Why Jiajing Became So Paranoid; The Truth About Embezzling the Salt Tax / A Classic *The Great Yan Dynasty* Scene: "My Money!"

Ning Ciqiu was somewhat dazed upon hearing this, but after a moment, when she noticed the expression on the Great Yan Emperor's face that urged her to accept the order, a rare and extremely obvious look of joy appeared on her face.

Liang Xun was unusually stunned, almost failing to express his gratitude. Fortunately, the Emperor of Great Yan didn't seem to mind. He had already discerned some of the situation between the two while watching the filming. Although from the Emperor's perspective, it was a major taboo for officials from the Six Ministries to exchange favors through this relationship, his mindset subtly changed after observing their interactions for a while.

Both were aware of the difference in their official positions, and although they harbored feelings for each other, neither chose to confess. So, instead of advising them to give up on their relationship, it would be better to devise a way to get them both into the same department... This would minimize the possibility of them exchanging favors, and avoid breaking up a couple, which would then become a popular folktale and be condemned by the public...

Having dealt with Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu's matters, the Emperor of Great Yan, taking advantage of Wei Yenwu's Kung Fu Hustle while he was putting on makeup, asked Chen Qi, who was smiling beside him:

"Director Chen Qi, I heard from my brother that you are already filming the scenes depicting the downfall of Yan? I would like to watch it. What do you think?"

"Since His Majesty the Emperor has come all this way to see this, how can I refuse?" Chen Qi immediately agreed when he heard that the Emperor of Great Yan wanted to see the play. He knew that the Emperor of Great Yan would definitely be interested in this play.

This time, not only the Emperor of Great Yan, but also everyone in the "Sui" clan gathered together to watch the play as soon as they heard the script. Even Xi, who had been withdrawn for a long time, came out of the world of the painting to watch this grand play, which can be called the climax!

In the previous episodes, because the policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields was temporarily delayed, Yan Song, played by the Rat King, made two requests to Jiajing.

First, he proposed sending Yan Maoqing south to inspect the salt trade in order to replenish the national treasury deficit, a proposal that Jiajing readily agreed to.

The second point is rather perplexing: Yan Song actually requested the arrest of Qi Dazhu, who was suspected of colluding with the Church of the Deep but was rescued by Hai Rui and sent to serve in Hu Zongxian's army.

Jiajing could certainly see Yan Song's intentions. Qi Dazhu was protected by Hai Rui. Although Zheng and He were killed, his suspicion of collusion was not completely cleared. In addition, as the head of a disaster-stricken county, he had resisted the government's policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields several times, making him a pawn of considerable importance.

Qi Dazhu was backed by Hai Rui, Hai Rui was recommended by Tan Lun, who in turn was backed by the Clear Stream Faction. Yan Song planned to make some small moves in this regard so that he could take minor action against the Clear Stream Faction in the future. He treated it as a small request from Jiajing Emperor for his Yan Faction to send someone south to inspect the salt.

"... Granted."

At that time, Jiajing's expression was extremely strange, contemptuous and tinged with anger, but he still granted Yan Song's request, since the southern salt inspection still needed the Yan Faction. Yan Song also realized at the time that this might be a foolish move.

Yan Maoqing's southern salt inspection tour continued until the end of the year. It was only when heavy snow fell once again in the imperial city that Yan Shifan, along with Luo Longwen and his entourage, finally met Yan Maoqing.

On screen, Lin Yuxia, playing Yan Shifan, excitedly greets Yan Maoqing in the heavy snow, unable to hide her excitement as she speaks to her trusted confidants:

"Jingxiu (Yan Maoqing name) is a great hero this time! Three million three hundred thousand taels of silver were transported all the way from Jiangnan. We should kowtow to him and give him our heart!"

However, almost immediately after Lin Yuxia spoke in the footage, the Emperor of Great Yan frowned and subconsciously said:

Three million three hundred thousand? That's so little?

"Huh? Isn't that enough?"

Meanwhile, Chen Huijie, who was also from Yan but was unaware of these matters, couldn't help but ask. Lin Yuxia and the others had all gone to act, and apart from Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu, she was the only young Yan present who didn't know the inside story.

"It's rare, not even rare, it's practically a complete break in production."

