situation.
Xu Qinglong smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, you are much more insightful than the old emperor. You also know these things in your heart. However, even if I want to restrict them, I can't..."
"The court will increase the salaries of officials at all levels, and there will also be a limit on the total monthly military pay. Once it falls below this limit, I will fine everyone the corresponding amount of silver, regardless of whether they have embezzled it or not."
Zhou Chuxuan slowly stated his solution: "However, this established rule cannot be issued by me. It can only be done by you, Lord Xu!"
Xu Qinglong took a deep breath and was deeply impressed by Zhou Chuxuan's broad mind and magnanimity. If this matter was left to some honest officials to solve, they would probably want to kill all the corrupt officials.
But doing so will only backfire. Human hearts are always greedy, and most people cannot restrain themselves like saints. Killing all the officials is simply unrealistic.
"Your Highness, if you do this, I'm afraid the Xu family will bleed heavily!"
It is not impossible to let the Xu family come forward and mediate this matter, but what is certain is that even if this matter can be accomplished, the Xu family will have to pay a huge price.
Zhou Chuxuan chuckled and said, "I will bear the price paid by the Xu family alone."
Xu Qinglong finally smiled: "Since Your Highness has said this, I feel relieved!"
"Then, Your Highness, is there anything else?"
Zhou Chuxuan glanced at him, a sly look flashing in his eyes: "Why, it seems that my father-in-law doesn't welcome me?"
Xu Qinglong waved his hands repeatedly: "I don't have any such intentions. It is an honor for my humble home to have His Royal Highness the Crown Prince visit me. How can I not welcome him?"
"Haha, that's enough, father-in-law, I have nothing else to do now, so I'm leaving!"
After saying hello, Zhou Chuxuan took Han Bin out of the Xu family mansion with a gloomy expression.
Han Bin noticed Zhou Chuxuan's mood and stepped forward to ask softly, "Your Highness, are you planning to take action against the Xu family?"
Zhou Chuxuan was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "It's a matter of time. Don't you feel that the operation of the Wu Dynasty now seems to be the same as without the emperor?"
Han Bin was stunned. Indeed, Zhou Chuxuan had not organized a morning court for many days, but the Wu Dynasty seemed to be still operating according to the established rules.
"This situation is both fortunate and unfortunate! Fortunately, if things continue like this, the Wu Dynasty will definitely not experience any major chaos. However, if it continues to operate according to these unspoken rules, the Wu Dynasty will gradually decay. That is a certainty, and the day of its demise will not be too far away."
Zhou Chuxuan stood with his hands behind his back, observing the expressions of passersby on the street. "The Xu family is now the oldest family in the Wu Dynasty. They possess enormous power and wealth. If we can overthrow them, the benefits we can gain are also very considerable. I can't even imagine what kind of wealth they are."
A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Han Bin's face.
Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really wanted to take action against the Xu family. This reminded him of a saying: When the birds are all gone, the bows are put away; when the rabbit is dead, the running dog is cooked!
Then, will I one day also...
As soon as this idea came into mind, Han Bin violently suppressed it. Since he had chosen to follow His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he had to be loyal and have no second thoughts!
He also firmly believed that he would never misjudge His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The reason why His Royal Highness wanted to take action against the Xu family must be that the Xu family threatened the safety of the Wu Dynasty.
"General Han, don't worry. Just focus on your Fuling Army and don't worry about anything else. If any civil or military officials in the court want to make friends with you, you should make your own decisions. I believe General Han is well aware of this."
Zhou Chuxuan suddenly turned his head, as if he saw through Han Bin's thoughts, and stared at him with burning eyes.
This made Han Bin's hair stand on end. He immediately bowed and said, "General, I will obey the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I will be loyal and have no second thoughts!"
"Okay, General Han, I believe you!"
Zhou Chuxuan patted Han Bin's shoulder, and the two continued walking. "Actually, I was just wondering what kind of intelligence network the Xu family has established, how they control these people, and finally, how deeply have they infiltrated the Wu Dynasty?"
If it were the previous Li Nian, he would also have a huge influence. Unfortunately, Li Nian did not know how to do business. His subordinates were spread across the government and the country, but he was not as good as the Xu family in terms of intelligence, and was far from being as stable and solid as the Xu family.