Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 46 Gu Tingye Resigns

"Daddy!"

"Heng'er is back."

Duke Qi and Princess Pingning, who were both filled with worry, forced a smile when they saw Qi Heng coming in.

"Dad, I heard that His Majesty has issued an edict to reprimand you. I wonder what mistake you made?" Qi Heng bowed and asked hurriedly.

"Heng'er, your father was the transport commissioner of Jingji Road. He failed to notice the corruption in the salt business and was dereliction of duty. That's why the government issued an imperial decree to reprimand your father. Not only your father, but many officials related to the salt business were also reprimanded by imperial decree in addition to the officials who were investigated." Princess Pingning said with a smile.

Qi Heng was a little skeptical when he heard this. If that was true, then why did he see his father and mother with sad faces when he just came in?

Duke Qi changed the subject and asked, "Heng'er, do you have any homework today?"

"The teachers didn't leave any homework, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave us a question, and I was just about to ask my father for advice." Qi Heng said.

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Duke Qi said, "Your Highness has given you a question. This is a test for you. What is the question?"

"Your Highness said that the reason why the salt administration is corrupt is that although the problem lies with people, there are also flaws in the system. Let us think about how to improve the salt administration system to prevent such a situation from happening again. I don't know much about the salt administration, and I would like to trouble my father to talk to me about it." Qi Heng said.

The Duke of Qi was stunned when he heard this. Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked such a question because the government intends to reform the salt administration?
He quickly dismissed the idea. Although he did not participate in it, he still had a general understanding of the corruption in the salt administration.

The government had no intention of investigating further this time. It was obviously intended to scare the enemy and it did not seem like they were going to reform the salt administration.

It seems that this should be the idea of ​​His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Although the prince has no power at all now, this is only temporary. The situation will naturally be different when he ascends the throne in the future.

Whether the salt administration was reformed or not had little impact on the Duke of Qi. He was terrified when he thought about it carefully, and felt that the prince seemed to have the intention of reforming the law.

This idea was a bit absurd. After all, the prince was only seven or eight years old. Even if he was smart, he was still too young.

However, the prince was still young and when he heard about the corruption in the salt administration, he had the idea of ​​reforming it. As he grew older and gained power, he would see the various ills within the Song Dynasty and would most likely have this idea.

Whether it was the salt administration reform or the political reform, it actually had little impact on nobles like the Qi family.

But it is different now. Qi Heng is the prince's companion. If the prince uses Qi Heng in the future, it will be related to the Qi family.

"Father." Seeing his father in a trance for a long time, Qi Heng couldn't help but call out.

Duke Qi came back to his senses and said, "I am thinking about how to tell you. I can't think of any good way to prevent it for the time being, so I will tell you the general process of salt administration. Think about it yourself. If you can't think of any solution, it doesn't matter. After all, you are still young and His Highness will not blame you."

"Yes, I understand." Qi Heng replied.

The Duke of Qi explained the salt business operation process to Qi Heng in detail.

Qi Heng was silent for a while after listening to this, and then he said thoughtfully: "Father, if we do something about the release of salt, can we prevent the corruption of the salt business?"

"Haha, what you said is indeed feasible, but many things are not as simple as you think. But this is His Highness testing you again, so just write down whatever ideas you have." Duke Qi said.

"I understand. Thank you, father, for telling me. I will go back to my room now and think about how to write it." Qi Heng said.

"Well, go ahead." Duke Qi nodded with a smile and said, "I'll have dinner later and ask someone to call you."

Qi Heng bowed and walked out.

"Sir, since you said that this was a test from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to Heng'er, why don't you give Heng'er some guidance? If he answers well, he can also show up in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Princess Pingning said.

"Showing your face now may not be a good thing." Duke Qi sighed.

"Why?" Princess Pingning asked in confusion. Duke Qi told Princess Pingning the absurd thought that had just occurred to him.

"No way? The emperor doesn't even plan to reform the law. How old is the Crown Prince? How could he have such an idea?" Princess Pingning exclaimed.

"It's better to be safe than sorry. The government has no plans to reform the salt administration, but the prince has this idea. Who can say what will happen in the future?" said the Duke of Qi.

"In this case, Heng'er really shouldn't stand out. Do you want to remind Heng'er?" asked Princess Pingning.

"That's not necessary. Heng'er is young and can't write anything. And Heng'er can't explain it either." Duke Qi shook his head.

Princess Pingning thought what he said made sense, so she gave up the idea.

……

During the break the next day, Zhao Xing called Sheng Chang, Bai Qiheng, Gu Tingye and others to the pavilion behind Zishan Hall.

"I gave you a question yesterday. Do you have any good ideas?" Zhao Xing asked.

They looked at each other and said nothing.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing said directly: "Zecheng, you speak first."

Sheng Changbai bowed and said, "Your Highness, I don't know much about the salt business. Your Highness once said that without investigation, there is no right to speak. After I went back yesterday, I was only concerned with understanding the operation process of the salt business and did not have time to think about this issue."

Zhao Xing nodded slightly, looked at Qi Heng, and said, "Yuan Ruo, you tell me."

"Your Highness, I don't know much about salt affairs, but my father is the salt transport envoy of Jingji Road. I consulted my father after I went back yesterday, and I have a rough idea." Qi Heng stood up and bowed.

"Sit down and talk." Zhao Xing pressed his hand and said.

"I think we can set up a new government office and hand over all the salt produced to this government office, which will be responsible for initiating the release. In this way, production and sales will be separated and the accounts will be reconciled with each other, which can effectively prevent officials from cheating and engaging in corruption." Qi Heng said.

"What Yuan Ruo said is feasible to a certain extent, but as you said, it is a bit superficial. However, it is rare that Yuan Ruo can think of so much in a short period of time." Zhao Xing praised.

In fact, what Qi Heng said was somewhat useful, but not much.

Separating production and sales is indeed a good idea, but it is only useful for a short period of time. New problems will arise over time.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty's court organization was already bloated, and the rights and responsibilities of many departments overlapped.

If we rely on decentralizing power by adding new departments and agencies to solve problems when they arise, it will only make the already bloated official system even more bloated.

Of course, Zhao Xing didn't expect that there would be any way to solve this problem once and for all.

Even when he gave this topic to several people, he didn't think they could come up with any useful suggestions. He just wanted to train them.

"Zhong Huai, what about you?" Zhao Xing asked Gu Tingye who was absent-mindedly standing aside.

"Your Highness, I can't think of any good suggestions." Gu Tingye came back to his senses and bowed.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xing asked Sheng Changbai and Qi Heng to leave first, leaving Gu Tingye behind.

"Zhong Huai, you seem absent-minded these days. What happened?" Zhao Xing asked.

Gu Tingye gritted his teeth when he heard this, bowed and said, "Your Highness, I would like to resign!"

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(End of this chapter)