As officials, Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu naturally knew about salt taxes, and Liang Xun immediately said:

"The annual salt tax of the Great Yan is usually around eight to nine million. Before the late emperor challenged the gods, the salt tax even reached tens of millions. This is only a little over three million... Something doesn't seem right."

"... Could it be because after the war between the Great Yan and the Sui Dynasty in this storyline, the country's strength has never recovered?" Upon hearing this, Chen Huijie immediately realized the problem and couldn't help but ask.

However, Chen Huijie's words were immediately met with shakes of the heads of the three. Ning Ciqiu then explained:

"Salt tax is different from household tax. Household tax may be affected by population decline, but as long as people are alive, they will inevitably need salt. Salt tax is generally a very stable source of revenue for the national treasury. Even if there is some fluctuation, it shouldn't be that outrageous."

"Moreover, the Jiajing Emperor in the drama has been in power for nearly forty years. Even if there was a sharp decline in population, it should have recovered in forty years. This salt tax... must have been manipulated."

"But judging from the way Yan Faction members act, it doesn't seem like they've done anything wrong?"

However, when Liang Xun watched the jubilant Yan Faction members in the play, as if the 3.3 million taels of salt tax were already an unexpected bonus, he also felt something was amiss.

Could it be a simple data error by Director Chen Qi? That shouldn't be the case. Director Chen Qi is meticulous; such data-related matters can be easily clarified by simply asking him. Why would he make a mistake?

With this question in mind, as the camera shifted, Yan Maoqing and his group returned to the Yan Residence. At this moment, Yan Song, played by the Rat King, looked even older, appearing listless and hard of hearing, lacking even the energy to gather intelligence.

After exchanging pleasantries, Yan Song directly inquired of Yan Maoqing about the gains from his recent salt inspection trip south. Yan Maoqing smiled and replied, raising his voice slightly:

"Your Excellency, two million three hundred thousand!"

"... Why is it less again?"

However, upon hearing Yan Maoqing's words, the Emperor of Great Yan and the others all turned pale. They seemed to have vaguely realized why the salt tax had become so low.

However, Yan Song seemed not to have noticed the problem. In fact, judging from his expression, the number was somewhat unexpected. After a moment of stunned silence, he slowly said:

"That's enough to cover the salaries of officials in the capital this year and the expenses of various ministries... What about the palace?"

"Don't worry, Father." At this moment, Yan Shifan, played by Lin Yuxia, finally revealed the truth, saying, "The ambush in the palace was already set up. The 2.3 million was sent to the national treasury, and I kept 1 million for the Ministry of Works."

"Six months ago, it was sent to the palace as a reward for the Emperor. There's still 500,000 taels left. After the New Year, I plan to help the Emperor rebuild the Palace of Longevity, which burned down last year."

This time, the salt inspection went well, and even the much older Yan Song gave a rare performance as his troublesome daughter. Seeing himself receiving long-awaited praise for handling the matter flawlessly, Yan Shifan, played by Lin Yuxia, beamed with shameless pride and said:

"With these three million three hundred thousand, let the Emperor see who the loyal ministers of the Great Yan Dynasty are! Do Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and their ilk want to overthrow us?"

"Loyal minister, oh, loyal minister... The emperor is leading the way in embezzlement, and Yan Faction is eyeing both the private treasury and the national treasury. Good, good, those are truly loyal ministers."

The Great Yan Emperor's tone gradually turned cold. The True Lung's might had just been unleashed at the morning court session, and now it was gathering strength again, making everyone present, except for "Sui," Chen Huijie, and Talulah, feel an extremely uncomfortable sense of oppression.

Without a doubt, the Emperor of Great Yan harbored murderous intent, and the events Chen Qi is now filming are showing signs of resurgence in Great Yan, as evidenced by the previous embezzlement case.

Now that the reason for the low salt tax is clear, the Emperor of Great Yan believes Chen Qi can explain it clearly. At that time... he will probably have to start dealing with whether Great Yan's salt tax has the same problem.

This thought also added a touch of helplessness to the Emperor of Great Yan's heart... He had to admit that this was a good drama, and even more so, a mirror that revealed the truth. Although it made him, as the emperor, feel very uncomfortable, it was indeed very effective.

Thinking about it this way... he even had a slight reluctance to let Chen Qi go. The Emperor of Great Yan couldn't help but think this way. As for the pros and cons of keeping Chen Qi, he was not sure at the moment. He could only wait and see how many surprises "Great Yan Dynasty" could bring him.

