"The Zhen Clan is forcing me to compromise."
Liu Xie opened his eyes, his gaze filled with indifference. "Tell me, what should I do with them?"
Chapter 396: Pang De routed Lü Bu and Zhang Liao? Ma Chao's shock
Zhen Mi had only just been confirmed pregnant with a dragon heir, and the Zhen Clan had come crying poverty before him right on her heels. Their intentions could hardly have been more obvious.
The arrival of this dragon heir had left them unable to restrain their longing for the Empress's Position and the Heir Apparent's Position any longer. They wanted him to fulfill his original promise.
Liu Xie could understand what the Zhen Clan was thinking.
After all, who would not covet the Empress's Position?
What he could not understand was that the Zhen Clan actually dared to tamper with disaster relief, a major matter affecting the people's livelihood, to force him to compromise!
This had crossed his bottom line!
Guo Jia sighed softly and said, "Your Majesty, the Zhen Clan has controlled the treasury and the Imperial Court's finances for a long time. It is time to take that authority back."
Sending someone to audit the accounts could, at most, uncover the Zhen Clan's deliberate delays or embezzlement. Reclaiming fiscal authority would require careful planning.
From the nation's standpoint, he fully supported doing so. It offered the Imperial Court a hundred benefits without a single drawback.
How could the sacred vessel of state be entrusted to another's hands?
Jia Xu shook his head. "The Zhen Clan has already grown into a behemoth. Taking fiscal authority back from them will likely be difficult."
"Moreover, the Zhen Clan is more adept at amassing wealth, and the court lacks people talented in this area."
Reclaiming authority was not as simple as issuing