Chapter 144 Preparation before leaving
This series of blows caused the emperor to fall seriously ill. Just when everyone thought he was about to pass away, he managed to survive. Although his body was not as good as before, his spirit was still good. At this time, he was practicing Tai Chi slowly in the garden.

A large group of eunuchs and palace maids were standing around, holding towels and bowls, from far and near.

A senior eunuch from the Imperial Household Department followed Xia Shouzhong in and stopped at a distance.

The emperor felt it with his peripheral vision and retracted his gaze.

The eunuchs and palace maids hurried forward, some putting on their robes, some offering their towels.
After the eunuchs and palace maids finished their service, the chief eunuch followed Xia Shouzhong forward.

The eunuch walked up to the emperor and knelt down: “I pay my respects to the emperor!”

The emperor didn’t look at him: “Get up.”

The eunuch kowtowed and stood up, bowing his body, smiling and apologetically saying, “Your Majesty said that the imperial physician was summoned yesterday and he said that the emperor only needs to rest assured and enjoy his life. The emperor can rest assured.”

The emperor heard this and snorted, saying, “It’s amazing that he still has such a filial heart.”

The chief eunuch said, “His Majesty also said that he would come to pay his respects in person after he is done with his work.”

The Emperor said: “I understand. Tell the Emperor to have the old monk from Daxiangguo Temple come to preach the sutras more often.”

The eunuch smiled and replied, “Yes.” He knelt down and kowtowed again, then stood up and walked out.

Looking at the eunuch’s gradually disappearing back, the emperor sneered.

The emperor walked away, saying as he walked: “This evil creature is determined to trap me to death in this Daming Palace.”

Xia Shouzhong sighed inwardly. Because of the Wanshou Ceremony, the emperor had not yet lifted the ban on the Daming Palace. Only on the first and fifteenth day of every month, when the abbot of the Daxiangguo Temple came to the palace to preach, could they learn about what was happening outside the imperial city.

Xia Shouzhong accompanied the retired emperor in front, and several eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department followed closely behind.

The emperor was walking, and suddenly stopped and said, “That little bastard is not reliable at all.”

Xia Shouzhong smiled bitterly. The Qin family’s affair had irritated the retired emperor. Not only the current emperor, but even the deposed crown prince were described as “damned evildoers” and “little beasts”. As the emperor had sealed off the Daming Palace, the news could not be delivered. He could only make a deal with the Fourth Prince through the abbot of the Daxiangguo Temple, and handed over a secret force that was originally intended for the Third Prince to the Fourth Prince. As a result, the Fourth Prince just spread some rumors.

A gust of wind blew up, making the retired emperor’s hair, which had turned from white to yellow, flutter in disarray.

Xia Shouzhong felt sad. This serious illness almost took the life of the retired emperor and also made him look much older.

Xia Shouzhong: “It’s windy, let’s go back.”

The Emperor raised his head and looked at the distant sky, muttering, “It’s cold! The Concubine always gets a cough at this time of year, I want to go and see her!”

Xia Shouzhong’s eyes lit up, and he immediately shouted to the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department, “Get ready, the Emperor wants to go and pay his respects to the old Concubine Dowager.”

Several eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department looked at each other in confusion.

Xia Shouzhong frowned and was about to get angry.

The emperor spoke: “Go and ask for permission.”

“Yes.” The leading eunuch answered loudly, then turned around and ran out in a hurry.

The Emperor Retired: “Let’s go back and prepare some snacks that the Concubine Dowager likes.” After saying that, he walked straight towards the bedroom.

After going to the study and presenting his identity, Li Hu arrived at Yuqing Palace.

In the west warm room, the prince was half lying and half sitting on a recliner under the south window, wrapped in a thin quilt. In front of him was a low table with a middle-stage Go game on it. Opposite the table sat Li Hu.

Gently, the prince placed a white piece on the chessboard. Li Hu stared at the white piece, thinking hard.

“I don’t know how to get rid of this seed, do I?” The prince covered himself with the thin blanket that half cushioned the recliner and half covered his body, leaned back and said with a smile: “It seems that the master you worship is not that good.”

Li Hu was holding a chess piece and looking at the chessboard, thinking. After hearing what the prince said, he raised his head and smiled, “The master can only lead you to the door, but the practice depends on yourself.”

The prince looked at him and smiled: “Is it a lady?”