PS: This is the second chapter today! As usual, there will be another update tonight (writing, writing, I love writing the most, sob sob sob. Actually, I feel like I'm making a bit too much of a promise, but I can't help it since I promised three chapters a day... I definitely don't want to move before I wake up... I'm going to collapse...)

Volume 1: Chapter 311: The Reasons for Jiajing's Suspicious Personality and the Truth Behind His Embezzlement of Salt Taxes

"Now it seems that Jiajing truly distinguished between state affairs and private matters. Previously, the money he used to repair the palaces was paid from the public account, but now it appears that the money he used for alchemy, providing himself with a research team, and bestowing rewards all came primarily from his private treasury."

"But... an emperor's private treasury already accounts for nearly half of the national treasury. At this time, he still wants to think about his private treasury. Should we call Jiajing stubborn? He'd rather gamble on that minuscule possibility than govern the country properly. If he had governed the country well, his income would probably be even higher, wouldn't it?"

This time, after hearing Chen Qi say that there was a major show to watch, everyone came together to see the "Sui" family's performance. When Xi saw the Yan Faction on the screen distinguishing between the emperor's and the court's money, she asked with slight confusion.

From Xi's relatively simple perspective, Jiajing's actions were simply incomprehensible. If he wanted money, given his current display of imperial cunning and his own strength, he could easily manipulate so Great Yan Dynasty. If he were truly capable of personally handling state affairs and ensuring the Great Yan's successful revival, with his longevity, he should have plenty of time to gamble on that slim possibility.

With national stability comes financial stability, and with a full treasury, wouldn't it be easy for Emperor Jiajing, who aspired to become Feranmut, given his position as emperor?

"My silly sister, you seem to be making assumptions." When Ling heard Xi muttering to herself, she smiled with concern. Facing her two sisters, Ling and Xi, who knew nothing about national affairs, Ling offered a word of advice:

"Taxes are collected from people, and fixed taxes can only be collected from fixed people. In other words, if the population is stable, then as long as there is a strong law enforcement agency, tax revenue will be stable."

"It can be said that, barring major changes, all of a country's tax revenue should tend to remain stable throughout the year. If you want to increase this revenue, you either need to introduce more different taxes or increase existing taxes—but in any case, these taxes must still be collected from the population."

"... So?" Hearing Ling's words, Xi was still somewhat confused, but fortunately, Chen Huijie now understood Ling's meaning and tentatively asked:

"Therefore... no matter how the people are doing, as long as there are no major population changes and the tax collection and enforcement agencies are functioning properly, then national tax revenue will not fluctuate."

"And the fact that this salt tax is so small suggests there's a serious problem with the tax enforcement agency?"

"If law enforcement agencies are having problems, the taxes collected must have been embezzled. For an emperor who now only cares about becoming Feranmut and about fiscal revenue, since the money he receives has already been embezzled once anyway, even if he is diligent in his duties, he can't change the situation. What motivation does he have to be diligent in his duties?"

Ling agreed with Chen Huijie's words and began to explain her own thoughts. However, halfway through her explanation, she seemed to realize the expression on the face of the Great Yan Emperor, whose smile remained unchanged, but she stopped speaking.

Chongyue glanced helplessly at his troublesome younger sister, then addressed the Emperor of Great Yan, saying, "Your Majesty, she meant no harm."

"I know, what the magistrate said is not wrong. Now it seems that someone must have embezzled this salt tax." The Emperor of Great Yan took a deep breath. He knew, of course, that what the magistrate said was true, and he replied matter-of-factly:

"But... I didn't expect them to dare to embezzle so much. Even if Yan Shifan audacious, he shouldn't have embezzled so much from the salt tax."

Jiajing knew that Yan Faction was corrupt, so the previous plot had already stated that "one tael of silver would go to the national treasury at twelve qian, and four qian to Yan Faction; or ten qian to the national treasury, and six qian to Yan Faction." But no matter what, Jiajing had to be the one who took the lion's share. No matter how audacious Yan Shifan was, he wouldn't dare to go against Jiajing's wishes.

Unless... there is another possibility, but the Emperor of Great Yan doesn't really want to think of it that way. Although his worst-case scenario has been proven true several times before, this is the one time he least wants his idea to be proven true.

