Although Xia Jinse is not an expert in history, he also learned when he was studying that matters related to land tax or land annexation have been a big problem in all dynasties. The same is true of the Daqing Dynasty, otherwise Emperor Yuanqing would not have been so embarrassed last time, worrying about the matter of Tian Tax, even Lan Beichen could not solve it, and could only drag it on for many years.

But as soon as the second prince came out, it only took a month to have results, which was simply shocking.

Xia Jin Seqi said: "Really fake? Lan Beichen, do you believe that the second prince really returned the Tian tax? ”

Lan Beichen was noncommittal, and said lightly: "It's a little strange, but since the five million tax silver has been shipped back, real money and silver are not fake." If someone is willing to fill the treasury out of their own pockets, that's a good thing, as long as it solves the problem. ”

"Is that a solution? If it's fake, it's not like it won't be able to be harvested next year. Xia Jinse asked rhetorically.

"Whether it's true or not, if you have silver, if you don't cheat, you won't have any tax money, what's the difference between this and before?"

Xia Jinse smiled dumbly: "Are you simply letting it go?" I know that it may be fake, but I don't care? I really don't believe that after the second prince went out for a month, those stubborn and stingy squire families were really willing to pay taxes. ”

Shattered Star said with a smile: "Maybe as soon as those people saw the second prince, they were thrown to the ground by his domineering aura and obediently handed over the silver?" ”

Chasing Yun snorted and laughed: "You say so, if the prince goes in person, wouldn't they even donate their family property and kneel in front of the prince and bow down?" ”

Shattered Star said seriously: "Very likely. ”

After a burst of laughter, the topic came back to life. Lan Beichen said that most of the tax money recovered by Lan Hongzhuo was problematic, and it should be that he deliberately spent money to do things in order to compete with the sixth child for the position of prince. According to the normal situation, this field tax can collect one million taels in three months, which is already very good, but it is only one month now, and you can imagine how hard Lan Hongzhuo is.

"Five million taels of tax silver, is it out of the second prince's own pocket?" Xia Jinse guessed.

"Naturally impossible! The prince's annual salary is 8,000 taels of silver, and Lu rice is 8,000 taels, even if Lan Hongzhuo doesn't eat or drink to save silver, he can't take out 5 million taels so far. Counting the usual rewards, the income of the imperial village and the shop is definitely not enough. ”

"That's someone else's help, maybe it's Concubine Yu and Lin Shangshu."

"Concubine Yu looks glamorous, but there is only the emperor's reward, and the annual salary is definitely not much, although Lin Kangnian is a household secretary, the silver in his hand is from the treasury, and every expenditure must be audited, unless he falsifies and embezzles." Lan Beichen Road.

Xia Jinse felt more and more that it was worth thinking about: "Then the origin of this silver is really amazing, who is behind the second prince?" ”

Lan Beichen smiled: "Those who are willing to contribute money will naturally have corresponding benefits, maybe it is a long-term investment, and they will not receive a return until Lan Hongzhuo becomes the prince, or even when he ascends the throne in the future." Which of the courtiers who stood in line did not have this mentality? To be anxious for benefits is to cocoon oneself, and only the interests of Changyuan are possible. ”

Xia Jinse has some enlightenment, just like Xia Yanxiu, who used to put his hopes on Xia Ruxue, hoping that the eldest prince Lan Jingcheng would become the crown prince, but in the end he failed. Now he is focusing on the sixth prince again, and now that he knows that the second prince has successfully run an errand, I don't know how anxious he is now.

The next day, Shooting Moon sent the blueprints for creating the crystal head face to the Baizhen Building along with the ore.

In the afternoon, news came from Baizhen Building, asking if this style could be sold, or if there were any other new models, Xia Jinse heard it with laughter. Baizhen Building is shared by Lan Muxuan and Lan Beichen, and those who have taken a fancy to her head style are either Lan Muxuan or the craftsmen of Baizhen Building.

It is naturally impossible to sell, and if she wants to give this face to Ji Wushuang, it is naturally unique. And the style is not designed by her, and it is not her habit to plagiarize and sell. But if Lan Muxuan likes it, she can check some more styles and let him use them as a reference.

informed Baizhen Lou of the reply, and Xia Jinse began to wait for the head to be made, and he would get it in about ten days.

Lan Beichen went to the court, and when he came back, he casually talked about today's court, and the ministers really began to speak again, hoping that Emperor Yuanqing would make the second prince the prince. Now he has confidence, the second prince is talented and capable, and he recovered five million taels of tax silver in just one month, which can be seen.

Emperor Yuanqing was very happy, and his words were a little loose, although he had not yet responded positively, but it could be seen that it was basically a sure thing for the second prince to become the crown prince.

"What about the Six Princes?" Xia Jinse asked.

She actually didn't care about Lan Yuqi, she just thought that he was Xia Yanxiu's favorite candidate for the crown prince, or Xia Mengyao's fiancé, and she wanted to know Xia Yanxiu's ending, she also had to know Lan Yuqi's movements.

Lan Beichen hooked his lips and said: "Today, the Ministry of Industry also reported the news, saying that Lan Yuqi went to Jinling to prepare to build a dam and clean up the silt at the bottom of the river, a two-pronged approach. As a result, the people below were anxious, and somehow they dug up the ancestral graves of the local villagers, and there was an accident and a human life, and now the villagers who had an accident gathered relatives and friends to complain, and the matter of the second prince was temporarily suspended. ”

Xia Jinse was surprised: "How can it be possible to dig up the ancestral graves of villagers by building dikes and cleaning up silt?" How could the grave be by the river? ”

"Who knows? Maybe someone framed him, in short, now Lan Yuqi's actions are unfavorable, and he is also involved in a murder case, even if it can be solved perfectly later, it is definitely inferior to Lan Hongzhuo. ”

If so, it seems that the position of the crown prince is really going to be established this time.

