"Sir, do you have any solutions?"
Lin Xiao asked cautiously.
"Simple. Apart from the heir to the throne, send every royal descendant off to become a monk, or send them to Daoist temples~" Li Ping'an said with a smile.
"Well... well..."
Lin Xiao smiled awkwardly. That approach was rather too extreme.
"If you think that goes too far, you could also adopt some more conciliatory policies."
Lin Xiao sat up straight and listened carefully to what Li Ping'an had to say.
Li Ping'an took a sip of tea and continued, "In short, it comes down to cutting costs and increasing revenue."
"First, strictly limit the number of wives and concubines the princes can have. Marriages must be reviewed by the Ministry of Rites.
You cannot have a prince marrying dozens of wives. If every one of those wives can bear children, a single generation could easily number over a hundred.
There must also be eligibility reviews before granting titles to the princes' descendants.
Second, audit the princes' expenses, slash large amounts of pointless spending, and reduce their predetermined fixed salaries.
Everything from the inheritance of their titles and grants of farmland to their daily expenses must be strictly supervised.
Third, abolish hereditary succession without demotion and replace it with succession at a lower rank. Forcibly reclaim some of the land and fiscal powers granted to the princes."
"But those things have already been handed out. Are we really going to seize them back?" Lin Xiao asked timidly.
"What else can you do? For example, a staggering seventy percent of the land in the prefectures and counties around Great Xia's Ning Province is registered under the Prince of Ning's estate.
Even if you stop giving them more in the future, they still own seventy percent of the land."
"The ranks within