Meanwhile, on camera, Jiajing once again activated his accounting team. As one calculation report after another came down, Jiajing finally obtained the detailed accounts of this salt tax from Lü Fang, played by Lee.

"... How much tax silver did the imperial censor who was dispatched to inspect salt production in various Mobile City in Jiangnan last year collect?"

In response to the Emperor's question, Lü Fang, played by Lee, replied respectfully, "It's about 1.4 million taels."

"... What about the year before last?"

"It's over 1.7 million taels."

However, Lee's answer brought a cold smile to the face of Wei Yenwu, who was playing the role of Jiajing, that was extremely similar to the one that appeared when the Great Yan Emperor had murderous intent.

This cold laugh, though not an exaggerated or distorted expression, was enough to send chills down the spines of everyone present—it was a unique ruthless decisiveness characteristic of an emperor. No matter how gentle and refined a monarch was, he could easily decide the life or death of one or even a group of people if he was displeased.

Now, this tax revenue, which is more than double that of previous years, has made Jiajing want to kill. This is because his idea has been proven true—only when the Yan Faction collects the money will the tax collection agencies under his command cooperate somewhat.

But now that he understands this, he asks, knowing the answer already, to Lü Fang, played by Lee, beside him, "What do you think?"

"... Grand Secretary Yan."

However, Lü Fang's feigned ignorance this time greatly displeased Jiajing. Jiajing coldly stared at the old man before him, who was nominally a subject but in reality a true confidant, and then asked:

Why did you vomit the pill I gave you?

Now that the snow is falling heavily, Jiajing, played by Wei Yenwu, is still only wearing a white long robe. Lü Fang, played by Lee, is Jiajing's confidant and is called "half-immortal" by the people in the palace. In order to cooperate with Jiajing's "pretending to be a god or ghost", she also wears a long robe to keep out the wind in the cold weather.

When Jiajing saw that Lü Fang was cold, he gave him a pill to eat. The Blood of Sui could make their bodies immune to cold and heat, but Lü Fang, played by Lee, did not eat it.

When he realized that his little trick had been discovered, Lü Fang, played by Lee, had no choice but to admit that he had been hiding the pill. However, he was not afraid of developing the same symptoms as Jiajing, but rather hoped to give the pill to his godson Yang Jinshui, who had already gone mad.

"Yang Jinshui did have merit during his four years in Zhe City. If he hadn't gone mad, this year's 500,000 bolts of silk would have been collected—why would I still have to rely on beggars to make a living?!"

When Yang Jinshui was mentioned, Jiajing's expression softened at first, but then he became angry again. This capricious emperor was always unpredictable. His sudden outburst of anger made Lee in the drama and everyone watching involuntarily shudder.

"This guy is truly unpredictable. They say serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, but he's far more terrifying than those Feline beasts." Nian, still shaken, said with lingering fear. At this moment, Xi seemed to sense something and murmured:

"This is probably... also a manifestation of his lack of security."

Xi's words immediately drew everyone's attention. From this scene, Xi seemed to have noticed some personality traits in Jiajing that were somewhat similar to her own. She was quick to realize this.

"I heard Chen Qi say that, according to the background setting, this Jiajing Emperor is a descendant of Commander Wei Yenwu. However, if the war between the Great Yan and us broke out and both Commander Wei Yenwu and the Emperor of the Great Yan died in that war, then Madam Wen Yue should also be no longer alive."

"So how did he, the emperor, grow up? It's likely that this is the origin of the power of people like Lü Fang. Jiajing's growth was inseparable from the care of these people, so for Jiajing, Lü Fang and his ilk were of extraordinary significance."

"... But Jiajing was also a born political animal. He knew what was important and what was not, and he was also suspicious by nature. It's not hard to understand why he would find it difficult to accept if his closest relatives concealed things from him or even slipped out of his control."

As Xi's words slowly faded, a long silence fell over the lounge. At that moment, Wenyue, sitting not far away, looked at her husband, who was playing Jiajing, on the screen. Although she had never been a mother, Xi's words still made her feel a pang in her heart.

No one wants to hear that their future child has become so twisted in personality due to a lack of parental companionship... It would make anyone feel guilty.

