After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

Since they want to enrich their internal treasury, then leave the reduction of troops to them. Once Heshuo becomes aware of it, they will inevitably raise troops to fight against the imperial court in order to survive. Regardless of the outcome, those who propose the reduction of troops will most likely have to pay the price. And she was going to take advantage of this and make a killing move.

Pei Jiaoran looked at Jia Gonglu, his eyes seemed puzzled, "I know where my husband is worried, but it is also true that Zuozang has no money to use." Seeing Jia Gonglu's eyes stop on her, Pei Jiaoran sighed, "This official's move It’s really helpless. We can’t just cut down the troops of the vassal and town to fatten up the spiritual strategy for the sake of Zuozang’s operation, right? Although this can relieve a lot of pressure on Zuozang, which of those vassals and towns are easy to mess with?”

After the words fell, a trace of thought flashed across Jia Gonglu's face. From some perspectives, reducing troops can not only restrain the power of vassal towns, but also relieve the pressure on the treasury. But such an idea does come with risks. If it is done well, it may be able to solve the imperial court's inner problems, but if it is not done well, it may lead to overthrow. His eyes passed over Pei Jiaoran, and he waved her hand to retreat. It involves the interests of all parties and cannot be decided with just one word.

After leaving the Minister's Office, Pei Jiaoran took a deep breath. Just as he was about to go to the household department, he was blocked by the servant beside the prince.

The visitor is Zhou Min, the prince's personal attendant.

"A noble man will lead the way." Pei Jiaoran said with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhou Min smiled politely and said, "You're welcome, Mr. Pei."

He followed Zhou Min into the East Palace. The other party did not take her to the main hall of the East Palace, but instead took her to the Chongwen Hall in the west. The prince in a brocade robe and jade belt sat at the head, holding a scroll in his hand.

Pei Jiaoran frowned and looked at him, but still saluted.

Putting down the scroll in his hand, the prince saw her raising her hand and said with a smile: "Servant Pei, please get up." Then he looked at Zhou Min and said, "Why don't you go and serve tea to Mr. Pei."

She couldn't figure out why the prince suddenly summoned her. Pei Jiaoran looked wary. There is no peace between father and son.

"Qingjia has only been in the capital for more than a year, and he was promoted to the position of Minister of Household Affairs. It really impressed me." The prince looked at her with a smile, "I heard that Qingjia is good at calligraphy. This is the cold food note that I hid. Last time you I helped Gu a lot, so I gave him this gift as a token of my gratitude."

Glancing at the prince, Pei Jiaoran frowned and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. Without Your Majesty's wise eyes and recognition of talents, how could I have been here today? Besides, there is no need to give gifts. I have to thank the Crown Prince for his advice, Your Majesty, for promoting me to a household." Minister of the Ministry."

Just now, she was wondering why the prince had suddenly summoned her. Now that I saw the prince, I heard him mention his promotion to Minister of Household Affairs. Looking back at it instantly, I realized that the father and son had colluded to deliberately push her to the position of Minister of Household Affairs and use her as a living target.

"You have this ability, so being a scholar in Zhongshu is really an underachievement." The prince just pretended not to hear the sarcasm in her words, "Why is the Minister Pei not being humble now? This is not like your past temperament."

He was dumbfounded by what Pei Jiaoran said and did in the court meeting today. I originally thought that because she was attached to Jia Gonglu, she would be humble and tolerant of many concessions. Unexpectedly, she not only proposed the removal of Gongshi, but also retreated to make progress, making His Majesty feel that she had been bullied by Lieutenant Zuo Shence.

The blade she showed this time made people couldn't help but stop and take a closer look.

Pei Jiaoran lowered his head and spoke in a calm tone, "When you are hungry, you will be attached to others, and when you are full, you will be high. I am walking on a narrow road now. If I want to climb a high bank, how can I walk at a straight pace? Why not hold an edge to face the huge waves. Not to mention me. If you retreat, wouldn’t you be living up to His Highness’s hard work?”

