Novel Full Chapter 911 - 42: If I’m Not Sleeping,
Chapter 911: Chapter 42: If I’m Not Sleeping,
Prince Chu lightly shook his head and said no more.
Wei Mian wanted to know more, but did not dare to continue asking.
Prince Chu raised his eyes to look at Wei Mian and instructed, "Keep an eye on the Southern Wei people. If they do anything detrimental to my tenth brother, take action."
"Yes, Your Highness."
At this moment, in the Imperial Study, the emperor was still reviewing memorials.
Sun Kui came in holding a cup of ginseng tea. He spoke softly, "Your Majesty, please have some tea and take a break."
The emperor set down the memorial in his hand, raised his hand to rub his temple, and asked in a somewhat weary tone, "What time is it?"
"It’s almost the Hai hour," Sun Kui reminded, "Your Majesty, you should rest."
The emperor took the tea cup from Sun Kui, drank two large mouthfuls of the ginseng tea, and then said full of grievance, "I too wish I could go to sleep as soon as the Hai hour arrives, but look at these memorials on the table." Although a cabinet had been established, the cabinet did not have the power to make final decisions, so the emperor still had to read through the memorials that the cabinet had initially reviewed before making the final decision. Fortunately, the emperor no longer had to deal with trivial memorials, but for some important matters, he still had to handle them personally.
Sun Kui did not dare advise the emperor not to review the memorials, "Your Majesty, are you hungry, do you want to eat something?"
"No." The emperor did not have the habit of eating late at night unless he was truly hungry.
Just as Sun Kui was about to say something else, Hidden Guard A walked in silently.
Hidden Guard A first saluted the emperor, then handed the secret report in his hand to Sun Kui.
Sun Kui quickly took it and then presented it in front of the emperor.
As soon as the emperor saw that it was Zhao Yao’s secret report, his eyes lit up, and he impatiently opened it to read. After reading it, the emperor excitedly exclaimed ’good’ several times.
"Go summon Prime Minister He, Grandmaster Liu, and the Minister of Revenue."
"Huh?" Sun Kui was surprised, then reminded the emperor, "Your Majesty, it’s already Hai hour, Prime Minister He and the others have probably already gone to bed. Besides, the palace gates are closed."
"I haven’t slept yet, what are they sleeping for? Go and summon them yourself." The emperor, who had been reviewing memorials just now with an expression full of fatigue, was now full of energy, as if he had drunk wine.
"Your Majesty, do you really want me to summon Prime Minister He and the others? Are you not planning to sleep tonight?" Although he did not know why the emperor was summoning Prime Minister He and the others, seeing the emperor’s excited appearance, it was certainly not a trivial matter. Once the emperor discussed important matters with Grandmaster Liu and the others, it would take at least two hours, if not several hours. It was already Hai hour, and they might discuss until dawn.
"No, I won’t sleep, I’m not tired at all now. Hurry and summon them."
Sun Kui inwardly sympathized with Grandmaster Liu and the others. The emperor not sleeping resulted in the Minister of Revenue and them being unable to sleep as well.
Sun Kui’s prediction came true; Prime Minister He and the others had indeed gone to bed.
Prime Minister He was grateful it wasn’t winter, otherwise getting up in the middle of the night to enter the palace would be very cold.
Sun Kui first picked up Prime Minister He, and then went to get Grandmaster Liu and the Minister of Revenue.
The three officials sat in a carriage, all with faces of weariness and helplessness from being suddenly awakened.
"What madness has the emperor come up with, summoning us to the palace in the middle of the night?" The Minister of Revenue yawned as he spoke.
"Something important." Prime Minister He had just gone to bed when he was suddenly summoned, but he wasn’t very sleepy. "The emperor wouldn’t summon us to the palace at midnight if it weren’t for something significant."
"What could be so important that we have to enter the palace at midnight?" The Minister of Revenue complained, "Even if someone were to storm the palace, summoning the three of us wouldn’t help."
Grandmaster Liu, with a grim face, gritted his teeth and said, "It better be something important."
A short while later, Prime Minister He and the others appeared in the Imperial Study.
Seeing them arrive, the emperor hurriedly showed them Zhao Yao’s secret report.
After reading the secret report, Grandmaster Liu and the others finally understood why the emperor was so eager to summon them to the palace in the middle of the night.
The Minister of Revenue, initially very sleepy, felt his drowsiness vanish after reading Zhao Yao’s secret report, becoming as excited as the emperor.
Prince Han always managed to surprise them, each time more astonishing than the last.
It turned out Prince Han’s new taxation proposal was called "tax equalization based on land size," which seemed quite appropriate.
Coming up with the idea of tax equalization based on land size was already astonishing enough, but little did they expect that Prince Han would also propose returning excess gleanings to the public and requiring both officials and gentry to contribute grain together, which... could only be described as "astonishing beyond words."
The emperor asked with a smile, "Can you sleep now?"
Prime Minister He smiled and said, "After seeing Prince Han’s secret report, who can fall asleep?"
The Minister of Revenue said, "I feel not the slightest bit sleepy now."
Grandmaster Liu eagerly said, "Your Majesty, tomorrow we should announce the policies of tax equalization based on land size, returning excess gleanings to the public, and requiring both officials and gentry to contribute grain together."