However, it's only because Chen Qi is currently supervising the filming and not in the dressing room that he knows that the setting he made to fit the national conditions of the Great Yan actually made Wenyue believe that her future child would be like the Jiajing Emperor. He would probably be furious with himself.

But regardless, now, in front of the camera, just as Xi said, even though Jiajing clearly knows everything, he still wants Lü Fang to tell him all her true thoughts. He lacks a sense of security and has an extremely strong desire for control. He says to Lü Fang, played by Lee, word by word:

"I want to hear what you have to say!" Jiajing, feeling heartbroken, spoke with great threat, but his eyes were already welling up with tears. This was one of the few times that this political machine showed a vulnerable side.

Now that things had come to this, Lü Fang naturally wouldn't hide anything anymore. As his words fell, the Emperor of Great Yan and everyone else finally understood why the salt tax in Great Yan in 1566 was so low.

"From the reign of Emperor Taizu to Emperor Taizong, the salt tax revenue in Jiangnan was in the tens of millions every year, but it decreased year by year thereafter."

"Some of the funds were indeed directly allocated to several key Mobile City for public use, but it's impossible for it to be like the year before last and last year, when we could only collect a little over a million a year."

"This year, when Yan Maoqing went there, he recovered 3.3 million taels of silver. There's only one reason for this. Those salt-managing offices are all under the control of Grand Secretary Yan and the Junior Grand Secretary. They embezzled the money layer by layer. They're a monolithic entity, with connections at every level. If you send someone to investigate, they won't find a single tael."

"But as long as Yan Maoqing goes, they will all obediently hand it over."

However, Lü Fang, played by Lee, seemed to have also sensed Jiajing's determination to overthrow Yan Jing. Whether it was to curry favor with the emperor or to quickly distance himself from Yan Faction, he added fuel to the fire by saying something even more exaggerated:

"To put it bluntly... they hold half the keys to the Great Yan Dynasty's treasury. If the court needs money, only they can open that door."

As soon as Lee finished speaking, everyone felt a bone-chilling coldness through the screen—and it wasn't just on the screen; the Great Yan Emperor beside them also exuded an extremely obvious killing intent!

The power of the two True Lung enveloped the entire film set at that moment, making many crew members who were no longer at a racial advantage feel their hair stand on end and their bodies stiffen.

Undoubtedly, the two brothers were thinking of the same thing: the tax revenue of their Great Yan was now showing a trend of decreasing year by year, just as the drama described.

"Guards! Immediately issue an order to the Grand Tutor, instructing him and the Ministry of Revenue to produce all the salt tax revenue from the past five years!"

"Yes!"

As soon as the Emperor of Great Yan finished speaking, the elusive Imperial Guards immediately received their orders and rushed towards the residences of the Grand Tutor of the Imperial City and the Minister of Ministry of Revenue.

Now, Chen Huijie and Zuo Le, as well as Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu, who were about to take action, exchanged glances and swallowed hard with serious expressions. They knew that this investigation... would likely stir up another bloody storm.

PS: Chapter 3 today! (Everyone, please subscribe and support me! I'm going to rest for a bit. Tomorrow seems to be the college entrance exam. If any students taking the exam are reading my book, study hard! Best of luck to all the test takers!)

Volume 1: Chapter 312: A famous scene from the Great Yan Dynasty: My money!

"Now you understand? Why didn't I pursue Yan Song and Yan Shifan last time, but instead sent Yan Maoqing south to inspect the salt production?"

When Wei Yenwu, who plays Jiajing, heard Lü Fang's words, he was naturally extremely angry. He knew that Yan's Yan Faction was corrupt, but he had clearly stated that he could turn a blind eye to their embezzlement, but only if they didn't prioritize their embezzlement.

It was Jiajing who wanted the Yan Faction to exist, not that Jiajing couldn't live without the Yan Faction. To Jiajing, the Yan Faction was nothing more than a group of useful Perro who could bring him more prey and harvest. It was only natural for the master to share some meat with his pets after Perro harvest was brought by the pets.

However, if your owner doesn't want a share of the meat, and you, as a pet, feel dissatisfied, want to hurt your owner, or even try to secretly steal your owner's meat... a being that has already broken free from domestication and gradually transformed from a pet into a greedy beast, setting aside emotions, anyone would know what to do.

Unfortunately, Jiajing, a "master" with an extremely strong desire for control, was most adept at detaching himself from emotions.