Li Hu smiled, and with a “pop”, he placed the black chess piece between his index and middle fingers on a hole on the chessboard.

The prince glanced at the position where Li Hu’s chess piece was placed, and was startled at first, then laughed and said, “If it were your lady, she wouldn’t have placed it here, the murderous aura is too strong.”

Li Hu smiled secretly. That girl was even worse. Every time she wanted to kill him without leaving a single piece of him alive.

Li Hu picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, then said, “I just asked Chief Steward Dai, your majesty did not convene the cabinet to discuss the new policy, isn’t that a little too cautious?”

The prince calmly made a move and replied, “Everyone has different views on everything in the world. Talented people from Jiangnan entered the officialdom through the imperial examination. These people united based on their geographical ties and used the privileges brought by their official status to protect their families, occupy large amounts of land, run businesses, and evade taxes. Having money further stimulated their investment in the imperial examination and officialdom, making the gentry from Jiangnan have extremely huge potential power in the court and the country.

During the reign of the Emperor Taishang, they tried to collect taxes by force. As a result, the gentry led the students to “cry in the temple”, that is, to the Confucius Temple, hugging the broken sign and crying loudly. After such a commotion, the local government usually gave in. If they did not give in, they would instruct the merchants to strike, and then the people would make trouble, and then the officials in the capital from Jiangnan would impeach them.

Li Hu laid out a piece and said, “Abolish the poll tax and use the land owned as the basis for taxation. Those with more land will be taxed more, those with less land will be taxed less, and those with no land will be taxed free of charge. The people will definitely support the court’s new policy.”

The prince stopped the chess piece he was about to place and said, “So I agreed to ‘equalizing the tax burden on each acre’ and rejected ‘the gentry should serve as officials and pay taxes together’. You have to eat one mouthful at a time and do one thing at a time. You can’t be impatient. There is no way to rush it.”

Li Hu shook his head. The barbarians were more straightforward. If they didn’t pay taxes, they would just cut them down. However, their basic base was the Eight Banners, while the Han emperors did not have this basic base and could not prevent the collusion between bureaucrats and local gentry. As a result, except for the founding emperor, other emperors would be restricted in every way.

The prince: “Oh, right, the emperor is preparing to launch a major prison campaign.” After saying this, he gently placed the chess pieces.

Li Hu was shocked. It seemed that the emperor was really stimulated by the wealth of the gentry in Jiangnan. Officials from Jiangnan were in big trouble!

After the officials in Beijing who were supported by the gentry in Jiangnan were removed from office, the next step would be to try out the “taxation system based on land area”. The patrol camps in Jiangnan had long been infiltrated and corrupted by the gentry’s money, so troops would definitely have to be drawn from the capital to support them.

Hey, now I can take Lin Daiyu on a trip at public expense!
At this moment, Zhao Tong hurried in and reported to the prince, “Your Highness, the old concubine has a cough, and His Majesty asked you to visit her and ask how she is. He said that the emperor has passed away.” After saying that, he helped the prince up.

The word “filial piety” was taken to the extreme by this family, and it would become a joke if it got out.

Thinking of this, Li Hu also stood up and bowed to the Crown Prince: “I won’t delay Your Highness.”

The prince suddenly remembered: “Oh, right, the Beast Garden has replied that the crane you requested is ready. You can take it back with you.”

In front of Prince Zhongshun’s palace, a carriage with a black roof slowly drove by.

Inside the carriage, Bai Hongzhi sat upright with his eyes closed, his body swaying slightly as the wheels rolled.

Soon, there was a noise outside the car.

Bai Hongzhi suddenly opened his right eye, and the corner of his mouth raised in a sarcastic smile.

Then, he took out a bill of exchange from his pocket, on which was clearly printed “Present this bill and you can exchange it for 300,000 taels of silver from the treasury”!
He didn’t expect King Zhongshun to be so generous and spend three hundred thousand at once.

Bai Hongzhi never expected that King Zhongshun would trust him so much. If it weren’t for the situation, he really didn’t want to waste this trust. What a pity!

With a sigh, he folded the bill carefully and put it in his arms.

On the way, he would go to the Third Prince’s mansion to swindle some money, and then pawn the property outside the city to the Xue family pawnshop. Then he could arrange to evacuate the capital.

Thinking of this, Bai Hongzhi smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

(End of this chapter)