Chapter 66 Ransacking the Prince of Han's Mansion

Holding the Ministry of Punishments official document approved by Zhu Di in his hand, Xu Jingchang felt entirely secure and unruffled. This was the equivalent of having two kings and four twos in his hand—how could anyone possibly hope to defeat him?

Lacking that level of capability, you see!

With a beaming smile, he looked at the three senior ministers of the Nine Ministers who had hurried over, especially Zheng Ci, who was walking right at the front. Xu Jingchang smiled and batted his eyelashes—just this single gesture was almost enough to send Zheng Ci tumbling to the ground.

Zheng Ci had thought that by resorting to tax recovery, he could force Zhu Gaoxu to raise his interest rates, thereby defusing the crisis.

However, when the duplicate copy of the official document was delivered to the Court of Judicial Review, Wu Zhong's head buzzed upon reading it.

He had seen fools before, but never one quite this foolish.

If the Prince of Han was forced to pay taxes, what would become of the other wealthy merchants and powerful clans? Those local gentry routinely evaded even basic land taxes; when had any of them ever considered paying an interest tax?

If the imperial court truly added this category of tax, the endless troubles hereafter would be boundless... Furthermore, the current Emperor was carving his way forward with broad axes and heavy blows after breaking into Yingtian; he was nothing like that gullible fool Zhu Yunwen!

Wu Zhong had hurried to find Zheng Ci, and subsequently, the two of them joined Guo Zi, the Left Censor-in-Chief. The three of them rushed to the imperial palace, desperate to retrieve the document and, no matter what, avert the prosecution of the Prince of Han.

Regrettably, no matter how fast they moved, they were still a step behind Xu Jingchang.

With Zhu Di's imperial brush having granted approval, the grand outcome was already settled. They had arrived too late.

Faced with this predicament, Wu Zhong, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, braced himself, stepped forward, and mustered his courage to say, "Your Majesty, this case involves the Prince of Han and is of the utmost importance. Handling it solely through the Ministry of Punishments is insufficient; the Court of Judicial Review must verify it as well. This is precisely the duty of our court. If the Prince of Han is guilty, he should naturally be dealt with accordingly. However, since it concerns the innocence of an imperial prince, we must not be careless in the slightest. This is also a matter of the imperial family's dignity."

Before Zhu Di could reply, Xu Jingchang burst into loud laughter. "If we were speaking of other matters, the Court of Judicial Review would indeed have every right to inquire. But tax collection is not a heinous crime, and furthermore, this is merely a first-time discovery. The Prince of Han only needs to pay back the taxes owed and honestly pay the fine; he doesn't even need to go to prison. This affair merely happened to take place in Yingtian; otherwise, the local yamen could have handled it entirely. Even the Ministry of Punishments intervening is superfluous, let alone the Court of Judicial Review! As for the so-called dignity of the imperial family, that is sheer nonsense. His Majesty shows no favoritism, and the Prince of Han obeys the laws of the state—this is a wonderful development of the best of both worlds, and it lets all the subjects and commoners across the realm understand the solemnity of state law. All in all, I believe Elder Wu is worrying unnecessarily."

Xu Jingchang was far from spouting nonsense. He might not have known about other matters, but when it came to how tax evasion and tax flight were handled, he was crystal clear—after all, he had participated in the drafting of these very statutes.

For Wu Zhong to try and reason with him at this moment was like trying to out-crazy Muammar Gaddafi!

They were an opponent entirely outside his league.

Seeing that Wu Zhong was buckling under the pressure, Guo Zi, the Left Censor-in-Chief, simply stated, "According to what the Censorate understands, His Highness the Prince of Han collects extremely low interest, thereby benefiting the common people and winning universal praise. It is merely a few troublemakers who have fabricated accusations against the Prince of Han. This time, the Ministry of Punishments has acted rashly and framed a virtuous prince. Your Minister requests that punishment be meted out to Zheng Ci, the Minister of Punishments! Furthermore, we implore Your Majesty to rescind your previous decree and order a retrial of this case."

