As he was in charge of taxation, he noticed the Emperor's decree the moment it came. A few days ago, he was still lamenting how much this matter would blow up.
When had the officials in the court ever paid merchant tax?
Therefore, when he heard his colleagues say that officials had personally come to the Prince's estate to collect taxes, he knew what they were up to. They wanted Prince Rong to resist paying the taxes and go against the Emperor.
But the key was that Prince Rong had been paying taxes all along.
The low-ranking official sighed. "Who doesn't know that Prince Rong has a bad temper? If he gets mad, even the heavens can't hold him back. Instead of avoiding him, why are you taking the initiative to mess with him? Aren't you asking for trouble?"
His colleague was shocked. "You said that the Prince's estate has been paying taxes?"