Chapter 1167 A sword with a hilt is easier to hold

After chatting with Tang Shu, Yun Li rushed to the Ministry of War.

After learning the purpose of Yun Li's visit, Xiao Wanchou readily recommended four people to Yun Li.

Dou Sheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Lin Qu, the Prince's Guard Commander, and Liang Xu, the current Governor of Xuzhou.

The last one is Zhou Daogong.

Yun Li naturally knew Dou Sheng, Lin Qu and Zhou Daogong better.

Yun Li also had a deep impression of Liang Xu, the governor of Xuzhou.

When he and Xiao Wanchou went to Xuzhou to quell the Rebellion of Prince An, he had contact with Liang Xu and had a good impression of him.

Moreover, Liang Xu was promoted to the governor of Xuzhou because of his outstanding performance in suppressing the rebellion in Xuzhou.

Liang Xu's performance in governing Xuzhou in recent years has been obvious to all.

However, Liang Xu is on the list of promotions drawn up by the Ministry of Personnel!

He originally planned to transfer Liang Xu to the imperial city and entrust him with important tasks.

Liang Xu was not only innocent but also had merits. Making Liang Xu the governor of Minzhou seemed like a lateral transfer, but in reality it was not much different from a demotion.

As for Dou Sheng, he was a man of both civil and military talents, and was definitely more than qualified to be the governor of Minzhou.

However, he did not know whether Dou Sheng was absolutely loyal to the court.

After thinking for a while, Yun Li first ruled out Liang Xu and Dou Sheng.

The only ones left were Zhou Daogong and Lin Qu.

He trusts these two people more.

There is no doubt that Zhou Daogong will have no problem leading the army. Moreover, Zhou Daogong and Yun Zheng have a life-and-death feud. However, whether Zhou Daogong has the talent to govern Minzhou still needs to be tested.

Soon, Yun Li made up his mind.

One of them was chosen from Zhou Daogong and Lin Qu to be the governor of Minzhou, and soldiers were recruited and trained in Minzhou and Muzhou.

Let’s summon Zhou Daogong to the imperial city first!

It’s been such a long time, Zhou Daogong’s injury should be almost healed, right?

We can then go back and have a brief discussion with the four regent ministers.

Although he had made his own decision, he still had to symbolically ask the four regents.

After leaving the Ministry of War, Yun Li went to the Ministry of Revenue.

Anyway, the six ministries are not far away from each other. Since you are here, you may as well go to the Ministry of Revenue!

However, when Yun Li rushed to the Ministry of Revenue, he was told that Xu Shifu was not there.

As for where Xu Shifu went, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were not quite sure.

Although Xu Shifu was not there, Yun Li was not in a hurry to leave the Ministry of Revenue. Instead, he ordered the official of the Ministry of Revenue to bring this year's tax book to him for a look.

Yun Li originally just intended to take a casual look, but as he looked, he discovered something was wrong.

Yun Li raised his eyelids slightly, glanced at a few officials from the Ministry of Revenue calmly, then lowered his head to continue checking.

"Forget it!"

After a moment, Yun Li threw the tax book in his hand aside and said, "Looking at these things gives me a headache. It's better to wait until you have compiled them before reporting to me!"

"Wei Chen obeys your orders."

Several officials from the Ministry of Revenue immediately accepted the order.

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore, just go do your work."

Yun Li said this, and stood up and walked out.

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Several officials saluted hurriedly.

Yun Li waved his hand lightly and strode forward.

Just when several officials were secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Yun Li suddenly stopped and turned around.

When he turned around, he saw several people looking relieved.

Seeing Yun Li turning around, a hint of panic flashed uncontrollably in the eyes of several people.

Yun Li glanced at them calmly and said, "I plan to build a new Palace of Mental Cultivation for my father. Please include it in your budget for next year."

"Yes!"

Several people obeyed the order in unison.

After giving instructions to a few people, Yun Li left immediately.

The moment he sat in the sedan chair, Yun Li's face suddenly darkened.

Do they really think they can't see the loopholes in the tax books?

His uncle is really obsessed with money.

He was in a state of panic all day long, trying every way to make the imperial court more powerful so that he could deal with that bastard Lao Liu in the future.

He, on the other hand, is trying every possible way to make money!

Is there not enough silver in Xu Shifu’s family?

He would never be able to spend all that money even if he spent it in three lifetimes!

There is so much money already, but we still have to find ways to make it.

Lao Liu considers himself a financial officer. Does he also consider himself a financial officer?

On the way back to the palace, Yun Li had been thinking about how to warn Xu Shifu.

We need to achieve the effect of persuading Xu Shifu, but we also cannot let him give up.

It is really impossible for ordinary people to handle the Ministry of Revenue's affairs.

Yun Li thought about it but couldn't think of a good solution. As a last resort, he could only ask Emperor Wen for advice.

When Yun Li told Emperor Wen about the problems he found in the Ministry of Revenue, his face was not very good.

"Are you angry already?"

Emperor Wen said calmly, "Do you think I didn't know your uncle was amassing wealth?"

"Did Father know about this before?"

Yun Li pretended to be surprised.

Of course he guessed that Emperor Wen knew about Xu Shifu's corruption and embezzlement.

Otherwise, why would Emperor Wen have suggested that he get silver from Xu Shifu when the court was short of silver?

However, he had to pretend he didn't know.

He had to support Emperor Wen.

"Of course I know."

Emperor Wen smiled faintly, looking as if everything was under control.

Yun Li disagreed in his heart.

Emperor Wen certainly knew that Xu Shifu was embezzling money, but he definitely didn't know how much silver Xu Shifu had extorted.

If he knew, he probably wouldn't be so indifferent.

Yun Li showed some doubt on his face, "Why didn't father punish him before? Is it because there was no suitable person to take over the Ministry of Revenue?"

Emperor Wen shook his head gently, "Your uncle is indeed a man of great talent! But the court is not yet at the point where it cannot function without him! I don't touch him because the court needs people like him!"

Need someone like this?

Yun Li's face was full of confusion.

This time, he was really confused.

"You've been regent for almost two years, don't you understand yet?"

Emperor Wen was slightly disappointed, and looked at Yun Li meaningfully, "People are bound to have hard times, and the court is bound to have hard times too! As long as you can control the situation, the money in the hands of people like them may be safer than keeping it in the national treasury!"

Listening to Emperor Wen's words, Yun Li couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Is it safer to keep the silver in their hands than in the national treasury?

After a moment, Yun Li understood clearly: "Father, what you mean is that if the court is in extreme difficulty, we should take money from them?"

"That's one aspect."

Emperor Wen nodded slightly, "Another point is balance!"

balance?

Yun Li pondered again.

How do you balance this?

Yun Li thought for a long time and asked tentatively: "Father, do you mean to use these people to balance the power of the court? But what does this have to do with whether they are corrupt?"

"There are too many issues involved here! It doesn't make much sense for me to tell you directly, you have to figure it out yourself!" Emperor Wen shook his head gently, "Remember one thing, a sword with a hilt is easier to hold. You may be able to hold a sword without a hilt, but it is easy to hurt yourself..."