There was no other choice; they had to sacrifice the rook to save the king.

Zheng Ci shuddered all over, yet he only lowered his head even deeper.

In this matter, they would rather shield the Prince of Han, and they would rather deal with a few gentry households, than allow this legal precedent to take root. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to handing the imperial court a sharp blade to cut down the gentry, and the consequences would be too dreadful to contemplate.

Since he was the one who had stirred up this trouble, he could no longer hide from it now that things had reached this stage. If all else failed, should he just proactively confess his guilt and throw himself on the mercy of the court?

Yet, speaking of confessing guilt was easy, but carrying it out was difficult.

His lifelong reputation would be thrown into this as well!

***

While Zheng Ci was hesitating and unable to make up his mind, Xu Jingchang suddenly stepped forward.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, regarding this case concerning the Prince of Han, your subject has also chatted with Minister Zheng and deeply understands some of his thoughts."

Zheng Ci was startled. *I did talk to you, but what you told me was to make the Prince of Han back down in the face of difficulties and raise his costs! It was according to your intentions that I ended up making it like this!*

Zheng Ci wanted to speak out, but didn't dare, so he could only glare with wide-open, furious eyes.

Zhu Di asked, "How did the two of you discuss it?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this matter involves both taxation and an imperial prince, neither of which is ordinary. Therefore, this case must be handled with the utmost caution and turned into an ironclad case. Minister Zheng has also put in a great deal of effort, and your subject believes the conclusion he reached can withstand any scrutiny."

Xu Jingchang said in a ringing voice, "Your Majesty, your subject wishes to ask: does lending money for profit fall under the category of commercial tax?"

Zhu Di froze for a moment, needing a moment to ponder.

Guo Zi immediately retorted, "Director Xu, commercial tax applies to the buying and selling of goods; only when there is a profit does one need to pay taxes. Lending involves no goods—it is merely a flow of money. How can that possibly be counted as a commercial tax?"

Xu Jingchang replied calmly, "What one obtains from selling goods is profit; what one reaps from lending is interest. One could well say that profit is the interest on commodities, and interest is the profit on currency... The underlying principle of the two is fundamentally the same. If you insist that they are different, it can only mean you are intentionally helping certain people evade taxes. I suppose the Left Censor-in-Chief wouldn't do such a thing, would he?"

Guo Zi drew in a sharp breath. He truly could not argue with this. This brat Xu Jingchang was simply too demonic; he had heard that Xu played chess with Yao Guangxiao every day—could it be that all of these arguments were taught to him by Grand Preceptor Yao?

At the thought of the old monk, Guo Zi was seized with panic and unease.

Xu Jingchang said with a cheerful smile, "Your Majesty, since the logic has been made clear, the Prince of Han indeed has the problem of tax evasion. However, unlike the Marquis of Jing'an who openly defied the law, he merely needs to pay the taxes owed and timely pay a triple fine, and then he will have committed no crime at all. As long as he is cautious and prudent from now on and abides strictly by the law, that will be the end of it."

He turned his head to look at the Three Judicial Offices with a smile, unhurriedly saying, "Do you three see any other problems with this case? His Majesty has already issued an imperial decree; if you want His Majesty to rescind his command, you will need evidence as solid as iron! Otherwise, going back on one's word—wouldn't that mar our Emperor's supreme wisdom? Or perhaps you intend to reject and return the imperial decree?"

As he spoke, Xu Jingchang waved the imperial approval in his hand right before their eyes.

The complexions of the three men turned deathly pale. Before the Emperor put down his brush, they could argue their case on its merits and there was still room for redemption. But now that it had become a finalized judgment, opposing it meant going through the process of overturning an imperial decree—the trouble involved in that was more than ten thousand times greater!

This little bastard Xu Jingchang was truly vicious!

Seeing that the three of them were speechless and unable to refute him, Xu Jingchang's heart blossomed with joy. It was about time to toss them a sweetmeat.