The blunt statement made it clear the prince's plan for her. The prince's face darkened.

"Isn't this act of isolation just what you want? If you want to reduce the number of Buddhist temples, you must have an upright identity." The prince suddenly smiled.

Secretly scolding the prince for being cunning, Pei Jiaoran smiled.

"So why did the prince suddenly summon me today?" Pei Jiaoran glanced at the prince and spoke indifferently. She was too lazy to talk in circles with the prince anymore. Wouldn't it be wrong for the monarch and his minister to clarify everything?

"Du Zhi is in your hands now. Is there any way you can stop the inner treasury from embezzling the national treasury?" The prince motioned her to sit down and sighed, "If the national treasury is not full, the world will be in chaos."

Signaling all the waiting people to step back, the prince said: "If you want to abolish the palace market, I will support you." He was also deeply disgusted with all the shortcomings of the palace market, so he arranged for people to come up and give advice, but no one was like Pei Jiaoran. effective. After repeatedly failing to achieve his goal, he could only temporarily suppress this idea and wait for the opportunity.

"It is enough to eliminate the palace market now. If Zhang Rang tries to embezzle the financial resources of the inner treasury again, Zhang Rang will definitely counterattack. I think His Highness does not need to be so bold, but he can take it easy." After looking at the prince, Pei Jiaoran continued: "Is Zuo Zang there? Although the reason for the money is inseparable from the internal treasury, the root cause is that the court has no copper to mint money, but monks and nuns are exempt from taxes and enjoy the worship of the people. As far as I know, many courtiers collude with monks and nuns to secretly lend money to the people. .”

"What do you want?" The prince motioned for her to continue.

"Send people to check the number of monks and nuns in various Buddhist temples, order them all to return to secular life, demolish the two Buddhist temples in the east and west, and only allow two to remain, and only one Buddhist temple in the remaining temples. The materials from the demolished temples can be used to repair the imperial palace. The gold and silver Buddha statues were handed over to the treasury. The iron statues could be used to cast farm implements and weapons, and the bronze statues, bells and chimes could be used to cast money. In this way, a large amount of land would be freed up, and monks and nuns who had returned to secular life could also Pay taxes for the imperial court. Why worry about the treasury having no money?" Pei Jiaoran's tone showed no emotional ups and downs, and she stated all her thoughts in a straightforward manner.

As her voice fell, the prince's eyes became solemn. It seems that he is thinking about how feasible this matter is.

Pei Jiaoran lowered his head and looked at the carpet under his feet. She knew that the prince really wanted to reduce the number of Buddhist temples in order to enrich the treasury. However, due to the extensive involvement, even if he had the dignity of Qiancheng, he would not dare to speak to Emperor Wei about this matter easily. But when faced with a lack of money in the national treasury, one cannot help but face this matter.

"Gu Ye wants so. But Mr. Pei, do you think His Majesty will agree to your reduction of Buddhist temples?"

Hearing this, Pei Jiaoran raised his lips and said, "If Your Highness doesn't want to reduce Buddhist temples to replenish the national treasury at this time, then I have another idea that is not a particularly good one."

"What do you think."

"Cutting down the feudal vassal and suppressing the soldiers."

The prince frowned and looked at her, obviously very dissatisfied with her idea. Not to mention that reducing the number of troops is extremely risky. If not, it may lead to a mutiny. If it is done, we have to consider how to place these reduced sergeants.

"I know what the prince's concerns are. But if the imperial court treats the feudal towns in a royal manner, will everything really go well? This year, many of the three towns have promoted their sons to serve as officials. Let's not talk about what they are here to do. Your Majesty. I heard an old news that Tubo once sneaked a daughter into the Central Plains and married a soldier who defended the city. Twenty years later, his son inherited his mother's will and opened the city gate to let the Tubo enter the city." Pei Jiaoran raised his eyebrows and continued: "I think the river I'm afraid Shuosan Town also has this idea."