Once Lan Hongzhuo becomes the crown prince, he is likely to be the emperor of Daqing in the future, so there will definitely be a contradiction between him and Lan Beichen. Lan Hongzhuo naturally won't trust and reuse Lan Beichen like Emperor Yuanqing, but I'm afraid that as soon as he ascends the throne, the first thing he has to deal with is Lan Beichen.

Thinking that the days to come may be bloody, Xia Jinse's heart sank again.

His eyes flickered and fell on Lan Beichen's indifferent handsome face, Xia Jinse asked softly: "Lan Beichen, if the second prince really wants to be made the crown prince, do you support it?" ”

"The establishment of the crown prince is considered by the emperor, what do I care?" Lan Beichen didn't seem to understand what Xia Jinse meant.

"Aren't you worried that Lan Hongzhuo will become the prince and deal with you in the future? Unless you hand over power, nothing matters...... No, I'm afraid that even so, he won't let you go, after all, your prestige is not something that anyone can replace. As long as you live, he won't be at ease, otherwise Lin Kangnian wouldn't have sent someone to assassinate you. Xia Jinse said clearly.

She didn't care about it before, she didn't think much about it, but when she really found out that the prince candidate was going to be determined, she had to think more.

"According to your relationship with the Fifth Prince, maybe if he becomes the crown prince, you will be safe and sound."

"You're thinking too much again!" Lan Beichen smiled at her.

Sitting next to her, Lan Beichen pulled the long hair on her sideburns, and said indifferently: "It's still too early to say who the crown prince belongs to, and there is no point in talking about the future." If you think too much, you will only get tired, so it is better to do what is in front of you and take one step at a time. ”

Also, Xia Jinse nodded.

The future is unpredictable, and even Lan Beichen's dream realm has changed because of her appearance, and nothing can be predicted at all.

Just thinking about it, suddenly the broken star came in a hurry, looking anxious, and when he saw Lan Beichen, he couldn't care about saluting, and said directly: "Lord Wang, something happened!" I just received news that the team transporting the tax silver had an accident on the way back to Beijing, and all the five million taels of tax silver were robbed, and the people who escorted the tax silver had no intention of surviving! ”

Lan Beichen's face changed, and Xia Jinse blurted out even more when he heard it: "How is it possible!" Who did this to you? ”

"The place of the accident was on the official road twenty miles away from the suburbs of Beijing, and the person who reported the case was a nearby villager who found the body, and then quickly reported to the official, and the people from Jingzhao Mansion took someone to investigate, only to know that it was the team that escorted the tax silver." Shattered Star looked at Lan Beichen with a solemn face: "Lord Wang, sure enough, there is a problem with the tax silver, I'm afraid that someone has been staring at this team for a long time." ”

This is not a big matter, even Lan Beichen didn't expect this kind of thing to happen.

He got up and said, "It's a big deal, I'll go to the palace to take a look." ”

There was no extra explanation, so he left in a hurry.

At this time, Lan Beichen didn't come back until it was dark, Xia Jinse didn't feel anything before, and gradually began to worry. But she waited for a long time, it was almost time, and Lan Beichen had no news, guessing that he might stay in the palace, Xia Jinse had to go to wash and go to bed.

It's been a long time since I've slept alone, Xia Jinse tossed and turned, and it took a long time before she squinted and fell asleep.

In a daze, she was awakened by a sharp knock on the door. There was the sound of Chasing Yun opening the door outside, Xia Jinse vaguely heard what she said, and then exclaimed, and soon Chasing Yun came in, his face changed greatly: "Princess, get up quickly, something happened to the prince!" ”

Xia Jinse had already gotten up and was sitting on the bed getting dressed, and Chaiyun said eagerly without waiting for her to ask: "Just now Shattered Star said that the prince didn't come back overnight, not to accompany the emperor in the palace, but to go to prison!" ”

Like a slap in the face, Xia Jinse was really stunned.

Lan Beichen is in prison, how is it possible!?

As the ninth prince of the Daqing Dynasty, apart from the emperor, who dares to let Lan Beichen go to prison? And yesterday Lan Beichen entered the palace for the robbery of the tax silver, even if he said something, it would not let him go to prison? What the hell is going on?!

Chasing Yun couldn't say clearly, this news was secretly spread by someone in the palace, and now Lan Beichen is locked up in the prison of the Criminal Department, no one can visit, and Shattered Star is so panicked that he hurried back to report to Xia Jinse.

Dressed in a hurry, Xia Jinse didn't even comb his hair, and went directly to see Broken Star and asked him what was going on.

"After the prince entered the palace yesterday, his subordinates waited outside the palace as usual, but I don't know why, I haven't seen the prince come out. The subordinates thought that the prince accompanied the emperor to discuss state affairs, after all, sometimes the prince was like this, and the subordinates could only come back alone. But this morning, my subordinates went to pick up the prince, and I heard that the prince was in prison, and it was related to the robbery of the tax silver. ”

Shattered Star was anxious: "The subordinates know that the matter is serious, so they hurry back to report to the princess, please enter the palace quickly and ask the emperor what is going on!" ”

Xia Jinse also panicked, and she didn't care about eating, so she just asked Chaiyun to quickly comb her hair, and went out after washing.

When the carriage arrived at the gate of the palace, the guards guarding the door were still respectful when they saw Xia Jinse, and it was obvious that the news of Lan Beichen's imprisonment had not spread. She went straight into the palace and went straight to the imperial study, and as soon as she arrived at the door, she saw Gonggong Lu coming out of it.