He smiled and said, "Your subject believes that this case should be used as a exemplary precedent to inform the people of the world, letting everyone know that borrowing money for profit requires taxation—even if one is as noble as the Prince of Han, the biological son of His Majesty, it still will not do. At the same time, we must clearly explain to the masses that since commercial taxes have only recently been levied, there are many loopholes and omissions; the court will show leniency and handle matters with discretion. We will not randomly seize someone and execute them just like that. Your subject believes this can alleviate the public's panic and make the implementation of tax collection all the more convenient."

Xu Jingchang sighed with emotion, "Your Majesty, your subject is truly young and knows nothing of legal and penal matters. It was only after discussing these things with Minister Zheng that your subject gained some insights. Minister Zheng is truly a great talent of our dynasty. If Your Majesty wishes to accomplish great deeds, you must establish regulations and laws rather than acting arbitrarily. In this regard, wise ministers ought to be heavily employed, and Minister Zheng is the greatest wise talent of all!"

In all this time, he had never seen Xu Jingchang praise anyone.

To lavish such strenuous praise on Zheng Ci today—this Minister had truly earned it.

Yet Zheng Ci was no fool either. Xu Jingchang showing courtesy for no apparent reason meant he certainly wasn't praising him out of the goodness of his heart. Matters had reached this stage, and with a mountain of swords and a sea of flames right ahead, the boy was trying to push him right into the fire!

Sure enough, Zhu Di had roughly caught the gist of it.

The truly critical issue wasn't how the Second Prince was faring, but rather that from this day forward, the imperial court had gained yet another source of tax revenue.

Regardless of how much could actually be collected, having it was better than not having it.

Zhu Di's heart leaped with excitement, and he vaguely sensed that this affair was by no means simple—the future implications and maneuvers stemming from it would be massive!

Therefore, he decisively decreed, "What Xu Jingchang has said is very reasonable. Bestow upon Zheng Ci, Minister of Punishments, the honorary title of Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, along with a flyingfish robe. From now on, the Ministry of Punishments must devote much more effort to taxation. Encountering tax evasion and omission must never be treated lightly; even an imperial prince shall not be spared. Furthermore, do not let even a single cash of tax revenue go missing!"

It was over!

That final sentence was practically a death sentence; it was tantamount to forcing him to fight to the death with the scholar-bureaucrats!

Xu Jingchang smiled cheerfully at the dumbfounded Zheng Ci and said, "Minister Zheng, hurry and thank His Majesty for the grace. Or are you planning to resist an imperial decree?"

In a daze, Zheng Ci prostrated himself to thank the Emperor for his favor.

Zhu Di waved his hand, dismissing all of them.

Though Zheng Ci had been promoted by a rank, he felt not a shred of joy.

Like a walking corpse, swaying unsteadily, he staggered out of the golden hall. Looking up, the sunlight was blindingly harsh. The moment he thought that from now on, all interest from loans would be taxed and all gentry across the realm would loathe him to the bone, his entire body shuddered and he almost collapsed.

A pair of hands firmly supported him.

"Minister Zheng, I must congratulate you!"

Zheng Ci looked up. Wu Zhong and Guo Zi had long since vanished, leaving only the detestable Xu Jingchang still by his side.

"You—you have harmed me bitterly!" Zheng Ci was on the verge of tears.

Xu Jingchang laughed heartily, "How can this be considered harming you? Come, let us go put the decree into practice."

"Put the decree into practice?" Zheng Ci was baffled.

Very soon, he understood. The moment they stepped out of the imperial palace, Marquis of Jing'an Wang Zhong led a large contingent of tax runners to rendezvous with them. Xu Jingchang shouted loudly, "Let's go, come with me to ransack the Prince of Han's estate and recover the taxes and fines!"

Zheng Ci felt a shiver run through his entire body and almost tripped and fell. *I don't want to offend the Prince of Han!*

*Could someone please save me?*