"This... Your Highness, you! Are you threatening us?"
One person said in a trembling voice.
"Why do you say I'm threatening you?
Isn't what I said the truth?
If you lose your official position, will those noble families let you go?"
"For all the conveniences you have given them over the years, you have taken so much money from them. I would like to ask, will they honestly let you take this money?"
"Why don't you go check out those officials who retired and returned to their hometowns to see which one ended up in a good situation?
They were secretly eliminated, and you people turned a blind eye and closed one eye. It seems that you are saving trouble, but in fact you are creating hidden dangers for yourself!"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
this……
At this time, the officials were all stupid. Those officials who had retired from the government and the public were killed. They knew who did it, but they took the benefits from others, so they kept silent.
Now that I think about it carefully, I will have to retire one day, and when the time comes, I will end up like this.
"This... Your Highness the Crown Prince, I know that I have made a mistake. Please show your kindness and allow us to continue serving in the court!"
All officials realized the seriousness of the problem and begged for mercy.
Lin Fan pretended to be distressed and said: "My dear friends, you still don't understand the seriousness of the problem. I can continue to keep you in office, but can you be an official for life?"
"You can live your whole life, but can your children continue to be officials?
Obviously, all this is impossible, you will have to leave the court one day!"
"When that happens, where will you and your descendants go?"
this!
All the officials were dumbfounded at this time. What Lin Fan said was the reality of Chi Guoguo. They could not escape no matter what.
"Your Highness, please help us and protect our descendants for future generations!"
The officials said one after another.
"It is not you, the officials in the DPRK, who can protect your descendants, but you. The atmosphere of the officials in the DPRK is getting worse and worse. Each generation is not as good as the last. Aren't you the good leader?"
"At this time, you should reduce the size of those noble families!"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"Reducing the size of the noble family, Your Highness, what does this mean?"
one person asked.
"It's very simple. The reason why nobles from aristocratic families are so arrogant is because they have huge power, that is, they have a lot of money, and the court sometimes looks at their faces."
"Therefore, we need to reduce their industries, for example, increase their taxes, or not allow them to continue operating in certain industries!"
"For example, there are some grain merchants. Their business is very big. They control more grain every year than the imperial court's granary. Once they control the price of grain, what else can the people do besides buying it?"
"Therefore, I have fixed the price of food. However, those people still have tricks behind their backs to sell the food at high prices on the black market!"
"This prince cannot tolerate this. You must find a way to establish new laws to reduce the size of each grain merchant and support new grain merchants."
"For example, once the grain purchased by grain merchants exceeds a certain amount, the tax will be doubled. If it exceeds a certain amount, the tax will be three times, four times, or even ten times!"
"Once it is discovered that grain merchants are using others' names to purchase grain, they do not need to be put to death. Instead, they are fined ten times. In this way, the court can make a lot of money in a short period of time, and the size of those grain merchants is
It will be passively shrunk."
"This is only for grain merchants. Some people run the tea business. The medicinal materials business can also use this method to reduce its size."
"And the most important thing is that we must reject industry monopoly. Once we find that a certain industry is controlled by a certain family, we must suppress it. This is never allowed!"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
After hearing this, the officials all looked at Lin Fan in shock and said, "Your Highness, if you do this, those noble families will definitely make a fuss!"
"As long as you officials work together, will this still be a problem?
The prince has an army of 300,000, the imperial court has another 300,000, and the royal guards have 150,000!"
"If they don't accept it, we can just kill them. If we do this, it will be good for the people. If they don't rebel, how dare those nobles from aristocratic families act like monsters?"
"As long as their power shrinks, are you still afraid of their revenge when you retire?"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"This... His Highness the Crown Prince is right. As long as they are not so strong, they will not be able to retaliate against us!"
"Your Highness, what if someone still wants to take revenge on us?"
Someone asked again.
"It's very simple. If a new law is promulgated, even if the officials of the Ming Dynasty retire, as long as they are killed, they will be thoroughly investigated!"
"If the government can't find out, then Jin Yiwei will take action. In short, the murder of a retired official is the whole Ming Dynasty's affair. The murderer must not be allowed to go unpunished!"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"His Royal Highness, you said it well! With your words, we have no worries at all!"
"Hmph! Those people are usually arrogant and domineering, and sometimes they don't take us and other officials seriously. Let's kill them and destroy their prestige!"
"Your Highness, I will make new laws when I get back!"
…
The officials all said excitedly.
Lin Fan knew that as long as these people were serious about it, the size of the noble families of the Ming Dynasty would be reduced by more than half in a short period of time, and he would be able to save a lot of trouble.
"Okay! Don't worry, go about your business. If you encounter other troubles, I will help you solve them!"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"Yes! Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
All the officials said.
They got up one after another and went back to do their business. The nobles from the aristocratic families were all watching the movements of the palace.
"Haha! That dog prince killed so many officials. He is forcing the officials of the DPRK and Central Government to submit their resignations. After today, this dog prince will no longer have any prestige!"
"If so many officials leave, the Ming Dynasty will definitely be in chaos. Then, it will be our opportunity!"
"Hmph! We are in the capital, and we still have some manpower. At worst, we will take advantage of the situation, enter the palace and kill the dog prince, and the emperor will not leave him alone!"
"That's right, I have thousands of servants in my house. As long as they are armed, their combat effectiveness is not bad!"
"Haha! This dog prince never imagined that the Ming Dynasty, which he had worked hard to stabilize, would be destroyed by our hands because of this!"
People from noble families gathered together to plot important matters.
They have been waiting for internal chaos in the Ming Dynasty, and now, they feel that the opportunity has come.
However, after the officials left the palace, they acted as if nothing had happened. They returned to their respective offices and did not come out again. All departments were operating normally, and there was no sign of chaos at all.